David Ernst Chats with the World

Earlier this week, I had to come to terms with the fact that it wasn’t pure coincidence that I had such a huge number of deadlines yesterday and today. I knew I was leaving town, and so, when negotiating due dates with the people I work with, I was making sure they happened before I left. So, they all collected on Thursday and Friday.

So, after a flurry of work, I’m now on the road. I’m sitting in a cafe in Urbana Illinois, where in a little over an hour I will be the caller at their regular bi-weekly contra dance. I got here an hour and a half early, which was kind of on purpose. Somehow, I just couldn’t convince myself that if I left Bloomington at 6pm (EST) I’d still be in Urbana by 7:30 (CST) comfortably early for their dance. But, try it was, and now I’m kind of wishing that I had made that one last Xmas shopping trip before I left.

But really, it’s good. I feel under control, relaxed, and able to do something fun like write a blog entry instead of worrying about being on time. And, it really feels like I’m on tour/vacation, sitting in an unfamiliar cafe and wondering if they have free wifi Internet access here. I can’t see where they do, and even if they did, I would think twice about trying to get it working. I don’t have that much time, and those free wireless things aren’t always very friendly to Linux users. So, I’m doing the “type now, post later” thing. And yes, I won’t be able to post this until after the tour is over. Because, you see, after Urbana tonight, I’m off to E. Lansing, Michigan tomorrow night to call the dance there. And then, Sunday, I’ll head to Cleveland to stay with my parents. And, as soon as I get my Mom’s Xmas Internet access working, this will magically appear on my blog.

Oh, and don’t worry, Mom knows about this gift, so I’m not spilling any beans. :)

Quick review: Good for a few laughs, but too unrealistic to make me think about real issues as it was intended to do.

I had a show on my college radio station where I played mostly modern
classical music. That’s when I first started thinking about
“prolific” artists. I noticed that I tended to dislike the music of
composers who were described this way in liner notes. Furthermore, I
wondered why, in an era of information overload, when thousands if not
millions of people are trying to get public attention for their work,
would anyone view being “prolific” as a positive thing. I’d much
prefer someone who produces a small number of great things to a great
number of small things.

So, when I read in the program to Reel that IU MFA playwrite Paul
Shoulberg was described by his advisor as “the most prolific
playwright I’ve had in the program in twenty years”, I got just a
little worried. In fact, although I’m sure the professor didn’t mean
it this way, it struck my mind as a backhanded compliment, a sort of
“well, this is the nicest thing I can think to say about him.” Again,
I’m sure that wasn’t intended. But I was worried.

Sadly, my concern was not in vain.

(more…)

I heard this story on NPR yesterday and found it really thought provoking. To use their blurb:

The Polonium Restaurant in Sheffield, England, has had slow business since it opened less than two-years ago. Then, British investigators found traces of polonium in former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko. The news sent customers flocking to the restaurant.

One would not think that an association with a poison would be good for business at a food establishment. But apparently, at least in this case, it is. In fact, it was only after polonium became widely known as a poison that business picked up.

So, what gives? Are there that many people with morbid senses of humor in England? Or is it actually only members of the press that are eating there, because they are covering the story of how popular it suddenly became? My guess is that it’s just an instance of the name being in people’s heads, and therefore making it more likely that people will choose it… a case of “there’s no such thing as bad publicity”. If that’s the case, it’s a very striking example of that phenomenon…

Any other opinions?

Well, this one slipped under my radar, so maybe it did yours as well: Google Music Search.

I don’t know how long it’s been available, but I immediately made a Firefox Quicksearch for it (the key URL, to save you the sleuthing, is: “http://www.google.com/musicsearch?q=%s”).

So, yeah, search for the name of a band, or a song, or an album, or whatever, and it gives you a nice listing of recordings, links to lyrics and places to buy it online and stuff. And of course, it’s all in the simple and thorough presentation that we’ve grown to expect from google. If this all sounds unfamiliar but interesting to you, you might want to check out Google’s complete list of specialty searches. I’m particularly a fan of the Define, the Movie, and I guess the Local. I should use some of these more, actually…
Anyway, enjoy!