YouTube - John Edwards - Iowa Jefferson Jackson Dinner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4rqysXGj0o&NR=1

Now I'm convinced.

[per popular request: what I'm convinced of is that Edwards is my candidate of choice! I think he will fight for change. ]

How it all ends. A 10 minute video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF_anaVcCXg

about how we can think about "global warming"

found via http://www.zefrank.com:

How It All Ends

Greg writes: "This ten-minute home video is called "How It All Ends," and is the result of hundreds of hours of research and production, stemming from an earlier video I produced, titled "The Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See." ::

"The Most Terrifying Video", posted on the web six months ago, made a novel argument for taking action on global climate change, and has garnered over 4 million views on various websites. Reading the 6000+ comments on that video—most of them critical—allowed me to hone my argument, so that now it is—as far as I've been able to tell—undeniable. Repackaged in "How It All Ends," the argument is backed up by over 6 hours of "expansion pack" videos, anticipating and answering every single objection that I've been able to elicit from skeptics. Sounds impossible, yes. But then, I've been maniacally thorough."

yes it's TEN minutes.  Hey... it could be two hours.  Can't we spend ten minutes addressing thought on this issue?  And it's also a moderately humorous vid.

The Bloggers of Kindness | Zen Habits

http://zenhabits.net/2007/12/the-bloggers-of-kindness/#more-573

or http://tinyurl.com/29r8r4


good words from Zen Habits....

A little over a week ago, I wrote Faith in Humanity: How to Bring People Closer, and Restore Kindness … and the response was overwhelming. As of this writing there are 168 comments on that post, making it one of my most commented posts ever.

And in that post, I promised to do a “Bloggers of Kindness” post, linking up to my fellow bloggers who talk about kindness and the concept of paying it forward. The response from the blogging world was very nice … a few dozen bloggers responded.

Thank you all, for spreading kindness this holiday season, for paying it forward, for helping make the world a better place, one act of kindness at a time.

You are all awesome people.

Get fit using a treadmill laptop holder

http://www.google.com/search?q=treadmill+laptop+holder&num=20&hl=en&safe=off&start=0&sa=N

I'm constantly figuring ways to work in some more treadmill time. Being
able to use the computer while walking would be a big help in terms of
burning more calories, and getting things done too.

I have drawn up plans for a laptop holder for the treadmill, but some
of the finds via Google cost less than $30, so that may be the way to go.

Dance Radio in iTunes

Yet again, I break my no computers rule :(

http://www.danceradio.gr

entertaining music.

Really bogs down my ancient iBook G3

"i wish god were alive to see this"

See what actual cool people do:

http://teenageteardrops.abstractdynamics.org/

Ok... I'm hoping that is a satire, but I'm thinking no.

At http://www.greatwhatsit.com/archives/1953 it was referred to as a
totally "L.A." website, and it was also referred to as "funny".

Too bad I'm stuck in drizzly old rural Illinois. Hah.

jeff

Songza - The music search engine & internet jukebox. Listen. Now.

http://www.songza.com/

interesting way to find songs... for instance I had been trying to
find "Hang on tight" and there it is... I searched on ELO ... lots of
interesting results.

jeff

AARP Fitness Resource List

http://www.aarp.org/health/fitness/leaders/a2004-06-16-fitnesslist.html

for any 50+ people who come across this site.

This is a very good list for senior fitness do it yourself programs.

jeff

I Am Legend [Will Smith Film coming in December]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Legend_(film)

This I want to see...

Goldsman rewrote the screenplay to be closer to second I Am Legend film adaptation, The Omega Man, of which he was a major fan.^[4] The rewrite was also done to distance the film from the numerous zombie films inspired by the novel.^[5] In April 2006, Will Smith signed back onto the project, with production to begin in 2007 in New York.^[22] A forty-page scene-by-scene outline of the film was developed within the next month. When delays occurred on Smith's film Hancock, it was proposed to switch the actor's films. This meant filming would have to begin in sixteen weeks: production was greenlit, using Goldsman's script and the outline.^[20] Elements from Protosevich's script were introduced, while the crew consulted with experts on infectious diseases and solitary confinement.^[4] Rewrites continued throughout filming, because of Smith's improvisational skills and Lawrence's preference to keep various scenes silent.^[20]

I always liked "The Omega Man",  and I'm tired of zombie films,  so this should be good.  If it's as good as "I, Robot",  it will be memorable.

Redeeming qualities of movie "The Last Starfighter"

It's actually a pretty good movie.

I've seen it before, and saw it was on today so I went out of my way to
see it.

But it has some extra qualities I hadn't noticed before.

First thing it starts out in a trailer park. quality 1: great womens'
hairdo's .

Second thing... it's about people trying to overcome.

Third thing... it's a great show for video gamers.

Fourth thing... it's light hearted.

Ok... so I like it.

Here's yr happy banjo music: zefrank.com: lest you forgot steve martin's banjo skills

http://www.zefrank.com/zesblog/archives/2007/11/lest_you_forgot.html

If you let the video play to the end, there appears at the bottom of
the youtube window a scrolling list of 17 Steve Martin banjo vids!

Plus, Never Ever forget that Ze Frank himself is one of the coolest
characters on the internet, so dig around his site too.

Jeff

interesting writer blog... "Write now is good.": National Novel Writing Month etc

For NaNoWriMo notes:

http://writenowisgood.typepad.com/

write_now_is_good/national_novel_writing_month/index.html

(nanowrimo: National Novel Writing Month: http://www.nanowrimo.org/ )

For General writing notes: http://writenowisgood.typepad.com

I know you don't need me to figure out the second url from the
first, but... so it goes!

I just thought we could use a source of tidbits about writing without
the depressing soul searching we see in some places.

jeff

Andersen Patio Door Latch: ACE Hardware wins again!

No kidding. They actually had the exact replacement for my Andersen
Patio Door latch. Plus they said it was covered under warrantee.

Saved me some actual dollars.

I would have thought that after all the times ACE Hardware had save
my butt with other repair jobs, that I would have gone there first,
but NO... I looked things up on google and found one reference to
someone who found what they needed at Lowes.

So I wasted a trip to Lowes. They had only ONE latch... a generic
model that was just kind of mixed in with other stuff, and it would
obviously not work.

I guess I just like whining.

Now it's fixed.

One of two fix-it jobs I got done this morning.

jeff

NutriCoach Home Page

http://www.nutricoach.net/

This is a great site with all kinds of ideas for losing weight and
getting healthy.

I found it by a reference for Low Glycemic Index foods on another website.

Do you owe someone a beer? Foamee keeps track! A twitter application

http://foamee.com/

Ok... this is hard to describe, but it's 100% fun.

Of course as in so many cases, I am doing it "In My Mind" because it
uses Twitter and while I think Twitter is the coolest thing of all
time, I can't actually stand to have a Twitter client running.

But the IDEA of giving people free beers is wonderful.

:-)

And foamee is a fun site to appreciate.

FFBB00 - SPOILER ALERT - DO NOT READ IF YOU VALUE YOUR SOUL!

My NaNoWriMo progress... NOT. Two of my adversaries are stuck in
12,000 B.C. Being fought over by Neanderthals (or whatever cousins
passed for human at that stage of their development).... trudging
through mud.

You know this is going to be a long trip from then to now,
especially at 200 words per day.

I am so antisocial. Obviously banned from most any group. I hear a
different drum beat and suddenly I'm gone.

FFBB00.... ok here's the spoiler....

FFBB00 is the hex code for the color AMBER. I bet you didn't know
that. Now your life is ruined, huh?

Why is FFBB00 important? Because in the early 1970's that was the
color of the nicest (my opinion) monitors, & I used one to build a
word processor.

It was really fun to sit in the dark watching that amber glow; it
was friendly.

So of course I have spent the last two days automating a process to
turn my old iBook into a full screen amber text editor. Anything but
actually write something, just like 1974.

Not like this is a sudden idea... I have spent a lot of time over the
last couple years finding FFBB00, and then saving it in a variety of
ways so I can find it again when I need to... like last Saturday
morning. This time it only took me five minutes to find. Another
quality Not-Writing experience.

Ok... so back to trying to get those adversaries from 12,000 B.C. up
to somewhere close to current day.

Happy Day.

Jeff

http://nocomputers.blogspot.com

Weekly World News R.I.P. :-(

SEE:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weekly_World_News for a really great entry detailing the history, story style, etc. 

On July 21st, 2007, parent company American Media announced that it would suspend publication of both the print and website version of Weekly World News, with the last issue being printed on August 3rd, after two weeks of 'reprint' issues (no new content).[1] Subsequent announcements instead gave August 27th as the last issue, and state that the online version will continue. [2] No reason was given for the decision; an editor with the paper said that "the reasons given don't make sense."[3]

----------------------------------------------------------------------

see this and more at http://nocomputer.blogspot.com

online relationship training games... from The Power of Two

How about these for non-computer uses of computer?!

http://www.po2.com/       <- they have one free game here

And the same people have several here:

http://babyfit.sparkpeople.com/healthy-relationships.asp

at first glance one would think the babyfit site is all about babies,  but the games are all about  building relationships between adults!

Jeff

----------------------------------------------------------------------

see this and more at http://nocomputer.blogspot.com

NaNoWriMo Success: How to Write a Novel in 30 Days

http://lifelearningtoday.com/2007/10/31/nanowrimo-success-how-to-

write-a-novel-in-30-days/

Of course that means one actually has to DO something, which even
into day ONE I am having difficulty with.

The above links to an interesting blog post, but... reading blog
posts just puts off DOING....

jeff

Studs Terkel: The Wiretap This Time - New York Times

I think I may have heard Terkel's show one time. I'm such a country
boy. I remember it being great.

> Terkel's article today in the NYT: http://tinyurl.com/2vvs85

It details his life history and his current lawsuit against illegal
wiretapping by the US Government.

Terkel was a winner of the Elijah P. Lovejoy Award:

>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah_P._Lovejoy
>
> Interesting reading all by itself. I have always wondered if the
> reputation of Alton Illinois as being a hideout for gangsters came
> from Lovejoy's assassination there. (this was common knowledge to
> my family when I was a child. Not sure why we even knew about it.)
>

Wikipedia entry on Studs Terkel:

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studs_Terkel

Official Studs Terkel website:

> http://www.studsterkel.org/

He was born in 1912 and is still going strong

The Pinnacle Of Madness...

search YouTube for

wd6rwA7skJo

This is a REMIX of the Gwen Stefani video of "Wind It Up"

as they say "with additional music from the Sound of Music"

well... that's an understatement...

The big addition is the PUPPETS!

El bizarro!

However... it seems that playing this video crashes my firefox.
Don't know why... very irritating.

jeff

p.s.

If you find YODELING to be so awful you will leave the room,
don't watch this!

A magical theme is developing... YouTube - Steve Martin Magic

This is The Great Flydini...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJCtOz32dnw&mode=related&search=

Some others of Steve Martin doing magic are also on YouTube.

Dreams, Freud, and the Anti-Freud

All of us Dream Journalers will find this of interest...

The Believer - Hobson's Choice:

http://www.believermag.com/issues/200710/?read=article_aviv

In the early '70s, while planting microelectrodes on the brain stems of cats, he formed his widely cited Activation-Synthesis theory and broadened its implications, perhaps unduly, to disprove Freud's claim that dreams are caused by unconscious, often sinister desires. He and his Harvard colleague Robert McCarley proposed that dreams are strange and fragmented not because secret urges are being censored, as Freud claimed, but because the brain is in a naturally chaotic state.

 ------------------

I'm cataloging dream journals I've kept for more than 15 years.  They are proving to be great fodder for the writing of fiction;  more about that later.

   Jeff

----------------------------------------------------------------------

see this and more at http://nocomputer.blogspot.com

Greet the Day

From 10 benefits of rising early and how to do it:

Greet the day. I love being able to get up, and greet a wonderful new day. I suggest creating a morning ritual that includes saying thanks for your blessings. I'm inspired by the Dalai Lama, who said, " Everyday, think as you wake up, 'today I am fortunate to have woken up, I am alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others, to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings, I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others, I am going to benefit others as much as I can.' "

reformatted because I can do that....

> the Dalai Lama, > says..

>

> today I am fortunate to have woken up,
> I am alive,
> I have a precious human life,
> I am not going to waste it.
> I am going to use all my energies
>> to develop myself,
>> to expand my heart out to others,
>> to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings,
> I am going to have kind thoughts towards others,
> I am not going to get angry or think badly about others,
> I am going to benefit others as much as I can.

It's pretty hard not to like the Dalai Lama

NYT: The 'Good Germans' Among Us

http://tinyurl.com/2xlt5o

There's a pretty good argument that the US is going to Hell.

jeff

I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER?

http://icanhascheezburger.com/

Appropriately labeled cat pictures :-)

Laughter Yoga in Cape Town

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi1WPUeNDJI

An interesting and fun 10 minute video describing laughter yoga

jeff

Laughing Yoga Stress Therapy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXgdSOxaCGI

I think the basic message of the video is that it's OK to be crazy.

Found via http://tinyurl.com/2yddvl

(10 Surefire Ways to Kill Your Crabby Mood )

ADDITION: google search on "Laughter Yoga" turns up some very interesting results. Go digging.

The Blend - Coffee in Washington IL

http://www.theblend-washington.com/

Not much info on their web site.

But they had nice packages of coffee at a new store in downtown
Washington (IL).

Heres a google map:

http://tinyurl.com/yo9ogn

Annals of National Security: Shifting Targets: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/10/08/071008fa_fact_hersh

billions for protecting oil in the mideast... nothing for the poor in
USA

mollie sterling » it does my heart good…

http://duggmirror.com/apple/Look_at_them_apples/

ha ha ha.... Macintosh Macintosh Macintosh... whew! Oops... this it the
No Computers Zone... sorry.

But damn it felt good ;)

woo hoo!

TreeHugger: How to Go Green

http://www.treehugger.com/gogreen.php

A set of guides to going green. Per what they say on the site, they
are hoping to create 100 guides so check back often.

Shards of Consciousness : Exploring Pathways to Freedom

http://www.shardsofconsciousness.com/

What is interesting about this blog is that the writer has written a
series of posts on Rational Emotive Therapy.

Coffee: Organic Mayan Black Onyx Blend

https://www.millstone.com/pages/ourcoffees/ourCoffee.jsp?Section=Organics&Coffee=OrganicMayanBlackOnyx

this is a new coffee available at Malwart among other places.

Fair trade, organic, save the forest approved (I think)...

and it's great tasting... best coffee I've ever found at Malwart anyhow.

Jeff

Maroon 5: "Wake Up Call"

I go through these spells of listening to music.

Maroon 5's "Wake Up Call" got me... just listening to the ups &
downs in it.

DEVO homage: YouTube - "Weird Al" Yankovic - Dare To Be Stupid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEB0Xe2e76I

and while we're at it... here's Al Yankovic's page on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/alyankovic

he has a lot of great stuff on there... it's pretty low-bandwidth as
movies go, and of course...

IT'S ALL STUPID!

(but fun)

Jeff

Timothy Karr: Verizon Blocks Pro-Choice Text Messaging

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-karr/verizon-blocks-prochoice_b_66058.html

"The Verizon network crowd that famously shadows users wherever they go"...

glorious new world of AHMADEINEJAD? I'm skeptical.

This is a follow-up to my previous post regarding Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

I watched as much of his speech at Columbia University as I could. It
was really really boring.

And scary.

I started watching the speech because I was curious after reading the
transcript of the interview of him at

http://ezraklein.typepad.com/blog/2007/09/interviewing-ah.html

In the beginning of his speech at Columbia he pretty much re-defined
science as Discovering the Truth of Islam. There would have been a lot
of questions I would ask him, if I weren't sure that the answer would
be worthless. His glowing words of peace and tolerance in the earlier
interview would appear to be a ploy or at least a twisting of the
meaning. His tolerance is for those who accept Islam.

Just what we need is another bunch of religious people with guns telling
us what the truth is (or for that matter, any bunch of people with
guns). Another point to convince me that mixing religion with
government is poison.

Yours Skeptically,

Jeff

Now you can search Movie Reviews at The New York Times

http://movies.nytimes.com/ref/movies/reviews/index.html

> Browse or search 28,000 New York Times movie reviews. Included in
> the free review archive are all films reviewed since 1960, reviews
> of all Best Picture Academy Award winners, as well as The New York
> Times guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made.

A benefit of them making their previous "for pay" site available to
us unwashed multitudes!

What religion, please tell me, tells you as a follower of that religion to occupy another country and kill its people? Please tell me. Does Christianity tell its followers to do that?

http://ezraklein.typepad.com/blog/2007/09/interviewing-ah.html

> AHMADEINEJAD: Well, is Mr. Bush a religious man?
>
> PELLEY: Very much so. As you are.
>
> AHMADEINEJAD: What religion, please tell me, tells you as a
> follower of that religion to occupy another country and kill its
> people? Please tell me. Does Christianity tell its followers to do
> that? Judaism, for that matter? Islam, for that matter? What
> prophet tells you to send 160,000 troops to another country, kill
> men, women, and children? You just can't wear your religion on your
> sleeve or just go to church. You should be truthfully religious.
> Religion tells us all that you should respect the property, the
> life of different people. Respect human rights. Love your fellow
> man. And once you hear that a person has been killed, you should be
> saddened. You shouldn't sit in a room, a dark room, and hatch
> plots. And because of your plots, many thousands of people are
> killed. Having said that, we respect the American people. And
> because of our respect for the American people, we respectfully
> talk with President Bush. We have a respectful tone. But having
> said that, I don't think that that is a good definition of
> religion. Religion is love for your fellow man, brotherhood,
> telling the truth.
>
> PELLEY: I take it you can't think of anything you like about
> President Bush.
>
> AHMADEINEJAD: Well, I'm not familiar with the gentleman's private
> life. Maybe in his private life he is very kind or a determined
> man. I'm not aware of that. I base my judgment on what I see in his
> public life. Having said that, I think that President Bush can
> behave much better. There were golden opportunities for President
> Bush. He should have used them better.

Ok. So now I find myself in agreement with this guy I'm supposed to
hate. What a bummer.

Anything But Computers

http://nocomputers.blogspot.com/

Here's where you'll find what's on my mind at the moment. Bookmark it. I also have several other blogs, most of which you'll find if you click on the about me link.

jeff

The iPhone, The iPod Touch, and Electronic Books of the Future

For years I have been trying to find a way to read ebooks and actually enjoy reading them.

It occurred to me a couple days ago that the iPod Touch and the iPhone are hints of the future.

What started me thinking on that was seeing people flipping album covers just dragging their finger across the iPod Touch in the Cover Flow view.

The touch action was very much like the way I flip pages in a book or magazine.

So... imagine that you have a iBook Touch 12 inches wide & 9 inches tall (nothing magic about those particular numbers). Imagine it has display density of 200 dots per inch, which is what the iPod Nano has.

Further, imagine that when you turn it on you see an image of a book... possibly the one you have been reading, open to a particular page... you see a two page view. It is a psuedo 3D image. You can drag with your finger to flip pages.

Drag across the "edge" of the book to rapidly zoom back and forth through the book, just like you do with a real book.

The 200 DPI image makes it easy to read. The fast processor flips pages rapidly.

You have a catalog of all your eBooks. I imagine it being like a visit to a library.

I'm ready.

Dreams and Dashiell Hammett's "The Glass Key"

More regarding my re-reading of Dashiell Hammett...

Working my way through "Dashiell Hammett: Five Complete Novels"...

The novel "The Glass Key" is very sublty based on dreams.

The title is a key that appears in a dream to one of the characters.  This is revealed by her (the character in question) in the last scene of the novel;  her and the main character of the book had revealed to each other somewhat earlier in the book that each had a dream shortly after they met,  but she reveals in the final scene that she had left out some details and added to her earlier recount of the dream.

The Dreams Summarized:

1. Ned's dream:  he and the Senator's daughter are fishing in a mountain stream.  He catches a brightly colored trout,  but she throws it back in the water.

2. Her dream (as she first told it): They are walking in the woods.  They come to a house and knock on the door.. there is no answer... they look in the window & there's food on a table inside.  Knock again no answer. Try opening the door... no luck.
  She remembers that people typically hide a key under the doormat... she looks and there it is. They unlock the door and open it... the floor inside is covered with snakes that start coming toward the door.  Close the door.  They climb onto he roof... he leans down unlocks the door & pushes it open... the snakes come out & go into the woods.  They go inside and eat the food.  It's really good.
  (AS SHE TOLD IT ON LAST PAGE OF NOVEL): [same up to finding the key] It is a glass key.  Turning the lock is difficult... it turns and unlocks,  but the key shatters.  She opens the door... the snakes rush her... she is covered with snakes.  She wakes up screaming.

So... the story of the novel has been about gangsters pushing politicians around, about speakeasys, about gangsters beating people up.  About murders.  About lying and cheating and lowlifes of all varieties.  But the last few paragraphs reveal that the whole book is a metaphor for human existence.

Essence is that in reality, we are all besieged by snakes in life (of life?).  That we have beauty in hand and throw it away.  That dreams tell us something about our life.  That while life may be a floor of snakes, if we work at it we may overcome it. That dreams tell us what we need to work on.

New York Times to End Charges on Web Site - Including archives

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/business/media/18times.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

> In addition to opening the entire site to all readers, The Times will
> also make available its archives from 1987 to the present without
> charge, as well as those from 1851 to 1922, which are in the public
> domain.

Thoughts on Dashiell Hammett

I recently started re-reading Dashiell Hammett...

Dashiell Hammett - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "'[Hammett] took murder out of the Venetian vase and dropped it into the alley... [He] gave murder back to the kind of people who do it for a reason, not just to provide a corpse; and with means at hand, not with handwrought dueling pistols, curare, and tropical fish.' Raymond Chandler, in The Simple Art of Murder"

The surprise was that "The Maltese Falcon" still reads well after having read it and seen it so many times. Even in spite of Sam Spade being a sexist bum, he comes across as a sympathetic character. Now I'm ready to go back to the movie... I'm thinking the novel was used word for word in most of the movie, & I'd like to check that.

BANJO - Curtis Eller - NEW YORK - Alternative / Folk Rock / Acoustic - www.myspace.com/curtiseller

http://www.myspace.com/curtiseller

wonder if he's any relation to the Eller we know? Unlikely, but it
crossed my mind.

after I thought you might like the banjo

jeff

NASA - Mars Rovers Survive Dust Storms, Ready for Next Objectives

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/mer-20070907_prt.htm

Howstuffworks "Black Bean Burgers"

found through google search (*http://tinyurl.com/2btbjm)....*

http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/black-bean-burgers-recipe.htm

> Yield: Makes 6 burgers Ingredients: 1 can (about 15 ounces) black
> beans, rinsed and drained, divided
>
> 1/3 cup green onion tops
>
> 1/4 cup plain dry bread crumbs
>
> 1/4 cup corn
>
> 1/4 cup chopped roasted red pepper
>
> 1 egg white
>
> 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
>
> 1 teaspoon onion powder
>
> 1 teaspoon dried oregano
>
> 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
>
> 1/2 teaspoon salt
>
> 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
>
> 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, or more to taste
>
> Nonstick cooking spray
>
> 6 whole wheat hamburger buns
>
> Salsa (optional)
>
> Avocado slices (optional)

Could replace peppers with tomatoes,  maybe a little less salt & pepper, to tone it down a bit.

Chuck Hagel Reads Petraeus - Crocker the riot act

Watching the Petraeus - Crocker testimony this morning...

turned it off once... too boring watching the "statements"...

turned it back on & there is Chuck Hagel (R - Nebraska) explaining to
them why he's doubtful of what they're saying.

And now P&C are spinning. Not addressing "what happened to the south?"

We'll see how much more of this I can stand.

Ceremonial Tea on Flickr - Hyougushi

http://flickr.com/photos/hyougushi/61541094/

A nice change from all the crap in the news!

- jeff -

Tom Smith sings: WikiPirates

http://filkertom-itom.blogspot.com/2007/08/049-wikipirates.html

A song for all those who have ever had problems with "moderation" on
wikipedia (or elsewhere, e.g., dmoz).

Jeff

About 3 miles from Larry's Place in France... YouTube - extremely low level flying in fighter jets

Filmed about 3 miles from their place...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njyhTcqtmto

He was looking for info on low tide & high tide in the bay, and
found this

publishing: geneology [genealogy, as Amazon 'splained to me!], True Crime

ebook & Print On Demand publisher that Organized Writer (http://

www.organizedwriter.com) uses:

http://search.booklocker.com/search-bl.cgi?q=geneology&t=&SEARCH=Search

they do not publish fiction.

Amazon search on genealogy [I learned something NEW!... How 2 spel]:

http://tinyurl.com/2nunua

115,280 results, but at least somewhere
in there is some ranking by sales.

Amazon search on True Crime:

http://tinyurl.com/2p7j4t 15,521 results, but the number 2 result
caught my eye immediately:

http://tinyurl.com/2qcsuk

mostly because it shows what a good
publisher will publish.
We should probably get some of these through interlibrary loan.
Plus the Berry Gang book

fitPod | Fitness + iPod = fitPod

http://www.fitpod.com/

Ok... I'm going to be getting my show on the road.... soon....

Jeffy's Dance & Fitness Lab

Religious Humor

http://www.patcondell.net/

Ok. A warning... Pat Condell's home page may offend some people.

I think it's funny. I like the cute little pig....

The Secret to a Healthy Body - lifehack.org

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/the-secret-to-a-healthy-body.html

I'm having a lot of fun reading http://www.lifehack.org

http://zenhabits.org and http://lifelearningtoday.com

those 3 are good proof that there are great uses of the internet and the
computer other than just more computers.

jeff

Moka Express Coffee Maker

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moka_Express

We bought one of these for $0.50 at a garage sale. It works great. Use about half as much coffee as you expect...

The Moka Express is a stovetop coffee maker, based on the principle of preparing coffee by steam. It was created by Alfonso Bialetti in 1933. It is made from aluminium with bakelite handles. In Italy, where Bialetti (the manufacturer) is based, the Moka Express (or cheaper imitations) is in almost every home.

Fig.1 cross section

A Moka Pot produces a rich dark brew

Fried Green Tomatoes with TVP

http://catsatgooseberryhill.blogspot.com/2007/08/fried-green-tomatoes-with-tvp.html

After quite a struggle I got this composed, and then published it to the
WRONG BLOG!

It was supposed to go to my health/eco/age blog:

http://www.stopmowing.com/healthblog.html

Ok. Maybe with more hours of work it could be fixed. But for now,
it's with the Cats. Which is a kind of joyous thing anyhow.

Jeff

Friday Cat Blogging... Cats At Gooseberry Hill

http://catsatgooseberryhill.blogspot.com/

Slashdot | American Red Cross Sued For Using a Red Cross

http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/07/08/09/125203.shtml

> Swampash sends us a story that even this community may find hard to
> believe. Johnson & Johnson, the health-products giant that uses a
> red cross as its trademark, is suing the American Red Cross,
> demanding the charity halt its use of the red cross symbol on
> products it sells to the public. It seems J&J began using the
> trademark in 1887, 6 years after the Red Cross was formed, but 13
> years before the charitable organization was chartered by Congress.
> Lately the ARC has begun licensing the symbol to third parties to
> use on fund-raising products such as home emergency kits.

So... how can either of them "License" it? I'm sure they've been
using it since before 1900. Is trademark eternal, unlike copyright?

Corn Tortillas What they are & What to do with them...

Looking at Aldi's... corn tortillas in a bag are really cheap, low fat, low sodium, no chloresterol...  so what's to lose???

from: http://www.geocities.com/napavalley/7035/tortilla.html:

Corn Tortillas

Unlike four tortillas, corn Tortillas usually do not contain any added oil. They can be made with corn flour, but the traditional recipe uses something called masa harina or masa flour.

Masa harina is made from corn soaked in lime and then dried and ground into a powder. I know it doesn't sound very appetizing, but masa is a traditional ingredient in many dough containing Latin American dishes, such as tortillas and tamales. Masa can be found in any Hispanic neighborhood and some larger supermarkets as well. The brand I usually buy is made by Quaker, an American company. Many hot sauce catalogs also sell masa, though usually at an exorbitant price. If you can not find masa, try the recipe with regular corn flour (not corn meal or corn starch). The results are acceptable, but they are not authentic in taste and usually tougher in texture than tortillas made with masa.

Google Search:

Recipes Using Corn Tortillas:

  http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf28427895.tip.html

simple living... Date-Dabitur : Forget Food, Its Coffee I Care About

http://date-dabitur.com/?p=345

Interesting site about simple living.

Maybe a little too religious for me, but I think they're doing a
good thing.

Jim Forbes: ForbesOnTech: Life Post Stroke

http://forbesontech.typepad.com/my_weblog/life_post_stroke/index.html

Great stories from a survivor of a stroke.

Including tales about the critters in his gardens.

Weasels, Kangaroo Rats, Alligator Lizards, horned worms.

Life as therapy.

jeff -- http://nocomputers.blogspot.com

Welcome To The FuMP - The Funny Music Project [in tradition of Weird Al]

The Funny Music Project...

http://www.thefump.com/

to quote from their page:

> "One of the best things to happen
> to funny music since Al got weird."
> -Dr. Demento

I don't know what has happened to me, but I'm on a Roll today.

Another creative use of the internet. A Humanistic endeavor.

Woo Hoo! Happy Monday!

jeff

http://nocomputers.blogspot.com

ring ring ring ring ring ring rin Bananaphone

the totally fun web page:

http://bananaphone.andi-h.de/

the totally fun music:

http://bananaphone.andi-h.de/bananaphone.mp3

I'm not sure why this even exists, but it sure is fun!

And it's for sure we all need fun in our lives.

jeff -

http://nocomputers.blogspot.com

Working out Improves Sleep Patterns

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/articles_print.asp?id=373

> Wake Up to the Importance of Exercise
> Working Out Improves Sleep Patterns

PlayTagger: Pages tagged with "system:filetype:mp3" on del.icio.us

http://del.icio.us/tag/system:filetype:mp3

new way of putting mp3s in a web page.

fun to explore mp3s on del.icio.us

when you have time to "waste"

found this thru a reference to "PlayTagger": http://del.icio.us/help/playtagger

Artella Mae's Altered Ancestors

http://www.artellawordsandart.com/AlteredAncestorsBook.html

> Artella Mae's Altered Ancestors: 50 Techniques for Using Vintage
> Photos in Art
>
> This 57-page eBook is our FREE gift to you when you sign up for our
> free ARTELLAGRAM!
>

I have looked at this ebook, and it has some seriously useable ideas.

New Artella Land (Online Community (& Store?) for artists and writers)

http://www.artellawordsandart.com/index.html

I think this is a store. Also writers' "contests".

I haven't looked at the details yet, but from the surface, it's a
very creative way to do a website.

You can look here:

http://www.artellawordsandart.com/passport.html

for a chance to figure out what Artella Land really is.

And if you figure it out, please let me know!

Jeff

Center for Sustainable Community - Chickenomics

Raising chickens, a methodology:

http://www.centerforsustainablecommunity.org/Events/Chickenomics.htm

Since you liked zenhabits.net, try lifehack.org

http://www.lifehack.org/

really.

Use your computer against itself

:)

I know I've covered this before... ArtRage 2 free painting program for Windows & Mac OSX

http://www.ambientdesign.com/artragedown.html

They just came out with a new version. However the old version is
available FREE for Windows & Mac OSX.

And it's a fun program.

jeff

An entertaining exercise for the mind...

First... go read this article:

  http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq19jul19,0,886772.story?coll=la-home-center


Then... watch this:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe1a1wHxTyo

So the question is:  How are they related?

Cloth Wipers, Cotton Rags, Wiping Rags, Paper Wipers and Cotton Wipers Clean Messes

http://www.uzrags.com/wiping_rags01.shtml

possible source for replacements for paper towels. One mentioned is $18
for a 50 lb case!

No Impact Man: Oh no, here come the weirdos with the cloths

http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/2007/04/oh_no_here_come.html

an interesting comment from the above linked page:
>
>
> Maybe you will start Americans using the versatile "tenugui". This
> is the traditional cotton handtowel Japanese people always used to
> carry with them. It is used as a head wrap, a bandage, and with
> dozens and dozens of stenciled designs, is still given as gifts or
> promotional items today. When you retire it, it becomes a dusting
> and cleaning cloth. Sushi chefs and karate and kendo martial
> artists wear them as sweatbands. http://tinyurl.com/2yz2sy
> We could use bandannas for the same thing. I used to carry them,
> years ago, and they always came in handy. Great idea.
>
> Posted by: Christine Cassidy | April 09, 2007 at 06:11 PM
>

found this while searching for info about stopping use of paper
towels (at home): http://tinyurl.com/ywapmw

Film Techniques of Alfred Hitchcock - suspense, camera angles, style, editing, basics

http://www.borgus.com/think/hitch.htm

also useful for video bloggers, and writers of all stripes.

Do Hummingbirds Sleep?

http://www.cvco.org/science/audubon/Nov2002article.htm

We think of hummingbirds as being migratory, and most of them are. That does not mean, however, that they cannot survive cold weather, as hummingbirds don't sleep the way other birds or animals do. They practically go into hibernation every night. Their body temperature, heart rate, and breath rate drop significantly. This is called torpor (TOR-per). These go up in the morning, and the hummer wakes up and goes about its business. In this country, there is a western species called the Rufous Hummingbird that has been seen many times on the east coast in the middle of winter and has survived just fine. Many Rufous Hummingbirds nest in Alaska and arrive there when it is still quite cold. There are also hummingbirds in the rainforests in South America that live high in the mountains, where it can be quite cold. When they go to sleep at night the temperature  drops to near freezing, yet the hummingbirds survive there just fine.

Firefox Toolbar for eBay - My Friendly Fox

http://www.myfriendlyfox.com/extensions/ebay-toolbar/

this is in competition to the soon-to-be-released official Mozilla eBay
sidebar. Has some benefits such as blocking external ads and shows
thumbnail pictures of items found on eBay, even if the seller didn't
pay to have thumbnails posted.

How to Actually Execute Your To-Do List: or, Why Writing It Down Doesn’t Actually Get It Done | zen habits

http://zenhabits.net/2007/07/how-to-actually-execute-your-to-do-list-

or-why-writing-it-down-doesnt-actually-get-it-done/

this is accidentally quite hilarious, but very true!

jeff

Howstuffworks "How to Solve Cat Behavior Problems: Tips and Guidelines"

http://home.howstuffworks.com/how-to-solve-cat-behavior-problems.htm

very detail support pages at this http://howstuffworks.com site. For
cats & lot of other "stuff"

Howstuffworks "How to Repair Small Engines: Tips and Guidelines"

http://home.howstuffworks.com/how-to-repair-small-engines2.htm

boy do I need this.

Working on keeping an old Toro mower going. I love that mower.

Duotrope's Digest (Markets for Writers) - mostly fiction

http://www.duotrope.com/index.aspx

has free online submissions tracker

Firefox Companion for eBay

This might fix some of the problems we've been experiencing with eBay...

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/add-ons/ebay/

We need a test case to be sure, but this is new as of JULY 6, 2007!
(As far as I can tell).

Best cool summer drink: Lipton "Diet Peach Iced Tea Mix"

google search http://www.google.com/search?q=lipton+%22Diet+Peach+Iced+Tea+Mix

from Lipton's site:

http://www.lipton.com/our_products/tea_mix/mix_diet_peach.asp

> LIPTON Diet Peach Iced Tea Mix > > Enjoy the refreshing taste of LIPTON Iced Tea and the sweet taste > of peaches without the sugar! > This is a calorie-free treat that will make the whole family smile.

We really like this stuff!

Impeachment is an option (Scripting News)

http://www.scripting.com/stories/2007/07/06/impeachmentIsAnOption.html

>
> Impeachment is an option
>
> Friday, July 06, 2007 by Dave Winer.
>
> General William Odom: "Congress clearly and indisputably has two
> powers over the executive: the power of the purse and the power to
> impeach. Instead of using either, members of congress are wasting
> their time discussing feckless measures like a bill that 'de-
> authorizes the war in Iraq.' That is toothless unless it is matched
> by a cut-off of funds."

> We're never going to get change in this country until we start
> routinely using the power to impeach and remove officials who
> aren't serving the interests of the country.
>

The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs: How cool is the iPhone?

http://fakesteve.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-cool-is-iphone.html

don't blame me! I thought the whole thing (including comments) was
interesting.

10 Free Minimalist Word Processors for Greater Productivity

http://webworkerdaily.com/2007/06/22/10-free-minimalist-word-processors/ JDarkRoom JAVA based text editor. On mac, the program is only about 120k! A totally simple text editor... no scrollbars, no menus. Sort of like the old AppleWriter without the macros. Writer which has an AMBER screen preset! Online, available from anywhere with a web connection. I can't find any (easy) way to get rid of all scrollbars and the Mac menubar; I managed to cobble together something that woulddo it, but there were serious side effects, and when it was truly full screen, the actual editable text was in a box in the upper half of the screen and there was a really cool purple glowing border around the edit text box. I'm sure someone somewhere loves that purple glow, but I find it distracting. So... all in all JDarkRoom is a better writing environment for me. Maybe there's some way to make it an applet and some good person would host it free for the world.

A Simple Playlist for Tranquil Exercise, Productivity and Calm Living | zen habits

http://zenhabits.net/2007/06/a-simple-playlist-for-tranquil-exercise-

productivity-and-calm-living/#more-394

from zenhabits.net:

> There are times when I want to crank up the metal and get myself
> pumped up.
>
> But many times, I find that playing some mellow tunes helps me
> focus, calm myself, and enjoy life much more.
>
> Your mileage may vary, but I would recommend some simple tunes if
> you'd like to enjoy your exercise (a quiet sunrise or sunset run is
> wonderful), or be productive, or just go about your day with some
> tranquility.
>
> It tends to drown out the chaos of the world, and allows me to
> focus inwardly. And that's a necessity at times.
>
> Here are some songs that work well for me:

go look at the music

have you been turned down because you don't fit the fitness instructor image?

I have long pondered why "fitness instructors" seemed to have been
stamped out with the same cookie cutter, and they have seemed so
inappropriate to everyone except people like themselves. (Yeah, I
know that's a biased statement, but you know: people who are young
or bouncy or atheletic or good looking or a combination.)

Then I heard from my sister that a friend from our home town had
spent many months and dollars getting "certified" as a fitness
instructor and when it came to the final test they DENIED her because
she "didn't fit the image of a fitness instructor". What BS! And I
am not surprised.

So I finally got around to making a Google Search on "have you been
turned down because you don't fit the fitness instructor image?" :

http://tinyurl.com/283fxe

Of course a lot of the results don't answer the question, but just
digging through the results is an interesting experience.

iPhone Security Squad!

http://fakesteve.blogspot.com/2007/06/were-deploying-iphone-security-

squads.html

just for fun

youtube owns us...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boZLA5F1oYE

rock and roll

good stuff

PocketMod: Make a free travel Sudoku book

http://www.pocketmod.com/sudoku.html

really cool idea, plus it's a free sudoku creator

Coffee Calculator: Break the Starbucks habit and Save big!

this is great...

http://www.hughchou.org/calc/coffee.cgi

Stop Buying Expensive Coffee and Save Calculator

A new calculator suggested by Erika Lim from Caffeine Central (Seattle, WA). I, too, have been amazed by folks who bring in coffee from a Starbucks or convenience store every single day instead of just contributing to the local "coffee pot fund". I know office coffee may not stack up to the store bought versions, but is it really worth the long term costs? Many folks drink the equivalent of a wide screen TV every year!

Now to find a gasoline expense calculator!

Sharing life with cats

Wanda comes over needs her cuddling this morning. She only quits crying
when she's in physical contact, getting old, blind.

So right this minute I have cats on both sides of me.

Wanda on right.

Little Cat on left... in corner of couch, watching me with one eye.

Me, typing.

jeff

http://nocomputers.blogspot.com

How to have a dynamic interesting blog...

Ok... don't do things like I'm doing...

cats!

Matt Lauer must hate Sarah Jessica Parker

She (S.J.P.) was on the Today Show this morning, demonstrating her new
line of inexpensive clothing, and he showed nothing but disrespect for
her, in my opinion.

Talking over her when she was talking. Talking to the models while
S.J.P was talking.

So he can use the excuse that he was short on time. But I think he was
short on respect. He could have sped up the show in a respectful
manner, but he didn't.

Getting Things Done - what & how I've been doing it.

general tools & info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_Things_Done

http://zenhabits.net/

http://lifelearningtoday.com/

my mac tool of choice,  iGTD: http://bargiel.home.pl/iGTD/

what I'm doing:

I basically use iGTD as a daily planner... I set up a project for the next 3 days,  and list all the little tasks I know I need to get done.

If I don't get them done in the period in question,  I move them to a new project (which is the next 3 days).

Of course, since I'm retired I can be pretty relaxed about all this.

the flaw in all this?  daily life emergencies tend to derail it.  But so far it's been useful.


jeff  http://nocomputers.blogspot.com

James Brown in The Blues Brothers....

John Belushi, Dan Akroyd, James Brown.

Singing and dancing! I love these guys.

A Happy Thing

Simple GTD : Organize your stuff online

http://www.simplegtd.com/

 What is Simple GTD?

Simple GTD is a completely free web-based tool which help you in organizing your stuff and will assist you to applying "GTD Principles" in your daily life.

What is GTD?

From Wikipedia: "Getting Things Done, commonly abbreviated as GTD, is an action management method, and the title of a book by David Allen. GTD rests on the principle that a person needs to move tasks out of the mind by recording them somewhere. That way, the mind is freed from the job of remembering everything that needs to be done, and can concentrate on actually performing those tasks."

I've been using iGTD on my mac... maybe this will be easier, more universal, and useable with any computer anywhere with a net connection.

  Jeff

All the Britney Spears you'll ever need...

Smokin' Hot Britney « TMZ.com Photo Gallery:

http://photos.tmz.com/galleries/britney_spears_is_smokin_hot