Here’s to having MLK Day off from work!
Going for my walk/run today in 15 degree (F) temps wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting. Until my calf started cramping. That had nothing to do with the cold, though. It was ready to go from the activity earlier in the weekend.
Junk I’ve run across:
- Parkour and free running are - without a doubt - the best thing to happen to action movies since martial arts. This article focuses on one of the American early adopters.
- Last Friday there was news of a car found in bits (along with the three people who were in it) in nearby Louisville. Turns out the car was doing over 100 miles per hour. It also turns out the folks taking the ride were drinking. At least they were “doing what they loved.”
- Leonard Cohen is going on tour after fifteen years off the road. I’m sure he’s past his prime, but I might actually go see him. This live disc is absolutely essential, I don’t care who you are.
- What does it say about me that I think this thing looks like a lot of fun?
- Brozo’s pal and mine, John Croghan, is playing some shows in the near future. I told him he should play “More Than Words” by perennial Boston favorite, Extreme. He said he’d do it if I actually came to the show. I’m gonna do my best, even though it’s way past my bed time.
- Another buddy, Wil Herren, has taken off to Dubai, where the rate of construction is only outstripped by the importing of sex workers (or so I hear). Wil’s off to a great start on his travel blog, even if he might be misusing the “pages” paradigm. The captions on the pics are gold.
- Brozo has the run down of our send-off for Wil, if you’re interested in a bunch of past-their-prime white boys rolling between dive bars in a limo.
- Oh, yeah… Go Pats!
- So, Clinton won Nevada, but Obama got more delegates? WTF? No wonder people don’t bother…
- I’m reading The Golden Compass right now. It’s actually good fun, IMHO. Not sure if I’m all that interested in the movie, though.
- I grabbed Superbad onto my TiVo via Amazon Unbox, though. That’s bound to be just about perfect for one of these nights when the television dial is utterly devoid of worthwhile entertainment.
- Speaking of, anyone have the early word on Breaking Bad? I’ve got it recorded, but haven’t watched it yet.
Random tidbits once again:
- I’m really pleased with the results of my latest slate tile project. Now I’m itching to switch into woodworking mode. I’m super excited about the new episodes of the New Yankee Workshop: Norm is building kitchen cabinets. I plan to eventually build cabinets for the mudroom and perhaps the garage (as practice for the potential “big job” of the actual kitchen). I think I’ll go ahead and buy the DVDs.
- I’m gradually building up my home entertainment system to match the new TV. I’ve gotten a fancy HDMI-switching receiver and a fairly cool iPod dock thingy. Next on my list is a TiVo HD. Then some surround speakers of some sort (I’m still living in stereo, folks…). And then maybe an Xbox 360, finally. (Still holding out for GTA4 on that one.)
- On the fitness front, my weight dipped below 200 pounds for the first time in a while yesterday. It’s back above today, but we’ll assume that’s temporary. I’m going to join a climbing gym soon, I think. A great new motivator I have is the Garmin Forerunner 205 I got for Xmas. It’s not as sexy as the new 405 everyone is drooling over, but it’s pretty darned cool. Of course, now I’m obsessed with tracking the slightest walk / jog / jaunt to the mail box. When The Wife teased me about it I quipped, “Are you kidding? I’m gonna track my trips to the bathroom from now on!”
- Lots of interesting gossip about former coworkers and new coworkers. That’s about all I’ll say about that, I suppose.
- I’m still an Obama cheerleader, though I don’t generally like to air my politics on this site. I like the look of things right now.
- Trent Reznor isn’t exactly excited by the results of the Niggy Tardust experiment.
- TV sucks almighty ass right now. I know there’s a writer’s strike going, but why aren’t networks taking better advantage by replaying some of the good stuff we might have missed previously? Example: AMC’s Mad Men? (Ooh! There’s an encore starting Jan 21. Nice.) At least I always have books to read.
So yeah… What’s new with you?
Some random crap:
My mommy got me a 40″ Sony LCD HDTV for Xmas. I was planning to get something in the 46″ range later in 2008, but 40″ turns out to be plenty big (plus, it’s free, yo!). That mother of mine is pretty cool. Even if she does have a thundering herd of Great Danes at her house (including this one and this one, who will make you cry).
—
Did you hear the Lakota have decided to secede from the US? I figure this is roughly equivalent to them going on strike. They’re grabbing some attention and might get some sort fo concession from the US government, but in the end it will amount to nothing. Though, Brozo and I think it’d be fun if they started tolling traffic on I-90 and formed an army. How long do you think it would take for them to be labeled “terrorists” if they did that?
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Did you hear that monkeys are as good at mental mathematics as college kids?
“We had them do math on the fly,” Cantlon said.
The task was to mentally add two sets of dots that were briefly flashed on a computer screen. The teams were asked to pick the correct answer from two choices on a different screen.
The humans were not allowed to count or verbalize as they worked, and they were told to answer as quickly as possible. Both monkeys and humans typically answered within 1 second.
And both groups fared about the same.
Great. Just great.
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Maybe they can help economists decide whether there’s going to be a recession or not.
“A lot of the underlying resilience of the U.S. economy seems a bit unappreciated,” says Citigroup economist Steven Wieting. “It’s not clear that this is so large a burden that we can’t muddle through this.”
That’s the best this guy could come up with? Muddle through?
Ron Paul isn’t Rudy Gulliani or Mitt Romney, which - although both good things in my view - keeps him out of the limelight in most of the coverage of the race for the Republican nomination for the 2008 presidential election. I’m no fan of Republicans in general (especially the Neo-Con breed that seems so hell-bent on robbing the nation of its civil liberties), but Ron Paul is at least interesting. He’s more like a libertarian in Republican clothing (which some would argue is what Republicans were supposed to be).
Anyway, he’s got fair amount of grass-roots support, and he’s been keeping himself on the fringes of the Republican primary radar.
Now, a bunch of those grass-roots supporters have organized this fund raising drive, with pretty astonishing results so far. The stated goal was $10 million for the day, and I definitely doubt they will get close to that. They have however crossed the $2 million mark as I type this.
Awesome.
To be clear: I am in no way endorsing Ron Paul. I don’t agree with several of his more passionate stances. I only think he’s the most interesting thing going right now as far as politics goes. Did you hear Obama was on SNL? And Hillary might have a really hot girlfriend? See what I mean? Wait… That last one could actually be pretty cool, if it’s enough to make Hillary go away.
Would it be possible to get a tally of “resignations” (specifically, any resignation tendered by someone who has been described as “embattled” at or around the time of resignation), indictments, and other forms of ouster for each presidential administration in the past, say, 50 years?
I’m just curious…
This guy is not only a riot, he’s a good egg to boot…
The baggage handler who tackled terrorists
BAA worker John Smeaton told reporters how he had helped a police officer to restrain the suspects after a burning Jeep Cherokee, which was doused in petrol and packed with gas cylinders, crashed through the window of the departures lounge on Saturday.
…
Demonstrating the “have-a-go” attitude typical of Glaswegians, Mr Smeaton continued: “Glasgow doesnae accept this, if you come tae Glasgow, we’ll set about you.”
How fantastic is THAT?! He is deservedly rising to a sort of stardom, too. Check the tribute blog and the YouTube action.
My favorite quite from the (less excited) CNN footage:
“He’s a behg boy and no’ for bein’ shubdude.”
It does me proud (as someone who claims Scottish heritage).
(Thanks, Garret!)
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