Grimmdude

New Song: Gotta Move

Garrett — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 14:33:43 +0000

Hey all,

Here’s a song that I actually finished a while ago but forgot to post it up. It’s got a nice bass line and catchy little verse with some synth solos. No big deal, just a little sumin sumin. Feel free to let me know what you think! Thanks for listening.

Download audio file (gottamove.mp3)

Facebook Status Widget for Wordpress

Garrett — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 11:35:23 +0000

Recently I’ve been using Facebook more and more and I thought; hey, it would be cool if you could feed your Facebook status into your blog. I was using Twitter to log my random thoughts and actions which were then aggregated on my blog’s sidebar but it would be a lot easier if I could do it through Facebook since I’m on there more often. A one stop shop of sorts. So after some searching I came across the Status Press plugin by Adam Walker Cleaveland. It worked great but had some room for improvement, mainly ease of usage. Then after more searching I found that Brian D. Goad took the plugin and widgetized it, dude so much easier (still mad props to Adam for his ingenuity). Here’s what you do:

Download the Status Press Widget.
Log in to Facebook and go to this url: http://www.new.facebook.com/minifeed.php?filter=11
Scroll down and find the “My Status” link, right click and copy it’s location. This is your Facebook status RSS feed.
Then just paste that feed into the “Status URL Feed” field of the widget setup.

Works like a charm.

There are some instructions floating around on how to find your status feed which involve locating the mini feed in your Facebook profile, but it seems with the arrival of the “new” Facebook those instructions no longer work. The link above, however, does still work so you can easily get it there.

Asahi Barley Drink

Garrett — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:51:34 +0000

Last night when me and Elena were coming home from a night on the town we stopped at the Lawson on the bottom floor of our building to pick up some water bottles. What I saw in the cooler astounded me; it was what looked like a soda made by Asahi! I was enthralled and full of joy as the idea of a beer soda filled my senses. I paid the cashier the 3.5 RMB (about .50 cents) for the drink and we made our way upstairs. I openened the bottle and took a whiff of the beverage. Two things I noticed:

It was not carbonated.
Smelled pretty bad.

I’ve made homemade beer in the past, you know the smell of boiling mash? Well, that’s what it smelled like. Not really something you’d want to drink. I had come too far to give up here though so I proceded to take a gulp. I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

Technorati Blocked in China?

Garrett — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:21:11 +0000

I wouldn’t call myself technologically savvy, but I am a member of Technorati. Yea, I signed up after I started doing some blogging. And now, since I subscribe to google alerts via email, I’ve been getting a lot of emails about my published works being noted on other blogs through Technorati but I can’t go to the site because apparently China blocks it! Dude, kinda pissed. What’s up with China? Everybody tells me Shanghai is so “modern” and “hi tech”. I came accross this post published a couple of years about it: http://www.tomrafteryit.net/china-blocks-technorati/ Anyone have any tips as to how to get Technorati to work here? Kind regards.

Lost Marathon

Garrett — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 04:03:32 +0000

So in the past few days me and Elena have been watching hells episodes of lost. I inherited pirated copies of seasons 1-3 from my bud who used to live here in China. All I’ve got to say is this show is super addicting. I’m glad I’m not watching it week by week because I don’t think I have the patience to wait that long in between episodes. Pretty much each one is a cliffhanger and the more you watch the more complicated the plot gets. Last night we just finished watching season 2 and I’m flabergasted. Flabergasted! I know I behind the times, as I believe season 5 is airing right now.? Not sure. But damn, it’s good. Good stuff. Last night I couldn’t help but dream about if John Lock made it out of the bunker alive!! In a weird way I kind of relate me and Elena to the people on Lost since we’re living in an unknown land with dangers everywhere you look!! Well, not everywhere…but dangers! Anyway, good stuff. Once we finish season 3 I have a feeling I’m going to be going down to the “Metropolization” DVD store and picking up season 4 for $1. Hey I paid for cable TV when I was in the states! Even though I didn’t watch Lost I watched enough effing commercials on abc to earn my right!

Some light reading of our Shanghai adventures

Garrett — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:01:52 +0000

So it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything but I probably should be since we’ve moved to Shanghai and lived here for almost a month since my last post. Since my work schedule pretty much leaves me incommunicato for most of the days during the week I probably won’t be posting much. BUT, Elena’s been keeping a very comprehensive online documentary about our trials, tribulations, and accomplishments here so if you’re interested you should check it out: www.AnAmericanGirlinChina.com

Uhaul truck fun!

Garrett — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 06:41:28 +0000

After a long, grueling day of U-Haul hauling I’m now laying in bed relaxing. Dude, moving takes it out of you. Plus, you always have twice as much stuff as you think but thanks to my friends it went fairly smoothly. Needless to say I’m glad the majority of it is done other than about a car load of stuff and some cleaning. Looking forward to just relaxing calm styles tomorrow for Thanksgiving, I’m hungry already. Seriously, I’m pretty hungry…muscles are saying “Garrett, feed me!! Gotta keep us big and strong otherwise you’ll have to start charging for tickets to the gun show, free tickets are best!”

As China Gets Closer…

Garrett — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 08:24:20 +0000

As the the time comes closer when me and Elena move to Shanghai, my nerves are starting to talk to me. There are really two things that are on my mind; Elena’s happiness and how well I’ll be able to do the job. Just gotta focus on those two things and I think it will all be good. And just because I’m hungry…(actually I guess I’m really not that hungry, this just looks really good)

Obama takes it!

Garrett — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:18:11 +0000

Yes!

Prop 8 ad, uh oh

Garrett — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 07:27:14 +0000

I just noticed there’s a “Yes on 8″ google ad on my blog over there in the right column. Forgive me, but I’m not sure how to change it at the moment not to mention I’m really tired and voting takes place tomorrow so I’m sure it will be down by then. Needless to say I’ll be voting no on 8. Cheers