your assistance requested...

i am having my class do an activity where they evaluate the design of several websites in order to develop a list of design principles. i want to include good and bad examples. if you have a favorite example of good or bad web design please post in the comments. note: for the most part, i want corporate sites. it's not really fair to pick on personal sites...

wake up billie joe...

note: to radio programmers, you can stop playin' that f***ing song now...

and now, the latest episode of...

what the hell is growing in my yard!?

ok - this is the first and maybe only episode...

i had a great post...

...but i forgot it...

uh, derr...

so feel free to make up what you think i was going to post and comment upon it...

holy grail

thelonious monk and john coltrane - two giants of the jazz world, worked together briefly, but did not record much. recently tapes were discovered and a cd released

normally i am skeptical of such things - often they are just a way of making a few bucks off of jazz giants legacy...in this case, however, it is a revelation. perfect music. a classic. there hardly can be hyperbole about it...as one amazon reviewer called it, is is the jazz holy grail...

thanks to david for reminding me of its release this past tuesday

bee

here are some photos, blah blah blah

thinking of ditching all blogs but this one...who knows, maybe even it...
i'm guessing i'm just grouchy
i have come to the undeniable conclusion i have little to say...

in the words of karen carpenter (and today is both)
Talkin' to myself and feelin' old
Sometimes I'd like to quit
Nothing ever seems to fit
Hangin' around
Nothing to do but frown
Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down.

What I've got they used to call the blues
Nothin' is really wrong
Feelin' like I don't belong
Walkin' around
Some kind of lonely clown
Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down.

Funny but it seems I always wind up here with you
Nice to know somebody loves me
Funny but it seems that it's the only thing to do
Run and find the one who loves me.

What I feel has come and gone before
No need to talk it out
We know what it's all about
Hangin' around
Nothing to do but frown
Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down.

1 pwn w4r10!

i finally beat warioware last night. i was determined not to go to bed until i did. the final stage was esp. devious. i would rank this accomplishment on the level of completing my masters - i prob spent as much time, though i doubt it will be useful in tenure/promotion...

bbc6 is having a poll of the most overrated albums ever... my vote: nirvana's nevermind. a good - maybe great record, to be sure - and i know it brought rock back to radio - at least to a degree - started the flannel revolution, etc... still the record's reputation is inflated due to the mystique of kurt cobain. frankly, i can't see this on the list of best records ever, where it often appears...just because early 90's pop music sucked, does not make this a classic

listening to jean-luc ponty's upon the wings of music and basking in its 70's goodness

updated photo portfolio...

i made a photo portfolio of printed photos for an upcoming event, and updated my online photo portfolio.

any comments, about content or presentation, are welcome.

here is a poem my daughter wrote...

My Dream Garden

In my dream garden I would have
many fruits and vegetables galore
And trees that would go from the sky
and reach to the garden floor.

it is, of course, accompanied by a drawing - don't have my camera with me...
she is responsible for decorating my office and she does an impressive job...

my favorite part of the poem - the notion that trees go from the sky to the garden floor...

i know every parent has pride for their kids, but she is so creative - this is just one thing - her drawings are writings are consistently witty, fun and interesting....

emerson quote of the day...

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.

coolest web site

zombo com
be sure sound is on...

to quote gloria gaynor...

i will survive...

to quote mark twain: "rumors of my death have been widely exaggerated"

to quote an anonymous character in month python and the holy grail...
"I'm getting better!.... I feel happy... I feel happy."

anyhow, here's a great new site that supporte my current obsession - all things nintendo...folks, meet nintendo gal

oh great...

my loving family is making plans in the event of my demise

my one daughter has already claimed my ds, laptop and cell phone...
while my wife says they'll get a pool with the life insurance money....

blech...

i think i have a mild case of food poisoning.

if i am wrong, and it is something worse, know that i spent my last few hours playing advance wars: dual strike, a very fine game for the nintendo ds, listening to mum (i think this is their website, i have no freakin' clue) and reading hip:the history...other than feeling slightly nauseous and a little dizzy, i'm having a swell time...in terms of my last request, i want my gravestone to say:
born august 6, 1960
took sick and died september 20, 2005

i also want a funeral as they have in a culture described in robert sapolsky's monkeyluv where the friends and family mock the deceased...

while i am not inclined to praying, if there are any supreme beings (king of all cosmos, perhaps) out there, it'd be nice to hang on at least long enough to watch hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy tonight - and to pick up a copy of we love katamari over the weekend...

and if any of my students are reading this, don't get excited, regardless of what happens, we're having class tomorrow. i NEVER cancel class...

tired and cranky...

but if i can find a copy of we love katamari, that will all change...

normally, i'd speculate on my own hypocrisy here - and point out how it it very un-buddha-like to see happiness as depending on external factors - but heck - A SEQUEL TO KATAMARI!!!!

besides, i'm tired and cranky...

i will accept suggestions for plan b, should my local store notstock the aforementioned...

synchronicity..

check out the video panda from the swedish band dungen

what struck me, besides the cool tune was how a few of the scenes reminded me of my dandelion and wetlands photos

i think g*d is telling me to buy this... discovered on stewart maconie's great and aptly named freak zone on bbc 6music

disturbing...

driving around today anna nalick's song BREATHE came on the radio... a few minutes into it, i realized, i was singing along WITH EVERY WORD!!!

how scary is that? i mean, nothing against nalick or the song - it is a pleasant enough jewel-esque folk-pop concoction - not great, but certainly not horrible - i might even call it good. were i on american bandstand, i'd give it a 75 - which isn't bad, considering you can't dance to it...

what is odd is how a song like that infiltrates one's conscious. i can't help but think that were my brain not filled with lyrics to BREATHE, chumbawumba's TUBTHUMPING and dee-lite's GROOVE IS IN THE HEART (astronomical) i might have achieved great things in life...if folks only use 10% of their brains, i'm guessing the other 90% holds lyrics to pop songs...

in related news, i saw some smug fashionistas bashing bjork's swan dress - well, when any of those idiots create one thing on the level of bjork, perhaps i will listen - until then, they ought just shut the hell up...

in the words of fluidpudding...seacrest, out

What is Bush's position on Roe vs Wade?

Bush really doesn't care how people get out of New Orleans

the legacy of reaganomics...

As silence sets in over a Gulf Coast devastated by Hurricane Katrina, it is also setting in among both political parties in Washington. Sure, there is a lot of finger-pointing from Republicans at Louisiana state officials. And there is chest-thumping from Democrats about our government's slow response. But that is all pantomime compared to the silence on taxes -- the real issue that is not only at the heart of the recent disaster, but at the heart of many of America's most pressing problems.

Our country spent the '90s building up a projected $5 trillion surplus as a rainy-day fund. But when it came time to prepare for the rainiest day of them all, the money we had socked away was, instead, used to pay for trillions of dollars of tax cuts -- tax cuts that Americans have never wanted to supercede other pressing priorities. Here are the facts.

from the san francisco chronicle

the republican rhetoric against "big government" denies the necessary role of government - providing for the collective good. obviously, this is a dramatic illustration - i wonder what some of the less obvious effects are re: cuts in education, etc...

huh?

bush asks rice if he can go to the bathroom...

near as i can tell this isn't a joke - check out the links

auction

in the cleveland area?
consider going to this charity auction and bid on a photo i am donating - if only i can remember which one i said i'd donate...

i know it is a dandelion, maybe one of these....i hope they can spark my memory

another sunset

cliche...

yeah - a photo of a sunset - how original...
well, it's MY photo and i like it...
besides, there are birds in it - doesn't that count for something.
click for an even larger cliche...

couldn't have said it better myself...

check out this photo on bridget ginley's blog

ominous...

Because so far, even as blogs and websites all over the internet fill with accusations about the scandalous lack of planning that led to the collapse of the levees in New Orleans, almost no one is addressing the much larger problems: the scandalous lack of planning that has kept us from even beginning to address climate change, and the sad fact that global warming means the future will be full of just this kind of horror.

article by bill mckibben

preach on...

keith olbermann

sheryl crow engaged to some guy...

...apparently, she has finally come to the realization that she cannot have me and is getting on with her life...good for her. i wish her and what's-his-name the best...

in other news, i haven't posted about the latest round of drug charges against lance armstrong because i really don't know what to think. on one hand the charges and evidence are disturbing, far more disturbing than other circumstantial evidence cited; on the other hand, the nature of the investigation and the way the charges were made are disturbing, leading credence to lance's claim of a witch hunt. the bottom line: innocent to be proven guilty and the current evidence is not proof, in my mind.

that being said, lance thinking out loud about a comeback attempt for number 8, brings a grin to my face (and apparently his too - dig the smirk on the photo - taken, i'm sure out of context) - regardless if he is serious or merely jerking their chains....to paraphrase mary jane, in spiderman, go get 'em tiger....

here is the giant fungus in my neighbor's yard.



i've been listening to sonny rollins' without a song (the 9/11 concert) for the past few days. the term "legend" and "icon" is overused to the point of being meaningless...but rollins is a legend - one of the few jazz legends left - wayne shorter and ornette coleman come to mind - i am sure there are others, i can't think of, but not too many - couple more tops...

anyhow, rollins is the stuff of jazz iconography - taking time off earlier in his career, to play solo on a bridge in ny....etc...

he lived a few blocks away from the world trade centers and he was evacuated as his building lost power. he played this concert in boston a few days later, a village voice article states....

Rollins, who lives in Woodstock but was in his penthouse pied- six blocks away from the towers when the planes hit, and who had to be guided downstairs by rescue workers the following day, after the building lost power, wasn't making any promises. "Maybe music can help," he says at one point. "I don't know. But we have to try something."

rollins is an improviser without equal - he transcends the tunes, the band etc... i recall seeing him in oberlin playing chorus after chorus of stevie wonder's "isn't she lovely" and he looked as though he was transported - and he took the audience with him. he's in fine form in the 9/11 concert recording - perhaps not up to his 50's and 60's classics - but he rose to the occasion...

lastly, local girl gallery is having an upcoming benefit for breast cancer where local artists are encouraged to decorate bras that will be auctioned. while this is out of my area of expertise (on several levels...) i was thinking a great idea would be a bush/cheney bra - one on each cup...

b+w

more wetlands photos

i'm just chillin' - like bob dylan...

anyhow, as this is a labor day weekend, i'm spending it trying to avoid doing labor - took my daughter to the wetlands metropark and took tons of photos - will post them soon as i sort them ought - hope y'all aren't getting tired of them...

made this recipe for me and my daughter. my other daughter and wife are at cedar point - a great amusement park. my younger daughter and i don't really like amusement parks, so we stayed home. i wanted it a bit bland - didn't want to overpower the kid w/garlic...i think i misestimated how much spaghetti - and underestimated the oil and garlic - had to throw in a few more shots of each for reinforcement - all in all - turned out ok - kinda tasty - though not great - my daughter had a couple helpings though - and discovered her dad can do more than call out for pizza or make frozen dinners..

i actually don't mind cooking when i have the time -that being said - i think it works better when my wife is away. when i am cooking, she makes me nervous. when i am cooking, i make her nervous.... come to think of it, when i am cooking I make ME nervous....anyhow, i think it's like how great athletes rarely make good coaches. my wife is a great cook and as such is not the best person to have around myself - who really doesn't know what i am doing... i think i need the space to make mistakes - and when she isn't here, i can make sure i clean up any messes, etc...

my neighbor has a great fungus in his yard - pictures to come...

plan on spending the rest of the day reading edward abbey's desert solitaire - maybe listening to sonny rollins 9/11 concert (have to post about that) - or watching a few episodes of norther exposure...oh yes, i imagine there are videogames and beer in my future as well...

finally,as the younger folks say, a big up to kanye west...

cleveland botanical gardens

here are more pictures from cleveland botanical gardens





















besides everything else - they are to be commended for their reasonably priced, reasonable quality food, which was vegetarian friendly. i had tomato, mozzarella, basil and herbs on toasted ciabatta!!! most museums and similar attractions serve disgusting food at ridiculously high prices with nothing for us vegetarians to eat!

blog tagged...

i 've been blogtagged by gina. i am to post 5 random pieces of info about myself.

1. i can juggle. i can juggle 2 balls with one hand (no snickering) and 3 balls with 2 hands. i never learned to do 4 balls - which is like doing 2 balls in each hand then periodically crossing over. i learned in high school - i read a book by this aging hippie juggler that said things like - let the balls move themselves - or something like that...


2. i am 2 out of 7 for voting for the winning presedential candidate. without too much thought you can figure out my complete voting record.


3. i was hospitalized for about a week when i was in the third grade because i was dizzy. (ok, i'll wait for the giggles to stop) after an extensive battery of tests, with no conclusions, it was later determined that it was because i was prescribed bifocals...i have very bad eyes, and the eye doctore thought that would be the way to go


4. the first rock concert i attended was jethro tull at the richfield coliseum. i also saw the who there, a few days after the cinci tragedy. my complete concert history would make a nice post


5. i threw up at the washington monument. not ON it - thank goodness...but in the parking lot. when i was a senior in high school, i went to washington with the science club (see, and you think all my references to geekiness is just self deprecating humor). i caught a bug, and puked a lot. in many ways, the trip was a debacle. this trip did spark my love of art, though, as on another day, i spent a lot of time in the national gallery of art, sitting on benches looking at paintings - hey, not to strenuous for a guy with the flu. i grew to appreciate them

ok, now i am tagging...
kristin, jen, chari, angie and cindy
list 5 random bits of info...

spent this afternoon...

...at the cleveland botanical gardens



more to come...

want more from a blog than crackpot opinions?

visit bridget ginley's blog and get free art on fridays!

back to school, busy as a ...

...and loving it.

attempting to answer a question plaguing humanity for years

is a duck's azz waterproof?



looks like yes to me...

i've noticed as i slip towards dotage, this site is slippling towards an all duck blog...

hope you all enjoy the ride...

bug paparazzi...

i was in this guy's face (i think it was his face) snapping away for several minutes - will post more perhaps...



reading: finished: monkeyluv by robert sapolsky

sapolsky is a fave writer - he writes about biology esp. stress and the interplay between genetics and environment...he's a great writer cause i am not particularly interested in biology, yet his books are fascinating...

starting: edward abbey's desert solitaire - a book i have always wanted to read, but haven't gotten to it til now. i recall last year complaining that our book store had pam anderson's autobiography, but not desert solitaire - so i was browsing in our bookstore and there it was...i find it ironic that it begins with the sentence: "This is the most beautiful place on earth." which is funny considering a recent post, before i started reading, was titled...most beautiful place on earth...

listening various dave holland recordings - best jazz group in the world for 10+ years...

i changed my profile photo as it was truly hideous - don't know why it took so long - i'm not vain, but geesh - i can't have a photo like that that makes me look like a cross between uncle fester and humpty dumpty...

"Well, be that as it may...

...Back where I come from we have universities, seats of great learning -- where men go to become great thinkers. And when they come out, they think deep thoughts -- and with no more brains than you have.... But! They have one thing you haven't got! A diploma!"
- WoO to the Scarecrow



as my colleague asked, now that i am a "master" shouldn't i get a light sabre?