tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576119896549907462024-03-13T13:04:56.598-05:00Case SpaceNot the Foggiest NotionCasey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257611989654990746.post-58169091147410327002008-12-16T18:50:00.007-06:002008-12-16T19:12:06.080-06:00The kora invasion<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://magnatune.com/artists/albums/berkman-calabash"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 160px; height: 160px;" src="http://he3.magnatune.com/music/Daniel%20Berkman/Calabashmoon/cover_160.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />In San Francisco the kora, my favorite instrument these days (indeed for the past few years) has made its beachhead, I'm pleased to report. Here's the album Calabashmoon by Daniel Berkman on magnatune.com.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://magnatune.com"> <img src="http://he3.magnatune.com/images/magnatune.gif" border="0"></a><br><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=7,0,0,0" width="400" height="200" ><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain"/><param name="movie" value="http://embed.magnatune.com/img/magnatune_player_embedded.swf?playlist_url=http://embed.magnatune.com/artists/albums/berkman-calabash/hifi.xspf&autoload=true&autoplay=&playlist_title=Calabashmoon%20:%20Daniel%20Berkman"/><param name="quality" value="high"/><param name="bgcolor" value="#E6E6E6"/><embed src="http://embed.magnatune.com/img/magnatune_player_embedded.swf?playlist_url=http://embed.magnatune.com/artists/albums/berkman-calabash/hifi.xspf&autoload=true&autoplay=&playlist_title=Calabashmoon%20:%20Daniel%20Berkman" quality="high" bgcolor="#E6E6E6" name="xspf_player" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" align="center" height="200" width="400"> </embed></object><FONT FACE="Verdana, Arial, utopia, sans-serif" SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000"><br><a href="http://magnatune.com/artists/albums/berkman-calabash"><b>Calabashmoon</b></a> by <a href="http://magnatune.com/artists/berkman"><b>Daniel Berkman</b></a></font>Casey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257611989654990746.post-15738526714043381392008-11-19T22:09:00.034-06:002008-11-21T20:06:10.662-06:00A wobbly bridge - part 6What a difference a week makes! Lots of information has come out in the NTSB board meeting last Thursday and Friday. Also I attended a presentation given by Prof. Roberto Ballarini tonight at the University of Minnesota.<br /><br />Four thoughts now -<br /><ol><li>It's clear the U-10 gusset plates failed due to the load. The gusset plates should have been thicker. As it was, the safety factor was only 1. (That's the ratio of the load that can be supported to the load that is actually being supported.) It should have been 2. The bridge had been sitting on the verge of failure for years.<br /><br /></li><li>I asked Prof. Ballarini a question at the end of his talk. I mentioned <a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2007/08/wobbly-bridge.html">the reports</a> that the bridge had been wobbling in the days leading up to the collapse. I asked if such wobbling could have been an indication of imminent collapse. He thought that was a good question. From his response, it sounds like there could indeed have been wobbling in the days before the collapse, related to the loss of elasticity in the gusset plates.<br /><br /><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2007/08/wobbly-bridge.html">As I wrote August 11, 2007</a>, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">When a bridge starts wobbling, best not to ignore it.</span>" Get people off wobblers.<br /><br /></li><li>Someone has lied about whether or not there were sparks flying between the work crew and MNDOT about mixing concrete on the bridge, <a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2007/09/wobbly-bridge-part-2_22.html">either the people involved or the short grapevine</a>. The stories are at odds.<br /><br /></li><li>Concrete was being mixed on the bridge and had been for days. Heavy ingredients, sand and gravel for making concrete, were in piles on the road above the U-10 gusset plates. This concentrated load was the straw that broke the camel's back, or perhaps the lead pipe.</li></ol><span style="font-size:78%;">Version 1.2</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:larger;"><ul><li><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2007/08/wobbly-bridge.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 1</span></a></li><li><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2007/09/wobbly-bridge-part-2_22.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 2</span></a></li><li><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2007/10/wobbly-bridge-part-3.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 3</span></a></li><li><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2008/07/wobbly-bridge-part-4.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 4</span></a></li><li><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2008/11/wobbly-bridge-part-5.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 5</span></a></li></ul></span>Casey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257611989654990746.post-80995696913214020812008-11-16T12:40:00.034-06:002008-11-20T13:17:14.983-06:00A wobbly bridge - part 5The NTSB hearings took place this Thursday and Friday. I watched online on Thursday. In the final hour that first day, Acting Chairman Mark Rosenker asked twice what was different that day, the day the 35W bridge collapsed. Three people mentioned the load. No one mentioned the motion.<br /><br />I wrote an email to one of the board members with the question, <blockquote>Was the mobile concrete mixer mixing concrete <span style="font-weight: bold;">ON the bridge</span> instead of <span style="font-weight: bold;">OFF the bridge</span>, in defiance of MNDOT?</blockquote>The board member emailed me back that he had asked the question right after lunch on Friday, to which they had replied that <blockquote>there was no concrete mixing at all going on <span style="font-style: italic;">at the time or immediately before the collapse</span>. <span style="font-size:78%;">[emphasis added]</span></blockquote>I am grateful that the question was asked.<br /><br />Questions though remain. In response to an editorial today in the Minneapolis Star Tribune <a href="http://www.startribune.com/opinion/editorials/34485709.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Lessons from a doomed bridge</span></a>, I asked,<blockquote>In the days leading up to the collapse, did the bridge wobble unusually and increasingly?<br /><br />In the days leading up to the collapse, did the mobile concrete mixer mix concrete on the bridge instead of off the bridge?<br /><br />Was mixing concrete on the bridge forbidden by MnDOT?<br /><br />Did a MnDOT employee tell the crew not to mix concrete on the bridge in the days before the collapse?<br /><br />Did the crew use a low slump concrete which must be laid and screeded within 15 minutes of being mixed? If so, did this prompt them to mix it on the bridge to save time?<br /><br />Was the U10 gusset plate underneath the mobile concrete mixer at the time of the collapse?<br /><br />Was the U10 gusset plate weakened by the repeated motion of the mixing, if such mixing took place?<br /><br />Did the truck next to the mobile concrete mixer hold unmixed ingredients for concrete?</blockquote>Why do I keep asking? It must be the influence of my godfather, Jim MacInnis, who was a lawyer in San Francisco.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">Version 1.0.1</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:larger;"><ul><li><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2007/08/wobbly-bridge.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 1</span></a></li><li><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2007/09/wobbly-bridge-part-2_22.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 2</span></a></li><li><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2007/10/wobbly-bridge-part-3.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 3</span></a></li><li><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2008/07/wobbly-bridge-part-4.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 4</span></a></li><li><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2008/11/wobbly-bridge-part-6.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 6</span></a></li></ul></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Update (Nov 16, 2008, 5:09 pm Central):</span> More questions, simply about the load - <blockquote>What was the total load on the bridge that day?<br /><br />How much of it was piled or parked above the U-10 gusset plate?<br /><br />What percentage of that load would have been safely off the bridge and not concentrated at that point, balanced on or off center, had the crew mixed the concrete off the bridge instead of on the bridge, if indeed they did mix it on the bridge?</blockquote><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/us/18bridge.html">According to the New York Times</a>, NTSB reported in March that the <span style="font-style: italic;">total</span> load on the bridge was <span style="font-weight: bold;">630 tons</span> that day.<br /><br />MPR <a href="http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/11/12/ntsb_preview/">reports,</a><blockquote>On the day of the collapse, <span style="font-weight: bold;">270 tons of construction equipment and material</span> sat piled <span style="font-style: italic;">just above the bridge's weakest spot</span>. <span style="font-size:78%;">[emphasis added]</span></blockquote><a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/16758916.html">The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported</a> that the NTSB released documents in March noting that more than <span style="font-weight: bold;">192 tons of sand and gravel</span> had been loaded onto the bridge. Is that how much there was at the time of the collapse?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Was the sand and gravel used for making concrete?<br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Update (Nov 16, 2008, 8:10 pm Central):</span> Here's a presentation to NTSB which has some answers -<br /><br /><a href="http://www.ntsb.gov/events/2008/Minneapolis-MN/3_Construction_Activity.pdf">Construction Activity & Traffic Conditions on I-35W Bridge</a><br />by Robert Accetta.<br /><br />Total load (over the entire bridge) - 630 tons<br />Construction materials and equipment load (near U-10) - <span style="font-weight: bold;">289 tons</span><br />Construction materials load (near U-10) - <span style="font-weight: bold;">192 tons</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOfmSClEd7fEb48ggfnjkRAjceRAJTlydplWdxtmfmWpy7Jx-4on2ZbARO1LAag1fMA7UkVgoqRf2od1CpHze7Yr4N0ZmHucwV_o7Ru7jihsLXM4OTQHF2xHMrvdFK9Yg6WqG5bLc5pZU/s1600-h/35W-construction.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 360px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOfmSClEd7fEb48ggfnjkRAjceRAJTlydplWdxtmfmWpy7Jx-4on2ZbARO1LAag1fMA7UkVgoqRf2od1CpHze7Yr4N0ZmHucwV_o7Ru7jihsLXM4OTQHF2xHMrvdFK9Yg6WqG5bLc5pZU/s400/35W-construction.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269425270479258658" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZUqIZCYwhGaVW4ZPRnPV_rUCx69d-F94WeJEkHET6KMV8x-c0lFeVJkyHiNFaYTGiqtQq0C1TI2jqeO7GCLwnfu9_qdwM9Aa0IO150lc20uZbTksG6JcljpUZ_cY7ucGPS7s4Io9Cd80/s1600-h/35W-bridge-construction2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 256px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZUqIZCYwhGaVW4ZPRnPV_rUCx69d-F94WeJEkHET6KMV8x-c0lFeVJkyHiNFaYTGiqtQq0C1TI2jqeO7GCLwnfu9_qdwM9Aa0IO150lc20uZbTksG6JcljpUZ_cY7ucGPS7s4Io9Cd80/s400/35W-bridge-construction2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269428702102053426" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The piles of sand and gravel were directly above the U-10 gusset plate. It's still unclear exactly where the mobile concrete mixer was. Did it pull up next to the piles in the second lane? <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Update (Nov 16, 2008, 8:40 pm Central):</span> Here is another of the presentations -<br /><br /><a href="http://www.ntsb.gov/Events/2008/Minneapolis-MN/2_Board_Presentation_Wildey_Graphic.pdf">Bridge Description and Collapse</a><br />by Jim Wildey<br /><br />It includes an image depicting the initial failure of the U-10 gusset plate. It appears both the west and east plates failed simultaneously.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1VpFTU5vGJEOJR1YCB3N7bKAslxIACyHNf_0fOS4nrnB90nbIjxe445gj2XR_MDTX4DfO-ZWzD8qzSubf2s4fw76za2Cwh2y6Na9ppOK0nP5dCltQJHUNkngc4vxnATjlloQUPx2-tD8/s1600-h/35w-u10-gusset-plate-failure.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 162px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1VpFTU5vGJEOJR1YCB3N7bKAslxIACyHNf_0fOS4nrnB90nbIjxe445gj2XR_MDTX4DfO-ZWzD8qzSubf2s4fw76za2Cwh2y6Na9ppOK0nP5dCltQJHUNkngc4vxnATjlloQUPx2-tD8/s400/35w-u10-gusset-plate-failure.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269446878125503474" border="0" /></a>Casey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257611989654990746.post-48464396453310817092008-09-26T13:16:00.002-05:002008-09-26T13:19:33.389-05:00A silly poemThere once was a land<br />with laws as the sand,<br />that you can, some,<br />and some that you can't.<br /><br />You can't and you can<br />You can and you can't,<br />Heigh ho,<br />You cannot; yes, you can.<br /><br />What? Innocent, you say?<br />Let me sift through the sands<br />Yes, you are-- wait,<br />No, I see you are not.<br /><br />You aren't and you are,<br />You are and you aren't,<br />Heigh ho,<br />You are not; yes, you are.<br /><br />Why do you so pause<br />In this land of so much<br />Go and do... (gasp)<br />How dare you? (gasp) To think!<br /><br />So much to do; wait!<br />Do it now, how dare you?<br />Heigh ho,<br />Don't you dare; (gasp) do it now.Casey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257611989654990746.post-54295803717739828072008-07-30T13:21:00.030-05:002008-11-20T13:20:26.772-06:00A wobbly bridge - part 4I came across evidence today that the mobile concrete mixer was mixing concrete <span style="font-style:italic;">on the bridge</span> at or near the time of the collapse of 35W. Naughty, naughty, naughty, <a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2007/09/wobbly-bridge-part-2_22.html">reportedly</a>.<br /><br />Today after reading the Minneapolis Star Tribune <a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/26082819.html">cover-page story on the latest NTSB report</a> regarding the <a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2007/10/wobbly-bridge-part-3.html">L11 gusset plate</a>, I found an excellent collection of stories about the people on the bridge that day, exactly a year ago this Friday, <a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/12166286.html">13 Seconds in August: the 35W Bridge Collapse</a>. It opens with a video of the collapse, after which a virtual camera pans over the length of the collapsed bridge, captured in one long photo. Each vehicle or person's location on the bridge is marked in the photo with a circled number. Clicking on the numbers brings up information on the people and the vehicles. For some there are videos, for others photos. Some only have a bit of text. For two construction vehicles, there is only text.<br /><blockquote>32 - Construction vehicle<br /> Truck that held <span style="font-weight:bold;">dry</span> ingredients for concrete<br /><br />33 - Construction vehicle<br /> On-site concrete mixer</blockquote>If the report on vehicle 32 is true, is this not evidence that the concrete mixer was still mixing concrete <span style="font-style:italic;">on the bridge</span>? <br /><br /><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2007/09/wobbly-bridge-part-2_22.html">According to an unconfirmed report</a> at a jazz concert, the concrete mixer was a <span style="font-style:italic;">mobile</span> concrete mixer and for a reason.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:larger;"><ul><li><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2007/08/wobbly-bridge.html"><span style="font-weight:bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 1</span></a></li><li><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2007/09/wobbly-bridge-part-2_22.html"><span style="font-weight:bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 2</span></a></li><li><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2007/10/wobbly-bridge-part-3.html"><span style="font-weight:bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 3</span></a></li><li><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2008/11/wobbly-bridge-part-5.html"><span style="font-weight:bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 5</span></a></li><li><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2008/11/wobbly-bridge-part-6.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 6</span></a></li></ul></span>Casey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257611989654990746.post-50316497352601616772008-07-12T14:44:00.000-05:002008-07-12T14:45:14.085-05:00No need for words<object width="400" height="300"> <param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> <param name="movie" value="http://www.vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1211060&server=www.vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" /> <embed src="http://www.vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1211060&server=www.vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://www.vimeo.com/1211060?pg=embed&sec=1211060">Where the Hell is Matt? (2008)</a> from <a href="http://www.vimeo.com/user484313?pg=embed&sec=1211060">Matthew Harding</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com?pg=embed&sec=1211060">Vimeo</a>.Casey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257611989654990746.post-82489745505880238662008-06-28T01:21:00.017-05:002008-07-01T05:09:41.829-05:00Wall-e and MAD magazine, issue #1<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.amazon.com/Absolutely-MAD-Magazine-50-Years/dp/B000HKMQ64"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbl04fBamAkjL4hzuluNyoOWFELhGW4WPTUcZQwohWGTUU4WoAPbd6OkkNTSyx0B_Yq99dbZErABRfgZbQkCc41xhycZ5P3d8zobXs0Ao_DtaAiZfXc2KHnqKuEfJ5VJRqJW5YE0J0SAE/s400/blobs.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216814068787243154" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Wall-e is the movie of the year. It's a charming animation from Pixar with depth and humor. You might even read into it some criticism of American militarism (along the lines of <a href="http://fora.tv/2007/03/06/Chalmers_Johnson">Chalmers Johnson</a> or <a href="http://rhinowatch.blogspot.com/2008/03/bacevich-on-limitless-war.html">Andrew Bacevich</a>), and American apathy, and our return from the <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://rhinowatch.blogspot.com/2008/02/samuel-adams-and-woodrow-wilson.html">American detour</a></span>, maybe... I happened to have recently read the first issue of MAD magazine (Oct-Nov 1952). There's a connection. In part, Wall-e's a takeoff on the cover story <span style="font-style: italic;">Blobs</span>, a more hopeful version. Most any afficionado of MAD magazine would recognize <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Magazine#History_of_Mad">the historic cover of that first issue</a>. The characters on that cover are frightened by something. In fact what they're reacting to is one of the <span style="font-style: italic;">blobs</span>, who are futuristic human beings powering around in reclining chairs, just like in Wall-e. There's also the science-fiction short story <a href="http://librivox.org/the-machine-stops-by-e-m-forster/"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Machine Stops</span></a> (1909) by E. M. Forster, which I haven't read yet, but from which <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Machine_Stops">it appears</a> <span style="font-style: italic;">Blobs</span> was adapted.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">Version 1.1</span> - <span style="font-size:78%;">Jun 29 2008</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Update (Jun 29, 2008)</span>: I listened to <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/machine_stops_librivox">a recording</a> by Jenna Lee (Part 1) and Erin Tivano (Parts 2 and 3) <span style="font-size:78%;">(sp?)</span> of E. M. Forster's <span style="font-style: italic;">The Machine Stops</span> (1909), a powerful story for a denizen of the next century, this century. It's a parable of language untethered. It's a warning to us, uncanny for its prescient description of the internet, not to rely solely on words built on words, drifting about abstractly, uncontested by "direct experience." Only by grounding our language in meaning, our economics in choice, our politics in <a href="http://solonian.pbwiki.com/On+Rights">rights</a>, our government in transparency, our news with facts, can we hope. It's the story of something deep in our makeup which survives, which surmounts the nonsense we are born into.<br /><br />Impressed, I've bought E. M. Forster's <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=vzBtSnA4rLAC&printsec=frontcover"><span style="font-style: italic;">Aspects of the Novel</span></a> (1927).<br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Update (Jun 30, 2008):</span> Here's an adaptation of <span style="font-style:italic;">The Machine Stops</span> from 1966 on BBC -<br /><br /><embed id="VideoPlayback" style="width:400px;height:326px" allowFullScreen="true" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-2072180223855159236&hl=en&fs=true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"> </embed>Casey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257611989654990746.post-44131958930313060842008-06-24T19:05:00.006-05:002008-07-20T00:11:27.757-05:00Japanese Chamber Music<object width="400" height="324"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lWmG93KY3hg&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lWmG93KY3hg&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="324"></embed></object><br /><br />My friend from high school, Philip Flavin, is playing the Shamisen.Casey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257611989654990746.post-61193352838430500052008-06-24T17:01:00.010-05:002008-07-03T00:32:05.753-05:00Laura Harley and the Eclectic Edge Ensemble<object width="400" height="300"> <param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> <param name="movie" value="http://www.vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1222048&server=www.vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" /> <embed src="http://www.vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1222048&server=www.vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><br />I recorded this video with a <a href="http://theflip.com/products_flip_ultra.shtml">Flip</a> on Saturday at the Eclectic Edge Ensemble annual fundraiser and posted it with my friend Laura's permission. Isn't her voice amazing? This is my favorite song of hers.<br /><br />After Laura's show, the Eclectic Edge Ensemble kicked into action. I particularly liked their last jazz dance, <span style="font-style:italic;">The Juggler</span>. I'm looking forward to seeing their full show at <a href="http://www.ritztheaterfoundation.org/-2006-07-season/eclectic-edge/">the Ritz Theater July 17-20, 2008</a>.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BBIGXL7FS2w&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BBIGXL7FS2w&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="324"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/lauraharleymusic"><br />MySpace - Laura Harley</a><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/eclecticedgeensemble">MySpace - Eclectic Edge Ensemble</a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Update (Jul 3, 2008):</span> I've made 8 more songs from Laura Harley's performance <a href="http://www.vimeo.com/album/20496">available online</a> with her permission. <ul><li><a href="http://www.vimeo.com/1223496">On That Day</a></li><li><a href="http://www.vimeo.com/1256074">Hide</a></li><li><a href="http://www.vimeo.com/1256180">Little by Little</a></li><li><a href="http://www.vimeo.com/1257691">Game Over</a></li><li><a href="http://www.vimeo.com/1257701">Here Before You</a></li><li><a href="http://www.vimeo.com/1257932">Falling Down</a></li><li><a href="http://www.vimeo.com/1257937">Run Away</a></li><li><a href="http://www.vimeo.com/1257945">Secret Weapon</a></li></ul>Casey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257611989654990746.post-21936753254924849362007-10-21T21:32:00.010-05:002008-11-20T13:21:54.818-06:00A wobbly bridge - part 3<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mordac/979805513/"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1411/979805513_71740a0a4d.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />On Wednesday, Tony Kennedy and Paul McEnroe of the Minneapolis Star Tribune <a href="http://www.startribune.com/10204/story/1491913.html">reported</a> on the stories of two structural engineers who spoke on condition that their names not be revealed. They pointed to <a href="http://www.startribune.com/newsgraphics/11544801.html">three joints</a> on the southeast side of the bridge just north of the lock. The Star Tribune reports, <blockquote>All three joints appear to have been damaged by some primary force -- not from secondary impacts sustained during the collapse, the engineers said.</blockquote> The first one is called <span style="font-weight:bold;">L9</span>, so called presumably since it is the ninth joint on the lower side of the structure, starting from the south side. The second joint answers to the name of <span style="font-weight:bold;">L11</span>. It's two joints further north. In between, up above, right below the road, there's the third joint, <span style="font-weight:bold;">U10</span>. Together these three witnesses, clothed with their gusset plates, one in red, formed an arrow pointing up. What were they pointing at? Were they pointing at the mobile concrete mixer as they fell? <br /><br />Compare the photos (<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/puppethead/1034928193/">here</a> and <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/diversey/1011520154/">here</a>) of where the mixer landed and the <a href="http://www.startribune.com/newsgraphics/11544801.html">diagram of the three joints</a>. Note the location of the lock.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/80651083@N00/984662521">Here are the 3 joints</a> in the center of a photo. <!--(<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=984662521&size=o">larger version</a>)--><br /><br />For more on the question of the mobile concrete mixer and whether it had been mixing concrete on the bridge, read <a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2007/09/wobbly-bridge-part-2_22.html">part 2</a>.<br /><br />Kennedy and McEnroe go on to report that one of the two engineers said that bearings retrieved from the river "appear to be lacking marks of wear." Rollernest bearings sat on top of the piers and were designed to allow the bridge to expand and contract with changes in temperature. The bridge was to roll over the bearings back and forth with the seasons. If the bearings had been stuck, as this report would indicate, then the bridge itself would have been <span style="font-style:italic;">bent out of shape</span>, in a state of undesirable tension, joints weak from past contortions. <br /><br />At the very moment the bridge snapped, I was running around Lake of the Isles, keeping my run short since it was a hot evening. <br /><br />Could it be that the bridge was <a href="http://www.wildturkeys.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=49309#p49309">cocked in the heat</a>, poised for a catastrophe sparked by the quivering of concrete in the mobile mixer? Some bridges are just too old for such excitement.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/eb78/980051601/"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhut277ncHzUd65zZ5lgfEw8RSHJ8BqmZozGLbT6QCuTMscXCQlRLuB-qoE9ocp1dXf97FN1WxbHuUmdQ3e4Sz5z4NZ1muuCuUzAvbhtLrfbusGAQ5x3SyaSOsltnVpW3BwFqJ_n5YuXSc/s400/contemplation_980051601_m.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:larger;"><ul><li><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2007/08/wobbly-bridge.html"><span style="font-weight:bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 1</span></a></li><li><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2007/09/wobbly-bridge-part-2_22.html"><span style="font-weight:bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 2</span></a></li><li><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2008/07/wobbly-bridge-part-4.html"><span style="font-weight:bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 4</span></a></li><li><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2008/11/wobbly-bridge-part-5.html"><span style="font-weight:bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 5</span></a></li><li><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2008/11/wobbly-bridge-part-6.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 6</span></a></li></ul></span><br /><br /><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/" title="Photos licensed under Creative Commons"><img src="http://creativecommons.org/images/public/somerights20.gif" alt="There is a Creative Commons license attached to this image." style="float:right;border: none;" width="88" height="31" /></a> <span style="font-size:smaller;">Credits: <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mordac/">Mordac</a> (photo #1, northwest side of bridge)<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/eb78/">ebrandt78</a> (photo #2)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Update (Nov 16, 2008, 9:00 pm Central):</span> <span style="font-weight:bold;">According to the NTSB report, the rollernest bearings appeared to have been functioning properly. </span> <br /><br /><a href="http://www.ntsb.gov/Events/2008/Minneapolis-MN/2_Board_Presentation_Wildey_Graphic.pdf">Bridge Description and Collapse</a><br />by Jim WildeyCasey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257611989654990746.post-8816936117077935952007-09-23T10:25:00.006-05:002012-07-31T19:16:05.790-05:00A wobbly bridge - part 2<object height="330" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/NGr-NPoe9lY"></param>
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On August 26 I sat on a gentle hill, amongst a group teeming with artists and Scrabble players, listening to <a href="http://www.davinamusic.com/">Davina and the Vagabonds</a> at the Lake Harriet Band Shell. It was there that I heard a story about the bridge. I don't know if it's true. I only know that I was told this story. <br />
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I relay it to you now as a question mark, a big, hairy question mark, regarding events that may or may not have happened 3 days, 2 days, one day before its collapse. <span style="font-style: italic;">This is an unconfirmed report.</span> Let me repeat that. <span style="font-weight: bold;">This is an unconfirmed report.</span> I was told yesterday that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MNDOT">MNDOT</a> has asked its employees not to talk. Too bad, I was already going to blog about it. This collapse hit too close to home. It's my business and yours, too, if you live around here, as citizens, as residents. This was a government project, and I don't believe national security is at stake. So it demands transparency.<br />
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It may turn out to be false. It may turn out to be true. It may turn out to be somewhere in between. If it turns out to be on the truer side, then as a citizen I would then encourage the state government to find a different contractor next time. <br />
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There are four degrees of separation between me and the events, or so I am told by my deep throat. She is friends with someone who works with the partner of a MNDOT employee. <br />
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Here is the story she told.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Day minus 3 or so</span><br />
Two days before the collapse, the MNDOT employee took a day off. Before she took that day off—it sounded like it was the day right before that— she had argued with the crew telling them not to mix the concrete on the bridge. Apparently this is standard practice on bridges, that you not mix the concrete on the bridge. You can mix it off the bridge. You can pour it on the bridge. You just can't mix it on the bridge.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Day minus 2</span><br />
What did they do on her day off? Apparently they mixed the concrete on the bridge. So I have been told. The question is: Did they really do this? Did they really do this despite being told not to by MNDOT?<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Day minus 1</span><br />
The MNDOT employee returns to work and returns to the bridge. When she finds out that they went ahead and mixed the concrete on the bridge, she's upset. The retort? According to the story, someone on the crew said something like this, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">See, we mixed it on the bridge, and nothing happened.</span>" <br />
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One of the 7 men she talked with would not survive the next day.<br />
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Here is where the story ends.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Day zero</span><br />
Progressive Contractors, Inc., is <a href="http://www.winonadailynews.com/articles/2007/08/06/mn/2m.txt">reported</a> to have been "preparing to pour two inches of concrete when the span gave way." In photos of the collapsed bridge, a concrete mobile mixer is there amid the rubble. <br />
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<a href="http://flickr.com/photos/diversey/1011520154/" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1028/1011520154_0cd97055c1.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
It's the truck with the white cabin. <br />
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Were they following protocol? Were they mixing concrete on the bridge after being told not to? That's the question. <br />
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There are dangers in playing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_whispers">telephone</a>, yes, but the real danger lies in opaque government.<br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: larger;"><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2007/08/wobbly-bridge.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 1</span></a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: larger;"><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2007/10/wobbly-bridge-part-3.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 3</span></a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: larger;"><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2008/07/wobbly-bridge-part-4.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 4</span></a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: larger;"><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2008/11/wobbly-bridge-part-5.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 5</span></a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: larger;"><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2008/11/wobbly-bridge-part-6.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 6</span></a></span></li>
</ul>
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/" title="Photo licensed under Creative Commons"><img alt="There is a Creative Commons license attached to this image." height="31" src="http://creativecommons.org/images/public/somerights20.gif" style="border: none; float: right;" width="88" /></a> <span style="font-size: smaller;">Credits: <br /><a href="http://flickr.com/photos/diversey/">Tony Webster</a> (photo with concrete mobile mixer)</span><br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Postscript:</span> Oh, and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6838693,00.html">the bridge hadn't been wobbling</a> after all (see <a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2007/08/wobbly-bridge.html">part 1</a>). My mistake. Always best to <a href="http://www.mondopolitico.com/library/1984/1984_c4.htm">upsub antefiling</a>.<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Update (Oct 8, 2007):</span> Another mistake of mine. Now MNDOT says, <a href="http://www.twincities.com/collapse/ci_7105195">reportedly</a>, that they won't release inspection reports on our local bridges out of a concern for "national security." So I was wrong when I said national security was not at stake. <br />
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What has happened to the open society and to government transparency? When does 911 become an <a href="http://ronpaul2008nyc.wordpress.com/2007/10/07/jeopardy-the-giuliani-edition/">excuse</a>?<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Update (Dec 20, 2007):</span> The Minnesota legislature is hiring a special counsel to investigate MNDOT and the bridge collapse, <a href="http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/12647531.html?page=2&c=y">according to Pat Doyle and Mike Kaszuba in the Star Tribune today</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Update (Jul 31, 2008):</span> Yesterday I came across evidence that concrete mixing was indeed taking place on the bridge. See <a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2007/09/wobbly-bridge-part-2_22.html">A wobbly bridge - part 4</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Update (Jul 31, 2012):</span> There were actually only 3 degrees of separation my source told me later. She had spoken directly with the partner of the MNDOT employee.Casey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257611989654990746.post-17614259929738021492007-08-11T17:32:00.004-05:002012-07-31T18:46:28.459-05:00A wobbly bridge - part 1<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/timdan2/1045698145/" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1017/1045698145_29ac8246cf.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
On the surface, Minneapolis's 35W bridge over the Mississippi River was a simple road. Driving along it, you'd think it was on the ground. It had no cables, no towers, no art. I rarely noticed the view. The exit lane for Hiawatha demanded too much attention with all the merging going on. There was only the road, a gray familiar path. <br />
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Its art lay below, in its airy perch. The deck floated <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/35w_bridge">115 feet</a> above the water. It's remarkable how people survived the fall.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mordac/979805513/"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1411/979805513_9639ff13c7_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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It had a plain top. There's the sign for my exit lane.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/puppethead/1034920473/" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1160/1034920473_18f3cc1ac0_o.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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On Tuesday I came across a man looking at the ghost-town traffic still caught on the north side. He had driven over the bridge not a day before its collapse. He turned to me and told me how it had wobbled, even then. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kj415/1056899105/" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5096927190594387362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPFuR-haZ0J5vdkLtbmJcdmEa1iXguzg25T3_vY-BeooA-LX9yWst6YDPpKuhaIR5FRhInDdXm_93gz2yKmSLwGKo5t_h6odLoRIfzONoBwf29H6kqtncNdp7PUzKyjZv02R-YwxMG4tXu/s400/Picture+21.png" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
The Minneapolis Star Tribune <a href="http://www.startribune.com/10204/story/1345092.html">reported</a> Monday,<br />
<blockquote>
Some workers said that the bridge had been wobbling unusually in the days before the collapse, according to Minneapolis police Sgt. Tim Hoeppner. With every layer of concrete that they removed, the bridge would wobble even more, they told him.</blockquote>
When a bridge starts wobbling, best not to ignore it.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/puppethead/1034928193/" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1202/1034928193_fdeac1d389.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/puppethead/1034936929/" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1318/1034936929_d35e915459.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/puppethead/1034940253/" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1294/1034940253_29c425410f.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ibran/988001646/" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1178/988001646_ca050c7616.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: larger;"></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: larger;"><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2007/09/wobbly-bridge-part-2_22.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 2</span></a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: larger;"><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2007/10/wobbly-bridge-part-3.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 3</span></a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: larger;"><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2008/07/wobbly-bridge-part-4.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 4</span></a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: larger;"><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2008/11/wobbly-bridge-part-5.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 5</span></a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: larger;"><a href="http://caseybowman.blogspot.com/2008/11/wobbly-bridge-part-6.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A wobbly bridge - part 6</span></a></span></li>
</ul>
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/" title="Photos licensed under Creative Commons"><img alt="There is a Creative Commons license attached to this image." height="31" src="http://creativecommons.org/images/public/somerights20.gif" style="border: none; float: right;" width="88" /></a> <span style="font-size: smaller;">Credits: <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/timdan2/">TimDan2</a> (photo #1)<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mordac/">Mordac</a> (photo #2)<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kj415/">kj415</a> (photo #4, derivatives allowed, cropped by me)<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/puppethead/">puppethead</a> (photos #3, #5-7<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ibran/">ibran</a> (photo #8)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small; font-variant: small-caps;">Version 1.1.1</span>Casey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257611989654990746.post-66831360768950447042006-11-30T11:12:00.000-06:002006-12-02T22:20:00.889-06:00Do You Get the Point... across?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.amazon.com/Your-Point-Across-Seconds-Less/dp/0671727524"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px;border-color: white; " src="http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/0671727524.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.gif" border="0" alt="" /></a>Milo Frank's book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Your-Point-Across-Seconds-Less/dp/0671727524">How to Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds or Less</a>, a heavy tome of 1500 pages.... <br /><br />No, just kidding. Frank's book is svelte (12 chapters, each on average 9 pages, with a 4 page intro). Easy reading that packs a punch. Know what you're after, know what your audience is after, take an approach, hook your reader's attention, present your subject concisely, and finally ask for it, whatever <span style="font-style:italic;">it</span> is that you're after.<br /> <br />There, now you don't have to read the first half of the book.<br /><br />I invite you, the reader, to use this book to criticize my style... and your own style.Casey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257611989654990746.post-75490062187135420122006-11-16T13:18:00.000-06:002006-11-16T13:19:43.833-06:00Milton diedMilton Friedman has passed away according to <a href="http://cato.org/dailypodcast/edwardhcrane_honoringmiltonfriedman_20061116.mp3">this report</a> from the Cato Institute. It's hitting me hard.Casey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257611989654990746.post-7028576201838822022006-11-13T21:49:00.003-06:002008-11-07T18:37:20.026-06:00Bluegrass Samisen<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://homepage2.nifty.com/ts-sonic/discography/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://homepage2.nifty.com/ts-sonic/images/appalachian_shamisen.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />When it rains, it pours. More samisen!! This time it's bluegrass samisen from <a href="http://homepage2.nifty.com/ts-sonic/">Takeharu Kunimoto with The Last Frontier</a>. <br /><br /><!-- replaced with other music by myflashfetish.com !!! Found Nov 7, 2008<center><embed src="http://www.myflashfetish.com/minime.swf?myid=684922&mycolor=0x0&autoplay=false&mycolor2=0xff&mycolor3=0xffff00&rand=1" menu="false" quality="best" scale="noscale" bgcolor="#ffffff" wmode="transparent" name="MyFlashFetish.com" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" align="middle" height="68" width="160"></embed></center>--><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Update (May 31, 2008):</span> I spent quite a bit of time putting together a flash player with a collection of Takeharu Kunimoto's music. I'm disappointed to see today that MyFlashFetish.com has left no trace of my effort, which was up and running above for at least a year or so. It just disappeared. I can't even log in to MyFlashFetish. They don't have a record of my email address anymore.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Update (Nov 7, 2008):</span> I discovered today that the MyFlashFetish.com player is playing music again. It's now someone else's music!! I'll never use their service again. I commented out the flash player. You can still see it in the HTML if you "view page source".Casey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257611989654990746.post-20399174328328915732006-11-09T17:56:00.000-06:002006-11-10T18:40:09.270-06:00Samisen Boogie Woogie<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.satoh-k.co.jp/ume/MOVIE/samisen_low.mov"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px;" src="http://www.satoh-k.co.jp/okame/images/cbco-1002.gif" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I love <a href="http://www.satoh-k.co.jp/ume/MOVIE/samisen_low.mov">this video</a>, particularly Umekichi Hiyama's samisen segment towards the end.<br /><br />Here's an article about her in the Asahi Evening News, <a href="http://www.satoh-k.co.jp/ume/images/050531/ASAHIEVENING.jpg">'Edo-freak' blossoms</a> by Ken Kawashima.Casey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257611989654990746.post-52515210718275762232006-10-10T03:03:00.000-05:002006-10-10T03:06:24.562-05:00Dewa - Warriors of LoveThe fab five from Indonesia, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewa_%28band%29">Dewa</a>, sing <em>Warriors of Love</em>. <br /><br /><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gU65RQy_6MY"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gU65RQy_6MY" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://www.libforall.org/popculture-republic-of-love.html#Warriors_of_Love">Here</a> are the lyrics of the English rendition of the same song, along with audio.<br /><br />Hat tip: <a href="http://www.tomgpalmer.com/archives/040830.php">Tom Palmer</a><br /><br />See also: <a href="http://www.indonesiamatters.com/752/ahmad-dhani-of-dewa/">Indonesia Matters</a><br /><br />and: <a href="http://sufijourneys.blogspot.com/2006/04/musical-fatwa.html">Sufi Journeys</a><br /><br />(This is a crosspost from <a href="http://rhinowatch.blogspot.com">Rhino Watch</a>)Casey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257611989654990746.post-67066985692582777652006-09-13T22:56:00.002-05:002008-08-07T14:12:47.590-05:00Remembering the World Trade CenterDisbelief. Faces looking up at the World Trade Center. <br><br>There he was, Philippe Petit, entertaining the crowd, performing a tightwire act above the plaza, way above the plaza, a quarter of a mile above the plaza between the tops of the twin towers. In so doing, Phillippe humanized the brand new towers. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRiUlBtPrgg">Here</a>'s Phillippe's story on YouTube, as written by Mordicai Gerstein, and <a href="http://www.pbs.org/perl/media.cgir?t=rp&f=virage/newshour/pbsnh021604_220k.rm&s=2870014&e=3279261">here</a>'s an interview with Mordicai Gerstein on the NewsHour.<br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Walked-Between-Towers/dp/031236878X"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;border-color:white;" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51-KYxN2WEL.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><!--<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cRiUlBtPrgg"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cRiUlBtPrgg" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>-->Fast forward 27 years. Two brothers, Jules and Gedeon Naudet, witnessed the 911 Massacre like no other filmmakers. They were doing a documentary on a rookie fireman with Ladder Company 1 when Jules happened to point his camera at Tower 1 as the first plane hit. He then went to the scene, into the lobby of Tower 1, camera still rolling, as firefighters struggled to rescue what lives they could amid the chaos, human bodies loudly crashing on the plaza outside. Jules was still in the lobby when Tower 2 collapsed. <br><br>The Naudet brothers' film gives us 911 writ small, in human dimensions, up close, in real time. The enormity of the event itself can dehumanize what happened when cameras are distant, as most were.<br><br>Their film is available <a href="http://www.amazon.com/11-Filmmakers-Commemorative-James-Hanlon/dp/B00006B1HI">at Amazon</a> .<br><br>Here's a snippet of the French version of their film showing the lobby of Tower 1.<br><br><embed allowScriptAccess="never" allownetworking="internal" style="width:400px; height:326px;" id="VideoPlayback" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=5944014801904533567&hl=en"> </embed><br><br><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Update (Aug 1, 2007):</span> <br />Here's a wonderful documentary on Philippe Petit's feat.<br /><a href="http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2253155">Tightrope</a><br><embed src="http://lads.myspace.com/videos/vplayer.swf" flashvars="m=2253155&v=2&type=video" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="317"></embed><br>Casey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257611989654990746.post-47628588901421475052006-08-10T00:26:00.000-05:002006-09-27T00:37:17.737-05:00"You do not want youth politicizing" - Sweden's Pirates<p>So <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/ZDM/story?id=2260665">warns</a> John Dvorak. The US government stirred up a hornest's nest by <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/sweden-threatened-with-trade-sanctions-by-the-us-over-the-piratebay/">strongarming Sweden</a> to shut down The Pirate Bay. In the aftermath, the Pirate Party was born in Sweden. Now it's hit Dvorak's radar. And he notices how young and energetic the people are in this movement. Dvorak writes, "Well, it looks like the boneheads in Hollywood and the RIAA, along with onerous new copyright laws such as the DMCA and other restrictions, are triggering change."</p><image src="http://static.flickr.com/72/196446674_df79bc3e0e.jpg?v=0"/><br> <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" border="0" src="http://creativecommons.org/images/public/somerights20.png"/></a>Photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/michellzappa/">Michell Zappa</a>.<br><p>Having just read the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1595581227"><em>Information Feudalism: Who Owns the Knowledge Economy</em></a> by Peter Drahos with John Braithwaite, I feel embarassed by the bullying of our federal government, foisting our artificial intellectual monopoly grants upon the rest of the world through threats of trade sanctions. Bad karma.</p>Casey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257611989654990746.post-25854920348796316832006-05-30T01:34:00.000-05:002006-09-27T00:36:25.024-05:00The Pirate Party of Sweden hits US shores<p>There's a new party in town, the Pirate Party, and it's about time. Arrrr!</p><p>As mentioned in my last post, I agree with Randy Barnett that Article I, Section 8, Clause 8, of the US Constitution is a defect and needs to walk the plank. Any party worth its weight in doubloons would construct such a plank. Along these lines, the <a href="http://www2.piratpartiet.se/international/english">Pirate Party of Sweden</a> set out on its first voyage <a href="http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=2791&date=20060103">earlier this year</a>. Now there's a budding <a href="http://pirate-party.us/">US counterpart</a>. They are destined for great things ... if they be liberalizing pirates. They'll part some waters. I feel it in my bones.</p><p><a href="http://rixstep.com/1/20060606,00.shtml">Here</a> is a speech by Rickard Falkvinge, founder of these brigands, entitled <q>Friends, Citizens, Pirates</q>, in which he declares, <q>My name is Rickard and I'm a pirate.</q></p><p>Avast! and answer me this. Be ye an intellectual-monopoly landlubber or be ye a pirate?</p>Casey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257611989654990746.post-56892146393853332332006-05-29T20:06:00.000-05:002006-09-27T00:35:14.606-05:00Liberty and Randy Barnett on Minnesota Public Radio<p>Randy Barnett, author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691115850">Restoring the Lost Constitution</a>, talks to MPR's Kerri Miller on Midmorning <a href="http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/05/29/midmorning1/">today</a>. <a href="http://www.publicradio.org/tools/media/player/news/midmorning/2006/05/29_midmorn1?ext=rm">Here</a> is the audio.</p><p>I met Barnett years ago at an <a href="http://www.theihs.org/">IHS</a> seminar when he was still a young professor at Chicago-Kent School of Law. He's come up in the world, arguing in front of the Supreme Court in the California medical marijuana case (Gonzales v. Raich) and landing a new position as Professor of Legal Theory at Georgetown Law Center. I read his book on the constitution a year ago November, and it comes closest to my starting point in thinking about government.</p><p>In this interview on MPR, Randy and Kerri have a wonderful conversation on the topic of liberty. I was particularly pleased to hear that Barnett's legal case defending the use of medical marijuana lives on. According to Barnett, after his defeat in the Supreme Court last year, he is rearguing the case in the 9th Circuit on the basis of individual rights, instead of the commerce clause.</p><p> In short, Barnett argues for a "presumption of liberty". He <a href="http://www.pupress.princeton.edu/chapters/i7648.html">writes</a>:<blockquote>The Constitution that was actually enacted and formally amended creates islands of government powers in a sea of liberty. The judicially redacted constitution creates islands of liberty rights in a sea of governmental powers. Judicial redaction has created a substantially different constitution from the one written on parchment that resides under glass in Washington. Though that Constitution is now lost, it has not been repealed, so it could be found again.</blockquote></p><p>Barnett also edited two volumes of essays on the Ninth Amendment <strong>The Rights Retained by the People</strong> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0913969222">Volume I</a> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0913969443">Volume II</a>. For those who are not familiar with the 9th amendment, here it is:<blockquote>The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.</blockquote></p><p>Barnett does not argue that the United States Constitution is perfect. For example, we both see Article I, Section 8, Clause 8, as a defect (Restoring the Lost Constitution, p. 355). He does argue that changes must be made deliberately with debate and amendment, not by ignoring the language.</p>Casey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257611989654990746.post-16818066999529023072006-05-23T00:22:00.000-05:002007-08-01T14:36:38.476-05:00Is Osama bin Laden an alcoholic?<p>Tonight I saw the movie <em>United 93</em>. As I left the theatre, I felt both shaken and stirred. It's been nearly five years, and I have something to say.... </p><p>Consider this hypothesis. <strong>Osama bin Laden has alcoholism and is not in recovery</strong>.</p><p>Active, abstinent, binge, god knows which kind.... </p><p>The idea occurred to me after reading Doug Thorburn's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0967578825">Alcoholism Myths and Realities</a>, given bin Laden's destructive, controlling, ego-inflated behavior. Adam Robinson's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1559706600">Bin Laden: Behind the Mask of the Terrorist</a> corroborates it. Thorburn writes, <q>Recovery requires abstinence and ego deflation. Without both, good solid recovery in which behaviors markedly improve is impossible.</q> <cite>(p. 12)</cite></p><p>I'm not an expert on alcoholism. Might Hazelden, Talbott, or Sierra Tucson invite him for a month's stay? I don't know. But it's an idea. Family week might get a bit busy.</p><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Update (Aug 1, 2007):</span> <br />I am currently reading Lawrence Wright's Pulitzer Prize winning book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Looming-Tower-Qaeda-Road-Vintage/dp/1400030846">The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11</a>. Wright does <span style="font-weight:bold;">not</span> support this hypothesis.Casey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257611989654990746.post-56919859415837420992006-03-07T02:56:00.000-06:002006-09-27T00:32:56.506-05:00"Wide-angle liberalism" - Alternative Libérale<p><img src="http://www.tomgpalmer.com/images/Sabine.jpg"></p><p>A new party is born in France. <a href="http://www.alternative-liberale.fr/">Alternative Libérale</a>. Its spirit is liberalism, liberalizing liberalism, and its color is violet, underlining that it's <q>ni gauche, ni droite</q>, neither left, nor right, neither socialist, nor conservative, neither red, nor blue.</p><p>Edouard Fillias sent me an email today with the news. This is news, big news. I love France, and I hope the French escape from the dirigistes that plague them from both the right and the left. I might even decide to work there if they do. Half the battle is understanding what liberalism is. Here in America, too.</p><p>Sabine Hérold, photographed above, <a href="http://www.liberation.fr/page.php?Article=363830">explains</a> their opposition to the French Minister of the Interior, Nicolas Sarkozy. <q>Sarkozy is liberal on the economic plane, but not on the societal one. With us, it's wide-angle liberalism</q> Edouard Fillias <a href="http://www.liberation.fr/page.php?Article=363830">says</a>, <q>We do not have a cult of authority like Sarkozy. We do not believe in a savior. Liberals don't like it when someone bosses them around.</q></p><p>By the way, in the last sentence I translated the French verb <em>diriger</em>, which I really think should become an English verb of opprobrium, <q>to dirige</q>. The noun <em>dirigisme</em> already exists in English. <em>Diriger</em> literally translates to the English verb <q>to direct</q>, but it carries connotations of arbitrary, centralized, top-down control.</p><p>I first found out about Hérold and Fillias last June from the blog of a friend <a href="http://www.tomgpalmer.com/archives/021807.php">Tom Palmer</a>.</p>Casey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257611989654990746.post-59112651788089775052006-03-03T01:16:00.000-06:002006-10-16T02:04:38.337-05:00Danish cartoons and a dozen writers<p>12 writers <a href="http://www.muslim-refusenik.com/lettersarchive1.html#manifesto">have come to the defense</a> of the 12 cartoonists. In their call to pen-and-ink battle against religious totalitarianism, in their call to defend <q>the universality of freedom of expression, so that a critical spirit may be exercised on all continents, against all abuses and all dogmas</q>, they deploy the means that are their very ends.</p><blockquote><p>After having overcome fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, the world now faces a new totalitarian global threat: Islamism .... </p><p>Its success can only lead to a world of domination: man's domination of woman, the Islamists' domination of all the others. To counter this, we must assure universal rights to oppressed or discriminated people ....</p><p>We refuse to renounce our critical spirit out of fear of being accused of <q>Islamophobia</q>, an unfortunate concept which confuses criticism of Islam as a religion with stigmatisation of its believers ....</p><p>We appeal to democrats and free spirits of all countries that our century should be one of Enlightenment, not of obscurantism.</p></blockquote><p>The signatories include Irshad Manji, Salman Rushdie, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali.</p> <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayaan_Hirsi_Ali"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Ayaan_Hirsi_Ali.jpg" border="0"></a></p><p>Hirsi Ali is the Mogadishu-born writer of the movie <a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=846339861805446088&q=submission%20Van%20Gogh">Submission</a>. What's particularly poignant is that Hirsi Ali once thought that Khomeini was right when he called for her fellow signatory, Rushdie, to be killed for insulting Muhammad. Hirsi Ali now defends the <a href="http://ayaanhirsiali.web-log.nl/log/4921442">the right to offend</a>. I suspect from this piece that she had a lot to do with framing their statement in the context of other totalitarianisms. Hirsi Ali currently holds office in the Dutch parliament, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tweede_Kamer">Tweede Kamer</a>.</p>Casey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1257611989654990746.post-18977054914335257982006-02-27T23:16:00.000-06:002006-09-27T00:30:57.245-05:00Minneapolis - Indian Ocean Restaurant<p><img src="http://www.ccht.org/sites/6d654427-d042-447a-b709-6c2977a06d6c/uploads/%7B4F9E4C24-571F-435F-B87D-B117B223003C%7D_WEB.jpg" border="0"></p><p>My first taste of Somali cuisine was the Indian Ocean Restaurant in Minneapolis thanks to a heartfelt recommendation from a cab driver. Everyone in my party enjoyed the fantastic food and excellent service and the endearing banana included with every meal.</p><p> Our salads were memorable. When was the last time you had a memorable salad? We ordered mediterranean greek salads with feta and chicken, which were presented elegantly with a subtle sauce on the chicken. It was one of my favorite feta salads ever, and at a quite modest price.<br></p><p>As for the main course, I combined into one order their Somalian Key Key and philly steak. It is a bit confusing to see philly steak on the menu, but they prepare it magnificently with Somali spices in bite-size strips. If you like things spicy, try their green sauce, bursting with coconut flavor.</p><p> <em>Be sure</em> to order some Somali spiced tea. It's chock full of cardamom.</p><p>I'm going to come back. <br> </p><h2>Update</h2><p>Here's <a href="http://www.ccht.org/Indian_Ocean_opens_at_CCHT_s_East_Village.html">more info</a>.</p><p><strong>Directions</strong>: The Indian Ocean is just off of 8th St. as you're heading from downtown towards Hiawatha. Turn right after Elliot Park, on 11th Ave, and it's one block down.</p><p><img src="http://maps.google.com/mapdata?Point=b&Point.latitude_e6=44968896&Point.longitude_e6=4201709371&Point.iconid=15&Point=e&latitude_e6=44968896&longitude_e6=4201709371&zm=4800&w=300&h=150&cc=US&min_priority=2"></p>Casey Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06004964294568558404noreply@blogger.com0