Halloween is nearly here, and I have not finished any super-spooky music. I have been putting together a seasonal music mix, though. Originally this was a two disc monstrosity, but after listening to it for a few days it dawned on me that it needed to pruned and a few new tracks needed inclusion. I have included links to places you can listen to or legally acquire tracks, as best I can. So here, without further adieu is my Halloween 2008 mix.

1. Herrmann by Arling & Cameron
2. Creepy Doll by Jonathan Coulton
3. Death Ship by Hoodoo Gurus
4. Transylvanian Concubine [The Manson Mix] by Rasputina
5. Basement by Skinny Puppy
6. Afterlifestyles by Graveyard Cafe
7. Barrowlands by The Bolshoi
8. Bela Lugosi’s Dead by Bauhaus
9. The Jazz Butcher Meets Count Dracula by The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy
10. Voodoo by Chris Isaak
11. Twisted Nerve by The Damned
12. Scarecrow by Siouxsie & The Banshees
13. Spiderdust by Bel Canto
14. Halloween at Hogwarts by Ginny And The Heartbreakers
15. Tubular Bells by Book Of Love
16. Gingerbread Coffin by Rasputina
17. In The Tower by DeVotchKa
18. Dead Or Alive by Oingo Boingo
19. The Horizon Bleeds And Sucks Its Thumb by This Mortal Coil
20. Wormwood Theme by Todd Hodges

Enjoy.

My day job is programming computers. More specifically, I write device drivers. Mostly on Unix-type operating systems. This last year we have been a bit short-handed and I got gang pressed into working on our Windows drivers. So have some other engineers who normally work on other things.

One of these engineers was commenting—okay, complaining—about Microsoft inventing their own words for things. The complaint that day was that they call a kernel crash a bug check. Okay, so a bug check is really stopping the kernel and making a report and not exactly a crash. Still, it shows a general direction that has been made over the years of Microsoft (and others) making up words for things that already have name. And for trying to put less offensive names on bad things.

For years the errors were the not-so-helpful “general protection fault” and “illegal instruction.” Those might be helpful to an engineer, but not so much so for the lay-people who make up the majority of the victims. I had more than a few highly educated people (doctors, lawyers, etc) who told me that they thought “illegal instruction” meant that they (the user) had tried to do something that they should not rather than that a programmer was asleep on the job.

Windows Vista appears to have done away with those two error messages. Since I primarily use Mac OS X at home and Unix at work, I have not had much exposure. I do distinctly recall seeing a new and different error report in my limited exposure to Microsoft’s latest operating system. While it demonstrated that user applications still experience defects on Vista, at least the new error message is less likely to make the user think that they pressed the wrong button.

All of this got me to thinking about the logical conclusion of defect error messages. How about calling a fault a “quality moment.” Sure, it is really a “lapse of quality moment,” but when has that put a stop to deceptive naming. And think of how much more accepting of the defect you will be if you see that you are “experiencing a quality moment.” It almost has a Zen feel to it, nu?

It is a good think that I do not work for Microsoft, or you would probably see the introduction of “quality moment” into their lexicon. Of course I do know of one of my occasional readers who does work for the Redmond company, so it still could happen.

Off to work on my evil laugh. I really need to get the name of Dr. Horrible’s voice coach.

Tschuess.

Lots of news.

Winter Colors is still not wrapped up. I am starting to think that it is just one of these things that will be done when it is done. No real deadline. I will probably be happier with the final product with that approach. And that will also mean that I will be able to gather winter footage for the accompanying film. I am still going to keep working on it, but this makes me feel better already.

One of the things that helped me decide to stop pushing so hard—other than my current hatred for so some of my latest pieces—is my desire to write a goth album during October or November. Originally I was definitely going to do it during November as part of National Solo Album Month (NaSoAlMo). Writing another novel during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)—also November—is probably enough to have on my plate, so I am currently considering doing it during October. If I do, I will also allow myself to break other NaSoAlMo rules by doing things like pulling in guest vocalists.

Before I do that, though, I have an EP to finish up. A week ago, someone challenged me to write a few songs on a particular subject. I almost immediately had ideas for a dozen tracks. I pruned that down to four and have been working on them over the past week. My goal is to start releasing them as Timely Releases sometime during the next couple of weeks. Keep an eye out.

And if you already know the subject, please keep it to yourself until the release. I want it to be a surprise.

Also, next weekend Spandex Jellybeans is going to reconvene. I am not sure whether we will just be wrapping up existing tracks, writing new ones, recording vocals for other projects, or what. Whatever it is, I am sure that it will be a blast. Hopefully this session will result in a new release.

That is about all of the news that I can share right now.

Tschuess.