Sara surprised me on Valentine’s day with tickets to the Minneapolis stop of the Hotel Cafe Tour (to happen later, Monday March 31st). The concert was downtown at the Fine Line Music Cafe. Since it was general admission, we arrived when doors opened and secured a spot about 10 feet in front of the stage. We were most excited for Ingrid Michaelson (recent album: Boys and Girls) and Dan Wilson (recent album: Free Life), but were pleasantly surprised by the rest of the lineup as well: Cary Brothers, Joshua Radin, and Meiko. The concert was “untraditional” in that each performer would sing a few songs, then leave the stage, to be replaced by another performer in the lineup. Each artist would cycle through a couple times, and mix it up by backing each other up (for example Ingrid would sing backup for Dan). There was an emcee that announced each performer, and even played (with 2 others as well) as a support musician. The emcee had a great personality and lots of enthusiasm. The music was excellent, and all the artists were personable and friendly. Some of my favorite moments were Ingrid’s cover of Creep by Radiohead, and Dan Wilson’s performance of Closing Time from his previous band Semisonic. My pictures from the show are here.
For my birthday, Sara took me to dinner at Cafe Ena in Minneapolis. Dinner was excellent and we recommend the restaurant.
The following topics were presented at the January 2008 Ruby Users of Minnesota meeting:
- Justin Grammens from Localtone Radio presented on integrating Voice Over IP (VoIP) with Ruby on Rails. He demonstrated the Telegraph Rails plugin with a local installation of the open-source PBX software Asterisk. He also demonstrated Adhearsion. Justin set up demo Rails applications that took text data in, and read text back via text-to-speech functionality, examples were done live with regular mobile phones calling his PBX.
- Luke Francl from Slantwise Design led a panel discussion of working on a team that does Rails development. One challenge they discussed was developers contending for numbers when creating migrations. Rails team sizes and project durations also tend to be small, aspects that affect available jobs differently, compared with enterprise Java or .NET applications, for example.
- Slava Pestov introduced the Factor programming language, a “general purpose, dynamically typed, stack-based programming language.” He also demonstrated the Factor IDE, many Factor language concepts and terms, and a couple sample applications.
Overheard (topics to research): Hudson continuous integration tool, written in Java. FasterCSV, a replacement library for Ruby’s standard CSV library. The computing concept of Continuations and how they are implemented in various languages.
August seemed to go by very quickly, due in part to more rainy weather than usual, which meant less time outdoors enjoying summer. Sara completed two summer medical school programs in CA and PA, and returned the first weekend of the month. I had a housewarming party on the first weekend and that turned out well. The next weekend a neighbor had a party in the building on a Saturday evening as well, where I met a few more neighbors. During the day on that Saturday, Sara and I attended part of the 2007 Pizza Luce block party at their Uptown location, where Heatbox and other local artists performed.
The third weekend brought family visits: cousins from WI and Washington D.C. respectively. The second day was rainy when my family was visiting, so we went to the Walker Art Museum for the traveling Picasso art exhibit, then to the Midtown Global Market to check it out. During the week that followed this visit, Sara and I prepared for our road trip down to Alpine Valley to see the unification of Rage Against the Machine for an amazing outdoor concert. In the final week of August, I had some more family visiting from St. Louis this time, on their way to WI, so Sara and I gave them a brief Minneapolis driving tour and had lunch with them. The final days of summer spent at the State Fair, where the highlight was meeting and getting an autograph from local weatherman Paul Douglas, who for some reason has always charmed Sara. More quickie highlights: 12-13 foot tall plastic dancing and singing robot, turkey pita, footlong hot dog, sweet corn and Sweet Martha’s. Next was helping Sara move to a new neighborhood and apartment in St. Paul. We spent Labor Day weekend (perfect weather) hiking at Minnehaha park, grilling hot dogs/pork chops/corn on the cob for a couple lunches, and soaking up a little sun on the North beach at Lake Calhoun.
Sara invited me to a special screening of “Canvas,” an independent film being released in October that portrays the hardships of a person with a mental illness and how it impacts the family and community. The film is the first for writer and director Joe Greco, and deeply personal as the script was largely based on his youth. The University of Minnesota Medical school Psychiatry interest group was able to fly Joe in from California to be at a reception before the movie (on campus), then appear at the Oak Street Cinema for Q&A following the film.
The audience was mostly medical students by intent, but the general public was welcome, and attended, along with members that support the Oak Street Cinema. Several medical doctors spoke along with Joe, sharing their experiences in treating and researching mental illness, specifically schizophrenia. Joe shared more information on his background and the background of the movie. He said the movie cost just $1 million, compared with a related movie “A Beautiful Mind” that cost $100 million (and had many millions more available for advertising), but was all raised by himself over a period of 10 years! The film was shot in just three weeks in Joe’s hometown of Hollywood, Florida.
The film is essentially a must-see because it is produced and written well, the acting is done well, but primarily because it sheds light on a topic that is still stigmatized (mental illness), and gives viewers insight as to what coping with mental illness is like for the victim and the family. Hopefully viewers are left with thoughts on how important it is to help people that suffer from mental disorders, and treat them the same as physical disorders.
Joe was a very personable guy, and we were even able to talk with him before the movie about unrelated stuff, such as his recently purchased iPhone, and how he is a huge Mac fan (geek points!). I’m a fan of Joe Pantoliano’s work, and in this movie he delivered another great performance, as did Marcia Gay Harden and Devon Gearhart. Go see Canvas when it is released this fall, then tell your friends about it.
The bad: 2.5 hours from Fort Atkinson, WI to find Alpine Valley instead of 45 minutes (stayed at a crappy Super 8 hotel, terrible directions once off I-43), pouring rain for most of the afternoon leading up to the concert, one hour in stop-and-go traffic to get into the parking lot, parked in the mud with the drunken party people, car and clothes full of mud, walked in the rain about .5 mile from Green parking lot, got nailed by flying mud from people throwing it from the elevated lawn “seats” down to the pavilion (Sara got hit in the back of the head, not good), $8 beer, 2 hours to get back to the hotel after the concert (totally lost, got directions at a hotel near Burlington) driving with low visibility due to mist/rain, and very expensive tickets. Video from pre-concert mud sliding!
The good: absolutely, positively, the best concert I’ve ever been to, and probably will ever go to! It was concert euphoria, I couldn’t think of anything else I wanted from a performance by one of the favorite groups. People posted lots of video on YouTube from the show. This particular video of Testify (opening song) or this one of Killing in the Name captures some of the energy (crank this on your stereo, head banging is also required).
We moved from our already good pavilion seats to ones lower and better, where we had space on either side to jump around and rock out. Queens of the Stone Age opened on the dot at 8PM. I know and like two of their songs and was excited for more, but was underwhelmed by their performance and thought the lead singer was difficult to understand (due to bad audio). Queens didn’t really motivate the crowd to jump around, maybe they were too excited for Rage to take the stage like everyone else. There was about an hour between the performances, plenty of time for Alpine Valley to fill to its 35,000 person capacity. Rage opened with Testify and it was 100% energy for the entire show. There was a 2-3 minute speech from Zach towards the end of the show (during “Wake Up”), but we couldn’t really discern what he was saying. There was a short break before the encore where Rage played 2-3 more songs. The concert as a whole was at a maximum energy level, with tons of crowd participation (singing, mosh pit, body surfing). Super hits like Guerrilla Radio and Bulls on Parade were incredibly energetic and infectious, truly a once-in-a-lifetime performance, worth every penny, and worth all the bad stuff (which is completely overshadowed in hindsight).
Sara and I are driving down to Alpine Valley (Wisconsin venue) where the recently-reunited Rage Against the Machine will be performing, one of only four shows nationally (the “Rock the Bells” tour), and the only show in the Midwest. Ticket prices were twice what I expected, but seeing as this will be about 5 times better than any concert I’ve been to, it’s a bargain! Queens of the Stone Age will be opening. To raise excitement levels (even higher), we’re reviewing lyrics, watching YouTube music videos, and re-watching a couple Rage DVDs (Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium, The Battle of Mexico City) tonight. Top it all off with 7 hours of RATM on the car stereo during the ride down tomorrow, and my excitement level will be at a fever pitch.
As a condition of the financing program I selected for my home purchase, I was required to attend a “Home Stretch” seminar. Home Stretch is a first-time home buyer seminar that covers the entire process of buying a home. I attended the 10-hour seminar (over 2 days) just days before my closing, so I was expecting to be bored listening to things I’d already learned, but just the opposite happened. I attended the Minneapolis course led by Housing Consultant John Trostle, and I can wholeheartedly recommend the program to any home buyer, first-time or experienced, to pick up some great tips. Not only did we covered the entire home buying process, John (being a home inspector) advised us on many things to watch out for, like lead-based paint, moisture behind stucco, and various building codes for Minneapolis and St. Paul. John also spent a lot of time on other related aspects like personal financial management, getting to know neighbors and community, and improvements/maintenance we’ll want to plan for. John has a great sense of humor and really made the course enjoyable.
Sara was between trips for medical school in California, and Pittsburgh, Pensylvania, spending just one day with me in Minneapolis. The next weekend was the wedding of Stephanie and Brett, a nice service in Shoreview, followed by a great reception at the Lake Como area in Roseville. The groom’s parents were teachers at my elementary school and high school, so many of their friends were invited by the groom (who I went to school with K-12), and I was able to catch up on 5-10 years of history with most of them.
The next weekend Ruth visited to check out my new home. We started off the morning at the Midtown Farmer’s Market, about one block away, picking up some vegetables and raspberries. For lunch (and people watching) we went to the Midtown Global Market and caught the last few minutes of some free salsa dancing lessons. We had lunch at a Mexican seafood restaurant (mariscos) called La Sirena Gorda. My shrimp dish tasted great and reminded me of dishes Sara and I had in Mazatlan. Parking is free on weekends and evenings for up to three hours at the Global Market, in the convenient attached parking ramp. There was also a solo guitar performance and cooking lessons taking place on that particular Saturday. Most of the evening was spent picking out some items at Ikea.
June was filled with final tasks leading up to the settlement of my new home. Early in the month we spent a weekend with Sara’s brother, seeing comedians for a Saturday night show at Acme Comedy Club in Minneapolis. A group of coworkers got together for some dual-Xbox 360 gaming the next weekend, where Matt successfully hooked up two 360s with two copies of Call of Duty 3, on two televisions. We held our fourth tech group meeting, topics included Ruby on Rails introduction and Google Mapplets/Street View. The next weekend I eagerly awaited Ticketmaster sales of a recently announced Rage Against The Machine reunion concert at the Alpine Valley venue in Wisconsin, scheduled for August. As expected, tickets were expensive and hard to get, so I went to eBay for two tickets in the center of the reserved seating area (and spent way more money). Sara prepared for her final examinations to finish her first year of medical school. Congratulations to Sara on this major milestone. The next couple of weekends I spent time packing up and trimming down my personal property to move to my new place. On the Friday evening after Sara’s last exam, some friends of hers threw a barbecue deck party at their home in Northeast Minneapolis, where we attended along with about 40 other classmates, significant others, and friends. Finally my closing date arrived, and things went well in general. Sara and I picked up the rental moving truck, loaded up my personal items in Hugo, and drove South back to Minneapolis. A couple friends helped Sara and I move items into my new condo from the truck. The next few days we spent unpacking, purchasing new items from Ikea, and decorating my bathroom, working late into the night for several nights in a row.
Friday we attended a speech and political rally by presidential candidate Barack Obama, at the International Market Square in Minneapolis (a great mixed-used building with residential lofts). We arrived shortly after 5PM, however Barack didn’t begin speaking to the packed house until nearly 7PM. Barack’s portion of the 20-30 minute presentation was about 15 minutes, and unfortunately due to just two undersized speakers, was somewhat inaudible from our vantage, although his personality and skill as a public speaker were impressive as I had been expecting. I enjoyed getting excited about political issues, seeing Barack in person, and observing the large crowd of supporters and Barack’s reactions to them. Following the rally we had dinner at Uptown Diner with some of Sara’s friends from school and her brother. Sara departed the next day for California, where she will be participating in a week-long education/internship program through her medical school at the Betty Ford Center. The remainder of my weekend was spent in Alexandria, Minnesota at a Lake Victoria cabin for a bachelor party. Highlights included: passing time on the dock because the boat was broken, (later in the night) shots of Jagermeister with live minnows in them (a disgusting/disturbing local tradition that I participated in), Go-Karts at a local recreation park, and dancing at Bug-A-Boo Bay, the best nightlife spot in Alexandria.