Raiders of the Lost Art

Last night, sport and I went to the opening event of the Fargo Film Festival, a screening of the now-legendary fan homage to filmmaking, Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation. The two directors were in attendance and taking questions, which I suppose is pretty nice.

I have one problem with these events. These SoCal visitors always come off a tad...well...snooty. I'm pretty sure I spent just about as much of my life in Southern California as these guys have. I'm also pretty sure that between my New Media and Old Media experience making films, music, soundtracks, podcasts, and other assorted goodies makes me more than qualified to ask some craft questions (like about their storyboarding, production decisions, etc.) as well as more general life questions. Still, I don't like the way these events frame audience members as local rubes who MUST ask questions like "aw shucks, how do you feel being so durn inspire-ational?"

The really poor-quality fan tribute was amazingly watchable and fun. Too bad the Q&A session wasn't nearly as fun.

Hacking Democracy

Apparently, Comcast understands how to crudely exercise political manipulation by blocking out dissenting views with the "sleeping dwarves" strategy. Political hacking is pretty common (we call it "forum control" in rhetoric), but this is a pretty transparent and crude form.

The Re-vision of Experience

The Mississippi's mighty, but it starts in Minnesota
At a place that you could walk across with five steps down

From "Ghost," by Indigo Girls

I've recently walked across these headwaters at Lake Itasca. To be honest, I am more impressed with the concept than the experience. What impresses me even more than the almost-Zeno's-paradox of striding over the mighty Mississippi in "five steps down" is the experience of finding new meaning in familiar words and lyrics with the addition of experience. This constant destruction and re-constitution of life's details is what I always imagined infuriated a too literal Bishop Berkeley. Life seems haunted with these re-creative acts of perception.

Fun with Science!

What ELSE do you do on the coldest day of the year?

You boil water and throw it in the air to see it freeze before it hits the ground.



Negative thirty degrees can be deadly AND fun!

Proper Ice Nosh

What does one do when the temperature is headed for negative 35 degrees F with a 50-below windchill?

Why, make laid-back tacos for dinner, of course. You might call them "nachos," but when blue-corn tortilla chips meet refried beans, smoked cheddar, New Mexico red AND green chile, that's now what WE would call them.

Climbing Out of the Cave

When I moved to Fargo, a friend of mine (who would know all about the area) called it a "cold, dark place." While I don't agree with the overall assessment, getting from solstice to happy can be a slow slog. My last few posts reflect the anticipation and ennui that accompany this trudge to the surface. Although I'm not really that sad, it has been gratifying to have friends and family reassure me with calls to ingest the magic pill.

What is this pill, you ask?

Green chile.



Well, I've been partaking of this magical substance. Yes, it must be grown in New Mexico. Yes, it should be roasted to an even char on the outside and peeled. And, yes, it is best ingested in an almost-pure form in a stew:



or as part of breakfast:



Check, check, and double check.

Much better, thanks!

econopolitical confrontation?

Can anyone tell me why this doesn't fall under the heading of "terrorism"? I realize that it isn't politically correct to say that about a young white male American wannabe entrepreneur, but threats and violence to create maximum political effect is a textbook definition.

The Shame of North Dakota

I have heard the sobs of soldiers who lost comrades in Iraq. We have ALL lost friends and fellow Americans in that war.

This makes me ill.

The Blahs of February

Right now, things are looking a little dark.

On the surface, things should be fine. I just got an article accepted to one of the premiere journals in my field, which should help cement my growing tenure case (that is, if my other articles and chapters in the pipeline ever come out, and my special issue doesn't fall victim to some unforeseen calamity). Sport and I are getting out quite a bit as well. Yesterday, I got to shoot some hoops, do some pullups and ride the bike. Today? We did our long run.

Success and getting around doesn't seem to cut through the blahs some days. What makes it doubly difficult is that success can actually cause some of these darker moods. It's not like I live for the finish line, but it stinks when when the sight of the finish line depresses me.

Transparency

One of the holy grails (yes, there are many) in startup companies is creating a sense of transparency without giving away your proprietary "secret sauce." Tesla motors--perhaps the most prominent automotive startup commercializing electric vehicles--is trying to walk this line by using a variety of blogs to personalize some of the company accomplishments.

Other startups could learn a thing or two by studying and emulating this approach.

Your New Mavericks Champion

Nice job Greg Long! Twenty four seems old in the surf world, but it's not too old for big wave surfing.

January Thaw

Today, Fargo made it up to 41 degrees. How did sport and I celebrate this near-record event? We went for a run, of course.
I didn't even bother to groom, the sunny joy had me so intoxicated.

I know. I'm getting dangerously close...



The best part was that our chosen detour from course prepping included the ability to wear shorts in the January weather.

Got Surveillance?

The Gator Nation brings you the Gator Tech Smart House.

Merry Christmas.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year

W00t.

A little late to the party. But then again, when aren't they?

I want to get me one of these...

Sport and I (mostly not sport) are thinking about long-term housing plans. This might just be in the mix. Seriously.

Who's Your BCS Daddy?

Stewart Mandel (a CNN/SI sports writer) sums up his argument for Ohio State and LSU to be in the BCS "title" game. I like his rhetorical prestidigitation when arguing for Ohio State's "lock" status:

"Say what you want about the oft-criticized Buckeyes. They won a conference championship in one of the six recognized major conferences, and they were the only one of the six to make it through with just one loss. Like it or not, Ohio State has come the closest of any team to "earning" a spot in the title game."

Translation:

"Exclude non-cartel teams like undefeated Hawaii and nine-game-in-a-row winner BYU. Ignore the obvious solution, an 8 or 16 team playoff. Pick Ohio State because they are in a conference without a championship, have a massive home field advantage, and reek of eau de bandwagon . You can't buy better logic than that, right? I think I hear my Lord entering the manor. Please genuflect."

The Season of Giving and Adventure

I'm temporarily de-cloaking the colleague I call "Marshall" to ask you more directly to help him on his journey. He has been rather suddenly asked to help a documentary film crew go to Sudan to document the return journey of one of the Lost Boys. If you can help, please do. It's totally legit.
*************************************

Dear family and friends,

As some of you know, and many of you don't, I am working on a documentary film project entitled African Soul, American Heart. This documentary will tell the story of my friend and NDSU student Joseph Akol Makeer, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. Joseph was displaced from his home as a 10 year old boy, walked hundreds of miles across Sudan with 25,000-30,000 other boys, lived for 3 years in a refugee camp in Ethiopia, then ten years in a UN refugee camp in Kenya, before arriving in Fargo almost 5 years ago. For the last 10 years, he has also been the primary caregiver for 4 younger siblings who arrived at the UN Refugee camp in 1998. Their parents are no longer alive.

He is going to return home to Sudan for the first time in 20 years, and I am part of a three-person crew that is going to travel with him and film this amazing homecoming. Our crew will be in Joseph's village approximately 8 days (Dec. 17-25), and while we are there, we also hope to be able to deliver some humanitarian aid.

This is where I really need your help.

Our team has raised $11,000 in about a month, and we are getting close to being able to cover many of our expenses. This trip will be a real success, however, if we can bring direct aid to Joseph's village, which is going through the process of re-building after a 20 year civil war. If you can help me raise another $5,000 before we leave on Dec. 10th, we will be able to purchase bulls, goats, and other basic needs when we arrive in Sudan.

Our fundraising theme has been 500 X $50. If 100 of you who read this message can contribute $50, we will add $5,000 to our goal. If anyone can contribute more, your generosity will make a tremendous impact. If you cannot contribute $50, but you can contribute $5, please know that $5 can make a difference in a village rebuilding after 20 years of civil war. If you can't contribute financially at this time, please send me an email and wish us all luck--the many kind words I have received already have all been very valuable to me.

Please click here to get to our paypal donation page.

There is a "Pay Pal" logo on that page; if you click it, you can either make a donation through your Pay Pal account, or you can use a credit card to make your donation. If you would rather send a check / cheque (for all my Canadian family and friends), the address is

African Soul, American Heart
c/o Deb Dawson, Executive Producer
300 NP Ave Ste. 308
Fargo ND 58102

Your Canadian donations go even further these days, and we can cash Canadian cheques easily in Fargo.

Please also forward this message to any of your friends or family members who might be interested in our supporting our project. You can follow our progress at our blog.

I look forward to hearing from many of you!

Kevin

I LOVE the 80s (tech writing remix)

Mid-Life Crisis, Part Deux

I'm up to .85 miles at 6 minute/mile pace. It hurts.

Note To Doctors

If you are going to hate your patients, don't expect them to trust you.

If you think this:

"I marveled, sitting there silenced by her diatribe. Hers was such a fully orbed and vigorous self-concern that it possessed virtue in its own right. Her complete and utter selfishness was nearly a thing of beauty."

expect a lot more of this:

"At the other end of our spectrum are patients like Susan: They're often suspicious and distrustful"

Gee, I wonder if their suspicion and/or distrust has to do with your:
A. snap, and expert judgment of how she raises her kid just by the behavioral pinhole you glimpsed in the waiting room,
B. distaste of her knowing where you got your credentialing,
C. quick and assuming dismissal of any and all research done on her very real and felt condition,
D. wistful and fond recollection of being taught when to "punt" a patient away, like a football?

As one of those "other" doctors, let me just share some insight. The world is changing. People have more access to bad information, and indeed we ARE responsible for knowing what to ignore. That makes it that much MORE important that we share what we know, what we don't know, and what to ignore in a way that communicates this information convincingly to people who are usually desperate and unwilling to trust the trappings of expertise that used to carry the day. Our professional identity will likely be determined by what the religious fundamentalists call "our witness." If we can only help the easily cowed, we should probably take a secondary role to those who can advocate and profess their calling more eloquently.