March 31, 2008
Passenger Screening
If I had known Minneapolis was going to get hit with a blizzard today, I would have extended my stay in DC. The weather wasn't great there, but at least I didn't have to contend with snow drifts. Not to mention the surly, drunken Twins fans on the train ride home.
I also managed to buy myself a big bowl of hassle by attempting to fly with an expired photo ID. My forgetfulness earned me some additional scrutiny from the airport security staff. My irritation with the ridiculously extensive search of my body and wheelchair was commingled with some pity for the poor TSA flunkie who got stuck working me over. He had clearly never encountered anyone like me before. "Can you lean forward?" No. "Can you stand up?" No. "Can you raise your arms?" No. I wanted to show him I could wiggle my ears, just because I felt I had something to prove.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 11:33 PM | Comments (0)
March 28, 2008
Fear Of Flying
I'm going to take some pictures of my wheelchair so I have hard proof that my wheelchair was fully intact before I got on the airplane. Is it really that difficult to design an plane that can accommodate a wheelchair or two? I used to be more nonchalant about air travel, but that was before I discovered that Northwest Airlines is fully capable of forgetting to load a wheelchair into the baggage compartment.
While I'm gone, you can get your daily blogging fix from Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish. For a self-professed conservative, he's awfully fond of Obama. Or you could finally do those chores you've been putting off. The garbage disposal isn't going to unclog itself.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:53 PM | Comments (1)
March 27, 2008
I Hate It When I'm Right
This week, the City Pages writes what I already knew: the Current just isn't cool anymore. The article mentions that the station brought in "consultants" to improve its sagging ratings. Which is another way of saying that the format was blanderized and homogenized to appeal to the suburban types who are looking for something slightly edgier than classic rock, but who freak out a little when they hear a song that wasn't played the day before. The Current was an interesting experiment: could a truly free-form radio station attract listeners who have grown accustomed to the prepackaged, market-tested sameness of commercial radio. The answer seems to be a resounding "no".
I like the Current DJs enough to keep listening from time to time and it's fine as acoustic wallpaper, but I'm going to look elsewhere for my fix of musical eclecticism. Radio K and KCRW are good alternatives that I need to sample more. Others?
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:18 PM | Comments (4)
March 26, 2008
Beltway Bound
I won't be blogging this coming weekend because I'll be encamped in Washington DC for a two-day meeting that I'm attending as part of my duties as board president of a local non-profit. Unlike the last time I was there, I probably won't get a chance to do photo ops with senators and other dignitaries. I'm a little disappointed that I won't have more free time as I'd like to pay visits to the Supreme Court and FDR Memorial. However, I'm reasonably confident I'll make future visits.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 06:43 PM | Comments (3)
March 25, 2008
Critic At Large: Berlin Noir
Writers of noir fiction always run the risk of self-parody. The conventions of noir--the tough-as-nails private eye, the femme fatale, the hardboiled prose--have been rehashed and recycled so many times that it seems nearly impossible to wring anything original and compelling out of the genre. But Phillip Kerr manages to do just that in his Berlin Noir trilogy. Kerr's conceit is to choose one of the most noir settings imaginable: Berlin during the rise and fall of the Third Reich. After all, the corruption and violence of the Nazi regime provides an ideal milieu to explore the darker side of human nature. Bernie Gunther, the protagonist of the loosely connected novels that make up Berlin Noir, is a struggling private detective with no great love for the Nazis, but is resigned to living under their tyranny. The best he can hope for is to scratch out a living for himself and survive whatever fate lies in store for Germany and her mad rulers.
Gunther can ill-afford to turn down a case and he finds himself investigating murders and extortion rackets that bring him uncomfortably close to the thuggish despots he so despises. Kerr's historical research is deftly incorporated into the stories, making Gunther's encounters with figures like Heinrich Himmler all the more disquieting. Some of Kerr's plot devices are a bit clumsy in their convenience, but his vivid writing makes such sins easily forgivable. And one you read this book, you'll never look at a wine press in the same way again.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:11 PM | Comments (0)
March 24, 2008
Home Audio
I'm looking for recommendations on a bookshelf stereo system that can accommodate my iPod. It needs to have an FM radio so I can listen to MPR while I get ready in the morning. I don't care about an alarm clock or CD player. This Sony looks like it might fit the bill, but I'm still in the product research phase.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:46 PM | Comments (0)
March 23, 2008
North Country Know-How
The Times article paints a downcast picture for municipal wireless, but this a bump in the road. Minneapolis' network and the public-private partnership behind it could become a model for other cities looking to provide affordable broadband to their residents. Once our current economic doldrums have passed, we'll see renewed interest in making broadband affordable to everyone, just like any other public utility.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 02:18 PM | Comments (2)
March 22, 2008
You Can't Make This Stuff Up
PZ Myers, a fellow Minnesota blogger, seems to have developed a reputation as a troublemaker. He went to a screening of the pro-creation movie Expelled at the Mall of America. Before he could even step foot into the theater, he was, well, expelled. But you should really read PZ's original post for the punchline to the story. It's classic.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 06:10 PM | Comments (1)
March 21, 2008
Up And Coming
I'm now an official graduate of the Emerging Leaders Institute, a professional development program sponsored by the State of Minnesota. I'll probably be "emerging" for some time to come. If all goes well, I should have enough years remaining in my public service career to figure out what this leadership business is all about. I'm already beginning to work on improving my assertiveness. So, watch out, cute women in elevators. I might start greeting you with an unsolicited "Hello" or even "How are you?" I'm getting dizzy just thinking about it.
Here's a picture of me and my fellow emergent leaders: 
I'm the one in the middle, in case you couldn't tell.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:14 PM | Comments (2)
March 20, 2008
The Art Of Procrastination
I've been working on a presentation most of tonight. More tomorrow.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:52 PM | Comments (0)
March 19, 2008
Unqualified Candor
I've been reading some of the reactions to Obama's speech on race and class and one thing they seem to share is a sense of wonderment that a politician spoke so openly about a topic that comes with more baggage than an auditorium full of divorced singles. And he spoke in plain, unadorned terms that didn't condescend to the audience. The speech nicely embodies what I think is one of Obama's greatest assets: his ability to articulate the the sunny as well as the more shadowy aspects of American civic life without sounding rehearsed or inauthentic. I can't picture Clinton giving a speech like this. Her years in politics have left their scars and I'm not sure that she's capable of letting her guard down when there are more than five people in the room.
The YouTube clips of Reverend Wright had the potential to freak out a lot of white people; the kind of white people who make it a point to talk about their black friends when the topic of race comes up. Obama needed to take control of the narrative and he did that. But he also offered a glimpse of what it might be like have a president who is willing to treat us like adults.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:37 PM | Comments (0)
March 18, 2008
Final Odyssey
Arthur C. Clarke, one of science fiction's few remaining grandmasters, died today at age 90. Childhood's End was one of those books that left a deep impression on my adolescent brain (aliens that look like Satan=way cool), but Rendezvous with Rama is probably my favorite of his. It's such an economical story but it vividly conveys the head-scratching weirdness of a vast and ancient universe.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:32 PM | Comments (0)
March 17, 2008
An Embarrassment Of Riches
Hospitals across Minnesota are running short on ventilators and may not have enough to go around if a pandemic strikes. Good thing I already have one. In fact, I have two. Which means that, when the time comes, I'd better nail my door shut to keep out the plague-infested hordes.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:08 PM | Comments (1)
March 16, 2008
The Gift Of Gab
Here's video from a demonstration of a neckband that translates nerve impulses into speech. It only recognizes about 150 words and it doesn't offer the same responsiveness of the human larynx, but the designers are optimistic that a version for patients with ALS will be ready by the end of the year. If the neckband can be miniaturized to a small patch, I'd consider using something like this for phone conversations and presentations. And it better be programmable so I can make myself sound like Alec Guinness or Laurence Fishburne.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 04:15 PM | Comments (2)
March 15, 2008
Training Day
I'm orientating a new nurse this afternoon and I'm trying to come up with a list of things to cover with her. Here's what I have so far:
- My hearing substantially diminishes when I'm on the computer.
- Don't touch the hair unless specifically instructed otherwise.
- When we're out and about, point out all women in fishnet stockings.
- I get crabby when the Pringles run out.
- You will be considered a veteran once you have mastered my remote control.
- You will crash my chair into walls and other inanimate objects. Accept this because I already have.
- Turning off the ventilator is the quickest way to shut me up.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 02:04 PM | Comments (3)
March 14, 2008
Laid To Rest
My grandmother passed away a couple days ago and the funeral was today at the same cemetery where we buried my grandfather nearly twenty-five years ago. I chatted with relatives I hadn't seen in several years and learned via the rabbi's eulogy that my grandmother had cared for a younger brother who had died young. I had never heard this bit of family history before today and it led me to imagine my grandmother's life as a young woman, something I had never really considered before. She would have been a teenager during the Depression. The world she left is in so many ways a radically different place than the one into which she was born. And I'm here to experience it because of her.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:27 PM | Comments (2)
March 13, 2008
And Where's The Tin Cup?
I neglected to mention in yesterday's post that Spitzer's successor, David Paterson, is legally blind. The media keeps making reference to the fact that he doesn't use a cane or a guide dog. If he put on a pair of dark glasses, would that convince them that he is really is blind? Maybe some reporter should drop a pin at Paterson's first press conference, just to make sure he really has the super-sensitive hearing that we know is a universal trait shared by all blind people on the planet.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:50 PM | Comments (0)
March 12, 2008
Legend Of The Fall
I'm not a New Yorker, but Spitzer had impressed me during his time as Attorney General. He seemed to possess a genuine passion for combating corruption among powerful business interests; an uncommon virtue among politicians. I recall reading a profile of Spitzer in the New Yorker not long ago which portrayed him as less effective as governor, but I still thought it likely that he would eventually make his way to the national stage. The actions leading to his swift fall from grace exemplify the kind of mental compartmentalization that is the downfall of so many men in the public eye. How else does someone prosecute prostitution rings while at the same time availing oneself of a prostitute's services and not lie awake at night feeling like a schmuck? Spitzer's decision to pay for sex is a private matter that shouldn't have any bearing on his ability to serve the public. His own blatant hypocrisy provided the fatal blow to his career.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:14 PM | Comments (0)
March 11, 2008
See Also "Scooter Chap"
Here's the entry for "observed" from the Apple thesaurus:
I observed this wheelchair dude in the vestibule waiting for me.
Gizmodo wants to know the identity of "wheelchair dude". Well, it's me and I was sitting in that vestibule for ages. I keep telling people to call ahead if they're going to be late. It's not as if I enjoy hanging around in vestibules. If I'm going to wait for someone, I'd much rather do it in a foyer or antechamber.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:46 PM | Comments (0)
March 10, 2008
Family Emergency
I got home about a little while ago and learned that my parents are on their way here. My grandmother's health has been declining and she has taken a turn for the worse in the last twenty-four hours. We were never close, but she always showed concern for me through the years. When I first moved to Minnesota, she would frequently call my nurses on winter days to make sure I dressed warmly when I went outside. And I now all I can do is hope that whatever time she has remaining is spent in peace and comfort.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:37 PM | Comments (2)
March 09, 2008
Not Worthy
A deaf British couple wants to have a deaf child via in vitro fertilization. However, a pending bill in Parliament would require fertilization clinics to discard all embryos found to have genes for deafness. Of course, the deaf community is up in arms, accusing the government of implying that deaf people are better off not being born. And it's hard to disagree with that charge. I'm curious: what other genetic markers are included in the bill's mandate for automatic disposal? Blindness? Cystic fibrosis? I don't have a problem with parents choosing which embryos to keep and which to discard, but this bill veers uncomfortably close to government-enforced eugenics.
In the long run, qualms such as mine might be moot. We are approaching a point when genetic manipulation of embryos will be readily available, despite government efforts to impose regulatory controls. As with most things in life, the wealthy will have an easier time accessing these services, while potential parents from more modest economic means will have to take their chances with old-fashioned procreation.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 02:53 PM | Comments (1)
March 08, 2008
Action Plan
The UK government has announced an Independent Living Strategy that incorporates several strategies to give its citizens with disabilities more opportunities to live and work in the community. The Guardian interviews several policy experts for their reactions. I'm glad to see the government emphasizing consumer direction as part of its strategy, but also hope this doesn't become another program that is highly touted at first and quickly loses momentum for want of sustained attention and follow-through.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 04:00 PM | Comments (0)
March 07, 2008
Striking A Balance
My social calendar has been filling up with plenty of man-dates lately. I'm turning into a serial man-dater. Don't get me wrong, I like the popularity. But I'm feeling the need to brush up on my inter-gender communication skills. Ladies, now's your chance to experience The 19th Floor in its live format. Free drinks will be served. E-mail me to reserve your spot now.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:59 PM | Comments (1)
March 06, 2008
Time Flies
An invite to my ten-year law school reunion arrived in my e-mail today. I haven't decided if I'm going yet. I'm still grappling with the notion that a decade has passed since I graduated. It makes me realize how ridiculously young I was at the time; not even halfway through my twenties. Taking a couple years off between college and law school might have done me some good, but I don't have a clue what I would have done if I had stuck around Green Bay.
A friend asked me last night if I ever thought about going back to school for another degree. I might consider a Master's in Public Administration at some point, but for now me and my solitary graduate degree are quite content.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:06 PM | Comments (0)
March 05, 2008
Stay The Course
Clinton's wins in Ohio and Texas may have changed the psychological landscape of this primary season, but not the mathematical one. Obama is still the frontrunner and, barring a colossal fuck-up by his campaign, he is still likely to be the Democratic nominee. I don't consider myself a Clinton hater and I have a hard time believing that she would allow her ambition to be the instrument of the party's unraveling. But some of her tactics trouble me. When she says that she takes Obama "at his word" that he's not a Muslim, she reveals the same penchant for deliberate ambiguity that nearly destroyed her husband. A few more insinuations like that and she'll start sounding like Karl Rove's long-lost sister.
We Obama supporters have to trust the process and our candidate. He's run an exceedingly well-executed campaign and I don't think that will change.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:56 PM | Comments (0)
March 04, 2008
#4 Forever
Somewhere, John Madden is curled up in a ball and sobbing as he clutches a Brett Favre bobblehead close to his chest. Favre's retirement comes as unexpected news to many of us Packers fans, particularly after the superb season he just completed. Some commentators are speculating that the Packers wouldn't go along with Favre's wish to pick up Randy Moss. That might have facilitated Favre's hopes of winning one more Super Bowl, but it wouldn't have served the team well in the longer term. I'm glad I had the opportunity to watch him in his last season, when he really seemed to be enjoying himself again. He brought to fruition the hopes of many long-suffering fans who hadn't seen the Packers in the Super Bowl for three decades. We really can't ask for anything more than that.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:52 PM | Comments (1)
March 03, 2008
Deconstructing The Twelve Colonies
The final season of Battlestar Galactica doesn't premiere until April, but legal blog Concurring Opinions engages in some highbrow geeking out in a series of audio interviews with the show's head writers. They discuss BSG's legal, political, and economic systems and give special attention to the show's use of torture as a plot and thematic device. Showrunners Ron Moore and David Eick impress me with their thoughtful responses to the professors' questions and they seem to have great synergy as writing partners. Here's hoping they collaborate on future projects.
I'm curious as to whether the show has been cited or discussed in any law review articles. If Buffy and The Simpsons can provide fodder for academics, the same should be true for BSG. Perhaps someone out there with a Lexis account can do a quick search.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:00 PM | Comments (0)
March 02, 2008
Are You Smarter Than An Eleventh-Grader?
Who wrote The Canterbury Tales? When did the Civil War occur? What was the Renaissance? If you know the answers to these questions, you're probably not a high school student. A recent survey by Common Core found that American teenagers are "stunningly ignorant" when it comes to humanities like literature and history. I suppose one could argue that kids don't need to know these facts to land a job in sales or software engineering. And if we're content to be a nation of industrious, productive, and wholly unimaginative worker bee dullards, then we should by all means limit access to liberal arts education to the wealthy elite. After all, only the rich can afford to take the time to read Shakespeare and Plato. Us proles need to learn our numbers and letters so that we can fulfill our destinies of serving the knowledgeable and informed (i.e. the ruling class).
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 01:10 PM | Comments (1)
March 01, 2008
Good Works
I rely on Google for a lot of things. I use a customized version of the Google home page. I have a Gmail address. And I'm a frequent visitor to other parts of the Google ecosystem, like Reader and Maps. Google's motto is "Don't be evil", which is a bit like saying "don't beat your wife". No major corporation wants to have a reputation as being evil, but they are all compromised to some degree. For example, Google censors search results for its Chinese users. But I do believe that Google has a genuine commitment to making the world a better place, as exhibited in its decision to hand out free voicemail numbers to San Francisco's homeless. Google recognizes that access to communication is critical to coming in from the cold of society's fringes, which is a more farsighted act of charity than most other companies seem capable of contemplating.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:47 PM | Comments (1)