Cuando Despierto en la Mañana Se Que Tengo el Poder Para una Dia Triumfar

Wednesday. I expected today to be slow and dull, but in fact, the quite opposite has been the case. I've been quite busy today. I knew I was in for a long day when I answered the phone 10 minutes after I logged in just to hear the sound of screaming. Not screaming at me, per say, but an actual "AAAAAAAAARRRRRGGHHHHH!!!!" Apparently this is an indication that the receivables website is down. Now even though I oversee and maintain the database for said receivables website, I do not oversee its publishing. I just put it out on the FTP site and IT takes it from there. So, after placing a call to IT I get the answer back 7 hours later that the Coldfusion server was down, no one in IT was notified and it wasn't until they researched my problem that they noticed the issue. Now regular readers know that I have a general disdain for our corporate IT help desk (that's a misnomer if I've ever heard one), but I just figured it was because they hired completely incompetent and unknowledgeable people to answer the phones, but that the people actually behind the scenes knew what was going on. However, today has made me doubt even that (with exception to the very nice gentleman that rebooted the server and got things back up and running for me). Seriously, how can people who can pass all kinds of high level math and science courses, not to mention understand intricate technological applications, still be so clueless? The world may never know...

Other than that, I am trying to clean up some really ugly messes on one of my accounts and approving sales orders as they come in. I'm also emailing Lampside back and forth right now, which (along with the writing of this post), is currently taking up the majority of my attention (as it should).

Today is part two of my Ozomatli discussion. Yesterday I listened to Ozomatli's first album, Ozomatli, and today I listened to their latest album Street Signs. While both albums exhibited the same mix of Latin funk, rock and hip-hop, the differences were still noticeable. The biggest difference to me was the replacement of Chali 2na of the Jurassic 5 with another MC to perform the rap vocals. The new guy isn't bad at all, but since I am partial to the J5 sound, I have to give the edge to the first album. The second album had much better production values. That can be both good and bad, depending on how you look at it. It is always a good thing to have a crisp, clean sound, but there is also something to be said about the more raw and truer output that comes from low production. Again, I'm giving the first release the nod on this one.

I did like Street Signs though, and I have really enjoyed the past two mornings listening to this band. You might have heard a few cuts from Street Signs on the radio. They play (Who Discovered) America and Love & Hope here in the Denver/Boulder market, so perhaps they have made it to your area as well (if Clear Channel in their infinite wisdom decides that is what they want you to listen to). Those tunes are ok, but I don't think they really represent what the group is all about. I recommend picking up Ozomatli to get the real scoop. Definitely good stuff.