Monday, February 21, 2011

Stranded Again

I have taken 3 trips back to Fargo this winter, and on all 6 legs of those flights I have been delayed by weather.  Yesterday was just the longest.

I learned Saturday night that my 5:00 pm Sunday flight back to D.C. was cancelled.  Talking to the booking agent, he said I should be safe going with a Sunday morning flight, since the snow wasn't expected to be a problem until the afternoon.  So, I switched to a 7:55 am flight from Fargo that would go through Boston.

When I got there the next morning, the flight to Boston had also been cancelled, and there were no seats on Monday flights either.  I am now on the 5:00 am flight from Fargo on Tuesday, and am told I got the last seat on that flight.  Yikes.

The rather large upside was I got to go to the planetarium yesterday with Christian as planned.  Kind of a silly show about why Pluto isn't a planet, followed by looking at the winter night sky, which he loved.

A Complex Piece of Music

Barry Ritholtz poses a challenging piece for the pianists out there.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Boring Headline Winner

Via The New Republic, the winner of the Boring Headline Challenge I didn't know they were having was one from NPR:

"Chemist Doubts Hair-Straightener With Formaldehyde-Free Formula"

That is a doozy.

Recipe for Coke Revealed?

Reviving an old story, someone says they found the heavily-guarded secret recipe for Coca-Cola in the '70s.  This American Life has the story, and apparently the traffic to their Web site crashed their servers.

h/t to Sullivan, who always finds these neat little tidbits.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Off to Fargo...

I'm off early, early tomorrow to Fargo for the weekend.  Looks like the temp was actually above 40 there today, but I'll be hitting the more traditional February weather.  It'll be interesting to see how deep the snow is.

On a related note, with everyone very worried about prospects for major flooding in the area for the third straight year, it will be strange not to be in the middle of the action from a governmental perspective.  The 2009 flood was essentially my introduction to my congressional sojourn, accidental since the flooding began only a couple weeks after I started working in the Senate.

Now, to bed.  My cab comes at 4:45...

Monday, February 14, 2011

Creative Destruction of Whole Industries

The last decade hasn't been kind to these 20+ things you used to not be able to live without, but now you probably haven't thought of in quite a while.  The fax machine, video stores and VCRs, dial-up service...they're all here.  Now, I still love me a good record store, but they're a lot harder to find than they used to be.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Trick Shot Master

My brother sends along this video of a college QB who can do amazing things with a football.

Monday, February 7, 2011

The Dinner Table

My most excellent friend Nathan is working on another film, this one more ambitious than some of his more recent humorous pieces for Funny or Die (See Nick Cage and his Agent here).

He's updating the progress on "The Dinner Table" on Tumblr.

A preview is here.

No Words...They Should've Sent...a Poet...

Garrett's cheese popcorn may be the best-tasting food I have ever had.  Ever since I absently bought a small bag at Chicago's O'Hare Airport a couple months ago while waiting for my flight, I have been craving some more, so when I got home I broke down and paid too much to have them ship me some.  My goodness, it is almost actually unbelievable, if I can be the first American (including myself) in the last 10 years to use that word according to its definition rather than as just a dumbed-down version of "impressive"...

Looking at the nutritional information I can see why it's so awesome.  If I could put that much cheese and butter on my own popcorn it would taste pretty sweet too.  Nevertheless, I am not able to definitively say that I've had anything that's tasted better than this.  My tongue is mildly numb from the experience.  If you get to Chicago or New York, do yourself a favor and seek them out.

The Malcolm Gladwell Book Generator

For another bestseller, just click here.

h/t Andrew Sullivan

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Some Guy in a Brown Suit

Jessica found this photo from a hearing on the NAWS water distribution project held August 12 in Minot.  Some guy's sitting there next to the Senator.  This hearing turned out to be a major impetus for getting the talks we held with Canada moving.

Yep, I made the chart.

GOP Blocks Obama Bill to Stop Asteroid Headed for Earth

From America's Finest News Source.

h/t to Brad DeLong.

Mom and Son

Photos of my sister and her new son, Spencer, now almost a month old.  More here.