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In another prescient commentary, Keith Olbermann does it again, cataloging the list of moving criteria for what should "count" in the democratic race... Of course, now the news is filled with reports that Hillary will use the "nuclear option" - no, not nuking Iran, but fighting for the rump Michigan and Florida delegations to be seated at the convention - and may fight during the convention itself. Given how George McGovern has now bailed on Hillary, and Wes Clark is telling her to drop out*, I think the clock is really ticking now. The only question is, will she bother to notice? * OK, maybe not - the HuffPo article on this is now gone, replaced by this one... So is this CYA, or a misreport, or...? Could this show how Hillary is thrashing, or just how the press is eager to find some resolution here? Tags: 2008, clinton, democratic primaries, keith olbermann, obama, video clip
Current Location: At Work, alas (not like I'm actually working, *sigh*)
Current Mood: bemused
Current Music: NIN, _Year Zero Remixed_
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Jonathan Coulton with Paul & Storm
Majestic Theater, Madison
Friday, 2 May 2008 7:00 PM (<--note time change, I got it wrong before!)
For those of you who somehow doubt that YOU NEED TO GO SEE THIS SHOW, here are just a few examples of how awesome this show will be. Note: These videos are hot off the Internets - the bytes have barely settled into their bins, this is so hot!!!
Paul and Storm singing Nugget Man, Seattle, 26 April 2008This may be the same song as in my original post, but you can catch the spirit of banter here... Code Monkey - Seattle, 26 April 2008This is a great example of how fun these shows are - plus how awesome the songs are:
Molly sings Tom Cruise Crazy - Seattle, 26 April 2008Last but far from least, this is the JoCo performance debut of Molly (aka sweetafton23 on YouTube), singing JoCo's Tom Cruise Crazy. Molly's ukelele based rendition of this song launched her success on YouTube, and there are many other great videos on her YouTube Channel. Anyone who watches these videos and then says, "Aw, I don't need to go to this show..." is la lost soul, truly hopeless. If you are such a person, then I pray for you. For the rest of you, if you can't get to the Majestic to get tickets ASAP, then contact me ASAP so I can get you a ticket!!!!
Tags: fun, jonathan coulton, lost souls, madness, paul and storm. molly, seattle, videos
Current Location: At Work, but at home at the same time...
Current Music: Tom Cruise Crazy, perrformed by Molly
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(Edit: Corrected Show time to 7 PM...)
Friday, Friday, Friday!!!!
Yes, this Friday, May 2nd will see the triumphant return of Jonathan Coulton to the Majestic Theater in Madison, accompanied by his award-winning Opening Band (sic), Paul and Storm.You may have heard any number of things about these two acts, from their odd onstage antics to the terrible incident at Coultonfield, but the fact is they are even more amazing and entertaining in person... especially with the sort of crowd that Madison brings to a show like this! The show is scheduled to begin at 7 PM, or whenever Paul and Storm get around to kicking things off with their trademark opening song. There will be the normal wisecracking and offbeat-but-insightfully tuneful humorous music for a number of songs, and then the true chaos and mayhem will begin when JoCo takes the stage. A few notes about the show: - There WILL be Pirates, Mad Scientists, Zombies and Pyschotic Computers there. You have been warned.
- People with moral objections to chicken nuggets, Peeps, or apostles may be faced with new personal dilemmas.
- While there is likely to be a Nun Fight during the show, it is not likely to get physical.
- Anyone with aversions to monkeys, dwarf planets, laughing hysterically, or wonderful songs is strongly encouraged to STAY AWAY.
Since last December's show sold out on the night of, all are STRONGLY encouraged to get tickets AHEAD OF TIME. (Online tix are available here, but the "extra fees" are at least $3-5...) If you really want to go but can't get tix beforehand, let me know, I will likely be picking up tickets a few times during the week (at least until they are actually sold out...) And remember, a splendid time is guaranteed for all! Tags: joco, live show, majestic theater, pns, splendid time
Current Location: At Home (Big Blue Chair in Living Room)
Current Mood:  ecstatic
Current Music: Big Bad World One, Jonathan Coulton
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This morning NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday had an interview with the proprietor of a pizza place in Portland. He said the price of wheat has tripled in the last year, and that dairy prices have kept rising for over a year, including a rise of over 25% in one week. But he said they have only raised their prices 10%, since they had not changed for years and years, and wanted to try and contain them... So how long until these sorts of price changes start showing up in government statistics?! How many more costs are being socked by businesses (especially small businesses), and how long can they keep doing that? Is this what was going on in '73-'75, which was followed by the mess of the late 70s? Or is this different somehow? I don't want to spread FUD, but while I was less worried about this domestically, now I'm feeling very uneasy... Tags: economics, fear, inflation, uncertainty
Current Location: At Home, pondering my navel
Current Mood:  worried
Current Music: NPR Weekend Edition - Saturday
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So today on NPR's arketplace, they had a yet another report on how global commodity prices keep rising. Commodities include such things as steel, wood, or oil (which we all have heard about) - but it also includes basic foodstuffs, like wheat, corn, and rice. A couple of weeks back there was a report from a bakery in the US, where they pointed out the price of wheat has risen nearly 50% over the last year. Dunno if anyone's seen that at the grocery store, but you will. There's also been a lot of discussion about the high price of corn, due to Well here's some really lovely news to make you feel really good about where the world is headed: the price of rice, which was $250 a ton in 2005, $300 a ton in 2006, and $500 ton at the start of the year, is now $850 a ton. Yep, you got that right - the price of rice has *doubled* in the last six months. And you know, while we all love corn and wheat, the interview pointed out that 1.5-2 BILLION people eat rice as their major primary or sole source of food (it's hardly just the Japanese...or SE Asia, it's also large parts of Africa). As a result, several countries have now stopped exporting rice, to help manage domestic prices - which of course means the global price will keep rising. There were food riots in Haiti last week (I caught the brief report on NPR, but saw NO other coverage)... and now one wonders where else we may see them. Oh, and in addition to housing prices continuing to fall, building permits tanked, which suggests that new construction is almost dead in the water. Meanwhile, while Rome smoulders, Wall Street celebrated the apparently glowing stock earnings of several major banks (gee, wonder how carefully those were audited?) by seeing the DJIA go up 2%. Talk about short term views... Interesting times, folks, interesting times. I'm going to go to archery now, and have some careful conversations with certain people... Tags: commodities, economic tipping points, inflation, prices
Current Location: At Home, pondering my navel
Current Mood: shocked
Current Music: None (alas)
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Once again, those fine folks at 23/6 (the Onion-like spinoff of HuffPo) have found a real life video clip that even the most whacked out comedy writer could not top - if it were not so goddamned sad. This video of parents blaming the Internet for kids attacking their daughter is simply.. mind-numbing. Has it gotten to the point where we can't hold parents responsible for their children's behavior anymore? Or are these parents, like so many others, simply clueless about where real responsibility lies? OK, you don't have to answer that one... the answer is pretty obvious, isn't it? God help us all. *deep sigh* Tags: 23/6, anti-christ, blame shifting, clueless, myspace, parents, video
Current Location: At Work, alas
Current Mood: vexed
Current Music: John Mayer, "Why Georgia" (one of my favorites!)
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In the first of what may be a series (I know, I suck at these things), I'm going to try an Idea of the Day posting... On the Tech Republic 10 Things blog, I came across an article on "10 ways to explain things more effectively". While writing a response to a snarky comment, I realized that this is really about Active Listening. As I wrote there (with links added to the site of Gordon Training International, which is where I learned about active listening): (Previous comment:)
How are you supposed to ask someone ... to explain what you just said in their own words? And to ask them without sounding like their mother or teacher or just a plain jerk?
(My response:)
The answer to this is to turn it on its head - don't ask someone to repeat themselves, try summarizing what you heard, and ask them if you got it right.
The key is to simply state what it is you heard, trying to be clear and non-judgemental (of course that is the hard part - and it takes time to learn to do it well).
This technique is called Active Listening (and a bunch of other things, depending on who's using it and why), and it's been used in many fields, from industrial management and gathering requirements to personal relationships. Once you learn to do it well, it can improve your communication dramatically.
(One book I would highly recommend on this is Leadership Effectiveness Training (LET), I don't recall the author but you should be able to find it via Google.) Tags: active listening, communication, iotd, learning, training, working with users
Current Location: At Work
Current Mood: busy
Current Music: None
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OK, so while my recent kvetching about positive memes was rather cranky, I do enjoy a good meme, and so I've come up with my own: ------------------------------------ The Joke Meme!!! Sure, there's lots of things to laugh at in the world, but we all can use a little humor in our lives. Leave a comment with a joke, and I will respond in kind. Then post this in your journal, and spread the laughs! Note that with all the cross-posting folks often do as meme's spread, there's one special rule for this meme: you cannot use the same joke more than once! Tags: humor, joke meme, laughs, meme, original meme idea
Current Location: At Home (Big Blue Chair in Living Room)
Current Mood:  exanimate
Current Music: The chime of my newly repaired clock
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(taken from ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) naughtyaelf...) if you comment on this post, I will reply with something nice about you or why I like you. Then do the same on your journal, if you want to play too. (On a side note... why are all these memes so happy? Why aren't there any "Post an insult, and I will reply in kind", or "If you don't like me, say so, and if I feel the same way, I will respond..."? OK, so maybe it's pretty obvious why... but still, don't you wonder?) Tags: avoiding rejection, compliments, kindness, meme, mysteries, seeking approval
Current Location: At Home (Big Blue Chair in Living Room)
Current Mood:  sick
Current Music: None (alas)
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