June 2005 Archives

Back in the 1995/1996 there was exactly one must read web site for me. It was Suck. Now someone took some time and wrote down the story of how it all happened. I felt a little sad reading this. It reminds me of the first time I heard an 80's music station and thought, "Why is music that I heard in seventh grade now playing on something suspiciously like an oldies station!" Reading the history of this web site reminds me that the old web is gone.

I've been bidding on boxes of scissors on EBay for some time. Today I finally won!

To celebrate my good fortune, we'll have a little contest here. Send me an email with your guess (preferably an integer) on how many scissors I will receive in my 30 pound box of plastic handled scissors. One entry per person please. Whoever guesses the number of scissors correctly will be awarded one pair of plastic handled scissors. In the event of a tie, I'll select at least one winner based on the entry date. In the event that no one guesses correctly, I'll award the prize to the person who comes closest to the correct number, without going over.

Special thanks to the co-workers, L_, L_, and the one who likes to be referred to as "my favorite", for chipping in and making this happen for me.

I hope you wanted scissors for Christmas.

There were a lot of these blooming at Lake Vermillion. Anyone have any idea what kind of plant these might be?

Bonus points to be awarded if you can tell me if this plant is native to northern Minnesota.

One of my favorite Far Side cartoon shows heaven and hell. The punch line is something like "Welcome to heaven here is your harp; welcome to hell, here is your accordion. Whenever someone new joins a project I am part of, I explain to them that "we are, unfortunately, fresh out of accordions", just to see if they are among the Far Side cognesceti. If they are, they gain valuable project insight. If they know nothing of the Far Side, it serves to cement my reputation as a loon.

[Photo courtesy of JReid]

So when I saw this digital accordion on Gizmodo I immediately wanted to get one and start taking lessons. My awkward lack of rhythm and near tone deafness may make this one of my worst ideas to date. Still the idea of the all electronic accordion amuses me. You can plug in headphones and the device will appear silent. What a boon that must be to the parents of fledgling accordion players. Can you imagine seeing people playing these on the subway and no noise coming out?

This isn't related in any way, but I found this Larson/Goodal controversy funny. It would fit better into this post if a wild chimp had thrown an accordion at Larson, but we'll stick with the truth for now.

I love a well told story. My favorite-story-telling-blog-of-the-week is Waiter Rant. I especially liked I'm a Waiter - Not a Psychic Dietician & Nunc Dimittis.

[Link Courtesy or RLP]

If you fill out the survey you can see how you see you stack up against the other respondents.

In 2003 I gave Jeannie a set of cornices for Christmas. One was to be installed over the sliding glass door, the other over the living room window. While I got the first installed pretty quickly, the larger one for the living room languished in the basement, unfinished, for a long time. I finally installed it late last night. It looks great.

Special thanks to Aras for spending a lot of time helping me build what I thought would be a two hour project in his shop. It's a good thing he charged me the undocumented worker rate for his time, rather than high priced defense contractor rates he used to charge. I think I paid him roughly two hamburgers from Wendy's if memory serves me right.

Real Live Preacher wrote about the difference between the real person and the persona presented to the rest of the world.

In his post he says this.

I think Chuck suspects that false images can destroy or distort reality. I think this idea relates neatly to the picnic crisis concept I posted about a while back. I think part of the reason people don't get together for dinner parties or picnics has to do with ideas fostered by TV, movies, Martha Stewart and consumerism in general. People believe that entertaining should look like something we see on a movie set. We can't just invite someone over until we have to have a sparkling clean house, filled with bankbook breaking furniture, accessorized with the right colors for the season, and food that glistens in the glow of our expensive home made looking candles. The irony of course is that we somehow believe it would be better if we could make our real life resemble an illusion we saw on a screen; an illusion that never really existed except as a well lit cardboard and plastic facade on a movie set. (It's not that I have anything against fantasy and/or illusion, it's just that I hate to see people forget the dividing line between two.)

I suspect that he knows that the condition of creating a false self to display to the world doesn't simply affect pastors -- it's a human condition. Pastors probably have more pressure to present a certain image than most since it's practically part of the job description. I think he is right when he suggests that this phenomenon is a cause for plenty of loneliness and depression.

Thank you, to all of you who don't flinch when I slip up and show you something approaching nine tenths of X.

You've probably seen these before, but I think they are pretty cool.

S5: It's a really nice alternative for making a presentation in a web browser. It all runs client side and is pretty easy to edit.

GTD Tiddlywiki: It's a wiki that is composed of one file and it all runs clients side so you can keep it on your memory stick and use it anywhere there is a web browser.

Now, if someone could only marry these so I could edit my presentation in wiki fashion and display it using the same file.

Matthew and I went to the Stone Arch Bridge Art Festival last Saturday. Matthew is pretty much willing to go anywhere and do anything with me. He seemed happy when he got there and noted that "it smells like cookies."

I ran into two co-workers at the fair. Toni was at the art fair exhibiting her custom made jewelry. While looking at her wares I was struck by how the process for making custom fishing jigs must be very similar to making the artistic earrings they were exhibiting. I wonder if there are any cross-over artists who tie fishing flies and make earrings. Her earrings were very nice. The other co-worker Amy, who I've blogged about at least once before, was out shopping with her mother. I'm always pleasantly surprised when I run into someone I know when I'm out and about in the Twin Cities, doubly so when I can meet a parent.

The fair was pretty nice. The weather was nearly perfect. There were a lot of interesting vendors with very reasonably priced goods. I was disappointed that there weren't more potters exhibiting as I am actively looking for a nice pitcher for serving water or milk. This show was much nicer than the Blueberry Festival in Ely. At the Blueberry festival it seems like there are always multiple vendors selling beer can whirligigs at near astronomical prices. Nothing wrong with this, it's just not my taste. (I do admire the fact that those artisans are so willing to drain all those beer cans in order to follow their bliss and create the whirligigs. What sacrifices people make for their art.)

Matthew liked the candied almonds and fresh lemonade best.

Minneapolis has a number of spots are the ruins of once prosperous industry. I find these places have a beauty all their own, perhaps more than when these places were hopping with commerce and activity.

On our way back from the "Stone Arch Bridge Art Festival" Matthew and I passed a typical warehouse building with an odd sign out front, "Soap Factory Open". I couldn't resist investigating what that might mean. So in we went. It turns out that the "Soap Factory" is an art space for experimental art. We walked in and Matthew announced loudly to the volunteer/docent "It stinks in here."

Here is what appears to be an enormous knit shawl. It's easily 12 feet across. I would hate to see the size of the knitting needles.

This was easily my favorite installation. It was a rickety rube goldberg-esque ride where you watch a small translucent piece of paper. As the wooden cart moved around the room, the scene projected on the paper kept changing. Matthew seemed to have enjoyed it almost as much as I did.

Matthew isn't yet burdened with the adult notion that art needs to mean something, so he has always enjoyed avant-garde art.

The shadowy figures in the photograph are Jeannie and Matthew working on Matthew's bike riding skills. He's getting the hang of going without training wheels. He still steers like a distracted drunk and sometimes forgets to pedal, but he is much better than I was at that age.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bike

I never really got the hang of riding a bike when I was grade school aged. When I lived in Richland Center, Wisconsin we lived with my maternal grandparents. While my grandmother had lots of admirable traits, she was in the final analysis very flappable when it came to activities resulting in road rash. Her nervousness combined with my own ineptitude made learning to ride nightmarish for me. So I checked out for a few years.

When I was 13 or so I was determined that I would learn to ride a bike. Our house had a sloping alley behind it. Every night during the summer I would wait until nearly dusk and then launch myself down the alley on my moms rusty three speed bike. Sometimes I would make it to the end of the alley and I would push it back to our garage and start the process over again. I frequently fell into the neighbor's bushes on the way down the alley. I would dust myself off, find my bent up glasses and keep riding. After doing that for a good month or so I finally got the hang of it. A month or so later my dad won a ten speed from Dr. Pepper. I rode that bike everywhere until I moved to Minnesota.

This is pretty much the way I've learned everything in life, launching myself down an alley until the skill was second nature.

Paul has started blogging. Welcome to blogging. Have fun, let's just try and not blog about about me and our days at LM. Paul knows where the bodies are buried, mainly because he helped me bury them.

Hero, aka Ying Xiong, is on the of the most visually stunning movies I have ever seen. The colors, scenery and the movement in the film were mesmerizing. It made movies like The Matrix seems flat and derivative by comparision. Best of all the storyline was every bit as interesting as the swordplay -- top notch.

I will queue up more movies directed by Ying Xiong.

I just wish I could fly like the characters in the movie.

I recently did a little camping in the rain with the usual suspect and first time backpacker, his wife. We didn't have the best weather for camping but the trip turned out fine in the end. We did about 10 miles on the SHTA behind Silver Bay, Minnesota.

The walk to Bear and Bean Lakes ordinarily has some great views from the ridgeline overlooking the lakes and the forests. Unfortunately, it was so foggy and rainy that there wasn't much to see on Saturday, although we did get to see it coming out on Sunday.

I always wondered how well my gear would do in the rain. I managed pretty well, although I wouldn't really want to be out in a cold rain for too many days with my current gear. The poncho makes a decent leanto, although then of course I don't have a poncho anymore, which is a problem. I also wished I would have put on my hefty pack cover a lot sooner. I kept thinking the rain would let up. By the time I realized it wasn't going to let up, there was no point on covering the pack anymore.

Getting outside and taking a longer walk does wonders for my mood and my soul. I need to figure out ways to do it more often.

Getting ready to hike out in the morning.

If you need a larger version of this suitable for framing, let me know.

Foggy Lake Superior Shoreline.

Photo showing the poncho and a tarp set up for a rain shelter. It really was nice to have some place to get out of the rain without being in the tent.

Here are some ideas, based on this weekend trip, for introducing someone to backpacking for the first time.

1. Only go if the weather is perfect.
2. Make sure that the walk is in the 1-3 mile range if possible.
3. Have some clear understanding of how to communicate comfort level for all participants.
4. Keep expectation low.
5. Exceed expectations.

Occasionally I do odd things like making bread, throwing pottery, dripping paint, taking photos, writing or hiking alone in the woods. I've been asked on more than one occasion, "Why do you do it?" The best answer I've seen so far is in this Craft Manifesto.

How to Avoid the Exhausting Planning and Preparation That Goes Into Making a Second Date. I'm glad I'm not the only one who goes to a coffee shop and thinks funny thoughts about the other patrons.

[Link courtesty of Dooce]

I saw Halloween, Alaska last night. It was an awesome show. Although the whole band was great, their drummer, David King was in some ways the star of the show. When I had heard their music my assumption was that the rhythm was provided by layers of synthetic drum tracks, but from what I could tell Mr. King generated them all by himself with his small drum kit. It was really amazing drumming. I have to check out another group he is in called Happy Apple. The vocals combined with the complexed layered music was just phenomenal. I can't wait to go to their CD release party scheduled for September. Their cover of LL Cool J's "I Can't Live Without My Radio" was awesome in person and it's slated to appear on their next album. If they come to your town, go see them.

Adam Felber wrote recently about an editorial written by Pat Buchanan. His description of Mr. Buchanan was priceless.

I've been shocked at the number people that have rushed either to defend Mr. Nixon and his administration or to attack Mark Felt, aka "Deep Throat".

Peggy Noonan

The Legend of Deep Throat, Was Mark Felt really a hero?

I was aghast that someone of Peggy Noonan would abandon a core conservative value like "personal responsibility" and blame Pol Pot's murderous regime on Mark Felt. If any one is to blame for Cambodia, it is Pol Pot and his band of murderers. If anyone is to blame for the weakened presidency it is Nixon and his aides who conspired to keep their misdeeds in the dark. It just goes to show you that it's not really a great cultural war about about values; it's a game of us versus them. It's like the republicans with short memories who think it's ok to filibuster, but only when you are the minority party.

Chuck Colson

A Statement from Charles W. Colson on the Disclosure of "Deep Throat"

Chuck clearly is unhappy about the method and motives of Mr. Felt. It would really help if Mr. Colson and Mr. Nixon's henchmen weren't trying to do similar things like tampering with evidence, investigation and grand juries. I would also like to point out that going to prison seemed to have a done a world of good for Mr. Colson. I assume if he hadn't gone to jail he would be a "hatchet man" for Mr. G.W. Bush right now. I think Mark Felt may not have had the purest motives but acted in the most effective ways available to him at the time. If Mr. Colson would have gone public with what he knew from his own conscience then perhaps I might agree more with Mr. Colson. Since Mr. Colson is engaged in christian ministerial work it seems like I would be remiss if I didn't mention that whole "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone ..." Mr. Colson please don't rush to throw your stones at Mr. Felt.

In personal conversation with a relative the question has posed, had Mr. Felt broken his F.B.I. oath. I looked up the oath to see what I think.

I don't think that Mr. Felt violated this in his role as "Deep Throat". He may have in other roles for which he was later prosecuted, but we'll ignore that for the moment.

If nothing else, can I just point out that defending Nixon just sounds idiotic. Buchanan, Colson, and Noonan all agree Nixon and others broke the law, so defending him is just dumb. Is this setting us up for the next presidential election being about Watergate in the same way that Bush versus Kerry was about Vietnam?

The Moderate Voice does a better job summarizing this than I ever will.

I really would like to have a political party that better represented me. There appears to be none at the moment.

After college I stopped going to the library. The reason was that I kept racking up fines because I wasn't very organized. A while back I returned to patronizing the library. There was a web interface for requesting books and I could get a notice in my inbox when the book was overdue. This was all very good news.

Unfortunately, I got a little busy and I ignored the emails. I ended up with $90 in fines. I keep telling myself it's a donation to a good cause. Considering the size of that fine they really ought to give me a "gold" library card.

The kids have been learning about the proper procedure for crossing the street. Elise also happened to tour the local fire station recently.

Last week Jeannie stopped at a street corner and quizzed Elise on the correct procedure for crossing the street. Her answer was the unexpected "Stop, Drop, & Roll." -- Only if you're on fire dear.

Recently a panel of "conservative scholars and public policy leaders" compiled a list of the "Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries".

This strikes me as absurd. Books are harmful now? Are we returning to the age of book burning?

Where are the conservatives who used to talk passionately about personal individual responsibility? In the case of the books espousing communism it is not the books that killed 100 million people in the last century, it was people like you and me who blindly followed orders of their rotten governments and murderous revolutionary leaders.

An amusing counter editorial sent to me by a co-worker pointed out that the bible and the koran should be on this kind of list. Without any question both of those books have been used to justify the killing and/or exploitation of people for many centuries, of course they don't fit into the 19th & 20th century requirement of the original list. The jokester writing the counter editorial is of course completely full of it in suggesting Hitler's book was the only book with a body count; don't forget communism kills.

If the books listed in the "Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries" weren't mostly so bloated and tedious looking I would resolve to read them all out of spite.

I've been too busy to cook much lately. The last time I went to the library with the kids I picked up a book on baking. For no special reason I choose "The Secrets of Jesuit Breadmaking", by Rick Curry.

The first recipe I tried was "Whole Wheat & Oatmeal" bread. It was pretty good. I think the bread was overly dense, perhaps because I didn't let it rise far enough the second time. Even so, it was yummy and is the kind of bread that would make nice sandwiches.

It was really nice to do something pointless like making bread. I've been working a lot. When I'm not working I'm trying to do something else on my mental to-do list. Making bread was a treat to me because it really was an activity that was slightly creative, could be easily finished in one night, produced something other people could enjoy, and wasn't terribly difficult. It's a process that is slow and can't be hurried, unlike the rest of my life.

I have made bread successfully before but only in a bread machine. Sometimes I would use the dough setting to make the dough to the point where it just needs to be punched down and shaped to go into the oven. I used to make great pizza dough this way until the pan got gunked up beyond repair.

I have tried to make bread from scratch before but I never go it to turn out. For some reason, I never could get dough to rise properly in the townhome we used to own.

I liked the author's introduction to the book. The author felt that one could use the process of making bread to create an atmosphere to engage in the practice of Ignatian Examen. I agree, engaging in purposefully quiet thoughts about thankfulness is a good match for kneading bread dough.

The proceeds from Rick Curry's book go to his project The National Theatre Workshop of the Handicapped. There is also an online bakery where you can order his bread. The proceeds fund the theatre workshop as well.

Next time I'll use a bread pan and let it rise a little more.

According to the Surreal Gourmet you can cook salmon in the dishwasher. I can't decide if this is better or worse than eating something that someone prepared in their shower.

Maybe the recipe was inspired by Scott Berkun's essay on "Why smart people defend bad ideas". I know done everything mentioned in the article at one time or another but I still can't defend eating salmon cooked in the dishwasher.

I saw Modest Mouse recently.

The band was in great form and played really well. I really enjoyed watching how they made their sound.

I love the clever word usage in their songs.

"We named our children after towns
that we've never been to.
And it's true that the clouds just hang around
like black Cadillacs outside a funeral.
And we were laughing at the stars
while our feet clung tight to the ground.
So pleased with ourselves
for using so many verbs and nouns." 

I think that I prefer much smaller venues for live music. The Orpheum isn't really huge but security kept people out of the aisles. It means there isn't that great crowd feel that should accompany loud music. I think I would rather see a few more $10 shows that might not be as well know, but have a better venue.

I'm apparently the only one in my peer group to have ever heard of Modest Mouse.

Liz recently wrote beautifully about gifts and being in love. She's right in so many ways.

Speaking of love, Velveteen Rabbi, blogged about a persian poet named Hafez who writes some fabulous poems about god and by extension love.

The Subject Tonight is Love
Wild and Sweet Poems of Hafiz
by D. Ladinsky

"Know
The true nature of your Beloved.
In His loving eyes your every thought,
Word and movement is always--
Always Beautiful."
- Hafiz

I have an extra ticket to see Modest Mouse tonight at the Orpheum. If you are interested leave a comment or drop me an email. The opening act is Camper Van Beethoven.

I've become fond of small, character driven movies. A perfect example of this kind of small movie is "The Station Agent".

This movie is missing expensive special effects and A-list stars but more than makes up for it with good screen writing that explores interesting themes and develops very human, very real characters. I liked it for the same reasons I like "Garden State", "Lost in Translation" & "Pieces of April"; the film maker translated emotions I've felt, but find difficult to articulate, onto the big screen. If you're big into plot or summer blockbusters you'll probably want to skip this movie.