Lots of stuff.
First, i fully enjoyed this article comparing the ridiculousness of two trailers (one for the upcoming movie Wolf Of Wall Street, the other for JayZ's newest album).
Archimedes was the Greek mathematician and engineering dude who, upon realizing you can compare the volume of two objects by submerging them in water, supposedly raced naked through the streets of the Greek city Syracuse yelling "Eureka". He was also an inventor of astonishingly wide breadth. A recent NYTimes article highlights some of his inventions, and opens with the highly entertaining statement, "For the last time: Archimedes did not invent a death ray. ".
i saw World War Z this weekend with a few friends. (Side tangent, related Jimmy gold clip) It was decent; a mostly predictable but still fun summer movie. Before the movie, we all went out for food, and conversation turned to music, somehow, including Kimbra. In explaining who she is, i referenced her being featured in Gotye's song Somebody That I Used To Know, which lead me to inquiring if i say his name right. (Short answer, we don't know.) Long form, i mentioned that it's Dutch/Flemish for the Western name Walter (and from wikipedia, " The name "Gotye" is a pronunciation respelling of "Gauthier", the French equivalent of the Flemish given name "Wouter". "). Regardless, names and their variety are fascinating. Also brought up in conversation was Johnny Cash, and the always cited song Ring Of Fire. It was (okay, debatably) actually written by a guy named Merle Kilgore and Johnny's wife June Carter Cash, who was from an incredibly well-regarded country music family. Yes, Johnny married well.
A brief note regarding the optimal preparation of coffee using a pour-over device (not to be confused with comb-overs) is outlined in this Wall Street Journal piece. (Side tangent, from that wikipedia article featuring comb-overs ,"In Japan, men with comb overs are called "bar code men" （バーコード人）, referring to the similarity between the striations caused by the comb and the UPC on products." i learn something new and fascinating every day.)
This article covers the myriad ways that the White House Press Secretary Jay Carney tells the press that he is not answering whatever question might come in handy for anyone who has to give seminar in the near future.
While slightly rabble-rousing, this is a worth-while read titled "5 reasons to be a feminist man".
My dear friend and cycling partner Asuka had her wisdom teeth out this Wednesday. i had the pleasure of driving her back from the appointment, before most of the anesthetics had worn off, and the main thing she wanted to know, having never been medically made unconscious before, was how that all worked. (Scientists. You can take 'em out of the lab and medically drug 'em up, and they still want the answers.) Anesthesia usually works by inhibiting the nerve transmissions in the central nervous system. Wikipedia states that most of the exact mechanisms haven't been worked out, but seem to either (not ether, ah ha) bind to nerve receptors to prevent the proper molecules from binding or prevent that receptor's action, or bind to provoke a direct response/mimic natural molecule binding. She also wanted to discuss stem cell differentiation, but that's her field of expertise.
Can we just re-iterate that when i'm 51, i hope my legs look even half as good as Anna Dello Russo's?
Finally, a piece on Alaskan glacial ice, its procurement and its popularity in beverages.
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
the Spurs, mariachis, hibiscus, cycling maps, and recyling glass.
In brief, i grew up fairly close to San Antonio, and have had the good fortune to be varying degrees of a Spurs fan from the David Robinson era on forward. (My mother is really to blame/credit here, as she's very much a Spurs fan and the reason that the entire family owns Spurs paraphernalia). The Spurs have had a great season, made it to the finals, and have been having a back-and-forth with the Miami Heat (you know, LaBron James' team) up through yesterday night's hard fought, lost-by-three-points-in-overtime game 6.
It's nice to be from a town where the local sports team is made up of just solid, decent guys who play as a team (it's kinda boring, media-wise, but that's not a bad thing). Game 5 was on Sunday night, which was also Father's Day, and i was pleased to see this yahoo article regarding the players as dads, including a reference to an Onion article featuring the same.
Also notable from the NBA finals this year was the coverage of a 12-year-old Mariachi singer Sebastian De La Cruz, who sang the National anthem for game 3, which was met with racial comments. The cry of support from San Antonio was loud enough that the young man sang the national anthem again for game 4, and did a spectacular job.
And, there exists a (slightly dated) mariachi song called Go, Espurs, Go (and follow-up story here, regarding the musician who is also a truck-jumping daredevil).
Finally, Coach Pop is a very admired, highly quotable wildcard.
Also having to do with SA, agua frescas are very common beverage, being sweet fruity drinks of many varieties including hibiscus. It's sort of raspberry/cherry/red flavored. When i was a kid, there was also a kool aid flavored like hibiscus flowers that was pretty awesome. The bar where i had dinner last night featured a beer that used hibiscus as a flavoring, which put me in mind of the kool aid flavor. i might have to go back and try that beer. A friend with whom i had dinner asked about a link between okra and hibiscus; the flowers (okra v/s hibiscus) and plants look pretty similar. They're both members of the family Malvaceae, which also includes cotton (flowers here) and the well known decorative plant hollyhocks.
Though Feminist Ryan Gosling is now defunct due to the graduation of it's creator (Congrats!!), Feminist Taylor Swift is now a thing. Also Feminist Hulk twitter?
Saw this yesterday on the NY Times, and i forwarded it to a few of my favorite cycling friends: crowd-sourced local biking advice, limited to 10 words. (You can search for your current city.)
Another map featuring the meaning of town names here (with kudos to Brandon).
For those of us fascinated with molten glass and recycling, a link that includes both.
It's nice to be from a town where the local sports team is made up of just solid, decent guys who play as a team (it's kinda boring, media-wise, but that's not a bad thing). Game 5 was on Sunday night, which was also Father's Day, and i was pleased to see this yahoo article regarding the players as dads, including a reference to an Onion article featuring the same.
Also notable from the NBA finals this year was the coverage of a 12-year-old Mariachi singer Sebastian De La Cruz, who sang the National anthem for game 3, which was met with racial comments. The cry of support from San Antonio was loud enough that the young man sang the national anthem again for game 4, and did a spectacular job.
And, there exists a (slightly dated) mariachi song called Go, Espurs, Go (and follow-up story here, regarding the musician who is also a truck-jumping daredevil).
Finally, Coach Pop is a very admired, highly quotable wildcard.
Also having to do with SA, agua frescas are very common beverage, being sweet fruity drinks of many varieties including hibiscus. It's sort of raspberry/cherry/red flavored. When i was a kid, there was also a kool aid flavored like hibiscus flowers that was pretty awesome. The bar where i had dinner last night featured a beer that used hibiscus as a flavoring, which put me in mind of the kool aid flavor. i might have to go back and try that beer. A friend with whom i had dinner asked about a link between okra and hibiscus; the flowers (okra v/s hibiscus) and plants look pretty similar. They're both members of the family Malvaceae, which also includes cotton (flowers here) and the well known decorative plant hollyhocks.
Though Feminist Ryan Gosling is now defunct due to the graduation of it's creator (Congrats!!), Feminist Taylor Swift is now a thing. Also Feminist Hulk twitter?
Saw this yesterday on the NY Times, and i forwarded it to a few of my favorite cycling friends: crowd-sourced local biking advice, limited to 10 words. (You can search for your current city.)
Another map featuring the meaning of town names here (with kudos to Brandon).
For those of us fascinated with molten glass and recycling, a link that includes both.
Saturday, June 15, 2013
ukuleles, islands and continents, trollcam, Game of Thrones etc
Lots of stuff has happened; for instance i have learned to spell a few words.
In honor of (finally!) acquiring a ukulele (a tenor Makala, bought it online, yes i have but not yet installed aquila strings), and learning how to spell that 'ukulele', here's a clip of what might be my favorite Amanda Palmer song.
i finally learned how to consistently spell 'scissor', courtesy of googling music by the astounding '90s pop band the Scissor Sisters. Reference this song and this song, for starters. (And thanks to LZ for the recommendation.) It's safe to say i still don't understand Mika.
i have not learned how to spell this, but i encountered the term 'smörgåstårta' on David Lebovitz's blog, which lead to the viewing of this baffling youtube clip by an earnest probably Swedish man (warning, there's a bit of yelling). This was apparently also a thing in the US, too, in the 1950s-ish. As stated on this Betty Crocker recipe, "This sandwich loaf will be the talk of the party!"
i was (happily) having dinner with Kelly AT and James about two weeks ago, looking over a few trivia questions, when we came upon the question, 'what is the largest island?' This stimulated some conversation toward the definition of an island, which none of us were confident we could answer. Technically (by which i mean wikipedia states it), the naming of an island versus a continent is a matter of convention. Huh. Other definitions include that a continent sits on it's own tectonic plate (it's the largest landmass on that plate); "Continents sit on continental lithosphere which is part of tectonic plates floating high on Earth's molten mantle. Oceanic crust is also part of tectonic plates, but it is denser than continental lithosphere, so it floats low on the mantle. Islands are either extensions of the oceanic crust (e.g. volcanic islands) or geologically they are part of some continent sitting on continental lithosphere(e.g. Greenland). " The answer, btw, is that Greenland is the largest island, while Australia is the smallest continent.
It has come to my attention that the nearby town of Mount Horeb, WI, has declared itself the 'Troll Capital of the World', and there is a streaming trollcam.
Regarding Game Of Thrones, the season is over. However, i tripped over this the other night, where someone showed their dad pictures of characters and asked him to name them. It's awesome. Moreover, this quote from Mr. Martin, "[when asked if any of the cast of his book series, "A Song of Ice and Fire", will be left alive]: "No one will be alive by the last book. In fact, they all die in the fifth. The sixth book will be just a thousand-page description of snow blowing across the graves ...". Yeah.
i bought a scented candle today. That's a first. This girly business is getting out of hand, and i'd feel worse about it if i didn't also purchase two very large bags of dirt (potting soil).
Okay, please excuse me while i i figure out how to change the strings on a ukulele.
In honor of (finally!) acquiring a ukulele (a tenor Makala, bought it online, yes i have but not yet installed aquila strings), and learning how to spell that 'ukulele', here's a clip of what might be my favorite Amanda Palmer song.
i finally learned how to consistently spell 'scissor', courtesy of googling music by the astounding '90s pop band the Scissor Sisters. Reference this song and this song, for starters. (And thanks to LZ for the recommendation.) It's safe to say i still don't understand Mika.
i have not learned how to spell this, but i encountered the term 'smörgåstårta' on David Lebovitz's blog, which lead to the viewing of this baffling youtube clip by an earnest probably Swedish man (warning, there's a bit of yelling). This was apparently also a thing in the US, too, in the 1950s-ish. As stated on this Betty Crocker recipe, "This sandwich loaf will be the talk of the party!"
i was (happily) having dinner with Kelly AT and James about two weeks ago, looking over a few trivia questions, when we came upon the question, 'what is the largest island?' This stimulated some conversation toward the definition of an island, which none of us were confident we could answer. Technically (by which i mean wikipedia states it), the naming of an island versus a continent is a matter of convention. Huh. Other definitions include that a continent sits on it's own tectonic plate (it's the largest landmass on that plate); "Continents sit on continental lithosphere which is part of tectonic plates floating high on Earth's molten mantle. Oceanic crust is also part of tectonic plates, but it is denser than continental lithosphere, so it floats low on the mantle. Islands are either extensions of the oceanic crust (e.g. volcanic islands) or geologically they are part of some continent sitting on continental lithosphere(e.g. Greenland). " The answer, btw, is that Greenland is the largest island, while Australia is the smallest continent.
It has come to my attention that the nearby town of Mount Horeb, WI, has declared itself the 'Troll Capital of the World', and there is a streaming trollcam.
Regarding Game Of Thrones, the season is over. However, i tripped over this the other night, where someone showed their dad pictures of characters and asked him to name them. It's awesome. Moreover, this quote from Mr. Martin, "[when asked if any of the cast of his book series, "A Song of Ice and Fire", will be left alive]: "No one will be alive by the last book. In fact, they all die in the fifth. The sixth book will be just a thousand-page description of snow blowing across the graves ...". Yeah.
i bought a scented candle today. That's a first. This girly business is getting out of hand, and i'd feel worse about it if i didn't also purchase two very large bags of dirt (potting soil).
Okay, please excuse me while i i figure out how to change the strings on a ukulele.
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