Mad Chopstix Skillz

Saw this on Make advocating long tweezers. Learn to use chopsticks already...they're not just for sticky rice. I've used them for retrieving tiny screws that fall into inconvenient places under the motherboard, places where my Mr. Magneto screwdriver was not working.

I know some people believe that chopsticks are inferior to the "barbarian" fork, but they really come into their own in precision work. I will admit that they have certain failings when used for Jello or the odd heavy item...but I guess my actual favorite thing about Asian food is that it comes pre-cut- no knives out on the table. Just tweeze and eat. Yumalazious.

DRM is dying

Yes, dying I tell you, dying! It's actually almost safe to get back on the iTunes Music Store again. Now I just need to get my Tivo to play AAC (too much pain to always convert to mp3), or buy one of those apple tv things so I can enjoy the entertainments on my hi-fi.

April Fools' Day

April fools day on the internet completely fails to be interesting or funny to me anymore, it's completely predictable and lame. Even this.

I think everyone should take a few years off, maybe it would seem fresh again. Probably not though, it's just a dumb idea.

Pinked

You know you're living in a girlie house when you can do an entire load of pink laundry every week. All pink. Seriously.

Nothing against pink here. Love pink. Still, I was tickled some other color when our pal Emily sent us a kickin' black onesie with a Dolly Parton image on it. Take that pink princess party palace!

Somehow the whole pink thing is kind of nuts. My wife has some pals whose husbands freak out about the possibility of their sons wearing pink. Completely mad, they are. Now, I don't actually have a son, but if I did, he would definitely be wearing whatever pink hand-me-downs his sister left for him. What's the worst that could happen??? And why is that worse?

Merlin's 5ives

Why is this stuff so funny to me? WHY?

Merlin's lists of 5ives.

Five ideas I’ve had for family theme restaurants
November 13th, 2006

1. B.F. Skinner’s Original Stuffers - The poultry skin of your choosing is stuffed with a la carte selections from “th’ fixin’s bar,” deep fried to a golden brown, and served with your choice of fun “Dippin’” sauces.
2. Bobby B. Butterworth’s Old Fashioned Dairy Funshack - A frozen quarterpound stick of salted creamery butter is hand-battered, “flash fried,” and served with your choice of fun “Dippin’” sauces.
3. Long John Silvers’ “Dripper” Hut - Offshoot of the fast-food seafood franchise offers “mini-buckets” of their leftover fried shortening flecks, served with your choice of fun “Dippin’” sauces.
4. Mouth Meat Mel’s - 450º pizza — sure to immediately scald the roof of your mouth — is served with your choice of fun “Dippin’” sauces. (note: first-time members of “The Mel’s Mouth Meat Makers” receive a colorful “I damaged the delicate tissues of my mouth at Mel’s!” adhesive ribbon)
5. Dippin’ Dippin’ Dippin’! - The “Dippin’” sauce of your choice is served with your choice of fun “Dippin’” sauces.

Commercinals*

Royksopp, Melody A.M.

Apparently this album has risen to #503 on the Amazon Charts on the basis of the "GEICO Caveman Commercial" that features "Remind Me". So, it's not cool to like anymore, and I am selling my copy that features a bonus disk of remixes and videos. If the above link doesn't work, someone has snapped it up at a bargain price.

Seriously though, this is the album that introduced me to the stylings of Erlend Oye. I skipped Kings of Convenience when I read the reviews, because I don't really like Simon & Garfunkel. But then it turns out that I do like the KoC.

The brilliant new era of sampling music online has made me a much happier person.

*My daughter calls commericials "commercinals"- we TiVo everything, so she doesn't see many and gets very excited when they do come on.

You can't find this anywhere

I think concept blogs are better than random "personality (or lack thereof)" blogs like this schlumpf you are reading at this very moment for some reason unknown to me. Dalston Oxfam Shop is one such blog. The genius behind this one grabs a tape from the cheapo bin at the Dalston Oxfam shop and makes and mp3, plus commentary and a scan of the cover. As usual, I am late on this one, as an awesome post was featured on the BBC on Oct 26- however I didn't happen to be listening to radio 6 at that moment. I didn't even know there was a BBC Radio 6. Reminds me of ESPN 8 "el ocho" from the dodgeball movie. Anyway, it clears up some of the mystery about where taxi music used to come from. In case anyone was wondering.

Rock on.

Quiet is how I like it

December was a month to remember...so why have I forgotten?

I have been awash in the world of mp3 blogs and music. For too long, I have been living basically in silence. I have purchased nearly 1000 albums in various forms- CD, cassette, vinyl, the hideous AAC itunes format which is going to kill your cat, etc. I have now realized, I don't like the silence, I just want the quiet. Loud music is great when you are trying to make your life more exciting. When you live in a world that is too loud- children screaming and other family disturbances, work, cars and buses and trucks, the constant whirring hum of fans...I just needed some quiet sounds. I am thinking about Kings of Convenience here. It's the medicine for whatever it is that's wrong with me- and something definitely is wrong. If you listen to the Erlend Oye DJ-Kicks album and don't like it, I am sorry. If you already have, I am just a late to the game guy on this. But really, it is something that everyone has to listen to, because if you like it, it could change your life, or something, maybe.

To get started with the new way to find music, or to have it find you- you check out a blog like fluxblog(nyc) or indie mp3(uk). It's music writing, with a twist, you get to hear the music. If you like the song, you can buy the album. Then you find the hype machine- a blog aggregator that collects link from across the galaxy of blogs into a playable stream.

There's so much going on.

The most efficacious level

I have a naive trust in the universe......that at some level it all makes sense, and we can get glimpses of that sense if we try.”
......Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (as quoted in the little book of flow)

At which level does the universe make sense? It depends. Different parts make sense at different levels. You don't use particle physics to understand human behavior, the level of complexity would make it impossible to see why certain quarks could explain why I am in a bad mood. But you could use chemistry to explain it- neurotransmitter levels surely appear to be highly correlated to mood. Maybe it's something more circumstantial, like doing the dishes after midnight on a Saturday that provides the most sense making. Or an ethernet switch with an overly noisy fan. Things that make my flow static. Then again, sometimes you really can't point to the circumstances, but the chemistry is still there. Serotonin is low, sadness is high. So is the chemistry the better explanation, or is the universe the circumstance?

Consumed by Consumption

"Most jobs and many leisure
activities—especially those involving the passive
consumption of mass media—are not designed to
make us happy and strong. Their purpose is to
make money for someone else. If we allow them
to, they can suck the marrow out of our lives,
leaving only feeble husks.” -Andy Hunt?

Well, I don't know if the purpose is to make money for someone else, but I suppose that it is at least one of their purposes.

Even without being passive, browsing the internet often becomes wasting time.

There is no real purpose in the mere accumulation of knowledge. We must apply that accumulation.

Do. Create. Live.