See how fun road cycling can be

A little road comedy sketch.



via steephilll.tv.

Andy Rooney's iPhone review

I don't take the time out to catch Andy often enough. I guess he's older than I thought.

Why I like road cycling

Last week Noel posted a video link on why he thinks road cycling.




Although that looks like fun, this video explains why I prefer road cycling.

Bill Gate's Final CES Keynote

Funny. With appearances by Bono, Al Gore, Hillary, Barack, Jay-Z, Jon Stewart, Clooney, Spielberg, Napoleon Dynamite, and Brian Williams.

A little off-season cycling inspiration

Charles Howe tells the story of the 1964 Tour de France in The Greatest Bike Race – Ever. It's enough to get you on your bike . . . inside, at least.

The problem with prosperity

If you've ever wondered if the abundance we live in creates problems, you'll want to listen to Barry Schwartz's TED talk. It's 20 minutes of insight and humor.
I put a hold on his book The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less at the local library to hear the balance of his case and solution.

It's interesting to juxtapose this the Christmas gift buying rush and what I've been listening to and reading from John Piper lately. We are so wealthy and live in such over abundance in the US of A, we totally lack perspective on so much of life, "necessity", and God himself.

Großvati wrote a nativity play

My mom's Dad, Großvati (pronounced Gross-faah-tee, and Swiss-German for Grandfather) wrote poems, plays, and stories under a pen name. Pius Rickenman. Mom recently found out his nativity play has become an annual tradition in Rapperswill, just down the road from where she grew up.

When we googled it this link popped up.
"Rapperswiler Sternsingen" - a nativity play with procession for all ages.

Our RivKids Christmas play at Riverview has a slightly different target audience.

Understanding Web Design

Jeffrey Zeldman's article, Understanding Web Design, reminds us the web is it's own medium and shouldn't be judged by the standards of other media.

Excerpts:

Web design is the creation of digital environments that facilitate and encourage human activity; reflect or adapt to individual voices and content; and change gracefully over time while always retaining their identity.

and

The experienced web designer, like the talented newspaper art director, accepts that many projects she works on will have headers and columns and footers. Her job is not to whine about emerging commonalities but to use them to create pages that are distinctive, natural, brand-appropriate, subtly memorable, and quietly but unmistakably engaging.

If she achieves all that and sweats the details, her work will be beautiful. If not everyone appreciates this beauty—if not everyone understands web design—then let us not cry for web design, but for those who cannot see.

Getting In

A great by Malcom Gladwell article that should reduce every parent's blood pressure over where your child is admitted to college via Kottke.

Bottom Line: Getting into a selective school is not going to change anyone's life. People achieve based on thier intelligence, drive, and social skills, and being accepted or rejected by an elite school will not change your life for better or worse.

Greak Prank

The Swiss put a jacuzzi at the top of Mt. Blanc

See images from their climb, in the tub, and descent here.

The other side of soccer, incredible keepers

Soccer

I started coaching soccer this fall for the first time. I love it!

Check out this video of 50 great soccer goals.

Swiss firefighters rap for saftey

Swiss firefighters star in rap video. via Andrew.

If you're completely ignorant of the French language, you should be able to say "1-1-8" in French by the end of the video.

For those who aren't familiar with Switzerland, they have three native languages, Swiss-German, French and Italian. Geneva, where this is shot, is in the Southwest corner of Switzerland and is the biggest city of the French speaking part of Switzerland.

You've probably heard of Geneva because of the United Nations office, the Red Cross (the Geneva convention), or the CERN labs.

I learned about it because my cousins lived there. My uncle is a particle physicist and worked at CERN. The coolest thing about Geneva for me as a kid was the massive fountain, and the lake.

A (ringtone) Sucker Is Born Every Minute

According to an attorney consulted by Wired blogger, Scott Gilberton, it's completely unnecessary to pay for ringtones of songs you already own. So don't pay cash for your ringtones. That's for suckers.

Apparently the law has established that a ringtrone is not a derivative work, so the rights that accompany the song, apply to the ring tone. Now, make sure your ringtone is not annoying.

Dad's New Business

My Dad and Nam Ashcroft have started a recruiting business. They are seeking English-speaking college graduates for one year tours teaching English in Korea. The pay seems quite good for a recent graduate who wants to travel and deeply experience Korea.

They'll be promoting this opportunity to college students around the US. This is part of an pre-existing program that has been in place for several years. They seem to have a shortage of teachers, so if you have any interest, check it out on the web at LotusRecruiting.com or call 1-772-288-0535.

The Day The Music Died

Luciano Pavarotti died today at age 71. For some unexplained reason I got a little wet-eyed when I heard the news.

Via 43 folders, I found this touching story about Pavarotti kindness and generous spirit.
A memorable encounter in Miami with the late Mr. Pavarotti.

His performances are incredible and filled with passion. Take a minute to listen to one. Neesun Dorma means never sleep. This is the song of a man in love. Go here for a translation of the lyrics and an explanation of what is happening in the story. It will give you a greater appreciation for the song.

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Everyone's Going Green

Even the chili cook-off.

A design principle to live by

"I base most of my fashion sense on what doesn't itch."

- Gilda Radner

via American Marketing Association e-newsletter

First, don't make your product or service annoying.

We missed the metric memo

If your old enough, you recall the US of A trying to go metric in the 70's. Well, it seems we are now one of the last hold outs. IT's down to us, Liberia and Myanmar.

Good Magazine maps the non-metric countries.

via Daring Fireball, again.