Another cover for you! ♥

I assume you’ve already setup your Boot Camp partition inside OS X 10.7 Lion, you’ve downloaded the Boot Camp drivers on to a USB stick and you’ve installed a 64-bit version of Windows 7 (or above).

Problem #1: Running setup.exe gives you an error: “Boot Camp x64 is unsupported on this computer model”

Problem #2: Running Drivers\Apple\BootCamp64.msi gives you an error about requiring at least Windows 7 or that “This installation requires elevated privileges. Launch the installer through setup.exe.”

I figured out a quick way to workaround this.

1. Open an elevated command prompt
2. In the command prompt, go to the WindowsSupport\Drivers\Apple\ directory.
3. Run “start .” to launch a Windows Explorer window at this location
4. Run the “Troubleshoot Compatibility” wizard on BootCamp64.msi
5. Allow it to disable the version check and save the settings
6. Run BootCamp64.msi from the commpand prompt

Voila! It should install.

• Granola and low fat milk
• Whole wheat turkey sandwich
• Hot cocoa
• Whole wheat spaghetti with broccoli and olive oil
• Popcorn

First day back to counting calories. I’m not being super strict about it but I do want to be more conscious of my snacking and portion sizes. One goal I have is to really cut down on my carb intake, maybe learn how to cook a few Paleo meals.

Steve Jobs
1955 – 2011

The Storm – Boy & Bear

It’s been 5 months since I’ve recorded a cover. I’m really proud of this one (despite the timing issues I’m having). Another place to improve! Please share this one around if you like it.

A truthful recount of recent events that has led me back to my blog:

• Last week I met a cute girl visiting from out of town that I gradually grew attracted to, the feeling wasn’t mutual
• I purchased my very first place and got the keys last Friday
• I spent Saturday night with some new friends watching YouTube videos and not saying much
• I looked at my ex’s Facebook profile photos

Point number one, the out-of-town girl, is a short story. Friend of a friend of a friend, she was visiting for the weekend and she seemed very sweet. Nothing happened, nothing was going to happen. But it was nice to meet people that were so vibrant and seeing everything with fresh eyes and open minds. I’ve been feeling so close-minded lately, cynical of opportunities and unable to say ‘yes’ to myself.

The big thing on my mind right now is the new condo that I bought and am in the process of moving into; vaulted ceilings and practically too much natural light. I’ve been moving boxes over little by little but the big move should happen this Thursday when the professionals come to shuffle things out. Internet should hopefully be set up on Wednesday (obviously the number one priority). I’m not buying any new furniture yet but I would love a new desk. I’ll have to start looking.

As for the silent YouTube watching with new friends, this kind of night has happened before with other friends. But I hate it so much because it’s just so draining. It feels so lonely to do this, as if I’m going to movies alone just for the chance to sit next to someone. It reminds me of curling up with a girl and watching a movie but that’s exactly what we’re not doing. I’d rather just sit and talk to these people. Should this happen again, I need to say something. I hate staring at a screen in silence unless it’s with close people I’m ok being silent with. I went home with a profound sense of loneliness and I tried to drown my feelings with food.

The (non) rejection, the transition and the alienation finally came to a head, I looked up my ex on Facebook and flipped through her profile photos. I don’t know if she’s with somebody new but it looks like she’s doing good things with her life. And I do genuinely wish her every happiness in the world. It’s just that, you can’t help but compare and look for a “winner” in the breakup. And despite all my amazing progress and experiences in the past year and a half, I still feel, from time to time, that I’m still the same idiot that couldn’t get his shit together.

The idea popped into my head that maybe I just need to see my ex again. Reconcile and find closure, eliminate this idea that she’s somehow a competitor, remove the spectre of her from my life. Even though she’s not in my life and the moment and we have zero mutual friends, the idea of her still haunts me from time to time. So if I can just see her as a regular person, maybe I can exorcise her ghost from my mind.

After talking to Lachlan, I could better see the events in their totality. I had no idea why I decided to look at her Facebook but reflecting over the past week, it makes sense. And in all honesty, these problems that I have are solely my problems. They are not problems she gave to me and they are not problems I can reasonably expect her to solve. Sure, the right phrases coming out of her mouth might bring me some peace but if this break up has taught me anything, it’s that I can’t rely on her for happiness. I make my own happiness and I bring the people around me into it. But I can’t always be that sad gloomy child expecting to be picked up off the ground.

So, the decision is to continue on as I have and fix myself in all the ways I know how. If she wants to see me, I’d welcome it. But to go to her to find answers to my questions is the wrong approach for me. She’s not my savior or my therapist or a person that can address the insecurities that ricochet inside my skull. That’s all on me.

(Yay, I wrote a big substantial post in which I was honest and not hiding anything from my life. That’s a big step back into blogging.)

It’s something that could never really be done with film, something unique to the written word. Herbert just embraces the medium and pulls in all these machinations and hints to warring factions and long histories. It’s something that can’t be enjoyed without keeping track of all the larger forces at play, otherwise you’re just lost in a maze; stuck in a room full of grown-ups talking nonsense.

Hopefully this is the beginning of a trend and I can fall in love with writing all over again.

Say these words:

Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught

Now answer these questions:

• What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
• What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
• What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
• What do you call gym shoes?
• What do you say to address a group of people?
• What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
• What do you call your grandparents?
• What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
• What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
• What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

You can find all my covers on my YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/jackbanh/

It’s a shitty decision, yes. There’s lots of internet-love and mainstream-hate being directed towards Wikileaks. But before you get all up-in-arms, Amazon have made no comment as to whether they were kicked off for the content hosted on Wikileaks.

First and foremost, Amazon is a privately-owned business. They are not the U.S. government. They do not violate the letter or the spirit of the First Amendment  by stopping their business with Wikileaks. They are free to do business with whomever they want and in this case they exercised their freedom to refuse Wikileaks.

Second, any hosting company would be afraid to host Wikileaks. They are a magnet for subpeonas, DDOS attacks and hacking attempts. It’s like letting Batman live at your house and having him tell everyone where he’s staying. Supervillains are going to destroy your house and then kidnap you and hold you hostage. Batman might save you and pay for the damages but you’re still constantly under threat.