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Thanks everyone. I had a great day with Lauren and Penelope. And we get to celebrate Penelope's 1at birthday tomorrow, which is the best gift I could ask for.

Yeah, you assume correctly. Track order is just as they appear... Until It Sleeps Hero of the Day Bleeding Me Mama Said Outlaw Torn Fuel The Memory Remains The Unforgiven II Low Man's Lyric Fixxxer Bleeding Me is an all-time favorite of mine. Mama Said got a lot if grief but I think it's a solid track, if a bit out of character. Outlaw Torn is epic, and I love the extended un-encumbered by manufacturing limitations mix. I know people harshed on Unforgiven II but I like how they probably came up with the guitar line and realize it was strongly related to the first, and just went with it. And Fixxxer is another solid closer. Some of the singles they released are more of the filler tracks for me. While some might not agree with what I kept, I'd really like to hear a compelling argument for keeping something I cut. Thoughts?

With some choice cuts, the Loads could make one hell of a single album, critics be damned.

Thanks everyone. She was such a good pup, and it's strange how missing them pops up at strange times. So far what's gotten me were checking for her before firing up the vacuum because she hated the sound of it, or rushing to get home to make sure she could hide in the bathroom during a thunderstorm, only to get half way and remember that she didn't have to be scared of them any more. And sorry for your loss, Larry, and even more sorry that a difficult situation had to be made more difficult for no reason.

We said goodbye to our beautiful brindle girl Neko this morning. Osteosarcoma moved in very fast and while it was difficult, and I had hoped for more time, it was definitely best for her. Lauren insisted I take the pup to one of her favorite places last night, a nearby beach where we'd been taking her for the past 6 years. Someone there was kind enough to take a minute to capture her last big adventure. You'll be missed.

Well, I used the V1/18.5 combo a ton on our trip to Gettysburg. Even Lauren liked it... It was great to have when she didn't want to carry around the D700. Based on reviews, I was a little concerned about the depth-of-field control when shooting wide open due to the small sensor size. But it performed well enough and is actually pretty forgiving, which is nice for a hack like me. The only thing I don't love is the auto white balance, as most of the pictures lack some warmth. But once I start getting used to using a grey card or processing the photos, it should be fine. Here are a few SOC shot in .jpg running full manual mode. Even with the cost of the new lens, the total investment is under $500, and I have no doubt that this far out performs most P&S or camera phones. When all is said and done, it certainly could approach a consumer grade DSLR total investment, and one could argue it doesn't match even a crop-sensor DSLR, but the size and flexibility fantastic and is a nice complement to Lauren's D700.

18.5mm/1.8 for my Nikon V1. Much better better performance than the kit zoom lens. A fast 50mm-equivalent prime addresses the issues I was having so I should end up using the V1 a lot more.

Nice! Enjoy. My last Neko concert experience wasn't the best... Orpheum in Boston, unnecessarily loud and I'm still lukewarm on the new album. But that said, I'd go see her again in a second. She is generally amazing live.

From what I've read before this announcement, the 3.5mm jack is limiting how thin they can make devices and they've been looking at alternatives for a while. Looking at my phone, it appears as though the lighting jack is about 40% smaller than the 3.5mm jack, so that might be why. I'd imagine someone will come up with a dongle (worst word ever) that would allow for standard headphones to still be used and will sound as good (or bad, depending on your opinion) as the standard headphone jack. But it is just one more thing that would have to be purchased.

Very happy with the Nikon 1 V1 with the 10-30mm 3.5-5.6 kit lens. I'm really pleased with its performance outside but I'm definitely leaning towards adding the (much) faster 18.5mm 1.8 prime for interior, low light shots at some point.

Doom:VS - Earthless

I was mistaken. The day was utter shit, new Agalloch or not. That said, while giving something a first listen at work isn't ideal, I had this going a few times today and I have to say... I don't remember a damn thing about it. I'm sure it's going to be a grower, because so far that's the worst they've put out. But it sounds like a perfectly competent Agalloch album that left no real impression, which makes me a sad panda.

Thanks for this. At least now there's the potential to salvage what is likely to be an otherwise shitty day.

Went down to Boston to visit with some good friends. Once the weather cleared we had a great day to walk around the Common. Penelope even got to ride in the duck and ducklings!

EMA - The Future's Void Over and over and over again.

NPR is streaming this today and I just finished giving it a listen. I didn't know what to expect since the two tracks that had been previewed previously were so different from one another. But I have to say that it exceeded my admittedly high expectations and I can't wait for it to show up on the 8th!

I really like Marrow of the Spirit. "Black Lake Nidstang" and "To Drown" are fantastic, and the rest of the songs lead to and from those tracks perfectly for me. I feel like it's the album where they've pushed the envelope furtherst towards their atmoshpheric side, vocals aside. Everything is mood, atmosphere and slow builds. I really love it.

New Agalloch.... The Serpent & The Sphere due May 13th!

Largely pleased with 7.1 on my 5s. But I have a major issue with changes in the Music app. There's definitely a rendering or button issue on the top right corner of the Now Playing screen. But my bigger issue is when viewing albums from the Artist list. One change with 7.0 that I grew to like was rolling all of the albums in chronological order, oldest down to newest, and not having to drill down into an album to play it. 7.1 has thrown that for a loop, and when you click on an artist, the newest album shows first. But they still run into each other if you let them all play. Hopefully they'll address this in a point release.

I'm really looking forward to the new album from EMA. Past Life Martyred Saints was probably my favorite album from 2011. The Future's Void comes out April 8th, and two tracks are already available through iTunes. I love what I'm hearing so far.

Really disappointed... I bought Lauren a SB-700 last Christmas. She shoots predominately with natural light, but signed up for an all-day flash photography class today. It was her first full day away from Penelope, and things were going well until it appeared she needed to change out batteries on the flash. Well, it appears one of the batteries leaked something, and despite efforts to clean the affected contact, the flash will no longer power on. Used like three times and now completely NFG. Luckily someone in the class shared hers so she was still able to get a lot out of the class, but it definitely sucks to have a like-new paperweight. Ugh.

MS MR - Secondhand Rapture

Yeah, I remember going to a Lillith Fair to see her on a C stage in the parking lot. I her voice, and "Snow Come Down" is amazing. Though I think Where It Goes is my go-to album of hers when I need something really, really depressing.

Glad you like it. Their first album is even stronger IMO... Worth checking out.

Finishing up a mini-marathon of Stray's Abuse by Proxy & Letting Go, and then moving on to... Lanterns on the Lake - Until the Colour Runs