flickr.com

Wednesday, May 31

Dude, Sorry

I know, it's been awhile. But I've been busy - cleaning my apartment in anticipation of Mom & Dad's arrival tomorrow night, and drinking the best wine I've ever had?



That's debatable, but I don't think I've ever enjoyed anything ranked above #18 on Wine Spectator's Top 100. Even warm (I left the apartment at 74 this weekend), it was delicious - thanks to the folks at Uncorkt for recommending...

Anyone else planning to hit up Sam's Wine Shop free in-store tasting next week? First Wednesday of every month, baby.

posted by Brad at 5/31/2006 11:14:00 PM | permalink | 1 comments

1 Comments:

  • Hey Brad- Okay, so potentially a little weird, but are you still planning on going to the wine tasting on Wednesday? I just moved to the cities (I promise I'm not a stalker)last week and I'm going a little stir crazy here in my apartment. So if you're planning on going would it be all right if I came with?

    In a totally non-stalkerish, haven't seen you in ten years kind of way, of course.

    Liz

    By Blogger Elizabeth, at 6/06/2006 12:43 AM 

Post a Comment


Saturday, May 27

Gas is Cheap

It appears that I like taking the scenic route...

40 miles to the kennel in Blaine, instead of 20.

2143 miles to the cabin in Tahoe, instead of 1404.

posted by Brad at 5/27/2006 08:15:00 PM | permalink | 0 comments

0 Comments:

Post a Comment


Tuesday, May 23

What is NowPublic?

I wondered that to myself after they contacted me about using an (admittedly shoddy) photo I snapped at the Mpls Public Library Grand Opening.



"NowPublic harnesses the public’s collective wisdom to create a view of what today’s news audience cares about...combines the power of news readers, bloggers, photographers, and writers to create fast, open-source news coverage of the most important stories emerging anywhere in the world... [if] members see something that they find interesting, they...can add tags, comments, photos, and even audio and video footage to public stories."

Sounds like NewsVine to me, are there others out there like this?

Based on the story, I would think they want a picture of people trampling each other to be the first one through the doors a la Black Friday. But then again, we don't really know who "they" are...

posted by Brad at 5/23/2006 12:57:00 PM | permalink | 1 comments

1 Comments:

Post a Comment


Monday, May 22

Baseball & Sparklines



Sweet, the Twins are gonna get an open-air stadium (next to a trash incinerator) in downtown Minneapolis. Too bad I won't live 5 blocks away when it opens in 2010...

At this point, I was going to make a comment about the Twins' inability to win more than 2 games in a row. Turns out they have a 4 and 5 game winning streak to their credit this season, to go along with three 4 game and one 5 game losing streaks.

Sparklines (the brainchild of Edward Tufte, whose class I attended back in December) are a fantastically efficient way to visualize these streaks. Check out these sparklines for the AL Central Division:

up line = wins
down line = losses
red line = won or lost by 2 runs or less

posted by Brad at 5/22/2006 11:13:00 AM | permalink | 0 comments

0 Comments:

Post a Comment


MPL AND YOU

The new Minneapolis Central Library opened on Saturday, just a stone's throw from my apartment. I'm a big fan of the new building, but think I like the downtown Seattle library just a little bit more. Check out more specific comments on the photos I took, or the ones everyone else Flickred.

Anyways, there are a ton of cool workshops & classes available - one of which I just signed up for:

Framing the World: Photography as Art
Instructors: Lara Roy and Ashley Duffalo, Walker Art Center
Tuesdays: July 11, 18, 25 (6:15 - 7:45 PM)
Central Library, 300 Nicollet Mall (Doty Board Room)

Explore the art form of photography -- from the pictorialist imagery of the Photo-Secession artists, such as Alfred Stieglitz, to the iconic WPA documentary images of the 1930s, to the prolific Diane Arbus and artists today who freely experiment with new technological developments. Optional tour of the exhibition Diane Arbus: Revelations at the Walker Art Center on Tuesday, August 1.

Anyone interested?

posted by Brad at 5/22/2006 10:39:00 AM | permalink | 1 comments

1 Comments:

  • I'm reading this at the Dunn Bros at the library. Coffee+outside+free wireless = happy. I won't be able to do the class you're talking about, but am interested in seeing Matthew Pearl (he wrote The Dante Club - good book) on June 15.

    By Blogger Alicia, at 5/22/2006 12:06 PM 

Post a Comment


Wednesday, May 17

Cheap Domain Names

Vogtman asked me about buying an existing domain name, and I found a few bargains in my research...

AirTram.com for $5 million
IndianRailway.com for $3.8 million

I can't believe these are still available! If my Visa card wasn't cancelled, I would totally be moving my blog to BahiaPrincipe.com...

posted by Brad at 5/17/2006 08:54:00 AM | permalink | 2 comments

2 Comments:

Post a Comment


Monday, May 15

Twins Lose; Pink Visors Abound

Finally made it to the Dome for my first Twins game of the season (thanks for the gift certificates Pam!), but they couldn't transform a 7 run first inning into a win. The fact that Buehrle started off that poorly and still won the game means we were a part of history - that hasn't happened since 1900.

Also notable is that the ChiSox turned the first triple play in over a year, one of the many times the Twins' hopes were squashed as they tried to regain the lead.

I didn't even notice that several players were using pink bats - probably because we opted for the $6 "cheap seats." Come to think of it, we were sitting in the same section a few years ago when the Gopher football team threw away a huge lead against Michigan.

Gotta love Minnesota sports... At least we got some pink visors.

posted by Brad at 5/15/2006 08:49:00 AM | permalink | 1 comments

1 Comments:

Post a Comment


Thursday, May 11

mmm, Salty.

Are you worth your salt? I used that expression today and started wondering what it meant. After a bit of digging, I learned that "the word salary evolved from the Latin word salarium, which meant 'money given to Roman soldiers to buy salt.'"

Thanks Cobblestone & Cricket, whoever you are.

posted by Brad at 5/11/2006 04:15:00 PM | permalink | 2 comments

2 Comments:

Post a Comment


92 - 11 = 9 x 9 2 Go

The Race for the Cure is in 3 days, but I'm only on the hook for 11 cartwheels so far.

Donate a dollar now to secure a glossy 8x10* of me doing a cartwheel in honor of your generosity!

Stay tuned for a haiku about Katie & John, Martha's limerick and Mr. Holl's cinquain...

*I will e-mail a digital photo suitable glossy printing & framing

posted by Brad at 5/11/2006 02:33:00 PM | permalink | 1 comments

1 Comments:

  • Consider that dollar I won from you for finding the Seattle picture my donation. I really had my heart set on a new item from Dollar Tree but I'll do without.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5/11/2006 3:24 PM 

Post a Comment


Wednesday, May 10

Schmap-Tastic

Joining the one from Seattle, a photo I snapped of the Children's Pool in La Jolla (San Diego) has officially been Schmapped.

posted by Brad at 5/10/2006 03:18:00 PM | permalink | 0 comments

0 Comments:

Post a Comment


Fun? News

Sorry for the infrequent updates, I don't have internet at home yet and just failed on my 3rd attempt to sign up with EarthLink (2 of which were my fault).

I did, however, just successfully schedule a super fun Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy procedure to explode my friend the kidney stone. Anyone want to give me a ride to the hospital at 6 AM?

posted by Brad at 5/10/2006 10:50:00 AM | permalink | 1 comments

1 Comments:

  • Yeah, I'll do it. I'll even get you back home safe! Mom

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5/10/2006 8:27 PM 

Post a Comment


Monday, May 8

Call The Fashion Police

I just realized that I am wearing black pants with brown shoes and blue socks - pretty sure there is no situation where this is acceptable. In my defense, I totally thought these pants were blue, and place the blame squarely on the lack of lighting in my new apartment.

Speaking of which, Pekoe loves my building - the first thing he did upon arriving Saturday night was to take a crap in the middle of the foyer. I'll upload some pictures once the place is presentable...

posted by Brad at 5/08/2006 04:24:00 PM | permalink | 0 comments

0 Comments:

Post a Comment


Saturday, May 6

R.I.P. iPod?

After myPod froze up 3 times in 24 minutes during this morning's 5K, I've concluded that it's high time for an upgrade.

posted by Brad at 5/06/2006 10:15:00 AM | permalink | 1 comments

1 Comments:

  • Why would you get a little 4GB Nano when you can get this 60 Gig hotness for tree-fiddy?
    DK

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5/08/2006 9:06 AM 

Post a Comment


Wednesday, May 3

Flippin' Sweet!

Last week, I starred a post in my Google Reader about SketchUp, but never actually visited the site or created anything.

Nick, however, decided to take a "study break" and build a scale replica of our parents' house in Racine...

posted by Brad at 5/03/2006 10:51:00 PM | permalink | 0 comments

0 Comments:

Post a Comment


Tuesday, May 2

NWA Award Travel in MSP

I've always wished that NWA would make it easier to know when and where you can use your frequent flier miles for award travel, but realize that it is not in their financial best interests for you to do so. Nevertheless, they sent me an e-mail today entitled "Available Award Travel Markets to/from Minneapolis/St. Paul" - the link pointed to this page:

http://www.nwa.com/features/atrmsp/

Granted, this only advertises flights in May - but the URL does not seem to specify this. I wonder if we can refresh the page later this month to see options for June?

This seems to work for other NWA hubs (DTW, MEM), but you can't just punch in any airport code :(

Is this even a new feature, or am I breaking old news again?

posted by Brad at 5/02/2006 01:17:00 PM | permalink | 2 comments

2 Comments:

  • I dont know, but figure it out and fly to Myrtle Beach March 15 - 22...you'd do it, if you knew what was good for you.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5/02/2006 9:10 PM 

  • I agree with the previous poster. If you do book to Myrtle Beach, I'll help you move!

    Vogts

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5/03/2006 1:58 PM 

Post a Comment


Monday, May 1

Secrets of the City

Have any of you Minnesotans ever picked up a copy of the Rake? Apparently it's been around for over 4 years, but I just recently discovered it and am a fan. The writing is fun and the price is right... check it out!

posted by Brad at 5/01/2006 10:56:00 PM | permalink | 3 comments

3 Comments:

  • This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    By Blogger Laura, at 5/02/2006 10:28 AM 

  • I never knew about The Rake before moving back from Boston - since I've been back I've been real happy with it. Do you sign up for their e-newsletter?

    PS If you're moderating comments, must you still have word verification?

    By Blogger Laura, at 5/02/2006 4:31 PM 

  • 2006 - 4 = 2002, right?

    Rake has definitely been around longer than that. Perhaps in a different form, or with a different publisher, but I was reading Rake all through college...

    BTW, hey Behota! This is my first comment on your blog! Long time reader, first time commenter.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5/05/2006 7:12 PM 

Post a Comment


Ripped from SkyMall

I'm sure the EVAC-U8 Smoke Hood is wonderful and has probably saved some lives, but I can't help but laugh at pictures of people wearing it.

posted by Brad at 5/01/2006 10:38:00 PM | permalink | 0 comments

0 Comments:

Post a Comment


Book Report

I finally finished Permission Marketing on the plane today, which is good because Cluetrain arrived a few days ago - love that speedy, overpriced shipping! I can't quite put my finger on why this book didn't engage me like some of the others I've read recently - perhaps because it was published 7 years ago and feels like "old news"? I think Godin could have gotten his point (use the Internet to engage consumers individually instead of breaking the bank on flashy ads designed to grab their attention) across in less than 240 pages, that's for sure.

...which brings me to one of the many pages I ripped out of the SkyMall catalog, an ad for Soundview Executive Book Summaries. For $120 to $170 a year, you get 30 business books summarized into either 8 printed pages or a 20 minute mp3. I thought about signing up for a couple minutes, but don't like that you have no control over what they choose to summarize in a given month. Has anyone ever subscribed to anything like this?

posted by Brad at 5/01/2006 10:02:00 PM | permalink | 0 comments

0 Comments:

Post a Comment


 del.icio.us/linkblog
Google Reader
 Archives
» April 2004
» May 2004
» June 2004
» July 2004
» August 2004
» September 2004
» October 2004
» November 2004
» December 2004
» January 2005
» February 2005
» March 2005
» April 2005
» May 2005
» June 2005
» July 2005
» August 2005
» September 2005
» October 2005
» November 2005
» December 2005
» January 2006
» February 2006
» March 2006
» April 2006
» May 2006
» June 2006
» July 2006
» August 2006
» September 2006
» October 2006
» November 2006
» December 2006
» January 2007
» February 2007
» March 2007
» April 2007
» May 2007
» June 2007
» July 2007
» August 2007
» September 2007
» October 2007
» November 2007
» December 2007
» January 2008
» February 2008
» March 2008
» April 2008
» May 2008
» June 2008
» July 2008
» August 2008
» September 2008
» October 2008
» November 2008
» December 2008
» January 2009
» February 2009
» March 2009
» April 2009
» May 2009
» June 2009
» July 2009
» August 2009
» September 2009
» October 2009
 newsgator.com
Last 10 Books I've Read