Last night, I rode downtown from our house to pick up our second car, which we had left on the street. The wife and I had both driven there, and I drove us both back in her car. I was there within twenty minutes, and was amazed at how easy it was, with all the bike lanes and everything. I think as the price of gas continues to rise that we'll be doing that much more often.
The above paragrpaph, though, is a just a way of giving a promo for a radio programme the BBC will air on Monday, and will stream through the website. You can also listen again. I thought folks might be interested in knowing about it.
The Fall and Rise of the Bicycle, 9.00-9.30pm (4 to 4:30 EST)
New series. Mark Stephen explores the bicycle in three very different cultures. He meets cyclists in Namibia, China, Denmark and London, and finds out why the bicycle is of pivotal importance to the future health of the planet.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/fallandriseofthebicycle/pip/ehip5/
7/15/2006
7/12/2006
Post World Cup Blues
I was talking to a friend on IM tonight, and we were both really missing the World Cup. He's decided to play in an amateur league, and I'm watching D.C. United beat Celtic from the Scottish Football Association. D.C. is winning, 4-0, and I'm able to watch it on television while I do write some correspondence. So what if it's Celtic's second team?
I watched at least part of almost every one of the sixty-four matches in the World Cup. I've been sad that the tournament is over, but here I am, making potential plans to go to D.C. this Saturday to watch a Major League Soccer game. Sure, it's not nearly as interesting as the World Cup, but I think I'm hooked as a spectator.
I've always assumed that U.S. soccer would bore me, because of the overemphasis on the MLS, which doesn't feature enough teams to be interesting. I'm entranced by this match with Celtic, because it is an international match, even though it is a friendly.
And, I've just discovered the existence of the U.S. Open Cup Championship, which sounds pretty neat.
The reason baseball bores me to tears is because it is the same thing year after year after year. There is nothing in the dynamic of the sport to encourage lower-tier teams to do anything but just sit there. Though there is a lot more parity in American football, you still have the same teams over and over again. Wouldn't it be great if American sports leagues took up the idea of relegation?
I watched at least part of almost every one of the sixty-four matches in the World Cup. I've been sad that the tournament is over, but here I am, making potential plans to go to D.C. this Saturday to watch a Major League Soccer game. Sure, it's not nearly as interesting as the World Cup, but I think I'm hooked as a spectator.
I've always assumed that U.S. soccer would bore me, because of the overemphasis on the MLS, which doesn't feature enough teams to be interesting. I'm entranced by this match with Celtic, because it is an international match, even though it is a friendly.
And, I've just discovered the existence of the U.S. Open Cup Championship, which sounds pretty neat.
The reason baseball bores me to tears is because it is the same thing year after year after year. There is nothing in the dynamic of the sport to encourage lower-tier teams to do anything but just sit there. Though there is a lot more parity in American football, you still have the same teams over and over again. Wouldn't it be great if American sports leagues took up the idea of relegation?
7/11/2006
An update
So, I read this week that Dave Winer is no longer going to blog. Also, Waldo Jaquith seems to have cut back. What are we to make of this? Is anyone declaring that blogging is dead?
Well, this here blog has been dead, mostly because it is such a low priority, given everything that I'm involved with. I also keep myself from writing most of the things that spring into my mind. It was my original plan to blog about all the World Cup matches I watched. But, I soon stopped when I realized I couldn't keep up and do the bare minimum I needed to do to keep food on the table. The inertia of not posting anything was too hard to overcome, so I didn't even write a preview of my thoughts on the final!
Truth is, I don't really see this blog as a conduit for information. I'm not sure what I wee it as. I could promote various podcasts I enjoy listening, but I don't think anyone would be much interested. I could promote my own podcasts, but that's what the Charlottesville Podcasting Network is for. I'd like to be consistent, so I consistently don't post these types of things.
Yet, I am not going to give up the blog, and will continue posting at an incredibly slow rate as the mood strikes me. This white box I'm typing in is like a room in the house that I seldom visit. I always mean to decorate it up, but there are just other places to be.
Right now the place where I am is WNRN, where I'm reading the news. I've moved to Tuesdays now, and the adjustment to live radio is still proving to be a challenge. People who have heard my work on WVTF or WCVE might notice I seldom stumble. That's because everything I do for them is produced before it airs, so I get the chance to read the copy multiple times.
But during the 6:20 newscast, one stumble caused me to muck up the rest of the reading. I had rushed through the copy when I went to rehearse it, so when the pot was open, I felt like a bit like Barbaro. Thankfully, corrective advice from Anne Williams helped me get it right at 6:40. But what about 7:00?
I am hoping to use this experience at WNRN to produce a daily podcast of headlines and news. I feel people should have more ways of getting information, and that a podcast may be one to just that. As always, I'm looking for volunteers who might be interested in being part of such a project.
But much more importantly, I want to hear from you. Do you feel informed about local news? What would you like to see or hear when it comes to the news? How do you define "the news" anyway? Let's get a discussion of this going, either here, or on a local forum such as hooville.net.
Time for the 7:00 news. Let's hope I don't remember that I have a stutter.
Well, this here blog has been dead, mostly because it is such a low priority, given everything that I'm involved with. I also keep myself from writing most of the things that spring into my mind. It was my original plan to blog about all the World Cup matches I watched. But, I soon stopped when I realized I couldn't keep up and do the bare minimum I needed to do to keep food on the table. The inertia of not posting anything was too hard to overcome, so I didn't even write a preview of my thoughts on the final!
Truth is, I don't really see this blog as a conduit for information. I'm not sure what I wee it as. I could promote various podcasts I enjoy listening, but I don't think anyone would be much interested. I could promote my own podcasts, but that's what the Charlottesville Podcasting Network is for. I'd like to be consistent, so I consistently don't post these types of things.
Yet, I am not going to give up the blog, and will continue posting at an incredibly slow rate as the mood strikes me. This white box I'm typing in is like a room in the house that I seldom visit. I always mean to decorate it up, but there are just other places to be.
Right now the place where I am is WNRN, where I'm reading the news. I've moved to Tuesdays now, and the adjustment to live radio is still proving to be a challenge. People who have heard my work on WVTF or WCVE might notice I seldom stumble. That's because everything I do for them is produced before it airs, so I get the chance to read the copy multiple times.
But during the 6:20 newscast, one stumble caused me to muck up the rest of the reading. I had rushed through the copy when I went to rehearse it, so when the pot was open, I felt like a bit like Barbaro. Thankfully, corrective advice from Anne Williams helped me get it right at 6:40. But what about 7:00?
I am hoping to use this experience at WNRN to produce a daily podcast of headlines and news. I feel people should have more ways of getting information, and that a podcast may be one to just that. As always, I'm looking for volunteers who might be interested in being part of such a project.
But much more importantly, I want to hear from you. Do you feel informed about local news? What would you like to see or hear when it comes to the news? How do you define "the news" anyway? Let's get a discussion of this going, either here, or on a local forum such as hooville.net.
Time for the 7:00 news. Let's hope I don't remember that I have a stutter.
7/06/2006
The White Rabbit
We were outside sitting on the porch at Monsoon for dinner this evening. We had just come from the 30th anniversary celebration of the mall. Suddenly, a flash of white light appeared from the bushes lining the steps of the McGuffey Art Center. This large white rabbit flopped out, and proceeded to eat the grass.
We were a bit alarmed. It looked like a loose pet, and this one dog had come barrelling towards it, but it was thankfully more interested in another dog which was actually on a leash.
As we ate, we kept tabs on the rabbit. We told the waitress, who didn't know what to do, but joined us in keeping an eye on Fluffy. I called a friend who does some work at the McGuffey, but he didn't know anything about a white rabbit.
We paid up, and I decided to go take a look. Our friend Todd stopped by to watch me, and called me a would-be "rabbit whisperer" and sure enough, the rabbit eventually came to my hand. It has tiny little ears, and seemed tame as anything.
As I was stopped down, a woman came up behind me with her two kids and asked me what I was doing. I said I was trying to figure who this rabbit belonged to. She said it was hers, and that she had let it graze on the McGuffey lawn while she and her kids were on the wall. She said it was an "indoor/outdoor" rabbit, which I'd never heard of before.
She looked a bit suspicious, and seemed mad when she couldn't get the rabbit to come to her. We walked off, more than a bit puzzled.
We were a bit alarmed. It looked like a loose pet, and this one dog had come barrelling towards it, but it was thankfully more interested in another dog which was actually on a leash.
As we ate, we kept tabs on the rabbit. We told the waitress, who didn't know what to do, but joined us in keeping an eye on Fluffy. I called a friend who does some work at the McGuffey, but he didn't know anything about a white rabbit.
We paid up, and I decided to go take a look. Our friend Todd stopped by to watch me, and called me a would-be "rabbit whisperer" and sure enough, the rabbit eventually came to my hand. It has tiny little ears, and seemed tame as anything.
As I was stopped down, a woman came up behind me with her two kids and asked me what I was doing. I said I was trying to figure who this rabbit belonged to. She said it was hers, and that she had let it graze on the McGuffey lawn while she and her kids were on the wall. She said it was an "indoor/outdoor" rabbit, which I'd never heard of before.
She looked a bit suspicious, and seemed mad when she couldn't get the rabbit to come to her. We walked off, more than a bit puzzled.
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