In the Loop: June 2008 Archive

How do you make 1,000 gallons of milk disappear?

Posted at 1:31 PM on June 4, 2008 by Sanden Totten (3 Comments)

Somewhere in the back of the Sunday Star Tribune I saw a small photo of a happy boy splashing around in a giant tub of milk. Got milk? Apparently so.

One of our regular listeners, Rosalie Clemens, sent me an e-mail explaining the story behind the photo. She told me about the dairy strike happening right now in Germany. Her relatives live there and also happen to be dairy farmers.

She explained that the strike was over the price of milk. German dairy farmers say that the price is unfairly low and that they can't cover the cost of production unless the stores pay more. Retailers say that it's all in the market and they pay what milk is worth.

So, the farmers are cutting them off. No milk for you. But cows get sick if you don't milk them. How do you get rid of up to a 1,000 gallons of milk a day? Rosalie Clemens explains:

"Obviously, farmers are not allowed to dump the milk in the sewers as that would completely change the bacteria balance in the water cleaning facilities. So, they are finding ways to use the milk themselves. Some are using it to feed their animals, some are using it directly as fertilizer, and most add it to the liquid manure, which is later used as fertilizer."

And some, as the Strib picture demonstrates, are using it for fun. Our informant continues:

"The thing to understand is how hard it is to discard a perfectly fine food item . . . alongside the milk many tears are going down the drain."

In a time of rising food prices world wide, it is a shame that dairy farmers are having to flush their cow juice. But farmers have to eat too . . . and you can't live on milk and cheese alone!

Comment on this post

Bored with your dinners, why not take a challenge?

Posted at 10:49 AM on June 6, 2008 by Sanden Totten

I'm not much of a foodie. I'm not ashamed of that either. I derive as much pleasure from a well toasted pop-tart as I do from expensive seared tuna or an exotic smoked pear salad. The problem is that when all foods are equal, I end up eating the quickest, easiest meals. That gets very boring.

So this summer, a friend and I are trying to spice things up by going local. It was her idea to join the One Local Summer challenge. The rules are simple: "prepare one meal each week using only locally grown ingredients - the exceptions are oil, salt and pepper, and spices." The down side is that it takes time and a bit of hunting (sites like the Eat Well Guide can help you hone in on native ingredients). The upside could be that you are reducing your carbon footprint, supporting your local economy or something like that. But for me, it's that it forces me to eat foods I would otherwise never bother to cook up. Like rhubarb.

By the way, if your local food market turns up produce that you have no idea how to cook, check out Epicurious (found thanks to MN Post). They have a map that reveals recipes for food stuff from different regions.

Life on the Tweet Beat

Posted at 1:59 PM on June 9, 2008 by Sanden Totten (1 Comments)

It was a big night at MPR. St. Paul was the center of America's attention for one night thanks to Barack Obama. We had reporters at the Xcel. We had reporters outside the Xcel. We had political analysts standing by in the studio. And then there was me . . . covering the historic event in140 characters or less.

Someone had the idea to use Twitter to "tweet" coverage of the Obama rally on-line. For the uninitiated, Twitter is a social application that essentially works like an update of the old telegraph system. You can send very short messages (one or two sentences max) to all of your contacts with a single click. They can get these updates on their computer, blackberry or cell phone.

Covering the rally with Twitter worked pretty well. We had some goof-ups on the technological end and I'll be the first to admit I had no idea what I was doing when we started the evening, but by the end we got the hang of it. But what really surprised me was what happened after the rally.

The team of us working on the Tweet beat got kudos from almost everyone in the building. People wanted to know how we could use Twitter to find more listeners, to get more young people interested in public radio, to bring MPR to the forefront of Web 2.0. It felt a little like watching the Emperor's New Clothing unfold in our newsroom. Everyone loved all that Twitter had to offer . . . but no one seemed to know what exactly that was.

Now, given my very limited experience with Twitter, I'd count myself in that latter category. But from what I do know, the program is no savior. What really impresses me though, has nothing to do with "tweeting" at all . . . it's that in a newsroom, where for a long time people have played it safe, measured all the risks before making a move . . . these folks were now congratulating us for trying a chaotic experiment with uncertain results. That's a big deal.

In the media business right now, no one really knows what web application or social networking trend will be the one to bring us into the digital future. But one thing's for sure, without the right attitude about taking chances, you'll quickly be left behind.

Comment on this post

Why we're gone

Posted at 12:09 PM on June 10, 2008 by Jeff Horwich (3 Comments)

I haven't been blogging, and our new project, "The Week," disappeared after just two weeks. What gives?

In this case, a picture will suffice:

We'll be back with new shows later in the month.

Comment on this post

Car Talk the Cartoon . . . what's next?

Posted at 12:22 PM on June 10, 2008 by Sanden Totten

You may remember that Jeff was recently offered a shot at being on TV. Well, it looks like he's not the only public radio figure being courted by the networks! Car Talk goes visual with a new cartoon on PBS this July.

The new show As the Wrench Turns is geared toward the Simpsons and Family Guy crowd. I have trouble imagining the Car Talk guys getting quite as blue as either of those shows though. Still, if the three comments left at the bottom of their video tell you anything, the "people" think this show will be awesome . . . and seriously, if you can't trust three random strangers on YouTube, who can you trust?

I have to wonder though, after This American Life the TV show and now Car Talk, are we seeing a trend here? Are TV stations coveting the longevity and loyalty public radio shows are capable of? And if so, what will be the next NPR mainstay to go visual? A teen drama set in Lake Wobegon called Garrison's Creek? Maybe Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me could morph into Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity Comedian? Or how about Fresh Air with Muppets? I'd watch that.

Get 40 miles to the gallon . . . no Prius necessary!

Posted at 10:31 AM on June 11, 2008 by Sanden Totten (3 Comments)

Imagine if fuel efficiency was an extreme sport. That's basically what hypermiling is. Hypermilers are folks who compete to get the best gas mileage possible out of their cars (here's a story we did a while back).

And thanks to Wired on-line, the wisdom of the hypermilers is available to you. Check out how to get more than 40 dollars a gallon without buying a hybrid. They have tips for the novice and the expert petrol pincher, the most radical being the draft method (from the Wired article):

"This one's controversial because it's dangerous. But we trust you: Inch up behind, say, an 18-wheeler, and kill the engine as you enter its slipstream (you'll feel it). You're drafting now, getting pulled along by the truck's gas instead of your own."

Of course, there are other, less life threatening tips, like emptying your trunk of the useless crap weighing down your car. And using your breaks less in traffic by coasting. They warn though, this last technique may earn you some "middle-finger salutes" from your fellow motorists. But hey, at $4.00 + a gallon, a little verbal abuse is a small price to pay for fuel efficiency.

And if you want the skinny on what gas saving tips don't actually work, check out this story from NPR. (Spoiler alert: Clean air-filters have no effect on gas usage).

Got any other tips for saving gas?

Comment on this post

Cold summers, food crisis, high cost of transportation? We've seen it before.

Posted at 10:05 AM on June 13, 2008 by Sanden Totten

Yes, this summer in Minnesota is pretty cold. Not as cold as this one though: 1816 - the year without a summer.

In June of 1816 two snow storms swept the US and Canada causing havoc to food (and in a way, fuel) prices:

"Even though farmers south of New England did succeed in bringing some crops to maturity, maize and other grain prices rose dramatically. Oats, for example, rose from 12¢ a bushel the previous year to 92¢ a bushel . . and oats are a necessary staple for an economy dependent upon horses for primary transportation."

Temperatures would manically swing from 95 degrees to near freezing within hours. There were famines in America, Europe and Asia. Red snow fell in Italy.

Scientists now believe that the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia was the root cause of this strange year. The volcano sent up clouds of ash that disrupted weather patterns across the globe.

1816 did have some positive effects though. It led to the invention of the Dandy Horse, a predecessor to the modern bicycle (click the link for the delightful picture). It kept Mary Shelley inside, inspiring her to craft the horror masterpiece Frankenstein. And the volcanic ash in the air reportedly created some magnificent sunsets.

But all in all, 1816 was a very difficult year. It helps to add a little perspective to the strange occurrences we are going through now. But if the year without a summer teaches us anything, it's that our climate is a delicate and chaotic thing. We'd be smart to keep a close eye on it and do what we can to help keep it balanced.

Twitter, transparency and the House of Congress

Posted at 1:39 PM on June 20, 2008 by Sanden Totten (2 Comments)

What's the "deepest and darkest hole" in America? According to Republican Congressman John Culberson of Texas, it's the House floor.

The political site techPresident has a post about Congressman Culberson and his new hobby: shedding light down that hole using Twitter. He's been using Twitter to send out quick updates on what he's doing, hearing and voting on that day in Congress. Culberson writes:

"I hope to redefine a Congressman's job description for the 21st Century. I want to be a 'real time representative' . . . I love technology and believe passionately in the disinfecting power of sunshine, as did my hero Thomas Jefferson who often said we should try all abuses at the bar of public opinion."

Culberson has also done some video blogging using Qik. And now a Democratic representative from Ohio is getting in on the act.

Apparently, using wireless phones or personal computers is banned in Congress, but Twitter gets under the radar since Blackberries and texting are allowed. So far, both Congressmen have done a pretty good job using the technology to explain what they are doing and why.

But there's a problem with transparency: it's time consuming. At the bottom of the techPresident post, a commenter digs into Rep. Culberson's career, saying some pretty nasty things about him. Culberson himself comes on the site to defend his reputation and responds to the commentator's concerns. But just glancing at the back and forth between the two of them, you'll get an idea of the amount of work it must have taken Culberson to respond and discuss all these points with this guy.

So maybe one reason Congress is such a deep dark hole is that letting the public in on the process is a lot of work. Plus, I'm sure that if every member of the House let the people in on why they did what they did, there would be a lot of explaining to do.

Comment on this post

Presidential candidate debate . . . in 140 characters or less

Posted at 12:30 PM on June 23, 2008 by Sanden Totten

Last Twitter post for a while, I promise. But I couldn't pass the chance to share this info with you loyal loopsters: Twitter is currently hosting a presidential candidate debate!

Obama and McCain have both assigned representatives from their staff to argue platforms using Twitter. For McCain, it's Liz Mair. Obama is represented by Mike Nelson. The crowd on Twitter is asking questions and a moderator is making sure each debater gives an honest to goodness answer. If you want to check out the debate you can search the Twitter aggregator Summize for the tag #pdfdebate and read everything related to this event. Or you can click here.

The power and pain in Twitter is that each post must be very short. Like, two sentences short. This doesn't leave a lot of room for the debaters to monkey around. Perhaps the best way for them to remain deep yet vague given the size constraint is to go for a haiku. Some folks on Twitter have already thrown out a few examples:

The economy. It will continue to suck it up. But he makes it worse.

My opponent whines Like a puppy wanting treats But the vote is "nay"

He dances around / Issues and positions change / Why vote for that guy?

Have a debate Haiku of your own?

Japanese game shows versus American egos

Posted at 12:18 PM on June 24, 2008 by Sanden Totten (2 Comments)

Japanese games shows are a unique beast of entertainment . . . somewhere between American Gladiator and Fear Factor, with a side order of Nickelodeon's Double Dare thrown in for color.

If you are having trouble imagining what that would be like, have no fear . . . Japanese game shows are coming to a TV near you. ABC will launch two new shows tonight, "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" and "Wipeout." The premise of a these shows is simple: embarrass the snot out of the contestants for the amusement of the crowd.

The challenges are almost always physical, often degrading and uniquely Japanese (from the NYT article):

In one event on "I Survived" a contestant serves as the claw while a blindfolded teammate operates a life-size arcade crane. In another, one contestant runs on a fast-moving treadmill while another tries to eat from a plate atop the runner's head.

Another challenge involves dressing the contestants up in diapers and bibs and spinning them around in cribs.

The interesting difference between the American and Japanese versions of these shows is that in Japan people compete for a sense of pride and honor. Americans do it for cash.

To me, this highlights one of the difficulties these shows will have. Japan is an extremely hierarchical society and self deprecation is hardwired into the culture. This makes contestant uniquely willing to play their embarrassment for the entertainment of others. For an extreme (and utterly gripping) example, check out the story of Nasubi - the Japanese comedian who was locked in a room, stripped of all his clothes and broadcast on TV for months as he attempted to complete a game show challenge . . . twice.

But therein lies the charm. Having lived in Japan and watched countless hours of TV there, I know there is something endearing about these character's willingness to take one for the team. People who are motivated by cash prizes seem less sympathetic somehow. Will Americans be able to suck it up and make a fool of themselves in an equally adorable way? I guess we'll have to see.

And now . . . Human Tetris:

Comment on this post

At last, Spider-Man the musical!

Posted at 11:46 AM on June 25, 2008 by Sanden Totten (4 Comments)

I'm gonna geek out here for a second . . . bear with me folks. Spider-Man the musical is a go!!! And rumor has it that the show has already been cast with some pretty hot new stars.

Ok, you may be thinking this will be a total flop, a novelty show destined to close after a few weeks. But it's got some serious pedigree behind it. First off, Julie Taymor is set to direct (she's the mind behind the wildly sucessful Lion King musical and the recent Beatles tribute film Across the Universe). The music? None other than U2's Bono and the Edge are writing the score. And it looks like Across the Universe stars Jim Sturgess and Evan Rachel Wood will play the lead roles of Peter Parker and Mary Jane.

Taymor says of the show:

"I hope it will be a cross between a play, rock 'n' roll and circus. The movies with Tobey Maguire worked on their terms, but the show will be very different . . . In fact, it's based more on the original comic books than the movies."

Expect giant puppets, fancy costumes and a high wire act to be part of the performance.

Given this news, it's hard not to think we are entering a golden age for comics. Not only are the characters becoming major Hollywood (and now Broadway) stars, comic book writers are becoming the darlings of the film world. Sure, it may not last forever. Comics may go back to being the territory of obsessed nerds . . . or all the attention from mainstream media may corrupt the industry's fresh perspective. But for now, it feels like a fan-boy's dream come true.

Comment on this post

John McCain presents "Pork Invaders!"

Posted at 11:25 AM on June 26, 2008 by Sanden Totten (1 Comments)

A few days ago, you might have thought to yourself: "The day John McCain is the first to harness a hip new Internet trend and put it to use for his campaign is the day pigs fly." Well . . . introducing John McCain's "Pork Invaders.

Considering that it was only a few days ago that a McCain staffer let us know that the candidate was indeed "aware of the Internet," launching a serious game is a pretty slick step forward into the realm of digital campaigning. Couple that with the fact that Obama has been known to bash video games in his speeches, and you might think McCain is making some inroads into the much coveted young and tech savvy voting block.

But then again, "serious" might be the wrong word to describe a game that involves firing vetoes at a herd of floating hogs. Go ahead and play it. Let us know what you think.

Comment on this post

"Because" . . . a word that will get you what you want

Posted at 12:39 PM on June 27, 2008 by Sanden Totten (1 Comments)

Remember when you would ask your mom, "why can't I watch RoboCop on TV?" and she would say, "because I make the rules!" and that was that?

Well, Mom knew her stuff.

A study found that "because" is a powerfully persuasive word. The Economist blog lays out the experiment like this:

In the study, a stranger approached someone waiting in line to use a photocopier and asked, "Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine?" This resulted in 60% of people agreeing to let the stranger go ahead of them. But when the stranger asked instead, "May I use the Xerox machine, because I'm in a rush?", 94% of people complied. And even when the given reason was meaningless--"May I use the Xerox machine, because I have to make copies?"--93% of people complied

The Economist blog goes on to speculate about candidates taking this advice and releasing a series of ads saying essentially "Vote for me because ________."

But if someone cuts in front of you in line for the copier because they "have to make copies," you may let them do it, but you'll probably also think they are a self important jerk! I mean, we all have to make copies pal, what makes you so special?!

So be warned. "Because" may convince people to let you have your way, but it doesn't mean they'll like you for it . . . especially when it comes to watching RoboCop.

Comment on this post

Neil Patrick Harris sings . . . and redefines show business?

Posted at 11:17 AM on June 30, 2008 by Sanden Totten (2 Comments)

Remember the writer's strike? What a terrible time for TV fans. No new shows, more awful reality TV. It seems like nothing good came from that strike (aside from the whole "writers got a new contract" thing).

But then comes a note from Buffy the Vampire Slayer mastermind Joss Whedon saying the strike inspired him to start a new project. Introducing Dr. Horrible's Singing Blog.

It's a three part mini-series starring Neil Patrick Harris (of Doogie Howser and Harold & Kumar fame) as a singing super villain who is forever foiled at his attempts to take over the world and too shy to ask out the girl he has a crush on. And if that's not revolutionary enough for you, it's going to be a straight to Internet release. Here what Whedon had to say:

The idea was to make it on the fly, on the cheap - but to make it. To turn out a really thrilling, professionalish piece of entertainment specifically for the internet. To show how much could be done with very little. To show the world there is another way. To give the public (and in particular you guys) something for all your support and patience. And to make a lot of silly jokes. Actually, that sentence probably should have come first.

The episodes will be streamed for free until July 20th. Then, Whedon will take them down and sell them as DVDs with tons of extra features. The cool thing is, this just might work.

Joss Whedon in one of those rare examples of a writer who has such a following that the idea of turning a profit on his creations without a major network behind him is entirely imaginable. But could other, lesser known but very talented folks pull off the same thing? That's the real edge of the seat thriller here.

And hey, if it does work, Dr. Horrible may actually take over the world . . . or at least his business model might.

Teaser from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.

Comment on this post