Some music history fades away...

RIP Mike Porcaro.
The music never dies.

Google -- Are they the best of us?

Images of leaves reminiscent of Anna Atkins' photography

In the real world, despite a life well lived as a botanist/photographer, 19th century Anna Atkins was destined for the anonymity so many of us share -- until Google 'googled' her, dredged up her story, and memorialized her with a Google doodle on her 216th birthday.
Thanks, Google. And hello Anna. It's nice to meet you.

Privacy, the Last Hurrah

Ever hear of DARPA? If you're worried about your privacy, if you think Eric Snowden has opened up a can of worms, or Pandora's Box, or the CIA's treasure trove of information... MAN! Are you behind the curve! These DARPA guys (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) have their fingers in pies you didn't know could even be baked! Want to see something truly scary, something that will allow the government to track YOUR FOOTSTEPS? Just click here -- but be warned; if you do, you're gonna sleep less!

(previously published 2/2014)

Dave's still got it... and other news

In his monolog last night, after discussing the 'Blurred Lines' ruling for the Marvin Gaye family,   David Letterman said that the heirs of Dan Blocker were going to court to get a piece of Pharrell!  Now THAT'S funny!

And as long as we're discussing the crazy stuff lawyers do for a living, consider the photographs below. Was the modern photographer  'inspired' by the 80-year-old Jaguar ad? Did he consciously copy its 'essence', and if so, should he be required to pay some kind of royalty? Heavy. 

(Hey, pass that around, don't be a toke hog!)

Good teachers hammered this stuff home! Thanks, Dr. McSharry and Mr. Friedman

"Cesar-sa mort" by Vincenzo Camuccini (1798)

March 15, 44 B.C. --   Caesar approaches the Senate. In the crowd, he sees the soothsayer who warned him about the Ides Of March.
'The Ides of March are come,' Caesar confidently declares.
'Ay, Caesar,' replies the soothsayer, 'but not gone.'
The conspirators gather around Caesar; he sees his trusted friend Brutus among them. They pull out their swords and stab Caesar. With his dying breath Caesar addresses Brutus, 

"Et tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar!"

 Caesar pitches forward, lifeless upon the pedestal of Pompey's statue. Cinna rejoices, crying, "Liberty, Freedom! Tyranny is dead!" Witnesses to the assassination flee the Senate and Trebonius reports to Brutus and Cassius that Antony has fled to his house in shock and that people are running through the streets  "As it were doomsday" .

Once in a lifetime game show finishes - on the same night!

First, there was Jeopardy, with only one contestant for the finale; then there was, on the very same night, A Wheel of Fortune game, with only one player with any money. Two consecutive shutouts.
It has to be Obama's fault!  

Don't mess with Cas!

Richmond, VA woman, 75, strangles rabid raccoon at local botanical garden

Cas Overton

...........

Posted: Tuesday, March 10, 2015 11:47 am

By TAMMIE SMITH
Richmond Times-Dispatch, lightly edited by Jack Krug

Cas Overton knew she would not be able to get away from the violent raccoon that attacked her on the leg Saturday afternoon as she walked in Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden watching for birds.

So she did what she had to do.

“I tried to shake it off and realized how violent it was,” said Overton, 75, of Henrico County. “As I moved backward away from it, I grabbed its neck and I knew that I couldn’t get away from it. If I ran, it would be faster than I would and would just tear me to pieces.

“So I threw it to the ground and I strangled it — with both hands. I am a terrific animal lover. It’s the last thing in the world I would have ever wanted to do, but you know self-preservation kicks in, and I guess a primitive part of my brain just went into operation and that was it,” she said Tuesday, recalling the incident.

State laboratory test results reported Tuesday confirmed that the raccoon had rabies.

Overton on Saturday was taken by ambulance to Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital for treatment. She was started on a series of shots to prevent rabies infection. She had the second shot of the series Tuesday.

Health officials are asking anyone who may have been exposed to the raccoon or had their animals exposed to notify the Henrico County Health Department at (804) 501-4529 or the Henrico Animal Control Office at (804) 501-5000. Police said that number also can be used to report any abnormal wildlife behavior.

Henrico officials reminded residents to keep pet vaccinations current.

“We know that these types of incidents do occur in our communities and that we’re prepared to respond,” said Dr. Parham Jaberi, Chesterfield Health District director, who was fielding calls about the Henrico case. “Really, it’s an opportunity to share the basic prevention messages to all of our community members and residents every time we have an incident like this.

“If there is a question, seek immediate health care. ... The sooner that you receive post-exposure prophylaxis the less the likelihood of developing illness,” Jaberi said, explaining that the treatment is a series of four shots over two weeks.

At Lewis Ginter, officials have posted signs alerting visitors to be alert to any unusual animal behavior. Beth Monroe, spokeswoman for Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, said the area where Overton was walking is a more naturalist, wooded area with trails, closer to Lakeside Avenue.

“Visitor safety is our first priority. We have posted signs at our front desk. … We encourage people to stay on the main garden path and be alert to suspicious behavior of wildlife,” Monroe said.

She said the path where Overton was walking is closed temporarily.

“We are double checking that pathway,” Monroe said.

Overton said she likes that area of the garden, which is off the beaten path. She thinks the raccoon ran out of a thicket of bamboo.

She said the raccoon got her pants leg and left a tear. She said she was yelling for help.

“When the animal was finally still, I was able to get over to the Bloemendaal House on the back of the property. It wasn’t far,” she said.

“There was a man at the house who very graciously contacted the main number in the lobby of the reception area of the garden. Within five minutes there was an ambulance there and animal control. They were remarkable,” she said.

Overton, who taught tai chi for 40 years and who is a Feldenkrais practitioner — a method for working with people who have physical concerns — said she believes it was that physical and mental training that enabled her to respond as she did.

“I think that the presence of mind and the focusing on the moment was just with me to manage to do this,” said Overton, who volunteers at the garden. She was there Sunday to thank the people who helped her.

She said the only residual effects are tiredness, which could be from the rabies prevention shots or from the experience of coming down off such an adrenaline rush.

I'm a BIG Hans Zimmer fan

Hans Florian Zimmer

This guy's had an incredible career. I hope the link to my Zimmer Pandora station works.

Play Pandora

Why so few comments?

When I gave up Facebook for Lent I re-activated my blog, with the intent of keeping open an avenue of communication with my hundreds of Facebook friends.
I worked hard at making my blog interesting, informative, and easy to comment about, but as we move into Lent's 3rd week, I've had exactly TWO comments from FB-ers.
Somebody's looking at it -- I've had hundreds of page views -- but no commentary. Then it hit me. I didn't get a whole lot of commentary on Facebook, either, but I did get 'likes,' and they were fun; they showed who liked what, and they initiated many funny, informative threads -- which I miss.
I'm standing fast to my Lenten pledge, but I am sucking around for blog comments to make me feel still 'involved.' To that end, I've attached 'like' and 'dislike' icons to this article. Now you don't have to actively say anything -- just cut and paste one of these icons in an article's comment section to let me know we're still friends!

 

What's wrong with this headline?

Harrison Ford Could Be Barred From Flying After Plane Crash, Experts Say

Well, right out of the gate, it's sensationalist, misleading. and misinformative. There's no 'news' here, only speculation from a publicity writer.

The headline infers that Ford is a lousy pilot who did something wrong, and that 'experts' will take away his license to fly. If one reads the article, however, one discovers that the 'experts' are in the insurance business - not aviation -  and the 'barring' they're talking about is Ford's insurability for piloting while under a movie contract.

Worse, even; in the body of the article, there's a sidebar, from another expert, who defends Harrison's actions as expert and instinctual. This 'expert' is a media mogul who happens to have a helicopter license.
No news here, just twaddle, just PR flacks trying to suck Tweets and page views from an ignorant public that loves jumping to conclusions.
Journalism 101 states that every news article should answer the questions - who, what, when, where and why. So far, the Harrison Ford plane crash is missing that final 'w'.


 

One step closer to interstellar contact?

Gliese 581

Gliese 581 is a red dwarf star in the Constellation Libra, about 20 light years away from Earth. It's about a third the size of our sun, but similarly stable. In 2009 scientists discovered a possible planet in Gliese 581's 'Goldilocks' zone (close enough for warmth, far enough to keep you from frying), GJ581d. It's much bigger than Earth, and well within range of SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence) probes.


Astronomers are right now battling over the existence of GJ581d; some think it's merely stellar 'noise' masquerading as a planet. My question is -- How come Hillary Clinton's f-ing e-mails get press priority over THIS?  

An internet treasure -- Baseball's 30 ball parks, ranked!

Citi Field is illustrated here just because I'm a homey, but USA Today gives it short shrift, and rightfully so.This article is a many-faceted beauty, not just for spectacular pictures and cogent, intelligent copy, but also for efficient layout and effortless navigation. The viewer goes from stadium to stadium quick as a wink, and scrolls effortlessly through an honest and interesting description of each. One could quibble with some of the rankings, but only just a little.
Take the tour -- I guarantee you'll love it!

I'm rooting hard for this kid

He's got all the tools. He's a natural athlete -- He runs, throws, fields and hits, and he has a flair for the dramatic, making the diving catch or the great throw or the key hit. He's been up-again-down-again for a couple of seasons, mainly because of a hitch in his swing that major league pitchers have been able to exploit.
He's worked hard on shortening his swing, and his 4-for-4 opening game this year is very promising, but he's out of options; if he doesn't make the team now, he can be put on waivers, and somebody for damn sure will claim him.

More importantly, we share some karma. Kirk and I were both born on August 7! And -- are your ready for this? -- we're both 6'3' and 225 lbs!!! We're a Twilight Zone episode!
(N.B. - in proper newspaper layout, the 'action' of a photo should bleed into the article and not the gutter. Thus, Kirk's pic is on the right, not left, where the reader's eye, following the action, would end up either looking at blank space or another article.)   

Here's the Deal...

...We know what's wrong with the world, and we don't need a rocket scientist to tell us.

Wait. I guess maybe we do. So here he is. 
------------------
Easy-peasy, right? Stop beating the crap out of each other. do nice things, and look to the stars for our next home. (I'm glad that's settled!)

Are we really, really this silly?

The healthcare of millions of citizens is in jeopardy over the legal interpretation of four words in the Affordable Care Act.
----------------------------------------------------

Q: What’s the difference between a lawyer and a herd of buffalo? A: The lawyer charges more. 
 Q: What's the difference between a good lawyer and a bad lawyer? A: A bad lawyer can let a case drag out for several years. A good lawyer can make it last even longer. 
 Q: If you are stranded on a desert island with Adolph Hitler, Atilla the Hun, and a lawyer, and you have a gun with only two bullets, what do you do? A: Shoot the lawyer twice.
Q: What do you call 5000 dead lawyers at the bottom of the ocean? A: A good start! 
 Q: Why are there so many lawyers in the U.S.? A: Because St. Patrick chased the snakes out of Ireland. 
 Q: What do you get when you cross a librarian with a lawyer? A: All the information you need, but you can’t understand a word of it. 
 Q: Why does California have the most attorneys, and New Jersey the most toxic waste dumps? A: New Jersey got first pick. 

Dawn spacecraft nears Ceres

The Dawn spacecraft is just days away from entering an orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres. The pictures are becoming better and more detailed raising anticipation for what we might learn. For starters, what makes the mystery bright spots bright and how was that “pancake” feature / crater formed? You can see the latter on the right hand image on the lower horizon, or view of it here (taken on 19 February 2015).  This image was taken on 25 February 2015 from a distance of 40,000 km / 25,000 miles.

Dawn website

N.B. Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt, which lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It is composed of rock and ice, is 950 km (590 mi) in diameter, and contains approximately one third of the mass of the asteroid belt. It is the only dwarf planet in the inner Solar System and the only object in the asteroid belt known to be unambiguously rounded by its own gravity.

Image(s) Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

We have met the enemy...

(originally posted Dec. 17, 2008)
...and as Pogo the Possum famously said, "They is us!" Citing costs and the economy, General Motors has bowed out of its advertising sponsorship in the new Yankee Stadium, and the pinstripers, bless their capitalistic hearts, have replaced GM with Audi and Toyota! 

When are we ever going to learn that we're all in this together? OK, we can't all trade in our German and Japanese iron tomorrow and buy American; for 30 years GM has delivered an inferior product, and we need to see evidence of some sort of turnaround before we go all patriotic, but cutting off an advertising (and communications)stream is rubbing salt in a grievous wound; replacing it with foreign competition is, well, just cruel.


The Yanks couldn't have sucked it up and given GM a cut rate? They would've made all kinds of good PR, and fans, guaranteed, would've cheered a Chevy Corvette coming in from the bullpen.

They just spent $200+ million for TWO pitchers! A cheapie ROI from GM isn't going to break them.

The apples don't fall far from the tree!

Grace, Louisa and Mamie.  Scroll down for the parent:




















Meryl Streep

Nova Scotia -- The Family Vacation of a Lifetime

If the 528-foot MV Nova Star were two feet
 longer it wouldn't fit in Yarmouth harbor!

For me, the 11-hour voyage from Portland would be worth it just to see the Bay of Fundy, but for the rest of you, well, Nova Scotia is spectacularly scenic, the natives are friendly, and you'll eat sea food that rivals Key West.
A round-trip private stateroom for four costs $700, and that includes your car! Plus there's an onboard casino where you can win back your fare and then some! (Diana actually did it!)
What are you waiting for? 

30 days and counting... an annual post

 Spring

To what purpose, April, do you return again?
Beauty is not enough.You can no longer quiet me with the redness
Of little leaves opening stickily.
I know what I know.
The sun is hot on my neck as I observe
The spikes of the crocus.
The smell of the earth is good.
It is apparent that there is no death.
But what does that signify?
Not only under ground are the brains of men
Eaten by maggots,
Life in itself
Is nothing,
An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs.
It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,
April
Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.

Dame Edna