This page contains all entries posted to Manufactured Environments in June 2003.

the blues of summer nights

The blues is hot music. It belongs to the summer when the sun is sweltering. It belongs to long days sitting by the side of the road. And so tonight I’m listening to the blues and thinking of the South, thinking of the Delta.

The day brought thunderstorms and quite a bit of rain. I decided not to bring an umbrella down to campus today because I’ve been longing to feel some summer rain. The storms have passed now, and the air lingers humid but cooler.

J. got me some freelance web work for the summer. It’s been a while since I’ve seen her. She’s been off to warmer climates, but we’re doing lunch next week. I should note for the record that John invited me over for cocktail hour on Friday. A good time was had by all. He assured that repeat invitations would be forthcoming because I said “lots of interesting things.”

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Clothes and soy latte redux

I went down and picked up some clothes for the Los Angeles trip. I needed a couple pairs of shorts and a couple of shirts. I went to Younkers first to look for shorts. I tried on several pairs but for some reason all of the shorts at Younkers looked really wide at the bottom. They were trim in the waist but the bottoms were flared out — almost skirt-like. Looking in the dressing room window, I noticed that after I tried on the Younkers shorts and then put on my usual Gap shorts, the Gap shorts looked really good. So I decided to go over to the Gap and found lots of shorts on sale. And they looked really good. So I bought a couple pairs. But while Gap was strong on shorts, it was weak on shirts. I went back to Younkers and found a couple fine shirts. My shopping is done. The wardrobe is prepared. I am (almost) ready to head out to L.A.

I happened to notice the other day that my website is the #1 hit in Google for “soy latte.” Glad to see that the vegans and vegeterians in the crowd are getting some use out of this website. You can read about my soy milk and rice milk experiment and taste test here. For some reason, Google is linking instead to this page. I’d think my actual soy taste test would be of more interest to Google users than my comments that the taste test is coming.

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A Striking Optimism

A few weeks ago I put up a new streaming mix that I called “Heartbreaks + Happiness.” I had been working on that mix since March and finally there at the end of May it was reaching fulfillment. But that version, alas, still had some rough edges that needed smoothing out. And so by June 11, I had a new vision for the mix. The mix garned a new name that reflected a striking optimism that had overtaken me. And so now we have “Heartbeats + Happiness” — the new mix CD from the DanielStout.com studios. It is finally FINALLY ready for consumption.

So while it’s still up there, you can catch the “Heartbreaks” version over on the Music page until it’s taken down in a couple of days, to be replaced by “Heartbeats.” And as I’ve been promising my friends a CD in the mail — now officially I’ll say, they’re coming very soon! I already have the padded envelopes and other necessary materials. If you’re not on my mailing list, send me a message via the contact page and tell me why you think I should include you.

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Old brick and Gehry

Grrr. I’ve been breathing fire all day. M and I went for a long walk on campus along the river, and I excised some of those demons in my blood today. We were noticing that the people who mow the campus lawns aren’t too careful around that Frank Gehry-designed building encased in shiny, silvery metal because the panels were all banged up and scratched close to ground level. The art museum on the campus of the U of Minnesota is very similar in appearance — ‘course that was also designed by Mr. Gehry around the same time.

M said she preferred the old buildings with character on the U of M campus to the modernistic Gehry design. I think there’s room for both type of buildings on campus. The problem with brick buildings is that they take about 50 years before they start looking cool. It takes decades to build up that patina. Old brick is a very cool looking material. But the titanium panels on these Gehry buildings looked cool the day they were finished building them. Would I want to work in one of these buildings? Maybe. Maybe not. But they’re great eye candy. Much more interesting to look at than your typical building.

I did most of my grad school studies up in Seashore Hall, which has that old brick character. Unfortunately, the building is also in the process of falling apart. They’re building a new journalism school over by the comm studies building now. How will it look when it’s done? The computer rendered drawings I’ve seen probably don’t do it justice.

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And the radio man says rock and roll lives

We’re listening to Ruby Vroom by Soul Coughing tonight. This is a good album. If my memory serves me correctly, this was their debut. Soul Coughing wasn’t the most prolific band, but they did some interesting music while they were still together. I especially like “Screenwriter’s Blues.” The use of an upright bass adds a bit of class, and the samplers add a modern feel.

There’s a storm rolling in tonight. The windows are open, and there some thunder and lighting going on. I must admit I like summer thunderstorms. Especially at night with the electricty shooting across the sky. Of course, here in the midwest we tend to get tornados sometimes as well, but those usually show up in the springtime. The thunderstorms though are an experience.

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Trees

Don’t get me wrong, but trees can smell really good. It’s a smell that for me brings back memories. Every time I go back to visit my alma mater — especially in late spring when things are blooming — the trees on campus are very fragrant. It’s the same way here in Iowa City. I love walking by the art building where you can just breathe in that smell. It’s a happy smell for me because it has so many happy associations in my mind. What a great smell! The smell of trees reminds me of long hikes, camping out in the wilderness, cool lakes at dawn. It’s a smell that brings you back in touch. And that’s a good thing.

We went to the Midtown for supper and ran into some people from work there. It seems to be a popular spot — I always seem to run into somebody there I know. Afterwards, we headed out for a movie. Nothing heavy, just a little light summer entertainment. There’s not much on right now that I want to see. I so rarely go to movies anymore it seems. The last movie I went to that gave me some bang for the buck was Old School. That was a funny movie. I’d like to see the Pianist, and I see that it’s out on DVD now.

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Belly gonna git ya

Here’s a “wacky” Reebok ad of a runner chased by a big, big beer belly. “Belly belly belly belly’s gonna get ya.” This ad would definitely be a hit in my home state of Wisconsin where they drink lots of the stuff. Beer, that is. It’s in Quicktime. Tip of the hat to BoingBoing.

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Heartbeats + Happiness

Heartbeats + Happiness - 11 June 2003

TRACKS

1. Manu Chao - Trapped By Love
2. Manu Chao - Le Rendez Vous
3. Soul Coughing - $300
4. The Beautiful South - Song For Whoever
5. The Decemberists - July, July!
6. The Stone Roses - One Love
7. Ilhan Ersahin - Girl
8. The Soggy Bottom Boys - I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow
9. Zwan - Of A Broken Heart
10. The Stone Roses - Ten Storey Love Song
11. Wilco - I’m the man who loves you
12. U2 - Lemon (Jeep Mix)
13. a-ha - Living A Boy’s Adventure Tale
14. Thievery Corporation with LouLou - Un Simple Histoire
15. The Decemberists - Shiny
16. Interpol - NYC
17. S-Tone Inc - Limbe
18. Underworld - Luetin
19. Herbie Hancock - The Eye of the Hurricane

Running time: 79 minutes, 18 seconds.

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Orman in Fortune

Nothing like a little Chopin waltz to get the blood moving.

I was reading the latest Fortune magazine tonight, and noticed a profile of Suze Orman, the personal finance guru. I have read one of her books mostly out of curiousity called The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom. It wasn’t a bad book. Fairly basic financial advice, though taken best with a grain of salt. Some of the book was straightforward financial material, but there was also the “feel good” section. This was absolute trash. I could see where someone with a more developed philosophy could turn her musings into something substantial, but as presented in that volume, her new age leitmotif was horribly underdeveloped and felt mostly out of place. The book would have been better without that material. But as for the Fortune article, they were a little harsh on her — mostly making fun of her as a person than for her ideas.

If you’re looking for basic books on personal finance, I’d recommend Ric Edelman’s The Truth About Money. There’s a lot of bullshit in the personal finance sector, but if you go down to your local library you may find a wealth of information. Write down some titles and authors and research them online to see what you want to read. I know my local library has stacks upon stacks of books on investing, personal finance, retirement, and so on. I’ve checked out literally dozens of books over the past four or five years to augment my knowledge of financial issues, and personally I think it’s helped me foment my financial philosophy.

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Another year marked

Wow. It was a fast 30th year. And now today I am one more. Today was the big 31st b-day. M. and I chilled out most of the day. We watched a good movie and otherwise were pretty relaxed today. M. got me a great gift — very thoughtful! — and had the coolest card with it. I don’t know where she got that card, but it was really damn cool. It had this translucent exterior with a tiny square card within. Wow!

Thanks also to everyone who bought me gifts from my Amazon Wish List. The DVD’s & book & CD’s are much appreciated!

As a gift to myself, M. and I headed over to the cellular place, and I picked up a new cell phone that I’d had my eye on for a while. I’m not enough of a geek to tell you make & model, but it’s a very, very nice phone. And definitely not a Nokia!

Yeah, it was all-in-all a pretty mellow, relaxed birthday. Various friends have been taking me out to lunch lately. John has tomorrow’s slot. We’re heading over to the China Star at noon. So stop by and say hi if you’re downtown around noon tomorrow.

Have a good week, dear readers!

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Darren Emerson

Tonight we’re buzzing off to Darren Emerson’s Episode 1. Emerson used to be in Underworld, which is one of my favorite bands, and this is a DJ-mixed double-disc set of his, released not too long ago on his Underwater label.

I’ve still got a hint of a cold. I was coughing this morning, but tonight I’m better. The stress should start to level off with work now that the semester is over.

A dear friend of mine sent along 6 mix CD’s with nearly 80 minutes of new, wonderful music on each. It’ll take some time to get through all of these. I digest new music fairly slowly. He had apparently been recording each mix over the past year and a half, and realized he had a stack of them to send. It’s exciting when I grab onto the Wall Street Journal in my mailbox and find there’s something big and lumpy behind it. I love getting packages from people. But it’s a two-way street. I send out a lot of packages, and so people do the same.

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LAX and other destinations

I’ve been listening to a 5-song ep by Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Great stuff. It has a great rough vibe with female vocals verging on desperation. Edgy and cool. Thanks to a special someone for buying me this off of my wish list.

Besides that I’ve been rocking the casbah to a lot of classical the past few days, since getting my new piano on Monday. It feels good to have an 88-key keyboard in the house again — like an old friend has finally come home to stay. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve played on a daily basis, but I fell into the groove on Monday night with no trouble at all.

A piano needs no accompaniment. I am the master of my own domain.

Anyway, I’m still planning out my trip to Los Angeles. The tickets are bought of course (flying from Iowa to LAX for $236 round-trip!) but I still need to get more of an itinerary together for my time out there. We’re planning on some fun excursions — more details to come. In the meantime, I’m planning a short trip up to Minneapolis later this month for a conference. Details are also forthcoming.

Whew. After the stress of last week at work, I’m battling off a slight cold, but I’m sure I’ll be up to shape in a day or two. Hopefully in time for the 31st b-day….

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A new piano

The delivery truck stopped by my home today and dropped off this (click the thumbnail to expand):

It’s a Yamaha digital piano. I’m very excited! I’ve played piano most of my life, but it’s been a few years since I’ve had one at home to play. My last piano was this monstrous upright that had seen better days, but it was a blast. This time around I opted for the digital equivalent — easier to move and I can jam with the headphones on when necessary. I played for an hour tonight, getting familiar with it. It’s comes with some sequencing software, which I’ll have to install on my laptop — I’ll check out the MIDI connection here. And maybe instead of streaming mixes on my music page, I’ll post some really hard rockers like Chopin, Haydn, Bach, and Schumann. Anyway it’s great to have a decent musical instrument back in my life.

Any requests?

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