Midwestern Boy

It’s been nearly two months since I last had a relaxing Sunday morning with coffee and a copy of the Wisconsin State Journal (WISJ).  Thus yesterday morning I decided to rectify that.  While flipping through my local Madison newspaper, I had a couple observations – some good and some just confusing.

Masthead issues. Am I the only one that looks at this picture and thinks the sections are from two different publications? Both come from the Sunday WISJ.  Not sure if one is a new design and the other old, but it looks extremely unprofessional. Seriously, I would love to know what is going on with this.

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Summer is over, and the days are getting shorter and colder.  Perfect weather to curl up by a fire with a good book.  Still, thanks to a series of entertaining reads, my summer productivity for at least two months was high. The lack of air conditioning and an extremely hot summer that made it just painful to do much other than read, which helped the cause as well.

Then I started reading Christopher Buckley’s ‘Boomsday.’ It’s amazing how a bad book can stop you cold from a great reading streak.

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Madison’s own Geek.Kon celebrated its fourth anniversary this past weekend, with the motto “Bigger on the Inside.” The Marriot provided the Geek.Kon crowd with its largest space ever – 50,000 square feet. The difference was noticeable. The video game room and exhibition hall were not cramped as in previous years. There was plenty of seating room for every panel. Even the halls were less congested.

When I wasn’t playing Munchkin in the Marriot bar or having a couple drinks with presenters, I managed to catch some of the sessions. Here are my notes on 3.5.

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Last year, I was invited by friends to participate in a “Day in the Life” photo blog.  It was a fun experiment that spurned my interest in photography.  The results are available here.

The offer was extended again this year, and initially I said no.  I have taken on a larger photo project in 2010 – a photo a day for the year.  A day where I just shoot everything I do just seemed like overkill.  Still, I found myself snapping a ton of pictures one day, and decided to give it a go.
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Winter is over and spring has arrived.  I admit I’m behind where I would like to be in regards to my New Years resolution to read 2 books per month, but not worried.

Then again, if I were where I wanted to be, I would have already read 24 books this year.
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The smell of bratwursts and beer drifted through downtown Milwaukee today as the Milwaukee Brewers opened the season at Miller Park.  While I was not able to find a ticket for this traditional Milwaukee (and state) holiday, I watched and/or listed to the entire game.  The Brewers lost to the Colorado Rockies 5-3 , but nearly managed to tie it in the 9th.  Here are some random thoughts about the 2010 Brewers that popped into my head while enjoying the game.

Someone needs to step up and fill the 5-hole. I’ve always been a Jim Edmonds fan (except when he was beating the Brewers), but his best years are behind him.  Someone needs to step up early in the season to give Prince Fielder some protection in the lineup.  If no one does by the All-Star Break, fielder will never see a pitch to hit when the game is close. Corey Hart and Casey McGehee, I’m looking at you.
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Early in March I received an email from the people that run National Novel Writing Month, introducing me to a new challenge – Script Frenzy.  The idea is similar to NaNoWriMo – write a 100-page script during the month of April.  As a movie fanatic, I decided to give it some thought.

With April being an insane month (most weekends booked and the possibility of a move), I initially decided it might be better to wait for next year to attempt this challenge.  However, when it was announced that I could get a copy of the uber-awesome writing program Scrivener for half off if I completed, my unemployed / frugal side decided to give it a try.

Only one problem…I have never written a script before and have no idea what I’m doing.
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Selection Sunday has come and gone.  The brackets are here and we know when our local teams – Marquette (Thursday, 6:20 p.m.) and Wisconsin (Friday, 1:55 p.m.) play their first game.

It’s now time for the fun stuff – filling out your brackets.

Like other years, I have created mine on ESPN.com.  Consider this your official invite to join me and likely beat me in their tournament challenge.  Once you create a bracket, add it to group “Badger Badger Badger” – the password for the group is “GoDuke”

So come, create a bracket or two and laugh mercilessly at me when you beat me. I know I will do the same if I beat you.

Earlier this week, I devised a plan for a film festival that you can participate in from the comfort of your own couch.  I asked for recommendations and received a number via Twitter.  Over the past day I put together a schedule for those who would like to participate.

It’s easy if you want to join the fun.  If you have a way to stream Netflix, simply add these movies to your cue.  At the selected time, start them up and watch them with the rest of us. I’ll be on Twitter (@The_Dean) adding commentary and seeing what you have to say (use #DUFF to join the conversation). Join for some or all of the films.

Here is the list of films and their start times:
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It’s February.  It’s cold and snowy.  You really don’t want to be outside, and have no plans for this weekend.  If only there was something fun to do.

Those were my thoughts last night when I noticed a film I wanted to see – Beer Wars – was available on Netflix streaming service.  While chatting with a friend who is attending the True/False film festival this weekend, I decided that since I was unemployed I would have my own film festival from the comfort of my couch.  I could get a two-week free membership from Netflix and stream some films I wanted to see. Thus the Dean Underground Film Festival was born.

It wasn’t until today I recognized I didn’t need to be the only participant.
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One of my goals for 2010 is to read more.  Since receiving my masters, I can count the number of books I have read for pleasure on two hands.  This year I want to get back in the reading habit…partially as a way to break some of the other bad habits I’ve developed.

I am off to a good start so far.  It’s the midway point of January, and I have already completed three books.  My goal is to read 24 – or two per month.  I plan to post every book I read on the list below.
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As I began writing my first REAL New Years goals in about a decade, I came across a number of cool creative ideas for 2010.  Smashing Magazine was promoting their “Design Something Every Day!” challenge.  A couple friends decided to attempt Project365 photo-a-day on Flickr.  Plus there were my own personal goals to do more writing and web design in the new year.

Rather than focus on one of these challenges, I figured why not combine a bit of them all?  Therein lies my challenge for the new year.
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Yesterday morning I saw a graph showing the sharp employment decline in the newspaper industry.

By late afternoon I was part of the statistic.

Working in new media I assumed my job was safer than most.  With the changing nomenclature of the industry, journalists with a technological background are in high demand.  When the company decided to eliminate the entire multimedia team yesterday, I was a bit stunned.  Still, I worked for one of the few remaining newspapers that treats technology and the web as a  nuisance rather than embracing the potential.

That is why today I begin my life as an unemployed journalist.   Read more…

When I was a child, I begged and pleaded with my parents for a puppy – like most children do.  Eventually my parents gave in, with the condition that the dog was my responsibility.  Like any child, I quickly agreed.  How hard could taking care of a dog be?

Within the first two weeks, the puppy had stumbled upon some lose within reach.  I came in to see him swallow the shiny objects from off the end table.  When I informed my parents, they informed me I would need to make sure the change came back out from my dog.

To say this would be a shitty chore would be both an understatement and a really bad pun.
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