You mean...it's free?

This past Saturday I sat outside of the SLP Byerly's, volunteering for my very first 89.3 The Current event with Mary Lucia and another MPR staff member. We were spreading the word about this Tuesday being National Night Out day, and handed out free cases of water, free flowers, and a random helping of The Current "swag" -- apparently the hip term for free little merchandise handouts like stickers, buttons, and magnets.

The day presented us with a gloomy drizzle, but it didn't matter. We (or at least I) had a lot of fun joking with each other and interacting with the day's grocery shoppers.

It was so interesting to see how people were very skeptical of the word"free". Surely there must be a catch. What did they have to sign up for? What survey did they have to take? What type of donation were we looking for? What do you mean it's completely free? Oh, and by the way, could you help me carry it?

Unbelievable

Completely shocking. The I-35W bridge that crossed the Mississippi River near downtown Minneapolis collapsed tonight at 6:05pm.
I don't even know what to say.

(more pictures from the Star Tribune)

KG is Kuh Gone

Do you think you would feel like any less of a man/basketball player if you were one of the five players (plus two first round draft picks) traded for just one tall dude?

756 Could Cost You

Steroids aside, it would be pretty exciting to catch Barry Bonds' 756th home run. Almost like winning the lottery, right?...Perhaps even more than you think.

Many people have placed the estimated value of home run ball #756 at a cool $500,000. What does that mean for that lucky fan that will spill his beer and dive across three people in order to make the catch of his life?

The IRS hasn't decided yet either. Would he instantly be taxed, as if winning the lottery? Or taxed only when the ball is sold? Whatever may happen, it will surely be one of the most-talked about and lucrative catches in history. Until someone catches 757.

Just Dial 255

Went to the Walker Art Center today for a guided tour of its permanent collection. It was great getting a tour of modern art that otherwise would leave me utterly confused.

If you live in Minneapolis you should try to make it to The Walker on a Thursday night before September 9th: there is a great Picasso exhibit going on, and Thursdays are free.

Find yourself at the gallery (or sitting at home on your couch) wanting to know more about Picasso's The Studio? The Walker has employed a slick idea considering that nearly everyone has a cell phone now. Dial their Audio Guide number -- 612.374.8200 -- and punch in code 255. Voila.

Summer Goodness

Summer to my family means fresh vegetables. Corn on the cob. More raspberries than you can dream. And last but not least, sun tea.



So I followed in my mother's footsteps and brewed me up a carafe.

What you need:
1 Carafe
Filtered Water
Honey
Mint
Basil (ask Addie, it's legit)
Black Tea
Green Mint Tea
Sun
A lazy afternoon

Talk about refreshing.

Songbird = Sweetness

Have you heard about Songbird yet? Think Firefox meets iTunes. It's your one-stop shop for everything multi-media. Open it up and play your iTunes library. Or browse to your favorite website, and Songbird will serve up in a sub-window any and all media found. Find a tune or a movie you like? Add it to your Songbird library and it's yours to queue whenever you wish. I'd try to sum up all what Songbird can do, but this video demonstration is about 1000 times easier to understand.

My vote for coolest app of 2007.

Nothing but the Facts

Bad News Bubble

This is what happens when you're a photoholic and music junky. Perhaps it is time to upgrade my 6 year old computer? Or maybe I just need to wipe away all those random pictures in triplicate that never make it up to Flickr...

DRM With Boundaries

I really dig the British electronica group Faithless. My brother's friend Joost introduced them to me. I still remember it like it was yesterday -- driving through the Netherlands in his Passat with its hip blue dials glowing from the dashboard while Sunday 8PM was grooving through the speakers. It was and still is one of my favorite memories from my European travels.

They are one of the few artists whose work I will purchase without giving any prior listen. So I was a little disappointed (yet excited at the same time) this weekend to discover that they came out with a new album this past year, only to be released in the UK.

I have since ordered it online, but it brought up some points that I found quite annoying:

• As globalized as the world has become, why do record companies choose to release certain albums in only one section of the world? Who does that benefit?
• I switched my iTunes settings to browse the UK's iTunes Store, only to be told upon attempted purchase that I was only allowed to buy from the US store. Thanks DRM.
• Record companies have been complaining loudly about slumping record sales in regards to the digital revolution, yet here I am attempting to buy music digitally from them and they won't let me? Don't you want my money?

7&7, 7&7, 7.7.07

The 7th of July delivered lots of sevens...

Anders and I went to the horse track at Canterbury Park. I've never been to a horse track before and thought it would be fun for a change.

On the 7th race, horse #7 won. Of course.

We went to a rooftop party that night and drank 7&7's, as well as O7s.

Any seven coincidences happen to anyone else?

In My Mind I'm Gone to [Colorado]

Spent a portion of last week in Colorado with part of the fam. Every time I visit I ask myself why I haven't moved there yet. We got in some good hiking:

• Gem Lake - Nice little hike. I've also done it at night with a full moon. Great night hike. I'd love to camp out at the little beach sometime (you can't camp there, so don't tell the rangers)
  
• Chasm Lake -- At the base of Long's Peak. Great hike with wonderful vistas once you get above the tree line. Next time I'll get up at 3 or 4 so I can capture the lake at sunrise. Apparently it offers a superb golden reflection of Long's.
  
• Deer Mountain -- Nice "little" mountain with good views. Go early to beat the crowds, as Jen and I had the summit all to ourselves for 45 minutes, but saw tons of people on their way up as we headed down.
  

Me, in 2D

What I'd look like in Springfield. Create yourself.

Lost Without WiFi?

If you're ever in Estes Park, CO and you desperately need to hop on the dot com, look no further than the Notchtop Bakery & Cafe. Its doors may be locked, but not its wireless signal. Sitting outside a coffee shop in your car at night in the dark isn't shady, it's resourceful.

I can't help it...

iWant. Friday, June 29th.

To Clad or not to Clad?

I'm in the market for some new pots and pans, and am not sure what to do. My mom purchased her set of steel pots over 35 years ago, and she still uses them to this day. So I know quality counts, and I'm a believer in steel (vs. everything non-stick).

Any recommendations?

I enjoy cooking, but am a long way from gourmet. I'm considering buying a set of Calphalons. But then here is a set of Cuisinarts that have gotten rave reviews and are much cheaper. Would I notice any difference if I splurged for All-Clad? Would I be happier 35 years down the road? Will McDonalds and Starbucks merge and dominate all American cuisine and cooking will become a thing of the past, just like glass soda bottles and slip 'n slides?

What should I do? (Achter?)

You're Pre-Approved

If you're anything like me, your mailbox gets bombarded daily by pre-approved credit card offers.

And if you're still anything like me, you want this unnecessary waste of paper to stop. The good news is there is something you can do about it. Go to www.OptOutPrescreen.com or call 888-5-OPTOUT.

Filling out the online form stops them for 5 years. Printing out the form and sending it in stops them for life. This doesn't in any way stop you from getting approved for a future credit card, it just stops the proliferation of unsolicited junk mail.

The fine print at the end of the process states that this might not stop all offerings, and that it depends on each business. I'm crossing my fingers. If nothing else, there is always this.

You Know You're a Bachelor When...

...you use your potato scrubber to clean your golf clubs. But you don't understand, these golf clubs feel like butta. And a little grass in the diet never hurt anybody, did it?

If I Were an Engineer...

...I would build dehumidifiers into basements, and use the collected water to:

1. Fill up toilet tanks
2. Water the lawn / garden
   

The Circle

Enjoy art? Enjoy meeting new people? Enjoy cocktails? Enjoy meeting new people over free cocktails while looking at art? Then the Minneapolis Institute of Arts' The Circle is for you...and me.

This past Thursday The Circle met at a private collector's home on Lake Minnetonka, and it was the most impressive event I've attended yet. The house was gorgeous, and the amount of art throughout the house and gardens was astounding. Be sure to check out the Flickr photos. Apparently I like to talk with my hands.

Voxtrot

Went to see Voxtrot at the Triple Rock Social Club last night with a few members of the music club. Au Revoir Simone and Sound Team opened for them. Voxtrot (from Austin, TX) put on a solid show even though they're really young. I have a feeling they won't be playing in venues like the Triple Rock (a small bar) for long.

Oddly enough, the best part of the night was standing at the back of the bar and watching the members of Au Revoir Simone and Sound Team dance their brains out to Voxtrot -- it really added an extra element to the show.

The absolute highlight however came when a random guy in the crowd went over to the bassist from Sound Team and, without any warning or communication, picked him up and passed him to his friend, as if a passing a crying baby off to its mother. Talk about extreme confusion. One minute the bassist was dancing some sort of indie-music inspired jig, the next he was being passed around as if he were a rag doll.

I guess you had to be there...typing it out doesn't capture the pure randomness and hilarity of the event. I literally could not stop laughing.

Minnesota Majestic

I watched my friend Matt play in the Minnesota Majestic this weekend (never mind the outdated graphic, but notice the semblance to the Masters logo).

It wasn't his best tournament, but it was still enjoyable on my end. I'm a decent disc golfer, but watching pros makes me feel like fool. I'm pretty sure the top pros can throw nearly twice as far as I can.

The Computer of Tomorrow, er, Today

In case you haven't heard...just today, Microsoft came out with Surface (check out the link for cool demos), a touch-screen computer that looks more like a modern coffee table than your typical box plugged full of wires.

Will it revolutionize computers as we know it? Change our lives for the better? If you ask me, it looks pretty promising, and I'm excited to see one in action. However, if Surface's user experience is anything like its marketing campaign, then it's just going to be one expensive foot rest.

Compared to Apple's iPhone, whose campaign had everybody talking and immediately plotting how to get out of their non-Cingular contract, Surface has stayed underneath the radar. In fact, I was shocked when I visited Microsoft's homepage. I thought for sure it would be some full-page flash advertisement for Surface. Instead, they had a pathetically small link 3/4ths of the way down the page (click the image below for a larger view):



6 years of secret development, and this is the big hurah? If I were Bill Gates, I'd get me a new marketing manager.

p.s. Bill, if you read this (as I'm sure you will), I'm willing to talk.

Living Art?

I'm not much of a gardener, but I feel that slowly changing. As of late, I've spent quite a bit of time buying and planting various flowers, vegetables, and herbs. I realized there is definitely an art to creating an attractive garden and landscape. In fact, it's much like painting -- picking out colors, planning the layout, going for big or little shapes -- but what's exciting about gardening is that your "painting" changes daily. And not only that, but it can reward you with tasty fresh food as a bonus.

My parents have been gardening for most of their lives and I wish I would have paid more attention growing up. Hopefully I'll develop that green-thumb gene after all.

Happy Syttende Mai

Happy Syttende Mai everyone. Go Norwegian Independence! Lefse and kringla for everybody!

A Prairie Home Companion Weekend

My parents visited this past weekend for what turned out to be a very productive (notice the recent theme?), tasty, and fun weekend.

Productive: major yard work. It's never looked so good. I think my parents should open up a landscaping / garden consulting / sweet corn operation when they retire.

Tasty: good food. We ate at my favorite restaurant in the Cities, 128 Cafe. We also checked out Cafe Lurcat. Lurcat was just ok in my opinion. I got the feeling that they were trying too hard to be a high class establishment. And they seriously need to fix their acoustic issues. We weren't in the bar. And it's not a club -- it's a restaurant. Why am I shouting? You hear me Lurcat? No? That's right -- fix your acoustics. We finished the high-calorie weekend at Edina Creamery and Yum! (appropriately named if you ask me).

Fun: Everything was fun, but the topper was seeing Prairie Home Companion (click the link for audio clips and pictures from the show), with special guest Wilco. The show overall was great. Wilco was awesome.

For those of you unfamiliar with the show, about halfway through it Garrison will read off various "greetings". They range from "Happy 90th birthday Francis", to "Congratulations Franky on getting your drivers license. Don't crash my car." Upon entering the theater, they provide you with scrap paper and pencil, and you have a minute to come up with a sentence that will hopefully be creative enough or sentimental enough to reach Garrison's hands.

In my haste, I believe I wrote, "Hello to [my parents], who after 30 years of marriage still sleep next to each other." We rushed to our seats, and upon sitting down I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. I realized I had written down the wrong anniversary number. I considered running back downstairs to change it, but figured it would be nearly impossible to find my slip of paper amongst the hundreds of others. And besides, what are the chances that Garrison would read my note?

Funny how things work out.

About halfway through the greetings he read my message. My jaw dropped, and my parents looked at me in startled confusion, asking was that their name he just read over live radio to his millions of faithful listeners. Yep. Funny how things work out.

Mr. Productivity

Do you ever go through a period at work where you get absolutely nowhere? You might as well have been golfing, sleeping, knitting, or catching up on Lifehacker? And then all of a sudden you have what might possibly be the most productive day in history? That was my day today. I've been working on a project for a few weeks now without getting anywhere. As if a light bulb went off today, I switched gears and accomplished in 9 hours what I would have estimated to take two more weeks given my current pace. I love days like today. Anyone else ever experience this?

G&H Heating & Air Conditioning

In case you live in the Minneapolis area and are in need of any HVAC / electrical / plumbing work, I highly recommend G&H Heating & Air Conditioning. We replaced our air conditioning unit this past weekend by G&H and were very satisfied.

G&H's quote was very reasonable, and Michael, the owner, was incredibly friendly, straightforward, and knowledgeable. We'll definitely use him again for future fixes and upgrades, and if you're smart, you will too.

Butter. Pure Butter.

I've played with the same set of golf clubs for the past 14 years. They've treated me pretty well, but I've lost faith in them these past few years.

A coworker told me about 2nd Swing, a golf store that only sells used clubs, as the name implies. After demoing a few different models of Callaways and Nikes, I ended up bringing home a set of Callaway Big Bertha Fusions.

More than I wanted to spend? Yes. A nicer club than I deserve? Yes. But let me tell you, all questions and doubts floated away as I swung those irons.

If a golf club could feel like butter, then this is it. Pure butter.

Go Local

If you've been a faithful reader, then you may recall a post I made last August about Organic vs. Local. Anyway, I stumbled across a nifty website called localharvest.org. Type in your zip code and, according to the website, "find farmers' markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area, where you can buy produce, grass-fed meats, and many other goodies."

Yaaaaaay produce!

I Heart SOX

There's nothing I'd rather do on a beautiful spring Friday afternoon than sit at my computer and trudge through fileshares, SAP Transports, and countless emails all in the name of Sarbanes-Oxley. Oh Sarbanes-Oxley, how I love thee.

If I ever make it to Congress, I'm going to change the acronym to SUX.

Minnesota = Golf

I played golf tonight with fellow blogger Bradley. About halfway through the round I came to the realization that the game of golf is a lot like Minnesota, particularly Minnesota's weather.

Golf can be a very frustrating sport. You can play for 4 hours straight and hit 4 hours worth of bad shots. But then you have that one shot that just simply feels right. I mean, it was perfect. All of a sudden you forget about your prior frustrations. You think to yourself that maybe golf isn't so bad. Not only do you enjoy it, but you feel like you're pretty good at it too. You can see yourself playing golf for a very long time.

Minnesota can be a very frustrating state to live in. You can have 5 months worth of winter and be ready for spring 4.5 of those months. But then the ground thaws, the geese return, and the weather is just simply perfect. Suddenly, you find yourself loving Minnesota. Why wouldn't anyone want to live here? The winter wasn't so bad after all, was it? You can see yourself living here for a very long time.

cheddarvision.tv

Have too much time on your hands? Looking for a new hobby? Wish you could experience Britain? Then join the nearly one million viewers of cheddarvision.tv. Yes, cheddarvision. Yes, it is just a webcam showing a block of cheese aging. Yes, people do in fact spend time watching it. Why, I do not know.

What Happened to all the Weddings?

For a period in my life it seemed every summer weekend was filled with wedding activity. Here a friend, there a friend, everywhere a friend of a friend was getting married. It was like going to dozens of mini reunions. Everyone was happy and all had a bright and promising future.

I don't know what's happened since then, but that pace has dropped dramatically. Perhaps I'm getting older. Perhaps the early bloomers in my group have all said their vows. But lately my reunions have come from less fortunate circumstances.

One of my good friend's mother passed away this past week. Today was the funeral. It was a sad occasion, yet good to see my lifelong friends. It still amazes me to this day that I could go a year without speaking with one of them and pick up as if we had a beer together the day before. My friend's mom suffered from Alzheimer's disease, just as her mother did.

I'm not really a poetry person, but I was moved by the poem included in the funeral bulletin today, and wanted to share...

Heart Memories
by Louise M Eder

I remember you with my heart
My mind won't say your name
I can't recall where I knew you
Who you were
Or who I was.

Maybe I grew up with you
Or maybe we worked together
Or did we bowl together yesterday?
There's something wrong with my memory
But I do know you
I know I knew you
And I do love you
I know how you make me feel
I remember the feelings we had together.
My heart remembers
It cries out in loneliness for you
For the feelings you give me now.

Today I'm happy that you have come.
When you leave
My mind will not remember that you were here
But my heart remembers
The feeling of friendship
And love returned.
Remembers
That I am less lonely
And happier today
Because of the feeling
Because you have come.

Please, please don't forget me
And please don't stay away
Because of the way my mind acts.
I can still feel you
I can remember with my heart
And a heart memory is maybe
The most important memory of all.

Mobile Clubbing

I just recently read about a mobile clubbing event at Victoria Train / Tube Station in London. The event was orchestrated through word of mouth and the web. The idea is pretty straightforward:

1. Go to a specified location and bring a personal music device
   
2. Don't do anything out of the ordinary, yet.
3. At the specified time, cue up your music, get your groove on, dance as if you were at a club

Photo of the event snagged from Micheeky's Flickr photo set.

Awesome.

Blu Dot

A few weeks back Addie and I had the opportunity to visit Blu Dot's headquarters up in northeast Minneapolis. One of Addie's friends got a job there recently and invited us over for lunch and a tour of the facilities.

I first learned about Blu Dot when I stumbled across this shelving unit back in Decatur while I was shopping for furniture. Too bad it costs more than some small automobiles (i.e. Nowakowski's bug).

Office space, photography studio, warehouse, and prototyping workshop were all crammed into the same building. It was cool to see the space of such a small yet influential modern furniture company. Bummer that I didn't get to bring home any samples.

Easter Weekend = Lots of Fun

• Friday night - Pieta Brown at The Cedar, followed by a stop into Palmers
• Saturday morning - 5th bed delivery attempt. It was finally delivered correctly (almost)
• Saturday day - worked outside in the cold, finished our backyard fence (almost)
• Saturday night - Neko Case at First Avenue
• Sunday morning - service at a Danish Lutheran Church over by Minnehaha Academy
• Sunday noon - Easter lunch and egg decorating
• Sunday afternoon - Sunny but chilly jog
• Sunday night - "Heavy drinking" with Anders' family

iTunes + Local Concert Listings = iConcertCal

I recently found out about iConcertCal, a super cool plug-in for iTunes. According to their website, "iConcertCal is a free iTunes plug-in that monitors your music library and generates a personalized calendar of upcoming concerts in your city."

I haven't installed it yet, but definitely plan to. I will try to remember to give a recap about how accurate/useful it is after a few weeks of use.

I got 99 problems

The timing of this is definitely not ideal, but it's the funniest thing I've seen in a while and provided me a much needed laugh, and therefore wanted to share. For those of you that aren't familiar with Jay-Z (mom, dad, others), I apologize.

I found this when I stumbled across Au$10's blog (one of Decatur's finest CD salesmen and Paste contributor).

goconsolidation

I've come to the conclusion that I need to consolidate my web presence. Ol' Bradley has pointed out that having a unique name has proved helpful when searching for people that quote, reference, or use your work. Taken from Luther College's canoe derby about 6 years ago, I'm proposing to use "gomattolson".

Speak now or forever hold your peace...

Yours,
gomattolson

Quick, Quick, Look Quick.

As you may know, not only does Wikipedia change often, but it changes fast. That's why you should check out the current Wikipedia entry on Minneapolis. An editor recently emailed me and mentioned that he would like to use a couple of my Flickr photos for the entry.

One is under the Geography section, and labeled Autumn, Lake of the Isles. The other is under the Sports section, labeled Twin Cities Marathon (a photo in which you can see Robbie's right arm trying to take a picture, and Amanda cheering on their friend Colbey.)

It's no gallery, but it's better than nothing, right?

More March Madness

This weekend has brought another meaning to the phrase "march madness". Perhaps it is springtime just around the corner. Perhaps it is just when Nowakowski visits.

Last night we went out for St. Patty's day and found ourselves hitch-hiking across the Mississippi River at 2 in the morning.

The night before we watched tutu clad girls on rollerskates race around a track pushing, punching, and elbowing each other.

March Madness

Here are my current standings of the three brackets I submitted to ESPN.com. All I can say is at least I'm not last:

On a Mission From God

I've witnessed quite a few baptisms throughout my many years of church going, but they've never had a direct impact on me. This past weekend changed that when my adorable little niece was baptized back in Ames. Not only that, but I am officially her godfather now (Kjersten, don't ever cross the family).

After she had been blessed and the pastor was drawing the sign of the cross on her forehead, Kjersten opened her eyes up wide and looked straight up at the ceiling -- now I'm not suggesting that any supernatural thing happened, but I did find it to be quite the coincidence. It made me smile nonetheless.

Pictures to arrive a la Flickr shortly...

Fight the Power

I think Public Enemy has been right all along. We need to fight the power. Ironically, the power in this case is essentially the same group of people that made Public Enemy who they are -- the producers and record labels of the music industry.

Congress just released a mandate increasing the royalties that internet radio stations must pay to record companies. Not only are the new royalty levels retroactive for 2006, but they also are set to increase year after year.

Numerous companies, including wonderful Pandora, Real Networks, NPR, and others have already started to fight the power. Pandora's CEO says that they would instantly be out of business if such a royalty hike were imposed. NPR is planning to fight. Many others are too.

I think increasing royalties would be incredibly short-sighted. I discover a lot of new music through Pandora (which I blogged about ages ago) that otherwise I would never know about. And then something amazing happens. I actually go out and buy the CD of the artist (or pay to download via iTunes). If Pandora didn't exist, millions of people would not be introduced to thousands and thousands of artists and albums, and millions of dollars would fail to exchange hands. And I'm only mentioning one of many, many internet radio stations.

Personally, I think the entire music industry needs to rethink the way they do business. They need to embrace the internet, get rid of DRM, and come up with a new marketing plan that works in today's world of iPods, music-playing cell phones, and a generation that shares music one way or another -- legally or illegally.

Who's with me? I know Flava Flav is.

When Mimes Go Sledding

This past weekend was not only my wonderful parent's 35th wedding anniversary, but it was also the Subway Bed Race for Bridging event. The concept, although a little nuts, is very straightforward: Assemble a team of four, dress up in random costumes, hop on a mattress, and race down a snow-tubing hill.

Due to the last-minute assembly of our team, we only had a day to plan. Somehow, we decided to go as a team of mimes. We were welcomed throughout the night with numerous side comments such as "Nobody likes a mime", and "Mimes don't talk". It was great.

In our first heat, we smoked the competition. We easily beat the next bed by 30 yards. My face nearly fell off from the extremely cold combination of wind and snow blowing in my face the entire way down the hill, but I didn't care. We mimes were going to kick some butt.

Our second run was a complete 180. We got stuck in the slowest lane out there -- so slow in fact that we got stuck twice on the slope. Our bed racing dreams were over.

I wish I had taken more photos, so I'm hoping someone else in Flickrland was at the race (I did find a YouTube video, which is decent if you skip to about 2:30 in). The winning costume award went to a team of giant silverware. The topper was that one of their members was Asian, and he dressed up as chopsticks. Everybody loved it.

Snow Snow Snow

Minnesota is finally living up to its name. The snow just simply will not stop.

How much is it snowing do you ask? Enough that around 12:30 today we were notified over the PA system that we were allowed to leave work at 1:00 if desired. I couldn't believe it.

Brought to you in HD

Interesting random "fact".

According to the Leichtman Research Group, about one-fourth of HDTV owners in America are unaware that they are NOT watching high definition programming. That is, they own an HDTV and think they are watching high definition TV shows, but in fact are not.

A typical example is the unaware consumer that buys an HDTV, brings it home, plugs it in, and just expects that everything will now be in high def. They see a little "broadcast in HD" symbol at the bottom of the screen while watching Monday Night football and are happy. Perhaps a little confused why the picture quality doesn't quite match what they saw at the store, but they are still happy.

So my advice to all you HDTV window-gazers out there: do your research. Will you need a set-top HD box? Upgrade your Direct TV to handle high def? Subscribe to digital cable? Will an antenna do? Will your Betamax player be compatible?

My Hero

A friend of a friend of mine was making 6 figures as an accountant. That was, until he quit his job and enrolled full-time in photography school. How awesome.

Rough Weekend

I can't wait for spring.

This weekend was rough. Lauren and I had plans to travel down to Ames to see Cirque du Soleil with my parents. That didn't happen thanks to the snow and ice storm that blanketed the midwest.

We decided to go to a movie, and my car started making an awful noise just a few blocks from the house. So we couldn't do that either.

We then tried to watch a movie at home, but 3/4ths of the way through the DVD skipped relentlessly, eventually forcing us to shut it off early.

We had to shovel snow. Twice. Sunday morning looked as if we hadn't touched a shovel Saturday night. I felt awful having Lauren help, but she was incredibly sweet and insisted. We should have made a snowman instead. I don't know what I was thinking.

I can't wait for spring.

El Bandito

Haven't posted for a while...

Apparently that's what happens when you try to cram work, studying for the GMAT, working out, and weekend trips into your schedule. I couldn't possibly imagine being a single mother that works, raises kids, and goes to school.

And speaking of school, did you know that an ever-growing amount of classes from some of our best schools are being offered completely free online?

Want to brush up on your Classical Physics? Need a refresher in The Old Testament? How about Producing Films for Social Change? Look no further than MIT, Tufts, Notre Dame, or naturally, iTunes.

Yeah, not quite

I heard this quote today at my weekly team meeting: "Software programming is a lot like surfing. No two waves are the same, and there are sharks out there that can get you."

Perhaps I'm missing something, but I haven't seen anything that remotely resembles beautiful sunny days, soft white sandy beaches, pina coladas, or (most definitely) girls in bikinis when it comes to computer programming.

Then again, ask me in 20 years if writing code is like surfing. Maybe by then I'll become equally delusional in order to stay sane.

Quote of the Day

Communism wasn't abolished. It's now just called 'mass media'

- Mohan Sawhney

Ecto Wha?

Whatever happened to Ecto Cooler? Was it not the best Hi-C flavor of all time? I think they should bring it back -- and apparently so do about a hundred others that have signed a petition saying so.

Genius, or Plain Nuts?

Has anyone out there read Lateral Thinking, Creativity Step by Step by Edward de Bono? I've just started it, and I'm trying to figure out if good ol' Edward is a genius, or just simply crazy. I'll expand more when I fully grasp the idea of lateral thinking.

Georgia, How I Miss Thee

A Georgia man "admitted that he put potentially life-threatening foreign substances into soup, which he fed to his two young children and then placed a call to Campbell Soup Co. falsely claiming that the soup had been contaminated".

Genius.

Georgia, you did it again.

Boo

What to see something scary?

Go to PublicRecordsNow.com and type in your name and birthdate. I understand that certain records are public domain, but do they need to open them up for the entire world to see with just a few clicks?

Wal-Mart is (and others are) Shady

I recently read an article in the Wall Street Journal that described how Wal-Mart Cuts Taxes by Paying Rent to Itself (I had to link to an anti-Wal-Mart site because the WSJ Online is subscription-only).

Granted, Wal-Mart isn't the only company using this tactic, but they're an easy target and that's why I'm assuming the WSJ published the article about them in particular. Regardless, I find it pathetic that businesses will knowingly partake in such shady undertakings.

Perhaps even shadier is Enrst & Young -- Wal-Mart's external auditor -- which originally proposed and sold the the strategy to Wal-Mart in the first place.

I could bore you with a few paragraphs summing up the strategy, but it's a lot easier and simpler sharing this graphic, taken from the WSJ:

Super Bowl, Super Atheletes, Super Crazy

I went to the gym today and decided I should do a little cross training -- do a quick run and then bike for a while to (hopefully) better prepare myself for my spinning class on Tuesday.

My run was going pretty well, so I decided to go a bit further than I had originally planned. I walked off the treadmill after logging 2.5 miles, and headed up to the stationary bikes. And let me tell you -- it was rough getting on a bike after running.

I was pretty much instantly tired, and I couldn't help but think about all the athletes around the world that do Ironman triathlons. I can't imagine the amount of dedication, training, and commitment it must take to reach such an amazing endurance level. Or they're just simply crazy.

Speaking of triathletes, and in case you don't look at any of my linked blogs, I wanted to make sure you at least read this entry from my brother's good friend Joost. I can't even imagine.

Oh yeah, and congrats to the Colts. Although I was rooting for the Bears, I think the Colts definitely deserved the win.

Pink Wins!

I'm officially an uncle. My sister's an aunt. My brother's a dad. My mom's a grandma. My dad's a grandpa. Talk about strange. The newest member of the family, Kjersten, is an adorable little 8lb 6oz girl. I can't imagine what she's experiencing and thinking right now.

Congrats Big Daddy!

Digitize your Memories

Have a big box overflowing with photos, waiting for some magic elf to come along and sort through the mess and stuff them meaningfully into a photo album?

Wait no more. Check out ShoeboxReprints.com. For $49.95 they will scan in 1,000 photos and burn them onto a CD, at 300 pixels per inch -- not stellar quality, but good enough for the average point-and-shooter.

Sure, they don't (or can't) name them for you, nor will it create an instant easy-to-use photo album. But it's definitely a step in the right direction.

I'm a Wuss

I went to my gym's spinning class tonight (read: riding a stationary bike while an instructor tells you to speed up, stand up, sit down, visualize hills, wind, etc.). There was a woman in there who was 31 weeks pregnant, and she was rockin' it. Talk about making me feel like a slacker.

Skiing and Sundance

Just got back from a week of skiing in Park City, Utah. So to my faithful blog readers, no, I'm not dead. I did, however, bang up my leg and even went as far as taking a picture of my battle wounds, but deleted it once I realized how unattractive a red, blue, and yellow leg can be. So don't worry, only fun/cool/scenic photos will be coming soon to Flickr.

We stayed and skied at The Canyons, and also skied Park City, Brighton, and Snowbird. Snowbird was a little rough, but the rest were excellent, with Brighton being my favorite. I already can't wait to go back.

For you film buffs out there, you may be aware that the Sundance Film Festival was also taking place out in Park City. We had the opportunity and pleasure to see Eagle vs. Shark -- a very Napoleon Dynamite-esque film that had you feeling sorry for and laughing at the main characters throughout the movie. I think it will hit the big screen. Remember you heard it here first.

Doe, a Deer

Just got back from cross country skiing at Theodore Worth Parkway with Robbie(bus). It was a perfect Minnesota day for winter sports -- cold, but sunny -- and it was a good first outing for the season.

At one point we stopped in front of a small bridge that crossed a stream and waited for a better skier to pass. The skier stopped as well, and at first we wondered why. Then a few seconds later about 10 deer slowly approached from the other side, looking at us with as much curiosity as we held for them.

After cautiously crossing the bridge they took off in the snow, performing the most elegant and beautiful bounding leaps I've ever seen, as if they were bouncing from cloud to cloud. Needless to say it was pretty cool*, and it made me feel like a clumsy idiot with two fiberglass sticks strapped to my feet.


*My 11th grade creative writing teacher would be appalled at such a terrible use of a non-vivid verb and adjective.

Multi Touch

So maybe the iPhone isn't as far ahead of the curve as I thought:

Shortie McShort?

Quick Poll:

How many people out there think I should:
a) get a regular haircut
b) get a buzz cut
c) grow out my hair
d) shave my head

?

MPG

The other day I brought my 1997 VW Jetta into the shop to get fixed.

When I walked in the main door of the VW dealership I walked past a few new cars -- a Passat, a Rabbit, and a Jetta. It seemed like the average City MPG rating was around 20-22, and a Highway rating of around 28-32 MPG.

My 10 year old Jetta averages 28 MPG. Anyone else find it painful that in the past ten years automobile engines for the most part have not become any more fuel efficient? You can go buy a car that tells you where to turn, heats your butt, plays movies, and helps you parallel park...but you can't buy one that takes you 60 miles on a gallon of gas?

But now for the real question: Who's to blame? If we consumers didn't purchase these inefficient machines, would automobile companies continue to make them? I think not.

I promise to not keep posting about Apple, but...

...I just used the new Apple iPod Shuffle at the gym today for the first time, and wow, what a perfect device. I clamped it to my shorts and it was so light I couldn't even tell I was wearing it. Thanks Mom and Dad!

If working out wasn't enough, I went and played hockey with Robbie and friends today. It was a lot of fun, even though the ice was pretty terrible. Hopefully the weather will continue to stay cold and we'll have some better ice next week. My biggest issue with hockey is stopping. Anyone out there willing to teach me how to hockey-stop?

Integration

I can see it now…you’re walking to your car, listening to music on your iPhone*. You receive a call, and you switch over to phone mode to answer.

You get into your Bluetooth-enabled car, and your iPhone* recognizes this. You switch your call to come through the car speakers for a hands-free phone conversation.

You drive down the road and finish your chat. You press play on your steering wheel and your car stereo starts playing the iTunes song you were listening to before you were interrupted by the call --right where you left off – wirelessly streamed from your iPhone* via Bluetooth.

Your kids will wonder in amazement what life was like without this technology.


*Assuming iPhone will still be called iPhone, after Cisco is finished suing Apple.

The Least Unique Post of January 9th

Going with the masses today, I wanted to post about Apple Inc. (no longer Apple Computer Inc., mind you). If you haven't heard about the amazing iPhone yet, then you may be living under a rock. But if you're reading this, then you have an internet connection and a computer underneath that rock, which makes no sense at all. I digress...have I mentioned how amazing the iPhone is, and how it will be released shortly after my birthday? Huh, what a coincidence.

A while back Brad mentioned BlogPulse, an interesting site where you can track how popular a topic is by measuring activity within the blogosphere. I was curious to look at Apple vs. Microsoft.

And according to the chart below, I am an incredibly unoriginal blogger (or is it a direct reflection of the unoriginality of Microsoft?). Even puppies, which everybody loves, are less talked about than Apple:

Colorado Avalanche

Anybody hear about the avalanche 50 miles west of Denver that hit U.S. Highway 40, taking out cars as it roared down the mountainside? Jordan Cook, a high school classmate of mine, was driving one of the vans that was swept off the road:

“It felt like forever,” Cook said of the rolling. “I was just waiting to see what was going to happen to us next, wondering when it was all going to end.”

Amazingly, he climbed out of the van with just a few scratches. Talk about freaky. What are the chances?

And speaking of avalanches and getting swept away, what happened to The Ohio State last night? I think they just lost the right to their precious "The".

Room & Board

I decided to check out Room & Board's outlet sale this past weekend. They open at 10am on Saturday; when I showed up at 10:14 the parking lot was so full I had to park a quarter of a mile away. People in Minneapolis are serious about their furniture.

On more than one occasion I overheard a well-dressed, attractive young couple next to me mention, "this would look great in our lake house", or, "this would be perfect for the cabin". If you're unaware, Room & Board is nice stuff. As in, I would feel spoiled having it in my primary residence, let alone my second home. Apparently Minnesotans are also serious about their lake homes.

Tis the Season...

Tis the season to be back-logged with to-do lists. Heck, even one of my to-dos is to take the time to write down a to-do list.

Christmas was great this year, although a little quiet and sort of empty feeling since my brother and sister couldn't make it. I'll upload some pictures shortly from the festivities when I get the chance (another item on my to-do list).

And speaking of Christmas, I was contemplating what I wanted to write about it the other day. Turns out that the first thing that came to my mind was the word "tradition". I hope Jesus doesn't take offense -- but it's hard to not instantly think of family, my grandma's house, lutefisk, stockings full of presents that would make a dentist proud, laughing, and of course, Cool Whip.

Then I laughed to myself at the irony of thinking of and humming the melody to Tradition -- a great song from the musical Fiddler on the Roof. For those of you out there that are unfamiliar with Fiddler on the Roof, it is a Broadway musical about a Jewish family and its hardships living in Russia.

Let's bring back some learnings from elementary school:
If A = B and B = C, then A = C.
So it sounds like Christmas makes me think of Jewish fiddlers.
Go figure.

Cotton Balls are Falling!

There was a lot of commotion at a window near my cube (yes, I love the fact that I'm surrounded by 3.5 neutral-colored temporary "walls"), and so I decided to get up and look for myself.

It literally looks like someone far up in the sky is shaking an enormous bag of cotton balls. I've never seen such big round flakes in all my life!

What Would You Do...

...if someone told you, "seeing you is like a raisin in my hot dog"?

Would you:

---

a) Smile and say "Thanks! I couldn't agree more!"
b) Cry
c) Become angry
d) Check the person into the looney bin because he/she's crazy.

Mr. Peepers

Remember this post from way back in October when Robbie, Amanda, and I took a trip to the local apple orchard? I dug into my archives and pulled out the "lost" video of Robbie giving me his best Mr. Peepers impersonation:

My Secret Artist Life

My second oil painting, based on a photo taken at Forsyth Park in Savannah, GA. It's no masterpiece, but I'm happy enough with the end result. I've decided I enjoy painting enough to keep it up. Now if I can only find the time.

Musical Weekend

Lots of music this past weekend.

• Imogen Heap at First Avenue (Sweet!)
• Robin and Linda Williams at Fitzgerald Theater (Where were you mom and dad?)
• Received a book of "easy" piano songs (excellent Christmas present)
• Poor Lauren's chorus of coughs, sneezes, hacks, and ahh-ahh-chews! (Dr. Seus would have been jealous)
  

Munch

Like Brad, I saw Google's doodle for the day and loved it:


It also reminded me of my family's trip to Norway a couple years ago. My mom and brother were visiting the Munch museum in Oslo when they were approached by a local journalist and asked if they would mind being interviewed. Apparently the journalist was curious to find out why Americans were visiting Norway, and what they thought of the country.

A day (or two?) later my parents were at the airport to fly home. They walked by a stack of newspapers and were surprised to see a picture of my mother and brother on the front page, staring back at them. There was a quote in the story by my brother; when asked what he liked least about Norway, he responded, "The price of beer".

You know you're a guy when...

...you consider wrapping a Christmast present with duct tape. It would match silver wrapping paper, right?

Fortunately, I found a few rolls of packing tape. I'm fairly confident my packages this year won't come undone by themselves.

Skype in the House

My sister lives in Norway. I don't. With Skype, we talk through the internet for free without lag and in crystal-clear voice quality. Skype is pretty well known, but thought I should share it in case someone out there wasn't aware, has a high-speed internet connection, and has a friend/loved one in a different country. Ch-check it out.

Fix Your VW

My 1997 Volkswagen Jetta's rear windows don't like to stay up. My left one fell down by itself 3 years ago when I first lived in Minneapolis. Although I didn't (and still don't) know a thing about cars, I was determined to fix this problem by myself. I had graduated from college and was finally self-sufficient. Shouldn't I therefore be able to fix a little problem like a broken automatic window?

I scoured the internet and found some hints of how to get started. Slowly but surely, I kept making progress, and finally figured out the problem. I called up the dealership, picked up a replacement part, and fixed the window. It was honestly one of my more rewarding experiences -- no one really thought I'd be able to fix it, including myself. I just figured it was worth a shot. Who knew? (Joost -- you would have been so proud!)

Recently, the same thing happened to my right rear window. This time, armed with my trusty camera, I documented the fix. You can view the set here. It's like a self-paced auto-mechanic class in high school that you never took but wished you had.

Cuckoo

A successful story, marketers say, is one that speaks to a fundamental truth about the human condition. It's no longer enough for Sonny the bird to tell us that he's cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs; we need to understand the inner demons that drive the poor bird close to insanity.

William Weir
Edmonton Journal
10/02/2006

Riiiiiight.

Posture King

I flew down to Atlanta this past weekend to visit Lauren and go to her company's holiday party. She's not joking when she says they could film her workplace for NBC's The Office. I won't get into it -- it could be an entire blog in itself. (hint, hint)

Anyway, Lauren sent me a photo taken of us at the holiday dinner, and I couldn't help but notice my terrible posture. That motivated me to sit as upright as possible for the rest of the workday. I was going to make all the yogis out there proud.

I lasted 9 minutes, and then started to complain. It was pathetic. Can my back and ab muscles be that weak? I'm going to attempt to sit perfectly upright (without using the back rest) for the remainder of the week. I wonder if I can even make it one day. Any bets? Anyone willing to compete?

Rebate This, Sucka

You may recall that I purchased a new phone recently. One of the main reasons I picked the w810i was because after rebates it was free.

I've seen some convoluted rebate schemes before, but Cingular/Sony Ericsson took things to a whole new level.

Rebate 1:
Clip this, fill out that, send it in. Not too bad. I can handle it.

Rebate 2:
Copy of this, a copy of that, and a copy of my 4th wireless bill. All of which can not be sent in earlier than 120 days from phone activation, but no later than 180 days.

Rebate 3:
Same as Rebate 2, but this one needs a wireless bill dated 150 days or more after activation, but no later than 210 days.

Are you kidding me? I need to go out and buy a calendar to figure out when to send in my rebates? Good thing I'm cheap, because you better believe I'm going to put some reminders on my work calendar. This sort of task would be perfect for a personal assistant/intern. Any takers?

Thanksgiving Tradition

Every year we eat at my Grandma's house for Thanksgiving. Every year there are leftovers. Every year the leftovers are brought home in Cool Whip containers. My grandma has a never-ending supply of empty Cool Whip containers. I have no idea where they come from. A 90yr old woman can not possibly eat this much Cool Whip.

We have empty Cool Whip containers that are completely faded due to multiple washings. When I left Georgia I was going to pack up an empty Cool Whip container. It had gone with me from Thor to Ames to Minneapolis to Atlanta.

I recently used a Cool Whip container to hold leftover homemade chili. It had a piece of masking tape on the lid that read "Chili '04". Apparently my mom had used the same container 2 years earlier for the same purpose.

I think Kraft should make a commercial about how Cool Whip brings families together. I think Cool Whip rocks.

Rappers are Role Models

Over Thanksgiving my nephew was asked me if I had an iPod, and then proceeded to ask if I happened to have any 50 Cent, Chris Brown, Chamillionaire, and others on it. I was shocked -- I consider myself fairly in-the-know when it comes to music, and I've hardly heard of Chamillionaire. How did an eight year old know about him then?

I guess it's the phenomenon known as the internet. Oh yeah, and MTV. It's too bad that MTV has become the Us Weekly of television. I still remember the first time I saw Thriller on MTV. Man, was I in awe (and a little scared too). Whatever happened to those days?

The Wish Tree Project

I feel like I'm fairly mature for my age, but around Christmas time I can't help but remember how extremely exciting this time of the year was for me when I was younger.

My workplace is a member of The Wish Tree Project -- a program that helps less-fortunate kids get Christmas presents -- and has already setup a few "wish" trees around the building. I'm not sure if I was supposed to, but I poked around one of the trees until I found a card for a boy that asked for something I would have enjoyed as a kid as well. Not only does it make the task of shopping much easier, but it's actually makes the whole process exciting.


The card I drew was for Devontae, and he would like some Transformers. I don't blame him -- I used to think Optimus Prime was such a cool dude. However, nothing was cooler than Blaster. My cousin had Blaster, and man was I jealous. Maybe one day I will be so lucky. But until then, I'll hopefully pass on some of that excitement to Devontae.

Programmers Love Flickr Too

You can spell anything from Flickr.

Can you say Product Placement?

NBC's The Office is my favorite show on TV. Tonight's episode was excellent, but it also contained possibly the most blatant product placement of all time.

One scene had Kevin Malone (played by Brian Baumgartner) shredding office documents with this shredder shown at the left. He talked about how great it was, and proceeded to shred papers, a CD, and one of his own credit cards.

Then they cut to a commercial. And surprise, surprise, it was a Staples commercial for the exact same shredder. Wow. Go marketing. What's even more, when I went to Staples.com to get a picture of the shredder, I came upon this page titled "Staples MailMate shredder and The Office". I bet they sell a million of these.

I like music too, but not that much

Cities 97, a Minneapolis radio station, releases a Sampler CD each year of unique, typically acoustic sets from their in-house Studio C. I was introduced to Cities 97 and their sampler CDs from a friend years ago when I worked out in Estes Park, CO, and have been listening to them ever since.

The CDs come in limited supply, and are only sold at area Targets. This year marks the 18th Sampler, and with it, 18 years of increased insanity. One guy camped out in front of Target for two days in anticipation. It's November. It's Minnesota. It's a CD. You can copy them.

The CDs have also apparently turned into some sort of tradeable futures commodity. Last night, before the CDs were even released, people were selling them on eBay -- informing potential buyers not to worry, and guaranteeing that their "suppliers" would follow through.

I was planning on standing outside of my local Target around 7 this morning, but slept in too late. Now I'm counting on Robbie's attempted purchase. I'll even chip in 10 cents for the blank CD.

Happy Late Birthday to My Blog

I just realized that it has been over a year (and 187 posts later) since I started writing this blog. Wow, does time fly. If you've been with me the whole time, then you will remember my first post, in all of its glory.

A big thanks to all of my faithful readers and random visitors. I appreciate the comments. Perhaps now I should update the look and feel...any suggestions?

I like orange, but not that much

I went to the gym tonight, and I saw a guy next to me that was fake-baked to the maximum. But not only was he fake-baked, he was orange.

To top it off, he was wearing a very bold orange shirt. So it got me thinking how orange his skin really was. You know how a color will look much paler when placed next to its bolder counterpart? And he was still orange. Carrot orange.

Fun Weekend

Addie's birthday and Lauren's visit made for a fun weekend. The highlight was seeing Hot Chip and Jamie Lidell at 1st Avenue. Personally, I thought Hot Chip stole the show. You can't go wrong with 5 keyboards/synthesizers and a lot of British energy.

But don't get me wrong, Jamie Lidell was fun too. He would beat-box, record it, loop it, and sing on top of it, all with a lot of soul. He has been described as, "a 21st century reincarnation of Little Richard".

Love and Marriage

I just read an interesting article from The New York Times regarding the current state of marriage in America. It's worth a read, but if you can't spare the 5 minutes, here is a brief recap of quotes:

In the past 20 years, there has been "a marked decline in the number of people with whom they discussed meaningful matters. People reported fewer close relationships with co-workers, extended family members, neighbors, and friends."

"As Americans lose the wider face-to-face ties that build social trust, they become more dependent on romantic relationships for intimacy and deep communication, and more vulnerable to isolation if a relationship breaks down. In some cases we even cause the breakdown by loading the relationship with too many expectations."

"...we should raise our expectations for, and commitment to, other relationships...we can strengthen our marriages the most by not expecting them to be our sole refuge from the pressures of the modern work force."

From Hot to Cold

Last night I went for a run outside wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Tonight it is supposed to snow. That sucks.

Do you know what really grinds my gears?

...Stores that start playing Christmas music the day after Halloween. What ever happened to waiting till Thanksgiving?

What grinds your gears?

Weisman and Walkman

Went to the Weisman with Brad and his friend and fellow blogger Laura to check out the Red Bull Art of the Can exhibit. There were Red Bull shoes, a tree, and a replica of the Winged Victory of Samothrace, amongst others. I also took my first picture with my new phone. I have to admit that I'm pleasantly surprised.

Happy Halloween!

Is that a Monet?

That's probably what you're asking yourself as you stare in amazement at this priceless work of art. However, you couldn't be further from the truth. It is the first installment in many to come from the artistic hand of none other than moi (that's the artistic Frenchman coming out of me).

I'll start the bidding at $5,000.