Results, Poll #29, Libros.

So, in case anyone was wondering, I did manage to carve out some free time this past week and was able to finish the book I had started earlier this month. Though The Big Sort is interested mostly in how the politics of the US have sorted themselves into specific geographic locations (e.g. Austin vs. Dallas/Houston), there is a lot of historical and related information that made it quite an interesting read. I would recommend it to anyone before the elections this fall.



Here's how others responded about books:
> 8 people (40%) chose "in the last week" - As one respondent mentioned, I think this is impressive. Kudos to you all, Nerd Herd.
> 6 people (30%) chose "in the last month" - Well, not too far off the weekly book readers, good enough.
> 4 people (20%) chose "in the last 6 months" - And now it's getting smaller, meaning, I guess, that t.c readers are just that, 'readers'.
> 1 person(5%) chose "in the last year" - You must be very successful in your work life, I hope.
> 0 people (0%) chose "in the last I don't remember" - uuhhh, I have no comments.
> 1 person (5%) chose " 'book', what's that?" - And to you I give my deepest sympathies, everyone knows you're missing out by not reading Harry Potter.

14 out of 20 people have finished a book in the last month - that's impressive!! Who says books are dead? Internet, suck on that!!

Nicest news as the t.c author - we've jumped this week to 20 respondents! I do know that we've had our first Netherlands respndent finally get on board. Thanks, All. New poll up NOW.

Beijing 08-08-08

[The "Bird's Nest" all lit up]

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony - what a great way to spend a night at home with a summer cold (one of those hot-outside-A/C-inside colds that always creep up). I was very impressed by the overt and symbolic displays of the Chinese culture throughout the night. I don't know what part was the best... maybe just one long "best". Here's some facts I grabbed onto while watching and listening to Lauer & Costas:

China:
> With a population of 1.3 billion, China makes up 1/5th of the World's population. Yowza.
> China only has one timezone for the entire nation. No dilly-dallying with CST, MST, PST stuff... right now, on the western side of China, the sun rises at 8AM and sets at 11PM. Done and done.
> The opening ceremony used 15,000 people (no performers repeated). When the man in charge of all the proceedings was asked something like "How?" or "Why?", he replied, "Well, we have the people."
> The Olympic Stadium, or "Bird's Nest", currently holds 91,000 people. This is on par with some of the biggest college football stadiums in the US. After the games, it will be the home of Beijing's soccer team, and will then hold only about 80,000.

[I thought this was one of the nicer small things they did - Yao Ming and a boy who survived their recent earthquake went into the stadium for China's delegation together. The boy survived by digging himself out of the rubble, then saving two of his classmates b/c it was his duty as he was a chosen hall monitor.]

Others:
> Out of the 204 nations represented in the games, here's some nations I'll admit I don't think I'd heard of until they walked into the stadium - Vanuatu, Malta (I know this one, but it always sounds fake), Benin, Comoros, Cote d Ivoire, Kiribati, and Nauru (at 8sq miles, it's the smallest nation in the games).
> Palestine has an Olympic swimmer in the games, but they have no Olympic sized pool in the country.
> Chinese Taipei (uhhh, Taiwan) has a special flag for the games as they are not allowed to use their national flag in international competitions (esp in China). They will be involved in some heated games with China, esp in table tennis (I knew those shoes would need to keep their cool).
> Japan has the oldest competitor in the games, a man that is 67 years old. He will be competing in some of the equestrian events.
> Only the opening procession of nations can justify these kinds of combinations following each other into the stadium - Mauritania>Denamrk>Uganda or Australia>Zambia>China. To be fair, I didn't hear how they line up the countries, but it's not strictly on the English spelling of their country's name, it's something more official, I suspect.

AAAAaaaaaaaa!!!!!!

I think screaming is the response of most people when going down that first big decline on a roller coaster. Our family used to go to Six Flag's Great America *every* summer. This was a big deal for a family with 5-7 kids. It was expensive to get in (multiply everything by 7-9), expensive to eat, and expensive to get souvenirs for each one of us.

Our father always liked the roller coasters and once the kids were old enough (and brave enough... and tall enough) we'd go along. I recently saw a show on TV with the biggest and best coasters, like:

This one is known as Millennium Force, not to be confused with the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars. Seems like one heck of a roller coaster, and you only have to go to Ohio to ride it. It's been voted the World's #1 Steel Roller Coaster 5 times since it was built. Must be good. You can see a youtube video of the ride here. It's worth the 1.5 minutes.


This next one is called Kingda Ka and is located in Six Flags-NJ. You can see a video of it here. This one isn't as twisty-turney as most, but it makes up for it in sheer force, taking you up to 128mph in 3.5 seconds to make it over the large hump in the middle of the ride. It's currently the World's Fastest Roller Coaster (but ride time is less than a minute). It also uses hydraulics for it's propulsion, not the old-school chain-driven (remember that clicking-clanking as you go up the hill on the American Eagle? That's the chains and cogs.)


And finally, thought it wasn't on the show, I had to toss in the old-but-goodie, American Eagle at Six Flags-IL. It's no longer the fastest roller coaster (it once was), but it continues to remain the highest (drop height), fastest, and longest racing roller coaster ever built. In 2006, the American Eagle celebrated its Silver Season (25th anniversary). That's a lot of rides! And let's not forget, it's made out of WOOD. You can hear the clicking and clacking and visit an old friend here.

Anyone hitting an amusement park this year for some roller coasters? The Demon is calling your name, perhaps?

Discuss, Poll #29, Libros.

This week's subject was chosen in part b/c I've recently been granted a Milwaukee Public Library card. I've also picked up this book after seeing the author on 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'. It's been an interesting read so far. I should be able to finish the book in time for the poll, but I wouldn't say I'm a voracious reader by any means. At most, maybe 3-6 books per year. I'm pretty sure some of you rip through books like Augustus Gloop rips through a WonkaBar.

Results, Poll #28, Housing.

Renting renting always renting. This is my personal mantra, but boy would it be nice to be creating some equity. I've said before that I've moved, on average, once a year since I gradated high school. Once or twice, I've moved 3 times or more in a year, for a variety of reasons. I can't wait, if it's ever possible, to be in a home and not move for many many years. That'll be the day.

This week, the rest of the t.c readers said:
> 9 people (50%) chose 'I'm enjoying creating equity while paying off a mortgage' - sounds like the smart way to go, even with the housing slump. Plus, if you're married, you only have one landlord to answer to, your spouse.
> 8 people (44%) chose 'Renting, always renting' - well, it's not sooo bad, buck up! However, I will point out that people in the know still recommend using only 25% of your monthly income on a rental/housing expense. More than that and it could be iffy, unless you don't have other expenses, like a car.
> 1 person (5%) chose 'Still in school' and live with M&D or in university housing - sure, we've all done that. Some days, I think it might be better than always renting (minus the cockroaches and couches filled with broken glass and loose change).

No one chose that they live in their car (I'll keep you all posted on my future situation:), but no one also chose that they own their home outright. I thought for sure one or two of the t.c readership would, shows how much I know. Perhaps I will have to do this again in 20-30 years time and see where it ends up.

Final Note; I believe we have a new, legitimate respondent record, 18 people. Thanks all.

Olympic Tech: Shoes.

I've had a fascination with high-performance footwear (i.e. gym shoes) since I was a little kid. I think it stems, at least in part, from the fact that for most of my childhood, all us kids could only pick one kind of gym shoes brand - Winner IIs from Sears & Roebuck (back when they still used "Roebuck" too). Our family got a pretty sweet discount on already low prices, so it was a no-brainer. Of course, as soon as I could buy my own kicks, I was all about doing whatever it took to be sporting something other than Winner IIs.

I've been seeing a bit more coverage in general for the Olympics, now that we're only a couple weeks out, and I notice the shoes pretty easily, here's a sample:


This is *the* shoe to have if you're going to be boxing this Olympics. As I understand it, boxers are mostly on their midfoot and toes, so that's where the bulk of the support and padding is needed/located in this shoe. Once that's sorted, they make the rest of it as light as possible. You can basically see through the shoe, as it uses losts of high strength mesh, which also keeps the feet cooler during the pummelings. (lightweight is a theme in almost any high performance item, be it shoe or otherwise)


Next up, the crowd-pleasing sport - ping ping! No joke, though in fairness it's known as 'table tennis' in the Olympics. Also, if you've ever seen the sport (usually only on TV during the Games), it's pretty hardcore. So, these shoes, again from Adidas (All Day I Dream About...), are part of their "ClimaCool" series. Same kind of venting/mesh as the boxing shoes, to keep feet-heat low.


Ah, did you think I would forget basketball? Did you know that one of the biggest brands in basketball and for Nike is Lebron James? He's had his own signature shoe for about 5 years. This is the Lebron V in what I can only presume is the Olympic 'colorway'. I believe two players on the team have also guaranteed a gold medal for the US... good luck.



Finally, I've saved what I thought was the coolest new shoe for the games, used in track & field. Middle distance track to be specific. This is from a new series at Nike called "Flywire". This is the 'Nike Zoom Victory Spike', an intended track shoe that should weigh about 95grams or .2lbs. It's the lightest shoe they, or I believe anyone, has produced for this sport. Joe Schmoe should be able to pick this up in October, but each Nike athlete at the games will get two pairs.

Oh, all the other shoes are available for purchase by Joe Bagadonuts too... but bring lots of cash for the best. The lighter it is, the more it costs.

Lastly, if you need more tech, here's a "fancy schmancy" article on 7 new Olympic shoes.

Never Back Down.

I'm thinking of this phrase for my first tattoo, kind of a personal mantra that I've taken up in the past week. What do you think, old English script down my lower right arm or left arm? It might have something to do with the DVD release of the movie with the same title, here. Looks like a good movie, right? I might have to NetFlix it this week and "knock it out".