eKe

Check out my new blog!

2005-09-08T15:26:00.000-07:00

I'm putting this blog out to pasture. I've been waiting a while to get my new one up and running. But now it's ready. Quick! Go to www.ericedstrom.com to read my blog. Better yet, subscribe now to my RSS feed.

Adios!

eKe

PS I had to edit a stupid error. That's one of the reasons I'm bailing on blogger.

RSS feed changing

2005-07-28T16:58:00.000-07:00

Please point your aggregator at my Feedburner feed. The Blogger feed is about to go away.

Automobile.com reviews Mini Cooper Convertible

2005-07-26T13:01:00.000-07:00

2005 MINI Cooper S Cabriolet Road Test - Automobile.com Mini Car Review:

"If someone were to ask me if I could sum up the MINI Coopers personality in one word, a while ago I would have said fun. Now I would say rejuvenating. Rejuvenating? Yes, the MINIs personality taps into the tank of extra energy and excitement I thought I had exhausted throughout the day. It puts the smile back on my face and makes me look forward to driving no matter what the circumstances are, except maybe for rain, because then I cant go topless."

Canadian Mini Cooper Convertible review at auto123

2005-07-25T18:07:00.000-07:00

2005 MINI Cooper S Cabriolet Road Test:

"And the street-legal, topless go-cart feels even quicker than its numbers suggest, and I love it. The feeling of my hair-blowing, the tunes blasting, and the sun shining in the MINI is pure bliss. "

Mini crunched by dump truck

2005-07-23T18:30:00.000-07:00

In an amazing David v Goliath crash, a Mini was crunched by a dumptruck. Driver is safe and ordering another Mini Cooper.

Original post with pics at GBMINI after the jump above.

My Mini Cooper Convertible is lauded by the ice guy at the gas station

2005-07-23T16:46:00.001-07:00

The other day I had to fill up the Mini's tank and an ice delivery guy gave me the thumbs up from across the parking lot.

As I drove out, he shouted, "I'm feelin' that car. I am FEELIN' that car." I thanked him as I drove out. As I turned on to the road I heard him telling his buddy, "I am feelin' that car, man."

Scoop: MOTORNET: Still Got It - Mini Cooper S

2005-07-23T16:46:00.000-07:00

New Zealand's www.scoop.co.nz likes the Mini. Concise review and scary nz dollars!!!

Carpages reviews the MINI Cooper Convertible

2005-07-23T16:43:00.000-07:00

Carpages review of the Mini Convertible. They liked it, of course. Nice review, in detail.

Arthur Vance podcasts while running

2005-07-23T16:31:00.000-07:00

My brother is podcasting during his daily runs. Check it out!

By Ear with Arthur Vance: Rollin' Thunder

Motoring Life

2005-07-21T17:53:00.000-07:00

My first podcast on the motoring life.

Contraints killed quality of Start Wars -- via Signal vs. Noise

2005-07-21T14:40:00.000-07:00

Excellent post on the effect contraints have on _improving_ quality.

Original comment on slashdot.

Required Accessory for a convertible: sunscreen

2005-07-20T19:53:00.000-07:00

The motoring lifestyle agrees with me. The top down, sunny day, fresh air, zippy car, some good music on. Ahh, what could be better.

The Mini Cabrio is great, but sunscreen is a must. If your going to motor al fresco, slather up, pop a lid on the dome and don the shades. UV rays are not your friend.

Check out www.shadefoundation.org for some tips.

Mini Cooper S -- Cabrio

2005-07-16T19:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I can check this off my 43 Things list. We got the Mini Cooper S Cabrio today. Been thinking about it a long time, but I didn't expect the dealer to have one that I'd want just sitting around.

It's pretty close to a base model S except the 17" rims and the heated seats. I'm going to put on some chrome tailgate hinges as soon as I can find them.

The car has amazingly smooth power, suprising since there's only a 4 cylinder (supercharged! tee hee) under the bonnet. Not much room in the boot, but they figured out a clever way to make the opening temporarily bigger to stuff in some groceries.

Motor On!

Harry Potter is out

2005-07-16T19:44:00.000-07:00

I was amazed at how many copies of the new Harry Potter book they had at Target. Pretty good price for a hard cover. We picked up a copy. Later at Wal-Mart we saw it for under $16. Sort of ticked me.

At target they had a cart with boxes of the book just standing by ready to be slapped on the shelves. I figure the boxes themselves are probably collector's items.

Crazy lunatic face in water splotch

2005-07-12T12:58:00.000-07:00

I splashed some water in my car today at lunch and it created this crazy lunatic face.

Today's Haiku

2005-07-11T17:36:00.000-07:00

Plastic fruit in hand
Little daughter says "hello"
A banana phone

Designing a Life

2005-07-10T21:01:00.000-07:00

Over the past year I've come to appreciate the power of good design. I suppose it goes father back than that, but I had never really thought about it before. I assessed that something was cool or neat but never thought about why it was cool or neat.

I'm typing this on my Apple PowerBook G4. Prior to this I'd used an assortment of Dell and Toshiba laptops. I liked them fine, but this computer invites me to use it because of its design.

I use 37signals' Backpack web app. It's simple, elegant and -- useful. I love that by limiting the feature set the designers created a generic structure people can adapt to suit their needs. Flickr, Google, and Bloglines, all have simple, friendly designs that just work.

My iPod Shuffle couldn't be simpler, and there are a host of similar small, low/no UI mp3 players out there. But why is the Shuffle so superior? Design. It just looks cool in its simplicity, functions flawlessly, and makes me feel satisfied in a way my Creative Labs Nomad never could. I live with it instead of use it.

In my business, we design products. Our best and most successful products are simple, elegant and obvious in their use. Could they be better, absolutely. Design is not just putting hardware together or writing code. Design is the whole thing -- form, function, feel, attitude, mood, process, elegance. We need to move beyond product development to Design.

We are designing the business itself. Design matters in the building, the newsletter, the conference rooms, the artwork on the wall, the processes we expect people to follow, and the reporting structure we set up. Design has to infuse every aspect of the company in order for good design to be delivered to our customers. It means we need to conciously move towards simplicity even when things seem more complex and sophisticated.

I'm remodeling my house because I want it to be a more peaceful place to be. Design creates peace by defining spaces and internal views, drawing in light and guiding the flow of movement. A sofa is not just a place to lounge and watch the football game; it's structure provides context for moments in one's life: watching the game, opening Christmas presents, and talking to my 1 year old.

Design reins chaos, eliminates clutter, declares purpose.

Design is in a Leatherman, my Harmony Remote, my glasses, a tub of Carmex, a Mies van der Rohe chair, the Aperature House, a pair of Doc Martens, a Mini Cooper, a Moleskine notebook, Gumby, Ta-da list, Next Actions, Conditions of Satisfaction, the Constitution, my marriage vows, and a five mile run on a crisp September morning.

Design is intention, created by simple lines which define and connect.

I'm designing a life. What are you designing?

Huge Batman Guy at Wal-Mart

2005-07-10T14:41:00.000-07:00

I saw this amazingly huge 30" Tall Batman guy at Wal-Mart.

Here's what the Wal-mart.com description says:

At nearly 30 inches tall, this giant-sized Batman figure is large enough to convey the ominous presence and smoldering intensity of the legendary Dark Knight.

I'm not so sure a 30" tall action figure guy is particularly ominous.

Save Gumby

2005-07-10T14:34:00.000-07:00

My brother is thinking of ebaying his lame Gumby guy. Vot to save him.

43 Things, Places

2005-07-10T07:52:00.000-07:00

I've spent a bit of time putting some stuff on my 43 Things lists. The site is very intriguing. I'm not sure what to do with it, but I think I'll keep working on it. Please throw me a cheer.

Of course, it's all AJAXed up, which is cool. I love web form fields that use big type. 37signals does this for there sign up page for Writeboard.

Canadian Rockies -- Day 5

2005-06-26T07:04:00.000-07:00

Up early for a walk. Ran yesterday and walked a lot, so legs are tired.

Haven't seen any bears yet, but some women I saw on the path this morning were wearing bear bells. I don't know if they are effective. It depends on what you read. I wonder if the frequency of the bells is too high for bears.

Mountains are invigorating. You don't see many overweight Canmorites.

Morning Mountain Run

2005-06-23T07:56:00.000-07:00

Crisp air fueled me on the trail for my morning run.
There is a trail behind the house we're staying at, perfect for my new Vasque trail shoes. I discovered they are NOT water proof. Ran past a few fuzzy anltered elk. They just looked at me.

The altitude is 4600 ft in Canmore, but we are a little above that. It makes a difference when you are used to the 650 ft in SE Wisconsin!

Only a 28 minute run this morning, but we're probably going to do some hiking today too if we can find a baby carrier backpack thingy.\

Canmore, Alberta Canada

2005-06-22T17:39:00.000-07:00

Upper Grassi Lake2
Originally uploaded by ekedstrom.

A little over eight years ago my wife and I got married in Canmore. The morning before the ceremony we hiked up to the Grassi Lakes -- one is pictured at right.

We returned in 2002 and we're back for the third time today. This time we brought our little daughter with us.

I can't believe the smell of the mountain air, it's really amazing. I'm looking forward to going out for a run tomorrow morning.

Amazon.com: Music: Voodoo Highway

2005-05-18T17:46:00.000-07:00

Amazon.com: Music: Voodoo Highway: "Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,877 in Music "

Interest appears to be waning. I wonder how many units you need to sell on Amazon to rank in the 1000s. Probably only one or two. I notice that there used to be 5 new and used and now there are only 4. Someone wasn't sure they really wanted to shell out for a full priced new one. Can't blame them. It's a good CD, however . . . if you like Led Zeppelin crossed with a soulful delta blues guitar cranked through a Marshall on 11.

Ray Gillan was the lead singer of Badlands. Amazing vocalist -- died young. Here's his story on the Black Sabbath site. Yes, he was a singer for Black Sabbath, but never released a record with them. They recorded Eternal Idol with him but were disatisfied and re-recorded the vocals with Tony Martin, who did a very credible impersonation of former BS leader singer Ronnie James Dio. So now we can connect Bo Bice indirectly to Dio! But the Black Sabbath connection is even better. Badlands guitarist Jake E. Lee was guitarist for Ozzy, who of course was the original lead singer for Sabbath. Jake's website has a posting right now about Bo's performance.

This all goes to prove nothing in particular. But for those out there who are Badlands fans, Bo's performace was a kind of vindication that a certain spirit of rock music still lives. Badlands were not posers; they had long hair, but weren't a hair band. They were amazing musicians who like many bands before them distilled their influences into a powerful, pure, and honest sound that just worked.

So why weren't Badlands a bigger band? Timing, image, lack of record company interest may all be factors, but I think it's really that so much of the hard rock of the time was based on the work of Led Zeppelin. Like the Beatles before them, a single Zeppelin song became be the basis of a later band's entire career. To my ear, Badlands was built around "Whole Lotta Love," and though they never covered that song, they took it's form, its essence, and explored it in song after song. "High Wire," "Dreams in the Dark," "Winter's Call," and "Seasons" are fine examples. Their first record was a perfect realization of a latter day Zeppelin. Ray's soulful and wailing vocal, while not an impersonation of Robert Plant, called to mind Plant's almost out of control delivery on those early Zeppelin songs. Jake's guitar work, while more precise and certainly faster, was characterized by monster riffs, and the Page-like, dry in-your-face amp-and-mic sound found on Zep's first records.

But despite the perfection of Badlands' take on Zeppelin, they didn't find the success or fame they deserved. They were competing against many, many, many other groups who were mining the same Zeppelin claim. Bands with less musicianship, but more accessible pop oriented songs took the music to MTV. Image had become everything. A band's brand could no longer be built out of nine songs and a cool album cover.

I remember the hunger I had for information and pictures of my favorite bands, and when all I had were the album cover and sleeve. For me, Boston was not a band of guys in my mind back then. They were a guitar-spaceship that came from an exploding world. When I heard the songs, I heard the soaring harmony guitars as more of a soundtrack of that idea. It was more than a mere musical performance. Today that kind of experience is dead.

Amazon.com: Music: Voodoo Highway

2005-05-18T07:24:00.000-07:00

Amazon.com: Music: Voodoo Highway: "Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,041 in Music "

Well, well, well. AI really moves records. Quite a jump from #32,400 in one night!