I giggled. [Thanks, J. via moxie machine.]
The upside to having a roughly thirty-minute commute is I've been catching up on a lot of missed podcasts. Mostly Radio Lab and This American Life. I just finished the "Numbers" episode of TAL, featuring "The Most Wanted Song" and "The Most Unwanted Song". From TAL,
[Alex Melamid and Vitaly Koma] surveyed audiences about what kind of instruments and topics they liked most in their songs. Then [with the help of composer David Soldier] they produced one song based on what people most want to hear--and one song based on what they hate the most. The one people hate includes bagpipes, children singing, lyrics about holidays and religion, wild volume and tempo changes.
The most "wanted" song dances somewhere between smooth, corny and muzak. The most "unwanted"? Well, have a listen for yourself:
The Most Unwanted Song on Last.fm in its 21 minute and 53 second entirety
Maybe Melamid and Koma are right that I only like this song because I want to think I'm elite and think my musical tastes are all weird and different, but it really is quite amazing.
Last Sunday (December 14th) our deck looked like this.
Seven days later, it looks like this.
Just sayin'.
Relishing in our new digital converter box this past Saturday night, I turned on the ol' tube to watch, dare I say it, the now funny-again SNL. During a commercial break, the following Starbucks ad certainly caught my attention:
Perhaps it has been so long since I've watched actual broadcast television that I completely missed all the telltale signs, but I didn't realize it was Starbucks commercial until that fact was actually revealed near to the end of the ad. I felt both surprised and duped.
I understand Starbucks' product is coffee and that they want to offer an incentive to come by their shops (because no doubt you'll add a pumpkin cream-cheese muffin to that free java), but it just seems a bit odd to offer someone a stimulant in exchange for patriotism.
With Oregon's mail-in ballot system, the events of tomorrow are feeling a bit like a spectator activity -- I actually dropped my ballot off last Tuesday (I guess that makes my coffee a week overdue). Even if there aren't poles to visit, I'm still happy to have contributed to my county's 64% voter turnout thus far:
All of that aside, I heard a woman on the radio from Texas today say she wasn't going to vote tomorrow because she was busy. Hers is a blunt reminder that many people out there are still unmoved by the political process. Whether you're a nail-biting political junkie who's been keeping tabs on the events leading up to this election for the past few years or you just happen to like coffee, I implore you, my friends, loved ones and casual passerby: Please exercise your right to vote.
Google Maps now includes voter registration info.
Nice. (Click on image or here to visit "Google Maps 2008 US Voter Info".)
Maybe I had been suppressing notions of ever having watched Bobby's World, Howie Mandel's not-so-great cartoon that ran through most of the 90s, as it wasn't until last night's VEEP debate that all of Palin's "ya know"s and "betcha"s resurrected fuzzy memories of the Fargo-esque "Martha Generic", Bobby's mom.
Thanks to mean rachel for confirming my mind grapes (Martha can be heard in the first 2 min of this clip; no need to bother with the other 7).
An amazing set of images from last night's Jamie Lidell show at Wonder Ballroom:
::swoons... just a little::
I'm just sad I missed Janelle Monae. From what I've heard, Metropolis sounds something like Gnarls Barkley and Deltron 3030 scrambled up inside a blender then poured into a female android.
"Another Day" isn't my favorite Lidell track (though it's certainly a good one), but this video is creepy and fun, just the way I like 'em. Makes me curious about director Timothy Saccenti, who's worked with other artists like Peaches, Born Ruffians, Animal Collective, Fourtet, Bloc Party, Battles, Erykah Badu and Sondre Lerche.
This interview doesn't present much of Nicholas Carr's thesis for Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google, but I'm not sure one particular nugget from this Colbert yuk-fest holds much water: "We've become so connected to everything that we're actually disconnected from any one thing."
Carr explains that the way we interact with the internet, or "World Wide Computer", impedes our ability to focus on any one thing; concentration has deteriorated into a staccato of thoughts, ideas and distractions. Meanwhile, Colbert -- in a move that brilliantly defines his "idiot" persona -- pulls out his iPhone and begins scrolling through something (presumably a webpage) and taking pictures of Carr to drive home the point: Colbert can't even concentrate on Carr long enough to finish the interview.
Okay, we've seen that guy: on the bus or in a restaurant or in the grocery store, hands flitting over his Blackberry or iPhone; equipped and ready with his Bluetooth (or "Douchetooth" as my friend Andy so cleverly coined) earpiece. But we know people like this, too: they can't focus regardless of whether they're interfacing with a hand-held device or chatting (and I mean literally) with us face-to-face.
So why is it that if I pull out my iPhone in the grocery store to check my grocery list, I'm distracted and am in need of constant stimulation as opposed to the person who pulled a crumpled note out of her pocket? It's like saying that reading NYTimes.com on my phone during a commute is different than reading the printed version. Yes, there are inherent differences between pixels and print, but I'm talking about concentration; my ability to connect with one thing: why does Carr consider me disconnected solely because I choose to interface with technology -- focused on just one thing, reading an article -- versus connected if I decide to read newsprint instead? I think there's a misconception about technology and the actual utility being derived from it for any given task.
There are also the commutes when I don't touch my phone. I sit, I listen, I experience the rhythms of the road and notice the passengers around me. Maybe I even chat with the driver. I make a conscious choice to be present on the bus.
If people are scatterbrained in a way reminiscent of how information is acquired through the WWC, it is more than just a byproduct of working with technology for too long. Computing may change our thinking habits, thought patterns and processes, but to say this causes our ability to focus to simply erode away is a dangerous oversimplification. Connectedness is a skill that requires constant, focused attention for continued development and is not necessarily only antagonized by the ability to quickly obtain information. Personally, I find my ability to be connected is honed precisely because of how I choose to use technology to acquire information.
As a side note, this is one of the better Colbert interviews I've seen in a while. That is, it reminded me of some of the first few episodes when Stephen's witticisms were still new, surprising and hilarious.
but this might just be the most oxymoronic item of clothing I have ever seen:
It seems some of the power adapters that shipped with the 3G iPhones have had their metal prongs break off, remaining in power outlets. Yikes! The iPhone Blog notes Apple asks users to stop using these adapters immediately, swapping out potentially defective adapters for the new version. Apple also emphasizes the phones can be charged through USB connectivity to your computer in the interim.
You can go about exchanging the adapter one of two ways: in person at an Apple Store on or after October 10th, or by submitting a request for an exchange via this webform. I just filled it out and it's pretty quick and painless: they just need the phone's serial number and contact info. If you choose the latter option, replacement adapters will ship within three weeks of your order, beginning October 10.
Apple also emphasizes they want the defective adapters back, so bring your old one with you when you visit the store. And if you request the exchange through the mail? They'll send you prepaid shipping materials to send back the old adapter. Easy-peasy.
Ladies and gentlemen, the most ridiculous 12 seconds of image and sound I have ever produced.
:)
While advised to not wear them all the time (because my vision isn't that bad), I've been walking around all afternoon with a goofy grin on my face -- I am stunned at how much sharper everything is. I don't want to take them off!
(I's hard to tell in this picture, but they're burgundy. Nice compromise between the fire-engine red pair I tried on and the black Rivers Cuomo/Gideon Yago glasses I've secretly wanted since high school.)
Holly agrees. She's picked up this habit involving several minutes of sustained licking. I caught the last few seconds.
Not to toot my own horn or anything . . . Okay, no; wait -- I totally want to toot my own horn. I just made a ridiculously tasty potato salad. It started with this Epicurious recipe as the base:
Ingredients:
- 3 garlic cloves
- 3 tablespoons Sherry vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon dried hot red-pepper flakes
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 pound hot cooked small (2-inch) boiling potatoes, quartered
- 2/3 cup bottled roasted red peppers (4 ounces), rinsed, patted dry, and chopped
- 2/3 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
- 1/3 cup pitted brine-cured black olives, halved
Preparation:
Mince garlic and mash to a paste with a pinch of salt using side of a large heavy knife. Transfer to a large bowl and whisk in vinegar, salt, and red-pepper flakes, then whisk in oil.
Add hot potatoes to vinaigrette and toss to coat. Let stand until potatoes cool to warm, about 30 minutes, then stir in peppers, parsley, and olives. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Here's how I improvised:
I used a 5lbs bag of small, yukon gold potatoes, which meant I had to up the amounts of all the ingredients a bit. I also wanted to have green beans in there (per this recipe), so I prepared them first by boiling about 3/4 lbs. beans for 3 minutes in salted water with a tiny bit of fresh, chopped tarragon (be careful, 'cause if you don't know that stuff is p-p-p-potent). I used the ice-water-emersion method to keep them from getting too cooked as suggested in that link.
I overcooked the potatoes, but a little mushiness is okay with me; perhaps I prefer it. (I read that potatoes take roughly 15 min when added to boiling water; I brought them to boil in the water so I lost track of time. ::shrugs:: )
While the potatoes were cooking, I made the vinaigrette (I used red wine vinegar instead of sherry vinegar). I *heart* garlic so I used about 6 or 7 cloves, about a tablespoon of crushed red pepper flakes, 4 tablespoons of vinegar and 6 tablespoons of olive oil (again, this was because I also had more potatoes). I added a bit more chopped tarragon and cut out the parsley completely. I decided to go with kalamata olives instead of black olives. I added dill weed to the potatoes both while they were cooking and once they were cut and in the vinaigrette. I also cooked my potatoes with a whole onion, but I think next time I would *not* include the onion. I know, I know -- that's almost sacrilegious for me; I think onions hardly ever do anything but ADD flavor -- but I noticed they added something a little . . . earthy that didn't need to be there. I tasted continuously to adjust flavors; adding some of the kalamata juice proved to add zip and pep.
Anyhow, this recipe is fantastic and I think the folks that are coming over for our little barbecue this evening will be pleased. And I'm pretty sure this is vegan: no mayo and thus no eggs. . . just veggies and olive oil.
Oh, and I got all ingredients from New Seasons, a local version of Whole Foods that's a bit easier on the wallet. I win!!
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