The 2009 Living Green Expo is going on this weekend, May 2-3, at the MN State Fairgrounds.
Completely free admission, seminars, samples, and general good info. Ride a bike or take the bus to not be a poser.
If you don't go, you hate the environment. FACT.
Currently listening to: MPR - Midmorning (about trends in materialism, in fact)
Monday, April 27, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
NyQuil is the only true dream terrorist...
While perusing past Penny Arcade posts, I noticed a brief mention by Tycho of Le Chavalier d'Eon, which reminded me of a recent proverbial cold day.
I'm not an anime fan by any means. I never made it through Akira, and I can't deal with Full Metal Alchemist. So when Michelle returned from the library with the first episodes of d'Eon, I purposely stayed in the room with the intent of briefly looking up from my own business at regular intervals to ridicule absurdity as I am wont to do.
It turns out the thing was freaking awesome. It's historical fiction, based in 18th century France, and places a fantastical twist on characters and events during the pre-Revolution. I convinced Jenny to watch the first episode and it didn't take long till she was hooked too, and together we burned through the series in no time.
It's still anime, bogged down with excessive weirdness, and at the end I still didn't really know what happened. But it was intriguing...
And so, with true diplomacy, we decided to give a chance to other Japantastic shows. That's when Michelle returned again from the library with Paprika...
Well, we watched that -- and while it was artfully beautiful to look at, when the credits rolled, my sentiments were summed up with a well-placed quote from Mr. Greg Blacik's assessment of Vune's Jabberwocky-esque middle school extra credit composition:
"Makes perfect sense to me. 1000 extra credit points."
At least the theme song rules.
I'm not an anime fan by any means. I never made it through Akira, and I can't deal with Full Metal Alchemist. So when Michelle returned from the library with the first episodes of d'Eon, I purposely stayed in the room with the intent of briefly looking up from my own business at regular intervals to ridicule absurdity as I am wont to do.
It turns out the thing was freaking awesome. It's historical fiction, based in 18th century France, and places a fantastical twist on characters and events during the pre-Revolution. I convinced Jenny to watch the first episode and it didn't take long till she was hooked too, and together we burned through the series in no time.
It's still anime, bogged down with excessive weirdness, and at the end I still didn't really know what happened. But it was intriguing...
And so, with true diplomacy, we decided to give a chance to other Japantastic shows. That's when Michelle returned again from the library with Paprika...
Well, we watched that -- and while it was artfully beautiful to look at, when the credits rolled, my sentiments were summed up with a well-placed quote from Mr. Greg Blacik's assessment of Vune's Jabberwocky-esque middle school extra credit composition:
"Makes perfect sense to me. 1000 extra credit points."
At least the theme song rules.
a diuretic a day...
I was steamrollered by a cold yesterday. Bah. It set on quickly in the afternoon and really got into swing in the middle of last night. I'm holding it at bay right now with ample doses of Dayquil and pseudophedrine, but that combination loops my brain right out of the galaxy with such efficiency that I'm not sure I'm any better off.
Yesterday I had planned to start a three-day experiment (which I'll describe later), but an afternoon meeting went late and I ran out of time to do it. That wouldn't be a problem, as I just pushed it all back a day, but now that I have a constant post-rollercoaster sensation of vertigo, I really only want to be at home.
My predicament has to do with the timing of this experiment. I'm supposed to start it at 3:00. I don't really want to stay here until then. I could start it now, but I'd have to pick it up again -- to misquote Dickens -- all the earlier the next morning. That means being at work at 5:30 am. The buses start running at 7:00 am, so I'd have to bike to work tomorrow.
With a cold.
High on stimulants.
Sounds like fun.
Yesterday I had planned to start a three-day experiment (which I'll describe later), but an afternoon meeting went late and I ran out of time to do it. That wouldn't be a problem, as I just pushed it all back a day, but now that I have a constant post-rollercoaster sensation of vertigo, I really only want to be at home.
My predicament has to do with the timing of this experiment. I'm supposed to start it at 3:00. I don't really want to stay here until then. I could start it now, but I'd have to pick it up again -- to misquote Dickens -- all the earlier the next morning. That means being at work at 5:30 am. The buses start running at 7:00 am, so I'd have to bike to work tomorrow.
With a cold.
High on stimulants.
Sounds like fun.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Where the awesomeness is...
This has great propensity to suck, I know, but the principle is just too awesome for me not to be excited.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
There's no escape from Web 2.0...
I finally made the effort to set up a Flickr account. I'm not too fond of the way this blog handles photos, and I've heard not-so-great things about Picasa.
Anyway, now I can share a lot more at once, instead of just one or two. For now, I've only got Cozumel pictures up, but you can check out my photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mackis/
Remember it well...
Currently listening to: NPR - All Things Considered
Anyway, now I can share a lot more at once, instead of just one or two. For now, I've only got Cozumel pictures up, but you can check out my photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mackis/
Remember it well...
Currently listening to: NPR - All Things Considered
Monday, April 13, 2009
Adios, ciudad del hedor...
My apologies for the lack of updates this past week. I happened to be occupied. It was an interesting experience, staying at an all-inclusive resort; it was fun, no doubt, but it almost felt like we didn't belong there. As if we were interlopers...
The time-share pushers were a bit flummoxed by us, not understanding why we'd prefer camping in MN to hanging out on a beach with a swarm of entitled Americans. I think I'll remember their looks of dismay forever...
It was a good time, and a nice change of pace to not worry too much about planning and being frugal. They still tried to rip us off a few times, but luck turned in our favor, and there were no worries. In the end, a bit of snorkeling, a lounge bed on the beach, sunshine, free drinks, and a good book were all that mattered.
I'll give some more details once I get my photos up.
The time-share pushers were a bit flummoxed by us, not understanding why we'd prefer camping in MN to hanging out on a beach with a swarm of entitled Americans. I think I'll remember their looks of dismay forever...
It was a good time, and a nice change of pace to not worry too much about planning and being frugal. They still tried to rip us off a few times, but luck turned in our favor, and there were no worries. In the end, a bit of snorkeling, a lounge bed on the beach, sunshine, free drinks, and a good book were all that mattered.
I'll give some more details once I get my photos up.
Friday, April 03, 2009
Science Friday...
NPR's Science Friday had a great show today about particle physics and astrobiology. It was broadcast from the Origins Symposium and had a number of prominent scientists taking part. Their discussion was really good.
You can download both parts of the talk here:
Particle physics
Astrobiology
You can download both parts of the talk here:
Particle physics
Astrobiology
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