Though This Is Not A Photoblog
I feel compelled to put up a link to "The Ten Tastiest Food Photography Tips." This is, sorta kinda, a food blog and one of these days I need to start snapping pix of the kitchen efforting. It's almost easier than adding a bookmark. Well, that's not true. But I do get to share.
Because I care.
Seriously, there's some good info these. Take a peek.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Food, Stuff
Item The First: Peeps. Did everyone get their peeps this weekend? I don't do Easter candy much but I always eat one package of mushmellow peeps. This year it was a single row of pink chicks. One of the most wonderfully revolting things the world has to offer. And now I have another year to go before having any more.
Item The Second: Ginger Caramel Corn. First attempt was on Sunday. I've never made caramel corn before and was surprised at how easy it was. But the ginger syrup (previously pictured on PoW) in lieu of the light corn syrup did not carry enough of the ginger with it. My next attempt will be to increase the amount of ginger syrup and reduce the amount of brown sugar. If that is insufficiently gingerific, I will chop candied ginger into the mix. I don't think I can do much more than that.
Item The Last: Cauliflower Parmesan Flans. When I use the plural, it's because they were made in ramekins. Not a bad dish. But my first attempt was not great - I eschewed the cayenne pepper which made them blander than they should have been. And the florets I cooked and pureed were too wet so the cooking time was longer than it should have been. I'll post the recipe when I've made it to my satisfaction.
Item The First: Peeps. Did everyone get their peeps this weekend? I don't do Easter candy much but I always eat one package of mushmellow peeps. This year it was a single row of pink chicks. One of the most wonderfully revolting things the world has to offer. And now I have another year to go before having any more.
Item The Second: Ginger Caramel Corn. First attempt was on Sunday. I've never made caramel corn before and was surprised at how easy it was. But the ginger syrup (previously pictured on PoW) in lieu of the light corn syrup did not carry enough of the ginger with it. My next attempt will be to increase the amount of ginger syrup and reduce the amount of brown sugar. If that is insufficiently gingerific, I will chop candied ginger into the mix. I don't think I can do much more than that.
Item The Last: Cauliflower Parmesan Flans. When I use the plural, it's because they were made in ramekins. Not a bad dish. But my first attempt was not great - I eschewed the cayenne pepper which made them blander than they should have been. And the florets I cooked and pureed were too wet so the cooking time was longer than it should have been. I'll post the recipe when I've made it to my satisfaction.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Inconsequential
In lieu of the usually more ... nuanced posts I put up about food, this one is just plain ... plain. Something I love, I mean eat-my-own-weight-in (and that sayin' something!) love is spinach fettuccine (often sold in those "fresh pasta" 8 oz flats) with a hunk of butter melted into the hot noodles and then splashed with soy sauce. I am so jonesing for that right now. That and a diet cream soda. Not that the two go together but I like cream soda too.
In lieu of the usually more ... nuanced posts I put up about food, this one is just plain ... plain. Something I love, I mean eat-my-own-weight-in (and that sayin' something!) love is spinach fettuccine (often sold in those "fresh pasta" 8 oz flats) with a hunk of butter melted into the hot noodles and then splashed with soy sauce. I am so jonesing for that right now. That and a diet cream soda. Not that the two go together but I like cream soda too.
Weekend Music Embed
Again I reach back into the mixed bag of my time in Japan. The song is "Ruby no Yubiwa" ("Ruby Ring") performed by Akira Terao. Back in the early '80s he was considerable less gray and less grizzled. This is a fairly jazzed up version but it maintains the essential character of the song I enjoyed so much all those years ago. Somewhere I have a translation of the lyrics but the likelihood of my laying hands on it soon is quite low. Yet when I do (and ultimately all things are transparent before God), I'll post them and link back to this post. Fair enough? OK then. I hope you like it:
Again I reach back into the mixed bag of my time in Japan. The song is "Ruby no Yubiwa" ("Ruby Ring") performed by Akira Terao. Back in the early '80s he was considerable less gray and less grizzled. This is a fairly jazzed up version but it maintains the essential character of the song I enjoyed so much all those years ago. Somewhere I have a translation of the lyrics but the likelihood of my laying hands on it soon is quite low. Yet when I do (and ultimately all things are transparent before God), I'll post them and link back to this post. Fair enough? OK then. I hope you like it:
Friday, March 21, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
OK, I May Have To Try
Drunken Figs. Drunken Figs! Click the link. If that doesn't make your mouth water, you were born without salivary glands. Yet at $5 per in a 10 batch, a bit difficult to buy into. I'm wondering of I could get close to this in the home kitchen. ...pondering... I'd need a source of fresh figs. Not always easy to come by. Figs are remarkable little beasts when fresh and bursting with ripe flavor. I may have to work on this one. I'll blog it when I do.
(Hat Tip: Peeve Farm. There is much interesting food blogging going on at Brian's Place. Drop by. Read and drool.)
Drunken Figs. Drunken Figs! Click the link. If that doesn't make your mouth water, you were born without salivary glands. Yet at $5 per in a 10 batch, a bit difficult to buy into. I'm wondering of I could get close to this in the home kitchen. ...pondering... I'd need a source of fresh figs. Not always easy to come by. Figs are remarkable little beasts when fresh and bursting with ripe flavor. I may have to work on this one. I'll blog it when I do.
(Hat Tip: Peeve Farm. There is much interesting food blogging going on at Brian's Place. Drop by. Read and drool.)
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Trouble, Trouble, Trouble
My friend the Guitar Nazi is currently in hospital though he's insisting on release on the morrow. His health has been precarious for a while now yet the hospital event turns out to be a mixed bag of blessing and curse. First, he fell in his home and did damage to his chronically bad knees (both sprained I believe) and hyperextended joints in his ankles. Both ankles. Yet this resulted in his being diagnosed with Type II diabetes. Which is indeed a rather massive steaming heap in the "sucks" category. Yet it is to his benefit that the diagnosis has now been made. It's entirely possible that some of the worst of what he's been through may now be ameliorated through proper diet and insulin when needed.
In posting about this I want to make some comment on the vicissitudes of growing older but I keep returning to the old saw: it's an ill wind that blows no one any good. As much as I give in to my own ill health, I am given chances to see that changes can be made for the better. It's possible, even at my advanced age to repair some of the damage I've done over these many years. I will attempt to take the lesson that when we are given hints, it's best to take them.
My friend the Guitar Nazi is currently in hospital though he's insisting on release on the morrow. His health has been precarious for a while now yet the hospital event turns out to be a mixed bag of blessing and curse. First, he fell in his home and did damage to his chronically bad knees (both sprained I believe) and hyperextended joints in his ankles. Both ankles. Yet this resulted in his being diagnosed with Type II diabetes. Which is indeed a rather massive steaming heap in the "sucks" category. Yet it is to his benefit that the diagnosis has now been made. It's entirely possible that some of the worst of what he's been through may now be ameliorated through proper diet and insulin when needed.
In posting about this I want to make some comment on the vicissitudes of growing older but I keep returning to the old saw: it's an ill wind that blows no one any good. As much as I give in to my own ill health, I am given chances to see that changes can be made for the better. It's possible, even at my advanced age to repair some of the damage I've done over these many years. I will attempt to take the lesson that when we are given hints, it's best to take them.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Arthur C. Clarke - Immortal
With the passing of Arthur C. Clarke, the world has lost a giant of letters. His body of work from conceiving of communications satellites to writing a novel that was turned into a movie that has become a touchstone of modern culture is an achievement that I doubt will be duplicated and certainly not exceeded. Which is not to say that everything he has written is a masterpiece (I'm not a fan of the Rama books - moreso the ones that he co-authored with Gentry Lee) but he was a superb writer and a thinker. Science fiction needs men like him. The world needs men like him even more. It's a sad day.
With the passing of Arthur C. Clarke, the world has lost a giant of letters. His body of work from conceiving of communications satellites to writing a novel that was turned into a movie that has become a touchstone of modern culture is an achievement that I doubt will be duplicated and certainly not exceeded. Which is not to say that everything he has written is a masterpiece (I'm not a fan of the Rama books - moreso the ones that he co-authored with Gentry Lee) but he was a superb writer and a thinker. Science fiction needs men like him. The world needs men like him even more. It's a sad day.
Monday, March 17, 2008
P(h)il(ly)grim's Progess
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi. The Philly Boys are no longer the Philly Boys. Actually haven't been for a while. They're Arizonans now. The explanation for that will be forthcoming one of these days. Soon. But todays is the travelogue. We start with a stop out of Philly and beyond the brief sojourn at Chez BlogDog. Pink bikini. I'm just sayin'.
Then a stop for the food, the atmosphere that is Norlins. Click the image for a postcard version of a recipe for red beans and rice. Yum. Someday I, too, will go to New Orleans and eat my fill of beignets, gumbo, red beans and rice, coffee with chickory and a good seafood boil.
But the trip goes (went) on! Westward ho! Wagons away!
San Antone. While I'm pretty much a homebody, I'd love to visit Texas. See the Alamo. Sample the music scene of Austin. There must be other things to do but I'm just spitballing here. Austin. Sounds a lot like "autism" doesn't it?
And, as the hobbit said, the road goes ever on. All the way to:
Woo hoo! A new home in the Wild West. To be specific, the Philly Boys are now the Yuma Men. One day, one cold, cold day, I'll go out to visit with them.
And one more thing, since this was a first trip, one of the Yuma Men had another trip to the Great White North. Got to cool off after that dry (ahem!) heat.
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi. The Philly Boys are no longer the Philly Boys. Actually haven't been for a while. They're Arizonans now. The explanation for that will be forthcoming one of these days. Soon. But todays is the travelogue. We start with a stop out of Philly and beyond the brief sojourn at Chez BlogDog. Pink bikini. I'm just sayin'.
Then a stop for the food, the atmosphere that is Norlins. Click the image for a postcard version of a recipe for red beans and rice. Yum. Someday I, too, will go to New Orleans and eat my fill of beignets, gumbo, red beans and rice, coffee with chickory and a good seafood boil.
But the trip goes (went) on! Westward ho! Wagons away!
San Antone. While I'm pretty much a homebody, I'd love to visit Texas. See the Alamo. Sample the music scene of Austin. There must be other things to do but I'm just spitballing here. Austin. Sounds a lot like "autism" doesn't it?
And, as the hobbit said, the road goes ever on. All the way to:
Woo hoo! A new home in the Wild West. To be specific, the Philly Boys are now the Yuma Men. One day, one cold, cold day, I'll go out to visit with them.And one more thing, since this was a first trip, one of the Yuma Men had another trip to the Great White North. Got to cool off after that dry (ahem!) heat.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
I May Have To Call This The Weekend Embed
I keep getting ahead of myself by a day or so. Submitted, early, for your delectation is The Fratellis brilliant "Flathead." It's another Apple-related song but I expect you to overlook that. This is one of the songs I bought from the iTunes Music Store and it is now the most played song in my iTunes library (by a mere two plays). I love (I mean love, love, love) that "ba da da ba da da" chorus. I totally dig the white Telecaster. And a trio of busty, burlesque-y babes just doesn't hurt. Lemme see - sex, rock 'n' roll. We're only missing drugs from the trifecta. No great loss. Enjoy.
I keep getting ahead of myself by a day or so. Submitted, early, for your delectation is The Fratellis brilliant "Flathead." It's another Apple-related song but I expect you to overlook that. This is one of the songs I bought from the iTunes Music Store and it is now the most played song in my iTunes library (by a mere two plays). I love (I mean love, love, love) that "ba da da ba da da" chorus. I totally dig the white Telecaster. And a trio of busty, burlesque-y babes just doesn't hurt. Lemme see - sex, rock 'n' roll. We're only missing drugs from the trifecta. No great loss. Enjoy.
Friday, March 14, 2008
A Couple Of Dumpling Links
Via Amazon's "Al Dente" blog I pass along, first, an LA Times article on "Asian Dumplings" with a sidebar of links to such delights as a dumpling skin throw-down and several different varieties of filling. And the other is an article from boston.com on Nepalese "momo" dumplings.
Very intriguing. I'm going to have to explore these in depth in the next few weeks.
Via Amazon's "Al Dente" blog I pass along, first, an LA Times article on "Asian Dumplings" with a sidebar of links to such delights as a dumpling skin throw-down and several different varieties of filling. And the other is an article from boston.com on Nepalese "momo" dumplings.
Very intriguing. I'm going to have to explore these in depth in the next few weeks.
A Must Buy?
I've just dropped a few bucks over at Amazon on the complete set of DVDs of "Arrested Development." It's a tragedy that this series which is one of the cleverest, funniest, ribald and just laugh-out-loud shows ever on TV was limited to three seasons. And the ribaldry is so brilliantly done that it's all implication. You could play this with kids in the room. If they're not old enough to get the joke, they just won't see what's funny. And Amazon has it on sale for a mere $46.
I've just dropped a few bucks over at Amazon on the complete set of DVDs of "Arrested Development." It's a tragedy that this series which is one of the cleverest, funniest, ribald and just laugh-out-loud shows ever on TV was limited to three seasons. And the ribaldry is so brilliantly done that it's all implication. You could play this with kids in the room. If they're not old enough to get the joke, they just won't see what's funny. And Amazon has it on sale for a mere $46.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Further Comment Would Be Superfluous
Billy Beck says everything I would say about Eliot Spitzer. Let the scum continue to be skimmed from the pond of the body politic.
Billy Beck says everything I would say about Eliot Spitzer. Let the scum continue to be skimmed from the pond of the body politic.
Whyzit?
The Canadian dollar coin is called a "looney" (linkage for image) since it has a loon on it. I saw (somewhere) recently that the Candain two dollar coin is called a "twoney." Though that spelling maybe wrong. That's kind of cute but I think it would be much cooler if the two dollar coin were called the "dubloon." Enh? Enh?
Too clever by half? Too precious? Better? You tell me.
The Canadian dollar coin is called a "looney" (linkage for image) since it has a loon on it. I saw (somewhere) recently that the Candain two dollar coin is called a "twoney." Though that spelling maybe wrong. That's kind of cute but I think it would be much cooler if the two dollar coin were called the "dubloon." Enh? Enh?
Too clever by half? Too precious? Better? You tell me.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Henh?
I get the monthly newsletter-ish device from the homeowners association of my neighborhood. It has, unsurprisingly, a "classified ads" section. I'd like to reproduce one of the entries in its entirely less the phone number (and I stress entirety apart from that exception):
I get the monthly newsletter-ish device from the homeowners association of my neighborhood. It has, unsurprisingly, a "classified ads" section. I'd like to reproduce one of the entries in its entirely less the phone number (and I stress entirety apart from that exception):
1 each of the following: 10 (navy blue), 12 (black), 18/20 (black), mens small (black), mens medium (black), mens size 38 (black bibs). All in excellent condition $15 each.You tell me.
A Bit Sad
The decision has been taken for Atlantic Cycling (no link for reason to become clear momentarily) to cancel its riding season and, for all intents and purposes, disband. It takes a lot of work to put on a ride the way we did. I think our ride support stops were second to none in variety and quality of fruit, snacks and drinks. But it takes a toll and this year we sought to bring more people in to the committee from the ridership but got very little to no response. We were all burnt out and tired. So I'm sad AC will no longer on the scene but i will have a huge bundle of great memories about a fine group of people and a great bunch of riders. And some T shirts and a water bottle and a cap and a some riding togs. Swag is always a nice way to remember.
The decision has been taken for Atlantic Cycling (no link for reason to become clear momentarily) to cancel its riding season and, for all intents and purposes, disband. It takes a lot of work to put on a ride the way we did. I think our ride support stops were second to none in variety and quality of fruit, snacks and drinks. But it takes a toll and this year we sought to bring more people in to the committee from the ridership but got very little to no response. We were all burnt out and tired. So I'm sad AC will no longer on the scene but i will have a huge bundle of great memories about a fine group of people and a great bunch of riders. And some T shirts and a water bottle and a cap and a some riding togs. Swag is always a nice way to remember.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Final "Best Of" Music Embed
This one, the only music video I bought (from the iTunes Music Store when I first got a viddy-capable iPod) is the immortal "Weapon of Choice" by Fatboy Slim, featuring the great Christopher Walken. But you already knew that.
What more needs be said about it? ... That's right. Nothing.
This one, the only music video I bought (from the iTunes Music Store when I first got a viddy-capable iPod) is the immortal "Weapon of Choice" by Fatboy Slim, featuring the great Christopher Walken. But you already knew that.
What more needs be said about it? ... That's right. Nothing.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
The Lowest Form Of Humor
A high-rise condo was recently built in Miami Beach. The real estate agents decided it would be a good strategy to cater for a Jewish clientele. Which turned out to be a good business decision and soon the entire building was leased and sold to elderly Jewish retirees who, not surprisingly, spent a majority of their time complaining about the world and, well, everything.
Needless to say, the place became known as the Oy!-full Tower. (highlight "missing" text to read it)
A high-rise condo was recently built in Miami Beach. The real estate agents decided it would be a good strategy to cater for a Jewish clientele. Which turned out to be a good business decision and soon the entire building was leased and sold to elderly Jewish retirees who, not surprisingly, spent a majority of their time complaining about the world and, well, everything.
Needless to say, the place became known as the Oy!-full Tower. (highlight "missing" text to read it)
Deck Farm™ 2008
And so it begins ... again. My order to the fine purveyors of plants at Burpee is in today's mail. The plants should not arrive until April but I have to get started or ... I'll never get started. I'm adding a couple of home-made faux ErfBoxes to the store-bought real things this year so I can expand my purchases. All the plants are sold in sets of three, just so's ya know.
We start with the hot peppers: Zavory (a mild heat habanero!), Hot Lemon (nice and bite-y little yellow peppers that worked well last year) and Biker Billy Hybrid Jalapenos (great jaloppys that I grew last year).
Then the bell peppers: Golden Giant Hybrid and Red Delicious Hybrid (I'm intrigued by the description of an "apple" taste).
And, of course, since I want to take pictures of horn worms, the tomatoes: Supersteak Hybrid and Health Kick Hybrid.
I won't go into agonizing detail on these because you can click the links and know as much as I do about each. I invite you to do so if you're thus inclined. I will blog the development and I'll try to take more pictures of the progress than I have in the past. I'm hoping to have a good tomato season this year and I'm thinking that I may be returning to the pepper jelly in the fall. People seemed to like it. And if the bell peppers work out, I can use all of my own peppers in the recipe!
Next year, I assay the brutal 1,000,000 Scoville unit, hottest pepper ever - the Bhut Jolokia!
And so it begins ... again. My order to the fine purveyors of plants at Burpee is in today's mail. The plants should not arrive until April but I have to get started or ... I'll never get started. I'm adding a couple of home-made faux ErfBoxes to the store-bought real things this year so I can expand my purchases. All the plants are sold in sets of three, just so's ya know.
We start with the hot peppers: Zavory (a mild heat habanero!), Hot Lemon (nice and bite-y little yellow peppers that worked well last year) and Biker Billy Hybrid Jalapenos (great jaloppys that I grew last year).
Then the bell peppers: Golden Giant Hybrid and Red Delicious Hybrid (I'm intrigued by the description of an "apple" taste).
And, of course, since I want to take pictures of horn worms, the tomatoes: Supersteak Hybrid and Health Kick Hybrid.
I won't go into agonizing detail on these because you can click the links and know as much as I do about each. I invite you to do so if you're thus inclined. I will blog the development and I'll try to take more pictures of the progress than I have in the past. I'm hoping to have a good tomato season this year and I'm thinking that I may be returning to the pepper jelly in the fall. People seemed to like it. And if the bell peppers work out, I can use all of my own peppers in the recipe!
Next year, I assay the brutal 1,000,000 Scoville unit, hottest pepper ever - the Bhut Jolokia!
Troubling
In my channel surfing last night I watched a portion of a re-run of CBS's "Criminal Minds," at least in part because the episode was old enough to feature Mandy Patinkin. I find his work consistently interesting from Inigo Montoya in "The Princess Bride" to the lead reaper on "Dead Like Me." So, despite the re-run tag on the episode, I watched some of it. When the episode ended I was struck with a major whiskey tango foxtrot moment.
The story of the show was a sexual predator on a college campus who turned out to be a kampus kop. A murder copycat to his modus operandi got him out from under the charges after he was caught (I may have missed something in that - channel surfing after all). It turns out that the copycat was a sad Goth chickie whose desire was for the killer to kill her since she couldn't bring herself to do the deed. Which is all fine in fiction and the world of the teleplay. So what goes hugely wrong? As the show is reaching its climax, the FBI types are watching the sad Goth chickie and the bad guy on security cam and from a distant, hidden eyeball-vantage point. She admits to killing "for him" but the bad guy won't kill Gothie baby (he knows he's on camera). So she knifes him in the gut. At which point the FBI eyeballers start running toward her. She then finds the nerve to stick the knife in her own gut (as the FBI stands there, pointing guns [?] and telling her to "drop the knife"). Finally, maybe 30 or 45 seconds after the kampus kop gets the shiv, only after Gothie stabs herself, the FBI types watching on the security cam shout "Call an ambulance!"
OK, maybe we don't like the bad guy but doesn't someone call an ambulance the moment the knife goes in his gut? I'm sorry but that's just stupid scriptwriting.
In my channel surfing last night I watched a portion of a re-run of CBS's "Criminal Minds," at least in part because the episode was old enough to feature Mandy Patinkin. I find his work consistently interesting from Inigo Montoya in "The Princess Bride" to the lead reaper on "Dead Like Me." So, despite the re-run tag on the episode, I watched some of it. When the episode ended I was struck with a major whiskey tango foxtrot moment.
The story of the show was a sexual predator on a college campus who turned out to be a kampus kop. A murder copycat to his modus operandi got him out from under the charges after he was caught (I may have missed something in that - channel surfing after all). It turns out that the copycat was a sad Goth chickie whose desire was for the killer to kill her since she couldn't bring herself to do the deed. Which is all fine in fiction and the world of the teleplay. So what goes hugely wrong? As the show is reaching its climax, the FBI types are watching the sad Goth chickie and the bad guy on security cam and from a distant, hidden eyeball-vantage point. She admits to killing "for him" but the bad guy won't kill Gothie baby (he knows he's on camera). So she knifes him in the gut. At which point the FBI eyeballers start running toward her. She then finds the nerve to stick the knife in her own gut (as the FBI stands there, pointing guns [?] and telling her to "drop the knife"). Finally, maybe 30 or 45 seconds after the kampus kop gets the shiv, only after Gothie stabs herself, the FBI types watching on the security cam shout "Call an ambulance!"
OK, maybe we don't like the bad guy but doesn't someone call an ambulance the moment the knife goes in his gut? I'm sorry but that's just stupid scriptwriting.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Oh Wow Man
When did the hippies start designing frogs? Trippy. Maybe God gave one to Jerry Garcia for all the good music.
When did the hippies start designing frogs? Trippy. Maybe God gave one to Jerry Garcia for all the good music.
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Sunday Music Non-Embed
The video is Johnny Cash's immortal version of Trent Reznor's "Hurt." I don't know how old Mr. Cash was when he did this video but it is the most remarkable expression of human pain I can recall seeing in almost any video format. Surely some movies have done it. But here we have an artist take another's words and music and turn it into indelible images of his entire life come crashing on the shores of mortality. "What have I become/ my sweetest friend/ everyone I know/ goes away/ in the end"
You can actually see his pain at missing his beloved June. You can see a man who, while having nothing more inside, a man ready for nothing but Jesus, makes one of the purest expressions of art in music video history.
This video tears my heart out. It is beautiful. I hope you find it as moving and incredible as I do.
And I apologize for the lack of embedding but the embedding is disabled on this one.
UPDATE: Another one has the embed code. I'll try it.
The video is Johnny Cash's immortal version of Trent Reznor's "Hurt." I don't know how old Mr. Cash was when he did this video but it is the most remarkable expression of human pain I can recall seeing in almost any video format. Surely some movies have done it. But here we have an artist take another's words and music and turn it into indelible images of his entire life come crashing on the shores of mortality. "What have I become/ my sweetest friend/ everyone I know/ goes away/ in the end"
You can actually see his pain at missing his beloved June. You can see a man who, while having nothing more inside, a man ready for nothing but Jesus, makes one of the purest expressions of art in music video history.
This video tears my heart out. It is beautiful. I hope you find it as moving and incredible as I do.
And I apologize for the lack of embedding but the embedding is disabled on this one.
UPDATE: Another one has the embed code. I'll try it.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Noob!
I have a good friend who isn't particularly into technology. I don't mean that she's a Luddite - she has a computer, uses e-mail without a hiccup and generally has no problem with tech as much as she wants or needs to use it. But she recently decided it was time to get mobile with her music and of course I suggested she start running iTunes. I even dropped in on her, well, she had me to dinner as I sold her my old digital camera and brought an install disc for iTunes since she runs off a dial-up connection and doing the download would have taken ... let's just say way longer than it should.
In any event, we got her PC up and running with music. It was a lot of fun to see her getting into loading her music into the computer, setting up preferences, ripping only selected songs from a CD, enjoying the automatic track info download from the Gracenote CDDB. Those are the sort of things I've grown accustomed to but which are, in prospect, just so frickin' cool!
Now that she's got the software set up, I e-mailed her the other day to point out that the 1 GB iPod shuffle had its price knocked down to $49. She took the plunge. And today she called to say that she was doing the set up and she couldn't get the iPod to show up on the PC. I told her to try unplugging the USB plug and re-plugging it back in. Nothing. Yet I was on the right track. After starting to search the Apple knowledge database, she gives me the eureka moment. She didn't have the iPod firmly seated in its dock! Bingo.
Small victories. We take where we can. I'm delighted that another person's joined the digital music sphere.
I have a good friend who isn't particularly into technology. I don't mean that she's a Luddite - she has a computer, uses e-mail without a hiccup and generally has no problem with tech as much as she wants or needs to use it. But she recently decided it was time to get mobile with her music and of course I suggested she start running iTunes. I even dropped in on her, well, she had me to dinner as I sold her my old digital camera and brought an install disc for iTunes since she runs off a dial-up connection and doing the download would have taken ... let's just say way longer than it should.
In any event, we got her PC up and running with music. It was a lot of fun to see her getting into loading her music into the computer, setting up preferences, ripping only selected songs from a CD, enjoying the automatic track info download from the Gracenote CDDB. Those are the sort of things I've grown accustomed to but which are, in prospect, just so frickin' cool!
Now that she's got the software set up, I e-mailed her the other day to point out that the 1 GB iPod shuffle had its price knocked down to $49. She took the plunge. And today she called to say that she was doing the set up and she couldn't get the iPod to show up on the PC. I told her to try unplugging the USB plug and re-plugging it back in. Nothing. Yet I was on the right track. After starting to search the Apple knowledge database, she gives me the eureka moment. She didn't have the iPod firmly seated in its dock! Bingo.
Small victories. We take where we can. I'm delighted that another person's joined the digital music sphere.
Linky Love
I've just spent an inordinate amount of time reading an article at Wired on "High Tech Cowboys of the Deep" about modern ship salvage operators. Really fascinating. Read it if you have a chance. And be sure to scroll down to the picture of Colin Trepte. That picture should be in the dictionary beside the term "Lead Salvage Diver."
I've just spent an inordinate amount of time reading an article at Wired on "High Tech Cowboys of the Deep" about modern ship salvage operators. Really fascinating. Read it if you have a chance. And be sure to scroll down to the picture of Colin Trepte. That picture should be in the dictionary beside the term "Lead Salvage Diver."
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
American Idol
I haven't been paying much attention to the current season of AI but I'm really digging Carly Smithson. I love that touch of the Oirish accent and she sang "Crazy On You" which song I've always enjoyed (I am, after all, a Heart fan) creditably. Of course blue eyes and dark hair is a wicked combination. Simon seems to be pretty positive about her as well.
I've also liked Amanda Overmeyer with that silly bifurcated skunk stripe hair and the growly voice.
So far not a single one of the male singers has shown me that he can stay with either of those two women.
If you pay attention to the band, you'll see several PRS guitars - the Matteo Blue 513 that was in play last year, an orange Singlecut (orange is not a color that always works on PRSi but it does on the singlecut) and a black sunburst EG. All excellent choices but I do think the 513 is just an insanely good piece of guitarfleisch.
I haven't been paying much attention to the current season of AI but I'm really digging Carly Smithson. I love that touch of the Oirish accent and she sang "Crazy On You" which song I've always enjoyed (I am, after all, a Heart fan) creditably. Of course blue eyes and dark hair is a wicked combination. Simon seems to be pretty positive about her as well.
I've also liked Amanda Overmeyer with that silly bifurcated skunk stripe hair and the growly voice.
So far not a single one of the male singers has shown me that he can stay with either of those two women.
If you pay attention to the band, you'll see several PRS guitars - the Matteo Blue 513 that was in play last year, an orange Singlecut (orange is not a color that always works on PRSi but it does on the singlecut) and a black sunburst EG. All excellent choices but I do think the 513 is just an insanely good piece of guitarfleisch.
The Reef Of Death
Some times the world conspires to just piss me off. Case in point was this past Sunday's noisepaper which had an article about man-made reefs which are either made to contain or made from the ashes of the cremated. The funerary industry wants to call these "cremains" but it strikes me as a grotesque portmanteau word and I refuse to use it save in an explanatory aside. On the other hand, I have no problem with the reefs themselves - in fact, I rather like the idea that one can elect to have his ashed incorporated into a cement ball which will be sunk and on which life will thrive. Or have ones ashes put into a niche in a reef created for the purpose. I could even see my scuba-diving friend the Enigmatic Misanthrope opting for such a method of ... can't really call it "interment" can I. Inaquament. No. That's worse.
Which is beside the point of what's frying my shorts about the article. Let me reproduce the offense which is a picture caption: "Neptune Memorial Reef, off the coast of Miami, is a place where ocean-lovers can be buried. Owned by the Neptune Society, it covers 16 acres and is a replica of the lost city of Atlantis."
(all caps bold italics) Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!(/all caps bold italics) A "replica" of WHAT! Given that Atlantis is a fiction and a fever dream of the easily gulled, no one can replicate that which never existed. Oh fer far-flung moronicism.
Some times the world conspires to just piss me off. Case in point was this past Sunday's noisepaper which had an article about man-made reefs which are either made to contain or made from the ashes of the cremated. The funerary industry wants to call these "cremains" but it strikes me as a grotesque portmanteau word and I refuse to use it save in an explanatory aside. On the other hand, I have no problem with the reefs themselves - in fact, I rather like the idea that one can elect to have his ashed incorporated into a cement ball which will be sunk and on which life will thrive. Or have ones ashes put into a niche in a reef created for the purpose. I could even see my scuba-diving friend the Enigmatic Misanthrope opting for such a method of ... can't really call it "interment" can I. Inaquament. No. That's worse.
Which is beside the point of what's frying my shorts about the article. Let me reproduce the offense which is a picture caption: "Neptune Memorial Reef, off the coast of Miami, is a place where ocean-lovers can be buried. Owned by the Neptune Society, it covers 16 acres and is a replica of the lost city of Atlantis."
(all caps bold italics) Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!(/all caps bold italics) A "replica" of WHAT! Given that Atlantis is a fiction and a fever dream of the easily gulled, no one can replicate that which never existed. Oh fer far-flung moronicism.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Nazi Gold And Then Some
A while back I posted about what I considered a possibility of what had happened to the Amber Room. I was engaging in some serious blue skying. Now there is some exciting news coming out of Germany that there's a cache of stolen gold (a near certainty) which may include the panels of the Amber Room. I will keep my fingers peeled and an eye crossed in hopes that one of the real missing treasures of the modern world may come to light again. The link goes to an Engliush-language article on Dr. Spiegel's website. I would excerpt it but do yourself a favor and RTWT.
Neal Stephenson might want to do a patch on his "Cryptonomicon" set not in the Philippines but in Eastern Europe. Or not. He has, after all, done it. and done it well.
A while back I posted about what I considered a possibility of what had happened to the Amber Room. I was engaging in some serious blue skying. Now there is some exciting news coming out of Germany that there's a cache of stolen gold (a near certainty) which may include the panels of the Amber Room. I will keep my fingers peeled and an eye crossed in hopes that one of the real missing treasures of the modern world may come to light again. The link goes to an Engliush-language article on Dr. Spiegel's website. I would excerpt it but do yourself a favor and RTWT.
Neal Stephenson might want to do a patch on his "Cryptonomicon" set not in the Philippines but in Eastern Europe. Or not. He has, after all, done it. and done it well.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Linky Love
I happened upon the Digital Photography School blog. Looks like a good learning resource for the snap happy. I'm probably going to increase my digital photography this year so I may spend some time on the DPS. Such things as rules for landscape composition are helpful. Even though I'm "aware" of such things as the rule of thirds and framing, it's something that I usually forget to use. There are exceptions. This is a picture of the "Tower House" at Midplace on Ossabaw Island. I'm pleased with the way I got the branch and trunk of the forward live oak on the left to frame the structure against the oak in the background on the right.
I happened upon the Digital Photography School blog. Looks like a good learning resource for the snap happy. I'm probably going to increase my digital photography this year so I may spend some time on the DPS. Such things as rules for landscape composition are helpful. Even though I'm "aware" of such things as the rule of thirds and framing, it's something that I usually forget to use. There are exceptions. This is a picture of the "Tower House" at Midplace on Ossabaw Island. I'm pleased with the way I got the branch and trunk of the forward live oak on the left to frame the structure against the oak in the background on the right.
Music Embed - First Of The Best Ofs
Today I post the first of three very best of music videos. Personal choice entirely and all three are equal in my estimation. I post them in no order of preference. I pick Van Halen's "Dreams" this week for the swell of patriotic pride the Blue Angels bring to my American bosom. I've been led to understand that the five across landing is something exceptional in that there are few runways wide enough to accommodate such a feat.
As for the music - great song. The requisite screaming guitar riffs. Sammy Hagar never sang better for VH. This viddy gives me chills. I hope you like it too.
Today I post the first of three very best of music videos. Personal choice entirely and all three are equal in my estimation. I post them in no order of preference. I pick Van Halen's "Dreams" this week for the swell of patriotic pride the Blue Angels bring to my American bosom. I've been led to understand that the five across landing is something exceptional in that there are few runways wide enough to accommodate such a feat.
As for the music - great song. The requisite screaming guitar riffs. Sammy Hagar never sang better for VH. This viddy gives me chills. I hope you like it too.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Japanese Radio
Long ago and far away, I was out in the provinces down southerly Honshu way. NHK radio would play some English language tunes (witness the Billy Field viddy I posted a couple of weeks ago) with sometimes hilarious results tucked in like a satsuma in a Christmas stocking. First, just a transliteration. The song "Endless Love" was current at the time so it was played. But it was introduced as "Endoress Rub." Which is not an unpleasant concept, really.
The other salient memory was listening to a broadcast that featured the music of Kenny Rogers. The fun came in a Japanese version of one of the songs. It is, or was, something of a trope of Japanese pop that foreign hits songs that had been translated into Japanese retained their title lines in English. So what do we get: "And She Bereaves In Me!" I pretty much fell out at that one.
Long ago and far away, I was out in the provinces down southerly Honshu way. NHK radio would play some English language tunes (witness the Billy Field viddy I posted a couple of weeks ago) with sometimes hilarious results tucked in like a satsuma in a Christmas stocking. First, just a transliteration. The song "Endless Love" was current at the time so it was played. But it was introduced as "Endoress Rub." Which is not an unpleasant concept, really.
The other salient memory was listening to a broadcast that featured the music of Kenny Rogers. The fun came in a Japanese version of one of the songs. It is, or was, something of a trope of Japanese pop that foreign hits songs that had been translated into Japanese retained their title lines in English. So what do we get: "And She Bereaves In Me!" I pretty much fell out at that one.
Movies, But Not Netflixery
I caught a broadcast of "The Incredibles" a day or so ago and was reminded how amazingly good it is. The story holds together extremely well. The animation does look a bit behind the current state of the art but that's immaterial. The voice work is just superb - Holly Hunter's turn as Elatigirl/Helen Parr is possibly some of the greatest voice work done on an animated film. Though Pixar has set the bar awfully high on that score. The humor is laugh out loud funny and clever. Intelligence in animation is not to be taken for granted. I love this movie.
And, though it wasn't part of the broadcast, the short "Jack Jack Attack" featuring the Parr's/Incredible's baby and the babysitter is possibly even funnier than the main movie. It's on the DVD if you haven't seen it. Which begs the question, why haven't you seen it? It is a most enjoyable way to spend an episode of flixery. If you have seen it but not for a while, may I suggest you reacquaint yourself with this wonderful adult cartoon?
I caught a broadcast of "The Incredibles" a day or so ago and was reminded how amazingly good it is. The story holds together extremely well. The animation does look a bit behind the current state of the art but that's immaterial. The voice work is just superb - Holly Hunter's turn as Elatigirl/Helen Parr is possibly some of the greatest voice work done on an animated film. Though Pixar has set the bar awfully high on that score. The humor is laugh out loud funny and clever. Intelligence in animation is not to be taken for granted. I love this movie.
And, though it wasn't part of the broadcast, the short "Jack Jack Attack" featuring the Parr's/Incredible's baby and the babysitter is possibly even funnier than the main movie. It's on the DVD if you haven't seen it. Which begs the question, why haven't you seen it? It is a most enjoyable way to spend an episode of flixery. If you have seen it but not for a while, may I suggest you reacquaint yourself with this wonderful adult cartoon?
Friday, February 22, 2008
My Contribution To Bulwer-Lytton
As the massive deep space transport shuddered out of hyperspace and maneuvered to establish a stable orbit around Schlomo Glickstein 3, Captain Hazelwood thought, not for the first time, "Damn that star registry in book form registered in the US copyright office!"
As the massive deep space transport shuddered out of hyperspace and maneuvered to establish a stable orbit around Schlomo Glickstein 3, Captain Hazelwood thought, not for the first time, "Damn that star registry in book form registered in the US copyright office!"
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Give Blood
And you may find that blood is not enough. Yet you may find that blood is good to give. Case in point is today's 200 lb. pug of war: Lurch the English Mastiff. What a guy. He's donated blood for other dogs 20 times and he lives with four actual pugs. As Lurch's owner says, "Mastiffs are just like 200-pound pugs. They're just as friendly and just as goofy except they have a couple more zeros at the end of the weight."
Sort of like me and Johnny Depp.
And you may find that blood is not enough. Yet you may find that blood is good to give. Case in point is today's 200 lb. pug of war: Lurch the English Mastiff. What a guy. He's donated blood for other dogs 20 times and he lives with four actual pugs. As Lurch's owner says, "Mastiffs are just like 200-pound pugs. They're just as friendly and just as goofy except they have a couple more zeros at the end of the weight."
Sort of like me and Johnny Depp.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
I'll Be Conflusticated
OK, I made that word up. I was going to say "I'll be buggered" but that's a little strong for what I'll be. I'm still in the overall set-up process of the home network so I thought I'd take a look at eBay to see what, if anything, the DSL modem (which Verizon is not interested in getting back - which should be a clue right there) might be worth. Ha. I found a couple exemplars of my particular model on offer for either 99 cents or $1.99. And, let me put the blunt point on this little thrillah - no bids. A perfectly functional DSL modem is worth, in real terms, nothing. Seems a little strange and a little sad but at least now I know.
Of course I'm old enough to remember how much I spent for my first modem which was a blazing 14400 bps box about the size of one half my PowerBook. And it didn't work all that well. Now I only want to use wireless and leave the modulation and demodulating to a box sitting somewhere in the house not necessarily on my desk.
I'm going to have to make up a package of electronics to take to the recycling station.
OK, I made that word up. I was going to say "I'll be buggered" but that's a little strong for what I'll be. I'm still in the overall set-up process of the home network so I thought I'd take a look at eBay to see what, if anything, the DSL modem (which Verizon is not interested in getting back - which should be a clue right there) might be worth. Ha. I found a couple exemplars of my particular model on offer for either 99 cents or $1.99. And, let me put the blunt point on this little thrillah - no bids. A perfectly functional DSL modem is worth, in real terms, nothing. Seems a little strange and a little sad but at least now I know.
Of course I'm old enough to remember how much I spent for my first modem which was a blazing 14400 bps box about the size of one half my PowerBook. And it didn't work all that well. Now I only want to use wireless and leave the modulation and demodulating to a box sitting somewhere in the house not necessarily on my desk.
I'm going to have to make up a package of electronics to take to the recycling station.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Embed For Which There Is No Written Explanation
The Gin Blossoms with "Hey Jealousy." The viddy displays some dated tropes but meaning adheres in the music, not what is shown. Consider this a part of my very own Apocrypha. Besides, the Gin Blossoms put out a couple of really great discs. New Miserable Experience indeed.
The Gin Blossoms with "Hey Jealousy." The viddy displays some dated tropes but meaning adheres in the music, not what is shown. Consider this a part of my very own Apocrypha. Besides, the Gin Blossoms put out a couple of really great discs. New Miserable Experience indeed.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Music For Which There Is No Written Explanation
I just bought the Flash Girls CD "The Return of Pansy Smith & Violet Jones." The first song is "Signal to Noise" which was on a mix tape given to me several years ago. I'm trying to re-create the mix in an iTunes playlist with clean digital copies of the songs. If you're still reading the blog, it meant a lot to me. And I guess it still does if I'm buying a CD to get one song.
I just bought the Flash Girls CD "The Return of Pansy Smith & Violet Jones." The first song is "Signal to Noise" which was on a mix tape given to me several years ago. I'm trying to re-create the mix in an iTunes playlist with clean digital copies of the songs. If you're still reading the blog, it meant a lot to me. And I guess it still does if I'm buying a CD to get one song.
FIOS
Friday morning, February 15. We enter a new day and a whole new system of living. Fiber has been plugged into my house and I didn't even try to get the FIOS tech to say "The house is lit." But I sure did think it. I have to say, saliently, that the tech was great - I gave him access to where he needed to go and he just went about his business. And he was very helpful, very friendly. If he's representative of Verizon techs, they have a good workforce. Your mileage may vary.
Next, FIOS TV. This is going to take some getting used to. I've grown accustomed to DirecTV and now I have a whole new set-up of channels, on-screen menus and a new remote control. But I have some fun new stuff as well. I never connected my DirecTV to the phone line so I was never able to buy any pay-per-view events or movies (incidentally, with all the naughty content on the cabled televising machine, perhaps that should be "pay perv view"). Now I can since everything comes galloping into the house on the FIOS line. Though it's unlikely that I actually will buy anything extra as I'm totally dialed in with Netflix.
Additional coolness enters via the aforementioned remote. With the old system, I'd sometimes gather up three remotes: TV, DirecTV box and DVD player. The tech programmed the FIOS remote so that it controls all three from the one remote. I guess I could have tried programming the Dtv remote but, as you might be able to tell from this post alone, I'm a bit of a creature of habit. One thing that made snicker last night was tuning in BBC America's "Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares." The guide display truncated the final word at the first three letters. I must be a shocking racist. No, I'm not.
I can't say that the picture quality is better but as I watch more, I think I may come to that conclusion. Previously the screen would show some "banding" of colors which may be in the set or may be in the broadcast signal. I'm hoping it's the latter and that FIOS will cure it. I haven't brought myself to the point of spending extra money for HD. It's just not worth it to me yet. If anyone who uses HD has a comment to make, please do.
ADDED: I almost forgot one net little feature on FIOS TV. Widgets. I can call up a weather bug and a traffic report on screen no matter what I'm watching. Weather is good. Traffic, not so much. But I have it dammit!
Now, the fibered up internet. FIOS sets up a router off the cable coming into the house and, not surprisingly in this modern world of hubbub and brouhaha, the router is wireless. So there was no need to run cables all over my house from the router to the desktop. Thank goodness. (pause for breath) Wireless. As much as I love it, getting it all set up and running the way I want it to run is a ... chore. A process. And yesterday I was not having the greatest luck in getting a stable connection that would make connection automatic when I woke my iMac up. I went into the network control panel this morning and re-jiggered it so I think (I hope) I may have the solid connection form here on out. But I need to reset my laptop and my AirPort Express node from which I run my printer. Ooog. (sigh)
FIOS says it's faster than my DSL but I haven't run any speed tests to see. I have to imagine that it is simply because of the bigger pipeline it is. Of course now that my DSL is moot, I have a DSL modem that Verizon doesn't want back and a whole bunch of DSL line filters that are useless. Which Verizon doesn't want back. If there's a packrat curse of this modern world of hubbub and brouhaha, it's the accretion of telephone equipment that has been rendered obsolete or just passe. Still usable but not particularly wanted. Oh well. Also, my Netgear wireless router is now moot for the time being. I may try to set it up as a repeater to entend the range of the network though. It's too good to lie fallow.
One final note that's not related to FIOS per se: In setting up the new wireless network, I had reason to go into the wireless menu on my desktop which displays the networks whose signals I can receive. I can now see nine networks (one of which may be my AirPort Express). And one network is named "VoteRonPaul." I'm going to guess that belongs to my new next door neighbors.
Friday morning, February 15. We enter a new day and a whole new system of living. Fiber has been plugged into my house and I didn't even try to get the FIOS tech to say "The house is lit." But I sure did think it. I have to say, saliently, that the tech was great - I gave him access to where he needed to go and he just went about his business. And he was very helpful, very friendly. If he's representative of Verizon techs, they have a good workforce. Your mileage may vary.
Next, FIOS TV. This is going to take some getting used to. I've grown accustomed to DirecTV and now I have a whole new set-up of channels, on-screen menus and a new remote control. But I have some fun new stuff as well. I never connected my DirecTV to the phone line so I was never able to buy any pay-per-view events or movies (incidentally, with all the naughty content on the cabled televising machine, perhaps that should be "pay perv view"). Now I can since everything comes galloping into the house on the FIOS line. Though it's unlikely that I actually will buy anything extra as I'm totally dialed in with Netflix.
Additional coolness enters via the aforementioned remote. With the old system, I'd sometimes gather up three remotes: TV, DirecTV box and DVD player. The tech programmed the FIOS remote so that it controls all three from the one remote. I guess I could have tried programming the Dtv remote but, as you might be able to tell from this post alone, I'm a bit of a creature of habit. One thing that made snicker last night was tuning in BBC America's "Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares." The guide display truncated the final word at the first three letters. I must be a shocking racist. No, I'm not.
I can't say that the picture quality is better but as I watch more, I think I may come to that conclusion. Previously the screen would show some "banding" of colors which may be in the set or may be in the broadcast signal. I'm hoping it's the latter and that FIOS will cure it. I haven't brought myself to the point of spending extra money for HD. It's just not worth it to me yet. If anyone who uses HD has a comment to make, please do.
ADDED: I almost forgot one net little feature on FIOS TV. Widgets. I can call up a weather bug and a traffic report on screen no matter what I'm watching. Weather is good. Traffic, not so much. But I have it dammit!
Now, the fibered up internet. FIOS sets up a router off the cable coming into the house and, not surprisingly in this modern world of hubbub and brouhaha, the router is wireless. So there was no need to run cables all over my house from the router to the desktop. Thank goodness. (pause for breath) Wireless. As much as I love it, getting it all set up and running the way I want it to run is a ... chore. A process. And yesterday I was not having the greatest luck in getting a stable connection that would make connection automatic when I woke my iMac up. I went into the network control panel this morning and re-jiggered it so I think (I hope) I may have the solid connection form here on out. But I need to reset my laptop and my AirPort Express node from which I run my printer. Ooog. (sigh)
FIOS says it's faster than my DSL but I haven't run any speed tests to see. I have to imagine that it is simply because of the bigger pipeline it is. Of course now that my DSL is moot, I have a DSL modem that Verizon doesn't want back and a whole bunch of DSL line filters that are useless. Which Verizon doesn't want back. If there's a packrat curse of this modern world of hubbub and brouhaha, it's the accretion of telephone equipment that has been rendered obsolete or just passe. Still usable but not particularly wanted. Oh well. Also, my Netgear wireless router is now moot for the time being. I may try to set it up as a repeater to entend the range of the network though. It's too good to lie fallow.
One final note that's not related to FIOS per se: In setting up the new wireless network, I had reason to go into the wireless menu on my desktop which displays the networks whose signals I can receive. I can now see nine networks (one of which may be my AirPort Express). And one network is named "VoteRonPaul." I'm going to guess that belongs to my new next door neighbors.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Duke 77, Maryland 65
Fear the what now?
I've pretty much stayed away from the collitch bucketball this year (the brief look at UNC a couple of posts down being a notable exception) but I've grown tired of U Md's constant whining about "Dook." Yes, you beat Duke last year. You've even had remarkable success against Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium. But the eternal mewling is unbecoming a major college program. Duke is renowned for hating UNC (I actually, do not - I resent the history of clobberation Duke has suffered at the hands of our neighbors but I respect the Tar Heels as a first class team at a first class state university). Now, I guess, Maryland has decided to make Duke the particular object of their ire. So let me point this out: Dookies don't really care about the Terps. We can lose to them without much nose-out-of-jointing. In fact, Maryland had best hope it stays that way. If Duke ever makes it a point of the season to beat Maryland, there's going to be some deep agony in College Park. Sorry. That's just the way it is.
So for now, feel free to indulge your fantasies and consider the Terps a better team than the Blue Devils because of last year's results. It's not like the Terps are a bad team - mai non! It's a signal achievement that they have matured and gotten nothing but better during this season under Gary Williams (a coach for whom I have nothing but respect). But Duke won both home and away. So unless you beat Duke in the tournament (not at all impossible), just STFU about Duke this year. Kthxbai.
Fear the what now?
I've pretty much stayed away from the collitch bucketball this year (the brief look at UNC a couple of posts down being a notable exception) but I've grown tired of U Md's constant whining about "Dook." Yes, you beat Duke last year. You've even had remarkable success against Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium. But the eternal mewling is unbecoming a major college program. Duke is renowned for hating UNC (I actually, do not - I resent the history of clobberation Duke has suffered at the hands of our neighbors but I respect the Tar Heels as a first class team at a first class state university). Now, I guess, Maryland has decided to make Duke the particular object of their ire. So let me point this out: Dookies don't really care about the Terps. We can lose to them without much nose-out-of-jointing. In fact, Maryland had best hope it stays that way. If Duke ever makes it a point of the season to beat Maryland, there's going to be some deep agony in College Park. Sorry. That's just the way it is.
So for now, feel free to indulge your fantasies and consider the Terps a better team than the Blue Devils because of last year's results. It's not like the Terps are a bad team - mai non! It's a signal achievement that they have matured and gotten nothing but better during this season under Gary Williams (a coach for whom I have nothing but respect). But Duke won both home and away. So unless you beat Duke in the tournament (not at all impossible), just STFU about Duke this year. Kthxbai.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Quick Questions For Readers
How many people use thumb drives? If you use them, how many do you have? What's the purpose of the drive?
Full disclosure: I use them. I have one 4 GB and just ordered two 2 GB versions from Amazon. The purpose of the drives if first, confidential files that are not kept on the desktop machine and can be switched from to the laptop merely by plugging in a li'l bitty USB thingie. And what I mean by confidential is such things as password files and some images I have been sent by friends which no one else has any right to see. You can ask but I'm not going to say.
In any event, if you don't use thumb drives, you should. They're small, they can save you burning CD-ROMs often and they're getting dead cheap. The 2 GB ones I'm buying from Amazon cost $11.50 each. Not to mention that these little beauties allow you to take all sorts of info on the road and use it on a machine that may not be yours.
How many people use thumb drives? If you use them, how many do you have? What's the purpose of the drive?
Full disclosure: I use them. I have one 4 GB and just ordered two 2 GB versions from Amazon. The purpose of the drives if first, confidential files that are not kept on the desktop machine and can be switched from to the laptop merely by plugging in a li'l bitty USB thingie. And what I mean by confidential is such things as password files and some images I have been sent by friends which no one else has any right to see. You can ask but I'm not going to say.
In any event, if you don't use thumb drives, you should. They're small, they can save you burning CD-ROMs often and they're getting dead cheap. The 2 GB ones I'm buying from Amazon cost $11.50 each. Not to mention that these little beauties allow you to take all sorts of info on the road and use it on a machine that may not be yours.
Yay!
An episode of Foyle's War on the Howard University distant-seeing station tonight. Hmm. I didn't know the series had its own website until I searched just now. Aint the global inter tubes grand? Tonight's episode (cue dramatic music): War of Nerves! (Actually, it has been shown before but it's one I missed so it's "new to me.")
Though I may sneak peeks at UNC impending crushitation of U Va.
UPDATE: 45 seconds to go and UNC up by a mere two points. Not exactly crushitation. But it does raise the question of what's wrong with UNC. They are not playing like a top 10 team lately. Of course Tyler "Psycho T" Hansbrough getting fouled every time down court and not having it called (and one eGREGious flop by the U. Va. center) doesn't help.
So there: a one point win. Yow, a single point win over the league's bottom team. Carolina has much to worry about.
An episode of Foyle's War on the Howard University distant-seeing station tonight. Hmm. I didn't know the series had its own website until I searched just now. Aint the global inter tubes grand? Tonight's episode (cue dramatic music): War of Nerves! (Actually, it has been shown before but it's one I missed so it's "new to me.")
Though I may sneak peeks at UNC impending crushitation of U Va.
UPDATE: 45 seconds to go and UNC up by a mere two points. Not exactly crushitation. But it does raise the question of what's wrong with UNC. They are not playing like a top 10 team lately. Of course Tyler "Psycho T" Hansbrough getting fouled every time down court and not having it called (and one eGREGious flop by the U. Va. center) doesn't help.
So there: a one point win. Yow, a single point win over the league's bottom team. Carolina has much to worry about.
Okay "Scientists"
If you genetic engineers are so smart how come?
1. How come you haven't combined dandylion and, say, corn, to make crops that'll grow in cracks in the sidewalk?
2. How come you haven't snipped the coat color genes out of tigers and put them in, say, bunnies so we could have real fur coats that would look wicked cool?
3. How come you can't take the flesh eating bacteria that nature her own self has provided and turn it into a fat eating bacteria? It would destroy the liposuction industry in swole(n) foop.
4. And if you nanotechnologists are so smart, how come you haven't been able to build a scanning, tunneling electron microscope that can detect the Clintons' ethics? Aw hail, I might as well ask for a machine to detect unicorns.
If you genetic engineers are so smart how come?
1. How come you haven't combined dandylion and, say, corn, to make crops that'll grow in cracks in the sidewalk?
2. How come you haven't snipped the coat color genes out of tigers and put them in, say, bunnies so we could have real fur coats that would look wicked cool?
3. How come you can't take the flesh eating bacteria that nature her own self has provided and turn it into a fat eating bacteria? It would destroy the liposuction industry in swole(n) foop.
4. And if you nanotechnologists are so smart, how come you haven't been able to build a scanning, tunneling electron microscope that can detect the Clintons' ethics? Aw hail, I might as well ask for a machine to detect unicorns.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Oh And By The Way
It's frickin cold. It's high school cold tonight: full of teens. It's congressional approval rating cold. And windy. Like the collective sigh after a big, cold glass of Obama-flavored Kool-Aid combined with a Howie Dean YYEEAAAGGGHH and the spittle-flecked rationality of John McCain all bound up in one big smack-into-my-house package.
Annnddd SCENE. I'm done waterboarding metaphors tonight.
It's frickin cold. It's high school cold tonight: full of teens. It's congressional approval rating cold. And windy. Like the collective sigh after a big, cold glass of Obama-flavored Kool-Aid combined with a Howie Dean YYEEAAAGGGHH and the spittle-flecked rationality of John McCain all bound up in one big smack-into-my-house package.
Annnddd SCENE. I'm done waterboarding metaphors tonight.
Sunday Night And There's Music In The Air
Music from a "Concrete Sky" to be precise. This is the non "North American" version of Beth Orton's song which I've managed to name in the first sentence of this post. The other version is much more Beth-centric, which is not entirely a bad thing, but I am deeply enamored of the beautiful forest setting of this viddy. I'd love to live in or near one of these mossy primeval forests. I'm not as thrilled with the soft-to-out-of focus look of the viddy but I'm not complaining about it either.
Beth Orton is one of those women whose looks I like but can never decide why. She's a bit ... I hate to say this ... bovine of face but she has that wonderful lanky sexiness that I find quite appealing. The gown-like dress seems rather out of place as do the tall boots. I can't explain the outfit for the life of me. Any speculation in comments is entirely welcome. And it's not just her looks. Her voice is quirky to the point that I can easily see someone not caring for her singing at all but when the material is right (her "Central Reservation" disc is pure magic), it's entrancing. "Concrete Sky" is right. I hope you're entranced as well.
Music from a "Concrete Sky" to be precise. This is the non "North American" version of Beth Orton's song which I've managed to name in the first sentence of this post. The other version is much more Beth-centric, which is not entirely a bad thing, but I am deeply enamored of the beautiful forest setting of this viddy. I'd love to live in or near one of these mossy primeval forests. I'm not as thrilled with the soft-to-out-of focus look of the viddy but I'm not complaining about it either.
Beth Orton is one of those women whose looks I like but can never decide why. She's a bit ... I hate to say this ... bovine of face but she has that wonderful lanky sexiness that I find quite appealing. The gown-like dress seems rather out of place as do the tall boots. I can't explain the outfit for the life of me. Any speculation in comments is entirely welcome. And it's not just her looks. Her voice is quirky to the point that I can easily see someone not caring for her singing at all but when the material is right (her "Central Reservation" disc is pure magic), it's entrancing. "Concrete Sky" is right. I hope you're entranced as well.
Friday, February 08, 2008
Apologies
The un-premeditated lack o' posting has left literally several individuals in the body politic bereft of coddling snark. Lo! As if a great salt pancake had been dropped upon them.
I have been muddling over a number of things which I hope/plan to post about over the weekend. Not to mention the return of the Sunday music embed on Sunday. But until then, I offer you a link to perhaps the most amazing macro photo of a bug I've ever seen. Not gross, not disgusting, just amazing.
The un-premeditated lack o' posting has left literally several individuals in the body politic bereft of coddling snark. Lo! As if a great salt pancake had been dropped upon them.
I have been muddling over a number of things which I hope/plan to post about over the weekend. Not to mention the return of the Sunday music embed on Sunday. But until then, I offer you a link to perhaps the most amazing macro photo of a bug I've ever seen. Not gross, not disgusting, just amazing.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Good Stuff
I've bitched off a few ads recently and I've got a slew of 'em to bitch off in the hopper. But I thought it was time to throw the advertisers a bone beyond posting videos of songs from Apple ads. What I want to praise is the ATT ad wherein the little daughter gives her father a stuffed monkey as he goes on a business trip. Daddy sends back pictures of the stuffed monkey culminating with a shot of the monkey outside their home on his return. The ad is sweet and not at all cloying. The affection in the family comes across as real and palpable. The "sweet thing/ apple of my eye" song adds to the effect. I'm not always down with ATT's forcing the "more bars" visual cues into its ads but in this one, the "bars" take a back seat to the tone. It's an enjoyable little story. I hope they give the creative team behind this one more chances.
I've bitched off a few ads recently and I've got a slew of 'em to bitch off in the hopper. But I thought it was time to throw the advertisers a bone beyond posting videos of songs from Apple ads. What I want to praise is the ATT ad wherein the little daughter gives her father a stuffed monkey as he goes on a business trip. Daddy sends back pictures of the stuffed monkey culminating with a shot of the monkey outside their home on his return. The ad is sweet and not at all cloying. The affection in the family comes across as real and palpable. The "sweet thing/ apple of my eye" song adds to the effect. I'm not always down with ATT's forcing the "more bars" visual cues into its ads but in this one, the "bars" take a back seat to the tone. It's an enjoyable little story. I hope they give the creative team behind this one more chances.
I May Have To Blogroll This One
The Fail blog. If you don't get the idea from the name, visit the site and you'll twig to it immediately. I rather think my good friend the Enigmatic Misanthrope would get a larf and a harf out of it.
And I guarantee my friend Gradual Dazzle will get two larfs out of this post!
The Fail blog. If you don't get the idea from the name, visit the site and you'll twig to it immediately. I rather think my good friend the Enigmatic Misanthrope would get a larf and a harf out of it.
And I guarantee my friend Gradual Dazzle will get two larfs out of this post!
Monday, February 04, 2008
Tasty Linkage
By one of those perverse strings of link following, which are well nigh impossible to remember how you got from, say, The Unofficial Apple Weblog to where you ended up, I found Steamy Kitchen. Sounds saucy, dunnit? Actually it's "Modern Asian Cooking: fast, fresh, simple enough for tonight's supper." From my first impression, that looks pretty accurate.
I may have to spend some time there and whomp up some tasty oriental eats the like of which I've never before made.
By one of those perverse strings of link following, which are well nigh impossible to remember how you got from, say, The Unofficial Apple Weblog to where you ended up, I found Steamy Kitchen. Sounds saucy, dunnit? Actually it's "Modern Asian Cooking: fast, fresh, simple enough for tonight's supper." From my first impression, that looks pretty accurate.
I may have to spend some time there and whomp up some tasty oriental eats the like of which I've never before made.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Early Music Embed
Since the whole world (or so we're led to believe) is going to be watching the New England Patriots attempt at history on Sunday night, I thought I might steal a march and put up the music embed a day early. So, for your delectation is Yael Naim's "New Soul" which is featured in Apple's ads for the new MacBook Air. Naim has a quirky voice and I don't know that I would want to listen to her for extended periods but this song is delightful and the video is just charming. I hope you agree.
Next week - a non-Apple related viddy, I promise.
Since the whole world (or so we're led to believe) is going to be watching the New England Patriots attempt at history on Sunday night, I thought I might steal a march and put up the music embed a day early. So, for your delectation is Yael Naim's "New Soul" which is featured in Apple's ads for the new MacBook Air. Naim has a quirky voice and I don't know that I would want to listen to her for extended periods but this song is delightful and the video is just charming. I hope you agree.
Next week - a non-Apple related viddy, I promise.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Twenty Seconds Of Ad Hate
Dear no cost credit report people, I've heard your (expletive) songs about selling seafood and driving a crappy car too many (expletive) times. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut the expletive up!
And note - I will never, never ever use your service since you have worn down my LAST nerve with those gotdam ads!
Dear no cost credit report people, I've heard your (expletive) songs about selling seafood and driving a crappy car too many (expletive) times. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut the expletive up!
And note - I will never, never ever use your service since you have worn down my LAST nerve with those gotdam ads!
Monday, January 28, 2008
New On The Blogroll
M.J. Perry's "Carpe Diem" blog. Excellent economics. The site comes to me courtesy of Lycurgus whose recommendations seem to pan out pretty well. Read. Learn. I would be an autodidact if I worked a little harder at it.
A particular case in point, with all the yammering about the subprime lending "crisis" (it's not a crisis - it's a problem certainly but given it's fractional percentage of the market, it is not a crisis), and all the massive writedowns that financial institutions have taken, would you imagine that every major U.S. bank was profitable last year. The press is lying to you. That's the beauty of the blogosphere.
M.J. Perry's "Carpe Diem" blog. Excellent economics. The site comes to me courtesy of Lycurgus whose recommendations seem to pan out pretty well. Read. Learn. I would be an autodidact if I worked a little harder at it.
A particular case in point, with all the yammering about the subprime lending "crisis" (it's not a crisis - it's a problem certainly but given it's fractional percentage of the market, it is not a crisis), and all the massive writedowns that financial institutions have taken, would you imagine that every major U.S. bank was profitable last year. The press is lying to you. That's the beauty of the blogosphere.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Vote For My Lolcat
OK. It's not a cat. It's a frog. Show me the love - go vote it up. Tell your friends. Force them to vote it up. I don't ask for much. Pretend I'm Dr. Evil and throw me a frickin' bone here.
OK. It's not a cat. It's a frog. Show me the love - go vote it up. Tell your friends. Force them to vote it up. I don't ask for much. Pretend I'm Dr. Evil and throw me a frickin' bone here.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Hiatus
No posts until the Sunday music embed. I've got a lot on my slate and dealing with it is taking the gumption I would otherwise put into the biting wit and deep thoughts of blog posting. And the sarcasm. Did I mention the sarcasm?
A couple of notes until I return: I talked with a (and I'm not being sarcastic here) very nice customer service rep at Verizon to inquire about their FIOS service which is available in my 'hood. As it turns out, I can actually save a few (not many but a few) dollars with the special offers and bundled service that they offer in FIOS. That would be faster internet, better television signal and all the same phone features. 15 days to cancel should I decide I don't like it. A two-year price lock in. Free installation and one extra special discount which is what brings my cost down to just below what I'm paying now. Deal. (ptew! shake)
Newspaper. I'm going to try the Washington Times electronic version instead of home delivery of the paper. It's cheaper. I don't have to toddle out in the cold or heat to collect it. I won't have to deal with the read paper (bundling and recycling that is). As long as I can print out the X-word puzzle (and sometimes the sudoku), I think it'll work much better for me. I'm just so ecologically conscious! Oh look - sarcasm's back.
No posts until the Sunday music embed. I've got a lot on my slate and dealing with it is taking the gumption I would otherwise put into the biting wit and deep thoughts of blog posting. And the sarcasm. Did I mention the sarcasm?
A couple of notes until I return: I talked with a (and I'm not being sarcastic here) very nice customer service rep at Verizon to inquire about their FIOS service which is available in my 'hood. As it turns out, I can actually save a few (not many but a few) dollars with the special offers and bundled service that they offer in FIOS. That would be faster internet, better television signal and all the same phone features. 15 days to cancel should I decide I don't like it. A two-year price lock in. Free installation and one extra special discount which is what brings my cost down to just below what I'm paying now. Deal. (ptew! shake)
Newspaper. I'm going to try the Washington Times electronic version instead of home delivery of the paper. It's cheaper. I don't have to toddle out in the cold or heat to collect it. I won't have to deal with the read paper (bundling and recycling that is). As long as I can print out the X-word puzzle (and sometimes the sudoku), I think it'll work much better for me. I'm just so ecologically conscious! Oh look - sarcasm's back.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Fred's Out
Damn. Just Damn. There's not a real conservative left in the race. This is the first time someone I've wanted to vote for was not the candidate and it leaves me pissed off at the GOP. Well, I can support Mitt Romney even if he's not my first choice.
The GOP really, I mean really needs a new Reaganite revolution.
Damn. Just Damn. There's not a real conservative left in the race. This is the first time someone I've wanted to vote for was not the candidate and it leaves me pissed off at the GOP. Well, I can support Mitt Romney even if he's not my first choice.
The GOP really, I mean really needs a new Reaganite revolution.
Resolutions Continuing
I now weigh on both the counterbalance scale and the flat scale every three days. They diverge by roughly (today exactly) five pounds with the flat scale being five to the good. I started charting the lighter weight even though I was recording both the weights in my Day-Timer™. This is not exactly being self honest so I added new columns and am charting both.
My guess is that as I back down from the tropospheric weights the two measures will converge to a point where the flat scale will register within a pound, roughly, of the counterbalance scale. At that point, I may sell the counterbalance scale and just keep the smaller, more easily stored scale. But that day's a long way away.
The good news is that on the counterbalance I am half a pound away from my monthly goal already. If I could knock off half again as much by month's end, I'd be pleased. It could be considered a jump on next (short) month but I'm going to try for my monthly goal whatever the loss in the prior month was.
I now weigh on both the counterbalance scale and the flat scale every three days. They diverge by roughly (today exactly) five pounds with the flat scale being five to the good. I started charting the lighter weight even though I was recording both the weights in my Day-Timer™. This is not exactly being self honest so I added new columns and am charting both.
My guess is that as I back down from the tropospheric weights the two measures will converge to a point where the flat scale will register within a pound, roughly, of the counterbalance scale. At that point, I may sell the counterbalance scale and just keep the smaller, more easily stored scale. But that day's a long way away.
The good news is that on the counterbalance I am half a pound away from my monthly goal already. If I could knock off half again as much by month's end, I'd be pleased. It could be considered a jump on next (short) month but I'm going to try for my monthly goal whatever the loss in the prior month was.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Just Linkage
Here is a page of pics that scream for lolcatting. There are cats and pugs and hedgehogs and birds and cows and monkeys and .... I think there's even a pangolin. Take a look and tell me that you don't have at least two dozen captions running through your mind. There's a big load of cute over there.
Here is a page of pics that scream for lolcatting. There are cats and pugs and hedgehogs and birds and cows and monkeys and .... I think there's even a pangolin. Take a look and tell me that you don't have at least two dozen captions running through your mind. There's a big load of cute over there.
Sunday Music Embed
Brought to you from those halcyon days of 1981, Aussie Two-Hit Wonder Billy Field with one of those two: "Bad Habits." I heard this on NHK radio when I was teaching in Japan and have loved the unusual singing voice, the horn charts and the wonderful lyrics. Strangely, I always thought of Bobby Short when I heard that voice. To see that the singer is a geeky white guy is a little disconcerting. But the song's still great. Enjoy.
Brought to you from those halcyon days of 1981, Aussie Two-Hit Wonder Billy Field with one of those two: "Bad Habits." I heard this on NHK radio when I was teaching in Japan and have loved the unusual singing voice, the horn charts and the wonderful lyrics. Strangely, I always thought of Bobby Short when I heard that voice. To see that the singer is a geeky white guy is a little disconcerting. But the song's still great. Enjoy.
OK, This Made Me Laugh
After Mr. and Mrs. Fenton retired, Mrs. Fenton insisted her husband accompany her on her trips to Wal-Mart. Unfortunately, Mr. Fenton was like most men - he found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunately, Mrs. Fenton was like most women, and loved to browse. One day Mrs. Fenton received the following letter from her local Wal-Mart.
Dear Mrs. Fenton,
Over the past six months, your husband has been causing quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and may be forced to ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against Mr. Fenton are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras.
1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people's carts when they weren't looking.
2 . July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.
3. July 7: Made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the women's restroom.
4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice, "Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right away."
5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&M's on layaway.
6. September 14: Moved a "CAUTION - WET FLOOR" sign to a carpeted area.
7. September 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told other shoppers he'd invite them
in if they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department.
8. September 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, "Why can't you people just leave me alone?"
9. October 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose.
10. November 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.
11. December 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly humming the " Mission Impossible" theme.
12. December 6: In the auto department, he practiced his "Madonna look" by using different sizes of funnels.
13. December 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled "PICK ME! PICK ME!"
14. December 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed a fetal position and screamed "OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN !"
And last, but not least
15. December 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, then yelled very loudly, "Hey! There's no toilet paper in here!"
Regards,
Wal-Mart
After Mr. and Mrs. Fenton retired, Mrs. Fenton insisted her husband accompany her on her trips to Wal-Mart. Unfortunately, Mr. Fenton was like most men - he found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunately, Mrs. Fenton was like most women, and loved to browse. One day Mrs. Fenton received the following letter from her local Wal-Mart.
Dear Mrs. Fenton,
Over the past six months, your husband has been causing quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and may be forced to ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against Mr. Fenton are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras.
1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people's carts when they weren't looking.
2 . July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.
3. July 7: Made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the women's restroom.
4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice, "Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right away."
5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&M's on layaway.
6. September 14: Moved a "CAUTION - WET FLOOR" sign to a carpeted area.
7. September 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told other shoppers he'd invite them
in if they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department.
8. September 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, "Why can't you people just leave me alone?"
9. October 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose.
10. November 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.
11. December 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly humming the " Mission Impossible" theme.
12. December 6: In the auto department, he practiced his "Madonna look" by using different sizes of funnels.
13. December 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled "PICK ME! PICK ME!"
14. December 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed a fetal position and screamed "OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN !"
And last, but not least
15. December 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, then yelled very loudly, "Hey! There's no toilet paper in here!"
Regards,
Wal-Mart
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Update On The Netflixery
I had the distinct displeasure of wacthing "Evan Almighty" last night. Oh my aching deity. What a horrible, horrible movie. It is the biggest steaming pile of beef by-product I have seen in years. I am simultaneously drawn toward deconstructing just how vilely awful it is and repulsed by even thinking about it. And I have to come down on the side of the latter. But please, please for the love of God Montresor! do not watch this crapfest.
I had the distinct displeasure of wacthing "Evan Almighty" last night. Oh my aching deity. What a horrible, horrible movie. It is the biggest steaming pile of beef by-product I have seen in years. I am simultaneously drawn toward deconstructing just how vilely awful it is and repulsed by even thinking about it. And I have to come down on the side of the latter. But please, please for the love of God Montresor! do not watch this crapfest.
Friday, January 18, 2008
A Whole Slew Of New From PRS
It's NAMM Guitar show time and the brilliant luthiers at Paul Reed Smith have brought forth a good dozen new models. Of course a lot of the "new" is working up existing models in new configurations and woods. F'rinstance, there is the SE Custom SemiHollow with "soapbar" pickups (please don't ask me to explain the nuances of different pickups - I have an idea of what's behind a pickup but can't tell you what effect the differences make). If I were adding to the collection, I'd probably get an SE Custom SH - the SE line is less expensive and as a light guitar to carry around, the Custom SH is a fine looking gitbox. I find the arc-shaped sound hole to be way cool.
On the other hand, I've never been much of a fan of the Bigsby vibrato tailpiece - big, clunky, heavy and not very pretty. But the PRS style trem will only work on a solid piece of wood making his hollowbodied guitars, up to now, trem-less. The new model is the SCJ Thinline which has a Bigsby. The name. I'm sure, comes from the Single Cut configuration with the J probably as a "jazz" designation - I could compeltely see George Benson playing one of these. And it has the Bigsby which, given that a PRS trem couldn't be mounted on it, is OK by me. In fact, I'd buy one of these were I pooping cash (only 300 are in production which will put a price premium on these like nobody's business!)
I won't go into agonizing detail on all of these beauties since my rhapsodizing would grow more than a little boring. Yet a couple of things are worth noting. First, there's a new style of birds fret-board inlay. Click on one of the PRS links above and select the Santana MD ("Multi Dimensional") from the list. It's a bit hard to see but the birds are outlines in gold. Looks gorgeous. Oh, and this represents the return of a Santana-named model to the non-SE lineup (note the rounded "belly" of the guitar's body, the midline inlay, the fairly symmetrical "horns" and the non-standard shape of the headstock).
Secondly (well, thirdly I guess), a korina wood model of the McCarty line. Damn fine looking in natural methinks. My understanding is that korina is a superior tonewood and is reasonably light as well. I'll be reading the "Birds and Moons" forum for tone reports on that one.
If you have a few minutes and appreciate guitarfleisch, click on one of the links above and look over the additions to the lineup. A thing of beauty is a yadda, yadda. Take a look, eh?
It's NAMM Guitar show time and the brilliant luthiers at Paul Reed Smith have brought forth a good dozen new models. Of course a lot of the "new" is working up existing models in new configurations and woods. F'rinstance, there is the SE Custom SemiHollow with "soapbar" pickups (please don't ask me to explain the nuances of different pickups - I have an idea of what's behind a pickup but can't tell you what effect the differences make). If I were adding to the collection, I'd probably get an SE Custom SH - the SE line is less expensive and as a light guitar to carry around, the Custom SH is a fine looking gitbox. I find the arc-shaped sound hole to be way cool.
On the other hand, I've never been much of a fan of the Bigsby vibrato tailpiece - big, clunky, heavy and not very pretty. But the PRS style trem will only work on a solid piece of wood making his hollowbodied guitars, up to now, trem-less. The new model is the SCJ Thinline which has a Bigsby. The name. I'm sure, comes from the Single Cut configuration with the J probably as a "jazz" designation - I could compeltely see George Benson playing one of these. And it has the Bigsby which, given that a PRS trem couldn't be mounted on it, is OK by me. In fact, I'd buy one of these were I pooping cash (only 300 are in production which will put a price premium on these like nobody's business!)
I won't go into agonizing detail on all of these beauties since my rhapsodizing would grow more than a little boring. Yet a couple of things are worth noting. First, there's a new style of birds fret-board inlay. Click on one of the PRS links above and select the Santana MD ("Multi Dimensional") from the list. It's a bit hard to see but the birds are outlines in gold. Looks gorgeous. Oh, and this represents the return of a Santana-named model to the non-SE lineup (note the rounded "belly" of the guitar's body, the midline inlay, the fairly symmetrical "horns" and the non-standard shape of the headstock).
Secondly (well, thirdly I guess), a korina wood model of the McCarty line. Damn fine looking in natural methinks. My understanding is that korina is a superior tonewood and is reasonably light as well. I'll be reading the "Birds and Moons" forum for tone reports on that one.
If you have a few minutes and appreciate guitarfleisch, click on one of the links above and look over the additions to the lineup. A thing of beauty is a yadda, yadda. Take a look, eh?
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Recent Netflixery
(singing) One of these is not like the other...
Evan Almighty and Resident Evil: Extinction.
Yet there is a bit of a common thread. Go figure.
(singing) One of these is not like the other...
Evan Almighty and Resident Evil: Extinction.
Yet there is a bit of a common thread. Go figure.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Wallace Stevens Never Wrote About A Green Guitar
And he never knew anything about a Paul Reed Smith. Trolling eBay i came upon this lovely piece of work: a 2007 513 in "Midori Green." That's in quotes because "midori" mean green so the color is called "green green." There are a couple of things about this beauty that stand out. First, I think the color is fantastic even though I've tended to favor figured maple tops over opaque finishes. Secondly, the 513 (five single-coil pickup grouped into a humbucking configurations at the neck and bridge locations and a single in between which yields 13 distinct tonal variations) is just an insanely versatile guitar. The lead guitarist on the "American Idol" band plays a 513 if you've watched and seen it. In fact, the particular version he plays is exactly the same as mine: Matteo blue flame maple finish with a Brazilian rosewood (AKA "crackwood") neck.
The listing I link to is one of the new models which has a mahogany neck which does change the sound somewhat - I'm told by my friend the Guitar Nazi who has an ear vastly superior to mine. But the mahogany-necked 513s are not quite as spendy as the crackwood versions so there's something to say for that. And some have even said they prefer the sound of the newer models.
I look at that Midori and get all gooey in the guitar love centers of my brain. And the BIN of $2,900 is really not bad. Also, there's a link embedded in the eBay listing to a uToob demonstration of the 513. It's worth following.
UPDATE: BY way of comparison, a Brazzy 513 is on the 'Bay for a bit shy of $5K. Since PRS is now only putting Brazilian rosewood necks on its Private Stock (i.e. custom-built) models, the price premium for crackwood is going to do nothing but go up. I'm glad I got mine fer sher, fer sher.
And he never knew anything about a Paul Reed Smith. Trolling eBay i came upon this lovely piece of work: a 2007 513 in "Midori Green." That's in quotes because "midori" mean green so the color is called "green green." There are a couple of things about this beauty that stand out. First, I think the color is fantastic even though I've tended to favor figured maple tops over opaque finishes. Secondly, the 513 (five single-coil pickup grouped into a humbucking configurations at the neck and bridge locations and a single in between which yields 13 distinct tonal variations) is just an insanely versatile guitar. The lead guitarist on the "American Idol" band plays a 513 if you've watched and seen it. In fact, the particular version he plays is exactly the same as mine: Matteo blue flame maple finish with a Brazilian rosewood (AKA "crackwood") neck.
The listing I link to is one of the new models which has a mahogany neck which does change the sound somewhat - I'm told by my friend the Guitar Nazi who has an ear vastly superior to mine. But the mahogany-necked 513s are not quite as spendy as the crackwood versions so there's something to say for that. And some have even said they prefer the sound of the newer models.
I look at that Midori and get all gooey in the guitar love centers of my brain. And the BIN of $2,900 is really not bad. Also, there's a link embedded in the eBay listing to a uToob demonstration of the 513. It's worth following.
UPDATE: BY way of comparison, a Brazzy 513 is on the 'Bay for a bit shy of $5K. Since PRS is now only putting Brazilian rosewood necks on its Private Stock (i.e. custom-built) models, the price premium for crackwood is going to do nothing but go up. I'm glad I got mine fer sher, fer sher.
Aw Nuts
Having enthusiastically said I was going to get a ticket to see Mike Cross, I now have to re-think that. To go to the show would require about an hour and a half of driving and the forecast is for crappy weather - early snow followed by rain, sleet and freezing "west and north" of DC. Needless to say, my entire trip would be west and north of DC.
I'd just rather not tempt fate.
Having enthusiastically said I was going to get a ticket to see Mike Cross, I now have to re-think that. To go to the show would require about an hour and a half of driving and the forecast is for crappy weather - early snow followed by rain, sleet and freezing "west and north" of DC. Needless to say, my entire trip would be west and north of DC.
I'd just rather not tempt fate.
Monday, January 14, 2008
A Bit More Of Music
One of my favorite artists and, I'm proud to say, a friend, Mike Cross plays a song called "And the Band Played 'Waltzing Matilda'" by Australian folk artist Eric Bogle. Unfortunately Mike has never recorded it. It is a pretty strong anti-war statement based around the horror that the Aussie troops went through at Battle of Gallipoli. I'm not particularly enamored of the message but the song is superb. It has enough emotional power to bring tears to my eyes. Unfortunately I don't think Eric Bogle's version (link goes to an mp3) is as good as Mike's. Yet Mike told me that he feels it's been recorded enough that he had no interest in doing so. Which is a pity.
I was casting about to add it to my iTunes but I don't care for the spare roughness of Bogle's voice. The Wikipedia page says that a version by The Pogues is well-known but my listening to a sample on Amazon is enough to tell me that Bogle's is better. All in all, Mike has a better voice, just dead-on perfect phrasing and superb guitar-playing. I do wish he'd reconsider recording it.
UPDATE: I figured I'd check Mike show calendar and he's playing in Sykeville, MD this Thursday! As close as he gets to my abode. I'll be calling for a ticket tomorrow.
One of my favorite artists and, I'm proud to say, a friend, Mike Cross plays a song called "And the Band Played 'Waltzing Matilda'" by Australian folk artist Eric Bogle. Unfortunately Mike has never recorded it. It is a pretty strong anti-war statement based around the horror that the Aussie troops went through at Battle of Gallipoli. I'm not particularly enamored of the message but the song is superb. It has enough emotional power to bring tears to my eyes. Unfortunately I don't think Eric Bogle's version (link goes to an mp3) is as good as Mike's. Yet Mike told me that he feels it's been recorded enough that he had no interest in doing so. Which is a pity.
I was casting about to add it to my iTunes but I don't care for the spare roughness of Bogle's voice. The Wikipedia page says that a version by The Pogues is well-known but my listening to a sample on Amazon is enough to tell me that Bogle's is better. All in all, Mike has a better voice, just dead-on perfect phrasing and superb guitar-playing. I do wish he'd reconsider recording it.
UPDATE: I figured I'd check Mike show calendar and he's playing in Sykeville, MD this Thursday! As close as he gets to my abode. I'll be calling for a ticket tomorrow.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Resolutions, Part The Next
I bought myself a new scale. I have a very good counterbalance scale (like this, but without the height measure) but having more incentive is part of the trying to make things work. The one I bought at least in part due to the discount coupon but I was impressed that its capacity was sufficient for my needs which is unusual for a floor scale. And, quite frankly, it is one of the best looking scales I've seen in ... well, ever. It's a thick glass plate atop a strain gauge. It has a nice big LCD display which runs off three AAA batteries.
I'll be measuring myself on both scales as I work on reducing my bulk. I'll post a pic of it shortly.
I bought myself a new scale. I have a very good counterbalance scale (like this, but without the height measure) but having more incentive is part of the trying to make things work. The one I bought at least in part due to the discount coupon but I was impressed that its capacity was sufficient for my needs which is unusual for a floor scale. And, quite frankly, it is one of the best looking scales I've seen in ... well, ever. It's a thick glass plate atop a strain gauge. It has a nice big LCD display which runs off three AAA batteries.
I'll be measuring myself on both scales as I work on reducing my bulk. I'll post a pic of it shortly.
This Is What I Use On My Morning Oatmeal
And it is goo-ood! (Get yours from the Ginger People.)
And it is goo-ood! (Get yours from the Ginger People.)
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Boomer Devolution
My frickin' generation has gone from the "hippy hippy shake" to the shaky, shaky hips.
My frickin' generation has gone from the "hippy hippy shake" to the shaky, shaky hips.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Resolutions
It's awfully early but so far I'm doing all right. At least twice I've started to think about fast food and managed to resist the late night temptation. And I just set up an Excel spreadsheet to track weight loss. It's still finger's crossed but the trend is in ther right direction. It's also a good opportunity to muck around with Excel and teach myself some charting. Life is a learning experience.
It's awfully early but so far I'm doing all right. At least twice I've started to think about fast food and managed to resist the late night temptation. And I just set up an Excel spreadsheet to track weight loss. It's still finger's crossed but the trend is in ther right direction. It's also a good opportunity to muck around with Excel and teach myself some charting. Life is a learning experience.
Stunning
Some time ago I bought Donald Fagen's "Morph The Cat" which is no surprise. I will buy anything Fagen records. But since buying it, I had listened to it only out of iTunes either on my computer or on my iPod. Today I had a major Fagen jones so I queued up the playlist and chewed through "The Nightfly" then "Kamakiriad" and onto "Morph." Wow oh wow! What I have been missing without the sub-woofer! I'm listening to "What I Do" and the rumble of the bass deep down under Fagen's voice and the chick chorus is just amazing. Damn! This is even better than I thought.
Some time ago I bought Donald Fagen's "Morph The Cat" which is no surprise. I will buy anything Fagen records. But since buying it, I had listened to it only out of iTunes either on my computer or on my iPod. Today I had a major Fagen jones so I queued up the playlist and chewed through "The Nightfly" then "Kamakiriad" and onto "Morph." Wow oh wow! What I have been missing without the sub-woofer! I'm listening to "What I Do" and the rumble of the bass deep down under Fagen's voice and the chick chorus is just amazing. Damn! This is even better than I thought.
Blame Me For This
An environmental organization was looking into the diminishing habitat of a curious mammal called the "sand porpoise." After a long period of research, they found that a sub-species which was of a reduced size but of a fierce-feeding nature was actually adaptable to more habitats than previously thought possible. In fact, a shore habitat in which the porpoises had never lived turned out to be very well-suited for them. As the report said, "This habitat is not good for all of them but for small, intense sand porpoises, it's perfect."
An environmental organization was looking into the diminishing habitat of a curious mammal called the "sand porpoise." After a long period of research, they found that a sub-species which was of a reduced size but of a fierce-feeding nature was actually adaptable to more habitats than previously thought possible. In fact, a shore habitat in which the porpoises had never lived turned out to be very well-suited for them. As the report said, "This habitat is not good for all of them but for small, intense sand porpoises, it's perfect."
A Fix To The Blogroll
I realized, after getting an e-mail from the delectable Stevie Rave On that I had neglected to update her Caught in the Xfire link on my blogroll. Whap! Consider me chastened.
I realized, after getting an e-mail from the delectable Stevie Rave On that I had neglected to update her Caught in the Xfire link on my blogroll. Whap! Consider me chastened.
Monday, January 07, 2008
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Friday, January 04, 2008
Thursday, January 03, 2008
New On The Blogroll: Amy Alkon
Amy "The Advice Goddess" Alkon is newest on the blogroll. Insty has thrown up a couple of links to her recently and I find her writing to be actually laugh out loud funny, smart, sane and to the point. I don't imagine she suffers fools gladly so it's great to see her eviscerate them (wittily no less!) in print.
She's a syndicated columnist as well ... let me change that "as well" to "as is well deserved." I wish my WashTimes would carry her column but having online access to her output is a fair substitute. On top of all this, check out the photo she has on her blog. Rowr! That shot just rumbles with sophistication and sexiness. It doesn't hurt that she's a glorious redhead.
There's more: I've sent her a couple of e-mails (one saying how great her photo was and another calling her line "a Ph.D. in bombastic flatulence" Guinness-scientist brilliant) and she was gracious enough to respond to each. Which she absolutely didn't have to do. Not that she needs any PR from me but what a great lady. Couldn't be happier to have her on the blogroll.
Amy "The Advice Goddess" Alkon is newest on the blogroll. Insty has thrown up a couple of links to her recently and I find her writing to be actually laugh out loud funny, smart, sane and to the point. I don't imagine she suffers fools gladly so it's great to see her eviscerate them (wittily no less!) in print.
She's a syndicated columnist as well ... let me change that "as well" to "as is well deserved." I wish my WashTimes would carry her column but having online access to her output is a fair substitute. On top of all this, check out the photo she has on her blog. Rowr! That shot just rumbles with sophistication and sexiness. It doesn't hurt that she's a glorious redhead.
There's more: I've sent her a couple of e-mails (one saying how great her photo was and another calling her line "a Ph.D. in bombastic flatulence" Guinness-scientist brilliant) and she was gracious enough to respond to each. Which she absolutely didn't have to do. Not that she needs any PR from me but what a great lady. Couldn't be happier to have her on the blogroll.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
First Half-arsed Success Of The New Year
When it comes to telephones, I'm a headset wearer. Dyed-in-the-wool, any-other-hyphenated-phrase dedicated headset guy. I no longer want to hold a phone to my face than spit on the sidewalk. By which I mean that I will do it but I don't like it. This presents no problems when it comes to my cell phone - it has speaker function though I much prefer to use the Bluetooth headset (gad I love Bluetooth!) Even with my computer when I'm Skypeing, I use a Bluetooth headset.
But my desk phone has been a thorn in my side for months. I started by using a good-old cordless phone. But that meant plugging a wired headset into the phone and then leaving the handset lying on the desk as I yakked. Not a bad solution but when the headset flaked out on me, I thought it time to cut the cord. So I got a cordless headset. One of these. It was on sale from the bargain-wranglers at Woot.com. But that meant I had to figure out a phone to run the headset base unit. I wanted Caller ID and a phone that wouldn't take a slot on my desk UPS with a power brick. So I found an inexpensive GE phone at Circuit City and set it all up only to find that the headset didn't work with it. (sigh) So I've been talking, at my desk, on a simple, traditional handset for months. It's a new year and i got fed up with not rocking my desk set the way I wanted it to be. So I used Amazon to get myself a nice, new Panasonic, battery-powered (rechargeable of course!), cheap but good phone. It is now nearly completely set up and I'm happy to say that the headset puts foot to booty in a serious way. Cordless, comfy. I can be on the phone and answer nature's call at the same time. Talk about your call waiting!
Tomorrow I figure out how to set up the automatic handset lifter so I can answer the phone remotely from the headset itself. Technology is wonderful and liberating. These are great times in which to live. Seriously.
On the other hand.... In ordering the phone from Amazon, I figured I'd get a few more of the excellent Sony rechargeable AA batteries to fill out the order for free shipping. D'oh! So how did I get AAA batteries? By not paying sufficient attention. Not only that, the AA recharger doesn't fit the AAA batteries. Unh, I mean, vice versa. But I have a few things that use AAA batteries so I'm going to get a charger for the AAAs and a deck of the AAs from my local Staples using my credit card point dollars. Ha.
When it comes to telephones, I'm a headset wearer. Dyed-in-the-wool, any-other-hyphenated-phrase dedicated headset guy. I no longer want to hold a phone to my face than spit on the sidewalk. By which I mean that I will do it but I don't like it. This presents no problems when it comes to my cell phone - it has speaker function though I much prefer to use the Bluetooth headset (gad I love Bluetooth!) Even with my computer when I'm Skypeing, I use a Bluetooth headset.
But my desk phone has been a thorn in my side for months. I started by using a good-old cordless phone. But that meant plugging a wired headset into the phone and then leaving the handset lying on the desk as I yakked. Not a bad solution but when the headset flaked out on me, I thought it time to cut the cord. So I got a cordless headset. One of these. It was on sale from the bargain-wranglers at Woot.com. But that meant I had to figure out a phone to run the headset base unit. I wanted Caller ID and a phone that wouldn't take a slot on my desk UPS with a power brick. So I found an inexpensive GE phone at Circuit City and set it all up only to find that the headset didn't work with it. (sigh) So I've been talking, at my desk, on a simple, traditional handset for months. It's a new year and i got fed up with not rocking my desk set the way I wanted it to be. So I used Amazon to get myself a nice, new Panasonic, battery-powered (rechargeable of course!), cheap but good phone. It is now nearly completely set up and I'm happy to say that the headset puts foot to booty in a serious way. Cordless, comfy. I can be on the phone and answer nature's call at the same time. Talk about your call waiting!
Tomorrow I figure out how to set up the automatic handset lifter so I can answer the phone remotely from the headset itself. Technology is wonderful and liberating. These are great times in which to live. Seriously.
On the other hand.... In ordering the phone from Amazon, I figured I'd get a few more of the excellent Sony rechargeable AA batteries to fill out the order for free shipping. D'oh! So how did I get AAA batteries? By not paying sufficient attention. Not only that, the AA recharger doesn't fit the AAA batteries. Unh, I mean, vice versa. But I have a few things that use AAA batteries so I'm going to get a charger for the AAAs and a deck of the AAs from my local Staples using my credit card point dollars. Ha.
Alert! Alert! Alert!
Bill Whittle of Eject! Eject! Eject! has a new essay posted. You are thus required to go there now and read it. Not reading what Bill Whittle writes is not acceptable.
That is all.
Bill Whittle of Eject! Eject! Eject! has a new essay posted. You are thus required to go there now and read it. Not reading what Bill Whittle writes is not acceptable.
That is all.
Recent Netflixery
I watched "The Simpsons Movie" a couple of days ago. I used to like "The Simpsons." Not any more. I just can't believe it took them a movie to jump the shark. Oh well. Sic transit gloria mundi.
Why? Remarkably boring. Please don't ask me to watch it again so that I can deconstruct it properly! It doesn't deserve it.
Also watch the final pirates movie. Many swashes were buckled and they did a good job of making Kiera Knightly attractive even the girl needs to make face love to a few sandwiches. This one I'll watch again.
I watched "The Simpsons Movie" a couple of days ago. I used to like "The Simpsons." Not any more. I just can't believe it took them a movie to jump the shark. Oh well. Sic transit gloria mundi.
Why? Remarkably boring. Please don't ask me to watch it again so that I can deconstruct it properly! It doesn't deserve it.
Also watch the final pirates movie. Many swashes were buckled and they did a good job of making Kiera Knightly attractive even the girl needs to make face love to a few sandwiches. This one I'll watch again.
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