You call this a road? June 4, 2009
Posted by Jason in Miscellany.3 comments
This is the so-called “road” in front of my grandparents’ house. Their road is about a mile long and it’s like this in patches the entire length. Think I could get some stimulus money allocated for this? 
My Convention experience March 6, 2009
Posted by Jason in Politics.add a comment
I posted about my experience at the State Convention over on the Dems’ website. Check it out!
Wednesday Cat March 4, 2009
Posted by Jason in Pets & Animals.1 comment so far
Ready…
Set…
POUNCE!!!!!!!!!
New blog! February 20, 2009
Posted by Jason in Life.add a comment
Because I post so much material here </sarcasm>, I started a new blog over at Newaygopoli. Newaygopoli will focus on the history of politics in Newaygo County. I”m looking forward to staring at tiny print on the microfilm reader to bring you stories from the past!
West Michigan historical trivia February 16, 2009
Posted by Jason in Miscellany.Tags: History, Michigan
1 comment so far
Here are a few facts to stump your local history buff! I was searching Google Books and came across a title called “Michigan Historical Collection.” It includes a section that has the original names of some of our West Michigan counties (page 94).
The original counties were organized in 1840 and then had their names changed in 1843. The following counties in the list are in the WMR coverage area:
Aishcum County -> Lake County
Notipekago County -> Mason County
Kautawaubet County -> Wexford County
Omeena County -> Grand Traverse County
Read the book here.
More mapping January 29, 2009
Posted by Jason in Politics.2 comments
Here’s my next try on the maps. This time it’s a comparison between the seven color map of the last post and a nine color map. The ranges are pretty arbitrary so if you have a different suggestion please say so in comments. What do you think?
2006 2nd Congressional District results in seven and nine colors. Click to make VERY large.
My counties January 28, 2009
Posted by Jason in Life.add a comment
I found a neat website where you can track the counties you’ve travelled through.
hmm…I guess I’m a homebody.
Counties I've travelled in
New style of election map January 28, 2009
Posted by Jason in 2006 Elections, Politics.add a comment
Lately I’ve been working with a new style of election map that uses seven discrete colors instead of a continuous range. I adopted it from Peter Bratt over at West Michigan Rising (see an example here, my maps use the same range). Below is a side-by-side comparison of the new style using the results from the 2nd Congressional District in 2006. Any thoughts on which image is easier to interpret?
Results of the 2nd Congressional District election in 2006
Inaugural music January 22, 2009
Posted by Jason in Music.add a comment
Besides the obvious, another thing that I liked about the Inauguration was the musical selection. After some searching I was able to find the list of music played by the United States Marine Corps Band here. I especially liked Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Seventeen Come Sunday” which I actually played in college. I’ve embedded a recording from YouTube of this song below. I miss being in a band. 
Jason Felton is a homo sapien in his mid-20s observed to be living in west Michigan. Observations suggest that he spends way too much time on the internet reading blogs, researching family trees, and keeping track of current events in science and politics. Other interests of his include atheism, electronics, religion, and history, among many other things.
