Dan Rubin's SuperfluousBanter

Category: Life

  • Oh Canada! Oh Canada!

    So this morning I was in the liquor store to get, ermm… well, booze.
    Yeah, yeah, I know I said morning. No, I’m not losing it, just that it
    happened to be the most convenient time during the whole day. Anyway, so in
    front of me there was this guy paying his drinks. The cashier goes: “are
    you from England?”, the young man on the other side anwers: “No,
    Canada actually.” To which to cashier responds: “Oh, no good…”
    Now at this point I couldn’t stop myself from laughing out loud. I’ve
    never seen a canadian guy so baffled. You should’ve seen his face: “What?
    They’re actually making fun of me here? In Europe? What’s that all
    about?” Of course what the clerk actually meant was: “Oh, my guess
    was no good.” Go figure…

    Dave if you’re reading this, you know we love you man. This one is for
    you. In the meantime enjoy yourself at SXSW 2004. By the way, many congratulations
    with the deserved awards for the CSS Zen Garden. Rock on!

  • Music and Creativity

    To me music is an essential part of the creative flow. In short: no music,
    no creativity. But I wonder — do some genres of music lead to more creativity
    than others? I guess it all boils down to personal preference. A number of people
    might go all creative listening to classical music or jazz, others might prefer
    some more alternative styles or even heavy metal. I tend to have frequent atmosphere
    or mood swings as to what music I listen to, with each having it’s own
    particular style.

    Personally, while working, I enjoy ambient music and trip hop, mixed with jazz
    and occasionally some electro or house. My favorite streaming channels come
    from the folks at Soma
    FM     and Netmusique.
    Soma FM’s Secret Agent stream is lovely and I enjoy the short sound clips
    inbetween songs from movies such as James Bond and Ocean Eleven. Close to bedtime
    I switch to Soma FM’s Beat Blender to relax and enjoy the mix. Most of
    the time I have either one of these streaming channels playing. So what music
    do you listen to while working? Any streams I should add to my favorites?

  • Silence Observed

    We shared in the moment of silence this morning, and chose not to post about it.

    Others show their support in their own way:

    Whatever your political views, it is difficult not to feel for those who lost loved ones two years ago.

  • Next Week: Montreal

    I’m traveling to Montreal (Canada, not Missouri or Wisconsin) this coming week (Monday through Sunday) and I’d like to know if there’s anything/anywhere anyone can recommend I should see/visit while I’m there.

    I know the Jazz festival is taking place, and that is already high on my to-do list, but that certainly won’t use up my entire week, and I expect to have a lot of down time while I’m there.

    Post your suggestions in the comments, thanks!

  • On the Nightstand

    I try to stay away from simply publishing lists, however the following are causing me great enjoyment (personal and professional) at the moment: