Web topics (links!)
Jul 27, 2008 22:57 Filed in: Observations
Just a few links to add to the list. Thanks to those
of you who have given me positive feedback
encouraging me to continue posting these! (and glad
many of you got to see the adventures of Dr. Horrible
last week)
Scientific Method: Relationships Among Scientific Paradigms Interesting algorithmic map showing relationship/connection between all sciences
Senate Approves Bill to Broaden Wiretap Powers - NYTimes.com Argh! I can completely understand why the citizenry has an even lower view of Congress compared to W when they do things like this. Old news by now.
Band Geek Hero! - Brought To You By TorsoPants.com - great shirts, but where is “Bass Clarinet Hero” shirt when I need it?!
ABC News article on aging tires - I wasn’t aware of this, though I’m still unsure how much of a problem it really is.
Muppets head to D.C. for special homecoming - CNN.com - Must go to DC to check this out!
Thinking Outside the Box: 8 Ways The Dark Knight Shines | LifeDev - OK, so I watched this on opening night at the nearby IMAX (yes, they just built it over in Council Bluffs). I was VERY impressed and thought this one of the many articles helped highlight some of the ways it was so good.
While I haven’t played Rock Bank much of late, the newest incarnation (Rock Band 2) was announced for September. So many great songs!
Topless Robot - the 10 Lamest Dr. Who Villains - I haven’t watched this show since I was a kid and no one was as good as Tom Baker, but thought it was still fun to make fun of and to share with you another geeky blog site, Topless Robot!
And, the main video for this time - a 6-min recreation of John Carpenter’s horror movie The Thing done with GIJoes! (plus it’s a music video for Zombie Zombie: Driving)
Scientific Method: Relationships Among Scientific Paradigms Interesting algorithmic map showing relationship/connection between all sciences
Senate Approves Bill to Broaden Wiretap Powers - NYTimes.com Argh! I can completely understand why the citizenry has an even lower view of Congress compared to W when they do things like this. Old news by now.
Band Geek Hero! - Brought To You By TorsoPants.com - great shirts, but where is “Bass Clarinet Hero” shirt when I need it?!
ABC News article on aging tires - I wasn’t aware of this, though I’m still unsure how much of a problem it really is.
Muppets head to D.C. for special homecoming - CNN.com - Must go to DC to check this out!
Thinking Outside the Box: 8 Ways The Dark Knight Shines | LifeDev - OK, so I watched this on opening night at the nearby IMAX (yes, they just built it over in Council Bluffs). I was VERY impressed and thought this one of the many articles helped highlight some of the ways it was so good.
While I haven’t played Rock Bank much of late, the newest incarnation (Rock Band 2) was announced for September. So many great songs!
Topless Robot - the 10 Lamest Dr. Who Villains - I haven’t watched this show since I was a kid and no one was as good as Tom Baker, but thought it was still fun to make fun of and to share with you another geeky blog site, Topless Robot!
And, the main video for this time - a 6-min recreation of John Carpenter’s horror movie The Thing done with GIJoes! (plus it’s a music video for Zombie Zombie: Driving)
|
No time to reflect
Jul 27, 2008 22:57 Filed in: Life
Spent the weekend at a work meeting in Phoenix -
stayed at the Royal Palms Resort. I wasn’t excited
about going to AZ in July when it was 108 at 8am last
Friday while it was 72 in Omaha, but I’m glad I went.
The place wasn’t huge and somewhat quaint, but with
so many paved paths, desert flowers, palms, hidden
buildings and rooms and pools - I knew it was
something special. The food may have been the most
incredible part (after the service). My first buffett
dinner I was speaking with Fred and a staff-member
caught my eye briefly and pointed toward two dishes
and made a “don’t eat” shake of her hands. She just
warned me which items had seafood and we never spoke
about it or introduced ourselves - it was perfect!
That night while others were drinking coffee, I asked
for a Coke Zero. They got one from the back and
mentioned they’d supply some for the next day’s
meeting for me. The next day, with completely
different staff, a guy asked if I’d like a Coke Zero.
Yes, I know, they were told to look for the guy with
“Kaleb” on his name tag, but still, I was impressed!
The restaurant was incredible. It’s hard to comment enough on how amazing it was. My meal was $54 without tip, but easily one of the best meals. I’m salivating thinking about it. I had half a duck, prepared with morrel mushrooms, and... ok, I’m doing a horrible job describing it! The dessert... I didn’t think a white-chocolate cheesecake & creme brule hybrid could taste and look so good!
I took a swim around 12:30am on Sunday morning to unwind. The pools were open 24 hours. With Camelback mountain behind me, and a starry sky (clouds came in later), it was breathtaking.
OK, I’m done with the adjectives - a mostly good trip! I highly recommend them!
********
Back when I was a kid, I learned that there were a few ways of communication, in order of effectiveness: writing (typed and then handwriting), speaking, seeing and touching. That may not be intuitive, but for those moments when you see someone’s reaction, or the effect of a simple touch on the shoulder - there can be a lot communicated very quickly. Why bring this up? Just a bit of concern about maintaining friendships over instant messaging/email/telephone/distance. I’m trying hard to make sure human contact is made when possible, but it definitely isn’t easy (even with those who live nearby). Seems that time is the most valuable commodity of all.
On that theme, my father’s cousin (and also the interior design consultant to my new basement room) is nearing her death this week with kidney failure and cancer. My amazing second cousin is doing her best to take care of her mother at home until that day arrives. I wanted to see her while she was here at the hospital, but got the feeling that they’re keeping it someone low key with the close family though I know so many of us are thinking of her. While, for now, we all have this one thing in common (an end date), it acts as a reminder to enjoy fully every day we do have. Celebrating others at weddings or just bumping into them in the hallway, finding shapes in the clouds while floating on a pool or lying on the ground or on the roof of a building, trimming the plants and petting the cat (all things I’ve done this past month) - sounds so corny, but I don’t take any of it for granted.
A lot of profound things have happened lately and I don’t share too much private happenings on this blog, but if you were here, you’d know that besides being crazy with work and travel (and I really am), I have been moved so much by others and feeling incredibly fortunate to have some great folks in my life (likely you if you’re reading this!). Thanks for you!
(Ok, no thanks to you, Mr. Loony Stalker, just in case you got your hopes up.
)
The restaurant was incredible. It’s hard to comment enough on how amazing it was. My meal was $54 without tip, but easily one of the best meals. I’m salivating thinking about it. I had half a duck, prepared with morrel mushrooms, and... ok, I’m doing a horrible job describing it! The dessert... I didn’t think a white-chocolate cheesecake & creme brule hybrid could taste and look so good!
I took a swim around 12:30am on Sunday morning to unwind. The pools were open 24 hours. With Camelback mountain behind me, and a starry sky (clouds came in later), it was breathtaking.
OK, I’m done with the adjectives - a mostly good trip! I highly recommend them!
********
Back when I was a kid, I learned that there were a few ways of communication, in order of effectiveness: writing (typed and then handwriting), speaking, seeing and touching. That may not be intuitive, but for those moments when you see someone’s reaction, or the effect of a simple touch on the shoulder - there can be a lot communicated very quickly. Why bring this up? Just a bit of concern about maintaining friendships over instant messaging/email/telephone/distance. I’m trying hard to make sure human contact is made when possible, but it definitely isn’t easy (even with those who live nearby). Seems that time is the most valuable commodity of all.
On that theme, my father’s cousin (and also the interior design consultant to my new basement room) is nearing her death this week with kidney failure and cancer. My amazing second cousin is doing her best to take care of her mother at home until that day arrives. I wanted to see her while she was here at the hospital, but got the feeling that they’re keeping it someone low key with the close family though I know so many of us are thinking of her. While, for now, we all have this one thing in common (an end date), it acts as a reminder to enjoy fully every day we do have. Celebrating others at weddings or just bumping into them in the hallway, finding shapes in the clouds while floating on a pool or lying on the ground or on the roof of a building, trimming the plants and petting the cat (all things I’ve done this past month) - sounds so corny, but I don’t take any of it for granted.
A lot of profound things have happened lately and I don’t share too much private happenings on this blog, but if you were here, you’d know that besides being crazy with work and travel (and I really am), I have been moved so much by others and feeling incredibly fortunate to have some great folks in my life (likely you if you’re reading this!). Thanks for you!
(Ok, no thanks to you, Mr. Loony Stalker, just in case you got your hopes up.
)
Celebrations abounding
Jul 16, 2008 23:18 Filed in: Life
I had planned to postpone this entry until I had
pictures to post, but when waiting on others, one
never knows when that will happen, so...
Had my first ever 4th of July in Omaha a couple weeks back. My block had a mini-parade and brunch to start off the day. Seriously, everyone on the block gathers for an hour or so - it was great to see everyone and catch up a little bit since we all seem to keep busy even in these great summer months.
I missed my Aunt’s all day party near Lincoln, but spent a long time at Phyllis’ party near the Old Market (downtown Omaha). Lots of food, drinks and people I’d never met before. SOOoo much food! Joined a fellow Omaha-newbie couple to the roof of their Old Market building. For OVER AN HOUR fireworks could be seen across the Iowa and Omaha horizons. There must have been over 20 different organized locations we could see fireworks (mostly in Iowa since the hills hid most of Omaha). When the big series went off at the ballpark (2 miles south of us), that lasted 30 mins and was the most impressive. Plus you had random fireworks being shot off of roofs everywhere. Just amazed me how serious this holiday is taken - I had forgotten what it was like after being in the “no fireworks here or the state will burn down” Cali, but even looking out at the SF bay area from the Stanford hills (a much larger and more populated area), there were far less firworks than here. Finished the night back at the original party. Had a fabulous time! (oh, I taught the group a game called Cash-n-Guns where we shoot each other like good gangsters to split the money - all around a table. Since we were outside, I’m sure it caused quite the stir from the neighbors!
Pics to come).
With the help of Dennis, we finished all “construction” of the basement with the final wall base trim. All furniture arrived, and now I’m putting up posters and waiting for the curtains from my sister. Then you will see the final product in pictures!
Spent the past 6 days in CA. Saw lots of faculty/work colleagues (including Jay, yeah!), also caught up with a few friends and had an incredible time with Stacie & Mike at their small wedding on the beach. I was a bridesman (never a bride! oh wait) which was a first, and not only felt honored, but got somewhat emotional during the beautiful 15-min beach ceremony. Friends I have known for much longer told me that S&M have made them all look bad by visiting me 3 times in Omaha while no one else (except George!) has made the trek. I agreed with them, but reassured them that because of S&M I have manage much better to survive such transgressions. S&M have been together off/on
for almost 13 years - true love AND stamina in a
couple! Another reason we can spend hours upon
hours together - the three of us have a great
love of inquiry. Discussing any topic and
learning as we go. I’m so happy for them and am
excited about the many years to come (why am I
such a sap at this hour!).
I also got in touch with a long-lost friend from Rochester this past week. 12 years later, Jen’s a proud mother of 3, musician/singer/writer, educator/administrator and life-long student. So happy to be back in touch!
And, on a completely unrelated link note, check out drhorrible.com for fun mini-movies by Joss Whedon, Neil Patrick Harris & others that will be taken down soon!
Had my first ever 4th of July in Omaha a couple weeks back. My block had a mini-parade and brunch to start off the day. Seriously, everyone on the block gathers for an hour or so - it was great to see everyone and catch up a little bit since we all seem to keep busy even in these great summer months.
I missed my Aunt’s all day party near Lincoln, but spent a long time at Phyllis’ party near the Old Market (downtown Omaha). Lots of food, drinks and people I’d never met before. SOOoo much food! Joined a fellow Omaha-newbie couple to the roof of their Old Market building. For OVER AN HOUR fireworks could be seen across the Iowa and Omaha horizons. There must have been over 20 different organized locations we could see fireworks (mostly in Iowa since the hills hid most of Omaha). When the big series went off at the ballpark (2 miles south of us), that lasted 30 mins and was the most impressive. Plus you had random fireworks being shot off of roofs everywhere. Just amazed me how serious this holiday is taken - I had forgotten what it was like after being in the “no fireworks here or the state will burn down” Cali, but even looking out at the SF bay area from the Stanford hills (a much larger and more populated area), there were far less firworks than here. Finished the night back at the original party. Had a fabulous time! (oh, I taught the group a game called Cash-n-Guns where we shoot each other like good gangsters to split the money - all around a table. Since we were outside, I’m sure it caused quite the stir from the neighbors!
Pics to come).
With the help of Dennis, we finished all “construction” of the basement with the final wall base trim. All furniture arrived, and now I’m putting up posters and waiting for the curtains from my sister. Then you will see the final product in pictures!
Spent the past 6 days in CA. Saw lots of faculty/work colleagues (including Jay, yeah!), also caught up with a few friends and had an incredible time with Stacie & Mike at their small wedding on the beach. I was a bridesman (never a bride! oh wait) which was a first, and not only felt honored, but got somewhat emotional during the beautiful 15-min beach ceremony. Friends I have known for much longer told me that S&M have made them all look bad by visiting me 3 times in Omaha while no one else (except George!) has made the trek. I agreed with them, but reassured them that because of S&M I have manage much better to survive such transgressions.
S&M have been together off/on
for almost 13 years - true love AND stamina in a
couple! Another reason we can spend hours upon
hours together - the three of us have a great
love of inquiry. Discussing any topic and
learning as we go. I’m so happy for them and am
excited about the many years to come (why am I
such a sap at this hour!).
I also got in touch with a long-lost friend from Rochester this past week. 12 years later, Jen’s a proud mother of 3, musician/singer/writer, educator/administrator and life-long student. So happy to be back in touch!
And, on a completely unrelated link note, check out drhorrible.com for fun mini-movies by Joss Whedon, Neil Patrick Harris & others that will be taken down soon!
Exploding with Links
A shorter list today, but maybe with greater quality?
FORA.tv - Paul Roberts: The End of Food Listened to this 1-hour talk by Paul Roberts, author The End of Oil and The End of Food. Well done and while pessimistic at times, I enjoyed the big-picture view of food, oil, economy, global-warming, etc.
3 Ideas That Are Pushing the Edge of Science | Gadgets | DISCOVER Magazine
Judge Orders YouTube to Give All User Histories to Viacom | Threat Level from Wired.com Old news, but still quite troubling.
Poll: US taxpayers want more funding for scientific research About time!
The 10 Most Awesomely Bad Moments of the Bush Presidency | Election 2008 | AlterNet In case you had forgotten, here's a reminder.
Midwest Teen Sex Show Recommended by local pediatrician - surprising funny AND educational. Good for folks of all ages, though probably not safe for work.
CrunchGear » Archive » AT&T’s text messages cost $1,310 per megabyte I have been planning on getting the new iPhone, but two big issues: 1) range of service here in Omaha is questionable & 2) increase in rates including text messaging - may be enough to save money and not switch over this year either.
Funny t-shirts, Funny shirts, t-shirts, shirts, Cool t-shirts, Cool shirts, tees A funny site by itself, but also a great selection of funny t-shirts. Torsopants.com!
Uno and only -- chicagotribune.com New cross between Segway, motorcycle & Star Wars vehicle.
nsf.gov - Discoveries - Not a Quirk But a Quark ... a Quark Star! - US National Science Foundation
Science News / Citizen Astronomy Story about many astronomy amateurs finding new astronomical findings (that was awkward)
Roberts' record on high court defies '05 pledges of centrism -- chicagotribune.com I have respect for both Obama and McCain, but the latter, similar to Dole in '96, has changed in ways I don't like as he leads his party (actually, so has Obama). Not a fan of Scalia, Thomas and now Roberts and McCain has said he would add others similar to them.
Eppendorf International - It's called epMotion Very funny and real boy-band advert for a machine to do automated Eppendorf pipetting. So many (including myself) have spent so many hours pipetting that the humor and need for this would ring true - enjoy! (especially Kim Smith, Stacie, and the BoxerLab gang) Though the critic in me thinks they could have added a more pertinent 2nd verse.
FORA.tv - Paul Roberts: The End of Food Listened to this 1-hour talk by Paul Roberts, author The End of Oil and The End of Food. Well done and while pessimistic at times, I enjoyed the big-picture view of food, oil, economy, global-warming, etc.
3 Ideas That Are Pushing the Edge of Science | Gadgets | DISCOVER Magazine
Judge Orders YouTube to Give All User Histories to Viacom | Threat Level from Wired.com Old news, but still quite troubling.
Poll: US taxpayers want more funding for scientific research About time!
The 10 Most Awesomely Bad Moments of the Bush Presidency | Election 2008 | AlterNet In case you had forgotten, here's a reminder.
Midwest Teen Sex Show Recommended by local pediatrician - surprising funny AND educational. Good for folks of all ages, though probably not safe for work.
CrunchGear » Archive » AT&T’s text messages cost $1,310 per megabyte I have been planning on getting the new iPhone, but two big issues: 1) range of service here in Omaha is questionable & 2) increase in rates including text messaging - may be enough to save money and not switch over this year either.
Funny t-shirts, Funny shirts, t-shirts, shirts, Cool t-shirts, Cool shirts, tees A funny site by itself, but also a great selection of funny t-shirts. Torsopants.com!
Uno and only -- chicagotribune.com New cross between Segway, motorcycle & Star Wars vehicle.
nsf.gov - Discoveries - Not a Quirk But a Quark ... a Quark Star! - US National Science Foundation
Science News / Citizen Astronomy Story about many astronomy amateurs finding new astronomical findings (that was awkward)
Roberts' record on high court defies '05 pledges of centrism -- chicagotribune.com I have respect for both Obama and McCain, but the latter, similar to Dole in '96, has changed in ways I don't like as he leads his party (actually, so has Obama). Not a fan of Scalia, Thomas and now Roberts and McCain has said he would add others similar to them.
Eppendorf International - It's called epMotion Very funny and real boy-band advert for a machine to do automated Eppendorf pipetting. So many (including myself) have spent so many hours pipetting that the humor and need for this would ring true - enjoy! (especially Kim Smith, Stacie, and the BoxerLab gang) Though the critic in me thinks they could have added a more pertinent 2nd verse.