This page contains all entries posted to Manufactured Environments in October 2005.

Real Good Friend—A New Mix

Real Good Friend - 31 October 2005

Download this mix as a single 61MB MP3 file. [removed]

TRACKS

1. Peace Train 3:28 10,000 Maniacs
2. We Could Send Letters 5:49 Aztec Camera
3. You Never Give Me Your Money 4:02 The Beatles
4. Fair 5:55 Ben Folds Five
5. Joga 5:04 Björk
6. Never Stop 4:13 The Brand New Heavies
7. Foxxy 6:07 Cassius
8. God Put A Smile Upon Your Face 4:57 Coldplay
9. American Dreaming 4:30 Dead Can Dance
10. Ode To My Family 4:31 The Cranberries
11. Bring On The Dancing Horses 3:58 Echo & The Bunnymen
12. Do You Want To 3:35 Franz Ferdinand
13. Real Good Friend 3:55 Greg Brown
14. Babooshka 3:30 Kate Bush
15. In The Great Unknown 4:42 Mary Fahl
16. Bluebeard 4:31 Cocteau Twins
17. Touched By The Hand Of God 7:04 New Order

Running time: 79 minutes, 23 seconds.

No Comments Yet »

Hotel Rwanda: A Lesson Yet to Be Learned

Paul Rusesabagina and Don Cheadle on the set of Hotel Rwanda

Paul Rusesabagina, the hotel manager who saved the lives of 1,268 people during the genocidal murder of about 800,000 members of the Tutsi tribe by members of the Hutu tribe, will speak about the horrors and implications of the 1994 Rwandan genocide tonight (October 27, 2005) at 7:30 p.m. CST in the Main Hall of the Center for Faith and Life on the Luther College campus. The lecture, titled “Hotel Rwanda: A Lesson Yet to Be Learned,” is free and open to the public. All seating is general admission and on a first-come, first-served basis. The lecture will be broadcast live on KWLC 1240AM with streaming audio available at http://kwlc.luther.edu/. If you can’t attend, I hope you can listen.

No Comments Yet »

Sox Sweep

The Chicago White Sox just swept the Houston Astros and ended the 2nd longest drought in World Series history. They hadn’t won since 1917. Who has the longest drought? That would be my team, the Chicago Cubs, who haven’t managed to win a World Series since 1908 or play in one since 1945. Since my hometown hasn’t even been to a World Series since 1959, I think this warrants another look at that baseball capped Picasso sculpture and a link to a true White Sox fan’s blog. Take it away Joel!

Addendum

I bet my friend and editor of Bean Soup Times, the south side’s funniest newspaper, Toure Muhammad is pretty happy too. Here is an excerpt from an article he ran yesterday:

Chicagoans say if the White Sox sweep the Houston Astros, then White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen should be swept into the Supreme Court. Several democrats agreed. “Well, first of all, he’s easier to understand than Miers,” said Congressman Harold Stickies (D-IL).

“And most importantly, we know what he stands for: The White Sox. What more could you want in a Supreme Court nominee that some one who fights for white sox? He’s not fighting for black sox, if you get my drift.”

‘Chicagoans demand Ozzie Guillen be nominated for Supreme Court’ in Bean Soup Times (October 26, 2005)

As Mama and Papa Bush were obviously cheering for the Astros, I doubt Ozzie will get the Supreme Court gig. How secure is Mayor Daley’s job?

Tags: baseball · chicago · sox · sports · white sox · world series

No Comments Yet »

Video Warehouse: The Final Rip-Off

Note:

I wrote this back on 8/19/2005. For some reason I never published this final entry of the Video Warehouse trilogy (see Video Warehouse and Customer Service and Video Warehouse Update). So, with the addition of a photo of the now boarded up building, here are what I hope to be my final words on the Video Warehouse.

I dropped by the Video Warehouse “We Lost Our Lease” sale to see what I could still purchase for $10 a DVD. The place had already been ransacked and striped of more than half of it’s inventory by 5:00pm. Shocked, I ran to see if The Decalogue Box Set ($79.95/$52.51) or Three Colors Trilogy ($39.99/$28.76) was still there. Drats! They were gone. If Bride and Prejudice ($29.99/$15.79) was snatched up by noon, I suppose I couldn’t really expect that anything as good as the Krzysztof Kieslowski sets would still be there when the after work crowd arrived. As I looked around, Peter Scholl commented that he could get DVDs for $3.00 when he was in China and wondered if $10 was really a good deal for DVDs. I shrugged. It might not be a good deal in China. In Iowa, however, people were running around frantically filling boxes with DVDs.

The truth is that $10 isn’t that good of a price for many new or used DVDs, even in Iowa. The only thing I purchased was a copy of Coffee and Cigarettes ($14.95/$5.40). Although I hadn’t seen it, I wanted it because I like Jim Jarmusch films and it featured, amongst other things, a scene with Lee Marvin’s picture hanging on the wall. It turns out that I could have purchased it new at Amazon for $11.96 (free shipping) or used for $7.89 ($2.49 for the shipping). Instead, I spent nearly $11 with tax for a used copy. Of course, I didn’t know that until just now. While I am still happy with my purchase, I am even happier that I didn’t join in the feeding frenzy of the “everything must go/these prices are insane” mind set. I do, however, feel bad for many of mothers I saw grabbing arms full of the kids DVDs that actually list for $9.99 or less.

So here is a special thank you for all of those people who purchased films like Paris, Texas ($9.98/$5.39) and Dark City ($9.97/$4.43). Thanks to those who bought as many John Sayles’, John Cassavetes’, or Coen Brothers’ flicks as they could afford. Not only did you save me from buying a bunch of DVDs I probably don’t need, but you saved me from beating myself up for paying too much for those DVDs. To the person who got the Kieslowski box sets, I hope they are so scratched they won’t play. I still really, really want The Decalogue.

Not everything was a rip off. Here are some things that were still there that I might go back and see if I can still purchase today for $9.

• La Dolce Vita ($39.98/$22.33)
• Solaris ($39.95/$26.00)
• A Short Film About Love ($29.95/$20.04)
• A Short Film About Killing ($29.95/$15.00)
• Le Revenants ($27.99/$9.99)

Note: DVD the prices in parenthesis are (List Price/Amazon Used Price)

Update

I never made it back to Video Warehouse to buy those DVDs.

Comments (2) »

Picasso Dons Sox Cap

While griping about a lack of White Sox ornamentation in Chicago, Rocky Mountain News sports columnist Bernie Lincicome noted that at least “[t]he Picasso sculpture in Daley Plaza was topped with a Sox cap Friday, front to back, not that it is easy to tell which side is which or whether the thing is a woman or a horse.” I was in Chicago this weekend and not only did I find the city buzzing with excitement, I snapped a photo of the 50-foot steel sculpture with my cell phone. Go Sox!

Tags: baseball · chicago · picasso · sox · sports · white sox · world series

Comments (1) »

The Loaf and the Archers

Apparently we wrote about listening to the Archers of Loaf when we were in Austin, Texas this summer, and our pal Laurie from Boston reminded us of that fact recently because she too is a fan. So we just want to take a moment and say this… We’ve been waiting a long time to say this. (The lights dim.) Okay…we’re ready…here goes: The Archers of Loaf fucking rock!

The Archers of Loaf are the quintessential college band. Their music was always slightly off tune but always great. By far our favorite album by them is Vee Vee. There’s just something kind of freaky and weird about some of the notes they play on that album, and our ear never tires of listening to it. The tonalities are unexpected and challenging. If it were another band, we would say they were off their rocker, but the Archers of Loaf pull it off remarkably well. It’s too consistent, too methodical to be an accident, and yet it’s totally spontaneous and sloppy at the same time.

So tonight we give thanks for the Archers of Loaf. We still love ya! The Archers may not be for everyone, but love them we do.

Comments (1) »

Lime Works (Factory Series)

Given our predilection for all things industrial, we wanted to share with you some interesting, visually dense photos of a Lime Works taken by Naoya Hatekeyama between 1991 and 1994.

On our to-do list: to write a blog entry about our favorite building here. Perhaps once we can explain that fully, the industrial connection will be clearer. We do love the world of industry—at least visually.

No Comments Yet »

A classical approach to Lollapalooza

In our continuing series of modern classical highlights, we want to tell you about a composer who rolls with the other modern minimalists we’ve talked about but is very distinctive. We love John Adams’ music. I suppose if you take us to task, that we’ll readily admit a penchant for minimalism. Our ear has distinctly warm vibrations with Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and John Adams, for example.

The pieces on Century Rolls are engaging, interesting and a delight to listen to. We especially want to point out the track called Lollapalooza. We don’t often hear people yelling “Crank it up!” on classical music, but Lollapalooza rocks! This is classical music that’s meant to be played loud. We admit to totally rocking out to this piece, not to mention the fact that it has a great name. The entire CD is great, and we here at Manufactured Environments highly recommend it. So if you’re looking to expand your horizons, try John Adams, a minimalist master.

No Comments Yet »

Web Personality Types

Molly Holzschlag has a wonderfully humorous breakdown of the different personality types exhibited by people who design and develop on the web. I fit squarely into the SAVD category.

SAVD. Standards Aware Visual Designer. These people are designing with standards in mind—creating beautiful sites for the screen, working toward achieving accessible sites, examining usability and human factors, and very possibly beginning or already designing for alternative devices and media types. A very rare breed, and if you are reading this post it’s very highly likely you’re either one your own fine self, know all their names or have Zeldman’s personal phone number memorized.

I’m going to hazard a guess and say that my blogmate Faust is a SASS. What do you think Faust? Is this accurate? You seem to be much more concerned about semantic markup than I am, right?

SASS. Standards Aware Structural Semanticist. These personalities are very code-centric, with little interest (or more often, skill) in presentation but lots of interest in the proper structuring of documents, use of meaningful markup, microformats, Semantic Web and the like. At their most compulsive, they can become purists to the point of having unrealistic expectations of the more worldly Web worker. Also a rare breed, SASS personalities are extremely important to the good of the Web but sometimes need to be reminded that smart structure and semantics can happily co-exist with visual design.

Thanks, Molly, for the laugh. I would add one category that I’ve encountered: OSCC or Old Skool Creative Communicator. This is a person who believes first and foremost in communication. The most important point of a website is to communicate, and anything that gets in the way is discarded. This person can’t be bothered to update their skills or learn new web methodologies because, in their view, XHTML, CSS and semantic markup are technical details that detract from the primary purpose of the web. Umm…which is to communicate.

Comments (3) »

Sifry’s Blogosphere Stats

As he does quarterly, David Sifry posted his State of the Blogosphere statistics and analysis today. The entire post is over on Sifry’s Alerts. Sifry is CEO of Technorati, one of the key blog-tracking entities. Some interesting stats to mull over about blogging:

• The blogosphere doubles in size every five months, and has doubled every five months for the past three years. The blogosphere (that is, the world of blogs) is 30 times larger now than three years ago.
• As of Oct 2005, about 70,000 blogs are created daily worldwide.
• 55% of people new to blogging are still doing it three months later.
• Between 700,000 and 1.3 million blog posts are created every day.

No Comments Yet »

Thanks for the Passengers

Thank you to my secret admirer, whoever you may be, for sending me Passengers: Original Soundtracks 1—I just received it in the mail today. As you may know, Passengers was a side project that U2 did in the mid-90’s with Brian Eno. I have never heard the entire album from start to finish until now. It’s been on my Amazon Wish List since the beginning of time (which happens to be 2001). You may also know that we had a blazing good time seeing U2 at the United Center in Chicago last month. So THANK YOU, mysterious special person!

Update: The gift-giver has been identified. Special thanks to my blogmate Faust for sending me a CD that I’ve wanted for a long time.

No Comments Yet »

St. Louis Gateway Arch with full moon

Having found myself at the St. Louis Airport Hilton again, I decided I needed a photo of the St. Louis Gateway Arch. The photo above was taken around 9pm with a full moon in the background. The arch was lit up with pinkish lights to signify solidarity with Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We rode the Metrolink to get out to the arch, which is St. Louis’ version of a subway, although it only has one line.

I’m actually really glad it was night when I saw it (it was my first time seeing the arch in person). At night, the sheet metal that encases it gleamed in the light. It was very industrial looking and very cool to behold with an inky black sky behind it.

Comments (2) »

Burtynsky at the Brooklyn Museum

You’ve probably been waiting for word on the new Franz Ferdinand album, entitled You Could Have It So Much Better. After spending a week in the Manufactured Environments Audio Laboratory, we’re happy to report: We like it! So if you like yourself the Franz Ferdinand, we can highly recommend this sophomore effort. Check it out now!

And now to the matter at hand. Our pal in The City, Sam Teigen, tells of a new exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum of Edward Burtynsky’s photographs. Sam dutifully notes that the exhibit is uncannily titled Manufactured Landscapes—not unlike the name of this here blog thing. We appreciate the parallels in thought that devolved from a deconstruction of natural environments and landscapes. We’re potentially in a position to take Mr. Teigen up on his offer to see the exhibit before mid-January, and we’re wondering if there’s space on his couch for us. We offer, over a couple of cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon or the drink of Sam’s choice, to tell the tale of how we came up with the name of this blog, which we’ll admit here was originally derived for other purposes. Hmmmm….a tale worth hearing? Even Sir Faust may not have heard this story, and we know we’ve never divulged such information here. In conclusion, we note that we like Franz Ferdinand, we like secrets, and we tip our hat to Mr. Burtynsky.

Comments (3) »

Sweetwater: Bait and switch ain’t so sweet

I attempted to purchase an Edirol UA-1EX from Sweetwater last night. This evening they called to say this item would not be available from the manufacturer until December, but assured me that they could help me find something similar in my price range. After carefully explaining my desire for an ASIO-compatible USB or Firewire audio interface capable of 24 bit/96 kHz with 1/4” TS and/or RCA inputs (definitely not 1/8”), the sales person suggested a M-Audio Audiophile USB. While he made it sound better than the Edirol UA-1EX, he also wanted $179.97, an extra $20 off their “already low” sale price of $199.97, for it. Since that is more than twice the price of the Edirol UA-1EX, I told him I would have to think about it. As of 11:00pm CST, Sweetwater still hasn’t updated their site concerning the availability of the Edirol UA-1EX. Does this seem like a classic case of bait and switch?

P.S. Musician’s Friend is selling the M-Audio Audiophile USB for only $99.99.

P.P.S. Upon further review, it doesn’t look like the M-Audio Audiophile USB is even worth $100. Caveat emptor!

Comments (1) »

Luther College Redesigns Web Presence

Check out my alma mater’s recent redesign of their website. Congrats to everyone who worked on the Luther College redesign. Nice job, folks! The site just launched on Friday, and already I’m hearing lots of rave reviews.

The new design especially tickles the web designer in me. You’ll note that they’re using XHTML 1.0 Strict, CSS, and plenty of semantic markup to render a page that delights the eye. I’m really impressed. Special congratulations go to my friend, the web editor, who I won’t “out” in this forum, unless he wants to be out’ed.

This new design will raise the bar for private liberal arts colleges in general. I’ve tested the site in IE6.0/Firefox on Windows and Safari2.0/Firefox on Mac, and it looks great. I can tell just by looking at the code that it will “degrade” nicely in very old browsers that don’t understand anything past 1997. The new(-ish) wordmark also looks good in this environment. I think the old Luther College wordmark was very beautiful and ornate but probably didn’t translate well into a web graphic. Congrats again to everyone at Luther who worked on this for a job well done!

No Comments Yet »

Postscript on U2

Recently, I wrote about going to a U2 concert at the United Center in Chicago on September 21. Some music I was listening to tonight reminded me of one interesting facet from the concert. At most rock shows, there is music playing at a soft level on the sound system before the concert begins. It’s usually a fun thing to hear what songs the band or their roadie chose to play. I am curious who in the U2 organization picked the music that played before their show in Chicago. It was uncanny the number of songs that were played that night that also appeared on my recent Mailing List Mix. Songs like Float On by Modest Mouse and Pull Up the People by M.I.A. that I put on the mix were played before the concert began.

I knew most all of the music being played, “Name That Tune” being one of my favorite games to play. There was one song that I didn’t know that night that really stood out. I wondered what it was but had no way of finding out at the time. Tonight, I was listening to the debut album from The Arcade Fire and realized that Wake Up was the track that was played at the U2 show. So I’m pondering the fact that I share a lot common musical interest with U2 or the person who picks their pre-show music.

Any of you U2 aficionados out there know who picks their music? Obviously, I had a great time at the concert, and the pre-show music was just one little plus to add to the big pile of great experiences from that night.

Comments (2) »

Mash-up Megamix

For those looking for the mashup to end all mashups, check out DJ Food’s Raiding the 20th Century. It’s available as a 74 MB MP3 download. Fabulous and educational at the same time. Not only does it feature many classic mash-ups, but it drops a little science along the way giving a history of tape loops (Hey, Steve Reich is in there!) and remixes and mashups. Here’s the promo page. You can download the MP3 from Ubuweb. [via boingboing] Enjoy!

No Comments Yet »

The Gaggia Challenge: For the love of espresso

People who spend any amount of time around me quickly become aware of my preference for coffee, especially espresso. People who hung out with me in high school seem to still remember the many, many nights spent at Big Boy, and Dan sitting there with his hot tea in the corner booth with Wes and the gang. My freshman year in college I made the transition to espresso, and later that year—1991 for you historians out there—saw me with my first espresso machine, a gift (thanks R+S!). That little Krups machine made horrible coffee really, but it was hella fun. I was blasting that thing off all the damn time. In 1997, I bought my second espresso machine, also a little Krups job. Again, it made horrible coffee of course, but that much fun for $50 was a deal made in Heaven.

Since about 1999 though I started scouring the website of Whole Latte Love, the best place to buy an espresso machine anywhere this side of the Atlantic. I used to visit their site all the goddamn time. It was awesome. For an espresso lover, it was all drool, drool, drool. I had my eye on one particular machine, The Gaggia Classic.

I waited and watched. I, of course, had a natural reluctance to part with my hard-earned cash. In 2002 I realized that I had waited long enough—if my interest was strong enough to last 3 years of looking, I knew it wasn’t going away. Over Thanksgiving 2002 Whole Latte Love ran a fabulous sale on the Gaggia Classic. They were selling it for the regular price, but were throwing in a free Gaggia burr coffee grinder, several tins of illy coffee, a frothing pitcher, a temperature guage, and a bunch of other extras that didn’t normally come with the machine. So I bought my first “nice” espresso machine from Gaggia of Italy.

It occurred to me recently that next month I’ll have had the machine for three years already. And what’s the word? I love it. It makes fabulous espresso with rich crema. My drink of choice is a cappuccino, whether at home or at a café. I see that exchange rates have gotten less favorable with the euro and the Gaggic Classic and Rancilio Silvia, another machine I considered, are going for $500 now. (They were both $400 three years ago.)

The difference between moving from the cheapo Krups to the Gaggia was like going from a pocketknife to a laser-etching tool. One is cheap and simple and doesn’t do a whole lot. The other is a precision instrument that can work wonders, but takes some time and patience to learn. In my research for an espresso machine, one comment I ran across repeatedly was that moving to a high-end semi-automatic espresso machine takes time. Most people say give it a month. And a month was about how long it took me to consistently pull perfect shots of espresso. But I think it was more like six months when I reached the perfect recipe and felt totally comfortable with the machine.

One thing that I can’t stress enough if you’re looking at good espresso machines is the importance of the grinder. I used the Gaggia MM that had been included in the package, but the grind of the coffee wasn’t consistent. Hence, the espresso coming out of the machine was inconsistent. Sometimes it would be a great shot, and sometimes not so great. I eventually upgraded to the Solis Maestro Plus and have been very happy with it. I know exactly what it’s going to produce, and my espresso is consistently great (in the 20-25 second range with excellent crema). Honestly, the grinder makes a huge difference with these machines. Don’t under-budget yourself and get a cheap grinder.

I definitely worry a lot less about what beans I’m using. The main thing is to use freshly roasted coffee beans, and if you’re ordering your coffee from Italy, you’ll pay a lot more, and it’s a lot less fresh. If you have a local coffee roaster in your area, check them out. We have Cafe del Sol here. They’re good. Think “fresh” for beans, and don’t bother with expensive exotics.

Another thing to consider is the water. Some people will say that the coffee you make is only as good as the water you’re using. I use filtered tap water because the water is over-chlorinated here, but mostly just use water that you like the taste of. I’ve heard some arguments that say that hard water will clog up your machine with residue. That’s probably true.

My love of coffee definitely goes back to my parents. Growing up, I remember my dad always having a cup of coffee nearby no matter the time of day, no matter where he was in the house. My parents still use the same Dutch coffee filter system that they’ve been using since before I was born. To this day, my dad still drinks more coffee than anyone I know. My mom seems to have mostly given it up though.

I still remember the first time I tasted coffee. I was 5 years old, and there was a cup of coffee that had been left on an end table in the living room with just a little bit at the bottom. I grabbed a sip of that then-cold brew and decided it was pretty good. It tasted a lot like the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, and I had already decided that coffee was an aroma I liked.

Some people grow up with wine at the table. I grew up with coffee, although I didn’t start drinking it until college. I admit to being a CoffeeGeek, and now you know the story of my Gaggia Classic. Wasn’t that fun?

If you’re looking for more coffee fun, read this post I wrote in 2003 called the Soy Latte Challenge where I test several soy milks, and how they hold up after being frothed and mixed with espresso.

Comments (3) »

Steve Reich and his 18 musicians

Sam asked for some more recommendations in the modern classical area, and so I’ll oblige and trot out some of my favorites. I’ll start today with one of my favorite pieces to listen to. It’s Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians. This is a piece that even those who don’t have an ear (or stomach) for twentieth-century classical can enjoy. It’s a wonderful work that is rhythmic and methodical in its approach. It pulses, dilates, and contracts again. You can think of it as phases. The work is organized into 14 sections, but it is played as one continuous piece of music. And that’s how it is best enjoyed. Just hit play on the CD player, and let it go for its entirety.

It’s an interesting mix of instruments, including piano, vibraphone, marimba, xylophone, clarinets, violin, cello, and female voices. I love Steve Reich generally, but Music for 18 Musicians is an especially listenable and enjoyable work. Here’s a link to the album at the iTunes Music Store. Actually it looks like iTunes’ selection of Steve Reich’s music has exploded since the last time I looked. Find out more about Steve Reich at the Steve Reich Website.

Comments (2) »

Ramadan begins tomorrow

Speaking of Islam, I was informed tonight that the crescent moon has been sighted, and the month of Ramadan will begin tomorrow. Ramadan is a special time in the Islamic calendar. Muslims fast for the month, refusing all food and drink from sun up to sun down. You can go to this site to calculate sunrise and sunset for the relevant days for your location. Here are some suggestions about what to eat during Ramadan. This is the perfect time to reach out to our Muslim brothers and sisters and share the fast with them, if you feel you can. Remember, you shouldn’t fast if there are medical reasons for you not to. But if you are willing and able, then go ahead and fast.

And finally a link for the techno bloggers out there: who’s talking about Ramadan? That’s who.

Technorati tag: Ramadan

No Comments Yet »

Learning more about Islam

In these turbulent times, it is our duty to learn. The religion of Islam has been in the headlines, and there is a lot of fear and misunderstanding of what it means to be a Muslim. A Muslim friend of mine suggested the books of Murad Hofmann. Hofmann is a German author who was previously an ambassador to Morocco and Tunisia. He has a master’s degree from Harvard Law School and a doctorate. All in all, a very interesting writer.

So if you want to learn more about Islam—that is, if you want to break through the fear and uncertainty that you hear in the mainstream media, Murad Hofmann’s book called Islam: The Alternative is a great primer to the religion. Hofmann himself converted to Islam (he had a German Catholic upbringing), and talks about Islam from the perspective of a Westerner.

Some of Hofmann’s other books on Islam include Journey to Mecca and Islam 2000 among others.

No Comments Yet »