PostBadge tag to show // FeedBurner FeedFlare. // ------------------------- // FeedBurner account and feed required. // Sign up at http://feedburner.com //================================================ class module_feedflare { function init(){ global $gregarious; $gregarious->add_settings ( array ( 'feedburner_url' => '' ) ); $gregarious->add_page ( 'FeedFlare', 'modules/feed-flare/icn_Flare.png', 'page_feedflare();', 'feedFlare' ); } function postbadge_tags(){ return array ( array ( 'tag' => '%FLARE%', 'replacewith' => 'feed_flare("",false)' ), ); } function update_info(){ return 100; } } //------------------------------------------ // TEMPlATE TAGS //------------------------------------------ function feed_flare($settings = '', $echo = true){ global $wp_query; $post = $wp_query->post; $sets = array('postID' => $post->ID, 'before' => '', 'after' => 'Gregarious FeedFlare', 'force' => 0 ); grab_sets($settings, $sets); if ( !$sets['force'] && hideOnID($sets['postID']) ){ return ''; } if( !$path = _get_feedburner_url() ) return ''; if( substr( $path, -1 ) == '/' ){ $path = substr( $path, 0, strlen( $path ) -1 ); } $path = str_replace ( 'feedburner.com/', 'feedburner.com/~s/', $path ); $path .= '?i='.get_permalink($sets['postID']); $result = $sets['before'] . "" . $sets['after']; if($echo) echo $result; else return $result; } function _get_feedburner_url(){ $feedurl = greg_get_option( 'feedburner_url' ); if ( $feedurl ){ return attribute_escape($feedurl); } else { $feedburner_settings = get_option('feedburner_settings'); if( is_array($feedburner_settings) && ($feedurl = $feedburner_settings['feedburner_url']) ) { return attribute_escape($feedurl); } else { return false; } } } //------------------------------------------ // OPTIONS PAGE //------------------------------------------ function page_feedflare(){ $feedurl = _get_feedburner_url(); ?> Tag Archive for ‘Minnesota’ at spencerb.net

Tag Archive for 'Minnesota'

Team USA Curling – Representing Minnesota

Published on February 21, 2010 in Minnesota and Sports. 1 Comment

Upon hearing that the US curling team is predominantly composed of Minnesotans, I couldn’t help but write a blog post about it.

Minnesota and Wisconsin represent the mecca of curling in the United States, with thousands of people playing in everything from mixed-doubles leagues to elite-level bonspiels. The St. Paul Curling Club, with more than 1,200 members, is the largest club in the country.

Of course, I’m certain our similar climate and border with Canada are no coincidence.

Curling’s popularity in Canada is second only to hockey; tournaments are frequently televised, top-notch skips are big stars, and it’s estimated that a million of the sport’s 1.1 million participants live in this country.

Besides having a slight affinity with respect to accents and a love and long history of hockey, it appears that we share a strange and mostly unpopular sport (as far as the U.S. is concerned). I have never curled before, but I do remember that Northwestern had a team for graduate students. An interesting phenomenon that just hasn’t really spread south of Canada or out of Europe.

So far, the men’s curling team has not won a single match to my knowledge. Maybe if we have an incredibly successful team that could turn the sport around in America.

End of a Season

Published on January 25, 2010 in Minnesota and Sports. 0 Comments

Last night I fell asleep right before half time, the score tied at 14-14. At this point, 1 am GMT, I was tempted to stay awake and stick it out with the team, but I felt confident that the Vikings would pull it off.

Every season ends at some point though. Of course, the ultimate way to end it in the NFL is with a Super Bowl victory, something I am confident that the Saints will now pull off. This year is one for the NFC.

Vikings – it was a good run, Favre led us through some tough games and gave us consistency, but in the end the Saints took it. Let’s come back strong next season – I know Minnesota loved it.

Blog Improvements

Published on January 18, 2010 in Blog and Minnesota. 0 Comments

Every autumn in Minnesota, road construction crews scurry to finish projects before winter sets in for the next couple of months. I think every metropolitan area feels plagued by a yearly plague of frustrating road construction. America has the most extensive highway network and cold climates make that especially difficult to maintain.

A desire to improve something is part of the human condition though, regardless of some of the time it can waste in the process. This is the frustration everyone feels as they wait for a formerly 4 lane highway to be controlled by a construction worker flagging people through 1 lane. I have wanted to update my blog for some time now. I haven’t found the time. More accurately, I have not been willing to accept the cost of the time involved and the time wasted by blog improvement.

In the past couple of weeks, I have abandoned that sentiment and started working on it slowly. Now, I’m

Click to continue reading “Blog Improvements”

Rule #1: Stay Hydrated

Published on June 24, 2009 in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Sports. 1 Comment

Right now I am partially annoyed with Wordpress because I wrote this post yesterday and it did not post. The draft was simply the title.

This will be the Clif’s Notes version of the post that is lost on the interwebs.

Yesterday reminded me of a critical lesson that I took the chance to forget over the winter. Hydration is key to training and physical activity in general. MN summers provide plenty of scorchers like yesterday in the high 80’s. Since summer is finally upon us and I’m finally back in the TC, it is time to get outside and do all the amazing things summer lets you do.

Prior to a race or big event it is best to stop training or train very very lightly for about a week. During this time period hydration is absolutely essential. It will increase comfort and performance on race day. This means drinking a lot of water and electrolytely beverages (like gatorade). Staying hydrated is equally important for training and working out. Sometimes it is easy to forget about.

On the other hand, it is something incredibly easy to do everyday to ensure that you will be ready to go when you want to be. The important thing is to keep it mind, not to obsess over it.

This post is the first in a series preempting an exciting (albeit late starting) summer in MN.

Catching Up on a Few Articles

Published on June 16, 2009 in Minnesota, News and Politics. 1 Comment

1. “A Governor and His Veto Pen”

If you live in Minnesota and you missed the politically intense budget battle and use of archaic MN constitutional techniques:

Upon receiving the last spending bill, he announced that he would exercise the power of “unallotment,” which has been on the books since 1939 and which has been used four times. Under it, the governor is allowed to “unallot” (take away) any state spending for which there is no money to pay. Panicked, the DFL passed tax legislation to cover its blowout spending bills, 10 minutes before the session’s end. Too late. The governor said he’d veto the bill and would not be calling back the legislature to do any more mischief.

2. Pawlenty not Running for Reeelection

Possible presidential run?

3. Alternatives to the Democrat’s Health Care Reform

Four Republicans in Congress — Sens. Tom Coburn (Oklahoma) and Richard Burr (North Carolina) and Reps. Paul Ryan (Wisconsin) and Devin Nunes (California) — will today introduce a bill that moves away from federal centralization. Aptly called the Patients’ Choice Act, it provides a path to universal coverage by redirecting current subsidies for health insurance to individuals. It also provides a new safety net that guarantees access to insurance for those with pre-existing conditions.

These are all great articles (especially 1 and 3). Definitely worth the read if you have some time to sit down and spend it with the Wall Street Journal. One final note, everyone should probably subscribe to the paper because it really is the best news source out there. (Note: I am not paid by News Corp)

On Moving

Published on June 11, 2009 in Life, London, Minneapolis and Minnesota. 1 Comment

This post could also be entitled “On the Most Ridiculous Experience Known to Man” or “On the Biggest P.I.T.A. Ever”. Moving sucks. About every year or two you forget about how much it actually sucks. Especially as you begin to own more positions. And ESPECIALLY as you have more space to fill.

I’ll be honest…I have too much stuff. In particular, I have too many items of clothing which are easy to fold up and hide away in a drawer.

Sometimes it is hard to get rid of things that you just don’t need. More specifically, it is hard to make the condemning act of getting rid of it. There are plenty of things that I have set aside as Maybe Get Rid Ofs. Not enough things that are actually being gotten rid of.

It is really strange making a move back home, but also in anticipation of a move overseas.

Announcement

Published on May 4, 2009 in Minnesota, Northwestern and School. 3 Comments

Okay, let us overcome the extreme lack of blogging lately. Personally, I’ve hit a stretch of business in the past month, which will probably not subside until graduation. On that note, I believe seniors at the UofM should be graduating pretty soon, including Mr. Schoppe. Congratulations! Unfortunately, my graduation is not until June 19 (f-ing quarters).

But, I want to let everyone know that my brother, who is graduating from high school, and I will be having a party on June 27th. I’ll be releasing more details later and have a formal invitation process, but I just wanted to give everyone a heads up. My parents had a pool put in at the end of last summer, so it should be a lot of fun. I just need to harass a bunch of people in MN to come.

Anywho, everyone get blogging again!

They Did It!

Published on April 7, 2009 in Minnesota and Sports. 1 Comment

First win of the season! Twins 6 – Mariners 5 @ the Metrodome.

I was a little nervous in the last inning, but they did it! Picked up 3 runs with Casilla batting in the final run. 1-1, let’s get this season going. (Sadly the White Sox also won).

The Trip Begins

Published on March 20, 2009 in Economics, Minnesota, Northwestern, School, Sports and Travel. 1 Comment

It’s spring break and I could not be happier to have classes over! My most difficult final, econometrics, went fairly well. I answered all the questions (which I’m quite happy about), so we’ll see if the answers were right.

Monica and I are heading west. Monica wants us to end up at the Grand Canyon in Arizona. I want us to end up in Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. We’ll see what happens.

We stayed the night in down-state Illinois and we trucked through Missouri today and decided to do some sight-seeing in Kansas City. I’m excited, there is a really nice area called the Power and Light District that I look forward to exploring and getting a few drinks.

I hope everyone is having a great break (even though Minnesota lost).

<3 Minneapolis Viewers

Published on February 20, 2009 in Blog, Minneapolis and Minnesota. 2 Comments

Google Analytics demands that I give a shout out to my Minneapolis, MN viewers.

Keep reading and I’ll keep blogging (actually, I probably will regardless, but keep on anyway).

<3,

spencerb

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