You can wake up sounder if you get analyzed

Getting into the groove of the semester, it hasn't been too bad so far, though with one snow day, and two first-class-of-the-semesters (nothing doing, really), I don't know that I've felt the brunt of it yet.

When one of my professors said most of the case studies and examples in his class were from the automotive and consumer electronic fields, as that was his professional focus, I was just so pleased for the rest of the day.

It's like 40 degrees today, so I was thinking about doing a road ride, but the melting is covering the roads in sludge and grime I really don't feel like cleaning off my drivetrain at this point, so it's trainer again. Maybe I'll ride the trainer outside.

I got the new albums from Ben Folds and Jenny Lewis (new to me at least), and while they're not my favorites from these artists (Songs for Silverman and Rabbit-Fur Coat, respectively), they're all around solid efforts. Ben's album is more of a mixed bag than Jenny's (which at times reminds me of Maria Muldaur), but they're on rotation in my car (along with MSTRKRFT, Uncle Tupelo, and Grandaddy, currently).

On the topic of car audio, I'm still geeking out over the Sony CDX-GT410 I got a while ago on eBay. I know Sony's not the first brand that comes to mind for car audio for most people, but I've really been nothing but pleased with this head unit. The coolest feature is the USB port on the face. Car audio USB ports are the final deathblow to physical formats in my mind, I just toss some mp3s (or WMAs, or AACs) on a flash drive on the way out of the house, and I am set for any trip. No batteries, no burning, no fuss.

Still enamored with the macro mode on my Canon, here's a matchbox Alfa Romeo GTV (on a matchbox flatbed, natch), 1/18 Audi R8 (the panel gaps are the giveaway), and some depth-of-field fun with a crowd on my desk.

Probably more macro to come, it's just so much fun.


To keep up the video trend, today's video is from the 70s, where physics, safety and good reason had no place in a good time. The voice over is especially good.