Vintage Drags, in Slow-mo

Since I've been sooo productive since getting to Chengdu (more on that later), I thought I would toss up a quick post about what I actually did do today instead of all the things I intended to do but didn't.

Basically, this involves drinking coffee all day, listening to good tunes from Big Blue Swing, doing some laundry in a very strange combination washer/dryer, and watching vintage drag racing videos.  This one in particular is pretty sweet.


Nostalgia Drags at 240 FPS from Matthew Macomber on Vimeo.

Check out the wrinkle of the sidewalls (they're drag tires - they're supposed to do that) at 0:58, a Mustang pull a serious wheelstand at 1:08, and the Gasser nose dive from an equally serious wheelstand at 1:20.  Pretty wild!

I've also been thinking about the repercussions being in China to witness the N7N9 flu and a crazier-than-usual North Korea... but those are kind of a downer and you can read about those things pretty much anywhere.  (The Sinocism blog is a good place to start if you want an insiders pick of the stories.)

Björk ("Byerk") is super strange

So, I'm really easily distracted.  I was reading a Lifehacker article about something and noticed a cool picture on the io9 cell of the Gawker spam in the footer which led to a rundown of "10 Debut Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels That Took the World by Storm", some of which I think I'd like to read.  Someday.  And really just the two most sci-fi / lease fantasy ones: The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester and Neuromancer by William Gibson.  

Supposedly there has been talk of a Neuromancer movie project for years, but nothing has ever come out of it, according to the comments.  One director people seemed to be excited about though was someone named Chris Cunningham.  Apparently he is a semi-famous director who worked on movies like A.I. and such.  

But anyway, someone posted this cyberpunkish video of Björk "All is Full of Love."  that he made.  It is super strange.  I'm pretty sure the robot tries to touch herself at one point.  

Now that I think about it, I'm not sure who's weirder - Björk or Cunningham.  Although I must admit that I have no clue as to the underlying meaning / message of the song or accompanying video.

I was on TWiT's AAA! ...Kinda

Yesterday I was featured on All About Android #22, the TWiT network's weekly show about, well, the Android smartphone ecosystem!  Okay, not me in the flesh, but my question was read and answered on the air, and it was one of the best nerd moments of my life.  And of course, because it's TWiT, it's on video.

Let me set this up for you.  I've had my first Android phone, a LG p999 Optimus X2 / G2x on T-Mobile, for about four months now (since May '11), and I really dig it.  But lately I've been getting pretty annoyed by some of its quirks and decided to root it so I could get full control of and do a good backup in preparation for a change of some sort.  Having not gotten the OTA update to Gingerbread from T-Mobile, I was all ready to load the CyanogenMod ROM, but then I got a little freaked out by a warning about my phone being unrecoverable if something went wrong.

So, after reading the XDA forums for way too long, I decided to write to the all-star crew of All About Android and see what they had to say about it.  I remembered that Leo had a G2x (and apparently still does), and hoped that they could help me out.

What I got was way more than I could have hoped for.  A three minute walk through of exactly what to do for my situation, from the man, Leo himself.

(If you want to see Eileen read my slightly wordy question, start here.  And of course, watch the whole episode from the beginning for some really good stuff.)  

So there you have it.  I'm saved by the TWiT AAA team and Leo Laporte and now I've got a plan on how to attack my phone and put a sweet aftermarket ROM on it.

Of course, now I hear that you can force the update to 2.3.3 from T-Mobile, but I have a feeling that would undo my root, and at this point, I'm feeling pretty confident about just jumping right into CyanogenMod.

Remixes and Realizations

I'm not even going to mention how long it's been since I've blogged.  Whoops, I just did.  Oh well, moving on...

I'm totally obsessed with electronica remixes of vaguely folkish music.  And apparently YouTube is the only place to discover them.  Take this one for instance:

It's The Twelves remixing Fleet Foxes "White Winter Hymnal," and they're both kinda mainstream (as well as completely awesome).  This track was featured on The Twelves' BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix from Dec 18 of 2009, so it's likely available elsewhere.

However, I would have never found this gem if it weren't for the 'Tubes, and it is a beautiful work, worthy of radio time:

Some producer called Maffiss totally reworking the haunting, auto-tuned, vocal-only, four-line Bon Iver track "Woods" into some danceable awesomeness.  Looks like you can legally obtain all of his remixes for free at http://maffiss.bandcamp.com/.

Speaking of Bandcamp (the website, not the horrible joke from American Pie), there's some pretty good stuff on there.  Like Apple Juice Kid.  Look him up.

*

I've realized that I do need to actually work out a little bit, because as much as I love dancing, and as much as I do it (couple times a week, not as much as I'd like, usually), it doesn't really do much for your anaerobic fitness level.  I also realize that I'm probably never going to go to a gym again and I don't plan on buying a bunch of free weights, so I need something to do that doesn't take much (any) equipment and is a little broader than my usual crunches / push-ups action.

A few weeks ago I came across an article on Lifehacker about J.P. Müller's My System.  First published in 1904, it was apparently the Victorian version of South Beach - effective, but controversial.  Also, it's not a diet.  It's a 15-minute, zero equipment, core-strengthening routine that, even though it's 107 years old, seems pretty effective.  I found several scanned copies on the interwebs and decided to skip the intro, etcetera ("Why Be Weak?") and go straight to the workout, which is broken down into a five-week build-up to the ultimate 18 exercise routine on week six.  I'm on week two, and I can totally feel it in my "flanks."  I think I need to supplement it with extra push-ups to really get what I want out of it, but it's going pretty well.  [Also, apparently someone else was similarly inspired, but they decided to put it online.  www.mullersmysystem.com]

*

Along similar lines, I also have realized that my diet is in serious need of some help.  I think my daily caloric intake is somewhere around 1800, including a couple hundred worth of booze, usually, when it really should be closer to 2600, with less alcohol.  [Not that I am worried about my drinking, or even that I drink that much, average of a drink or two a day isn't bad, is it?]  Today I had some hot chocolate, some cereal, some ridiculously tasty oatmeal**, one slice of salami, and some "apple nachos."  Now it's 8pm and I would rather head out the door to go dancing than fix anything to eat.  I suppose I'll have a cookie and see if there's any free pizza available at Avo's when the kitchen closes.  And a beer.  Beer counts as food; it's basically bread.

But yeah, like I was saying my diet needs some improvement.

**Ridiculously Tasty Oatmeal:  So, a very nice girl, who has the shift after mine at Everyday Joe's, has gone through a lot in the realm of eating and being healthy.  She was anorexic and addicted to exercise, and therefore really unhealthy.  I don't know if she even weighs 100 pounds now, seeing as she's a pretty small girl and still extremely active, but she's apparently significantly healthier than she was.  Anyway, we were working together last week and somehow oatmeal came up in conversation.  I mentioned that I liked bacon in my oatmeal [you'll laugh until you try it], and she mentioned that she puts peanut butter in hers and loves it.  I had never thought of putting peanut butter in my oatmeal, but I love peanut butter, and I love oatmeal, so I figured I'd give it a go.  Oatmeal, brown sugar, peanut butter, a little jelly, enough milk to float it all, and five minutes in the microwave at half-power, and damn if that wasn't the yummiest thing to come out of that box in a long time.

Ya know, I think I may have some more of that before I go out dancing after all.  I can get there at nine instead.  Still not a balanced diet, but I'll worry about that another time.

*

There's more news, like the job I got, my constant truck tribulations, the super awesome balboa weekend, etc, but that may have to wait or be skipped.  Watch my twitter if you're really interested in what's going on day to day.

While doing a little light research on performances of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker ballet, I found that a television station that I don't get and have never heard of (Ovation TV) does a "Battle of the Nutcrackers: Dance Off!" every December where they show five different performances of the ballet and their viewers vote on which one will be re-aired on Christmas Eve.  

Nifty idea, but not nifty enough to keep me from getting distracted by a clip from their E! meets HGTV show "Anatomy of a Closet," which apparently counts down ten "style icons" found in many closets.  The selected preview clip was probably one of maybe two that I could possibly identify with, the White Tee Shirt; assuming the other would be blue jeans, of course.  
I especially like their comparison of 1930's gay erotica to modern Abercrombie and Fitch.

That being said, the white tee shirt is definitely one fashion icon that I can embrace.  And do, on a regular basis.

...Oh, more on the Nutcracker thing later.  Maybe.  

A Spectators Guide To Competition Barbecue

Katie's dad is highly entertaining.

He doesn't do anything half way, so when he got into competition barbecue a few years back, nothing was going to stop him from winning everything he could.  He even wrote a book called "The Spectator's Guide to Competition Barbecue" which is now in its third printing (I think) which really illuminates this strange world to the non-Southerner newcomer who is not accustomed to this kind of pastime.  He even sent me down to Texas last June to pick up a shiny new "rig" (which is composed of the "pit" where the meat is cooked and the trailer which it is mounted on) built by the best in the business, Jamie Greer of Jambo Pits.

He'll be cooking on our side of the hill at the Loveland Loves Barbecue competition in July.

Not really sure where I was heading with this post, but I just saw the video on the KCBS website and had to share it.

Oh, he's also a psychiatrist, a psychologist, and a magician.

RIP, TOTUS

The TOTUS (Teleprompter Of The United States) just couldn't bear lying to our Fearless Reader, Mr Obama, anymore, and apparently took a nasty spill the other day.


Too bad, I think TOTUS is the hardest working member of the administration!

Oh, wait, this just in... he's okay!

What does the market think your house is worth?

As off-the-wall as I think Glenn Beck is most of the time, it'd be a lot easier to not like him if he didn't make so damn much sense.

In this video from February he explains (with the help of a gigantic graph!) the historical price of houses in the U.S., adjusted for inflation, of course, and finds that they tend to stick around $100K. You can ignore the parts with Obama, if you'd like; they really don't affect the analysis.



Now, I haven't independently confirmed his figures, but they do seem reasonable, and if the trend line he draws actually continues like that, we're totally boned. I don't personally think that prices will continue to plunge like they have been, but we were long overdue for a major correction in housing prices.

Inanimate Valentines

Happy (late) Valentine's Day!

Thought this video might serve for some inspiration (or retrospect) for you weekend.

See more funny videos and Technology Videos at Today's Big Thing.

(Nice stop action work, though, eh?)

Bad-ass 3-D scanner and printer

Also known as a rapid prototyping machine. This thing is sweet.

NextEngine's 3D Scanner

Everything you need to scan and digitize 3D models at a reasonable price. Made in America.

Idiot Obama Supporter Caught On Tape

This woman was apparently really excited after attending an Obama rally recently, and pretty much sums up in a few seconds what is wrong with an Obama presidency and a good chunk of America in general. She says she will vote for Obama because "I won't have to worry about putting gas in my car and I won't have to worry about paying my mortgage," and thanks to YouTube, it's immortalized for all to see.

This kind of thing just boils my blood. That people in America actually feel this way and believe that this is the way things should be just pisses me off.

Glenn Beck's take: "He's going to pay for your mortgage? Not likely---he won't even pay for his Uncle's mortgage (evicted) or his Aunt (living in a Boston slum) or his half brother (who makes $1 per month and lives in Kenya in a hut)."

Note to Obama supporters: Money isn't free. Someone earned that money, and it is wrong for the government for forcibly take it away from them and give it to those who did not earn it. Choices have consequences and words mean things, so while you're hoping for change, I'll be working my ass off to pay for your dumb ass to sit at home and collect welfare.

Hey, Sven, is that Windows Mobile on your iPhone?

Just happened across this little bit of iPhone hackery while investigating some other, more realistic hackery for those of us unwilling to pay $100 a month to AT&T...

A Norwegian programmer built a bootcamp-like program for the iPhone to let you choose between Windows Mobile and the regular iPhone OS.

Pretty nifty, but I have never really heard much good about Windows Mobile, so I'm not sure how many users will really jump on this one. I am impressed with someone hacking a non-Apple OS into a notoriously closed-system Apple device, though.

From Code Retard.

"One Froggy Evening"

One of my favorite little cartoons of yesteryear, Merrie Melodies' "One Froggy Evening" from 31 December, 1955. (I didn't realize it was that old!)

MERRIE MELODIES-ONE FROGGY EVENING

Thanks, Internet!

I'll see you at the debates, bitches

Since John McCain mentioned Paris Hilton in his "racist" ad talking about Barak Obama's celebrity lifestyle, she is apparently running for office! That's so hot.

It's kinda funny, but her "energy policy" is actually pretty close the "All of the Above" plan that House republicans were pushing before the democrats decided that America's energy security was not as important as their August vacation plans.

Hawaiian Shirt Day

Tomorrow, in honor of Independence Day, a.k.a., the 4th of July, my office is bumping up our normal weekly ritual of Hawaiian shirt / "Fish shirt" / casual Friday, and I just thought that this clip from Office Space was all too appropriate.

lol

Making money at the gym

A little over a month ago I decided it was finally time to "get in shape," so I joined the gym / fitness center / health club that is about a mile down the road from my office. The plan was to go during lunches three days a week, and, so far, that has worked pretty well. I have been consistent for over five weeks now! Although I have not noticed much of a difference in my appearance, I think that I am getting a little bit stronger, and I even started running on the treadmill a little (makes me kinda proud, even three or four years after my knee surgery).

This gym, which is pretty state-of-the-art, but does not have a website, has been open for about a year now, yet is still partially under construction and has not had it's "official" grand opening. What this means for me is that they are still charging their pre-grand-opening prices. Combine that with the corporate discount that I get since about half of my office are members there, whether they actually go or not, and it's a pretty sweet deal. Twenty-five bucks a month plus a $50 "processing fee" (they are careful not to call it an initiation fee) is about the best thing going.

To sweeten the deal even further, my company's health insurance provider offers discounts off our premiums for "healthy lifestyle" choices - one of which is joining a gym! The discount only works out to $4.50 a week, but since there are 4.33 weeks in a month, that saves me $19.50 every month off of my health insurance premium, making the real cost of my monthly gym membership only $5.50, if you don't include the processing fee (and only $1 more if you do).

Combine all of that with the fact that, since I go work out during my lunch hour, I don't have time to go out to eat on those days and am therefore forced (or at least encouraged) to bring my lunch to work, saving me even more money!

So really, by joining and going to the gym, I am somehow making a net profit on the decision.

Sweet.

=============

This video or Arnold in his earlier days is probably not safe for work or children, but I'm still totally entertained by it.

Proof that people can't drive

Finally, here it is: Laboratory proof that people can't drive.

Japanese scientists recently tried to replicate "shock-wave" traffic jams in a laboratory setting and succeeded.

These types of traffic jams are the ones that seem to occur for no apparent reason. You'll be driving along, minding your own business, and all of a sudden there's massive gridlock. And by the time you get up to where you think there should be an accident or a gigantic sinkhole in the road, there is nothing at all.

Watch the video to see it happen before your eyes. This must be what the helicopter traffic people feel like!

Via Autoblog via New Scientist

Is the Government Spying On Paranoid Schizophrenics Enough?

Oh boy...

In The Know: Is The Government Spying On Paranoid Schizophrenics Enough?
I'm not sure if they really need any help from the government. It just seems like a waste of out tax dollars. ;)

Super Happy Fun Land, The Tour!

Oh my freaking God! To think that I have friends who actually went there!
Not kosher. At all.

Everything Blends...

Except Chuck Norris!

lol

Yay for Blendtec! It's too bad those things cost, like, $400 or something outrageous like that. Cuz I'd have one!