Getting ready to go to Congress 2006

I'm just putting the finishing touches on my paper for the Canadian University Music Society conference at York University next week, part of the big and mysterious Congress 2006 put up by SSHRC. I'm presenting on Tuesday morning. My paper is about Morrissey and his enigmatic character, and the song "Don't Make Fun of Daddy's Voice." Right now the paper is a bit too long, but I'll cut it down tonight.

I'm hoping that, at some point, between the conference and visiting my family in Hamilton, we'll be able to go to the Apple Store in Toronto (Eaton Centre, I guess). We're planning to go, but when things get busy, you never know what plan might have to be scrapped. I've only visited one Apple store in my life, the New York SoHo location, and I enjoyed it. I even bought stuff - a wired Apple keyboard and mouse. I would like to see the replacement for the iBook, the Macbook. Best Buy here in Montreal doesn't have any of them yet.

We saw "The DaVinci Code" last night. I'm not sure what the Church is so afraid of with this thing. It's pretty much a snooze-fest. It's not the worst movie I've seen (I liked Audrey Tautou's character) but it's about as good as the book. The book was more exciting.

Got my headset, plus another joke

I picked up a CyberAcoustics AC-840 usb headset and it seems to work fine with Skype. I called my parents and Anto called hers, and they can hear us fine, so now it's time to cancel our long distance plan for now.

I have a quick joke for you, dear reader. I read it on some joke site for cancer victims, and it states that it is a bit distasteful, but I think it's funny.

A doctor calls his patient and says, "I have some bad news for you. You have terminal cancer." The patient replies, "Oh. That's terrible." The doctor says, "Well, you also have alzheimer's." The patient replies, "Well, at least I won't die of cancer."

Get it?

usb headset or microphone?

I'm looking to take advantage of Skype and free calls to land lines until the end of the year, but my mini has no audio input or microphone, so I have to find a usb microphone or headset. I notice that Best Buy sells inexpensive headsets for the PS2 that are USB, but I'm not sure if they would work with a Macintosh. They also sell cheap bluetooth headsets (the logitech express is the one I was looking at) but I'm not sure if that's any good either. Anyway, if you have any suggestions, leave me a message. Thanks.

Oh, and happy birthday to Antonella on the 17th, and Julia and Carrie around this time too. And Happy Victoria Day (or Jour des Dollards or whatever it's called in Quebec).

Macbooks are here!

So Apple released new MacBooks today, to replace the iBook. They look very nice except for the glossy screen, which I'm not sure I like. As some others have said, my failing eyes might not be able to take all the glare that might accompany a glossy screen. Otherwise, they're beautiful laptops and I wouldn't mind picking one up.

I'm working through my fifth and last chapter of my dissertation, but I need to go through the whole thing again, taking into account my supervisor's comments on the first three sections of the paper. I also need to revise my conclusions, and, since I'm presenting at a conference in 2 weeks, I need to write something new. If I want to include this new material, I might need to change the order of my chapters. This isn't that big of a deal, but I'm used to the order as it is and I'm afraid to change it.

I guess that's what happens, though. I wish someone would have told me that this process is difficult before I started.

No Macbooks and another joke ...

From Mr. Kotter:

My Uncle Herman used to always fight with my Aunt Eunice, and she used to tell people, "I'm going to be dancing on his grave when he goes! I'm going to be dancing on his grave!" When Uncle Herman heard about this, he said, "I'm going to be buried at sea. Let her dance."

ooo-hoo hoo ha ha. That Gabe Kotter really is funny.

As for MacBooks, the rumour sites say they'll come out next week. This kind of rumour could go on forever.

(Click on my links)

new macbooks tomorrow?

For those of you who might care, there are rumours that Apple will be releasing new iBooks tomorrow, rebranded as MacBooks. As a past iBook owner, these computers hold a special place in my heart. Let's hope they look nice.

As for me, I'm struggling with my work today. I haven't done very much, but I need to get on this stuff to try to submit in a timely manner. I'm talking about my PhD dissertation, for those of you coming in late.

I'll post again tomorrow with a bit more insight, instead of these boring posts. I might even find a funny joke from Welcome Back, Kotter.

A friend from the past...

I got an email from a friend today that I haven't heard from in a while. Actually, I've heard from a couple of people recently that I haven't heard from in a long time. This was a surprise, though, because he found me by my website. And he called me "quite a scholar"! Nice. Anyway, Kev, nice to hear from you.

As for all you other people who know me and pass by this blog, leave comments or take a look at my website (the address is in another post below) and CLICK ON THE AD ABOVE AND DO SOME CLICKING WHILE YOU'RE THERE. Then I'll make money (not really a lot of money, but I want to see how much I can make).

Adsense

So I've added one of these adsense things to this blog, so now there is advertising on here. I thought, "Maybe I can make money from this and buy a new computer!" I'm not sure that will happen. Well, if you're here, why don't you click on the ad, and make sure you click around a bit when you get there, and make me some money? Thanks in advance!

Another joke...

As if I'm such a funny guy that I should be posting jokes on my blog.

From "Welcome Back, Kotter":

My aunt and uncle got a letter from my cousine Gertrude. She wrote,

"Dear mom and dad,

I'm having a great time at school, except that I fell last week and hurt my leg. I would have told you sooner, except that my doctor said it wasn't a big deal. I should be up and walking within a year ot two. And anyway, I have a nice friend who has been helping me out. His name is Tony and he is kind to me. We'll be getting married in July; he wanted to wait a bit longer, but now we have to get married. He's looking for a job and hopefully he'll get one soon.

Anyway, don't worry too much about me.

Love,
Gertrude

P.S. None of the things I said in this letter are true. It's just that I got a D in History and I thought I would put it in its proper perspective."


Oooh, hoo, hoo, ha ha ha. Funny stuff, that Mr. Kotter.

Visit my new website at: http://ca.geocities.com/nicholas_greco/