kieranchapman.net

ManBabies.com

2008-05-15T19:15:00.000-04:00

Jeff sent me a link to ManBabies.com, thinking it would be a site I would enjoy. Now why would he think that?

Sox Photos

2008-05-05T22:45:00.002-04:00

A friend was able to get us some great seats to the Sox-Rays game this past Sunday. Even though they weren't the "good" company seats, they were the best seats I've ever had at Fenway (two rows behind the photographer's well).

Because there was a good chance of rain (which didn't happen) I didn't bring my SLR and just used my point & shoot to get some shots from the game.

Tina Fey: "I can do it!"

2008-05-02T20:21:00.000-04:00

It seems like my Ramblings has turned into just a bunch of video clips lately. Oh well, it's what's hitting me lately I guess. Anyway, here's a bit of Tina Fey's monologue from SNL; her old-fashioned movie style cracks me up.

"Butterfly with hiccups"

2008-05-01T12:18:00.002-04:00

Related to Wakefield's start tonight, here's a bit of Final Jeopardy from this week:

"Pick it up!"

2008-04-29T23:08:00.002-04:00

Use ska to teach your kids to clean their room! This song is from the show Yo Gabba Gabba (which I've never seen) and features Alex Desert of Hepcat.

(via Battle of the Midwestern Housewives)

Red Sox Batting Stances

2008-04-27T08:35:00.003-04:00

Pretty funny video. The Mo Vaughn and the over-the-top Youkilis impressions are great..

2:42

2008-04-16T16:30:00.007-04:00

While some friends have made fun of me in the past for my preference for short songs -- I've always thought "If you can't sing it in 3 minutes, don't bother" -- somebody apparently agrees with me. Joshua Allen did a little "research" to determine that 2 minutes and 42 seconds is the ideal song length.

I know it's not a serious piece, but he does bring up one of the best pop songs ever written, one that I continue to enjoy and marvel at the more I hear it: "There She Goes" by The La's:

The song is "There She Goes," and is so flawless that it instantly made everything else the band did pointless. This ditty is two minutes and 42 seconds, and is all about songwriting economy...

The main riff acts as the intro. The verses are the chorus. The solo is 100 percent fat-free and leads right into a tidy bridge. And then we�re back where we started. It's like some ingenious IKEA futon or Japanese love hotel where every component is doing double-duty. When "There She Goes" is over, I guarantee absolutely no one in the room goes: "Jesus, finally."

(via kottke)

Gruber Proclaims Sox "Classy" For a Day

2008-04-10T11:55:00.001-04:00

You already know that Yankee fans are the be-all and end-all when it comes to deciding what's classy in baseball and what's not, right? Well, I'm very pleased to report that Daring Fireball tech blogger and Yankee fan John Gruber has bestowed the "classy" label to Bill Buckner's treatment on Fenway's opening day!

Classiest thing the Red Sox have ever done.

We Sox fans can now bask in warm glow of Gruber's proclamation! Ahhhhhh. This must be what it feels like to be a Yankee fan all the time...

Tell Me Something I Don't Know

2008-04-09T12:30:00.000-04:00

According to a poll of 109 historians, George W. Bush is the worst president ever.

New Site for Sinko

2008-04-08T11:57:00.005-04:00

I have a new site for my music podcast Sinko: same URL, different look.

I was originally using Apple's iWeb because it was simple and worked well with Garageband (which I use to create each podcast) but uploading was another story: with each new episode iWeb recreated the entire site (which had to be uploaded), and it doesn't share common images used on the site. The new site is not only easier for me to update, but also has better archive browsing (including viewing podcasts by music genre) and the ability for you to leave comments.

The one change that may affect you (if you're a subscriber) is the RSS feed. The new URL is sinko.kieranchapman.net/rss.xml, so update your iTunes and other feeds as needed.

By-Tor and the Red Sox

2008-04-07T12:17:00.001-04:00

Following a series sweep at the hands of the Blue Jays this weekend, Surviving Grady breaks out an ancient Rush reference to help explain what went wrong:

Geddy Lee of Rush was in the house... With the guy who wrote "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" rooting against us, there was little we could hope to accomplish.

Old Timey BMX

2008-04-04T12:15:00.000-04:00

A shirt with some really old school BMX:

Drunk Jeff Goldblum

2008-04-02T12:10:00.001-04:00

Hilarious: slow down an old Apple ad with Jeff Goldblum, and he sounds drunk as hell:

And if you like Jeff, be sure to check out the Jeff GoldBluMan Group...

Opening Day in Japan

2008-03-25T05:55:00.001-04:00

It's opening day for the Sox! Nothing like getting up at 5:30 for a little pre-work baseball...

Embiggen is Becoming a Perfectly Cromulent Word

2008-03-16T08:33:00.004-04:00

While looking at a slideshow on Flickr, I clicked the Options link on the page, just to see what was there. Turns out there's an option to "Embiggen small photos to fill screen," a clear reference to The Simpsons episode Lisa the Iconoclast :

Jebediah: [on film] A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man.
Edna: Embiggens? I never heard that word before I moved to Springfield
Ms. Hoover: I don't know why. It's a perfectly cromulent word.

How long before this fake word becomes considered a real one?

Album Cover Meme

2008-03-12T20:02:00.001-04:00

Jeff pointed out an album cover meme that's pretty fun: Just follow these rules to create the cover. The results can be pretty bizarre, but sometimes things oddly work out, like my cover (which, if I had to guess, would probably have a 70's folk-rock sound to it):

Baseball and Politics

2008-02-27T11:55:00.001-05:00

I'm a big fan of Tim Wakefield, but once again I've learned that most baseball players don't share the same political views as me.

�[President George Bush] knew who I was, which was really cool, and said, �Tim, great job, congratulations,� � said Wakefield, who plans to return the pleasantries. �(This time) I�d say, �Thanks for a great eight years.� I�m a big fan of his.�

On the other hand, Coco Crisp liked Ross Perot because �he had those big ears working.�

"Give me some crackers and I don't care..."

2008-02-24T21:52:00.002-05:00

Seeing as baseball season is fast approaching, here's Amelia doing her version of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."

Read Later: Instapaper

2008-02-21T11:56:00.003-05:00

If you're like me, you often come across an article, blog post, YouTube video, or other web page that you want to read but don't have the time at the moment. I've wanted some way to be able to mark a page to read later...something better than my current method of dragging a bookmark to a folder on my desktop.

I recently came across Instapaper, which is a very simple site that lets you mark things to read later. Add a simple bookmarklet to your browser, and whenever you're on a page you want to mark for later reading, click the bookmarklet and it adds the link to your Instapaper list.

(And if you're a NetNewsWire user like me, someone wrote a "Post to Instapaper" AppleScript.)

The Wire

2008-02-20T21:12:00.003-05:00

Are you one of those people who have friends who keep telling you to watch The Wire? (Yeah, I'm talkin' to you Liz.) Well, just do it. While the final season is running on HBO now, I just finished watching season 3 tonight (watching TV on DVD is the best reason to join Netflix) and it was amazing. Be sure to start watching from season 1 and stick with it -- it's worth it. I can't wait for the first season 4 disc to show up...

Like Love, Baseball is in the Air

2008-02-14T12:09:00.001-05:00

Ah yes, today is the official beginning of spring training! And I'm not sure if I feel good or nervous that, just like me, Josh Beckett could benefit from doing some sit-ups...

Pumpers Need to Pump!

2008-02-12T21:48:00.004-05:00

One of my new favorite shows is Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! It's pretty random and absurd, but also (I think) pretty damn funny.

Anyway, they had one clip of "Pumpers" which really cracked me up, partly because it brought back childhood memories of Jon doing it.

And there's a good interview with Tim and Eric over at The Onion AV Club.

Perhapanauts Website

2008-02-09T08:29:00.000-05:00

Just a little announcement that the site I built for my friend Craig's comic book went live this week: Check out The Perhapanauts.

18-1, 10 Days

2008-02-04T07:35:00.000-05:00

Well, it's a good thing I'm not emotionally invested in football.

On a more relevant note (to me), pitchers and catchers report to spring training in 10 days...

Jill Meets Duran Duran

2008-01-27T20:02:00.000-05:00

Last Friday Jill went into Boston to try to get a glimpse of Duran Duran, who were recording at WGBH's studios (where her sister works). She not only got the glimpse she was after, but got to watch them perform as well as bump into each of them. She snapped some photos while there, too.