I like these rules.

I also really like this graph. It's a representation of the known Universe, as far as we can see. All the way at the bottom is the core of the earth, then the mantle, then the crust, then a tiny little sliver between the earth's crust and the ionosphere where we humans can survive.

And it's the season 4 premier of LOST tonight. We've only just started season 3, so we'll have to wait to catch them on repeats. I thought of the show when I saw this. And next time you're flying somewhere and your flight is delayed for any reason *besides* weather, remember Rule 240.

Next is something you didn't ask for and probably don't want, but neither did I and yet here we are. Polka Floyd. Yes, it's ridiculous, but give Hey You a listen and definitely wait for the polka goodness.

There's something oddly compelling about this site Drawball. I especially like the way they have you prove that you're human.

This photograph is incredible. It's sorta hard to believe that there are actually fish out that big.

Tonight's a scattershot, I know, but it's all I feel like doing. I'm just coasting around tonight, following endless link trails into the weird parts of the web. Despite that fact that I keep saying how much slower our life is here in New Haven, there still doesn't seem to be enough time to do everything I want to do every night and still get to be before 2am.

The interview went well. They didn't hire me on the spot, but we had a good conversation and do think they will remember and consider me as they meet other candidates. I'm not exactly what they were looking for, but I hope they'll see how good I would be at spreading the messages via all means available. I would thrive performing that task. Hiring is a process, though, so we'll see how it goes.

So Cloverfield. I liked it. Unseen forces are at work, intent on destruction. The camerawork was what truly made the experience so unique, increasing the intimacy of a crazy event. And I liked that it didn't pull the punches, that the story itself was unforgiving and direct. Shakespeare had the right idea for tragedies.

Here's some good grooves that are sure to get you going. Keep an eye out for the trumpet spin. So awesome.

Big primary for the Republicans tonight. Adios Guiliani. This site details the environmental platforms for each candidate. With the Dems, the only real difference is on nuclear power. But no matter where they stand on that, any one of them will be great for this Earth.

Alright! Shoes are shined, suit is dry-cleaned, beard and hair are trimmed to perfection and I'm fully prepared for my interview tomorrow. This is so much fun. Some people hate interviewing, hate speaking in public, but I absolutely love it. Communicating my passion for the issues I believe in is one of my favorite things in the world. To even have a chance to become a key player in making sure our environment is protected and cherished is truly a thrill. I'm not exactly what they are looking for, I know, but I do believe I am exactly what they need.

So let's knock out some links real quicklike, and then it's time to hit the couch with Lu who has finally finally finally returned after ten whole days out west. First off check out these amazing photos of the night sky from beautiful spots on this gorgeous Earth of ours.

Next is a site that aggregates lots of data from various websites to give you quick and easy local information. Everything from crime stats to business reviews to community forums all organized by zip code. So far it is only for NYC, SF and Chicago, but more are on the way.

And finally here's a music blog with a nice wide selection and some fantastic live shows. If you scroll a bit there's a WILCO show from August with a great mix of new tunes and some beautiful renditions of older songs. You'll also see some Radiohead from 2000 that is well worth your time. (thanks tODD!!)

Now it's time to take in the Season 2 finale of LOST with my best friend in the whole world. So glad she's back. So excited for tomorrow.

Labels: photos, Radiohead, wilco

Lu's coming back tomorrow and I can't wait. It has been lonely here in New Haven! Even cooking isn't fun when she's not here to eat the meal I prepared, or, even better, when we both cook together. Of course the weather in SF is more pounding rain so her flight is already delayed 2 hours. Booo.

Spent Friday night scouring the Connecticut Fund for the Environment's web site because I will be interviewing with them on Tuesday afternoon. I'm thrilled. This is a great organization doing important work, and I would absolutely love to be part of the team. They are fighting for a lot of great causes, but there's one that is particularly important right now. Broadwater has been trying to put a liquified natural gas terminal in Long Island Sound for a while now, and final approval or rejection is getting closer. I hope we can shut this thing down. Even Governor Rell does not want it there.

Saturday I hung out with my brother Mike, and it was a good thing I did, too. The UConn men's basketball team had a big game, and apparently I've very good luck. "You're gonna have to come up and read the paper and chill out on that couch for every single game for the rest of the season, you know," Mike told me. I think he was only half-joking. The game report in the Sunday Times is nearly exactly how he assessed their performance.

Overall, though I found the Saturday Times to be a much more interesting this weekend. There's a great article about visiting Hawaii on a budget. Lu and I never had a chance to go there while in SF, but we are definitely heading there some day. Waking up in a campsite on the beach as the sun rises is exactly how we want to do it.

Also check out this article about recently-discovered negatives of the famous photographer Robert Capa. They knew there were lost negatives in a "Mexican suitcase," but until recently they had no idea if it was still in existence.

I have also been extremely intrigued by the scandal at Société Générale. This French bank just took 7 billion in losses because of some extremely bizarre, fraudulent and unethical trades made by a low-level trader over the course of many months. Although this has been reported on for several days running now, none of the articles really explain what the hell happened. It will be interesting to see if the full story is ever known, or if it is just swept aside, never to be revealed.

The other fun this weekend was seeing Cloverfield. I'll have a review for that tomorrow, among other things.

I'm not big on toys. But there are some things that I just have to have. And these action figures fall into that category.

There was a contract out for The Dude, but not the kind that this site promotes. If you're someone that's trying to lose weight or accomplish some kind of goal, but are having trouble getting it done, the tactics used here could be a big help. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those types of people.

I am, however, the type of person that enjoys good beer, even when it comes out of a can. I've already talked about Sea Hag IPA and this article mentions the New England Brewing Co. as well. I'm going to have to keep my eye out for more delicious brews in cans. Sounds like there are a few great ones out there.

The weekend is almost upon us. I can't wait!

I'm constantly amazed that we are able to see the surface of Mars. That's the West Valley of that nearby planet, above.

I'm also constantly amazed by the things that people are afraid of. They won't go in the water for fear of a shark, but they'll get behind the wheel of a car without even thinking of it. Here's 10 situations where we humans do not do a very good job of assessing the odds.

And I know that at least once when you were away on a vacation, a thought crossed your mind about an oven still on or a back door wide open. But I doubt you would have imagined something like this.

These stuffed toys are awesome. I bet that's what they feel like on the inside all the time. Perhaps we all do.

Last bit is a little game to tie up the title with a final link. If you can get past the third screen, I'll be... impressed.

Long weekends rule. I was able to hit the road to see friends and family, and even managed to spend one night at home making sure the kitties were okay. Which they were, except for the fact that the female cat, Chumby, very much misses Lu. As do I. Chumby wanders the apartment meyowling while I just randomly start talking to Lu, then get mad when she ignores me and then remember that she's away on business this week. She taught at the 5th Annual Yoga Journal Conference in San Francisco this past weekend, and next weekend in the City she is offering a teacher training for anyone else that would like to learn the Full of Joy Yoga way. We miss you lots Lu!

So the NYTimes this weekend had some definite weirdness. The story on Page 4 about elephants on the streets of Bangkok seemed oddly lacking. It was more perfunctory and superficial than I expect from the Times. A little bit of research would have revealed far more aspects to the story of these creatures and their role in Thai society. There was no mention of the Elephant Nature Park, nor of Lek, the woman that founded this amazing refuge. She was one of the first people to publicly discuss the way elephants are trained in Thailand, and to try and find a new way. The phaajaan is the traditional method, and it is based upon extreme brutality and negative reinforcement to completely break the will of the elephant. There is a video of it here, if you want to see it. It is graphic. We saw this while staying at the Elephant Nature Park while traveling in Chiang Mai. Lek has spent her life saving old and injured elephants, and also training young calfs using positive reinforcement and love. For the Times to neglect all of this information is extremely frustrating.

Below the fold on Sunday's front page was another odd story with rather prominent placement. It was about a new trend in Japan: cellphone novels. Written and read on those tiny screens by tens of millions of people, it is a brand new way to tell a story. It was also cool to learn that the Tale of Genji is the first novel. Well, that's what the Times said, but it turns out that's not exactly the case. "Often considered" should have probably qualified what appeared to be a statement of fact. I'm sure a twitter novel is next, if it hasn't been done already.

We will be definitely heading to this get together next month, that's mentioned in this article. I've got the AllGreen magazine they mention right here on my desk, and Lu and I have been thrilled with the powerful local-grown and green community that thrives in Connecticut. It'll be nice for us to meet more of these like-minded folks. I bet one of them even has a great job for me.

And here's some tech for ya. Mixing tunes with iPods is fairly easy to do if you have the right tools, and these gadgets make it even easier. It's pretty cool that Pacemaker will release the software for free on the web. Could be fun to mess around with.

Alright, the new Wired is waiting for me. Time for bed.

Yesterday Radiohead played all of In Rainbows + a five song encore at a free in-store performance in London. Well, it was supposed to be an in-store, but so many people showed they had to move it to a larger venue and push it back an hour. They webcasted it, but I couldn't catch the stream. Dunno if the servers were overloaded or if it was something local to my machine, but I was pissed I missed it.

I am pissed no longer. Enjoy.

I signed up for facebook within the last year, and at first it was a lot of fun. Recently I haven't been enjoying it as much. Part of the reason is because of some of the things I've been reading about it, and some of it is because I find the constant invitations to add new applications a little bit annoying. I need to go through all the ones I've already got on there and get rid of the ones I don't use, and I have to not feel bad about ignoring invitations to applications that I just don't want to bother with.

I feel like the software can be quite useful, but I still haven't quite figured out or found the features that will truly enhance my experience. Granted, connecting with some old friends has been great, and it is a good way to keep up to date on far-flung compadres. But there needs to be more or it's just not worth the trouble.

This article about the politics of some of the people on the facebook Board was very interesting, and not in a good way. Then yesterday I read about how facebook is now succumbing to spam. Even worse, there are now some applications aren't applications at all, but instead are spyware designed to collect your information. We're so used to just letting the applications full access that this can be a big problem

I'm not giving up on it yet, but it's definitely not the first thing I open when I jump on the computer.

Labels: facebook

We have a brand new problem in our life these days. Not a serious one like what's going on with my Mom, but a problem of Time. See, we made a choice a fews years back, and now we're trying to live with the consequences. Instead of jumping in when it all started, we waited. I didn't want to get XFiled. Lu didn't want to have another show to watch. But now 3 seasons in all our friends and family are obsessed, and we have to keep leaving the room every time they start talking about it. So we made a plan. Once we got to the cold, dark, lonely days of winter life in CT, we'd settle into the couch, flip on the TV, fire up the DVD player and start watching LOST.

And now, we can't stop. The other night we polished off 6 episodes before dragging ourselves off to bed far too late, and I was nearly late for work the next day. I'm spending less time online which means less awesome links for all of you. And forget about job-hunting. Not when the Hatch is just about to opened! Not when we the Others are out there! We just finished Season 1 and have started Season 2 and we have only a few weeks left to get through all of them AND Season 3 before Jan. 31 and the start of Season 4. Could happen. But probably not. We'd have to watch night and day all freakin' month!

I must say, though, that I'm quite surprised that I don't know more of what's going on through leaks and spoilers by friends. Our ability to run away screaming with our hands over our ears or clicking quickly away from webpages revealing plot points has been impressive to say the least. One cool thing is that we can pretty much talk freely, though, to just about everyone else cause I'm pretty sure we are the last people in the US who have not seen this show. And yeah, it is fucking great.

But we were measured and judicious tonight, so I do have links for you. Here's Superman. So life-like! So... real. I feel as though I too am dancing through the clouds with Spiderwoman. Yeah. Spiderwoman. Don't ask, I have no idea.

And to all the haters out there who think 'beer' is 'bad for you,' well, go ahead and take a swig of this!

We all know that Dubai is a crazy-ass place with artificial islands of all types and insane buildings. But now they're going to clone Lyons, too. I guess money can buy everything, even replicas of another country's city. Why? To that question I have no answers.

Last bit may give you a seizure or make you twitch, but I guess I'm more hoping for quizzical laughter or something. I particularly like the way the "My Buddy" section goes from nostalgic to creepy in no time at all.

I get to go in to work at 9:30am tomorrow 'cause I stayed late today. That means I don't have to go to bed quite as early, and since there's no commercials on the DVD.... hmmmm.

"Hey Lu....?"

You all know David Mamet, right? His credentials as a playwright, screenwriter, director and author are stunning enough all on their own, but now he's taking on the Web in a very interesting way. His play November opens on Broadway on Thursday, and for the duration of the running, Mamet will be blogging, in character, as the main character Charles H. P. Smith. In the play Smith is the current President, but he's about to lose a his re-election. I really like this idea, of the character in a play appearing online with posts that will add depth and nuance to the onstage performance. That a master of language like David Mamet is the man behind the man, well, that's just fantastic.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for every famous person with a computer, some time and a few things on their mind. Rosie O'Donnell? Courtney Love? Pat Sajack!!? You know it. And although Jeff Bridges' blog is definitely odd, I don't think it's quite in the same league of awfulness as the others. But then again, he's The Dude.

It's Macworld tomorrow. Here's a sneak peak of what might be unveiled. Pretty sweet looking, if you're into that kind of thing.

The photo above was taken by the shore in Guilford, CT. Back in SF it was about $25 for a pound and a half lobster. Round here, it's more like $7. We could probably find lobsters right now, but we're working hard to only buy food that is in season, or grown in a greenhouse. More than any produce, I'm really missing tomatoes. But such is life when you become a locavore.

And the answer to the question above is, obviously, nothing, except they're all in this post.

Labels: apple, blogs, food, locavore

Figures. I made a plan to blog about the NYTimes Sunday edition last week because I had found a ton of great articles and interesting things to pass on. And then the very next week... nothing. So I'm not going to just toss a few desultory Sunday Times links at you trying to appease some artificial mandate I created for myself. I said I would blog the Times so I am, but only to tell you it was boring as hell today.

Instead, from Slate, here's a guy who tried to get his 5 month old baby into the hands of every presidential candidate, and then rated how well they did with his little tyke.

Also, the Darwin awards for 2007 have been announced. Macabre, perhaps, but some of these people are just insane.

And the last bit for tonight is just a very cool image/illusion.

Winter Storm '08 has begun. A nor'easter is making its way into CT and we could have six inches by the times it's over. Gonna have to get up a little extra early to get the shoveling done before I stroll off through the snow to work.

In Rainbows was the #1 seller this week, topping out at 122,000 copies sold. Pretty impressive when you consider that this album has been out since October 10, and you could have had it for free, if you wanted.

From NPR's All Songs Considered, take a look at Project Song. They take an artist or band, give them a choice of one of 6 images and one of 6 words printed on cards, and then they have 48 hours to create a song. I caught each of the shows on the radio as I drove around, but they also had cameras in there to capture the process visually. As someone with no musical talent, but a deep love for the creative process, this was fascinating to hear. I'm psyched I get to watch how they did it, too. Listen to the show, then check out the songs. Both tunes are fantastic.

And just last night one of my favorite bands played in a Borders bookstore in NYC. Friends said the show was lots of fun, but the coolest part? It was for the release of their brand new kid's album, Let's Go Everywhere. So fun! And they've even got a show coming up nearby. Gotta remember to get tix for that!

Last offering is a show from KCRW with Iron and Wine. Heard some great things about them recently, but I've yet to hear their tunes. Gonna take this in once I hit publish and sent this out over the intertubes.

Labels: KCRW, MMW, music, NPR, Radiohead

Testimony about vote rigging using software on digital voting machines.

If anyone is surprised about this, you haven't been paying attention.

Here's another photo and video-sharing site, if you're looking to test out a new one. It's called Pickle.

And next check out this video from of the highest jump man has ever accomplished. His name is Joseph Kittinger, and my guess is, he's not afraid of heights.

DWD this week. I've only got a cold but it stinks. Really I shouldn't even complain when there's so many worse things out there. For example, my Mom, who has had MS for the last 34 years and fights it every day of her life, and now to pile on top of that, she was just diagnosed with breast cancer. We're all still kind of in shock I think, but somehow or another Mom manages to keep her sense of humor through it all. Just on the phone with her a few minutes ago and we were laughing away at some random silliness. She's a fighter and we are going to do everything we can to support her as she beats this disease. At least breast cancer can be cured. MS, not so much.

If I could just get my hands around the Universe, I would like to stuff it into any one of these Chinese punishments, just to get back at it for giving Mom such a raw deal.

Labels: MS, youtube

Just read about another site that launched today that I thought some of you might like. Big Think it's called and it is supposed to be a place for ideas, debates and intelligent conversation, but in a YouTube type format. Check it out, post some replies and let's see what develops.

A new search engine launched today. It's called Wikia Search and it's by the same guy that brought you Wikipedia. It's not a Google-killer, yet. But by allowing users to rate the results they get, and then pushing those responses back into the search engine, Jimmy Wales hopes to create a search engine as powerful and useful as the big G of the Intertubes. That's a tall mountain to climb, but it'll be fun to see how the hike to top goes.

Clearly, this guy, is crazy. No two ways about it. He's also a king of balancing.

Now on the other hand we have the story of Cliff Young. He wasn't crazy, but he was definitely unique, and the story of his amazing run is just beautiful.

But for this last one, let's go back to crazy. 61 floors of bungee jumping crazy that is.

The Daily Show is back tonight and I'm thrilled. I wonder how Jon is going to fit all the insane ridiculousness of this campaign season into just 1 short half hour. Looking forward to finding out.

SFers! Take a look at this Free the Net project by the company Meraki.

We're sending thousands of free Meraki repeaters to city residents. Each of these little boxes spreads the network and strengthens the signal, bringing free Internet access to you and your neighbors.

Pretty cool. Here's the map of current connections.

Always a good Sunday when I can get through most of the NYTimes. When I first started blogging 2 years ago I had the luxury of a 30 minute bus ride to downtown SF where I was able to sit in the back and read the Times every day. At night I would pick out a few of the interesting articles or talk about how frustrating it was to see an important article buried in the A section. We moved, though, and my commute changed and I no longer had as much time to read in the morning. This blog was created as a new iteration of that first one, but I always sorta missed the format of that first attempt.

Now, with a new life and new schedule here in New Haven, I'm going to bring back a bit of that first blog for a weekly Sunday post about the Saturday and Sunday New York Times. Even better, now the Times has permalinks so these posts won't break after a week or two.

My aim is not simply to rehash the news on the front page, but instead to delve a little deeper into the thick weekend tome and highlight those articles that I found especially interesting that might have been overlooked.

So check out this article about NeuStar. I never even considered how it is the telecoms manage the billions of phone numbers our nation requires, but this quick interview reveals the very interesting answer.

Next up is some local flavor. Yale is spending lots of money to refurbish its facilities, and in the process really investing in and improving New Haven. Unfortunately, the city doesn't have the funds or the flexibility to be as effective.

It was nice to read this article about a company doing right by its customers. So often I have been in the opposite situation, where it seemed like some hideous corporation was doing their utmost to drive me away. And next time I shop online, I will definitely remember this.

I'm intrigued by this device, the Neuros OSD. You can use to record video from essentially any source, including cable or satellite TV. All you need to do is hook it up to a hard drive and everything is stored as an mpeg-4, ready for viewing on anything from an iPod to your TV to a computer. Even cooler, everything about it is open source, including the hardware, so brilliant hacks are sure to come.

Lastly is a fascinating article about sound design and scoring for films in general, and "No Country for Old Men" in particular. There's only 16 minutes of music in the film and the minimalist soundtrack is used to powerful effect in ratcheting up the tension.

Still got a section or two to get through before bed, and I'm confident of success.

Labels: nytimes

3 hours at the DMV nearly sapped my will to live. I did manage to get a CT license finally. It wasn't quite a nightmare, but it certainly wasn't fun.

But the work of Tim Knowles definitely helped to lift my mood. He creates art using some very unique processes, including pens attached to trees, apparatuses in the backs of cars and a package capturing images as it travels through the postal system, among others.

Still getting back into the swing of things with the short week and all. This weekend and beyond I'll have lots more.

Happy New Year boys and girls. Here are some incredible panoramic NYE shots from around the world. New Year's Eve must be brutal on the atmosphere and environment with the skies filled with the copious smoke of countless fireworks.

We had an amazing time at RCMH with moe., but I am quite pleased that there is an archive of Radiohead's New Year's performance on Current TV.

Here's a list of 45 things you can learn online for free. And here's a link to a guy that saved his trash for a full year. Insane how much he gathered.

I really can't believe it's 2008. And once again another year of 'the future' arrives and we're still not driving flying cars and livin on Mars. Maybe in 09?