I enjoy the Letters of Note site. Sometimes the letters are silly, maudlin and just wrong. But usually they hark back to a kinder, slower, and more polite mode of communication.
Today, for instance, it has a letter from Hugh Hefner responding kindly to a collector who thought Playboy was important enough to collect:
A copy of the issue Hugh sent him is now hawked for $30 grand.
And.. I think I need to spruce up my letterhead.
Would the neighbors gripe?
I want to build a casita type thing on the other side of our pool. We have a big yard, the pool divides it, and only the landscaper goes over there (and its a pain to drag the mower over).
So I want to put a little hideaway over there. Something I could use as a yoga studio, home office, or just to chill out in.
The polyhedron cottage above appeals, but is probably too edgy for my spousal unit. And I’ve no idea how to build it.
I could buy an “office pod”:
But that is too “work” oriented. Not my thing.
I like this one:
Envision it in stucco, with slightly more slanted roof, and with white framing for the windows, to match the side of the house it would face. Oh… and a big honking AC sticking out somewhere (-:
This search for “Free running” will yield many videos of amazing physical feats, but also “accidents” that show it isn’t all fun and games.
Last week my brother, son and I went to see Rush in concert at the USANA Amphitheatre in Jordan, UT.
Short Take: They still rock. USANA, however, doesn’t.
Longer view:
This tour, called the Time Machine tour, was not in support of a new album, although they did play some songs from an album in progress. The premise, basically, was play as much as they can from their 30 stellar years. And they did. 3+ hours with a short intermission.
They played tight, as usual – rendering their amazingly complex, rich, and literate songs with relish and except in a few cases true to their original forms.
As a guitar player, I don’t understand out Alex Lifeson can remember much less play these complex tunes – but he does. And how the heck does Geddy Lee play that bass that intricately, as well as sing, trigger effects with foot pedals, and play keyboard? Neil Peart… to me he defines drums and how they can contribute to songs. Oh.. and he writes the lyrics, and not a love song amongst them.
Amazing talent *3 yields **3 the music. We loved it!
I’ll definitely see them again. As long as they want to bring it, I’ll watch it.
But… not at USANA. The location has real potential – a lovely setting, easy parking, easy access to vendors. But it has one HUGE flaw… it is too flat. I’m 6’ tall, had great seats and struggled to see. Those around me shorter couldn’t and were pretty pissed about dropping money on “good” seats. Rush delivered, but USANA didn’t. I’ll not go back there, period.
Oh… and RUSH should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
James Burke, science historian, has generously donated his 10 part documentary “Connections” to the web. I’ve seen the series twice, at least. It fascinated me. He also wrote an excellent column with similar historical connections for The American Scientist, as well as similar documentaries for TLC in the 90s.
See it on YouTube here.
Via Wikipedia:
Connections explores an "Alternative View of Change" (the subtitle of the series) that rejects the conventional linear and teleological view of historical progress. Burke contends that one cannot consider the development of any particular piece of the modern world in isolation. Rather, the entire gestalt of the modern world is the result of a web of interconnected events, each one consisting of a person or group acting for reasons of their own (e.g. profit, curiosity, religious) motivations with no concept of the final, modern result of what either their or their contemporaries’ actions finally led to. The interplay of the results of these isolated events is what drives history and innovation, and is also the main focus of the series and its sequels.
To demonstrate this view, Burke begins each episode with a particular event or innovation in the past (usually Ancient or Medieval times) and traces the path from that event through a series of seemingly unrelated connections to a fundamental and essential aspect of the modern world. For example, the episode "The Long Chain" traces the invention of plastics from the development of the fluyt, a type of Dutch cargo ship.
This is cool, but also seems a bit too daring. Sharks are curious about one thing… “can I eat this”.
Me my Shark and I from Chuck Patterson on Vimeo.
Hat Tip: Brother
about traffic is wrong:
This idea, that making roads less safe leads to less accidents appeals to me. I can’t help but wonder if a lot of the problems people, states and the country face can be best addressed by ignoring what “experts” tell us we need (higher taxes, more regulation, more central control, more of others deciding for us) and that we should instead just let individuals get on with their lives in their naturally cooperative fashion.
I would welcome Mr. Monderman’s traffic ideas in St. George. We already have a fair number of traffic circles, but no traffic “squares” that I’m aware of. Watch the video above, it is eerily cool how cars just approach 4 way intersections with no controls on them and do the right thing.
Down with traffic lights!
Learn the inside story of the making of this iconic poster:
Talent congregated in just the right place to create some cool stuff in the mid-70’s.
The inventor of T9 texting has come up with “Swype”; a faster way to type on a virtual keyboard.
A winner of Popular Science’s 2010 Inventions of the Year, the KOR-FX does two things well… it hides the bass/woofer of your loud music or game from neighbors, and it immerses you in the acoustic experience permitting you to sense direction and distance from it.
The latter lets you know you are taking sniper fire from behind and left in your favorite first person shooter. A very useful trait.
I don’t play video games, but if I did, I’d be intrigued by this.
It is available for sale now. You could skip me for a few Christmases if you scored this…
Storm on May 16. It gets good at 1:30 in….
I was out on a shooting range Saturday in Colorado when something similar rolled through. Fortunately somebody with local knowledge had us running for cover before the worst arrived.
http://www.redbookmag.com/fun-contests/celebrity/chris-odonnell-interview
A nice interview with Chris O’Donnell, actor, who decided to focus on family rather than a huge Hollywood career. He seems like a nice, grounded, guy. I’m glad he is having success with the new NCIS: Los Angeles show.
Posted for my wife’s reading pleasure.
Parked under a full moon about 20 miles east of Quartzsite, AZ. About 1 mile off I10 on a dirt road.
Comfy so far – I’m working e-mail, blogging, about to read books on the iPad. Brian enjoying the family comedy channel on Sirius radio.
Tomorrow, Tuscon and a hotel. But first a stop at Dillon Precision (for reloading supplies).
Just click on the Earth tab in Google Maps and many of the cool features found in Google Earth will appear, without you having to download the Google Earth app.
For instance, here is the Pima Pistol Range, near Tuscon, where I will be shooting this weekend.
