The Myth

Turkish Coffee

2009-10-04T21:07:00.001-05:00

Just ate at Cafe Orchid on Addison, and had my turkish coffee grounds interpreted...

Bloody For The Road

2009-09-27T14:29:00.001-05:00

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How to Get Free White Sox Tickets

2009-09-24T10:10:00.000-05:00

Ankur and I arrived outside US Cellular Field a few minutes after the first pitch of Wednesday's Twins/Sox game. We didn't have tickets, and the upper deck was apparently sold out - the parking lady warned us that she wasn't giving refunds.

We figured it wouldn't be tough to scalp two lower level tickets, especially with the Sox on the brink of being mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. After wandering around a bit, we found a guy with two tickets and paid him $25 each. He was very adamant that we put the tickets in our pocket immediately "because there's cops around!"

Upon further inspection, the tickets were for Tuesday night's game. We approached our salesman, who pretended to not know us and insisted that he had just gotten off the L and was looking for tickets himself. When we asked for our money back, he invited us to search him. But how to get tickets if he has no money? "People just give them away. The Sox ain't shit."

Eventually, Ankur got the attention of some plainclothes cops who promptly arrested our friend. As we were waiting for our $50 back, I started getting impatient and went to the box office to buy tickets. While waiting in line, I met a guy grumbling about how his friend was being arrested - oh and by the way he was selling tickets for tonight's game.

After confirming they were legit, I bought two and walked back to discover one of the cops had just given Ankur two tickets "…from other bad guys. But you didn't get these from us…" We declined the offer, since I'm pretty sure my tickets were non-refundable.

As for Ankur's $50 bill, we had to visit the police station after the game to pick it up so they could inventory it first. In the meantime, the Twins completed the sweep with their second consecutive 8-6 victory.

What a night.

U2 360

2009-09-13T20:45:00.001-05:00

Quite a contraption at Soldier Field...

Rhode Island

2009-09-13T13:46:00.001-05:00

I don't think I've ever seen a Rhode Island license plate. In other news, the lens on my BlackBerry camera is filthy!

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Hand Rolled Stuffed Jalapenos

2009-09-05T19:02:00.001-05:00

$6.95 at Miller's Ale House in Tallahassee

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Pop Tarts & Greeting Cards

2009-08-31T11:29:00.000-05:00

Kristi and this Chicago police officer have similar tastes (except for the gun)
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Dead Amp?

2009-08-31T09:40:00.001-05:00

My Klipsch ProMedia amp is making awful noises (and not playing music). How do I know if it is dead?

Safety for Superheroes

2009-08-30T20:53:00.001-05:00

If the lasers shooting from your eyes start a fire, create clouds, turn into water or shatter glass, do not exit.

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G Love...

2009-08-20T20:29:00.001-05:00

...and Special Sauce. Weird watching a concert from a suite.

Unwelcome

2009-08-20T17:25:00.001-05:00

Shutting my computer down for the last time...

Perilous Parking

2009-08-18T10:46:00.004-05:00

Twitter has all-but replaced my desire to blog, but some things take more than 140 characters to explain...

For most of my first year at The University of Chicago, I took Metra and CTA from Evanston to Hyde Park. It took awhile, but was hassle-free (as long as I didn't miss the bus/train). I started driving more in the spring after becoming a LEAD facilitator, and gave Sahil (whose wife also goes to Kellogg) a ride on April 29th.

We found a spot on 60th St near the Midway Plaisance, and tucked the car in just behind a "No Parking" sign at the end of a long row of cars. When we (and a few others) came back to the car that evening, a ticket was waiting for us! Apparently, there were invisible street cleaning signs posted that morning.

I contested the $50 ticket by sending a letter in mid-May, and on July 11th "It [was] the finding of the Administrative Law Officer that the information submitted supports a determination that the violation occurred." At this point, my only option was to spend $90 to file a civil lawsuit against the City of Chicago - so I went online to pay.

Imagine my surprise when I found out that I now owed them $100. How could this be? As it turns out, I had 21 days to pay after the determination on July 11th. The only problem is, I didn't get the letter until August 13th. They sent it to our address in St. Louis Park (where the car is registered), where it was forwarded to our address in Evanston and subsequently forwarded to our sublet in Minneapolis.

The woman I spoke to was surprisingly helpful, but did not tell me what I wanted to hear. Apparently, the court won't remove the extra $50 late fee due to mail forwarding delays. Ugh!

I feel better, thanks for listening.

1st Pedicure Ever

2009-07-26T15:15:00.001-05:00

Step 1 appears to be soaking the feet in warm ectoplasm...

Moneyball

2009-07-24T14:52:00.000-05:00

Let's see how far I get from MSP-PHX...

Jigsaw

2009-07-18T21:52:00.001-05:00

When you ony have a jigsaw, a little geometry comes in handy...

Aw, Snap!

2009-07-02T13:25:00.002-05:00

Since I apparently can not live without tabbed browsing, I've been using Google Chrome at work. My favorite feature so far? The dead folder icon when a page is unresponsive:

Is it ironic that it happened while I was reading a WSJ op-ed about health care reform?

ButterBurger

2009-06-28T21:09:00.001-05:00

I lost a bet to Kristi about the lyrics to a Rihanna song, and have to buy her a kids meal at this fancy Culvers in Black River Falls...

Haulin'

2009-06-28T16:19:00.001-05:00

Just passed the Brigade truck on I-894, I wonder where they are playing tonight? So many memories, especially after watching the slideshow at Michael & Thea's wedding last night...

Four For Four

2009-06-16T22:19:00.001-05:00

After he batted .1000 tonight in the Twins 8-2 rout of the Pirates, Joe Mauer was nice enough to autograph the ticket I bought John on our man date tonight. I even caught a foul ball, but it was wrastled away from me by a 'roid-raging superfan...

Wine Blending!

2009-05-11T18:48:00.001-05:00

At Just Grapes, my new favorite wine store. As if I need to be going to wine stores...

Piece

2009-04-17T21:27:00.001-05:00

This was my roommate in Chile, grossed out by meat on the pizza (since he's a vegetarian)

Korean BBQ

2009-04-13T18:30:00.000-05:00

Just sat down at Cho Sun Ok, not sure what to do with all this stuff!

Big Printin'

2009-04-13T16:26:00.000-05:00

Printing an event poster on the HP DesignJet 5500PS at school. I learned how to use the neon glow filter in PhotoShop for this project!

Question: How much does my new bike weigh?

2009-03-18T15:19:00.004-05:00

Answer: 32 pounds, and more when I mount the U-Lock on its way from Amazon...

CTA in my Rearview

2009-03-13T17:01:00.001-05:00

On Lakeshore Drive...

As soon as I get an Internship...

2009-03-11T19:11:00.001-05:00

...I'm gonna get some new jeans.

Lunch & Learn

2009-02-18T13:19:00.000-06:00

This is my idea of a LNL - Bruno putting on a drums clinic for Rock Band in C01, while Gui sings Alice in Chain's "Man in a Box" and Conor plays guitar...

Suit Rack

2009-02-14T17:55:00.001-06:00

I wonder if anyone else has ever hung their suit from this No Parking sign?

Hallmark Holiday

2009-02-13T14:26:00.001-06:00

I've walked past the Target in downtown Minneapolis several times today, and the crowd around the greeting cards has not waned...

Flimsy Fork

2009-02-10T21:57:00.001-06:00

Its great that Kovler cafeteria switched to using flatware made from renewable resources - except they are just a bit useless...

Chatting with HP

2009-02-08T22:06:00.002-06:00

The touchpad on Kristi's laptop is acting silly, so I've been chatting with HP to try and resolve it...

Kason : May I know if you have installed the applications.
Brad Johnson : yes, i installed both
Brad Johnson : and the problem did not go away
Kason : It is so unfortunate to hear.

Update: they recommended a full system recovery due to an undetectable virus:

Kason : To resolve the issue, I recommend you to take a full system recovery
Brad Johnson : what virus is it related to?
Kason : The virus may have effected the booting drivers for the touchpad,
Brad Johnson : do you know the name of the virus?
Kason : I am afraid, Brad.

"Fresh" Cartwheel Photos & Videos!

2009-02-08T15:09:00.003-06:00

I finally uploaded photos and videos from last year's event to cartwheelsforthecure.com.

A giant "thank you" to everyone for supporting me over the last three years - we have raised almost $1700 together!

I'll be doing Cartwheels for the Cure next during the 2009 Chicago Race For The Cure, which is less than eight months from today...

Look, Mom!

2009-02-05T09:42:00.003-06:00

Thanks to Google Latitude, you can now keep track of your three sons! We can set our phones and/or laptops to automatically update our location, which is going to make it tough to sneak home for a surprise birthday party...

Coat Room

2009-02-05T08:57:00.001-06:00

There is a room at the Harper Center where you can hang your jacket, since your locker probably has a suit or two hanging in it...

...or is it a North Face outlet store?

Looking Ahead

2009-02-03T16:55:00.002-06:00

I'm not surprised, but definitely disappointed that I won't be able to take this course from Goolsbee next quarter. Maybe next year... if the economy is fixed by then.

Nevermind, looks like he will be busy for two years.

Involuntary Discharge?

2009-01-31T19:17:00.002-06:00

I'm glad I visited the CTA website before walking to the L tonight - looks like the Purple, Yellow and Red lines aren't running until further notice due to a medical emergency. That's a pretty big deal, even on a weekend. I wonder how often this happens?

Be sure to read the alert all the way to the end...

Update: good thing I got that screenshot, it's already been fixed.

Librarians are Cool

2009-01-29T08:03:00.001-06:00

Saw this on the back of a bus while driving to school. It's kinda tough to read:

Not What You Think
That's Right, She's One Of Us
It's Free. It's Easy.
Chicago Public Library

One Week

2009-01-25T19:12:00.001-06:00

You've got less than a week to get a pair of Intru3D glasses at the grocery store before the 90 second Monsters vs Aliens commercial airs in 3D before halftime of the Super Bowl.

Intel spent $7 million printing 125 million pairs of glasses, and DreamWorks is paying NBC over $8 million for the commercial time - don't let all that go to waste because you're unprepared!

Defying Gravity

2009-01-25T17:07:00.002-06:00

Many of you know that my cousin Ryan is one of the wig gurus for Wicked on Broadway. You probably didn't know that Nicole Parker recently started playing Elphaba, but Broadway.com did a pictorial about the process of "greenifying" her and you get to see Ryan at work!

Off Road

2009-01-16T14:56:00.000-06:00

The Acura thinks we are hopelessly lost in northern Wisconsin...

Holes

2009-01-11T18:28:00.001-06:00

Shred Shop didn't have a replacement strap for my broken Flux snowboard binding, so I drilled out the hole on the closest match we could find. Hope it makes it through two days in the UP!

8 Tacos

2009-01-10T20:41:00.001-06:00

Only half of them are for me...

Understanding the Complex World of Derivatives

2009-01-07T21:33:00.005-06:00

I didn't expect to laugh out loud when reading my Investments textbook, but the fact that I'm using the fifth edition (which Kristi bought in 2002 at Madison) instead of the current eighth edition means I get to read things like this...

"What are derivatives anyway, and why are people saying such terrible things about them? Some critics see the derivatives market as a multi-trillion-dollar house of cards composed of interlocking, highly leveraged transactions. They fear the default of a single large player could stun the world financial system. But others, including Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, say the risk of such a meltdown is negligible."

Ah, hindsight.

In case you're interested, the entire book is available in a single PDF, courtesy of the School of Economics at Shandong University.

Batch Download Flickr Photos

2008-12-27T12:12:00.002-06:00

I had been looking for an easy way to download entire sets from Flickr, and stumbled across a not-too-clumsy workaround:

Download Blurb BookSmart
Create a new book (call it slurper), and use the Flickr Slurper to download photos
You'll find the photos as .original files in Mac HD > Users > Username > Library > Application Support > BookSmartData > slurper > library
Download Name Mangler
Rename the .original files to .jpg

Presto!

(The instructions are Mac specific, but the Lifehacker post where I found Name Mangler has alternatives for Windows and this Blurb forum post tells you where Windows stores the slurped photos.)

Improv Parking

2008-12-21T17:52:00.000-06:00

9 feet of snow at Brookfield Square!

Facial Hair Required?

2008-12-13T09:25:00.001-06:00

To be a reporter in the Wisconsin State Journal, it would appear...

Practice Safe Manicure

2008-12-12T12:54:00.000-06:00

I was wearing the face mask, but she stole it from me and wouldn't give it back...

Thirty Foot Six

2008-12-10T11:46:00.001-06:00

Weatherproofing a giant American Gothic-esque sculpture on Michigan Ave in Chicago

In Theory...

2008-12-08T21:45:00.000-06:00

...everything I learned in four classes over the last ten weeks is in one of these binders...

Mail Key

2008-12-08T17:57:00.000-06:00

I went to get the mail, and discovered that they forgot to lock the mailboxes. Neat!

Just What the DR Ordered!

2008-12-04T09:57:00.003-06:00

This week, we found out that our 2009 KWEST trip to the Dominican Republic was approved! Too bad we have to wait 261 days before we leave :(

Here's a logo I designed with some creative input from Michael. I'm still trying to figure out how to "wrap" it around a can (since we stole the slogan from Dr. Pepper)

Want

2008-12-01T16:17:00.004-06:00

I always get excited when Threadless announces new tees, but this week's crop is especially fantastic!

There's even one for you Vikings fans, but I couldn't bring myself to link to it.

Blue For You

2008-11-30T17:51:00.003-06:00

The Harper Cohort AmEx Blue commercial, which tied for 3rd place at the 2008 Golden Gargoyles...

Mento-no!

2008-11-26T15:31:00.002-06:00

I posted a video of Diet Coke & Mentos back in May from the Serious Play conference...

Look how much fun it is to combine beer & Mentos!

Afraid to go outside...

2008-11-26T07:51:00.002-06:00

...and find out what the black circle in the sky is all about:

Could I Have Been?

2008-11-23T18:14:00.002-06:00

Jason Mraz's trombone player in London?

Kindle in the Wild

2008-11-19T09:03:00.000-06:00

I was originally upset to have missed the 8:22 train this morning, but I got to see an Amazon Kindle for the first time on the 8:38. Its smaller than I thought, and it seems like the white body would discolor after awhile? He seems to be enjoying it, though.

Random Walks 2008

2008-11-16T18:57:00.002-06:00

Kristi and I are hoping to lead a KWEST trip next summer, so I am doing a bit of research on where all my classmates went on their Random Walks (the Booth equivelant of a KWEST trip).

Step 1: Create a Map

View Larger Map

Golden Gargoyles

2008-11-16T00:16:00.000-06:00

Harper didn't win (much less get nominated for - really?) Best Picture, but we did take home Best Dance Scene, Best Use of Faculty and tied for 3rd in the AmEx commercial contest...

R squared = .65

2008-11-14T22:07:00.004-06:00

I saw my first regression less than two months ago, and I swear this is the first time I've come across one while casually browsing the interwebs. Coincidence?

This shows how sensitive ad spending is to GDP growth:

I'm a huge nerd for being excited about being able to understand the equation...

(via)

Tiny People

2008-11-13T18:13:00.002-06:00

Looks like the satellite imagery of downtown Chicago was taken while a concert was going on at Grant Park...

View Larger Map

Wetness

2008-11-12T17:25:00.000-06:00

I guess my pants are too long?

Ta Da!

2008-11-07T09:38:00.002-06:00

A grainy screencap of the new banner being unveiled from the online video of yesterday's announcement.

The (now old) blue Chicago GSB banner was prominently featured in our cohort film, which I am not allowed to YouTube until next Saturday...

New Sign

2008-11-07T09:05:00.001-06:00

That didn't take long!

Chicago Booth

2008-11-06T17:16:00.000-06:00

For only $300 million dollars, you can name a business school!

Legit

2008-11-06T16:56:00.000-06:00

NBC and ABC are here.

The Perpetrators

2008-11-06T16:51:00.000-06:00

These guys are about to cut the strings and unfurl a new banner over the Chicago GSB one...

No More Chicago GSB

2008-11-06T16:50:00.000-06:00

That blue banner is about to be covered by whatever the new name for our school is...

Done and Done

2008-11-04T17:05:00.000-06:00

I Am bradleypjohnson

2008-11-04T00:19:00.002-06:00

When you search Google for bradleypjohnson, there are 2,580 results - most of which are remnants of things I've done on the Internet.

usernamecheck.com is a service that - nevermind, it's self explanatory. As it turns out, there are lots of websites I haven't tried yet!

Handicapped Scooter

2008-10-31T19:12:00.001-05:00

The bus is empty tonight, so my scooter gets two seats. Why don't more people use scooters?

Currently Listening To: The Ting Tings

Kindle Count

2008-10-31T00:01:00.003-05:00

I was explaining the Kindle to my parents tonight over dinner at Koi (my Yelp review), and wasn't sure how many Amazon has sold since the "wireless reading device" was launched one year ago.

Randomly, I just read Scoble's column in the new Fast Company and learned that an estimated 240,000 sold in the first nine months - less than I would have guessed.

They've got some work to do to get Kindle into the hands of over 4 million more people in the next couple years... I think I'm waiting for the second iteration of the hardware design.

Target Field

2008-10-29T23:29:00.003-05:00

I always thought General Mills should buy naming rights to the Metrodome and call it the Big G:

Our friends at Target beat us to the punch - the new ballpark will be called Target Field.

Kinda sad that this is news to me, given it was announced a month and a half ago...

Hairball On My Scatterplot

2008-10-28T17:03:00.001-05:00

I was trying to plot dataset with its regression line, but something went horribly wrong...

What a Crock

2008-10-26T14:00:00.000-05:00

Putting our wedding present to work on Karen's chili recipe...

From the Cockpit

2008-10-25T07:24:00.000-05:00

Riding Metra into downtown Chicago on a cloudy Saturday morning...

A-ha

2008-10-23T23:29:00.001-05:00

Watch this, and then this, and then this.

Fam-Tastic

2008-10-20T22:28:00.003-05:00

The new Fast Company arrived today, and I couldn't wait to read the cover story about Seth MacFarlane (the creator of Family Guy). Among other things, I learned that sethcomedy.com launched about a month ago. This is my favorite:

Find Free Photos For Your Use

2008-10-19T19:12:00.004-05:00

Right now, Flickr is hosting nearly 3 billion photos (which I determined after reading TechCrunch and trial-and-erroring my way to the 2,956,757,980th photo).

Many of them are private, and many more are "all rights reserved." But there are millions being shared with a Creative Commons license, which you can find using Flickr's Advanced Search and checking the box at the bottom of the page.

I wrote this for my mom, but hopefully it helps someone else!

Har Har

2008-10-17T22:11:00.003-05:00

Whoever writes John's speeches...

...is funnier than whoever writes Barack "Steve" Obama's:

Napa Cabbage Salad

2008-10-16T09:45:00.000-05:00

Here's what's left of the salad we brought to the Random Walk Chile reunion last night - I should have made more! Thanks to Kelly for the recipe...

Wedding Cake Part Deux

2008-10-15T23:17:00.000-05:00

Aww, one of our Chile Random Walk trip leaders baked a wedding cake for me & Ankur!

Layover

2008-10-15T07:41:00.001-05:00

This is where I wait for the bus every morning, having ridden a Metra train into downtown Chicago. It occurred to me today that this tree won't have leaves for long...

1 day, 3 posts?

2008-10-13T23:13:00.003-05:00

Welcome to the blogosphere, Vogtman.

PS - blog posts usually link to things they refer to, but I'll forgive you since you're new...

YouShould...

2008-10-13T18:29:00.004-05:00

...be using YouMail.

That way, you could have every voicemail saved as an MP3 - making it easy to share your Mother- and Sisters-In-Law singing Happy Birthday with the whole Internet...

Birthday Brownies

2008-10-13T17:43:00.000-05:00

My wife knows the fastest way to my heart - a pan of brownies...

Worn Out

2008-10-11T15:44:00.001-05:00

Looks like the Acura needs an alignment pretty bad...

Puma Clothing Tag

2008-10-09T19:06:00.000-05:00

According to Puma's research, only 4% of people actually read the tags on clothes. I bet less than 4% of those people are amused enough to post a photo of the tag on their blog.

Kristi is so lucky, I'm one in a thousand!

Gmail 'Goggles'

2008-10-09T13:26:00.003-05:00

In case you're prone to drinking too much and sending e-mails you later regret, Gmail Labs just added 'Goggles' - they force you to answer several simple math problems when sending e-mails at times you can specify (after bar time, for example). I wonder if this works with Gmail Mobile?

Um, I had no idea that Gmail Labs even existed - this is one of more than 20 "features" you can try out...

Rainy Today

2008-10-07T21:33:00.001-05:00

Before we know it, this rain will turn into snow...

I'm A Consultant!

2008-10-06T13:34:00.002-05:00

Well, sort of. I got my first choice project for the Business Solutions Group, which means I'm going to spend the next few months working with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Our team will help them evaluate their association with the Museum, and recommend a long-term strategy for how the relationship should continue (or not). It could impact what you find at artic.edu in the future...

Metra Student Discount Petition

2008-10-02T09:42:00.004-05:00

I just became the 1,566th person to sign a petition for Metra to include those of us going to college in their description of a "student." Currently, we are not eligible for a fare discount, which really hurts on top of the whole tuition and lack of income thing...

Portfolio's "Podium Index"

2008-10-01T07:08:00.002-05:00

Based on medals won in Athens divided by 2004 GDP, Ethiopia is the most efficient country and producing Olympic medalists...

2008-09-30T22:22:00.000-05:00

I find it odd that our iPass came wrapped in foil - is it really that potent?

Derivatives Are Fun!

2008-09-29T18:19:00.002-05:00

I'm (re)learning derivatives, thanks to my Microeconomics class this quarter. This animated GIF on Wikipedia really sums it up:

What to do?

2008-09-28T10:24:00.000-05:00

With leftover fondue?

Maybe I should join the Epicurean Club and learn some creative uses for it...

NU Football

2008-09-07T00:42:00.000-05:00

Apparently, the Wildcats think they are going to run over Ohio State, Michigan State, Purdue and Illinois...

Good Luck Dusting This

2008-09-06T17:59:00.002-05:00

As we drove up 39 switchbacks on the way to Valle Nevado in the Chilean Andes, I started to wonder what the trip looked like in 3D - since a 2D map could never do all those turns justice (especially with a hangover).

As I was flipping through this month's Wired, I learned you can order a custom-sculpted wood topo maps.

If these things weren't $275, I would totally ask Santa to make one for me.

The (Austrian) company's website allows you to pick any place in the world using Google Maps, and then shows a (choppy) rendering of what the sculpture would look like. For example, check out the road to Valle Nevado.

Here Goes Football

2008-09-04T18:05:00.003-05:00

The fact that Boston is leading this poll while the Giants and LSU are just starting to defend their championships isn't surprising, but I think the fact that sports fans from New York don't even think the Giants can repeat is (53% of New Yorkers voted for Boston, 19% for the Giants).

Pack It Up, Pack It In

2008-08-22T07:46:00.003-05:00

I'm leaving for Chile tomorrow - and while I look forward to the skiing and wine tasting, two days of community service at a children's shelter near Santiago will be awesome:

It's weird to be packing for cold weather, but the temperature won't get above 65 the whole time we're there! I'll be pretty out of touch next week, but will take plenty of photos (and might even share a few...)