I’ve been wanting to create a centralized home for things musical for a while, and finally got around to it today. You can download several MP3s from the Music page, including a new simple piano piece called “Their Faces Now Are Old”. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of downloading T-Racks mastering software and trying it out with some of my tracks, and now I’m not happy with the way any of them sound anymore. 🙂

If you’re interested in the gear, you might also enjoy the Instruments page, to which I’ll be adding photos and additional text soon.

I don’t know why exactly, but it gives me a warm glow to know that you really can get anything you want on the Internet, including a 1/6 scale action figure of yourself, someone you love, or your favorite stalking victim (if you’ve taken enough pictures with that telephoto lens). Details are here.

As anyone who cares probably already knows, Apple announced a lot of interesting stuff today. The item I covet most would be a tie between the new Powerbook G4, which is sassy simply for it’s own sake, and the high-end G4 tower, which comes with DVD-authoring software. If inducing techno-lust is a measure of the product’s success, then this morning was a winner, as suddenly I feel a burning need to make my own DVDs.

I’ve also downloaded iTunes, and am enjoying playing with it. Good timing too, as I’d been considering buying Soundjam MP, upon which it’s evidently based. I’ve got 3GB set aside for music, and am cramming CDs into the machine as fast as it will take them.

But the best news got less fanfare than any of these. Jobs showed off the latest version of OS X, and it’s evident from what he said and what had changed that Apple has actually been paying attention to the people who have been beta testing OS X, and have made usability improvements and fleshed-out functionality that will make the OS more of a pleasure to use. Jobs is a bit notorious for pushing his vision to production even when it’s not a good one, so it’s a pleasant thing to see his company have the humility to actually listen and take user’s ideas. Continuing to apply that kind of attitude could once again make Apple the computer for the rest of us.

I recently finished Jack Kerouac’s On The Road, the definitive novel of the Beat Generation. In a way, it’s a shame to be reading it at this late date, for it has suffered a bit from the Citizen Kane effect — it does some new and startling things, which are less new and startling now that lots of other people have borrowed from the vocubulary these works originated.

In any case, this sprawling novel centers on the road trips the narrator takes across the continent with friends and the adventures en route. Alternately frenetic, sad, funny, and fevered, it drags you through much of the varied experience of the Beat lifestyle. The most unsatisfying aspect for me was the ending, as Dean Moriarty degenerates and eventually fades from Sal’s life altogether without much explanation — it’s the sadness of parting unexplained.

But overall, the book is worth having under one’s belt as a touchstone of a generation, and is quite enjoyable in its own right.

Ok, I’ve done normal hair and full beard. I’ve done the whole head cut to 1/4″. I’ve done the shaved head and goatee. And when it started getting cold down here, I started growing everything out again.

But now I look like an aging, demented tropical bird, as portions of my hair choose to stand up, and portions take a more relaxed approach to life. So next up: the Shel Silverstein look. We’ll see how it flies.

This morning, I was looking through Carvin’s Online Catalog to pick out some audio gear for the new church, while Liam was leaning over my shoulder watching what I was doing.

“Holy Mackeral!” I exclaimed, upon seeing a particularly powerful system. Liam, figuring I must be talking about what was on screen, started pointing to some of the other speaker stacks. “More Mackeral!” he exclaimed gleefully. “More Mackeral!”

“No, Liam,” I explained. “Those aren’t mackeral. They’re speakers.” But he wouldn’t be dissuaded, and continues to insist that speakers are called “Mackeral.” Funny boy.

So, it’s January 4, the dead of winter, and where are my psychotic kids? In the swimming pool, of course. Yes, it’s 70 degrees here, and yes, it’s sunny and beautiful, but still…

I’ve posted a pile of stuff to celebrate Christmas and the New Year. Leading it off is The 2000 Edition of The McMains Family Christmas Letter. If you’re just joining us, that’s a good place to get up to speed on the last year of goings-on around here. I’ve also posted several small photo galleries, including a Trinity Baptist Church Reunion, Christmas Morning, and Varied Holiday Fun. There were, unfortunately, two events for which I didn’t have the camera along: Christmas with Dad McMains, Lana, and Meara, and a reunion of “The Righteous Dudes”, a title our immodest (and inaccurate) group of four good friends gave ourselves in high school. It was great to get together with those guys again, as we hadn’t all been together for six years.

In the midst of the cold weather, here’s a bit of Texas summer beauty. This is a patch of prickly pear out near Enchanted Rock State Park. Prickly Pear cactus is some of my favorite distinctly Texan flora, and I plan to cultivate some in my cactus garden once I get around to creating it.

No, this site hasn’t been abandoned. It’s just that there are a lot of dear people in the Real World™ that I just haven’t seen enough of lately, and we’re using the time off work to good advantage. I hope that your holidays are bringing you all similar joys.

I’ve got this year’s Christmas Letter in the works, so don’t fret: there will be something new to read soon. And for you visual learners, the camera is crammed. I’ll post those shortly as well. Until then, get out and enjoy the sunshine and the company of good friends and family.