Random

>Sandwiches alla morebounce-oz

>

“So make your thighs like butter, easy to spread, and we can make sandwiches … out here on the danceflo’.

Yeah baby we can do it. Yeah we can make sandwiches.

I know you wanna do it. You know I wanna do it too. You can be the bun and I can be the burger, girl. Out here on the danceflo’. Come on we can do it. Yeah we can make sandwiches.”

– Detroit Grand Poobahs

Listen: http://morebounce-oz.com/audio/Sandwiches.mp3

from >bounce/oz, a podcast that I forgot In the heap called my NetNewsWire account.

[Note: Looks like the morebounce feed’s not working right now. It might have been abandoned. The audio files are still up there though…]

Standard
Musings & Adventures

>Inauguration Day: I won’t be in the UK

>

I had planned to attend the UK & Ireland Fedora Users Meeting next month, but the meeting will be on the same day as Barack Obama’s inauguration as President of the United States. I can’t bring myself to leave.
In recent years, I’ve been out of the country a lot. January 20 2009 is one day that I truly can’t justify being anywhere but home in the US to witness and celebrate a wonderful moment in history. I was in Scotland when Bush declared war on Iraq and it was infuriating. I want to be in the states to witness what I hope is, at last, the beginning of that war’s end.

For those who have not already seen it, I think this video sums up a few of the feelings I have about Obama’s poignant victory.

For a listing of the lyrics and guest appearances (with time tags), check out the YouTube page.
Standard
Meditatation

>Mind the Beauty (Standard): A Gay Man’s Contemplation on Mindfulness and Beauty

>

I’ve found that the actual experience of beauty in my life has only minimal coincidence with the explicit beauty standards that I’ve got floating around in my psyche. This truth is often clouded by the fact that I tend to confuse moments of beauty with moments of pride, desire or jealousy.
I think it’s good to be mindful of the times when you actually feel beautiful. You don’t even have to ask “Why do I feel beautiful right now?”,”Where is this feeling coming from?”, “What is this feeling?”, or even “Do I really feel beautiful?”. Instead, simply acknowledge it, and observe it. This way it ends up being a form of mindfulness practice.
Standard
Random

>EconTalk on GM and the Chevy Volt

>Just finished listening to this week’s EconTalk, Rauch on the Volt, Risk, and Corporate Culture.

Those who have seen Who Killed the Electric Car? will appreciate the 10 year update about what happened to the EV1 and what GM is doing with that technology.

It will be interesting to see whether GM manages to turn around its public image with the Volt. I hadn’t really given it much thought until now. Could GM ever convince consumers to think they’re committed to going green? Stranger marketing feats have been achieved. At the very least, it’s nice seeing another bohemoth testing the waters of corporate transparency.

Thanks to Garrick Van Buren for tipping me off about the existence of EconTalk. I like it.

Standard
Random

>I recommend the BBC interview with John Maeda

>I’ve just finished listening to the latest installment on the BBC interview podcast, which is an Interview with John Maeda, who has left MIT to teach at RISD.

From the BBC website:

John Maeda is a computer scientist who is also good at art and much of his work has been directed at making computers more human. He tells Owen Bennett-Jones that he doesn’t like the way computing trends are going — he thinks technology has run its course and that no one knows what to do with it. So he’s just left the world of computing to become president of the fine art establishment RISD, the Rhode Island School of Design, in the United States.

It was funny listening to Owen Bennett-Jones (the interviewer) try to lead Maeda to make potent statements about the burgeoning role of designers. I have a sneaking suspicion that the Charlie Rose interview with Paola Antonelli about Design and the Elastic Mind was fresh in Bennet-Jones’ mind when he came up with the questions for this one. To my delight, Maeda rolled right past all those lead-ins. He’s either a really difficult guy to interview, or was consciously avoiding the topic. Probably a bit of both…

NB: If you want to listen to the interview, do it soon. I get the sense that the BBC isn’t letting you listen to old audio from the podcast archives. They only expose “this week’s” content. Blech.

You’ve got to listen to the interview to know why this is funny but ironically, I listened to this while eating tofu that was reminiscent of the stuff from my favorite Seattle tofu factory.

Standard