Stuck Between Stations

Pseudo Echo — “Funkytown”

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:55:43 -0400

Pseudo Echo — “Funkytown”

from Geekologie’s writeup of the world’s largest...

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 02:21:05 -0400

from Geekologie’s writeup of the world’s largest (known) tetris game board. This was a design someone spent way too much time on.

“I think education is one of the most important missions...

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 01:53:35 -0400

“I think education is one of the most important missions we have. Spreading knowledge has always been important to me and openness is an integral part of that. And OpenCourseWare is this really smart—and increasingly established—way to be open about education and spread knowledge throughout the world.” — Kevin Donovan, Founder of Georgetown Students for Free Culture

"If we come to an impasse, we’re going to move forward with our reforms anyway,” Ms. Rhee said. “Then..."

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 22:30:42 -0400

““If we come to an impasse, we’re going to move forward with our reforms anyway,” Ms. Rhee said. “Then it potentially gets uglier.””

- from a recent Kristof column in the NYT. I admire her grit and will hopefully be working with her this summer.

How did I miss this? It’s sorta oldish, but really,...

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 01:58:59 -0400

How did I miss this? It’s sorta oldish, but really, “like, awesome,” just like being a mom.

This might be reason enough to hop on a Greyhound to Austin

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:04:53 -0400

This might be reason enough to hop on a Greyhound to Austin

Group rope jumping. Involves trains, Russia, ice, and...

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 02:19:45 -0500

Group rope jumping. Involves trains, Russia, ice, and ropes. !

"“There was never any inappropriate (contact) between me and anyone else,” Burris said...."

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:24:22 -0500

“

“There was never any inappropriate (contact) between me and anyone else,” Burris said. “And I will answer any and all questions to get that point across and keep my faith with the people of Illinois.”

Burris declined to answer questions.

”

- Enough said. (via)

"Newspapers can’t entice us into small payment systems, because we care too much about our..."

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:57:00 -0500

“Newspapers can’t entice us into small payment systems, because we care too much about our conversation with one another, and they can’t force us into such systems, because Off the Bus and Pro Publica and Gawker and Global Voices and Ohmynews and Spot.us and Smoking Gun all understand that not only is a news cartel unworkable, but that if one existed, their competitive advantage would be in attacking it rather than defending it.”

- from Clay Shirky’s “Why Small Payments Won’t Save Publishers.” The quote is long, yes, but it gets at the main point I’ve been trying to make about plans like Steve Brill’s: if I am charged for one news outlet’s content and not charged for its competitor’s, I’m heading on over to its competitor, even if it’s a—gasp!—blog.

Bonus hilarity: In that memo, Brill suggests that “For the first year, print subscribers would get the online version for free (which might enable an increase in the print price). After the first year they might pay 50% of the online price. (Many print readers also read the online version for convenience or to pass around a story to someone else.)”

Does anyone out there think that’s a good idea at all? (“Let’s charge our most loyal readers more for the print edition so they have the privledge of using our once-free website for a year. After they’re hooked on our dying print edition, let’s make ‘em pay for online content. But don’t worry, they’re going to get a classy 50% discount—you know, to show ‘em how much we care.) Really brings a whole new meaning to “conveinence charge,” a term coined by Ticketmaster and one that makes my Top 10 Worst Things to Ever Come Across.

Make your own at AnyoneCanSwiss.com. (via)

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 14:56:17 -0500

Make your own at AnyoneCanSwiss.com. (via)

Title: “Married to the Eiffel Tower.” This video is...

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:01:00 -0500

Title: “Married to the Eiffel Tower.” This video is a must-see. I’ll agree—it’s fun to make fun of people different from us sometimes. But these people (“objective sexuals”) are so genuine and overall normal. They just love buildings, fences, and bows instead of humans. (via Jezebel)

American logos in other languages

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 02:33:00 -0500

American logos in other languages:

To see all the logos and their foreign counterparts, click the link and find the flash slideshow. I think a lot of the logos look classier across the ocean.

The Break and Repair Method — “This City (Is Bound...

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 02:10:00 -0500

The Break and Repair Method — “This City (Is Bound To Do Us In)” from his debut CD, “Milk the Bee.” The “band” is made up of Paul Doucette (of matchbox twenty fame) and a few other random artists.

What a great segment. Colbert (or someone on his staff) really...

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 01:58:46 -0500

What a great segment. Colbert (or someone on his staff) really understands this issue. Then again, a fourth grader could understand this issue. Look for the three sentences at the middle of the video. Pretty self-explanatory. (via DCist)

I just had to share this with everyone. This post, “I Lego...

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 01:46:00 -0500

I just had to share this with everyone. This post, “I Lego NY,” is one of the best blog posts of 2009. Just thoroughly enjoyable in every way. I’m not going to even tell you what awaits you on the other side of that link—it’ll ruin the delight.

Each of the U.S.’s 50 states has a logo, mostly just to...

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 22:34:30 -0500

Each of the U.S.’s 50 states has a logo, mostly just to put on their tourism websites. Pictured here are the Midwest’s. Click here (or click the image) to see all of them.

Inauguration postscript: waiting, watching, swearing in and getting out

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:19:00 -0500

After getting some much-deserved sleep last night, I’m back with my second Inauguration journal entry. After hearing about internet users’ trouble with the live webcast and a fellow Duke C hronicler’s unfortunate lockout, I’m increasingly grateful for my relatively smooth, yet tiring, January 20.

After our disappointing failed attempt to attend the free concert on Saturday, we decided to set our alarms for 5am for Inauguration Day. We weren’t alone. In fact, the inhabitants of the opposing apartment had similar plans—both parties slammed their doors at 6:10am, armed with a few snacks, four to seven (not kidding!) layers and a noticeable hop in their steps, especially for a pre-sunrise 3.5-mile stroll to the National Mall.

We speed-walked through Georgetown, braved the long, blustery stretch of road next to the iced-over Potomac, picked a route around a florescent building and headed toward the reflecting pool. At 7am, we could officially lay claim to a spot at the Lincoln Memorial if we wanted, but chose instead to venture past the Washington Monument and onward to the Capitol. We ended up finding a spot in front of the third jumbotron and were right near the Museum of Natural History. Let the waiting begin.

We sat till 8am, when we decided that we’d rather not get kicked every 44 seconds by passers-by. So for the next five hours, it was standing room only for us. Some of our neighbors included a group of 20 high schoolers from San Francisco; several African American ladies (who were way into Bill Clinton); and a group of four Yale Daily News reporters. In fact, those very Yale reporters wrote a story that included one of the students from San Francisco. An excerpt:

But while the cold weather seemed to be a unanimous point of complaint on the Mall, in a crowd of millions, there were bound to be some who saw things another way. One of them was 16-year-old Dylan Smock of San Francisco.

For five minutes, while hoisted in the air on a friend’s shoulders, Smock proudly wore nothing more than a pair of khakis.

He said afterward he was satisfied by his wardrobe choice. In fact, he swore he was not even cold.

“I just wanted to take my shirt off to get 10 seconds of fame,” he explained. “I’m just happy to be here.”

The Yale Daily News writers were the only media I saw that day, or at least were the only ones who had clearly marked press passes. I suspect the great majority of them were up in the ticketed section or in a press section. (Be sure to read a bit about the unique camera angle that took months to approve.) In general, the media coverage was, as I expected, very audience-centric.

For hours we watched re-runs of Saturday’s concert, but finally, after our toes had lost all feeling, a booming voice came through the many speakers, letting us know the official ceremony was to begin shortly. At 11:30am, the foot parade of senators, representatives, cabinet members, family members, foreign guests and other important people began. Who got the biggest boos and claps?

Not too popular: George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and, entering to the loudest boos of the day was … Joe Lieberman

Crowd-pleasers: Bill Clinton, Oprah, Colin Powell and the Obama kids

My personal favorite: Barney Frank (spend hours with these videos)

Biden’s swearing in went well, as expected. And then it was noon. We expected Diane Feinstein to introduce the chief justice and Mr. Obama, but were instead introduced to a musical foursome that included the legendary Yo-Yo Ma. The crowd groaned, almost unanimously and in unison, when we learned of this brief delay. But then came the now-famous swearing in of Mr. Obama, the new President to the United States.

Or is it President of the United States? Chief Justice Roberts had trouble reading the right words and there were a few hiccups on Obama’s side, too. Let’s just say the crowd could tell, but only cared for about four seconds. The mass, pent up with unexplored anticipation, exploded—with claps, shrieks, gasps and tears—as Obama became this nation’s 44th.

The speech was magnificent in my view. Obama slipped up only once, briefly, and we were able to hear the speech crisply. What struck me about the whole moment was Bush and Cheney’s proximity to Obama, who was implicitly blaming them for a great deal of problems ranging from war to global warming, the drowning economy to failed foreign policy decisions. I will forever remember the speech and the intensity with which his words reverberated off the sacred buildings lining the National Mall. “They will be MET!-met!-met.” And I’ll also remember the many snipers perched atop each building, who, while waiting for the command to shoot, were surely sneaking a listen on this special day.

The reading of the poem gave everyone the cue they needed—the cue to leave! As quickly as one could! We got stuck in several intense logjams, partially due to disjointed advice from National Guard troops and policemen, but got out in only 30 minutes. Joining us on our multi-mile walk back to Georgetown were hundreds of G-Town students, smiling, skipping and enjoying their day off.

Me? I tried to fix my badly-messed-up hair and reflected on the day of school I’d missed. And, boy, did I not care. Statistics 101 could wait. This was history in the making, and my vote and frozen toes helped make it.

UPDATE - 2:10am: The Boston Globe’s Big Picture series of Inauguration-related photos reminded me just how lucky I am to be one of the relatively few people who saw this happen in person. There are many more millions who watched from naval bases, hotel rooms, classrooms and hundreds of countries, and many of those moments are captured in this 48-photo collection.

Inauguration weekend journal: libraries, lines, press and pics

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:00:00 -0500

As I write this, I’m sitting in a cramped library in the heart of Georgetown. Libraries here are not like Duke’s. They’re more like a doctor’s waiting room; long rows of chairs line every wall and corridor and everyone is talking as loud as he wants.

What are they talking about? Mostly upcoming school projects, actually. These D.C. college kids have been given Tuesday off (and some even Wednesday) in honor of the Inauguration, but for some reason they still pack their libraries to work on schoolwork. Perhaps they’re getting it out of the way in anticipation of a very long Tuesday—in a way, I am, too.

The group of students with whom I’ve spent the last few days is a diverse one. In one small apartment, you’ll find half a dozen Georgetown students from all over the country, my two UNC-attending co-road-trippers, and me.

Many of us tried to see the big concert yesterday, but apparently arriving 90 minutes early wasn’t good enough. We waited in a long line for an hour before it suddenly dissipated in several seconds. We still don’t know why it happened, but suspect it has something to do with security checkpoints closing unannounced.

The area surrounding the National Mall was a very peaceful, yet crowded, one, but it was also poorly organized. I would estimate 50,000 people stood in various lines with us, only to have thousands more cut their lines.

There was no police force helping us understand where to go or keeping us in neat lines. There were no signs or event organizers showing us the way. There was only bitter cold, a complete lack of cellphone reception and $5 hot pretzels. We eventually just turned back, along with many thousands, but are thankful for our failed dry run. Because of that mishap, we have decided to wake up at 6am on Inauguration Day and will surely be there to watch history being made.

Everyone here has a camera. I have my iPhone, others in my group have their small pocket PowerShots, and many, many people have big ol’ lenses strapped to their expensive Nikon cameras. Press people abound, but not all are “official.” They ride around on what appear to be scooter/rickshaw combination vehicles, snapping photos as they roll by. And of course, there are so many videographers. There are hippies, there are network TV wannabes, there are men and women from the streets of D.C. and L.A, and they are nearly all amateurs with no press credentials. We’ll see if these sorts of people will be allowed full access to the main event.

_____________________________

I wrote this post for my Reporting Public Policy course at Duke University. Susan Tifft, my professor, asked anyone going to the Inauguration to write a bit about our experiences, making sure to touch on the press a bit.

Also of note: Rosario Dawson appears towards the top of this post in a picture I took earlier today. I don’t think it’ll be the last celebrity I see this weekend—there are tons in town. Though it might be the last one I see at Five Guys.

All photos licensed via Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 by me.

Where the heck is Ron Paul?

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:32:00 -0500

Gail Collins, the funniest New York Times columnist, and former editor of the whole Editorial Page, wrote an end-of-the-year quiz. Though it is, as usual, filled with her own commentary about TARP, Bush, questionable governers and pop culture, it also does have its facts straight. Here’s the most fun part of the quiz. Good luck!

Match the presidential candidates:

John McCain

John Edwards

Dennis Kucinich

Mitt Romney

Rudy Giuliani

Fred Thompson

Mike Huckabee

Hillary Clinton

Mike Gravel

Chris Dodd

A) Urged an auditorium full of high school students to avoid alcohol and stick with marijuana.

B) Hired a campaign videographer who filmed him vowing not to behave like a Ken doll.

C) Took a cellphone call from his wife in the middle of a speech.

D) Carried a copy of the Constitution and a bag of organic tea in his pocket.

E) Drove to Canada with the family dog strapped on the roof of the car.

F) In a single year as governor, accepted gifts that included a discount card from Wendy’s, $48,000 in clothing and a chain saw.

G) Campaign ad said: “I was raised on pinochle and the American dream.”

H) Moved entire family to Iowa and enrolled the kids in school in an attempt to win the caucuses. Came in seventh, behind uncommitted.

I) Told a convention of bikers that he wished his wife would enter the Miss Buffalo Chip beauty contest.

J) Taking over Bill O’Reilly’s radio slot.

Answers in the comments.

"Please understand that holding the dearest people in my life hostage is not something I take..."

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:57:59 -0500

“

Please understand that holding the dearest people in my life hostage is not something I take lightly. It’s risky, expensive, and technically illegal, but sometimes you have to listen to your inner McNulty and take justice into your own hands.

Besides, the show is so fucking good. (It’s all connected!) I’ve told you this day after day, year after year, and you all ignored it, preferring to watch American Idol and Wife Swap. I mean, Jesus Christ. Wife Swap?

”

- From McSweeney’s. This humorous very brief essay really puts the “got” into “you’ve got to watch ‘The Wire.’” Sometimes I wish I were more effective at getting people to watch the show. It really is the best show ever.