definition:Buzzardo

Wow. It has been a while. So I find myself nearly as far away from home as is possible without some serious solid fuel and Twinkies. In my first venture off from American soil [sorry Canada, you don't count], I land in Shanghai, China to meet with current and potential vendors for my job. I am officially here on business, but find it impossible to contain my thoughts strictly to the tasks which I have come to complete. I have never been a foreigner, but have casually thought of those visitors to America as such without giving much thought to how difficult it is to accomplish simple tasks like using a toilet.

In the past two weeks, I have seen, heard, smelled, thought, felt, and eaten some things that might be considered strange, to put it mildly. I am actually surprised to be posting from a Holiday Inn Express in Changshu, because most of the internet connectivity is basic, and does not allow for certain administrative activity. Among the trials and tribulations endured to this point in time were a fourteen hour flight, surviving in smog which limits the visibility to 1/4 mile, and spending 18 hours in a poorly ventilated, non-climate controlled plastic injection molding factory with lighting so poor that my Surfire was used as primary lighting most of the night.

We have one week left, and need to see two more tools run. With any luck we will have blades for the wind turbine before we leave, or at least a definition of the process needed to fabricate them. Wish us luck!

So.

I’ve been a closet singer for quite some time.
At this Christmas mass, I sang as best I could, then something unexpected happened. The choir came from the loft onto the Alter for the Hallelujah chorus. As they prepared, the priest announced that anyone who would like to sing with the choir should come foreward. My heart pounded as I collected my nerve, and, in my cargo pants and ski coat, sporting a head of gnarly hair, I walked toward the Alter from the back of the church. I was one of only two people from the whole church to attempt and sing, the other being a local news anchorman.

He has a wonderful voice.

As fate would have it, a winter storm pushed through Chicago’s O’Hare airport, sometime prior to me attempting to board a flight in Rochester, NY. Upon arrival to the airport, I was informed that our plane would be arriving later than anticipated, but at that time was still coming to greet us in time for passengers to make their connections through Washington Dulles airport. While waiting, I took some time and attempted to get work done, but a reluctant and slow internet connection prevented any substantial work from happening. I packed up my work related attire and grabbed a bite to eat. Most times in airports, I have experienced vastly inflated prices for most normal food; luckily, Subway’s $5 foot-long deal was still on.
I just realized that I left a partially consumed bottle of water somewhere in the airport after mentally remarking that some other soul had done the same thing.
I became quietly contemplative, allowing my eyes to relax and blur. A young man sat across from me as I began to fiddle with my relatively new camera.

I then inserted earplugs to disconnect from my surroundings, and continued learning about the settings on the Kodak Z885 camera.

At this point, I looked up to find a Rochester departure time of 5:25pm, which was nearly the same time I was to be departing from Washington Dulles. Because I had the earplugs in, I probably laughed a little louder than I should have, and those around me raised their heads to see what the joke was. Promptly, a man came over the P.A. system to confirm that our plane had not even left Chicago yet, and we were delayed until further notice.

I removed my earplugs and solemnly packed my camera away, trying to think of what to do. I knew I was not stranded, but yet, I felt forgotten. Not by my friends and family, but by the world herself as she tended to other, more pressing matters. I called my brother in San Antonio, whom I was supposed to be meeting this Christmas Eve. I already knew what was to happen, but still went to the ticketing agent to see if any flights were available this evening. He informed me that the earliest he could get me out was 7:30am, December 25th.

So, I took the tickets, and with a smile, wished the ticket agent a Merry Christmas.

Luckily for me, I have wonderful friends who would make accommodations for me, even on Christmas Eve. The evening has been calmly passing, with the melancholy thoughts of holiday gatherings and celebrations past trickling through my mind. I felt the opportunity to capture the joy of cooking, music, and conversation around the fireplace at the home of my dear friends David and Kelly.

The warm welcome and merriment has, for now, calmed my desire to be home, yet the day has left me pining for a certain feeling of holiday seasons past. Dear friends and family, know that my thoughts and love will be with you, no matter how far away we might be.

Merry Christmas
Jason

During this past summer, my internship at Optiwind afforded many cool opportunities. One of these adventurous outings landed a small group of us interns at a quaint little set of climbing rocks just outside of Waterbury, Connecticut. These faces are not particularly technical to climb, but do have a cozy charm that is most apparent during sunset.

insert picture
insert picture
insert picture

I can’t upload pictures right now. I’ll do it later.

A vewpoint provided by NBC on a particular wind turbine in Connecticut. If you have an opinion, leave feedback on the NBC site under the video!

Goshen residents oppose wind energy

I have found myself doing much traveling in the past six months for various reasons. I have noticed that some states really like each other, and some wish to be as far away from others as is possible. For example, when driving South on route 8 in Massachusetts, you will eventually come into one of the nation’s smaller states, Connecticut. The welcome sign for Connecticut while heading South, and, for Massachusetts heading North lie in the same general vicinity. This makes some sense, because this state line on this particular road is in the middle of nowhere [regardless, there is a distinct and substantial discontinuity between the road surfaces]. It seems that Connecticut and Massachusetts have a good relationship and will be caressing each other for many years to come.

The New York to Massachusetts border, however, is a different relationship altogether. Seems Massachusetts wanted all of the land up to the Hudson River, but New York was unwilling to compromise. In light of this, government officials have decided that there would have to be some shared land between the two, fearing dogs & cats living together, and general social unrest leading to a new civil war. This demilitarized zone is substantial, measuring over one mile in width. When I travel, I have no idea what state I am in when in this zone. I think I can probably speed comfortably through this area, because no police are allowed to cross into neutral territory. I really feel for the truck stops and gas stations in this emaciated area, for how could they ever get their mail?

I don’t like to pass blame on any one entity for this asynchronous land, but if I had to, I think two groups are highly suspect:

New York Yankees
Boston Red Sox

The following rants will not be categorized by date. For the few readers who periodically visit buzzardo.com perhaps anxiously awaiting some prophetic song about love, hate, or indifference…

…you might be waiting a bit longer.

Farting is funny.

Especially when you fart with an accent.

Click here to watch!

or, just go to ebaumsworld.com

Go, economics. One of the pure joys in my life is being able to listen to well-recorded, high fidelity music. Weather through headphones, or on a carefully selected component system, there is nothing that beats the sound of a great recording. Unfortunately, this has been gradually changing for the past 15 years.

This past summer, I met an audio-enthusiest who has been noticing sometheing peculiar while listening to music.  He observed that some music was fatiguing to listen to, while other music was not.  He also noticed that this did not seem to be related to the overall volume at which he listened to the music.  Originally, I thought that this fatigue was caused by peaky, unnatural response in the audio playback system.  It seems, however, that the recording industry may have much more to do with this modern phenomenon than many audiophiles could have imagined.

Apparently, due to the prolific use of mp3’s, and other compressive storage devices, record lables seem to be responding by actually requesting that audio engineers limit the fidelity of more and more recordings. They are doing this by compressing the data stored on the recording, and by limiting the dynamic range of the recording.  This, in turn, causes the music to sound louder and  more foreward; it decidedly worsens the sound quality.  Read all about it here [if you can stomach it].

This seems like a great idea - if, like many, you listen to all of your music on a crappy system, ipod, or download all your music from the internet. A great idea - if you listen to music while exercising, while programming, or if the music is a background filler. A great idea, if you stand to profit from jamming more data into less space.  However, if you appreciate the ability to relax with a glass of Sandeman’s Port wine, and listen to some great music on a great system, you may be greatly dissapointed.

So, what will happen?

Will more an more people become dissatisfied with listening to crap, and will the artists get tired of their recordings sounding like crap?  Or does cheap, easy music that whores the industry out to a modern trend in electronics make crappy, ineffectual recordings acceptable?

Hat tip: Oliver, Ben

originators: Barry , Dave

How to be Famous without Killing People at a Mall

Are you a teen looking for a purpose? Depressed and think you have it bad? Well here are a few things you can do in your community to put things back into perspective:

1) Smile and say hello to everyone you meet.
2) Become a volunteer (thousands of places to choose from).
3) Give what you can to those in need.
4) Help a child read.
5) Shovel a driveway for a senior (and expect nothing in return)
6) Help a teen get off of drugs.
7) Feed the hungry
Donate Blood
9) Go shopping for the elderly
10) Visit a sick child

You will become famous in your community for helping others.

Add 10 more things to this list without repeating and post this on your blog!
Add your blog below mine:

Started by bjorlando.blogspot.com

From daverea.com:

11) Try inventing - create something for someone else
12) Try art - create something for yourself that others like
13) Pick up a camera and shoot with that, instead
14) Spend some time as a bell-ringer (tis the season!)
15) Try to break a record - maybe in competitive eating?
16) No, seriously, try - the Guiness book has lots to choose from
17) Extreme sports: People you don’t even know will cheer for you!
18) Build something. (Playgrounds are a good start.)
19) Write a book.
20) Start a blog. (If I can do it you can!)

Additions by buzzardo.com:

21: Sit in a different seat every day [classes, lunchroom, etc.]. You will make new friends.
22: Dispose of litter that you run across.
23: Be a friend to someone who is lonely.
24: Write a friendly letter and send it to someone in your nieghborhood you don’t know.
25: Be honest to everyone, all the time…especially yourself!
26: Walk places when you can - talk to the people you see.
27: Start a club - biking, reading, movie, study, etc.
28: Do something that you love publicly [sing, dance, read]; it will inspire others!
29: Carry out a fundraiser for a worthy cause.
30: Don’t just talk a good game, back it up with positive action. 

Time to add your own! Please keep the links above if possible, and use the trackback if you feel like it.