Wasted and Ready

Posted on by in Music

Ben Kweller put on a great show at the House of Blues last night. It was just him, his acoustic guitar hooked up to a distortion pedal, and a piano. And he wasn’t shy with the acoustic distortion. Here’s a clip I shot of the encore: I first saw Ben soon after Sha Sha came out in 2002 at the long-gone Axis club on Lansdowne. I’ve seen him four times since, and have never been let down. Especially after he added a pedal steel player for his Changing Horses tour. He says he’s got a new album coming out in a few months.

Server Attention Span

Posted on by in Cartoons

Via xkcd, another dorky comic: I recently heard that the xkcd author lives in Cambridge, and decided to check out his about section for the first time today. Here’s what I found: Who are you? I’m just this guy, you know? I’m a CNU graduate with a degree in physics. Before starting xkcd, I worked on robots at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia. As of June 2007 I live in Massachusetts. In my spare time I climb things, open strange doors, and go to goth clubs dressed as a frat guy so I can stand around and look terribly uncomfortable. At frat parties I do the same thing, but the other way around. What does XKCD stand for? It’s not

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Trans-Atlantic MagLev

Posted on by in Technology

Not quite a flying car, but almost as cool: A 4,000-mph magnetically levitated train could allow you to have lunch in Manhattan and still get to London in time for the theater, despite the 5-hour time difference. It’s not impossible: Norway has studied neutrally buoyant tunnels (concluding that they’re feasible, though expensive), and Shanghai is running maglev trains to its airport. But supersonic speeds require another critical step: eliminating the air—and therefore air friction—from the train’s path. A vacuum would also save the tunnel from the destructive effects of a sonic boom, which, unchecked, could potentially rip the tunnel apart. It’s a bit on the pricey side though, at “$25 million to $50 million per mile.”

Obama’s Homebrewing?

Posted on by in Beer, Current Events

From Obamafoodorama, the Obamas recently served a honey ale homebrewed with honey from the White House beehive. It’s apparently the first time in recorded history that homebrewed beer was made and served in the White House. Just like most other homebrewers, the White House chefs brewed a practice run before serving the beer to guests at a superbowl party. The Obamas purchased the homebrewing equipment with their own funds, and there’s even talk of adding hops vines to the White House Garden. I like this trend, and I’d love to find the recipe and give it a shot sometime.

Get Your Trade On

Posted on by in Markets

The physical kind. Kid Dynamite has an interesting post on buying nickels. There’s no good way to quote it, so here’s the entire post: Ok kids – I’m going to let you in on another blockbuster trade.  This one is a slam dunk – principal protected, GUARANTEED not to lose money (in notional terms at least), and I’m not even kidding about that.  I debated writing about this, as Redhead Ted and I gave serious thought to putting this trade one, but perhaps one of my readers can suggest some logistical improvements that would make the trade possible.  Here goes: NICKELS. Yep – I said it – United States Nickels – the 5c kind.  Like minded arbitrageurs already know that

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