Category: Friends

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Computing, Friends, Internet

Goofing around

Twitter has some pretty interesting topics that it will randomly recommend for me sometimes. I’m not one of those who believe that Facebook and Twitter eavesdrop or record your conversations. With the information we freely give them, they don’t need to do that. But it is almost scary how both services know the type of thing I might be interested in reading. It’s as if Twitter knows I’ve just binge-watched season 3 of Stranger Things and have super strong feelings of nostalgia for the 1980s right now… For example, just the other day I got this gem of a recommendation under the “For you” section:

Yes, I remember the days of being online in 1987. But I didn’t spill a goldfish bowl, carry my computer under my arm while riding on a motorcycle, or even have to deal with a guitar neck seemingly poking out of a Jeep, behind a girl who is somehow talking on a corded phone?

Instead, I wasted a lot of time goofing around with programs like Perfect Sound and Deluxe Music Construction Set for the Amiga. And once in a while, you get something that looks an awful lot like what you see below:

Some people may ask “Jason, why didn’t you just upload this video to YouTube?” Well, some people, I have an answer. This video has about half a dozen (crap quality) samples from 1980s pop songs, and I didn’t really feel like having YouTube’s “Amazing Content Verificator”™ going beep beep beep all over my upload. Anyway, enjoy this blast from the past. Sorry about the audio quality. I was trying to be quiet. 😁

A couple of highlights:

06:35 – Listen to what happens when bored kids play with answering machines

22:19 – Listen to the long lost hit “Babepulsive.” Don’t ask.

This was 2018…

So, what a year it’s been. My family and I have seen more change this year than ever before. In April of this year we started our trek south to central Florida. There have been so many ups and downs throughout the year, but I wouldn’t change anything.

It’s been a great change of climate! I do not miss the snow! And as of yet, I’m not tired of the heat. The hardest part? Missing our friends and family. However, there are just so many things to see and do around central Florida — and not just Disneyworld and Universal. I’ve had so much good food — and put on a little weight in the process. Here’s a sampling of some of the sights we’ve seen, some of things we’ve experienced, and maybe a few familiar faces from 2018:

(There might be a picture or two of some food in there too!)

Family, Friends, Food, Fun, and Football

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Saturday was a very busy day this past weekend.

Ryan had to be in town at 11:00am to line up for the big Shinnston “Frontier Days” parade. His flag football team rode along in the back of pickup trucks and tossed out candy.

After the parade we decided to stick around in town and visit the carnival and ride some rides. I rode the Hurricane one time with Allison, and that was plenty. Ryan rode a few of the kiddie rides.

Then, it was off to Stydahar Field for Ryan’s first home flag football game this season. The team looked pretty good this weekend, much more organized than last week at Tygarts Valley.

Finally, in the evening we had a get-together at our house to enjDSCN0863oy a home-cooked meal made by Tina. The food was excellent and the company was wonderful. We all shared a few laughs and played some games.

My aunt Diana and uncle Derek are currently visiting us from England. They’ve been visiting friends and family and taking in some of the sights while they’re here.

Also, the Mountaineers beat the ECU Pirates Saturday 48-7. So they remain undefeated. They play again this Friday against South Florida, their first Big East opponent of the season.

Event, Friends

That certain Shmoozability…

Presenting the Lincoln High School Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Louis Oliverio.

This is one for the time capsule, for sure.

I had been looking for this video for a while now, hoping to convert it to DVD before it was too late.  The video is now 17 years old, and I didn’t figure it would hold out much longer…

The quality is a little rough in spots (hey, it’s an old tape!) but it’s certainly viewable.  Again, there is about a thirty second intro that normally shows up on TV as a DVD menu, but viewing it over the Internet, well it’s just pretty.  And static.  The buttons don’t really do anything here.

The original editing for this video was done on a Commodore Amiga 2000 home computer.  All the graphics and effects fit in a mere 20MB (that’s megabytes) of space and that’s not mentioning the fact that the Amiga OS was also installed on the hard drive.  It’s amazing what tight code and a streamlined computer can do…

Anyway, enjoy this look back at a bunch of high school kids having a good time making music together, before mash-ups and YouTube were even thought about.