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Getting my Alaska fix

I have a really good friend who did something even more crazy than my relocation to Vancouver. Paul one upped me and trekked to Alaska last fall, just as winter was setting in. The one thing he constantly says is how incredibly beautiful it is there, and I think that says a lot for him to say that without experiencing summer yet.

He seems to have a good gig up there, helping coordinate things at the Alaska Teen Media Institute. Paul took his radio producing talents and shares his creative expertise with the kids he works with. That might make some of you worry, but I think he’s got a handle on things.

This piece by one of his students nabbing an interview with the band OK Go is pretty good. I always wonder what it’s like to grow up in the great white north, especially where it’s much more north and whiter than Vancouver. Yes, I know that usually implies Canada, but Alaska seems more like another world to me than Canada ever has. Still, it’s on my lists of places in the world that I want to visit for the simple sake of saying I’ve been there, and I’d consider living there if they keep giving land away as if it’s the 1800’s.

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New TCC and RZ episodes posted

I don’t have a lot of time to explain, but been busy in the last week to not get a lot posted here. However, there are new episodes of The Crazy Canucks and RadioZoom posted. RZ brings you an interview with guitarist Keeley Davis of the band Sparta, and TCC goes on location at GM Place for the Canucks open practice with the whole crew. Fun was had by all, so you should go check them out!

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Zamboni-ing under the influence

I’ve seen this on numerous news sites, not to mention the various hockey blogs that I follow. There is just no way that I can pass this one up. And mind you, this did not happen in Canada.

NEWARK, New Jersey (AP) — It’s not drunken driving in New Jersey if it involves a Zamboni.

A judge ruled the four-ton ice rink-grooming machines aren’t motor vehicles because they aren’t useable on highways and can’t carry passengers.

Zamboni operator John Peragallo had been charged with drunken driving in 2005 after a fellow employee at the Mennen Sports Arena in Morristown, New Jersey, told police the machine was speeding and nearly crashed into the boards.

Police said Peragallo’s blood alcohol level was 0.12 percent. A level of 0.08 is considered legally drunk in New Jersey. [cnn]

Fortunately, no mascots were hurt in this incident. I have to add that the blame mostly resides on the “Sambuca with his breakfast coffee and two Valium-pills before work”, thanks to Bradley for picking that one out. But seriously, need I say more?

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Celebrating the death of DRM with The Toadies

Truly, there is no connection between the deal that Apple made with EMI and this video that I never knew existed by The Toadies[wiki], but I’m stoked about both. Does this mean the end of DRM as we know it? If I could tell you that, I’d be rich.

The Toadies were the band that I saw at my first, real rock show, and I totally dig the hockey jersey Lisa is wearing in this video. In fact, she was wearing one when I saw them play in Davenport, Iowa, but it might have been a Blackhawks jersey. Regardless, she was an intense presence on stage. They broke up about two years back, but The Toadies played a show together in Texas over the past St. Patrick’s Day weekend. Reunion? Remains to be seen.

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Opening day: 2007

CubsOfficially, the opening day for the season was yesterday. However, today is the first day for the Chicago Cubs, so that makes this the real opening day.

This year, I don’t know what to expect. Lou Piniella and a fleet of new faces are on the team this year. The same thing that has been said every year is happening again, but now we actually have hope. Not only that, but reason to hope. And not only that, but Ronny Cedeno made the opening day roster? The boy has become a man.

Fingers crossed, let the season begin.

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Calling shenanigans

The premise of this post is this. I scan a lot of RSS feeds, and today is April Fools’ Day[wiki]. So my plan is to spot things, list them here if I think they are a load of crap, and we’ll let the cards fall as they may. Feel free to post comments to give the rest of us heads up or give us a ruling as to if it’s true or total bunk.

Why might I do this? Because it’s just as fun to try and solve the equation as it is to play the prank. Also, I got completely hosed by Father Roderick last year with his prank, and he’s a priest! A clever Dutchman, but I’m doing my best to not get nailed this year. Still, I appreciate a good joke, but his was a tad too much on the pulling at heart strings end of the stick.

So here we go, a total roll of the dice. Check back for updates on this little experiment.

» Google is pulling their usual stunt. Rebecca has it posted on her site, but it’s pretty comical. Oh the geeky humor. Status: shenanigans

Google April Fool’s JokeGoogle TiSP (BETA) is a fully functional, end-to-end system that provides in-home wireless access by connecting your commode-based TiSP wireless router to one of thousands of TiSP Access Nodes via fiber-optic cable strung through your local municipal sewage lines. [google]

» John Chow made a post on March 31st detailing his last blog post ever, mainly because he apparently sold his company, is dirt rich, and now going to travel the world. If that be the case, then all the best with not catching ebola, bird flu, or Montezuma revenge in whatever portion of the world that your travels take you. And I say that lovingly. Status: shenanigans

Starting tomorrow, I will be on permanent vacation. I have sold my company, TTZ Media Inc., to a Toronto based Internet Venture Company. The sale closed yesterday. I cannot disclose the sale price but it is enough that the interest on the money alone would put me in the top 1% income bracket. [johnchow]

» Maybe Robert Scoble is a natural at randomly finding people using interesting gadgets at random areas of the SF area, but this post from today seems all too fishy to me. It makes sense, but holy crap is it a long post about some new Apple gadget that is supposed to make reading RSS feeds as hip as walking down the street with white ear buds crammed in your ears. However, if true, then I guess that’s neat. Status: shenanigans

Back to what I saw: today we were eating at Sam’s Chowder House in Half Moon Bay when I saw someone down on the beach using a device I didn’t recognize. Being a geek I quickly ran down to the beach to see what it was. Turns out he was an Apple executive (he asked me not to name him) and tried to hide the device when I came near, but I eventually talked him into showing it off to me. [scobleizer]

Leave a comment if you see something else worth calling shenanigans on.

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Theme song for House

I just wanted to toss this out there for those who might be curious. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that Rebecca and I were watching The Wedge when this piece of knowledge came to light.

Massive Attack - TeardropThe theme song to the television show House[wiki] is by the group Massive Attack[wiki]. Now I say group because the whole dynamic that makes these guys up is fascinating. They are one of these super groups that seem to do no wrong with everything they release. Can’t say that I’m an overly rabid fan, but what I have always known and heard of them, I’ve liked a lot.

I’ve also seen Tricky[wiki], a side project to Massive Attack, open up for Tool[wiki], if you can believe that. Mind blowing show, even for sitting in the seats on stage right of an arena venue.

Anyway, we just made it through some catching up on some of the TV series that we like to keep track of. WOXY played the track a long time ago, shortly after the series started, but I never scoped out who it was. The track, “Teardrop”[wiki], has actually been used in a variety of shows, but I think you’ll find that common with a lot of stuff from Massive Attack. They’re one of those acts who produce tracks that run perfectly in various scenes for film or television.

Other guilty folks that come to mind like this are Crystal Method, Air, or Coldplay. Who else might I be missing?

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Blogging code of conduct

I’ve heard this term being tossed around in light of the Kathy Sierra situation. For those not in the know, trackback to what Scoble wrote about taking the week off because of the personal attacks towards his wife and the effects of threats on Sierra has had on him. That saves me time explaining it, but the basic lowdown is that bloggers are finding themselves in the line of fire. Thus, a “blogging code of conduct” has been mentioned to help the situation.

To me, this already exist, but on a very unspoken level. There are some things that you do and don’t do if you want your online presence to be respectable. For some, having that level of respect is the last thing they want, and this is not about respect in terms of popularity. It’s about not being an ass, plain and simple.

Death threats, defamation, slander, and everything else negative that is going on in relation to the already mentioned situation is simple human behavior. It’s an elementary school playground.
Continue reading “Blogging code of conduct”

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Blog: Ikea Hacker

Ikea HackerI showed this to Rebecca this morning before she left for work, and she asked me where I had discovered Ikea Hacker. For the life of me, I cannot remember. I’ve been reading it for the past few months, enjoying the neat creations that people have cobbled together to make there own breed of Swedish furniture. It’s something I am really curious about doing myself, but even I scare myself with the possible monstrosities I could create.

It was this recent post that came through to me this morning that really peaked my love for this blog. Take an Ikea desk, computers, throw some cable management at it, and holy crap is my mind full of ideas now. That’s the brilliance of this site. My courage is getting stronger to try something crazy myself.

True that some of the posts are nothing spectacular, but I can always use some sources of inspiration to get me going again. The desktop PC of Rebecca’s sits on this little Ikea workstation that we got from some of our good friends. They were pretty impressed when I mounted our network router underneath the bottom shelf with some twist-ties. Now I have all sorts of ideas. Just need more ties.