It’s not too often I come across some music that really moves me. I’ve got a lot of varied music in my small collection, but haven’t been compelled to add anything new over the past few months. Thus, when flicking through the channels shortly before bed this past weekend, I stumbled upon Austin City Limits (almost never a bad show), saw the night’s lineup contained a group named “The Avett Brothers“, and didn’t think much of it.
Austin City Limits has done me well over its years. It’s given me exposure …

I’ll bet there is a whole group of active cyclist out there who don’t know why the current pedal technology is called “clipless”. They probably accept it as simple fact – that pedals are now called “clipless pedals” just because they are.
Having been actively engaged with cycling for over 25 years, I’ve participated in the evolution of pedals to not only know why clipless pedals are called “clipless pedals”, but have firsthand experience with the pedal technology that has lead up to the removal of clips.
I really shouldn’t be too …

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you are probably acutely aware of the power struggle between Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and the executives at NBC. It’s been an interesting reflection on the current state of media – where old-school, “safe” comedy is threatened by a new approach in a very changing world.
The truth is the post-news variety show is a dying entity, as most people I know get their daily fix of quirky news snippets via the internet throughout their day. The information is just old by the time …

I don’t think Sesame Street was quite this edgy when I was growing up. Not only does Ricky Gervais move the jokes about celebrities into the grown-up spectrum, the lyrics involving “nummies” yields some interesting Google search results.

Maybe it’s because I enjoying eating so much – but I really love to cook. I get a tremendous amount of joy from taking the time to assemble the right ingredients, properly time the coming together of multiple cooked items, and plating a meal in a way that looks as scrumptious as it tastes.
When I cook, I like to go to the absolute basics and control the ingredients from the fundamental items. My tongue seems to be noticing how overly salted most prepared food is from the grocery store and …

Growing up in the predominately Scandinavian, Midwest culture of the 70s and 80s, food’s primary role was to provide only the most basic aspects of nourishment. That’s not to say the food was bad – it just seemed to be on a steady race to mediocrity. Vegetables came from a can, fruit needed to be drained before incorporating into some type of dairy or wiggly medium, and breads were whiter than a December snowfall. It was rare to see a dish that did not incorporate yellow-dyed cheese, a potato in …

In a little bit of self-realization, I spend far too much of my free time online. Browsing has replaced much of my other cerebral activities – like reading real paper-based books or watching TV – and is the primary source of my entertainment and daily data loads.
This shift over the past few years has been driven via efficiency gains. It seems sluggish to wait through commercials on the television at pre-defined days/times in order to get a few moments of content. Sure, the shows can be fun to watch, but …

There were a lot of things about this Christmas that didn’t quite go as planned – mainly due to the uncooperative weather. The Cities, along with a much larger section of Minnesota, were stuck in the middle of a three-day storm that pushed right through the holiday season. All told, I have at least 12 inches of snow that wasn’t in my yard at the beginning of the week.
That also means that I needed to act upon a change in travel plans. Prior to the storm, the plans were to …