Category: Life and living

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ira glass knows how to tell a story

I’m a big fan of Ira Glass and his “This American Life” radio series.  I subscribe to the podcast and listen to the episodes whenever I get a chance.

A few years ago I was listening to another NPR series, “Wait wait… don’t tell me!” and Ira was a guest on the program.  As is often the case on the program, the guest tells a little about himself before launching into the game.  In this case, Ira told an excellent story that I think is the perfect embodiment of his style – understated and humorous with the bonus of an excellent twist.

I recently came across a re-telling of this story, which I didn’t think was as good, so I dug around the archives and found the Wait Wait site with a link to the file.

I’ve copied it here so that you could give it a listen

I apoligize in advance if it’s a little slow to load – That’s a function of my webhosting, which is not a super-duper account.  If it’s really bad, you can right-click on the link and download the MP3 file.

I figured it was easier for most to have a slow-loading MP3 file than to go the headache of trying to use the Real Audio file linked to on the NPR site.  It’s unfortunate that Real Audio (a loser in the space at this point) just doesn’t give their codecs to Apple and Microsoft for inclusion into iTunes and Windows Media Center.

Give this clip a listen.  It’s really funny.

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Spam success rates

In an earlier post, I pondered how many people could really be falling suseptible to a particular form of SPAM.

Today I stumbled across this article on the BBCs website which reports on a recent study looking at how spammers work and what their success rate looks like.  The good news?  Not that many people are falling for them (but you knew that didn’t you?).  The bad news?  Enough people clearly are as these guys are still out there, still making money..  But it does provide some entertainment value when I receive an especially crafty one.

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Sports Basement lives up to its image

This weekend I went for a bike ride around the city.  It’s the first time I’ve taken my new road bike out specifically to ride for exercise and not just to get around town; riding to work or around the neighborhood.

I bought a proper road bike, as opposed to a hipster bike (read: trackbike) with the idea of going for the occasional road bike ride to supplement mountain biking as a form of exercise.  But, I’ve outfitted the bike knowing that most of my riding will be around town.  I have a headlight and taillight on the bike for commuting and riding at dark and I don’t carry an inner tube or pump, knowing that a bike shop is just always just around the corner in this city.

On Sunday’s ride I didn’t have the lights on the bike (it being daytime) but I also didn’t carry a tube or pump.  And so of course, I flatted out.   Luckily I was just down at Crissy Field only 1 block away from the Sports Basement.  I could walk there, buy a new tube and pump it up.  Of course being a good store, I knew they would have a bike pump available for public use.

And that’s when I realized that I also didn’t have any money with me.

I went into the store anyway, with the plan of asking one of the employees if I could just walk out with a brand new inner tube, with the promise of returning later in the day to pay for it.  I trusted that the Sports Basement was a good store, with good community karma, and they’d be willing to help a guy in need.

5 minutes later I was installing my new tube and pumping it up with the store-supplied, publicly available bike pump.  The store met all of my expectations.

Later in the day I returned and paid for my tube (as well as buying 2 additional tubes) and I also bought a tiny under-seat pouch to store a spare tube.  It’s a target for getting stolen if I leave my bike parked on the street, but the pouch only cost $10 and the tube $4 so if it is stolen I’ll be out $14 but it it’s not, then I’m that much more prepared for the next time.

I had so much faith that the Sports Basement would do the right thing and they completely met my expectations.  I can’t recommend them enough.

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Andy Daly and my connections to fame

I was listening to a recent Sound of Young America podcast this morning and it was an interview with Andy Daly.  As is often the case with the Sound of Young America, I had no idea who Andy Daly was, but as the podcast unfolded, I soon realized that he’s a commedian who’s appeared on shows that I don’t watch regularly (like MadTV and Lewis Black’s Route of All Evil).

In this way, the Sound of Young America is a little hit and miss.  There are many times where I bail on the episode because I’m just not familiar with the talent.  But there are many times where I find the talent to be entertaining (especially commedians) and I am always amazed with the host’s pop culture knowledge.  Jesse Thorn (America’s Radio Sweetheart, if you didn’t know) is a little bit younger than me and he’s way better plugged in to less mainstream talent like bands and commedians but his interviewing skills are really good (something that really should be better appreciated in interview shows) so that even though some of the people he has on his show may not be that familiar to me, I am still often drawn into the interview.

I was immediately drawn to Andy’s telling of the MustacheTV story and so I found myself mindlessly listening to the interview.  Somewhere along the way, Andy talks about his upbringing in New Jersey and how his small town had a community swimming pool, much like so many of the towns near mine.  This piqued my interest enough to google him to see where he was from.  And it was then that I realized that I knew Andy Daly.  He and I went to college together.

Now let me be clear.  I knew of Andy Daly.  I don’t know Andy Daly.  He does not know me.  I think we were at a few of the same parties and bars and even a class or two but that’s the extent of it.  But it’s funny how once you have a shared connection with someone you suddenly feel more supportive of them.  I now find myself wanting to watch Lewis Black’s show, or old MadTV episodes, or even Match Game, of which he is reportedly the new host.

And yet, I imagine that I won’t diligently follow his career, and I probably won’t see him on MadTV.  But I will still get excieted if I channel surf and happen upon him.  I’ll still cheer him on and hope that he achieves greater fame.  It’s a funny thing, having these contacts from throughout life that come and go.  You never know when you may come upon them again nor in what context.

In this case, I have Jim to thank for pointing me towards the Sound of Young America.  It’s another in the series of podcasts that I recommend and regurlarly listen to.  And without that recommendation, I wouldn’t have known of my connection to fame in Andy Daly.

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An Open Letter to the Farmer in Chief

I’m a big fan of the New York Times online.  I’ve grown up with the New York Times always on the kitchen table – that is until I went off to school – and I’ve really enjoyed being able to read the paper online, as I find it much more consumable while at a computer, or more recently on my iPhone.

This last week they had an excellent article in the Magazine section written by Michael Pollan about the current state of our nation’s food system and what the next president should take into consideration about the challenges that will most likely face us in the coming decade.

I can’t recommend the article enough, though this is one instance where the paper version might be more digestible as the online article is 9 pages long (impossible on an iPhone, manageable on a computer over a few sittings).

One of the things that Pollan does is suggest a few White House specific activities that I think make a ton of sense and could help spread a message to the rest of the country (assuming people still pay attention to what the president actually does and not just what the news agencies report on what he says).

“..there is the power of the example you set in the White House. If what’s needed is a change of culture in America’s thinking about food, then how America’s first household organizes its eating will set the national tone..

“..You should make a point of the fact that every night you’re in town, you join your family for dinner in the Executive Residence — at a table… And you should also let it be known that the White House observes one meatless day a week — a step that, if all Americans followed suit, would be the equivalent, in carbon saved, of taking 20 million midsize sedans off the road for a year.

“..Let the White House chef post daily menus on the Web, listing the farmers who supplied the food, as well as recipes.

“.. tear out five prime south-facing acres of the White House lawn and plant in their place an organic fruit and vegetable garden. When Eleanor Roosevelt did something similar in 1943, she <started a> movement that ended up making a substantial contribution to feeding the nation in wartime.  By the end of the war, more than 20 million home gardens were supplying 40 percent of the produce consumed in America.

The article gives a lot of detail about the current state of the American food system – a system I feel is quite broken – and he provides some great recommendations for how to make changes for the better.

This is one area that should be of interest to everyone and whether you agree with Pollan or not, the article provides an excellent platform for a real discussion.

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Ahh, I love these

Got this in my email today – it’s timely too, as I listened to a This American Life podcast this morning on my way to work about people who actually reverse-scam these guys.

Anyway, enjoy!

From: Andrew Hornsby

Dear Friend,

I am Andrew Hornsby, a barrister here in the United Kingdom. I am writing following an opportunity in my office that will be of immense benefit to both of us. I was the legal counsel to the late Udo Pleines, a German who unfortunately lost his life in the Dec. 26, 2004, earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Indonesia.

Before his death, I assisted him deposit a consignment containing the sum of US$19.1M (Nineteen Million One Hundred Thousand US Dollars) with a financial institution in one of the major cities here in Europe. Since I got information about his death, I have been expecting his next of kin or relatives to come over and claim his money. Unfortunately I learnt that his supposed next of kin being his wife died along with him in the tsunami leaving nobody with the knowledge of this fund behind for the claim.

It is therefore upon this discovery that I now decided to do business with you and release the money to you as the next of kin or beneficiary of the funds for safe keeping and subsequent disbursement since nobody is coming for it. I would need you as a Foreigner acting as the next of kin and sole benefactor to the inheritance of late Udo Pleines to claim the funds for us to share.

There is no risk involved at all in the matter as I am going to adopt a legalized method and prepare all the necessary documents. Please endeavor to observe utmost discretion in all matters concerning this issue. Once the funds have been transferred, we shall share in the ratio of 60% for me, 35% for you and 5% for any expenses incurred during the course of this operation. Should you be interested, please send me your telephone and fax numbers for easy communication through this email address.

In the event you are not interested, I sincerely ask that you disregard this email and tell no one about it. I am very careful not to truncate my legal career should you mention this to someone else. I hope you can be trusted in this regard.

Please note that all necessary arrangement for the smooth release of these funds to you have been finalised. We will discuss more in detail when I do receive your response.

Your earliest response to this letter will be appreciated.

Yours truly,

Andrew Hornsby

See?  Isn’t that fun?  It does amaze me that these things are profitible enough for the scammers.  I mean, come on.

This American Life is another of the podcasts that I regularly listen to.  And because I enjoy it, I donated a small amount via their website – just as I was asked.  I really like the micropayments method of business – of course it only works if you have a critical mass of followers though.