Upcoming Concerts

When I get back, there are several concerts I'll be going to later in the year. I'll see U2, Coldplay (12th row), and Jethro Tull and probably some others. I'll also try to see some classical performances. Of course, I'll try to give a concert report for each show I see. If you are going to any rock concerts anytime soon, be sure to bring some earplugs to protect your hearing. The music can get really loud for some of the shows, and the sound quality is not that adversely affected by using earplugs.

Also, if you are blogging a concert, let me know about it in the comments section.

Packing Bags for Trip to SF

I am packing my bags, and I am preparing for my trip to the Bay Area. I'll bring my digital camera along to take lots of photos. I plan to post some SF photos when I get back or perhaps while I'm there. While waiting for my flight and on the flight itself, I've got the iPod to listen to and to read: Scientific American Mind magazine and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Swimming Goggles

I am a recreational swimmer and I went for a swim today. I did a few freestyle laps with my new, blue-tinted, Speedo "Vanquisher" goggles. They do not fog up nor do they leak. At least in my case, they have worked well. We'll see if the anti-fog coating lasts on them though. Nevertheless, they are definitely better than my previous set of goggles which did not perform as well. Those goggles leaked and fogged up.

If you are a recreational swimmer and you need some goggles, take a look at Speedo's "Vanquisher." On the other hand, if you are a racer, you may opt for a different Speedo model.

Recent Reads

Here are just a few of the books I've read recently: A High and Hidden Place by Michele Claire Lucas, 1,000 Places To See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz, The End of Oil: On the Edge of a Perilous New World by Paul Roberts, and Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America's Growing Dependency on Imported Petroleum by Michael T. Klare. On the lighter side, I am currently reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and I am liking it.

Have you read a book recently? Have you got a recent read you'd like to recommend? If you'd like to make a book recommendation, post it in the comments section.

Vermont Photo Info

These photos were taken in Vermont. Of the buildings shown, the top one is the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, VT, and the bottom photo is of the Arlington Hotel in Arlington, Vermont. If you happen to be in the Manchester area, I'd recommend stopping by the Northshire Bookstore to get something to read. They've also got a great cafe for a sandwich and something to drink. The rest of the Vermont photos were taken in Sandgate, VT and the river shown is known as the Green River.

Last of the Vermont Photos

Vermont Photos

iPod Music I'm Listening To

I really like music, and you certainly can put a lot of it on an iPod. Here is a list of the music that I have on my iPod—from popular to obscure. The music is divided into rock and classical categories.

You may not like all the music on my iPod, but you'll find something on the list that you'd enjoy. If you'd like, you can recommend music you enjoy in the comments.

Rock Music (Artist and Album Title)

10,000 Maniacs Blind Man's Zoo
10,000 Maniacs MTV Unplugged
ABC The Lexicon Of Love
Adrian Belew Mr. Music Head
Alanis Morissette Jagged Little Pill
Chicago Soundtrack
Badly Drawn Boy The Hour Of The Bewilderbeast
The Beach Boys Sounds of Summer
The Beatles Abbey Road
The Beatles Help!
The Beatles Let It Be
The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour
The Beatles Past Masters, Vol. 2
The Beatles Please Please Me
The Beatles Revolver
The Beatles Rubber Soul
The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Beatles White Album
Trainspotting Soundtrack
Belle & Sebastian If You're Feeling Sinister
Bellx 1 Music in Mouth
Belly Star
Beta Band Heroes To Zeros
Billy Bragg Must I Paint You a Picture?
Billy Bragg and Wilco Mermaid Avenue
Björk Debut
Björk Homogenic
Bjork Post
Blue Man Group Audio
The Breeders Last Splash
Bruce Springsteen The Essential Bruce Springsteen
The Byrds The Birds Greatest Hits
Cake Comfort Eagle
The Cars The Cars
The Cars Candy-O
Catherine Wheel Ferment
The Charlatans Between 10th And 11th
The Charlatans Some Friendly
The Chemical Brothers Dig Your Own Hole
The Chemical Brothers Exit Planet Dust
The Clash The Clash
The Clash London Calling
COIL Love's Secret Domain
Coldplay A Rush Of Blood To The Head
Coldplay Parachutes
Coldplay X&Y
Collective Soul 7even Year Itch: Collective Soul Greatest Hits 1994-2001
Phil Collins Face Value
Creedence Clearwater Revival Chronicle, Vol. 1
Crosby, Stills & Nash Crosby, Stills & Nash
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Deja Vu
The Crystal Method Vegas
The Cure Disintegration
The Cure Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
David Bowie Fame And Fashion
David Byrne The Last Emperor
The Dead 2003-8-9 Jones Beach, N.Y.
The Delgados Universal Audio
Depeche Mode Black Celebration
Depeche Mode Violator
Donald Fagen The Nightfly
The Doors L. A. Woman
The Doors The Doors
The Doors Waiting For The Sun
The Dukes Of Stratosphear Chips From The Chocolate Fireball
The Eagles Hotel California
The Eagles Their Greatest Hits
Echo & The Bunnymen Echo & The Bunnymen
Echo & The Bunnymen Ocean Rain
Echo & The Bunnymen Songs To Learn & Sing
Elton John Greatest Hits 1970-2002
Elvis Costello Armed Forces
Elvis Costello My Aim Is True
Elvis Costello & The Attractions Get Happy!!
Elvis Costello & The Attractions IbMePdErRoIoAmL
Elvis Costello & The Attractions King of America
Elvis Costello & The Attractions Punch the Clock
Elvis Costello & The Attractions This Years Model
Elvis Presley Elvis: The Great Performances
Emerson, Lake & Palmer The Best Of Emerson, Lake & Palmer
English Beat What Is Beat?
Enya Watermark
Everything But The Girl Acoustic
Everything But The Girl Walking Wounded [IMPORT]
Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac Rumours
The Frames Burn Maps
The Frames For the birds
The Frames Set List
Franz Ferdinand Franz Ferdinand
Front 242 Official Version
Gary Numan The Best Of 1978 - 1983
Gipsy Kings ¡Volare! - The Very Best Of The Gipsy Kings
Go-Go's Beauty And The Beat
Grateful Dead In The Dark
Grateful Dead What A Long Strange Trip It's Been
Green Day Dookie
Green Day Insomniac
Green Day Nimrod
Daryl Hall & John Oates The Essential Daryl Hall & John Oates
Hapa Hapa
Hapa Namahana-Contemporary Hawaiian Music
Happy Mondays Pills 'n' Thrills And Bellyaches
George Harrison Cloud Nine
Hollies Hollies Greatest
Buddy Holly Greatest Hits
Howard Jones The Best Of Howard Jones
Husker Du Land Speed Record
Indigo Girls Indigo Girls
Ian Anderson Rupi's Dance
Ian Anderson The Secret Language Of Birds
Jethro Tull Aqualung
Jethro Tull The Very Best Of Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull Heavy Horses
Jethro Tull Stand Up
Jethro Tull Benefit
Jethro Tull Songs From The Wood
Jethro Tull Thick As A Brick
Jethro Tull Stormwatch
Jethro Tull Passion Play
Jethro Tull Christmas Album
Jethro Tull J-Tull Dot Com
Jethro Tull The Broadsword and the Beast
Jethro Tull Catfish Rising
Jethro Tull Under Wraps
Jethro Tull Too Old To Rock 'N' Roll: Too Young To Die
Jethro Tull Minstrel In The Gallery
Jethro Tull Crest Of Knave
Jethro Tull Nightcap
Jethro Tull A
Jethro Tull War Child
James The Best Of James
James Taylor Greatest Hits
The Jayhawks Hollywood Town Hall
The Jayhawks Rainy Day Music
Jefferson Airplane Surrealistic Pillow
Jewel Pieces Of You
Jimi Hendrix Are You Experienced?
The Jimi Hendrix Experience Electric Ladyland
Kíla Lemonade & Buns
Kitaro Oasis
Led Zeppelin Houses Of The Holy
Led Zeppelin In Through The Out Door
Led Zeppelin I
Led Zeppelin II
Led Zeppelin III
Led Zeppelin IV
Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti
Led Zeppelin Presence
John Lennon Lennon Legend
Lunasa Lunasa
Lúnasa The Kinnity Sessions
Lush Lovelife
Maroon5 Acoustic Live
Massive Attack 100th Window
Massive Attack Mezzanine
Dave Matthews Band Before These Crowded Streets
Midnight Oil Scream In Blue [Live]
Mike Watt Mike Watt: Ball-Hog or Tugboat?
Minutemen Double Nickels On The Dime
Minutemen Post-Mersh, Vol. 2
Minutemen What Makes A Man Start Fires?
Missing Persons The Best Of Missing Persons
Joni Mitchell Court and Spark
The Moody Blues The Best Of The Moody Blues
Neil Young Decade
Nirvana Bleach
Nirvana MTV Unplugged in New York
Nirvana Nevermind
No Doubt Return Of Saturn
No Doubt Rock Steady
No Doubt Tragic Kingdom
Paul Simon - Art Garfunkel The Concert In Central Park
Pavement Slanted & Enchanted
Pearl Jam Ten
Pearl Jam Vs.
Peter Gabriel Passion: Music For The Last Temptation Of Christ
Peter Gabriel Peter Gabriel 3: Melt
Peter Gabriel Security
Peter Gabriel So
Phish A Picture Of Nectar
Phish Billy Breathes
Phish Farmhouse
Phish Slip Stitch And Pass
Pink Floyd A Saucerful Of Secrets
Pink Floyd Dark Side Of The Moon
Pink Floyd The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
Pink Floyd The Wall
Pixies Surfer Rosa & Come On Pilgrim
PJ Harvey Dry
PJ Harvey Rid Of Me
The Police Outlandos d'Amour
The Police Zenyatta Mondatta
Pretenders Pretenders I
Pretenders Pretenders II
Primus Sailing The Seas Of Cheese
Pulp Different Class
Pulp His 'N' Hers
Pulp We Love Life
R.E.M. Automatic For The People
R.E.M. Document
R.E.M. Fables Of The Reconstruction
R.E.M. Life's Rich Pageant
R.E.M. Murmur
R.E.M. Out Of Time
R.E.M. Reckoning
Radiohead Amnesiac
Radiohead Hail To The Thief
Radiohead Kid A
Radiohead OK Computer
Radiohead Pablo Honey
Radiohead The Bends
Red Hot Chili Peppers Blood Sugar Sex Magik
The Replacements Tim
Ride Going Blank Again
Ride Nowhere
Rilo Kiley More Adventurous
Robert Plant The Principle Of Moments
Bob Mould Workbook
Roxy Music Avalon
Roxy Music Flesh + Blood
Roxy Music Manifesto
Ryuichi Sakamoto The Last Emperor
Ryuichi Sakamoto Field Work + Steppin' Into Asia
Ryuichi Sakamoto Neo Geo
Screaming Trees Anthology
Sheryl Crow Tuesday Night Music Club
Shoukichi Kina Asia Classics 2 - Peppermint Tea House
Shoukichi Kina & Champloose Music Power From Okinawa
Simon & Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel Greatest Hits
Simply Red The Essentials
Sinéad O'Connor The Lion And The Cobra
Sinéad O'Connor I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got
Smash Mouth Astro Lounge
Smash Mouth Fush Yu Mang
Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness
Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream
Spiritualized® Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
Squeeze Singles 45's And Under
Steely Dan Aja
Steely Dan A Decade Of Steely Dan
Stereolab Dots And Loops
Stereolab Emperor Tomato Ketchup
Stereolab Margerine Eclipse
Stereolab Oscillons from the Anti-Sun
The Stone Roses The Stone Roses
Stone Temple Pilots Thank You
Sugar File Under Easy Listening
Superchunk Come Pick Me Up
Talking Heads Fear Of Music
Talking Heads Stop Making Sense
Tangerine Dream Phaedra
Tangerine Dream Rubycon
Tears For Fears The Hurting
The The Infected
The The Soul Mining
They Might Be Giants Flood
Thomas Dolby The Golden Age Of Wireless
Throwing Muses Hunkpapa
Toad The Wet Sprocket P.S.: A Toad Retrospective
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Damn The Torpedoes
Tom Waits Rain Dogs
Tom Waits Swordfishtrombones
Traffic Feelin' Alright: The Very Best Of Traffic
U2 Achtung Baby
U2 All That You Can't Leave Behind
U2 B-Sides 1980-1990
U2 Boy
U2 How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
U2 Joshua Tree
U2 October
U2 Pop
U2 The Unforgettable Fire
U2 War
U2 Zooropa
The Verve Urban Hymns
Violent Femmes Violent Femmes
Waterboys Fisherman's Blues
Waterboys This Is The Sea
Waterboys Universal Hall
Weezer Weezer
Weezer Weezer (Green Album)
Wilco A Ghost Is Born
Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Brian Wilson Smile
Wings Wingspan
Wire Pink Flag
X Los Angeles & Wild Gift
XTC English Settlement
XTC Apple Venus Volume 1
XTC Mummer
XTC Oranges & Lemons
XTC Rag & Bone Buffet
XTC Skylarking
XTC The Compact XTC - The Singles 1975-1985
Yes Ultimate Yes

Classical Music (Album Titles)

Brahms: Trios, Opp. 40 and 114
"Concerti grossi" Pinnock/The English Concert
Glenn Gould Bach: Concertos for Clavier and Strings 1, 2, 3, 4
Beethoven String Quartet Opus 131
Quartetto Italiano Beethoven: Complete String Quartets - Op 59, No 2 / Op 95
Beethoven: Symphony No 6 "Pastorale"
Berg and Schoenberg Concertos
Birtwistle: Orchestral Music
Brahms--Klavierquintett Op. 34
Alfred Brendel Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15
Brandenburg Concertos 1, 2, 3
Brandenburg Concertos 4, 5, 6
Maurizio Pollini, Piano Chopin: Etudes / Preludes / Polonaises
Antonio Vivaldi Concerti for mandolin and violin
Concerto pour Flute et Harpe - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
J. Strauss Ii: Famous Waltzes: Boskovsky
Glenn Gould J.S.Bach: C. 5&7; Ital. C.; Art of the Fugue
Ton-That Tiet L'odeur De La Papaye Verte Soundtrack
Lutoslawski conducts Lutoslawski
Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman Mozart and Leclair - Duos
Prokofiev Symphony No.5
Brain, Dennis (horn) R.Strauss, Hindemith.: Horn Concertos
Claudio Abbado R.Strauss: Don Juan/ Till Eulenspiegel/ Death and Transfiguration
Yo-Yo Ma (vic), Emanuel Ax (p) Rachmaninov • Prokofiev:Cello Sonatas
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau And Alfred Brendel Schumann: Liederkreis Op. 39 and Dichterliebe Op. 48
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam / Bernard Haitink Shostakovich_Symphony No.13 Babi YarI.
Concertgebouw Haitink Shostakovich, Symphony No. 5, Op. 47, Concergebouw Orch/B.Haitink
St. Petersburg String Quartet/Alexander Borodin: The String Quartets
Lindsay String Quartet String Quartet 13, Op 130 / Grosse Fugue, Op 133
Lindsay String Quartet String Quartets 15,16
Sergei Prokofiev Symphonies 1 & 7
Beethoven Symphony No. 9
Brahms: Piano Quartets, Opp. 25,60

Home Theater System

I've been helping out a friend get a home theater system for a 15' X 20' room. For speakers, we are considering Audio Concepts Inc.: Protege V satellites, Protege center speaker, ELT surround speakers, and the ELT subwoofer (which includes a 350 watt amp). So, it will be a 5.1 system and there are a variety of surround receivers we are considering: Denon AVR 2805, Pioneer VSX-52TX, and Harmon Kardon AVR 630. If I had to choose the receiver right now, I'd go with the Denon. We are also getting a projector for watching movies—probably an Infocus model with XGA resolution. The estimated budget for these items is: $2500 for speakers, $600 for the receiver, $1400 for the projector. If there are any audiophiles/videophiles out there, I'd welcome comments on this proposed home theater system or suggestions for a different system.

Digital Camera Used for PepsiCo Photos

These PepsiCo photos were taken with a 3.2 megapixel Canon Powershot A75 digital camera on July 4, 2005. I have been quite happy with the Powershot, and it was a real bargain when I purchased it last year. I've made some 4" X 6" prints, and the camera is fine for posting photos on the internet.

Last of the PepsiCo Photos

How About Some More PepsiCo Photos?

You Guessed It! PepsiCo Photos

Even More PepsiCo Photos

More PepsiCo Photos

Bay Area Trip

I'll be going out to the Bay Area soon. I lived in San Francisco a few years back for a year and a half. So, I know the area reasonably well. I am going to visit a few friends, go to an A's game, and drive down to Monterey to visit the Monterey Aquarium. I'll be out there for 10 days and, as far as other plans go, they are up in the air right now. I may also go to the Science Exploratorium Museum and the Asian Art Museum in SF. I've checked out most of the sights in SF and I'll revisit a few. I've also got to go out to some restaurants and, of course, I'll get an awesome burrito. It is a nice place to visit, and I am looking forward to my trip.

PepsiCo Photos