tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-104292712011-04-21T16:36:17.424-04:00Mikenoreply@blogger.comBlogger501100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1144723196710048442006-04-10T22:37:00.000-04:002006-04-10T22:39:56.723-04:00

Watching this (link to Google Video) makes me want to get this.

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1143671732059549262006-03-29T17:30:00.000-05:002006-03-29T17:53:01.220-05:00

I went to the 2006 Sprint US Freestyle Championship in Killington, VT.Here is a summary of my trip: +2 free days of skiing +3 free lunches +1 free dinner+An uncountable number of Nature's Valley granola bars -1 Toyota Tercel See Mark's pictures

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1141017982258630912006-02-27T00:24:00.000-05:002006-02-27T00:27:11.120-05:00

This is a great song: Bonnie "Prince" Billy - I See a Darkness.So is this: Animal Collective - Grass.

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1141015363268056592006-02-26T23:36:00.000-05:002006-02-27T00:13:51.760-05:00

Some friends of mine and I were planning on competing in the Great Trans-Borough Race of 'Aught Six, also know as the Idiotarod. It's much like the Iditarod, except the sleds are replaced by shopping carts, and sled dogs are replaced by costumed idiots.I was going to compete as part of "Team Axis of Evil," but our frantic last-minute planning came to naught due to a dearth of stray shopping

Mikenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1141012824050983172006-02-26T22:58:00.000-05:002006-02-26T23:35:49.153-05:00

I went to a jazz club the other day. I attempted to take some pictures, but it was very dark, so most of the photos are plagued with camera shake and/or underexposure. Maybe I'll have to invest in one of these.Click here to see some of the better ones.All the photos can be seen here.

Mikenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1137632311096392002006-01-18T19:57:00.000-05:002006-01-18T20:32:01.436-05:00

I went to Death Valley NP in the first week of January. Here are some photos, mostly of Death Valley, and some of Grant's Tomb in New York City.Death Valley PhotosClick here to see some of the less sucky ones.From the steps of Grant's TombGrant's TombRiverside ChurchRainy day at Isabella LakeStorm clouds over the PanamintsEarly morning at Zabriske PointSharp shadows in the morning sunRed

Mikenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1135535139591630382005-12-25T13:05:00.000-05:002005-12-26T22:57:21.523-05:00

My favorites of those I've seen in the past year: Last Life in the Universe (2003) Before Sunset (2004) Raging Bull (1980) Infernal Affairs (2002) The Twilight Samurai (2002) Sideways (2004) A Brighter Summer Day (1991) Nausicaa, of the Valley of the Wind (1984) Band of Outsiders (1964) Unforgiven (1992) Also, I liked A History of Violence (2005), Batman Begins (2005), The

Mikenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1132368731572238032005-11-18T21:23:00.000-05:002005-11-18T21:55:16.616-05:00

Lifetime, the Sandy Koufax of 90s punk rock, are announcing more tour dates on the West Coast, after playing two reunion shows in Asbury Park and Philadelphia. Lifetime broke up in 1997, at the height of their powers. Their influence can be heard in several punk bands that emerged from the New Jersey punk scene around the time of Lifetime's demise, including Thursday and Saves the Day.There was

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1131489471362616672005-11-08T17:36:00.000-05:002005-11-08T17:38:39.010-05:00

I uploaded some photos I took this past weekend.11-08-05 - New York City Marathon and Prospect Park.

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1131216410636390212005-11-05T13:44:00.000-05:002005-11-07T17:26:52.710-05:00

About a month ago, I purchased a new digital camera, the Canon S2 IS. Just about every weekend, I have walked around New York and taken a bunch of pictures. So far, it has been great, a big step up over my old camera, the Canon A80.I organized some of my pictures and put them on the web. I used someone's Perl script to generate the image galleries. It works pretty well as a temporary hack

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1127678655919709272005-09-25T15:06:00.000-04:002005-09-25T16:04:15.930-04:00

Nope, it's not a new system for romanizing the Chinese language. What this New York Times article refers to is the proliferation (at least in New York) of Chinese food filtered through the palates of a second country: Chinese-Cuban, Chinese-Korean, Chinese-Indian, etc...Somewhat coincidentally, I ate at two of these "hyphenated Chinese" restaurants over the weekend.While cultural intermixing

Mikenoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1124837345843587972005-08-23T18:46:00.000-04:002005-08-23T18:49:05.850-04:00

Durian...durians are 900-calories a piece and so creamy that last year when a man in Thailand ate four in a row, he passed out and died. The Thai Ministry of Public Health then issued a warning against excessive durian consumption."Durian is sublime... I want to inflict it on people"

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1124141669825947902005-08-15T17:33:00.000-04:002005-08-15T17:34:29.830-04:00

I went to Lattice 2005 at Trinity College in Dublin.Here are some pictures from my time there, courtesy of Meifeng.

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1124140861841604472005-08-15T17:18:00.000-04:002005-08-15T17:22:24.106-04:00

3 weeks, 21861 miles, 9 airports.My travels of the past three weeks, plotted using the Great Circle MapperMore details to come(maybe)

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1117764747373048702005-06-02T22:01:00.000-04:002005-06-02T22:14:13.893-04:00

Mt. Rainier National ParkSasquatch 2005Poulsbo, WAOlympic National ParkWashington State FerrySpace NeedlePike Place MarketMuseum of FlightMariners 4 Bluejays 3Seattle Public LibraryHiram M. Chittenden LocksGasworks ParkUniversity of WashingtonBluejays 9 Mariners 7Pictures to come soon (maybe).

Mikenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1116039224430148232005-05-13T22:46:00.000-04:002005-05-13T22:53:44.436-04:00

The account of a Honduran teenager and his attempt to find his mother in the United States. This appeared in the Los Angeles Times three years ago. This story won two Pulitzer Prizes, one for feature writing, and one for feature photography. One of the best pieces I have ever read.Chapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1115865078241858742005-05-11T21:42:00.000-04:002005-05-11T23:20:48.043-04:00

Prove your baseball nerdiness by matching all thrity baseball stadia to their satellite image from Google Maps. There is an obvious way to peek, but it's more fun if you look at all thirty-one photos before checking. Click on the comments to see the correct answers. Hint: Two of the stadia were still under construction at the time of the satellite pictures. Also, one "mystery" ballpark does

Mikenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1115682536487072252005-05-09T19:40:00.000-04:002005-05-09T19:48:56.513-04:00

After reading the recent cover story on Rolling Stone featuring Weezer, it sounded to me like their new album, Make Believe, had all the makings of an epic, once-in-a-lifetime musical catastrophe.Rivers Cuomo + twenty days alone in a closet + communion with his "deep, true self" = bad things.I may be wrong, but early returns seem to point in that direction.

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1115447143975747012005-05-07T02:25:00.000-04:002005-05-07T02:25:43.980-04:00

Where do I join?

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1115446264438307742005-05-07T01:56:00.000-04:002005-05-07T02:12:52.220-04:00

I saw the Decemberists on Wednesday at Irving Plaza. They played mostly songs from their newest album, Picaresque, with one or two songs from their earlier album. The show was good - nothing spectacular, but an enjoyable evening. The band had their usual collection of instruments with them. They also brought along their newest member, Petra Haden, on violin.One thing that sort of annoys me

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1115439497079560312005-05-07T00:01:00.000-04:002005-05-07T02:21:25.573-04:00

With the baseball season almost 20% over, the Mets find themselves at 16-14, in fourth place in the National League East. Despite this unimpressive record, the Mets show more promise this year than they have in a long time. A few good things:Pedro Martinez has dominated. In 6 starts, he is 3-1 with a 2.51 ERA. Even more impressive, he leads the league with 52 strikeouts in 43 innings, allowing

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1115438371323019302005-05-06T23:45:00.000-04:002005-05-07T00:01:09.433-04:00

Yo La Tengo - Prisoners of LoveStars - Set Yourself on FireMt. Eerie - Live in CopenhagenThe two best albums that I have heard since the Arcade Fire's Funeral are The Glow, Pt. 2 and It Was Hot, We Stayed in the Water, both by the Microphones. Many of my favorite bands make use of feedback and distortion (Yo La Tengo, Pixies, Modest Mouse), but the Microphones take this to a whole other

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1112153884859178772005-03-29T22:35:00.000-05:002005-03-29T22:38:04.860-05:00

David Brooks, on rooting for the home team:...teams not only play; they come to represent creeds, a way of living in the world. The Red Sox ideal is: nobility through suffering. The Cubs ideal is: It is better to be loved than feared. The Yankee ideal is: All cower before the greatness that is Rome.Read the full piece hereAlso, I should read something other than the New York Times.

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1112153556423806202005-03-29T22:13:00.000-05:002005-03-29T22:32:36.426-05:00

A couple of interesting articles in the Technology section of the New York Times.First, Brazil is leading the way in the long and arduous de-Microsoftization of personal computers and software."For this program to be viable, it has to be with free software," said Sérgio Amadeu, president of Brazil's National Institute of Information Technology, the agency that oversees the government's technology

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1112151931315875582005-03-29T22:03:00.000-05:002005-03-29T22:11:23.546-05:00

Wow! That was fast. It seems like the Arcade Fire is everyone's favorite band. Here, they pose for the cover of Time magazine's Canadian edition.Link to the article

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1112036378937214242005-03-28T13:57:00.000-05:002005-03-28T14:41:23.236-05:00

Article in the New York TimesEven before he had established himself as a delineator of New York places, the artist had already pinpointed a New York state of mind. That state is not so much "loneliness," as the maudlin cliché about him would have it, but a tougher and more unsparing isolation that touches on the traps of modern urban existence, one in which individuals must become inured to

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1111542094666235642005-03-22T20:17:00.000-05:002005-03-22T20:43:19.986-05:00

As I mentioned earlier, I went to Harvard this weekend to attend QFT and QCD. It featured the highest concentration of physics talent that I have ever seen, and will ever likely see in my lifetime.The conference also reminded me of the tightly-knit nature of the theoretical physics community. A friend of mine (who attended the conference) is a student of Erick Weinberg's (a speaker at the

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1111082501895316562005-03-17T12:41:00.000-05:002005-03-17T13:01:41.900-05:00

Although I'm not a huge college basketball fan, the NCAA tournament is one of the best sporting events around. There's just something about a huge knockout tournament...There are approximately 8 million trillion distinct brackets (twice that if you include the "play-in" game), so even the most likely outcome has a less than miniscule probability of occurence. Maybe that's what makes the

Mikenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1110576733790294932005-03-11T16:02:00.000-05:002005-03-11T16:32:59.693-05:00

I'm going to see the Decemberists, at Irving Plaza on May 4.The Decemberists are coming out with their new album, Picaresque on March 22.I also have tickets to see Nellie McKay on March 30, again at Irving Plaza.I first saw her about two years ago, when a friend of mine took me to see her at Joe's Pub. Apparently, there were some record industry scouts at the show, as she was signed to a record

Mikenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1110070874996427012005-03-05T20:00:00.000-05:002005-03-05T20:01:14.996-05:00

Washington isn't so far after all. I'm going to Sasquatch! 2005. Get your tickets here

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1110070689921360982005-03-05T19:42:00.000-05:002005-03-05T20:02:07.953-05:00

Their Circular Life - 24 hours in the life of five Italian locationsImprov Everywhere - Shenanigans and mischief-making in New YorkGoogle Maps - Google's new map service is fast, has beautifully rendered maps, and smoothly scrolls with the arrow keys

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1110067245104779312005-03-05T18:24:00.000-05:002005-03-05T19:37:29.106-05:00

Despite the layer of snow on the ground and the bitter cold here in New York, the long, grueling baseball-less winter has came to an end on Wednesday when ESPN broadcast the first Spring Training game of the year, the New York Mets vs. the Washington NationalsI skipped out of school for about an hour and a half on Wednesday to catch about half the game at a local bar. This was before I

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1110065017703690902005-03-05T18:13:00.000-05:002005-03-05T18:23:37.706-05:00

On March 18-19, the Harvard Physics department is going to host an interesting set of lectures under the title QFT & QCD: Past, Present, and Future. The list of scheduled speakers is a veritable who's-who of notable particle physicists of the past three decades: Murray Gell-Mann, Sheldon Glashow, David Gross, Gerard t'Hooft, Erick Weinberg, Steven Weinberg, Frank Wilczek, and Ed Witten.

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1109399216035926772005-02-26T01:26:00.000-05:002005-02-26T01:33:55.353-05:00

Europe's most prestigious restaurant guide, the Michelin Red Guide, is bringing a bit of culture across the Atlantic to New York City.The Tire Man Eats New York (New York Times)Guide to all 49 three star restaurants in Europe

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1109196845030426882005-02-23T17:12:00.000-05:002005-02-23T17:43:20.103-05:00

A couple of days ago, the New York Times had an interesting article about the increasing African immigration into the United States, especially in New York City. Link (Registration Required)A few things about this article struck me:In New York City, about 1 in 3 blacks are foreign born.I knew that New York had a large African population, but I had never realized that there were quite so many as

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1109188812290458562005-02-23T14:25:00.000-05:002005-02-23T15:13:57.173-05:00

John Sickel's weblog, Minor League Ball lists the top 20 Mets prospects today.Yusmeiro Petit tops the list, grading out at a B+. Second on the list is Philip Humber, a RHP out of Rice whom the Mets drafted with their top pick last year.The fact that Humber just signed with the Mets in January and is already the Mets #2 prospect sort of reflects the sorry state of the Mets farm system as compared

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1108938945396628752005-02-20T17:24:00.000-05:002005-02-20T17:35:45.396-05:00

The Gates The Somerville Gates The Crackers

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1108616677260373172005-02-16T23:15:00.000-05:002005-02-17T00:24:22.166-05:00

The Hardball Times has a series of articles by Michael Humphries on his new system for measuring the defensive value of baseball players in a quantitative way. It's called Defensive Regression Analysis (DRA)In his three-part series, Humphries provides a detailed outline of his methodology and reasoning, as well as a reasonably rigorous test of his system. On initial perusal, it looks like DRA

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1108518623658510342005-02-15T19:54:00.000-05:002005-02-15T20:55:52.816-05:00

This is a little bit dated, but I will post it anyway. At the beginning of 2005, the Edge posed the question, "What do you Believe but can't Prove?" to a group of 120 scientists and other thinkers. Many of the responses elicited by this question are fairly interesting.If such a question were posed to me, my response would probably be similar to Clifford Pickover's, that is "Any process that can

Mikenoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1108485381154624732005-02-15T11:07:00.000-05:002005-02-15T11:36:21.156-05:00

Pitchfork has a long interview with the Arcade Fire. Win Butler talks a little bit about everything - dealing with the hype, his musical influences, classic Motown, plans for the future.The most interesting parts of the interview are Win's explanation of how Arcade Fire landed on Merge Records and also his reaction to the fanatical devotion of some fans in acquiring rare Arcade Fire-related

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1108172192125632872005-02-11T20:24:00.000-05:002005-02-15T12:13:39.390-05:00

The Hardball Times have an http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/the-best-and-worst-teams-of-the-trade/">article analyzing which teams have been the best and worst at making trades in the expansion era.It's probably not much of a surprise that the New York Mets come in dead last in this analysis - and it's not even close. Over the past 43 years, the talent the Mets have traded away has gone

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1107806797366152462005-02-07T14:47:00.000-05:002005-02-07T19:47:02.376-05:00

List making is fun and all, but this is getting out of hand. After publishing their list of Best Singles for the first half of the new millenium, Pitchfork has followed up with their list of Best Albums of 2000-2004. The winner of the crown is Radiohead's Kid A. One interesting thing to note is the reshuffling that has occurred since Pitchfork's Best Albums of 2004. For example, the top album

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1107729060367459752005-02-06T17:22:00.000-05:002005-02-06T17:32:57.846-05:00

I started a record collection yesterday. After dropping in at about a half dozen record stores in lower Manhattan, this is what I came out with: Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues Modest Mouse - Everywhere and his Nasty Parlour Tricks McClusky - The Difference Between You and Me is that I'm not on Fire Ramones - Ramones Mania Neutral Milk Hotel - On Avery Island Texas is the Reason - s/t 7"

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1107724528462531262005-02-06T16:13:00.000-05:002005-02-06T16:15:28.463-05:00

The Sasquatch! Music Festival happens on May 29, 2005. Their line-up this year is pretty cool, including the Pixies, Modest Mouse, Wilco, and the Arcade Fire, and others. Too bad it's in Washington. Link

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1107724372547865332005-02-06T16:10:00.000-05:002005-02-06T16:12:52.546-05:00

Montreal sounds like a fun place to be.

Mikenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1107417208768657912005-02-03T01:45:00.000-05:002005-02-03T03:02:04.856-05:00

I just got back from the Arcade Fire show at Irving Plaza. Needless to say, the show was amazing. On stage, they just operate on a whole different level than their peers. The night started out with Final Fantasy, which is really just Candian Owen Pallett and his violin. Owen also plays for the Hidden Cameras, another Canadian band that opened up for the Arcade Fire the last time they came

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1107063077019686872005-01-30T01:27:00.000-05:002005-01-30T00:44:03.626-05:00

While they are in New York, the Arcade Fire will make a pit stop to perform on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on February 1. They play Webster Hall on Feb. 1 and Irving Plaza on Feb. 2. Both shows sold out the day tickets went on sale, but lucky me managed to score tickets to the Irving Plaza show. Thanks to arcadefire.net for the info.

Mikenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1107062456260472802005-01-29T23:31:00.000-05:002005-01-30T00:21:47.640-05:00

I just finished reading Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. I actually discovered part of the book on the internet about six months ago. Someone had painstakingly translated the original Japanese into English and posted it on the internet. Unfortunately he (or she) never finished the job and, as a result I was only able to read the first 80 pages or so, having to wait anxiously for the US

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1106861668585464222005-01-27T16:20:00.000-05:002005-01-27T16:35:22.346-05:00

Amazon's search engine, A9 has introduced an amazing new feature with their online yellow pages. In ten major metropolitan areas, they have augmented their search results with pictures of the actual restaurant, store, or place of busines that you are searching for. You can even take a "virtual" stroll up and down the block, in case the first picture that pops up isn't the exact location.

Mikenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10429271.post-1106804617673469392005-01-27T01:28:00.000-05:002005-01-30T00:40:40.750-05:00

Against my better judgement, I have decided to start a blog. I have mixed feelings about whether blogging is a useful way to spend my spare time. However, I've decided that I shouldn't be such a curmudgeon and to change with the times. If nothing else, it'll be a useful exercise in writing and perhaps futility as well. Naturally, honest, constructive criticism is welcome. I was going to name my

Mikenoreply@blogger.com2