Terra Nomad

Did you know

2010-02-18T17:49:00.000-06:00

that the highest point in Pennsylvania is lower than the lowest point in Colorado?

Spain 2010

2010-02-10T21:40:00.002-06:00

I booked our flights today! We fly to Madrid on Sunday, March 28th and we fly back from Barcelona on April 7th.

Did You Know

2010-01-06T08:26:00.011-06:00

that there is a spaceport in South America? The European Space Agency, CNES and Arianespace all use the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana.

Winter TV

2010-01-05T17:41:00.001-06:00

Chuck - back January 10th
Lost - back February 2nd
Parenthood - Premieres March 1st

Weekdays

2010-01-04T10:55:00.000-06:00

You probably know that Sunday is named for the Sun and you may know that Monday is named for the Moon, but what about the rest of the week? They took their names from various gods: Tuesday is named for Tiw or Tyr, Wednesday is named for Woden, Thursday is named for Thor, Friday is named for Frige, and Saturday is named for Saturn.

Couch Potato 3

2009-12-30T18:25:00.000-06:00

Continuing these two posts, a list of all the shows I watched regularly from the last two years. I think the best new show of 2009 is Modern Family.

2008
* Chocolate News
* Do Not Disturb
* Free Radio
* Fringe
* Kath & Kim (US)
* My Own Worst Enemy
* Parking Wars

* Welcome to The Captain
* Worst Week

2009

* Better Off Ted
* Bored to Death

* The Goode Family [anim]
* Hoarders
* Modern Family

* Parks and Recreation
* Sit Down, Shut Up (US) [anim]

Nothing Left To Lose

2009-12-29T07:08:00.001-06:00

Mat Kearney - Nothing Left To Lose

Something's in the air tonight
The sky's alive with a burning light
You can mark my words something's about to break

And I found myself in a bitter fight
While I've held your hand through the darkest night
Don't know where you're coming from but you're coming soon

To a kid from Oregon by way of California
All of this is more than I've ever known or seen

Come on and we'll sing like we were free
Push the pedal down, watch the world around fly by us
Come on and we'll try one last time
I'm off of the floor, one more time to find you

And here we go, there's nothing left to choose
And here we go, there's nothing left to lose

So I packed my car and headed east
Where I felt your fire and a sweet release
There's a fire in these hills that's coming down

And I don't know much but I found you here
And I cannot wait another year
Don't know where you're coming from but you're coming soon

To a kid from Oregon by way of California
All of this is more than I've ever known or seen

Come on and we'll sing like we were free
Push the pedal down, watch the world around fly by us
Come on and we'll try one last time
I'm off of the floor one more time to find you

And here we go, there's nothing left to choose
And here we go, there's nothing left to lose

And I can still hear the trains out my window
From Hobart Street to here in Nashville
I can still smell the pomegranates grow
And I don't know how hard this wind will blow
Or where we'll go

Come on and we'll sing like we were free
Push the pedal down, watch the world around fly by us
Come on and we'll try one last time
I'm off of the floor one more time to find you

Come on and we'll sing like we were free
Push the pedal down, watch the world around fly by us
Come on and we'll try one last time
I'm off of the floor one more time to find you

Come on and we'll sing like we were free
Push the pedal down, watch the world around fly by us
And here we go, there's nothing left to choose
And here we go, there's nothing left to lose

It's beginning to look a lot like Crap

2009-12-08T15:29:00.001-06:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Crap
Originally uploaded by soelo

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Did you know

2009-11-25T19:21:00.000-06:00

that Captain Cook named at least four different places "The Sandwich Islands"? Today they are known as Hawaii, Cook Islands, Efate (part of Vanuatu) and the South Sandwich Islands.

Half Price Price Books Clearance Sale this weekend

2009-10-15T15:39:00.000-05:00

Big location, big selection, big savings! Everything will be $3 or lessat the Minnesota Clearance Sale at the State Fairgrounds on Saturday& Sunday, October 17 & 18 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at theGrandstand. All seven Twin Cities stores are contributing merchandiseto create our biggest Clearance Sale yet! So come to the Half PricePrice Books Clearance Sale and fill your shelves with great books,movies and music at great prices!

Winter

2009-10-12T08:40:00.001-05:00

Winter
Originally uploaded by soelo

It is here.
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Six Years

2009-10-06T23:37:00.000-05:00

Today marks the six year anniversary of my blog. Should I feel guilty that I have blogged a lot less over the last year?

Today's Memos

2009-09-30T13:44:00.000-05:00

To: the guy at the next table
Shut Up. Not only are you loudly talking about politics, you are not saying anything remotely original.

To: my future self
Have you taken the first test to become an actuary yet?

To: Grumpy Gus
Stop sighing every three seconds. If you have something to say, say it!
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Zoos and Aquariums

2009-09-19T18:09:00.001-05:00

I don't remember the first time I went to either the Minnesota or Como Zoo, but I'm pretty sure it was in the eighties. But I have now been to 21 other zoos or aquariums: Shedd Aquarium (Chicago) 1993 and 2005, St. Louis Zoo 1994, Grant's Farm (St. Louis) 1994, California Academy of Science (San Francisco) 1998, San Francisco 1998, New England Aquarium 1999, Underwater World 1999, Columbus 2000, Cincinnati 2000, Newport Aquarium (Kentucky) 2000, Henry Doorly Zoo (Omaha) 2002, Blank Park Zoo (Des Moines) 2003, New Orleans Aquarium 2003, Fort Worth 2005, Lincoln Park (Chicago) 2005, Great Lakes Aquarium (Duluth) 2005, Santa Barbara 2006, Bioparco (Rome) 2007, Berlin Zoo 2008, National Zoo (DC) 2009, Atlanta Zoo 2009

Damn Good Food

2009-09-17T18:13:00.001-05:00

Ever eaten at Hell's Kitchen in Minneapolis or Duluth? The chef and owner Mitch Omer has written a recipe book that comes out on October 1st. My favorite is the Mahnomin Porridge, mmm.

Wikipedia Games

2009-09-16T08:12:00.000-05:00

There are games based on Wikipedia:
- Wikipedian Tag, where two people start on different pages, and move by following links
- Get to Philosophy, where you move through pages by selecting the first link on each page and end up at Philosophy or in a loop. I got to Philosophy from both of the random pages I tried: Jujols and Layanese.
-Wikipedia Maze which is a version of Six Degrees of Wikipedia.
-Wikirace, where you compete to travel from one article to another in the shortest number of steps.

All of those are based on the links, but work is underway for a Trading Card Game based on Wikipedia as well.

A Sure Sign of Fall

2009-09-11T09:06:00.001-05:00

A Sure Sign of Fall
Originally uploaded by soelo

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2009 Fall TV (my version)

2009-09-10T22:19:00.002-05:00

Here's what I plan to ~~watch~~ record:

9-12 Sit Down, Shut Up - FOX

9-13 King of the Hill - FOX

9-17 Survivor: Samoa - CBS
Fringe - Fox
The Office, Community, Parks & Rec, SNL Thursday - NBC
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia - FX

9-20 Curb Your Enthusiasm - HBO
Bored to Death - HBO

9-21 Brick City - Sundance
How I Met Your Mother - CBS
Big Bang Theory - CBS

9-23 Old Christine - CBS
Modern Family - ABC

9-24 Grey's Anatomy - ABC
Flash Forward - ABC

9-25 Law & Order - NBC

9-26 SNL - NBC

9-27 Amazing Race - CBS
Simpsons, Family Guy, Cleveland Show - FOX
Extreme Makeover: Home - ABC

10-14 South Park - Comedy Central

10-15 30 Rock - NBC

11-03 V - ABC

Midseason: Scrubs, Lost, Chuck

Fun facts about Zanizibar:

2009-08-20T13:04:00.002-05:00

The shortest war in history took place there on August 27th, 1896.
Freddie Mercury was born in Stone Town in Zanzibar City.
The first mosque in the Southern Hemisphere was built in Zanzibar by Arab traders.

Omnitheater

2009-07-11T13:58:00.001-05:00

Omnitheater
Originally uploaded by soelo

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Celebrity Deaths

2009-06-25T17:57:00.000-05:00

Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. No, I didn't have anything to do with any of them!
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Summer in the City

2009-06-25T08:30:00.000-05:00

There is less than a week left in June. It seems like the summer months go by so quickly. Yesterday I had movers come and move most of my stuff so now I have to get the last of it packed and moved and clean the apartment. My roommate will be moving his stuff this weekend too.
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Monosyllabic

2009-06-08T14:03:00.000-05:00

A recent thread on Metatalk (subsite of metafilter) neatly summarizes how I feel about people who insist on posting their opinion of anything and everything, especially when said opinion is usually "Cool!" or "Lame!" or even "I saw this already!". The internet has allowed everyone to inflict their banalities on everyone else. These kinds of comments are pretty useless when it comes to things like movies, books, youtube videos or anything other widely available media. They only become powerful when aggregated into a rating system. I don't care that nycgal94 didn't like the book. I care that 95% of those who rated it didn't like the book.

So I try to keep my mouth shut (ha!) when it comes to media nuggets that I didn't like, unless I am asked directly or have a specific point to make. I will tell you that I hated the Matrix if you ask me, but if you post about it I'm not gonna post "hated it".

drunkmolly.jpg

2009-06-05T22:45:00.001-05:00

drunkmolly.jpg
Originally uploaded by soelo

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June

2009-06-01T07:51:00.000-05:00

June was named for the Roman goddess Juno, the patron goddess of (among other things) marriage. This is one reason June is a popular wedding month.