Well besides all the wonderful things I always write about (i.e. (alphabetically) Avery, baseball starting "soon," Ian, Mary, Sam, SF, teaching...)
there is this:
and this:
Banana Sunday - A fun comic we picked up at WonderCon. A girl and her 3 talking monkeys starting at a new school. Sam and I both laughed at Go-Go. "Today, this monkey will not be farting."
Blogger seems to be having picture uploading issues ... not sure if it is interference from this NBC embed or what? nbc video share needs some SERIOUS help; it sucks. But the lack of picture posting makes this post lose something ...
Friday, February 29, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
A weekend to explore passions: old and new
Friday, Sam and I went exploring (including going to WonderCon, where I wandered around my favorite Happy Mutant culture.)
Saturday, Mary, Sam, his friend Leo, cousin Ariel and I went to Sugarbowl in Tahoe for some skiing. It was my first time skiing ... I may have a new favorite participatory sport. Seriously, I found skiing really fun (and I have A LOT to still learn). I now understand why so many people go ape over it.
Our Friday Adventure (pictures with partial stories)
After dropping off Mary for work, Sam and I played in Yerba Buena and bowled before hitting the WonderCon. We made a brief (unplanned) stop at the MLK memorial which is quite remarkable. WonderCon was good fun. We started off wandering the floor; last year I was with Anthony and we focused on finding great deals. This year, I didn't buy much. We went to a History of Magna in the U.S. talk by Jason Thompson, which was just that ... not much more. I much preferred his Wired piece, as mentioned earlier on this blog. We watched a eye-opening (no pun intended) short documentary What I See When I Close My Eyes on street children in Cambodia and the Friends International's program with them. Then we cruised the floor some more. Sam got a great book with a sketch and a replica of Naruto's Kunai knife. I picked up all sorts of random things which I may discuss later.
Our Saturday Adventure (pictures with partial stories)
Saturday rocked! We got up at 3:30AM to get ready and catch the ski bus from Oakland at 5AM to Sugarbowl in Oakland. We had already signed up the boys for a Summit Camp in snowboarding. Mary and I were going to take skiing lessons and Ariel was going to hang with friends, but ended up just snowboarding like crazy.
Skiing was great ... so much fun. I think this is something I am going to keep doing as long as our resources and bodies allow us. Sam and Leo had tons of fun on the snowboards and did a great job according to their instructor.
Now time for a lazy Sunday of class prep, laundry, groceries, playing, etc.
Saturday, Mary, Sam, his friend Leo, cousin Ariel and I went to Sugarbowl in Tahoe for some skiing. It was my first time skiing ... I may have a new favorite participatory sport. Seriously, I found skiing really fun (and I have A LOT to still learn). I now understand why so many people go ape over it.
Our Friday Adventure (pictures with partial stories)
After dropping off Mary for work, Sam and I played in Yerba Buena and bowled before hitting the WonderCon. We made a brief (unplanned) stop at the MLK memorial which is quite remarkable. WonderCon was good fun. We started off wandering the floor; last year I was with Anthony and we focused on finding great deals. This year, I didn't buy much. We went to a History of Magna in the U.S. talk by Jason Thompson, which was just that ... not much more. I much preferred his Wired piece, as mentioned earlier on this blog. We watched a eye-opening (no pun intended) short documentary What I See When I Close My Eyes on street children in Cambodia and the Friends International's program with them. Then we cruised the floor some more. Sam got a great book with a sketch and a replica of Naruto's Kunai knife. I picked up all sorts of random things which I may discuss later.
Our Saturday Adventure (pictures with partial stories)
Saturday rocked! We got up at 3:30AM to get ready and catch the ski bus from Oakland at 5AM to Sugarbowl in Oakland. We had already signed up the boys for a Summit Camp in snowboarding. Mary and I were going to take skiing lessons and Ariel was going to hang with friends, but ended up just snowboarding like crazy.
Skiing was great ... so much fun. I think this is something I am going to keep doing as long as our resources and bodies allow us. Sam and Leo had tons of fun on the snowboards and did a great job according to their instructor.
Now time for a lazy Sunday of class prep, laundry, groceries, playing, etc.
Friday, February 15, 2008
The kite
Today, I walked past this building by work that caught my attention. I looked inside and the place was gutted and appeared to be in a state of renovation ... but there was a rainbow kite inside.
"OK, I think we are ready to install the kite."
Interesting.
There were other kites inside.
"OK, I think we are ready to install the kite."
Interesting.
There were other kites inside.
"It's one thing to get people excited; I want to empower you."
This blog post title is a recent Hillary "slam" against Obama. However, this is exactly what I don't like about today's politics ... and I think many young people agree.
In the business world, the word "empower" is used often ... and we make fun of it. From dictionary.com: (1) to give power or authority to; authorize, esp. by legal or official means; (2) to enable or permit.
Empowering implies that you have the authority to give power. It has a "let them eat cake" feel, in my opinion
In my world of brands, we see this when companies think they can empower their consumers (or even employees) to use their brand. But, you see, the thing is ... consumers already have that power, that's what a brand is ... voters/citizens already have that power, that is what democracy is. If you can excite them to use that power, you've done something ... can you motivate people to use their power?
Mary recently brought out the Hope Heart we created in the Lily Project... and it reminded me of our whole credo. We too had this idea of motivating most people to do "their part." Yes .. it is one thing to get people excited ... one very important thing that few people can do.
In the business world, the word "empower" is used often ... and we make fun of it. From dictionary.com: (1) to give power or authority to; authorize, esp. by legal or official means; (2) to enable or permit.
Empowering implies that you have the authority to give power. It has a "let them eat cake" feel, in my opinion
In my world of brands, we see this when companies think they can empower their consumers (or even employees) to use their brand. But, you see, the thing is ... consumers already have that power, that's what a brand is ... voters/citizens already have that power, that is what democracy is. If you can excite them to use that power, you've done something ... can you motivate people to use their power?
Mary recently brought out the Hope Heart we created in the Lily Project... and it reminded me of our whole credo. We too had this idea of motivating most people to do "their part." Yes .. it is one thing to get people excited ... one very important thing that few people can do.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
We Pillow Faught!
One Down. Three to go.
Mary and Sam met me for a grand Pillow Fight. There was a ton of energy as the pillow whapping continued even as we boarded our ferry at 7:20pm.
What a great tradition.
Mary and Sam met me for a grand Pillow Fight. There was a ton of energy as the pillow whapping continued even as we boarded our ferry at 7:20pm.
What a great tradition.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
a 14-miler...
On Mary's blog she says "Cam is taking us on a 10 mile hike" and then links to my post about the hike. My post that says, "I went about 16 miles. This hike kicked my butt." [I now know I probably went at least 17 miles that day]. She was quite surprised when we got going to discover the actual length.
Anyway, we went on a serious hike yesterday. While we did not make it out to Alamere Falls (which was good because we needed the flashlight by the end), we did make the 14-miles, 5 hours of "moving time" 2325 feet in elevation change (thanks for the GPS Dad and Liz) from 5 Brooks to Wildcat Camp at Point Reyes.
This was a serious hike ... 6 miles more and even more elevation change than our fabulous Yosemite hike: part 1 and part 2. Sam did amazing during it! He was jumping and running at the end...
One of the great things about a looooong Saturday hike: a guilt-free biiiig Sunday breakfast! Check out the photos in this set.
Anyway, we went on a serious hike yesterday. While we did not make it out to Alamere Falls (which was good because we needed the flashlight by the end), we did make the 14-miles, 5 hours of "moving time" 2325 feet in elevation change (thanks for the GPS Dad and Liz) from 5 Brooks to Wildcat Camp at Point Reyes.
This was a serious hike ... 6 miles more and even more elevation change than our fabulous Yosemite hike: part 1 and part 2. Sam did amazing during it! He was jumping and running at the end...
One of the great things about a looooong Saturday hike: a guilt-free biiiig Sunday breakfast! Check out the photos in this set.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
5 reasons I really, REALLY want to go to Bonaroo 2008
1. Pearl Jam - Ten is "the best" and "my favorite" album of all time.
2. Iron & Wine - Best single-influence Pandora station I've listened to ... and there is a reason.
3. Swell Season - Once was the best movie I saw last year.
4. Willie Nelson - seriously, how many more opportunities will I have to hear "Whiskey River" live?
5. I teach anthropology and culture (don't I?)
Honorable mentions: Jack Johnson, Kanye West, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss featuring T Bone Burnett, Death Cab for Cutie ... all the bands I don't know yet.
Anyone up for a roadtrip?
2. Iron & Wine - Best single-influence Pandora station I've listened to ... and there is a reason.
3. Swell Season - Once was the best movie I saw last year.
4. Willie Nelson - seriously, how many more opportunities will I have to hear "Whiskey River" live?
5. I teach anthropology and culture (don't I?)
Honorable mentions: Jack Johnson, Kanye West, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss featuring T Bone Burnett, Death Cab for Cutie ... all the bands I don't know yet.
Anyone up for a roadtrip?
Friday, February 8, 2008
Roof glorious Roof
We recently got up on the roof the other day. I love being on a roof. It is such a glorious, partially-forbidden place. My four favorite rooftops of all-time:
4) Pablo's in Austin - Mainly for that time we thought it would be a good place to watch the tornadoes. It was.
3) Wrigley Neighbors - I watched only one game from a rooftop, but what a unique experience.
2) Tucker's - In sixth grade, we used to jump off the tin shed/garage roof onto the trampoline. I still have a scar from a gash it gave me once. After that, "just" jumping on a trampoline lost its fun.
1) The house on Canterbury - my roof on the 2-story home we had while I was in elementary school. I was such the explorer/experiencer at that age; the roof was another planet. And, there was ALWAYS a frisbee up there.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Speaking of documenting
Did anyone see the first season of This American Life on TV?
What did you think?
This American Life, the podcast gave me another epiphany yesterday. They were talking to a man who had devoted his life to studying making a time travel machine.
Well, like many I was fascinated with this as a child. Thanks to H.G Wells and well ... a certain Delorean. However, eventually I "realized" that if someone could travel through time, why had they not come back to tell us about it ... or stop some of the egregious moments of human history? I mean sure there are many reasons why they wouldn't do this ... but it only takes once for someone to decide, "Who cares about that?"
Anyway, the show mentioned the idea that time travel might be possible with traversing only as far back as the time of discovery. BAM! Argument crumbled. Once we discover time travel, we will be able to travel around in time ... up to that point of past. Anyone who got further than my "Physics 2 for Science majors" will probably laugh at my above understanding. But please don't crush my dream: that time travel may exist.
I have no desire to study time travel, nor any serious hope of doing it ... or deep desire either. But for the sake of story, I like that it is a possibility.
Discoveries are for creating more questions, not answers.
Muddy Flickr Clock.
What did you think?
This American Life, the podcast gave me another epiphany yesterday. They were talking to a man who had devoted his life to studying making a time travel machine.
Well, like many I was fascinated with this as a child. Thanks to H.G Wells and well ... a certain Delorean. However, eventually I "realized" that if someone could travel through time, why had they not come back to tell us about it ... or stop some of the egregious moments of human history? I mean sure there are many reasons why they wouldn't do this ... but it only takes once for someone to decide, "Who cares about that?"Anyway, the show mentioned the idea that time travel might be possible with traversing only as far back as the time of discovery. BAM! Argument crumbled. Once we discover time travel, we will be able to travel around in time ... up to that point of past. Anyone who got further than my "Physics 2 for Science majors" will probably laugh at my above understanding. But please don't crush my dream: that time travel may exist.
I have no desire to study time travel, nor any serious hope of doing it ... or deep desire either. But for the sake of story, I like that it is a possibility.
Discoveries are for creating more questions, not answers.
Muddy Flickr Clock.
"It's a human drama thing."
Recognize that quote? One of my absolute favorite film lines of all time from the indispensable Hands on a Hard Body.
I had the pleasure of seeing this movie at Dobie Theater in Austin during grad school. This wasn't so difficult considering, "The Dobie also boasts a record-breaking, one year plus run of the local documentary favorite, Hands on a Hard Body." To be honest this documentary taught me more about Account Planning and my future career/passion than anything else I did in Austin. This isn't too surprising after all:
(a) Dobie is simply a place of magic. It would be where I saw Blair Witch Project during the college/art house only run, pre-wide release. Therefore, I learned a lot about seed marketing and the future of handling a brand at Dobie.
(b) I also learned more about planning serving food in the luxury boxes of Wrigley Field than I ever did at an agency. (but that is a story for another time.)
Anyway, Hands on a Hard Body showed me how (1) dedicated observation, (2) asking the right questions and (3) proper editing can teach you as much about motivations as some of the most introspective poetry out there (I guess Whitman's Song of Myself has to be given that title.) You start off laughing at the characters in Hands, and then by the end you have developed a relationship that is near friendship. You have a deep understanding of why they are doing something that seemed so trivial, but has become so significant.
The documentaries of competition are outstanding How To videos for planners. Just last night, I added another to my list: King of Kongs: A Fistful of Quarters, about getting the high score on Arcade Donkey Kong. (LOVED it.) It is natural to look at these views into the world of competitive fringe cultures and decide they can not be relevant to "our" world, the "real" world.
I love words, but I am not as dedicated to them as the Spellbound families are, as exceptional as the Word Play enthusiasts are, or as freakishly obsessed with them as the Word Wars people are. (Spelling Bee, Crossword Puzzle and Scrabble people respectively.)
These movies all look at extreme people in extreme conditions (significant competition); how can they be relevant to everyday human motivation?
It's easy. When we look to describe something, we don't use examples that "kind of" exemplify them - we look for the extreme. When we are creating a simile in our minds, we search our database of knowledge to find the most extreme example. "Crooked as Lombard Street" "The Everest of achievements" "Skinny as a rail" Extremes make it easier for the receiver to understand what property is being conveyed.
It is also much more memorable. The ancient Greek Myths are a testament to our ability to find the extreme story remarkable. These gods and stories that embodied the essence of a property, trait, natural occurrence, etc. The Romans said, "Yep .. that works ... let's do that." As children, we found these stories to be Instantly Understandable (man, I need to do something with that blog, eh?) and intriguing.
I am sure this is explained much better by the thousands and thousands of people who understand psychology, anthropology, folklore, and storytelling better than me. I read something recently (and I'm sorry I don't remember where) about being the bile of information. I often feel that way. I am simply a part of the digesting of information.
OK, this is longer than I like to write on this blog, but I am trying to figure out how to get documentary in my class. Sorry. Next (whenever that is) we'll cover the great boarding documentaries: Step into the Liquid (2003), Riding Giants (2004), Dogtown and Z-Boys (2001) and First Descent (2005).
Donkey Kong Flickr. Flickr God.
I had the pleasure of seeing this movie at Dobie Theater in Austin during grad school. This wasn't so difficult considering, "The Dobie also boasts a record-breaking, one year plus run of the local documentary favorite, Hands on a Hard Body." To be honest this documentary taught me more about Account Planning and my future career/passion than anything else I did in Austin. This isn't too surprising after all:
(a) Dobie is simply a place of magic. It would be where I saw Blair Witch Project during the college/art house only run, pre-wide release. Therefore, I learned a lot about seed marketing and the future of handling a brand at Dobie.
(b) I also learned more about planning serving food in the luxury boxes of Wrigley Field than I ever did at an agency. (but that is a story for another time.)
Anyway, Hands on a Hard Body showed me how (1) dedicated observation, (2) asking the right questions and (3) proper editing can teach you as much about motivations as some of the most introspective poetry out there (I guess Whitman's Song of Myself has to be given that title.) You start off laughing at the characters in Hands, and then by the end you have developed a relationship that is near friendship. You have a deep understanding of why they are doing something that seemed so trivial, but has become so significant.
The documentaries of competition are outstanding How To videos for planners. Just last night, I added another to my list: King of Kongs: A Fistful of Quarters, about getting the high score on Arcade Donkey Kong. (LOVED it.) It is natural to look at these views into the world of competitive fringe cultures and decide they can not be relevant to "our" world, the "real" world.I love words, but I am not as dedicated to them as the Spellbound families are, as exceptional as the Word Play enthusiasts are, or as freakishly obsessed with them as the Word Wars people are. (Spelling Bee, Crossword Puzzle and Scrabble people respectively.)
These movies all look at extreme people in extreme conditions (significant competition); how can they be relevant to everyday human motivation?
It's easy. When we look to describe something, we don't use examples that "kind of" exemplify them - we look for the extreme. When we are creating a simile in our minds, we search our database of knowledge to find the most extreme example. "Crooked as Lombard Street" "The Everest of achievements" "Skinny as a rail" Extremes make it easier for the receiver to understand what property is being conveyed.
It is also much more memorable. The ancient Greek Myths are a testament to our ability to find the extreme story remarkable. These gods and stories that embodied the essence of a property, trait, natural occurrence, etc. The Romans said, "Yep .. that works ... let's do that." As children, we found these stories to be Instantly Understandable (man, I need to do something with that blog, eh?) and intriguing.I am sure this is explained much better by the thousands and thousands of people who understand psychology, anthropology, folklore, and storytelling better than me. I read something recently (and I'm sorry I don't remember where) about being the bile of information. I often feel that way. I am simply a part of the digesting of information.
OK, this is longer than I like to write on this blog, but I am trying to figure out how to get documentary in my class. Sorry. Next (whenever that is) we'll cover the great boarding documentaries: Step into the Liquid (2003), Riding Giants (2004), Dogtown and Z-Boys (2001) and First Descent (2005).
Donkey Kong Flickr. Flickr God.
Friday, February 1, 2008
juxtaposition
It was kind of fun seeing these words together.
storm = a disturbance of unusual force
drain = a gradual withdrawal
sanitary = pertaining to health with emphasis to cleanliness
sewer = an artificial conduit for carrying waste
The fact that these pieces of public work are created for the need to decrease the severity of natural forces are of course what lead to these fun names. And we put them underground, out of sight, back to the earth. Good fun. (Thanks to dictionary.com for my altered definitions.)
iCharlie
Charlie recently commented on an iPhone post ... twice.
The first was pre-iPhone purchase where he is concerned over Apple's role of brand Goliath. How can they truly be different when everyone's grandmother and 8-year old cousin has an iPod?
The second time he gave in and had purchased the iPhone. "I live in a Mac world where everything I use "gets" each other. No more using technology built for PC's that sort of works with my MacBook. It's all flowing seamlessly now. So I will look like the true Mac Addict that I am. It is totally worth it."
Yes, he does look like a Mac addict. The iPhone, in front of the MacBook in front of the iMac ...
This is what troubles me with Apple, it is such a seamless world within the Apple world, but it makes playing with other kids so difficult. I love my Mac it is fun, but I love my Dell also .. they are different things to me. I really like Mac the design company, but not so much Mac the software company - which is what they are right?
Anyway, I've been contemplating getting a "better phone" ... a latest and greatest. But while walking into Cloverfield, swinging my arms (in joyous anticipation?), my crap phone flew out my hand and crashed on the pavement. I was able to piece it back together. Until I get hands like this, I should stick with holding cheaper everyday technology. (I might add that Charlie saw this event as my unconscious rejection of my old phone so I too could get an iPhone.)
The first was pre-iPhone purchase where he is concerned over Apple's role of brand Goliath. How can they truly be different when everyone's grandmother and 8-year old cousin has an iPod?
The second time he gave in and had purchased the iPhone. "I live in a Mac world where everything I use "gets" each other. No more using technology built for PC's that sort of works with my MacBook. It's all flowing seamlessly now. So I will look like the true Mac Addict that I am. It is totally worth it."
Yes, he does look like a Mac addict. The iPhone, in front of the MacBook in front of the iMac ...
This is what troubles me with Apple, it is such a seamless world within the Apple world, but it makes playing with other kids so difficult. I love my Mac it is fun, but I love my Dell also .. they are different things to me. I really like Mac the design company, but not so much Mac the software company - which is what they are right?
Anyway, I've been contemplating getting a "better phone" ... a latest and greatest. But while walking into Cloverfield, swinging my arms (in joyous anticipation?), my crap phone flew out my hand and crashed on the pavement. I was able to piece it back together. Until I get hands like this, I should stick with holding cheaper everyday technology. (I might add that Charlie saw this event as my unconscious rejection of my old phone so I too could get an iPhone.)
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