The Most Difficult Week of My Life
Now Playing: Lemon Jelly - Come
Topic: Creative Class
There's not much more to say than it was a difficult week. There was no flow this past week but I'm looking forward to finding it- "the feeling people get when their activities require focus and concentration but are also incredibly enjoyable and rewarding" (HBR pdf link).

It's been three years since hearing Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi talk about flow but I had tucked away in the back on my mind. It came up in the HBR quoted article above and it was another one of those ah-hah moments that I love so much.

With some free time now, check out Flickr Explore and Last.fm (which Fred posted about recently) but I never delved into until now.

Currently Listening: Lemon Jelly - Come

Sweet Virginia

Currently listening: Gomez - Sweet Virginia

Presentation style inspiration for Wed. night

As Cool As It Gets
Now Playing: Imogen Heap - Goodnight and Go

UPDATE (11/18/05): Oops, forgot that I had already posted this photo.

Links are the Currency of the Internet
Topic: Web 2.0
Fred gets it, so well in fact that I'm forced to break the MIA rule now the 2nd time and post his thoughts below:

" I have written before that links are the currency of the Internet. That continues to be lost on the major media. As I browse around the New York Times online this afternoon, I find so few links in the stories. They should look like Wikipedia, not a newspaper. This is the Internet after all.

Links are so fundamental on the Internet. Not using links is like not using commas or periods. If you think about Google, the current king (or at least Starbucks) of the Internet, they have built their whole platform on links. The New York Times doesn't link out very much. So how do they expect others to want to link back?

I use the Internet like I follow a conversation, I read something, it contains a link, I follow it, I read more, I learn more, and so on and so forth. "

I couldn't agree more.

Another Sunday Morning...
Now Playing: Aqualung - Falling Out of Love
Topic: Personal or Reflective
From one of the world's most popular political blogs, a link to The Buffalo News. Their servers have probably never seen so much traffic to an opinion piece before (Leonard Pitts writes for The Miami Herald but why deal w/ their free membership page).

Like Merry Fitzmas, this post is for my brother.

MIA until November 16th
Now Playing: DJ Shadow vs. Keane - We Might As Well Be Strangers

I swore to myself no blogging until the Capstone for my Masters Program is finished. Short and simple: I'll be MIA until Nov. 16th, no email, no phone, no blogging.

And again, it's cold in my apartment.

Currently Listening (the Capstone-cranking mix):

The Bravery- Honest Mistake*

DJ Shadow vs. Keane - We Might As Well Be Strangers

Broken Social Scene - Hotel*

Josh Rouse - Directions* (my old standby, helped me finish my undergrad thesis)

* iTunes links *


UPDATE (11/9/05): Thanks to NPR this morning (listen to the end of the audio clip), now cranking to 50 Cent's "Best Friend" (iTunes link).

Posted by cph19 at 11:56 PM EST

Updated: Wednesday, 9 November 2005 9:24 PM EST

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Justin Loves Martha Stewart
Now Playing: KCRW
Topic: Personal or Reflective

F-ing great, I love it Justin (especially the fake mullet). Wish I had been in Chicago for the party. Hat tip to Patrick for directing me to Gants' blog (where I found the above photo). Patrick also suggested checking out Apple's video on their new Aperture software.

It's Late Again...
Now Playing: Ariana Stewart - Daddy's Baby Girl
Topic: Personal or Reflective


See Ariana Stewart's page for an audio stream of "Daddy's Baby Girl."

Lack of Sleep Makes You Fat and Stupid
Now Playing: Sheryl Crow - Strong Enough
Topic: Personal or Reflective
Damn, I'm screwed: Lack of Sleep Makes You Fat and Stupid

It's a Podcast Night
Now Playing: Jonathan Coulton - Baby Got Back
From the most recent Podtech.net podcast w/ Steve Forbes of Forbes magazine and Flat Tax fame, an optimistic outlook on the future. Life is too short to be a pessimist or according to Giuliani a month ago, life is more fun as an optimist. Compare that to the crowd's response when Jon Stewart asked that same day what we thought of the future (loud booing which I can only consider a pessimistic response).

Here's the full transcript, below are my favorite excerpts:

"On a global basis, the world is doing better than most people seem to think...perceptions are lagging reality...We are making progress. Things are moving in the right direction."

Five years out:
"...As broadband becomes a common place, full broadband, not what we have now....the possibility of delivery of services, what it means in terms of communication around the world, in terms of creating things that we've never even thought of before, it will be profound.

It?s not just going to be new industries, new services, new products only, it will also be existing companies also will learn how to use this new technology, they?re going to transform themselves and be able to provide traditional services in ways that we can't even imagine today."

"...What the economists call the trend line is profoundly positive. We are living in an era that should be one of the most innovative, inventive eras, an era where the sum of human liberties is going to expand in profoundly positive ways. People are going to look back and say that was a golden age. You never know it was a golden age when you live through it, but looking back it's going to be a good era I think."

Music from last night and today: Broken Social Scene - 7/4 (Shoreline)
Currently listening (hat tip to Fred's Podcast): Jonathan Coulton - Baby Got Back

Sunday Afternoon Musings
Now Playing: Broken Social Scene - Hotel
Miss Saigon last night was great. I've never seen the show and had heard only a little about it (mostly about the helicopter) and the show didn't disappoint. From the opening scene to my favorites, the Ho Chi Min number with the old communist bloc facade and any of those scenes with the Engineer, the show was definitely entertaining. We met Will after the show and headed back to the Hyatt Regency for a drink. It was a funny scene, Halloween revelers downtown mixed in with a wedding/black tie event at the hotel and us & few cast and crew at the small hotel bar.

Saw this flier while at the show, De La Soul on Nov. 16th. Hmmm...

More on music:
It's taken since June (when I first posted on the XV6000) to figure this out, but thanks to RadioShack, I can now play any internet music streams (i.e. KCRW) in my car.

The 3/32" end plugs into the XV6600 and then I plug my tape-adapter into the adapter's 1/8" stereo jack and voil?, the EVDO connection on the smartphone pumps internet radio through my crappy car speakers ( better than having to hold the phone's speaker up to my ear while driving). Yeah this may be geeky for most out there but I need to have good music when I'm driving.

Last but not least, the High Falls Film Festival is back. Quickly scanning the list of films, this one on Sarah Silverman jumped out at me. Still haven't seen The Aristocrats down at The Little yet, but read that she and Bob Sagat (yes, that guy from from Full House and AFHV) were hilarious in that too.

November is shaping up to be a busy month, stay tuned.

In Doonesbury
Now Playing: Broken Social Scence - It's All Gonna Break
Again late to the news but noteworthy for those outside of western NY: RIT mentioned in Doonesbury

The D&C's angle:
" The national notice came with a bit of a backhanded gibe at RIT. Alex's mother indicates that her list of schools — which this week includes Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cornell University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute — was "a bit geek-heavy." "

Hat tip to Wired for recommending Broken Social Scene (iTunes link)

Drunk Dial Emails
Now Playing: NPR
Topic: Personal or Reflective
It's 8:30am on Sat. morning and thanks to JK, I'm laughing my ass off. Thank you Mr. Soon-to-be-Ph.D for that drunk-dial email, it was hilarious (edited for language but the formatting is original):

From: John <•••••@ucla.edu>
To: Chris <••••••@yahoo.com>
Date: Oct 29, 2005 4:17 AM
Subject: to

" MEKIN motha fuckaeaa.a.a.a

a

ayou are you are gubig fat wussy. Moth fuya auflc a.

sucki it

see you skiing at breck. Bring your brain buc,et.or else… "

Chink in Web 2.0's Armour?
Now Playing: Common - The Food (feat. Kayne West)
Topic: Web 2.0
Had to laugh at Wired's article on Web 2.0, below is the funny part (emphasis added):

" While there's no strict agreement on exactly what Web 2.0 is, much of it involves public participation and contributions from the commons.

Web 2.0 is very open, but all that openness has its downside: When you invite the whole world to your party, inevitably someone pees in the beer.

These days, peed-in beer is everywhere. Blogs begat splogs -- junk diaries filled with keyword-rich text to lure traffic for ad revenue. "

And of course Nicholas Carr (of IT Doesn't Matter fame/infamy) adds his two cents:
" "Online, free media is one of the contributing factors to the shrinking circulation of good newspapers," he said. "Now, traditional media is shifting away from large investments in bureaus and hard reporting, and towards cheaper content and opinion-making. It's hard for me to imagine participatory media devoting investments to hard, investigative or overseas reporting. The healthiest scenario would be one in which both kinds of media thrive." "

Even Flickr gets its chance:
" Not all Web 2.0 endeavors are wracked with problems. Take the online photo-sharing service Flickr, which, despite its open nature and robust membership growth, has so far remained relatively parasite-resistant. "

Why I Love the Web
Now Playing: Sia - Breathe Me (Four Tet remix)
1) The new Economist.com website looks amazing; nice, clean style and XHTML/CSS goodness makes me happy. I'm a little late on this (new design went live 10/2) but congratulations on the new site and to the designer.

2) The Economist again, IP, Patents, and Innovation in the Marketplace

3) The answer to a national wi-fi initiative, straight outta Japan: unmanned aircraft drones

4) The Magazine Aisle Experiment
Without a doubt, my favorite aisle in the grocery store is the books/magazine aisle. I finish all of my other shopping and save the magazine area for last, as a treat to myself. The experiment is deciding which single magazine from the racks of magazines at your local grocery store/bookstore that best represents you. I'd choose WIRED and the wide range of articles in Issue 13.11 explains why I love the magazine.

5) Kansas up to antics again and even copyright law can't slow down intelligent design:
" While the copyright denial could cause delay in their adoption, as the standards are rewritten, it is unlikely to derail the board's conservative majority in its mission to require that challenges to Darwin's theories be taught in the state's classrooms." (NY Times)

6) Merry Fitzmas (this is just for my brother)

The Colbert Report
For those at the Jon Stewart show a couple weeks back, it should be no surprise that Comedy Central and its brand of political satire is extremely popular and influential.

The NY Times covered the Daily Shows' spin-off show, "The Colbert Report," comparing this best of breed humor with the stale, lackadaisical humor of SNL.

" Mr. Colbert's on-camera persona may not wear well over the long term, but for now at least "The Colbert Report" is a worthy spin off, an icy-cold beer chaser to the shot of whiskey that is "The Daily Show." "

And besides, anyone poking fun at FNC is okay in my book.

Music this Week
Now Playing: KCRW
Topic: Personal or Reflective
Imogen Heap of Frou Frou fame is playing on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic tomorrow morning, 10/26. You'll recognize her voice from the Garden State soundtrack; mp3 samples here and here. Subscribe to the MBE podcast if you aren't in L.A. listening live.

And here's MBE's latest lineup of performances: David Gray, The Magic Numbers, Supergrass, Nada Surf, Medeski Martin & Wood, Tracy Chapman, & Keane.

All of these artists are in my iTunes library and hopefully they're all in your collection as well. It's so nice to have a such a great radio station that puts so much of their content on the web for us non-Angelinos to enjoy. Thank them by becoming a member of KCRW.

Current Song: Sia- Breathe Me (Four Tet remix)

Brain Drain vs. Flight of the Creative Class
Now Playing: random music at Spot
Topic: Creative Class
This NY Times article dicusses the brain drain but from the international perspective.

"In contrast, less than 5 percent of the skilled citizens of the powerhouses of the developing world, like India, China, Indonesia and Brazil, live abroad in an O.E.C.D. country."

What's the interplay between Florida's "The Flight of the Creative Class" and the brain drain from the world's poorest countries? If the creatives are leaving the United States and the well-educated are leaving the developing countries, then where are people emigrating?

This was the connection that I made after reading the Times article. It's not a perfectly parallel connection between these two extremes but I think there's an interesting discussion there. I don't know the answer but the larger developing countries are better prepared than the smaller developing countries (see the graphic above) to handle the "relatively smaller losses of talent."

Taxing the expatriate workers of a developing country? I don't think that's the answer, sounds more like a short-term band-aid for a far larger, systematic problem. But the "idea that Professor Bhagwati first proposed in the 1970's - that developing countries should tax their expatriate workers - is getting a fresh look." Here's mentioning Bhagwati, who came up during a debate on the merit of Freidman's "the world is flat" mantra.

Looking for more OECD reports? Here's one that's on my post-Masters-completion reading list: Digital Broadband Content
I have an eBook folder full of PDFs to read (~90MB) in addition to the Amazon reading list. Focus, focus, focus...

Miss Saigon w/ cousin Will
Now Playing: still playing KCRW
Topic: Personal or Reflective
Cousin Will (of the Volvo beast fame) plays in the orchestra for Miss Saigon and they'll be in Buffalo this Sat. night. Can't wait to see him and watch the show; hopefully we'll go out for a good meal and a drink afterwards. I don't know Buffalo so if you'r ein the know, email or comment below with your suggestions.

Current Reading: Creative-Class Struggle article in Fast Company magazine

Current Listening Stereo MC's, "Set it Off"

3rd Annual How to Make Friends on the Lift
Now Playing: New Ground on KCRW
Topic: Personal or Reflective
The Lounge's 3rd Annual How to Make Friends on the Lift went down Sat. night at HotShots. Despite the annoying, intermittent rain, there was a great turnout. The event was a benefit for Boarding for Breast Cancer so it was nice to see people out for a fun event that was supporting a good cause.

The rail jam started at 5:30 or 5:45 but I was late so I'm not exactly sure but it was in full swing when I got there. A scaffold setup, about 12ft off the ground, was the strap-in and runway area leading to 45 degree before the actual jibs. There were two jibs; an up-flat-down box on the right that didn't see much use and a double-barrel rail on the left that saw the majority of the action.

I heavily Photoshopped for bright/contrast, levels, and color balance b/c it was raining and dimly lit last night. My digital wasn't doing well with those conditions. I switched to video and was able to capture the action a little better b/c there wasn't the same delay that I suffered shooting stills without a flash. QuickTime clips below:

Backside 180 out

Backside lipslide

Nosepress

Backside lipslide 2

After the rail jam ended, things moved inside for the movie premieres: Burning Bridges, The Community Project, and FutureProof.

Burning Bridges had a lot of rail/jibbing and acid drops that made my knees hurt but I got tired of seeing rail after rail sequence. The movie was quirky, I'll give them that, but it seemed more like a home video than a snowboard video. That may have been their intention, the un-snowboard movie, but it meant there was no continuity or flow, just disparate clips slapped together haphazardly. Here's TWSnow's review, they give it more credit than I do but maybe that's b/c they know the guys that made the movie.

The Community Project was the best of the three movies: big names and big tricks. It showed that some foresight had been put into achieving the theme of a snowboard movie. The city, transition, and lifestyle parts the blended into the movie made it visually appealing in addition to the great snowboarding. I was on the edge of my seat but then again, I love watching snowboard videos. The highlights were the Japan segment (a little Lost in Translation feel and boundless powder as far the eye could see) and the film's last segment where Travis Rice spins onto a spine to backflip off and then a double-backflip off the last 60-70ft kicker. Although I've seen the stills from this sequence, it was no less amazing that seeing it in video format. Here's TWSnow's interview w/ Rice about the movie.

Futureproof looked like an amazing film as well except that people were standing in front of the screen (holdovers from when free schwag was thrown into the crowd). I couldn't see everything and with a few beers on board, I yelled at them to move. [Disclaimer- I love snowboarding and don't mess around when it comes to watching snowboard movies; I'm there to really watch & analyze the film so I have little patience for those shooting the breeze or and hanging out during the movie]. There was lots of backcountry, big air sequences and incredible straight-lining of AK chutes that had me silently thinking "damn he's hauling ass..." I'll have to watch this movie again. Here's TWSnow's review.

For all of the downtime, there was tons of free schwag thrown to the throngs of teenagers. I stayed in my seat and kept drinking $2 Molson Light specials to dull the pain; just show the snowboard videos, that's what I came for. The saving grace of having to wait before and in-between the different movies was the beer and the DJ Battle, which DJ Artie K definitely won. He got the crowd into it, which is saying a lot considering high school kids won't often dance in public for fear of looking uncool.

Overall, a great event and a fun night. Props to Josh at the The Lounge and to HotShots for putting together such a great event for the western NY snowboard community.

Posted by cph19 at 2:04 PM EDT

Updated: Sunday, 23 October 2005 8:03 PM EDT

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