nmcfarl - Space Needle + Mount Rainier

Space Needle + Mount Rainier

11:00:59 MST on Monday July 31 2006 #

I grabbed this shot a couple of weeks ago, walking down Queen Anne on a pretty, and very clear day.

Seattle Skyline with Space Needle and Rainier

The French Blog

11:26:28 MST on Sunday July 30 2006 #

And do they ever according to this truly fascinating article in the NYTimes more than 60% of France has visted a blog in the last month compared with just 30% of the US. And they spend more time reading when they go. And write longer, more opinionated(!) pieces when they write.

Some highlights:

"You cannot be elected president of France without a blog"

And one hard-charging blogger, Christophe Grébert, faced lawsuits for allegations published on his blog about the government of his Paris suburb.

Ze knows about hard chargers, if you are wondering.

These people are living in the future, and yet they are French. Of course they are living in a very French future, but what can you expect.

A Scene

17:05:10 MST on Saturday July 29 2006 #

About an hour ago I went out for Groceries. I walked down 19th a 1/2 block to Thomas, this is a reasonably large intersection and has one of those 4 way blinking red lights. I notice that Thomas is closed westbound on the block east of me. Very odd. As I'm staring at it a man crosses the street on that side, at about 3/4 of the across, he completely sinks into a pit of still liquid concrete. I mean up to his knees, and then has to crawl out, with concrete all over himself. He shakes off and keeps walking.

It was like it was out of a movie. Surreal.

Claw Foot Tub

20:59:46 MST on Sunday July 23 2006 #

The new place came with a clawfoot tub, and since it was not particularly attractive I did not count it as a point in it's favour. This was because I'd thought that attractive was what the mystique was all about, but as I've now used said tub I'm happy to say I was wrong. Although numerous attractive specimens exist, the design is more to the point, the tub is large and deep - and has a sloping back which conserves water in a deep tub - and provides back support. On the whole these are very well designed tubs.

And, as it turns out mine does have one very attractive feature, a very cute faucet. :)

Net Neutrality

16:45:33 MST on Friday July 21 2006 #

Did I just say yesterday that YouTube was only good for old volkswagen ads ?

I must have been totally out of it - as it is also one of the best way to get snippets of The Daily Show :)

Like this one which has to be the most lucid description of net neutrality ever.

from Mike - over IM.

Video and the Web

16:01:58 MST on Wednesday July 19 2006 #

I've been a big fan of Ze Frank's the show for a while now. I think it's one of the best, and most entertaining things on the web today in any form - not just video. But it's almost the only video I watch on the web. RocketBoom was/is boring, and YouTube is mainly useful for viewing old Volkswagen ads.

Still there clearly is more and more video on the web. And it's now watchable technically, just not all that interesting as far as content goes. But that is changing slowly.

Yesterday after "the show" there was an ad for Soup of the Day. I went and checked it out. It's not exactly my cup of tea - but it is fascinating. It's a serial, a romantic comedy published on the web 3 times a week, with writers and actors and plot arcs. It's put together by Hollywood types but on what appears to be a shoestring budget. There is no obvious monetization going on - not on the web at least, but it looks like they are planning on releasing a DVD which will surely be aimed at making money.

An interesting show, with interesting content. And an interesting project in and interesting space. Just cool.

Israel

21:28:40 MST on Friday July 14 2006 #

This Flash graphic from the NYtimes is the best thing I've found yet to track and understand what the heck is going on in Israel's distressing little war with Hezbollah.

Update: Thomas PM Barnets take: Iran launches a pre-emptive war ...