Interesting Things

NB: Generally, I put this list together somewhere between 5 and 7 am...however, I doubt that I am going to have power between 5 and 7 tomorrow, which means no internet connectivity on my iPad (yes, I have one of the WiFi only ones) so...I have some links that were interesting to me over the past couple of days but...just did not fit (as I normally do. I read a lot of news in the wee hours.). As I am typing this on the evening of the 29th, if I do not mention something awesome that happened, or you have found that I am dead due to the Frankenstorm, the zombie uprising, or some hata who couldn't 'spect my skills, it is not that I have come back from the grave to be a...wait for it...Zomblogger...yes, I went there...but rather that I was taking advantage of the time given me.

From the takes one to know one file: Superman is a Hack! The Daily Beast discusses conflicts of interest and journalistic ethics in a comic book...a flights and tights comic. Why, that Tina Brown does some great sh*t.

R.A. Dickey has been the NY Sports Story of the Year (Sorry, Tebow!) and Slate finally came around to recognizing his awesomeness.

From LifeHacker: The Five Questions You Should Ask In An Interview Three of these are actually on my list, but I am trying to figure out an easy way to ask someone, "Do Smart People Work Here?"

Old Person Notices That Raising Children Is Different Now. Note that you talking on your cell phone is going to hurt your child's ability to learn language. (The Atlantic)

Because I am fascinated by things like this. I want one. The Memoto Lifeblogging Camera. Via Uncrate.

Via Kempt, The Seven Times It Is Acceptable To Wear Sunglasses At Night. No. 1: So you can be blind.

And finally...
Sylvia Plath's Musings on Life (Flavorwire)

Spotify

I wanted to share a playlist with you:

Wunder Winder Wonder

And then there is the Spotify Poll to see what type of music listener you are.

There you go, music to make it through Sandy!

Interesting Things

Joss Whedon Endorses Mitt Romney.

Via Mashable (Oh, and Gawker reminds you that Romney once said that FEMA is immoral and should be eliminated.)

Speaking of Zombies: Gizmodo has a piece about the reality of zombies (They could be real.)

And also speaking of Zombies...Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (no relation to Jed) believes that working moms are the root of American ills.

Just think, if they stayed home, they could make awesome costumes like these...(Cracked)

Interesting Things

Yes, I will admit it, it IS this first thing that pops into my head. Yes, I am talking about The Sex Lives of Conjoined Twins in The Atlantic. Does that make me a bad person? When you hear about conjoined people, what is the first thing you think of?

I am always in the market for a new set of headphones (Not that I do not love my SkullCandy ones, but...I can always upgrade.), however, headphones can be really expensive. Mashable has a review of $60 headphones that are pretty awesome. These Cheap Headphones Will Knock Your Socks Off.

Middle School/Junior High is the forgotten middle child of education. (I know, because I did not train as a teacher, that I am not allowed to have opinions on how education works. I am just passing this on.) Slate has a piece about a school in Rhode Island that is handling Middle School differently with good results and why it has a tendency to be ignored. The Worst Years of Our Lives: How We Can Make Middle School Less Awful?

Presented Without Comment: Friendship, Dating, Attraction, & Heartbreak (The Hairpin)

Via Kempt: How to Tie a Bow Tie.

I mean, I know you have a smart phone and therefore have access to Untappd (if you do join Untappd, I am ewabbott...just sayin'), but I guess you could use this Moleskin Beer Journal. (Uncrate)

Finally...
Arcade Fire is working on a new album with a release date in sometime 2013. (Pitchfork, Pretty Much Amazing, Vulture)

Prepare for the "Frankenstorm"

YOU ARE ALL GOING TO DIE!

When the National Weather Service is calling it a Frankenstorm, you know that you are going to die. (Especially if you are a cute little girl with a flower.)

IT SHOULD SETTLE BACK TOWARD THE INTERIOR NORTHEAST THROUGH HALLOWEEN, INVITING PERHAPS A GHOULISH NICKNAME FOR THE CYCLONE ALONG THE LINES OF "FRANKENSTORM", AN ALLUSION TO MARY SHELLEY'S GOTHIC CREATURE OF SYNTHESIZED ELEMENTS.

From MSNBC: Sandy has hit Cuba, and it is only getting stronger!

From NY Mag: It is time to start freaking out about Snowicane Sandy!

That's right: It's worse than a storm known to history as the Perfect Storm. Because it's not just a storm, it's a snowicane. A Perfect Snowicane, Hurricarnage, or whatever portmanteau we collectively settle on eventually. And just when you didn't think it could get any crazier: It is likely to hit during a full moon ... Werewolves! Snowicanewolves, dropping from the clouds like hail! ... when tides are near their highest, increasing coastal flooding potential, NOAA forecasts warn. Oh, right ... still pretty bad, though.

From Gawker: East Coast Braces for First Storm Freakout of the Season: A Halloween Snowstorm Hurricane Apocalypse

Because it would be a combination snowstorm + hurricane, the proper name for this storm is "snowcane," but, as there is no time to learn new words in the midst of a crisis, you should refer to it as a "snowcone."

From All Over Albany: This is Sandy

In other words: right now, it's looking like there could be heavy rain Monday into Wednesday, with strong wind. And depending how temperatures go, that rain could turn into snow.

They are always so calm over at AOA, aren't they?

I am saying prepare for the worst. Total breakdown of society!

Interesting Things

Pizza!
With All Over Albany's Tournament of Pizza coming to an end for 2012, I present these two things. The final installment will be today (Go DeFazio's!).

A scientist has developed a bandage for the roof of your mouth after mouth burn. No. Really. Your NSF money at work. Seriously. (Serious Eats)

Yes, someone at my Alma Mater is comparing sanctions against a fraternity to the tyranny of a repressive government. (Concordiensis)

Cee Lo has a Christmas Album. On this album, you can listen to Cee Lo sing "All You Need is Love" with Muppets. I thought the ruining of Christmas would be someone purchasing "A Christmas Story 2: The Official Sequel" and asking us to watch that. No, it is going to be handled by Cee Lo and those at Henson. Thanks. I appreciate that more than you know. (Pretty Much Amazing)

There are two people I know that will appreciate this. They are both women in their thirties. They both have Ph.Ds. That is where the similarities end, I suppose. This is for the two of them: JEM Barbies. (io9.com/Boing Boing)

Horror Movies
Via Salon.com: Are We Living in a Golden Age of Horror Films?
Via Flavorwire: Ten Horror Movies You Did Not Realize Were Based on True Stories

Finally...
The Tyranny of the Iron
I do not know Seth Stevenson. I am sure that a number of my friends may be acquainted with him. (The overlap of the smart people in my life that I am friendly with and writers for Slate is uncanny. Maybe it is someone who knew him at Brown or maybe Columbia...or a friend of a friend...whatever) I do think that his defense of laziness and sloppiness is unforgivable. Wrinkles clothing is not a goodness. Rumpled clothing is sometimes a calculated pose, but...wrinkled is just lazy and so far from flattering. I do not know why this upsets me like it did...but reading this in bed this morning almost made my head explode.

Interesting Things

News in brief:
I did not want to say anything about this yesterday because, and I may be a douche for saying it, but when i read about the "attack", I thought of Tawana Brawley. I was not surprised, but I was still saddened, when I saw that it was not true.

New York's Finest: The story has been around for the last couple of weeks, but this was the first chance that I got to see (video here) of two of NY's rapiest Finest take out their frustrations on a homeless man... (Boing Boing)

Killed Over a Bike: What bothered me about this was the narrative of this story is largely made up of postings pulled from Facebook to prove...what? This article says nothing. NOTHING! (The Daily Beast)

Am I supposed to know who these people are? Are they related to that Honey Boo Boo person? Teen Mom Cheating Scandal. I mean...Who is Amber Portwood (apparently she is in jail for five years for drug possession? WHAT THE F***?) and why does she have a baby daddy?!? I hate America.

Finally...
Has anyone else been hearing Massive Attack's Teardrop everywhere? I heard it four times yesterday (and not just because I was listening to sad bastard music on Spotify).

Interesting Things

I do not want to talk about the debate. I know that you do not care what I have to say, and I think the majority of us have made up our minds but...and I, one who likes to be incendiary, am a little upset about one little thing. From Ann Coulter:

Now, I know people (allegedly intelligent) who are happy to use that word. However, if you use the word "gay" to describe something unsuitablity, they become upset. I expect things like this from Coulter at this point, but...it is an unacceptable word. Name calling is always unacceptable, actually. It is childish and is behavior that I try not to engage in on a personal level. (Mediaite)

Does a show about zombies need...fewer zombies? (Spoilers in the post) It is a curious question, as the show, "The Walking Dead", is about the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse however (and I have written this so many times I feel like I should have a macro) zombie fiction is about the capacity for inhumanity from man towards man and rarely about the terror of the unwashed mob. That being said, would TWD be better served by less zombies and more Rick and Lori time? Think about that for a bit...I'll wait. You thought about it, didn't you? Yeah, I agree with you. (Vulture)

While we are on the topic of monsters (Ann Coulter to zombies...you know that there is a theme here, right?), Monster Energy Drinks will kill you. (Or they may kill you...)Is there anything else to say about this?(Gawker)

And then there is this: Classic Fairy Tales Retold for Twenty-somethings(See the tumblr)
Little Red Riding Hood was getting hit on by some wolf at the bar. She kept her beer close to her, and politely brushed the guy away.

“Are you okay?” asked the huntsman who approached her next.

“Ugh,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Can’t a girl just go out for a drink and be left alone?”

And speaking of monster, fairy tales, and things that will kill you:
Jenny McCarthy to infect Chicago.
"Splash, a style magazine in Chicago, is reporting that they’ve hired Jenny McCarthy to be their new daily blogger.
Yes, you read that right. But it gets better. And by better, I mean worse.
Besides a daily blog, she’s being given a weekly advice column called "Ask Jenny", where, among other things, she will "tackle parenting"."

Interesting Things

Yesterday was gorgeous.

Today looks like it is going to be just as beautiful.

Everything Geeky!
Did you know that the first Geek Pride Festival was held in Albany? No, I did not either. Why did we let it die? Why didn't WAMC continue with the support of it? Could All Over Albany be the new media supporter of such a great event? I came upon this information, by the way, when I was searching for information about geek pride generally. I mean every other non self selecting group has advocacy days and their contributions to culture are lauded with obnoxious stunts and petty bullying (just kidding...you are not bullying me at all because under-represented groups can never...nevermind)as well as parades! I want a f***ing parade! Anyway, fellow geeks, let's make this happen! (And stop calling it Towel Day, for the love of all that is Holy!)

Man and Machine making Whiskey at NY Distilling Company.(Gizmodo)

Using software to deblur images(Gizmodo).

WiFi Lightbulbs! Yes, I need WiFi lightbulbs.(Gizmodo)

And as it is to be expected, most companies are not going to make the switch to Windows 8. (Mashable)

Hot Sauce is a Food
From Deadspin: What To Eat With The Best Hot Sauce In The World: A Guide For People Who Aren’t Anti-Sriracha Bores. From the article: "Here's what sets sriracha apart from what's typically sold as hot sauce (apart from the fact that you have to walk over to the "Asian" aisle at your supermarket to find it): it is an actual sauce, thick and rich and opaque, as opposed to flavorful vinegar; and it tastes, vividly and brightly and damn near erotically, of red chilis. Both of these distinctions arise from the fact that sriracha is actually made of pureed chilis, rather than simply infused with them."

Television
There is an Arrested Development Documentary? There is an Arrested Development Documentary. Here is the trailer...(Gizmodo)

In other Arrested Development news, there will be no "Call Me Maeby" jokes in the new season. (Vulture)

Oh, and for those of you who still love SNL, Louis CK will be hosting on November 3rd.(Vulture)

File Under Zealots are ALWAYS BORING:
Toxic Atheism Drives People Apart. Think about that scold who is never willing to listen to anyone when they speak about faith and their rants about the sheep and such. They are awful people. (Salon)

File Under BribeStrong:
Lance Armstrong also bribes people. I am looking forward to the day when we discover the Lance Armstrong killed Jon-Benet.

I love this e-card from someecards.com.

Interesting Things

It is always October 19th.

As you know, October 19th is a state of mind and you must keep it in your heart as well as your head.

Via The Atlantic Wire

From the "You Can't Choose Family File":
Kim Jong-Un has a nephew who is...surprisingly forthright. I was going to snark about this but...it is worth the time to be experienced.

Food & Beer:
It is no secret that I like beer and food. In fact, even though I was recovering from the colonization by a distant cousin, I made myself a lovely meal last night and had something great to drink with it. The food was baked chicken over a rosemary and balsamic tossed fettuccine and the beer I had was a Brooklyn Brewery Local 2.

Selectism had a post about wandering through the Great American Beer Festival. It did make me want to try the Ghost Dog Extra Pale Ale from Trinity Brewhouse (specifically because it is not listed on the website for the Trinity Brewhouse and the only reference to it seems to be the post on Selectism). As a nice followup to something like the Great American Beer Festival, Serious Eats has a wonderful slide show about the 20 Recipes to Help Cure a Hangover.(The breakfast Banh Mi has me salivating and reminding me that I need to motivate to go get some breakfast.)

Do you have someone in your life that likes art? Architecture? Puzzles? All three? Yeah, you need to get them the Pop-Out Guggenheim Museum Puzzle.(Coolhunting)

The Dark Internet
The Atlantic has a piece about the actual nature of the internet and the metrics used to measure popularity.
They conveniently offer a tl;dr version of their argument:

tl;dr version
1. The sharing you see on sites like Facebook and Twitter is the tip of the 'social' iceberg. We are impressed by its scale because it's easy to measure.

2. But most sharing is done via dark social means like email and IM that are difficult to measure.

3. According to new data on many media sites, 69% of social referrals came from dark social. 20% came from Facebook.

4. Facebook and Twitter do shift the paradigm from private sharing to public publishing. They structure, archive, and monetize your publications.

Via the Awl.

Union College & Philip Schuyler

Via the Schuyler Mansion Facebook Page:




Philip Schuyler, an Albany native, stayed true to his word. Despite growing political pressure on him to support an Albany committee’s competing application for a charter to establish a northern college in his home city, he remained committed to the citizens of Schenectady. In a letter to the Albany committee in response to their plea Schuyler writes, “ I am bound by every consideration which ought to influence a moral mind to support the application of our brothers of Schenectady…”

On February 1795 the Regents met again to consider the latest Schenectady petition and voted in favor of the long desired Union College charter, the first the N.Y. State Board of Regents had ever granted. Philip Schuyler continued to demonstrate his support for the new college not only through personal financial contributions. In his capacity as state senator, Schuyler proposed a legislative provision to pay to the trustees of Union College 1,500 pounds to be applied to the purchase of teaching apparatus and books.

In accordance with its charter Union College became the first non-sectarian college in the country as intended by its founders. Historians surmise that the name Union was given to the college because it was brought into being by a movement supported by all classes and all religious sects within the community.

Completely Trippy

Full disclosure: I have had a fever for the better part of thirty six hours now, and I do not know if this is wonderful, insane, terrifying or a combination of the three.

All I know is that there is a dog faced girl, a ballistic missile with a brain, and a quote from Nietzsche.

True Vulture

From the original post: "The Museum of Contemporary Arts Los Angeles has just launched MOCAtv to house original art video content. Their first video features animator Galen Pehrson teaming up with Death Grips (with some voice and sounds from Jena Malone)."

Via Boooooom!

Interesting Things

Yes, the Yankees lost. I am not a Yankees hater, in the least, but...I thought that the incredible pissiness of both sides last night was awesome. The Yankees fans with the "A least we got here, losers" and everyone else with the joy in seeing the mighty fall. One would expect Yankees fan to be better about this, to understand that this is jealousy, however, with certain noticeable exceptions, Yankees fans have a tendency to be humorless. (I said I was not a Yankees hater, I can hate on the fans all I want.)

Image from NY Post via The Daily Beast

One of the reasons that I enjoy Wednesdays so much is because I can listen to the Slate Culture Gabfest, and one of the big reasons for that is the crush that I have on Dana Stevens. Well, this week, you can suggest what classic movie she is going to review next. I voted for Robocop but...the choice is yours.

From the Why Does This Matter File: Britney Spears may have smoked meth at some point in the past. (Gawker)

More hatred for cell phone in restaurants...this time...it is people taking pictures. (See the end for the Emily Post thing) However, the reason this is interesting is the connection to Albany. See the story from the AP.

Because I cannot go a day without something zombie related: Uncrate has a list of Essentials for Zombie Hunters...and remember, when the motorcycle is not the expensive thing on the list, you may be in trouble.

Home Designing has "A Hipster Loft" and...I am trying to figure out what makes it so...hipstery. I like it a lot and would happily live there. Opinions?

Movie Projects That No One Wants: A Live Action Family Circus.

Interesting Things

From the BBC: 30 Of Your Britishisms Used By Americans
Favorite: "Wonky, adj. Shaky or unsteady."
Yeah, because that is totally what people mean by wonky.

While Gawker, and the NY Times, buried the BlackBerry yesterday, The Atlantic is here to sing the praises of the device manufacturer.

Speaking of handsets that deserve to have their praises sung, David Galbraith writes in Gizmodo about the design philosophy of Apple, as well as the future of the brand.

And one more about software/hardware companies, with...design issues: Oracle Broke Their Boat. (Deadspin)

I have decided on my makeup for Halloween. (Boing Boing)

File Under Florida is Weird or "I'll Have What She's Having": FL Couple Refused to Stop Having Sex at a Restaurant. (Eater)

Via Salon: When We All Shaved Our Heads. There are lice issues involved. It really is not that big a deal. The shaving of the head, not the lice. I assume that lice is a very big deal.

Which is why they probably need this: A Drug That Removes Bad Memories While You Sleep(Popular Science)
Anyone else think of this?

The Weird Birth of the Moon (io9)

Interesting Things

I am willing to bet that you, before last night, had not given that much processing power over to binders since you were in the third grade and were worried about which Trapper Keeper would look coolest.*

Yes, there was a debate last night, and "Binders" won it (Atlantic Wire).

From The New Yorker: Mitt Romney's Binders and the Missing Women

Via Binders Full of Women
The Daily Beast: Mitt Romney's "Binders Full of Women" Comment Sets the Internet Ablaze
I did have two quips that I was proud of:
1) Obama just said "My hometown of Nairobi..." but he pronounced it "she-cah-go". Interesting.
2) Romney's Pension: Binders full of women.

In other news:
There is a newly discovered planet! 4.7 Light Years Away! Earth-like! (io9) (which, according the WikiAnswers** would take about 15 years to reach.) Discover's Bad Astronomy has a post that has more science...if you are into that sort of thing.

Bad Astronomy also had this:

Gawker helps out with a Loser's Guide to Owning a BlackBerry in 2012. This is presented without comment.

Trolling and Reddit: Slate's Culture Gabfest has a segment with Adrian Chen this week. Chen was the journalist for Gawker who "doxxed" one of the famous on the internet members of Reddit. It is an interesting listen.

*When you were younger, wasn't getting a Trapper Keeper exciting? Then it stopped being exciting and became a chore. This was around 6th grade for me, but I may be misremembering.

**I have no clue regarding the veracity of this claim. However, I am man enough to admit, after three beers or so, I will quote this as Gospel.

Interesting Things

Internet Trolls
Full Disclosure, I am not a huge fan of Reddit. I do not know why I have never used it as a resource, just that I never have. That is part of why I find this story fascinating.

So, there was this guy...he was the ultimate troll on a site well known for trolling. Gawker figured out who he was and outed him. He was then fired. The Atlantic then published a long form guide to understanding internet trolls, specifically regarding the outed douchebag.

Speaking of Trolling
Slate is definitely trolling with the headline "What do pandas taste like?". You know that you want to know what they taste like and you also have recipes that you want to adapt for panda as the protein.

The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead season three premiere set the record for basic cable viewing. (Vulture)

Speaking of the apocalypse...
As it is the anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, there have been some amazing posts showing up...including this one: "We Will All Fry" Never Seen Notes from the Cuban Missle Crisis. (The New Yorker)

Randomness
Dr. Seuss' Malaria Pamphlet.(Flavorwire)
Bon Iver on Austin City Limits (Pretty Much Amazing)
Beautiful but Complicated Cufflinks (Uncrate)

Just a gorgeous home in Seattle's Capitol Hill. (Contemporist)
And Stephen Colbert weighed in on the American Family Association and their symbolic protest. (Mediaite)

And I see old movies...

Last week, I took the time to see two old movies presented in new ways...

On Thursday, I saw Solaris at EMPAC.

Solaris Travel Poster via io9.com

Seeing the classic Solaris on the big screen is something that anyone who enjoys film should most definitely do.  It is worth it for the vistas and, more importantly, for seeing the film in almost the same way that the director intended. It may be crass to say that movies belong in theaters, but it is true.  There was something different, for me at least, about having to move my head to see the entirety of the screen.

Plus, EMPAC is such a lovely space for seeing films like this

On Friday, I saw Nosferatu at the Sanctuary for Independent Media.

Now, I am not a fan of this film.  As you probably know, I prefer my living dead ravenous for brains but...it was the music that set this apart.  The brilliant scoring by the Andrew Alden Ensemble gave this film the gravity that it had been lacking when I had watched it before.  There were elements to the score that reminded me, in a very positive sense, of John Murphy's "In the House - In a Heartbeat".

Here is a brief video I took just so you can hear a snippet of the score.

Interesting Things

A Man Jumped From Space

And Gawker found a way to make it seem...tawdry
However, after the jump, io9.com had a good piece on the post jump press conference.

The Walking Dead Returns
Everyone's favorite zombie apocalypse series returned last night for the third season premiere. Both io9 (which has given me my new favorite description of Lori: "Everything I Do Is A Poor Decision" Lori and The Atlantic offer recaps.
Celebuzz does have the infographic most made of win when it comes to season three...

How much do you tip?
Last week, The Billfold had a piece on the personal economics of tipping (which...well...I had some issues with, but that it just me...and probably a lot of misplaced guilt.) entitled On Leaving Too Much. Apparently, I was not the only person who had issues with the piece and Gawker offered The Final Word on Tipping as a retort. But it did get me thinking...how much do you tip? Are you a dollar per drink person? How much does the young person who gets your coffee for you get?

Randomness

Without comment: Anti-bullying initiative promotes homosexual agenda. (Gawker)

If your data provider thinks that you are being bad, they will take away your ability to play in the sandbox until you sit in time-out, or...if you are accused of copyright infringement, you may be asked to take a user education class in order to have access to the full series of tubes restored. (Boing Boing)

And this made me giggle: Tom Brady (who plays football for some organization based in the general New England area...is made a victim of a fairly tired meme. (Deadspin)

The Kennedy News for Monday: Questions about RFK's Papers and the Cuban Missile Crisis (Slate) and Sotheby's is going to auction off the letters of Robert McNamara, including correspondence with the former First Lady. (The Daily Beast)

And I need to start paying better attention to things...
While I had trouble sleeping over the weekend, I caught up with podcasts, including NPR's All Songs Considered. Seeing that it had been a little while since I last visited them, I had some real catching up to do...including this gem, The Most Important Band of Your College Years. The open to the show references a band from the area called Kamikaze Hearts, which...I am loathe to admit, I was not familiar with. However, the great folks over at All Over Albany were on it and were able to edify me.

Two Pictures from Saturday

TEA and I after his soccer game. Photo credit to Ami

The Troy Waterfront Farmers Market is one of my favorite places on the planet. Yesterday, even though it was chilly, was just a good day for it, and I was so very impressed with the bounty of the region in the autumn.

Interesting Things

I realized that I had been spamming my "Friends List" on Facebook every morning with the news that I found interesting, I also realized that I had this space that I was not using.

So...Interesting Things:

AP Classes Are A Scam: Via The Atlantic, the headline speaks for itself.

That cry you heard last night emanating from the Northeast? Yeah, Derek Jeter, Captain of the New York Yankee, fractured his ankle. (ESPN)

Did that e-book cost too much? According to Mashable, Amazon announced that it will be offering credits to accounts of Kindle users due to price fixing by publishers.

Oh! Shiny! Mal Renyolds in the house! Nathan Fillion made a surprise appearance at NYCC on the Firefly Panel. (io9)

Are pictures of cats on the internet art? On Flavorwire, there is a slideshow of pictures of cats as art.
The staple remover is not cool, right? These Jac Zagorry staple removers are awesome. (Uncrate)

And finally...
Texas lost to Oklahoma by a score of 63-21 yesterday and Deadspin wondered out loud about the future of this storied program under the stewardship of Mack Brown.

Several things that deserve their own post but I do not have time nor interest...

1) I have been trying to enjoy some of the various new shows on the networks and while I love "Go On", I do want to write about two different shows that I like but will probably give up on. No, I am not going to write about why I am going to give up on them but something that I noticed. I love "White Collar" for a couple of reasons but the main reason is that the city of New York is a character. To that end, "HIMYM" suffers because while the City is a character, it is obviously filmed on a backlot and that is most definitely the sunlight of Manhattan. (And yes, "Castle" suffers from the same issue.).



On that topic, I am delighted that "Elementary" (the other Sherlock Holmes series set in the now) has made the choice to film in New York. Basing the series in the city lends a certain gravitas that is needed when dealing with updating such an iconic character. However, "The Mindy Project" is also set in New York, but...it looks like the back lot that HIMYM is using, just with a little more traffic. I really like the show, but why couldn't Mindy have been a young OB/GYN in Los Angeles? Why make her a young woman in NYC trying to find herself? Isn't that why we have Lena Dunham?



2) Twice now someone has borrowed tech of mine because they forgot their and twice now they have complained about how it worked. Once was over the summer when a friend borrowed my iPad and headphones (because she forgot her iPod and we were in the position of having to kill a couple of hours) and then was irked that the headphones were not noise canceling enough. The second was yesterday when a friend borrowed my Nook to quickly check their email and complained, loudly, about how the browser did not work properly. This was after refusing the use of my iPad. I am lovingly overprotective of my tech, and...I am always grateful when someone goes put of their way to let me use theirs, especially when I am in a jam, but...this may have changed my mind about loaning tech to people that are friends.



3) Most of us are armchair pundits when it comes to politics. I appreciate every opinion when it comes to things like presidential politics. That being said, the point of a debate is for two people to make statements and refute them. If one person says something that is a lie, it is up to the other combatant to refute it. By that understanding of the nature of a debate, WMR won last night in Denver. For those of you who are supporting BHO saying that "But Mitt lied, therefore he lost", that is not how debates work. Your guy, who does happen to be my guy, was unable to get his point across while refuting the lying lies of the other guy. Loss.

4) Yeah, I watched part of the Hulk Hogan sex tape. What do you think about it?

Best Companion

I saw this commercial while watching the mid-season finale of Doctor Who, and I thought that it was a particularly good piece, especially using the word companion, which works exceptionally well contextually within the Whovian Universe.



It made me miss Curly, miss TEA being in a car seat, and a couple PF other little things, and it made the ending of the Doctor Who even more...upsetting.

Thank to the folks at AutoEvolution for the link to the commercial.

This is not creepy at all

Hominid

What is all creatures had a human skeleton? What would it look like? Am I wrong to be a little creeped out by this?



Via io9

Happy October, Everyone.

Notes on The Angel Take Manhattan

Notes on The Angel Take Manhattan  9/30/12

---

Spoilers...

The cold open was one of the first times that I was genuinely frightened by Doctor Who since "Blink". (But the Statue of Liberty?!?)

Image via McKern via Reddit.

The use of Sting's "Englishman in New York" is brilliant.

Amy Pond in glasses is so very...great.

"I always rip out the last page of a book, so it doesn't have to end. I hate endings."

As one of my friends texted me, "River Song has gone from being one of the baddest motherf***ers in the universe to being a nerf ball." Melody Malone is a not great name.

The timey-wimey stuff then panning to Rory's gravestone? Not great filmmaking/television.

"yowzah!"

How does Rory get to 1938? Should I start thinking hard about Doctor Who and logic at this point?

The Weeping Angels are screaming for others?!? Is it being tortured? The cherubs are creepy but not in a way that is scary. More like a kiss on the lips from an older relative.

River Song being pardoned takes away some of the pathos of the character.

The rage of the Doctor, and by Matt Smith, is wonderful.

"When one is in love with an ageless god who insists on the face of a twelve year old, one must hide the damage."

"Nothing is gained by you being a sentimental idiot."

We have seen old Rory, and old Amy, before...better than this.

"I'm sorry, Rory, but you've just died."

Maybe the Machines in the Matrix understood something of the Weeping Angel technology, right?

The chase scene seemed almost comically silly.

No, Rory, do not kill yourself! Not the plastic centurion. Not the man who waited. Asking your spouse to help kill you, to save the city and the timeline, is...tough to watch.

"to save you, I could do anything."

the Ponds, hand in hand, falling off a building, made me cry...real tears.

Oh, the grave stone...oh, the Doctor never gets lucky...

The idea of love in this show is more than occasionally irksome.

"don't travel alone" is great advice for everyone.

Amy's afterword left me feeling...meh.

This may have been the episode where Matt Smith surpasses David Tennant in terms of...owning the character. The anger, the obvious tears, the fear, and the hope...DT was wonderful, do not get me wrong, but I have been a Matt Smith fan and this cemented it.

Things that make me happy

It seems like a lot of you are having "a case of the Mondays". (Yes, it is Monday, and I am sorry that your weekend is over.)

So, I am going to share some things that I love.




TEA getting his geek on makes me happy.


The Drums singing about "Money"A

Beef and pork slow cooked over a smokey wood fire.

The feeling in your arms after a good workout, sore and shaky, that lets you know that you did something worthwhile.

Connecting with new people in hope that they are going to become friends and reconnecting with old friends with the hope that you will never have to reconnect again.

A crisp September morning with a gorgeous blue sky:



See? Perfect!

A suit jacket that fits...just right.

A freshly starched shirt and the perfectly tied Windsor knot.

The point where your mug of coffee is still warm but cool enough to drink normally.

What simple things make you happy?

If you want a friend, feed any animal

Thursday, I took a walk through Albany's Washington Park. It was a gorgeous late summer day.





While I was walking, I was listening to music that I had not listened to in years. (I spent a couple of days putting all my music in one location, which is something that had not happened in...well...five years. It was quite a process and it is continuing but a start has been made. I am rediscovering things that I had forgotten about and reacquainting myself with things that I loved.). While I was walking to the bridge, Jane's Addiction's "Summertime Rolls" came up on shuffle.



It was a close to perfect moment.

Not so profound things that I have learned at the start of my 39th year.

There will always be a little spot below my left nostril that I will miss shaving the first time.

It is okay, even when it is not, for people to profoundly dislike you.

Apologies are not a sign of weakness.

Own a great pair of ugly but comfortable shoes.

On that note, shoes are not made out of plastic.

Let the people you love know it. Often.

There is nothing more heartbreaking than disappointing a child who loves you.

Always hug when seeing a good friend. Handshakes are good but...not good enough.

There is never an excuse for infidelity.

"Dealbreakers" can be overcome.

Take a look at me now...

Remember the episode of TAL when Starlee Kine has a bad breakup and writes her own song in the style of Phil Collins?

As I was taking a stroll this morning, "Take A Look At Me Now (Against All Odds)" came up on the shuffle and I really listened to it for the first time in years.



Maybe it is because I am older, maybe it is because I have experienced actual heartbreak, but...this...hit me so much harder than it ever had before.

I had to listen to it twice.

Three songs the I have heard while...

Sitting at the pool, starting my Labor Day Weekend (Feast of St. Nedrius for those of you who are observant.) and I want to share them with you. Because I am douchey like that...

Bob Mould - Wishing Well



When this song came up on shuffle a couple of weeks ago, I forgot how ,uh I loved this album and had some regret that I did not own it when I was 15.


Sleater Kinney - Words and Guitar



Yes, Dorayne, this iPhone is a lot cooler now that it is in my possession.

Wham! - Freedom

Come on, you know that you love it.

I hope that everyone has a pleasant and safe Labor Day Weekend and for those of you who wish to celebrate the Feast of St. Nedrius, please send me an e-mail or a text.

Wow.

I am all about the snark, especially when it comes to tech...




But this is too much...

Or I am getting far too old.

Reasons why I am an Idiot

1) Every so often, I will work out to the point where my arms and shoulders shake. They shake badly enough that I have to press my arms against my body in order type this.

2) Trusting automated systems to operating across platforms. I was using an autofill to help with documents. Yesterday, I realized that I was sending out documents (a good number of them applications) that had the wrong phone number. The autofill, for some reason, had conflated two numbers into one that did not exist. Yes, I am awesome.

3) Last week, I mentioned that one of the things of adulthood that I like is being able to wait for food to cool before eating it in order to avoid a third degree burn. Yes, this is an amazing skill that I have developed in regard to pizza. However, after the workout from the first item, I am famished, and waiting for the pizza to cool to levels that will not render me mute with pain, flesh hanging down in a stringy mass from the roof of my mouth, is difficult. I should have eaten before, at least once, embarking on working out.

4) I am not the only person who does this, but...I have invested far too much time in people and relationships that are not great for me at their best, and then I wonder why these people are completely shitty in their actions towards me. Really? Maybe it is because I have allowed them to treat me poorly. I am learning a lesson that my son already knows.

5) Why do I try to interact with cats? They leave me itchy, with swollen eyes, and desperately looking for an antihistamine.

Whovians!

Monday Monday

How was your weekend? Mine was great!




It was beautiful and I spent a large percentage of it at the pool. I also spent a large percentage of the dark hours watching the first three seasons of Community (#SixSeasonsandaMovie) on DVD.

While I was at the pool, I listened to a lecture by Andrew Jamison, author of Hubris and Hybrids, about emerging technologies as agents for social change. It was interesting in a way and then it became hilarious. Dr. Jamison offered that because "normal" people (read, non-academics, which is a distinction that a number of my academic friends make...granted, the people that I know who have medical degrees or are working scientists do not make this distinction, but I digress) need to understand this technology, there should be kiosks set up in malls to educate the,. How considerate of you, Dr. Jamison. That is lovely. I will get my Cinnabon, jewelry at Claire's, and then I will learn about molecular elevators. Woo!

Questions:

Does anyone know of a good app that will edit PDFs on the iPad?

Now that a court has rules that Droid phones are a cheap knock off of iOS devices, will they get FaceTime?

Why is the only day that rain is scheduled for over the next week happens to fall on Monday next?

Are the Jets ever going to score a touchdown?

Can you hear me, Major Tom?

Neil Armstrong passed away today.



While I think he mis-delivered his most famous quote (it was a giant step for (a) man, but it was a giant leap for mankind...), he was the nerdy engineer (and yes, being geeky/nerdy is okay...my son will be fine, I am okay, and my friends are great while being nerdy...) who was the first man to step on land off of Terra.

His words, while being inaccurate, continue to inspire and compel us to reach for the stars in the most literal manner.

Rest in peace, Neil Armstrong, and may you forever rest among the stars.

Notes from a Thursday

TEA and I made zucchini pancakes last night. Zucchini pancakes were one of the first things that I ever learned to make through experimentation, and while I have refined the recipe* over the years, it is a great memory for me. TEA may not have the same memories from this but it was great fun making it.

We watched a program called Adventure Time. Have you ever watched it? It was trippy. I mean it was really bizarre.

I am surprised that this is marketed as a children's program.
I have a new favorite ice cream. It is Edy's slow churned French Vanilla. Yes, it replaces fat with air but...it is so very very tasty and it absolves some of the guilt that I have for eating ice cream.
TEA and I are looking forward to having another good day together.

*Shred about four cups of zucchini. In a large bowl, combine the zucchini with a cup and a half of flour (I used white but you can adapt this to your dietary requirements), about a tablespoon of olive oil, a pinch of kosher salt, a little more than a pinch of cayenne, a teaspoon of garlic powder, four medium eggs, and lots of fresh ground black pepper. Mix really well. Drop a ladle full on a well oiled pan and flip once, after about four minutes per side. I serve with hot sauce and a little bit of butter.

Metaphysics and the Nine Year Old

TEA and I were talking about birds. We had just watched a hawk fly over head, obviously hunting (or just enjoying the afternoon), and TEA said, "Dad, I think I saw a Phoenix."

"No, buddy, you have not."

"Well, I could have."

"No, TEA, as they exist only in mythology."

"Well, dad, they could exist on different planets in different galaxies."

"I grant you the hypothesis of infinite universe/infinite possibilities."

"And dad, I mean, it has been written down, so they do have kind of an existence. Things like unicorns and dragons are real because people have written them down."

"TEA, I am a bit shocked by this."

"Why, Dad?"

"Because people have been having this argument for 600 years and most people fault to understand it. That you are ten and you get it...wow."

"Almost ten, Dad, and it just makes sense."

So, my almost ten year old is capable of wrapping his mind around the idea of the infinite when most people cannot understand that "scientific theory" does not mean that it is untested and unverifiable.

I am so proud of him.

Oh, by the way, this conversation was happening while we were chilling around the pool.

I've got old friends...

I love this song.

In other news...

I have developed the most amazing quick meal. Half a cup of jasmine rice, 3/4 of a cup of low sodium chicken stock, 3/4 water, pinch of salt, black pepper to taste, and a tablespoon of good olive oil. Cook in the microwave on high for 6 minutes then stir, add a cup of mixed frozen veggies, and put back in for another four minutes.

Easy, tasty, and perfect.

Pictures from Maine

Pictures from the annual family vacation in Maine.



Where we stayed


The rental was beautiful from the outside and weirdly antiquated for, the inside. Actually, it was awesome and very "camp-esque". The owners were obviously several generation of proud Bowdoin alums.


The beach was a bird sanctuary.


A tern at low tide.


Proof that there were some crabs around but we did not see any...


The kids getting ready to use their boogie boards.


My sister, who can be a colossal PitA, at the beach.


Dad relaxing after a day at the...wait for it...beach.


TEA digging something that resembled the Keep on Arrakis (Google it, non-nerds)


TEA can rock the mustache...*


TEA getting his first tattoo. Before you call child and family services, it was henna.


The title for this image is "Sun TEA".


Yes, I got my tan on as well. Like father, like son.


TEA flying a kite at the beach.


A view of our beach



A fire on our last night...

*TEA decided to go with it instead of me. The woman at the store where we purchased them asked if I would put one on and I told her that it wouldmake me look like someone from a Chris Hansen special. She laughed and then complimented my shoes. In hindsight, and from TEA's observation, she was flirting with me. I wish I had the ability to recognize that.