9.24.2011 ‎… nice visit with Jimbo, Joni and Bob, and John … then off to Davidson to see Moneyball in it’s great movie theater and Moneyball was great …

Davidson NC, movie, places:  Davidson has a fun movie theater … worth the drive for a date night!  10 best new places, uptown and beyond – Our Town Cinemas

Moneyball, movies, baseball, music:  Moneyball was great fun … even had sentimental chick flick theme in the subplot.And I loved the daughter’s song …

When Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts attends home games at Wrigley Field, he spends part of the day hearing from fans who have endured more than a century without a World Series Championship.

“Moneyball” the book sold more than 1 million copies. “Moneyball” the movie opens Friday,starring Brad Pitt as the Oakland A’s iconoclastic general manager Billy Beane. Matthew Futterman on Lunch Break discusses how the book changed the game.

He must endure inevitable questions about “Moneyball,” Michael Lewis’s 2003 best seller about baseball’s statistical revolution. Fans used to ask owners when they’re going to trade for a starting pitcher; now they beg for a computer whiz to swoop in and save the franchise.

“It comes up all the time,” says Mr. Ricketts, whose family bought the Cubs two years ago. “The fans hope that the decisions made on the baseball side are made with the evidence at hand.” He doesn’t mind at all: he’s pushing for more such analysis himself.

“Moneyball” the book sold more than one million copies. “Moneyball” the movie opens Friday, starring Brad Pitt as the Oakland A’s iconoclastic general manager Billy Beane.

…

“Moneyball” allowed the business world to see sports in terms of strategic tools, especially in environments where resources are scarce and innovation becomes a requirement.

“It’s about how to price assets, and that’s something that’s germane whether you’re running Chrysler or Goldman Sachs or the Oakland A’s,” says George Will, the political columnist and author of the baseball book “Men at Work.”

Beyond that, “Moneyball” celebrated measurements at exactly the time when computers and simple programs were exponentially increasing the speed at which the educated working public could analyze data and hold everyone from second basemen to third-grade teachers accountable for their results.

John Challenger, principal of the job placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, remembers reading “Moneyball” for the first time, then going out and buying copies for each of his top managers. In his view, this was the first book to coherently address the issue of finding the key measurements that will help you run your business, the kind of data that a company like General Electric sought tirelessly for decades.

“People thought it was crazy,” Mr. Challenger said of GE’s approach. “Moneyball” gave everybody a way to understand and think about it, and everybody finally got it.”

via Baseball After Moneyball – WSJ.com.

…

Lenka – The Show (With Lyrics) – YouTube.

education, early achievers:   I have seen this happen … there must be a solution.

The study, “Do High Flyers Maintain Their Altitude?,” builds on a previous report from Fordham that suggests nationwide policies aimed at making schools more accountable for improving low-performing students’ achievement are hurting the brightest students. That 2008 report found that from 2000 to 2007, achievement for students who were the highest performers on the National Assessment of Educational Progress was flat, while the lowest-performing students improved dramatically.

Unlike NAEP, which compares different cohorts of students, the MAP data analyzed for the Fordham study compared individual students with themselves.

The new study also found that while some high-achieving students faltered, other students developed into high performers as they got older, although those students were likely to have scored between the 50th and 80th percentiles in the first place. In addition, many of the initially high-achieving students whose test scores fell below the 90th percentile after a few years didn’t fall far. Many scored in the 70th percentile or higher years later.

Role of NCLB Law

The Fordham authors also acknowledge that the idea that all high-achieving students will remain that way indefinitely is “naive, … just as it’s naive to expect 100 percent of students to reach ‘proficient,’ ” which is the mandate of the No Child Left Behind Act. Signed into law in 2002, No Child Left Behind is the current version of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Reauthorization of the ESEA is stalled in Congress. Later this week, President Barack Obama is expected to unveil a package of waivers that would give states wiggle room on some of the current law’s requirements.

via Education Week: Early Achievers Losing Ground, Study Finds.

knitting, Martha Stewart:   Some people compare knitting to yoga.  Maybe I will let Martha teach me to knit.

The Basics of Knitting

Learn how to knit your own mittens, hats, scarves, and more. Here we take you through the step-by-step instructions and teach you how to cast on, knit, purl, and cast off.

There are two basic knitting styles, the English method and the German/Continental method, but the only real difference lies in how the yarn is held.

With the English method, the working yarn is held in the right hand; with the German/Continental method, it is held in the left. While both methods produce equally fine results, here we use the German/Continental method.

via The Basics of Knitting – How to Knit – Knitting – MarthaStewart.com.

“Le Lac Annecy”,  Paul Cezanne, painting, art, Talloires FR:  I was thinking about Talloires last night and researched Cezanne’s painting.  Learned something new …

Richard Verdi (in Cézanne) has described this painting, simple in form but highly complex in its prismatic colours, ‘with no two strokes of blue or green appearing exactly the same in size hue or direction’. Verdi notes, for example, that ‘while house and château on the distant shore are clearly delineated, the landscape around them appears in an inchoate state, as though still awaiting further resolution.’ This illustrates a general feature of the artist’s approach: rather than distinguishing foreground from background through the degree of detail applied to forms, Cézanne concentrated attention on objects at different points in space. While Cézanne saw in this his difficulty in realizing the full complexity of nature, the result was paintings that have ‘an unparalleled vitality and lay bare the formative process of painting as few other works of art do.’

via Some Landscapes: Lac d’Annecy.

Twitter, restaurants, foodies, Zagat:  Zagat, you are crazy … who is going to follow 140 restaurants and foodies.

Not sure who to follow in the foodie Twitterverse? Check out our indispensable guide to 140 must-read accounts, including chefs, food media and restaurants.

via Who to Follow on Twitter: 140 Restaurants and Foodies | Zagat.

food trucks: I only know of one food truck in Charlotte, and it is not crazy-looking.  Like pop-up stores, we are just not on the cutting edge.  🙂

Some food-truck proprietors have gone beyond the norm with design, creating totally wacky vehicles from which to dole out their grub. And we don’t just mean a friendly coat of paint or a cute awning – some sport elaborate murals and sculptures, and one even resembles the animal served on its menu.

via The 8 Craziest-Looking Food Trucks | Zagat.

foursquare, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, social networking:   OK … Still want to know why I would use foursquare???  What does KK doughnuts get …

All of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts’s Tips

Here are all of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts’s insider Tips. Whip up a List of the best ones, so you can experience the world through their eyes.

via foursquare :: Krispy Kreme Doughnuts :: Tips.

Eve’s Diary, book, Mark Twain, Banned Books Week:  I wonder if our public library has any banned books?

Trustees of the Charlton Public Library lifted the 1906 ban earlier this week of “Eve’s Diary,” Twain’s satirical version of the Adam and Eve story, said Cheryl Hansen, the library’s director.

Two paperback copies were made available at the library in central Massachusetts on Thursday and, within hours, one of them was in a reader’s hands, she said.

“I think there’ll be a lot of interest in taking it out,” Hansen added, saying the unanimous vote to lift the ban came just in time for Banned Books Week, which begins on Saturday.

A library trustee learned about the ban from a local newspaper article and last year tracked down a first edition of the book, which will be on display through next week, she said.

via Library lifts 1906 ban on Mark Twain book | Reuters.

Palestine, U.N. Statehood Bid, 2012 Presidential Election, foreign affairs:   This really is going to be the 2012 Presidential Election foreign affairs issue.

Defying U.S. and Israeli opposition, Palestinians asked the U.N. Friday to accept them as a member state, sidestepping nearly two decades of troubled negotiations in the hope this dramatic move on the world stage would re-energize their quest for an independent homeland.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas hands over a formal letter for Palestine to be admitted as a state to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

Earlier in the week, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rebuffed an intense, U.S.-led effort to sway him from the statehood bid, saying he would submit the application to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon as planned.

“We’re going without any hesitation and continuing despite all the pressures,” Mr. Abbas told members of the Palestinian diaspora at a hotel in New York on Thursday night. “We seek to achieve our right and we want our independent state.” Shortly before noon on Friday, Mr. Ban’s spokesman tweeted, “President Abbas just handed the Palestinian application to the Secretary-General UNSG.”

In his letter to Mr. Ban accompanying the application, Mr. Abbas asked the U.N. chief to immediately forward the request for full U.N. membership to the Security Council and the General Assembly, according to a top aide. The General Assembly will likely be asked to approve a more-modest status upgrade if the bid in the council founders as expected.

via Palestinians Submit U.N. Statehood Bid – WSJ.com.

Wall Street Banks, BofA:  I am getting tired of words like “bruising.”  I can’t tell you how much this thrills me … “Bankers’ bonus checks, which fund everything from second homes to private school educations, are expected to plummet, in some cases to zero.”

Third-quarter revenue expectations at six big U.S. banks—Bank of America Corp., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co., Goldman and Morgan—have fallen 7% since midyear, according to analysts surveyed by data provider FactSet Research Systems. That is the biggest drop since the fourth quarter of 2008.

The banks’ pain has widespread implications on Wall Street and across the country. Weaker banks will likely lend less, pressuring an economy already flirting with recession. Bankers’ bonus checks, which fund everything from second homes to private school educations, are expected to plummet, in some cases to zero.

via Wall Street Banks Taking a Bruising – WSJ.com.

Cure Bad Breath,  YouTube, marketing, Wal-Mart:   OK, I might check out  “Diary of a Dirty Tongue,” “World’s Biggest Tongue,” and “Is Your Tongue Kissable? Does Your Breath Stink?”  🙂

Can a YouTube video bring in big business? If it goes viral, it just might.

On Tuesday, Provo, Utah-based Orabrush Inc. announced its flagship product – a tongue cleaner – would be carried in 3,500 of Wal-Mart Inc.’s 3,800 U.S. stores thanks to a social-media campaign launched two years ago.

Orabrush’s chief marketing officer, Jeffrey Harmon, (left) and Robert Wagstaff, the company’s founder, watch YouTube videos.>

Orabrush initially marketed its tongue cleaners directly to consumers with a TV infomercial in mid-2008, according to founder Bob Wagstaff, who invented the product. But the strategy didn’t perform well.

“We spent $40,000 on it and sold practically nothing,” says the 76-year-old, who next cold-called several large retailers, asking them to carry the product, to no avail.

Unsure why his efforts failed, Mr. Wagstaff approached a marketing professor at Brigham Young University about his dilemma. The professor agreed to let Mr. Wagstaff solicit students for suggestions on how to get the word out. One student suggested creating a YouTube video and volunteered to take up the task. Mr. Wagstaff accepted the offer, which resulted in a comedic two-minute video that cost about $500 to make. It quickly went viral and a series of related videos also made by the same student, now Orabrush’s chief marketing officer, followed soon after.

Today, the company has its own YouTube channel that boasts more than 39 million views and 160,000 subscribers, who get alerts whenever a new video is posted to it. The channel, called Cure Bad Breath, is the third most popular YouTube channel behind OldSpice (No. 1) Apple (No. 2), according to Vidstax.com, a Web-analytics firm. Orabrush also has nearly 300,000 fans on Facebook, which the company uses to promote its videos.

Cure Bad Breath features 88 original shorts, all comedies, with titles like “Diary of a Dirty Tongue,” “World’s Biggest Tongue,” and “Is Your Tongue Kissable? Does Your Breath Stink?” The company’s more recent videos are slicker than the originals and cost more to produce — between $3,000 and $5,000, says Orabrush’s CEO, Jeff Davis. Most of the actors in them are college students and recent graduates, which are also the company’s biggest customers.

Wal-Mart didn’t base its decision to stock the tongue cleaner on Orabrush’s YouTube popularity, says Tara Raddohl, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, but she notes the company’s YouTube videos likely raised its profile among consumers.

via How a Start-Up Landed Shelf Space at Wal-Mart – WSJ.com.

physics, light speed limit,  Albert Einstein, 1905 special theory of relativity: Just when we think we understand the world  ” … appears to violate the laws of nature as we know them.”

Physicists on the team that measured particles traveling faster than light said Friday they were as surprised as their skeptics about the results, which appear to violate the laws of nature as we know them.

Hundreds of scientists packed an auditorium at one of the world’s foremost laboratories on the Swiss-French border to hear how a subatomic particle, the neutrino, was found to have outrun light and confounded the theories of Albert Einstein.

“To our great surprise we found an anomaly,” said Antonio Ereditato, who participated in the experiment and speaks on behalf of the team.

An anomaly is a mild way of putting it.

Going faster than light is something that is just not supposed to happen, according to Einstein’s 1905 special theory of relativity. The speed of light — 186,282 miles per second (299,792 kilometers per second) — has long been considered a cosmic speed limit.

The team — a collaboration between France’s National Institute for Nuclear and Particle Physics Research and Italy’s Gran Sasso National Laboratory — fired a neutrino beam 454 miles (730 kilometers) underground from Geneva to Italy.

They found it traveled 60 nanoseconds faster than light. That’s sixty billionth of a second, a time no human brain could register.

…

Physicists not involved in the experiment have been understandably skeptical.

Alvaro De Rujula, a theoretical physicist at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research outside Geneva from where the neutron beam was fired, said he blamed the readings on a so-far undetected human error.

If not, and it’s a big if, the door would be opened to some wild possibilities.

The average person, said De Rujula, “could, in principle, travel to the past and kill their mother before they were born.”

But Ereditato and his team are wary of letting such science fiction story lines keep them up at night.

“We will continue our studies and we will wait patiently for the confirmation,” he told the AP. “Everybody is free to do what they want: to think, to claim, to dream.”

He added: “I’m not going to tell you my dreams.”

via Physicists wary of junking light speed limit yet – WSJ.com.

NBA lockout, Steph Curry:  What is bad for the NBA is good for Davidson … the longer the lockout, the closer Steph is to a Davidson degree.

The NBA postponed training camps indefinitely and canceled 43 preseason games Friday because it has not reached a new labor deal with players.

All games from Oct. 9-15 are off, the league said. Camps were expected to open Oct. 3.

NBA.com’s schedule page, which has a banner across the top listing the number of games on each day, was changed Friday morning to read “0 Games” for each date until Oct. 16, when there are four games.

“We have regretfully reached the point on the calendar where we are not able to open training camps on time and need to cancel the first week of preseason games,” deputy commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “We will make further decisions as warranted.”

The cancellations were expected after the latest meeting between owners and players Thursday ended without a collective bargaining agreement. Both sides still hope the entire regular season, scheduled to begin Nov. 1, can be saved.

The NBA has lost games to a work stoppage only once, when the 1998-99 season was reduced to a 50-game schedule.

via NBA postpones camps, cancels 43 preseason games – ESPN.

Davidson College, vandalism,  community bike program, honor code:  Very disappointing … you would think Davidson would be the perfect place for a community bike program.

The system was convenient for those who did not have bikes on campus, or who were unexpectedly running late to class. They were also a pleasant surprise to many, who found them sitting outside their dorm, the library, the Union or on Chambers lawn. The bikes did not have to be locked up or left in a secure location, which made them extremely convenient.

Of course since the bikes were limited in number, completely public and in high demand, they were never in one place for long. This inconvenience aside, the program was in place for many years here, and many other campuses across the country maintain similar programs.

Why was such a useful and popular program discontinued? Unfortunately, it appears that the strong Davidson sense of honor and responsibility wavered when it came to these bikes.

“They were stolen, damaged and some were even thrown off of buildings,” Jeannie Kinnett ’12 said. “Since there were no repercussions for damaging them, and no way to ensure their maintenance, the Activities Tax Council decided that funding them this year would not be worth it since they would be trashed anyway.”

There were efforts by Davidson Outdoors and other organizations to improve student treatment of the bikes, but this was largely ineffective. They were being damaged and stolen faster than they could be repaired or replaced.

“I once found one on the side of the road on Main Street,” Samanvitha Sridhar ’14 said. “I tried to ride it, but the tires were completely deflated, so I fell. It was pretty awful, and after that, I avoided the bikes because they all seemed to be in bad condition or broken.” One bike was even found in a drug bust.

Though Davidson students take great pride in their honor code, it is difficult to enforce any sort of regulation on the treatment of public property that changes hands on an hourly basis. Ironically, the program’s initial success was due to the honor code, which has now become its downfall.

Many students are not happy about the end of the program. “While I understand why the decision was made to end the community bikes program, I think that it was a useful resource for many students and I’m sad to see it go.” Denton Baird ’14 said.

Perhaps one day the community bikes program will be reinstituted, perhaps not. Either way, it brings to light the fact that, though the Honor Code is a source of pride for every Davidson student, when tested at least a few students take advantage of the benefits it affords. Our community is also accessible to a wider public that does not share our mutual pact.

via Theft, vandalism kill community bike program – News – The Davidsonian – Davidson College.

Duke Energy, green energy:  Buying energy or energy credits … very complicated.

Carolinas is seeking bids from companies that produce power from wind projects to sell the electricity and credits to Duke to help it meet state renewable-energy requirements.

Duke filed its long-range power-generation plan with state regulators this month. The plan calls for an increased reliance on wind power in the early years of the 20-year plan. About 12% of the renewable energy Duke provides by 2015 is expected to come from wind projects.

This is the first request Duke has made for bids from wind producers since filing that plan. The company says that power or credits will have to come from projects 50 megawatts to 300 megawatt in size. And the proposals must offer a minimum of 60,000-megawatt hours annually.

via Duke Energy asks for bids to sell wind power – Charlotte Business Journal.

6.11.2011 … can you get addicted to PT?

quotes, Gandhi, Coca-Cola:  It’s funny when a brand links itself to a state of mind.  Happiness and Coke don’t exactly work for me … but the folks at Coke keep at it.  Can you think of another example?  I think Jello pudding and funny … from the days when Bill Cosby was their sponsor.   From the Coke twitter feed ….

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. – Gandhi

France, travel, blogs:  Found this blog today and loved it … Southern Fried French. “A South Carolinian’s beau-dacious new life, living and cooking in a medieval château.”

radio, public radio, words, sayings:  John was traveling and discovered this public radio show which is not carried in Charlotte.  We have now downloaded a few and listened.  It is fun if you like words/sayings.

You Bet Your Sweet Bippy (full episode)

Why do some puns strike us as clever, while others are plain old groaners? Martha and Grant puzzle over this question. Also, the difference between baggage and luggage, a royal word quiz, the “egg” in egg on, what to call someone who doesn’t eat fish or seafood, Hawaiian riddles, and why we say “You bet your sweet bippy!”

via A Way with Words, public radio’s show about words and language and how we use them.

art, censorship:  Interesting question … when can our public museums legitimately censor art?  Is not choosing it for display/purchase censorship?

Mike Blasenstein and Michael Dax Iacovone, creators of the one-month-only Museum of Censored Art, have received the John Phillip Immroth Memorial Award for intellectual freedom by the American Library Association, one of the most well-known anti-censorship organizations in the country.

The museum was responsible for showcasing the censored film, “A Fire in My Belly,” by gay artist David Wojnarowicz. The video was originally a part of the gay and lesbian art exhibition “Hide/Seek” at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, and contains an 11-second segment that shows ants running on a crucifix.

via Creators of Museum of Censored Art receive intellectual-freedom award – The Washington Post.

Michael Vick, people, kudos, commencement speech:  Kudos, Michael Vick for turning your life around.

In the minutes before giving his first commencement speech, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick professed to be more nervous than before a football game.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick answers a question in Philadelphia, Wednesday, June 8, 2011, he says that he uses Unequal Technologies EXO Skeleton products

He had nothing to worry about. A lovingly raucous crowd of several hundred cheered Vick throughout his remarks Friday to graduates of the alternative Camelot high schools at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.

The fact that he surprised a pair of students with $5,000 college scholarships didn’t hurt either.

The theme of redemption proved to be the heart of the connection between the ex-con NFL superstar and the 450 graduates. Camelot’s six campuses in Philadelphia serve about 1,800 students with emotional, disciplinary or academic problems.

In speeches during Friday’s ceremony and in a private meeting with Vick before the big event, several graduates spoke of rebounding from previous troubles or poor choices to earn a diploma with the second chance they were given at Camelot.

via Michael Vick surprises 2 grads with scholarships  | ajc.com.

“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” , movies, anniversaries:  Wow… 25 years … that makes me feel old.

But most important, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” gave us permission, for 103 minutes, to take the cinematic equivalent of a joy ride in a candy-apple Ferrari. And that’s why then and now, it continues to resonate. And that’s also why, in honor of its 25th birthday, I’ve made this list of “Bueller”-related contibutions to pop culture.

via ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ and its 25 contributions to pop culture lore – Celebritology 2.0 – The Washington Post

Facebook, gotcha, news, the law, random:  Very strange story and weird precedent to be setting …

A woman pretended to be a 17-year-old to draw out incriminating evidence from her ex-husband via Facebook. But an investigation after his arrest showed that he was the true online mastermind. Oh, the e-intrigue!

According to the Smoking Gun, 29-year-old Angela Voelkert created a fake account for 17-year-old “Jessica Studebaker,” complete with a trashily attractive photo, and friended her ex-husband. Then, in an attempt to gain information she could use against him in a custody battle, she chatted him up. He said he put a GPS tracking device on his ex-wife’s car, the more easily to monitor her every move. And he told “Jessica” that “you should find someone at your school…that would put a cap in her ass for $10,000.” He had plans to “take care of” old Angela, he said. Heavily based on the exchanges, the FBI arrested 38-year-old David Voelkert on Friday, but did he ever have a surprise for them.

Suspecting it was Angela all along, David Voelkert had gotten a notarized affidavit shortly after Jessica came online. In it, he said that he believed this was not a real person but rather his ex-wife or someone she knows. He said he was engaging with this person and lying in order to gain proof that his ex-wife was tampering with his personal life, proof he would then use himself in court. “In no way do I have plans to leave with my children or do any harm to Angela Dawn Voelkert or anyone else,” he wrote above the Indiana notary’s stamp. He then kept one copy and gave another to a relative for backup.

The timeline worked, his affidavit coming days before he said anything incriminating. The notary was interviewed, the document authenticated, and his case was dismissed. Situations like this are why the phrase “Oh, snap!” was invented.

via Digital Detectives: Custody Battle Leads to Facebook Double-Sting – TIME NewsFeed.

Rep. Anthony Weiner, slime bags:  I really don’t like having the tag “slime bags” … and that I am using it almost daily for different men.

Weiner’s online interactions with the student had drawn the attention of some conservative bloggers in recent days. FoxNews.com said one of its reporters was at the house when the officers arrived.

Weiner spokeswoman Risa Heller confirmed that the congressman communicated with the 17-year-old, adding in an e-mail, “According to Congressman Weiner, his communications with this person were neither explicit nor indecent.”

The report cites sources close to the student as saying that the 17-year-old began following Weiner on Twitter after hearing him speak during a trip to Washington on April 1.

That was the day that Weiner took to the House floor to mock Republicans in the ongoing debate over avoiding a government shutdown; the New York Democrat read from a children’s book, “House Mouse, Senate Mouse,” which describes the process by which a bill becomes a law. The House was considering a Republican-sponsored bill aimed at keeping the government running even if the Senate did not pass a funding measure of its own.

Weiner sent the student a direct message via Twitter about two weeks later, according to FoxNews.com’s sources.

via Del. police reportedly asking about teenager’s interaction with Weiner – 2chambers – The Washington Post.

Rep. Anthony Weiner, Eliot Spitzer, slime bags, the media:  Interesting … and awkward.

But as anyone who has squirmed while watching Eliot Spitzer discuss the latest political sex scandals on CNN knows, there is such a thing as having too much skin in the game. ¶ The former New York governor’s evening show, “In the Arena,” plus his candid interviews for “Client 9,” a documentary about the 2008 prostitution scandal that led to his resignation, should have put his own downfall firmly in the rearview mirror. But that’s a difficult feat when you’re in the news business — and the news is all about sex and politics. A review of Spitzer’s coverage of Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) and the congressman’s tweets, denials and admissions shows that the governor’s past has an awkward habit of intruding:

via Awkward: Eliot Spitzer covers the Weiner scandal – The Washington Post.

random, thoroughbred race horses, names, kith/kin:  I used to laugh as my college roommate whose family owns Dogwood Farms would come up with names … DF had some kind of naming contest.

Every year, America’s horse racing governing body, the Jockey Club, receives about 60,000 Thoroughbred name requests to approve or reject. Roughly one-third don’t make the cut, either because they’re already taken — a name can only be awarded once a decade — or they’re deemed obscene. That still leaves tens of thousands of often wonderful, surprising, and just plain head-scratching names. Herein, a few.

…

Mine That Bird

His father was Birdstone, his mother was Mining My Own. Winner of the Kentucky Derby in 2009, sadly his branch of the Bird line will come to an end with his passing, as Mine That Bird is a gelding.

via Weird, Wonderful Horse Names – Photo Gallery – LIFE.

food trucks, food, DC, websites, Apps:  I may try this App for lunch next week …  Food Truck Fiesta – a real-time automated DC food truck tracker with commentary.

websites, business, entrepreneurial ideas:

What is Springwise?

Helped by a network of 15,000 spotters, Springwise editors scan the globe for smart new business ideas, delivering instant inspiration to entrepreneurial minds.

via Springwise | New business ideas, trends and innovation.

children’s/YA literature, lists:  How many have you read?  Kids’ Classic Summer Reading on DailyLit (Part 2: Grades 7 and 8) « DailyLit Blog.

Garden and Gun, magazines:  When I first saw Garden and Gun I thought those two don’t go together … it is now one of my favorites.

Just went on a magnolia binge. I spent the weekend in Tennessee, courtesy of my friends at the splendid magazine Garden and Gun. Quite a title. It has an odd, family resonance for me–as my father is a Southerner. He grew up in Kentucky. He is a great shot (clays, not animals), and he taught me to garden. So how could I not be drawn to a magazine by that name, especially when it is beautifully edited, art-directed, and produced. Award-winning, too. Sid Evans is an excellent editor.

via Slow Love Life: GARDEN AND GUN, MAGNOLIAS AND ABSINTHE, AT BLACKBERRY FARM.

1.17.2011 MLK Day … visiting W&L … strange place to be on MLK Day.

college search, W&L: loved the look and feel of W&L … but a very strange place to be on MLK Day.  UVA has that walk back in time to antebellum days as well … and Monticello … an interesting legacy.

education, college:  disturbing …

In the book, and in an accompanying study being released Tuesday, the authors followed more than 2,300 undergraduates at two dozen universities, and concluded that 45 percent “demonstrated no significant gains in critical thinking, analytical reasoning, and written communications during the first two years of college.”

The universities are not identified — the authors only say they represent “a wide range” of the nation’s approximately 2,000 four-year institutions — but the yardstick against which such judgments are made is the Collegiate Learning Assessment, a standardized test that is essay-based and open-ended. (It is worth noting that in measuring broad analytic and problem-solving skills, the exam does not assess how much students concentrating in particular majors — physics or psychology, for example — have learned in their respective fields of study.)

via How Much Do College Students Learn, and Study? – NYTimes.com.

Sen. McCain, The President, politics: Sen McCain took the high road  here.

The president appropriately disputed the injurious suggestion that some participants in our political debates were responsible for a depraved man’s inhumanity. He asked us all to conduct ourselves in those debates in a manner that would not disillusion an innocent child’s hopeful patriotism. I agree wholeheartedly with these sentiments. We should respect the sincerity of the convictions that enliven our debates but also the mutual purpose that we and all preceding generations of Americans serve: a better country; stronger, more prosperous and just than the one we inherited.

We Americans have different opinions on how best to serve that noble purpose. We need not pretend otherwise or be timid in our advocacy of the means we believe will achieve it. But we should be mindful as we argue about our differences that so much more unites than divides us. We should also note that our differences, when compared withthose in many, if not most, other countries, are smaller than we sometimes imagine them to be.

…

It does not ask too much of human nature to have the empathy to understand how wrong an injury that is or appreciate how strong a need someone would feel to defend him or herself against such a slur. Even to perceive it in the context of its supposed political effect and not as the claim of the human heart to the dignity we are enjoined by God and our founding ideals to respect in one another is unworthy of us, and our understanding of America’s meaning.

There are too many occasions when we lack that empathy and mutual respect on all sides of our politics, and in the media. But it is not beyond us to do better; to behave more modestly and courteously and respectfully toward one another; to make progress toward the ideal that beckons all humanity: to treat one another as we would wish to be treated.

We are Americans and fellow human beings, and that shared distinction is so much more important than the disputes that invigorate our noisy, rough-and-tumble political culture. That is what I heard the president say on Wednesday evening. I commend and thank him for it.

via .: United States Senator John McCain :: Press Office :..

education, apartheid, South Africa:

The lingering legacy of apartheid

Even though public schooling was desegregated in 1994, the vast majority of poor black children continue to go to severely deprived, overwhelmingly black schools. Two-thirds of state schools have no library or computer; 90% have no science laboratory; more than half of all pupils either have no text books or have to share them. Whites, by contrast, together with a small but growing contingent from the black middle class, send their children to the former all-white “Model C” state schools, with their far superior facilities, or, increasingly, to a private school.

Since 1994 the number of pupils attending independent schools has more than doubled to around 500,000 (4% of the total school population); six out of ten are black. Tuition fees, over a quarter subsidised by the state, range from a modest 1,600 rand ($230) to a hefty 80,000 rand a year. Many parents think it worth it. Class sizes are generally half those in state schools, the teachers are better qualified and the success rate a lot higher. More than 90% of private-school pupils can expect to get their matric, compared with just 30% of state-school pupils. The former Model C schools boast a similar success rate.

President Jacob Zuma has promised to make education his priority. Money is not the main problem: education already gobbles up about 20% of the government’s budget, representing over 5% of GDP. But attitudes, particularly those of the teachers, who are heavily unionised, will have to change. Angie Motshekga, the schools minister, admits that the system is largely “in crisis” and will take 20 years to fix. Others fear it may need longer.

via South African schools: E for education | The Economist.

restaurants, food trucks, innovation, change:  Maybe more than a fad?

“We’re seeing demand for customization based on specific menus or food concepts, which may mean installing a pizza oven or a baking oven for cupcakes,” said Richard Gomez, customer sales engineer and plant controller at AA Cater Truck, the largest food truck manufacturer in the country. “There’s also a lot more emphasis on marketing and graphics. Trucks used to be just white, but now customers want to make their trucks look like celebrities.”

Founded in 1965, AA Cater Truck operates from a sprawling facility here in central Los Angeles, where the food trucks are designed, built, financed, sold and serviced.

A sister company, Hivco, a manufacturer of the delivery vehicles known as step vans, operates under the same roof. New vehicles arrive at the plant as stripped-down chassis assemblies that include wheels, a drivetrain, a steering wheel, a dashboard, a driver’s seat — and nothing more.

via Food Trucks Now Tailored to the Chefs Inside – NYTimes.com.

pop-ups, NYC:  Now this is interesting … a pop-up park!

As New York continues to get hit by blizzards, city dwellers longing for a picnic without the risk of frostbite can head downtown to the OpenHouse Gallery at 201 Mulberry Street, where a pop-up park opened on January 8. The gallery has been converted into an indoor park with fake grass, rocks, trees, a pond, and bird sounds.

While there’s not enough room to toss around a frisbee, park-goers can play bocce ball and croquet or attend a daily yoga session from 12-1 ($15 suggested donation). There’s also a seesaw for the kids.

via New Yorkers take shelter from winter in a downtown pop-up park on Shine.

economy, Great Recession, economics:

And in fact, that’s just what the Fed has done since late August, and so far the policy seems to be working—though it stands to reason that it would work faster if the Fed did more.

I know many economists don’t buy this view of the crisis, including some Keynesians. They argue, for instance, that with so much excess capacity in the economy, no interest rate will induce private investment, and so direct government spending is needed to create the demand and the inflation necessary to clear the economy. Others, obviously, hew closer to a more structural view of the crisis, in which major reforms are required, rather than monetary or fiscal policy. No one, clearly, considers the matter settled.

But I found the Hall-Shimer view (or, at any rate, the view that lies midway between them) to be compelling. I think they’ve hit on an important aspect of the continuing failure of the American economy to get back to normal.

via Labour markets: Really unemployed | The Economist.

 

1.4.2011 … last day with the boys in town … will miss them … but they have become night owls … not sure what they look like in daylight.

economists, ethics, Davidson:  When I was a senior, I remember a professor telling me I was an economist … I wondered what that meant … not much I guess.  I also remember a class at Davidson called “The Emergence of Professions.”  In that class we discussed the difference between an expert/ a specialist and a professional.  Only professionals were governed by a fiduciary duty to their customer (patient, client, student, etc.).

Economists are no purer than anyone else, and I share the view of my fellow Economix blogger Nancy Folbre that we all have room to become better people. But I’m skeptical that the A.E.A. is well suited to arbitrate the ethics of the economics profession.In one area, however, the A.E.A. can act productively: It can create clear conflict-of-interest disclosure rules for its prestigious journals.The film “Inside Job” raised disturbing questions about whether economists who regularly wrote or opined on various policy debates failed to report relevant background information, such as board memberships or consulting arrangements. The accusations are serious, and it seems clear that the profession has been carelessly cavalier about conflicts of interest.As individuals, most of us could do with higher moral standards, but what are the appropriate institutional remedies?It would be nice to think that the American Economic Association could lay down a code of ethics that would solve everything, but that would be a vast institutional overreach. The biggest problem with that approach is that the A.E.A. is not a licensing or accrediting association, like the American Bar Association.The A.E.A. publishes journals, organizes an annual meeting and gives out awards, such as the John Bates Clark Medal. Membership in the A.E.A. is not selective, and many economists choose not to join, without much harm to their professional reputation I think I’ve let my own membership lapse.

…

The American Economic Association has successfully operated for 125 years, and part of its success comes from staying above the fray. Its primary purpose is to encourage the exchange of ideas through meetings and journals. It can and should regulate those journals better, but it doesn’t have the authority to try to regulate other aspects of economists’ lives.

via Edward L. Glaeser: Where to Draw a Line on Ethics – NYTimes.com.

random, kudos, South Africa:

Project: Report 2010 is a partnership between YouTube and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, made possible by Sony and Intel. The contest invited aspiring reporters to share their stories with the world.

With two rounds over three months, short documentary assignments were judged on the quality of the stories reported and the production value of the videos. An expert panel led by the Pulitzer Center chose ten finalists from the first round to receive technology prizes from Sony and Intel. The ten finalists then competed to receive one of five $10,000 grants to work with the Pulitzer Center on an under-reported international story. See the official rules.

The winners were announced in May 2010. The five winners received travel grants to report on an under-reported international story with the Pulitzer Center.

The winners’ reporting projects are now underway:

…

And Mark Jeevaratnam , who explored the effects of mountain top removal mining in Kentucky, reports on how soccer may have the potential to improve the lives of South African youths.

via Project: Report 2010 | Pulitzer Center.

Soccer in South Africa: Youth Program provides Hope and Skills | Pulitzer Center.

food trucks, street art, random, quote:

“Pie is the new donut, or pie is the new cupcakes…and the truck thing, I don’t know how long that’ll last. I don’t know where they eat it, that’s what I can’t figure out about a truck. Where the hell do you eat it?”

via Mimi Sheraton on Food Trucks | The Food Section – Food News, Recipes, and More.

Apple, marketing: Amazing … “It’ll be the elephant in the Las Vegas Convention Center: the endlessly discussed outsider whose absence helps define the show.”

Slate PCs, smartbooks and the Que were rendered largely irrelevant by the iPad, which Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced in San Francisco two weeks after last year’s CES. The fact that the most influential company in the business chooses to hold its own launch events on its own schedule further erodes CES’s usefulness as a predictor of next big things, but it doesn’t mean that Apple won’t be on everyone’s minds. It’ll be the elephant in the Las Vegas Convention Center: the endlessly discussed outsider whose absence helps define the show.

via The 2011 Consumer Electronics Show: What to Expect – TIME.

Great Recession, BofA:  I hope he is right.  🙂

Jim Cramer thinks Bank of America could break out after addressing its housing losses head on.

via Cramer: BofA Could Break Out JPM, C, WFC, BAC – TheStreet TV.

Politics, Congress, culture:  I wonder if this lack of spousal friendships is a factor in what is viewed as a lack of  congeniality among members of Congress.

In its midcentury heyday, 50 or so members of the Senate Wives’ Club, met at 10 o’clock each Tuesday morning, Democrats and Republicans alike, sitting together in Red Cross uniforms, rolling bandages and exchanging the intimate details of their lives. “We became close friends,” remembers Ellen Proxmire, whose late husband, William Proxmire, spent three decades in the Senate. “We all lived here. We would see each other on weekends.”

Today, the club, long ago renamed Senate Spouses in a nod to the growing number of women in Congress, meets about once a month, and fewer than a dozen attend. “A lot of the Senate wives don’t live here,” explains Proxmire, “so it would be harder to have a weekly meeting.” When Michelle Obama hosted the annual First Lady luncheon for the club this past July — harkening back to a time when the likes of Van Cliburn and Marvin Hamlisch played at the event– only 45 or so current Senate spouses showed for Jill Biden’s slideshow of her recent trip to Iraq, over crab cakes and grilled shrimp. The room was filled out by Proxmire and other wives of senators long-retired. “It wasn’t unusually well attended,” she says.

As the 112th Congress opens, the family lives of the nation’s lawmakers are in disarray. Newsweek recently reached 46 of the 107 freshman members of Congress, and only one—Mike Lee, the newly elected Republican senator from Utah—said he or she was planning to move to Washington with spouse and children in tow.

via No More Washington Wives and It’s Our Loss – Newsweek.

apps, New Year’s Resolution’s, me:  Hmmm, wonder which ones I should buy!  5 Fitness Apps to Get You Off the Couch – TIME Healthland – StumbleUpon.

history, France, Elizabeth Musser, kith/kin:  This article made me think of Elizabeth’s  early trilogy.

Algeria is not France’s Vietnam, he said, but something more ingrained. “It is much more complicated to exorcise it here, and then on top of that we have the pieds noirs and the harkis,” he said. “France is now getting slightly more involved in this part of its history,” with more documentaries on television. “But the French can’t, for now, see their tragedy on the big screen.”

via France’s Pain Over Algeria Reawakens With 2 New Films – NYTimes.com.

‎11.11.2010 … happy veteran’s day … and the bassets are winning again …

technology, culture, change: I have a vivid memory from 2007 of a man riding a bicycle smoking a cigarette and talking on a cell phone in the rural China.

More than 4 billion of the 6 billion people on earth now have a cell phone, with a quarter of those owners getting one in just the last two years. And many are using them, in a giant global experiment, to change the way life is lived, from Manhattan to Ouagadougou.

The phones now allow Masai tribesmen in Kenya to bank the proceeds from selling cattle; Iranian protesters to organize in secret; North Koreans to communicate with the outside world; Afghan villagers to alert Coalition soldiers to Taliban forces; insurgents to blow up roadside bombs in Iraq; and charities to see, in real time, when HIV drugs run out in the middle of Malawi.

via How the Cell Phone Is Changing the World – Newsweek.

economics, RIP: Rest in Peace, Mr. Isard.  I did not know this specialized multidisciplinary area of study existed.

Walter Isard, an economist who founded the field of regional science, inspiring social scientists to study the relationships between such factors as geography, migration and land use in local or regional economies, died on Saturday at his home in Drexel Hill, Pa. He was 91.

His death was confirmed by his son Peter.

In the 1940s Professor Isard (pronounced EYE-zard) found common cause with other economists searching for a more sophisticated way to measure and understand economic activity on a smaller-than-national scale.

Deeply influenced by the German economists who developed location theory — the study of geographic location as a prime factor in economic development — he began lobbying for an interdisciplinary approach to analyzing local and regional economies.

Typically, a specialist in regional science might study the factors causing a particular industry to be located in a particular place, how the arrival or departure of a company affects a region, or how internal migration influences regional economic activity.

The core concepts of regional science were developed and propagated through the Regional Science Association (since 1989 the Regional Science Association International) and the Journal of Regional Science, both of which Professor Isard founded in the 1950s.

via Walter Isard, Father of Regional Science, Dies at 91 – NYTimes.com.

history, ancestry, research:  Fascinating … but I don’t think anyone in my family went there … until now … my nephew Harman is there …

Years before leading his vastly outnumbered troops to their doom at Little Bighorn, a young George Armstrong Custer was described as accurate in math.

Nearly 30 years before his March to the Sea laid waste to a large swath of Georgia, William Tecumseh Sherman was deemed a “fine energetic boy.”

And two decades before he would earn the nickname “Stonewall,” Thomas J. Jackson’s dreams of a military career got a boost from a man who would help start the Civil War.

Those are some of the tidbits gleaned from more than 115,000 U.S. Military Academy application documents being posted online for the first time by Ancestry.com. The Provo, Utah-based genealogy website said Tuesday that the information can be viewed for free starting Thursday — Veterans Day — through Sunday.

…

The oldest West Point documents being posted online date to 1805, three years after the academy’s founding, and run through 1866, a year after the Civil War ended. The records and other related documents from that period were culled from the National Archives in Washington, D.C., said Quinton Atkinson, director of content acquisition for Ancestry.com.

The documents represent some 16,000 individuals accepted into the Corps of Cadets, he said. Missing from the collection are the application records of notables such as Edgar Allen Poe, who briefly attended West Point, and Robert E. Lee, who graduated in 1829, Atkinson said.

“These are the rich aspects of the research that you can add to the more fundamental tree-building that family historians do,” Atkinson told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “You can understand who these people were.”

via Old West Point applicant letters being put online – Yahoo! News.

random, not quite right: From a Tuesday Morning e-mail.  Just seems interesting that this was not a big seller … take it on the road 🙂

.

public art, food trucks, NYC: OK, Zagat has a food trucks site … and ranks them … street food has come a long way in a very short time.

We’re so excited about the launch of our new Zagat Food Trucks site that we thought we’d give you a primer on some top-notch mobile eateries. These ratings are part of our recently released 2011 New York City Restaurants Survey. The list shows surveyors sure have a sweet tooth – more than half of the trucks listed will help you get your sugar fix. Check out full roundup below, and let us know about your favorites in the comments!

via 8 Best Food Trucks in New York – New York City Restaurant Buzz – Zagat.

BofA:

Bove estimates the BlackRock sale, coupled with paying employee bonuses this year in stock instead of cash, will allow BofA to meet the $3 billion target.

via BofA sells BlackRock stake | Charlotte Business Journal.

Davidson:  Two good articles in the recent Davidson Journal … one about diversity … Is This the Face of Davidson? | davidsonjournal and the other about Davidson’s football history … Davidson & Goliath | davidsonjournal.

college, CU-Boulder, youth, faith: College is a time to experiment.  It is interesting that atheists would want to participate.  Maybe it is that yearning for something more … for God.

Some CU secular students said they are participating in religious activities for reasons other than faith.

via CU secular students participate in religious activities | CU Independent.

public art, history, superlatives:  The last World War I vet … and he’s right there should be a memorial to those vets.

The West Virginia resident is the last of 5 million Americans who served in World War I. He says a memorial doesn’t have to be elaborate, but a monument should be created alongside others commemorating other 20th century conflicts.

Born in 1901, Buckles was 16 when he enlisted but persuaded the Army he was 18. He saw no combat but worked as a driver and warehouse clerk in Europe and helped repatriate German prisoners after the war.

via Last US WWI veteran seeks DC memorial to that war  | ajc.com.

restaurants, Charlotte, followup:  I did not have the tater tot nachos … but I thought it ranked “good enough to go again” … We’ll see how I feel after I try the tater tot nachos … a combination of two of my favorite things.  Review of The Burger Company – The Charlotte Observer.

religion, culture,ethics: Good read …

The psychologists realized that as the speed of life increases, the possibility for ethical choice becomes a rarity: a too-full life limits the capacity to care.

In the tenth chapter of Luke’s Gospel, Christ commissions the disciples to go out two by two to cure the sick and proclaim the gospel (Luke 10:1-12). This text is paired with the telling of the parable of the Good Samaritan in the second half of the chapter (Luke 10:30-37). The lesson in exhaustion is a lesson for those who are sent.

via Exhaustion ethics | Faith & Leadership.

random, LOL: I like to take pictures of certain things all over the world … never thought of children’s play places and how outrageously funny they could be.  enjoy …

Strange Play: 26 odd pieces of playground equipment

via 26 strange play places – Cheaper Than Therapy.

colleges, GA, education:  Where are they coming from … and when will the peak in enrollment occur?

The University System of Georgia is teaching 311,442 students this fall – a new record for the 35 campuses and an increase of 3.2 percent from last year, Chancellor Erroll Davis said Wednesday.

…

Some campuses did see a slight drop in enrollment. University of Georgia has 34,677 students – a decrease of .6 percent.

via Georgia colleges set enrollment record  | ajc.com.

education, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, Great Recession:  One of the most important characteristics of a community are its schools.  Let’s hope that this recession does not destroy the good in our system.

In a night marked by split votes, angry protests and accusations of racism, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board approved a sweeping plan to close 10 schools and make other dramatic changes.

In the most controversial item, the board voted 5-4 to close Waddell High and make it the new home for Smith Language Academy, a K-8 magnet. Harding High, which had also been considered as a home for Smith, will turn into a neighborhood school housing many of Waddell’s students, along with the International Baccalaureate magnet now at Harding.

Most other efforts to block or revise the plan failed, often with the board’s only two black members on the losing end of votes.

via Board closes Waddell, saves Harding – CharlotteObserver.com.

public art, Chicago: It seems strange that this installation was only temporary …

The Eye sculpture, the giant blue eyeball that stared down Loop commuters all summer, is shutting for good today.

Crew members are scheduled to break down local sculptor Tony Tasset’s fiberglass sculpture and remove it from Pritzker Park, where it sat as the Chicago Loop Alliance’s inaugural Art Loop installation.

…

Kavi Gupta Gallery, which counts Tasset on its roster, said Monday it is hoping the sculpture will be back in Chicago by spring.

via The ‘Eye’ blinking out of Chicago for the winter – Chicago Breaking News.

11.01.2010 … the human heart is restless … until it finds rest in God …

bookshelf, faith: I am reading a book that many of the PW Circles at FPC are reading: Faith, Doubt, and Courage in 15 Great People of Faith: And What We Can Learn from Them .  So far I am learning a great deal and am fascinated by the faith walk of each  … The human heart is restless … until it finds rest in God … refers to Augustine of Hippo (Chapter III).

All Saints Day, Day of the Dead, holidays, me: Growing up in Atlanta as a Presbyterian, I never heard of either All Saints Day or Day of the Dead … so when we moved to Wilmette and the kids learned about Day of the Dead (with an altar to the dead and candy skulls, etc.) and our PCUSA minister who grew up Lutheran and Episcopalian introduced other protestant traditions my faith practices and interests became more multi-denominational … so here is a little history for you.  And today I am thinking of those who have found rest with God.

Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) is observed in Mexico on All Saints Day, November 1 and All Souls Day, November 2nd. Altars are lovingly decorated with photos of the deceased, their favorite foods and drinks, flowers and candy. Customs vary throughout different parts of Mexico, but the country as a whole faithfully celebrates the holiday.

The illustrator José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913) created the famous skeleton dressed as a high-society lady now known as La Catrina and universally recognized as the reigning queen of Dia de los Muertos.

The origins of this unique holiday can be traced back thousands of years to Aztec culture. There are also similar holidays in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

via Holly Cara Price: Mexico’s Day of the Dead – A Unique Celebration of Life (PHOTOS).

More than 500 years ago, when the Spanish Conquistadors landed in what is now Mexico, they encountered natives practicing a ritual that seemed to mock death.

It was a ritual the indigenous people had been practicing at least 3,000 years. A ritual the Spaniards would try unsuccessfully to eradicate.

via Day of the Dead history.

Day of the Dead – Dia de los Muertos – El Dia de los Muertos – azcentral.com.

food, food trucks: Doesn’t this ruin the unique and local aspects of the food truck movement?

Food franchises are taking to the road.

A small but growing number of chains—such as Cousins Submarines Inc., Tasti D-Lite LLC and Toppers Pizza Inc.—are following in the tire tracks of those local food-truck businesses popping up on city streets around the U.S. Many brick-and-mortar eateries have added mobile units in recent years, and more are expected to do the same, including national brands.

“By the end of next year, you’ll begin to see some big brands rolling this out,” says Robert Stidham, president of Franchise Dynamics LLC, a Homewood, Ill., company that helps businesses develop franchises. Mr. Stidham says he’s been involved in “serious” discussions with about a half-dozen national food franchises on strategies for going mobile. He declined to name specific chains.

via Big Chains Try Food Trucks – WSJ.com.

culture, psychology: Seems like a no brainer to me …

Alcohol ranks “most harmful” among a list of 20 drugs — beating out crack and heroin — according to study results released by a British medical journal.

A panel of experts weighed the physical, psychological and social problems caused by the drugs and determined that alcohol was the most harmful overall, according to an article on the study released by The Lancet Sunday.

via Study: Alcohol ‘most harmful drug,’ followed by crack and heroin – CNN.com.

media, politics: I am beginning to think media and politics should not mix.

In the station’s statement, Mr. Bever said many elements of the Miller campaign’s analysis of the recording was incorrect including its “interpretation of conversation snippets.”

“The perception that this garbled, out of context recording may leave is unfortunate, but to allege that our staff was discussing or planning to create or fabricate stories regarding candidate Miller is absurd,” he said. “The complete conversation was about what others might be able to do to cause disruption within the Miller campaign, not what KTVA could do.”

He added, “Have we had internal discussions about the level of professionalism we need to bring to our conversations, internally and externally? Of course we have, this is a lesson to learn from.”

via Phone Recording Sets Off Firestorm in Alaska – Washington Wire – WSJ.

adventure: This ruins the adventure …

Without a Starbucks positioned near the world’s most daunting summit, how can a climber stay in touch with the web?

Private telecom firm Ncell is on its way to solving the 21st-century quandary. Reuters reports that the company has launched Nepal’s inaugural 3G amenities at the foot of Mount Everest, spurring a stronger connection for the thousands of outdoors enthusiasts that visit each year.

The New York Daily News adds that there will be seven 3G bases in the area, allowing for both wireless Internet and video calls via smartphone devices. Up until this development, the onus was on individual climbers to supply their own satellite equipment.

via High Speed Internet Debuts Atop Mount Everest – TIME NewsFeed.

culture, religion, wasabies, blog posts:  This blog post struck me because I am blessed with a group of friends that have allowed me to change.

Perhaps it’s something more personal. Maybe it’s shaking off histories of a family of origin, throwing aside an addiction or an abusive past; no longer hooked by the things that used to hook; no longer responding in predictable, even destructive, patterns. Why? Because somehow, somewhere along the way we changed.

Have you ever been in that situation where you run into an old friend, somebody who predates a significant change in your life, and they want to act like everything’s just the same, that nothing has moved on in the intervening years? Say, the two of you used to “tear it up” back in the day. It’s almost like you’ve grown up, and they haven’t, and they still want to go out like it’s those college days all over again.

Or maybe you’re home with family for the holidays, and they all remind you of the time you hit your sister in the head with a baseball bat because she was supposed to be the catcher and got too close, or that you once got her in trouble by writing her name on the table in her handwriting, or they think they’ve got you pegged because they remember that you used to sneak around curfew by always spending the night at Eric’s house because he didn’t have a curfew…Hypothetically speaking, of course.

It is often with our families that we are most aware of the ways we’ve changed. They still want to treat you like the irresponsible, messy, tempered child you once were. It’s almost like they’re a puzzle in search of that missing piece. But you’re different now, and you no longer “fit” the way you once did.

Transformed Communities.

Halloween, DC, twitter: Do they really have trick-or-treating on embassy row? … from a Post Secret tweet

PostSecret

Leaving soon for Embassy Row in Washington, DC to trick-or-treat with the family. I hear the chocolate from the Belgium Embassy is the best.

via Twitter / Home.

Halloween, me:

… we had 5 trick-or-treaters … That may be all … Very hard for someone who grew up in Brookwood Hills and who lived in Davidson and Wilmette … Our neighborhood has no sidewalks and very few street lights. 😦