Happy New Year!

Helpful: Your Special Purpose

No, not that "special purpose," Steve Martin fans.
In deciding to leave work and start school, I've been trying to articulate exactly why I picked this program, and why I want to start it now. What will I do with a grad degree in urban planning? What's the purpose?

A great series of articles by Steve Pavlina got to me, and helped me define that purpose. Steve says that if you aren't working for your own purpose, you'll only end up working on:
1) your needs
2) someone else's needs, and
3) someone else's purpose

So I came up with a purpose tonight, and we'll see how this sounds:

My goal is to help governments and community organizations eliminate poverty and create opportunities for success.

Maybe it still needs a tweak, especially with that last phrase, but when I finally put that down on paper, I realized that this is where I got the most out of my job at Kaplan. I didn't care that the Washington Post Company made a great profit, but I cared that our students got into a good college and that our tutors found a successful, meaningful job. I want to try this Masters program because I believe that with advanced knowledge about how cities work best, I can help bring employment and opportunity to people who need it the most.

Maybe it's naive, but it feels like the right direction.

Helpful: A Kuzma hit on my Google Alert

Pops makes a web appearance, with action shot and everything. Well done!

Interesting: Take the Quiz

Merry Christmas! Can you beat 26?

Interesting: Game Show Theory

The writers of Freakonomics have a blog, and today they contend that the new game show Deal or No Deal is an economist's dream: a high-profile example of risk-reward testing.

Maybe so. Here's my econometric analysis:
Deal: 25 hottt models.
No Deal: Howie Mandel's hijinks and bizarro facial hair.

It's a toss-up.

Interesting: Creepy, yet Holy Santa

Ho, Ho, Ho.

Interesting: Oh, Oh, Canada!

Moustache? Check.
Lotion? Check.
Ticket to Canada? Check.

Let's get it on!

Interesting: Killing Yourself to Live

Just finished this book by Chuck Klosterman, an author I've reviewed before here.

A very funny book, with a lot of chicks, drugs, rock, road tripping, and death. Chek it out at your local public library.

Interesting: Course list

This spring, I'm taking 500, 502, and 504. Don't they look exciting?

Helpful: 7 Deadly Sins

Track #9 on the Aurora Forum podcast list from Stanford is a speech by Arun Gandhi, grandson of the great Indian leader of non-violent activism. You may have heard this list of "Seven Deadly Sins" before, but it was my first time, so I wanted to share it:

Seven Deadly Sins

Wealth without Work
Pleasure without Conscience
Science without Humanity
Knowledge without Character
Politics without Principle
Commerce without Morality
Worship without Sacrifice

Interesting: Vacation!

Day 4 of my vacation is a little warmer -- it may actually hit 30 degrees today. It's been a week of great accomplishment, as I have been conquering We Love Katamari, the sequel to the bizarro Playstation 2 hit, Katamari Damacy. A lot of NPR, some napping, and a bit of easy reading, since I figure I won't have much time to do that when school starts in 3 weeks.

It's a weird feeling not going to work, and not worrying about not going to work. Maybe that comes later? I dunno.

Interesting: Last Day!

Little brother

Thanksgiving with Lucas
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

Awwww.

Helpful: Truce

Finally, a way for Democrats to talk about the Iraq endgame without looking like wussies.

Interesting: A Touching Christmas Story

Hunter from Daily Kos shares a heartwarming tale of Christmas shopping and merriment. (Warning: profanity.)

Helpful: Smoke-Free Chicago

The Chicago City Council will vote on the 100% Clean Indoor Air Ordinance tomorrow morning. I already called my alderman to ask her to vote yes -- you should too. Unless you don't live in Chicago, in which case, you don't get an alderman. Too bad.

Interesting: Free track from David Mead

Just in time for your holiday virtual stocking stuffing, David is releasing free tracks from the vault. We saw David in concert at Schuba's on Friday, and were very pleased by the solo show. You don't see many singer/songwriters who can play guitar, keyboard, and ukulele all so well. Lovely. The new album will be out in May!

Main David Mead fan site.
Official site here.

Interesting: The President's Evolving Vision

Thanks, Wonkette.

Helpful: Job opening!

I got in! If you want my old job, let me know.

Interesting: NPR Live Concert Series

Better increase your pledge. NPR has full-length concert recordings streaming here. And Indigo, Wednesday's concert is Iron and Wine. Sweet!

Helpful: Do it now

I read this article from Steve Pavlina tonight and came away quite inspired to increase my productivity. It's long, though, so you'll probably want to print it out to read on the train. Enjoy.

Interesting: Did Texas execute an innocent man?

Via Washington Monthly, the Houston Chronicle has a story about Ruben Cantu, a man in Texas who was put to death in 1993. Twelve years later, the star witness and the real killer admit that Cantu didn't do it. Too bad he won't be around for the retrial.

Interesting: Monkey washing a cat

This clip was on The Daily Show with John Stewart the other night, and just by chance, it ended up in my random funny movie podcast feed. I dare you to watch it and not giggle.

Helpful: Gift hint

What to give the iPod-toting, latte-drinking, bus-or-train-riding, plaid scaf-wearing, goateed anti-hipster hipster in your life for Christmas?

Audible.com credits.

Interesting: Living the Life, Part 2

Transcript of a call to my brother's house, 11:25 AM Pacific time--

Unidentified Voice: (mumbling, obviously waking up) Hello?
Me: Hi, is this Lucas?
UV: uuuh....
[pause]
Me: Hello?
UV: yeah?
Me: Is this Lucas?
UV: (confused) No, this is Dave. Oh, I thought you said you were Lucas.
Me: Nope. Is he there?
Dave: I think he's passed out or something, I don't know.
Me: OK, I'll call him back.
Dave: Holla back later, yo.

Interesting: Latest Liger News

Three ligers were born in a Russian zoo. No word yet on the young cubs' skills in magic.

Another Halloween pic

More Halloween pics
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

I will never be the rocker that my brother is, but every year or two for Halloween I like to try.

Halloween, Woo!

More Halloween pics
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

Somehow, local celebrity and Cubs superfan Ronnie "Woo Woo" Wickers ended up at our friend Allison's Halloween Party. Here he is with our friend Amanda. If you'd like to find out more about the power of the Woo, go to, yes, www.ronniewoowoo.com

Neither I nor H: Arrested Development cut short

I still don't know what to say about this. First Sports Night, then the BBC Office and Coupling, now Arrested Development. I'll let teletart take it from here.

Interesting: Review of "Working Poor"

The Working Poor by David Shipler is the kind of book I always check out of the library but never find the time to read. Luckily (??) I'm home sick today with no voice, so I got a chance to actually finish it, and I'm very glad I did. Shipler interviews hundreds of poor people from all over the country and gives a striking picture of the numerous, intertwined causes and efffects of poverty in America.

It's not just drugs, or poor education, or bad jobs, or unaffordable housing, or the lack of access to health care, or alcoholism, or bad choices, or bad luck, or bad parenting, or sexual abuse, or mental illness, or red tape, or domestic violence. All of these things are factors, and without a holistic solution, we're not getting anywhere.

10 random books from my collection, my wishlist, and my library check-outs are listed near the bottom of the sidebar, so feel free to take a look. Have you read anything good lately?

Helpful: Free Harvey Danger Album

Hey Indigo, if you're still reviewing CD's this week, here's a free one to check out from Harvey Danger. Apparently, they're going the Wilco route and releasing the entire album for free before selling it in stores. It's pretty good, I think.

Helpful: Be careful with the sign

Party hard this weekend, but be careful with your hand gestures--the Council is watching.

Interesting: Republicans scattering

Josh Marshall puts it all together here. Republicans in Congress are scared to run through anything controversial because they know Bush isn't around to give them cover.

So, now that the Republican agenda is kaput, how about getting the new Apollo Project up and running? You know, some actual new ideas or something.

I love Autumn.

I love Autumn.
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

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Interesting: Another MK

I believe in supporting all Matt Kuzma's out there, because, hey, if one of us makes it big, we all benefit. This one is a writer and illustrator of an online graphic story. Take a look.

Helpful: Seven to Ten

OK, the blogging explosion here at I+H is coming to an end for the day. I'd like to direct you a personal development blog by Steve Pavlina. Steve is a very insightful writer in those touchy-feely goal/purpose/meaning-of-life issues we all love so much.

Check out the most popular links on the left-hand column, especially
"How to Get From a 7 to a 10."

Interesting: How important is the Plame Affair?

According to the new CBS poll, it's themost important scandal since Watergate.

Helpful: Run in the cold

Running five miles along Lake Michigan right around the beginning of winter is a very emotional experience. There's a lot of anxiety, a feeling of pride, and oh yeah, as George Costanza would say, "shrinkage."

Who's with me?

Helpful: Microcredit

I know many of us are going through donation overload, what with the hurricanes, earthquakes, and widespread poverty. Obviously, local needs are most urgent, but if you want to do a ton of good for a tiny investment, I encourage you to look into "microcredit lending" non-profits throughout the Third World.

I'm a big fan of Heifer International, and there are many other org's, along with an overview of microcredit lending, here.

Helpful: Google Adsense

Until Cody hooks me up with Yahoo!'s new blogger services, I'll be trying out Google's ads. The row of links seemed pretty harmless. I'm prevented by the service agreement from clicking on them myself or badgering people into clicking them, but feel free to give 'em a whirl if you feel so inclined.

4 more posts to do today. Here we go!

Interesting: Halloween pics

Emailing: 6063.jpg
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

More pics to follow of Dave Navarro, Carmen Electra, Ellen, and the rest of the gang. Good times!

Interesting: Sox win

Good for the Sox -- they had the better team and made the most of it. Just want to share one quote from the news this morning:

"I came to see the Sox whack that ass, and they did," said Pittman, 27, of the South Side.

I love Chicago.

Nice sweatshirt.

Nice sweatshirt.
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

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Interesting: Living the life

chakra
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

Here's my brother's band Chakra surrounded by a virtual harem at the set of their upcoming video. That's Lucas standing on the left wearing a faux-hawk.

Bad sign

Bad sign
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

Not what you're hoping to see this time of year...



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Interesting: Already attacking Syria?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but we're not at war with Syria, yet. Right?

Helpful: A plan

I could think of my own, but I'll just go with this one, from Iraq veteran Bryan Lentz who's running for Congress as a Democrat in 2006. The key points:

1. A timetable for withdrawl is vital.
2. Reconstruction should be managed by the military and Iraqi contractors, not American or multinational corporations.

What do you think?

Interesting: Where's the crisis?

Remember soon after the election, when we learned about the looming crisis with Social Security? Matt Yglesias asks: "where'd it go?"

Interesting: Do Not Pass Go

Go directly to jail, Mr. Delay.

Interesting: Cindy Rocks

4:08:33, even with the wicked hills. Way to go!

Interesting: Best comment ever

Don't ask me who did this or why, but apparently this post from a year ago drew the comment of a true genius this morning.

Interesting: Cindy and the Baltimore Marathon

Good luck tomorrow!

Interesting: New Bush Appointment

Just in the nick of time, too.

Helpful: Official measurement

Helpful: Official measurement
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

The Sears Tower is tall. Really tall.



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Helpful: Don't eat this

Helpful: Don't eat this

More like Crappy Banapy.

Helpful: 50 Great Health Websites

This month's Men's Journal has a good list of 50 top health & fitness websites. Not a bad place to browse around instead of going to the gym. Ha!

Interesting: Shadow Creek

It was great seeing family this weekend. Here's Dad K checking on the boys...

Not Helpful: Hip Flexor Strain

I think this is what've I've got. Sucks.

Interesting: Reunion!

Reunion
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

Had the ten-year high school reunion in Wichita last weekend. Everyone looks great and is successful and well-adjusted (except for Jay, but that's no surprise, right?) 21 out of the 41 graduates made it, plus a few honorary grads who graduated at other schools but went way back with our class. In particular, my friend Brendan (who I met way back in third grade) was there with pics of his 3-week-old son Tyler.

It was fun to reminisce about old days, but it was even better to hear about all the cool things everyone is up to now. We even got sing the old school song...however it went...

Helpful: My fortune!

Helpful: My fortune!
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

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Interesting Review: Colby Beserra

Colby's new album is quite good. More than anything, it's a showcase for his voice: crystal clear, soulful, down-to-earth. Mostly jazzy ballads, with the occasional slide guitar piece. The closest thing in my collection like it would be late recent Lyle Lovett. Recommended as a change of pace.

Update: edited to delete possible insinuation that Lyle Lovett is dead.

Another Podcasting test

Mark, try entering the feed URL in iTunes again now.

Interesting: To read later

Interesting: To read later
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

Just so I remember later.



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Interesting: Podcasting test

Using audioblogger, I may be able to blog directly to iTunes from my phone. We'll see how this works out.

Update: It worked. I can explain it some other time, but let's just say this: If you use iTunes or some other device to listen to podcasts, add this address to your podcasts and you'll be able to hear me say stupid things.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/InterestingAndHelpful

Helpful: Arcade Fire concert review

The group that gave the best performance of Lollapalooza backed it up with an amazing show last night at the sold-out Riviera. Working Hitz joined me.

I'm not so good with remembering set lists, but Arcade Fire played just about everything off of Funeral and the best tracks from their first EP. The 9-piece band (including violins, accordion, French horn and "helmet") overwhelmed us with sound and energy, to the point where I really believed they would pass out. But they kept going, to our delight.

"We found the light!"

Update: Here's the review of the show from the Onion A.V. Club.

Helpful: Admit defeat

Yeah, so I never ended up keeping up with this kind of reading, but oh well. It was fun while it lasted--one month.

I+H: LibraryThing

Check out the bottom of the sidebar--I've added a link to my library at LibraryThing. I've tried similar services on bookcrossing.com, but this one is much faster. I will list books that are either on my wishlist or in my library, so if you see anything you would like to borrow (or buy for me!) just let me know.

Please be Helpful!

Watch Arrested Development tonight at 8PM Eastern, 7PM Central.

Helpful: Free Drink

I got a $10 gift certificate to a new bar down the street called Mix. Apparently, it's a "Video Bar," whatever that means. But, if you're in the area and want to join me for a free drink after work sometime, give a holla to the email on the right sidebar.

Helpful: Race results

The race was pretty tough. Nice and cloudy, but very sticky and eventually rainy, so I was soaked by mile 3. Kept great pace though, my halfway time was 1:16:28, which was ahead of my goal pace. Around mile 8, my hip flexor started hurting (stand up and raise your knee to your chest; your hip flexor is the muscle right at the front of your hip joint that does that.) It got progressively worse, until I had to switch to speed walking for a mile or so. I ended up finishing with 2:44:09, which was behind my goal, but still 12 minutes faster than last time, so I'm happy with it.

Odds and Ends:
--Helpful Hint: If you ever have to pee during a race, go behind a tree, not beside a tree. I know modesty is not all that important during a race, but many of us saw much more of one woman's "search for a friendly tree" than we would have liked.
--The sign "You Are All Crazy" got quite a laugh.
--The sign "The faster you run, the sooner you're done!" did not.
--The DJ at mile 9 was playing motown songs and trying to get people to sing along, dance, high-five, etc. It was so annoying, I was tempted to hobble over there and smack him.
--iPods do not like rain, even if they are in a "sport" case.
--Crucial race accessory of the day: Cindy. Thank you for everything! :)

Helpful: Thanksgiving plans

Hmmmm.

Dad, Mom, Cindy, what do you think?

Helpful: Saved!

Fellas, if you're in a relationship, you need this service.

PS - Sorry for the light blogging. I shall return after Sunday. Meanwhile, here's what I'm up to Sunday morning, then the grad school app needs to get done. My goal for the half marathon is 2:36:27. Let's get 'r done!

Interesting (but fake): Pat Robertson strikes again

Sometimes, parody is so close to real life, it freaks me out. Have a great weekend everybody!

[thanks to Indy for the tip]

Helpful: Hey Teacher!

Tricks of the Trade: Substitute teacher: "If you walk into your classroom and instinctively know that a certain kid is going to be The Student From Hell, try this. Walk up to him first thing in the morning and casually say, 'Hey, aren't you Jerome Jones?' When he reponds 'yes,' say, 'Tell you mom that I said hi.' That should keep him guessing enough to behave, at least for a day."

Helpful: Take Note!

For those of you who may be going back to school soon (read: me), here is a great primer on how to take notes using the Cornell Notetaking Method. And there's even a site to make custom PDF's for notetaking. Man, I wish I had known stuff like this the first time around.

As always, thanks to Lifehacker.

Smokin' baby!

Smokin' baby!
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

Fun for the whole family.



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Interesting: Great caption

Helpful: Free, disposable PDA

If you're too cheap to buy a Treo, this should work.

Helpful: Crafty people

Sell stuff in Chicago? We have a space for you at our church festival this month!

Helpful: Being Poor

And what it means.

Interesting use of firefighters: props

Just when you thought the Bush administration couldn't get any worse, you see this.

Update: The link contains profanity. Justified profanity.

Sad: Firefighter diver died 'doing what he loved'

I talked to my grandma this weekend, and she said that a cousin of my Dad's died last week. Grace and peace.

Not helpful: The internet

At least, for the Mississippi Office of Homeland Security.

Via Pandagon.

Away game

Away game
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

So Harry's all alone. Tomorrow, the Parrotheads descend for Jimmy Buffett.



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Interesting: Mr. Potato Head and H

Part of blogging in this era of new media is breaking the important stories that are out of view of the mainstream media. I have been hard at work, and am ready to announce my first scoop!

According to this site, Hasbro fills Mr. Potato Head toys with heroin. Undisputable proof! Someone let me know if the Pulitzer committee calls.

Interesting: College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs

Is this what's next?

Terrible: The hurricane, the flood, the gasoline

I don't even know what to say at this point about NOLA New Orleans -- there are thousands of refugees, National Guard are getting shot at, people
are left for dead in the streets. Unreal.

And on Yahoo News, which is the most popular photo of them all? As of this moment, it's a picture of gas at $5.87 a gallon.

Update: As of 8:00 Central time, the gasoline pic is still #1. For God's sake.

Helpful: Top album of the 90's?

Smells Like Teen Spirit Nevermind (duh) or OK Computer? Thanks to Dan, I have found
the answer.

And I disagree.

Interesting: Labor Economics

A
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

Good thing Hitzy got a job -- you know things are tight in the market when people are willing to do things like this for money.

Helpful: Bush sings a happy song

And why not? It's not like anything unpleasant is happening in the U.S. right now.

Helpful: Cats In Sinks

That's right, an entire website with pictures of cats in sinks.

Math pt. 2

Math pt. 2
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

Side view.

Math puzzle

Math puzzle
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

Estimate the weight of the cake in the two pictures.

Another Cubs game...

Another Cubs game...
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

Another loss, this time to the Dodgers 8-5.



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Wait wait...

Wait wait...
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

Live!



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Helpful: Best commercials ever

Before the lawyers take 'em away, here are audio clips of the Bud Light Real Men of Genius Commercials.

Helpful: F.U.T.O

Eagles fans should get a laugh out of this one.
(link courtesy Dad K)

PS - Mr. Owens, if you're reading this, I mean no offense and would be happy to have you on my fantasy football team, if you would so desire.

Cheers,
Kuz

Helpful: Fantasy Football!

Let the madness begin.

Helpful: Larry King is a genius

From Larry King Live:
"KING: All right, hold on. Dr. Forrest, your concept of how can you out-and-out turn down creationism, since if evolution is true, why are there still monkeys?"

Interesting: Anti-war vs. Anti-Iraq War

Guess what, Mr. President? There's a difference.

Helpful: Don't bother registering

Blogger now has word verification in comments, so no auto-spammers are gonna get me, so anonymous comments are allowed again. Good times.

Helpful: What would Jesus do?

He'd smoke that chump, according to Radical Cleric Pat Robertson.

See the video here.

Oy vey.

Interesting: Overheard in New York

Because eavesdropping is so much fun.

Not Helpful: Impatience at the poker table

Played a couple of friendly games tonight, and both times I made it to the final two and got impatient and lost. My opponent was betting alot more than normal and won almost every showdown, so I should have just figured that he was getting better cards than me and just tightened up my play. Instead, I kept bluffing at him and losing. Lame. Oh well. Next time.

Interesting: Back to the Campaign

Did some fundraising phone calling for Deb Shore this week. My call list was done in just an hour, but it was still nice to get back into it. Deb is an awesome candidate for an obscure office, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. If you live in Cook County, this is your good government pick for the March primary!

Helpful: "Intelligent Falling"

I've been reading up on intelligent design, the non-scientific science concept that has Kansas State Board of Education yahoos all excited. I'm reading The Blind Watchmaker to find out the main evidence against Intelligent Design, but meanwhile, it looks like there's an even more compelling theory being floated out there--The Onion has the latest.

Interesting: StoryCorps

StoryCorps is NPR's master plan to make people cry every Friday. Can you resist their evil ways?

Interesting: Cindy Sheehan

I don't have time to write much about Cindy Sheehan and her protests in Crawford, but I wanted to make sure I put up a link to her diaries on dKos. I'm interested in hearing everyone's thoughts.

PS - Again, I'm sorry that comment spam from poker websites made me turn off the anonymous comments -- if you'd like to make an anonymous comment, just send it to my gmail account and I will post it. Or set up an anonymous Blogger account. Thanks.

Welcome back...

Welcome back...
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

2-1 Cubs in the second.



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Helpful: Breaking up is hard to do

So do it gently.

Helpful: Please register

I agree with Josh--although I haven't had much comment spam or anonymous postings, they have the potential to be annoying and even destructive. So to comment, please register with Blogger. It's free, they don't spam you, and you don't have to use your real name. But at least that way, if someone's being a jerk or spamming, it's easy to deal with. If you want to comment but don't want to register, use the email addy on the sidebar and write me directly. Thanks.

Bummer

Bummer.
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

KC won 3-2. Our goalie got ejected for shooting his mouth off at halftime, so the Fire had to play a man short. Pretty nice seats for my first time at Soldier Field though. Many thanks to Childers for joining me.

I + H: Travel Light!

All you need is one bag.

Helpful: Intellisync

It took 4 tries, but my new work computer is finally talking to my Yahoo! calendar, so I don't have to type back in my contacts, calendar and task data. Thank you, Yahoo!

Helpful: Better strategy

Democratic Congressmen who supported the decision to invade Iraq have only one intellectually honest way to criticize the President at this point.

Helpful: SPINsider

At first I thought Podcasts were just ok. If I wanted to listen to people talk, I could just turn on the radio. But no stations here play new music consistently, so I've been turning to ones like SPIN.com's SPINsider. KEXP, Rolling Stone, iTunes Music Store, all of them have new music summaries that can help you sift through the gobs of music out there.

On this issue, SPINsider plays Hard-Fi, who was at Stage #5 across the street at Lollapalooza. That day, they sounded fine, at least as good as they could sound from across the street.

Helpful: The Irish

Lauren's latest post about her newfound Irish friends reminds me of a little story from when Indigo Steve was here for Lollapalooza:

We had lunch in a pub, right near my place. Our Irish bartender, Steven, overheard me saying that I liked bourbon, so he said, "ye gotta try the Baaaysil Haaayden." (Basil Hayden.) So he brought over this bottle to show us, but there was very little whiskey left.
I said, "There's not even a shot in there; what are you going to with that?"
He brings the bottle over, slams it down in front of me, slams a shot glass down with his other hand, and says in a voice that I will be imitating for the rest of my life,
"Fine, ya can fockin pour it yourself!"

That was some smooth bourbon.

Interesting: The Message Thing

Jim Wallis is in the New York Times today with a blueprint for Democrats to start winning elections. He thinks the most powerful electoral issues are:

1. Fighting poverty
2. Environmental stewardship
3. Fresh ideas on abortion
4. "Pro-family" cultural issues, like violence and sexual content in media
5. Multilateral international leadership as a foreign policy priority

#1, 2 and 5 are winners, 4 is irrelevant, and 3 is a trap.

As we've seen this week, Wisconsin anti-choicers are much more concerned with punishing female college students for having sex than preventing abortions. I had figured that birth control was a done deal in this country, but apparently not. So how on earth are we supposed to find a compromise on abortions when we have to go back and refight whether women have the right to have their prescriptions filled?

And good luck trying to take sex and violence out of video games and movies. If they want to give us more freedom to choose or block out cable channels, that's fine with me. But there are enough choices in media now with video on demand and TiVo that any parent could pretty much program their child's entertainment choices from dawn to dusk. What's the big deal?

Helpful Update: Fingers

Oh well, didn't get the opportunity I was hoping for. At least not yet. That's ok though, nobody gonna breaka my stride; nobody gonna hold me down, oh no, I gotta keep on movin'.

Helpful: Top 6

Indigo Steve, who apparently feels that the High Fidelity "Top 5" list is insufficient, asked me to list my Top 6 songs. Qualifiers and conditions allowed. So here we go, softly:

In increasing order of volume:

1. Please Stay - Warren Zevon
Zevon cut this album knowing he had just a few months to live. This song is a crushingly poignant view of love and partnership.

2. Nashville - David Mead
I spent a weekend with David at a writing workshop in 2003, and this song was the highlight. It still gives me chills. "Was that blood or wine stain on your wedding dress?"

3. Hard Bargain - Ron Sexsmith
I got a chance to play and sing this song a few weeks ago at church. It's half love letter, half letter to God. "How's a guy supposed to fail with someone like you around?"

4. Lebanese Blonde - Thievery Corporation
I had been listening to this song for a few months before it got put onto the Garden State soundtrack, and I must say, it's one of those rare times when I was happy that my favorite song became popular. If you want to see me dance, all you have to do is play this song. It's guaranteed.

5. Train Ride - Lyle Lovett
There's a million Lyle Lovett songs I could put on this list...unless you believe in mathematics. Which I do. So I chose this one.

6. Paranoid Android - Radiohead
One day, I will be able to play two guitars, bass, drums and 2 keyboards at once and produce my own very special cover of this song. Until then, it's just air guitar and screaming. Lucas and I listened to this way back when on a road trip, right when the CD came out, and I almost ran off the road I was rocking so hard.

There you go.

PS - Big day tomorrow. Cross your fingers.

Helpful: Hackett for Congress

Shoulda put this up earlier. Drop some coin for an Paul Hackett, an Iraq War veteran running for Congress in Ohio. The election is Tuesday, so every dollar helps get out that vote!

Furry Friday

Too busy to post anything, so enjoy this picture from Flickr's Furry Friday. Maybe this weekend I'll get around to a Lolla wrap-up.

Big news

Big news
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

The Onion has the story.



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Lollapicaloozooza

Indigo Steve's got the goods.

The pies of Texas

The pies of Texas
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

Har dee har har.



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Audio Post 5

Audio Post 4

Heat is a battle.

Heat is a battle.
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

Guess who's losing?



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Audio Post 3

The Ponys

The Ponys
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

They were good.



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Audio Post 2

Audio Post 1

Chicago skyline

Chicago skyline
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

Ain't it purty?



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Lotsapaleople

Lotsapaleople
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

Cake is playing now. this is the closest we can get.



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We made it.

We made it.
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

M83 is first up.



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Liveblogging Lollapalooza

Indy, Cindy and I will be at Lollapalooza today. Look out for live audio and photo blog updates.

Interesting: New Texas Motto

Picture003.jpg
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

We saw this at an outlet mall in Plano last weekend. At first I thought this was just another interpretation of the "Getting Things Done" personal productivity philosophies of David Allen.

Turns out it has much more blue collar roots.

Interesting beer

Interesting beer
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

In between Shiners, there was this.

Helpful: Texas has great Mexican food

So I did get some Shiner and Taco Cabana last weekend. Can't ask for anything more than that from the state of Texas.

Tomorrow, a conference for work, then some corporate team-building.

Audio Blogger test.

Do you hear anything?

Update: So it works. Audioblogger. It's free. You can call a number and have your recording pop up as a blog post in just 20 seconds or so. I think this will come in VERY handy this weekend.

Attention Shiner Bock

I'm going to be drinking you very soon. Look out Dallas!

Josh Marshall on Rove

Link.

And nothing was done amiss? If Rove et al. didn't do anything wrong, why have they spent two years lying about what they did? No law was broken? Then what is Fitzgerald looking at? Why is a grand jury investigating Rove? A prosecutor like Fitzgerald, a Republican appointee, wouldn't be throwing journalists in jail unless he thought he was investigating a serious crime.

What's their answer to that? They have none. Rove runs the Washington Republican party, owns it. So it's anything but hold him accountable.

Helpful: Geek out!!

Challenging.

Interesting: Service warriors in action

Tip your waiter, and don't mess with the bouncer.

On second thought

The Town Hall experiment is over. The first Ann Coulter column was so ridiculous, my monitor nearly fried. Sorry, buddy.

Victory!

Victory!
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

The green feather has been captured! Well done, Benson.



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New feature: Town Hall summaries

At a political Meetup last night, a friend recommended I start reading Town Hall, a conservative site, so I can stay in touch with how conservatives are framing issues. This, theoretically, may help me make more compelling arguments that will resonate with conservatives too.

I will try it. I've signed up for the daily newsletter, and I look forward to some serious issue debate on this site. For now, though, I will instead do a quick summary of the first story I read.

From the most annoying 20/20 correspondent ever, libertarian John Stossel.

Summary: Liberals are not as tolerant as they claim to be, because they don't care about my crappy book.

Helpful: Inside the Plame case

Scott, here's my #1 progressive political blog these days.

Helpful: Christmas is coming

Hint, hint.

Helpful: Don't hold your breath

Looks like Rove ain't going anywhere.

Interesting: depends on how you define "nothing"

AP Link: For two years, the White House has insisted that presidential adviser Karl Rove had nothing to do with the leak of a CIA officer's identity. And President Bush said the leaker would be fired.

But Mr. Bush's spokesman wouldn't repeat any of those assertions Monday in the face of Rove's own lawyer saying his client spoke with at least one reporter about Valerie Plame's role at the CIA before she was identified in a newspaper column.

Scott, I know your friends at The Corner are going to say that Karl didn't say her actual name, just "Wilson's wife" or "Alerie-Vay Ame-Play" or some crap like that. Sorry. Federal prosecutors don't spend 2 years in investigation and send journalists to jail and then get distracted by such nonsense. Rove sold out an agent for political points during wartime. Time for him to collect his Presidential Medal of Freedom, then go directly to the grand jury box.

I + H: Earth

Brought to you by Google.

For Scott

Oddjack.

Interesting: Steelers fan for life, and then some

I'm all for Steelers fans, but really? Really?

Helpful: Trains Still Running

Cta
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

London, we in Chicago are with you. And we'll keep riding.

Thanks Dad!

Thanks Dad!
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

'94 Gibson Gospel.



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Not as big as the ocean...

Not as big as the ocean...
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

But you can't tell from here.



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Oh no!

Oh no!
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

Beer obstruction!



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Long weekend

Long weekend
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

Go Cubbies!



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I want that job...

I want that job...
Originally uploaded by kuzmatt9.

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