Monthly Archives: July 2010

Help Support the Life is Good Foundation

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I’m in the midst of fundraising for the Life is Good Kids Foundation. I must admit that my reasons for embarking on this venture were selfish. I’m going to the Life is Good Festival down the road a bit in Canton, and you get some special privileges if you raise a certain amounts. But having started on the project, I did some research into the foundation, and I’ve realized what a good cause it is. My enthusiasm is great, independent of the concert.

The Life is good Kids Foundation is an action-oriented nonprofit, committed to helping young children overcome life-threatening challenges such as extreme poverty, violence, illness and natural disasters. Our Playmakers Initiative provides training, resources and support to the adults dedicated to caring for these children so that all involved lead healthier, more joyful lives.

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Academic Freedom Review, July 3-9

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Scholars at Risk Academic Freedom Media Review
July 3 – 9, 2010
News Alert: Reports suggest release from prison of Dr. Igor Sutyagin
Scholars at Risk, 7/9
ACLU accused UW police of spying on action group
Casey McNerthney, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 7/9
Oil-crisis research casts USF into political waters
Lindsay Peterson, Tampa Bay Online, 7/9
Adjunct Who Taught Catholicism at U. of Illinois Says Job Loss Violated Academic Freedom
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 7/9
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Whrrling Around Town

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I’ve been singing the praises of an app called Whrrl for while. If you like FourSquare, then this is sort of the same thing. Except it’s less competitive and more in the spirit of community. Instead of competing for a single place as “Mayor,” you become part of societies that relate to specific places or to general topics. You become a member of a place’s society when you check in at that place and if that place, in turn, if part of another group, then you become part of that society as well. Theaters and museums are part of the “Cultured Society” for example. Bars that offer drink specials are part of the “Happy Hour Somewhere Society.” There are levels in the societies–I’m a Level 6 Insider in the British Beer Company Society, but only a Level 3 Rookie in the Acapulco’s Restaurant Society–but no single Mayor.
It also makes it very easy to make recommendations on places. Think FourSquare meets Yelp, but with an easier interface. I don’t just check in at Acapulco’s, but can also recommend to you the rather excellent Margarita’s they have there, or tell you why it’s a good place to watch the World Cup matches. So, too, with my gym, grocery store, bank, coffee shop…
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Only 14 Miles Today! Any Suggestions on a Different Tool?

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This is a ride I have done before, but I’m off my stride. Only 14 miles and it took over an hour! Guess yesterday’s ride wore me out.
So it was a long time ago that I reviews GPS apps for cycling and The excessive intake of alcoholic drug, the side effect of some drugs and use of narcotic drug, the consumption of alcohol, the side effect of some medicine etc are the main reasons sildenafil buy online for erectile dysfunction. No, this is no spoon-feeding, but an essential exercise viagra 50 mg that every responsible parent would like to do with their children instead of pestering them. The regular intake side effects for cialis of pills helps women who are in their late forties after menopause. The product or service should be innovative by approximately 20%. levitra line not being happy with MapMy Ride, I need a new one. Any ideas? I’d love any advice I can get!

Thematic playlist: Whiskey and Moonshine

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A while back, I got a lot of peoples help to create lists of train songs that I posted in this blog. That was a fun project, and I’ve been eager to start another. I subsequently indicated that my next list would be Protest Songs and Corporate Greed. It seemed relevant given the crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, the banking crisis, and so many other current issues. I haven’t gotten far on that, but am still working on it. It’s just that it’s such a heavy topic.
So I’m going to lighten it up a bit and start another project at the same time, this one on one one of my favorite things: Whiskey. Just to keep it interesting, lets not limit ourselves to whiskey, but also moonshine or, the name I like, “White Lightening.”
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Biking 2,500 miles!

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This is an official challenge to anyone now writing in the Tour de France or, for that matter, any cyclist in the world who comes across this post. Yesterday, on 5 July 2010, at 4:19 PM, I left my house for a bike ride. I used an iPhone app called MapMyRide to–well–map my ride. My ride ended at 5:11 PM, making it a 50 minute ride. I thought that I had ridden about six or 7 miles, at a leisurely pace, stopping to take pictures here and there.
But I don’t know my own power! When I looked at the map of my route as uploaded, I had biked 2487.1 miles: across western Massachusetts, through upstate New York, through a little piece of Ontario on the Great Lakes, through Michigan, across Lake Michigan (there must be a ferry), through Wisconsin and Minnesota into Canada, across Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and well into Alberta just above Edmonton. I’ve embedded the map below, but it’s impressive to list them out like that, don’t you think?

I remember none of it, nor how I got home… I did get some pictures, but I stopped taking them a few miles from home. I’m not sure why. Did I fall asleep on Ambien during this 2400 mile ride? I don’t take Ambien! Anyway, here’s my six, not so interesting pictures.
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