Cats, Video Cameras, and officially an item added to Kala and Billie's Christmas Wishlist.
December 14, 2010
October 15, 2010
July 28, 2010
Axis of Awesome - 4 Four Chord Song (with song titles)
The below video has a few language moments, so I'd call it NSFW, unless you have some quality headphones.
I wandered across this great video by the Axis of Awesome tonight on the DistractoMatic site. It reminds me of an old band I used to play with in Minneapolis. We went by the name The Loyal Yokefellows. It was a fun group that had some pretty mixed musical influences. Pat O'Neill used to have a routine where he could take any Christian Praise and Worship Song and connect it to Every Rose Has Its Thorn by Poison. Ah, those were the days. Anyhow, Video:
I wandered across this great video by the Axis of Awesome tonight on the DistractoMatic site. It reminds me of an old band I used to play with in Minneapolis. We went by the name The Loyal Yokefellows. It was a fun group that had some pretty mixed musical influences. Pat O'Neill used to have a routine where he could take any Christian Praise and Worship Song and connect it to Every Rose Has Its Thorn by Poison. Ah, those were the days. Anyhow, Video:
July 7, 2010
Double Rainbow: The Song
This was pretty fun. Perhaps I have an attachment to rainbows given my stint on the Youth Encounter team to India/Nepal named Rainbow of Promise back in 2002-2003.
via BoingBoing
June 11, 2010
June 2, 2010
May 30, 2010
MC Chris Video - Twin Peaks
MC Chris is great. There is a bit of NSFW language in the song, but the video is well worth it. So throw on the headphones and rock out.
I found this great video for his song Twin Peaks over at Urlesque.
I found this great video for his song Twin Peaks over at Urlesque.
April 22, 2010
That man can dunk
I think my favorite part of this video is that his friends quickly rush over... with camera-phones.
April 12, 2010
KittehRoulette
Somedays you just aren't intended to be productive in the off hours. For those days, there is KittehRoulette.
March 27, 2010
March 17, 2010
December 9, 2009
November 30, 2009
November 27, 2009
Thanksgiving
One Hundred Million Years Ago, the Pilgrims landed on top of Plymouth Rock. They proceeded to take their belt buckles and place them on their hats in reverence for the great fortune they had. After a harrowing year of settling in what they rather carelessly called "The New World" they realized, winter was a-coming. Since they were the first settlers of this new world, they were quite surprised when the people they had yet again carelessly referred to as "Indians" (we now know that is a baseball team) came to them bearing gifts of Honeybaked Ham (tm), mashed potatoes, green bean casserole (with the onion crispies on top), and of course the main dish Cool Whip (tm) to top the pumpkin pie. After the party ended and the years of massacre between these new settlers and the non-baseball playing "Indians", and a few rather touching cartoons about Pocahontas, and other heroes were made... We sit down to remember that if you put your hand on a piece of paper, spread out all of your fingers, trace it with a crayola, it looks a bit like what elementary school city kids are told turkeys look like. If you put a belt-buckled hat on that turkey you have a Thanksgiving Centerpiece. Happy Day of Thanks everyone.
June 11, 2009
Birds on Water
Birds on Water
Originally uploaded by newcoventry
I snapped this picture of two barn swallows in Lucerne, Washington.
March 10, 2009
Reinventing Risk Ratings: Notes
Notes from the session titled:
I just don’t trust you: how the Tech Community can reinvent risk ratings.
by: Toby Segaran (Metaweb), Jesper Andersen (Open Data Group)
There are two superpowers in the world today in my opinion. There’s the US and there’s moodyu’s bond rating service… And believe me; it’s not clear sometimes who’s more powerful. – Thomas Friedman 1996
Credit agencies are broken safety net.
Our economy is fueled by debt. Moody is the gatekeeper to that debt. Credit risk measures trust. People are good at fufiling their obligations.
Our system promotes gaming.
4 most important problems facing. Moody’s, S&P, and Fitch provide ratings. You pay to get ratings. Companies will pay to get the best rating. This is a lot like bribery. But it is pricing.
Our Risk Rating System has a patent without the disclosure. They have no incentive to say who’s method is better. They just want us to trust their ratings. What does AAA rating really mean? It doesn’t really tell you what risk factors are involved.
After Lehman declared bankruptcy Moody’s downgraded them from AAA to C. This is not good. We need transparency. We need to know the method. We need full disclosure of how companies get ratings.
Lack of Ecosystems create bad ratings. Risks are hidden. Good predictions are ignored because our system rewards the ignorance of problems until it is too late.
Beverly McClean. Celbrated after the fact. She wrote for Newsweek for 6 months at the rating agency took notice. John Paulsen: He made the single biggest Hedge fund return in 2007. He figured out that the ratings on CDS was wrong. We have incentives for secrecy.
Single Sourced Information Creates Bad Ratings.
$45 Trillion problem. It has to be solved now! A lot of dangerous problems. A lot of big problems. Engineers don’t have problems, they have requirements.
FRS: Rating creation needs to be accessible, open, diverse, and transparent.
Ratings should be a commons. Risk management is way too important to be a competitive advantage for a company.
Freerisk is an… Authoritative Data Source, User Contributed Data Source, Set of Contributed Algorithms, Testing Frameworks.
Open Data: Consume data that’s on the web and publish it for others to use.
Becoming a nationally recognized statistical rating organization requires national recognition. We don’t need cash, we need passionate people.
http://freerisk.org/
I just don’t trust you: how the Tech Community can reinvent risk ratings.
by: Toby Segaran (Metaweb), Jesper Andersen (Open Data Group)
There are two superpowers in the world today in my opinion. There’s the US and there’s moodyu’s bond rating service… And believe me; it’s not clear sometimes who’s more powerful. – Thomas Friedman 1996
Credit agencies are broken safety net.
Our economy is fueled by debt. Moody is the gatekeeper to that debt. Credit risk measures trust. People are good at fufiling their obligations.
Our system promotes gaming.
4 most important problems facing. Moody’s, S&P, and Fitch provide ratings. You pay to get ratings. Companies will pay to get the best rating. This is a lot like bribery. But it is pricing.
Our Risk Rating System has a patent without the disclosure. They have no incentive to say who’s method is better. They just want us to trust their ratings. What does AAA rating really mean? It doesn’t really tell you what risk factors are involved.
After Lehman declared bankruptcy Moody’s downgraded them from AAA to C. This is not good. We need transparency. We need to know the method. We need full disclosure of how companies get ratings.
Lack of Ecosystems create bad ratings. Risks are hidden. Good predictions are ignored because our system rewards the ignorance of problems until it is too late.
Beverly McClean. Celbrated after the fact. She wrote for Newsweek for 6 months at the rating agency took notice. John Paulsen: He made the single biggest Hedge fund return in 2007. He figured out that the ratings on CDS was wrong. We have incentives for secrecy.
Single Sourced Information Creates Bad Ratings.
$45 Trillion problem. It has to be solved now! A lot of dangerous problems. A lot of big problems. Engineers don’t have problems, they have requirements.
FRS: Rating creation needs to be accessible, open, diverse, and transparent.
Ratings should be a commons. Risk management is way too important to be a competitive advantage for a company.
Freerisk is an… Authoritative Data Source, User Contributed Data Source, Set of Contributed Algorithms, Testing Frameworks.
Open Data: Consume data that’s on the web and publish it for others to use.
Becoming a nationally recognized statistical rating organization requires national recognition. We don’t need cash, we need passionate people.
http://freerisk.org/
Low-cost & Low-power computing - Mary Lou Jepsen from Pixel Qi
97% of adolescents alive today live in the developing world. What are we doing to serve them? If you want to change the world we need to figure out a way to give them a chance. Get the cost of computing and access to computing down. OLPC – thought to be impossible (Jobs, Gates, Dell). 1 Million children across the developing world have laptops as a result of OLPC. Who cares what CPU is inside of it, we just need a low cost, low-power machine with decent battery life.
Innovation: High-end, Hight-Tech Research at the top of the pyramid.
OLPC/Pixel Qi: Innovation at the bottom of the pyramid. If you can pull it off you can increase the base of the pyramid. Sort of like trickle down economics is high end innovation. Work at the bottom of the pyramid to help the bottom of the pyramid.
Low power is the real key. ½ the world lives without steady access to electricity. How to design something that can be human powered. 1-watt laptop (10x lower than next laptop up). Redesigning the screen. Why not just self-refresh the screen? Why is the CPU/Mobo/fan on in every computer in the room. Until you get a keyboard event or internet packet. Screen and audio are our interaction point. Human computer interaction.
OLPC is greenest laptop ever made (Someone tell Apple). Keys for designing efficiency are things you would do naturally for the developing world. Make it user serviceable. All screens should not be HDTV quality. Keys for portables – low power, sunlight readability, high res for reading, paper white. You don’t want to stare into a flashlight.
3Qi screen. 3 displays in 1. Full color LCD TV mode. Low –power, highlight color, sunlight readable transflective mode. Very low power, paper-white, sunlight readable, reflective e-paper mode. This is beyond the XO screen. Fully saturated color option. Reflectivity is key.
People want TV even if they don’t have power to sustain it.
The CPU wars are over; it’s the screen wars now. iPhone is basically a screen. That is where the future of hardware.
Innovation: High-end, Hight-Tech Research at the top of the pyramid.
OLPC/Pixel Qi: Innovation at the bottom of the pyramid. If you can pull it off you can increase the base of the pyramid. Sort of like trickle down economics is high end innovation. Work at the bottom of the pyramid to help the bottom of the pyramid.
Low power is the real key. ½ the world lives without steady access to electricity. How to design something that can be human powered. 1-watt laptop (10x lower than next laptop up). Redesigning the screen. Why not just self-refresh the screen? Why is the CPU/Mobo/fan on in every computer in the room. Until you get a keyboard event or internet packet. Screen and audio are our interaction point. Human computer interaction.
OLPC is greenest laptop ever made (Someone tell Apple). Keys for designing efficiency are things you would do naturally for the developing world. Make it user serviceable. All screens should not be HDTV quality. Keys for portables – low power, sunlight readability, high res for reading, paper white. You don’t want to stare into a flashlight.
3Qi screen. 3 displays in 1. Full color LCD TV mode. Low –power, highlight color, sunlight readable transflective mode. Very low power, paper-white, sunlight readable, reflective e-paper mode. This is beyond the XO screen. Fully saturated color option. Reflectivity is key.
People want TV even if they don’t have power to sustain it.
The CPU wars are over; it’s the screen wars now. iPhone is basically a screen. That is where the future of hardware.
WITNESS: Capturing Crises – Sameer Padania (NOTES)
Technology now is more fitting for documenting crises as they emerge. Technology is much more affordable and portable now than it was. Sousveillance vs. surveillance. Building new social media communities for activism is not necessarily the best ways forward. Govt. of Burma used activist videos to track down and imprison hundreds of activists. There is power in stories. It is important to train individuals in developing countries and beyond how to best use social media tools to report on unfolding crises. The Hub
Etech 2009
I am at Etech 2009 in San Jose, California. I plan to post some raw notes from sessions here. Potentially I will tighten them up later.
Notes from Alex Steffen's talk
The following notes are from Alex Steffen's Keynote at ETech 2009. These are raw notes just dumped here. I hope to edit and create a polished post soon.
Alex Steffen from World Changing took the stage for this morning's keynote. Here are my notes from this event:
World Changing – Bright Green: A world changing guide to a future that works. (delivering prosperity to more people)
There are many young people in the developing world. ¼ people in the world are under the age of 18.
Most people who will be alive in 2050 will be living in what is currently thought of as the developing world. In places where prosperity has been kluged together
We got rich by using resources to build the stuff that (a lot of our wealth is societal wealth) most of the problems (environmental have been the result of
We have built our wealth on the problems our children will face. Massive inter generational ponzi scheme.
We are the brittle rich. Many of the things we have built our prosperity on are dependent on the developing world supporting our over-consumption.
The dirty secret is that the American prosperous are demonstrably less happy than people who were here 20,30,50 years ago. Wealth is not serving us well. We are utterly depended on the rest of the world doing the right thing for us to do anything. If we sail ahead we will destroy the planet. We need the world to agree to make changes. World divided into 2 groups “poor and frugal” and “rich and wasteful. “ We need to bring people into sustainability. We need to think of a lifestyle that returns value to the planet. Ecological handprint versus ecological footprint.
We need low carbon clean energy. We need more sustainable food (Local, sun-food, traceability) We need to get off coal... and cows.
Root cause is that we don’t understand our prosperity. It is hidden. We need political transparency. From the people and from the government. FUH2 pictures of people flipping off hummers. Transparency is also holding one another accountable.
Revealed useage: That which is measured and shown is used differently. When you know the backstory, people chose the better thing. Tell good backstories!
Smart – Connect things and people and information flows. A lot of our impact comes from stupid waste. Having to have a lot more things than you need. Wasting energy due to lack of attention.
True costs taxation – Price on CO2. In the next few years. The more carbon costs, the more things start to make sense.
Smart Infrastructure – smart grids to allow detailed control of energy. Allow us to have a more finely grained understandable read out of energy used. Bringing an energy meter into the house reduces energy use by 10%. Just seeing it makes you use less energy. When you see it, you can demand responsive energy. Level out the amount of energy people use through the day. Distributed energy, home energy systems.
Finance for transformation – PG&E sell energy services and not just supply. – Location efficient mortgages, (if you live in a place where transportation is efficient you should pay less on your home). pay as you go – car insurance. Bundle car insurance into mileage and/or gas prices.
Compact – create more dense communities and design them better. When you put people close together you dematerialize things. Shared infrastructure – costs less per person.
10 units per acre would put most Americans within transit supportive density. Affordability is out on the fringe. When you factor in cost of driving (direct cost) to the cost of living, suburban fringe is actually more expensive.
The biggest shift will be smarter buildings. Sunlight for passive heating, breezes for cooling. We are capable of building buildings without thermostats, but we don’t do it. We treat water that hits our roofs as pollution. Big storm means water mixes with waste and gets dumped to sea. That is crazy! We need to harvest rainwater.
Lunar-resonant streetlights.
Preserve natural capital. We are utterly reliant on ecosystem services to support our civilization. We are losing 2-5 trillion dollars in ecosystem services. Climate change is ony 30% of that. We need to think of flows and not stocks.
Nobody realized how depended on bees we were until they went away due to Hive Collapse Disorder. Having to pollinate by hand is pretty expensive. We need bees.
Water needs for Seattle and Portland. Water supply problems are based on lack of beavers.
Topsoil is important.
Shared goods, building lasting quality. Not owning a car takes ecological impact away. Closed loops and zero waste.
Real happiness and knowing what makes us happy is the key. Flying private home theaters.
We need to share innovation across borders. We are all in this together. What is not right
We need a sense of obligation beyond ourselves. If our triumphs are only our own they will turn to dust in our hands.
Alex Steffen from World Changing took the stage for this morning's keynote. Here are my notes from this event:
World Changing – Bright Green: A world changing guide to a future that works. (delivering prosperity to more people)
There are many young people in the developing world. ¼ people in the world are under the age of 18.
Most people who will be alive in 2050 will be living in what is currently thought of as the developing world. In places where prosperity has been kluged together
We got rich by using resources to build the stuff that (a lot of our wealth is societal wealth) most of the problems (environmental have been the result of
We have built our wealth on the problems our children will face. Massive inter generational ponzi scheme.
We are the brittle rich. Many of the things we have built our prosperity on are dependent on the developing world supporting our over-consumption.
The dirty secret is that the American prosperous are demonstrably less happy than people who were here 20,30,50 years ago. Wealth is not serving us well. We are utterly depended on the rest of the world doing the right thing for us to do anything. If we sail ahead we will destroy the planet. We need the world to agree to make changes. World divided into 2 groups “poor and frugal” and “rich and wasteful. “ We need to bring people into sustainability. We need to think of a lifestyle that returns value to the planet. Ecological handprint versus ecological footprint.
We need low carbon clean energy. We need more sustainable food (Local, sun-food, traceability) We need to get off coal... and cows.
Root cause is that we don’t understand our prosperity. It is hidden. We need political transparency. From the people and from the government. FUH2 pictures of people flipping off hummers. Transparency is also holding one another accountable.
Revealed useage: That which is measured and shown is used differently. When you know the backstory, people chose the better thing. Tell good backstories!
Smart – Connect things and people and information flows. A lot of our impact comes from stupid waste. Having to have a lot more things than you need. Wasting energy due to lack of attention.
True costs taxation – Price on CO2. In the next few years. The more carbon costs, the more things start to make sense.
Smart Infrastructure – smart grids to allow detailed control of energy. Allow us to have a more finely grained understandable read out of energy used. Bringing an energy meter into the house reduces energy use by 10%. Just seeing it makes you use less energy. When you see it, you can demand responsive energy. Level out the amount of energy people use through the day. Distributed energy, home energy systems.
Finance for transformation – PG&E sell energy services and not just supply. – Location efficient mortgages, (if you live in a place where transportation is efficient you should pay less on your home). pay as you go – car insurance. Bundle car insurance into mileage and/or gas prices.
Compact – create more dense communities and design them better. When you put people close together you dematerialize things. Shared infrastructure – costs less per person.
10 units per acre would put most Americans within transit supportive density. Affordability is out on the fringe. When you factor in cost of driving (direct cost) to the cost of living, suburban fringe is actually more expensive.
The biggest shift will be smarter buildings. Sunlight for passive heating, breezes for cooling. We are capable of building buildings without thermostats, but we don’t do it. We treat water that hits our roofs as pollution. Big storm means water mixes with waste and gets dumped to sea. That is crazy! We need to harvest rainwater.
Lunar-resonant streetlights.
Preserve natural capital. We are utterly reliant on ecosystem services to support our civilization. We are losing 2-5 trillion dollars in ecosystem services. Climate change is ony 30% of that. We need to think of flows and not stocks.
Nobody realized how depended on bees we were until they went away due to Hive Collapse Disorder. Having to pollinate by hand is pretty expensive. We need bees.
Water needs for Seattle and Portland. Water supply problems are based on lack of beavers.
Topsoil is important.
Shared goods, building lasting quality. Not owning a car takes ecological impact away. Closed loops and zero waste.
Real happiness and knowing what makes us happy is the key. Flying private home theaters.
We need to share innovation across borders. We are all in this together. What is not right
We need a sense of obligation beyond ourselves. If our triumphs are only our own they will turn to dust in our hands.
February 4, 2009
November 16, 2008
Craigs List of the Week - gaming pc - $200 (SW MANNAPOLIS)
I submit this week's most interesting Minneapolis/St. Paul Craig's List posting.
gaming pc - $200 (SW MANNAPOLIS)
original content - (preserved for posterity)
gaming pc - $200 (SW MANNAPOLIS)
original content - (preserved for posterity)
I have a computer. it has issiue with its hard drive, but who cares. That thing was a twat anyway. What is sweet on thie rigg is SLI"d with two 7800gt's They are liquid cooled.... FTW/Perhaps I should end all my posts with "Punch and Pie." I just might...
I can ge the machibn ready in a moments notice.{
Punch and Pie.
And it si a 3.4 GHx P4 machine.
November 13, 2008
Wednesday Video - Christians and the Pagans - Dar Williams
We are nearing Christmas and Solstice. This song makes me think of the Holidays.
April 4, 2008
Simon's Cat - "Let me in"
Another animated cat adventure. Apart from the glass door, this is exactly what mornings sound like at my house thanks to our cat, Billie.
March 19, 2008
Change - Lessig
A great little presentation from Lessig regarding change and where it comes from
Tags:
A History of Evil by Ole-Magnus Saxegard
Thanks to Laughing Squid for pointing this out. I am getting caught up on my feeds today.
I love the animation style and the message is quite interesting as well.
I love the animation style and the message is quite interesting as well.
Tags:
March 6, 2008
February 2, 2008
Yes We Can
I have been undecided for as it relates to this upcoming election. I have been listening excitedly to speeches from Barack Obama and every time he speaks I can feel emotion rise in me. I have never experienced that listening to a politician. There is a hope and an earnest belief that we can become a better nation than we are.
I listened to his New Hampshire speech the night it aired. I loved the tone of his voice, the way the words rolled, and the passion that he invoked. I am sure this speech must have been written by a speech writer somewhere, but the delivery had me captured.
Today I saw the "Yes, We Can" Video through seesmic and it was phenomenal. The fact that Obama's tone, message, and delivery can easily be transformed into a song is excellent.
Here are the links:
http://www.dipdive.com/
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/2/04722/24305/353/448138
I listened to his New Hampshire speech the night it aired. I loved the tone of his voice, the way the words rolled, and the passion that he invoked. I am sure this speech must have been written by a speech writer somewhere, but the delivery had me captured.
Today I saw the "Yes, We Can" Video through seesmic and it was phenomenal. The fact that Obama's tone, message, and delivery can easily be transformed into a song is excellent.
Here are the links:
http://www.dipdive.com/
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/2/04722/24305/353/448138
February 1, 2008
Month of 100 Things: Conclusion
As you may have read, this past month has been my Month of 100 Things. Our friend Dawn Rundman proposed the idea not that long ago and Erin and I have been purging as the weeks have gone on.
Erin gets rid of stuff much easier than I do. I love things, regardless of value or functionality. Erin had no problem completing her list of 100 things, which if she had a blog I am sure she would inform the world of. I made a list of 68 things. As a couple we pulled together a list of 20 things. I know I am behind on my initial list, but I can assure you there still is a giant box of books in the basement that are headed towards half price books.
Here are the highlights of my list:
1 Wireless Router - broken
3 Pairs of Jeans - Old, ripped, faded, and not wearable
4 Alvin and the Chipmunks Waterglasses - I had high hopes for these being antique some day
9 T-shirts
3 boxes of mini-discs - my mini-disk player was stolen years ago
2 CD cases - since I bought my iPod I just don't travel with CDs any longer.
3 belts - every belt buckle I have bought recently has come with a free crappy belt. For some reason I kept them.
There was much much more.
All in all, I would rate this as a great experience. It has certainly added to my goal word for the year of "direction." It has also helped me prepare for our Frugal February.
Erin gets rid of stuff much easier than I do. I love things, regardless of value or functionality. Erin had no problem completing her list of 100 things, which if she had a blog I am sure she would inform the world of. I made a list of 68 things. As a couple we pulled together a list of 20 things. I know I am behind on my initial list, but I can assure you there still is a giant box of books in the basement that are headed towards half price books.
Here are the highlights of my list:
1 Wireless Router - broken
3 Pairs of Jeans - Old, ripped, faded, and not wearable
4 Alvin and the Chipmunks Waterglasses - I had high hopes for these being antique some day
9 T-shirts
3 boxes of mini-discs - my mini-disk player was stolen years ago
2 CD cases - since I bought my iPod I just don't travel with CDs any longer.
3 belts - every belt buckle I have bought recently has come with a free crappy belt. For some reason I kept them.
There was much much more.
All in all, I would rate this as a great experience. It has certainly added to my goal word for the year of "direction." It has also helped me prepare for our Frugal February.
Tags:
January 31, 2008
January 21, 2008
Thoughts on WoW: Two Days In
So, I finally did it. I installed and began a ten day trial in the World of Warcraft. I have developed some thoughts on this universe and felt compelled to share them through the interblags.Disclaimer: These are my immediate reactions. I reserve the right to change opinions at any time, because my brain allows me to do so.I began playing MMORPG's about two years ago through a game called Dofus. It is a relatively simple design, that deals with things in turn base fashioned. This is where my roots are, you must give credit to the roots, no matter how silly they may seem. So some of my initial reactions may stem from the fact that WoW is just different that Dofus. I appreciate these differences.
WoW is clearly a pretty pretty pretty gaming environment. I love to look at it. WoW has an endgame in mind. WoW for me at this point does not require mindless grinding and appears to have a mature community for me to experience.
WoW is difficult to start playing. I selected a character and I don't think it is quite right. I have read descriptions of all the other characters and they just don't seem quite right. How I wish it were fixed: a quiz about how I prefer to play the game. i.e. do you like being a primary damage dealer?, Do you like long range spells? Do you like being relied on as a primary healer? Are you tall, short, bearded, like the cold. etc... People keep telling me to choose a character based on my playing style. I need something to help me figure this out. I know I could create a million and a half characters and test them out, but how do I find the time to do that?
I guess that is it at this point. I know discussing opinions on WoW is probably pretty sensitive, and people might think I am crazy... who knows in 2 years I may still be playing and wishing I could rid the blogoverse of this post. Meh.
Tags:
January 10, 2008
January 9, 2008
January 2, 2008
January: The Month of 100 Things
Erin and I both read Dawnline, the blog of our friend Dawn Rundman. Dawn has declared January "The Month of 100 Things" in a recent article. Erin and I will be participating in this exercise in simplification. We are going to each eliminate 100 things from our life as well as 100 things of our families. So essentially we will be beginning this new year without 300 things. I am excited about the challenges that this will bring as I am a person who really likes things.
Tags:
December 10, 2007
Holiday Parties
Today was the annual Help Desk Winter Semester Extravaganza at my house. I realized tonight how nice it is to get together with co-workers and employees outside of work. It really helps disconnect from the daily grind and remember how great it is to work together.
That is pretty much it.
That is pretty much it.
October 30, 2007
The Cool Kids
I have a great friend named Nate Houge. He happens to be the front person for the band I play in Nate Houge & the Honest Folk. I am "the Honest Folk" along with Micah Taylor. When we get the chance to play music it is awesome. I love playing good music with a message I believe in. That, however, is not what this blog posting is about. This blog posting is all about Nate Houge's awesome recent posting entitled, "God save the Cool Kids." You can and should read it... now. I have attempted to summarize it a few times and I always go back to the fact that the original is just too good and too short for you all (all 2 of you) to not read.
Enjoy
Enjoy
October 29, 2007
Extra Ubuntu Eye Candy: AWN
Avant Window Manger is all the fun of a dock style task bar without the closed system. I found a walk through on Ubuntu forums, but it needed some tweaking to work in the latest release.This requires a bit of advanced editing of your apt-sources and whatnot, but the end result is quite pretty as you will see here in the screen shot to your left.
Here is the installation walk through:
1. Open Terminal and type: sudo nano -w /etc/apt/sources.list
2. Type the following at the bottom of your sources.list file.
## AWN
deb http://download.tuxfamily.org/syzygy42 gutsy avant-window-navigator
deb-src http://download.tuxfamily.org/syzygy42 gutsy avant-window-navigator
3. Save your edited sources.list by typing Ctrl-X in order to save your edited document.
4. Type the following in terminal:
wget http://download.tuxfamily.org/syzygy42/reacocard.asc
sudo apt-key add reacocard.asc
rm reacocard.asc
sudo apt-get update
5. Now install AWN by running the following command in Terminal:
sudo apt-get install avant-window-navigator-bzr awn-core-applets-bzr
6. You can run AWN by going to Applications>Accessories>Avant Window Navigator.
7. I highly recommend removing your bottom panel when running AWN. You can remove it by right clicking on the panel and selecting: Delete this panel.
8. If you like AWN enough you can add it to your auto-start by going to System>Preferences>Sessions. Click Add, then type avant-window-navigator to the command field.
Many thanks to all the folks at Ubuntu Forums for providing the information for this posting in the post titled: HowTO: functional eye-candy with Avant Window Navigator and Affinity.
Enjoy
October 26, 2007
Zen and the Art of Linux Installing: Part 1
I have been playing around with Ubuntu 7.10 lately in my free time. I thought it would be interesting to archive a bit of my set-up process here for your enjoyment (perhaps). I noticed on Day 1 that my repository downloads were running very slow. My office is connected up on Internet2, so changing my repository to point to another University with Internet2 access would certainly speed things up.
Change Repositories for my local mirror:
There are three programs I know that I want right off the bat. Add/Remove... makes this very possible. I know I want the Advanced Desktop Effects Settings, Xchat IRC, and Amarok. Installing is super easy with Add/Remove Applications. All you have to do is search, check the box and apply the changes and your ready to roll. With my repositories adjusted properly downloads are quick and everything installs wonderfully. Best of all no restart required!
Enjoy
Change Repositories for my local mirror:
- Click on Applications
- Select Add/Remove...
- Click Preferences
- Type your Password
- Select the Download From: drop down box. Now select a mirror that you know is going to be fast. Sometimes it is the closest mirror. I chose mirror.cs.umn.edu because I know our Internet2 connection will deliver fast response.
- Uncheck the box for Installable from CD-ROM/DVD. I never carry my CD with me, I prefer to pull everything off the local mirrors.
- Now you can simply close the window and it will update your repository. Things should load much quicker
There are three programs I know that I want right off the bat. Add/Remove... makes this very possible. I know I want the Advanced Desktop Effects Settings, Xchat IRC, and Amarok. Installing is super easy with Add/Remove Applications. All you have to do is search, check the box and apply the changes and your ready to roll. With my repositories adjusted properly downloads are quick and everything installs wonderfully. Best of all no restart required!
Enjoy
October 20, 2007
October 8, 2007
The U.S. is not a 'Christian nation'
Today in my ramblings through my e-mail I found the following article by Jon Meacham. I think it is a great review of the founders of the United States and the role Christianity played. Probably one of the more meaningful quotations in this article is,
As a person of faith in the United States today, I find it difficult to see my own Christian faith reflected in the American Civil religion that is invoked continuously by the leadership in this country. It is refreshing to read Meacham's statement that the intent of the federal framers was not to create a Christian nation but instead to create a nation full of religious freedom.
Enjoy the article: The U.S. is not a 'Christian nation'
They grounded the founding principle of the nation - that all men are created equal - in the divine. But they wanted faith to be one thread in the country's tapestry, not the whole tapestry.
As a person of faith in the United States today, I find it difficult to see my own Christian faith reflected in the American Civil religion that is invoked continuously by the leadership in this country. It is refreshing to read Meacham's statement that the intent of the federal framers was not to create a Christian nation but instead to create a nation full of religious freedom.
Enjoy the article: The U.S. is not a 'Christian nation'
October 3, 2007
October 2, 2007
Religions of the Founders of the USA
I was listening to NPR earlier today and there was an interview with someone who was speaking about the Christian faith of our Founding Parents. I always wondered, just how Christian were the founders of the USA. I found a great link that divides up the religious beliefs and gives backgrounds into the personal faith lives of the first people who created the United States of America. I was excited to see that 5 Lutheran made the cut.
Faiths of the Founding Fathers
Faiths of the Founding Fathers
Tags:
September 28, 2007
Inspirational Commercial
This is one of the better commercials I have seen in a long time. It is for a great product and features and amazing percussionist.
September 23, 2007
Cold Press Coffee
This summer the Dunn Brothers Coffee Shop in St. Paul started serving a drink named Vanilla Iced Nirvana. It is made with cold press coffee. These days I have attempted to order lattes and mochas made with cold press instead of espresso. This is usually met with a weird look from the barista and a lot of confusion when it comes time to ring up the coffee.
I have decided that it would be great to try and learn how to make cold press at home. This weekend I made my first attempt. I did my research, but I found a lot of conflicting recipes. I am working with this cold press recipe at the moment. The basic gist is coarse ground coffee, 4 parts water, 1 part coffee, steep for 3 to 24 hours. My first attempt was a 24 hour steeping (is that even a verb?). I'd love to hear tips from anyone who has attempted this. My goal is to avoid purchasing a Toddy Maker
if possible.
I have decided that it would be great to try and learn how to make cold press at home. This weekend I made my first attempt. I did my research, but I found a lot of conflicting recipes. I am working with this cold press recipe at the moment. The basic gist is coarse ground coffee, 4 parts water, 1 part coffee, steep for 3 to 24 hours. My first attempt was a 24 hour steeping (is that even a verb?). I'd love to hear tips from anyone who has attempted this. My goal is to avoid purchasing a Toddy Maker
if possible.
Tags:
September 21, 2007
Game: Grow Island
I believe the original "grow" game by eyemaze is the first flash game that I was ever addicted to playing. They have pulled through with another excellent sequel.
Grow Island
Grow Island
Tags:
September 19, 2007
Harry Potter and the Mysterious Ticking Noise
Here is a joyous little video featuring a great beat, puppets, and Harry Potter. In other news, I've just returned from vacation so expect a rash of posts in the near future as I attempt to play catch up.
Here is your Video:
Here is your Video:
Tags:
September 12, 2007
September 10, 2007
I hate my writing
So, I read my photo post and realized that I hate the way I sound when I am writing. I just plain old don't like it. It feels like fingernails on a chalkboard. This isn't a new issue for me. When I traveled with Youth Encounter, we each had to write a journal entry and submit it online to some sort of forum database thing. (Think blog but slow and less pretty.) The first two months all of my journal entries sounded as if I was possessed by some sort of writing demon. The lowest quality of my journal entries was about one of the more memorable experiences I had stateside. The overall unimpressive nature of my writing has been preserved at the archive section of the Youth Encounter pages. I managed to turn a great experience into something trite. I feel as though I am doing this again and I am now issuing a call for help.
Here is what I am reading right now: If you write like you talk, readers will listen
Any critique out there for me? Help me sound human again.
Update: 4/6/2013
Anne Lamott's text Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
has been very helpful.
Here is what I am reading right now: If you write like you talk, readers will listen
Any critique out there for me? Help me sound human again.
Update: 4/6/2013
Anne Lamott's text Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
has been very helpful.
Tags:
Photo Post: ACTC
ACTC - Andhra Christian Theological College
Originally uploaded by newcoventry
I traveled to India and Nepal in 2002 essentially as a church tourist. I went with a group of friends to visit the churches and learn about differences and similarities to the churches in the United States. The first place we visited in India was Andhra Christian Theological College. This is a seminary located in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. I ate the hottest meal of my life at this school in the cafeteria.
Throughout all of India people did their best to accommodate our westernized taste buds. ACTC gave us the opportunity to eat dinner with the students in the cafeteria after our evening program. I was excited by our first opportunity to spend time with Indians our age. They appeared to be very excited by watching our reaction to un-westernized curry. My friend Debbie began sweating profusely. My lips became numb and I drank about 32 oz of water. it was almost 6 hours until I could taste anything again. I was glad to see that dorm food could unite two very different cultures.
New Feature: Photo Posts
Erin and I recently went Flickr Pro, so I have begun backing up tons of images from my computer to Flickr. As a result, there are tons of images that have great stories that I would love to tell. I am planning on posting a new Photo each Monday with a story. The first round of images will be from India and Nepal.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Movie Review: Once
There are a few movies that I have seen that I instantly know I want to own and watch over and over. They are in no particular order: Walk the Line, Garden State, The Motorcycle Diaries, Almost Famous. Once has now been added to this list. The movie is by far one of the most "feel good" movies that I have seen in a long time. The soundtrack was awesome, the acting was sensational, the filming was casual and created great depth.
I strongly recommend this movie to anyone and everyone.
Here is the trailer to whet your proverbial whistle:
I strongly recommend this movie to anyone and everyone.
Here is the trailer to whet your proverbial whistle:
September 7, 2007
Mindless Fun: Acrobots
Every now and then I love a well designed game that has absolutely no point. Acrobots remind me of all the fun of wacky wall walkers without ending up with a hair covered sticky plastic thing after your done playing.
Enjoy Acrobots
Enjoy Acrobots
September 5, 2007
Hip Hop Violin
I love a good fiddle player. Every now and then some hip-hop is excellent as well. Thankfully the world of YouTube allows us to connect the two in a visible way.
Enjoy
Enjoy
August 31, 2007
Game of the Week: City Jumper
You are a small stick figure with a penchant for leaping over tall buildings, bridges, and maybe even catching a seagull or two.
Enjoy City Jumper
Enjoy City Jumper
August 21, 2007
Presidential Politics
I am a big fan of Dennis Kucinich. I am also a big fan of the Minneapolis and St. Paul. I think it would be awesome to have him visit. So much so that I created an eventful posting for it. Check it out.
August 18, 2007
An Unreasonable Man
I've been watching "An Unreasonable Man" over the last few days. It has reminded me how much I can admire the passion and the fervor that Ralph Nader has for pretty much everything I believe and stand for. I have been so frustrated and fed up with our political system for the last few months watching the Democrats sacrifice everything they have stood for.
A few years ago I read "Crashing the Party: Taking on the Corporate Government in an Age of Surrender" and began my love affair with Ralph Nader's ideas. It is so frustrating to hear people blame Nader for the Bush regime.
A few years ago I read "Crashing the Party: Taking on the Corporate Government in an Age of Surrender" and began my love affair with Ralph Nader's ideas. It is so frustrating to hear people blame Nader for the Bush regime.
Friday-ish Fun Link: Bloons Tower Defence
If I can find a game that my wife is fascinated with as much as I am, it is usually a sure sign of an entertaining game. Kill the evil bloons! Kill them with dart throwing monkey towers!
Bloons Tower Defence
Bloons Tower Defence
August 15, 2007
August 12, 2007
Sprint Triathalon
No doubt some of you are readers of my twitter postings and may have wondered, why would Jason roll from St. Paul to Fergus Falls. This journey even held me back from posting a game of the week (like Newsbreaker). I am now a triathlete and about two days ago I would never had considered myself anything that has the root word athelete.
About a month ago, Nate Houge contacted me and informed me that he was hosting a sprint triathalon at his house. Which came in handy because it turns out that I had been training for a sprint triathalon for that past two years (just not every month). It was a great time, and I have lived to tell the story.
We began with a 1/2 mile suede (swim + wade) through Otter Tail Lake, then hopped on our bikes for a theoretical 15 mile bike ride, and then walked 3.2 miles back to the Houge Household for Brats and Blue Ribbons. Some of us accidentally took the scenic route and had more of a 18 mile bike ride, but it was so worth it.
About a month ago, Nate Houge contacted me and informed me that he was hosting a sprint triathalon at his house. Which came in handy because it turns out that I had been training for a sprint triathalon for that past two years (just not every month). It was a great time, and I have lived to tell the story.
We began with a 1/2 mile suede (swim + wade) through Otter Tail Lake, then hopped on our bikes for a theoretical 15 mile bike ride, and then walked 3.2 miles back to the Houge Household for Brats and Blue Ribbons. Some of us accidentally took the scenic route and had more of a 18 mile bike ride, but it was so worth it.
August 8, 2007
August 6, 2007
Political Link: Pick Your Candidate
I've always struggled with how to pick and ideal candidate to support. As far as I can tell by the conservative media's standpoint some form of mutant that finds just about every Democrat and Republican a little too conservative. I figure it would be fun to post a few political links every now and again.
Here is a tool that allows you to rank your most stances on different issues and weigh them from meh to key. The only downside to this tool is it only includes the republican and democratic candidates.
Pick your ideal candidate
Here is a tool that allows you to rank your most stances on different issues and weigh them from meh to key. The only downside to this tool is it only includes the republican and democratic candidates.
Pick your ideal candidate
August 3, 2007
Which-Way Adventure
I loved Choose your own adventure books when I was a kid. This game helps me relive the memories, if only I could hold my finger in the page before I was eaten by a giant manticore...
Which-Way Adventure
Which-Way Adventure
August 1, 2007
July 20, 2007
Fun Link: Quarkz
Own that subnuclear matter! I know you can do it. You show that other Quark who owns this space!
Quarkz
Quarkz
July 18, 2007
Vensday Video: Neuro
Today I discovered a wonderful short flash based film entitled Neuro. It deals with the struggles of living in apartments near airports... or something.
Enjoy
Neuro
Enjoy
Neuro
July 13, 2007
Marketing Manager - Netherlands Style
Here is a rather entertaining Olympic style game that is all about being a marketing manager. I am sure this is some sort of advertisement for something, but on the bright side, I can't translate it, so I don't want to buy it.
Enjoy.
Marketing Manager
Enjoy.
Marketing Manager
July 11, 2007
The Gnomes are Falling
I play another mmo but someday I think I will play World of Warcraft. I was astounded by the creativity of the gold farmers in WoW as seen in this video. Enjoy.
July 6, 2007
Rocky's Biscuit Breakout
You are a wiener dog that really loves biscuits, you also happen to have lost out on your life calling to join Cirque de Soleil. Throw the dog around and catch him in the trampoline. This game makes Arkanoid look easy.
Rocky's Biscuit Breakout
Rocky's Biscuit Breakout
July 5, 2007
An Overdue Video Post
Hey Happy 5th of July, I hope everyone got a chance to revel in their freedom yesterday. My wife and I parked our car in front of our cranky neighbor's house. That made me feel free.
Here is the video:
Here is the video:
July 1, 2007
iPhone = NSA Surveillance Device
A great article evaluating the iPhone and its service provider AT&T. I suppose all telco's are evil when you get to the bottom of it. AT&T is just a little more evil.
June 29, 2007
Gas Prices Got You Down?
Don't worry about high gas prices, you can play this great little mindless simulation game and be a gas station attendant just like at the gas station down the street... (in 1950). You fuel cars and if you are quick about it the customers will pay you even more! Just like in the real world.
BP Gas Mania
BP Gas Mania
June 27, 2007
Cat of Insanity
I have a thing for cat videos. This cat has some serious crazy noise issues going on.
June 22, 2007
Flugtag Tournament
You are a pilot, your objective to fly further than all other pilots in the distance competition taking place over a lake. Awe yeah, good fun. Apparently sponsored by RedBull Energy Drinks.
Flugtag Tournament
Flugtag Tournament
Video Games: An Addiction?
As a prelude to today's game of the week, I thought I would post a link to a story featured in the Star Tribune this week on a battle that American Medical Association has taken on to get computer gaming addiction covered by insurance.
Video Games: An Addiction?
Video Games: An Addiction?
June 20, 2007
June 15, 2007
Fun Link: Pushies
Today's game requires little thought, only willingness to push arrow keys to save your box from being pushed to the other side.
It is mindless and crazy addictive.
Pushies
It is mindless and crazy addictive.
Pushies
June 13, 2007
June 8, 2007
Friday Fun Link: Scrabulous
My mom and my wife are hopelessly addicted to Scrabulous. Essentially you play Scrabble online for free and you can play with anyone in the world. You can also watch games where wordmongers are beating each other senseless.
Enjoy
Enjoy
June 6, 2007
Two new features
So, you may say to yourself, "Self, why do I even bother reading this blog anymore." There are times I wonder why I even keep it open. I have decided that the time has come to add some new features. Here they are: I announce two new posts every week. Yeah that is right! Underachiever's unite!!
Wednesday Wideos: Each Wednesday I will post a new video I dig up from somewhere exciting.
-and-
Friday Fun Link: Each Friday I will post a new fun link to something I found on the internets. Believe you me, it will be fun because it comes from this series of tubes I like the call the internets.
So without further ado I present today's wideo:
Ah, who hasn't yet ripped off the Mac/PC commercial theme? That's right comic books!
Wednesday Wideos: Each Wednesday I will post a new video I dig up from somewhere exciting.
-and-
Friday Fun Link: Each Friday I will post a new fun link to something I found on the internets. Believe you me, it will be fun because it comes from this series of tubes I like the call the internets.
So without further ado I present today's wideo:
Ah, who hasn't yet ripped off the Mac/PC commercial theme? That's right comic books!
January 29, 2007
Whole Farm Coop
Erin and I are trying to focus on becoming healthier eaters. One of the things we are trying to do is to eat more organic foods and less processed foods. I remembered the Whole Farm Coop from back in my House of Mercy days as a place to get great foods in the Twin Cities area. You should check it out. They deliver to a church near you. The great thing about all this is that the profit goes directly back to the farmers and not to corporations.
December 4, 2006
Google Reader Share
I am now actively using Google Reader, I have added the dynamic sidebar to the page and also have linked to my shared stories, things that I have read and find interesting.
Enjoy :)
Enjoy :)
November 9, 2006
Jesus Camp: The Movie
Had to kill this because it was loading the movie without asking and that freakin drives me nuts! Anyhow, if you are interested in watching Jesus Camp: The Movie
I suggest checking it out. You can also rent it Jesus Camp: The Movie (Rental)
I suggest checking it out. You can also rent it Jesus Camp: The Movie (Rental)
Here is the actual trailer for the movie:
November 2, 2006
Again, Olberman tells it like it is
So, I have heard tons and tons of crap about how evil John Kerry is for all he has said about the troops from FOX News. I have even heard this from liberal friends of mine, who actually have been convinced that Kerry was slamming the troops. Keith Olberman helps us understand that the right-wing media is framing the story. If you only watch the first 25 seconds... you will be a better person.
October 30, 2006
October 29, 2006
Television worth watching: The Monastery
I have gotten totally sucked into the show The Monastery. The basic story of this show is six men from all walks of life are chosen to enter a Benedictine monastery. This show offers an interesting insight into life as a monk and the struggle that it holds.
On tonight's episode one of them men was struggling with how to find meaning in daily recitation of the Psalms in chant. The act of liturgy was difficult for him. The monk he was speaking with said, "I think the secular liturgy is a sports game..." He went on to describe how a football game offers the same flow and pattern of worship. The procession of the teams, the invocation and etc.
It was an image of a worship service that I hadn't thought about before.
Another quote from the Abbott, "Part of maturity is having a conflict and coming out of it."
edit: The show is on TLC
On tonight's episode one of them men was struggling with how to find meaning in daily recitation of the Psalms in chant. The act of liturgy was difficult for him. The monk he was speaking with said, "I think the secular liturgy is a sports game..." He went on to describe how a football game offers the same flow and pattern of worship. The procession of the teams, the invocation and etc.
It was an image of a worship service that I hadn't thought about before.
Another quote from the Abbott, "Part of maturity is having a conflict and coming out of it."
edit: The show is on TLC
October 27, 2006
Michael J. Fox Responds to Rush Limbaugh
A heartfelt response by Michael J. Fox to Rush Limbaugh.
"Science is an important part of our society." - Michael J. Fox
"Nobody wants Pity... I am not a victim... I am someone in this situation..."
"If there are answers out there we have a right to pursue them..."
"Disease is a non-partisan problem that requires a bipartisan effort"
October 26, 2006
Keith Olberman is now my hero
Why I love Keith Olberman. The power and tone of Edward Murrow and the passion of a real journalist.
October 23, 2006
Another Good Quote
So, Erin and I were chatting and I remembered another good quote from tonight.
"When will Americans learn that 'God Bless America' is not in the Bible?"
Really this idea of God's Country is a bit freaky. Jim Wallis quoted his wife on this one once she moved here from England.
"When will Americans learn that 'God Bless America' is not in the Bible?"
Really this idea of God's Country is a bit freaky. Jim Wallis quoted his wife on this one once she moved here from England.
Faith and Politics
So, the live blogging failed, mostly because my phone was set to post drafts instead of actual published posts. The battery on my phone was questionable as well. So I retired the Treo 700w for a trusty sheet of paper and pen. (Thank you Thomas and Kim.)
Essentially here is what I found interesting about this discussion:
1) It was a discussion and not a heated debate. Both Jim and Greg were civil and in many cases agreed with each other more than they disagreed. I think that is the wonderful thing about their discussion. Both men are Christians and after kingdom things. They go about it in different ways.
2) Jim focussed more on being an independent who considers all the issues and votes the way your faith guides you. Greg focussed more on digging deeper and being a compassionate Christ-centered individual.
3) Both detest the co-opting of one stance as "the Christian stance" and I have to agree. To question anyone's faith as a result of their politics is purely the work of evil.
4) Both think that we should look at all the issues behind being Christian and not just focus on the "big two." Most Christian's would place these issues as abortion and gay marriage and most people polarize their faith based on this. It is much much bigger than all that. Poverty is huge. Gobal warming is huge.
Now on to some general thoughts...
The real issue is that when a party claims Christ and calls another "Unchristian" we are judging. It is not our job to judge. The big two issues are deep down what many people just go with as being the only reason they vote on way or another and that pains me (Greg and Jim as well).
I think that ends most of my general thoughts. My favorite image tonigth came from Jim regarding what a politician looks like. They all look like pilots testing the wind with their finger in the air. They vote whatever way the wind blows them to. We cannot change things by selecting a new "wind-testing politician" to really change things you need to change the wind.
Essentially here is what I found interesting about this discussion:
1) It was a discussion and not a heated debate. Both Jim and Greg were civil and in many cases agreed with each other more than they disagreed. I think that is the wonderful thing about their discussion. Both men are Christians and after kingdom things. They go about it in different ways.
2) Jim focussed more on being an independent who considers all the issues and votes the way your faith guides you. Greg focussed more on digging deeper and being a compassionate Christ-centered individual.
3) Both detest the co-opting of one stance as "the Christian stance" and I have to agree. To question anyone's faith as a result of their politics is purely the work of evil.
4) Both think that we should look at all the issues behind being Christian and not just focus on the "big two." Most Christian's would place these issues as abortion and gay marriage and most people polarize their faith based on this. It is much much bigger than all that. Poverty is huge. Gobal warming is huge.
Now on to some general thoughts...
The real issue is that when a party claims Christ and calls another "Unchristian" we are judging. It is not our job to judge. The big two issues are deep down what many people just go with as being the only reason they vote on way or another and that pains me (Greg and Jim as well).
I think that ends most of my general thoughts. My favorite image tonigth came from Jim regarding what a politician looks like. They all look like pilots testing the wind with their finger in the air. They vote whatever way the wind blows them to. We cannot change things by selecting a new "wind-testing politician" to really change things you need to change the wind.
Live blogging Faith and Politics
So, I have gotten my blog set up for email posting just in time to try live blogging the Faith and Politics: Should they Mix? Presentation by Jim Wallis and Gregory Boyd at Bethel University. We shall see how this works. The center space of the auditorium is all Bethel students. Thomas (dydimustk) and Kim and I got here about half an hour early to try and get seats. I am hoping for some fun insights. Essentially Jim Wallis says faith should be a motivator of politics provided the entirity of faith is considered. Greg Boyd says faith and politics should be separate.
September 12, 2006
The Upper Room and Donald Miller
On Sunday evening I went to see Donald Miller speak at the Upper Room. The Upper Room is known and a hip and trendy "emergent" church community. Upon arrival the space itself was quite crowded and by all means very sterile. It felt like quite the production.
Donald Miller was a sensational speaker. He is the author of Blue Like Jazz and a few other books I have been meaning to read. I may post more on this later.
Donald Miller was a sensational speaker. He is the author of Blue Like Jazz and a few other books I have been meaning to read. I may post more on this later.
September 11, 2006
The Blog | George Lakoff: Five Years After 9/11: Drop the War Metaphor | The Huffington Post
Tonight as I was doing a bit of new surfing I encountered this spectacular discussion on "War" versus "Terror". I especially enjoy the following lines,
The Blog | George Lakoff: Five Years After 9/11: Drop the War Metaphor | The Huffington Post
"Instead, a war metaphor was chosen: the "War on Terror." Literal --not metaphorical -- wars are conducted against armies of other nations. They end when the armies are defeated militarily and a peace treaty is signed. Terror is an emotional state. It is in us. It is not an army. And you can't defeat it militarily and you can't sign a peace treaty with it."I also think that Lakoff does a tremendous job of getting to the root of a major problem that post-modern America is facing, language.
The Blog | George Lakoff: Five Years After 9/11: Drop the War Metaphor | The Huffington Post
August 28, 2006
LifeSuck
For the first time in a while I actually feel exhausted, completely drained, almost as though the life has been sucked out of my body. In the movie The Princess Bride, Westley is captured and hooked up to torture machine in the Pit of Despair and they crank the machine up to maximum life sucking... that is how I feel.
Blah.
Blah.
August 17, 2006
It's the End of the World As We Know It
My random recurring thought:
Do you think the world will end catastrophically before you die?
My personal thought...
Yes.
My analysis of my thought...
I have always felt like something will go wrong with the world catastrophically. Not like an Armageddon sort of thing, but more like a poof and were done sort of thing. I wonder if that is representative of my personal feeling that "the glass is half empty" when it comes to my chance of having a better life than the previous generation. Based on what I understand, most people in my generation feel that the American dream is dying rather quickly for us non-inheriting millions from our parents sort of people. Frequently I wonder how in the world I could ever afford to have offspring in this country.
Anyhow, I digress and I should get my butt to bed.
Jason
Do you think the world will end catastrophically before you die?
My personal thought...
Yes.
My analysis of my thought...
I have always felt like something will go wrong with the world catastrophically. Not like an Armageddon sort of thing, but more like a poof and were done sort of thing. I wonder if that is representative of my personal feeling that "the glass is half empty" when it comes to my chance of having a better life than the previous generation. Based on what I understand, most people in my generation feel that the American dream is dying rather quickly for us non-inheriting millions from our parents sort of people. Frequently I wonder how in the world I could ever afford to have offspring in this country.
Anyhow, I digress and I should get my butt to bed.
Jason
Late Night, lots of thoughts, too much caffine
Well, it is nearly 3am and these nights have been happening more and more lately. It is pretty exhausting. It seems every chance I get to try and fall asleep my brain just doesn't stop running. I tried reading for a while and I couldn't even focus on the book. My head just seems so clogged lately. I can't honestly even say what my brain is trying to deal with. It alternates between work, future plans, Erin being gone next week, Nate leaving town, our budget, and then back to work again.
My hope is that some day soon things will slow down. I don't know how to train my brain to switch off work thoughts. I just worry about getting everything done to the best of my ability.
Well, seeing as it is late and I have an early morning. I might as well head to bed and attempt to sleep again.
The ultimate kicker of tonight... a night where I can't sleep and Dofus (my MMORPG) is offline...
I guess I wasn't supposed to have any escapism tonight.
Later
My hope is that some day soon things will slow down. I don't know how to train my brain to switch off work thoughts. I just worry about getting everything done to the best of my ability.
Well, seeing as it is late and I have an early morning. I might as well head to bed and attempt to sleep again.
The ultimate kicker of tonight... a night where I can't sleep and Dofus (my MMORPG) is offline...
I guess I wasn't supposed to have any escapism tonight.
Later
July 18, 2006
Wicked
I saw Wicked this evening and it was sensational.
It actually got me to the point of analyzing literature again. I seriously had about half a thesis written in my head by intermission. I am still working things up, but the basic gist of the whole thing is "American Civil Religion" as depicted through Wicked.
There is a lot of interesting OZ as god stuff that I encountered as I was watching.
I also thought it was quite interesting to see the parody of a corrupt empire and a deceived population in light of current situations in the United States.
It actually got me to the point of analyzing literature again. I seriously had about half a thesis written in my head by intermission. I am still working things up, but the basic gist of the whole thing is "American Civil Religion" as depicted through Wicked.
There is a lot of interesting OZ as god stuff that I encountered as I was watching.
I also thought it was quite interesting to see the parody of a corrupt empire and a deceived population in light of current situations in the United States.
July 17, 2006
The Joys of Airport Security
Today Erin and I are flying out of Chicagp Midway Airport. It has been a long time since I had the pleasure of interacting with TSA. Today they were in rare form. Erin walked through the metal detector and they made her go back through because her shoes might set off the alarm. So she walked back through again without setting off the alarm and had to put her shoes on the Xray. Then I attempted to go through and the guard yelled at me. He said, "don't you see me standing here... What are you going to walk through me?" I looked for a comment card but they don't have one. Clearly they could use some customer service skills.
April 17, 2006
2GB Free Back-up Space
I had checked out Mozy a bit before it was recommended by a friend. Now I am going to give it a try. You should too.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)