Amid the economic woes that are forcing retail stores and arts organizations alike to shut their doors, I'm excited to share some good news: the heart of Northeast Minneapolis' arts district is getting a new record store. Shuga Records, currently among the top three sellers of vintage vinyl on eBay, is leasing the former site of the Minnesota Center for Photography on 13th Avenue NE -- and opening a retail store in late May or early June. Run by my friends Adam Rosen and Danielle Nester, the shop will sell records and CDs, editioned art, books and more. Look for their new website to launch soon, with information about all they're planning, including a music-and-art blog, in-store performances and, hopefully, a Shuga Twitter account that can alert vinyl junkies about new rarities Adam's finding. Also, Shuga is talking to a local artist about commissioning the first in an annually refreshed mural for the building's west wall.
Also, I just have to give a quick shout out to Penny Arcade. They're the big boys on the block, but consistently produce some of the funniest stuff out there. There's a reason why it's stuck around so long and here's one from today...
The Whedonite's Dilemma: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/2/27/
So we've finally made it to Friday and here we are kicking back off in grand style with a mega-block of Science pertaining to the Earth and it's resources. Check it out!
(CNN) -- As NASA prepares to hunt for Earth-like planets in our corner of the Milky Way galaxy, there's new buzz that "Star Trek's" vision of a universe full of life may not be that far-fetched.
Pointy-eared aliens traveling at light speed are staying firmly in science fiction, but scientists are offering fresh insights into the possible existence of inhabited worlds and intelligent civilizations in space.
There may be 100 billion Earth-like planets in the Milky Way, or one for every sun-type star in the galaxy, said Alan Boss, an astronomer with the Carnegie Institution and author of the new book "The Crowded Universe: The Search for Living Planets."
He made the prediction based on the number of "super-Earths" -- planets several times the mass of the Earth, but smaller than gas giants like Jupiter -- discovered so far circling stars outside the solar system.
Boss said that if any of the billions of Earth-like worlds he believes exist in the Milky Way have liquid water, they are likely to be home to some type of life.
"Now that's not saying that they're all going to be crawling with intelligent human beings or even dinosaurs," he said.
"But I would suspect that the great majority of them at least will have some sort of primitive life, like bacteria or some of the multicellular creatures that populated our Earth for the first 3 billion years of its existence."
Putting a number on alien worlds
Other scientists are taking another approach: an analysis that suggests there could be hundreds, even thousands, of intelligent civilizations in the Milky Way.
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland constructed a computer model to create a synthetic galaxy with billions of stars and planets. They then studied how life evolved under various conditions in this virtual world, using a supercomputer to crunch the results.
Galaxy Quest
• The Milky Way is believed to be more than 13 billion years old.
• It is just one of billions of galaxies in the universe.
• The Milky Way has a circumference of about 250,000-300,000 light years.
• It is about 100,000 light years in diameter.
• There are three types of galaxies: ellipticals, spirals and irregulars.
• The Milky Way is a large disk-shaped barred spiral galaxy. (A barred galaxy has a bar-shaped structure in its middle.)
Source: Space.com
In a paper published recently in the International Journal of Astrobiology, the researchers concluded that based on what they saw, at least 361 intelligent civilizations have emerged in the Milky Way since its creation, and as many as 38,000 may have formed.
Duncan Forgan, a doctoral candidate at the university who led the study, said he was surprised by the hardiness of life on these other worlds.
"The computer model takes into account what we refer to as resetting or extinction events. The classic example is the asteroid impact that may have wiped out the dinosaurs," Forgan said.
"I half-expected these events to disallow the rise of intelligence, and yet civilizations seemed to flourish."
Forgan readily admits the results are an educated guess at best, since there are still many unanswered questions about how life formed on Earth and only limited information about the 330 "exoplanets" -- those circling sun-like stars outside the solar system -- discovered so far.
The first was confirmed in 1995 and the latest just this month when Europe's COROT space telescope spotted the smallest terrestrial exoplanet ever found. With a diameter less than twice the size of Earth, the planet orbits very close to its star and has temperatures up to 1,500° Celsius (more than 2,700° Fahrenheit), according to the European Space Agency. It may be rocky and covered in lava.
Hunt for habitable planets
NASA is hoping to find much more habitable worlds with the help of the upcoming Kepler mission. The spacecraft, set to be launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida next week, will search for Earth-size planets in our part of the galaxy.
Kepler contains a special telescope that will study 100,000 stars in the Cygnus-Lyra region of the Milky Way for more than three years. It will look for small dips in a star's brightness, which can mean an orbiting planet is passing in front of it -- an event called a transit.
"It's akin to measuring a flea as it creeps across the headlight of an automobile at night," said Kepler project manager James Fanson during a during a NASA news conference.
The focus of the mission is finding planets in a star's habitable zone, an orbit that would ensure temperatures in which life could exist. Video Watch a NASA scientist explain the search for habitable planets »
Boss, who serves on the Kepler Science Council, said scientists should know by 2013 -- the end of Kepler's mission -- whether life in the universe could be widespread.
Finding intelligent life is a very different matter. For all the speculation about the possibility of other civilizations in the universe, the question remains: If the rise of life on Earth isn't unique and aliens are common, why haven't they shown up or contacted us? The contradiction was famously summed up by the physicist Enrico Fermi in 1950 in what became known as the Fermi paradox: "Where is everybody?"
The answer may be the vastness of time and space, scientists explained.
"Civilizations come and go," Boss said. "Chances are, if you do happen to find a planet which is going to have intelligent life, it's not going to be in [the same] phase of us. It may have formed a billion years ago, or maybe it's not going to form for another billion years."
Even if intelligent civilizations did exist at the same time, they probably would be be separated by tens of thousands of light years, Forgan said. If aliens have just switched on their transmitter to communicate, it could take us hundreds of centuries to receive their message, he added.
As for interstellar travel, the huge distances virtually rule out any extraterrestrial visitors. iReport.com: Share your view of the universe
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To illustrate, Boss said the fastest rockets available to us right now are those being used in NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto. Even going at that rate of speed, it would take 100,000 years to get from Earth to the closest star outside the solar system, he added.
"So when you think about that, maybe we shouldn't be worried about having interstellar air raids any time soon," Boss said.
Acting as a segue we'll use that video to transfer into green technologies and this great (anti) Clean Coal spot put together by the Coen Brothers:
The SunCat Batteries - DIY prototypes- Rechargeable Batteries with Solar Cells
Project by Knut Karlsen http://blog.bareknut.no/2009/02/rechargeable-batteries-with-solar-cells.html
A little DIY exploration of the ability to toss those batteries out on the window sill to charge up while you're at work. Really simple solutions to really simple problems
Is Genius Born or Can It Be Learned?
By John Cloud http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1879593,00.html
A brief but stimulating text laying out a number of theories and theorists that have engaged in the debate and a humorous anecdotal finish.
That's it for the scavenger hunt. Expect posts on a regular basis and then a site relaunch with regular features in late March. Crawfish and Karaoke tonight. I'll bring my camera.
Oh, and I totally forgot about Multiplex when going through webcomics I love. Here's a LINK and a comic:
I'm in the process of listening to it and also reading Bobby Jindal's rebuttal (which I'm finding to be somewhat hard to swallow) but here is the wordle of the President's speech and the link to the larger version on their site.
Well, as we embark on the second day of scavenging through my life we make our way to Arts and Hobbies. I'm going to break this down into a couple of different categories and just roll on with links from there. So here's the update on what's going on in the world of comics, webcomics, and movies.
COMICS/MOVIES
Obviously there's a lot more I could talk about in terms of comics and movies both but I'll hit on the biggest thing to hit since the first X-Men movie and that's 03.06.09. Watchmen. Now I've heard a couple of uber-geeks that I trust vouch for it. Wil Wheaton loved it. Ain't-It-Cool was buzzing about it. I just hope that it's all I hope it can be. The good news is that it's getting a lot of attention for comics in general and if it can make just a couple of hundred people go out and read the amazing set of books that make up Watchmen it's worth it.
Speaking of reading watchmen Comic Book Resource has an great set of articles they're running by Atom Freeman & Carr D'Angelo as guest writers that is called Re-reading Watchmen that goes through issue by issue talking about the books in depth which I have found really fantastic.
Also, if you check out this article, you'll see that Zack Snyder is already talking about a director's cut to be released IN THEATRES if Watchmen does well enough to warrant it. So go and see Watchmen four or five times in theaters like me and we'll be just fine.
One other quick note in comics, if you love to read comics, especially if you love Marvel you have to check out their digital comic archive. It's only 60 bucks for a year's subscription (which works out to $5 a month) and it's totally worth it. There's more stuff up every day and it's an invaluable artists resource. I bought a subscription for my brother for his birthday and I poke around every once in a while and couldn't say more about it. A.Maz.Ing.
WEBCOMICS
It's strange how you get into different webcomics. Sometimes I get them recommended to me. Other times I ask the brodukes for something new. Occasionally I just happen to stumble upon one and that makes me pretty happy. No matter how I get to them, here's some comics of varying styles and seriousness that I like to read with a little commentary. This list by no means supersedes my links on the site. In fact, I should probably add a couple of these and give them props they rightfully have earned.
The Perry Bible Fellowship
An Eisner-winning comic strip drawn by Nicholas Gurewitch that used to be a weekly but stopped being so in February of 2008. Word on the street is it's coming back this month. I can't wait. Effing hilarious. LINK
Amazing Superpowers
Description from the blog: "These posts were found strapped to vampire bats ascending from the bowels of Hell and were notarized by the devil himself. Apparently, they tell the tales of the puppetmasters of AmazingSuperPowers, Wes and Tony." A dark humor romp every Monday and Thursday. LINK
Botched Spot
This is one that my brother loves as he's still a big wrestling fan. While I like the stuff that focuses on the characters created for the comic more than the WWE/TNA stuff it does give me a chuckle every Monday/Wednesday/Friday. While it's almost always about wrestling the comic above is from a small storyline where the main character was going to train for MMA. Also, they're nearing their 1 year anniversary in March so give 'em a bump! LINK
The Daily Odyssey
Here's one by Brett Muller, a classmate of my brothers and the Ladies to Pranas' (of Ink Dick fame) Peanut Butter. The art style is always wonderfully playful and the anecdotes well conveyed and humorous. Plus, every once in a while, the brodukes makes an appearance :) LINK
Dude-A-Day/Atomic Toy
Here's a set of a couple of comics drawn by Andy Helms (and Nathan Avery on the Buttlord stuff) that I really enjoy. Essentially Andy draws a different set of characters over the span of a week, one a day from October of 2008 to October 2009. Pictured above is the Ghostbusters span as well as a great picture of all he's done so far this year on his wall. LINK
Freak Angels
In the English tradition of the post-apocalyptic sci-fi Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield deliver a weekly 6 pages of canned awesome. I had a chance to catch up to this one and did it in a day. In retrospect, I wish I hadn't because every week I crave Friday and another installment of Freak Angels. This is a must read. LINK
That about does it for today. Stay tuned for tomorrow: ARCHITECTURE!
Alright superfans. Change of plans based on a great online meme and a picture from my mom I've bumped music and sports up to today and switched out Arts and Hobbies to Tuesday and Architecture to Wednesday.
I've found that I've been trying to branch out in terms of music since I've moved to the coast and found a lot out there that I've really enjoyed that I never previously listened to but surprisingly, you always come back to formative years when putting down your favorite or most influential albums and the music you listened to during the period with an album cropping up here and there that change your groove up. I once asked my Dad why he stopped listening to the radio and keeping up with pop music and he said pretty plainly "I just found enough music that I liked that I didn't really feel like I needed to".
Anyhow based on the following meme from a former co-worker here on the coast and the team leader of my favorite Americorps team: Blue 7 these are the 15 albums (in no particular order) that captivated me and were present at times of change, growth, emotion, and grief.
Atmosphere- Lucy Ford LP
I can't say enough about how influential this album was in re-crafting my tastes in hip-hop as well as giving me a renewed interest in all genres of music from my hometown of Minneapolis. Lucy Ford is considered by many to be Atmosphere's albums and it just kicked my ass from the moment it started to the moment it ended. I was hooked and have loved Atmosphere and the Minneapolis hip-hop scene ever since.
The Promise Ring- Very Emergency
This is a product of a relationship I had when I was a freshman in college and the band has stuck with me because of this album. Even though I wasn't nearly as fond of their later releases this one has special memories attached to it of a very special time in my life. Happiness is All the Rage and All of My Everythings are my standouts.
Beastie Boys- Hello Nasty
White Boys Rapping. It's not as though I had never heard of the Beastie Boys before this, but as I remember it there were only two albums I've ever skipped out of school to pick up and this was one of them due to a special release vinyl single that came with it. I jammed out to this disc every day that summer while I did landscaping work and love every second of it.
Beck- Odelay
Funny story. I belonged to the Columbia House music service when I was in junior high and received Mellow Gold by accident. I was like "what the hell is this?" and then I opened it up. Odelay came out a week later and I decided I liked this Beck guy enough to buy it and whammo. Hooked. Dear High School, Please add this to my favorite albums in the yearbook. Love, James
Ben Folds- Songs for Silverman
Another funny story. I listed to Ben Folds Five. I really did. But I never bought a Ben Folds album until I heard the leak Songs for Silverman. It re-opened the BF5 and solo libraries to me and I now own pretty much all of his music and count him among my favorites of all time.
Eels- Live @ Town Hall
This is another one of those strange albums that has a series of events that led to it that were entirely serendipitous. There used to be an amazing record shop on the north side of Pass Road just over the town line in Gulfport called Goldmine Records and if there was ever a shop that should be called that, this was it. It had wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling records and then some. So anyhow, despite almost all of their inventory is vinyl I always checked out their compact discs and tapes while I was there. It just so happened that I picked up The Eels- Beautiful Freak while I was there and was listening to it in the studio when my friend Jody looked over and noticed what I was listening to and mentioned to me that she had a couple of other Eels albums. Now I picked it up on a nostalgic farce to listen to a couple of songs I remember from back in the day and ended up wanting more and more. Much like Songs for Silverman that album inspired me to pick up everything I could get my hands on and Live @ Town Hall has a bit of all of that journey on it.
Reel Big Fish- Why Do They Rock So Hard?
I hate the Reel Big Fish. It was right there on the t-shirt they were selling at their merch table. While I don't think the self-deprecation in some of their stuff stands up to the test of time, I loved the departure from their ska roots as well as their great integration of the horn section into this album which I can always turn on when I just want to rock out and remember rolling around in high school with my friends.
Weezer- Pinkerton
Just over a half-hour was enough for Weezer to convince me that they had just released one of the best albums I've ever heard. A deeply personal feel and much more raw recording style made Pinkerton the live, honest step-brother of the bombastic, highly commercialized Blue Album and it totally kicked my ass. Even when people panned this album and to this day I maintain that this is the best album they have ever put out. It not only rocks, it rolls over in the bed and thinks about calling the girl but doesn't. Don't look further than Pinkerton for the advent of emo or the best way that it can co-mingle with power chords born of previous rockers such as KISS. Easily one of my "desert island top five" as Rob Gordon would say.
White Stripes- Elephant
Straight out of the gates this album slaps you in the face with the fat licks of Seven Nation Army and takes you on a rock and roll, rhythm and blues fueled extravaganza. This record made me remember what it felt like to be really excited about a band releasing an album again. While I have the rest of their catalog this one is a standout all the way through.
Johnny Cash- American IV
The soul in John's voice in these records produced with Rick Rubin is filled with a lifetime of love, excess, regret, and joy and in this album I rekindled a low burning flame which turned into a wildfire of searching through and for albums long since dusty of my parents and others at record shops to get to know the entire library of the Man in Black. This is such an amazing piece of music that I can't imagine all the time I went without Johnny Cash in my life.
Nirvana- Unplugged in New York
Despite the fact that I had and loved both In Utero and Nevermind, this album opened up my eyes and ears to how dynamic Nirvana really was. The soulful delivery of these songs that just rip through you on the other two albums cemented my love for the band and looking back was the greatest of the unplugged series.
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion- Orange
My friend Aaron introduced me to JSBX and so many other bands while we were friends and although he liked them I heard something that first time in his basement and fell hard for the exceedingly primal production and recording of the band. Bellbottoms remains one of my favorites to put on a mix CD or just rock out to in the car. While the production has cleaned up with later albums this and his other early albums which are more reminiscent of his days with Pussy Galore have a soft spot in my heart.
Slowreader- Self-Titled
Dear Bliss, You're a strong and wonderful friend. You also give me gifts like Slowreader and Badly Drawn Boy. One breaks down everything and the other builds it back up. That's just the type of music you need to help get through certain things. Thank you.
Radiohead- The Bends
You'll probably scoff at this pick just like everyone else does but I love the struggle that occurs on this album as Thom Yorke goes from the grungy, rock sensibilities of Pablo Honey on his way to the ambient brilliance of OK Computer. For that and the melancholy tenor of The Bends it will always have a special place in my heart.
The Beatles- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band/Let It Be
I'm not sure how I can express my love for the music or pick just one album so I put these two on here as placeholders of different times and eras of the Beatles and their musical production. From high concept to home-spun and raw these two albums are amazing examples of my favorite band of all time. Ironically they ended up being added on my list right after Radiohead who I view as the closest to the Beatles in terms of their successful musical experimentation.
+15 More, let's call this the B-side of my life
Brian Wilson- Smile
Something that I shared with my Dad and that re-ignited my love of the Beach Boys
Gin Blossoms- New Miserable Experience
If you lived in the 1990's and don't love this album then f*$& you.
Tom Petty- Wildflowers
Another album that has great memories of my dad and I bonding over music
Peter Gabriel- Secret World Live
Amazing concept and execution. Peter Gabriel's arrival party.
Daniel Johnson- Welcome to My World
I hadn't heard of Daniel Johnson for the longest time and now count him as a favorite.
Badly Drawn Boy- About A Boy
This is another attached to a friend and reminiscent of a period of great friendship for us.
Smashing Pumpkins- Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Patrick and I bonded over our love of rock music and comics in American History AP and he's still one of my lifelong best friends.
Foo Fighters- The Colour and the Shape
Another rock album shared with Pat and his love of all things Foo which would also provide added incentive to conversation with another best friend RJT.
No Doubt- Tragic Kingdom
Tell me you didn't love this album and I'll buy you another in it's stead. This album stands up over time as one of the best pop-ska recordings of the time and brought horns to the masses. Skalicious.
H20- Faster than the World
Punk music was a big part of my high school experience and I can't count on two hands the number of times I saw H20 live during that time. They toured like mad and I made sure to see them every chance I could.
Green Day- Dookie
When masturbation's lost it's fun you're fucking lazy. Can't bleep that here friends.
Billy Joel- The Stranger
He's got a lot of energy and a lot of love for his culture and hometown. I like that. Plus, I like to whistle.
John Coltrane- Giant Steps
This is one of my favorite jazz albums and when I heard it I was instantly hooked.
RENT- Original Cast Recording
I think that if you can't find something you like in this musical then there's something wrong.
Notorious B.I.G.- Ready to Die
Easily one of the best rap albums of all time and one of my favorites from that period.
Other Music Links:
Great Article on P.O.S. from the Star Tribune: link
Also the Doomtree is on tour with P.O.S. and although they're not stopping through NOLA I still encourage you to get out there and see them as many times as you can!
NEVER BETTER TOUR
P.O.S
DJ Plain Ole Bill
with special Doomtree guests
SIMS
MICTLAN + LAZERBEAK - HAND OVER FIST
02.05 - Missoula, MT @ The Badlander
02.06 - Seattle, WA @ Nectar Lounge
02.07 - Portland, OR @ Satyricon
02.09 - San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
02.10 - Los Angeles, CA @ Knitting Factory
02.11 - Phoenix, AZ @ Clubhouse
02.13 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
02.14 - Denver, CO @ Marquis
02.15 - Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
02.16 - Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon
02.17 - Chicago, IL @ Reggie's Live
02.18 - Columbus, OH @ Skully's Music Diner
02.20 - Washington, DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel
02.21 - New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
02.22 - Boston, MA @ Harper's Ferry
02.23 - Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground
02.25 - Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
02.26 - Champaign, IL @ Canopy
02.27 - Eau Claire, WI @ Stones Throw
02.28 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
Another Minneapolis hip-hopper Brother Ali talks about everything under the sun. Great interview: link
On to the sports side of things I'm pretty excited about the move for the Twins to pick up third baseman Joe Crede from the Chicago White Sox. Not only is it great to pick up a good glove and stick on the hot corner but to take him away from our division rival is pretty awesome in my opinion. Hopefully Joe can get his health in check and put together a solid season putting up some good numbers. Also, my Mom was driving down town and took a picture of the new Target Field which will be opening for the 2010 season. *drool* I want that.
I haven't had a chance with how crazy everything has been around the office (more about that on Tuesday's Archi-update) but last week my sister gave birth to her third child and my second nephew Griffin Robert Steiner who weighed in at a masculine 7 lbs, 8 oz. and 20 inches tall. Also, my brother and I were asked to be godfathers to little Griffin which we're also pretty pumped about. Anyhow, here's some pictures of the little guy for your ooh-ing and ahh-ing pleasure.
Alright, here's the deal. To get back in the swing of thing next week will see posts each day in the spirit of *click*itecture and will focus on various aspects of my life with links and updates on each. Here's the schedule-
February 15, 2009--Spinning a "mucus net" off its paddle-like foot-wings to trap algae and other foods, the swimming snail species Limacina helicinia is no bigger than a bean. But the discovery that it and at least 234 other species inhabit both Arctic and Antarctic waters is big news to biologists.
Finding so many species inhabiting both Poles "startled" scientists, according to a statement today from the Census of Marine Life, an international project to assess all marine life--past, present, and future--by 2010. Among the other dual-Pole species: whales, worms, and crustaceans.
Exactly where these species came from and how they ended up a world apart--with comparatively warm oceans in between--remains a mystery, the scientists said.
Up to 1.6 inches (4 centimeters) long, Clione limacina,--a shell-less pteropod, or swimming snail--preys exclusively on its "cousins": shelled pteropods such as Limacina helicinia (see previous photo).
A series of "often perilous" sea voyages in 2007 and 2008 found that this species and 234 others live on both the Arctic and Antarctica, scientists announced.
Though found worldwide, the tiny crustacean Gaetanus brevispinus is most commonly collected in polar waters, where its preferred cold-water habitat extends farther toward the surface. This copepod ("oar foot") is among 235 found to live in both Arctic and Antarctic waters
The icebreaker Polarstern cuts a path through the Antarctic waters in an undated photo. The research ship was one of several employed by Census of Marine Life expeditions during International Polar Year 2007-08.
During the "often perilous" journeys, some biologists endured 48-foot (16-meter) waves, while others collected specimens and data under armed guard in polar bear territory.
The scientists' efforts are helping to dispel the Poles' lifeless reputations.
"One hundred years ago Antarctic explorers like [Robert Falcon] Scott ... saw mostly ice," said Victoria Wadley, of the Australian Antarctic Division, in a statement. "In 2009 we see life everywhere."
I'm not really sure how to get this blog back up and running. Suffice to say that it's been a really strange start to the new year. 2009 has been filled with many great and uplifting moments all gathered around the chasm that is my father's death. I was talking to a friend today and telling her how strange the change in my spectrum of emotions has been since my Dad's passing and how it's been really hard for me to concentrate on certain things that I normally find engaging. Grief is strange that way. It isn't the monkey on your back that is constantly altering your perceptions or mood. It waxes and wanes like the tide and can sweep over you completely if you're not vigilant and today just happens to be one of those days.
Each of the past weekends I've said "hey, why don't you take a couple of hours and get ahead on some posts and get UYA back up and running. It'll give you a chance to vent and get back to a sense of normalcy". Unfortunately, every weekend I find myself procrastinating or pre-occupied by some other project around the house or related to work and UYA falls to the wayside.
Anyhow, after I got off the phone with Ruth, I tried calling a couple other friends who weren't around, checked on my day of laundry load #25,234 (I'm going through all my clothes, washing them, and then donating a lot of them to the Vets or Salvation Army) and then sat down at my computer and decided it was now or never. I have a few thank you's left to write from all the outpouring of support we received following my Dad's death and I while I like the idea of writing them, it always starts to wear on me by the end so I'm procrastinating and trying to put those off closer to bed time so I can just hit the sack if I don't feel sociable.
I'm hoping that by simply getting this out there it will help me get back into the routine of posting. Thanks to everyone for all the support. I promise things around here will get back to normal soon.
Someone linked me to this on Twitter and I wanted to share for all my friends up in Minneapolis-St. Paul. I can't be there, but I think the idea of flashmobs are pretty fascinating.
Date: Thursday, February 12, 2009
Time: 8:00pm - 8:15pm
Location: The front steps of the Walker Art Museum
Street: 1750 Hennepin Ave
City/Town: Minneapolis, MN
A flash mob is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual action for a brief time, then quickly disperse.
- Wikipedia
Thousands have gathered in London and other cities around the world for Flash Mobs...the Twin Cities can do it bigger and better!
The general idea, for all of those who don't know, is to dance for 3 minutes to your iPod/MP3 but no music is allowed to be played out loud (just in your headphones).
The point of this is that it has no point. Total pointless, random fun!
At 8:00 PM on the dot neon colored poster board will be held up-that is your queue to start your tunes and start dancing for the cars driving by. You must silently dance to your iPod. Simple!
At the end of 3 mins the signs will go up again, this is when we all calmly walk away from our “dance floor.�
Remember the idea is to confuse and bewilder people!
It's very important that you are not late-be there BY 8, as we'll start right at 8.
PLEASE INVITE EVERYBODY, THE MORE PEOPLE THAT TURN UP THE MORE FUN IT WILL BE. Other cities have had thousands turn up, but I know the Twin Cities can do it bigger and better!
Gather at the steps of the Walker, and we can also spill over onto the sidewalk/"yard" that faces Hennepin
Updates will resume next week, but I thought this was interesting via my friend Troy from Solutions Twin Cities and a tumblr called Three Seven:
Deep Cuts
My co-worker Tu-Anh attended the AIA Grassroots conference in Washington D.C. last week to learn about and lobby for the inclusion of funding for building construction in the stimulus plan. Here is a brief report from the Senate session she attended.
The proposed Senate bill would make many important investments that support the design and construction industry:
+ $7 billion for design, construction and renovation of federal buildings, including $4.5 billion for energy efficiency
+ $10 billion for affordable housing, including $2.2 billion for green housing
+ $8.4 billion for mass transit
+ $4.2 billion for energy efficiency and conservation grants for cities
+ $1.6 billion for making schools and hospitals energy efficient
Last Friday night, a bipartisan group of Senators negotiated a compromise amendment that cuts about $110 billion from the bill. The compromise plan eliminates $16 billion for K-12 school modernization and $3.5 billion for modernization of higher education facilities that was in the original Senate draft bill. The plan also cuts $2 billion for federal buildings greening and modernization.
These two cuts represent half a million design and construction job opportunities cut out of the bill by the Senate.
Now, I realize that many people feel the magnitude of this bill is overwhelming, but is educational facility enhancement really the best place to start cutting? Has anyone been in a public school lately or remember theirs growing up? With many legislators sending their children to private schools, their image of what today’s public schools look like may be a bit skewed with visions of the private suburban monstrosities their used to. Even the school I attended, which was built as I entered 4th grade, is in dire need of repair and modernization. It is of the utmost importance that our youth are given the opportunity to learn in facilities that are equipped to properly prepare them for the challenges they’ll face in adulthood.
Aside from this, why cut portions of the bill that will most certainly create jobs? This seems counter-intuitive if the idea is to stimulate the economy and create opportunity.
