What are you doing for the next 21 minutes? Nothing? Perfect. My friend Shawn suggested a song to me by a band called Pretty Lights. I had never heard of them before but I have to confess I have listened to them every day for about 2 weeks straight now. Give them a listen, here are a few songs I love.
There are sites that I have been checking out on an almost daily basis for years, that I really enjoy, and for the longest time I have wanted to do a post on these sites. It is a pretty intensive list so I am going to break this one up into delicious bite sized morsels for you. Today seems like as good a day as any to start, so today I will focus on podcasts, and social radio. Without further ado, lets dive right in.
Last.fm
At work I tend to listen to a lot of music. I got into Last.fm about 3 years ago and have “scrobbled” almost 16,000 tracks! I use Last.fm to discover almost all of my new music. What’s nice about it is that you can press a “♥” icon and it will add it to your list of “Loved Tracks“. Of course this list is available from any computer and can make a nice reference to CD’s I should buy. Even more convenient is an add-on for Firefox called Fire.fm which adds your controls and like buttons to the interface, so you never close the tab by accident. It even prevents music from being cut off after an hour or so. Lastly, the social network built around this music player is truly awesome. You can befriend people from all over the world, who listen to the same music as you, which you can visit their recently loved tracks and lots of times, what they love, you will too! I have had an account for years and still go to the site almost every day.
Bill Burr’s Monday Morning Podcast
Or Tuesday - sometimes it’s not out until then, but he has never missed a week in over 3 years. I really look forward to the new episodes every week. At about an hour per cast, Bill Burr a comedian, covers a range of topics, from trash talking sports teams, recommending hilarious you tube videos, people that annoy him, hyping his gigs, hate mail, offers advice, shares revenge stories, and many other things. Bill is bitter like I am, and he always cracks me up. Bill mostly does an independent podcast, but occasionally he will bring on guests (fellow comedians) which are entertaining as well. Joe Derosa is one of them. Bill and Joe have teamed up to put out a new podcast called “Uniformed” which used to be on XM radio but now they offer several podcasts for free, I found those hilarious as well. You can listen to Bill Burr’s Monday Morning Podcast here.
At 7:54 Adam Carolla nails my thoughts on driving.
Ok so, this post was inspired by a friend of mine Dustin Dupree. Awhile back he did a post to let his readers see what he sees at work all day and well, I don’t have a webcam, but I felt inspired to take photos of my desk and such and show you a little tour of my office. I took these photos about a month ago. I have a ficus now, and I no longer drink from that green polycarbonate bottle, or drink diet coke, so pretty much I WAS INSPIRED but also lazy. Ok, here we go…
My Desk (Clean)
Ideally my desk would always remain this clean but I get caught up with other work and find more organization is chaos…
I also recently (2 months ago) bought a zen garden. A zen garden is a little wood tray with white sand in it and a few rocks and a rake. It’s popular in Japanese culture, and the idea is you use the bamboo rake to make designs and patterns in the sand. The sand is supposed to represent water or oceans and the rocks are supposed to be landforms or continents. I first saw a Zen Garden at Rock Island Cafe in Neenah, WI where they have them on all the tables, and while they seemed pointless at first. they are amazingly fun and have a great calming effect.
Years later while watching House MD I saw House playing with Dr. Wilson’s zen garden…
House MD Season 304 – Lines in the Sand
This re-sparked my interest in them, and so, after traveling to Lowes, Micheals, Staples, Office Depot, Walmart, Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Pier One, Hobby Lobby and a couple other places and finding NOTHING, I ended up buying mine online from this site, for about $16. The day it arrived I ended up buying some different sand for it and also some different rocks. Someday I hope to build my own.
Doesn’t that look tranquil?
It’s great stress relief, and fun outlet to express creativity when work is crampin’ your style. You feel in control of a little world, and the designs you can draw in the sand are infinite. It lets you take your mind off of your stressful life or work for a moment and really helps you just clear your mind. I know it sounds stupid but TRY IT! I love this one and would highly recommend buying one if you work in an office.
Cans of Ambition
Addict. (See… addiction can be funny)
But seriously, since about 3 weeks ago I quit drinking Diet Coke forever. For real this time. I don’t even consume much caffeine anymore, and mostly just drink iced tea or water all day.
Caffeine, Stevia, Tums, B-12, Ginkgo Biloba, Fish Oil, Lipton Iced Tea, Twinnings Earl Grey (thanks for the heads up Dustin)
Here’s my new Ficus!!!! Sadly this one had like twice as many leaves last week as it does in this photo. I hope it stays alive.
I’m a Shepard Fairy Fan
TPS Reports… Google Analytics (personalized cover page)
My piece of sky. Over Exposed.
To do list.
Well folks that’s pretty much it. Still not good at wrapping up posts, but I’ll get better.
This is a review of the first generation Blackburn Flea.
(without solar/USB charger)
Earlier this year I reviewed a bunch of new designs. Blackburn, a favorite of mine for years, was one of the first places I checked. Having owned other Blackburn products before I have always been happy with the performance. The design and price point had been the motivating factors in my previous purchase of the Blackburn Quadrant and Mars 3.0 two years ago.
Since then two of my friends purchased the Cateye HL-EL220 and in a side by side comparison appeared to be a bit brighter than my Quadrant. I figured it is time for something new. I began the day going to 3 local bike shops and checking out the selection of lights. I was determined to buy the Cateye my friends had, when I saw the Flea on the shelf. They had one set up on a display as well, and I was immediately shocked by the small size of the light. It was unbelievably small. Literally smaller in size, than my Cyclometer.
The design was amazingly simple and efficient; it resembled a miniaturized hood scoop on a mustang and looked badass, in an all black. The brightness of this tiny light was just incredible. I really expected it to be a bit dimmer than my Quadrant, but it was actually, BRIGHTER!
Blackburn Quadrant Versus Flea (Off)
Blackburn Quadrant Versus Flea (On)
The size of this light and the amount of brightness they pack into it made it a great design in my book, and it immediately became a contender.
Blackburn Mars 3.0 Versus Flea (Off)
Blackburn Mars 3.0 Versus Flea (On)
Traditionally the downside to small lights is the price and life of the battery inside it. Watch batteries can be about $5 dollars a piece and don’t last as long as typical AA and AAA batteries. But since it is rechargeable that isn’t a problem, and it comes with a charger. The charger is even smaller than the light itself, and comes in a little rubber pouch.
Flea Charger and Pouch
The manual says you can charge the internal battery on the Flea using any alkaline, NiCad, or Lithium Ion battery (except 9V). Depending on the battery you are using you can charge the Flea up to 30 times off of a single D cell battery!
That can be really handy especially since the charger is so small you can keep it in your bike pack, and literally recharge it in while on the trail during the day.
It’s also handy while traveling I don’t have to carry a large 4 battery charger with me, and have to carry a cigarette adapter with me as well.
I love that 1 tiny rechargeable lithium ion watch battery is all the weight you carry with the light. My old Blackburn Quadrant uses 4 AA’s which makes it clunky and a bit in the way. The Flea being so small and having no removable parts on it makes it feel more robust. In the way solid state hardrives are more robust than their disc counterparts. Being incredibly light weight, it doesn’t move around as you hit bumps in the road, or pot holes.
The Flea also uses a Velcro band to attach it to the bike which cuts weight even more, and won’t break over time, like plastic clips can. The rubberized plastic strip on one side keeps it from sliding around once attached to the handlebars or seat post.
Flea Velcro Straps
Now for the cons. I had only 2 issues with this design. First, the tail light is hard to point in the direction you want and has a tendency to point more at the ground than behind you do to the angle of the seat-post. I would still recommend the Mars 3.0 tail ahead of the Flea, even though the Flea is brighter. Second, it took about 4 hours to charge each light. In the past I was ready to go in a half an hour, with a charger that charges 4 batteries at a time in just 15mins. But if you’re smart and plan ahead this shouldn’t cause much of a problem.
All in all it is a great design, its extremely low profile, makes it remarkably portable and convenient, It’s brightness rivals or beats, comparable AA or AAA powered LED lights. I would highly recommend this light for people who bike at dawn or dusk, or who want the added visibility a light draws during the daytime. However if you are a person who rides quickly, in or near blackout conditions, or off road, I would suggest something a little more powerful.
Purchased @ Local Bike Shop
Flea Headlight: $32.99
Flea Taillight: $32.99
Pair: $59.99
Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.
When what is happening in your world doesn’t make sense, when it doesn’t conform to your beliefs about how things should work, it’s time to ask hard questions. I live my life by the sentence; Always think for yourself, question everything always, and never stop fiending for knowledge. Read, think, and be free.
There is a song that sums up many of my beliefs, these lyrics may just change your life or change the way you think….
Sole – Dumb this Down
puppets, cannibals, satellite shadows,
businessmen, inmates, free thinkers, and cattle.
(dumb this down.)
birds on power lines, lion heads on mantles, pop idol pawns,
dead presidents, live poets, and dust mites.
(dumb this down.)
hookers on birth control, men on wanted posters, the women who love them,
dinosaurs, inbreds, and alien holograms.
(dumb this down.)
b-52 pilots and other airborne bacteria,
children born with stds and the sons of rich tyrants…
(dumb this down.)
bewildered herds, sharpen your teeth.
remember these three quotes.
only lie to cameras, cops, and crooks.
see kindness is within our power, but fondness is not.
under the false umbrella of hope, lives are sold, and people are bought.
somebody once told me: all men were created equal.
you’re not created in the womb,
you’re created in a classroom by rich people,
and history is written through the eyes of the butcher.
those who benefit from an ignorant public condescend and insult you.
they built you in the image of slaves; the freemen got locked up.
as long as they control the means of selling beliefs, no man is equal.
if there’s a policeman living in your head, you’re not free.
cuz if free trade were real, everyone would own a company.
all that is solid has melted into air,
it doesn’t matter who you vote for, the government will always get in.
all that was once solid has melted into air,
one hundred thousand lemmings can’t be wrong…
people join the army to pay for college.
in California residents go to college for free.
what will you do?
smoke weed on the weekends and go hiking?
or serve a white collar death squad of an oil company military.
everybody want heaven but nobody wants dead.
we are living in a rich man’s heaven, a poor man’s hell.
the middle class is dwindling, the population is doubling,
we are not living in Rome, we have been living in a fiefdom.
so when they remap all the genomes, remember.
it’s a hate free zone…
cuz money doesn’t care who burns it.
the word is a killer virus:
i’m not a happy plant, so i carry diseases.
so the ones who are starved of knowledge can someday flourish
and punish all those who stood between us.
quit your job, start a business and read more.
all that was once solid has melted into air.
they left the door open cuz the best illusions are half real.
puppets, cannibals, satellite shadows,
businessmen, inmates, free thinkers, and cattle.
(dumb this down.)
birds on power lines, lion heads on mantles, pop idol pawns,
dead presidents, live poets, and dust mites.
(dumb this down.)
hookers on birth control, men on wanted posters, the women who love them,
dinosaurs, inbreds, and alien holograms.
(dumb this down.)
b-52 pilots and other airborne bacteria,
children born with stds and the sons of rich tyrants…
(dumb this down.)
I’m back buddy, heh heh. Unfortunately though, all my posts are gone for good. When I attempted the automatic update to wordpress 3.0 things went horribly horribly wrong. But that was weeks ago, and you don’t come here to hear me bitch, (well maybe you do how would i know) its been over a month since I have updated, and I have about 4 weeks worth of posts to make up so I will have a bunch of updates over the next couple of days.
