John Hendow

I almost never read the Sunday comics any more. However, today I discovered the author of “Pearls Before Swine” (Stephen Pastis) has an awesomely funny blog site. It also happens to be a WordPress site, which makes it ever awesomer. Enjoy.

The main thing about getting and staying in shape is that you have to do it. Back when I was at Starbucks I took advantage of the generous offer they made to employees; they provided membership and coaching at a fitness organization. I was probably in the best shape of my life at that point. I’ve been a little scattered and haven’t kept up the weights and cardio, and I can tell! So, it’s back to the gym for me!

Today I moved this site to a new host. That’s pretty cool.

I’m a Comcast subscriber and have made a few postings lamenting the state of their service, including Comcast, You Need Competition

As noted in recent online articles from TechCrunch and AppleInsider, there may actually be a competitor coming. It’s not that I wish Comcast any ill will. They simply provide a service without enough competition or choice, so consumers (like me!) are forced to endure aggravation including

• Overcompressed pixellated signals on the “HD” channels, downsampled to allow space for the hundreds of other channels I will never watch.
• Miserably slow menu systems. Is it truly impossible for Comcast to store a tiny XML file in my cable box? Why do I need to wait 15 seconds for another page of data to arrive?
• High prices without choices. I’d gladly pay 1/2 of my current rate to limit my reception to better-quality versions of the channels I actually watch.

If the Apple TV model actually manifests itself, I suspect we’ll see a long-overdue change in the delivery model. I am willing to pay a reasonable monthly fee for what I consume. If Comcast wants me to be happy with their services and products, they should encourage a little competition.

The music industry missed the digital revolution by remaining entrenched in an outdated model. Apple came along with the iPod: the perfect product at the perfect time, and saved the record labels from themselves. Is it possible Apple TV could do the same for television content? Comcast, now would be a good time for you to innovate…

P.S. After I posted the links within this article, The Wall Street Journal picked up the story as well. Not that I caused it. I’m just pointing out that this could idea could really work if Apple gets into the subscription market. Work out the DRM and I’m in!

I just returned from getting my H1N1 innoculation. This particular vaccine contains a virus that is “genetically altered”. Mutant DNA = HELLO SUPERPOWERS!

I happen to really enjoy what I do for a living, both behind the desk and behind the guitar. My day job rocks because

• It’s stimulating
• I’m regularly challenged by new projects, many of which require novel solutions
• I work with smart, funny people
• My boss is awesomeness embodied

Oh, and playing music rocks too. No further explanation necessary.

Shortly after midnight last night I decided to pour myself a shot of single malt and take in the view. Having arrived at the age of 46 I have nothing to add to the millenia of accumulated human wisdom. However, of some things I am certain:

1. I am blessed with good health. The thing about this is there isn’t a particularly identifiable justification for it. I didn’t earn it, I simply got dealt a decent hand. I have a few minor mileage-related issues (occasional sore back, imperfect vision, increasing use of the word “whippersnapper”), but overall I appear to be on target for a pretty long run of happy living. Thank you, genetic programming.
2. I am surrounded by amazing wonderful people. Great family, awesome wife, fabulous friends. I was thinking of how many people in this world that I love… it’s a big bunch of humans, and I am very fortunate to have so many that I call friends. Thank you for sharing your lives with me.
3. I am very lucky to have such a strong passion for music. It’s possible to spend your entire life wandering around the planet without finding your muse. Mine smacked me on the head as a kid and since that young age it’s been a huge focus for me. I love playing music. My parents thought I would outgrow this interest. They also used to tell me that I would reflect on my favorite music from my teenage years and wonder how I ever could stand such crummy stuff. We’re talking about KISS, Led Zeppelin, Elton John, Miles Davis and Rush. I’ll absolutely cop to having had crappy taste in a lot of stuff as kid, but I still love all that music. I really wish I had kept my KISS lunchbox.
4. I successfully escaped the turmoil of youth without losing my grounding in what it felt like. People tend to dismiss what young people think and feel, telling them they’ll eventually look back at and (with the perspective of an adult) recognize that things weren’t all that big a deal after all. It’s arguably true in retrospect, but that doesn’t invalidate what we felt at that age. It really DID matter. I hope I never forget that when I talk with young people.
5. Monty Python is funny. Groucho Marx is funny. Spike Jones is funny. Some stuff is funny and timeless. If I ever stop laughing at Monty Python you have my permission to clobber me with a 16 tonne weight.
6. Dinosaurs are inarguably cool. My 2nd grade teacher gets credit for turning me on to dinosaurs. Thank you, Mrs. Carey, wherever you are.
7. The 1965 Mustang is the second coolest car ever made. It is only surpassed by the 1966 Batmobile from the TV series. If I’m allowed to buy a car for my midlife crisis, it’s going to be the Batmobile and I will drive it to work every day. I might even dress like Batman and pull up next to policement at stop lights and say “greetings, fellow crimefighter”.
8. Beer and coffee are actually tasty. I didn’t believe this in my youth because the only beer I could get ahold of was Olympia (ack) since that’s what my dad liked, and he used to drink instant coffee (ack). Since then we’ve both grown up and now we both enjoy better beer and better coffee.
9. My parents are actually pretty cool. I still hope they’re finally going to tell me they adopted me from a passing group of mysterious traveling minstrels (thus explaining my music thing). Oh, and the part about how the minstrels were insanely rich and now are completely dead except for me, thus making me the sole heir to their zillions of dollars. But until such time as they inform me of my true heritage, I’m pretty pleased with them as parents.
10. Despite my occasional jokes about being raised by penguins, I really do appreciate the years I spent in Catholic school. The experiences, friendships, and moral grounding was valuable and meaningful. I am also glad that I transferred to a public high school and graduated with a combined perspective. Those years among the nuns and priests were actually not so bad. Although I still have an irrational fear of rulers.

Last Sunday I injured the pinky finger on my left hand, which led to a doctor’s office visit for xrays and a tetanus shot. The good news is that I’ll be able to play the Saturday evening gig with Dudley Manlove Quartet, just with a bit of pain. I’m planning to tape the knuckle to help moderate the pressure and hopefully between ice / ibuprofen / red wine it’ll be a bearable evening. But it raises an interesting question about “playing through the pain” and I want to offer some thoughts on the topic. I’ve played gigs in some memorably injured and sick conditions. One of the things I absolutely will not do is risk long-term damage to play a show. This finger injury is a situation where playing will definitely be painful, but I’m not at risk of further damage. It’s likely that doing the gig will mean a slightly longer recovery time, but I am willing to live with some discomfort as long as I can play – and as long as I know it’s going to get better. I’m a musician with a long-haul perspective; I intend to continue playing for the rest of my life, and there’s no rational reason to take risks just to make a gig happen.

I’m currently traveling on business and am staying in North Hollywood. As one might expect, it’s warm here and there is a lot going on. I arrived late last night and drove in from LAX. My hotel is in “Universal City”, which is on the big hill where Universal Studios is located. When I checked in last night I was pretty tired and was happy to get to bed at a decent hour. I was awakened at 1:30 AM by noise from the next room. Apparently there are a number of preteen boys staying in the hotel (a sports team?) and the room adjacent to mine was unchaperoned. They were talking / yelling, watching loud TV and jumping on/off the beds. At 2:00 I called the front desk to complain about the noise and was informed they had received a number of complaints already. Before long it got quiet and I managed to get to sleep. I was awakened again at 4:30 by exactly the same commotion, this time from the room on the other side. It eventually quieted down but the damage was done and I’d failed to get a decent night of sleep. This morning I asked the hotel to move me to another room, citing the noise issue. They assured me they would relocate me to a less rowdy area of the hotel.

So, minor inconveniences aside, it was a pretty good first day of work in Burbank and I’m pleased that we’re getting so much done. Tonight I’m going up the Universal City Walk area for dinner and some random shopping. Welcome to Hollyweird!

In our basement we have put together a fairly classic Tiki Lounge. We went with that theme simply because it seemed like the appropriate use of the space. I mean, the place was basically screaming TIKI LOUNGE at us. Among the amenities offered herein is a reasonable selection of liquid consumables, and tucked away under the bar is the Tiki Humidor, constructed of Spanish cedar and burled walnut. Generally I keep a dozen or so cigars on hand, but haven’t restocked lately. We have family coming to visit in September and I like to allow at least a full month of conditioning time for cigars. So yesterday I added about a dozen samples ranging from medium to full bodied. Now I just need to pick up a few single malts and we’ll be ready for a tasty evening of comraderie.