I hear what the singer sings. It is my gift, it is my curse.



Peter Watts to my Frank Black pointed out this 80's lyric quiz the other day. I scored a whopping 123.5 (point 5?). I was just talking about earbugs (ok it was a couple of weeks ago) and this quiz reminds me as to why I am so susceptible to them. I often can hear a song once, and have a substantial portion of the lyrics down pat. This is particularly annoying with those annoying pop groups. I have to work with the music at work, and I am stuck with it for days. At least I am able to force my wife to share in my agony through my horrendous singing...

By the way, I hope that Jaquandor answered number 73 correctly. And I take a twisted satisfaction knowing that Dan will correctly answer number 19.

A couple quick space links...

So long Voyager.

Biggest solar flare ever...

Please stand by. Posting will resume shortly.

Come On...

You should have that checked...

Well, the coronal mass ejection is on it's way. Hold on tight to your cell phones. I'm sure my comments will be affected in some way, they seem to go down with the slightest breeze. A few years ago, Krista's pager service was knocked out for a couple of days by a solar storm, and this one sounds like it is going to be a biggie.

It looks like we will have cloudy skies here in the Twin Cities, but if you have clear skies tonight, get out and look for the Northern Lights.

How about catching the aurora in Cuba? Well maybe not this time, and not just because it would involve illegal travel. But back in 1859 the biggest solar storm ever recorded allowed just that, as well as causing a bit of trouble with the high tech contraptions of the time. Read about it here.

The image above comes from SOHO (The Solar and Heliospheric observatory). Here is a screen saver that provides near real-time images of the Sun from SOHO.

"I Love It!" She Said

Krista's new ride.

Oops!.. I did it again

Ever get an earworm? You know, those songs that get stuck in your head, sometimes for days? For the longest time Ms. Spears had a strangle hold on my brain. Chili's jingles also often plague me. For the exorcism of these malevolent musical maladies, I usually try to get a more appealing song to force the worm out. Too often though this humming to myself will not work, and I am stuck with it until I can gain access to a more apt aural antidote. The most persistent may require a full dose of Beck's Odelay.

Most of the time though, I don't mind the infestations, as they tend to be songs I enjoy (Mitsubishi commercials usually fall into this category). They can even help when there is no stereo around. Friendly earworms are always welcome on long motorcycle rides.

So what are some of your earworms, and how do you get rid of them?

(cross-poted to Collaboratory)

A couple of days ago Jaquandor posted a link to a test you all should take. Provided are 60 album covers, minus the titles and band names. How many do you know. I scored but 20.

You are Neo, from "The Matrix." You
display a perfect fusion of heroism and
compassion.


What Matrix Persona Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

This quiz brought to you courtesy A Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy.

I Want to Tell You

Krista and I saw "Concert for George" last night. It was fab.

As a film, it was a nearly perfect mix of documentary and concert. It concentrated on the music, but threw in bits of interview at just the right time and of just the right amount. Eric Clapton did a wonderful job putting the concert together, and all of the performances were outstanding. Paul McCartney, Ringo, Clapton, Billy Preston, Jeff Lynne, a composition by Ravi Shankar, and many others. There were even a couple of appearances by Monty Python (minus John Cleese). One great moment was a shot of Ringo and Eric Clapton joking around during the rehearsal, but in the background was Dhani Harrison shaking his guitar in the air, top down, trying to get a pick out of the sound hole.

I smiled through the whole film. I don't think a recorded performance has ever given me chills before, but Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton singing "Something" did. If you love George Harrison, you must see this. If you are at all a fan of the Beatles, you should see this. And you can do so with my assurances that Jeff Lynne's heavy handed mixing is not present in the soundtrack.

Well, it appears my comments are missing once again... So any comments you have you can e-mail me, and I will make sure they make it up here.

Well of course as soon as I put this post up, the comments reappeared. If they go down again, you know where to find me.

Ok, real funny. As soon as I amended this post to note the reappearance of the comments, poof, gone again.

So, another week, another win. Just wait 'til November when both Daunte and Bennett are back. Normally I would avoid this sort of optimism for fear of a jinx, but the Vikings appear to be immune to my positivism.

I was not able to watch the game on Sunday, but caught most of it on the radio as Krista and I took in in the sights along Lake Superior's north shore (should "north shore" be capitalized with this usage? Anyone... Anyone...). Anyway, I am still no closer to solving my jersey dilemma. I was leaning towards Williams (Moe) or Chavous (and this weeks game did nothing to deter this) but last week at work someone made the comment (totally unrelated to any of this) that I seemed like a Kleinsasser kind of guy. This was the same coworker who's last words to me before my trip to Vegas this past spring were "Black 22." For those of you not in the know, my first night there I was tempted to bet black 22 at a $20 roulette table, but decided this was foolish, and I should save my money for the $1 blackjack tables. Of course the little ball landed on black 22, and I was spared the $700 pay-out...

But I digress. I need some input here folks. I know that there are at least a couple of you around here with some insight and opinions. Jaquandor offered up Chris Walsh, and that would have settled it, were not for the fact that he is no longer on the team. It appears that Jaq may get most of his Vikings news from this weblog, and that ain't saying much. Maybe I should alert him to The Strib...

Well, it appears that Adam is dissatisfied with the frequency of my posting. This has prompted him to promise the creation of a blog that is gonna blow our collective socks off. I await eagerly.

Build your own space-based telescope.
Here is a cool activity, if I had the time, I might build one myself. It's even got printable decals for the exterior.

Ok, we've got a good lead, lets go ahead and put in Frerotte.. Oh, never mind then.

Well, I was under the impression that there was a game at the Metrodome today. I showed up, bought my Dome Dog and beer, but where was the game? Actually, the first three quarters were a lot of fun, and as of my writing this, the Vikes are the only 4-0 team in the NFL (of course this will likely change later this afternoon).

And now for my yearly dilemma. For the past couple of years, I have been wanting to buy a Vikings jersey, but I never can decide on the player. I was down to Chris Walsh, and Tyrone Carter last year, and nearly decided on Robert Griffith the year before. Some close calls there. At this point the front-runners are Corey Chavous, Jim Kleinsasser and Moe Williams. And of course there is Daunte... Some help here people.

Oh, and someone might want to let the people at the dome know about the Segway recall. After the first quarter they had Segway races (no one was injured, apparently they are safer than sausage). At halftime, there was a game of Segway polo. It may have been the most boring halftime activity ever.

Two more moons found around Uranus.

There's gotta be a joke here somewhere...

Jaquandor comments on his favorite time of year.

Fall has always been my favorite time of the year as well. I love the crispness in the air, and I love working outside, or in the garage in this weather. But the past couple of years I have had some mixed feelings. It is still warm enough during the day to get in a decent bicycle ride in, but not for much longe. And the eye-candy on the trails and beaches is covered up or gone. I also know that the time is not far off when the overnight temperature will dip to a point that is too cold to ride the motorcycle to work (36 degrees). On the flip side, this summer we purchased an out-door fire pit, and I think we may get to use it for the first time this weekend.

Eat your heart out capybara.

Crap.

A couple of weeks ago I took Jaquandor up on on the Five Questions Challenge. Dan requested five of his own. As Dan doesn't have A Blog of His Own, I present to you my questions to Dan, and his answers.

1. You have at least a few nicknames (Shag, The Pizza Killer, The Panther). Which is your favorite, and what was the origin of the alias?

I'll throw in a couple of more: Sturdy Frame, Rude Nudie, Deadeye. My favorite, perhaps The Panther.

The summer of 96 I was training for the marathon, and on a particularly hot, tiring run (somewhere up in Long Lake Regional Park, I believe). In my delirium, I started chanting something about, "They can't stop The Panther. Panther's gonna get em. Here comes the Panther, etc." I can only assume it was that dormant Native American blood in me (my great great granddad was Fox Indian) conjuring up my animal sign during my time of trial. An unexpected Vision Quest.

2. You have a penchant for making lists and applying ratings to everything in sight. What is your most recent rating endeavor, and name your top five favorites of the items.

Funny, I can't recall a specific recent instance--though I am sure I was mulling over the most popular item about which to make a list: favorite musical artists. So here I go (and sorry, there's 6 cause of the tie): 1) Beatles 2)McCartney 3) U2 4) Prince 4) Paul Simon (tie) 5) Willie Nelson

3. Star Trek. TOS, or TGN? Oh, and your favorite episode from each.

TOG, and it's not even close. For TOG, the best episodes in terms of great all-around television are probably Space Seed, Trouble With Tribbles, & City on the Edge of Forever--and I might go with TwT, though I would be remiss if I didn't mention my campy favorite, The Savage Curtain (featuring Abraham Lincoln grappling with Genghis Khan and the infamous pants split).

4. You are currently (or soon will be) taking more classes to further your GIS training. For everyone that doesn't know, what the hell is GIS, and where do you hope to end up in the field?

GIS Geographic Information Science (though it can also refer to Geographic Information Systems--the tools the GIS person uses). The classes are for my masters degree. My goals are to a) Work in a geographic location that inspires me daily b) Do something meaningful to myself that benefits society c) Make enough money doing it that Sharon can quit
working if she wants (as in she has expressed an interest)

5. And this last one I am stealing from Jaquandor, because I just gotta know. If you could fly in any fictional air or spacecraft, which one would it be?

The Galileo 7! Actually, that's probably one you definitely WOULDN'T want to be on. I'd go with probably the Land Speeder. But Christ, WASH the thing occasionally, Luke!