MY BRAIN IS MADE OF THINGS MADE OF GOLD

MBIMOTMOGold Medals

ARRON — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 16:06:47 -0500

Good form or not, I am indeed returning to the blog this week to ask a simple question: How accurate a measure are Michael Phelps' gold medals against other athletes gold medal accomplishments? I mean he dominates a sport which offers a mind-bogglingly wide field of events to participate in and win; while other athletes don't. There is no baseball gold for hitting only triples or RBIs or making double-plays; there are no gold medals for playing just the first half of a soccer game, or the second half, and the full game or kicking the ball 20 yards or 20 yards.

I don't want to demean his skill and I'm happy to accept the word of many a sports commentator who call him the most complete swimmer of his era, but greatest Olympian evar? Really?

Again, I'm not suggesting he's a slouch; I'm just curious?

Also, I'm interested in seeing all of the gold medalists fight each other out during the closing ceremonies to finally award one ultra-gold medal. The event: Scrabulous.

Long Night

ARRON — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 11:34:19 -0500

Okay, so Dark Knight was pretty good, maybe even great, but is there anything that an overwhelming hype engine can't suck the fun out of? There' a lot of good stuff in there--Chicago being a big one--but for all the clever crime schemes, dramatic moral dilemmas, and incredible chases and explosions, the film actually felt a little bit long. As a two-film double feature, it would have been unstoppable, as a two-and-a-half hour one-off, it was a bit bloated. Pretty good, but bloated.

Yeah, I just thought I'd share.

There goes the weekend

ARRON — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 13:42:43 -0500

Working a full week in four days certainly can tax the spirit. Working two full weeks in four days audits the body and soul. Also, it drives you to spend the morning watching Project Runway.

C'est la vie.

Open Lanes

ARRON — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:58:19 -0500

While riding the bus along the great and wild one-way gaunlet that is Washington Ave my thoughts typically are given over to 1) calculating the transit time lost at the hands (or feet I suppose) of the hapless tourists that will board at Ogilvie, ask a question, and then disembark or 2) hoping that our bus doesn't obliterate the biker in the bike lane who is fighting with the bus as they alternately throttle up in a race for the bus-stop and then slam on their breaks to allow one or the other the narrowest margin of passage.

However, today I had an idea. For most heavily-bussed and biked one-way streets, why not move the bike lane to the leftmost side of the street, leaving the bus to compete only with the parked cars (which, if laws hold, give way to open spaces for boarding).

Maybe graph would help (below, the one-way street from left to right):

So while Chicago is talking about having bikes share the bus lane I'm not so sure--although it is pretty obvious that the existing system is total garbage.

Next up, my dream for a same-side bus-stop and a plan to totally tear down the CTA and make Chicago the 21st Century's first "City of Zeppelins".

There's Always An Upside

ARRON — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:47:22 -0500

Just a happy observation: the boss finally having her baby and embarking on her maternity leave ensures that I'll have at least 3 months where I won't have to mask my terror during the completely-awkward, moderately unprofessional, and all-around cringe-inducing daily dilation overshare.

Face muscles, feel free to engage at will.

He Gu: Larry King Would Hit That

ARRON — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:30:25 -0500

Oh CNN.com, unimpeded along your path to cultural semi-relevance by grammar or proper sentence construction.

Christina Aguilera talking about her new baby or Christina Aguilera talking about her new baby with Larry King...either way, what the world needs more of now is not Christina Aguilera talking. F'reals, Britney's down for the count, it's time to finish what you started and then go have Mick Jagger's kid.

And yes, if the above wasn't totally clear, I do consider Christina Aguilera to be a kind of Highlander figure.

Preserved In Transit

ARRON — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:07:41 -0500

Some may argue that I've deafened up to culture or sold out good taste--and it's their right to do so--but I swear to you, listening to Coldplay's Viva La Vida on a set of decent in-ear headphones is a pretty rewarding experience. Bonus points if you're simultaneously blocking-out the sounds of the Damen bus, which is considerably more ruckus-filled at 7:15 in the morning than you might expect.

Stray Observations

ARRON — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 13:26:29 -0500

"As you know Len, I've been predicting an opposite field homerun for Fukudome since early March."

At what point did WGN's Bob Brenly start doing color commentary in the style of Jack Van Impe? Mark my words, soon he'll be calling Len "Rexella".

By the way, if you've never stayed up late on a Tuesday night to watch the World Ministries program, you're totally missing out. Full video podcasts are available at the JVI site--which bills itself as " The Bible Propechy Portal of the Internet". Ironically enough, that was the operating title for MBIMOTMOG until just last year.

It's like Web 2.0!!!!1!

ARRON — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 22:34:18 -0500

I've been thinking, restaurants should have their own domain, .nom.

Truly the internets would be a better place if I were in charge of them.

A Child's Work is Never Done

ARRON — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:21:58 -0500

O, to be with child...