Matt Brundage

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Archive for September 2007

Death From Above

Medium Image Medium Image The two CDs to your right may have only cost me about $10 a piece, but they've proven to be a much more expensive investment in the long run. I recently caused permanent damage to my car's factory-installed speaker system while blasting Death From Above 1979's "Romantic Rights (Erol Alkan's Love From Below Re-Edit)" on the way to volleyball a few weeks ago. The song is little more than tribal-style drumming, a throbbing, distorted bass, and keyboards that sound like twin turbofans powering up before a sudden burst across the runway of an aircraft carrier. An indulgent six-minute mess of noise with, as one Amazon reviewer put it, no "socially redeeming value."

My once-acceptable Saturn L-Series speakers now have clearly audible distortion, but only at certain pitches in the lower register. Certain bass sounds are now replaced with a slight vibrato. Not exactly a clipping sound, but still a clear sign that the speakers are trying in vain to reproduce certain sounds.

Sniff Bun-Bun Brundage

Annie recently took the time to write a short report on our new arrival, Sniff:

Meet the newest addition to our home, Sniff Bun-Bun Brundage!

Sniff Bun-Bun Brundage After looking for a rabbit for about a month we stumbled upon Bun-Bun. He's a playful Holland Lop bunny that we adopted from a nice family on Sunday.

His former owners had to find a new home for him because one of the family members is allergic to him. In addition to giving us their beloved bunny, they also gave us a nice cage, food, chew toys, litter, and a leash and harness. They also drove down to meet us halfway! We are lucky to have found them and Bun-Bun. A BIG and special thank you!

When we got him inside the house, we didn't try to pet him or fuss with him. We gave him time to adjust. We put the cage in the living room so he wouldn't be lonely. When it seemed like he had adjusted to his new environment, we opened the cage door and stepped back. We were both lying on the ground waiting for the bunny to come out. It took him about 20 minutes before he came out for the first time and then hopped right back in. A little while later he came out again and started looking around. Once he was more comfortable he started sniffing us and everything in the room. Matt named him Sniff Bun-Bun Brundage.

The first day he was here he was afraid to go into the kitchen and foyer because the ceramic tile and hardwood were too slippery for him. The first time he tried it, he slipped and it must have scared him half to death because he ran out of there as fast as he could. He'd follow us around the house but won't follow us into the kitchen or the foyer. It has been three days and now he's more comfortable in the kitchen. As for the foyer, he had learned to jump from the carpet in the living room to the rug in front of the door but he won't go further.

Sniff Bun-Bun Brundage It wasn't long before he started running around the living room and dining room. He would dash from one end of the room to the other. Sometimes he'll do a little happy-go-lucky twisted jump. It's a lot of fun to watch. Then he would run over to a wall or a piece of furniture, do a little side flip and lay down next to it heaving with contentment. His other favorite spot is by the vent with the cool air blowing out on him.

We let him out a couple times a day so he gets lots of play time. He has also been upstairs. He won't go up and down the stairs by himself though. He runs around in the hallway and goes to the bathroom to pee in his litter box. He's not allowed in the office because there are too many wires. We don't let him out of our sight if there are wires around but we haven't seen him even try to chew on any wires yet. We put a harness and leash on him and we took him outside for a walk. He was really cautious at first but once he got used to it -- oh boy! We thought we were taking the bunny for a walk but instead HE took us for a run.

He likes to jump on top of us if we're lying down. He also likes to jump through our arms and legs. Maybe he thinks he's in the circus. He also likes to run in circles around us. He loves attention and loves to be petted. He would flop down when we pet him. He was a little uncomfortable about being held at first but now he just flops down for a good rubbing. He doesn't stay long though. About ten minutes at most then he would run off and hop around again.

Sniff Bun-Bun Brundage He's good about using the litter box for pooping and peeing. He hadn't peed anywhere else yet and we're hoping he won't start. He had pooped on the carpet but not the same way he poops in his litter box. It's usually just one dropping or scattered out in a line or circle. He would run around us and before we know it, a circle of scattered poop is surrounding us. We were a little confused at first since he was so good about using his litter box. In a book that we borrowed from the library and from online sources, it says that he's just marking his territory. The poop is very small and dry and can be picked off the carpet without leaving any stain or odor.

We went to the vet today and he was well behaved. The veterinarian said that Sniff is healthy and confirmed that he's a boy. She doesn't recommend neutering him unless he gets very aggressive, which may have to be soon. He's getting a little frisky.

That's all for now from Sniff world! More to come later.

--Annie Brundage

More pictures of Sniff

Favorites vs. Bookmarks

No doubt this topic has been covered before, but I'd like to delve into the semantics of Microsoft's "Favorites" versus Netscape's, Opera's, Mozilla's, and Apple's "Bookmarks". Despite Microsoft having used the name "Favorites" since 1995 — practically the fledgling days of the web — it never really caught on with the masses. The word just sounded clunky as a verb; people continued to use the verb "bookmark" long after they had dumped Mosaic and Netscape and embraced Internet Explorer en masse.

"Bookmarks" is elegant and descriptive in its specificity. The feature is implicitly defined by our prior knowledge of what an actual bookmark does. "Favorites" is bland and doesn't really define the feature or what it does. "...a favorite what?"

I find it mildly disconcerting that the sites I happen to save within Microsoft Internet Explorer aren't necessarily my favorite sites, yet the browser deems them as such. The nerve!