Check out these pictures. It looks like something straight out of Lord of the Rings.
Here’s the Babel Fish translation of the text:
Electrical storm in the eruption of the Chaiten Volcano. The moving beauty of two forces of nature. An electrical storm in the gigantic ash column that rises from the Chaiten Volcano, reaching a height of 14 kilometers
I biked to Yankees Stadium today because, well, I saw it on the map and I’ve never been there. The ride to the Bronx turned out to be surprisingly unchallenging. The scenic route, which I took there, is about 6 miles, the direct route, which I took back, is only about 3 miles.
I wonder if any Yankees fans from New Jersey actually bike to the stadium considering that all it costs to get there by bicycle is a few hundred calories and maybe 30 minutes. Then again, the amount of alcohol consumed at baseball games might make the ride back slightly more difficult.
I took my tripod and camera along and managed to produce a few nice pictures, including some HDR shots. Check out the HDR and standard (I guess it’d be called low dynamic range) shot of the front of the new stadium.
I’m sure everyone’s noticed the high quality link on Youtube, but did you know that you can embed the higher quality videos on your blog too? And that you can link directly to the HQ version in e-mails? And that you can view the HQ version even when there’s no high quality link? It’s easy, just add &fmt=18 to the URL.
Here’s an example using Lost video I posted yesterday:
Normal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcatQSyRK6c
HQ: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcatQSyRK6c&fmt=18
If you put those two videos side by side, the difference is very apparent both in the video and audio quality.
I was at Trader Joe’s and spotted these packages of freeze dried mango by the register. I grabbed a bag was pleasantly surprised to discover that the mango pieces tasted great! My brother agreed and we had to get more. Try them, once you get past the texture they taste great. From the package:
The Eastern region of Thailand grows some of the sweetest, most flavorful mango in the world. That mango, which is what is used for the freeze dried product in this package, is freeze dried for us in the growing region and retains its perfect flavor when processed in this manner. To make the 1.7 ounces contained in this bag, over 10 ounces of perfectly rip, fresh cut mango are freeze dried.
I have yet to be disappointed by the dried fruit at Trader Joe’s. I also picked up a package of dried lychees and they taste great.
How much of your life have you spent using a keyboard and mouse? I spend something like 9-10 hours a day typing and mousing, as do most of my employed friends. If you think you’re immune from RSI (repetitive strain injury) and carpal tunnel syndrome, you’ve got a lot of pain waiting for you. Here’s what I do to keep my wrists in great shape:
1) Correct ergonomics. You need to read up on the best position of your keyboard and mouse. Ideally you want your elbows as close to a 90 degree angle as possible, that means that you need raise your seat and/or lower your keyboard. For some reason, I’m the only person at work that uses the keyboard tray under our desks. Also your monitor should be right at eye level, you shouldn’t have to look up or down. Just throw a few books under it. As for your mouse, what I do is mouse with my right hand at work and mouse with my left hand at home. It’s a very short learning curve. I also like the split keyboard design, but it’s not an instant cure: without proper positioning it’ll do just as much damage to your wrists.
2) Breaks and stretches. Take a break - and don’t the surf the web, get away from your computer. I tried this program a few years ago to remind me to get my hands off the keyboard. You can read up on what stretches are useful.
3) Work out. If there’s just one resistance exercise you do, it should be wrist curls. You can watch this creepy video if you want to see how it’s done. I do them differently: I lean slightly forward, with my arms hanging down holding an EZ Bar with both hands (though you could really use anything) with my wrists perfectly straight, then I go forward and backwards 20 times. These are the lazy man’s wrist curls, and what the guy does in the video is unquestionably better, but my version is quicker and has eliminated my wrist pain for years. I usually do it twice a week as part of my normal routine. You do have a workout routine, right? You’d be amazed at the effect of lifting weights on your joints.
4) Other stuff. I bought a NSD Powerball two or three years back and if you can’t get to a gym it really gives your forearms a great workout. I only use mine a handful of times a month (when I can’t get to the gym) but I wish I used it more. It has this mode where you try to get the maximum RPM, and you can really feel the muscles in your forearms afterwards. I’ve seen Powerballs on sale at the Vitamin Shoppe if you want to save on shipping. I also bought a hand gripper from these guys a few years back, and I never use it anymore. Not for any specific reason, I just got bored of it. If you do get one make sure you use it in a sock due to the small possibility of “spring failure” (and, consequently, the even smaller possibility of blindness by flying metal shard).
5) Go see a doctor if it really hurts. Imagine what would happen if you could no longer work because of your wrists. Better deal with it early, cuz those social security disability payments are probably not going to cover your bills. I’ve never had to talk to a doctor about this so I’m not sure what solutions they could offer, but I hear they have surgeries that may help. And I’m sure we’ve all seen people with wrist braces.
6) Wear wrist guards! Especially if you want to try rollerblading, skateboarding, or snowboarding!!!!! One of my coworkers told me a story about a couple he knew. They went snowboarding for the first time and the wife had been on the snow for 20 minutes when she fell backwards and broke both of her wrists!!!
Earlier this week Amy - who runs the always great Newyorkology blog - let me know that tickets to the live performance of This American Life were not sold out, as I said, but had in fact just gone on sale. Thanks again, Amy! Fast-forward to Thursday, when Fawad, Bassim, and I met up in the Village to see Ira Glass on stage. And of course, I took a few pictures. How was it? Absolutely great. They showed segments from the upcoming season, “deleted scenes” from past episodes, one of the regular contributors spoke for a few minutes. Lots of discussion and questions answered about the radio and television shows. Ira Glass actually sat at his desk with a mixing board and played audio while narrating, which was really cool… though that may sound ridiculous to anyone that’s not a fan of the show.
58 bucks!! And they say we’ll have $4/gallon gasoline by summer.
When I was buying a new car people told me that the price premium of a hybrid meant that I’d be paying for gas in advance, years ahead of time in fact. That was in the days when gas was around $2.55/gallon in New Jersey. I wonder how much $4/gallon gasoline changes those calculations. I still think I made the right choice; in suburban NJ, 95% of my driving is on the highway, when the hybrid engine would have been nonfunctional.
I’ve recently gotten interested in beekeeping (more about that later) so I visited a local bee farm earlier this week hoping to see some of their hives. I didn’t get to see any hives but I did pick up some raw, unprocessed honey harvested from local blueberry blossoms. It’s good stuff, with a different flavor and consistency than supermarket honey. If you’d like to pick some up, just follow the directions to Gooserock Farm during daylight hours – they’re located in Boonton, NJ. You can find other local honey producers here. Why buy local (besides the taste)? Here’s an excerpt :
Next, I urge you to undertake a task that shouldn’t be a burden at all: buy and eat lots of local honey. Most commercial honey on supermarket shelves comes from China and Argentina. It’s heated to high temperatures to delay crystallization (a natural process where the honey gets solid and ‘crunchy’ but is unchanged in quality) and forced through microfilters to remove every trace of pollen and propolis, substances which may have beneficial health benefits. Buying local honey not only helps your local beekeeper stay in business but also gives you the best and tastiest honey, made from local floral sources, which many people feel can help with allergies.
It was after watching this great video of an urban beekeeper in California that I became interested in local honey. I had this wild idea that maybe I could keep bees too. I got as far reading the Wikipedia page on beekeeping - which is absolutely fascinating, especially the parts about queen supersedure - before accepting that this would be more complicated than I’d assumed.
I’ve done quite a bit of biking in the past week which has given me a chance to listen to some great RadioLab podcasts. I’ve mentioned RadioLab before, and it’s quickly becoming my favorite NPR radio show… after This American Life, of course.
The podcasts I listened to are Deception, (So-Called) Life, and Laughter. Listen to Deception first, it was my favorite, you can download it from the link. I really like their style, it’s very unique.
I’ve been looking for interesting parks near my job and when I came across the “Washington Valley Park Hawk Watch Area” I decided to visit it during my lunch hour. Take a look the official website and this story on NJ.com. Looks picturesque, doesn’t it? I imagined standing near the top of a mountain, overlooking miles of forest. It wasn’t hawk-watching season, but I was at least hoping for a nice view.
This is what I saw - you can click to enlarge it:
…elevator manufacturers have sought to trick the passengers into thinking they’re driving the conveyance. In most elevators, at least in any built or installed since the early nineties, the door-close button doesn’t work. It is there mainly to make you think it works. (It does work if, say, a fireman needs to take control. But you need a key, and a fire, to do that.) Once you know this, it can be illuminating to watch people compulsively press the door-close button. That the door eventually closes reinforces their belief in the button’s power.
I biked around Branch Brook Park today and snapped a few picture of the cherry blossoms. Check them out here.
The 4 mile ride from Belleville to Newark was pretty short but there are lots of cars to watch out for - both on the road and parked on the side. That means you’ve gotta stay conscious of the door zone so it’s not exactly a regular ride in the park.
When I started running again a few years back, I went to the New Balance store on Route 17 in Hasbrouck Heights to buy a new pair of running shoes. I had New Balance shoes during my high school running days, so I decided to go back to what was familiar. They didn’t ask too many questions and suggested two pairs of shoes that didn’t feel very different - both New Balance shoes, of course - and I picked one. I wasn’t happy with the service but I was happy with the shoes.
After I failed to get into the Marathon, I gave them to my brother and he pretty much destroyed them running winter track. So when I needed a new pair of shoes in October, I decided to visit a locally-owned store instead - Fleet Feet in Montclair (it was close to where I worked). The experience was totally different. First the salesman told me walk around while he watched my feet. He noted that I overpronate, and showed me the uneven wear on the soles of my boots. He also told me I was flat footed, which I already knew was true. Then he brought out shoes from various manufacturers that he thought would be best for my feet; there were shoes from Asics, Nike, New Balance, Saucony, Brooks, and one or two more manufacturers. I tried them all, and they all felt different. I ended up picking the Sauconys and they’re the best fitting and most comfortable running shoes I’ve ever owned. (I’m not recommending Saucony, by the way, I’m only recommending that you don’t commit to any particular shoe or brand without trying them all.)
When my brother needed new shoes, we went to Ridgewood Running in Ridgewood because they give a discount to Paramus athletes. He ended up getting Brooks shoes because they felt the best. A while back, Bassim recommended Jackrabbit in New York - he says they put you on a treadmill and watch you run before recommending shoes. This may just be a gimmick, but it’s better service and more attention than you’ll get at a large shoe chain.
Conclusion: buy from a local shoe store, preferably one specializing in running. It makes a difference. Also, if you have running shoes or sneakers that you wear frequently, take them with you to the store.
I saw Michael Moore’s Sicko over the weekend and I think it should be required viewing for everyone in this country, especially with the elections coming up. I’d been avoiding it because I thought it was going to be a boring documentary, but it’s really well done and thoroughly entertaining – I didn’t get bored once and found some parts absolutely hilarious. I’d always thought that having health insurance meant I’d never have to worry about health care, but after watching this I’m not sure anymore. He fact-checks the claims that Republicans make against universal health care (like these) by visiting a couple of countries to check out their health care systems. But he’s bipartisan in his attacks, with Democrats taking as much heat as Republicans. The visits to other countries are shocking compared to what we have in the United States. We’ve got the most broken system in the developed world! Go rent it. Now.
…But if you don’t want to, you can watch a Frontline documentary called Sick Around the World, which will air on PBS this Tuesday at 9pm. It’s probably not going to be as entertaining as Michael Moore but it should be pretty informative. I heard a little of it in a NPR segment called Japanese Pay Less for More Health Care. NPR will be doing a segment each day this week with parts of the Frontline story.
Edit: The complete Frontline documentary can now be seen online. It looks like they’re trying to be more balanced than Moore by presenting more negatives. But one thing that surprised me is that they mention the “high taxes” in Britain without comparing them to the tax+healtcare costs of Americans. After all, I wouldn’t mind paying higher taxes if I no longer health or dental insurance premiums to worry about.
I drove through Branch Brook Park and the section in Belleville looks great. Lots and lots of people walking around, taking pictures of the trees. If you enter the park at this point and make a right, you’ll immediately be taken into the best-looking section. They have a whole building devoted to the cherry blossoms (which is kinda odd) right around here. They scheduled tomorrow’s cherry blossom festival at a perfect time.
Here’s a bike trip I mapped out, totaling 20 miles each way:
6 miles: Path through Saddle River Park from Ridgewood to Saddle Brook
10 miles: Local streets from Saddle Brook to Branch Brook Park in Belleville
4 miles: Road through Branch Brook Park from Belleville to Newark
It’s 50% parks, takes you from one of New Jersey’s richest suburbs to the northern border of our largest city. That cathedral I took this scary picture of is 500 feet away from the final destination. While this route isn’t at the same level as the greatest bike trip ever, biking to Newark seems like a fun challenge. I’m going to try it once it gets warmer.
This American Life is back on TV starting May 3rd, more than a year after the first season premiered. Netflix subscribers can watch all of the first season on the web. You can also buy it from iTunes or Borders. On May 1st, they’ll be doing a live show in NYC (sold out, unfortunately) which will also be broadcast live to a few theaters. Will I pay $20 to be in the audience at AMC Theaters in Clifton? Probably not, but I might change my mind the night of the show. I have this feeling that it’s not going to sell out.
