did someone open a window?

He's done it again. Read a Balloon Juice blurb about Obama's choice to lead the inaugural invocation and my first reaction was, "What? Yeech." But then I thought, as I read further, 'well, throw the yahoos a bone where it doesn't matter policy-wise, which not only makes nice, it also relegates that kind of thing to where it belongs, an obviously religious context without the implication of validity one inch beyond it.' And then a commenter also pointed out that while the guy is a bible-thumping bigot, at least he's not a complete neanderthal.

So this begs the question: is Obama really this incredibly cagey and strategericish, or am I just playing mental Twister so I stay comfortable with his decisions, stoking the afterglow?

sea change

For anyone feeling like Obama isn't making good appointment choices because they don't align with a particular swath of ideology, I say you're a tool. Did you listen to what he said on the campaign trail? Did he say anything about enacting a narrow ideological agenda, or did he say things like 'reaching out,' 'bipartisan,' and 'all Americans?'

I'm enjoying being surprised by his choices on an almost daily basis, even when I'm forced to say, 'Who? Seriously?!' I'm also enjoying the paradigm shift some of his choices are signaling. Case in point, the Secretary of Energy, for the last eight years a political giveaway to political or industry hacks like Michigan's own Spencer Abraham. This time around, it's going to be Steven f-ing Chu, a guy who can actually think about the truly unprecedented and essential energy challenges we face without reaching for his industry-supplied talking points. A fantastic pick.

reality mixers

I didn't get too worked up when U2 3D came out - I figured it was an overpriced marketing ploy for the most part, showing a concert on a movie screen, though I wish now that I'd seen it. The company that produced U2 3D, 3ality Digital, is expanding its reach into sports with rugby, basketball, and now the NFL with a 3-D minicast of last Thursday's game to three test sites.

Picturing what a 3-D sports broadcast is like is cool, but I can't help but think the experience will be limited by the fact that the cameras will still be outside the field of play. More intriguing is the idea of immersive viewing, possibly still 3-D but reliant not on a border of cameras (and mikes) but a network of them, scattered throughout the field of play on uniforms and helmets, the ball, the field, the goals, etc (not sure how you'd make a shock-proof minicam that could take the hit of a 300 lb dude that can run 10-second hundreds, but I'm the idea guy, not the tech guy). Cycling and rowing would be ideal sports for first gen systems as they have lots of inanimate, non-bending surfaces on which to mount stuff, and they'd greatly benefit from letting people see what goes on up-close (it just dawned on me that Nascar has uses this kind of immersion - in its infancy, but car-to-car and dashboard perspectives nonetheless).

An interesting consequence of such a set up could be the rise of the mixer, a post-action video choreographer (or team of them most likely) that knit together the perspectives into a fluid experience of the action, to augment the viewer's ability to move through different perspectives in more or less real time. How cool would it be to be in the middle of a pack of sprinting cyclists, in the scrum looking up from the ball's perspective at the players, or in the end zone, watching a player and the ball converging right toward you?

fotD 25

Really?! A sea slug forum?! I just frickin' love flickr. Cooler than frickin' sharks with frickin' lasers on their heads. Thanks to Chad's faves and the doubtful guest for the photo.

willful ignorance, lack of adult supervision, and your portfolio

If you'd like a sober and very informative explanation of what the hell has been going on in the financial world, and you have 38 minutes to listen, check out this interview with Michael Greenberger. No one can say we are not F-U-N here at bad juju.

Re: Fw: BlindDate

A friend emailed me this commercial and while I empathize with the protagonist, it got me thinking...

On the long list of crappy mascots, and this is coming from someone who was a 'Laker' so I KNOW crappy mascots, OSU's really must be the worst. Seriously, who could possibly rally behind the overgrown seed of a slow-growing tree? 'WOOHOO! Go Coconuts!! Go Little Helicopter Maple Seed Things!! Go Buckeyes.'

Who's That Lady?

The CD changer didn't disappoint this morning...(in order as randomly selected by the player)
Mope-The Bloodhound Gang
Dreaming of Me-Depeche Mode (disc 97)
Policy of Truth-Depeche Mode (disc 70)
Tonight-Smashing Pumpkins (disc 92)
Crush-Smashing Pumpkins (disc 136)
Devil Baby-Mark Knopfler
Lili S'ent Fout-Toufic Farroukh/Yasmine
I'll Be All Smiles Tonight-Martina McBride w/ The Chieftains
The Girl From Ipanema/Manha de Carnival (instrumental)-Laurindo Almeida
The Theme from Shaft-Issac Hayes
Who's That Lady?-The Isley Bros. (I didn't even know that I had this song)
(shower intermission) 1, maybe, 2 songs
Franklin's Tower-Greatful Dead
Miss You-Rolling Stones
Nothin' But Hers-Goober & The Peas
Some Kind of Friend-Barry Manilow

Thoroughly Disappointing

Just read a summary of Charlie Gibson's exit interview with the president. I'm not sure which was more inadequate, the transcriber's typing skills or W's thoughts on his eight years.

"In other words, I didn't campaign and say, 'Please vote for me, I'll be able to handle an attack,'" he said. "In other words, I didn't anticipate war."

Yeesh.

UPDATE: I changed the link to the full transcript, which in its complete context is just as unsettling.

over and over and over...

There are a few albums that I can listen to almost endlessly. Strangely, I don't often think to choose them when looking for something to listen to, but when I do, I can and have listened to them over and over, regardless of my mood (e.g., I once listened exclusively to Mother's Milk for a drive across Michigan and back, 310 miles, in a jeep that couldn't safely go over 60). In no order:

Peter Gabriel, Passion
The Cure, Staring at the Sea
Butthole Surfers, Electriclarryland
Violent Femmes, Add It Up
The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Mother's Milk
Jane's Addiction, Ritual de lo Habitual
The Pixies, Doolittle
Moby, Play
Sublime, Sublime
The Pogues, If I Should Fall From Grace With God

I bet all of these are at least 10 years old. I didn't add a couple that I listen to a lot now because I'm not sure how they'll shake out over time, though I'd expect to see Blanche in there. And anything by Miley Cyrus, definitely. I do have to wonder if there is a lot of new stuff that I'd feel the same about if only I had time to find it. What albums can you listen to repeatedly in their entirety (please, add in comments)? Are they similarly tied to an earlier point in your life, or has the list evolved?