The Net Monkey

Charlotte Gainsbourg - The Operations

This was recommended by my friend Vincent just recently, and I totally dig it.

Hot Chip - And I Was A Boy From School

I listen to this song way too much, and the video is neat-o. Also reminds me of my friend, Jordan.

Rabbit in Red - Postpartum And The Albatross

This music video was actually directed by my friend Devin in Brooklyn, New York. He went to school with the folks in the band, and back years ago he loaned me the CD. It’s a great album and a few of the tracks come up in shuffle mode from time to time.

Fionn Regan - Put A Penny In The Slot

This was recommended to me by my friend Shaun. He knows Fionn, who is from Ireland, but currently lives and records in the United Kingdom.

Cut Copy - Future

This is my most favorite track off Cut Copy’s Bright Like Neon Love album.

Cansei De Ser Sexy - Alala

I have absolutely no memory of discovering this video, but I like the song a lot.

Röyksopp - Remind Me

This one’s a bit old, but one of the coolest videos I’ve ever seen.

Titus Jones - Gimme More Shoes

Lastly — but hardly least — I present you a mash-up of Britney Spears and Kelly.

That’s all for now.

I’ve recently started playing EVE Online.

For those of you who’ve never heard of it, I quote the article on Wikipedia.

EVE Online is a player-driven persistent-world massively multiplayer online game set in a science fiction space setting. Players pilot a wide array of customizable ships through a universe comprising over five thousand solar systems. Most solar systems are connected to one or more other solar systems by means of jump gates. The solar systems can contain several entities including but not limited to: moons, planets, stations, asteroid belts and complexes.

I appreciate that it isn’t a traditional RPG. No more level grinding! All skills are bought and trained in real-time, regardless of whether you’re logged in to the server or not. This also means that it is impossible for someone to join the game and power-level over a weekend. Just can’t happen, making it a game for the patient player.

There’s also just one server for everyone called Tranquility. It makes for one big cohesive universe, and you know that any of your friends who play are right there with you. That’s quite a feat of systems engineering, if you ask me, because no one else seems to do that in the world of major MMORPGs.

Anyway, if you’re looking for something new and fun, I suggest giving it a try; there’s a free trial that is adequate to get a good feel for the game. Also, if there are any of you who already play the game, please let me know. Maybe we can party sometime?

Tonight I met up with Daniel up on the north side for dinner and a movie.

Dinner was at Thai Taste up in Castleton. We both had curry dishes (me the panang; Daniel the red) and loved them, followed by mango ice cream and rum cake. Mmm!

Afterwards, we went to see The Mist at the movie theatre. All I’m going to say is that it’s a very, very well-written movie, but I feel messed up after seeing it. It reminds me of when I saw Se7en back years ago.

Anyway, if you like Stephen King, you’ll love this movie. If you don’t like him, well, you should see it anyway since it’s a good film none-the-less.

On Thursday I went with my family to Connersville to celebrate Thanksgiving. This is a long-standing tradition in the family, and something that we’ve done every single year of my life, except for one.

It was just like any other Thanksgiving, but we were missing some people this year: Grandma, Uncle Tom, and cousins Chuckie and Steve. This were definitely missed.

On Friday, I took my nephews to see the Circle of Lights in downtown.

The office where I work is right on Monument Circle. The doors to the office were opened up for employees to bring family and friends to the event, and spend time indoors away from the cold. It was nice and fun to see.

Does everyone have their shopping done, yet?

I have the 447th most common surname in the United States.

What about you?

I don’t have tons to report here, but here are a few important things to document.

• My friends Andy P. and Laura N. got married two weekends ago. It was a beautiful ceremony (especially her dress) at the Scottish Rite Cathedral. The electricity went out a few hours before the wedding, but everything came back on literally one minute before Laura was to walk down the aisle. Couldn’t have been better timing!
• I’ve started playing EVE Online.
• Work still sucks, but not anywhere near as bad as it did a few weeks ago.
• I saw They Might Be Giants a few weeks ago. They were amazing! I especially loved the second finale where Dan Miller (the guitarist) rocked out and acoustic guitar for about five minutes before the rest of the band came out to perform Istanbul.
• Went out Saturday night with some friends: Cara, Daniel, and Cara’s friend Katie. We had a nice dinner at Santorini’s and then danced the night away at Talbot Street.

That’s all for now.

One of the things people like about Greg Ballard is that he’s not a politician. Well, he’s been elected the new mayor of Indianapolis, so he is sure as hell a politician now.

Ever since I got back from my bi-coastal vacation last month, we’ve been crazy busy at work on projects related to our data center migration and preparations for the big software release. Finally, all of this hard work came to a climax this past weekend, which means that things ought to start settling down (read: no more long work days and weekends for a while). I think we’re finally over the hump!

So, to close out Hell Month™, I participated in my good buddy Andy’s last vestige of freedom: his bachelor party. We saw Lewis Black perform and hit some bars and clubs, afterwards. Like a dumbass, I completely forgot the camera, so the only photo I have to share is this awful picture of me at the Old Point Tavern. Anyway, the evening was tons of fun and I drank way more booze than I have in a long time. I don’t think I’ve talked so much in a long time, either. Seriously! Someone should have told me to shut up.

As far as this coming week is concerned, I’m going to see They Might Be Giants at the Vogue, and then it’s Andy’s wedding on Saturday.

Wee!