Goose the Blog

Wild&Crazy Art #2: Martin Creed

2010-10-22T07:54:00.000-04:00

Martin Creed (16 January 2008) from Slade on Vimeo.

(from Wikipedia)
Creed is perhaps best known for his submission for the 2001 Turner Prize show at the Tate Gallery, Work No. 227, the lights going on and off, which won that year's prize. The artwork presented was an empty room in which the lights periodically switched on and off. As so often with the Turner Prize, this created a great deal of press attention, most of it questioning whether something as minimalist as this could be considered art at all. Artist Jacqueline Crofton threw eggs at the walls of Creed's empty room as a protest against the prize, declaring that Creed's presentations were not real art and that "painting is in danger of becoming an extinct skill in this country".^[1] In 2006 Martin Creed presented an extensive exhibition with sculptures, videos and performances titled I Like Things with Nicola Trussardi Foundation in Milan.

Wow! Cool Blogs for Geeks!

2010-10-08T07:25:00.000-04:00

http://bigthink.com/blogs

anybody still reading this?

2010-09-24T08:11:00.003-04:00

I just uploaded a bunch of new pictures to Flickr, Mom.

Graham's birthday
Los Angeles trip
Elias' first day of school

Weird, Cool, Bizarre Art #1

2010-08-16T15:33:00.000-04:00

Marc Quinn's Evolution Series
Scroll through to see the whole thing.

6 foot sculptures in pink marble depicting the development of the human fetus...
Would you have them around your house, or in the garden?

Join in the Jack Vettriano Controversey!

2010-07-21T17:41:00.000-04:00

http://www.jackvettriano.com/southbankshow.php

Hey! Watch this vid for an entertaining lunch break...

So, what do you think? Should the painter of "The Singing Butler" be recognized by the Art Establishment, or is the job of the Art Establishment to only present challenges to the public? And are these paintings good, or really just schlock, on par with big eyed crying children art?

Legos for Grownups @ TED

2010-06-28T15:34:00.002-04:00

I'm not sure how John missed this one...but he came to mind 1st thing when I stumbled upon it!

Overcompensating

2010-06-24T22:21:00.001-04:00

Four months with no photo uploads, but 91 new pics uploaded today. Check them out.

Hilarious Caricature Video

2010-04-27T16:04:00.002-04:00

...and the laughter rang out through the halls...

Haloscan is gone, Echo is going

2010-03-12T19:11:00.004-05:00

Well, the old Haloscan commenting system is gone, replaced temporarily by Echo, a new commenting system that would cost $12 a year if I wanted to pay. But I don't, so it will expire and stop working on 3/21.

All the old Haloscan comments will then disappear from the blog. But they are not gone - I have archived them all! However, there is currently (and likely never will be) an easy way to import them into Blogger comments, so they will remain unreadable on the blog.

For future comments, the Blogger commenting system should be working on new posts (at least). Thanks!

Flower...

2010-03-09T09:13:00.003-05:00

...As seen today on Wikipedia:
http://thatgamecompany.com/games/flower/

What do you think, folks? Is this something you'd play?
It's kinda interesting, the use of video games for meditation and emotional therapy.

snow photos

2010-02-11T10:04:00.004-05:00

In five days we had two 20" snow storms. That's a lot of snow!

And there's more!

Christmastime photos

2010-01-03T18:41:00.001-05:00

Check out the new set.

T’was the night before C’thr’ishm’sh

2009-12-11T09:53:00.004-05:00

"Ph’nglui mglw’nafh C’thr’ishm’sh
R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn!"

fall photo dump

2009-11-27T12:04:00.004-05:00

147 (I think) photos from this fall:

Soccer 2009
Baltimore Zoo
Halloween 2009
Disney World 2009
Disney Cruise 2009

Spot the 2 Cool Dudes

2009-09-09T07:57:00.003-04:00

Hint: Front Row!

some new photos

2009-09-07T09:06:00.004-04:00

Hundreds of new photos since the last photo update.

Includes:
Day Out with Thomas
Elias' Birthday
Brandywine Park and Zoo
Graham's Birthday
Beach Trip
North Carolina Trip

Nude Sketch

2009-08-25T05:43:00.003-04:00

Odosketch.
Check it out, you can sketch right in the browser!

Dick Turgidson

2009-07-13T11:18:00.004-04:00

"Ah... If the pilot's good, see. I mean, if he's really... sharp, he can barrel that baby in so low... Haha! You oughtta see it sometime, it's a sight. A big plane, like a '52, vroom! There's jet exhaust, flyin' chickens in the barnyard!"

thoughts about Dick Cheney

2009-05-22T00:20:00.004-04:00

(During free breakfast at hotel)

"Daddy, I can't hear the TV over all the noise."

"That's because they turned the sound off, Elias. They put the words up so you can read what he's saying."

"What's he saying?"

"Nothing, really. He's just an angry old man who is trying to justify his crimes."

Homo floresiensis back in the news

2009-05-07T10:03:00.004-04:00

Hobbits 'are a separate species'

Two new papers in Nature argue that the skeletons of diminutive humanoids found on the Indonesian island Flores in fact belong to members of a different species than Homo sapiens, and are not diseased individuals as some have hypothesized. The papers do not address the issue of whether they made cozy homes under the ground, or whether their unusually large feet were, in fact, hairy.

Interesting news, but mostly I just wanted to use this picture.

even more flickr uploads

2009-05-02T08:38:00.001-04:00

From our other camera (Wendy found the special USB cable).

massive flickr upload

2009-05-01T22:36:00.002-04:00

I finally got around to uploading the last few months worth of photos. Enjoy (and don't miss Steamtown, the Horseshoe Curve, and the Gallitzin Tunnels)!

My Kid Could Paint That

2009-03-16T16:00:00.002-04:00

Hey ye folk with kids, have any of you seen this movie? Check it out! What do you think? Was there an adult hand in a lot of the work? (My vote is...yes). And it's never too early to get some big huge canvases for the kids! They could put themselves through college!

no photos

2009-02-15T09:15:00.003-05:00

After finishing a huge job at work, I was finally going to take some time and post photos of the kids. But it turns out we have only taken eight pictures since Christmas time and only three with kids. Each of these three has Elias in his underwear, so to save him from future embarrassment I'm not posting those. Instead, here are three of the non-kid pictures: They are photos of a beautiful Lego castle that Graham and I built one morning in January.

reflecting on the first full day of the Obama administration

2009-01-21T23:16:00.002-05:00

Is it getting hot in here, or is it just me?

goodbye, and don't let the door hit you on the ass

2009-01-17T13:37:00.004-05:00

(yoink! Rob MacDougall, originally from Huffington Post)

it's coming! it's coming!

2008-12-05T07:25:00.002-05:00

And it is so awesome! About a year and a half ago, I got one for Elias, and this fall I got one for Graham.

More info on Robots and Monsters.

the war after the war

2008-12-03T20:10:00.002-05:00

"I thought you would torture me, and when you didn't, I decided that everything I was told about Americans was wrong. That's why I decided to cooperate."

This pretty much speaks for itself: "I'm Still Tortured by What I Saw in Iraq"

wattayagonnado?

2008-12-02T20:39:00.002-05:00

More photos!

whew!

2008-11-05T07:09:00.004-05:00

I don't have much to say about this right now, but for the sake of completion, I'm happy he won and I'm glad it's over. Next comes the hard part.

Update: Man, what a total cliche.

last day

2008-11-04T06:57:00.001-05:00

one day

2008-11-03T18:13:00.001-05:00

it's about time

2008-11-03T18:08:00.002-05:00

Well, this afternoon I finally got the Obama/Biden bumper magnet I ordered from Obama's website on September 15. I imagine that the reason it took them so long to send it to me is that they were really, really, really busy.

less than one and a half days

2008-11-03T09:46:00.003-05:00

I'm trying to stay upbeat, against my cynical nature, with just about 34 hours to go before the polls close in PA. We can win this one, if people take the time to get out and vote. Dare to hope!

two days

2008-11-02T21:58:00.001-05:00

three days

2008-11-01T22:16:00.002-04:00

four days

2008-10-31T19:33:00.001-04:00

five days

2008-10-30T22:47:00.004-04:00

Yes We Can!

Disney and stuff

2008-10-30T09:30:00.002-04:00

Man-o-man, we have a metric ton of pictures from Disney World coming at you at 90,000 mph. Plus some other stuff.

six days

2008-10-29T19:05:00.000-04:00

wonderful anti-McCain ads from Ohio

2008-10-15T10:54:00.003-04:00

You should watch these anti-McCain political ads from Ohio. They are smart and funny and get right to the point.

"Who said drinking and political advertising don't mix?" (salon.com)

two answers

2008-10-05T12:10:00.006-04:00

First) Sting started trending uncool during the Synchronicity tour, when it became apparent that he was becoming Sting the big-time celebrity instead of Sting the lead singer of The Police. Unfortunately, appearing in a David Lynch film, which normally increases coolness, didn't help, because that film was "Dune". He became even less cool in 1985 when he released his first solo album Dream of the Blue Turtles as a white Englishman fronting a pretty good, un-named, African-American jazz band. He cemented his uncool status shortly after that when he appeared in the documentary film "Bring on the Night", which was about Sting and the making of his first solo album, and was (unbelievably!) named after a very good Police song.

Second) While Sting is unarguably uncool, that verdict is not entirely clear about Elvis Costello, and reasonable people may disagree. However, I think Costello became uncool when he reappeared in 1991 for the Mighty Like a Rose tour and was fat and bearded. All fat, bearded people are not uncool, but a fat, bearded Elvis Costello was uncool. Some classical albums, many duets and collaborations, and a car commercial later, Elvis Costello was still, unfortunately, uncool.

P.S. The rest of you, by not answering the questions, obviously think Sting and Elvis Costello are cool. I feel sorry for you, because you probably think Madonna is cool, too.

a question

2008-10-03T08:00:00.005-04:00

No, two questions.

First) Driving home yesterday afternoon - and listening to "Bring on the Night" on my Awesome-est Songs Mix - it occurred to me to ask: When did Sting become uncool? It's pretty clear that at first Sting was cool, but some time later he was uncool. At some point between the two positions, he must have crossed the threshold.

Second) Similarly, when did Elvis Costello become uncool?

I have answers to both these questions, but I'll give everyone a chance to share their ideas before first. My answers tomorrow, if I remember.

bilgewater!

2008-09-19T10:10:00.003-04:00

It narly skipped me mind - tis Talk Like a Pirate Day, mateys!

Yo ho ho, etc.

Chadds Ford Days

2008-09-17T19:43:00.003-04:00

Here are a few pictures from Chadds Ford Days (and other stuff, like Elias' first day of school). Also, this video of Elias rockin' out to some folk music.

hoisted

2008-09-05T09:00:00.002-04:00

You've got to watch out for those petards.

not elite

2008-08-21T19:57:00.008-04:00

Sure, John McCain doesn't know how many houses he owns*. That doesn't make him an elite. Heck, even I had to think about it a little while before I could decide that I owned just one home. After all, I sort of co-own it with my wife, don't I? And the bank. They kind of own a lot of it too, though I'm not a lawyer and don't really understand all the legal details of that relationship.

But, I thought, the spirit of the question (if not the exacting details) demanded that an honest, pretty-much-gotcha-proof answer would be one. One home.

Hey, did you hear John McCain was a POW?

-----

How about some jokes?

A horse walks into a bar. The bartender says, "Hey pal, John McCain was a POW."

1: Knock! Knock!
2: Who's there?
1: John McCain.
2: John McCain who?
1: John McCain, the former POW.

Q: How many dumb blondes does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: When John McCain was POW, he didn't get any lightbulbs.

Q: When is a door not a door?
A: When it's the door of the cell in North Vietnam where John McCain was held for five and a half years as a POW.

Two peanuts were walking down the street. One was a salted, just like the regular beatings John McCain experienced as a POW.

Q: What have I got in my pockets?
A: If you're like John McCain when he was a POW, probably just a couple of grains of uncooked rice that you're saving to share with the sick lieutenant in the next cell. They might have been given to you by the sympathetic guard who once drew a secret cross with the toe of his sandal in the dirt of the bare prison courtyard on Christmas Day.

Send them to friends! Share your own!

-----

* The answer, apparently, is four that he lives in. The rest are just investment properties.

Cyborg baby?

2008-08-14T13:47:00.001-04:00

From New Scientist Magazine:

This is no ordinary robot control system - a plain old microchip connected to a circuit board. Instead, the controller nestles inside a small pot containing a pink broth of nutrients and antibiotics. Inside that pot, some 300,000 rat neurons have made - and continue to make - connections with each other...

Washington and other places

2008-08-06T22:16:00.005-04:00

We got back from our super-fun-packed trip to Washington a couple of days ago, and I just uploaded a bunch of pictures from there and elsewhere.

It was great to see Bill, Amy, and Guillermo. (Guillermo is fantastic. He's everywhere you wanna be!) It was also great to see Steve, Cayla, and all the Samms family at the wedding. I'd say more but it's taken more than two hours to get all those photos up and tagged, and now I just want to shower and go to bed.

Note to wanderers: Spokane is the little-known Paris of eastern Washington state. You must visit!

driving in space

2008-07-25T01:44:00.000-04:00

Wendy and the kids and l got into Seattle today. I am writing this on my Palm using the hotel's free wifi.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that we rented a Prius, and while I have only driven it about fifty feet so far, it is like Driving in Space!

Drawing Caricatures In Dublin...

2008-07-07T12:25:00.001-04:00

From a John O'Connor's 70th Birthday party in Dublin on Saturday...He brought up one of his daughters to be the first drawn. Yep, that's Sinead O'Connor ! I tried to keep cool, but the surreality of the situation had me giggling like a little girl.

I'm happy to report that she got a laugh out of her caricature and was nice about letting me have a photo with her. Plus, she can still melt hearts with her voice!

happy birthday Graham!

2008-07-03T21:18:00.004-04:00

He is one year old today! We went to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania and had ice cream cake (made by Grandma Jane) and opened presents. It's been a busy day and I haven't uploaded any pictures yet. Maybe I can get some up tomorrow.

But here are a couple:

The cake.

The boy.

Update: I should add that Elias help decorate the cake by placing the letters, which is the reason for the interesting orientation of some of them. Also, the final "I" is not an "I", it is a "1", for one year old.

happy birthday, Elias!

2008-06-24T21:13:00.004-04:00

Elias celebrated his third birthday today. He had a cool train cake made by Wendy and lots of excellent presents from his family.

Click through for more birthday photos, or check out the photostream for many more pictures from Longwood Gardens, Brandywine Park, and even our backyard, where you will see a baby snapping turtle.

in which I tell you something about George Carlin that probably no one else will

2008-06-23T09:44:00.004-04:00

When I was in junior high school, I had many of Carlin's famous (and less famous) comedy routines memorized.*

Obviously, he's dead today, or I wouldn't be talking about him.

-----

* By this I mean that I, John, had the routines memorized. I am sure there are millions of thirteen and fourteen year old boys who have memorized Carlin.

Firefox download day

2008-06-17T19:06:00.000-04:00

Go get Firefox 3!

Rabbit Castle Mural

2008-05-22T00:55:00.003-04:00

Howdy Folks! Here's the mural I painted on Rhiannon's closet door. It took a while, but sure, ye know yerself, time turns to mush when the baba turns up!

Painted with acrylics. More details/closeups on my blog.

budget hero

2008-05-20T20:09:00.004-04:00

I saw this fun game on Boing Boing and gave it a try. It's called Budget Hero and it's from PRI's Marketplace.

The goal is simple. Design a budget that accomplishes your goals (you pick up to three) by cutting or expanding federal spending in a number of areas. Here's a hint: It's surprisingly easy to afford everything you want if you repeal Bush's tax cuts and cap and limit green house gases. Raising taxes on the wealthy doesn't hurt either.

Anyway, give it a shot. It's not easy to share my full results, but if you are curious you can read this. In short, though, I reduced the debt from 37.7% of GDP in 2008 ($8.4 trillion) to 6.0% in 2018 ($1.3 trillion), I delayed the budget bust until past 2070, and I shrank government from 20.0% of GDP in 2008 ($4.4 trillion) to 18.7% of GDP in 2018 ($4.1 trillion). If only it was this easy in real life.

happy late birthday to Amy

2008-05-20T14:08:00.003-04:00

From the lame-oes over here. What's three days in the grand scheme, anyway?

Disney cruise

2008-05-16T20:00:00.004-04:00

We're back from our Disney cruise on the Wonder, a fine and sound vessel. The photos are up.

All in all, we had a lot of fun. We already signed up for our next one, probably in May, 2010.

Bush-McCain challenge

2008-05-02T15:22:00.003-04:00

If five of you take this quiz, I get a free bumper sticker. So do it! I'm supposed to paste this into my blog:

"Hi,
I just took The Bush-McCain Challenge -- an online quiz to see if you can tell the difference between George W. Bush and John McCain. Check it out, and see if you can do any better than I did!
http://Bush-McCainChallenge.com/?rc=challenge-friends&r_id=12560-4247757-caglIg"

There you go. Play the Bush-McCain challenge right now.

PA primary

2008-04-22T10:49:00.004-04:00

Today is the Pennsylvania primary.

This morning I worked as a poll greeter for the Democratic Party at my polling place:

1) "Would you like a Democratic sample ballot?"

2) "Here are some instructions for how to vote for delegates."

3) "Would you like to volunteer to help out in the fall election?"

I put a bunch of signs in the ground for the people who are running, even though only one race is contested (in addition to some obscure national office featuring two candidates I had barely heard of before). I met some local politicians. I learned that you can often tell a Republican from a not-Republican as they walk toward you, especially if the Republican is a man. We tried to give away donkey and star butter cookies, but a) almost nobody wanted them when asked, and b) almost nobody stayed in front of our table long enough to get asked.

Everyone was polite, except for one guy who was kind of rude to the folks next to us who were encouraging people to vote in favor of the referendum to sell bonds and raise taxes to pay for some improvements to the high school. He walked right up to these guys, dissed them, walked inside to vote, and then came back out to argue with them after voting. They talked for a long time, and in the end he apologized and even waved goodbye when he left.

Wendy came by and, of course, brought the kids with her. I held Graham and Elias ate a donkey while Wendy voted.

When my shift was over, I voted. I even voted in the race to see who would be the Democratic candidate for that obscure national office. I voted for the one with the strange name - I think it would be funny if he won!

just goofin' around

2008-04-14T21:40:00.001-04:00

to engineer is human

2008-04-08T19:19:00.006-04:00

This is interesting.

On my way to relax and watch a little TV while the boys played quietly, I saw Elias building a couple of towers out of his bricks and and then attaching the train tracks to the top.

A little while later, he came and asked me for help. I knew just what he wanted to do as he explained to me his plan for building an elevated railway, and I showed him how to put together all the pylons and connect the tracks in a circle. I ended up doing most of the work, actually, because he seemed to have a problem with making all the pylons the same height.

After trying out the train he'd built earlier (you can see the little "Daddies" - that's what he calls them - riding on the train cars), he told me he wanted to make a tunnel for it to go through, so I built that too and put it just where he wanted it.

Wendy thought it looked like the Disney World monorail, which it sort of does.

We were lucky with this in that Graham didn't destroy it right away. Graham always wants to play with whatever Elias is playing with, especially blocks or trains. He loves to stand up next to the train table and throw train cars around and rip up track like Godzilla, or push down and smash whatever Elias builds with his blocks. Elias starts out tolerating this, but get frustrated with Graham quickly: "Get this baby away from me!" if we are lucky, or a push followed by a screaming baby if we are not.

(Click through for more photos)

Happy BIRTHDAY John!!

2008-03-24T19:26:00.002-04:00

Happy St. P's From Rhiannon Heng!

2008-03-17T21:02:00.002-04:00

Arrived Sunday, March 16 at 7:55 p.m. GMT

5 lbs 15 oz

Mama, Baba, Papa all well

Slainte! From Limerick, Ireland

Graham crawls!

2008-03-14T22:01:00.000-04:00

Yesterday evening, attracted by some tools Elias was using to "fix" a broken doorknob, Graham figured out how to crawl. He actually crawls a little bit, and frog-hops a little bit. He's quite good at it for a first timer!

Huzzah for Graham!

delicious pi

2008-03-14T13:59:00.002-04:00

Mmm-mmm!

Update: Hmm, yes. "Failure is just success rounded down," indeed.

hey, I can see my house from here!

2008-03-04T08:15:00.001-05:00

It's right over there.

what a deal?

2008-02-23T21:35:00.004-05:00

Four pairs of real, unused, East German Army wool pants for $21.97.

Questions:

1) Where do they come from?

2) Have they really been sitting in a warehouse in former East Germany for 18 years?

3) Are they very poor quality?

4) Will they fit?

The last is especially important, because I ordered them.

Update: Danke Kameraden! They do fit pretty well - they are about half an inch too short, but when I wear them with boots or work shoes that won't matter - and are made of pretty thick wool. I wonder how long they will last? And in answer to Mom's question in the comments, I will wear them when doing outside chores on cold days or perhaps when pulling children through the snow on tube-sleds. You better watch out, Elias!

not again!

2008-02-23T21:31:00.003-05:00

Wendy sends this along:

A pretend zebra escaped from it's pen at the Ueno Park Zoo in Tokyo this week. It injured at least two zoo workers before being subdued.

just when I thought I was finally getting my shit together...

2008-02-22T20:30:00.001-05:00

Hope dims that Earth will survive Sun's death.

sledding

2008-02-22T14:26:00.002-05:00

It snowed a few inches last night, and because the news promised freezing rain and ice in the afternoon, I decided to take the day off.

Elias was anxious to try out his new tube-sled, so I took a break from shoveling the driveway and we went for a spin in the backyard.

As the video starts, he had just fallen off the first time and gotten back on to try again.

After he fell off the second time and I had cleaned the snow off his face, I asked him if he had fun (you can't hear this on the video). He said no. I corrected myself and asked him if he had fun sledding. His answer was still no!

He was willing to get back on for another short ride, anyway.

you say foe-tay-toe, and I say foe-tah-toe

2008-02-20T20:38:00.005-05:00

More pictures of the kids. This one is kind of interesting: I left Elias alone in the tub (bad Daddy!). He'd been curious about the bar of soap for a few nights, and was always trying to play with it. I didn't want him to, because I was afraid he'd get some in his eyes and become even more scared of getting his face wet than he already is. So as I left the bathroom, I told him not to touch it.

When I got back, the bath water was cloudy white and there was a semicircular notch taken out of one side of the soap bar, which was sitting in the soap dish. I looked at it, and then looked at him and asked, "Did the soap taste good?"

He answered quietly, "No."

Then I wondered what happened to the missing piece of soap. "Elias, did you eat the soap?"

"No."

"Then where is the rest of it?" I asked.

"I don't know."

I fished around in the tub for a minute, and was relieved to find the missing bit, which he had sensibly spat out.

-----

Also in this set, some photos of Graham. Wendy will probably be appalled because she didn't get a chance to edit them, but I thought he showed some amusing expressions, despite the snot bubbles and drool.

sigh

2008-02-14T19:02:00.001-05:00

da nah nah nah nah nah, you say it's my birthday.....

[Updated by John ]

"Birthday" by the Beatles with hand farts

presidential preference

2008-02-12T14:09:00.000-05:00

Over at Edge, they have an interview with Mahzarin Banaji, psychologist at Harvard, and Anthony Greenwald, professor of psychology at Univ. of Washington. These two have done work with the implicit association test to expose hidden, unacknowledged biases against race (among other things, I suppose). These tests can be pretty eye-opening.

In today's Edge article they introduce a test to uncover one's implicit negative feelings toward presidential candidates. Just for the record, I found out that I feel least negatively about Obama, followed closely by Clinton, then a long way off is Huckabee, followed another long way off by McCain. I was surprised to see that I feel so much more negatively about McCain than Huckabee! (But maybe not - I almost wrote "'Maverick' McCain" in smart-ass quotes, which probably represents my barely suppressed disdain for him.) So, conservatives and I have something in common after all - we all hate John McCain!

In other interesting psychology results, maybe Wendy can point us to the article she was reading that said that Asian girls do worse on math tests if the first question they are asked is their sex, and better if the first question they are asked is their race...

darn it

2008-02-08T11:01:00.000-05:00

So, it seems like the Writer's Strike may be over. That makes me sad, because it means I have to go back to the drudgery of watching all my favorite TV shows again.

This is COOL!!!

2008-01-31T11:36:00.000-05:00

Theo Jansen, who makes wind powered kinetic sculptures/robots. Mind Blowing!

astronut: the movie

2008-01-27T21:32:00.000-05:00

Sad, but I couldn't resist posting the video of Elias playing with his homemade space helmet.

astronut

2008-01-26T22:09:00.000-05:00

Looks like I didn't take many photos in January, but here's one. Click through to see more.

Sadly, Its Not Really a Joke

2008-01-15T15:54:00.001-05:00

Elias, Graham, and I went down to the Social Security Administration's office in New Castle, Delaware today to have them correct Graham's middle name on his Social Security card. While sitting in the waiting room of this government office, I was amused to see the self-satisfied smirk on Dick Cheney's face in his official portrait.

After I got home, I went online to find the White House website to take another look at his picture to see if his expression was really as smarmy as I recalled, and accidentally found www.whitehouse.org, the Officious Website of President George W. Bush. Check out the patriotic posters!

Hint: the real White House website ends in .gov.

if I had a photograph of you

2008-01-12T20:20:00.000-05:00

Here's the jacket art we're thinking of using for Graham's album of 80s cover songs. It drops February 5th and it's only available on vinyl, so look for it at the hipper record stores in your town.

Seriously, this is what his hair looks like all the time. Crazy kids.

new photos

2007-12-31T14:48:00.000-05:00

Photos from around Christmas, including a visit to a tree farm to kill a Christmas tree, the Choo Choo Barn 1300 sq. ft. model train layout, and Christmas day itself. Also, you might want to check out Wendy's portrait photography.

thirty second book reviews, vol. 4, no. 4

2007-12-31T14:19:00.000-05:00

End of the year, I better get this out before time runs out.

High Fidelity - Nick Hornby
In my mind I get Nick Hornby and Bruce Hornsby mixed up. I know they are different people, but because their names are similar they get lumped together under the same memory address or something. Hornby has a way of writing very realistic characters, which makes this book enjoyable. He also has interesting insight into memory and they way we recall our own life story. I recommend this - it will only take a few solid hours to read. Also, you've probably seen the movie and you know how it ends, so you won't feel stressed out worrying about what's going to happen.

About a Boy - Nick Hornby
Pretty much what I said above. I've never seen the whole film of this book, so I can't say how well it matches the novel. Again, it's really short and really readable. I enjoyed it a lot.

Into That Silent Sea: Trailblazers of the Space Era, 1961-1965 - Francis French
This was pretty good, too. As you can tell from the subtitle, it covers the Mercury and Vostok programs in the USA and USSR in detail, focusing on the biographies of the astronauts and cosmonauts that flew into space. It covers their life stories and whole careers, pretty much, so you often get some information about Gemini, Apollo, and Soyuz missions as well, which just goes to show that some of these guys stuck around a long time and had a lot of influence. It took me a long time to finish this - more than a month, I think. It's pretty dense, but well-written. I learned a lot I never knew about the missions and the, of course, the people. Recommended if this kind of thing interests you, but not for a general audience, I think.

That's it. Not so many books this year. I've hardly read anything the last three months, which I blame on laziness and TV.

Buckaroo Zissou

2007-12-23T07:23:00.000-05:00

I just finished watching The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (which I think was very underrated - I liked it even more this time than the first time I saw it).

Something occurred to me while I watched it. It has a lot in common with The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (in no particular order):

1) About a team of misfits
2) Son helps father complete his life's work
3) Raid on enemy headquarters to recover a friend (not a team member) held hostage
4) Death of loved one(s) is avenged
5) Team walk at end to snappy music
6) It's ridiculous but played straight
7) Under-appreciated by audiences and critics
8) Jeff Goldblum costars

Okay, those points are common to a lot of films. But the team walk at the end!?! An undeniable homage. Just try to deny it. Go ahead, try. You know in your heart you cannot.

Merry Christmas!

Update: And just how great is Willem Dafoe in Zissou? I'll answer that: Really great.

sustainability

2007-12-20T07:53:00.000-05:00

As you no doubt have noticed, I haven't blogged anything lately but kid pics.

However, this morning I read a blog post over on Pandagon that sent me to an article by Michael Pollan (author of Omnivore's Dilemma, which you should read if you haven't yet) in the NYT Magazine.

Pollan makes a good case that: 1) the word sustainability doesn't really mean anything anymore, because it means whatever we want it to mean* 2) industrial pig farming is responsible for new strains of MRSA circulating in the public and 3) industrial almond growing is the ultimate cause of Colony Collapse Disorder in honeybees.

Amanda Marcotte at Pandagon brings up an interesting point related to this. These systems are inherently unstable and unsustainable, and they are the logical result of capitalism. Is capitalism (at least the way we practice it, if not by its very nature) the enemy of sustainability? I've long that this may be the case, and I suspect I'm not alone in this. However, any discussion of alternate economic systems is forbidden, and generally degrades into accusations of communism or socialism. As if humans had already tried and failed at every other possible way to exchange goods and services, as if modern capitalism was our last and only hope.

Anyway, somethings to think about as you celebrate the Christmas and welcome 2008. Happy New Year, everyone!

- - - - -

* At my company back in 1999 or so, sustainability became one of our goals. What it meant, however, depended on who was talking (or who was being talked to). To us researchers, it meant a decreasing environmental footprint, but to the money guys, it meant continued economic growth, e.g. stock price, revenue, and profits.

even more new photos

2007-12-13T20:11:00.000-05:00

Here are some new photos of the kids, and from our trip to Los Angeles to visit Wendy's family. Just click through the photos for more.

Shark vs. Octopus

2007-11-26T12:00:00.001-05:00

Who would win? Make your bets now, and I'll put up the video tomorrow...

late late late

2007-11-16T21:58:00.000-05:00

I uploaded some neat pictures of Elias and Graham on Halloween and at a couple of the Smithsonian Museums in Washington, D.C. almost two weeks ago, but I have been too lame/busy to say anything about it here. I correct that mistake now.

Book and Music Recommendation

2007-10-30T09:35:00.000-04:00

White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s
by Joe Boyd

A memoir of his time as a promoter/producer of such folks as Nick Drake, The Incredible String Band, Fairport Convention, etc...Finished it yesterday. It's a quick, very entertaining and insightful read.

You might remember a song by Nick Drake called "Pink Moon" that was used in a VW ad a while back. Great stuff, very unique. I bought the box set, but if you want a quick introduction, check out Way to Blue: An introduction to Nick Drake

new photos

2007-10-29T21:43:00.001-04:00

So sorry it's taken so long to add any new stuff. I started my new job (same company) and I've been much busier.

Anyway, here are some new pictures of the kids.

Lots more here.

new addition

2007-10-26T09:46:00.000-04:00

Guillermo Miguel was born on October 24 to Amy and Bill. Happy birthday, kid!

prestigious awards!

2007-10-12T10:17:00.000-04:00

Wendy won a first place photography award for her photo of the geodesic sphere ("Spaceship Earth") at Epcot Center at the Unionville Community Fair and Farm Show.

She also won a Merit award for her photo of Jokulsarlon in Iceland, which looked something like this:

And best of all, I won first place for red raspberries I grew, in a category no one else even entered. I must have scared away all the competition. (The photographs I entered, in competition with Wendy's, didn't win anything! Philistines.)

Update: No raspberry pictures, but

Wendy's losing entry:
Elias

John's losing entries:
The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, Vancouver, B.C.

Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska

late again

2007-10-04T20:52:00.000-04:00

Once again we missed Graham's birthday - he was three months old yesterday. Happy birthday little guy!

Last weekend, we went to Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown. Pretty odd little place, but we had fun. Below is photo taken there, but click here for a lot more.

do what you can

2007-09-28T12:52:00.000-04:00

There's really not much you can do about the crackdown in Burma, except give voice to your concern by putting pressure on the Chinese government to force the military junta to find a nonviolent solution. The 2008 Olympics and China's defensiveness about its poor human rights record is the lever. Do what you can by signing this petition.

I'm always amazed by the hope some people can summon in the face of overwhelming force. Courage is when you stand your ground, even as the police baton falls. When they keep beating against the walls of oppression with their bodies, sometimes the walls fall.

thirty second book reviews, vol. 4, no. 3

2007-09-21T11:31:00.000-04:00

It has been a long time since the last 30 Second Book Reviews. These reviews are kind of short because I have a lot of books stacked up to review, and some of the books have been slowly evaporating from my brain for almost six months. You gets what you gets.

Too Far From Home: A Story of Life and Death in Space - Chris Jones
This is a pretty poorly written book about what should be interesting stuff. It starts with an excellent discussion of Soviet (Russian) and American space stations and associated mishaps, especially aboard Mir. Then the plot: Two astronauts and a cosmonaut are "stranded" aboard the ISS when the Columbia disintegrated during reentry. Their only way home is [gasp!] the dangerous (more dangerous than the Space Shuttle? Good luck!) Russian Soyuz capsule, and they have to wait until another team can be made ready and launched from Russia to the ISS. There's some good stuff in there, but Jones is a sports writer by training and it shows. The book reads in many parts like one of those overly-dramatic athlete mini-bios you see during the Olympics.

Looking Backward: 2000-1887 - Edward Bellamy (1888)
Kee-rappy 19th century utopianism. Why does it seem like every book like this I've read sucks? In fairness, the whole concept of SF was just beginning to come together at the time, and these guys didn't have many examples of what not to do. As with the others, there's too much explaining, with a tacked on and stupid story about a guy who fall asleeps for 113 years and then marries his long-dead fiancee's great-grandaughter. Yes, I'm giving away the ending, because it doesn't matter. For some reason, this book spawned a utopian movement called Nationalism (which isn't to be confused with regular old nationalism).

All the Pretty Horses - Cormac McCarthy
Pretty good. In it, a couple of teenagers head South of the Border to find adventure and ranch work. They find both, and almost end up dead a few times. The lead character is some sort of superhuman, I think. For sure, I don't know how he learned all the stuff he knows growing up on his Grandpa's Texas ranch. The writing rocks, anyway.

The Secret City - Carol Emshwiller
Meh. Aliens that look like Neanderthals (but can pass for Cro Magnon) get stranded on Earth during the proverbial three hour tour. They to preserve their identity by not to fitting in, and they end up living, secretly, on the outskirts of society. One teenage alien who has lost track of the rest of his kind goes to look for a secret alien city he heard about, hidden up in the mountains. Conflict ensues!

Wizard of the Crow - Ngugi wa'Thiong'o
This one was damn long, and had a unsatisfying ending. That is not a good combination. It's a story about a made-up kleptocracy in Africa run by a crazy dictator. The kleptocrats are angling for World Bank (it's not called the Work Bank in the book, but something similar) money in order to build a giant pyramid that will let the Leader stand in space or something. The titular wizard is an unemployed man and revolutionary woman who work together to do some things, like make a little money, help people, and overthrow the government. It's amusing, but it is hard to get through.

The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring - Richard Preston
I'm getting tired of narrative nonfiction. This book has an interesting disclaimer at the front that spells out just what narrative nonfiction is, which is nice. Anyway, very interesting stuff about redwood and some other trees. The rest (that is, people who climb trees, including the author) I don't care so much about. More about the trees, please!

River of Gods - Ian McDonald
Good book. It's hard to get into, because the author drops you right into a new locale, and then you expend a lot of effort trying to learn the language, which is sort of like actually traveling. The locale is one of the fractured nations of former India in 2047. There's a sci-fi plot about artificial intelligences, zero point energy, and other universes. There's lots of action. I was satisfied.

Brasyl - Ian MacDonald
Just like the book above, only in Brazil (or some variation of the spelling). Like River of Gods, it's hard to get into because first, you have to learn to speak a little Brazilian Portuguese and find your way around Rio de Janeiro. This time, the sci-fi plot is about quantum computing, parallel universes, and universe simulators. There's lots of action. There's sexy Brazilians. I was satisfied. I should have mentioned this above, but at the end of both of these books, MacDonald gives the reader a playlist of music that inspired the book. You could go multimedia and make up the same playlist and listen to it while you read the book!

On the Makaloa Mat / Island Tales - Jack London (1919)
Here's a bunch of short stories that take place in post-Kingdom Hawaii, up until around the 1910s. There are love stories (tragic or not), adventure stories, and some comedy as well. I liked it.

The Plot Against America: A Novel - Philip Roth
I read this one over a weekend (OK, a three day weekend) which is rare for me. It was engaging. It's about what might have happened if fascists had won the Presidency in 1940, and concerns the family of a young Jewish boy living in New Jersey. Recommended by Bill, so it must be good!

Spaceman Blues: A Love Song - Brian Slattery
Neato! Manuel has disappeared, and his boyfriend Wendell is looking for him. But some people (or some things) are looking for Wendell, so he flees with his friend Masoud into the NYC underground (literally). Meanwhile, the Church of Panic has figured out that something really bad is about to happen to New York City. So what is really going on here? This is a very fun, short novel that reminded me of both Vonnegut and Dick and is also totally in love with Brooklyn. I think you should read it - it might be the best book on this list (or maybe Roth's, so try them both!).

avast!

2007-09-19T07:16:00.000-04:00

I hope you slept in late, because today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, ye scurvy dogs!

new photos

2007-09-18T21:26:00.000-04:00

Some new photos of the kids are up. Be sure to check out our 10 foot tall sunflowers!

attn: all those people I married at whose weddings I officiated

2007-09-13T08:20:00.001-04:00

Oops.

(see here for background)

Update: Fixed that for you, hon.

Ron Mueck

2007-09-11T10:43:00.000-04:00

Wanna see photorealistic sculptures of nekkid folk? Check this out. Seriously, fascinating stuff. And respectable, not prurient voyeurism like I made it out to be.

clearly, there are no pockets on this vest!

2007-09-10T11:38:00.001-04:00

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was charged with criminally negligent Han Solo cosplay and deported to Saudi Arabia on Monday, hours after he returned to Pakistan from a seven-year exile hoping to attend IslamaCon07, officials said.