December 2009
42 posts
1 tag
My 200x Music List
1. Kid A // Radiohead 2. Funeral // Arcade Fire 3. You Forgot it in People // Broken Social Scene 4. Alligator // The National 5. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah // Clap Your Hands Say Yeah 6. Merriweather Post Pavilion // Animal Collective 7. For Emma, Forever Ago // Bon Iver 8. Boys and Girls in America // The Hold Steady 9. Veckatimest // Grizzly Bear 10. Apologies to the Queen Marry...
Dec 31st
2 tags
Roasted Garlic and Cauliflower Soup
I wanted something thick, rich, and wintery. 1 head of garlic roasted 2 medium onions chopped 1 head of cauliflower chopped 32 oz of stock (I used potent Thanksgiving turkey stock) 1.5 cups of stale wheat or rye bread 2 TB cream or milk 2 oz or so of grated parmesan cheese and more for garnish 1/4 cup white wine (probably a bit more, tossed in the end of a riesling) 1 tsp sugar (it...
Dec 31st
End of Year Salary Totals - MLB 1999-2009 →
Dec 31st
Dec 30th
Dec 30th
1 tag
Best Albums of 2009
1. Merriweather Post Pavilion // Animal Collective 2. Vecatimest // Grizzly Bear 3. All My Friends are Funeral Singers // Califone 4. Joy // Phish 5. Hospice // The Antlers 6. Bitte Orca // Dirty Projectors 7. Woods // Songs of Shame 8. The Pains of Being Pure At Heart 9. Reservoir // Fanfarlo 10. Popular Songs // Yo La Tengo Yeah, I still listen to albums mostly. Honorable...
Dec 30th
1 tag
Dec 30th
1 tag
Best EPs of 2009
1. Suckers 2. Blood Bank // Bon Iver 3. Bay of Pigs // Destroyer 4. Fall Be Kind // Animal Collective 5. Free Energy
Dec 29th
4 tags
Mr. Blog Goes to Washington →
Out of context, government and technology sounds pretty 1984. Anil Dash: The government is already using technology to talk to citizens. But we’re going to make technology that helps government listen to them. (via Instapaper)
Dec 28th
4 tags
“Anyone can publish an essay on the Web, and it gets judged, as any writing...”
– Paul Graham in The Age of the Essay (via Instapaper)
Dec 28th
2 tags
Lee’s Law of Introductions
John Sides remembers Lee Sigelman: [Lee’s Law of Introductions] states that introductions do two things: (1) state the research question and (2) state why this is an important question to answer. And that is all.
Dec 26th
1 note
2 tags
The candidate-centered campaign without an... →
I liked it better when there weren’t second acts in American politics. (via Instapaper)
Dec 26th
5 tags
“Music is an intensely social medium, most enjoyable when it is discussed and...”
– The Economist (via Instapaper)
Dec 26th
1 tag
Verizon is awful too →
Between hidden fees, dirty tricks and the Bing thing, I hope we can get back to hating all telcos equally. The Telephone Company — evil since before you were born. (via Instapaper)
Dec 23rd
2 tags
Snowball Fight – Times Square →
Emergent chaos.
Dec 22nd
1 tag
My Favorite New Music from 2009 that wasn't from...
Well, it was new music to me. Albums Bunny Gets Paid // Red Red Meat Hometowns // The Rural Alberta Advantage The Good Earth // The Feelies Armchair Apocrypha // Andrew Bird Coney Island Baby // Lou Reed Songs The Last Trip To Tulsa // Neil Young Car Wash Hair // Mercury Rev Bones // DeYarmond Edison Today is the Day // Yo La Tengo Ceremony // New Order
Dec 21st
4 tags
Malcolm Gladwell on Football →
Gladwell: I’m increasingly of the opinion that [The NFL] is screwed up — on a moral level — in a way that no other professional sport is. Think about it. The league has a salary cap (which limits players’ pay), minimal health insurance for retirees and no guaranteed contracts. In other words, the owners reserve the right to limit the pool of money available to players,...
Dec 19th
3 tags
Merlin Mann as an editor of the internet. →
Dec 18th
121 notes
3 tags
Tyler Cowen on Reading Original Sources →
Dec 15th
4 tags
“Men are not angels. You cannot ask them to deny their self-interest for long....”
– Ezra Klein on GOP obstruction in the legislative process of health care reform
Dec 15th
Dec 13th
3 tags
“In the future everyone can be a journalist, and the people who will be most...”
– Dave Winer on the future on journalism
Dec 13th
5 tags
Competing with the Teams →
On the dark side of Peter Gammons heading to work for MLB, Ben Smith writes: “[P]olitical operatives are beginning to see the league-owned networks as a model, and to see their own media outlets as competition — not just sources — for the independent media.” Scary stuff.
Dec 10th
1 tag
Ivan Rodriguez might be Crash Davis →
So who is Annie?
Dec 9th
3 tags
“Conservatives are conservatives because they have convictions, and convictions...”
– Mike Huckabee is against heterogenous parties
Dec 9th
5 tags
Man Bites Dog or the Future of Journalism →
Apparently, it’s now okay for the mainstream media to seed a hashtag on twitter (#mkesnow) and then report on the results. Lazy, cool, efficient, elegance 2009 style.
Dec 9th
2 tags
“It’s a constant process of testing. As to what I would like to do and how close...”
– Barney Frank on agenda setting power and constraint
Dec 9th
2 tags
Peter Gammons Leaving ESPN →
If I was following Ari down the top television of the decade rat hole, I’d definitely put Baseball Tonight on my list. For a few years at the begining of the decade, I was convinced that Peter Gammons, Karl Ravech, and Harold Reynolds were my best friends. Reading Gammons could be a slog at times (are there no editors at ESPN.com?), but seeing his avuncular smile on TV has always done it...
Dec 8th
1 tag
“No, I’m afraid facts are stubborn things.”
– Mitt Romney to Tim Pawlenty while defending Massachusetts health care policy
Dec 8th
2 tags
“The internet’s made of IP addresses, opinions, and assholes. It’s what’s there....”
– Merlin Mann
Dec 8th
178 notes
1 tag
Milwaukee at a Glance →
Population: 2,256,600 79% are White 13% are Black/African American 2% are Asian 6% are of another or 2+ races 8% are of Hispanic ethnicity
Dec 8th
2 tags
Ari's Decade in Music →
Apparently, it’s partly my fault. I promise to try harder over the next ten years.
Dec 7th
1 note
3 tags
“It’s good to be a Phish fan.”
– Marco on the availability of Live Phish Downloads. Let’s not forget the band-endorsed etree bittorrents either.
Dec 6th
26 notes
3 tags
When Lutefisk Is Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Have... →
And they say it like it’s a bad thing.
Dec 6th
Happy Birthday AK19.
Dec 5th
1 note
4 tags
Skimming off the Cream →
Earlier today, I noticed that Gordon Edes (who had been at Yahoo for about a year or so) was twittering and writing for ESPN. It seems that the internet is once again causing destruction to established media outlets. Joe Sullivan Sports Editor, Boston Globe describes his experience “fending off the ESPN.com invasion.” And a bit more context from the Boston Phoenix. The previous model...
Dec 5th
2 tags
Dec 4th
1 tag
“What’s Happening?”
– Twitter
Dec 4th
4 tags
“Politics is much more interesting when it’s told as the story of the...”
– Ezra Klein via the Monkey Cage
Dec 1st
1 tag
“A common trait of Americans — blue and red, gay and straight, X and Y, whatever...”
– Jesse Smith in Bitch, Please
Dec 1st
1 tag
Yeah, those UNC guys are really humble. →
Dec 1st
7 notes
3 tags
“I spent something like 40 minutes working on this blog post, and it’s now...”
– Seth Masket on his discussion of unemployment and the 2010 midterm elections
Dec 1st