nerdle

Happy Halloween!

admin — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 17:49:49 +0000

Where am I?

casey — Mon, 19 May 2008 03:00:00 +0000

I haven’t been around these parts for a while (although I hope to be back soon) so I thought that I’d leave a couple up-to-date breadcrumbs for people:

Ravelry - I’m on Ravelry a lot, since it is my job and all. I can usually be found in the “For the Love of Ravelry” board where all of the meta chatter goes.
Unraveled - I post to the Ravelry blog a couple times a month. Hopefully some of it is interesting to non-Ravelers
Code Monkey Island - yep. More Ravelry. This is my tech blog. I’m still not sure who my audience is but this is where my software and architecture related thoughts end up.
del.icio.us/casey - my bookmark pile increases daily.
Jess’ Flickr stream - our life in pictures.
twitter.com/caseyf, but not really. I send inane tweets out fairly regularly for no particular reason.
upcoming.org - for expressing my interest in shows and other events

Things that have fallen by the wayside: 43 Things, this blog, cameraphone posting, Amazon wish list (my unread book pile is too large), Last.fm.

Boston Indie Film Fest 2008

casey — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:19:00 +0000

The IFF starts today! As usual, the festival is happening at the Somervile, Brattle, and Coolidge Corner theatres.

Check out the complete film list.
Sadly, Ravelry ate my life and I didn’t have time to put together a little site like I did last year,
so you’ll have to Google and IMDB and YouTube on your own…

Sometimes the description is all you need to make your decision. For example: “Blood Car:
When the price of gasoline becomes too steep, mild-mannered vegan Archie Andrews discovers a gory replacement for petrol.”
…or maybe “Song Sung Blue
Captures the unexpected victories and tragedies beset upon Milwaukee’s favorite Neil Diamond and Patsy Cline tribute band, ‘Lightning and Thunder’.”

Brrr!

casey — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:24:00 +0000

Boston, MA - March 9th

It is FAR too cold for Vespa riding.

Jess, you were right. Thanks for being a good sport and not punching me in the back much.

We’ll try again in May.

What, no blogging?

casey — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 11:36:00 +0000

Things have been quiet over here at nerdle lately, but I have been blogging regularly in a couple other places:

unraveled - I post about Ravelry.com related stuff a few times a month
code monkey island - a newish blog where I dump my computery thoughts. Hopefully of interest to the geeky crowd.

..and I’ll continue to write here. I’ll will be nice to keep the work and technical stuff on those other blogs.

We thought that it would never end….

casey — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:04:00 +0000

Jess and I just finished packing, labeling, and shipping the 3200 Ravelry T-Shirts that we sold in Sept. and Oct.
Oh my god. We are never doing that again.

(Don’t ask about Cafe Press - 1. I’m an ornery bastard, 2. we preferred to support a small printing business, 3. we were particular about our merchandise and 4. they charge a lot)
Next time I’ll look into the Shopify + Shipwire combo.

We’ve been working on Ravelry full time since June-ish and many folks from the press have asked us what our biggest challenges, obstacles, mistakes etc were.
We didn’t have a good answer until now. Seriously, this shirt thing was ridiculous.

Oh - and for Bostonites - here is a little something that I learned. Did you know that there is a 24 hour post office at South Station?
They even let us back up to the loading dock on the rare nights that we arrived before 8 PM.

Boston: Axis and Avalon are closing….

casey — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 04:39:00 +0000

Damn, I had no idea that these 2 clubs were shutting the doors for a big time remodeling.
Dropkick Murphys (with the Horrorpops and Everybody Out) are playing at Avalon’s last night - I would have liked to send the place off with some sweat and some beer
but I was too slow and scalpers got the only remaining tickets.

I hope that the new place is cool - “35,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art live music facility” sounds kinda ominous to me - I won’t hold my breath.

See you all at the Middle East and the Paradise.

Will there be cake?

casey — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 07:55:00 +0000

I like to decorate birthday cakes. They are still a little sloppy (the one below is a guinea pig, if you couldn’t tell), but I get better each year. I hope to be a baddass cake man by the time that we have kids that are old enough to
understand that it is their birthday. I just put some of my photos up on Flickr for all you cake voyeurs out there…

Nine

casey — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 02:43:00 +0000

This song could very well be all over MTV and the radio - I have no idea. I’m a hermit these days - I spend all my free time working on
Ravelry! Anyway - here it is: Speaker - by David Banner with Snoop, Akon, Lil Wayne. This is the clean version - the durty version is on YouTube.

Whoa - I was checking out the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim site ’cause David Banner has a cartoon about Mississippi
and it looks like there is a Drinky Crow show? Nice!

Random enough for you? Gotta break the silence somehow.

There can never be enough new music

casey — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 07:02:00 +0000

Gogol Bodello has a new album - it’s fun and energetic as expected. Side One Dummy has
a stupid flash player with 2 free tracks.
Edit: If you are in DC, Philly, NYC, Detroit, Chicago - GO TO THE SHOW. It’s fun.

Tim Armstrong has a new album out. It’s pretty good. here is a track. There are more at Epitaph.

There is a new one from Tiger Army. Try listening to Afterworld. More info at HellCat.

Hell, I might as well admit that I was looking forward to Reggae Gold 2007. That’s out too. Don’t laugh.

What are you listening to this summer?

Words

casey — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 04:31:00 +0000

Words that I love to hear when they are said with a thick Boston accent: “Martha”, “heart”.
3 cool word sites: Wordie, Online Etymology Dictionary, OneLook search.
What do you read, my lord? Words
I’m the lyrical gangsta (word’em up)

The first point was all I really wanted to say. The rest is fluff because you can’t write a one line blog post.

Ravelry Sneak Peek!

casey — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 10:27:00 +0000

I just put up a *ton* of screenshots of Ravelry. For all of you who have been wondering what Jess and I have been
working on for the past few months…

http://www.ravelry.com/tour/peek

Enjoy!

Ravelry News

casey — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 07:30:00 +0000

I don’t know how many of my readers are waiting to get in to Ravelry (if any)…
If you are, please read this letter that I just posted.
It’s also linked to our front page at ravelry.com.

I have a really big pile of unread comics

casey — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 03:03:00 +0000

Oh my god. How did this happen?

What a nice day!

casey — Thu, 31 May 2007 04:13:00 +0000

Today gets the prize for the this year’s most enjoyable Vespa ride home from work (so far).
On my way home from work, I scoot along Memorial Drive from Harvard Square to Charlestown.
It’s probably not the most direct route but it’s a lot of fun - people are out sunning and jogging,
the river is filled with sailboats, and with a good tailwind I can get up to 40 MPH (don’t laugh!)
..and it’s just pretty.

(Man, I *really* couldn’t find a nice picture on Flickr! I did find my favorite corner - zooom! I wish my scooter went faster)

I hope that August never comes.

Ravelry

casey — Wed, 02 May 2007 20:18:00 +0000

The secret is out! For the last few months, Jess and I have been busy building a really cool (in my humble opinion site
for knitters and crocheters. We aren’t open to the public yet, but we are sending out plenty of beta tester invitations.

Ravelry’s current front page includes a sneak peek and an invitation request form.
Also, Rachel from licketyknit wrote up cool post and included a coupla screenshots.

I *really* want to write a proper post about all of this but there is SO MUCH that I want to say.

The tubes are clogged

casey — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 07:14:00 +0000

Hey all Comcast customers in the Northeast - it’s not just you:
something is not quite right.
Flickr is among the afflicted.

Poor, soaked NH

casey — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 18:22:00 +0000

New Hampshire is not having a good day.

This photo of my grandparent’s home was taken this morning. My grandparents are safe and dry but the first floor of their house did not fare so well.
Grampy’s workshop is downstairs and I was very saddened to hear that the last few antique radios from his once grand collection are now underwater.
Sigh. Damn you, nature.

Dear Lazyweb

casey — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 06:26:00 +0000

Dear Lazyweb,

Does anybody know of a good/cheap scooter or motorcycle mechanic in the Boston area? I have a Vespa ET2 that
needs a little attention. My engine is sounding less zoom-zoom and more putt-putt these days.
It’s almost springtime here in New England, which means that it is time for me to be working in the yard.
I’d like to turn the patchy mossy lawn that is behind my house into a real backyard and I want to do it quickly. I have no idea where to begin but I have a plan anyway.
I figure that I can rototill the whole thing and slap down some sod which may or may not actually survive. Does anybody have experience with greenery?
Am I asking for a headache?
I’ve been so busy with my Secret Project that I haven’t had the time to dig for new music. What are you guys listening to lately?
Send me album names and last.fm usernames!
Does anyone know of any sites where I can get cool stickers? I don’t see anything new and interesting at places that I’ve used in the past
(Interpunk, Diesel Sweeties and Dark Horse).
I’ve fucked up my Macbook’s palm rest and I want to cover it up….

Arnold Drake

casey — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 01:28:00 +0000

Matt Fraction has been carefully selecting and arranging Drake-era Doom Patrol panels
and uncovering the lessons within. This is really great - thanks Matt!

2 Boston quickies

casey — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 09:27:00 +0000

First - the Boston
Independent Film Festival is coming soon! This is an awesome event - anyone out there who is in the area should make sure to try a few
films. Every year I put a lot of time into looking up everything that is on the schedule and trying to persuade my friends to go. This time around I put a little
site together as a public service. It’s got the summaries, posters, trailers, ratings, and more - check it out at iff2007.com.

Next, it’s been a while since I posted some MP3s. Boston boys Smoke or Fire came out with a new album on
Fat Wreck Chords - here’s a track called Melatonin.

Japan Nite at TT’s in Cambridge

casey — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 03:23:00 +0000

Sounds like fun! (tomorrow night)

Boston Restaurant Week

casey — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 19:14:00 +0000

It’s restaurant week in Boston! This week many of the city’s fine restaurants will be serving reasonably priced prix fixe lunches and dinners.
There are soo many good places to choose from. At the moment, I’m thinking about Pierrot (mm.. real french bread), Taranta (mmm.. Peruvian/Italian fusion)
and Oleana (yeah right, they’ve *got* to be booked up by mow).

Vacation time is reading time

casey — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 06:28:00 +0000

Jess and I just got back from a week in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. I like
tropical beach vacations because I get to relax and catch up on my reading.
Here are some half ass reviews of the books that I read this time (yes, I spent much of the vacation sitting in a beach chair).
I know that a few of you people have been looking for something new for your bedside table.

Low Life

by Luc Sante

Low Life is a dense, fiercely researched history of 1840-1920 Manhattan. Sante should be proud
of the facts and mythology that he has collected in this volume.

I’ve became interested in city life during the 1800s after I read The Alienist (a long time ago) and I finally got around to picking this up.
I didn’t enjoy all sections equally, but I’m glad that I read it.

Recommended to anyone with an interest in history or New York City. Don’t miss the author’s afterword.

Fragile Things

by Neil Gaiman

I’m always excited when some new Neil Gaiman shit comes out. This collection of short stories didn’t disappoint.

Favorite bits: the American Gods novella, Other People, Bitter Grounds, a Study in Emerald…

Recommended to all!

PS - read the author’s notes about each story as you complete them. You’ll be glad you did.

The Areas of my Expertise

by John Hodgman

(you know, the Daily Show commentator and “PC guy” in the Apple commercials)

Very silly. Fun at times, but I don’t think that I’d recommend it.
Although the hobo names did mix well with all the colorfully named characters in Low Life

Lunar Park

by Bret Easton Ellis

I hadn’t read any Ellis before and I probably should have read “American Psycho” first.
(It’s not a sequel, it’s a novel starring the author. Yeah.)
For some reason, I feel guilty admitting that I liked this

Shitty cover.

Recommended. Try it if you like vodka.

Kingdom of Fear

by Hunter S. Thompson

Where would we be without tenacious bastards like the late Dr. Thompson?
Somebody needs to keep a weird and semi-deranged eye on the cops and the president.

Watch “Where the Buffalo Roam” or “Fear and Loathing” first so that your mind’s voice will have the
proper stumble/mumble gait.

Try it if you like Hunter!

Altered Carbon

by Richard Morgan

Fun, action-packed cyber sci-fi. Terrible fucking cover. Terrible title too.
Like an action movie - fast paced, story over writing, mild cliches. I’d read the next in the series.

A Werewolf Problem in Central Russia

by Victor Pelevin

I loved some of the stories and barely made it through others. It probably doesn’t help
that I’m ignorant of all things Russian. Much like Buddha’s Little Finger, I think
that thoughts and parts of stories will stick with me (a good thing).

Try Buddha’s Little Finger first.
It’s good.

Shuck Unmasked

by Rick Smith, Tania Menesse

Funny, cute, clever but not my cup o tea.

Sandman (book 1)

by Neil Gaiman

Really - I hadn’t read it yet. No joke.

I liked it, of course, but I have a feeling that the best issues are still out there in one of the
other million volumes.

The Mac Side

casey — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 02:36:00 +0000

Max just joined the club. Everybody say “Hello, Max!”.
I sent him my list of essential Mac apps:

Growl :
SO ESSENTIAL! Unobtrusive status messages, Supported by many apps. See screenshots.
iTerm :
Tabbed terminal. Woohoo!
Textmate :
Awesome text editor for all languages. Costs $$.
Gimp.app :
You know.
Adium X :
Great IM client
Boot Camp or Parallels :
Dual boot or awesome virtual machine software?
Handbrake :
Rip DVDs
Quicksilver :
It’s a cult. Start here: http://www.43folders.com/category/quicksilver
Fink :
I tend to just ./configure ; make ; make install instead.
Transmission :
No frills Bittorrent