Colorado Cough - all the stuff i read on the internet

colbert hits the spot

2006-05-03T23:19:00.000-06:00

Colbert Roasts Bush - Fire. so fire. (updated link)

going to the islands

2006-05-03T19:25:00.000-06:00

shaka brah

party time

2006-05-01T20:38:00.000-06:00

Friday night was hilarious and a blast. I'm pretty sure EVERYONE got way too lit. Who kept handing me shots?! And who kept buying Chad all those Mai-Tai's?! ridonkulous, and fun. lets do it again. (was I really the heavyweight champ out of all y'all?)

Unofficial Mini-Reunion - Thanks Nick for the photog skills

C for Cookie

2006-04-28T18:13:00.001-06:00

a couple videos and a couple of links.

Sesame Street spoof of "V for Vendetta"... from boingboing

How NOT to land a helicopter.

The Trillion Dollar War

I don't drive, but here is an interesting article on gas prices. Basically since the supply and demand are so finely tuned to the high price of gas, if every American used just 3% less gasoline fuel prices would crash. A month has 30 days in it. Don't drive one day. Now, get everyone else to do it too.

Funny Republicans

2006-04-26T16:32:00.000-06:00

I don't really affiliate myself with any political party: the corporatocracy owns them both, and there isn't any way for a "third" fourth, fifth or any alternative to emerge in the current political climate. What the crap, democracy. I do think that getting the morally and politically corrupt far-right out of our electorate is important though. We have far more important issues to worry about than gay marriage and prayer in school. (Yes, and NO, imho)

Things you have to believe to be a Republican today

Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.

Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bushs daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him, and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we cant find Bin Laden" diversion.

Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is Communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest priority is enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq.

A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.

The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches, while slashing veterans benefits and combat pay.

If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents wont have sex.

A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our long-time allies, then demand their cooperation and money.

Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy, but providing health care to all Americans is socialism. HMOs and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart.

Global warming and tobaccos link to cancer are junk science, but Creationism should be taught in school.

A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offence, but a president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.

Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.

The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's driving records are none of our business.

Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then its an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.

What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the 80s is irrelevant

Support for hunters who shoot their friends and blame them for wearing orange vests similar to those worn by the quail.

Remember!!! Friends dont let friends vote Republican

goto: MoveOn and help beat the Pub's in 06 and 08.

Reason #1 to Own A Business

2006-04-25T21:55:00.000-06:00

1980 - CEO Pay is $10 for every $1 dollar earned by the average worker. Today: $430 for every dollar. Does this guy really need more money?

Lee Raymond, CEO of Exxon/Mobil : $51 mil/yr, plus $400 mil retirement package.

We are all Monkeys

2006-04-24T16:15:00.000-06:00

The meaning of life. Dance, Monkeys, Dance. video, safe for work.

Fight The Power

2006-04-20T16:05:00.000-06:00

Marc Ecko's brilliant (faked) video of him tagging Air Force One. Recently Ecko tried to get Mayor Hickenlooper to repeal a Denver ordinance that prohibits anyone under 18 from possessing a can of spray paint. In NYC, you can't buy or carry a wide tip marker or spray paint if you are under 21 without the threat of real jail time.

Revere's Ride

2006-04-18T21:17:00.000-06:00

Today in History...

1775: American colonial patriot Paul Revere made his famous ride from Lexington to Concord, Massachusetts, warning the American people that the British “redcoats” had landed and will soon arrive
1906: An earthquake, followed by fire, destroys most of San Francisco, killing 3000 people
1934: First Laundromat opens in the United States. Now you can wash your dirty laundry in public
1949: Republic of Ireland created

So everyone likes Ireland, laundromats and earthquakes. But not everyone likes America. There is worldwide hostility and resentment towards our country - and I can't say that I blame the world. Americans generally are very uneducated about world events - is it because they feel isolated and secure in their land of shopping malls and air conditioning? Today I was talking to someone who literally never goes outside except for the brief space between his car and the front doors of his office or apartment. What kind of existence is that?

I ran 10 miles today. It felt fantastic. Go outside. Go camping, go climb a mountain, or go for a walk and watch the sunset. It will make you feel better.

blowout

2006-04-12T16:59:00.000-06:00

So I was watching Blowout on Bravo the other night... Just wow. That show is hilarious. Jonathan isn't gay? He's married and has a little kid? Wow, he has really great hair though (joking, joking). But J dropped a gem of wisdom on the love front:

"The minute I stopped trying to find the right girl and started trying to become the right guy, the right girl showed up."

word.

worktime productivity destroyer

2006-04-03T21:38:00.000-06:00

I didn't sleep last night. At all. Today is going to be awful at work - I'm going for the "I have the stomach flu, I have to leave at 10" excuse today. It's 5:36am...

Funny movie clip: first person to tell me where this is from gets a shiny nickel. Psycho Killer - Garbage Day

This kayaker will think twice before heading out to sea again...

The Best Page in the Universe.

Urban Legend Reference: Artificial sweeteners give you Alzheimers, and other myths.

Why you won't crack the top 50- A look at the top 50 blogs, and their linkology/relationships to each other.

Okay, really finally. Cheese is gouda for your sex life. Really. I like cheese.

get organizized

2006-04-02T01:24:00.000-07:00

30 Boxes - the last calender you will ever use. you can import from Yahoo, Outlook, ical... It's a great interface and easy to use.

Are you busy? Do you forget to pay the rent or miss meetings? Do you know about the GTD system? Honestly I don't have enough on my plate right now to take full advantage, but I expect to soon. Here is the original system. Basically it's a compilation of To-Do lists and action items. Here is a "whitepaper" written by a user. GTD turns people who follow it into GTD freaks. That can be good.

EvokeTv- Find the shows you want to watch. Don't watch the rest. Anything other than Charlie Rose or 24 is melting your brain. Even the new Law and Order episodes aren't very good. You can even get an RSS feed of your favorites and export it to your 30boxes cal, and your favorites shows get scheduled in automatically. Genius!

Finally, celebrate this unique moment in history with a drink... or 2. or 3. or 4, 5 or 6.
This Wednesday, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06. (Thanks, anonymous clock-watcher)

blazing fast post

2006-03-29T23:04:00.001-07:00

Hey NASA - you suck. Lets build a pretty moon base, ooh, ahh. A great editorial. Why go to the moon at all? Go straight to Mars, do not pass the Moon, do not spend $200 Billion. We could spend $50b and go all the way to the Red Planet. C'mon you engineers and jokers. Figure it out.

Who knew politicians could be funny? I always suspected Obama had a hidden Eddie Murphy in there somewhere. Obama roasts Cheney. Wow, the hunting jokes don't really get old.

On a serious tip (for once) - Dave Pollard's deep and interesting blog How to Save the World. Spend your lunch hour reading the archives, there are some real gems in there.

It's thursday y'all, the weekend is almost here. Go George Mason!

Busy Busy

2006-03-25T12:10:00.000-07:00

I don't know people can write like 5 entries a day, work full-time, and have any semblance of a social life or any hobbies. I'm too busy right now with March Madness/work to post much. Did anyone see that George Mason game?! Wowza.

After the game I watched the 60 minutes special on Tiger Woods. Man, that is one good motherf#ckin golfer. He has made $80 million just from winning golf tournaments? He makes an additional $80 million every year from endorsements? He is on track to be the first Billion dollar golf star. He was already in the ranks of Palmer and Nicklaus after his first couple of years on the Tour, and he still practices 14 hours some days. That is the kind of dedication I truly admire. Working a full-time gig has been a change for me, and I'm definitely feeling the Monday blues. How do people work jobs they hate 40 hours a week for their entire lives? This is just a transition period for me, but it's difficult to stay motivated at times. Mainly I try to just look for something positive every day, or try and apply some concept from work that I can benefit from in the future.

a few random monday links
BuddhaNet Audio Dharma - Listen, and be a better person, no matter what your religious beliefs.

Drink Water to Lose Weight

Great blog of a NYC Waiter

Go work on the Moon. Get out of here!

Staying In Is The New Going Out

2006-03-21T17:29:00.000-07:00

Staying in your pajamas for 54 hours straight is a damn good feeling. I hardly even left the house all weekend, and I didn't miss a thing! The weather was crappy, the fridge was stocked, and I had some great company...

Look what happened to this 15 year old that left his house. Remember, guns don't kill people. Idiots with guns kill people.

Sure, I like to go out and hang out with my friends occasionally. Going out to the bar can be fun, but it is always expensive and usually you have to deal with a minimum of five morons. Per bar. Even though there are cool people out there I don't know, the signal to noise ratio of hip cats to utter fools is ridiculous at any bar or club. 90% of the crowd is there to get laid, maybe 10% is couples just wondering why they went out in the first place. Why not stay in? I'm more of a homebody anyways - I would much rather kick it, watch a movie and play Scrabble than "get wasted" at the bar.

Good rainy/snowy day time killers -

browse Everyday

read PostSecret

read a BOOK - they're those things with a cover and a bunch of words in between.

Music Monday II

2006-03-20T13:11:00.000-07:00

The Greatest Rapper of All Time - Age 17, Bedstuy, Brooklyn.

This video is pretty long, but you music nerds will appreciate this look at one of the most used breakbeat samples in history.

How big is your mp3 player? Did you know you can use Itunes no matter what type of player you have? I take my 4G ipod mini everywhere, even though I'm probably damaging my hearing. Smart Playlists really help keep the music fresh, especially with such small capacity. I keep most of my music stored on the computer, and the playlists rotate my favorite songs, recently added tracks, and songs I haven't heard in a while.

more radio - Pandora is an radio site with an in-browser player, it works by recommending other songs based on who you like - much like the amazon.com recommendations engine. I would give it 3/5 stars right now, but they are making improvements and it should get better. You can input multiple artists into one station as well - it is cool to see what kind of stuff they recommend if you mix Miles Davis + Talib Kweli + Postal Service.

March MADNESS

2006-03-17T22:39:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to drop a quick post now that my NCAA bracket is thoroughly destroyed.

Why am I not out celebrating my Irish heritage this cold Denver evening? Well I had a few pints of Guinness at the Uptown Tavern after work today, came home and fell promptly asleep. Now I'm rocking my flannel pajama pants, I just finished watching the basketball games and I'm too damn comfortable to go out and "celebrate". St. Patty's Day is just a drunken orgy of amateur drinkers anyways, my usually beautiful pubs overcrowded with those people who only drink on special occasions, spilling their beers and throwing up in the sink in the ladies room. Amateurs. As I write this I have to turn my music up to drown the screams of the partygoers outside my window. Yeah, I know you like the green beer guys. Do you need to yell like someone is stabbing you in the eye to get the point across?

Letter To President Bush

2006-03-15T11:08:00.000-07:00

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people. - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

While browsing NewsVine today I came across this letter to Bush from a retired Naval aviator, judge, and law professor.

"Until your administration, I thought it was impossible for our nation to take hundreds of persons into custody without provable charges of any kind, and to “disappear” them into holes like Gitmo, Abu Ghraib and Bagram. Until your administration, in my wildest legal fantasy I could not imagine a U.S. Attorney General seeking to justify torture or a President first stating his intent to veto an anti-torture law, and then adding a “signing statement” that he intends to ignore such law as he sees fit."

In the end, he tells Bush he is turning in his aviator's wings and his Lieutenant's shoulder boards as a protest for the injustices done by this adminstration. This is the type of person we need serving as an elected official for our country.

health news, 10K

2006-03-13T17:23:00.000-07:00

Guy #1: I'm thinking of doing bio-medical engineering.
Guy #2: Isn't that where people create animals--
Guy #1: No, you dumbass film major.

--Hayden Hall Residence, Washington Square West from overheardinnewyork.com

Hole in the heart may be linked to migraines - Some cases of severe migraine may be effectively treated by closing a hole in the heart, research suggests. more heart stuff - should we all be on statins?

An interesting new theory on pregnancy - a competition between mother and child.

The ganja causes memory problems? What was that?

JOIN ME for this year's Bolder Boulder, May 29th. This will be my first 10K in about five years, and I haven't really been running that much. I'll try just to wheeze and gasp my way to the finish. Training is way more fun with some friends though, so get off your plush couch and lace up those running shoes. My plan for this week is to run 15 miles in 5 sessions (2 3 4 4 2)

music mondays

2006-03-12T22:03:00.000-07:00

a few internet radio stations/podcasts I like:

deepfunk

zoe's radio show - many styles, mostly rock but overall a great show and collection.

Beatbasement

and my favorite... WeFunk

Faster, Better, Healthier.

2006-03-08T11:42:00.000-07:00

Fast 50 - Report From the Future:: One of my goals is to be on this or a similar list in ten years. A list of 50 "portraits from the future", people who are making a big impact on changing our world. by Fast Company

Fortune has a feature called Secrets of Greatness. This is a series of short interviews with a dozen "accomplished" people, from A.G. Lafley to Wynton Marsalis, on their keys to achieving flow in everyday living. The recurring theme: be an early riser. I've never really been a morning person, but I'm finding that once you start waking up early, it becomes a habit. I'm even waking up five minutes or so before my alarm goes off now - it's so much nicer than being jolted awake. One of the recommendations given in the early riser article is to cut caffeine out completely - I'll only give up my java when they pry it from my cold dead hands.

Don't make Dave's mistake. You are only as good as the fuel you put into your body. Maybe you may function fine on Wendy's #2 Combo, Biggie-sized with a Diet Coke. I understand. Sometimes, you just crave those 60g of fat and 1140 calories. I do too. Just promise yourself it's a once a month treat. Since January 1 I've been trying to eat healthier and organically. I've found it to be a challenge to change some of my neandrethal eating habits. I am definitely noticing a difference in my energy levels and I feel healthier in general. I eat a lot - I have been taking in about 3,800 to 4,000 calories a day. I keep track of this with a great, free site called Nutrax. You can keep fitness and food logs there - just snap a picture with your camera phone before every meal, then go back and input the nutritional information. There are menus that list virtually everything edible with the info already there for you, and it's pretty easy to use. The hard thing for me is still making a habit of tracking every single thing I eat. This is a great tool for athletes, anyone with diabetes, or people trying to lose weight.

So I'm trying to get to the point that eating organic is better for you and better tasting than processed foods. I guess we all know this, but who has the money to shop at Whole Foods every week? You don't have to. A few weeks ago my favorite person turned me on to Sunflower Markets here in Denver. All organic, they have the best produce and great quality, inexpensive meats. When my friend got out of the car with her own grocery bags, I was a bit perplexed - then I saw when we got the receipt, they took $.25 per bag off of the bill. I was really impressed by their helpful staff and great food - and it marked the last time I will go to the unSafeway in 5 Points for any reason. Now, if they could just figure out how to make a decent tasting organic peanut butter...

randomosity

2006-03-07T21:37:00.000-07:00

InBubbleWrap - daily contests for free business books. I won How Dell Does It, by Steven Holzner. They send me a free book, I send them a link - also check 800-CEO-READ, an excellent business blog.

Psychologist Steven Hayes says the American obsession with feeling good is preventing us from living good -- and that living life to the fullest means a lot of pain. from salon.com

Tonight I am motivated by: fresh starts, and my first $4 adsense payment. Now I'm going to sleep, maybe have a crazy lucid dream or two. Sleep is important.

homeland security?

2006-03-07T16:38:00.000-07:00

I was reading slashdot this afternoon and came across this interesting thread. A retired schoolteacher from Texas paid off his credit card debt in a lump sum, and it got flagged by Homeland Security. This isn't really new news - large financial transactions have been flagged and subject to scrutiny by government agencies for years. Since 9/11 however, the threshold for "suspicious" dollar amounts has been lowered, and the number of investigations (pdf) have increased considerably.

A few of my friends who play poker for a living have had some increasing difficulty with taxes and even simple banking due to the large amounts of cash they use for their chosen career. I know 2 people that were audited in 2005, and even with all of their paperwork fully documenting their profits, they were subject to harassment and undue scrutiny by the IRS. If this kind of Orwellian monitoring is already commonplace, how will citizens ever regain some semblance of privacy from the government?

Like it or not, our society is far past the point of no return. Everywhere you go, you leave a data trail. Living off the grid is almost impossible at this stage. I wouldn't want to - I am a (mostly) law abiding citizen, and in some aspects the benefits of a truly open society improve the quality of life for everyone. As Americans, however, we did not enter into any contract granting the government full access to our lives, and the government is clearly overstepping their defined legal boundaries lately.

This is just the most recent example of the violation of privacy in America. Unconstitutional laws that have been passed radically overstep personal rights in the name of "security" and "fighting terrorism". But are we really safer today than five years ago? Does the U.S. have some secret force field that I don't know about? Or did we simply squander the world's admiration and respect for our supposedly reasonable actions in Afghanistan by invading Iraq in violation of international law...?

stewie griffin, on 50 cent

2006-03-05T13:42:00.000-07:00

I have been a Family Guy fan for a long time - the show is brilliant and I can't watch an episode without nearly dying from laughter. I missed this episode, where Stewie goes off on 50 Cent. Priceless (free video).

Here is a GREAT guitar solo - Stanley Jordan, playing Eleanor Rigby - wow. If you thinks it's slow, just wait about 40 seconds. I wish I could play like this...

Finally on this beautiful Sunday (67f today in Denver), I leave you with this.
I hope your French is better than mine to translate - or you can go to Babelfish. Unique ebay auctions, including my forehead. Here is the original listing. Yes, that's me and my big ass forehead, which I auctioned for adspace after a bad week in Las Vegas. I saw an article in the Denver Post about someone who made $34k auctioning a temporary tattoo on his head, and I'm way more handsome than that guy. Alas, no bidders - just $60 in listing fees. Damn you ebay!

joshua davis

2006-03-04T12:40:00.000-07:00

article from this month's Wired Mag about artist/coder/designer Joshua Davis. (denver native, what)

"Of course, Davis isn't the first artist to stand out for rogue techniques. He's routinely compared to Pollock, who lived at the other end of Long Island and came up with a whole new approach to painting. It's tough not to compare the two - unhealthy attachment to mind-altering substances, bristling persona, studio barns, unorthodox technique. Davis isn't a fan of Pollock's work, but he admits that he's an artistic descendant."