Solution, or Mess? A Milk Jug for a Green Earth

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 30 June 2008 at 9:18 AM

There were 897 complete games in 1968, compared with 112 last season.
1968 - A Country In a Low Era, A Game With A Low E.R.A. - NYTimes.com

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 28 June 2008 at 11:53 PM

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 28 June 2008 at 11:24 PM

Tim Egan, 53, was riding on Old Stage Road Tuesday afternoon when suddenly a bear appeared in front of him. Egan hit the bear and ended up skidding across the road.

“This bear looked at me with a look of terror on his face and sort of made a noise,” said Egan. “I looked at him with a look of terror and we went, ‘aaaahhhhh.’”

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 26 June 2008 at 11:22 AM

 via deadspin.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 25 June 2008 at 11:36 AM

Home Depot Offers Recycling for Compact Fluorescent Bulbs
This program should help address one of the few remaining arguments against CFLs.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 25 June 2008 at 9:15 AM

Journalism outsourced to India

I guess its not just software engineers who need to worry about outsourcing these days.

(via Paul Krugman)

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 21 June 2008 at 8:58 AM

There are good movies. There are bad movies. There are movies so bad they’re good (though, strangely, not the reverse). And once in a while there is a movie so bad that it takes you to a place beyond good and evil and abandons you there, shivering and alone. Watching The Love Guru (Paramount Pictures) is a spiritual experience of a sort, but not the sort that its creator and star, Mike Myers, intended. This tale of a guru who brings joy to all who meet him is the most joy-draining 88 minutes I’ve ever spent outside a hospital waiting room. In the course of those long minutes, Myers leads you on a journey deep inside himself, to the source from whence his comedy springs--and it’s about as much fun as a tour of someone’s large intestine.
The Love Guru reviewed. - By Dana Stevens - Slate Magazine

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 19 June 2008 at 10:03 PM

The Movie Review: ‘The Happening’
“This film is so bad that I feel compelled to make a spoiler-laden list of its most laughably terrible parts rather than review it.”

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 18 June 2008 at 12:40 PM

Chilling a Deal for Bud
Not exactly a ringing endoresement for the current A-B management.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 18 June 2008 at 8:39 AM

STLtoday.com was running the badge above as a promo for a special feature they’d put together on Chicago architecture.  The more I looked at it, the more I felt like I’d seen it before.  As it turned out, I had.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 16 June 2008 at 1:19 PM

Noah, Jim, Michael, and Rachel: More Cowbell!

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 14 June 2008 at 11:43 PM

I’m amused to see that Jimmy Buffet has rerecorded three of his songs for Rock Band — especially since he choose to include Rock Band-alluding lyrics in one of them.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 14 June 2008 at 6:51 PM

I’ve been posting a lot about Claire McCaskill — freshman Senator from Missouri, prominent Barack Obama supporter — and there’s been a lot of buzz about her being in the VP sweepstakes.  I’ll continue to post things that I read about her since I’m pretty proud to have her representing me, but I do’t expect her to be the VP nominee.

Let me explain why.  First, there’s the unknown about who would replace her in the Senate.  Unless Jay Nixon is elected governor this fall (and McCaskill waits until after January 12th to resign her Senate seat), Missouri will have a Republican governor who will be able to appoint a replacement who will serve until 2013.  The Senate’s balance of power is too important to put in play on something like this.  Further, while McCaskill has been a hugely effective advocate for Obama, she hasn’t yet been in the Senate two years and her claim to fame prior to that was serving as the State Auditor in Missouri.  If you can knock Obama for a lack of experience, you can doubly do so to Claire McCaskill.

That said, what do I expect of Claire McCaskill come January 20, 2009?  Well, first and foremost, as one of the articles I linked to earlier said, “[n]obody got more national television exposure, or used it more effectively to advocate for Obama, than McCaskill.”  I think that aside from Barack Obama himself, no one in the Senate will have benefitted as much from this campaign as Claire McCaskill.  Next Janaury, despite having been in office just two years, McCaskill will be a nationally recognized figure in the party and there will be a president in the White House who owes her a favor.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 14 June 2008 at 11:44 AM

It appears that the complexity of the Lisbon treaty — the treaty that replaces the failed European constitution and reorganizes the EU’s governing body — is one reason that it was rejected by Irish voters yesterday.  The Economist reports that “[d]uring voting on Thursday, both supporters and opponents complained that they did not understand the highly technical text—many chose to ‘play safe’ and say no.”  The Times echoes this sentiment by quoting a political scientist as saying that the voters in Ireland “didn’t understand the treaty — why it was needed, what it was going to change.”

All of which would be understandable if it weren’t for the fct that it seems that European politicians deliberately obfuscated the treaty.  The Economist, in the same article that was linked above, also reports that “[i]t was no accident that Lisbon was a hard text to read: EU leaders were to be heard crowing last year that they had made it “unintelligible” in order to smuggle it past voters.”

So, I guess European politicians have reaped what they sowed with the rejection yesterday by the voters in Ireland of the Lisbon treaty.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 14 June 2008 at 11:04 AM

Employees own 5.7% of BUD

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 13 June 2008 at 6:48 PM

The Washington Post credits him with coining the phrase ‘red state’ and ‘blue state’ to explain the nation’s political divide.
Tim Russert biography, msnbc.com

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 13 June 2008 at 6:17 PM

via the NY Times

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 13 June 2008 at 5:17 PM

NBCs Tim Russert Dies

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 13 June 2008 at 2:42 PM

Dan Lyons, the veteran Forbes tech editor who runs a blog under the pseudonym “Fake Steve Jobs,” has been poached by Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham.
New York Post

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 13 June 2008 at 12:33 PM

‘I can tell you, there are very few people who are closer to me, who I have relied on more for counsel or advice,’ he continued. ‘Should I be successful in this campaign, she will be somebody who has the utmost access to the Obama administration.’
Barack Obama, talking about Claire McCaskill

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 13 June 2008 at 11:53 AM

Garkov -- Garfield + Markov chains
Repurposing Garfield is a popular pursuit these days.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 13 June 2008 at 11:31 AM

Is ardent Barack Obama supporter Claire McCaskill interested in the No. 2 spot on the Illinois senator’s presidential ticket?
CNN Political Ticker

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 13 June 2008 at 10:56 AM

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 13 June 2008 at 8:06 AM

Coldplay’s new album comes out today, and one of the songs on it was inspired by an unusual source: Bill O’Reilly, the Fox News Channel host.
TV Decoder

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 12 June 2008 at 3:24 PM

But some of that furniture and some of those walls conceal secrets -- messages, games and treasures -- that make up a Rube Goldberg maze of systems and contraptions conceived by a young architectural designer named Eric Clough, whose ideas about space and domestic living derive more from Buckminster Fuller than Peter Marino.
Mystery on Fifth Avenue - NYTimes.com

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 12 June 2008 at 12:29 PM

Saw this on stltoday.com.  The second bullet doesn’t really reinforce the idea that the Cardinals will weather the storm.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 12 June 2008 at 10:52 AM

Nobody got more national television exposure, or used it more effectively to advocate for Obama, than McCaskill. Suddenly everyone knows this freshman senator.
Charles Mahtesian - Politico.com

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 12 June 2008 at 10:38 AM

On Wednesday, Bravo announced that it was developing a new, family-friendly spinoff of the show called “Top Chef Junior” in which teenagers will compete for the top culinary spot.
TV Decoder

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 12 June 2008 at 9:52 AM

At this point, I pause to wonder why we enjoy a show in which we watch other people taste great food.
Gail Pennington, discussing the ‘Top Chef’ finale

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 12 June 2008 at 7:50 AM

Things you see when you go to a limited showing of an anime movie.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 11 June 2008 at 9:36 PM

From an excellent Slate slideshow on the architecture of Eero Saarinen.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 11 June 2008 at 1:35 PM

Whatever anyone from the MIT Media Lab says, the opposite is true.
Fake Steve Jobs

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 10 June 2008 at 6:27 PM

Paul Krugman fact checks McCain
I love fact checking.  I just wish the media would spend more time doing it and less time giving two sides to every story.  The truth doesn’t have two sides.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 10 June 2008 at 3:23 PM

The press is divided on whether this image helps or hurts Obama.  It’s unclear to me how it hurts a presidential candidate to appear normal, so i think it can only help.

(via Top of the Ticket)

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 10 June 2008 at 2:51 PM

Chuck Berry Endorses Obama

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 9 June 2008 at 6:18 PM

Mossberg's First Impressions of the 3G iPhone

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 9 June 2008 at 6:13 PM

Bush-Gore, revisited
Like Krugman, I’m also worried that people are going to latch on to this fallacy that McCain and Obama are the same on the issues.  They demostrably are not.  Even on issues where they agree in principle — and these are rare for big issues — their disagreement on the details is important enough to put them into to very different camps (for example, climate change).

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 9 June 2008 at 6:10 PM

Gates is slapping around the figher mafia that runs (ran?) the Air Force.

Cato-at-liberty » Gates vs. Fighters

I had no idea there was this subtext to the new Air Force appointments.  In general, I think the choice of Robert Gates as head of the DoD was a pretty good one.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 9 June 2008 at 6:01 PM

What is more, consumers will now pay $30 a month for unlimited data service from AT&T, compared to $20 under the plan introduced last year. So even though the phone will now cost $200, consumers will be out more cash at the end of a two-year contract compared to the previous deal.
NY Times, discussing the changing pricing model for the new iPhone

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 9 June 2008 at 3:36 PM

The iPhone 3G will cost $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB model. Apple plans availability in 22 countries starting July 11, with a goal of rolling it out to 70 countries.
Ars on the new iPhone

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 9 June 2008 at 1:54 PM

There was a controversy — but the news media by and large chose to ignore it.
Paul Krugman on the protests against the Iraq war.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 9 June 2008 at 12:57 PM

Point is, you’re supposed to be Apple faithful. Our motto is “Think Different.” Not “Stand in line like a bunch of friggin sheep.
Fake Steve

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 9 June 2008 at 12:40 PM

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 8 June 2008 at 4:58 PM

Just came across these photos from a trip to Minnesota for a friend’s wedding about five years ago.  The full set is here.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 7 June 2008 at 8:20 PM

Picked this up after a great tasting of red and white Burgundies at The Wine Merchant.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 7 June 2008 at 6:53 PM

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 7 June 2008 at 6:20 PM

Gmail Gets 13 Experimental New Features Tonight

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 6 June 2008 at 1:25 PM

Glide Ceramic Toaster by George Watson.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 6 June 2008 at 11:59 AM

Ed McMahon, Housing Crisis Casualty
Who ould have ever that that Ed McMahon would be the poster child for home forclosures?  But his story of “a ‘perfect storm’ of health setbacks, accumulating bills and a generally bleak economy” seem to mirror what many Americans are experiencing these days.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 6 June 2008 at 9:34 AM

Apartment Therapy Unplugged | Lexon Jet FM Clock Radio
I want this, but tend not to buy things when their prices are only listed in pound sterling.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 6 June 2008 at 9:28 AM

From TV to M.L.S., One Mexican Teen’s Soccer Dream - NYTimes.com

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 6 June 2008 at 9:12 AM

Just a few weeks ago these geese were a fixture at work. The goslings molted last week and I haven’t seen the gander since then. And this week I haven’t seen any of them.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 5 June 2008 at 11:20 PM

Can mostly keep the helicopter aloft for long durations and can control its vertical movements, but its vertical movements are 100% random.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 5 June 2008 at 11:12 PM

via PhotoshopDisasters

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 5 June 2008 at 6:11 PM

I’m getting better with the helicopter, but its movements are still mostly random.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 5 June 2008 at 6:08 PM

RC helicopters are hard to steer.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 4 June 2008 at 10:18 PM

Hillary Wants Something. Does She Even Know What It Is?
The photo caption alone makes this worth reading.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 4 June 2008 at 12:47 PM

Saw this on the printer this morning.  Not sure how legible it is, but I’m a little curious as to what the second document in the queue is all about.  It doesn’t sound from its title like something you’d want to print at work.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 4 June 2008 at 9:27 AM

I didn’t watch Hillary’s speech last night, but I thought I heard her use the phrase “stay the course” in the clip that NPR played this morning.  If she actually said that, it would seem to me to be an odd choice to compare the rest of her campaign to Bush’s Iraq strategy.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 4 June 2008 at 8:58 AM

HRC’s speech tonight seems to be, justifiably, stirring up a lot of ill will toward her.  Fear not, fellow Obamaniacs, for she was severely weakened today.  Now that the media has crowned Obama king, they’ll stop paying attention to Clinton, and she’ll be unable to leverage her near miss into a spot on the ticket or anything else.  So let her have her spot in the limelight tonight — she won’t be around much longer.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 3 June 2008 at 10:46 PM

Saw this on a Metro pickup truck. It’s hard to believe this is an official Metro motto since it is so proveably false.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 3 June 2008 at 8:12 PM

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 3 June 2008 at 5:51 PM

I said I’d give another listen to the Weezer album before deciding on it, but I don’t need any additional time to make a decision on RIvers’ new look.  The ‘stache has got to go.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 3 June 2008 at 5:17 PM

I’m not sold on the new Weezer album, but I’ll give it another listen before I weigh in with my final take.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 3 June 2008 at 5:14 PM

Sears Tower Or Bust: My Algae-Powered Car Adventure
HS students in Chicago spent a year making biodiesel from algae.  It’s a really cool story.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 3 June 2008 at 4:33 PM

via www.phdcomics.com

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 3 June 2008 at 11:20 AM

Because gas engines burn the typically corn-based fuel less efficiently, the adjusted cost of E85 is $4.321 per gallon compared to gas that averaged about $3.962 on Friday.
Jalopnik

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 2 June 2008 at 8:30 PM

Stlog - KWMU (90.7 FM) General Manager Patricia Wente "Terminated"
Love her or hate her — and if you believe the RFT, most people hate her — this is big news for KWMU.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 2 June 2008 at 8:20 PM

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 2 June 2008 at 8:00 PM

Hmm.  Via etsy. 

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 2 June 2008 at 7:04 PM

Way back

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 2 June 2008 at 6:27 PM

Work

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 2 June 2008 at 4:35 PM

Reason for leaving: “Terminated after saying, ‘It would be a blessing to be fired.’
150 Funniest Resume Mistakes, Bloopers and Blunders Ever | JobMob

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 2 June 2008 at 4:11 PM

Sarah Jessica Parker Looks Like A Horse
Amusing because this subject was a topic of conversation over dinner on Friday.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 2 June 2008 at 4:02 PM

Intel has decided not to deploy Vista internally.
Dubious Quality: Intel: No To Vista

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 2 June 2008 at 11:59 AM

Clinton’s advance staffers — those who “arrange events around the country” — are being told to converge on New York City and that “their roles on the campaign are ending.
So NOW What Is Clinton Gonna Do? — Daily Intel — New York News Blog — New York Magazine

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 2 June 2008 at 11:31 AM

Indeed: while US passenger train service is basically nonexistent outside the NE corridor, America has had a revival in rail freight since the 1970s, while trains have just about disappeared from the freight scene in Europe.
Europe, off the rails - Paul Krugman - Op-Ed Columnist - New York Times Blog

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 2 June 2008 at 10:35 AM

Some of them really work, and some of them work better,” Mr. Davis said in a telephone interview.
Media Talk - Is the Main Character Missing? Maybe Not. - NYTimes.com

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 2 June 2008 at 9:45 AM

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 2 June 2008 at 12:06 AM

The iconic courthouse square from ”Back to the Future” was also destroyed, Freeman said, and the famous clock tower that enabled Michael J. Fox’s character to travel through time was damaged.
Fire Tears Through Movie Lot in Los Angeles - NYTimes.com

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 1 June 2008 at 3:48 PM

While Florida was split along ballot lines, Michigan proved trickier. The Washington Post reports that the committee decided to rely on exit polling as well as ballot totals while working out the Michigan delegate allotments. In the end, they awarded all uncommitted Michigan delegates to Obama, along with four delegates that would have gone to Clinton under a ballot-only deal. While the Obama campaign expressed satisfaction with the decision, at least one Clinton spokesman has said Clinton may appeal the decision later this summer. The New York Times says the new count leaves Obama 176 delegates ahead of Clinton.
Today’s Papers - Slate Magazine

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 1 June 2008 at 10:16 AM