Elm City Dad | Elm City Mom



Changes


Well it's been really really fun working on this blog over the last few months, but it's time to take a thrunk hiatus. The next few days are going to be a whirlwind of packing and preparing, and then we're gone. And that means I simply won't have the time to find good links, good tunes and fun videos the way I like to. I'll throw stuff up here whenever I have a chance, but posting on this blog will be sporadic at best.

I fully intend to pick it back up when we return in November.

I can't stop writing, though, so I've started a new blog where Lu and I will post stories, updates and observations as we travel through Southeast Asia. I'm told that internet cafes are ubiquitous in Thailand, even on the small islands. I don't really know how often we'll get to post, but I'm hoping we'll throw something up every few days, if not more.

Writing is relaxing for me, so it will not be a chore to sit in some cool little cafe, sip a beer or coffee and upload some tales of of our adventures. The new blog is called |blue ceiling| and I hope you find it enjoyable. That pic is our friend Jane floating blissfully in the waters off a Thai island, and we can't wait to be there ourselves. The blog's title, obviously, comes from the idea that the only thing we'll have above us for much of the next 2 months is the great big blue sky, and that is really the best ceiling one could want. I'm also excited by the fact Lu will posting too. It will be fun to see how our observations and experiences diverge and connect.

Alright! Last thrunk offerings! The first one will come in very handy for us as we try and clean out our cupboards and fridge and eat everything we have left. Snacksby. You list what you have in the pantry, and it tells you what you can make. Next is Palary. It's a secure, online browser that lets you surf anonymously, and it's nice in that you can access it from any computer. That way, where ever you are, you have all your options and bookmarks ready and waiting. For video, I've got somethings I've never seen before. A cat that swims (and more), and then a cat that's been befriended by a crow. Totally bizarre. Music tonight is from So Many Dynamos. Really cool sound. Tons of instruments and the vocals appear totally unexpectedly, with a very unique delivery juxtaposed against the rocking melodies that come before it. Heat/Humidity sounds like Tool backing Weezer, but yet, somehow, it all works.

Alright! That's it for regular posting on <~thrunk~>, for now. See you under the sun and the bright blue sky.



Morning! Going away party from work last night followed by a cheesesteak at the Metro followed by beers at Toronado followed by Weeds on TV made posting impossible last night. Well, I did write something, but rereading it again this morning, it just didn't work.

So let's play: Board Dots. Looks easy, seems easy at first, but it will have you sputtering before too long. When you're done being pissed off 'cause you can't get past level nine, take a time out and enjoy the musical styling W. He's covering U2, and he kills it!

Been a lot of talk about bacon recently. I had a great BLT for lunch the other day as a result of all that talk. But I have yet to pick up a bacon wallet. It would make a great gift for the bacon-lover in your family!

We've been doing research for our trip, and friends have been great about giving us tips. One I got yesterday from Horn was this site for finding great hotel deals. Not sure where we're gonna stay upon landing in Bangkok, but for the first two days of our honeymoon, we're looking for luxury.

For tunes check out the Rebirth Brass Band's new album called What's Going On. It's Marvin Gaye's music done RBB style, with lots of vocal guests. Tons of swinging, funky fun.

Alright time to "work".


NPR's Intern's Tunes


Today's music is brought to you by the intern Lars Gotrich from NPR's All Songs Considered. I always look forward what the host, Bob Boilen, has to offer. But on Aug. 10, Bob had Lars step up and spin some tunes and I loved a lot of what he played. So to you via me, via Bob, from Lars.

First off is Comets on Fire. Go here to listen to the tune Dogwood Rust. Classic rock and roll with a metal edge that just doesn't stop. You'll get rock-face just listening to them.

Next from Lars is an artist called Herbert and his new album Scale. Never heard him or even of him until today. The song is really fun! And Herbert is unique in that he samples sounds from unusual sources. On that link above, click on media and give a listen to the free mp3 called "Movers and Shakers." Beyond being a great tune, the delivery of the media is a neat viral marketing tool. I want the download, so 3 friends are gonna give it a listen, too. It's a groovy dancin' tune I know they will enjoy. Here's a review of the album that will give you a more thorough introduction to Herbert if you haven't heard of him before.

Last from Lars is The Necks. They are an Australian three-piece (piano, drums, bass) and I'll let their web site say the rest: "The deceptive simplicity of their music throws forth new charms on each hearing. Not entirely avant-garde, nor minimalist, nor ambient, nor jazz, the music of The Necks is possibly unique in the world today." I only heard a clip of Abillera on the show, but apparently the tracks are quite long and powerful. I like that in a song. Here's a bit of two of them.

Although only 23, Lars has an encyclopedic knowledge of music, and there are a few other bands he plays on the show. Just as interesting as the music played, though, is the conversation between Lars and Bob. Every week I look forward to what All Songs Considered will reveal.


You will enjoy your weekend....


It's been weeks since we've had a weekend off, where we didn't have to get up for anything at all, and it was wonderful. Spent the day packing and prepping for our upcoming trips. The Universal Packing List was a big help. Some of the tips and comments they give with the list are truly valuable. The idea to cut up our enormous Lonely Planet Thailand guide by country is brilliant. The binding glue will keep each section together, and we'll use paperclips to be sure.

Tonight it's back to Yield for a nice bottle of wine, then off to our friend's disco birthday party! Happy 30th Sarah!!

Got 2 bands for you to check out. Oranger is playing in SF soon, in a venue I've never heard of. Then give a listen to The 88.

For video, please enjoy this stunt a group of people pulled in Central Park. It's a fake hypnotist with some friends planted in the growing audience. Things get a little intense and it's damn funny. Last offering is a great little flash movie Animation vs. Animator.

Alright, back to packing. Have a great saturday night!


Tons of Tunes


Alright, let's hit some music. The Roots have a new album coming out. Bits and pieces are here. Next give The Autumn Project a shot. It's guitars and drums and it's excellent. It's heavy and driving, with powerful, building riffs that drag you across a wall of sound. There are two tunes there for you to sample. Then there's some more sans-lyrics rock from The Screaming Eagles. Lots of guitar here, too, but it's a bit more quirky and there's some interesting other sounds in there. Lots of tempo changes and shifts as the songs build to crescendo. The tunes are quick but satisfying.

Is it cheezy to link to band's MySpace pages? Sometimes it feels that way, but the first message on the Screaming Eagles' actual site asks fans to go to their MySpace page to download the tunes. So, if that's what they want, who am I to argue?

Did you know that smiley faces hypnotize? You do now. And what about if you're having some friends over but don't want to go through the trouble of creating that perfect mix? Then you might want to click here and see if a BRAT dj mix will work instead. Crazy selection of songs there. Fun for the whole crew. Alright a few more to live up to the title of this post! The Fiery Furnaces, live. Do I hear Ween crossed with Rush? It's possible. You tell me. Now let's slow it down a bit and get a little ethereal with Beachwood Sparks. Give'em a chance! And the last musical offering today is We Are Scientists. They're a little more poppy/indie than the other stuff on here today. Sorta Depeche Mode-y with a bit more oomph.

I've got one last little treat, though, and it's a doozy. Did you know Dubs and Dick do a sick beatbox? Check it out!

Alright, dinnertime. I want to find more good mash-ups. I haven't come across anything juicy in a while. If you know of a good site for fun mashups, or anything else I should post up here, drop me a line (You'll have to fix that email address, though, as it's formatted to prevent spammage.)

Friday up suckas!


Code Words


There's an understanding among my friends that while at work, you can't just go throwing around certain words, especially when it comes to certain foods. Instead of calling them by name, we call them Code Words. And with good reason! To mention them is to want them, and stuck behind a computer at work there is simply no chance to go out and get some. The problem, of course, is that now "Code Words" is pretty much just as bad as saying the actual name of the delicious food itself. Another problem is that you really can't find good Code Words out here in SF. (scroll to the map at the bottom for proof.) The best bet is making them yourself.

Okay, there are fireworks exploding outside. I have no idea why. My guess is the SF Giants. But it could be any old crazy thing in this wacky city.

And speaking of wacky cities, The Man burns in 17 days. Lu is hard at work creating costumes for us, and I can't stop going through the list of gear we'll need. Our friend can't stop talking about the carport tarp structure he's going to build to keep our tents shaded, and I can't help but wonder what kind of crazy experiences we're going to have within world of Black Rock City. It exists for one week every year, appearing in the desert like the Black Fortress, and then fading back to dust and memory as the last human leaves and barely traces remain. Apparently, my friend Michele just sold a guy some boots for Buring Man. She said to say hi to him if I see him. He'll be the only guy with a Flaming Tuba. Michele, is this the guy you're talking about? I have absolutely no doubt that I'll see him, and I will definitely say hi.

But for now, goodbye!


Dazed and Confused


My parents have been married for 37 years today. Pretty amazing. One thing that I have truly enjoyed is becoming their friend and not just their son, as I've grown up. Both are teachers which means our lives were rich with conversation and discussion, full of books, and everything we did or every challenge presented was another learning experience. I'm very happy with the perspective that upbringing provided me. I still look for opportunity in every setback, and I always try and figure out how I can do it better next time. They haven't had it easy, though. Just before I was born, my mother was diagnosed with MS. It's a horrible fucking disease, but her strength, her willpower and her suprising joy at all the great things in life, despite the disease, has always been an inspiration to me, and the whole family. If you are looking for a charity to donate time or money to, the National MS Society would be a great choice. So, congrats mom and dad on 37 awesome years!

For music I've got Zep playing Dazed and Confused. Next is a little thing called Zapreader that will let you read 300 words a minutes, online. Sounds crazy, I know, but it works. And how about some games? Lots of them! What about making some of your own music? Wanna learn to play the gee-tar? Start here.

Spent all evening working on some video, which is why I'm posting this morning and now I'm going to a meeting woohoo!


Wish You Were Here


With all the hubbub about AOL's unfortunate and ?inadvertent? release of customer data, a service like this one seems especially appropriate. By signing up with Relakks, all of your internet traffic is routed through an anonymous web server in Sweden. And then there's one less thing for you to worry about.

For music I've got a site called Wolfgang's Vault. On this page click on "play now" to stream live shows of classic rock groups. Just had Zep at the Fillmore West in '69, and now it's Floyd at the Oakland Coliseum in '77 playing "Wish you Were Here."

For fun give Sudoko a try. Or, maybe you'd rather just catch some butterflies. Another great work-day time-waster is Metafilter. I find the comments and discussions that each post generates almost as interesting as the links themselves.

Did a bit of vacation planning tonight during dinner. One thing we are definitely doing while in Thailand is visiting this elephant care and conservation park. We are going to do the 2 day trip where we will get to feed, bath and learn about these amazing animals. I cannot wait.

Alright, time to bust out a few more thank you notes, then retreat to the couch. Any questions?


"What the hell is an aluminum falcon!??"


Have you heard of Owen and Mzee? One is a baby hippo, the other a tortoise. They live in Africa and they are friends. Scroll to the bottom of the page linked and read about how Owen was saved, and their friendship started.

I've seen a lot of what I thought were ravens lately, but I wasn't sure if they were, in fact, crows. And then I realized I really didn't know what the difference between the two are, except for that ravens are larger. This page has a nice run-down of the two species. The both of them are very smart animals.

Lastly is a little Vader recap 'cause these are just too damn funny. Chad Vader. Smartass Vader. And here's the scene you never saw when Vader had to make that dreaded call to his boss to tell him that their brand new, almost finished Death Star had just been blown to bits by "a bunch of teenagers" and the aluminum Falcon. Hilarious.


Fun for Everyone


Just some quick fun this morning. A flight simulator using Google Maps. A whole mess of flash games that have been posted to Digg at one point or another. With this link you can be like Colbert and put some people on notice! Next is Roboclaw. Use the arrow keys to pick up the dot and put it in the hole. Sounds easy. It is at first, but not for long.

And this one deserves a sentence all to itself. It's an obsessive compulsive cat. This is one of the most bizarre and hilarious things I've ever seen. I'm just stunned. Even though I've seen cats do some pretty strange things, this one takes the cake. Check it out and have a great Thursday!


Help!!


Last night my wife was talking to friends about a program she's volunteering for this coming Friday. It's called Street Yoga, and it is a program that trains yogis to work with kids that are homeless and at risk. Yesterday afternoon, a potential customer asked about another program we sometimes work with called The Women's Initiative. They help low-income women get grants to start businesses, and train them to be entrepreneurs. They can always use volunteers. There is a great program called 826 Valencia, created by author David Eggers, that helps kids become better writers. They, too, are volunteer-hungry. Another friend works for City of Hope, and they are doing their Breast Cancer Walk in just a few weeks.

I bring all this up because recently I had a chance to hear Mayor Newsom speak, and volunteerism is a big part of what he's pushing these days. He's an excellent speaker. He'll step up to the podium, speak for 20 minutes without notes, using details and specific numbers about the city to bolster his message. And currently, his message is: Non-profits need our help. As he put it, "7 out of 10 non-profits would rather have you give time instead of money." That is why the city started a program called SF Connect, and it is a great way to find organizations that need your help. I need to do more myself. We all do! I know it's not easy with so many fun distractions in this amazing city, but it truly is a civic duty to find programs that you believe in, and help people improve their lot. We all have so much to offer, so let's do something with our enthusiasm and energy besides making lots of money and dancin' all night.


Monday: Mutiny, Madness, Moving and More


First up are two tunes from The Coup. Those are off of their April 25th release, Pick a Bigger Weapon. Hip-hop with serious funk. Ass-shakin' music for sure. I've heard of them before and I know friends that dig'em. But I didn't realize they were the same band that had a rather bizarre and unfortunate coincidence back in September of 2001. Sometimes the world is just plain strange. How we even managed to get where we are, I'll never really understand. This helps to put it *all* into perspective. A very, very large perspective.

Next is some YouTube madnes. The first is by choice. I'd love to do that myself, if only I was, like, completely insane, as that guy clearly is. The second is a series of very scary moments in a tunnel, in Russia. Apparently, water leaks into the tunnel. And then it freezes. And then cars get smashed up. Black ice is a deadly foe. That, my father drilled into me at a very early driving age. I've never forgetten it, and this video only reinforces it.

One of my oldest and bestest friends out here in SF moved back into the Haight Hood and I'm very excited about it. However, she's taking the room of another very good friend of ours, who we just moved down to San Luis Obispo. Both of them could have used this very nice apartment-hunting site that mixes Google Maps with Craigslist. SLO was cool. Gorgeous landscape, a funny little college town, but best of all, wineries only miles away from Pismo Beach. Truly a perfect combination. And having a friend down there will just provide us with more excuses to go vacation in the sand. We're gonna miss her, though!

And then tonight, I'm gonna end with... endings. The Top 50 Movie endings of all time. Of course, they forgot some great ones, and left in some really really crappy ones. But if nothing else, at least lists like this help to remind you of what you like, and what you might want to see.

PM Update: Just found this and I had to put it up. Wayne of the Flaming Lips gives a commencment speech to his old school. Part 1 and Part 2. Bizarre and awesome, as you'd expect.


Friday Woohooo!!!


Ho boy, Friday morning. Was supposed to play poker last night, but we couldn't get a qorum, so it was just a few drinks at the the bar with friends, and the back home to the couch. I needed to do thank yous, work on video stuff and blog, but all I could was sit on the couch and watch the sharks. I've missed quite a bit of Shark Week, and I was determined to catch a bit of it before the week ends. Got 2 shows going to the DVR tonight, though. Dinner is at Millenium (more like MilleniYUM), then off to San Luis Obispo to help a friend move. I've only driven through that town on the way to LA, so I'm looking forward to chillin out and seeing what it's all about.

So the BBoys just released Awesome! I F*cking Shot That!, on DVD. If you're a fan of the Beasties and haven't seen it, go buy it. Don't even bother with the renting 'cause you're gonna want this. 1 concert on home turf + 50 fans handed digital videocameras = a concert movie that puts you completely inside the spetacular event. It wasn't loud enough when we saw it in the theater back in March, so I can't wait to put this on and blast it.

Here's another spectacle, but of a much more gross kind. There's an infestation of carpet catepillars in Sweden, and I'm not talking about a few cocoons up in the trees. I'm talking trees *covered* in cocoons, among other things. Check it out.

And last are some bits from YouTube. Here's an instant F5. Next is a white whale behaving in a very unusual manner. Last clip I've posted before, but it deserves another showing. It's just so damn funny you need to watch it over and over.

The weekend is nearly upon us. Enjoy it!


Obvious


I went bowling tonight. I've been on the lanes one other time here in SF. Before that it was once in a while in Boston, and then a few times back in the old West Hartford days. For me, bowling is like billiards. Pool. I have twenty minutes of brilliance every day for either one of them. Twenty minutes that I might or might not be playing. Last Tuesday at about 11am, I could feel the cueball precision passing through my body. But there was nothing I could do about it right then besides try to do my best to not nod off before lunch.

Okay, I had a whole other thing going about the bowling/Lebowski thing. But here's the deal. Here's all I want from you. Just go to this page and then look to the left side, under the heading "Who Am I?" There are four places to click. Click on each of them, and then create for yourself a magnificent Dude-a-rino chorus of gloriousness. It will make you laugh. And don't stop there. That page is a gold mine and there is so much more.

There was spin on the ball and hope in the thunderous air. Scores went back and forth and the borrowed shoes sweated beneath my unsocked soles. I had forgotten my socks in the truck of Malbecky. But still, despite sweat, I scored on the frames in the second game that I knew I needed to hit, to win.

I didn't win, but then again, we all did, 'cause it was our friend's twenty-seventh birthday. As of tonight she starts the spin around star that keeps our planet close and warm.



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