tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58527312011-11-28T00:22:30.147ZJames Lucas H⁺ | two-thousand three thru two-thousand sevenJames Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.comBlogger5061100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-82344063769167020052007-12-25T20:16:00.002Z2010-03-09T20:18:15.718Z

Now that the journey to London is at an end, this blog will be going into an indefinite hibernation. Keep your eyes peeled for new content at james-lucas.net. Cheers!

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-61706054140523485612007-12-12T20:38:00.000Z2011-03-14T23:12:36.607Z

My system and flash drive recently contracted a worm under the name of UFO.exe. These instructions were most helpful. Hopefully search engines will rank the page just a little higher if I link to it here.

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-48564825844734945072007-12-01T10:24:00.000Z2007-12-01T20:26:16.798Z

I finally finished my paper for Emerging Architectures of a Global City, so I'm feeling a little relaxed, and I thought I'd take a minute to post about a quirky little aspect of my life in this apartment. Our bathroom taps look like the one pictured, and very often when I use one—in the shower, brushing my teeth, washing my face— I hear in my mind Samuel L. Jackson sayBeaumont don't got a doin'

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-5668868482042900052007-11-24T17:55:00.000Z2007-12-01T12:52:34.163Z

I went to my first ever football match, which is probably also one of less than a dozen sporting events I've attended. The teams were Queens Park Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday. The Rangers (or Rs, as the fans called them) were the home team, and most of those in attendance were supporting them. Wednesday was hailing from over a hundred miles north, but a significant and very vocal following

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-75710199076876830472007-11-20T18:29:00.000Z2007-12-03T12:25:13.107Z

It brings me much sorrow to report the passing of Percival, a hamster Claire adopted so recently that he had yet to make an appearance in this blog.Claire had been on the lookout for a hamster, preferably a female one, and she had been giving me reports of the the cute ones and the sickly ones, and one little guy that seemed particularly feisty and less friendly than the others. While this

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-90191221075396066562007-11-17T17:56:00.000Z2007-12-01T20:28:02.517Z

Having never gone paintballing before, I couldn't pass up a chance to try it out for a mere £10 on a school-subsidized trip to Paintzone, especially with a hearty Pizza Hut lunch included. The park was about an hour south of the school, at what seemed like the edge of London's suburbs. The base camp was cleverly designed, its ring of camouflaged shelters around a firepit giving it the military

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-89956886861052439862007-11-15T23:26:00.000Z2007-12-01T20:27:37.555Z

I completed my cycle of monthly Shakespearean plays with King Lear, produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company for the Courtyard Theatre and a subsequent world tour, which included my hometown's Guthrie Theater, and, fortunately for me, the New London Theatre, here in the West End. Tickets for the New York City and Los Angeles shows were reportedly selling for over a thousand dollars, but I had

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-3402558229467352322007-11-07T22:42:00.000Z2007-11-13T13:50:43.144Z

Tonight marked the lighting of Oxford Street, which is home to many of the largest and most lavish department stores (Harrod's being notably absent). I apparently missed the big to-do, as the street sweepers were already cleaning up what think (and hope) may have been post-consumer recycled paper confetti. Oxford, normally open only to buses and licensed taxis, was still closed however, which

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-10935514947904739572007-11-03T20:22:00.000Z2007-11-04T12:01:54.018Z

This past summer I purchased V-Ray for Rhino directly from the programmers, and the software was delivered not through the mail, but through the internet. Not having any physical manifestation of the product seems a natural fit for such a small, easily downloadable program. This week, however, I took the plunge and purchased my first music download, and I remain far from convinced that music

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-63217364910314827382007-11-03T18:28:00.000Z2007-11-12T22:42:19.232Z

Back in my sophomore year of college (coincidentally the last year of my blogless existence), I worked as a resident assistant in Dolliver House on the Simon's Rock campus. The job was quite easily the best job I've ever had, and although it didn't provide much that my scholarship wasn't already covering, I gained some quality life experience and got to spend time with what I've now come to

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-85228212919168909302007-11-02T11:17:00.000Z2007-11-05T22:19:16.703Z

One of the comforts of home I miss most is a decent washer and dryer. Washers in particular have been foul things, made dirty by careless users and destructive by improper maintenance. Our washer/dryer is no exception. Over the last couple weeks, it's stained all my pants and a number of my shirts with yellow and navy blotches and eaten away at the side of one shirt. I can't fathom how it's

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-67368324484773588272007-10-28T23:59:00.000Z2007-12-01T20:29:17.593Z

Our old ancient ancestors, as we read in the first chapter of Guinness's, were partial to the running stream.—Lenehan in James Joyce's UlyssesIn a number of subtle ways my second day in Dublin made me more acutely aware that I had at last arrived in Leopold Bloom's city. Sunday is a sleepy day in the largely Catholic city, so, sadly, the James Joyce cultural center was closed along with much of

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-30114654428195590052007-10-27T23:59:00.000+01:002007-12-01T20:29:17.594Z

Our short visit to Dublin was specifically timed so that we could attend a show by Iron & Wine, a band in which Chris and Beth both had a specific interest. From what I can gather from texts about the band, their much like Nine Inch Nails in that the singer/songwriter is Iron & Wine, and the other musicians on stage are performers filling in the holes. From what I saw on stage, however, the

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-46906179923483432032007-10-26T11:59:00.000+01:002007-12-01T20:28:18.829Z

Saying goodbye to Chris's family, the three of us continued northward for Switzerland. A sequence of three trains and a bus lead us through Zurich, Chur, and Ilanz before depositing us at Therme Vals. Our route was certainly not the most direct, but between the mountains and train schedules, it proved to be both necessary and sufficient. We were all impressed by the carefully timed Swiss train

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-27280737626132445682007-10-24T10:23:00.000+01:002007-11-04T13:55:29.798Z

Having met up with Chris, the rest of the Netski family, and Beth in Florence, I traveled by rail Monday morning to Como, a lakeside town in the Italian foothills of the Alps.Arriving with naïve expectations of a naturalistic getaway like the lakes of Minnesota or New York, I was caught off-guard upon arriving at the thoroughly developed Lago di Como in northwester Italy. We stayed in the city

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-87544923538512667742007-10-12T23:11:00.000+01:002007-10-13T22:16:45.639+01:00

Returning to London, we were hungry and not particularly inclined to be running over each other in the kitchen, so Beth, Chris, and I paid a visit to The Golden Hind, a well-recommended fish and chips restaurant just at the east end of Blandford. Named after Sir Francis Drake's galleon that circumnavigated the globe in the late 1570s, the restaurant offers an elegantly simple menu of seven types

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-17397990650391177592007-10-10T17:15:00.000+01:002007-10-13T23:42:04.779+01:00

Giving in to some hunger pangs and doughnut cravings, I popped down to Krispy Kreme during the break in our film class. I had to wait to get a dozen original glazed because the three young gentlemen ahead of me were picking up their company's order for eighty-one dozen doughnuts. They were clearly not prepared for the massive number, and ended up borrowing the rolling shelving carts to move

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-59170685848440060032007-10-07T18:02:00.000+01:002007-10-07T21:07:42.234+01:00

I'm trying to better my rendering skills this semester by integrating V-Ray images into any class that I can. I'm cooking up some animations for my video diary, and I thought I'd share a work in progress still. The scale is a little off, but I'm fairly satisfied with the overall look.

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-55490094745795808902007-10-06T15:13:00.000+01:002007-10-08T14:01:54.649+01:00

I've just returned from the British Library, which has an amazing collection, accessible to the general public free of charge. For obvious reasons, this service comes with heavy restrictions. Card application is like a trip to the DMV, requiring multiple proofs of ID and a lengthy wait for service. Items may be brought into reading rooms only in clear plastic bags. Water, pens, and cameras

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-54086473148305212842007-10-05T18:23:00.000+01:002007-11-23T15:18:10.328Z

The security personnel were apparently ignorant of Kew Gardens's policy on photography, and they wouldn't let me bring my tripod into the park. This put an initial damper on my visit, but I found the place to lend itself satisfactorily to leisurely walks and viewing of both flora and fauna. Highlights included the world's largest water lily, the world's oldest potted plant, and a number of

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-57768682284178761372007-10-04T22:05:00.000+01:002007-10-07T19:26:00.500+01:00

Chris and I attended Love's Labours Lost at Shakespeare's Globe Theater on the south bank of the Thames. We both came away with mixed feelings about the play and a strong appreciation for the building.Labours has a reputation for being a less accessible comedy. It's not as morally dated as Two Gentlemen from Verona (or even The Taming of the Shrew), but it's jokes are more focused on wordplay,

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-52940640487438162152007-10-03T22:39:00.000+01:002007-10-04T11:46:54.039+01:00

The video notebook class (four of the five of us anyway) and our professor Carol Morley took a mini-field trip to sketch, a collection of restaurants, bars, lounges, and gallery space. Officially we were there for the video installation, 100 people and 3 people, a new work by artist Tim Etchells. I had a very mixed reaction to the work, being very engaged by the '100 people' component and

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-65560517930779168442007-09-29T15:43:00.000+01:002007-10-07T21:16:29.342+01:00

About a year ago, in an effort to find something to do with my then-new apartment mate Nate, I did a little investigating into the game Magic: the Gathering. I had distant recollections of Steve Jones and Sam Stranmo playing Magic on the baseball field during recess, but the game had never interested me enough to watch them play. When, years later, I finally gave Magic a second look, I was

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-16454026052438588562007-09-28T22:02:00.000+01:002007-11-23T13:07:01.065Z

Two hundred twenty years to the day after the United States Congress voted to send the newly drafted constitution to the states for ratification,* I set foot in the Palace of Westminster, home to Congress's British analogue. Although the Parliament traces its roots to the thirteenth century, the building itself is for the most part much newer than the U.S. Capitol, having been designed in the

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-7090222479912617952007-09-25T23:28:00.000+01:002007-09-30T09:35:41.619+01:00

My foray into British theater commenced this evening in excellent style. The production of Macbeth, which was developed at the Chichester Festival Theatre, recently arrived in London at the Gielgud Theatre in the West End, and has been well advertised with posters in the Underground featuring the play's star, Partrick Stewart. Like many people, I know Mr. Stewart best as Star Trek's beloved

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-66838771851467623822007-09-22T18:13:00.000+01:002007-11-23T13:07:01.067Z

There was no tarrying in town today. After a hearty English breakfast (during which classmates expressed disdain for my letting the baked beans, sausage, mushrooms, eggs, and tomatoes co-mingle on my plate), we piled into a comfortable motorcoach for the not-too-long drive to Cragside. Once the home of inventor and businessman Lord William Armstrong, the house and estate is now part of the

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-74549056616576892242007-09-21T23:41:00.000+01:002007-11-23T13:07:01.068Z

Our class ventured north to the formerly industrial city of Newcastle upon Tyne, not far from the Scottish border. Prior to departure I had a bit of time to look around King's Cross, which has been so familiar to me from reading Harry Potter books. The real item was significantly more contorted than I imagined, a little less monumental, but no less intriguing. Our train from Platform 4 made

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-9781893438414644472007-09-21T08:29:00.000+01:002007-09-30T09:42:26.494+01:00

Peaking over the shoulder of another Underground rider, I saw this quintessentially British headline in this morning's Metro.

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-17825933641163569692007-09-19T23:49:00.000+01:002007-09-30T09:42:03.684+01:00

Today was our first rainy day in London, although it didn't rain much. The tube was a little more crowded, and the feel of autumn was in the air. This would have been more welcome had I been able to take a warm shower this morning, but, alas, the boiler was on the fritz, and I had to make do with straight cold water. I'm hoping the plumber did a good job this afternoon.

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-12211865233087721682007-09-16T23:44:00.000+01:002007-09-18T01:30:19.806+01:00

Tonight I witnessed the best fireworks display I have ever seen. It wasn't as big as the Independence Day display I saw in Manhattan, but it was far more beautiful than anything I've seen stateside. Gone were the smiley faces; the hearts; and the red, white, and bluish-purple pom-poms. It their places were showers of crisp whites, golds, greens, and fuchsias; blinding white flashes; and

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-81464848247261166782007-09-16T16:44:00.000+01:002007-09-18T01:29:43.224+01:00

Day two of the Syracuse stay-at-home weekend wasn't quite up to the previous day's standards, but was an enjoyable experience nonetheless. We started at London Bicycle on Gabriel's Wharf, peddled west to Buckingham palace and Hyde Park, where we rested briefly before making our way back via Trafalgar Square. The journey was frustratingly slow because of the size and general inexperience of the

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-20813417526163528472007-09-15T22:18:00.000+01:002007-09-25T09:51:57.752+01:00

When I went through the orientation process on the Friday before class started, I was accosted by some orange-shirted workers who were distraught that no one in A-F (and so far no one in G-K) had signed up for the Picnic in Little Venice. They were so adamant that the trip would be great, I forked over my £5 deposit without asking any questions. I got an email confirming my reservation and

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-21106138505784721742007-09-10T21:47:00.000+01:002007-09-10T21:50:40.054+01:00

We, of course, can't get around to seeing everything cool that happens over here. This evening Chris discovered that we missed Abbots Bromley's horn dance.The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance, performed at the Barthelmy Fair in August 1226, is one of the few ritual rural customs to survive the passage of time. Today the Horn Dance, which takes place annually on Wakes Monday, offers a fascinating day

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-29609986706226119922007-09-09T22:26:00.000+01:002007-09-25T09:53:11.678+01:00

I've got to say, Londoners just aren't as brash as I was hoping. I know the Sex Pistols are decades gone, but I still see Beefeater ads showing Londoners as a stylishly edgy lot, and the Spice Girls in Union Jack platform shoes were not that long ago.Truthfully, this was not something I had consciously noticed until today, when I sat across from a lady who did live up to my expectations. Note

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-83714767978976109462007-09-07T22:09:00.000+01:002007-11-23T13:07:01.069Z

Our Survey of English Architecture under the guidance of architectural historian Jeremy Melvin began today with a trip to Salisbury and its neighbor to the north Stonehenge. The coach ride was about two-and-a-half hours from our school in the heart of London, which provided time read up on the sites and catch a little sleep.The five thousand year old earthwork was our first stop. We spent some

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-86862042057846421752007-09-05T22:00:00.000+01:002007-09-08T13:18:42.399+01:00

Both studio leaders are sending their students eastward. Alan has his class going almost an hour a way, but Nick was easier on us, and our site is only four tube stops down the central line. Today my partner Jenna and I set out after class to do some photographing and attempt to locate a specific urban "room" that might be suitable for our project. We were both hungry, so, after ascertaining

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-527752410858270892007-09-04T21:38:00.000+01:002007-09-05T23:04:23.258+01:00

With the tube down I'm walking everywhere and becoming better acquainted with the streets surrounding my main route to school. My mental map expands, as does my appreciation of the intuitiveness of London's rather organic road layout. The grid of New York is rational and understandable, but the web that is London seems to guide to the undirected to identifiable points of interest.I'm also

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-39502632071788777532007-09-03T23:27:00.000+01:002007-09-04T00:11:36.222+01:00

For reasons which are beyond my current understanding, the London Underground is mostly closed due to a strike by workers of Metronet. What matters most to me is that the fastest route between home and school has suddenly been severed, as service on the Central line has been entirely suspended. The walk is manageable, and there are buses, but the tube has been my first choice, and, to add

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-60373291659907328862007-09-03T13:15:00.000+01:002007-09-10T21:51:21.827+01:00

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-30875183842711816782007-09-02T21:58:00.000+01:002007-09-06T22:18:25.973+01:00

Today was the annual Regent Street Festival, the theme being 'An Indian Summer.' Syracuse has festivals of a similar ilk around this time of year, but I think this one saw more people than Syracuse contains. As we walked from Oxford Circus to Piccadilly Circus I counted four simultaneous music performance, including one that taught the audience to dance along and one that had mimes on stage

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-7198421864650616982007-09-01T23:05:00.000+01:002007-09-10T21:51:21.828+01:00

This morning we took a ride down to the Borough Market, the oldest food market in London (it's newest incarnation predates the American revolution). I wasn't yet shopping for groceries since my move to the flat wasn't quite complete, but I did enjoy a couple of sandwiches and a bottle of New Forest Cider. The place itself wasn't much to speak of in that shows no signs of its long, rich history,

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-70647360937223299102007-08-30T21:12:00.000+01:002007-09-02T01:04:18.433+01:00

Chris and Beth introduced me to a popular UK restaurant chain, wagamama, which is essentially what Noodles and Co. would be if it were run by master chefs. Beth tells me that the Bloomsbury location is the original, but I see that there are now well over fifty locations in the United Kingdom alone. Service was casual and prompt, and the food was delicious. I had ginger chicken udon (44) with a

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-73225779452316492532007-08-30T16:03:00.000+01:002007-09-02T18:03:47.240+01:00

Beth, Chris, Mary, Casey, and I have a new address. It is:Flat 3Wendover CourtChiltern Street LondonW1U 7NNUnited KingdomPlease address all packages of biscuits here.

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-66992252760145223402007-08-29T21:36:00.000+01:002007-09-02T18:03:57.258+01:00

We spent about twelve hours searching for a flat today, but nothing seemed quite right. We know our budget is suitable for what we seek, but the number of flats with the right location, configuration, and (primarily) lease duration are few. We'll pick up the hunt again tomorrow. For now, we're headed out to find a pub that's open past eleven.

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-8751500459033524872007-08-29T09:26:00.000+01:002007-09-02T08:45:33.682+01:00

This was on my bottle of Suio sparkling water:BENEFICIAL PROPERTIES*Helps the function of the liverMicrobiologically pureStimulates digestionPurifies internal systems*APPROVED BY THE ITALIAN MINISTRY OF HEALTHI'm left wondering about all the other organs: Are they somehow less dependent on water than the liver?We're off to find housing!

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-61161188748209065462007-08-28T22:47:00.000+01:002007-09-08T12:29:05.597+01:00

The Syracuse program began officially for me today. The remaining students arrived this morning, and I was issued my orange binder of information. We had the weekend off, so Chris and I scouted out an apartment that I thought held promise. We did indeed like it, but there were two setbacks that, when added together, proved to be more trouble than the place was worth. Our quest will continue

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-76024430157544867462007-08-26T22:59:00.000+01:002007-10-15T10:07:31.328+01:00

This evening I felt that I had to make an effort to experience Europe's funkiest hostel at its prime and take in a bit of the night life. The bar turned out to be pretty dull, everyone bunched up by dorm room and guys and girls separated as if it were a middle school dance. (I've come to realize that nearly all the girls opt for "female only" rooms, so all the "co-ed" rooms are filled with only

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-71872681523829002542007-08-25T19:24:00.000+01:002007-09-10T21:51:21.828+01:00

I made it to London in one piece and in a reasonably good state of mind, given the time difference. My flights were more or less on time, and the in-flight movies were familiar and likable (Mission: Impossible and Ferris Bueller's Day Off). I slept a couple of hours between Minneapolis and Reykjavik, and I've limited myself to 45 minutes since, so I'm hoping to beat the jetlag in a single night

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-56115031112585509612007-08-23T20:00:00.000+01:002007-09-10T22:03:33.024+01:00

So, what was I doing all this time?I kept to a reading list of only female authors:The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness OrczyRebecca by Daphene Daphne du MaurierThe Blind Assassin by Margeret AtwoodHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. RowlingMystery of the Blue Train by Agatha ChristieNorthanger Abbey by Jane AustenMs. du Maurier's and Ms. Rowling's books are the most recommendable. Other

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-38545233223663113752007-08-04T01:39:00.000+01:002007-09-02T08:51:21.127+01:00

Journey with me, if you will, to a sunny beach, where I am climbing to the top of a lifeguard stand to replace a co-worker. Generic greetings are exchanged, and then a conversation unfolds:Guard: So when do you leave for Syracuse?James: I won't be going back to New York until January since I'm going to be in London this semester.Guard: That's right. So do you speak French well?James: Uh, no. I

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-9661369804464349152007-05-20T16:44:00.000+01:002007-09-02T08:46:22.489+01:00

I just saw the cover for the forthcoming album from The Smashing Pumpkins, and I noticed that the 'the' which first appeared on the epic Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness has disappeared once again.  I'm left puzzling its significance.  Is this a nod to the band's rebirth?  Will the less pretentious 'Smashing Pumpkins' stay in use until Billy feels that the new incarnation of the band has

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-22501446086690245922007-05-08T04:57:00.001+01:002007-09-02T08:46:44.152+01:00

I was walking to the Warehouse Sunday morning, and I saw that Fayette, my road of travel, was barricaded at both Salina and Clinton, but as the sidewalks were clear, I was able to continue on as normal.  I was expecting to see construction (as is often the case on weekend mornings), but I only found a few middle-aged women in purple shirts as I crossed Salina.  As I was about halfway between the

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-80572313081273069482007-05-02T12:07:00.000+01:002007-10-14T12:10:16.332+01:00

White-On-White Violence Claims Life Of Accounts Receivable SupervisorPOYNETTE, WI—Foul play is suspected in the death of an accounts receivable supervisor for a regional office-supply company, sheriff's....onion_embed {background: rgb(256, 256, 256) !important;border: 4px solid rgb(65, 160, 65);border-width: 4px 0 1px 0;margin: 10px 30px !important;padding: 5px;overflow: hidden !important;zoom: 1

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-77116976720699809032007-04-30T23:45:00.000+01:002007-10-14T12:12:52.702+01:00

One of my favorite columnists at America's Finest News Source has been MIA for the better part of two years, but now Herbert Kornfeld has come roaring back with the latest from Midwest Office Supply:It Wuz Always 'Bout Tha NumbahsSleepless hours and dreamless nights and far aways / Ooo ooo ooo, wishing you were here. —Chicago, "Wishing You Were Here"....onion_embed {background: rgb(256, 256,

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-47725275364553494912007-04-19T18:45:00.000+01:002007-04-19T18:45:06.315+01:00

Apparently foreign students in Moscow are being holed up in their dormitories for protection from neo-Nazis and other xenophobic crowds who become violent around Hitler's birthday. Call me crazy, but I like the American version of 4-20 a whole lot better. It's too bad we can't just gather up a shipload of confiscated grass and send it over to Moscow and distribute it on the campuses. Things

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-63004484137123810142007-04-17T05:00:00.001+01:002007-09-02T08:50:36.514+01:00

Year Zero is on sale here in the U.S.A.!  Yay, Trent!My parents have been married 25 years!  Yay, Mom and Dad!The man behind Puscifer and Tool is 43!  Yay, Maynard!

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-23887287324880990852007-04-07T00:35:00.001+01:002007-09-06T22:09:11.989+01:00

Alex, Alice, William, and I just returned from Grindhouse, the new Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino double feature.  I notice that most of the reviews are marginally favorable and select one of the two features as the letdown—the reason for two-and-a-half stars instead of three-and-a-half stars.  Colin Covert, writing for my hometown newspaper, the Star Tribune, certainly favored Rodriguez's "

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-9362487738823190332007-04-03T02:22:00.000+01:002007-09-02T08:53:45.558+01:00

I finally got up the motivation to re-set my second gig of RAM in my laptop, which I removed when I sent the Alien in for servicing. After checking with two of my neighbors for Phillips screwdrivers, I finally got the card installed, only to find that its presence prevented the computer for booting. Close inspection under a bright light revealed a hairline crack in one of the eight integrated

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-83005159733782657952007-03-20T03:21:00.000Z2007-03-20T03:27:17.211Z

The details seem a bit sketchy still, but it looks like my last one or two letters to Claire are going to cost an additional six cents to send to Spain, up from the 84¢ I'm paying now. (New rates are going into effect on 14 May.)

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-82673420894397203182007-03-18T01:53:00.000Z2007-03-19T13:46:13.310Z

It's Saint Patrick's day, and downtown Syracuse has been awash with alcohol and drunks since the parade ended around 1 o'clock. I walked home for dinner at 6:00, and if I were to guess, I'd say that 3 out of 4 pedestrians and 1 out of 4 drivers was seriously toasted. To make matters worse, it's been snowing lightly for the last day or so, and the driving conditions are less than ideal.I started

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-79908693890582896512007-03-14T20:45:00.000Z2007-03-21T14:48:20.597Z

Dad and I went to the Year Zero listening party at Varsity Theater in Dinkytown on Tuesday evening, where we got to hear the new Nine Inch Nails album a little over a month before its release.  We spotted the venue easily, since it was marked with a long cue of college-aged kids dressed predominantly in black.  Dad and I did not fit in at all, as I was wearing a tan shirt and (non-baggy) blue

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-230602795245687112007-03-11T04:05:00.000Z2007-09-02T08:49:25.222+01:00

My flight from Syracuse to Detroit was delayed because our plane arrived at Syracuse quite late. We didn't get airborne until an hour or so after our scheduled departure time, so I knew that my connection would be very tight, and probably impossible. I didn't let myself worry, and spent as much of the flight as possible sound asleep. Around the time the plane started to descend and we were

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-53280221281623680392007-03-04T02:46:00.000Z2007-03-18T02:10:55.085Z

The earth may be obscuring the sun from the moon, but the clouds are definitely obscuring the moon from Syracuse.Total Eclipse of the MoonSYRACUSE, NEW YORKW 076°08' N 43°02'Eastern Standard Time..........................................Moon's......................................Azimuth AltitudeMoonrise.............2007 Mar 03 17:50 080.4° ----Middle of eclipse....2007 Mar 03 18:20 085.6° 04.7°

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-88456282442457639122007-03-02T07:37:00.000Z2007-03-18T02:10:55.090Z

Walking home from studio was a harrowing experience; the evening's cool rain solidified into a all-encompassing layer of ice. Where the water pooled on the sidewalks the ice crushed forgiving underfoot. Where the water spread thinly the ice became hard, slick, and treacherous. My usual ten-minute walk turned into twenty, and all the trees creaked ominously, occasionally showering me with small

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-74978314628021094752007-02-28T17:01:00.000Z2007-03-18T02:13:24.063Z

FedEx came by with Plumtree earlier than anticipated, and I was still in bed. Nate, who overslept and missed his bus, happened to hear the knock and was able to sign for me. UPS showed up with the new hard drives soon after, miraculously catching me between my shower and my departure. So, by great fortune, I have my computer (mostly fixed!) and enough disk space to last me the rest of 2007.

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-80202055576775513972007-02-25T19:33:00.000Z2007-03-18T02:13:24.064Z

Last night I brought to the computer lab Iaroslav, an 80GB LaCie which was the first of my line of external hard drives and houses my photograph archive, including a couple photos I needed but were not on Saint Gleb, which, as my newest 250GB addition, houses most of my current work. Theo, a fellow Minnesotan in this Masters program, asked me why I needed two. I told him that my archives exceeded

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-17347666023693584752007-02-23T00:05:00.001Z2007-02-25T19:56:36.362Z

Shield thine eyes before visiting The Daily Pork:  The appearance of the site is rather...intense, but then again, so is their passion for pork.

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-27159074431166397102007-02-15T05:11:00.001Z2007-03-03T07:37:22.564Z

Al Franken announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate today, and I'm pleased.  He's demonstrated in his radio show that he's got a solid understanding of the wide spectrum of issues facing the nation's Senators; not only does he know his stuff well enough to monologue about it, he knows it well enough to make good jokes as he pontificates.  Al's spent most of his adult life away from Minnesota, but

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-32452629801148086442007-02-13T19:56:00.000Z2007-02-25T20:10:37.624Z

Martin and I are screening Ocean films this spring! Here's the line-up:14 Feb – Jaws21 Feb – The Endurance28 Feb – A Night to Remember07 Mar – Riding Giants21 Mar – The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou28 Mar – The Sea Hawk04 Apr – Yellow Submarine11 Apr – Das BootJust missing the boat (so to speak), were the Japanese short "Glassy Ocean" and the pilot of the short-lived television series Fishing

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-1366315080744639612007-02-09T15:18:00.000Z2007-03-18T02:13:24.065Z

Plumtree is travelling back to the manufacturer today for a new motherboard. Hopefully for real this time. Sigh.

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-37543687034636241442007-02-09T02:19:00.000Z2007-06-06T22:33:45.665+01:00

Nate and I made a snowy trek this afternoon to Middle Ages Brewing Co., which is located just blocks northwest of the Warehouse. The place isn't much to see with it's grey walls and complete lack of pre-renaissance atmosphere, but there was a health mass of people at the tasting bar despite it being the middle of the afternoon on a weekday—almost as many people as were there when we first

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-34771316790893191962007-01-25T14:23:00.002Z2010-03-09T20:13:43.879Z

By now most of the country is probably familiar with the 9-year old kid who ran away from home and lied his way from Washington to Texas via Southwest Airlines. (I've included below an opinion column that gives a very good recap.) Despite a complete lack of evidence I have an inkling that the kid's father—apparently not a regular part of the kid's life—shares my first name.Maternal instinct

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-23393523931823559152007-01-23T15:39:00.001Z2007-03-18T02:14:14.720Z

I finally got my Alienware back after sending it in for repair on 18 December, and I'm sad to report that those dunderhead technicians proved wholly useless once again, as they returned the system unchanged.

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-47178541140691397102007-01-19T01:28:00.000Z2007-03-03T07:39:30.193Z

Fire in man's pants not started by phoneThe Associated PressVALLEJO, Calif. – A fire that started in a man's pants pocket, critically injuring him and destroying his hotel room, was not ignited by a cell phone as authorities suspected, phone technicians said.Nokia Corp. engineers found that the charred device still worked Wednesday and convinced fire department investigators that it had not

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-83660986320044420382007-01-18T03:54:00.000Z2007-03-18T02:08:43.683Z

I have about as much respect for the Grammy Awards as the creators of the Simpson's do(Homer: Mr. John, I'm your biggest fan. I tape-recorded all your songs off the radio.Elton: Oh, that's very sweet. Have a Grammy. (produces one from nowhere)Homer: Uh … (throws it in a garbage can)),but somehow I think I'll find it in me to hate the Recording Academy just a little more if the sissy boys of Stone

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-43838605518305220742007-01-15T04:31:00.000Z2007-03-18T02:08:23.319Z

I'm just back from Curse of the Golden Flower a Chinese piece of palace intrigue and occasional martial arts. It's only the most recent of a long string of films I've seen lately. In theater I've attended: Apocalypto, The Fountain, The Prestige and Casino Royale. On video I've watched: Das Boot, The Bourne Supremacy, Miami Vice, Lucky Number Slevin, Thank You For Smoking, The Big Blue, The

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-88981712991858096332007-01-09T02:41:00.000Z2007-10-07T23:34:35.860+01:00

Claire and I celebrated a year-and-a-half together with a lunch at Wolfgang Puck's 20.21 in the new Walker Art Center. We were already visiting the building so that I could shoot some video for a project I'm working on for a professor, so the restaurant lent itself to our cause quite readily. We both enjoyed the pan-Asian cuisine, which managed to take enough pleasantly unexpected turns to set

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-73238887651681771272006-12-21T23:26:00.001Z2007-09-02T00:08:45.999+01:00

I'm visiting Eau Claire, and Claire is presently taking her final exam of the semester. I came into this computer lab to check my email and remind myself the order of the electron shells (Wikipedia tells me it's s p d f g—Claire and I couldn't remember g). I managed to get around to it eventually, but I first managed to get myself involved in editing a cover letter for one Joseph T. Jensen, who

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-53291385350611949312006-12-15T06:00:00.000Z2007-09-02T00:09:08.716+01:00

While I'm always pleased when someone gives Apple—a company that seems monomaniacally determined to dull their customers' intellect—a good bashing, this site run by Greenpeace is perhaps too depressing to be purely amusing. Despite my utter disdain for iPods, iTunes, and Mac OS, I've been very impressed with the new MacBook's size and power, so I'm frustrated to learn that it's a mini

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-4024469535405923592006-12-07T19:06:00.001Z2008-02-23T01:36:00.576Z

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-20964637880356005982006-12-06T02:56:00.000Z2007-09-02T00:09:34.382+01:00

When I was preparing dinner I noticed that the inside temperature was 62°F and falling, so I resigned myself to turning on the furnace for the first time. Much to my delight, it came on promptly and with gusto. It was able to raise the temperature to 66° in under 10 minutes. Now that I've started it will be difficult to remain frugal with the heating, but we must since the energy bills are

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-49407545653878883002006-12-04T01:03:00.001Z2007-09-02T00:10:05.941+01:00

It took me 349 days, but I finally finished Moby-Dick.  I have no doubt the sluggish pace can be attributed to the long passages of plotless descriptions of whales and whaleships which made the middle third of the book a real chore to read.  I did, however, greatly appreciate the plot, dialogue, and overall excellent prose in the first and last thirds.

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-35773160122966436202006-12-03T22:53:00.000Z2007-09-02T00:10:32.938+01:00

Projects are due in 29 hours, and my power strip just blew up. My computer's okay, and the flame that shot out didn't ignite anything, but I had to buy a new strip before continuing......not that it compares to the situation in Missouri.

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-82654281799933248372006-12-02T22:13:00.000Z2007-09-02T00:11:37.345+01:00

I'm trying to find the adverb form of the word 'analog' in the "opposite of digital" sense. The dictionary isn't immediately clear, so I'm Googling for the answer. I came across this message board, where one Nate Branscom asks the same question. He receives a multiplicity of uncited and unsupported answers before the conversation digresses into a conversation about audio formats in the 1970s

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-17517764818508865462006-12-01T16:49:00.000Z2007-09-02T00:12:52.892+01:00

What American accent do you have? Your Result: North Central "North Central" is what professional linguists call the Minnesota accent. If you saw "Fargo" you probably didn't think the characters sounded very out of the ordinary. Outsiders probably mistake you for a Canadian a lot.The Midland The West The Inland North Boston The Northeast Philadelphia The South What American accent do you have?

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-2932917330161782552006-11-30T03:15:00.000Z2006-11-30T04:54:09.572Z

Talking with my good friend and fellow alum Sameer Agrawal, I learned that my old school and first home away from home, Simon's Rock College of Bard, will be changing its name. It has used a variety of names over the decades, and the newest one will be "Bard College at Simon's Rock." Apparently a lot of alumni are upset, and that's understandable. Many alumni spent their most formative years

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-26857816704488744172006-11-27T04:32:00.000Z2007-09-02T00:14:20.092+01:00

Nate and I share a lot of the foods in the fridge, but we've each got our own juice. Nate's a firm believer in the power of Tahitian Noni, which purports to solve any number of health issues. I can appreciate its deep currant flavor, but, always the skeptic, I stick with more vitamin-rich juices, specifically the two Goodness from Bolthouse Farms. Claire introduced me to Green Goodness a

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-7986811485591351872006-11-26T14:37:00.000Z2007-09-02T00:17:25.768+01:00

This current residence is my first "real" apartment in the sense that the building isn't school owned and it isn't filled with students. In fact, Nate and I are the only students in the building. The difference is usually quite notable: the place is quiet during the work day, the muted sounds of TVs replaces explosively loud AIM pings, and smoke—whether it be from cigarettes, marijuana, or

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-68742312397983800652006-11-24T04:57:00.000Z2007-09-02T00:17:49.696+01:00

Thanksgiving 2006 played out a lot like Thanksgiving 2005, with the exception of transportation. Chris was already down at the lake house, so I rode with classmates Alex and Nico. I was also a little more ambitious with my cooking: in addition to the cranberry sauce that went over so well last year (see below), I made a butternut squash cassoulet that seemed to get a good reception even though it

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-56292688721613707592006-11-23T05:01:00.000Z2006-12-07T20:20:00.292Z

I'm saddened to learn of Robert Altman's passing on Sunday, but I'm pleased to remember that his A Prairie Home Companion was the cinematic highlight of my summer and an appropriately poignant finale to his career.

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-24297800234125232972006-11-21T03:10:00.000Z2007-09-02T09:36:27.364+01:00

I switched to Internet Explorer 7 tonight, and it's very promising thus far. I'd been giving Firefox a second chance this past month, but I found it to be as buggy and crash-prone as it was two years ago when I first tried it. Microsoft, as usual, seems to have done a very good job of incorporating the best ideas of their more creative competitors into a useful package. It's good to have tabs

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-28008863135472817572006-11-18T14:41:00.000Z2006-11-18T15:16:25.431Z

I just finished Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49, my first novel from the author. I liked it; my most significant critcism is its brevity, for found myself done before I had a chance to make myself at home among its pages. This shouldn't be a problem with his newest novel, however: Against the Day, due out Tuesday, boasts a thousand pages (slightly more or less, depending on which sources

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-68662955676958179582006-11-14T23:40:00.000Z2007-09-02T14:01:01.809+01:00

I attended the second in a series of preparatory meetings for the semester abroad (which for me will be a year from now). I was expecting another informational meeting like the first, but I instead found a simple response form for us to declare our intended destination. I've been waffling between Florence and London for about six months now, and I didn't mark my choice the moment I got it, but

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-78427774364987844282006-11-12T20:14:00.000Z2006-11-24T20:00:24.372Z

My classmate has a copy of Single Grape Wines on her desk. I was initially confused about the contents of the book however, because I read the title off the spine, which calls the book "Single Grape Vines" (a substantially less useful subject). It would seem to me that if there was any part of a book that deserves double proof-reading it's the title.

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-21029343869271291312006-11-10T13:49:00.000Z2007-09-02T17:24:12.523+01:00

Looking at the vote distribution for Soil and Water Supervisor candidates, I think it's pretty darn evident that 99% of voters had no idea who the candidates were:SOIL AND WATER SUPERVISOR DISTRICT 2 33.68% Nonpartisan DAN FLO 34.92% Nonpartisan PHIL WILLKIE 30.20% Nonpartisan ERNEST K. LEHMANNSOIL AND WATER SUPERVISOR DISTRICT 436.74% Nonpartisan STEPHEN JENKINS 35.70% Nonpartisan RYAN

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-88930472263002163672006-11-10T04:23:00.000Z2006-11-10T04:35:19.913Z

So:George Allen is out.Donald Rumsfeld is out.K-Fed is out.And in related news, our neighbor below us is out of his mind (according to other residents of the building). Norm is a single guy in his late twenties, with significant hearing loss (self-inflicted, I'm pretty sure). The man loves his sports, and he's really loving them tonight. I hear him shouting at/with the TV ever few minutes. I

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-76127054514644763682006-11-09T03:20:00.000Z2007-09-02T17:25:07.455+01:00

By Jessie Halladay, The Courier-Journal LOUSIVILLE &ndsh; A poll worker at the United Auto Workers hall on Fern Valley Road was arrested after he was accused of assaulting a voter Tuesday, said Lt. Col. Carl Yates, a spokesman for the Jefferson County Sheriffs’ Office. Jeffery Steitz, 42, was charged with interfering with an election and fourth-degree assault, said Yates. The incident happened

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-39046467357310642112006-11-08T04:16:00.000Z2007-09-02T17:25:48.371+01:00

That bigots like George Allen and Bob Corker are seem to be edging out James Webb and Henry Ford Jr. (CNN isn't calling either quite yet) makes me slightly embarrassed to be a white guy. And that amendments to ban gay marriage are being approved left and right makes me slightly embarrassed to be a straight guy. But that young people seem to be the least homophobic demographic makes me feel a

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-56514242098618023672006-11-07T05:29:00.000Z2007-09-02T09:35:37.940+01:00

It's hard to believe it's been only two years since the first election in which I was able to participate. That one was a more exciting election, with numerous close elections (including that for president), CNN running constantly in the residence hall dining room, and angry republicans posting on my blog. But this season isn't all about landslide victories for the left. It looks like it'll be

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5852731.post-56327937958363667312006-11-07T04:35:00.000Z2006-11-07T05:18:04.298Z

Michael was kind enough to drive Claire and myself to the airport this morning so that we could say our good-byes and she could fly back to MSP. As we approached the terminal I told him we were looking for Delta check-in. His response was "Don't expect luggage to arrive." Sure enough, Delta managed to make Claire's day a difficult one. Upon arriving in Cincinnati, she discovered that her

James Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146038486428494672noreply@blogger.com0