Radio Days

As some of you know, my wife’s been away traveling for the past 5 weeks, though she’s currently driving (my car) back across the country, and I’ll be flying out to meet her shortly, after which we’ll drive around a bit, checking out the southwest. In the meantime, I’ve got way too much free time on my hands, so I’ve been killing time catching up on various things, including ripping a bunch of old CDs that have been gathering dust on the shelves.

I also found a bunch of my old tapes of IthaSka, the ska radio show I did for over 3 years back in the mid-90s. Anyway, the whole thing made me sorta nostalgic, and I wondered if there was now easy software for creating radio show-like podcasts. I’m still testing out a few different products, but there definitely are a few things out there that basically let you create your own radio program. So, here’s my first attempt.

I warn you, that this will probably only interest the 3 or 4 co-dj’s I had over the years, or maybe possibly if you happen to like ska/rocksteady music. It’s not very polished, and partly that’s because I’m really not that good at this stuff, and partly it’s because I’m still figuring out how the software works, but if you want to take a listen go ahead:

The player (from Castfire, which is pretty cool) has a download option as well, and if I actually decide to do this more regularly, then I’ll probably set up a podcast RSS feed.

I have to say that it was actually pretty easy to do this once I got it working and it was tremendous fun to be doing a radio show (sorta) again. But, it was a bit lonely. The best part of doing the radio show was basically getting to hang out with folks like Alvaro, Daisy, Scott and John (and a few other guests and substitutes) over the years while listening to great music and talking about the music and whatever else was going on in our lives. I never really enjoyed the shows when I was stuck alone at the station. It would be a blast if I can figure out ways to pipe in co-dj’s as well. There are definitely ways to do it via Skype, but it looks somewhat complicated. Anyway, it was fun (and really not very time-consuming, considering the software takes care of most stuff), so I’m hopeful that maybe I’ll try to do it again, but there’s probably a better than even chance that this is it. So… for now… enjoy.

Email I Just Sent To BART Customer Service

To BART Customer Service,

This morning, October 4th, 2008, my wife and I tried to take BART to the San Francisco Airport. We have done this in the past with no problem. We purchased a parking permit, drove to Millbrae, and parked in the lot. We purchased our tickets, $1.50 each, and boarded the 5:48am train on Platform 3, which was clearly labeled as going to San Francisco Airport. We had looked up the train schedule online, where it also clearly stated that the 5:48 train went to San Francisco Airport.

To make sure, we even asked some others on the train, and everyone on the train agreed that this was the train to San Francisco Airport – including a group of people who worked at the airport and clearly had taken this train many times before.

Unfortunately, it appears that the conductor of the train had other ideas. After leaving Millbrae and flying through San Bruno and South San Francisco, we, as well as many other passengers on the train (including the airport workers), began to stand up and wonder where the train was headed. Other passengers, who said they always take this train, said that it made no sense, and it appeared the conductor simply forgot to go to the airport. We used the intercom system to ask, and were told that this train was NOT going to the airport. After more and more people started asking why not, the train conductor stopped the train at the next station, Colma, and told us that we should get off there and catch another train to SFO.

When we got off the train, we tried to go to the conductor to ask her what happened, and as she saw us approach (she was looking out the window back at us), she closed the doors and took off.

There was a group of about 10 of us, all trying to get to the airport, left alone on the platform. We used a phone to look up the train schedule, and discovered the next airport-bound train would not arrive for another HOUR.

We approached a BART employee at Colma who called to find out what happened, and tried to find out if he could get another train to take us all to the airport. He admitted to us that it appeared the conductor of our train simply ignored the route she was supposed to take. After staying on the phone for five minutes, he said we would need to wait another 10 to 15 minutes to find out if another train could come get us.

By this point, all of us (both travelers and airport workers) realized we needed to be at the airport before another train would arrive, so we all took taxicabs to the airport. For my wife and I, our cab ride cost us an additional $35.

We did eventually make it to the airport, but it was no thanks to BART, which stranded us at the wrong location, and forced us to pay an extra $35. I would like to request that BART refund the $35 my wife and I paid, as well as the $3 worth of BART tickets that we bought as well.

Both my wife and I have ridden BART for many years, and have never had any problems. We are assuming that this was a one-time mistake, but it has certainly shaken our faith in the BART system. We feel particularly bad for the airport employees who were late to work, and out the cab fees as well. I hope that BART will consider better systems to make sure these sorts of mishaps do not happen in the future.

Thanks for your attention to this matter,

Michael Masnick

End of an Era

I first met Sugar, our golden retriever, over ten years ago, when she was just a little puppy, days after my future wife had adopted her. I remember going to her apartment in Foster City with some friends (who worked with her). There was this tiny, friendly, playful golden retriever who no one could resist playing with. I had no clue she would one day become a part of my family.

Four years later, when we met up again, one of the first “dates” my future wife and I went on was taking Sugar and her roommate’s dog, Nellie, for a walk down in Half Moon Bay. And from then on Sugar was a part of my life, representing a constant partner and friend. I never had pets growing up, but have always loved both cats and dogs — so it was wonderful to be adopted by such a wonderful dog. When we lived in Belmont and my home office had a separate entrance, I knew every day wasn’t complete until Sugar would come down and climb up on the futon in my office to spend time with me, waiting for my wife to get home.

While many of our friends have one enduring image of Sugar: the lazy dog sleeping in the corner, we remember her as the dog who loved swimming more than anything (as I look through old photos of her, they all seem to involve trips where she went swimming). We remember the dog that couldn’t wait to go for a drive and a long walk in the morning, dancing and leaping around as we’d pick up a leash or keys for the car. And, it’s impossible to communicate the joy you could see in her face when she’d sniff out a rabbit hiding in the brush out by the swamp behind Oracle, giving her something fun to chase.

She was an incredibly expressive dog — and you could almost always read what was in her mind (though, all too often her “logic” didn’t make much sense to us). I remember soon after I started dating my future wife, we were heading out for an evening, and left Sugar sleeping on her bed in the living room. Soon after getting to the car, we realized we had left something in the apartment, and went back up the stairs. We opened the door, and discovered that in the minute or so since we had left, Sugar had moved from her own bed, into the bedroom — but as soon as we opened the door, she walked back to the living room, giving us an amazingly guilty look, as though we had “caught” her sneaking into the bedroom.

I remember how much fun it would be getting up on a weekend morning and taking Sugar out. She’d dance around and run out to the car, waiting eagerly to get in the back seat… where she’d immediately flop, as if her initial excitement was totally forgotten. Then we’d drive down to Oracle, and as we got close, she would get excited again, sticking her head out the window and eagerly smelling the air. We’d get there, and she’d immediately run to one of the fountains to swim around, before climbing out and rolling ecstatically in the grass to dry off. And then we’d be off going for as long a walk as possible. She’d sniff out rabbits, scare off ducks and even chase some squirrels. And she’d always want to keep going. We’d say it was time to go, and she’d give us this look that said “no way, I’m gonna keep going further and further.”

Sometimes, if our walk took us over the footbridge bridge to Belmont, she’d end the walk in the fountain on that side of the bridge. She would climb in, rub along the edge of the fountain, and then settle down in the water, with her head perched directly on the ledge looking over the bridge — with a pathetic look on her face. She had learned, correctly, that no one could walk across the bridge and see her head plopped there looking at them without coming over to pet her.

And, like many dogs, she loved being pet by anyone and everyone. If we had people over at our house, she’d go from person to person waiting for them to pet her. She had an uncanny ability to look at a person when we were out on walks and determine whether the person was a dog petter (worth going over to) or not (not worth bothering).

Then, of course, there was her “welcome home” routine. After spending a long, difficult day sleeping on our couch, when we’d get home, she’d come wait for us at the door, and start whining as loud as possible, rolling over to expose her belly, demanding a belly rub as an apology for leaving her alone for a day. In the last couple years, if my wife and I would hug and kiss before rubbing her belly, she’s make sure to bark (about the only time she ever barked) to express her feelings.

After dinner, if we sat on the couch to watch TV, the second we’d sit down, she’d make sure to climb up to join us, demanding that we’d pet her while watching TV and before taking her out for an evening walk. Often, after eating her own dinner, and getting a good brushing, her and our cat would play with each other. Our cat would come over and “attack,” grabbing Sugar’s leg and biting. Sugar would stand over her, and the two would begin a complex slow motion “dance,” where Sugar would jump up and down a bit, bobbing her head at the cat as the cat would weave in and out and jump at Sugar. Eventually the cat would give up and my wife would usually declare Sugar the “winner.”

Back in July, I took her out for a walk, and she was in one of her “long walk” moods. She kept pushing us to go further, but as we started to get back towards home, she suddenly stopped, and lay down in the middle of the road. I finally convinced her to get up and we moved to the side of the road, and sat there, petting her and letting her rest. We eventually made it home, but she was limping pretty badly. We took her to the vet and discovered she had a torn ligament in her leg. In August, we brought her in for surgery to repair the ligament — and we were happy (and relieved) to get back the results of her blood test that suggested otherwise she was in good health.

In late August, we took Sugar on our road trip to Chicago. We had to be in Chicago twice in about a month, and figured no one could care for Sugar better than my wife’s parents. Plus, Sugar loves being in the car, loves roadtripping with us and hates airplanes. So the easiest thing was to drive to Chicago, leave her there and then drive back with her later in the year. The roadtrip was fun, and even though Sugar’s leg was still healing, she seemed to enjoy the ride and the sight seeing. We left Chicago the day before Labor Day, saying goodbye to Sugar, figuring we’d see her again, just five weeks later. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.

My brother-in-law called Friday evening to let us know that Sugar didn’t seem to be doing that well. She wasn’t really moving and looked a little swollen. We sent over some medical info and Sugar went to the hospital Saturday morning. My sister-in-law was out here visiting us, with plans for a red-eye back to Chicago that night anyway. We had planned to go up to Pt. Reyes for a hike and some oysters at Drake’s Farm. As we drove up, we got updates from my brother-in-law and it didn’t sound good, with the vet suggesting that she was deteriorating quickly with a variety of problems. We got the oysters for lunch, but realized we were out of cell phone range, so we headed back into town, and sat in the car, talking things over, finally deciding that we’d try to fly back to Chicago to see Sugar this morning. We got back and discovered that there was only one seat left on the plane — which my wife got. I took my wife and her sister to the airport last night and they flew home.

Unfortunately, Sugar didn’t make it through the night, as my wife was told on landing at O’Hare. My wife got to go to the hospital for one last chance to see Sugar, and said she looked peaceful. Meanwhile, I’m here at home, being consoled by our cat, who we’d already been noting seems to miss Sugar’s presence (especially in that another local cat seems to have moved in on our property, no longer scared off by Sugar). I’m watching the very last game at Yankee Stadium (I have another blog post in waiting about my last visit to the Stadium earlier this year) hearing all these stories about an “end of an era.” Yankee Stadium sure means a lot to me, but the only era ending event I can really think about today is that I won’t be greeted by my dog like that ever again.

That said, Sugar gave my wife ten great years as her best friend and personal guardian. I got to share six of those years. The end may have come suddenly and somewhat unexpectedly, but I wouldn’t give up those six years for anything. My mother in law says that Sugar was my wife’s guardian for 10 years, and now that she knows there’s someone else to be the guardian (me, apparently) she felt comfortable moving on. While I appreciate the vote of confidence, I wish she could have chosen a better way to express it. In the meantime, I’m grateful for the time I spent with her, and even though I miss her terribly, I’m thankful for what she gave me.

Fast Food Potluck: Flagship Burger Tasting Event

Okay, so I still (yes, yes, I know) have a bunch of other posts I’m planning to put up, but here’s a quick one. Our friends Kai & Ingrid (newlyweds, congrats) are moving up to Seattle, and so we all decided to have a bit of a going away event for them. Mike Ho misremembered an idea that Kai had and decided that should be the event. Here’s Mike Ho’s version (which is what we actually did):

Every attendee goes to a different fast food burger joint and picks up a signature burger, fries and a shake. We bring them all back to one location and we split up everything so that people get to taste a bunch of different burgers/fries/shakes.

In actuality, it was a slight variation on this, as Ingrid actually doesn’t eat beef, so Kai & Ingrid got some chicken as well (Popeyes & KFC) and Hersh picked up some chicken at McDonald’s also. Also, James was running late and couldn’t find a Burger King (his assignment), so he showed up with Taco Bell instead.

In the end, we had food from McDonald’s, Wendy’s, In-N-Out, Carl’s Jr., KFC, Popeyes and Taxi’s (local burger joint, which is one step up from fast food). I think that was all… And we brought it all back to our house since it was somewhat centrally located. It was awesome:

So we cut up everything and ate:

Anyway, it was a lot of fun, and the consensus (surprising!) best bet if you want a completely good fast food meal: Carl’s Jr. (which I think is now Hardees on the east coast). They had, hands down, the best fries. They beat everyone else’s fries cleanly (to be fair, we didn’t have any Burger King food, and Hersh forgot to get fries from McD’s, so perhaps that was unfair). Also, the Carl’s Jr. burger was arguably the best of the bunch (though, there was some disagreement over that). So, there you go.

If we ever do this again (and we wouldn’t for a looooong time, even though it was fun), we’d probably make sure that Burger King and McD’s was fully represented. Also, we’d probably either refrigerate or freeze the shakes. We left them all out on the table too long, so by the time we dug into the shakes they were all pretty much melted — at which point they’re rather disgusting. Oh yeah, I had also picked up some grapes at Safeway, realizing that having some sort of fruit would probably be appreciated and it was, by almost all present. So, having some fruit on the table is not such a bad idea.

And, oh yeah, we also discovered that this wasn’t actually what Kai had been thinking about when he had suggested it to Mike Ho many years ago. Kai’s question was how would you craft a “fast food tasting menu” in terms of creating the best five-course fast food menu out there from any combination of fast food eateries. Of course, perhaps Mike was closer than we realized, since the only real way to craft such a menu would be to do something along the lines of what we did… Anyway, we had a blast. It was a fantastic idea by Mike and everyone had a bunch of fun (and a belly full of greasy fast food). Hope it was a fun sendoff for Kai and Ingrid! Enjoy Seattle and visit us often!

Blog Post Update And Some Music…

Yeah, ok, so this blog has been totally neglected lately, but I’ve been sorta crazy busy. The truth, actually, is that I’ve got about 7 or 8 posts that I’ve written up over the past 3 or 4 months, mostly while flying on airplanes… and then I just haven’t had the time to actually import them from text files into WordPress as posts. I know… I know… it shouldn’t take much, but for some reason I haven’t found the time. But I’m going to start getting those posts up over the next few weeks (I hope), even if many of them may seem a bit out of date.

The other thing is that, like so many folks these days, I’m finding that Twitter is an easier way to keep folks updated on random happenings in my life — and with my Twitter feed plugged into Facebook, anyone who follows me on either of those services has a pretty good idea of what I’m up to these days.

Anyway, in the meantime, before I finally try to get around to putting up some of those posts, I’ve been playing around with Opentape, which is an open source version of Muxtape — a cool online “mixtape” app that was taken down by the RIAA. It took me all of about 2 minutes (and a couple tips from Dennis) to get it set up here on masnick.com. So, anyway, I wanted to test out the embed feature.

Dennis and I recently caught Vic Ruggiero playing a (free!) solo show in San Francisco, and it was absolutely fantastic. It’s been more than 15 years since I saw first Vic perform with the Slackers (at Wetlands), and I still catch the Slackers when they’re in town, but his solo stuff, which is quite different from the Slackers stuff, still blows me away as well. This is only the second time I’ve seen “solo Vic.” So, here’s a neat little playlist of Vic Ruggiero songs. The RIAA shouldn’t sue me to take it down since he’s not an RIAA artist — and hopefully Vic himself won’t sue me either. :) Go out and buy some Vic stuff.