Nathan's Notebook

2010-01-28T15:55:00.008-06:00

« back to nbierma.comMy Latest Blog PostsMy Latest Tweetsmore »more »

2009-07-30T13:31:00.004-05:00

4 of my #failedchildrensbooktitles on Twitter1. Oh The Places You Would Have Gone -- Before the Economic Downturn2. Bert and Ernie Clarify Their Relationship3. Bambi Versus the NRA4. Aesop's Ethical Quandaries

2009-07-30T13:21:00.005-05:00

4 Funny #failedchildrensbooktitles on Twitter1. @schmiss: Where The Wild Things Were Prior To Widespread Residential and Commercial Construction 2. @rkref: The Wealth Redistribution Tree3. @lehmannchris: Horton Has an Auditory Delusion 4. @misstripentaxi: Dear God, It's Me, Margeret, & I Believe You Owe Me anExplanation Regarding the Problem of Evil.

2009-07-23T08:54:00.002-05:00

4 Web Programming Languages I've Learned to Read2. CSS2. JavaScript3. PHP4. jQuery

4 NCAA 1st Round Games to Watch

2009-03-16T11:29:00.003-05:00

4 NCAA 1st Round Games to Watch1. UCLA vs. VCU, East 2. Illinois vs. W. Kentucky, South 3. Siena vs. Ohio St., Midwest4. Marquette vs. Utah St., West-espn

4 Unforgettable Sports Championships in 2008

2008-12-29T12:56:00.003-06:00

4 Unforgettable Sports Championships in 20081. New York Giants over New England Patriots in Super Bowl2. Tiger Woods over Rocco Mediate in U.S. Open playoff3. Rafael Nadal over Roger Federer at Wimbledon4. Michael Phelps over Milorad Cavic by .01 of a second at the Olympics-time

4 Interesting Top Ten Lists

2008-12-15T14:49:00.003-06:00

4 Interesting Top Ten Lists from Time's Top Ten of Everything 2008:1. Top 10 Underreported News Stories2. Top 10 Non-fiction Books3. Top 10 Museum Exhibits4. Top 10 Photos-time

4 Cool Things about an Obama Post-Presidency

2008-11-05T11:17:00.003-06:00

4 Cool Things about an Obama Post-Presidency1. Presidential museum and library in Chicago2. Convention speeches every 4 years for life3. State funeral4. Monument in Chicago; maybe D.C.-nb

4 Key Demographics in the Obama Win

2008-11-05T10:17:00.002-06:00

4 Key Demographics in the Obama Win1. African Americans2. Latinos3. Young Voters4. Parents-fivethirtyeight

4 Things Hurting the Oceans

2008-10-17T14:08:00.004-05:00

4 Things Hurting the Oceans1. Overfishing2. Shipped goods that are lost or left from shipwrecks.3. Global warming 4. Aquaculture-smithsonian

4 Good Questions about the Bailout

2008-10-08T17:33:00.003-05:00

4 Good Questions about the Bailout from Time's list of 18:1. How, exactly, is this bailout supposed to 'save' credit markets?2. Why should Wall Street be bailed out? Won't it just make them all the more eager to engage in risky practices in the future? 3. Would the money be better spent just buying up the mortgages themselves instead of the securities?4. What is the difference between Wall Street

4 web sites or services I just heard about

2008-10-06T10:16:00.004-05:00

4 web sites or services I just heard about at a web conference1. Lively from Google2. BookSummit.com3. Sermo4. MyBlogLog-nb

4 things I'm still worried about that could help McCain

2008-10-04T13:40:00.004-05:00

4 things I'm still worried about that could help McCain, with one month to go:1. Last-minute undecideds could break for McCain (but are there enough of them in swing states?)2. Your next regularly scheduled Momentum Change should go to McCain (but will bad economic news ever go away?)3. It's about to get nastier, and McCain's better at nasty. So are the Swift Boaters. (But does nasty work with

4 ways (some) bloggers make (some) money

2008-10-04T10:17:00.003-05:00

4 ways (some) bloggers make (some) money, from Slate1. Amazon Associates2. Google AdSense3. BlogAds4. "micropatrons"-slate

4 key lines from the speech I heard Obama give in Grand Rapids yesterday

2008-10-03T12:54:00.003-05:00

4 key lines from the speech I heard Obama give in Grand Rapids yesterday1. "This financial crisis is a direct result of ... a philosophy that views even the most common-sense regulations as unwise and unnecessary. Well, this crisis is nothing less than a final verdict on this failed philosophy – and it’s a philosophy I’m running for President to end."2. "My opponent ... says he’ll take on

2008-09-30T07:44:00.002-05:00

4 Options for the Failed Bailout from Slate1. Tweak it to please Republicans.2. Tweak it to please Democrats.3. Start over. 4. Do nothing. -slate

2008-09-29T13:58:00.002-05:00

4 Executive Orders by Bush that need to be rescinded, from Slate's list of 101. Executive Order 13233 (hides presidential records)2. E.O. 13435 (blocks stem cell research)3. E.O. 13440 (allows torture)4. E.O. 13292 (says VP can classify documents)-slate

2008-09-26T12:25:00.002-05:00

4 'Genius Grant' Recipients from the MacArthur Foundation1. John A. Ochsendorf, engineer and architectural historian who uses old technologies that go back to the Incas to improve today’s buildings. 2. Will Allen, urban farmer in Milwaukee, who delivers healthy food to poor city dwellers, and founded the nonprofit group Growing Power. 3. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, award-winning Nigerian writer

2008-09-25T08:20:00.005-05:00

4 Numbers Related to the Proposed Federal Bailout1. 6.4: percentage of home mortgages that were at least 30 days behind in their payments as of the end of June, in addition to 2.75 percent that were in foreclosure (wp)2. 275: factor by which CEO salaries were greater than the salaries of average workers, up from 35 in the late 1970s, according to the Economy Policy Institute. (nyt)3. $250 billion

2008-09-16T08:06:00.004-05:00

4 things still on the Oklahoma City NBA franchise's to-do list with two months until its first game, according to ESPN the Magazine's Sept. 8 issue:1. Name the team. (now done)2. Finish renovating the arena.3. Hire over 80% of the staff.4. Sell some tickets. (now started)-espnmag

2008-09-12T13:27:00.002-05:00

4 Instructions for Oval Office Movers If Obama Wins1. Erase penciled-in edits on Constitution.2. Retrieve red phone from vice president's office, put back in Oval Office.3. Take presidential approval ratings chart off easel, turn upside down, put back on easel.4. Take "Whites Only" sign off back of president's chair.-nb

2008-09-04T10:04:00.003-05:00

4 Key Advisors in an Obama Administration1. Austan Goolsbee, a University of Chicago professor whom many expect to head a President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers.2. Jason Furman, an economist in the Clinton administration and a top aide to John Kerry in 2004. 3. Tony Lake, Mr Clinton's national security adviser, who taught the ex-president how to salute and who toiled to bring peace to the

2008-08-18T08:31:00.002-05:00

4 Good Things about $4 Gas from Time magazine's list of 10:1. Some outsourced jobs come back2. Sprawl stalls3. Fewer traffic deaths4. More cops on foot-time

2008-08-07T10:50:00.003-05:00

4 Photos of the Bird's Nest in Beijing1. 2.3.4.

2008-08-06T07:55:00.003-05:00

4 Architecturally Interesting New Buildings in Beijing1. National Stadium (Bird's Nest)2. Aquatic Center (Water Cube)3. Digital Beijing Building4. CCTV Headquarters(more)

2008-08-05T11:11:00.002-05:00

4 Ways to Fight the Global Water Crisis1. Conserve Irrigation Water2. Charge More for Water3. Invest in Water Infrastructures4. Ship "Virtual Water"- sci.amn. (more)

2008-08-05T11:09:00.001-05:00

Un-hiatus-ing?Maybe. But to keep things short and simple, I'll use a "4 Things ..." format.

2007-04-25T15:17:00.000-05:00

Introducing...

2006-12-30T13:09:00.000-06:00

Rot? Not!After five years of blogging here, I hope and expect this blog to be idle in '07, to allow me more time and energy for my work, my reading, my resting, and my family. (Chances are I'll cheat and add something here under Comments.)But to fight blogrot, I'm posting some random things that might be worth revisiting: cool Wikipedia reference charts, best first lines from novels, Steven

2006-12-30T12:41:00.000-06:00

On Wednesday I drove up US-131 and saw the herd of media trucks surrounding the Ford Museum, and couldn't decide if it was honorable tribute or just inane swarming. The media has a tendency to go way over the top at times like this; the local Grand Rapids Press gushed with messianic melodrama the day after Ford died, "He Saved The Nation." (True of Lincoln, but not Ford, and as Ford himself said,

2006-12-30T12:25:00.000-06:00

Recent New Yorker cartoons:Terrorist to terrorist on on laptop:"I just think it undermines our organization's fiery rhetoric when you close your Internet postings with a smiley face." (10/16/06)Wife to husband: "I wish you'd open up to me--I need some ammunition." (11/27/06)Therapist to patient, gesturing to woman with laptop:"That's Eleanor. She's a fact-checker." (12/18/06)Santa to cab driver:"

2006-12-21T08:04:00.000-06:00

The Onion's Headlines of the Year- Thousands More Dead In Continuing Iraq Victory- Al Gore Caught Warming Globe To Increase Box Office Profits- Kevin Federline, Wife Divorcemore...

2006-12-20T07:50:00.000-06:00

Coming Distractions from ABC's The Note

2006-12-20T07:41:00.000-06:00

How To Grade ExamsThankfully, I don't have to grade papers this semester, but if I did, I'd be tempted to adopt this method (seen at Gideon Strauss):

2006-12-11T14:40:00.000-06:00

As true as it was last year:

2006-12-11T14:35:00.000-06:00

Some cool navboxes, tables, and map references from Wikipedia- IPA table of consonants- Unicode entities in HTML- Writing Systems of the World- Human language familiesUpdate: Another useful chart -- additions to standard proofreading marks [via LanguageHat]

2006-11-17T12:48:00.000-06:00

The Best of Impressionist Week on LettermanFrank Caliendo doing the best John Madden, George W. Bush, and Robin Williams in the business:

2006-11-14T08:29:00.000-06:00

Better Stay Away From Microsoft's Response To the IPodIt doesn't have the three buttons no Microsoft product should be without: Ctrl, Alt & Delete.

2006-11-13T18:44:00.000-06:00

When religious discrimination is the more appealing, though indefensibile, alternativeFrom CNN.com:Soldiers' widows sue for pagan symbols on headstonesWASHINGTON (AP) -- The widows of two combat veterans sued the government Monday for not allowing Wiccan symbols on their husbands' military headstones.The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs allows military families to choose any of 38 authorized

2006-11-13T17:08:00.000-06:00

Good Thing He Restored Honor and Dignity to the White HouseFrom WhiteHouse.gov: You asked me the question one week before the campaign, and basically it was, are you going to do something about Rumsfeld and the Vice President? And my answer was, they're going to stay on. ... The only way to answer that question and to get you on to another question was to give you that [blatantly false] answer.

2006-11-08T15:21:00.000-06:00

"I grew up in Europe, where the history comes from."- Eddie Izzard

2006-11-08T15:09:00.000-06:00

Transit of Mercury today:

2006-11-07T13:18:00.000-06:00

Election Day Priorities

2006-10-29T21:23:00.000-06:00

From LarkNews.com: Dobson endorses family for president in '08

2006-10-27T09:22:00.000-05:00

Isn't public office a noble enterprise? From the Wash.Post:In New York, the National Republican Campaign Committee ran an ad accusing Democratic House candidate Michael A. Arcuri, a district attorney, of using taxpayer dollars for phone sex. "Hi, sexy," a dancing woman purrs. "You've reached the live, one-on-one fantasy line." It turns out that one of Arcuri's aides had tried to call the state

2006-10-11T13:25:00.000-05:00

Us at the Big House in Ann Arbor and my Dad talking to Dutch people [at N&A]

2006-09-27T15:20:00.000-05:00

Pride and Prejudice Around the World "In the West Bank a group calling itself the Lions of Monotheism fire bombed four churches, telling the Associated Press the attacks were carried out to protest the Pope's remarks linking Islam and violence. The irony of the statement, and this is often the case we find, was lost on them." --Jon Stewart "Earlier today, the president of Iran refused to attend a

2006-09-27T15:18:00.000-05:00

Marmaduke Literary Criticism[via Christian]marmadukeexplained.blogspot.com

2006-09-26T13:22:00.000-05:00

Neo and Morpheus Get Stuck Inside Microsoft WindowsFrom Google Video:

2006-09-26T13:10:00.000-05:00

2006-09-22T12:28:00.000-05:00

Recent New Yorker cartoons:Bumper sticker on minivan:"Proud Parents of Underachievers" (9/4/06)Rabbit to man, both being chased by a wild animal:"What about your precious opposable thumbs now?" (9/4/06)Man in lawn chair to hit-man holding weed-whacker:"The weeds -- I want 'em whacked." (9/4/06)Animals leaving ark, about solitary animal in foreground:"Poor thing. The first night out, her husband

2006-09-22T12:25:00.000-05:00

Family Guy: Osama outtakesThis clip from Google Video cracked me up.

2006-09-20T15:14:00.000-05:00

From Letterman's "Top 10 Signs Your Boss Is Spying On You":- You turn up the thermostat and hear your supervisor scream from the air vent- Every morning, some guy puts a new roll of film in your fichus- Powerpoint presentations include photos of you flossing- The "O" on your keyboard looks a lot like his eyeball...

2006-09-20T15:12:00.000-05:00

Where do all those cool Google special-occasion logos go? Here.

2006-09-20T15:10:00.001-05:00

Interesting articles on Wikipedia vs. traditional encyclopedias here and here.

2006-09-20T15:10:00.000-05:00

My take on the CTS situation. (It's only partially informed and personally biased, but isn't everybody's?)

2006-09-20T14:05:00.000-05:00

Some cool digital audio freewareThis blog showed me how to convert RA streams to MP3, do an MP3-only search at Google, and made me bold enough to try this IPTV suite and this "Super" converter. I have only a vague notion of what I'm doing, so if I accidentally blow my computer up, this blog will probably be idle for a while ...(I should also read this PHP tutorial -- maybe over the weekend,

2006-09-19T17:20:00.000-05:00

Letterman vs. Leno revisited [at N&A]

2006-09-19T17:09:00.000-05:00

2006-09-13T17:21:00.000-05:00

"Former Vice President Al Gore said he may run again for president. Insiders say Gore wants to avenge his 2000 victory."- David Letterman

2006-09-12T11:24:00.000-05:00

Some Cool Commercials on YouTubeAndy Roddick vs. Pong:Nike - fancy dribbling:Classic Wendy's commercial: "Where's the Beef?"Classic Atari commercial:Also: Real-life recreation of Simpsons introduction -- amazing!

2006-09-11T16:08:00.000-05:00

Remembering September 11 [at N&A]More from Time, and archived video coverage from NBC.

2006-09-11T12:56:00.000-05:00

Happy Sept. 11thFrom the Washington Post:FIVE YEARS LATER: An Elusive TargetBin Laden Trail 'Stone Cold'U.S. Steps Up Efforts, But Good Intelligence On Ground is LackingBy Dana Priest and Ann Scott TysonWashington Post Staff WritersSunday, September 10, 2006; Page A01The clandestine U.S. commandos whose job is to capture or kill Osama bin Laden have not received a credible lead in more than two

2006-09-07T13:20:00.000-05:00

Recent New Yorker cartoons Two placard wielders glaring at each other on a city street; titled "Turf War on 49th Street": Placard 1: "The End is Near for Religious Reasons"Placard 2: "The End is Near for Ecological Reasons" (8/28/06) TV reporter to cleric outside a temple:"To hold in your hand the spiritual destinies of several billion people, Your Holiness, has got to be a rush." (8/7/06)

2006-09-07T13:19:00.000-05:00

Chipotle rules [at N&A]

2006-09-05T17:36:00.000-05:00

Sites SeenPC Mag's Top 99 uundiscovered websites include www.getjar.com, www.regrettheerror.com, and Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics And a cool blog I found today: TNR's Open University.

2006-09-05T17:32:00.000-05:00

Amazon Light (or maybe Medium) Amazon Light is an independent, uncluttered version of Amazon, using API (which I first heard about in this talk ). But isn't it starting to look a little cluttered?

2006-09-05T17:31:00.000-05:00

Labor Day PicnicFood and fun at our Labor Day picnic [at N&A]

2006-09-01T12:49:00.000-05:00

Publisher's Weekly mention of my bookMy book was mentioned in PW's Religion BookLine.

2006-09-01T12:46:00.000-05:00

"If there is anything the nonconformist hates worse than a conformist, it's another nonconformist who doesn't conform to the prevailing standard of nonconformity."-Bill Vaughan

2006-09-01T12:45:00.000-05:00

Fall Movie Previewhttp://www.newyorkmetro.com/guides/fallpreview/2006/movies/toc/19755/index.html">from NY Mag. The Departed, Andy Warhol, All the King's Men, Iraq in Fragments, and a few others others sound good.

2006-09-01T12:32:00.001-05:00

Middle School Classes That Aren't To add to Ron's list:- Popular and the Unpopular: Middle School Social Inequality and Oppression- How to Actually Climb the Rope in Phys. Ed. - Coping With Crushes- Algebra and Other Useless Skills- Careful Planning and Other Misguided Strategies for Dealing With Life

2006-09-01T12:32:00.000-05:00

Site Seenhttp://revgalblogpals.blogspot.com/

2006-09-01T12:30:00.000-05:00

Mating Bison and Hiking in the Dark... among Meg's summer adventures in Yellowstone. Welcome back, Meg!

2006-08-31T14:03:00.000-05:00

Food For Thought"The whale is endangered, while the ant continues to do just fine."-Bill Vaughan

2006-08-31T13:58:00.000-05:00

Long-Awaited CandorSeen on The Daily Show (clip from a press briefing by President Bush on 8/21/06; skip to about 3 minutes in):Bush: The terrorists attacked us and killed 3,000 of our citizensbefore we started the freedom agenda in the Middle East. They were...Reporter: What did Iraq have to do with that?Bush: What did Iraq have to do with what? Reporter: The attack on the World Trade

2006-08-28T18:03:00.000-05:00

My First Day of School Now I know what a voiced obstruent is. I think. [at N&A]

2006-08-28T17:06:00.000-05:00

Stone Phillips vs. Stephen Colbert: A 'Gravitas-off' on YouTubeMary told me about this. Hilarious!Also: One dedicated citizen put the pilot of Colbert's show on YT.

2006-08-26T11:17:00.000-05:00

Toothless TigersPictures and somber reflections on a blowout Tigers loss, at N&A.

2006-08-26T10:59:00.000-05:00

Andrea and I Have a BlogBookmark/blogroll it, and check out our niece and nephew's abstract art.

2006-08-25T12:22:00.000-05:00

Pluto Plucked from Planetary Parade

2006-08-18T10:11:00.000-05:00

Biblical Commentaries: Food for the Soul, on the ScreenTheology nerds like me (and most of my blogroll! Bless you all) can now use my roundup of Google Books links for Eerdmans' biblical commentaries series. The OT is up; NT will follow.

2006-08-18T08:51:00.000-05:00

3 x -3Paired ("trio-ed"?) together in the first round of the PGA Championship, the 3 2006 major champions all finished 3 under, and 3 behind the leaders.

2006-08-18T08:33:00.000-05:00

Countdown to CrisisFollow our planet's slow roast at sites such as www.realclimate.org, the Global Change Google Group, or, of course, the 2000 election victor's www.climatecrisis.net. My friend Jared is also keeping a close eye on the crisis. Earlier: How air conditioning cooks the planet

2006-08-11T13:33:00.000-05:00

Stuff I Done Writed LatelyThe Celebrity Factor (The Banner)Worshipful Service (Perspectives)Homecoming at LaSalle Street Church (Reformed Worship)Ode to a Typewriter (Minds in the Making)

2006-08-11T13:25:00.000-05:00

Read All About ItCalvin College has just issued a press release about my book (the tuition I paid them yields dividends).

2006-08-11T13:22:00.000-05:00

Creativity Within A RutWe NetFlixed the pilot of Studio 60 on The Sunset Strip, which premieres on NBC in September. Like anything written by Aaron Sorkin, it's superb--smart, snappy, substantive. It lacks the charm and dignity of West Wing, but sizzles with the same wit of Sports Night, in more or less the same setting. Which leads me to ask: can't a guy as bright as Sorkin write about anything

2006-08-09T08:46:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Lisa! May next year find you in your adopted homeland. And so, in lieu of singing "Happy Birthday":Ô Canada! Terre de nos aïeuxTon front est ceint de fleurons glorieux ...

2006-08-09T08:31:00.000-05:00

My stance? Pro-brainMoping this morning over the millimeter-margin defeat of former Paul Henry aide Chris Meyer (whom many describe as Henry-esque) in his state legislature primary, I'm newly distraught at the misuse of power by the local Right to Life, which cynically shafted Chris for being insufficiently extreme in his pro-life stance, presumably costing him the election (see "Pro-life

2006-08-07T08:32:00.000-05:00

'We're cooking our planet to refrigerate the diminishing part that's still habitable'A/C D.C.The deluded world of air conditioningBy William Saletan Slate

2006-08-07T07:51:00.000-05:00

Site to See: SongMeanings.netwww.songmeanings.netWhether they're half-baked, insightful, vulgar, ridiculous, or all four, these explanations of what the heck a song is talking about are worth checking out, especially when you find yourself singing heartily along to a song without a clue about what you're singing. For example, I learned that Dave Matthews' "Don't Drink the Water" is about white

2006-08-01T16:09:00.000-05:00

From the Onion:"Area Beehive Not Ready For Democracy"

2006-08-01T11:53:00.000-05:00

A.O. Scott in the NY Times:The case requires elaborate cover, buckets of money and the finest, fastest air and sea vessels the taxpayers of Miami can afford. Not really, of course. The actual operating budget for the Miami police department in fiscal year 2005 was around $100 million, a good $50 million less than the reported production costs of “Miami Vice.”

2006-07-31T15:50:00.000-05:00

My Debut at the Worship Wonk InvitationalThe highlight of my summer so far.

2006-07-29T11:43:00.000-05:00

WWJD About This Slogan"There's a phrase we live by in America: In God We Trust. It's right there where Jesus would want it: on our money." -Stephen Colbert

2006-07-28T14:30:00.000-05:00

I Honestly Hadn't Thought Of That"Removing the back wheel can seriously diminish the performance of your bicycle."-from a bike manual in the Dutch language magazine Onze Taal, quoted at LL

2006-07-26T07:36:00.000-05:00

2006-07-26T07:35:00.000-05:00

Most Unlikely Line in a Blockbuster MovieCTLibrary's favorite line from the Da Vinci Code:"I've got to get to a library, fast!"

2006-07-21T12:36:00.000-05:00

Garage Sale GiveawayNot enough stuff in your life? Take the Rienstras' eclectic detritus.

2006-07-21T12:23:00.000-05:00

Bloggers Below the RadarSlate's Jack Shafer on the difference between the "top 100 bloggers" and the rest, according to a new Pew study. Elsewhere at Slate, David Plotz (in his Blogging the Bible series) on Leviticus 25 and Jubilee: "Good intentions, bad public policy. ... Such long-term leaseholds would have discouraged land improvements, prevented economies of scale, kept property in the hands