Archive - Dec 2007

After years of BMG, working in a store that sold used CDs cheaply, and participating in music trading sites, I have not paid full price for a CD in a long time. Hell, it is quite rare that I actually listen to physical CDs! I tend to burn mp3 discs for my car player because I can put 200 songs on it and shuffle through them.

But I read about the latest Steve Earle album in Mother Jones too late to request it for Christmas. Steve Earle is one of those artists (like Franti) that I like to support with a direct purchase (rather than from a used store) to ensure they benefit. So I checked out his site and considered ordering the album directly from him.

But I want to listen to it NOW ... and I actually am listening to it as I write this. This morning I also read that Warner Music Group has pulled its head out of its ass regarding online music sales. As so many other music companies did, they only sold music online in a crippled format via iTunes. iTunes is great as long as you never want to listen to the music on a difference device than those authorized by Apple. It is not great if you want freedom to listen to the song is x years when iTunes is old news.

The solution is here. I bought the entire album off Amazon.com in a high quality (much higher quality than iTunes offers) MP3 format. This means I can play it on any device I CHOOSE. I don't have to ask Apple to authorize the device and I don't to worry that in the future no players will know how play this locked file.

Additionally, the album as an affordable 9 bucks. Well worth it for the latest Steve Earle.

Do not support Apple's iTunes. Do not buy music there. They abused their monopoly online music sales position to require all songs to come locked so only Apple's devices could play them. Independent musicians were forced to shackle their songs to Apple's devices. Amazon.com offers an alternative - you can control what devices will play your music.

If you want to use iTunes to manage your music, the Amazon downloader automatically adds them to it. But if you want to take your music to a different application, you can do that also. You should have the choice, not Apple.

Sometimes you read something that just changes the way you think about it. I've read article after article on abstinence-only education and been horrified time and time again by those promoting this diseducation campaign.

daddYman just sent me this comic strip which perfectly illustrates its dangers.

Let's be clear: those advocating abstinence-only education are ruining lives. Having an unplanned child (or having an abortion) too early in life may not always turn out poorly but certainly is an eventuality we should do our best to minimize. Human sexual organs still mature at the same rate as was appropriate when humans had an average lifespan of 30 years.

We live longer now and expect people to wait an extra decade (or two!) before starting a family. If you believe your children should wait until marriage to have sex - that is great. But if you do not educate them and prepare them, studies show that they are more likely to engage in unsafe sex practices (and become pregnant or contract a disease).

Abstinence only education is a terrible idea. I have to wonder about anyone who promotes it. I really wonder how many proud fathers want their daughters to submit to a good Christian like Ted Haggard on their wedding night, wondering if it is normal for their husband to require them to dress up like a male prostitute as foreplay. Of course, she won't have any prior experience with which to compare her husband's fetishes and will be forced to consider them normal.

Of course, people should be free to do what they want in their bedrooms, but I am horrified by those religiously motivated folks who demand women submit to men and deny them any opportunity educate themselves about their bodies.

6 months after walking to the top of Kilimanjaro, I am posting photos from the journey. Following are a few of my favorites.

I have tried to provide all the key details. I'm still wrestling with whether I should review my journal and post a better narrative but I don't think I want to yet.

Three of us in front of Kili

Dinner on the 3rd day. It was damn cold and windy.

I love the way the path in the distance winds back up the ridge. It was a lonnnngggg way off.

Michelle and I knew that we did not want to spend the holidays separated this year, so she spent Thanksgiving with me last month and we spent most of our Christmas break with her parents up in Longville. You can find her account of the weekend here.

We started on Saturday with a holiday party in the northern suburbs with some of her extended family. Before going there, she made spiced apple cider (first time recipe) and it was insanely good. I think I drank most of it at the party. The party was fun - good food and fun people to talk to.

We waited for the slush to turn to ice before leaving the party and starting the two-wheel-drive journey to Longville. The early going was rough - driving out a 65 mph road (169) at speeds ranging from 25-60 ... but mostly closer to 25 for the first 50 miles. Woof.

There were no cars by the side of the road, but that is because the slush had only recently turned to pure, frictionless ice. We fish-tailed back and forth a number of times as I barely moved the steering wheel - no over-steering here! But then we hit Zimmerman and hardly saw any more ice for the next 2.5 hours!

As we got into the less traveled roads, they tended to be dry, which was nice. After a brief stop to wash the windshield and headlights, we finished the trip and got in before 11:00pm.

Sunday was a lot of fun - starting with breakfast. Mary always makes great breakfasts for us, so we ate and read for a bit. I always try to catch up on reading up there because it is so nice and peaceful. Michelle and I trudged through some deep snow (at times up to my knee) with Pokey, a bagel (Bassett-Beagle), following. We hiked out to the lake while Jim shoveled off a small pond by their house.

The rest of the day consisted of some penny poker (no comment on how Michelle did), a great dinner, and Muppet Christmas Carol. I should mention that we also watched the Cary Grant movie "Bringing Up Baby." I love Cary Grant's movies (mostly) and Therneau had recommended it previously, so I was excited. What a waste. It was possibly the worst CG movie I have ever seen. I feel terrible for subjecting others to it.

Monday morning started off clear and sunny, so Michelle and Mary went ice skating after breakfast. After another big dinner, we celebrated Christmas Eve. Michelle, as she has long done per family tradition, read the poem "The Night Before Christmas." We then exchanged presents (which was especially exciting for Michelle who appeared to have been thinking about nothing else for the previous 360 days or so).

Michelle and I both later agreed that our parents definitely spoil us with great gifts. Before too long, we put two of our gifts to use (super comfortable pillows with memory-foam) and dreamt our way to Christmas. After Christmas stockings and waffles, we packed up the car (and I mean it was packed) and headed out.

The 1-2 inches of snow predicted for the Twin Cities turned into 4-5 with drifts of 12 inches in places in the city. Once again, roads were messy and clogged only as we approached the metro area. Nevertheless, we made it (with frequent comments about the insane stupidity of those who tailgate snow plows). The driveway was totally clogged, so I shoveled while Michelle unpacked.

As the sun set, we headed out to Farmington for the Mitchell Christmas dinner. Kimmi was supportive and understanding at our slow pace due to the snow but did encourage us to make haste. Just after 5, I slid into the driveway sideways - my favorite approach in slick conditions.

We also exchanged gifts (along with insults, as is our tradition) but the best gift was clearly one I gave my mom. A die-hard Favre hater, I photoshopped her face onto a photo of his and put a photo of her gift (some Yoga thingamajig) in his hands. Classic.

For the third night in a row, we had a large, delicious dinner. Turkey that night, followin beef and ham the previous two. I love variety! After dinner, we concluded the gift giving and again hit the road.

I have to echo Michelle's sentiments - this was a great Christmas. I wish we had more time to spend with both families - but what we had was certainly fun.

I'm doing some research on mapping programs and I found an answer to the ages old question of where would I go if dug straight down in my backyard to the other end of the earth. This map will show you where you would end up. I would hit Indian ocean....

I had hoped to put up a long post before Michelle and I head up to her parents' place for Christmas but I ran out of time (or prioritized it poorly, depending on your perspective). Michelle and I will be in Longville until Christmas day, when we will return to the Twin Cities, grab dinner with my family, and then head back to the apartment so we can get back to work the next day.

Times like this make me start to miss school ... I could use a longer holiday break.

Michelle and I really looking forward to heading up north to see her family (especially Pokey according to her) and being able to relax for a few days. They do not have broadband, so I'll continue not posting regularly. No surprises there. I do hope to return energized for regularly updating the blog, but we'll see what happens.

Merry Christmas to everyone - especially Russ and Lisa who are finally celebrating again on American soil (breathing the sweet air of freedom) but more importantly, with family.

I'm trying to get through old photos. Here are some from a Halloween party prep in 2006...

And sometimes, I just really miss being able to play soccer...

As I have mentioned before, the Wii is an incredible gaming device. If they put Grand Theft Auto 3 on it, I doubt I would ever want to play anything else (despite the fact I don't have time to even play that now).

The Wii has always been hard to get - and now it is practically impossible with the Christmas season. Buyers are stuck buying package deals from stores looking to pump up sales of peripherals. Nintendo's high demand for the Wii means they are pulling the advertising campaign! A fairly stunning situation...

Nintendo, the gaming giant, has been forced to pull ads for its Wii console in the run up to Christmas as demand is already too high.

The campaign for Wii, created by Karmarama, will be replaced by ads for its handheld console, Nintendo DS.

Another busy week, zooming by. It is a good week though - as I got lots of press and attention for my work and some for photography!

Back in September, I published a case study on a fiber to the home network and that was republished this month in the Broadband Properties magazine. Got some good feedback on that.

This morning, the St. Paul daily newspaper Pioneer Press published an op-ed by me that encourages public investment in fiber optic networks. No link yet, I'll put that up when it is online. Until then, check it out on the newsstand. Updated: Read my op-ed here.

Tomorrow, the Mac Weekly will be publishing a short piece on me and how I came to be Mac's sports photographer. I'll also link to that when it comes out. Update: Read about Mac's unofficial official sports photographer.

Finally, a podcast called Buzz Out Loud read an e-mail I sent them, correcting them on some of the differences between cable modem speeds and fiber-optic networks. The letter is toward the end of the Dec 4 show. I am identified as Christopher.

All in all, not a bad week.