I'm playing my first indoor soccer match in many many years today. Since my last indoor soccer league, 4+ years ago, I've discovered that I have a heart condition and have had a bout with the gout.

No. I'm not joking. Both conditions are under control. My last visit with the cardiologist was encouraging and I got a cautious "OK" to play sports like soccer in moderation. It took months to get over the gout in my right big toe (on my "kicking foot"). I've never experienced pain like that before. I've been playing volleyball for over a year now and I *was* going to the gym regularly to play racquet ball and do cardio workouts. Somehow I fell out of that routine though. Starting up soccer is not the best way to work back into a cardio routine and I'll have to be careful. If I push it too hard I could pass out or induce other complications. It'll also be interesting to see how my toe holds up to constant beating against a soccer ball.

I find it very difficult to go to a gym to lift weights or run in circle, but I love to compete and to play sports. There are very few things in life that make me feel so alive than when I'm pushing my self physically, or mentally, towards a goal. Wish me luck!

Back in the days when Friday and/or Saturday night meant clubs and booze, we used to love to visit Milestones (back when it was at the old East Ave. location) and listen to a local band called "Ethel." Their music had a classic rock sound, but their lyrics and stage presence was contemporary.

( More about the Ethel days... )

Time has passed, we've all gotten older, and Bob Wiltse and lead guitarist Dave Mabelis finally put together another band called Deepwaterdaze. They've been playing on and off for several years now at various places - not Milestones so much. Unfortunately, we seldom make it to the shows. Its a true sign of our age when a night at home watching SciFi competes, and wins, with the idea of going out to a bar. With a baby on the way? Forget about it!

If you've gotten too old, or too lazy, to venture out to support Deepwaterdaze, you can do it to some degree online at http://www.garageband.com/artist/deepwaterdaze. There, you can download many (most?) of their songs in mp3 format, rate them, and post reviews.

If you are young, in denial about your age, or just plain up for getting out of the house, Deepwaterdaze's next gig is here.

I recently stumbled onto it, again, while looking for a better VNC client for my Mac. I didn't really find one. What I'd really like is remote desktop functionality like as it is provided in X windows or Windows remote Desktop. These technologies actually make remote access usable for long periods whereas VNC just never seems to be responsive enough.

Anywho.. here are some links I collected on VNC:
RealVNC - Official home of VNC
OSXvnc - VNC server for OS X
Chicken of the VNC - VNC client
VNC Client - another client that supports misc. compressions, and TightVNC server
MetaVNC - a window aware VNC

It supports all major OS platforms including Linux and OS X. I've created an account: jduprey. I've yet to try it out. If you already know me, give me a ring via Skype so we can both try it out. Its free!

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