World’s Narrowest Houses
October 27, 2007 | 2 Comments
Web Urbanist posted “Cramped City Living: 10 of the Narrowest Houses in the World”. This fit nicely with many of the “World’s Largest X” posts I’ve done in the past, plus, the compiled list is amazing.
My favorite is the one pictured above. Owned by a woman named Helenita in Madre de Deus, Brazil, at it’s narrowest, the house is merely 1 meter wide and 10 meters tall.
From New York City is a narrow home with a very Harry Potter-esque address of 75 1/2 Bedford Street. The site lists it’s dimensions: “At 9 1/2 ft. wide, 75 1/2 Bedford St., off Seventh Ave. between Commerce and Moore Sts., is the narrowest house in the city. On the inside, it measures 8 ft. 7 in. wide; at its narrowest, it’s 2 ft. wide.”
“The Wedge” in Scotland “is about 22 ft long by 11ft wide or 6.7m by 3.35m, at its widest point … the front of The Wedge measured just 47in or 1.19m.”
Web Urbanist has a ton of images of other houses which are must see. All of these skinny homes are fascinating to me. I would love to meet the sort of person who would choose this kind of unique house.
Election 2008: Bill Richardson
October 26, 2007 | 2 Comments
I got the chance to see Bill Richardson at a local Plymouth, NH resident’s home on September 2nd, 2007. He spoke for about a half hour, then took questions from the group for about an hour. The crowd was small, maybe 30 people in attendance.
I had previously seen Governor Richardson’s Daily Show appearance and thought he seemed quite strong on foreign policy. In person this impression held true. He spoke of various nations, leaders, and factions within Iraq with familiarity and comfort that could only come from a long time involved with foreign affairs and thinking about these topics. The classic example being his successful direct negotiation with Saddam Husein on behalf of President Clinton for the release of a group of american hostages.
Overall, on each topic he seemed to have a plan of how to make America better. When asked questions he had answers, though not all were entirely polished. This lack of polish did leave me with some concern. It was clear to me why major news outlets would glom on to the slick polish of Clinton or Obama and leave Richardson struggling for third. He occasionally stumbled and would not play as nicely in quick TV segments.
My only real concern with the Richardson campaign is whether this is a truly electable person. Could he withstand a national election up against the Republican campaign machine? Against someone slick like Romney? Maybe… but I’m doubtful.
Overall, I would happily endorse this candidate and without a doubt America would be better with Richardson as a leader. However, I’m not convinced that in the long haul he is an electable candidate.
Tags: america, bill richardson, campaign 2008, foreign policy, new mexico, politics, richardson
Mad Crazy Guitar
October 25, 2007 | 4 Comments
Un-freakin-believable guitar action!
Tags: guitar, guitar solo
How Far We’ve Come - Matchbox Twenty
October 24, 2007 | 4 Comments
When Matchbox Twenty released Yourself or Someone Like You, I promptly fell in love with them and played that CD possibly more than any other, ever. Somehow I slowly stopped paying attention to them. Until now.
Their new song, “How Far We’ve Come”, is awesome, so is the video. Fully embracing You Tube, the band has released most of their videos there for your viewing pleasure.
This new video shows the band playing in front of classic video footage of modern history. The footage progresses through: JFK, the moon walk, Muhammad Ali, peace movement, women’s rights movement, Pele, fall of the Berlin Wall, Tiananmen Square protests, the personal computer, Live Aid, Princess Di, new millennium, Oslo Accords with Bill Clinton and Yassar Arafat, Live Earth with Al Gore, Campaign 2008 featuring Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Tags: al gore, Barack Obama, berlin wall, bill clinton, hillary clinton, how far we've come, JFK, matchbox 20, matchbox twenty, moon walk, Muhammad Ali, music, music video, oslo accords, peace, pele, princess di, protest, protests, rob thomas, soccer, song, tiananmen square, women's suffrage, yassar arafat, yourself or someone like you
“X-Men Origins: Wolverine” Movie
October 20, 2007 | 4 Comments
Marvel announced the title and release date of their upcoming X-Men movie trilogy spin-off. The official title will be X-Men Origins: Wolverine and will be released on May 1, 2009.
I like how they are including “X-Men” in the title. This helps to link it to the other three movies and in turn will hopefully gain it more recognition and success. It also sets up the proposed Magneto movie to have a similar title like “X-Men Origins: Magneto”. I’d love a whole series of these single character focused X-Men movies, the possibilities are extensive: Professor Xavier, Emma Frost, Beast, maybe even Gambit? The May release is also significant as this solidifies May as Marvel’s movie month, I could get used to that.
Of course Hugh Jackman will be reprising his role as Wolverine. According to Marvel.com, there is also the possibility of “a young William Stryker, Sabretooth, Weapon X and a bevy of other mutants—both returning and new characters.”
Tags: hugh jackman, marvel, movie, movies, mutants, weapon x, william stryker, x-men, x-men origins, x-men origins wolverine, xmen origins
Election 2008: My Background
October 18, 2007 | 1 Comment
As I live in NH, I get the opportunity to meet a number of presidential candidates and form an opinion using first hand experience. I find that my opinions of candidates can sometimes change in retrospect, so I intend on chronicling my experiences and meetings going forward. However, there is some history I’d like to get out so I have a starting point.
The first national election I paid attention to was the 1992 primary. I was merely 12, but I can remember supporting Tom Harkin in a formal grade school debate. Bill Clinton went on to win that primary and later the national election. During the national election, I was quite curious about Ross Perot. His concise, non-politician sounding, talk was intriguing. His platform was clear and I was a bit torn before finally siding back toward my liberal roots with Clinton.
Eight years later in 2000 I was finally of age to participate. As a college student in NH, I was able go out and meet candidates. Out of the blue I took the opportunity to meet George W. Bush in Lebanon, NH. What stuck out for me most was his odd spin on how to reform education. More mandatory standardized testing and tax credits for enrolling students in private schools seemed insane to me. Later, I saw John McCain speak and realized that not all Republicans were crazy. With this in mind and Al Gore a sure thing on the Democrat ticket, I’d oppose Bush in any way possible way. This led to me voting for McCain in the primary, which he ended up winning in NH, even though he would go on to lose nationally.
By the time the election came around, I was uninspired by Al Gore and had lost faith with the two party system. I then dipped my toe back into the third party concept and threw my support behind Ralph Nader. When the election was eventually awarded to Bush, I felt somewhat bad about not having supported Gore, when he was electable and superior to Bush. With this in mind, I was more passionate in my opposition of Bush and certain that in the future I would only support candidates I feel are electable.
In the 2004 campaign I met Howard Dean. For the first time, I had found a candidate who truly resonated with me. I vowed to do anything possible to help him get elected. This was the first time I got involved in helping a candidate’s campaign. Beyond participating in the campaign, I took the opportunity to see him speak two additional times before the election, each time reassuring me that this was the strongest person to lead America. When his campaign imploded, I remained faithfully hopeful, but was heartbroken to see his hopes of the White House dwindle. The primary was eventually won by John Kerry.
This left me forced to put my support behind John Kerry, in continued resistance to Bush. Without a doubt this was a better choice than George W Bush and I would not make the mistake of refusing to choose the lesser of two evils in a close election again. Of course everyone knows how this election eventually turned out, Bush getting four more years in Washington.
This leads us to Election 2008… With George W Bush out of the equation, I feel like any candidate will be an improvement, leaving me very hopeful for the future. This also has the side effect of me needing to look at each candidate equally, on both side of the aisle. Over time, I’ll post my impressions of each that I get to see. Of course keep in mind… I’ve never supported any candidate who has gone on to win the presidency…
Tags: 1992, 2000, 2004, 2008, america, bill clinton, Bush, clinton, college, dean, election, george bush, george w bush, harkin, howard dean, john kerry, kerry, new hampshire, nh, politics, primary, ralph nader, tom harkin
Zombie War
October 18, 2007 | 2 Comments
I laughed to tears when I saw this video from Kim’s blog. Such a wonderful cut together piece. The scary part is how believable it is that Bush could fear a Zombie War. I mean, this is the president who warned of animal-human hybrids…
Tags: animal human hybrid, Bush, cheney, george bush, george w bush, hybrid, press conference, zombie, zombie war, zombies