Zepfanman.com

My fourth annual list of summer movies. 26 of them this year. Some blockbuster (Avengers, What to Expect, MIB3), some artsy (Intouchables, Invisible War, Robot & Frank). For all the popular films and previews, go to the Yahoo! Summer Movie Guide.

Beasts of the Southern Wild

As I mentioned in my previous post, my friend Kurt and I took a vacation to Italy and Greece earlier this month. What follows is a budget-traveler’s recap of twelve days from Rome to Venice to Athens (I don’t think we ever spent more than $50 US on a meal for two – and Kurt doesn’t drink). Since neither of us had been to this part of the world before, we generally stayed on the beaten path and hit most of the typical sights in each city. The two of us combined took over 600 pictures; you can browse through about half of them online (mine, Kurt’s) for more vivid pictorial accounts of the trip.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’ll be boarding an airplane in just over 24 hours! Will keep this short as I’m testing the WordPress iPhone app – still haven’t gotten comfortable typing more than a few sentences on my phone.

Flags and map of Italy and Greece

Astrophysicist superstar Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson (Wikipedia bio), addressed the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on Wednesday; only three of the committee’s 25 members were present. Below is a copy of Dr. Tyson’s submitted testimony, slightly modified from his speech at the hearing; anyone care to transcribe the entire hearing? I’ve also embedded other videos and links relevant to the hearing since I haven’t been able to find everything in one place on other websites.

Tyson at March 7th Senate hearing

Takeaway quote:

At what cost? The spending portfolio of the United States currently allocates fifty times as much money to social programs and education than it does to NASA. The 2008 bank bailout of $750 billion was greater than all the money NASA had received in its half-century history; two years’ U.S. military spending exceeds it as well. Right now, NASA’s annual budget is half a penny on your tax dollar. For twice that—a penny on a dollar—we can transform the country from a sullen, dispirited nation, weary of economic struggle, to one where it has reclaimed its 20th century birthright to dream of tomorrow.

Read the rest of this entry »

********* Bon Iver – Bon Iver

********* Adele – 21

********* Tori Amos – Night of Hunters (The Sin Palabras instrumental is exactly the same, just without words. Just as good to hear it this way.)

********* Foster the People – Torches

********* Metric – Fantasies

********* Parachute Musical – Kill It Cut It Down

******** Wilco – The Whole Love

******** MUTEMATH – Odd Soul

******** Florence + The Machine – Ceremonials

******** Justice – Audio, Video, Disco

******** Little Dragon – Ritual Union

******** King Creosote and Jon Hopkins – Diamond Mine

******** Paul Simon – So Beautiful or So What

******* Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I feel like I should enjoy Fleet Foxes and Youth Lagoon more, but they just haven’t grabbed me (yet).

Part 1 (March 11, 2011)
Part 2 (July 26, 2011)

One photo a day for a year (2012). Now that I have a phone with a data plan, I feel that I can commit to it. Jaynee’s Instagram yesterday morning inspired me to give it a try. You don’t have to start on January 1st, but I’d love to have more people join us. (I’ll keep this page updated with any changes to the project; zepfanman.com/365 redirects here.)

Headshot for Project 365

Read the rest of this entry »