Some people define insanity as “doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result”. As for me, I would define it this.

In case you are too lazy to go read the article, or the link has expired, here are a few snippets that caught my eye:

“Davis is part of a rising tide of Minnesota commuters leaving home long before sunrise — a group whose ranks are swelling by 10,000 people each year, new census figures show. More than 300,000 are out the door by 6 a.m., nearly twice as many as in 1990.”

“If family time is a victim of the extended commute, however, many of those who do it say they’re doing it for the kids. In fact, some return to the small towns they themselves grew up in, hoping to give the kids the same experience they had.”
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I wouldn’t have instantly thought to use the word ‘groundbreaking’ to describe the upcoming new release from Radiohead. For my tastes, they peaked somewhere in between Kid A and Amnesiac. Then again, I sounded the death knell on Pearl Jam a while back, and then their last album went ahead and was pretty decent, so who knows.

Still, this is groundbreaking. And I’m all for it.

Come next Wednesday we’ll all be able to go out to the internets and download the new Radiohead album, In Rainbows, and when it’s time to pay up for the privilege we’ll be presented with the statement: “it’s up to you”. Pay as much or as little as you like. Or pay nothing. If this doesn’t speak to the fact that bands generally get screwed on album deals with record companies, I don’t know what does.

I’ll be very interested to see what the fallout is from this. Will other established bands follow suit? How much money will Radiohead make on the honor system? Will I be able to download first and then pay if I like what I hear? Regardless, I hope this is the start of a trend.

When Kevin Garnett was traded from Minnesota it was said that he would keep a home here because of how much he loves Minnesota. But rumors are spreading that KG is selling his home. Perhaps KG is just downsizing, which is understandable considering this.

In case the link changes or breaks; what you are seeing is a modest home on the lake in Orono MN. If you’d like a birds eye view, you can hit google earth and find it at 44deg 57min 12.67N 93deg 33min 32.67W.

I can’t find confirmation that this is KG’s home, but the price tag might even be a bit rich even for blood/pocketbook.

How about 53 of us go in on this… wait… can each of you qualify for a million dollar mortgage?

Better make this 106 of us…

ahoy. it’s october, the best time of the year for baseball. sara is still trying to understand my vivid interest in baseball games when neither team involved is wearing a Twins jersey. it’s hard to explain. but every year i get riveted watching games between teams that i rarely / never watched during the regular season. fun stuff.

anyways, after last night’s 13-inning spectacle in colorado, this year’s mlb playoffs are set. why not try our hand at predicting winners? it’s got to go better than my football playoff predictions. right?

right?

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last christmas, i bought a new flat-panel HD-ready tv. our old tv was clunky, had a small screen, and needed to be replaced. ostensibly, there was no reason other than that to upgrade the tube. it’s been pretty sweet– particularly nature shows on the Discovery Channel’s HD version.

however, the main reason? october baseball. i wanted to see the grass in wrigley on HD. i wanted to see the laces on a schilling curveball in HD. i want to see roger clemens’s five-o’-clock shadow in HD. (ok, not that last part, but you get what i mean.) so imagine my surprise (and by surprise i mean frustration) when i learned that last night’s play-in playoff game was not on FOX, ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, NBC, or STARZ, but, instead, TBS.

that’s right, TBS. the network that brought you family ties reruns, sex in the city reruns, and– most memorably– sanford and son reruns. i was briefly confused, wondering if somehow the braves had made the play-in game instead of the rockies or padres. nope. and it wasn’t a one-time, “oh crap where are we going to show this game” thing– TBS is splitting all division series and championship series games with FOX.

and, the kicker: TBS HD exists, but not in my HD channel tier. i called charter and talked to someone who couldn’t buy a clue if i spotted her $20; she actually told me to go do the “Live Chat Support” from charter.com instead. that was fairly entertaining, but the short answer is that there is no ETA on when TBS HD will be added to my programming.

so, your pity is appreciated as i’m stuck watching baseball just on a digital channel. i *so* know what, like, my ancestors must have went through.