This Oughta Hold You

True, I'm not updating this much anymore (I don't seem to have the impulsive gene required for bloggin), but at least I'm offering useful info like, say, how the universe was created. And c'mon, wouldn't you rather have that than another warmed-over journal entry?

February Thaw

It finally got warmish enough (hey, above freezing!) to get outside for more than a few minutes. So I checked out a little Mississippi River action near downtown Minneapolis and took some fancy pictures, like this:

Otherwise I can report that not having a job in the winter in Minnesota can make for some longish days in the house... but hopefully both the job and winter situations will change soon enough. Though I feel like I have about as much control over both.

Join the PRKA

Guess I'm a few years slow on this one, but as usual, George Saunders comes up with something worth remembering:

Last Thursday, my organization, People Reluctant To Kill for an Abstraction, orchestrated an overwhelming show of force around the globe.

At precisely 9 in the morning, working with focus and stealth, our entire membership succeeded in simultaneously beheading no one. At 10, Phase II began, during which our entire membership did not force a single man to suck another man's penis. Also, none of us blew himself/herself up in a crowded public place. No civilians were literally turned inside out via our powerful explosives. In addition, at 11, in Phase III, zero (0) planes were flown into buildings.

Read it all on Slate - and join us

Archies 2007

Seems like a tradition worth keeping, so we'll see how many I can come up with.  Warning - you may notice a theme.

• Change - not the coins, but the existential state
• Creative Kidstuff - taking all the guesswork out of those nephew/niece gifts
• Caribou and Dunn Brothers coffee - all the warm fuzzy of local, all the convenience of chains
• Remember the Milk and Mint - let the internet organize for you
• The Heights Theatre - cool and nearby, double ++
• Basements and garages - hmm, let's put that box somewhere and forget it for 3 months
• Ice chippers - to allow us to get into the garage in question
• The Q50 - maybe not "essential" downloads but at least "fun"
• IKEA - yes you can furnish your house from one store, if you're handy with an allen wrench
• Very Short List - a daily email that is actually quick and useful
• Facebook goes nuclear - is it still wasting time if you're doing it with friends?
• Finally having a frickin DVR - I know I'm shallow
• Ax Man Surplus stores - I probably laughed more here than anywhere in months
• The Electric Fetus - terrible name, great record store
• Gmail adds IMAP -  I find I like free things that work incredibly well
• Neighbors who bring you pies and cookies
• Hound Dog Pet Hotel - we'd never had to use a kennel before, but it turned out great
• Soul Jazz and Numero Group Records - awesomely consistent, consistently awesome
• Google Reader - finally RSS really is simple
• Turner Classic Movies - yeah, still
• Onion AV Club - yeah, still
• Surdyk's Liquor and Cheese Shop - yeah, distilled... oh and great wine/beer/food selection too
• Columbia Sportswear - winter schminter
• Neighborhood restaurants - of which there are plenty in MSP
• Being the old guy - I'm taking classes where the average age is probably 10 years below me, so I get to be the wise and weird one, and oh how I can fill that role
• Magazines like the New Yorker, the Atlantic, Harper's, Dwell, Readymade, and Good - pretty much why my "books read" list hovers around zero (and I'm scared that one day I will accept those free issues of The Economist I keep getting offered and I'll never go outside again) 
• The "In Rainbows" experiment - I'm always glad when success doesn't diminish nerve, but enhances it; oh yeah and the music was good too
• Fond farewells - and anticipated reunions

Sing the 2007 Songs

Well I kind of got this to work this year - so here's a fairly arbitrary sampling of some good 2007 musical productions: