Ploafmaster General

Stop what you're doing. Really - right now. Go listen to the results of The Great Sufjan Xmas Song Xchange. Make sure you scroll all the way down to hear the winner, and do click the link to listen to all the other top entries. Many of them are quite good.

Well, it appears that Chrysler is even more of a sinking ship that I already thought...

Things appear to be so bad that they decaying auto maker is even dragging down it's buyer, Cerberus Capital Management. Dang.

When, after turning their noses at our fatuous Iraqi endeavor, the French lost favor with much of the American public I rolled my eyes as far back into my head as humanly possible. We had folks changing French fries to "freedom fries," imbeciles pouring out good French wine, and intelligent people with a none-the-less shallow memory of American history claiming massive French debt because "we saved their butts in WWII." Heaven forbid that a sovereign government disagree with the U-S-of-A.

Thank goodness most of this lunacy abated.

There remains, unfortunately, a fairly pervasive negative attitude towards France to this day in America. Whether it is the fashion, the food snobbery, the socialist domestic tendencies, or their frequently differing stances on the world stage, our populace carries a bias against French cultural elements which I cannot abide. I love red Bordeaux wine. I treasure those French-perfected cooking practices which serve me in the kitchen. I owe much to French film-making pioneers who advanced the art to tremendous effect. I'm anticipating my March trip to Paris as greatly as any vacation I've ever taken.

It was with whole-hearted fist-pounding agreement, then, that I read the latest post by Michael Ruhlman on his blog. He responds to a Publisher's Weekly review of his book, The Elements of Cooking, wherein he's criticized for his apparent Francophilia. Ruhlman claims that such acknowledgment of cooking's French roots is a strength, not a weakness. Right on, Mr. Ruhlman. Here's hoping I find your book under the tree wrapped in shiny paper on Christmas morning.

And they say that beans are musical...

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GabHGlGm14&rel=1&border=1&w=425&h=373]
(via Ze Frank)

Sarah Walker tells us how to roll out of a moving car. She's really quite thorough.

Well? Should I? Shouldn't I? I'm thinkin' of doing for it this evening. This, of course, depends on whether the store in Short Pimp carries my size, and the shoe is as cool in person as I think it is on the web.

Does your Chevy van take too long to slow down? Why use one of those normal auto-parts stores when you can buy a shmancy new brake rotor over the glorious Internet...from...Amazon.

Really.



I found this while searching for Express Card Slot devices (slot was the key word for these slotted rotors), but it turns out Amazon has a whole section for auto parts and accessories. Who knew?

I couldn't help noticing, as I typed my last entry, that the word "schlock" wasn't picked up by the Firefox spell checker. I was surprised as I'd always thought this was a nonsense word - but as is often the case, I was totally wrong.

Here's what Webster has to say:

Main Entry:
schlock Listen to the pronunciation of schlock
Pronunciation:
ˈshläk
Variant(s):
or schlocky Listen to the pronunciation of schlocky ˈshlä-kē also shlock or shlocky
Function:
adjective
Etymology:
perhaps from Yiddish shlak evil, nuisance, literally, blow
Date:
1916

: of low quality or value
— schlock noun


Well how about that. I think I'll integrate the term more heavily into my everyday banter :-)

Those of you who know me well know that I despise 99% of modern radio stations. I hate that Clear Channel and Cox own nearly every radio station in Richmond (or elsewhere), and largely the same set of schlock rock plays on 102.1 and 101.1 FM.

In fact, I really only listened to NPR when I'm driving. Until, of course, my home-slice Jake introduced me to 103.1 FM. This frequency is the Richmond transmission of 91.9, WNRN FM in Charlottesville, VA. WNRN is a listener supported radio station - not NPR, but much the same model. They play largely rock music, but their programming page spells out their typical schedule which includes some hip hop, mash-ups, bluegrass, etc.

The broadcast can be a little spotty around Richmond (and nearly dead around Glenside for some reason), but it's generally clear enough to enjoy. Here's a sample of what's played recently:

Lips Like Sugar...Echo and The Bunnymen
No I in Threesome...Interpol
Some Surprise...The Cake Sale
Youre the World to Me...David Gray
Regret (Album Version)...New Order
Lets Call It Off...Peter, Bjorn and John

I hope their support grows sufficiently that their Richmond broadcast gains strength and clarity. Rock out with your...um...smock out.

For your own good, please go to the website for This American Life and listen to this week's episode. Particularly the segment on Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble that starts after the introduction. Holy CRAP, it's hilarious.

Here I am trying to squeeze in at least one post for the weekend before I hit the hay.

So Valerie's sister, Elizabeth (or Margaret depending on who's asking), has driven us around Tallahassee all weekend long, and over the course of these few short days we've seen this ridiculous sight:



Now I can't find a decent sized picture of this anywhere (yet), so let me explain. That window depicts Bobby Bowden, the CURRENT coach of the FSU football team, looking out over a packed stadium. This window is over the entrance to said stadium. This is not a joke.

It seems that everybody who makes decisions about buildings at FSU thought, "Oh yeah, a gaudy stained glass window of our coach would look amazing...for the right donation, of course."

This is tragic, too, because much of the architecture at FSU is glorious and classic - the football stadium included.

The rebels can't hide from the Empire...not even in the SoCal desert...

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2GZ4Uxoa9s&rel=1&w=425&h=355]

The original is pretty sweet, too, and the notes offer an explanation.

(via The Sneeze)

After today my posting may get a little light...

Early tomorrow morning I'm heading down to Florida for the third time this year (!!!), this time because my sister-in-law is graj-muh-laden from FSU. She has WiFi at her joint where Val and I are staying, but I don't know how much time I'll be spending parked on the couch with my laptop :-)

I'm hoping to use the travel time to catch up on some reading, so I'm brining Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh, Chesterton's Heretics/Orthodoxy, and Jane Jacobs' The Death and Life of Great American Cities (maybe I'll actually read the whole thing this time!).

According to Engadget, UPS has been using software to reduce the number of left turns in a driver's route. This is part of the shipping company's general plan to boost efficiency. Quirky, but effective.

Nicole Pasulka interviews Didier Massard at The Morning News about his hand-crafted scenes which he then lights and photographs. These are absolutely remarkable, and you can see plenty more at his website.

Noctilucent clouds occur when ice crystals are high enough in the atmosphere to be visible in both day-lit and dark parts of the earth. The sun reflects off the clouds and causes an apparent glow to observers where the sun is mostly set. Check it:



The BBC has an article describing the NASA spacecraft, AIM, which is designed specifically to study such clouds.

Here's a BBC report on the Led Zeppelin reunion show:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv-lW7K66M0&rel=1&w=425&h=355]

I hope, at least, that they recorded the performance so there can be a live DVD/CD (or combo?). At best, I'm one of tens of millions around the world hoping for a real reunion with a tour, and maybe even new rock goodness. I'm certainly anxious to hear whether Jason Bonham can truly fill papa Bonzo's shoes.

Ladies and gentlemen, I submit to you the most hideous animal to crawl beneath the surface of God's green earth, the Naked Mole Rat:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvey71Feu0E&rel=1&w=425&h=355]

Not only are these things pretty fugly, but the eat...their...own...excrement.

I always new they were hard on the eyes, but I had no idea their diets were just as repulsive.

This morning I read an article on The BBC's website about an endangered rodent in Mongolia called the Long-Eared Jerboa, which hops around like a mini kangaroo! I found a video I could embed on The Guardian's site. These things rock my face off!

http://image.guim.co.uk/static/39603/original/common/flash/brightcovewrapper.swf

I know that nature scenes easily become cliché in the visual arts, but I can't help loving the large format landscapes from Flickr user Mike Stacey. Here's a gorgeous one to whet your appetite:

In September I revealed my personal agony at the apparent loss of my Nikon F camera. In October, I felt solace at the purchase of another classic camera.

Today, while digging through boxes to find some DVDs, Valerie discovered my wedding gift - the camera bag and everything inside. My 1960s Nikon F, my first Moleskine (ahead of the curve, for once - I was using it for notes on shutter speed, location, etc.), and my three awesome Nikkor prime lenses. Clearly I'd forgotten what lenses I actually had. I do indeed have a 135 (which rocks my face off). My 50mm is f1.4 (!!!), and the last one is actually a 45mm wide angle.

I'm psyched to be able to hit the streets with my camera again, and now Val and I can both rock the classic Nikon hotness. I'll scan some pics and uplaod to Flickr once I get some rolls developed.

I found this fantastic page (albeit late in the game) that summarizes the affects of the WGA strike on popular television shows. It indicates the number of episodes to be produced, the number aired, and the number remaining. Pretty convenient!

I think it would be worth your while to check out photos tagged with "bento" on Flickr. There's some lame stuff, but many of the items are very cleverly presented - from the molding of food into characters, to the gorgeous use of knife skills.

The photo above comes from the user Sakurako Kitsa who seems quite adept at crafting a wide range of edible artwork.

Howstuffworks has a fascinating article describing the pros and cons of the so-called 5-day-weekend. The article also addresses disparities between advancing technology and leisure time, days off provided vs. days off taken, and the amount of vacation time provided in Europe vs. the United States.

I couldn't help but notice the serious similarity between two unrelated banks' individual logos (pardon the line at the base of the Provident graphic - it's part of the image from their site):





Besides similar shades of blue and type that in both cases seems to combine lines and curves, the most obvious similarity is the chamfered-box look of each bank's symbol. Each shape is made up of what appears to be four pieces wrapping around a central point with four void spaces around the outside. [*] I'm not a graphic designer or a branding specialist, but that's what it looks like to me, and the similarities were so obvious.

I don't know who designed which logo first, but it appears that one followed another. I'd be interested to know more.

*Edit: Originally, my blind and backwards self indicated that Provident's logo resembled a lower case "p" and "b", but Phil pointed out the error of my ways.