April 2011
1 post
Birthday season snowstorms?!? →
Seriously? Are we really going to have snow like this on Laura’s birthday? This is what my car looked like after only 2 hours in the parking lot at school. We’re expecting 10 to 14 inches in a 24…
March 2011
3 posts
MIT Scientist Captures 90,000 Hours of Video of... →
I love babies and language acquisition, and this strikes me as incredibly cool. Wow.
1,300 Punching Bags, One Portrait of Muhammad Ali →
very cool.
February 2011
3 posts
Meta-post →
Two new entries, backdated to when the events happened. Grrrrrrrrls Skiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Yes, I was on a stupid title theme for these.
BACK TO THE FUTURE : Irina Werning - Photographer →
Holy shit. This is astounding.
A bit more about the weekend →
Yesterday, the three kids left Boston, scattering back to our families. We left early because snow was looming - and guess what? the one who lives closest took the longest getting home. Yesterday was…
January 2011
6 posts
A bit of silliness →
Today, Laura and the girls left, Julie left, and suddenly an amazing event happened. There were only (gasp) three siblings, and one father. When was the last time we had this social group? No…
Another snow day in Bangor →
I am at home, reviewing papers and trying to work on a paper I’m writing, I’m also just taking care of business, and it’s quiet here. Except for the pellet stove. The girls are at a friend’s house….
Radio show after a long hiatus
I think this is only my 2nd or 3rd show since May of 2010. I have missed it. It’s nice to drown in sound, again.
Das Internationale Elektron - playlist for Tuesday, January 18
Song —- Artist —- Album
You’re No Good —- Terry Riley —- You’re No Good
Koyaanisqatsi —- Philip Glass —- Koyaanisqatsi (Original Version)
Tightrope’s...
A soccer player →
A few months ago, I began playing soccer in a local indoor over-30 league. I hadn’t played since I broke my wrist in goal as a 16 year old, but I started back up in goal, and really enjoyed it, and…
The easiest way to remove a Christmas Tree →
… Is to throw it out the window. Last year, Laura thought I was nuts to suggest it. This year, she asked if I was ready to do it. That’s how great it was to have no needles through the house, no…
December 2010
6 posts
Whacking things →
Bowling!!!!! Another Maine element of life is the existence of candle-pin bowling. It’s way harder and more interesting than regular bowling (ten-pin…). Basically, the balls are tiny, the pins…
Two ton workout →
For those not living in Maine, it might be a surprise to realize how much home heating oil gets burned in a season. We moved into a house with no real insulation, and have replaced windows, insulated…
Scaling the walls →
Click on the link to see what I mean. It’s not about climbing.
From Minimalissimo, “Sol LeWitt at Gladstone Gallery”
Here’s the thing about me and conceptual art. While I look at this, I’m listening to David First drones, drone music that goes beyond William Basinski tape loops the way Basinski went beyond Reich’s phase music. Long term structures. Scaling...
WTF? →
Some paper abstracts are just too jargony. And this one is funny, “with a vengeance,” my ass.
From “Embodied Task Dynamics,” Psychological Review, Volume 117, Issue 4, October 2010, Pages 1229-1246
Awesome paper title →
“Number versus continuous quantity in numerosity judgments by fish.” In press in Cognition.
November 2010
13 posts
Family non-sequiters →
Just now, Sofia was reading a map during lunch (placemats with maps, courtesy of Oma). She blurts out “Uzbekistan!” Annalena answered “I don’t know.” Turns out, none of us knows who Becky Stan is.
Update on the blog →
I’m still working my way through the summer, so here are links to new posts which have been backdated to be on the right day. Summer swim tour: Kärnten Part 2 - just an average set of days in our…
Family Movie Night →
Laura pointed out that the last two full length movies we watched were… kids’ movies. Tonight, the whole family parked itself down for some impromptu movie time - Netflix streaming over the Roku is…
Archives of past music obsessions →
From “Stream Nine Inch Nails’ ‘Pretty Hate Machine’ Reissue (Including Rare Queen Cover) - Metal Blog - NME.COM”
I saw NIN open for Peter Murphy in 1990, I think, and then I saw them open for David Bowie in 1996 or something like it. The remastered album is amusing. I mean, it was way overproduced back in the day, and still is. Some songs are great, but this kind of...
Busy Brain →
This very much describes me lately. My medication is called “grant stress,” and perhaps I am not aligned with the examples. The basic definition makes sense, though.
From Word Spy…
“If 24 hours a day isn’t enough, work nights!”
– Len Jossem, Ohio State University
Ignorance makes for stupid voters →
From “What the fuck has Obama done so far?” Just keep clicking. And clicking.
Not that I agree with all the various pieces (too many tax cuts in the stimulus), but hell, anyone who thinks we haven’t had good government the past 2 years is silly.
Dear family and friends, →
We have snow falling on Halloween morning. Do you? Your Michael
Halloween events →
It is Halloween, the day of LOOT, but also a day of other events. As I write, the girls are eating some of their 4 allowed pieces of the evening. I suspect I’ve had more, waiting by the door. I do…
October 2010
25 posts
“I think that given the right circumstances, I could again in a climate of pure...”
– Interview with Charlemagne Palestine
I’ve been listening to minimalist music half the day, the early raw “punk” stuff that appeals to me way more than 99% of what came after roughly 1980 and was listed as “minimalism.” The fabulous live tape loop work of Terry Riley...
Sorta Austrian, mostly not →
We’re heading to a Halloween party in just a moment…
Icky Bob →
This afternoon, the girls are heading to a puppet show about Sleepy Hollow and the legend of the Headless Horseman. Sofia only knows the version from the Sisters Grimm (in which some characters are…
From DesignCrave, a post on gargoyles →
Click the link and guess which is my favorite. No, not Darth Vader.
From PHD Comics: Draft dodging →
I certainly hope I don’t treat my grad students like this. Just sayin’.
(A part of me suspects that I do.)
Via sciencegeekgirl... →
A story by David Moser. If you’ve never reda “This is a Title of This Story, Which is Also Found Several Times in the Story Itself,” you really should. I was nearly crying with laughter about halfway through. And then my belly hurt, so I had to stop laughing, but I kept reading, and couldn’t stop, so… oh, never mind, I think I made it to the end.
Dorking out on Goodnight Moon →
From Uncertain Principles, “The Astrophysics of Bedtime Stories.” The comments are as good as the post.
It's been 21 years... →
This picture recently came my way, and for those who can’t see it in other ways (say, on Facebook…), here’s a view of what I looked like in high school. Senior year, we think. In…
A weekend in Vermont →
This past weekend, with days off due to Columbus Day (which the university calls Fall Break), we headed out to finally visit Will in Vermont. He’s only lived there how long? It was time. We loved…
My brother does good →
For those who care about family goings-on.
From the Daily Nonpareil Online “Council Bluffs > Survey shows bus service needed in Bluffs.”
Yes, all people are normal →
From OK Trends: “Gay Sex vs. Straight Sex”
I love pages like this one. Using data from OKCupid users, the OKTrends folks do a great job of pointing out that people are people, and the only thing we really have to worry about is how many people think the earth is bigger than the sun. Turns out, there’s a gender difference, but not a gay/straight difference. So there.
Thought for the Day - PostClassic →
Awesome.
New webcomic to make Michael laugh →
Oh, yes. Hipster Hitler combines bad Nazi jokes, hipster cred, and awesome t-shirts. Seriously, check it out. (Thanks for the tip, Will.)