Red Cross Needs your Help

I was hoping to see people clicking on the link to the Red Cross so that they could donate much needed funds. So far I haven't seen any indication of anyone clicking on that link, which is disappointing. I can only hope you've contributed through other sites or via other means. This is the best way to help these unfortunate people at the moment, so do everything you possibly can to loosen up those purse strings.

Note ** - The Red Cross said it had so far raised $21 million, a figure comparable to the response for tsunami victims following the devastation in Asia earlier this year. Nearly $15 million of that has come from individual donations through its Web site, with the rest representing corporate contributions. This is great news - keep it coming folks!

New 10X Olympus

Olympus has announced a new 10x (35mm-380mm) optical 6mp f2.8-3.7 camera using xD cards for a mere $399. That's a hard price to beat. Also will macro focus down to 3cm and has a 2.5" LCD. Only bummer - electronic viewfinder, but at that price you can't complain. Also noticed it doesn't have IS (image stabilization), which is not good when shooting at the 380 end of that zoom. Still the price is low.

Web site of the Day
Windows XP Free Downloads

Help out the Red Cross

The Red Cross Needs your help. Head over to the Red Cross Web Site where you can donate to help out. These folks down in LA, MS, AL are going to need a lot of help, so open up those pocketbooks and put the Lexus on the back burner for the moment.

No Flood Insurance?
This left me rather amazed - noticed this in the online edition of Newsweek . They were interviewing an economist with the Insurance Information Institute, who said,

Is it possible for homeowners in storm-prone places to get flood insurance?
In order to have flood-related coverage you have to have purchased a policy that's underwritten by the federal government through the National Flood Insurance Program. Unfortunately many people do not purchase that even though it's relatively inexpensive and ubiquitously available. It's through the same agent that sells your standard homeowner's policy, but it's the government that [provides] the insurance.

Don't people know about federal flood insurance?
Oh, people know about it. Many people because they're not obliged to do it, they say, “It won't happen to me,” or they hope to get some federal aid afterwards. But in the end they're going to wind up coming short. It's playing Russian roulette with your most valuable asset--your home. I would say that you would have to be insane to not buy flood coverage if you live anywhere along the Southeast coast of the United States.

People can afford to have a house but can't afford to protect it - what's up with that?

Obsolescence

I've been away from blogging a few days, trying to get some printer issues worked out. I had recently bought a Canon i9900 printer which will print borderless 13x19 prints. It's a beauty and a speed demon as well. What was weird, is that I would print something and it would spit it out immediately, just like it should.. But if I then pressed Print again, it would take up to 4 minutes to print. Strange, eh? After many emails back and forth with Canon and prowling many a forum and uninstalling, reinstalling printer drivers, defragging, tuning up the registry, dumping temp files, still nothing worked.

Finally a techie in a printer forum suggested that perhaps my usb 2.0 printer port was underpowered. Since my computer is about 3 years old , it didn't come with 2.0 ports, only 1.1 . I had to purchase a Belkin hi-speed 2.0 PCI card with two usb 2.0 ports on it, in order to get hi-speed usb 2.0 components to work. I've had my external hard drive, my card reader, my scanner and my other Canon printer (an S300) printer plugged into that card and the hub that came with it, without a problem. But the i9900 was obviously presenting new challenges. When I decided to unplug this i9900 and plug it into one of my old 1.1 ports on the computer, it worked correctly. Therefore, perhaps the i9900 has bigger power requirements than my other devices did? I plugged my i9900 into my wife's laptop which has native hi-speed usb 2.0 ports and it worked fine on her machine. So perhaps there is a glitch with the Belkin PCI card. So an email to Belkin and now I await their answer. No doubt it will say that there couldn't be a problem and they will send me a replacement card - we shall see.

But that's where I've been - on an all-consuming effort to figure this out. Incredible how long it can take.

Photo of the Day

Not your ordinary front view, but rather a view from the back of the flower. I liked the color combo in this shot. Taken in the gardens of the Fox Hill Inn . Canon 20D, EF100mm f2.8 Macro USM lens; 1/640th@f4.5 iso200>







Health
Indian Fry Bread debate? Seems like quite a controversy is raging out on the reservation, as Indians struggle with diabetes. Is this favorite staple killing them? Some interesting information here in this Miami Herald article (you may have to register to access article - free registration). Having had some Indian Fry bread myself and being a type 2 diabetic myself, I can understand the debate. I do admit - the stuff is addicting, but then my middle name should have been "pastry". If you want a try at it yourself, here's a recipe .

Quote of the Day
Mitch Hedberg - I once saw a forklift lift a crate of forks...it was too damn literal for me...That machine has been misunderstood for years.

Photo of the Day

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail - Virginia's State butterfly. The Eastern Tiger swallowtail, Papilio glaucus, is a large (12 cm wingspan) Swallowtail Butterfly. It is found in the Eastern United States, as far north as southern Vermont, and as far West as extreme Eastern Colorado. It flies from spring through fall, and most of the year in the southern portions of its range, where it may produce 2 or 3 broods a year. Canon 20D, EF100mm F2.8 Macro USM ; 1/500th @ f4.5 iso 200 Click the photo to see full sized view.

The Turnaround

Did you catch CNN's TheTurnaround this morning? As I've mentioned before, if business appeals to you and in particular the thought of running your own business, you can't find a much better show for giving you lots of tips on how to make your business work. Today's show concentrated on helping a lady run a catering business out her house and to assist her in making her business profitable. Emma Tate had to be one of the nicest ladies you would ever meet , in fact she was so nice, she was practically giving her business away for free to charitable organizations. One of the biggest lessons she had to learn was the ability to say "NO". While it was hard for her to turn people away, she also learned that being profitable means you can create jobs for people, something she hadn't really thought about. (So for those who scorn business all the time for making profits, remember, that does create opportunities for jobs - it's only when the profits become excessive and end up in the fat cats' pockets, that trouble begins).

One of the other interesting bits of advise given to her by her mentor was to create an advisory board that would look at all aspects of her business, initially on a monthly basis and then quarterly. What a great idea! How many small business owners would think of creating an advisory board of people who could honestly evaluate the business and point out ways to improve? Think about how many small businesses fail today in the early years - far too many. Why? Because most try to go it alone and can't see the forest for the trees. Think if they could have the mentoring that is provided by this TV show - the success rate would definitely soar. It always comes back to education, doesn't it? And this is education done correctly - by applying principles to real situations, not idly theorizing in a classroom somewhere. These are the sorts of things that our teachers in our public schools could learn from.

If I were thinking of starting a new business, I'd tape every one of these shows and follow all of these tips. You're getting advice from people who are the very best in their industry - where can you get that for free?

P.S. Just learned that CNN is cancelling this show . Come on - how dumb can you be? And to top it off you dumped Dolan's Unscripted as well. You trashed it originally when you took it off daily programming and now you cancel it for good. How do you think the common man learns about wise investments and financial planning? And learning how to run a small business? Geez, CNN - don't you think America would like to be educated?

Financial Advice
When was the last time you checked out your credit report? Were you aware that you can now get them free? Yep, once every 12 months you can get your free report from Equifax, Experian, and Transunion. Head for AnnualCreditReport.com . Eastern states have to wait till September 1st before this becomes available but for all the rest of you, you should definitely take advantage of this.

Mortgage Rates - I checked out the recent national averages - 5.8% for a 30 year fixed , 5.4% for a 15 year fixed. If you borrowed a 100K to buy a house, you'd be looking at $586/month payments on the 30 year fixed and $811 on the 15 year fixed. If you could figure out a way to come up with that extra $225/month for the 15 year fixed , you'd save $65,108 on buying that house. Of course you could take the difference ($225) and invest it, but then you have to do better than 5.8% and you have to calculate in taxes on the interest you earn on your investments, so in the end you'd have to be disciplined to invest that difference each month and you'd probably be shooting for at least a 10% return on your investment - something that isn't very easy to do in today's stock market. If it was me, I'd be searching awful hard for a way to come up with those extra bucks.

Quote of the Day
Mitch Hedberg - In England, Smokey the Bear is not the forest fire prevention representative. They have Smackey the Frog. It's just like a bear, but it's a frog. I think it's a better system, I think we should adopt it. Because bears can be mean, but frogs are always cool. Never has there been a frog hopping toward me, and I thought 'man, I'd better play dead. Here comes that frog ...' You never say here comes that frog in a nervous manner. It's always optimistic. Hey here comes that frog, all right. Maybe he will settle near me so I can pet him, and stick him in a mayonnaise jar, with a stick and a leaf, to recreate what he's used to. And I'm pretty sure I'd have to punch some holes in the lid, because he's damn sure used to air. Then I can observe him, and he won't be doing much in his 16-ounce world.

Turn of Faith

An interesting article on what it was like to be a Jehovah's Witness. One valuable tip I gleaned from this article - It's strange when Jehovah's Witnesses come to my door now. I know discussion is futile; they have a carefully planned response for any objection. Finally, I say, ''I'm an apostate,'' and their eyes widen at the word: someone who has willfully rejected Jehovah, far worse than a worldly person, who is simply ignorant of the Truth. A threat to the faith of others, an apostate deserves to be shunned, as we were forced to shun our disfellowshipped father. The Witnesses back away from my door. Reckon I know what I'll say the next time they show up. :) (appearing naked at the doorway with a pitchfork also seems to work).

Check your Bandwidth Speed

Want to make sure your speed is what it should be while surfing the Net? Here are a few services that will help you do that - run them all and you'll see they come up with pretty close results - it will show you if you're doing well on your dialup/broadband connection. I'm on dialup and seem to be pretty consistently between 37 and 40KBps (5K/sec transfer rate). However, if I go to my other line (I have 2 lines and 2 line phones), I get only half that speed, yet the phone company tries to blame it on my 2 line phones or my computer modem. Find that hard to fathom.

One thing I do find is that if I check it and the speeds seem to be falling off and I keep rechecking and continue to see slower speeds, a disconnect and reconnect often will bring it back up to the steady good speeds. I'm not sure why this is - perhaps some sort of resistance build up in the line or modem? I'm just guessing - will have to find a modem forum to get a better idea on that. If a techie is reading this, perhaps they might be able to offer an explanation.

P.S. The tests below are quick and easy. Click a button and that's about it. Make sure other things aren't downloading in the background or pages refreshing automatically or your results will confuse you.

What kind of speeds are you finding on your system? Comment below.

• Cnet Bandwidth Meter Speed Test


• Speakeasy Speed Test


• A Beltronica Speed Test

Quote of the Day
Mitch Hedberg - I hate turkeys. If you stand in the meat section at the grocery store long enough, you start to get pissed off at turkeys. There's turkey ham, turkey bologna, turkey pastrami. Someone needs to tell the turkey: man, just be yourself. I already like you, little brother. You do not need to emulate the other animals. I used to draw you. (Stares at hand.) Man, if you were missing a couple of fingers, you drew one fucked-up turkey. You'd be like, "That turkey's been in an accident."

Photo of the Day

I think this photo sums up this summer pretty well. Too damn hot! Willow is probably wondering why someone hasn't delivered her beach umbrella. Canon 20 D, 100mm EF f2.8 USM Macro lens, 1/640th @f4.5 ISO 200 Click the photo for full sized view

Speed and then some

Watched the World Outdoor Track championships from Helsinki, Finland over the past week. Some amazing up and coming talent for the US team, especially in the sprint events. I've always liked track (ran it in H.S - the 440 and Mile Relay).

I think one of the great moments in H.S. track and field comes sitting in the stands of a Gary, Indiana Regional totally surrounded by black folks, who love their track and field, especially the sprints. Man, that place used to rock and roll when it came time for the 100 . You could hear a pin drop waiting for that starter and when some of these young dudes came blasting out of the blocks, the place would go up for grabs with lots of oohing and awing. Some of the nation's top sprinters came out of Gary - I can't recall his name, but I do remember a young freshman phenom who had come close to tieing the National H.S. record in the 100 - he was amazing. (Unfortunately, went to the State meet - tripped over his sweats getting out of them, pulled a hamstring and that was the end of that - by the next year, he was high on drugs and long gone from the track scene - a true waste of a great talent). I also remember going to the old stadium in Indianapolis for the State Meet to see the likes of Bernie Rivers ( 9.6 in the 100 in '62 - from East Chicago Washington), Leroy Spikener from Gary Froebel (1:54 in the 800 in '66-67 and 1:52.7 the next year ( he used to toss his hat aside which was a signal to the crowd that he was going to take charge of the race - I still remember the state meet where that almost backfired - he tossed it early - in the first turn and damn near got beat at the end) , Clyde Peach of Indianapolis Brebauf - 9.5 in the 100 in '65-'66 (how'd a white kid ever learn to run that fast ?), Larry Highbaugh 20.5 in the 200 in '66-67 when it was still being run on the straightaway (Indianapolis Washington), Don Vandrey 4:10.8 in the mile in '65-66 and 4:10.3 the next year to winn again - Valparaiso H.S.), Rudy Chapa (4:05.8 in the mile in '75-76 - Hammond H.S and 8:58.5 in the two mile a year earlier). and Jerry Saffell of Laporte H.S. in the 120 yd, High Hurdles - 14.4 in '61-'62 and 14.1 '62-63 - ah, brings back great memories. I'm sure if you are from Indiana and were a track fan in the mid 60's these names are all quite familiar.

There's just something about 1 on 1 racing that makes it so damn exciting - whether it is track and field, horse racing, biking, indy or nascar racing, but still track and field ranks #1 in this guy's book.

The Radical Middle

Although I listen to what the radical right and radical left have to say, I must admit I tend to drift towards the center. I think both of those elements help bring issues into focus, but little gets done on anything unless you have people in the middle willing to hack out a compromise between these two polarizing elements. I stumbled upon a Radical Middle newsletter the other day which seems to make some sense and tries to steer away from the viewpoint many have of centrists - that they're "mushy, ad-hoc,technocratic -- in a word, unprincipled." His Twelve-Point Plan for caring & creative centrists presents some very interesting viewpoints. Take some time to browse the site - there are a ton of links there. The design of the site is pretty blah, but obviously the author was more interested in the information than a splashy design.

Quote of the Day
Mitch Hedberg - I think a rotisserie is like a really morbid ferris wheel for chickens. It's a strange piece of machinery... "We will take the chicken, kill it, impale it, and then rotate it. And I'll be damned if I'm not hungry! Because spinning chicken carcasses make my mouth water! I like dizzy chicken. With a side of potatoes of some sort.

Canon 10D for Sale

If you're interested in digital photography, a friend of mine has a Canon 10D digital SLR for sale. You can read an indepth review of the camera at DPReview and you can write my friend Sarah to ask her any questions. Some examples of her photography are on the Net at this location . If you're looking to move up from the tinier digicams to something that can produce large prints, this might be the ticket for you, and it gives you the added flexibility of using different lenses for your photography.

Quote of the Day
Mitch Hedberg - I like swiss cheese. It's the only cheese you can draw with a pencil and identify. You can draw American cheese, but someone will think it's cheddar. Swiss cheese is the only cheese you can bite and miss. "Hey Mitch - does that sandwich have cheese on it?" "Every now and then!" I got some swiss air on that bite.

A Clever Idea

Saw this in David Pogue's column today . I agree with him, it's pretty neat device. It twists and you can plug it directly into a usb port without needing a card reader or having to plug your camera into the computer.

It turns out that SanDisk's SD Plus is a card with a twist--or, rather, a fold. Even though the card itself is smaller than a postage stamp, it's been built with teeny, tiny hinges. And when you fold it back on itself, you reveal a set of metal contacts that you can insert directly into the U.S.B. jack of your Mac or PC.

The card doesn't have an actual U.S.B. connector of the sort you find at the end of your camera's cable; it dispenses with the outer rectangle frame. All that really counts, it turns out, is those metal contacts.

That's it. The computer sees the card as an external drive--a flash drive, just as though you'd inserted the card into a card reader--and you can download the photos just as you always do. Except you've completely eliminated the need for an additional piece of gear that bridges your camera and your computer.

Photo of the Day

Shot this looking directly into sun. Was expecting a lot of flare as I didn't have a lens hood on, but was pleasantly surprised. Canon 20D 100mm EF2.8 USM Macro; 1/2500th @ f4, iso 800.

Quote of the Day
Mitch Hedberg - Alcoholism is a disease, but it's the only one you can get yelled at for having. "Goddamn it Otto, you are an alcoholic." "Goddamn it Otto, you have Lupus" ... one of those two doesn't sound right.

Audible

I've recently updated my Audible section in the sidebar, to show my favorite selections over the past few years, as well as to show the book I'm currently reading. If you're a commuter, as I've said many times before, this is something you should check out. Or if you like to work out and tire of just constant music and actually want to learn something, then you need to investigate this. I've read well over 25 books in the last year alone, something I never would have done otherwise.

Fun with MachineTranslation

You will note that under each post now, there is a link to various languages, so if, for example, you wish to read the post in German, you would click on Deutsche. Sometimes the translations aren't bad, sometimes they're pretty funny. (the only one I can speak besides English is German, so your guess is as good as mine about the others. I suspect German is not an easy one for the automatic translation device. Perhaps some of you who speak the other languages can comment on the those. Check the sidebarfor more information about this (under Google Translation Links).

Dana Reeve (44) has Lung Cancer

Man, this is NOT what you deserve after all this poor woman has gone through. You have to wonder how much stress contributed to this. I don't think she smoked, so you have to ponder what caused this. Prognosis is not generally good once you get tagged with this, despite one's positive attitude,etc. Let's hope she can be the exception to the rule. She was a true warrior during his illness. Stress is one of those things you need to get rid of in your life if at all possible, because it is the bringer of only bad things when it comes to health. And if you smoke, well maybe Peter Jenning's death and even hearing of Dana's situation, will prompt you to stop the stupid habit before it is too late. Last I heard, dying of cancer is not a pleasant way to go.

Bidu - boo

Glad I bailed early on BIDU yesterday - down another 10% today at $103 as I post this. I feel sorry for those who bought at $158 yesterday, if they didn't pay attention after they bought. Oil stocks continue to percolate, which is might fine by me, owning 1 of those gems myself. It may not be a good thing overall, but it is handsomely paying off for my otherwise stupid plunges into things like BIDU.

Quote of the Day
Mitch Hedberg - This product that was on TV was available for four easy payments of $19.95. I would like a product that was available for three easy payments and one fucking complicated payment. We can't tell you which payment it is, but one of these payments is going to be a bitch. The mailman will get shot to death, the envelope will not seal, and the stamp will be in the wrong denomination. Good luck fucker. The last payment must be made in wampum Sorry about the x-rated language - that's Mitch, not me!

BIDU anyone?

China's new "Google" has taken off like a rocketship, blasting from $27 to a current $142. You do the math - that's a huge increase. I jumped in to the fray as well - too late? Probably, if my track record is any thing. Then on the other hand, perhaps it will head towards $300 and I'll make a tidy profit. Ha!

Baidu has grown impressively since being founded five years ago and is currently the second most popular Web site in China. For the current quarter, the company expects to report a nearly 400% earnings increase to $1.5 million on $8.4 million in revenue....."The speculators are looking at it as another Google and right now the fast money is taking over," Randy Diamond, sales trader at Miller Tabak, said. "Individual investors should stay far away from this stock until it cools off."

Yeh, well Randy that's probably what you said about Google when it was at $100, too. We shall see.

***"Follow up to this - maybe ol' Randy wasn't so stupid after all. Shortly after I bought, stock started to sink. Cratered out at the end of the day at $115.50. Fortunately, I had set a stop/loss and only took a small loss. Of course tomorrow, it will go up 100%. LOL

You'd Better Get Up Early

Discovery is scheduled to glide to the ground as early as 4:46 a.m. Eastern time Monday at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The time is dictated by the way the shuttle's orbit brings it in line with the approach to Cape Canaveral; if necessary, a second opportunity will come slightly later in the morning, at 6:21.

TV Shows
Saw a great episode of Six Feet under tonight - outstanding acting - truly one of the better programs on TV today. Was introduced to a "Green Burial ", something I hadn't really heard much about - sort of makes sense in a way. It's a shame that's it's going off the air so soon. Some of the other really great TV I miss still today - Northern Exposure and Once and Again. What are some of the great shows you miss?

Medical Savings Plans

Anybody have any experience with Medical Savings Plans ? I'm going to have to seriously look at these. Health Insurance Premiums for someone on their own are becoming more outrageous every year. Mine have gone up 15-20% every year and that just isn't going to cut it, boys and girls. So if you've gone down the road of Medical Savings Plans, post a comment here and let me know of the possible pitfalls or your experiences.

Photo of the Day

What would a web page be without a picture of one's cat? Wiillow is our "youngster", a 4 yr old female who has to put up with her older brother and arch nemesis "Turbo". She is the most loving and yet hyperactive cat there is, whereas Turbo is misnamed - the older he gets the slower he gets, yet he still has that nice male aggressive streak in him, which only means trouble for Willow. Canon 20D EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 ; 1/200th f5.6 55mm ISO 1600

Quote of the Day
Mitch Hedberg - That would be cool if you could eat a good food with a bad food and the good food would cover for the bad food when it got to your stomach. Like, you could eat a carrot with an onion ring and they would travel down to your stomach, then they would get there, and the carrot would say, "It's cool, he's with me."

Problems with IE

In case you're wondering, I haven't posted much lately because I'm trying to figure out why this new blog template doesn't display correctly in IE. There are supposed to be two columns, but the 2nd one doesn't appear.

Strange, as it works fine in Firefox and Opera. I think I'll try a different template just to see what happens, although I'm not holding out a lot of hope.

Interesting - I just changed it to one with a sort of dark teal background and this time both columns show up in IE. Not that I like this color text against this background (think it is a bit hard to read, but it dows give me something to work with). Expect even more changes and possibly new styles as I keep fiddling with this. I do see now that the padding between some of my photos and the text looks good in IE, but is too close in Firefox. Ya gotta love these cross platform problems. Everyone should just switch to Firefox and save me a lot of trouble. :)

Well, found one that I like for its legibility and am now in the process of tweaking it. Test Link

Over There - Whew!

I will say one thing for this show - it will keep you on the edge of your seat - you get a real feel for the tension of a car approaching your checkpoint in the middle of the night with no headlights - shoot? don't shoot and get blown up maybe? Talk about a buildup of plaque in the ol' arteries. I don't know how you can chill out after daily doses of that - no wonder soldiers come home all messed up.

Over There

Over There airs it's 2nd episode tonight at 10 p.m Eastern on the FX channel. You get to live the life of a soldier in Iraq vicariously.

HTML
Incidentally, does anyone know the html for opening a link in a new tab, but in the background, rather than stealing focus? I know" target=_blank" and that's what I use for most of my links but that takes someone away from the page by opening a new tab (or window). Is there a way for that to be written so that the reader can stay on this page and see the tab load in the background?

Testing out a new format

Playing around modifying my blog template some - bear with me while I do my best to screw this up. If you think it stinks, please comment. :)

You Don't Know Jack about Firefox!

If you use Firefox or are thinking about it and want to know more about its features and why everybody raves about this browser, then do yourself a favor and visit You Don't Know Jack About Firefox! I learned quite a few tips myself and I've been using this for some time now.

Was Bush wrong to appoint John Bolton as UN Ambassador?

According to the Lou Dobbs web site , 87% of you said Yes, he was wrong. Shows what Bush thinks of your opinion. With all the bright and good people there are out there, you send a blustery, tactless fool to the UN? Geez, don't we have enough problems already?

Photo of the Day

Oil on Water Sometimes it is the simple subject that works the best. I happened to notice the light coming in behind this oil lamp and since red is my favorite color, I was unable to resist. :) Canon 20D 100mmEF f2.8 Macro USM 1/60th @ f6.3 ISO 800 Click picture for full detail.

Extreme Makeover - Home Edition

You know in this crazy world of ours, one could become a pessimist without breaking a sweat - that's why it's nice to occasionally look over the other side of the fence and see the greener pastures - such as the TV show "Extreme Makeover - Home Edition" . If you can't shed a tear watching this show, then you might as well lie down in the highway right now and wait for the next tractor trailer. This is truly TV at it's best. Not only do you marvel at the incredible creativity of these people and their amazing construction abilities, but you also have to truly appreciate the genuine kindness these folks radiate. If you're ever feeling down and feeling cynical and just downright nasty, take the time to tune in - it will totally change your perspective - guaranteed.

Anthony Bourdain
Oh, before I forget - Anthony Bourdain does Iceland tonite on the Travel Channel - 10 p.m. Eastern. An Interview with Anthony . Most of you know about Anthony from me talking constantly about his engrossing ( a double entendre there) book - "Kitchen Confidential".

Raging Baristas vent! (or is that venti?)

I always like to check in on the Starbucks gossip blog - always interesting and sometimes quite funny - Check out what Baristas think of irritating people who come in to the stores - quite a hoot! An example - "There is a woman who comes into our store every day, orders a tall decaf drip,(Sumatra; you know who you are!!) eats samples with both hands, and takes change out of the tip jar to pay for her coffee...unless I see her first. I move the tip jars when I see her in line. She also complains loudly every time we don't have bran muffins (could use the roughage, from the looks of her) but NEVER buys one when we do.
I wanna be the "Bad Barista" for just one day, so I can toss her wrinkled ass on the street. .

They get even better (and raunchier) - Don't you despise a customer who comes in and asks for grande non-fat cappucino and you get all excited because the store is almost empty and you have the chance to make the perfect cappucino, in a "for here" cup(!), with liquid chrome foam piled high and super sexy delicious. You create, very likely the best cappucino of your life, not too dry and and just at the right temperature. Then that same customer, you know the one, who wears the fake Gucci sunglasses and only comes in the day after welfare cheques are diposited, complains and says, "this is ALL foam, can you fill it up with milk. I didn't pay $3.91 for a cup full of foam." Thats what a fucking cappucino is you ignorant hoochie fool! Some people are just soooo not worthy!

For more of these priceless observations check out the "Bad Barista" story link .

Sports
The one guy who looked like he mght actually be telling the truth before Congress - boy, oh, boy - Rafael Palmeiro, the Baltimore Orioles slugger who at a Congressional hearing in March vehemently denied using steroids, was suspended for 10 days today for violating major league baseball's steroids policy. Read the full article in the Times . Another fine role model for young kids.

Quote of the Day
Mitch Hedbert - Rice is great if you're really hungry and want to eat two thousand of something

Do you have a Google HomePage?

I believe I've mentioned this before, but Google has a neat tool that will create a Home Page with the news you'd like. You can find it at the Google Labs page.

Photo of the Day
sumac or sumach (shu-'ma(k, su-'–) , common name for some members of the Anacardiaceae, a family of trees and shrubs native chiefly to the tropics but ranging into north temperate regions and characterized by resinous, often acrid, sap. The sap of certain of these plants—especially poison ivy and related species of the New World genus Toxicodendron—contains an essential oil that can cause dermatitis.

The fruit form dense clusters of reddish drupes.

The hairy covering of the drupes is harvested and used as a spice in some Middle-Eastern countries. In North America, the smooth sumac, Rhus glabra, and the staghorn sumac, Rhus typhina, are sometimes used to make a beverage, termed "sumac-ade" or "Indian lemonade" or "rhus juice". This drink is made by soaking the drupes in cool water, rubbing the active principle off the drupes, then straining the liquid through a cotton cloth and sweetening it. Click on photo for full sized image.

Quote of the Day
Mitch Hedberg - I was walking down the street with my friend and he said "I hear music." As though there's any other way to take it in. You're not special. That's how I receive it too. I tried to taste it, but it did not work.

Over There

Over There premieres tonight at 10 pm Eastern on the FX Channel - Steven Bocho' s take on the war in Iraq.

Software
Konfabulator has been purchased by Yahoo. And it's now free - so check it out and have a few useful Widgets decorating your desktop. Don't know what I'm talking about? Click on the link. You can have the weather, stocks, clocks,search engines floating on your desktop and constantly updated - nice tool - all the rage now, as you can create your own as well. But all is not perfect - there are some negatives . It's up to you (and your memory) as to whether it's worth it.

Quote of the Day
Mitch Hedberg - I've had the AIDS test four times. And that shit is scary, doesn't matter what you've been doing. So I don't get the regular AIDS test anymore, I get the roundabout AIDS test. I call up my friend Brian and say "Brian, do you know anyone that has AIDS?" "No." "Cool, cause you know me."

Benefits of the Space Program

I had a friend question me on the benefits of the Space Program, wondering if the expense was worth it when we have starving people here at home. Of course, I knew the space program had provided many technological advances here on earth, but I must admit they weren't flowing off my tongue. That made me curious, so I went in search of the answers. This link provides some of the answers and the web page of the Ethical Atheist provides us with many more. This article on Health from CNN provides us with some of the breakthroughs of medicine gained by utilizing technology from space exploration.

Did you know the following? - Out of a $2.4 trillion budget, less than 0.8% is spent on the entire space program! That's less than 1 penny for every dollar spent. The average American spends more of their budget on their cable bill, eating out or entertainment than this yet the benefits of space flight are remarkable. It has been conservatively estimated by U.S. space experts that for every dollar the U.S. spends on R and D in the space program, it receives $7 back in the form of corporate and personal income taxes from increased jobs and economic growth. Besides the obvious jobs created in the aerospace industry, thousands more are created by many other companies applying NASA technology in nonspace related areas that affect us daily. One cannot even begin to place a dollar value on the lives saved and improved lifestyles of the less fortunate. Space technology benefits everyone and a rising technological tide does raise all boats.

Much of this can be found by doing a Google for "Benefits of the Space Program". Do these advantages make the program worth it? Feel free to comment below. If you've followed the links, hopefully now you have a bit better idea of what some of these benefits are.

Bloody Hell - It's HOT,HOT,HOT!

Why does my AC have to break when it is pushing past 90? And then some bozo repairman sits on it for a week before he admits he's an idiot and doesn't know what to do with it and then suggests that if I could pony up $150, he can work on it. No thanks - hell, a new one only costs $195! Just another case of impeccable service. I should go strap the dude in my recliner and make him sweat.

Links
I'm not seeing many folks click on the links inside the posts - how ya going learn anything if you don't click the links? Man, it must be HOT, cause I'm getting cranky. Figure I'll have a few more moments before my Intel Temp Warning system starts beeping insanely and telling me that the insides of my computer are cooking their brains out. Goes off every day without an AC unit running. And how come my Trillian Messenger tells me the outside humidity is 38% when inside this house it registers 80%? You may comment below on that phenomenon.

Space Mission
Before I got all cranky, I had the chance to watch Discovery blast off - a thing of beauty. Perfect takeoff. Some very neat pictures from the craft that we've never seen before. Miles O'Brien at CNN has a blastoff blog - he's a true space nut, so he's the guy to watch.

Health
You might just want to consider letting your doc know what pills you're taking that he doesn't know about - The big man was slumped over his breakfast tray, face cradled in a bran muffin, silent and blue Geez.

Politics
Darfur? What's that? According to monitoring by the Tyndall Report, ABC News had a total of 18 minutes of the Darfur genocide in its nightly newscasts all last year - and that turns out to be a credit to Peter Jennings. NBC had only 5 minutes of coverage all last year, and CBS only 3 minutes - about a minute of coverage for every 100,000 deaths. In contrast, Martha Stewart received 130 minutes of coverage by the three networks. Well what did we expect from a nation of sitcom watchers? Damn, it's HOT!

Quote of the Day
Mitch Hedberg - I went to the store to buy eight apples and the clerk said "Do you want me to put 'em in a bag?" and I said "Oh no, man, I juggle. But I can only juggle eight, if I'm ever here to buy nine apples, fucking bag em up!"

Anthony Bourdain on the Travel Channel tonight

If you happened to read or listen to the book "Kitchen Confidential" (a great listen, as the author reads the book), then you will know that Anthony is one wild and crazy guy (language would be x-rated in his kitchen). He's got his own series on TV starting tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern on the Travel Channel. That's 277 if you have DirectTV, if not then you will have to look that one up in your cable guide. Just thought I'd pass that along - I'll be tuning in to see if it is as good as his book. Will no doubt be a bit strange. A preview of the show appeared in the NY Times today. You can read it here

Computer Tips

If you need an easy to run and free Anti-Spyware tool, you might try Microsoft's which has had good reviews. I installed it and ran it and it found a few items I didn't realize I had and that were undetected by Search and Destroy. You can download and read about it here - Microsoft Windows Anti-Spyware (beta) It will remain free through the end of the year and then I don't know for sure what their plans are - we shall see. In the meantime, it never hurts to have an additional spyware program onboard.

Updates for Computer programs

It's always hard to keep up with what is the latest version of software you're running. You might want to go to File Hippo and there you will find a page with tons of updates and the links to them. Quite helpful. Tip of the hat to Signpunk who passed that site on to me.

Shuttle Launch
Discovery is set to go off at 10:39 am Eastern, not 10:30 as I reported yesterday. (Hey, where are all my fact checkers !?!?)

Quote of the Day
Mitch Hedberg - A waffle is like a pancake with syrup traps

Discovery back on schedule?

NASA managers today cleared the shuttle Discovery for another launch try Tuesday, weather permitting, on a critical flight to service and resupply the international space station. The decision came after senior managers agreed on a strategy that would permit blastoff even if - and only if - the shuttle experiences a fuel sensor problem like the one that grounded the ship July 13 .

Blast off is set for 10:30 a.m. with a 5 minute window. Let's hope this goes off without a hitch. To keep up on the status of the flight, follow along at SpaceFlight Now

Lance says Goodbye

Lance Armstrong cruised to a 7th Tour de France victory today. No matter what you think of the guy personally, his accomplishments, (considering his fight against testicular cancer that spread to the brain), are astounding. And he did it drug free, something other athletes should make note of. If you have satellite or cable TV, you might check to see if you get the OLN (Outdoor Life Network). Most likely, they'll be showing a repeat of the final leg tonight.

Photo of the Day

The flower-flies or hover-flies are a family of flies (Diptera), scientifically termed "Syrphidae".

As one of their names suggests, they are most often seen around flowers; the adults feed mainly on nectar and pollen, while the larvae (maggots) eat a wide range of foods. In some species, the larvae are saprophytes, eating decaying plant and animal matter in the soil or in ponds and streams. In other species, the larvae are insectivores and prey on aphids, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects. Aphids alone cause tens of millions of dollars of damage to crops worldwide every year, and so aphid-feeding hover-flies are being recognised as important natural enemies of pests, and potential agents for use in biological control.

Some syrphids mimic bees or wasps in appearance, in some cases bearing an alarming resemblance, both in shape and coloration. It is thought that this mimicry protects hover-flies against falling prey to birds and other insectivores which avoid eating true wasps because of their sting. Adult syrphid flies are important pollinators. Canon 20D, 100mm EF 2.8 Macro USM, ISO 400, 1/20th@f5.6 - tripod

Some words from Molly

The U.S. is over $7 trillion in debt (no problem); China buys $1 billion worth of U.S. treasury bills a day (thanks for floating us); Americans love the prices at Wal-Mart (made in China, cute!); the Chinese save 50 percent of their domestic product; the average American has $9,000 on his credit cards; our economy is fueled by a fragile housing bubble; the minimum wage is $5.15 per hour ... ; taxpayers who earn over $1 million saved $30K under Bush tax cuts; the war in Iraq costs $9 billion a month; by 2040, our kids will be unable to do more than pay the interest on the national debt ... ; bankruptcy reform makes it impossible to escape your debts; in Darfur [Sudan], people earn $1.25 a day. .....

It is a curious thing that as the disadvantages and, indeed, perils of globalization become clearer and the subject of ever-more worried books by respected economists, the mainstream media keep treating the whole problem as though it were about a bunch of protesters in turtle costumes at the G8 summit. If it were not for Lou Dobbs on CNN, one would never even hear it mentioned on television.

Sounds like a promising future, eh?

Molly Ivins article

Quote of the Day
Mitch Hedberg - "I tried to walk into Target, but I missed. Damn. I think that the entrance to Target should have people splattered all around, then when I finally make it in the guy will say "can I help you sir" and I'll say "Just practicing"

A bit of humor

Noticed this quote on Jeff Kimmel's blog and thought it was too funny. From the late comedian Mitch Hedberg -

When you go to a restaurant on the weekends and it’s busy they start a waiting list. They start calling out names, they say “Dufrane, party of two. Dufrane, party of two.” And if no one answers they’ll say their name again. “Dufrane, party of two, Dufrane, party of two.” But then if no one answers they’ll just go right on to the next name. “Bush, party of three.” Yeah, but what happened to the Dufranes? No one seems to give a shit. Who can eat at a time like this - people are missing. You fuckers are selfish… the Dufranes are in someone’s trunk right now, with duct tape over their mouths. And they’re hungry! That’s a double whammy. We need help. Bush, search party of three! You can eat when you find the Dufranes.

A few other good oneliners from MItch - "Tortillas are sleeping bags for ground beef." -

"You know they call corn on the cob, corn on the cob, but that's how it comes out of the ground, man. They should call that corn, they should call every other version corn off the cob. It's not like if you cut off my arm you would call it Mitch. Then reattach it and call me Mitch-all-together..."

"Once I saw this wino who was eating grapes, and I said, "Dude, you have to wait".

"Mr. Pibb is a replica of Dr. Pepper, but it's a bullshit replica, 'cuz the dude didn't even get his degree. Alright."

"You know that Pepperidge Farm bread, that stuff is fancy. That stuff is wrapped twice. You open it, and it still ain't open. That's why I don't buy it, I don't need another step between me and toast."

"I make instant oatmeal in the morning then I don't do shit for an hour. Makes me wonder why I need the instant oatmeal, I could make the regular oatmeal and feel productive."

"I wanna hang a map of the world in my house. Then I'm gonna put pins into all the locations that I've travelled to. But first, I'm gonna have to travel to the top two corners of the map so that the map will not fall down."

Mitch is my kind of guy. :) I'll send you a few more of his one-liners in the days to come.

Phishing, Podcasting, RSS - huh??

Lee Rainie from the Pew Internet and American Life Project sends word of new survey results that he calls a "sobering reminder that internet users aren't as steeped in new internet phenomena as the people who work in IT-related industries or cover technology news."
According to Pew's data, only 29 percent of American have a good idea what phishing is; the numbers are lower (13 percent) for podcasting , and RSS feeds (nine percent).

Not very surprising - most folks barely know how to browse the Net, let alone send an email. I guess they must have a life, unlike myself and apparently YOU, who are reading this at the moment. LOL

Photo of the Day
I must be into flowers lately. Actually, it is so bloody hot, I have little desire to go further out into nature, other than a stroll in to the Gardens here at the Fox Hill Inn As with all these photos, a click on the picture here leads to the full sized image with greater detail. Canon 20D; 100mm EF2.8 Macro USM lens - 1/60th@f5.6 ISO 200

Picture of the Day

The Hollyhocks are shooting up there this time of year. A good 6-7' tall now. This one's blossom hasn't gotten attacked by bugs yet. And believe me, the bugs love these plants. Click on the picture for larger and more detailed view. Taken with Canon 20D, 100mm EF2.8Macro USM lens.


A tall plant (Alcea rosea) native to the Middle East and widely cultivated for its showy clusters of very large, variously colored flowers. Also called althea.

[Middle English holihocke, marsh mallow : holi, holy; see holy + hoc, mallow (from Old English).]

Ebay Stock Rocks!

On the back of big earnings, Ebay's stock is soaring today some 20%. Whew! Wish I had bought that puppy.

Computers
Firefox updates to 1.06 to fix the things it screwed up with its 1.05 release a few days ago. You can get it here . If you use Roboform, you should go read the instructions for installing the Netscape Adapter for Roboform. (you need to remove the current one you have installed via Control Panel / Add/Remove Software and then follow the instructions to install the Firefox Roboform extension ).

Scrapbook adds a beta to it's already fabulous extension for Firefox. Pick it up at this Scrapbook beta site . It and Answers.com make using the Net a worthwhile endeavor.

Spotlight of the Day
John Scopes was found guilty of teaching Darwinism, Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, in a Tennessee high school on this date in 1925. Though Scopes was fined $100, the Tennessee Supreme Court overturned the verdict on a technicality. The trial, which became known as the Scopes Monkey Trial , was tried by two very famous lawyers, Clarence Darrow for the defense and prosecutor William Jennings Bryan. It was only in 1968 that the US Supreme Court overturned a similar law in Arkansas. Source - Answers.com

Quote of the Day
Just think of the tragedy of teaching children not to doubt - Clarence Darrow

Hot and Humid Baby

Boy, when is this humidity gonna break? Took a trip to Winston Salem today - think this was a big mistake. Temps in the mid 90's and I 'd swear the humidity is over 100%. AT 7:40 p.m the temp is 90 with the heat index 96 - welcome to the South - ugh. Reminds me of my days in Atlanta. Nice to drag my laptop along and sit in an air-conditioned Panera Bread store and update all the programs I have that always require big downloads. Takes seconds and with JiWire's Spotlock security system ($5/month), I feel a lot more secure than before with no security.

Photo of the Day
These little fellas are the bane of all gardeners (not that I'm a gardener!). They sure love these shasta daisys. Tried to shoot this critter using my tripod, but too hard to maneuver it around and finally gave up. Bumped up the ISO to 800 so that I could shoot at faster shutter speed (slight breeze blowing) and took the best depth of field I could. Click on the photo for the full sized image

Freedom over money?

It's the freest lifestyle I've ever known. There's not a lot of money in it, but I do all right. It's a tradeoff…freedom or money, freedom or money…I'll take the freedom.

- Dick Grayson, New Orleans street musician

I woke up this morning, turned on the tube, and enjoyed a good hour of street music from LA, New Orleans, and NYC. If you get the Sundance channel, check out the movie Playing for Change . Some of the best music comes from street musicians. I still remember the group from Peru playing on a street corner in Portland, OR - turned me on to the music of the Andes and those incredible pan flutes. If you're in NYC, just traveling the subways introduces you to an incredible variety of acts (those folks you see playing in the subways and performing their art have to audition for those spots!). Worth a look (and a listen).

Tiger Cruises to Another Major win

Tiger made it look easy yesterday. Monty gave him a bit of a run, much to the excitement of the flag waving Scots, but it wasn't one of those William Wallace days (Braveheart) and he faded over the last 9 holes. Tiger must be getting a chuckle out of those doubters over the past few years who thought he had lost his touch. 2 Majors already this year with another coming up. Can he win a 3rd? (PGA Championship Aug 11th-14th) He's already 2 ahead of Jack's record of 18 when Jack was Tiger's age. There aren't many who can match Tiger's intensity and focus - in other sports, Roger Fedderer (Tennis) and Lance Armstrong (bicyling) come to mind. But has Tiger won the hearts of sports fans like Arnold Palmer did? Some don't think so .

Mozilla/Firefox Adapter for Roboform Released

I have to give credit to Roboform. After Firefox suddenly released version 1.05 and users of Roboform found that it would crash every time they ran the two together, Roboform tech guys jumped on it and in little over a day, came up with a fix. So if you use Roboform and Firefox, then head here for version 6.3.7 of the adapter.

Golf
If you're into Golf, then tomorrow is your day. Tune in at 8 a.m. Eastern on ABC to see the final round of the British Open. Tiger has a 2 shot lead over Jose Maria Olazabal with Montgomerie and Goosen 3 back and Faxon and Garcia 4 back. Should be a great event.

Anthony Bourdain

Anthony Bourdain, of Kitchen Confidential fame, will have his own show (Anthony Bourdain, No Reservations) on the Travel Channel . Look for it starting July 25th at 10 p.m ET/ PT. (if you use Firefox, add it to your DoMe plugin task list). I listened to him read his book (Kitchen Confidential) through a digital download on Audible.com. That was an experience! He is one off the wall chef! I learned a lot about running a busy NYC restaurant though and if you don't mind a bit of profanity (understatement), you'll find this a great read.

Firefox 1.05 and Roboform Incompatibility

I posted yesterday that Firefox 1.05 is now out, but you shouldn't install it yet if you use Roboform. It will crash Firefox every time. I'll update this when I see a fix. (apparently Roboform got zero information from Mozilla that they were coming out with 1.05, so it will take Roboform about a week to fix this problem - hopefully sooner).

Photo of the Day

Closeup macro shot of bumblee on coneflower, also known as echinacea. (Click on image for full sized view).

A popular herbal remedy, or botanical, believed to benefit the immune system; it is used especially to alleviate common colds and the flu. Echinacea is extracted from the roots and flowering tops of the purple coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia and E. purpurea). Echinacea should not be used in progressive systemic and auto-immune disorders such as tuberculosis, leicosis, connective tissue disorders, collagenosis and related diseases such as lupus erythematosus, according to the German Kommission E. Its use in AIDS or opportunistic infections in AIDS patients is controversial.

If used for more than 8 weeks, echinacea may cause liver damage.² It should not be used with other known hepatotoxic drugs such as anabolic steroids, amiodarone (Pacerone® or Cordarone®), methotrexate or ketoconazole (Nizoral®).

So use some caution when consuming a lot of this. I take methotrexate, so this information was quite relevant. I didn't realize the danger was hepatoxicity - i thought the issue was that it enhanced the immune system and thus would be contraindicated with a disease such as mine (rheumatoid arthritis), where the idea is to damp the immune system down (or the part of it that is doing damage) . That is the prevalent theory amongst most rheumatologists, although there is debate about this as well (there's always a debate in medicine).

Firefox 1.05 Released

With a host of security fixes, Firefox 1.05 was released today. You can get it here

Science
Discovery was scrubbed today due to fuel sensor problems and most likely would have been scrubbed for weather. Tune in tomorrow.

Sports
Michelle Wie (the 15 yr old phenom) kept her hopes alive in the men's Amateur Public LInks by shooting a 72 which just snuck her into match play today. If she were to win this event, she'd get an invite to the Men's Masters. Now how cool would that be? Of course, some men have grumbled, saying that she should stay on the women's tour since men aren't allowed to play on the women's tour. What's your opinion?

Movies
Saw Hotel Rwanda last nite on Direct TV. I liked the performance by Don Cheadle but the movie, despite the horror behind it, wasn't gritty enough for me. Nick Nolte in his powder blue UN getup just didn't cut it for me - he looked stupid (as most of these UN guys do in these stupid outfits) and it turned it a bit too Hollywoodish for me. Still, it is amazing how the world can sit on its hands throughout these massacres, just as it has done in Darfur . Obviously, since Rwanda offers little political advantage to politicans in the Western World, they just don't give a shit. We can spend billions attacking a country that likes to play a bluff game, (but wasn't imminently dangerous), while we stand by and let 800,000 people be hacked to death. (For background info on the genocide, check out this BBC article ).

TV
If you get the chance, tune in to PBS's presentation of Jared Diamond's Pulitizer Prize winning book, Guns, Germs, and Steel .Inspired by a question put to him on the island of Papua New Guinea more than thirty years ago, Diamond embarks on a world-wide quest to understand the roots of global inequality. The three one-hour programs were filmed across four continents on High Definition digital video, and combinied ambitious dramatic reconstruction with moving documentary footage and computer animation. They also include contributions from Diamond himself and a wealth of international historians, archeologists and scientists. To find out when it comes on in your area, head for the PBS TV Schedule .

Web Site of the Day
Old Grandma Hardcore

Discovery Mission

Turn on your TV sets around 3 p.m Eastern to get ready for Discovery's blastoff. The stakes are large for NASA -"A triumphant launch and especially a safe landing is deemed an "absolute prerequisite" to NASA’s future plans, suggested John Logsdon, Director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs in Washington, D.C.

"NASA needs to get shuttle flying to finish the International Space Station. It needs to retire the shuttle as soon as possible and replace it with newer, safer, systems," Logsdon told SPACE.com , while getting started on human exploration beyond Earth orbit.

"None of this is likely to happen if this mission fails badly," Logsdon advised. "So this launch ranks up there with Alan Shepard and John Glenn’s Mercury missions and Apollo 11 in its significance."

For more about what will take place on the shuttle, head to Mission: Safety .

Rudy Chapa link - 404 Not Found

It seems like there is a lot of traffic to this site looking for the Rudy Chapa running story which was originally at http://www.midwestrunning.com/features/chapajuly2003.html. However, this was taking down by the site for reasons unknown to me, so hopefully you will notice this post before doing a search and wandering off on wayward excursions.

RSS feed for this site

In case you are using a News Aggegrator to read this site, the new feed address is http://feeds.feedburner.com/PontificatingFromTheMountain

Curry Spice Shuts down Melanoma

Curcumin, the ingredient that gives curry its yellow hue, blocked the growth of melanoma tumor cells and even stimulated their death in the laboratory, researchers report .

"We could completely inhibit the growth of the tumor if we used a big enough dose," said study co-author Bharat B. Aggarwal, chief of the Cytokine Research Section in the Department of Experimental Therapeutics at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. His report is set to appear in the Aug. 15 issue of Cancer.

Aggarwal and his colleagues exposed three different cell lines of melanoma to curcumin, which is found in turmeric, a spice used in curry dishes. Exposure to curcumin decreased the cell viability of all three cell lines, they found.

They zeroed in on a molecule called NF-kappa B, which is known to be overactive in several types of tumors, including melanoma. The turmeric shut down the molecule and that lead to inhibition of the tumor growth, Aggarwal explained.

In other preliminary research, including some by Aggarwal's team, turmeric has proven useful in treating multiple myeloma, as well as breast and pancreatic cancers.

Having had really bad sunburns as a kid and being fair-skinned (an indication of my regal English heritage, I'm sure), I'm no doubt a prime candidate for a nice big fat melanoma, so this is good news, in particular, since I already ingest the stuff as an anti-inflammatory for my RA.

Don't Like to Read?

Stumbled across this well written and very funny article on reading and those who can't stand the thought of picking up a book.. If you don't read, how do you think? Through tv? Through gossip? If you don't read, how can I possibly relate to you? If you don't have a library, no matter how small, or a book splayed face down on your coffee table, how will I be able to see your brain?

Web Site of the Day
Your Birthday

Mucous Recovery System?

While watching the Dolans yesterday on CNN, there was a discussion about health care costs and some of the crazy charges that one finds on their bill. How about $30 for a box of Kleenex - listed under "Mucous Recovery System". God, I love bureaucrats.

Photos of the Day

Decided I had spent enough time surfing the Net today, so grabbed the camera and headed outside. (Besides, after the post above, thought you needed something more pleasant to dwell on. :) The winds were beginning to pick up as we got the fringes of Dennis, but was able to grab a few quick shots before it became impossible. Usually need a tripod for these shots, but bees are quick moving so I often find it necessary to pump up the ISO and shutter speed and cross my fingers. Click the picture for the full sized image.


Here's a macro of a day lily that I liked for its simplicity and brilliant colors. (click for full sized image)

If you get the chance sometime, tune in on Saturday mornings (9 a.m. Eastern) to CNN's Turnaround Show with Ali Velshi . He stops in for a few days with different folks who are starting up small businesses or have been established for a short time and want to turnaround their stores or businesses to achieve better results. He generally brings in an expert from outside to suggest ideas and to formulate a plan. Today's show was an interesting one with a guy who ran a Pet Supply store catering to the "elite". Quite interesting to see all the little factors you have to take into account to make yourself successful. I've alway enjoyed reading about business (probably why I subscribe to Fortune, Forbes, Kiplinger, Smart Money and god knows how many others) and sometimes think life would have been a lot more fun (and challenging), had I gone the small business route rather than plowing away at corporate America. It's never too late, eh? :)

Another show that used to be on CNNfn on a daily basis was the Dolans , which has now moved to CNN, since CNNfn folded (a shame, as it was my #1 financial show in the morning). The Dolans are now on only once a week on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. A husband and wife team (she seems to be the one with the most sense and he seems more the buffoon), they offer some excellent advice on all kinds of consumer matters and do it in a way that the average consumer knows what they heck they are talking about. They've been doing this kind of consumer/money shows a long, long time. Worth a listen. You almost always pick up something you can use .


Factoid of the Day

The patent for the Corncob pipe was granted today in 1878.

"Corncob" pipes made from maize cobs are cheap and effective, even if some regard them as inelegant. The cobs are first dried for two years. Then they are hollowed out to make a bowl shape. The bowls are dipped in a plaster-based mixture and varnished or laquered on the outside. Shanks made from Pine wood are then inserted into the bowls. The first and largest manufacturer of corncob pipes is Missouri Meerschaum, located in Washington, Missouri in the USA [1] ( http://www.corncobpipe.com/ ). Missouri Meerschaum has produced the pipes since 1869. General Douglas MacArthur was perhaps the most famous smoker of this type of pipe, along with the cartoon character Popeye.

Corncob pipes remain popular today because they are inexpensive and require no "break-in" period like briar pipes. For these two reasons, corncob pipes are often recommended as a "Beginners pipe." But, their enjoyment is by no means limited to beginners. Corncob pipes are equally valued by both learners, and experienced smokers who simply desire a cool, clean smoke.

Photo of the Day

I was recently in Asheville, NC and saw this decorative molding around a store window. Liked the spirals, the texture, the colors. Click on the picture for full sized image.

Wie Misses the Cut

A real bummer. I watched practically her whole round and at -4 with the cut line at -3, I was sure she had it made, but then with 4 holes left, she double bogied and it was like watching a pin pop a balloon. You could see the 15 year old then, although I'm sure anyone under those circumstances would have been really disappointed. She finished at -1, 2 strokes away from making the cut. It was great theater though and I'm sure she will be back - she is absolutely awesome for a girl her age.

Politics
I found it interesting to watch Tony Blair in his news conference today. You could see how he was trying to put a good spin on the G8 (and there were some good things to come out of it), but it was tough, because the big boys didn't really have the guts to pull it all off. They should have all been made to sit down and watch "The Girl in the Cafe". In regards to climate change, he remarked that without the USA, China, and India putting their support behind a plan, nothing was ever going to come of climate change. GW of course, refuses it for fear it will damage the economy of the US. It might hurt it some, but then I'd rather have a slightly ailing ecoonomy and still have a bit of air to breathe too, not to mentioin a tidal wave swamping me someday when all the icecaps finish melting.

Firefox Tips
Want to see larger text on a page? Just hit Ctrl and the plus sign to zoom in. Hit Ctrl and the minus sign to zoom out. Or hit Ctrl+0 to return to the orignal size.

Opening Tabs - If you click a link using the scroll wheel on your mouse, it opens a new tab. Don't have a scroll wheel? Hold down Ctrl and left click on a link to pen a URL in a new tab (or hit Shift and left click to open a new window, although why you would want a new window when you could have a tab, I'm not sure).

Wie off to hot start in round 2

Michelle has birdied the first 2 of 3 holes in her quest to make the cut on the Men's Tour. Tune in to the USA network this afternoon at 4 Eastern to watch her live.

Will Wie make the Cut?

CNBC will provide continuing coverage of the John Deere Classic at 6:00 p.m. ET Friday following USA Network’s live second-round coverage from 4-6 p.m. ET in order to show the completion of Michelle Wie’s round. The 15-year-old Wie tees off Friday at 2:48 p.m. ET with her round expected to finish at approximately 7:45 p.m. ET.

Wifi Theft
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Police have arrested a man for using someone else's wireless Internet network in one of the first criminal cases involving this fairly common practice.

Benjamin Smith III, 41, faces a pretrial hearing this month following his April arrest on charges of unauthorized access to a computer network, a third-degree felony.

Police say Smith admitted using the Wi-Fi signal from the home of Richard Dinon, who had noticed Smith sitting in an SUV outside Dinon's house using a laptop computer.

Guess this will teach folks to protect their systems won't it?


Today's Factoid
On this date in 1835, the Liberty Bell cracked while tolling the death of Chief Justice John Marshal, who had died two days before. The bell was hung in Independence Hall in Philadelphia in 1753, and was rung when the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed in 1776. First cast in England in the 1750s, the bell bears the inscription from Leviticus 25:10, "Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof."

Michelle Wie at the John Deere Classic

Michelle Wie , the 15 year old female "Wunderkind" is making her first attempt at the Men's PGA tour in the US today. She is currently 1 over through 9, having just birdied the 9th hole and is in a tie for 52nd. Top 70 scores make the cut at the end of the day Friday. You can follow her progress through this real time scoring site . You can watch play later today on the USA channel from 4-6 p.m. This really sparks some interest in Golf - she's an amazing talent with one of the best swings in all of golf. " Fred Couples has also praised her, saying, "when you see her hit a golf ball ... there's nothing that prepares you for it. It's just the scariest thing you've ever seen."

*Update - Michelle finished round 1 at -1 with 4 bogies and 5 birdies on the day. Her -1 put her in a tie for 57th, but players are still on the course. A pretty decent day for round 1, I'd say, considering the pressure.

Web Site of the Day
Hyper History OnLine

New to Digital Cameras?

Canon has a nice site for those new to digital cameras (or cameras in general). If you've just bought a digital camera, it's worth a look through this site. Canon's Discover the Real Joy of Photography (Site temporarily down).


Today's little known factoid
Sylvester Graham - inventor of the graham cracker - celebrates his birthday today. (1794-1851). The graham cracker originated in the United States by Rev. Sylvester Graham, a Presbyterian minister, in the early 1800s as a "health food". Originally made solely with graham flour, many modern imitation Graham crackers contain no graham flour at all, and are based on bleached, refined white flour, which the Rev. Graham implacably opposed.

His original "Graham bread" was the centerpiece of a vegetarian diet created with the intent of suppressing carnal urges, which he believed were the source of many maladies. He also warned that ketchup and mustard caused insanity. However, at the time he gained many followers who set up boardinghouses, in cities like New York and Boston, where his vegetarian diet was observed.

Graham crackers have long since ceased to be considered a health food, but they have remained popular as a snack food. Today, graham crackers are made with much greater amounts of sugar and other sweeteners than used in the original recipe. Cinnamon is also commonly added to graham cracker mix to enhance the flavor.

Graham crackers are essential ingredients for various popular snack foods, including moon pies and s'mores.

Fortunately, I don't eat many graham crackers so still possess a full quota of carnal urges! I suspect many older ladies will be secretly feeding their Viagra taking ol' geezer husbands this tasty treat after reading this. I do like ketchup and mustard, however, which does explain this blog.

Web Site of the Day

Mini Putt
(I had a 49 on the first try - good luck!) P.S - Watch out for #14 - it's a bugger!

Happy 4th of July!

Been busy with my wife's family reunion for the past 3 or 4 days, so little chance to post. I could post all the family reunion pics, but somehow I think that might cause a glazing over of the ol' eyeballs, so.....

Movies
Every now and then I see a little gem of a movie and the other day I was reading an article in Newsweek about an HBO produced film called The Girl in the Cafe . This was a splendid film - the acting was fabulous, especially the performance by Bill Nighy. It ranks right up there with the best movies I've seen in a long time. It sends a message about poverty, the G8 conferences, etc, but it is not just a message movie, and not just a character movie, it is more a melding of the two into a wonderfully crafted little movie. Loved it - watch this. You can catch it July 5th at 6:15 and 9:15 p.m. Eastern time. For a full schedule of showings, head to this schedule page . This movie is a good reason to have HBO - they do some of the finest work in television, not to mention film.

Picture of the Day
Two expert flat-footers in action at the recent Wayne C Henderson Music Festival at Grayson Highlands State Park in Grayson County, Virginia. Click on the picture for the original view and some more background on the picture. This fella even had a Michael Jackson "moon-walk" move.





Fact of the Day
Adams and Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It was an anniversary that both founders were determined to live long enough to see. Death took Jefferson at 12:50 in the afternoon. Near noon, close to the time of Jefferson's death, Adams awakened from a deep sleep and with great effort proclaimed, "Thomas Jefferson survives." These were his last words, after which he fell into a coma. At about six o'clock in the evening, as the warm day turned cool, John Adams died. He was ninety-one years old.

Kite Runner

Finished this audio book today. What can I say? Read it - better yet - listen to it since it is read by the author himself (an Afghan, now living in the U.S). Not only is it a great story, but you learn some history of Afghanistan, the Taliban - this book is up there with Life of Pi, Secret Life of Bees,etc. You can the read basic plot summary if you look below in the posting I made earlier about this book. #3 on the NY Times Paperback Fiction list and listed now for 41 weeks.

Incidentally, I noticed that Washington's Crossing by David Hackett Fischer, which I recently finished, was listed as one of the 10 best books for 2004 by the Times. Also on the list was Ron Chernow's Alexander Hamilton. That's my next listen. That's a long one - 37 hours.

Google

Remember that little Google stock that went public around $85/share not that long ago? Today it sits at $304.10/share. Are you putting a gun to your head that you didn't get in? I am.

Firefox Extension
For a killer Firefox extension, check out Scrapbook . How I missed this one, I don't know. If you do research on anything (health issues comes to mind. :), then this is a great tool.

Audio books

Thought I might mention that Audible has a summer sale of their audio books for $9.95 each. That's a steal, so you might want to check a few titles out. When you consider that John Adams is available on 37 CD's for $100 from Barnes and Noble, it's nice to know you can get it for $10 and download it to your Ipod, mp3 player, Palm Pilot or Pocket PC thus alleviating the need to schlep 37 CD's around

I recently finished Washington's Crossing by David Hackett Fisher, read by the incomparable Nelson Runger . Great history book of the beginning revolutionary war battles, in particular the Battle of Trenton and the following battle of Princeton. One has to marvel at what these soldiers endured on that bitter cold, sleet driving winter night in 1776 while crossing the Delaware. How they made it across that river and then drug those cannon along icy roads for another 10 miles and then fought a battle humbles this couch potato of today. The book further illustrates how the tide could have easily have changed in favor of the British, were it not for Washington's strong leadership and a different mindset amongst American civilians of the day. It's hard to imagine how a hastily thrown together bunch of ragtag farmers, clerks and the like could defeat professionally trained armies, many with 30+ years of doing battle. Originality saved the day, that and a fierce determination to be free. Give it a try - impecabbly researched and the description of the crossing is worth the read alone.

I'm now halfway through The Kite Runner by Khaled Hossein . Given a 4.7/5 rating by some 413 readers on Audible, the following descr iption sums it up nicely - Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of its monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable and beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan grow up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant, is a Hazara - a shunned ethnic minority. Their intertwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them. When Amir and his father flee the country for a new life in California, Amir thinks that he has escaped his past. And yet he cannot leave the memory of Hassan behind him.

The Kite Runner is a novel about friendship and betrayal, and about the price of loyalty. It is about the bonds between fathers and sons, and the power of fathers over sons - their love, their sacrifices, and their lies. Written against a backdrop of history that has not been told in fiction before, The Kite Runner describes the rich culture and beauty of a land in the process of being destroyed. But through the devastation, Khaled Hosseini offers hope for redemption. This is turning out to be a very interesting story, one that is hard to put down.

Maybe it's time you gave an audio book a try? Did you know that truck drivers are becoming some of the best read individuals in America? More and more and descending upon libraries and checking out audio books for their cross country trips. If you're a commuter, you're nuts to miss this opportunity to fill up those wasted hours sitting in your car - I know, I used to sit in that 5 pm. Atlanta traffic - back then I always kept a book in the car, but audio would have been fabulous .
 

Wie shares Open Lead with 1 round to Go

If you get the chance, tune in to the final round of the Women's Open tomorrow at 3 pm on NBC. Michelle Wie shares the lead with a few others at +1. Rather amazing when you consider she is 15 years old and an amateur. She is 6'3" tall though and has a gorgeous swing, in fact Johnny Miller commented that it is one of the 5 best swings in golf today amongst all men and women golfers and I wouldn't dispute that after watching her.

It's a Sports Day

If you're a sports nut, then today is your day. Wimbledon going on right now - Annika trying to put a 3rd notch in her belt in chasing 4 Gland Slam titles in a single year(NBC - 3 p.m Eastern), the US Outdoor Track and Field Championships (4 p.m. eastern on ESPN), Indy car racing with Danica Patrick at 7 pm. Eastern. I watched some of the women's golf tournament yesterday - is going to get interesting since the course favors "short play" vs the long hitter. Annika loses her edge there and going into today is some 6 strokes behind, so will be interesting to see if she can catch up. I like golf but am no expert. I find it interesting that the women seem to lack the ability to put a lot of spin on the ball , so they lose the ability to hit past the pin and have the ball spin backwards to the hole. Instead they have to hit it short onto the green and run it to the hole, which often they failed to do or hit over the hole and watched the ball just keeping running. Perhaps an avid golfer could fill me in on why we see the women do this less than the men. I can't believe it is a power issue, as some of the women can hit driver further than the men. There are a lot of teenagers at the top of the leaderboard, so will be interesting to see how they handle the pressure of a big event (15 yr old Michelle Wie is only 2 strokes behind the leader).

I saw in the paper where Marion Jones withdrew from the Outdoor championships as did her husband, Tim Montgomery. Probably didn't want to be embarassed. Hate to say it, but I'm inclined to think their success came from steroids.

In a bizarre moment in Sports, I happened to read in USA Today where a volunteer official (and one with a number of years volunteering) at a Track meet was struck by a 16lb shotput in the head and killed. I've never heard of such a thing happening.

TV
Coming up in July (July 27th at 10 p.m Eastern), Steven Boccho who brought us NYPD Blue amongst other fine TV drama, will bring the Iraq war into our homes on the FX channel, as he follows a band of young soldiers into action in the new series "Over There". It supposedly will have the "real-life" aspects of war that "Band of Brothers" and "Saving Private Ryan" brought to the scene. If that is true, be prepared for some gripping television. So put July 27th on your calendar

A busy few days

If you've wondered where I've disappeared to, it was 30th wedding anniversary time, so the wife and I headed for Asheville, NC for a stay at a nice lodge and a few days touring old familiar sites and enjoying a few nice restaurants. Janet spied a 50% off deal on a $40 book ath the Visitors Center that got you 2 for 1 meals at many restaurants and some of the very nicest restaurants in Asheville. This slick move on her part saved us a lot of money over a few days - made it affordable to eat at some of the nice restaurants. Had a very nice dinner at the Boathouse on Lake Julian .

Took in a German movie at the Fine Arts Theater (english subtitles) called "The Downfall" (der Untergang in German), which outlined the final days in Hitler's bunker. Nominated for an Academy Award, it is an awesome portrayal of the final days in the Bunker, and in particular an incredible portray of Hitler himself by Bruno Ganz. (Goebbel's wife was one steely-eyed tough number, herself). I can't imagine anyone looking more like Hitler who could have played the part better. If you get the chance, see this movie. Up there with "Das Boot" and "Saving Private Ryan". You may have to look for it in the "fine arts" movie theaters.

On a brighter note, made our usual pilgramage to one of Asheville's finest arts and crafts gallery, the New Morning Gallery . They have added on additional rooms that display some incredible interior design talent. If you ever wanted a living room or bedroom decked out in an artistic manner, then you should come and look at these displays. Blew us away. Some great talent and artisanship on display here. Better have a fat wallet when you utilize one of these design themes.

Web Site of the Day
National Priorities Project