Britney Spears & the Themes of Our Lives...

video link: http://www.zefrank.com/theshow/archives/2007/02/022107.html

have I said I like this guy? This is why.

jeff

Mouse pointer fun!

1-click Award by 株式会社リクルートメディアコミュニ
ケーションズ

http://www.1-click.jp/

It seems crazy, but this is clever and fun. It's like an inside
view of what's happening.

Dangers of computer controlled anything: Therac-25

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therac-25

This is the classic case of what can go wrong:

It was involved with at least six known accidents between 1985 and 1987, in which patients were given massive overdoses of radiation, which were in some cases on the order of hundreds of grays. At least five patients died of the overdoses. These accidents highlighted the dangers of software control of safety-critical systems, and they have become a standard case study in health informatics.

I wrote a lot of assembly language control systems, but I was always glad they were not in a place to endanger lives.

jeff

Drill a Hole in That Substrate and Tell Me What You See: Music: Jim White

Having fun tonight listening to my last.fm station: lastfm://user/MagicDrum/loved    I don't know for sure... you may have to pay to listen, or go to http://www.last.fm/userMagicDrum  & see what you can find.

Jim White was a musician I marked as interesting...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00026WT6A/ref=reg_hu-wl_mrai-recs/105-4121103-2904467

Jim White's South in its own dark way spins another yarn of wondrous stories where strung out Santa Clauses and Jesus listening to Dylan and driving a motorhome, are but only part of a lyric universe that owes as much to Country myths as to the ghost of Rimbaud.

Yes, this is another of White's "seasons in hell" more Texas, though, than nineteenth century France but probably as hallucinatory. These are tales of a man who, more than raised in America, has been abducted by it as it was an alien mothership.

For those who loved his first two albums, this one may not necessarily be that different, and what I said so far, not completely farfetched. This is not to say that this album lack musical surprises nor artistic growth, and Joe Henry's production has no small part of such accomplishment. Jim White can be dark all by himself but with Henry's aid gains a smokier, jazzier feel, which fits the songs like a silk glove.

In general, the tunes Joe Henry helmed as producer -which account for half the album- are the most interesting ones. I'd say that this is, in its own way, as inspired a collaboration as Loretta Lynn found with Jack White in Van Lear Rose. Of course, the music is far from similar but the producers' tugging and pushing an artist's certain style into new colors and atmospheres is comparable.

"Static In The Radio" -sung with Aimee Mann- and "Combing My Hair In A Brand New Style" are great examples of the musician-producer connection I've described, and so is "Buzzards of Love" with some powerful horns, somewhat reminiscent of Henry's own "Tiny Voices." And then there are three personal favorites of mine: "Bluebird," "That Girl from Brownsville Texas" and Phone Booth in Heaven" -stunning ballads all ... a weakness of mine- which are tender in their own wounded ways.

As White sings that a friend once told him ... "Jim, what you cling to, that's the thing that you had best forget. For ain't no rose bed ever gonna bloom in an untended field of regrets." Well, Jim White is definitely tending those regrets again and some glorious roses have begun to bloom.

Best sites for shaping up...

So I'm in the Dr's office, reading old magazines & there's  Good Housekeeping, November 2006!  and Lo!,  I discover it is interesting.  Lots of interesting articles, especially a special health guide to the internet.

In trying to get our mini, ad-hoc family to actually do anything I'm on the lookout for "stuff" and here's some from Good Housekeeping:

• Demand Fitness: not free but starts at $0.99 for a day & you could download bunches in a day
• Ace Fitness for strength training.  guide to common errors
• Mayo Clinic for an exercise program in their fitness section.
• President's Challenge to get the whole family off the couch (good luck with that)

And a couple online fitness sites I've found in my internet adventures...

• Spark People has a lot of good FREE online tools and will send you reminders until you scream.
• Fit Day is a FREE online journal and planner.  They would like to sell you their computer program which will not run on a Macintosh.  I actually had this set as a home page for quite some time.
  
• Calorie King is an online journal and planner that costs $7.50 a month.  Very reasonable. Updated.

Of course the problem with all these is you actually have to do something.  That's the truth of life.

I actually liked the Weight Watcher's meetings, but they're expensive for two people.  Thought about TOPS quite a bit but haven't checked the locals yet.

BUT FIRST... just plain exercise is what is needed for Son In Law, Mom and Daughter.

NANS Tans & Toning, and a GREAT garden too!

This woman has fun. In the little river town of Lacon Illinois.

http://nanslacon.com/index.html

And their back yard/garden is one of the wildest looking places you'll ever find. Worth the trip if you ever have a chance or an excuse. Her website gives only a hint

jeff

big name musicians... Bread & Roses - Live Art Delivered Daily

http://breadandroses.com/

big name musicians

BUT this is an interesting, loving website.

jeff

Aqua Teen Hunger Force sign fiasco [explained]

Could rename this "Government gone Amuck"...

http://www.xoverboard.com/blogarchive/week_2007_01_28.html#002026

be sure to read the numbered points farther down the article.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force sign fiasco [explained]

http://www.xoverboard.com/blogarchive/week_2007_01_28.html#002026

Microwave oven can sterilize sponges, scrub pads

University of Florida News:

http://news.ufl.edu/2007/01/22/zap-the-bugs/

"The microwave is a very powerful and an inexpensive tool for sterilization," Bitton said, adding that people should microwave their sponges according to how often they cook, with every other day being a good rule of thumb.

answers that question.

"There are no cats in America where the streets are lined with cheese."

Penn & Teller Bulletin Board:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/106337/thread/1169352131/last-1169939575/Another+%26quot%3BOpportunistic+Ghoul%26quot%3B+Gets+Burned

one comment:

Miracle water, eh?

January 26 2007, 10:12 PM 

Popoff is back in business these days, hawking "Miracle Spring Water"

Absolutely disgusting.

I don't think, though, that people want to be fooled. I think that people yearn for the easy path or the magic solution to whatever troubles are at hand. They want to get out of their underpaying, thankless jobs. They want money to pay off their debts and enjoy their lives (as money would obviously help). They want to know there's life after death (and a balm to ease the pain of grief or guilt), and they want to lose weight/be sexy/be popular/be successful. Hell, we've all felt that feeling. Wouldn't it be great if I won the lottery? People want the answers, and some are willing to listen to a charmer who has them for sale. No, people don't want to be fooled. But they do want someone - anyone - to provide the magic answers so desperately that rational thought plays less and less of a role in their lives. The wanting just wounds them, leaves them susceptible to outside influence. It's a lot like being immunocompromised; the presence of the disease just opens the door to infections. These infections wouldn't cause problems in normal people, but they threaten and ultimately kill the susceptible person. They're called opportunistic infections, aptly enough.

My thoughts are best expressed in the lyrics sung by an impoverished mouse immigrating to the US in the AFI-acclaimed movie, "An American Tail."

"There are no cats in America where the streets are lined with cheese."

Why there are beans at family events...[not vulgar]

video link: http://www.zefrank.com/theshow/archives/2007/01/012207.html

Ze Frank at his best!

Rat and Mole Club, my Eye.

file this under "Grumpy Old Man", but there is so much on tv now which
is pure b.s.

there's a story on this morning about the Rat and Mole Club... woman
saying these rats have been bred for centuries to be tame, unlike sewer
rats.

But wait (I sez)... .... CENTURIES? Not in the "West". How about
India... the Temple Rats... but they were not "bred to be tame", they
just happen to live in the temple.

She is "building a story".

I see so much news which is just story building... and they're not
worthy stories... they're just filling time. Making up an interesting
story. Taking a small grain of something & making it into a story.

History Channel does this too... it's entertainment, not history.

Nice background music :: Exotica, Lounge, Space Age Bachelor Pad, Bossa, Bollywood, Bubblegum, Soft-Psych, Go-Go, Latin Jazz..

http://www.luxuriamusic.com/

really "neo-lounge" almost elevator, but it varies.

pretty good.

You call it Country, I call it Bad Rock 'n Roll

Listening to the Whip http://wwhp.com this morning.

That's what was just playing. I remember Don saying "that's not
country". Well he of course was right. BUT... wwhp plays everything.
Real country, fake country, western, country-western, just plain rock
& roll. etc. "Both kinds of music: country AND western"

Having fun.

Cleaning house with "mom"

Now we're taking a break.

Saw the Bald Eagles Again

The bald eagles were out by Hild Road again today. Working on that
dead deer. Must be a bad time for them.

Had a closer look at the one that does not have the white head... it
must be a female or a young one.

I suppose that with the power of the internet, I could surely get an
answer to that. :-)

----------------------------------------------------------------------
see Jeff's Perceptions at http://nocomputer.blogspot.com

My fave radio station...

http://wwhp.com/ Playing the best in blues, bluegrass, alternative and traditional country, rock, gospel and American Roots music

Now with much better quality streaming than a couple years ago. I've been there. Met their chief engineer. Interesting place.

Petraeus’ Riddle: “Tell Me How This Ends”

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/01/10/tell-me-how-this-ends/

Sadly. Or worse.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
see Jeff's Perceptions at http://nocomputer.blogspot.com

Momofuku Ando: Mr. Noodle - New York Times

The inventor of ramen noodles dies at 96:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/09/opinion/09tue3.html?

ex=1325998800&en=5e351e668da0b093&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

maybe that link will work.

Magic vs Magick

Sherry....

Sometime we might discuss what that's all about.

Doesn't have to do with "definitions" as far as I'm concerned.