CLAMPANTS

May 11, 2008

Filling The British Wit Void

Filling the British Wit Void (a proper noun) left when Ricky Gervais' podcast went behind the paywall (and, admittedly, I lost track of it...maybe it is free again? or done with?)...I finally got around to listening to an episode of John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman's "The Bugle" for the Times Online...

The Bugle

"Comprising news, sport, comment, analysis, other stuff, and our unique audio crossword, The Bugle is the newspaper of the future, before the future actually happens."

And I couldn't more highly recommend it. They had me hooked with the suggestion (from episode 26, "Food, Non-existent Food!") that since wealthy countries are now burning more and more food for fuel, perhaps a solution to the global food crisis is for the poor to learn to eat wind and sun.

Clampants | 12:18 PM | Comments (0)


May 03, 2008

Slim Pickings At The Book Sale

Jack Kent's "The Funny Book"

This morning Miles and I went up to the local library book sale...slim pickings, and Miles was more interested in a precariously-balanced hand-cart than browsing musty not-that-old paperbacks. What did I pick up you may probably not be asking?

Miles loves Tolstoy, and I do love myself a good potty book.

Clampants | 09:09 AM | Comments (0)


May 01, 2008

And that's all right with me.

Sammy Johns' "Chevy Van"

Probably the best thing I have ever seen on the Internet.

(The very end is NSFW, but in a blurry, 1970's Vantastic kind of way)

Clampants | 05:12 AM | Comments (0)


April 29, 2008

Great Podcasts - 4/29/08

If you listen to a single podcast all year, make it this Thomas Friedman speech, "Green Is The New Red, White & Blue" (the talk itself seems to only be available through iTuned here). I don't think Friedman needs any introduction (if he does), but this talk is a good introduction to his ideas on the complex issues (and context) surrounding the "green movement" and the dire state of the globe as we plunge towards a global warming tipping point. It can be chilling (paraphrasing: if we were to, say, want to shift towards nuclear power to offset US carbon emissions by the year 2050 [which is the, predictions say, "point of no return" for CO2 levels at current emission levels], we could have to bring on line 1 plant per day for the next 30 years)...but there is also a sense of hope in his reasoning and holistic understanding of a mind-numbing problem.

(via OpenCulture)

Clampants | 12:25 PM | Comments (0)


April 27, 2008

Miles On The Deck

One of my new favorite pictures:

Miles On The Deck (Early Morning) - 01

Miles On The Deck (Early Morning) - 01 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Clampants | 07:28 PM | Comments (0)


Good Podcasts (4/14/08 - 4/18/08)

Clampants | 08:36 AM | Comments (0)


April 23, 2008

deeeee!

When it is request that he smile for the camera, Miles responds with a toothy "deeeeeee!"

Clampants | 06:24 PM | Comments (0)


April 21, 2008

Invisible Clam - The Betahouse In Absentia Muxtape

Celebrating it's first birthday, the mighty Betahouse threw a big party...and graciously, I was asked to put together a mix for the event. Unfortunately, I could not attend, instead opting to sit in the drizzle to watch Chien Ming Wang 2-hit the Red Sox at Fenway.

Still, I was able to piece together a nice "in absentia" mix for the shindig...which bubbles up from some slurpy underwater dub (and another Black Ghosts remix that makes it way to my top-of-the-current-year list) through to some mildly offensive club tracks (nothing says "Betahouse" like bee oh oh tee ah why!).

1 - One-Two - Anne Mall (Radioclit RMX)
2 - Pinch - Brighter Day
3 - The Black Ghosts - Some Way Through This (Plastician & Skream Remix)
4 - Burial - Archangel (Boy 8-Bits Simple Re-mix)
5 - Miss Kittin & The Hacker - Sweet Dreams
6 - Boy 8-Bit - Fog Bank (Jack Beats Remix)
7 - Crystal Castles - Cry Babies (Crystal Castles VS Comic Book Fever)
8 - Dizzee Rascal - Sirens (Black Lights Remix)
9 - Spank Rock - B-O-O-T-A-Y ft. Santogold & Betty Black (Leif Remix)
10 - Squincy Jones - 3 Kings (Nintendub Edit)
11 - Pinch - Lazarus
12 - HudMo - Ooops (Oh My)

It's up on Muxtape...give it a listen.

(and also give a listen to the mixes from Aurgasm and Sooz...quality, those)

Clampants | 01:03 PM | Comments (0)


April 07, 2008

Good Podcast (3/31/08 - 4/4/08)

This week was shortened by the fact that one of my dogs rifled through my bag (no joke) and broke my trusty ole iTrip...so I had to wait until my new (circa 2006...which I am not convinced works as well as my older one did) model arrived.



Clampants | 12:08 PM | Comments (0)


April 01, 2008

Styge

Listening to the latest Electronic Explorations show is pure madness...such great tunes, all unknowns to me...I beseech you to check it out.

My highlight is Ed Chamberlain's "Styge," which is a haunting, lilting, cut-up dirge. Bad.

Sort of relatedly, I just uncovered The Mr. Henry Von Podcast...which looks heavy.

Clampants | 04:01 PM | Comments (0)


March 31, 2008

Diapers

Me: Why is there a diaper on the desk?

Kat: Miles was throwing diapers at me.

Clampants | 10:07 PM | Comments (0)


Following a writer

Is there a (nice) way to follow a writer's work as it gets published across various news sources?

I ask because I was listening to a Fora.TV broadcast of an interview with Fred Kaufman (mostly about his new book, "A Short History of the American Stomach" - mp3)...and, in short, I found him to be an interesting and witty personality, and I would be interested in reading more of his work.

His bio states that he "has written about American food culture and other subjects for Harper's
Magazine, the New Yorker, Gourmet, Gastronomica, and the New York Times
Magazine, among others."

I'd love to be able to create some sort of feed that alerts me to a new Fred Kaufman article...regardless of where it was published...but i'm not sure how I could do that. My best guess as to how I could do that currently would be to:


I guess what i'd love would be some sort of "authored by" tag (or some such) that I can aggregate (especially since most outlets are now embracing a "mostly online, mostly accessible" model). It probably already exists (microformats?)...but not in a manner I am immediately aware of.

Clampants | 01:41 PM | Comments (0)


March 28, 2008

Good Podcasts (3/24/08 - 3/28/08)

As i've been exploring the new commute, i've had more time to listen to more podcasts!



Clampants | 04:23 PM | Comments (0)


[Mix] Hefty Records - Flossed Out

A great mix...over a year old...that I only now got around to listening to:

"Recalibrate your ears... You’ll never hear the Hefty catalog quite the same. We asked one of our favorite DJs, edIT from Los Angeles, to create a mash-up mix blending instrumentals from the Hefty catalog with familiar hip hop cuts. It’s Mike Jones vs. Savath & Savalas, Missy Eliot vs. John Hughes, E-40 vs. Eliot Lipp, T-Pain vs. Telefon Tel Aviv, Busta Rhymes vs. Some Water and Sun, etc. You get the idea, now download it FREE"

The embeddable player doesn't seem to be working, so listen to the mix here: hefty records | odeo

Clampants | 09:17 AM | Comments (0)


March 26, 2008

Miles Goes To The Aquarium

On Monday, mom and grandma took Miles to the New England Aquarium. Word is, he had a great time (but was displeased by the T)...photos by grandma:





Clampants | 07:07 AM | Comments (0)


March 24, 2008

Clamstreaming

...eww.

So, in a silly fit of dorky investigation, I decided to take the plunge into "lifestreaming." It's actually not so much a plunge as a theoretically logical way to collect all of my "internet presences" into one handy-dandy feed. I say theoretically because, in practice, it seems kind of...strange. Unnecessary, maybe.

I chose FriendFeed, which I guess is the hyped hipster twitter-of-2008 (even though it seems to have its issues and detractors, such as tunneling comments onto FriendFeed instead of the originating app).

That all said, if anyone wants to follow my posts to clampants.com, my delicious bookmarks, my flickr posts, my GoodReads updates, my shared google reader items, my tumblr updates, my tweets, and my upcoming activity (Netflix was down at the time I set my account up)...you can do so all at this single feed.

Clampants | 04:14 PM | Comments (0)


Roast Beef League 2008

After a frightfully disappointing 2007 fantasy baseball experience (finishing third after losing in the playoffs due to a statistical tie), i'm back again for more grinding humiliation...this time in a 12-team, full player universe, head-to-head league.

"How did the draft go?" you're probably asking yourself...well, here's how Invisible Ham fared:

With 13 rounds remaining, I signed off (because, as with all online drafts, it was soooooo sloooow) and left the Yahoo-mind do the picking for me...so this is actually sort of news to me:

Clampants | 12:40 PM | Comments (0)


March 23, 2008

Good Podcasts (3/17/08 - 3/21/08)

Clampants | 04:56 PM | Comments (0)


March 21, 2008

My Heart Rocks

logo

Thanks to Eric and Alissa, who have allowed me the great privilege of posting some sonic enjoyment to their Sonic Heart (rss). Word.

Clampants | 11:06 AM | Comments (0)


March 19, 2008

Movies I Suggest While Having Very Little To Say: Simon Schama's Power of Art

Ok, not so much a movie as a TV-show, but powerful and perfect nonetheless...Simon Schama navigates through eight pivotal lightning strikes of artists and events that would, not to put too fine a point on it, change the world.



Full of epic, almost cataclysmic, pronouncements, Schama's hushed narration borders on overblown, overbearing hyperbole...but whereas if you were to read such sweeping sentiments on the human condition on a gallery wall you might roll your eyes, here, in the context of each artist's life and times, it seems perfectly fitting. So much so that anything less would do a grave disservice to the "rush of life" these men tore out of themselves.

I'm also drawn to this series by the similarities between it and David Attenbourough's "Life On Earth." Both Attenbourough and Schama view their subjects with an urgent, almost spiritual passion...for Attenbourough's Earth, you blink and it is gone...for Schama's human achievements, you blink and you are gone. Both are beautiful, and must be watched.

Clampants | 09:20 PM | Comments (0)


March 15, 2008

Good Podcasts (3/10/08 - 3/14/08)


Clampants | 03:48 PM | Comments (0)


March 13, 2008

Molecular

Next week, I will be starting an exciting new job with the experience design team at Molecular.

molecular_logo

I am really excited about this move (and not just because I suspect people actually may read this) because it feels like a good, challenging step for me. I will be moving away from what I have been focusing on these past few years (visual design) and shifting to more of a focus on the underlying structures that define sites and applications.

Also, perhaps interestingly, i've been thinking recently that a shift towards experience design may actually tap into my journalism degree (in perhaps a round-about, stretch of a metaphor kind of way). The crux of any experience should rely on human stories; motivating factors, situations, problems, and solutions...which could be thought of as the "five w's." Anyways...I digress...

It was a tough decision to leave my current position, but I am very excited to get started and to get thinking and to get learning.

That kind of reads like a cover letter.

Thank you for your time.

Clampants | 09:10 PM | Comments (0)


Put Your Lovin' Hand Out

Baby

Cleaning up my work computer, I found four HAWT TRAX I had meant to get into heavy rotation on the ole iPod:


Clampants | 01:47 PM | Comments (0)


March 09, 2008

Good Podcasts (3/3/08 - 3/7/08)

Clampants | 10:13 AM | Comments (0)


March 06, 2008

Simple Prosperity or "Punching Lions"



I'm not big on "self-improvement," "personal growth," or "productivity/prosperity" books (since I am pretty much perfect, handsome, and wealthy as-is)...but David Wann's "Simple Prosperity: Finding Real Wealth In A Sustainable Lifestyle" seems like a great read.

The Simple Dollar has a really good write-up of the important points including things that I am beginning/struggling to adhere to  like "buy fewer, higher-quality items," "time as a measure of prosperity," "social capital," happiness and enjoyment. 

I have requested this book from my local library.

Kat remains skeptical:

Kat: "buy quality things that you don't have to fight to use"
Kat: i can't think of anything i fight to use
Kat: punching my pants in the morning
Kat: drop-kicking my purse
Tim: Lions

Clampants | 01:47 PM | Comments (1)


March 05, 2008

Clipping the Cord

(warning:  fascinating tales of suburbanality ahead!)

Kat and I have completely overhauled our grocery shopping regimen:  we are now 80% Trader Joe's (with a 20% augmentation of Whole Foods, farmer's market produce, and organic vegetable delivery).  This is a marked departure from our longstanding prior routine...which involved, in short, being a slave to coupons and some bizarre idea of "savings."  Why the change?

The only downside is our Trader Joe's produce selection is pretty...small.  It reminds me of shopping at a convenience store. 

But, two weeks in and I like how we're eating.

Clampants | 05:07 PM | Comments (3)


March 03, 2008

RE: Tracking our little heres for the long now

Over at the Long Now blog, Stephanie Gerson writes:  "Artist collaborative plan b makes location-specific works and performances exploring the dynamics of narrative and time."  She goes on to explain "They visualize GPS data by translating time-stamped coordinates into lines, and creating time-lapse animations superimposed on maps of their location...Their animation for Berlin...reveals dense straight cords and right angles, representing routes driven daily, and light meandering squiggles, representing walks with their toddler who stops to examine each flower, dog, etc. If Dan and Sophia continued gathering data, they would see the squiggly lines became straighter and darker as their daughter grew up."

This got me thinking about the importance of these squiggly lines...how I want to encourage Miles (and myself) to always travel with "light meandering squiggles."

02/08 - Austin/San Antonio - 11

Clampants | 12:16 PM | Comments (0)


March 02, 2008

Good Podcasts (2/25/08 - 2/29/08)


Clampants | 08:13 AM | Comments (0)


February 29, 2008

As if I don't have enough to read...

As if I don't have enough to read...based off of this list, "The Twenty Science Fiction Novels that Will Change Your Life" from io9...I just order a bunch of books off of Paperbackswap:

 - The Bohr Maker, by Linda Nagata
 - The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell
 - Pattern Recognition, by William Gibson
 - Newton's Wake, by Ken MacLeod

However, my next book, which I've been meaning to read for ages, i'll be tackling A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge.

In case anyone was wondering.

Clampants | 08:53 AM | Comments (0)


February 28, 2008

RobotRadio shouts out the one like the Dj Don Featherstone

Clam...pants...CLAMpants...Clampants? That is indeed a weird nickname.

...completely unbeknownst to the one like me until a year later. Thanks to the one like the Rotorglow.

Relatedly, "the one like the so and so" makes it sound like it isn't actually so and so, but some other person who is like him.

Clampants | 04:34 PM | Comments (0)



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Recent Entries
Filling The British Wit Void
Slim Pickings At The Book Sale
And that's all right with me.
Great Podcasts - 4/29/08
Miles On The Deck
Good Podcasts (4/14/08 - 4/18/08)
deeeee!
Invisible Clam - The Betahouse In Absentia Muxtape
Good Podcast (3/31/08 - 4/4/08)
Styge
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