2008 Election Rant #1

I was sent this link to an essay by Garrison Keillor about the current presidential campaigns and how none of them seem to have a true sense of wit in attacking other candidates. He writes:

The candidates are hoping to be affable, brave, capable, decisive, electable, etcetera, but wit and combativeness are not evidently what Americans hope for in a leader, otherwise the pollsters would have located this hope, measured it, and speechwriters would be assigned to write invective that truly lashes and makes the lashee weep for pain. Personally, I think it would be a blast.

It's an interesting point of view from GK, but isn't it a bit sad to think that what people really want from presidential candidates us mere entertainment? What about signs of compassion? respect? dignity?

This is why I don't follow campaigns this early in the game (and it is all about the game), because nothing of genuine value seems to emerge, just sniping and whining, like what is already happening between Clinton and Obama. As the attacking becomes more desperate in the weeks before the conventions, it seems the campaigns will be hoping to impress us with how well they can "slam" the other candidate with negative accusations. It's like a schoolyard insult contest, and I'm supposed to vote for someone just because they made a better "Yo' mama so fat..." joke about their competition. Please....

I want to see a candidate rise to the occasion by not underestimating the intelligence of this country. If attacked, defend with clear, easily explained evidence to the contrary, and move on without giving in to the urge to attack back. Show that you can stand up to bullying like that, and I'll believe you can stand up to the world and follow your convictions.

Prove that you can admit you're wrong if you are, and let me know why you made a mistake, but don't let such a thing define you. Just admit you're human like me, that you understand that being President is one of the worst jobs in the world, but that you know you're ready to take it on anyway because you have a passion for the welfare of this country and its people that has built up so strongly inside you that you just can't sit by and watch the opportunity to do something about it vanish.

That's who I want to vote for. I don't think I've found them yet.

"Don't try to be original, just try to be good."

Yes, in fact everything IS louder than before

As I suspected, there has been a growing trend in music production over the past decade or so to increase the compression in mastering, which makes everything sound louder (and less dynamic) than it really should.

Huh?

What it means is... well, take a look at this:

This probably shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, but it really is a sad thing, and I wonder if there will ever be a way for this trend to reverse itself. Greater memory capacity & processing power in portable music players? New storage methods or encoding for the future of digital music? Who knows.

Check out this great article from Rolling Stone for more in-depth info about all this and what it may mean for the decline of civilization in general, and excuse me while I go dig out my Steely Dan...

Sing your own Christmas Carol Mashup!

For some strange reason, I began humming the tune to "Desperado" by the Eagles. But since I was walking through the snow on my way to work, instead of the lyrics to that song in my head, I began to hear the lyrics to "Frosty the Snowman" instead, and was pleasantly surprised that they matched up really well.

Try it yourself and impress your friends at your next holiday party. Know of any other traditional holiday songs that work with a different melody? Let me know!

Happy Hands for Cold Climates

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have always been a fan of great design that also fulfills a practical goal. To that end, I was super excited to discover my new favorite winter outerwear - the Access Mitt from Loki.

I've always tended to favor mittens over gloves - they're almost always warmer. Recently, I've had a pair of the old style half-finger gloves, but they were made of fleece and once they got wet, they got cold.

The Access Mitt fixes that - it's a perfectly waterproof, insulated mitt that allows quick and easy use of not just your fingers, but your whole hand. It's a great design that just makes you wonder why nobody's thought of this before. It gives you fast and easy access to your wallet, your phone, anything else that needs dexterity, without the need to remove and potentially lose a mitten.

Did I also mention they're super warm? That they look great and are made really well with high quality materials, but you can get them online for less than $50? Check out this YouTube video for even more specs on this cool new winter gear: