Welcome the Amazing Barney

Well, I'm now the second smartest person living in my apartment. Today I adopted the smartest little dog. His name is Barney and he is a 7 year old Boston Terrier. Boston's have been nicknamed the American Gentleman and it totally fits Barney. He weighs in at 17 lbs, so he is a small guy. He was raised by an elderly man who had to go live in a nursing home so he hadn't much experience riding in cars. He barked quite a bit while in the car, but outside of the car he hasn't barked once. Barney is different in the fact that he is deaf. You probably wouldn't even know this if no one told you. At first he ran around the house like a madman getting used to his new surroundings. He likes to sit on the couch and look out the patio doors at the ducks and geese outside. He wants to go everywhere you go and sits right beside you. He likes rope toys and chew toys. I'm sure his exploits will make it into future entries.

Update 6:36 pm

Well, Barney does bark when he knows I'm going to leave him. But, it seems to be for attention rather than real seperation anxiety. What I did was close him in the bedroom and ignore his barking and after about 5 minutes he was quiet as a mouse. I left him there for about 1/2 hr and when I opened the door he had curled up on the bed. Also, when he needed to go out he found the front door and touched the doorknob and looked at me. I thought it was funny that he lifted his leg at the fire hydrant first (how cliche Barney!).

Update 3/14/07 - Barney Video

http://www.aaronolson.org/barney.swf

Amen Break

This is a fascinating video that explains how a 6 second drum break from a B-Side of a record released in 1969 is everywhere in the world of music even today, nearly 40 years later. It also explores issues of copyright and intellectual property. Warning: the video is nearly 20 min long but well worth it.

Hockey and the DissapointingBowl

This weekend was eventful for two reasons and I'll talk about the good one first. I went to my first NHL game ever: the Nashville Predators vs. the Anaheim (no longer Mighty) Ducks. Wow, color me impressed. Growing up in Peoria, I have been to minor league hockey games and knew that live hockey games were really fun. But the Predators experience was far better than watching the Rivermen. The talent level was very evident. The speed, puck-handling and goaltending was amazing. I enjoyed the NHL better than NFL, MLB and NBA games that I've been to because of the closeness to the ice and the constant motion. What they say is true, the game does not translate well to tv. Now, if they would just lower the ticket prices. I would love to go more often, but truth be told I wouldn't even have gone to this game had I not gotten free tickets (thanks NH!). Hockey would be much bigger I think if they would make the tickets more affordable.

Now to the bad part of the weekend -- the Super Bowl. It wasn't so super. I suppose it was too much to hope for that both my teams - the Cardinals and Bears - would win championships in the same year. While I'm not going to lay the blame at Rex Grossman's feet, I do think that I'm at the point where I won't defend him either. He's got a ton of talent and potential, but it appears that he will never shake that bad decision making. The bigger reason for the loss IMO was the play of the defense - particularly up the middle. Tommie Harris would've made a huge difference getting push up the middle and allowing Urlacher to run free. I also think that in order to play the cover 2 you need to have two good safeties and the Bears without Mike Brown don't have one. The corners did an admirable job, but had to give a huge cushion because I don't think they could trust Chris Harris to have their back. Hopefully next year they get some help at safety, tight end and o-line and maybe find another answer at QB.

Snowfall Over Nashville

So, last night for the first time since I've lived in Nashville we got snow that stuck to the ground. When I woke up we had 2 or 3 inches. Boy was I in for a surprise on my way into work. I had heard rumblings for a few days leading up to the great event that should've clued me in to the fact that even a little snow becomes a major event. They closed school yesterday just because of the possibility of snow (that never came) for pete's sake. They called it off again today even though the roads were passable.

The problem has nothing to do with unprepared municipal workers, limited snowplows and salt trucks, etc. It is the drivers who loose their minds at the sight of the white stuff. Here a list of drivers I encountered just on my short drive into work today:

1. The guy driving 20 mph over the speed limit while talking on his cell phone on slushy roads.
2. The two city buses traveling NO KIDDING 4 MPH. They were causing more problems for the cars having to slow up behind them than anything else.
3. The guy driving down West End with his door open.
4. The people who refuse to account for longer stopping distances on sloppy roads.
5. The multiple drivers who saw a car spun out up ahead so they decided it would be more prudent to do a u-turn on a road with no divider on the top of a hill and go the other way!
6. This is the best. There was one guy who was purposefully driving in the slush covered parts of the road rather than those cleared by the previous cars.

All this being said, I'm glad the snowfall is a rare occurrence here. I hate the snow more and more each year. It is rather amazing to see snow collecting on Magnolia trees though.

What I'm Listening To .... Feb, 2007

Frankly, I never know what to write in a blog. I guess I'm just not that interesting. Not to mention that I'm probably the only person who will ever read this. So, for my first entry I'll just use my current playlist.

Congratulations - Blue October & Imogen Heap
Hotel Song - Regina Spektor
Teenagers - My Chemical Romance
Good Time - Leroy
Bullet - Mat Kearney
One Day - KT Tunstall
Family Tree - Darrell Scott
Manifest Destiny - Guster
Be Your Love - Rachel Yamagata
Everyday I Love You Less and Less - Kaiser Chiefs
Goodnight, Goodnight - Hot Hot Heat
Let's Call It a Life - Darrell Scott
Hank Williams' Ghost - Darrell Scott
Different When It Comes to You - Bruce Cockburn
Shout Out Loud - Amos Lee
Colorful - Rocco DeLuca & The Burden
Fighting For My Love - Nil Lara
Good Idea At The Time - OK GO
Whole 'Nutha Thang - Keb' Mo'