Monday, April 21, 2008

Photo dump

Here's what I woke up to this morning (at 7:10 AM):





Also, this weekend I bought a CD (Chuck Berry, greatest hits) - and it turns out that I happened to have done my shopping on "Record Store Day". I got a bunch of sampler CDs, live EPs, and singles... So far, the best new-to-me band from these CD's is the Panthers,



These last photos, I just took, 5 minutes ago. It's finally sunny and warm, and people are out working or relaxing at Memorial Union.

Everyday heroes, misadventures

Usually when the local news runs a feel-good story it's the kind of fluff that makes people turn off the tv and get the news from the internet instead.

This however is a genuinely meaningful do-gooder story.

Also interesting, this video from the New Yorker, shows the security camera footage of a guy trapped in an elevator over a weekend.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Farmer's Market + Protestacular

Madison's farmer's market is one of its greatest attractions. Wisconsin is a farming state with tons of farmland within biking distance of Madison. I think there's even a farm within city limits.

During the winter the market moves indoors, but one of the benefits of this is that they offer a fantastic breakfast during those winter months. During the summer the market is much larger, and is held outdoors - and there's no breakfast. Last week was the last indoor market of the season and this week the first outdoor market. Here's photos.

This first one is from last week's indoor market. I tried to get the menu in the shot, but it's kind of hard to see the farmer's stands. You can sort of make out a refrigerator that a cattle farmer had, and a stand which I believe holds pesto and other sauces.



Here's one from today



Not every booth at the market is for farmers. There's also bakers, cheese makers, florists... and of course there's political booths and - not infrequently - protesters. This week there were two competing pro-Tibetan independence, and pro-Chinese government rallies.





On the way home I noticed a hilarious poster for a movie that, as it turns out, is about some Tibetans. It's called Blindsight and is about blind kids who climb some mountain - but the tagline; "They lost their sight, not their vision," is ridiculous. Someone in the marketing department just couldn't resist those awful eyesight puns. It doesn't even sound like a real movie... it sounds like something from a fake-news story in The Onion, or a movie that might come from Tantamount Pictures.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

I shall duck behind the couch.



Slate has a (probably NSFW) hilarious court transcript in which the court reporter himself is quoted cussing out a defendant who had attacked the prosecutor, and who was then tackled by the court reporter. This guy's dedication to his work is such that, some time later, he transcribed his own vulgar outburst for the official record. This guy reminds me of Wayne Jarvis, the lawyer who's a total pro, from Arrested Development - whose professionalism leads to ridiculous behaviour.

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Rude Awakenings

This morning construction started at 7:30 with some jackhammering right outside of my window.

On the other hand, the construction has cut down on the number of drunk, loud frat-boys that go through this alley at bar-closing time.

Here's the view from the front door to my building this morning:


And here's the view from state street. Those 4 windows on the 2nd floor are my apartment's;

Thursday, April 03, 2008

UW student murdered

Yesterday a UW student was found murdered in her home. It's the second unsolved murder by stabbing of the year. Police have hinted that the murderer(s) might have chosen their victim at random. There's also another downtown murder from last year that remains unsolved. Police haven't released many details about that case.

It's kind of scary. I used to live exactly 1 block away from where yesterday's murder occurred. That part of town is largely student housing (though some new condo's have gone up recently) - i.e. the homes are old, and poorly kept. Security features are almost non-existent.

For the time being, the police have increased their presence in the downtown-campus area. That's nice, but I'll feel a whole lot safer when they catch this guy.

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

This does not bode well

This is what the street in front of my apartment building looks like right now:



I'm not sure what they're doing, but it sure seems like it's going to be an inconvenience to me.

Also, google maps now has street view for Madison, but for some reason, my block of State Street is not included.

This is the closest you can get to a view of my apartment, on google maps;


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