Bloggity bliggity boo

it's a way of life

i have a confession to make:

i've been trying to sell my banjo.  i know, i know, i know.  it has been an integral part of my life for the better part of 3 years.  but let's be honest: i haven't learned how to play it, i haven't given it the time and love it deserves, and it spends more time sitting alone in my room than it does actually being played.

when you take into consideration the fact that i could desperately use some extra cash...it just makes sense.

that being said, i have no desire to just "give it away."  i want it to go to a good home.  so i really didn't want to pawn it because a) they screw you over on a price and b) it often just goes to a crappy owner.  i also didn't want to sell it on ebay because a) there is a commission and b) it's not guaranteed to sell...and will still cost money to list even if no one buys it.

so i did what any logical person would do:  i put it up on craigslist.

in the roughly one-and-a-half months that it has been there, i received no e-mails or any interest in it whatsoever. then on thursday--completely out of the blue--i received an e-mail from a guy inquiring if i still had the banjo for sale.  i told him yes and exchanged phone numbers.  on friday he gave me a call, and we decided to meet at a local coffee shop so that he could view the banjo.

when he walked in, i was surprised because he definitely was not the type of guy i was expecting to buy the banjo.  he was this really tall guy who was absolutely ripped.  he had a thick british accent, smelled of cigarettes, and quite frankly intimidated the piss out of me.  i'm glad we met at a public place because (honestly) had we met one-on-one i probably would have just handed him over the banjo in fear that he might take my life.

anyway.  after i talked to him for a bit, i learned that his name is johnny butten.

this probably means nothing to the average person.

but johnny butten is quite possibly the single greatest banjo player to have ever graced the earth.  i'm not making this up.

he currently owns the guiness book of world records for fastest banjo playing at 260 beats per minute.  he is also attempting to break the world record by playing banjo for 25 hours consecutively.  he has won numerous awards and is often rated as the best banjo player in the world.

take for example this video:



look closely.  do you see his left hand?  that's right: he's NOT EVEN FINGERING IT TO MAKE CHORDS.  ohhh no.  he's playing this song just by screwing around with the tuners.  unbelievable.

as he took the banjo out of my case, he inspected it for a bit, and then just went balls out and played all these amazing riffs and jazz ensembles and classic banjo pieces.  it was absolutely incredible.



this video is from when he played dueling banjos at 260 beats per minute.  (it wasn't the official world record attempt...he just replicated it shortly after he broke the record.)  at about the 2 minute mark is when he starts getting janky.

needless to say, it was an honor to have him play my banjo.

I was just taking a little study break when...

The jokes make themselves.
But seriously. Why?
I promise this will be the last political posting from me for a while.

I'm done with finals at 6:00 pm tomorrow.
Those words are beautiful.

call me crazy

i love beer.

there is just no other way to say it.  

recently i fell in love with summit's horizon red ale.  it is brewed with four distinct hops (all of which are grown right here in america for those of you jack donaghy's out there) and has a unique balance of bitterness, hops, and  a delicious sweet (yet fruit-based) aftertaste.  

but this post isn't about the beer.

you know how they say that certain wines should be paired with certain foods in order to create a flavor explosion?

well just trust me on this one: pair an arby's beef 'n cheddar with a horizon red ale.  

these two were made for each other.  for the time being, arby's has brought back their 2-for-$4 beef 'n cheddars.  so i suggest you buy a 6-pack of horizon red ale and then stop at arby's on your way back home.  you won't regret it.

RIP, bob feller

what a ridiculously good day.

this morning i had a meeting with my advisor regarding my thesis.  thus far i have completed the first three chapters and am diligently working on the fourth.  once the first four chapters are complete, i can take it to my committee and then begin fieldwork.  having the full proposal finished is kind of a big deal.

usually i meet my advisor one-on-one and we talk about the plans for the project.  however, today i came into his office and noticed two girls sitting next to him at his desk.

my advisor said, "andrew, i'd like to introduce you to these intelligent young ladies.  they will be your undergrad interns for the duration of your project."

seriously?  i couldn't believe it!  i literally have 2 interns working for me throughout the entire project.  basically, if i need them to find an article...they find it.  if i need them to write a section...they write it.

i've never had control like this before.  what is particularly useful is the fact that my advisor chose them specifically because of their specialties.  they are both seniors--one majoring in poly sci and the other in sociology--and they will work primarily in areas that i have the least expertise.  the poly sci major will focus on land acquisition law and eminent domain while the sociology major will focus on social capital impacts.  can you say easiest master's thesis ever?  needless to say, i was stoked to learn this new info this morning.  my thesis just got a whole lot easier.

in other news, a few months ago i bought tickets to the monday night bears/vikings game.  as all of us are now aware, the roof of the metrodome collapsed.  metrodome officials have said that it will not be repaired in time for the game on monday, so the game will now be played at TCF stadium.

while i think this is a great (and logical) move to keep it a home game, i don't understand how it will work logistically.  the metrodome holds 63,000+ fans.  TCF stadium holds 50,000 at full capacity.  what is going to happen to the other 13,000 fans?  thus far i have heard that officials within the vikings organization are trying to come up with the "most fair" way to determine which 13,000 fans don't get to go to the game.  how exactly will this be decided?  i certainly don't want to get screwed over!  but at the same time, i don't know how much fun it will be to attend a game in below-zero weather.  i can only imagine what will happen.

i think i will soon be headed back home for a few days of christmas break to spend with the family.  bockmed, i would love to go on a hot date with you if you are free.  otherwise...i simply cannot wait for december 28th.

until next time...keep the oven toasty.

Politics

I fear that we will never get leadership in this country that will govern based on common sense and integrity.
Can someone please give me a sound reason for voting to not give medical benefits to 9/11 first responders?
And really, Mr. President? You're extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich?

you have got to be kidding me

earlier today the big 10 announced the names of the two divisions that will be created within the new conference.

unfortunately, the new names of the two divisions will be "the leaders" and "the legends."

excuse me.  are you serious?

call me old fashioned, but i would have preferred something along the lines of "the lakes" and "the plains" divisions.

but the leaders and the legends?  i just can't believe it.  that is just downright arrogant.  until the big 10 reaches the level of the SEC, i don't think we can ever claim to have "legends" or "leaders" in our conference.

furthermore, i absolutely cannot wait for the commentators to announce how "the leaders of the leaders division is currently ohio state..."  is that a joke?  it's a bit redundant, but apparently the big 10 didn't think about that.

whatever big 10, the fact that you are still going to be called "the big 10" despite having 12 teams baffles my mind.  best of luck next year.

The good news is

I only have two more days of classes. Apparently this guy is trying to leave me with as many gems as he can before I never have to listen to his dumb ass open his mouth ever again.
So in my physics class there's this guy. Everybody knows this guy. He uses that tone of voice and those inflections that a smart person might stereotypically use. However, I don't think he's said a sentence so far this semester that wasn't complete nonsense. It's made all that more hilarious when my old-school Asian professor squints at him, laughs and asks if anyone else wants to try and answer his question.
Here's what he had to say today. And this may be the best one yet...
The question? (regarding relativity) Observer A is standing on top of the IDS tower and observer B is standing on the mall on campus. An airplane flies over downtown Minneapolis. Observer A sees the airplane as being larger than observer B sees. Is it possible that observers A and B are in the same reference frame?
When the professor asked if the question was clear, this guy asked "What do you mean by bigger?"

You should have seen the flurry of eye rolls and 'are you kidding me's.

RIP, metrodome roof

i know it is old news by now, but this video is crazy!

i wonder if this means i'll still be able to go to the monday night game next week?

I will never get tonight back

It seems that every year, the week prior to finals week has a relatively light load as far as homework is concerned, so I tend to do my best to relax (read slack off) as much as possible prior to a weekend spent at the library and a week spent studying and testing. So tonight, a friend of mine, who has recently returned from study abroad in Australia came over. It wouldn't be a night with this guy if some Nazi Zombies weren't slain. So we set to it.
I'll give you some stats from our last game.
Players in action - myself, two roommates and one visitor (It's two-player split-screen btw)
Zombies killed -over 1300
time played - ~4 hours
rounds survived - 35

Fluid Mechanics homework completed - 0
At least it's not due until 4:30 tomorrow and I'm already half done.

i'll be late for that

hello blogosphere.

i have had a ridiculously busy life post-thanksgiving.  but (sorry to brag for anyone else who has to read this)

I AM ON CHRISTMAS BREAK.

i absolutely busted my rear end this week.

earlier this evening i turned in my research for my CDI class.  it turned out to be one of the shortest papers i've written in grad school.  nonetheless, i consider it to be one of my most interesting pieces.  i guess you could call it a 25 page seminal paper covering how crow wing county can utilize its assets, transform them into capitals, and mobilize local and external groups in order to create long-term sustainability.  it was a painstaking process putting the final touches on it, but i'm content with how it turned out.

for my ecological economics class, we had arguably the coolest research project i've ever had in my entire life.  basically, the professor gave us this one rule: "find an entity that claims to be sustainable, and give a presentation on whether or not its actions are truly sustainable as defined by the principles in this class."

being a HUGE sports fanatic, i've spent virtually this entire semester researching lincoln financial field (the home of the philadelphia eagles) and its attempts to become the first self-sustaining sports stadium.  it's always awesome when you can mix your passion (sports) with another one of your passions (grad school research).  so all in all it was a successful semester.

in other news, my girlfriend comes back home in roughly 72 hours.  she studied abroad for a semester in mexico--which i'm sure was an awesome experience--but torture if you're the boyfriend who has to stay behind.  i'm pretty sure whoever coined the phrase "the anticipation is killing me" had a girlfriend who studied abroad for a semester.

i've been busy buying christmas presents for the family.  while i have my gifts purchased, i never have any clue what to get as stocking stuffers for the family.  any suggestions in that department?

well blogosphere, i promise more posts with more free time.  i shall return soon.

ps: i can't wait for ridiculously brilliant "kill" chants with gopher football next year.  it won't ever get old...especially while playing wisconsin.

oh hey, I didn't see you there

You know that guilty feeling you got that one time you stayed out way past your curfew in high school and the next day your parents were like, "So what time did you come home last night?"
That's kinda how I feel right now. It's been far too long since I've sat down and written a post for this blog. That's mostly because nothing particularly interesting has happened to me lately (other than my internet being out over the weekend) and I'm just trying to grind out the last couple weeks of the semester with a little bit of sanity left over.

So here are some updates for you. Dexter is the shit. Just watched last night's episode and I cannot wait for the season finale next week. Fantasy football is going immensely well. I'm in three leagues and a lock for the playoffs in all of them.

but yeah stuff, things... love you long time.

P.S. I don't know if you watch the Philip DeFranco Show, but it's like he was speaking directly to me today.

why we all should love fargo

this was one of the lead stories in the newspaper today.  it brings me back to the good old days.