Category: Explanation

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New Music Video from OK Go

Here is an amazing video from “YouTube” stars, OK Go. Watch carefully and wonder to yourself how many takes this took:

If you don’t have flash on your device, you can view the video on YouTube with this link. Why didn’t I just embed the YouTube video? Damian Kulash, Jr., one of the guys in the band, wrote a very interesting article on a fan forum a few days ago that did an excellent job of explaining the intricacies of the music industry’s DRM machine. Today Kulash followed up with a tremendous New York Times Guest Op-Ed.

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Reverse Baader-Meinhof Syndrome

Part One
Some time ago I renewed my subscription to Netflix in order to utilize their streaming video service which is offered “free” to all their subscribers. The service is nice but the selection of movies available to Watch Instantly (their term for internet streaming) is a very small subset of the movies that they have on DVD. Because I’m interested to know of any additions to this subset, I subscribe to their RSS feed for New choices to watch instantly. With that subscription I receive notification in my web browser whenever a movie is made available for Instant viewing. This morning there were approximately 20 new movies available which I quickly scrolled through, clicking open a new tab for each that interested me. One of these was Yojimbo by the legendary Japanese director, Akira Kurosawa, who also directed the seminal Seven Samarai. After reading the description, I clicked the “Add to Instant Queue” button to save it for later viewing. Whenever you add a movie to your queue on Netflix they suggest 10 more related movies that they think you might like. This time, they showed me these (click to enlarge the image):

Netflix Choices

My eyes were immediately drawn to one of the movies on the bottom and in the middle, The Beider Meinhof Complex. The name was somewhat familiar so I read the description but it didn’t interest me so I closed the window.

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Like endless rain into a paper cup

As you probably know, we had a very hot summer this year in Portland. During one heat wave, temperatures reached 107 on some days and didn’t get below 75 at night. Round about that time I found myself thirsty quite a lot. It was hot and our air conditioning infrastructure is lacking so I thought it was because of the heat that I was drinking so much water. Around about the same time I also started urinating much more often than I had ever before. Again, I chalked it up to the heat and increased water intake but I still noted a couple of events that were unusual. First, one night I woke up having to urinate which is something that almost never happens to me, especially if I go to the bathroom before I get in bed. Soon it was happening to me every night but I still didn’t put it together.

I also felt incredibly tired most of the time. The last few hours of work each day were very difficult and I would often end up in the comfy chair a few feet from my office, watching MSNBC’s political block. The fatigue had arrived rather gradually and I didn’t really notice it until our Family Camp with Troop 820 in June. When walking long distances there was difficult in terms of muscle fatigue, I chalked it up to the altitude and the weight I had recently gained. It got worse and worse all summer but even these were not clue enough for me.
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Unsportsmanlike Foul

After NBA Finals Game 4 had already been decided in overtime, the Lakers’ Pau Gasol was open for a second consecutive dunk. With less than 24 seconds left on the shot clock, conventional wisdom says that you merely hold the ball and let the clock run out. Gasol, who is considered by most to be a standup guy, made a poor decision and decided to dunk the ball. The Orlando Magic’s Mickael Pietrus, a player that I have liked since he helped Golden State knock Dallas out of the playoffs a couple of years ago, likely took umbrage to Gasol’s decision and decided to take it out on Gasol. Watching the replay below, it is obvious that Pietrus made no play on the ball and intended to hit Gasol as hard as he could. Even worse, he chose to hit Gasol when he was in the air, another violation of conventional wisdom in the NBA since knocking a guy off-balance while they are in the air can easily lead to great injury and that’s why is important to have an injury attorney as Brooklyn personal injury attorney to cover at these times. Finally, watching carefully, you’ll notice that Pietrus’ follow-thru results in his sharp elbows digging into Gasol’s ribs from the back.

(Updated video below with “official” video from ESPN. Foul action starts at about 0:55.)

You can see why Gasol was upset. He was smart enough to grab the rim before dropping to the floor. Pietrus further inflamed the situation by trash-talking Gasol after the play was over. In my opinion, the foul should be upgraded from Flagrant 1 to Flagrant 2 and Pietrus should be suspended for a game. I understand the arguments against doing so (Pietrus has a clean record and it would inordinately affect the Magic’s chances of winning Game 5) but the rules are there for a reason and should be enforced. In addition to the unsportsmanlike aspect, the league also has strict rules about hitting someone with a closed fist. There is no exception for hitting in the back.

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Best of 2008: Introduction

This is the first in a series of posts describing my favorite music from 2008. To be eligible, an album only had to be added to my music collection in 2008, but not necessarily released in 2008. Some long-time favorites with which I had familiarity but had not previously owned were only eligible for “Honorable Mention” along with a few others that didn’t quite make the Top Albums list.

In order to make it into the Top Albums, a CD had to saturate my listening time for an appreciable length of time. Although I have ranked them, distinguishing between any two of these CDs is very difficult indeed. When I obtained each it probably remained in heavy rotation at home, on my iPod and at work for several weeks, often receiving two or three plays per day. This is the quality level required to make the Top Albums.

This year in listening was markedly different than recent years. In the past, most of my music listening occurred while biking to work or while at work. Because of my job change, neither of those times were practical until my office was closed in September. Since then, however, I’ve had ample time to listen to music while working and I take full advantage of it.

In the coming days, I’ll have articles delineating my picks for Best of 2008. In addition to the Best Albums, I’ll list my favorite songs.

If you are interested in my past picks, I have articles for 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

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The Day the Music Died

40 50 years ago today, Buddy Holly died in an airplane crash shortly after taking off from Mason City Airport following his last show at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake. Holly’s final performance and death occurred in what would become my neighborhood 7 years later. As you can see below, I still have roots in the area. I’ve marked the spot of the crash as well as my hometown, my sister’s home and my brother’s home.


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Birthday Interview Questions

Friday I’m going to start a tradition in the Ring household. I’ve had this idea for some time but I keep forgetting to do it. The idea is to hold an interview with someone on their birthday. On Friday, the interview will be with Thomas on the occasion of his 13th birthday. Hopefully, I’ll remember to continue this and I’ll use the same questions year after year. Here are the questions I have so far. Please add your suggestions in the comments.
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