I Hug

I've moved!

2011-01-05T05:28:00.001-08:00

That's right, I've packed up and moved to a different blog. I've retained all of my older posts, but in an effort to better streamline my Google apps I set up a new blog.

See you there!

http://seehurst.blogspot.com

I got nothin' but love for you...

2010-12-26T08:18:00.000-08:00

So says Axwell on his track "Nothing But Love (Remode)" from the Swedish House Mafia album titled Until One.

Christmas was tough. I'm so tired of being away from my wife and daughter. It friggin sucks.

The only way I got through yesterday was playing flash games and watching Emily, Amelia, and the Rices (and Molly) open gifts. For some reason, it all hit me today. The sadness and lonliness. I'm pretty good at pushing my feelings down and away so I don't have to deal with them, but today was hard. I mean, I cried while watching "Roll Bounce".... Really?

Funny thing about that movie is it shares, albeit vaguely, some characteristics of my life. The lead character lost him mom (mine ditched when I was 9 or so). He and his little sister (I had my little brother) were raised by his dad who lost himself in the memory of his wife (she died, but mine left). The characters were also avid rollerskaters. I could cut up the rink pretty good when I was about 11-12 back in Huntington, WVa. I used to LOVE going to the rink and breaking a sweat while jumping up and down with Kriss Kross. I smile fondly as I look back.

Anyhow, just saying I'm down today. Can't wait to get back to my best friend and wife. She knows how to level me out and I'm in desperate need. I'd also like to chat with my squawky little wiggleworm too. She loves to shriek for no reason nowadays. Not sure what all that's about.

I put the "decks" away for a few days but I plan on working on a new mix soon. Hopefully less use of the 'cut' effect and more focus on seamless mixing. Gotta ease up on the hard cuts.

Cheers and Love for now -

DJ Redsamick December '10 Electro House Mix!

2010-12-20T01:58:00.001-08:00

Here it is!

Some words on it:

(1) I feel like I used the "cut" effect too much in this mix.
(2) The volume on the track is a bit high
(3) I feel like I killed the EQs a bit too much so will try to vary killing and gradually bringing them in and taking them out.

Aside from that, I'd really love feedback. If you like, say so! I you hate it...say so - but please say why so I can get better.

Enjoy!

DJRedsamick 16 December Mix House and Electro by DJRedsamick

Love.

Another week down in Iraq

2010-12-19T04:09:00.000-08:00

Which means one more week closer to home. We now have less than three months until we depart this dusty country. Can-not-wait.

I just wanted to give some shoutouts in this post and give you a heads up on a new mix I'm going to be posting within the next week.

First, thanks to Maria (http://riasrhetoric.blogspot.com/) and her third grade class for all of the wonderful Christmas cards! They are awesome! I've posted them all around the office to help spread Christmas cheer to all of my Soldiers and interpreters who work on the ECP. All of your students have exceptional artistic skill. I wish to thank you and your students for their beautiful cards - especially to the kid who called me "Papa." :)

Second, thanks to the Rices, Adamses, and Donovans for all of the support through Christmas cards and care packages. I often let the Soldiers get into the packages too so we can all appreciate your lovely edibles!

Third, to my wonderful wife - thank YOU for your hard work with raising Amelia while I'm gone. I am eternally grateful for your love and dedication to me, our relationship, and our new daughter. You are one-of-a-kind, love. I miss you.

As for Iraq, the temps are still cool in the mornings and evenings. I was talking with an Airman last night whose MOS is weather forecaster (and he's on a 6-month deployment...where can I get a job like that!?) and he said that normally by this time Basra has received over 3 inches of rain. As of right now, we're under .5 inches. Sooooo dry. But I reckon the rain will come at some point.

I'm seriously considering doing the "Tough Mudder" event that is coming to Colorado June 25th and 26th of '11. I've got some friends who did it in New York who looked like they had a heck of a time. It looks grueling but somehow right up my alley. I've wanted to run a marathon for a while now but am not really built for running. The Tough Mudder in Colorado is about 7 miles long with about a 1,000 foot change in elevation (the elevation of Beaver Creek ranges between 8 and 11.5k feet), which means some lung conditioning once I get home. I think I can do it though. Plus, it will give me incentive to work out (other than not being overweight [according to the Army] - that's for another blog post).

Again, keep your ears open for my next mix. I hope it sounds better to you than my last few. i feel like I'm getting better, but without an audience how can I really know?

Cheers for now - see you all soon :)

Love.

15 December - a chilly morning in Iraq

2010-12-14T19:29:00.000-08:00

Guten Morgen! I woke up to a very chilly morning indeed. I think the temp is in the 30s somewhere. Not below freezing, though. It's cold enough to put my t-shirt and jacket on to go do hygeine this morning and wear my shemagh to work. The weather has been weird over the past couple of days. The rainy season is hesitatingly coming on. With it comes extremely hazy conditions with sometimes 60 degree mornings falling into 38 degree evenings. So strange.

Emily put up some wonderful new photos of Amelia yesterday in her new bear snowsuit. She is so stinking cute! I'm sure she's like wtf, mate, what's all this getting dressed up about. But she is just...well, my cute daughter. Sometimes I look at pictures of her and study her features. I remember being home with her and Emily when AJ was born, but she's just grown so much already that I hardly recognize her. The last time I was with her, she weighed around 7 lbs. Now she weighs over 15! It's wild. I'm itching so bad to get home and be with both of them.

I also look at photos of Em and recall what it feels like to touch her face and look her in the eyes. I miss her so much. I can't WAIT to get back home and be with my best friend. We have so much to catch up on!

Right now we (I) are (am) trying to come up with ideas of what we can do while on leave next year. We both want a couple of days alone together and we both want to make a trip home. Aside from that, I have a lot to plan for! We set some parameters yesterday on how much $ we can spend and timelines and such, so that should make my planning easier, but it isn't. Right now, thinking past just being at home with my family is difficult. All I really want at this point is to be home. But never fear, I'm sure I'll come with something. Got any ideas?

As far as music, I've been really getting into Electro-House. Think David Guetta. You can also check out DJ Bl3nd's Youtube channel for some interesting electro-house mixes. I've been working on a new mix myself. However, from now I'll be trying to plan the mix better and make it make sense.

On another music note, I've been researching Digital DJ controllers (Hercules, Vestax, Numark, Denon...) to try and figure out which one would benefit me the most. I've put a lot of time into it as I'm trying to avoid just blowing cash on something that I just won't use or is too much tech for what I need. I'm also trying to think through what kind of time I will be spending doing mixes when I get home. I mean, I want to spend as much time as possible with Emily and Amelia. We'll also be traveling. Eventually I'll have to go back to work. So, while it's easy for me contemplate my DJ dreams, I also know that I've got too much time to myself here and that will not be the norm once I get home. NOT that this is bad - just fact. So, I reckon in essence I'm trying to prepare myself for re-integration now vs leading myself into shock if I wait until I'm actually boots-on-ground in Colorado.

This post is probably going to run on, so read on if you're bored, but it's mostly for me.

Recently I've had to tell 4 of my 9 interpreters that I will be releasing them at the end of this month. At one point I was responsible for 11 local national interpreters (all from Iraq). When I say responsible, I mean I made their work schedule, filled out and turned in their "timesheets" so they could get paid, and generally helped them in any way I can. They are all really good guys and have a dangerous job. The bad guys outside the wire often threaten to harm their families if they continue to work for the US military. Regardless, they still come to work.

Since the drawdown in Iraq is in full swing, I'm forced to cut down my interpreter (terp, for short) force considerably. Like I said, they are all good guys, but just like any employee, some of them are better workers than others. So, after analyzing the data on how many times each of them were late and/or missed work without an excuse, I came up with my 4. I'm trying to get them a job elsewhere so they can continue to get a paycheck, but they can't work for me anymore. Sad, but I'm glad I got some time with them.

Two of my favorite DJ info sites are at BeginnerDJ and Digital DJ Tips. There is a plethora of info on each and are helping to guide my DJ evoultion. BDJ is run by a really cool/nice guy out of Florida. I email with him every now and then with questions and comments and he always replies with prompt, well thought-out answers and tips. DDJT is run by an ex club DJ out of the UK. His site is quite a bit bigger and more trafficked than BDJ and garners many more sponsors. He also responds promptly to guest posts and comes off as very proffessional, never biting onto flamer comments. I recommend both sites if you are into mixing music, be-it analog, CD, or digital. BDJ has more on analog where as DDJT is almost exclusively digital music.

Check out this 69-yr old Grandma DJ out of the UK. She's wicked! DDJT did a nice article on her here.

So, I reckon that's all for now. I'm going to work on a promo mix right now. I'm getting into mapping out my keyboard to function as a mixer, which is blowing my mind, to try and give me that hands-on feel of mixing. So, look for a new mix coming out soon :)

Love -

new mix and current photo

2010-12-04T02:49:00.000-08:00

Greetings -

I thought I'd upload a current photo of myself and link my newest mix. It's not much, but hey, I'm having fun with it.

I've started watching the show "Eastbound and Down." Ever seen it? It's pretty raw and weird at times. The main character is pretty messed up but he's growing on me. Just finished the first season and I'm on to the next one soon. The share drive is pretty sweet out here.

I took this photo this morning as the sun was coming up. Gets pretty chilly this time of year in Iraq.

Here's the mix. I made it using VirtualDJ 7 Pro on my little HP mini 311. It does good to handle mixing two tracks, but the little Atom processor can't do much more than that. I am currently using a mouse, a little splitter to be able to attach my headphones and pc speakers at the same time and a host of Mp3s I've acquired since I've been here. I look forward to the day when I use an actual controller (like the Hercules MK4 or RMX - both of which I can attach my turntables to). Anyhow, I'm rambling. I hope you enjoy.

DJ Redsamick Mix 11 by DJRedsamick

Mixing

2010-12-02T02:46:00.000-08:00

I've enjoyed techno for a long time. I bought my first set of turntables and mixer when I was stationed in Korea in '03 and I largely left it behind after I started school in Jersey.

Well, I've had a lot of time to myself on this deployment. Time to explore mixing techno using Mp3s and the like. I won't spend too much time rambling on. Just wanted to share a few mixes that I've done so far. They are primitive, but I enjoy making them.

The first is dedicated to Mimsy.Lou.

Redsamick Mix 10 - JackJohnson Mix by DJRedsamick

The second is me listening to disco in a different way.

DJRedsamick 9 DiscoMix by DJRedsamick

The third is a mix I posted s a little while ago. Let me know what you think.

Mix4 by DJRedsamick

Cheers and thanks for the comments.

So much to say

2010-11-30T10:33:00.000-08:00

oh hi. it's been awhile and lots has happened:

-bought house
-PCS
-Vegas
-got wife pregnant
-deployed to Iraq
-taken rocket fire
-gained 25 lbs
-saw baby Amelia born
-turned 26
-had terrible Turkey Day in Iraq

There's much, much more. But I'm tired and it's late. I love you all. I miss you all. This place is for the birds.

-Hugs

First Hurst Fall Weekend

2009-09-27T07:24:00.000-07:00

Greetings family and friends (and you people out there that I don't know but read random blogs),

Emily, Delilah, and I are celebrating our First Hurst Fall Weekend! While Emily is accustomed to decorating for the different season, I have never really celebrated a season. Sure, there are holidays and such, but I've never soaked up the joy that comes from Summer changing into Fall. So, I asked Emily if she would like to have a day/weekend dedicated to Fall. Of course she obliged. Here is what we have done so far to celebrate:

(1) We started the weekend off right with Oktoberfest in Glen Allen, Va underneath the beer tent at the Capital Ale House. I took a couple of photos with my phone that I'll try to post later. 'Twas tons-o-fun. The scene was complete with a massive crowd of jolly beer drinkers, an Oompa Band (include the little oompa kinder), beer girls wearing little and flirting lots (Em was more than over this fact), and scrumptious eats. Em and I both enjoyed fresh bratwurst served on a baguette and with German potato salad. Emily, of course, passed her serving of brown mustard to me which I then smeared all over my plate of food. I could eat German food everyday. Other menu options were Jagerschnitzel, Knackwurst, Herb Grilled Chicken, Red Cabbage, Spaetzle (C. Larson/M. Bennett/J. Ross eat your hearts out), and other amazing side dishes. Emily enjoyed a 1/2 liter (which was poured more like a 3/4 liter) of Oktoberfest beer and I had the original Paulaner (also 1/2 [3/4] liter). When around a ton of other people drinking beer from liter steins (WHICH WERE PASSED OUT FOR FREE AT THE DOOR!!!!!!) Emily and I both felt comfortable and at home. We weren't stressed out as many might be at a place like McCarthy's. P.S. - Shamrocks, you still remain near the top of our list :)

(2) After coming home from the Ale House, Emily made us some amazing ice cream sundaes. Em's was Mint Chocolate Chip I.C. with chocolate syrup. I had Butter Pecan I.C. with walnuts and chocolate syrup. Mmm. Enough said. We fell soundly asleep shortly after that and woke up at 11:30am the next day.

(3) Saturday brought with it a slow wake up, good cups of coffee and tea, shopping, cooking, decorating, football, sporcle, and general Fall-e kinds of things.

(3a) Emily and I have taken to having some coffee and tea together in the morning on weekends. It's either mint or green tea for her and Folger's instant for me. We bought some heavy whipping cream on Saturday and it goes epecially well with coffee:)

(3b) We went to many different places to do our Fall shopping: Target (a must), Michael's (surprisingly good deals there), and Wal-Mart (mainly food - should be avoided at all costs on a Saturday). We also stopped into Pier 1, Old Navy, K-Mart, and Best Buy. I'm in the market for a new computer.

(3c) After coming home with our bags of goodies, we set out to make a smorgasbord of Fall food: Punkin (as Em says it) soup, feta-stuffed chicken, and apple-struedel pie. Here is a link to her blog detailing the recipes and other fun stuff.

(3d) After gobbling up our delicious creations, we snapped a picture of our dozing Delilah, watched our two teams (Army and UK) get creamed, and decorated the house. Here are a few pictures of our creations. Most of the materials came from Michael's and Wal-Mart filled in the gaps. Just looking at this stuff makes me feel good. When I walk around the apartment I feel happy...Fall-e.

(3e) I capped the night off with a cup of Captain Morgan's Spiced Cider. However, I warmed the cider first, added some cinnamon and nutmeg, then added the rum. It was good, but a little too strong. Next time, less rum (although the buzz wasn't bad at all).

(4) So, here we are now, it's Sunday and we're just getting started. We plan on having brunch (as it has become our Sunday tradition), watching football while sipping (cider through a straw) pumpkin soup and eating chicken and dumplings, and finishing up some homework. Pernaps we'll head out for a bike ride!

Cheers! Comments are welcome!

Sleep-In Sunday

2009-09-20T10:03:00.000-07:00

Why Sundays at the Hurst household are awesome:

(1) We sleep in until our backs hurt and we absolutely have to pee;
(2) After we stretch and get up to pee, we can go back to sleep;
(3) When we finally get up, we make mint tea and coffee;
(4) After making our choice morning beverages, we begin breakfast;
(5) We cook breakfast together;
(6) Emily lets me cook home fries and omelettes with any combination of ham/turkey/bacon/feta/cheddar;
(7) After breakfast we relax and get our dose of internet together;
(8) If we're being good Christians, we'll listen to a podcast of the most recent message or go to church;
(9) And then...NFL SUNDAY!!!! GO BENGALS!

p.s. - there are lots of ways to remove burnt plastic from a stove burner :-/

In the Field Again

2009-09-15T16:25:00.000-07:00

Alas, I find myself in the field again. However, it's not like any other time. Right now I'm serving in a quasi PL position - supervising 14 pre-AITers as we play the role of OPFOR for the next couple of days. I've been out here since Sunday morning and it's been slow going up until last night when I received my soldiers. Now I have something to do!
Earlier today, the BN CSM came to me with a favor. He had written an important AAR that received praise, but was in the wrong format. So, while I was sitting at the computer here in the TOC, he came to me asking if I was good with computers. I said sure. He then asked my to retype his powerpoint AAR into a formal memorandum in Word. It really wasn't that hard - just took about an hour and a half.
I wrote it up and shot it back to him over email and wondered if it really helped or not. He came to me a few hours later and gave me he and the BN CDR's coin. Sweet! It's been a few years since I was given a coin. Even though it's an almost worthless peice of metal, I still felt important and appreciated when I recieved it. I guess that's what matters.

Anyhow - cheers for now.

The Virginia Holocaust Museum

2009-09-07T18:26:00.000-07:00

More to Follow.

Standby.

Mayton Transfer Lots - Our New Apartment

2009-09-07T18:25:00.002-07:00

More to follow.

Standby.

Emily, Delilah, and Chris Move to Petersburg, Va

2009-09-07T18:25:00.001-07:00

More to come.

Standby...

BOLCII - Fort Sill, OK

2009-09-07T18:24:00.000-07:00

lazy blogger

2009-06-28T12:30:00.000-07:00

While Em is getting ready, I figured I'd visit an old friend here in the blogspace. I hope everyone is doing well. Sorry to hear about all of the recent celebrity deaths. Em and I commemorated MJ by going to 80s night at the Dame. Amazingly cathartic. Only thing is...I've got MJ songs on the brain constantly. Ear worms...

We're headed out for some errands and necessary shopping. Swing my WM to see Dad and drop off/pick up things. He's got another kidney stone but is trying to work through without losing too much time at work. I hope the docs get him in quick to remove it.

Love to all -

Pass the Gas, Pass the Blame

2009-02-04T07:41:00.000-08:00

So I was in spin class [yesterday] morning, working my tail off trying to keep up with the trainer without completely losing feeling in my legs, when I felt some rumbling in my guts. Shortly thereafter the inevtivable happened - a little poof of stink came out and I couldn't help but look around and make sure nobody was looking at me. What I noticed was that only one person was within 10 feet of me.

That got me thinking. If she smelled it, then she certainly knew it was me, not her. She knew that she didn't do it. She must have known it was me. Or maybe she didn't smell it.

If she did, she was kind enough not to mention it. Shoot, maybe she farted and I didn't smell it.

SO - why write about this? Well, I was wondering if any of you have had a similar experience or have been the unfortunate smeller of a worker-outer's gas passage. I certainly have. I've never called them out either, unless they were my workout partner. Even then we just chuckle and chalk it up as "workout gas."

p.s. - if you really want a laugh, hold someone's feet for about 30-50 situps. They're sure to rip one or more than a few.

10 things you may not know about me...

2009-01-29T04:46:00.000-08:00

1. I love to rock climb.
2. I'm afraid of going too fast in a car as passenger, yet I will drive upwards of 110 mph and not realize it.
3. I will be marrying the best woman in the world in 127 days.
4. I enjoy fishing, even if I don't catch anything.
5. I can't function if my hands are too cold.
6. I am sometimes passive-aggressive.
7. I've moved more times in my life than I am years old (24).
8. Snakes scare the bejesus out of me.
9. I am horrible with money.
10. I've had 5 piercings in my life, but I don't have any now.

How about you?

Crossfit

2009-01-21T19:34:00.001-08:00

I'm really coming to like Crossfit. I started last week. At first I only went on Tuesday and Friday - Monday and Wednesday are for cardio. Now I go Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings and do the Monday and Wednesday workouts in the evenings after doing hw and talking with Em.
At first I was nervous and thought that I wasn't strong or fit enough to hang with the other people doing it (here at school). Yet, after talking with a buddy that goes every morning (and is also on the climbing team), I thought I'd give it a shot.
It's a sort of thing where everyone check's their ego at the door. No matter that I'm not as strong as somebody or that I get tired quicker. None of that matters. All that matters is that I push myself and stay motivated to get better. I find myself working out in a very non-threatening community.
All of this working out business sprung from me being overweight when I got back from Christmas break. My being overweight wasn't because of Christmas break, with all of its many goodies, but because I generally slacked of last semester. Even then, I don't feel so bad about it.
So, here I am. You can check out the workouts if you like on the Black and Gold Crossfit Blog. They may seem daunting at first - I was indeed thoroughly daunted - but keep in mind that one can set the weight at whatever works for him/her. There are at least two girls that are in there as well throwing down every morning.
Cheers all!

Where were you?

2009-01-21T19:30:00.000-08:00

Where were you for President Obama's Inaugural Speech?
What were you doing?
How old were you?
Who was with you?

I was in the mess hall.
I was chowing down on some corn chowder and a spicy chicken patty.
I was 24 years old.
I was with my table-mates: Neil, Brian B., Chris N., Scott W., Will Y., Michael S., Rope, Schmidt, and Curran.

Last First week of classes: done

2009-01-10T22:39:00.000-08:00

That's right. I've officially finished my last first week of classes. This semester seems like a string of lasts. Immediately following graduation, a thread of firsts will begin: graduating from college, being commissioned, being saluted, getting married, moving my own family, going to Colorado for the first time...

I'm sure there are more that I'm forgetting. It's just already turning out to be an interesting semester. Things feel different. Perhaps that's because I'm at the top of the food chain, so-to-speak, and I have more self confidence than in previous years. Maybe cause I'm getting a little bit older. I dunno. I find myself thinking about this stuff more often.

R.I.P. New Cadet Fein

2009-01-06T10:41:00.000-08:00

Late Sunday night I found out that one of my New Cadets from Beast died over Christmas break. As I looked at the publication that outlined how we would conduct his TAPS Vigil tomorrow night, I slowly realized that a person somewhat close to me had passed on. That is the closest I've ever been to death. I wasn't sure how to react, or what to do/say. I got choked up and cried some. I got the details of his death from a close friend who knows these things then sent an email to my subordinate leaders from Beast.

We are all astonished at his death. During Beast he was such a happy-go-lucky kind of guy that was down for anything. In order to break the monotony, Cadet leadership in Beast will often have the New Cadets act out a skit or sing a song or anything that might be remotely funny (but not demeaning to a New Cadet's character). Most New Cadets welcome the opportunity to get a laugh, if only not to have to stand like a pole staring off into the distance.

In this light, I can remember watching New Cadet (NC) Fein escape a rabid, bloodthirsty rabbit that was hot on his trail as he ran back into formation. Another time, we, myself, the PSG and the SLs, found that NC Fein had a special skill: he was a moondancer. He had this crazy looking moondance that tickled everyone.

He was one of a kind and we will all miss him. I think the thing I'm learning the most is to be close to the people I'm in charge of; get to know them. I've thought about this lately as I prepare to graduate and take on a group of soldiers of my own. I know I can't save the world, but I'll try to at least look after my troops.

I Hug

2009-01-05T17:35:00.000-08:00

This fact is most widely known to Em's faja - hereby known as Yahtzee to keep his identity undisclosed. I'd much rather give someone a hug than shake their hand, especially if they are friend/family. However, complete strangers get the hand first.

I am new to Blogger but not blogging itself. I've moved here in order to better access other blogs and post comments/questions.

So, here goes nothin'.