So I mentioned how we were planning to bring back a vehicle from Newburgh, NY, right? I really didn't want to bring the trailer on the island cuz that would make getting around and parking that much harder. We ended up finding a garage on the way in Totawa, New Jersey, to store it for us, and the dudes allowed us for free; it worked out great!
Picked up the trailer on the way back out, spent a few hours at Copart getting everything sorted out (long, long story) and we got back on the road. The car was a lot larger than we initially anticipated back in Toronto, so the trailer was definitely a little overloaded. Needless to say, after scaring my passengers with some good swaying every now and then, a tire went on the trailer!
Anyway, everything got sorted out, we ended up getting back home around 4am. After about 16 hours in the car together the mood of all was still really great! I got to know Jowi and Sarah that much better, definitely learned a thing or two about music, and really had a great experience, despite what a fucking mess it all was!
I wanna thank Milo, Jowi and Sarah for making this such a great trip, and although I'd change one or two things (weather, not picking up a freaking car on the way back!), it was an experience I'll not soon forget.
Charles Czeisler of Harvard University established a decade ago that the mean for the intrinsic, or “free-running,” activity rhythm is 24 hours 11 minutes, plus or minus 16 minutes. It is not 24 hours 11 minutes for everyone, of course, as there is considerable variation among individuals and over the course of one’s life.
...
By studying the family relationships, Ptácek found that the disorder is inherited, and he has found the genes involved. The genetic implications prompted two senior researchers to comment, “It seems that our parents — through their DNA — continue to influence our bedtimes.”
...
Humans have broken many links with the natural world. Our food comes pre-packed, our drink pre-bottled and we take pills instead of chewing leaves. Electricity turns our nights into days, and central heating our winters into spring. But if we go deep into a dark cave without a watch, after a few days we revert to ancient patterns. Deprived of time cues, our rhythms slowly drift out of alignment with the outside world.
Poland's Krystian Zimerman, acclaimed as one of the world's finest pianists, shocked his audience at Disney Hall in Los Angeles Sunday evening by stopping his recital and announcing that this would be his last performance in the U.S.
"Get your hands off my country," Zimerman, who doesn't allow photos to be taken of his performances, told the audience. He denounced American military policies overseas and particularly in Poland, accusing the U.S. of trying to control the world.
...
Others remained but shouted for him to shut up and play the piano, and still others cheered. Then Zimerman launched into Karol Szymanowski's Variations on a Polish Folk Theme with such intensity that the audience gave him multiple ovations.
The Los Angeles Times noted on Tuesday that U.S. military policy has recently been a hot-button issue in Poland. Poles have been upset that the CIA held suspected al-Qaeda militants in secret prisons in Poland, and many objected to the Bush administration's plans to use Poland as part of a European missile defence shield.
...
Zimerman's outburst on Sunday may have been clumsy, Service added in the Guardian's On Classical blog, but it was relevant to the music he was playing.
"From Paderewski, Poland's piano virtuoso prime minister … countless classical composers and performers have been just as vocal and committed in their political beliefs," he noted.
"It's probable Zimerman only made his speech because of the Polish music he was about to play. Playing Bach and Beethoven is one thing, but performing Szymanowski's virtuosic Polish Variations for the exotic East-European delectation of a Los Angeles audience must have stuck in Zimerman's craw. Which is why he exploded in his 'quiet but angry' way."
Boy-Cott-In the Industry earned him a Juno Award nomination for Rap Recording of the Year in 2006,[1] and Hitch Hikin' Music resulted in a second one in 2007.
Three good songs from his new good album Self-Explanatory; yes, better than K-Os.
AND, AND AND! It's a choose your own adventure CD!!! (sort of.. idea is there). I had this idea back in 2001... at the end of certain tracks you can decide how the mix goes!... (skip to track 24 if you want to continue driving, drop back to track 4 if so and so... ). I remember recording the tracks/radio for an entire 24 hour day... mine was/is based on a single, specific, solid day of work. Anyway, another never released, never revisited album, but Classified does it, alright... ;) He's more into the music recording than I was pho sho.
Now this is some great photoshop work!:
Album highlights?: Bike references throughout (including the choose your own adventure) "got the club running like a track meet.. " "I don't fuck with the facebook cuz I need my space..."
umm... and not one bad track on the album.
Toronto: 15 May 2009 Phoenix Concert Theatre Toronto, Ontario
Some surprises include several divisions of Pepsi (at 100% green power!), City of Chicago, Dell actually giving back to the grid overall, the State of Pennsylvania, and several banks...
Denser living = less driving... makes sense, but looks great on this graph. One thing to look at is the rapid rise from townhouses to stand alone single family homes; a 50% increase in miles! Via Treehugger.com
His latest, ‘‘Objectified’’, had its premiere at last month’s South by Southwest festival. This film looks at industrial design, mixing interviews with assembly-line factory shots and B-roll footage of people shopping. Sustainability, consumerism, robots — ‘‘Objectified’’ covers all the bases and catches the design world’s hotshots off guard. There’s Dieter Rams, pruning a bonsai tree in his Japanese garden; the IDEO co-founder Bill Moggridge firing up his 1955 GMC Jimmy; and Jonathan Ive, deep inside Apple’s top-secret facilities, wiping the screen of his iPhone with his T-shirt.
Nobel Prize winner, and US Secretary of Energy Dr. Steven Chu
Was anyone in your family impressed when you won the Nobel Prize in Physics?
Probably, but who knows? I called my mother up when they announced the Nobel Prize, waiting until 7 in the morning. She said, “That’s nice — and when are you going to see me next?”
Is it true you don’t drive a car?
My wife does, but I no longer own a car. Let me just say that in most of my jobs, I mostly rode my bicycle.
And now?
My security detail didn’t want me to be riding my bicycle or even taking the Metro. I have a security detail that drives me.
How do you feel about adding carbon emissions to the air?
Chu: I enrolled in a two-year, introductory physics sequence that used The Feynman Lectures in Physics as the textbook. The Lectures were mesmerizing and inspirational. Feynman made physics seem so beautiful and his love of the subject is shown through each page. Learning to do the problem sets was another matter, and it was only years later that I began to appreciate what a magician he was at getting answers.
"Another myth is [that] we have all the technologies we need to solve the energy challenge. It's only a matter of political will," he says. "I think political will is absolutely necessary... but we need new technologies to transform the [energy] landscape: "http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2008/12/10/steven-chu-new-energy/