Category Archives: Actionsuit Guide

Back, Buying New Soul, RIP Harry Harrison

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Actionsuit is back (and now on Facebook) after a brief hiatus traveling the Mid-West solving crimes with only our spiritual training and martial arts skill as a guide. What better way to come down back to reality than with a some live Porcupine Tree?

Today we dedicate our music to Harry Harrison, science fiction author, who passed away today according to his website. io9 has a great obituary.

 

Business Time, Let’s Go To Work, and Delicious Chicken Sandwiches

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Two videos today which point to when the real business time in our life begins – anytime you’re not at work! And a bonus tasty recipe for a fried chicken sandwich Chik-Fil-A style. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I’m just not into pickles.

Tools to Learn Songs

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As Actionsuit preps for a week long jam session on the beautiful rocky shores of Door County Wisconsin I thought I’d post a few of the tools we use to learn songs.

  • Lyrics: MiniLyrics is a great program that works with any number of media players on your Mac or PC and scrolls the lyrics while it plays.
  • Lyrics online: By far the best online lyrics search and display I’ve found is Sing365.com. Not only does it have a minimum of ads, it also provides excellent printable views.
  • Metronome: Their are literally hundreds of free and customizable metronome websites, as simple or complicated as you need, some also with companion apps that work on your phone. I like this one.
  • Guitar tuner: gStrings Android phone app. Free, simple, and works flawlessly.
  • Youtube tools: Loop the Tube; and two Chrome browser extensions; Youtube downloader, which will download and covert videos to mp3 and Youtube Options, which will set viewing and experience options for viewing Youtube videos (like size, disabling autostart, etc.).

And now for the fun part. School is in session for Little Barrie, The Dead Weather, and The Knack; these go out to Dr. G:

 

Time to Bicycle

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Back with our first post for July after a week off. I took the opportunity to spend some quality time with my bicycle despite the raging heat in St. Louis (and brutally hot breezes directly from hell). Soon I will be enjoying a vacation in the cool(er) climes of Door County Wisconsin, one of the best places in the US to bicycle, so I’m doing a little training ahead of time to keep my over 40 body from falling apart from my usual too much cycling exuberance on vacation.

Here’s a few bicycling tips you may already know but I had to learn the hard way:

  • Drink lots of water before you go out, even if you’re not thirsty. When and if I don’t my energy reserves deplete much faster.
  • If you experience numbness or soreness most likely your bike is not adjusted correctly or may be the wrong size.  Keep fine tuning seat height, etc. until you get it right.
  • This one is a pain in the ass but do it anyway. Practice changing your tube/tire with the tools you bring with you on your bike. On the side of the road tired and sore is not the ideal way to learn the quirks and difficulties of changing your tube/tire.
  • Okay, this one was easy to learn but beer (in moderation of course) is a great way to replenish energy and electrolytes after a long ride, especially on vacation.

Hump Day Roundup

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It’s one of those days where the music just isn’t getting past my ears to be appreciated. The Actionsuit Philosophy tells me in order for one to appreciate music, one must first be able to appreciate silence. Actionsuit Philosophy also tells me in order for one to appreciate silence, one must release the bee’s buzzing in your head. So, while I promise to drink less caffeine tomorrow and post some more music, here’s all the bee’s buzzing in my head today:

  • Food Stuff: Easy and healthy lunches at work and spiral cut your hot dogs.
  • Atari is 40 years old: 10 greatest Atari games at Shortlist; 40 years of Atari at Kotaku.
  • Louis CK is fighting the man, choosing to sell his comedy routines and now tickets through his own website.
  • Speaking of the man: another disastrous policy foisted upon ISP’s and the public by the MPAA/RIAA. As someone who works in the IT field I can tell you there are already multiple ways around this, some easier than others, not to mention the false positives that are likely to result in the banning innocent bystanders.
  • Sports: Goon screenwriter talks with GeekDad over the state of fighting in hockey at Wired. I am a big believer the theory that removing the ‘enforcer’ role in hockey has greatly contributed in more injuries. Players think twice about hitting opponents carelessly or with too much force when they knew someone on the other bench will make them pay.
  • More sports: It’s time to get excited for the 2012 Chicago Bears (great review and preview of the last season and upcoming season with draft pick highlights – turn it up!):