2.15.2009
2.10.2009
1.28.2009
1.25.2009
1.22.2009
i don't know about this
See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.
i've never been particularly impressed with college humor dot com. this comes across a little forced.
sorry there haven't been more serious posts. i was going to qualify that with 'recently', but there haven't been many at all. soon to be remedied.
sorry there haven't been more serious posts. i was going to qualify that with 'recently', but there haven't been many at all. soon to be remedied.
1.20.2009
1.17.2009
a view from the people mover
dreary january 15th while joy riding around the d on the greatest monorail outside a themepark.
1.14.2009
i heart speculative fiction
i feel like i haven't been reading enough. i mean, i read a few hours a day, but not the right kind. i'm hungry for literature. short fiction is like a delicious snack for my brain. the second person perspective is fresh.
BLDGBLOG has alot of good content. i'd recommend checking it out.
from BLDGBLOG:
BLDGBLOG has alot of good content. i'd recommend checking it out.
from BLDGBLOG:
Found Sound City
There's a building somewhere in New York City: every time you go there – maybe it's a bank or a department store or the office where you work – you hear what sounds like air-conditioning equipment, a distant droning noise in the background that you can't quite place.
But it's always there – maybe sometimes higher pitched than other days, but always audible.
One day, though, you happen to be there with some friends and you've got a videocamera. You're filming each other goofing off, playing in the stairwells, and so on – but when you get back home and begin to watch the video you realize it's actually quite boring. Making faces at a camera is not as interesting as you'd hoped it'd be.
So – overlooking the fact that this would not actually be possible – you begin to fast-forward the video at 4x speed, then 8x, then 16x, then 32x – and you realize, with a collective gasp, that that droning sound in the background is not a drone at all but a piece of music played slow to the point of unrecognizability. It's Beethoven, say, or Jimi Hendrix.
Someone is playing incredibly slow music, like a kind of acoustic glacier, inside the building. It's avant-garde Muzak.
You go a little crazy upon discovering this, however, and begin to make field recordings all over Manhattan, recording drones. You stand in alleys, beneath trees in Central Park, and inside abandoned warehouses, capturing ambient background sounds on tape. You visit the airport, deliberately seek out traffic jams, and illegally access basements on the Upper East Side.
And for the next six months you sit and listen to all of them at 32x speed – 64x speed, 128x speed – convinced that this world has strange music embedded in it somewhere and, if only you use your equipment right, you can find it.
But it's always there – maybe sometimes higher pitched than other days, but always audible.
One day, though, you happen to be there with some friends and you've got a videocamera. You're filming each other goofing off, playing in the stairwells, and so on – but when you get back home and begin to watch the video you realize it's actually quite boring. Making faces at a camera is not as interesting as you'd hoped it'd be.
So – overlooking the fact that this would not actually be possible – you begin to fast-forward the video at 4x speed, then 8x, then 16x, then 32x – and you realize, with a collective gasp, that that droning sound in the background is not a drone at all but a piece of music played slow to the point of unrecognizability. It's Beethoven, say, or Jimi Hendrix.
Someone is playing incredibly slow music, like a kind of acoustic glacier, inside the building. It's avant-garde Muzak.
You go a little crazy upon discovering this, however, and begin to make field recordings all over Manhattan, recording drones. You stand in alleys, beneath trees in Central Park, and inside abandoned warehouses, capturing ambient background sounds on tape. You visit the airport, deliberately seek out traffic jams, and illegally access basements on the Upper East Side.
And for the next six months you sit and listen to all of them at 32x speed – 64x speed, 128x speed – convinced that this world has strange music embedded in it somewhere and, if only you use your equipment right, you can find it.
tn: McManis Cabernet Sauvignon
Calvin, my salesman for Arbor Beverage Company, was wondering why sales of McManis have slowed since I took over at Western Market. There are a few reasons, the most obvious being that I have never had any of the McManis wines. Maybe it's my responsibility to try them, given that they are one of our better selling brands, but I can't bring myself to buy California Cab Sauv when there are so many other things I'd enjoy more. He took it upon himself to get me a bottle.
The wine pours a deep red color, not over-extracted, and rather translucent. It has a powerful yet enjoyable aroma of berries. The taste is rather fruity, but with enough structure to make it better than most of it's ten-dollar-a-bottle-california-kin. It is certainly inoffensive, unless your some natural wine geek *cough*, but isn't actually annoying or undrinkable in any sort of way. I hear that it is made in rather large stainless steel fermentation tanks, which are lined halfway with large oak planks, which the country of origin is unknown, and rather unimportant, to me at least. As fruity as it is, this wine will drink better with some American Colby or Cheddar, and would be best with a big, medium rare burger with cheese and the works. This wine should be quite appealing to most anybody looking for a safe California Cabernet, especially at ten dollars.
If you want to play it safe, take this to a dinner party or barbecue, as long as yer not hanging out with snobs or geeks. If you want to have fun, take Chateau d'Oupia, which is only a dollar more. This brings me to the biggest reason the McManis brand has slowed down: I've worked really hard at making Western Market a place where it is safe(r) to be adventurous. I would buy 2007 McManis Cabernet if I was at some creepy backwoods party store with only Beringer or box wine, but given the wealth of interesting, engaging wines at a similar price point, why not try something new? If i'm not in the store, shelf talkers and placement can guide you towards a wine that will satisfy and delight, as long as you drink with an open mind.
The wine pours a deep red color, not over-extracted, and rather translucent. It has a powerful yet enjoyable aroma of berries. The taste is rather fruity, but with enough structure to make it better than most of it's ten-dollar-a-bottle-california-kin. It is certainly inoffensive, unless your some natural wine geek *cough*, but isn't actually annoying or undrinkable in any sort of way. I hear that it is made in rather large stainless steel fermentation tanks, which are lined halfway with large oak planks, which the country of origin is unknown, and rather unimportant, to me at least. As fruity as it is, this wine will drink better with some American Colby or Cheddar, and would be best with a big, medium rare burger with cheese and the works. This wine should be quite appealing to most anybody looking for a safe California Cabernet, especially at ten dollars.
If you want to play it safe, take this to a dinner party or barbecue, as long as yer not hanging out with snobs or geeks. If you want to have fun, take Chateau d'Oupia, which is only a dollar more. This brings me to the biggest reason the McManis brand has slowed down: I've worked really hard at making Western Market a place where it is safe(r) to be adventurous. I would buy 2007 McManis Cabernet if I was at some creepy backwoods party store with only Beringer or box wine, but given the wealth of interesting, engaging wines at a similar price point, why not try something new? If i'm not in the store, shelf talkers and placement can guide you towards a wine that will satisfy and delight, as long as you drink with an open mind.
1.13.2009
paul krugman makes astute and well spoken observations.
i wonder when sentiments like the one below will become 'fashionable'. from the comments:
i wonder when sentiments like the one below will become 'fashionable'. from the comments:
there's already a certain smell in the air that tells me that people will recognize our system is very broken.I have an uncomfortable sense of déja vu — the Obama administration will be just like that of Clinton — so much promise, so much hope, squandered. Just one disappointment after another.
— m. doe
i've seen the future, and it is bright.
noah shared this video with me:
and makes me want to live again, if living means writing. i've been living, maybe too much recently, and this night at home is long overdue. for a rather incomplete history, check out my twitter, or encourage me to write and post it. it's a sea-change and this needs to be the record. more to come.
and makes me want to live again, if living means writing. i've been living, maybe too much recently, and this night at home is long overdue. for a rather incomplete history, check out my twitter, or encourage me to write and post it. it's a sea-change and this needs to be the record. more to come.
12.16.2008
detroit drinks
heed the wise words of my friend and mentor putnam to experience wine with a better perspective. visit his blog here.
12.14.2008
look, it's al
i don't see him enough. watch him here. there's some good stuff on the fox 2 'vault', which i'm sure is not their fault.
two weeks...
...until my birthday. rather than keep everybody up on sunday night, we're going to the cadieux cafe on saturday the 27th instead. i checked their website to make sure the band that night wouldn't suck, and it turns out it's this local indie bluegrass group shotgun wedding playing. found some video of them (on fox 2 of all places) and they're quite good. i have a thing for female country singers these days, and find myself listening to neko case far more than i ever thought i could. everybody should come out to see me: i haven't had a birthday party in years and this might be my last year in detroit. the food is excellent, and goes well will the extensive belgian beer selection. word is that it's the last place in america to go feather bowling, which is a damn shame because it's quite fun.
10.17.2008
dieu du ciel rosée d'hibiscus
in short: om nom nom
longer: the label is captivating, i think because i'm torn between thinking the woman on it is cute, or that she looks like heath ledger's joker. the beer pours a unique, beige\salmon color and is quite cloudy. pours with a well-crafted head. floral aromas, slightly tangy. the flavor is interesting: it tastes like it could be wild, farmy or funky, but it's not. it's like the sophisticated city cousin to the rustic farmhouse ales that we all so enjoy. slightly acidic at first, the yeast dominates the end. the complexity is neatly constrained. this could easily become one of my favorite beers... i've had it twice in two days now, but both times it was served around 65 degrees; i'd like to taste it cold.
$4.99 for 12 ounces at western market. word is, less than 10 cases came to michigan. we'll be at the montreal brewpub next weekend. i'll take notes.
a bizzare imac issue
at some point, my hard drive became completely full. i thought it was too many podcasts filling the place up. i deleted them. nope. so i looked it up online. sounded like a virus or a "log file overrun". no viruses currently messing with mac osx. i assumed it was a log file overrun, where some file was just growing infinitely larger. i stopped using the imac, because aaron's was sitting right next to it, and i would take mine to the shop sooner or later. when i turned it back on today, it was all okay, nothing wrong. yet. we'll see how this pans out.
sorry i've been gone; hear's something horrible to look at.
i haven't said anything in a while. i promise i'll never abandon you again my (nonexistant) loyal readers.
this mini-doc has the raw deal. can obama fix things like this? i ask because this is a symptom of the root problems facing us as a nation. how can people be okay with this? industrial capitalism allows a breakdown of the ethical and moral standards that make us human. watch, and be disgusted with the lack of said humanity.
this mini-doc has the raw deal. can obama fix things like this? i ask because this is a symptom of the root problems facing us as a nation. how can people be okay with this? industrial capitalism allows a breakdown of the ethical and moral standards that make us human. watch, and be disgusted with the lack of said humanity.
9.04.2008
iphone, i hardly knew yee
well, it was going to happen sooner or later: my iphone is gone. it's been 36 hours now. i'm going to replace it with a 16 gig white, which i never even knew existed until today. look at it. it looks like the white eggplants going in the yard. how long until it gets scuffed up?
so losing my phone this time was different than before. i've lost my phone a few times, but people have always called me when they found it. this time, i knew somebody found it and had no intention of returning it because i called it every so often and it would be turned off for a bit. i doubt i'll get it back, which i'll attribute to it's being an iphone, and not just because it was lost in detroit rather than the suburbs where previous phones had been misplaced.
there is a major flaw in at&t's service, but they have no reason to fix it. when one loses their phone they are responsible for all calls and services used on it. this means it should be reported lost or stolen as soon as possible to avoid trouble. however, at&t seems to have forget that the phone has become a major part of modern life. when you call and report a phone lost, not only to they cut off service to it, but they close your voicemail box and give people that call your number a 'not in service' message. this is amazingly stupid. i'm still paying for my service, and receiving nothing. it would be very easy for them to make the voicemail box accessible over the web, and to allow the my voicemail greeting to be changed to explain why i'm not answering. one should be able to view there missed call log and text messages as well.
even better: my iphone, out in the wild, no longer has phone service, but is still quite usable for browsing over wifi, watching movies, or listening to music. it is really frustrating to know that apple or at&t could send it a signal to temporarily 'brick' the phone so that it won't unlock without a pass code that i would have to get from at&t after proving my identity as the phone's rightful owner. it could just display a message saying the phone is lost and can be turned into any at&t store for a reward, which i could set the amount of. it could also display what number is best to try and reach me at, so i could come and get it.
the best part: the iphone practically has lojack. it has gps. it can be turned on to record voices over the network. it could automatically take photos. being able to use these features to help customers would not lead to privacy violations, as the government or hackers could do it anyways, without my permission. we all know the phone companies let the government to what ever they want anyways. why not let me get my phone back?
UPDATE: while, i ended up doing exactly what they wanted me to and buying a new iphone, but this time in white! (still pissed)
so losing my phone this time was different than before. i've lost my phone a few times, but people have always called me when they found it. this time, i knew somebody found it and had no intention of returning it because i called it every so often and it would be turned off for a bit. i doubt i'll get it back, which i'll attribute to it's being an iphone, and not just because it was lost in detroit rather than the suburbs where previous phones had been misplaced.
there is a major flaw in at&t's service, but they have no reason to fix it. when one loses their phone they are responsible for all calls and services used on it. this means it should be reported lost or stolen as soon as possible to avoid trouble. however, at&t seems to have forget that the phone has become a major part of modern life. when you call and report a phone lost, not only to they cut off service to it, but they close your voicemail box and give people that call your number a 'not in service' message. this is amazingly stupid. i'm still paying for my service, and receiving nothing. it would be very easy for them to make the voicemail box accessible over the web, and to allow the my voicemail greeting to be changed to explain why i'm not answering. one should be able to view there missed call log and text messages as well.
even better: my iphone, out in the wild, no longer has phone service, but is still quite usable for browsing over wifi, watching movies, or listening to music. it is really frustrating to know that apple or at&t could send it a signal to temporarily 'brick' the phone so that it won't unlock without a pass code that i would have to get from at&t after proving my identity as the phone's rightful owner. it could just display a message saying the phone is lost and can be turned into any at&t store for a reward, which i could set the amount of. it could also display what number is best to try and reach me at, so i could come and get it.
the best part: the iphone practically has lojack. it has gps. it can be turned on to record voices over the network. it could automatically take photos. being able to use these features to help customers would not lead to privacy violations, as the government or hackers could do it anyways, without my permission. we all know the phone companies let the government to what ever they want anyways. why not let me get my phone back?
UPDATE: while, i ended up doing exactly what they wanted me to and buying a new iphone, but this time in white! (still pissed)
9.02.2008
i don't look forward to people arguing with this
the new york times highlights the differences in economic growth when when have a red or a blue in office.
i might even print this article and keep it in my pocket!
i might even print this article and keep it in my pocket!
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