Beer me

It's Sunday, a time for football and leisure personified by this guy and his german shepherd.

Freedom

Through the power of engineering genius and the resources of the internet, I have devised a simple two step plan for going off the grid that's so brilliant it's impossible to not follow through on. The majority of it can be accomplished from the comfort of your home.

Step One - secure a location
Step Two - get some energy

It could be sweet. C'mon people, who's with me?

Magnetic Portals

Today I thought I would share what I learned about Flux Transfer Events (or FTEs). Why? Because it's a crazy thing that exists...and I've been watching a lot of sci fi.

An FTE is an opening between the Sun's and the Earth's magnetic fields that allows particles to travel directly between the two. Particles are usually carried from Sun to Earth on the solar wind, which was thought to be relatively consistent, like a springtime breeze. These particles would either end up bouncing off the Earth's magnetic field or find their way into the atmosphere along a magnetic field line. But, scientists now can prove that there are actual portals that open (about every 8 minutes) when the magnetic fields of the Earth and Sun intersect, that allow huge amounts of particles to zip from Sun to Earth in ways that one scientist described, as only a scientist could, as "bursty." Why are these important? That question is addressed by my favorite line in the livescience.com article that inspired this post. These FTEs "form important conduits of energy for the Earth's magnetosphere."

Next week, WTF is an magnetosphere?

Do it yourself

Every professional performer always does the same thing at exactly the same moment in every show they do. What I like are things that are different every time. That's why I like amateurs.

-- Andy Warhol

Chinese Democrazy

Chuck Klosterman reviews the New Guns 'N Roses album for the Onion's AV club. Pretty interesting musings on Axl, making music and narcissism.

Sometimes it seems like Axl believes every single Guns N' Roses song needs to employ every single thing that Guns N' Roses has the capacity to do—there needs to be a soft part, a hard part, a falsetto stretch, some piano plinking, some R&B bullshit, a little Judas Priest, subhuman sound effects, a few Robert Plant yowls, dolphin squeaks, wind, overt sentimentality, and a caustic modernization of the blues.

Has anyone heard it yet? Impressions?

Tasso - Graffiti Artist

Some call him the most photographed graf artist in the world. He grew up in Berlin and his site is full of his photorealistic work.

My Spanish Buddy's Drawings/Blog. Wow.

This is a drawing from my buddy Ivan, the Spanish D+D king. He's a genius. Who knew? Check out his blog for more: http://ivangilsketchbook.blogspot.com/

Nothing More Needs To Be Said... Just Watch

Weekend highlights

Friday night was spent at Hollywood Park race track. It was an awesome evening of $1 beer, $1 dogs and this guy. He was my lucky charm, every time I placed my bets with him, I won - to the tune of $75. Not a bad evening at all.

Then ran into this lookout on my hike. He was a little menacing up there. I was convinced that he was totally ready to make that leap if someone looked at him the wrong way.

And now the strangest of them all. This couple hired chefs and set up a table on the trail in Griffith Park. Mind you this was not a particularly scenic part of the park and there were smelly horses and people walking by every second. I think there was a little misfire on the execution, but I gotta give the guy credit for inspiration.

David Lynch: Renaissance Man, Weather Man

Spurned by an article in the NYT Magazine, I checked out David Lynch's website. I give it 10 points for range of topics. He does a daily weather forecast (though I'm not sure you can really call it that... more like a present-cast) and had links to his foundation, The David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace. David believes that, "Every single person has within an ocean of pure vibrant consciousness. Every single human being can experience that — infinite intelligence, infinite creativity, infinite happiness, infinite energy, infinite dynamic peace."
I like his optimism.

The Future Of The US (Biking)

Maze and I had a friend that biked home from Burning Man, back to Wisconsin. He had some kind of Live Journal thing, and I read a few entries about the trials (some) and tribulations (mostly) of biking across the US.

No more of this, according to The U.S. Bicycle Route System (USBRS). Its project, coordinated with the government and the Adventure Cycling Association, is to create routes all over the states. The picture above is the future of this project.

Currently providing inspiration...

School of Seven Bells - Connjur

This is my new favorite song of the last couple weeks. There's lushness in the arrangement and the electronic sounds build and build but maintain a subdued feel. They are playing a concert here at the Music Box with M83 on Saturday after Thanksgiving. See you there?

Word of the day

The "Goldilocks Zone" is the term astronomers use for a narrow band of space in the universe where the conditions exist for an Earth-like planet and therefore, Life. In other words, where conditions are "just right." More on how and why scientists are starting to postulate that may no longer be the case over at i09.

MN readers chime in!

My MN readers (aka Holmie) have been watching out for me. As the senate race continues to devolve between Al Franken and Norm Coleman in MN, they have reached the crazy stage. Holmie's account follows;

You asked and you shall receive from your Minnesota readers! Here's an update on the race for Senate between Norm Coleman and Al Franken.

The recount is underway and has entered the stage where both campaigns have loads of volunteers pouring over all uncounted ballots in the race and are posing challenges to certain, shall we say, dubious ballots. Minnesota public radio got their hands on some of the disputed ballots thus far and if ever you thought filling in a circle with a pen was easy, ala grade school standardized exams, check out the MPR Senate race challenged ballots quiz, where you can see things are not as easy as they seem and you can be the judge.

Two things that struck me…
1. On ballot #8 Coleman’s campaign claims that a small dot next to Dean Barkley’s name negates the completely filled in bubble next to Al Franken’s. However, when the tables are turned on Ballot # 10 Coleman’s camp says a small dot in Coleman’s favor should be counted over the filled in circle of Dean Barkley. Ah the power of blind ambition!
2. Lizard People - Thanks for confirming my beliefs about our conceal and carry firearms laws voter of ballot #5.

The quiz is a must and really makes you wonder. I wondered why people can't figure out a simple voting ballot, but then started thinking about diversity, perspective and brain function. People think and act so differently that to them, a thumb print might actually signify a vote. I also wondered if Lizard people might really exist. If so they were definitely out in force in Florida '04.

Thanks Holmie!

The Simple Life

   Hanging out at home and cleaning up my room, I dug up many little nuggets from the past. One was my checkbook from college. It was my first one, and issued checks from my first bank account. I very clearly remember my folks coming with me to set it up at good old First Federal on State Street, then going over what exactly it was and ho to write a check etc. 

   The check receipts are very telling. The one in the photo was for my rent: Two hundred and ten big ones. It was cheap rent even for it's day, because the room was one bed big and was in the shittiest house I lived in... yet an incredibly fun one. It featured a mirror of the cast from the Young Ones: a hippy (Danny... a social worker who just moved back to madison), an artist (Noah... still a sculptor), an anarchist (Max... also an artist in NY), and me. I guess I was the straight man in the routine, which should say something. 

   Other check receipts read: 

Noah Baumwall- $23.86. 

Geoff Goodman- $15.00. 

Marca Bradt- $18.01... memo: The Good Times (I don't remember what I was referring to, fyi)

   I find it hard to imagine myself currently settling up with friends for these smallish amounts, but the presence of these checks show that these were very legitimate amounts at the time. So, as the economy crumbles around us, maybe thought of these more simple times can be a spot of optimism. Times were not tough. They were, indeed, Good Times. 

   

This is the craziest shit I've ever seen...

I had no idea what the Jonestown Massacre was until last week. I often mentally merged it with the Johnstown Flood, and didn't realize that a phrase I hear all the time, 'drinking the kool-aid' came from this event, exactly 30 years ago. The mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana, the crazy svengali Jim Jones that started the cult and all the storied surrounding it constitute the craziest shit I've even seen.  There is too much to say. Just watch this video and get curious for more...

Madtown Tires

The geniuses at a little school named University of frikkin' Wisconsin-Madison! have come up with a great solution for destructible tires on those near indestructible military Hummers. Based on complaints from Iraq that IED's were disabling Hummers and putting troops in harm's way, Polymer scientists at my alma mater came up with this honeycomb pattern, modeled after a bee's nest, that is bullet-proof, bomb-proof, and with some spinners on it will be the tire of choice for urban gangsters everywhere. Read more here...

Minnesota- Crazier Than You Think

Mag-ˈna-nə-məs

I ask 46% of the country: would this have happened vice versa? I don't think so...

Buttons galore!

Click the button for more

A favorite childhood cartoon painted in time lapse

This is awesome. the artist is Robert Burden.

For Shame

I just made my first official purchase from iTunes. It was scarily sudden and simple. Why do I feel like such a dirty sell out? I feel worse about getting music I've paid for than I do downloading something for free off a blog. I hope it doesn't become a habit.

Since it would be cruel and unusual to leave you with something as pointless as that previous paragraph, try wrap your head around this completely unrelated but fascinating piece of literature.

Fifty Obama tidbits

I pulled these top 50 facts you didn't know about Obama directly from the UK's Telegraph paper. They are awesome, but my absolute favorite is that he took Michelle Obama to see "Do the Right Thing" on their first date.

- He collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics

• He was known as "O'Bomber" at high school for his skill at basketball

• His name means "one who is blessed" in Swahili

• His favourite meal is wife Michelle's shrimp linguini

• He won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his memoir, Dreams From My Father

• He is left-handed – the sixth post-war president to be left-handed

• He has read every Harry Potter book

• He owns a set of red boxing gloves autographed by Muhammad Ali

• He worked in a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop as a teenager and now can't stand ice cream

• His favourite snacks are chocolate-peanut protein bars

• He ate dog meat, snake meat, and roasted grasshopper while living in Indonesia

• He can speak Spanish

• While on the campaign trail he refused to watch CNN and had sports channels on instead

• His favourite drink is black forest berry iced tea

• He promised Michelle he would quit smoking before running for president – he didn't

• He kept a pet ape called Tata while in Indonesia

• He can bench press an impressive 200lbs

• He was known as Barry until university when he asked to be addressed by his full name

• His favourite book is Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

• He visited Wokingham, Berks, in 1996 for the stag party of his half-sister's fiancé, but left when a stripper arrived

• His desk in his Senate office once belonged to Robert Kennedy

• He and Michelle made $4.2 million (£2.7 million) last year, with much coming from sales of his books

• His favourite films are Casablanca and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

• He carries a tiny Madonna and child statue and a bracelet belonging to a soldier in Iraq for good luck

• He applied to appear in a black pin-up calendar while at Harvard but was rejected by the all-female committee.

• His favourite music includes Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Bach and The Fugees

• He took Michelle to see the Spike Lee film Do The Right Thing on their first date

• He enjoys playing Scrabble and poker

• He doesn't drink coffee and rarely drinks alcohol

• He would have liked to have been an architect if he were not a politician

• As a teenager he took drugs including marijuana and cocaine

• His daughters' ambitions are to go to Yale before becoming an actress (Malia, 10) and to sing and dance (Sasha, 7)

• He hates the youth trend for trousers which sag beneath the backside

• He repaid his student loan only four years ago after signing his book deal

• His house in Chicago has four fire places

• Daughter Malia's godmother is Jesse Jackson's daughter Santita

• He says his worst habit is constantly checking his BlackBerry

• He uses an Apple Mac laptop

• He drives a Ford Escape Hybrid, having ditched his gas-guzzling Chrysler 300

• He wears $1,500 (£952) Hart Schaffner Marx suits

• He owns four identical pairs of black size 11 shoes

• He has his hair cut once a week by his Chicago barber, Zariff, who charges $21 (£13)

• His favourite fictional television programmes are Mash and The Wire

• He was given the code name "Renegade" by his Secret Service handlers

• He was nicknamed "Bar" by his late grandmother

• He plans to install a basketball court in the White House grounds

• His favourite artist is Pablo Picasso

• His speciality as a cook is chilli

• He has said many of his friends in Indonesia were "street urchins"

• He keeps on his desk a carving of a wooden hand holding an egg, a Kenyan symbol of the fragility of life

• His late father was a senior economist for the Kenyan government

Drama in Minnesota

My normally run of the mill home state is going through some exciting times! Dem. Al Franken is in a bitterly close battle with Rep. incumbent Norm Coleman for a seat on the Senate. Here are some of the numbers that begin to tell the story.

• Votes cast in MN senate race - 2,833,089 (3.7m eligible - 78% turn out!)
• At time of poll closing - 342 for Coleman
• Last week - 234 for Coleman
• This week - 208 for Coleman

Do you see a pattern here? At this point, no one knows who is going to win and the official word may not come until December. What's more interesting is that, after votes are double checked, Franken may actually pull out the closest victory in state history. Check out the best site for all things related to elections and statistics for more, including this enlightening story posted today, at 538.

Gotta say I trust MN to handle this much more cleanly than Florida in '04. MN peeps, would love to hear about the word on the street in the 612.

No this is not Sci-Fi

This is an actual cave in Mexico, only recently discovered in 2000. It was a veritable crystal factory for tens of thousands of years, sitting under just the right conditions of mineral filled water, heat and time until the 1980s when a mining company accidentally drained the cave. If these crystals look huge, its because they are the biggest on Earth. Some of them weigh in at over 50 tons. Because the mining company drained the cave they have to be extremely careful about who goes in there. The lack of water, introduction of other natural gases and air temp can all effect the crystals, possibly causing them to collapse. So for now, marvel at the photos and check the story from National Geographic about the authors trip into the stifling cave.

Let's be honest though, THIS is a landslide:

Maze, you may know comes from the real maverick state.

How the west (and everything else) was won

This is a map of the how people voted in this election versus 2004. The more blue, the more that country trended Democratic. It's a beautiful, blue country.

I want one

Nintendo (NES) Nike Air Max Classics

For all the fans of Tom Waits, The Wire, M.I.A. and Blaqstarr

The new classroom posters

Countin' them lovely Pa. votes!

Watching returns back at the office

So Pittsburgh: Watching the acceptance speech at the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers)

California Love?

Reasons I'm happy to live in California

1. 82% voter turnout (LA County)
2. $84 million contributed to Barack Obama and his 55 electoral votes
3. Voting today
   
4. Prop 2

Reasons California has a long way to go

1. Gay-marriage ban leads in early returns
   
2. Schwarzenegger
3. Prop 4

I guess I should thank the LA Times too for all the references

We all did it

This, times 70 million or so, will enact the peaceful transition of power. Oh, and fuck Bush.

November 4th, 2008

   While I am super, super critical of how many errors there are in our voting system and how there is not set of 'best practices' after all the trial and error, in all the states, with so many different systems, it is amazing a the same time that it works at all. 

   I vote at Chatham College, which is a little all-girls school a few blocks from me. The air was warm. The leaves are at peak fall colors. The sun was out, and spirits are high. 

Door Hangers

The door hangers themselves. They are everywhere I look. 

Obama. 8am.

A group of canvassers are getting the game plan for today. It's all GOTV, so they are just doing fly-by's, putting door hangers on the door knobs of ALL the people the campaign had identified as supporters. They are customized with people's specific polling places. Imagine the crazy amount of  coordination. 

I voted!

Election, 2008

   First of all, that is some very good analysis by Maze. The transparency has truly been unprecedented. Personally, I think it allowed the army of  people to get involved without feeling like they were practicing a dark art of political deception. I know that I was proud to be doing what I was- that working for Obama was a noble and worthy task and I didn't for a second feel guilty for engaging people on their doorstep, on the street, on the phone. It's been a game changing, paradigm shifting time for me.  

   Not to get all ahead of myself, but if this election is a preview of Obama's concept of public service and how government doesn't have to larger or smaller, but just more organized and efficient, than I think there are some revolutionary and long overdue changes in the works for our country. That is, at least, what I am hoping for. So much of this Dem vs. GOP, large government vs. small misses the point, because it assumes that you have to be large and costly to get things done. 

   Firstly, technology, which is so a given with people our age, renders this argument archaic. Second of all, this is America, and I don't know why we can't have a lean, smart, well-governed country. The Republicans are the party of pessimism because their concept of government is rooted in this defeatist attitude. Just as a little case in point/pet peeve... how stoopid is it that we are still worried about voting machine errors, touch screen problems, registration issue etc. How much money have the states spent dealing with this, apparently to no end and with no established set of best practices? Uh. 

   That's it. I'll be tittering and sending photos from Battleground Pennsylvania tomorrow. 

Revolutionary campaign

I have a lot of thoughts on how the Obama camp ran this years presidential campaign. I think while a considerable fuss has already been made over the sophistication of it, as time passes and it moves into part of history, the full extent of the practices and their influence will continue to be revealed.

The fact that the campaign was run so efficiently is one thing, what I think is more important than that though, is how transparently it was run. Obama offices were open to reporters, strategies were discussed and this was not only with media. All this info was also shared with supporters through a constant stream of emails from every influential name affiliated with the democratic party. I personally have received a couple of mails a day from Joe Biden, Al Gore, David Plouffe and others.

The transparency has helped the campaign on multiple levels, it sparks conversations, it cuts down on speculation and it gives the media some meaty details to report on. Having had an inside look to the campaign from Kush, who these days goes by SuperVol #1835, its helped me see how closely matched up the campaign was with how it was portrayed.

So, everyone get out and elect this guy so we can get on with the analysis.