kramarama

Finally - The Chant MP3's!

2011-03-30T21:23:00.005-04:00

Hey, I finally got the Chant demo cassette digitized, cleaned up and posted! (Actually, by popular demand...)

Click on music in the sidebar at left, and then on the chant to learn about the band and listen to the tracks.

Downtown Bucharest

2011-02-01T18:08:00.006-05:00

If you ever find yourself in downtown Bucharest Romania and need to kill some time, you can always walk over to the local nuclear power plant and throw rocks at the reactors from the street...

Click for Google street view

This post is from my iPhone...

2010-09-13T19:07:00.001-04:00

Just testing to see if it will work correctly.

I'm such a slug...

2010-09-13T18:42:00.001-04:00

I finally migrated my blogger FTP account to the new thing-a-ma-bobby Gurgle wants us to use... It only took 7 months. What can I say, I've been busy.

Monkeytown...

2010-03-09T17:48:00.004-05:00

Of course you knew somewhere there was a place called "Monkeytown", and no, you're not surprised it's in West Virginia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkeytown%2C_West_Virginia

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=monkeytown&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=41.95363,84.726562&ie=UTF8&hq=Monkeytown&hnear=Monkeytown&ll=38.705372,-79.432483&spn=0.010131,0.020685&t=h&z=16

Google Maps Street View - right up to the Beaufort Sea!

2010-02-15T18:53:00.009-05:00

Wow - Google has mapped a street view path all the way up to Dead Horse, Alaska - near the Arctic Ocean. The drive from Key West is 5,529 miles one-way.

I envy the people who got to photograph this drive! The scenery is amazing. Here's an example (click on the link for 360 degree street view):

Dalton Hwy, Koyukuk-Middle Yukon, AK

Welcome Home NJ Weedman!

2010-01-11T20:06:00.008-05:00

New Jersey approves medical marijuana:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/nj_lawmakers_approve_bill_lega.html

Welcome home NJ Weedman!
http://www.njweedman.com/10/html/aboutme.html

You may recall Ed Forchion... Here was a dude passionate about two things he loved: weed and New Jersey. Ed was arrested and incarcerated multiple times while campaigning to change New Jersey marijuana laws, even making a run for governor. He tried to change his legal name to NJWeedman, but was not permitted.

Eventually he gave up and moved to California where medical marijuana was legalized early on, and set-up a thriving business selling, you guessed it - marijuana.

Now that the legislation passed, will NJWeedman return to NJ?

Broadcast Digital TV...

2009-10-07T01:20:00.003-04:00

... blows (sucks, whatever's worse).

It always cuts out, and the screen goes black and silent.

At least with analog TV, a poor signal still gave you sound and fuzzy video. What good is a "pristine" image if you repeatedly lose 15 second chunks of your story? Until the technology or signals improve, we're stuck with a bill of goods that doesn't deliver on the promise. Plus I haven't seen WPVI channel 6 in months, it simply doesn't come into Center City Philadelphia... Thanks NAB & FCC!

Hooray! One of My Favorite Roads...

2009-04-20T18:09:00.008-04:00

... is now available on Google Maps Street View!

It's the switchback down the plateau on the way from Flagstaff to Sedona, AZ on 89-A.

At the top, it's pines, cedars and scrub brush. At the bottom, it's cottonwoods, ferns and water . It's a drop of about 1,100 feet in less than 8 minutes of driving from 6,500 ft to 5,400 ft into Sterling Canyon alongside Oak Creek.

By the time you hit Sedona, you've gone down to 4,200 feet, so there's a marked difference in temperature and weather (like from snow to balmy sunshine in the winter) - all in 45 minutes travel time.

Be sure to click the forward arrows and stop to look around as you go along... Enjoy:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=35.032043,-111.73409&spn=0,359.988627&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=35.032154,-111.734114&panoid=uYJHweDSMleC5zdwFpq_Ew&cbp=12,173.29986467016332,,0,5

Still a favorite...

2009-04-17T17:32:00.002-04:00

Even though it's no longer listed on their site, the Random Yahoo Link continues to be a favorite source of, well, randomness. Where else would you even think to find Alpacas for sale? (And who knew baby Alpacas were so cute?)

Go ahead, try it:

http://random.yahoo.com/bin/ryl

A new experience every time you click.

MSNBC's Teabagging Coverage...

2009-04-16T18:11:00.005-04:00

OK, yesterday there were April 15th Tax Day protests that supposedly took their inspiration from the Boston Tea Party.

(American Revolution, 1773, remember? See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_tea_party)

But instead instead of throwing tea into the Boston Harbor, these grass-roots events involve throwing / sending used teabags to/at politicians (especially Democrats).

The "media" took the opportunity to refer to yesterday's event as the "Teabagging Protest".

If you are unfamiliar with the term "teabagging", I won't describe it here - but you can look it up in the Urban Dictionary... see:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=teabagging&defid=1608058

Now that you know what that means, enjoy this clip from MSNBC's David Schuster...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELy61zkZHO0

Rockin' Bones

2009-02-05T13:11:00.003-05:00

Oh no, say it ain't so! Lux Interior of the Cramps passed away yesterday of a pre-existing heart condition.

While saddened to hear this, I think the best tribute comes directly from a Cramps song:

Roll On! Rock On! Raw Bones!
There's still a lot of rhythm in these Rockin' Bones

I wanna leave a happy memory when I go
I wanna leave something to let the whole world know
That the Rock 'n Roll daddy has a done passed on
But my bones will keep a rockin' long after I've gone

Roll On! Rock On! Raw Bones!
Well, There's still a lot of rhythm in these Rockin' Bones

Well, when I die don't you bury me at all
Just nail my bones up on the wall
Beneath these bones let these words be seen
"This is the bloody gears of a Boppin' Machine"

Roll On! Rock On! Yeah, Raw Bones!
Well, There's still a lot of rhythm in these Rockin' Bones

I ain't a worried about tomorrow, just a thinkin' about tonight
My bones are getting restless and I do it up right
A few more times around a hardwood floor
Before we turn out the lights and close the door

Roll On! Rock On! Raw Bones!
Well, There's still a lot of rhythm in these Rockin' Bones

Still, what a surprise...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqH9o0cCFgc

Still Stupid...

2009-01-04T15:40:00.005-05:00

There's a guy named madshackle who has a YouTube site with all kinds of cool Rock'n'Roll video on it... and he graciously pointed out to me that he's got some Still Stupid video there (THANKS DAVE!).

For lack of digitized material, I've never really been able to represent Still Stupid here... But now, I can!

Presenting for your enjoyment:

When I Get That Feeling
Why (Do You Look at Me)?
Infection
Blowfly

For reference, this show was at JC Dobbs in Philadelphia (somewhere around 1991), and we were: Jim Canfield (vocals, clarinet - currently in Bleeding, Sweating, Crying), David Otwell (guitar - currently in DeSoto Rust), Ken Kramar (skinny, non-bald guy w/ white guitar - hah!), Doug Lester (hat & bass), Pat Ward (drums).

A Little Something for the Holidays...

2008-12-30T01:04:00.011-05:00

In the spirit of the season, I offer something new: a little ditty that was originally a Trained Attack Dogs song, which has only appeared on the live Lotsa Fun release... I thought it was worth a re-visit, so this is a slight reworking of the tune with both acoustic and electric guitars.

Series of Events

By the way, I've always admired John Manhardt's upbeat lyrics:

When you say what you mean,
People doubt what you meant.
And No one, no one,
no one will ever believe you...

And when you know where to go,
People doubt where you've been.
And No one, no one,
no one will ever believe you...

And when you do what you say,
it doesn't matter anyway,
'Cause No one, no one,
no one will ever believe you.

Out of Business, Back in Business...

2008-12-13T13:17:00.002-05:00

Apparently, my web hosting service of many years, xrackhosting.com, just up and disappeared last month. Their main site disappeared, as did my site and other sites hosted there. I tried contacting them for weeks but no luck. (Maybe it was the economy, I don't want to bad-mouth them since they did give me years of good service... but an email would have been appreciated.)

So, now I've had to move to another web hosting service, and I have to retool my pages to work with the new host... so things may be a little wonky here for a little bit. I'll be getting the music back on-line as soon as I have the spare time.

Anyway, I'm back!

Tucker & Django

2008-11-11T12:29:00.002-05:00

So it's come to this... I'm now posting pet photos on my blog.

Actually this is a good photo of Django (the Pomeranian) and his buddy Tucker. They hang out, they wrestle, they like each other.

I'm also testing how images post to my blog using an iPhone, but that's not nearly as interesting.

Blogging by iPhone

2008-11-06T00:47:00.003-05:00

I think I finally figured out how to blog to kramarama from my iPhone. If this posts, we'll know for sure.

Maverick™...

2008-10-02T22:23:00.002-04:00

Is it Maverick™ or Maverick® ?

TAD at NoLibs Spring Music Fest

2008-05-12T21:00:00.005-04:00

That's right... yet again, Trained Attack Dogs will be playing a show where we dress neat and play sloppy! And this time, we're sort of out of practice, so expect us to look really snappy.

Ultimately, the day will be saved by our friends Tracy Stanton and Kurt Wunder of the 700 Club, backing our asses up with saxophone and trumpet (actually, we're really excited about them joining in)!

So, come on out Saturday, May 31st, to Liberty Lands Park (N. 3rd & Poplar Streets) for a day of music & fun at the Northern Liberties Spring Music Fest... stick around until 9pm, when we close the place down to the amusement - or horror - of the crowd (with any luck, both!)

Awesome...

2008-04-16T07:53:00.000-04:00

Actor Tim Robbins gave the Keynote presentation at the NAB Show (National Association of Broadcasters), addressing journalists and media executives.

Initially he stated he would not give his planned speech, as it was apparently too controversial and at odds with the NAB Show planners. He then changed his mind and gave the speech, at which point NAB ordered all cameras turned off.

But they forgot the audio recorders...

You can hear the last six minutes of his speech here:

http://adage.com/article?article_id=126431

Essentially, he asks the broadcast media to grow a pair.

Trained Attack Dogs @ The North Star Bar this Saturday

2008-03-24T12:30:00.002-04:00

It's a Benefit show, Saturday March 29th, at the North Star Bar (27th and Poplar Streets, Phila PA) for
Andrea Collins-Smith (http://www.punkrockmommy.org).

The line-up is:

• Deadspot
• Trained Attack Dogs
• Throttle
• Dominance
• The Heels (ex-Pagan Babies)

Tickets are $10, and I'm told there will even be door prizes!

We might even play something from the Nazis Ate Grannys Gladiolas tape... (see last post)

Oh My Freakin' Gosh!

2008-02-22T17:57:00.012-05:00

Maybe you saw our sticker on the side of a SEPTA bus, and went and bought your copy for $3 from Zipperhead, or Chaos Records, or The Record Exchange on South Street...

Or maybe you bought it from us at a show for $2... or maybe you worked at a radio station or a fanzine or club where we sent you a copy and it ended up in your collection... Maybe you "borrowed" a copy from your friend or brother or sister... Maybe we just liked you and gave you one.

Somehow, there were hundreds and hundreds of this little demo cassette floating around in 1987.

Well, we still like you.

You asked for it, and you got it: Here, for the first time in 20 years is Trained Attack Dogs' original demo tape, Nazis Ate Grannys Gladiolas, for your free downloading pleasure. And this time, it's even cheaper than the first time you bought it.

Alpha Plan Z
White Castle
Religious Experience / TV Poison
Psychotic Surfers of La Mirada
Rock n' Roll Baby
Town With No Name

Of course, in true punk-rock fashion, the original master tape is missing... so I tracked down the best cassette I could find, and that's what's presented here. IF I ever find the original mixdown I'll repost better versions - but for now, enjoy!

Note: Todd Yoder was the performing drummer for Trained Attack Dogs at the time of this release, however the actual drummer for this recording is Bob Nichol.

Who is visiting me?

2008-02-19T20:13:00.001-05:00

我的网站收到许多来访的中国人民。我不知道这种情况的原因。如果你是一个中国人，请你解释一下吗？你是否会觉得我的网站有意思吗？我将使用" Google "的翻译，你的回答。谢谢。

我的網站收到許多來訪的中國人民。我不知道這種情況的原因。如果你是一個中國人，請你解釋一下嗎？你是否會覺得我的網站有意思嗎？我將使用" Google "的翻譯，你的回答。謝謝。

내 웹사이트를받습니다 중국 인민으로부터 많은 사람들이 방문합니다. 이유는 잘 모르겠지만 이것합니다. 중국의 경우에는 사람, 설명해 주시겠습니까? 너 내 사이트를 찾는 재미? 나는 사용됩니다 "구글"을 번역에 대답을합니다. 감사합니다.

自分のウェブサイトからの訪問数多くの中国の人々を受け取る。私は、この理由を知っているのだ。中国の人の場合は、説明していただけますか？ご自分のサイトを見つける面白いですか？私が使って" google "との回答を翻訳しています。ありがとうございます。

24 Years Behind Schedule...

2008-02-04T16:39:00.000-05:00

... the police state is finally getting off the ground.

Your birthmark is not your birthmark, it's a government identifier for tracking your activity.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/02/04/fbi.biometrics/index.html

Nobody should find any of this creepy or intrusive, right?

If you're not guilty of anything, you shouldn't be concerned right?

And your data will never ever be confused with somebody else's, right?

Here's your assignment: Watch Brazil - have a little chuckle, then mull it over for a few days.

Just in! Entertainment News

2007-09-25T23:33:00.000-04:00

Britney! Paris! Lindsay! Justin! OJ! All News! All the Time!

Drunken Astronauts...

2007-07-31T19:11:00.000-04:00

... a recent new story covers the emerging scandal of "drunken astronauts" flying into space. Apparently over the years, some NASA astronauts had consumed alcohol within 12 hours of their launch time.

Of note, none of the stories detail what the blood alcohol content of the astronauts were, what NASA considers to be a high or inappropriate BAC for an astronaut in flight, or if the incidents involved any of those piloting the craft.

Firstly, let me say that anybody who is either brave or crazy enough to strap their butt to a 10-story tall, 535,000 gallon liquid hydrogen bomb in the midst of a controlled explosion deserves a drink the night before. Note well, these people are not truck drivers or even airline pilots - they are ASTRONAUTS with highly specialized training. There are 6,600,000,000 people on earth, only 460 have ever gone into space - that is less than a billionth of 1%.

Secondly, while routine, space travel is not safe, let me repeat, not safe - it truly falls into the category of risky behavior. Aside from "tippin' the bottle", an even greater risk is posed by dropping foam panels, birds, space debris, computer failure, mechanical failure, etc. Again, when your heiney is plastered into the back of your seat while going 7 miles a second (that's 25,000 mph to you and me), there's not much anyone can do that hasn't already been programmed by Mission Control until they reach orbit.

So, c'mon News Media... lighten up! Aside from the OMG factor, there are bigger fish to fry than Astronauts who had a drink the night before they flew. Iraq may be getting old, but it still qualifies as much more news worthy.

I sort of feel obliged...

2007-07-17T21:05:00.000-04:00

... to demonstrate I'm still alive. So, here you go.

By the way, I just turned 45 last week - a limpy greying geezer to some my friends, a veritable baby to others. Nancy, her sister Barbara, and our friends George and Zeb went out to Marigold Kitchen (at the corner of 45th & Larchwood) to celebrate - we had a good time and a dee-lish dinner. Marigold is the crew from the adventurous & short-lived Salt Restaurant (which we never got a chance to visit), so the food was very eclectic and tasty.

The other cool thing about Marigold Kitchen is that I used to live a few yards away on Larchwood Avenue. The address numbers that I drew on the front of my old house with Prismacolor pencils in 1987 are still there and as bright as ever. Being in the restaurant was nostalgic since I'd dined there back when it was a meatloaf and mashed potatoes place (yes - people tell the wait staff that all the time, with EXACTLY those words) - and it also had the same layout of my old house... those West Philly Victorians are really grand.

Anyway, a good time was had by all - I received brandy snifters and single malt scotch (Glenfiddich) as presents, so I made out well!

Again, In Case You Ever Wondered...

2007-06-15T16:33:00.000-04:00

Live from the North Pole

http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/gallery_np.html

No, really, NOAA sets up a webcam each year at the North Pole.

They have to do it yearly because the North Pole is in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, and the ice moves over time - so there can never be a permanent marker installed.

I got to thinking about this when a friend from Thailand was talking about the difference between taking a cheaper flight (with a lay-over in Japan), versus a non-stop flight to visit her parents. She said the non-stop flight few over the North Pole! (The pilots even pointed out the blinking red light there).

I fired up Google Earth and sure enough going over the North Pole is the most direct route.

I had always assumed you would fly from NY to Los Angeles, to Japan, to Thailand. Maybe that was the Cold-War route, back when American craft couldn't fly over Russia.

The blinking red light at the pole must be the yearly NOAA installation. Not that any of this is earth-shaking... again, just interesting, in case you ever wondered.

In Case You Ever Wondered...

2007-04-25T17:59:00.000-04:00

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Wild-Animals-705/animal-fights.htm

I was originally curious about a pit bull vs. a wolf, but the idea of a rhino vs. a hippo is apparently quite thought provoking.

Why...

2007-04-15T01:55:00.000-04:00

... are the tail lights on new cars as bright as the headlights on old cars?

Sure, I understand the value of LED's - they last longer - but come on! That raw light blasting into my eyes at a traffic light is burning-out my retinas. Put some sort of refracting or diffusing lens over those things to lessen the blow. There should be a set limit on lumens (the light equivalent of decibels) on both headlights and tail lights. The car companies are manufacturing these things with way too much brightness, and I'm not surprised if it's contributing to accidents.

(Sound of me stepping off soap-box, applause.)

Uh oh...

2007-04-15T01:53:00.000-04:00

I think my Mom found my blog... no more cursing!

Respects & Props for Rick D...

2007-04-10T11:06:00.000-04:00

People familiar with the Philly music scene have no doubt heard of Rick "D" Dobrowolski's passing on April 7th. Rick was the co-owner of the Tritone Bar on South Street in Philadelphia.

Trained Attack Dogs had just played a show at the Tritone the Saturday before, which was a heck of a lot of fun, and afterward we were joking with Rick as we packed up our gear. As the first TAD appearance in years, we started the set with a tribute to friends who were no longer with us, and had no idea we would be counting another within a few days. Rick was in a good mood, looking like a guy enjoying what he did.

Many people have already written more eloquently than me about Rick's bio, his contributions to the Philly music scene, his funny wit. I first really remember Rick from Stalin's Daughter, when TAD played a show at Temple's Mitten Hall with them in 1986. A staple at Revival, Rick kept branching out into promotion and records, his Upstairs at Nicks and Firenze shows steadily building his cred. I didn't initially understand his obsession with Bob and Barbara's Lounge, except that he thought it was the best bar ever. When he opened up the Tritone right across the street from B&B, I was impressed, especially at the breadth of music he booked into the place over the years.

Nancy & I send our condolences, and TAD sends our condolences to Rick's family, to his Mother, to Susan, Doug & Lilly, to Linda, John & Audrey, and to all his friends.

Rick, I hope Heaven has a decent bar - and if not, I hope that you'll open one!

Rich, White Frat Boys Suck...

2007-03-14T18:18:00.000-04:00

Summary: W's grandfather may have dug up Geronimo's head as a prank. Ah, to be young, foolish and elitist. And above the law.

Do the right thing, George. Give it back.

Déjà Vu... Deux...

2007-02-16T21:03:00.000-05:00

The TriTone show got a mention in the Philly City Paper:

http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2007/02/08/icepack

Guess we gotta do it now!

Everybody wants the damn baby...

2007-02-09T18:39:00.000-05:00

Anna Nicole Smith has passed away - something I feel saddened by (no, really) because the woman has always been an underdog. The media & pundits were downright mean to her on many occasions, but she always kept her head held high, and kept a good attitude. I actually felt very bad for her months ago, when her 20 year old son died in the hospital room right after she gave birth to her daughter, Dannielynn.

Which brings me to my next thought - everybody wants that baby!

Guys are lining up to take paternity tests, which is usually the opposite of what happens when there is a question of fatherhood: her lawyer, her ex-boyfriend, Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband. I'm betting more will surface.

Why?

Because the baby could be worth millions as the heir to Anna's former husband, J. Howard Marshall II, (depending on how it plays out in court). Am I cynical enough to think this is the prime motivator? You bet'cha!

I just hope that along the way, people remember the kid is a human being, not a potential windfall.

OK, it's a Little Like Déjà Vu...

2007-01-23T23:37:00.000-05:00

... a reconstituted Trained Attack Dogs featuring Michael Moseley (drummer from the SheMales!) will be playing a short set at the TriTone (15th & South Streets) on Saturday, March 31st as part of a Benefit for New Orleans put together by Joey Throttle.

A number of bands are slated for the show including a version of Throttle featuring Chuck Treece (I'm told), but they won't be called Throttle or play any Throttle songs.

Thank you, Mrs Hamilton!

2006-11-16T18:15:00.000-05:00

It's not often that I blur the line between personal and work matters on this site, but as both an alum and an employee of UArts, I'd like to express my gratitude to Mrs. Dorrance Hamilton - it was announced today that she is donating $25 Million to The University of the Arts endowment fund.

Dear Mrs. Hamilton, Thank you!

Note to self...

2006-10-19T13:04:00.000-04:00

Politely decline invitiations from Steve Wynn to visit the Art Museum.

Yes, it's true...

2006-10-14T17:20:00.000-04:00

... after 18 years of hemming, hawing, avoiding the topic, and saying "that'll be a cold day in hell", Keith Souder, John Manhardt and I will get together to play a rare short set of Trained Attack Dogs songs at Johnny Brenda's on Sunday, November 12th, as part of the No Libs Variety Show. I say rare, because I haven't even heard it yet, but it should be a lot of fun!

Icky...

2006-10-02T19:43:00.000-04:00

Snickers' recent advertising campaign is based upon the combination of 2 different words to construct a new adjective that describes their "indescribably good" candy bar.

Phrases like "Hungerectomy" or "Nougatocity"... Ok, cute.

But I posit that "Satisfectellent" is really bad.

I get that it's supposed to connote "Satisfaction & Excellent", but it doesn't work - primarily because of the FECT smack dab in the middle of the word.

Say it to yourself: "Sat-is-FEC-tel-lent"... the syllable that is naturally stressed is FECT.

Let's talk about FECT. What does FECT connote?

How about "defect"? Or "infect"? Or "feces"?

These are not things I want in my brown gooey candy bar.
These are not things I want entering my mouth.

Shouldn't this have been "Satisfexellence" instead of "Satisfectellent"?

It's wrong on so many counts. "Satisfaction" is not "Satisfection"... "Excellent" is not "Ectellent". If they were trying to suggest "Intellect" somewhere in there, they sure missed the boat.

I'm sorry, but I love the English language right down to the syllable.
What are these ad people thinking? Whatever it is, it's sure icky.

2 Oxymorons...

2006-08-24T19:09:00.000-04:00

1.) Really, you can only enjoy being in a cemetary while you're still alive.

2.) If you're an oil company (like BP) and you have problems (with your pipeline), you make more money because the price of oil increases on account of your poor performance.

Go figure.

RAVE Records on IODA

2006-08-20T17:43:00.000-04:00

Great news for all you old punks out there (and your kids)...

Todd Cote (sole legal owner of RAVE Records) tells me that (legendarily defunct) RAVE Records has signed on with IODA Alliance to distribute the label's collection via a number of Internet Music sites, including eMusic.com and AudioLunchbox.com

These sites offer MP3 downloads, (no Digital Rights Management) that will play on all MP3 players (iPods, Zen, iRiver, etc).

Here's Rave's current catalog on AudioLunchbox:

http://www.audiolunchbox.com/label?store=4749&z=

Great Philly bands like Scab Cadillac, Big Thing, Flag of Democracy, More Fiends, SheMales, Deadspot, McRad, Trained Attack Dogs - as well as other bands from across the country. In addition to the individual albums, there are also some compilations, most notably the record that started it all, Discpan Hands: A Philadelphia Compilation.

Both Todd's Leafy Green Booking and IODA Alliance are based in San Francisco, where Todd moved to over 15 years ago... Life is good out there for him and his mate Dema!

Thanks to Todd for keeping this great Philly music accessible!

Best Scam Spam in a long time...

2006-06-30T10:30:00.000-04:00

I received this variant of the Nigerian 411 scam spam this morning, and I just had to share it - here it is, email headers and all:

Return-Path: drcardle@globallane.info
Delivered-To: xxxxxxxx
Received: (qmail 13142 invoked from network); 21 Jun 2006 01:34:32 -0000
Received: from unknown (HELO wwimail005w.1planhost.com) (216.74.123.46)
by moog.netaxs.com with SMTP; 21 Jun 2006 01:34:32 -0000
MIME-Version: 1.0
Message-ID: <440e9cee424940329760f8ccec9f8005@globallane.info>

Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2006 21:04:22 -0400
Subject: From Israeli Prime Minister
From: "Dr.Cardle Ian"
Reply-To: drcardleian71@hotmail.com
To: drcardle@globallane.info

Dear Friend,

This may come to you as a surprise, But I plead your
indulgence to listen to me and get this important
details. I am from the Hadassah hospital where I serve
as the director of operation. I am by name Dr. Cardle
Ian . As you may be aware of the situation on ground
as regard the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4586488.stm
http://www.wavy.com/Global/story.asp?S=4374353&nav=23ii
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/02/19/mideast/index.html

He has disclose to me a personal savings which he has managed
to put together to run the up coming election before it sudden
stroke of 4th January 2006.

Following the significant stroke suffered by Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon in January 2006, a decision was
reached by the Israeli Cabinet, under the advice of the
Attorney General of Israel: if the Prime Minister
becomes incapable of making decisions, power is
transferred to the Deputy Prime Minister at the time,
Ehud Olmert who then becomes Acting Prime Minister
until the Prime Minister recoves. If the Prime Minister
is declared permanetly incapacitated then the Acting
Prime Minister remains in office for 100 days. Once
that period expires the President of Israel oversees
the process of assembling a new governing coalition If
the Prime Minister dies the Cabinet chooses a new Prime
Minister.

In the case of Sharon's illness, however, he has been
declared permanently incapciatated and elections has
already occured.Thus, the need for the fund transfer.He
has given me the order to look for a reliable personnel
of your calibre to assist him in reprofiling a certain
amount of funds which is undisclose at the moment.

As soon as I get your willingness and confidentiality
to forge ahead in executing this transaction, I will
let you into confidential information on how to execute
the transaction. Meanwhile, Be aware that the
percentage sharing of the fund will be divided in this
manner, 30 % will go to me and you will get the same
30% . The wife and children goes with 30% while 10% is
used for any expenses we may incurred in the process
of transfering the funds to your account. Thus, I am
thanking you in advance for your cooperation in
finalising with this transaction swiftly.Your response
should be directed to my secured
email:drcardleian71@yahoo.com.hk
Yours Sincerely,
Dr. Cardle Ian.

A surprise indeed... Imagine! Ariel Sharon woke up from his coma and told this guy to give ME one third of his fortune, because he just knows that Israel is going to screw over their ex-Prime Minister, and I can help save him!

I am deeply honored.

You know...

2006-06-09T12:51:00.000-04:00

... I run computer labs for a living. I occasionally have nightmares about users like this:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=z08-OsVq948&search=hissy%20fit

(Thanks to Justin!)

No, I'm not dead...

2006-05-31T18:53:00.000-04:00

... just very busy lately. I haven't had time to write anything for a while.

But I will say this: Crosstown traffic in Philadelphia is starting to feel like crosstown traffic in NYC.

My commute in the morning is 2.5 miles, which has been averaging about 25 minutes - which is travelling about 6 miles per hour, on average. People walk at a speed of about 4 to 6 miles per hour.

Nancy & I noticed the increase of traffic and decrease of speed about a month ago, when S. Broad street was bumber to bumper stand-still traffic the entire day, for no special reason at all.

Of course this hasn't been helped by the Philadelphia Streets department. They've decided to take road graters and tear-up almost every street in Center City. This makes the traffic crawl, because people are scared to drive over the bumps and raised manhole covers.

And I have to say - there's nothing more pathetic than watching some yuppie in their huge freakin' SUV driving tenderly over the bumps at 2 mph so they don't hurt their widdle carsy-warsy.

HEY! YOBBO! It's an SUV! It was INVENTED to drive over bumps!

And speaking of New York, a week or so ago Nancy & I went up for a day of Big Apple culture.

First, it turns out a colleague of ours' husband is a rather well-known playwright - P. Seth Bauer. His most recent play, Early in the Mourning, was receiving a staged reading (where actors on a bare stage read directly from the script, in character). It was great.

The parts were read by Estelle Parsons, Jerry Stiller, and Peter Frechette, (and 1 other actor whose name I can't recall, but will edit in later!)

Next, we went to a caberet of UArts Music Theater students (all students of Nancy's) at the Triad - a really nice show - these folks should have no trouble getting work in productions.

Then we wrapped up the evening with a performance by Les Paul at the Iridium Jazz Club. Les Paul is one of the most important people in modern music, and if you don't know why, then look it up! The guy is almost 91, but still plays fabulously. As I watched the rhythm guitarist (Lou Pallo) playing a black Gibson Les Paul guitar along side of Les Paul himself, I thought "how cool is it to be that guy?" The whole band was great, especially woman playing stand-up bass. Here's a photo of them all...

After the show, we drove back to slow, bumpy Philadelphia.

Stunning Figures...

2006-03-20T23:54:00.000-05:00

OK - the amount of money being spent on the Iraq War is astounding - but - the numbers are awesome and difficult to grasp... they end up being abstract to most people (including me).

So, I decided to try putting the cost into more understandable terms.

Therefore, I envisioned selling off entire blocks of residential Philadelphia neighborhoods as a way to fund the war!

Apparently, the stated figure to run the war is 195 million dollars a day... that's $195,000,000.

I researched the median housing value in Philadelphia - it's $57,000, but I bumped that up to $65,000 to account for the housing boom.

Philadelphia is approximately 135 square miles in size, and each square mile holds approximately 144 city blocks (12 x 12 blocks of the numbered streets, which have smaller streets between them). This makes for about 19,440 blocks. The blocks have about 174 houses each on them (I counted blocks on Google Maps satellite photos to be sure) - this is accounting for houses on the smaller streets - giving Philadelphia approximately 3,382,560 addresses.

At the median housing cost, a block of Philadelphia residential real estate is valued at about $11,310,000.

We'd need to liquidate 17 blocks of Philadelphia real estate each day to fund the war.

That's 121 blocks of Philadelphia each week.

Or 523 blocks (3.5 square miles) of Philadelphia each month.

Or 6,276 blocks (43.5 square miles) of Philadelphia a year.

Let's pause a minute - in a year, we would sell off 1/3 of Philadelphia to fund the war.

We've been at war for three years. In our scenario, Philly is gone! Nobody home! All bought-up and closed down! A ghost town! Just stray dogs and cats! Let's start on Pittsburgh, or Boston next!

(Washington DC would have been sold off in the first year... some would say it already has been!)

I hope this helps to put the war cost into perspective. My God, it must be a great time to be in the defense contractor biz.

(Please feel free to correct my figures - I'll revise my spreadsheet with the best available information!)

Tigerbeat Nostalgia...

2006-03-16T00:01:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's Leif Garrett, at age seventeen, and again at age fourty-four.

Granted, few people really have the opportunity to tidy up for their mugshot, but man this is depressing.

Understand this: I'm not one to make light of other's misfortunes - and that's not what this is about. I am just genuinely surprised at the, uh, transformation that time can produce.

On the plus side, Leif's Official Website - http://www.leifgarrett.net - is much more upbeat, and has photos of Leif in the Gallery section that look a hell of a lot better (thank God!)... but he (and I) are of the age where certain people develop a certain "shine" to the top of their heads. Some people (like me) acknowledge and embrace it. Others choose to wear lots of hats and bandanas. To each his own.

In the end, I suppose Leif has always been kind of a nice guy, and it's good to know he's still around and in the biz - not that I listen to any of his records, but constancy can be a comfort, even if it's not always in the "looks" department.

Luckily, if you want to check-in on Leif yourself, you can get his music from the iTunes music store - his latest release is "Betty Ford for Christmas" by Leif Garrett & The Crush Ups. He also contributed a vocal track on the Melvins "Crybaby" album in 2000. (Yes, he's got other records too - just check his website!)

You can also visit Leif's online store to purchase apparel and housewares. I am very tempted to buy a Leif Garrett trucker cap - it's so cryptic, the cool factor shoots through the roof.

Barrage of Fish...

2006-02-20T20:38:00.000-05:00

... Those are 3 words I normally don't put together, but this video clip makes it requisite:

http://media.putfile.com/Incredible-Fishing-Video/320
(Windows Media Player - broadband recommended)

Every time I see this, I can't help but laugh!

For more background on this clip, check out the Snopes.com article:
http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/fishfly.asp

Note to self...

2006-02-12T23:00:00.000-05:00

Politely decline all hunting invitations from White House.

Valentine's Day is in February, but...

2006-02-10T18:54:00.000-05:00

May must be the month of love, because it seems like everybody I know has a birthday in February.

So, to that end, if you're a February baby - and you like making electronic music, here's a little gift to you (it's large - 10.5 MB - so broadband is recommended):

http://mao.adan.asso.fr/7.htm

Although this fine tutorial on using Bhaji's Loops on the Palm is completely in French, it's so well-made and demonstrative that words are, well, optional! (If you speak French, I bet it's that much better).

The fellow responsible for this tutorial is a musician and artist from Strasbourg, France named William Lamy (willbe). He describes it a much better than I do in this post on the Bhaji's-Garden forum...

He's also got a great website at http://www.williamlamy.com

Back to normal...

2006-01-24T20:55:00.000-05:00

OK - I fixed my Bee-Line area, but the link has changed... so anybody who has linked to the old section will need to re-establish that link.

As a result of the haa-hooey, I decided to take down my discussion board for a while, until I have the time to upgrade to a newer version.

Otherwise - it's all good. Thanks for your patience.

Technical difficulties...

2006-01-23T19:33:00.000-05:00

Hello All... My apologies: some douchebag from Turkey hacked my PHP board in the name of Allah, so the "bee-line to all the MP3's" is not active at the moment - I have to work with my ISP to restore the database for all my messages, including that one.

Nonetheless, all the music is intact.

I may need to put up a temp page with the links in the meantime - but you can still get the music from the Music section links (in the sidebar).

Riffy

2006-01-19T20:40:00.000-05:00

It must still be Hanukkah, 'cause here's a little somethin' fo' yah:

Riffy-02f-HR.mp3 - (high bandwidth - stereo)
Riffy-02f-LR.mp3 - (low bandwidth - mono)

Play it loud.

Again, this was done with Chocopoolp "Bhaji's Loops", on a thing that, I swear, is the size of a calulator.

Hooray, it's January!

2006-01-17T21:01:00.000-05:00

No, really, I'm not being sarcastic here. It's a new year, and a new blawg entry, and a new chance to wax pedantic about Philadelphia (referring to my stalwart writing style, not the city).

Oh, by the way, today was Benjamin Franklin's 300th birthday. In Philly, (since all the marketing started) he's just known as Ben. But I must say that Tom Ferrick Jr. wrote a nice column about Mr. Franklin for today's Inquirer. Many cities elevate their heroes, placing them on a pedestal - but in Philly, we like to pull them down to street level and if we really like them we consider them one of us. We did it with David Bowie when he recorded Young Americans at Sigma Sound, with "Bruuuuuce" Springsteen when he hung out on South Street, and of course with Ben on his 300th. But then again, Philadelphia has always liked the guy - Franklin left a trust fund for educating young apprentices that was active until 1990! He wanted to provide for educating young people, but felt he could only forsee its usefulness for 200 years into the future - he was not sure how radically different the world would be after that amount of time. From an original investment of $4,400 in 1790, the fund grew to $2,000,000 in 1990. He provided a similar trust fund for Boston - theirs grew to $5,000,000. Amazing.

Switching gears, I came across this astonishing automotive aution site: http://www.barrett-jackson.com. They are located in Scottsdale, AZ, and I actually drove past them while I was down there years back (my friend Jay pointed out where they do the auctions), but I didn't realize they sold such amazing stuff. It makes sense, since Phoenix is the perfect climate (warm & dry) for keeping rare cars in pristine condition. (Choose the pop-up menu under "list by make"). There aren't really any prices listed because firstly, it's an auction, and secondly, if you have to ask... (ahem) - but it's still nice to window shop!

And last but not least, a thank-you to the guys at Two and a 1/2 Pounds of Bacon for the very nice mention in their blog article on Philly Style #7! I remember the first time I heard of the Wishniaks as a band - Manhardt said "Man, that's the BEST name for a band! Who doesn't like wishniak!" (or something like that...) ... I had to agree. Anyway, read the article for the great links at http://www.anditgoes.com for the likes of Alan Mann, The Daves and Beru Revue (who we used to go see at the Galaxy Bar in Somerdale, NJ when we were 17!)

And while I'm at it, I'm putting in a plug for Philly transplant Skip Heller - http://www.skipheller.com - Skip used to give me free coffee when he worked at a coffee shop I frequented... even then, the guy was a walking encyclopedia of jazz and rock'n'roll. He's matured into an amazing guitarist - definitely visit his site.

Well then! That's a lotta yak! See what happens when I don't write for a month?

em-ess-bee

2005-12-09T17:30:00.000-05:00

So, I'm listening to the news radio the other day and they run a story about how the City of Philadelphia is implementing programs for the homeless, with the goal of halving the homeless population in 2 years, and eliminating it in 5 years by offering a line of services to people: Not just food and shelter, but medical, dental and mental health services, counseling, even haircuts...

And I'm thinking "Fantastic!"

Then, they cut to the audio clip of some city administrator describing the effort debuting that evening, he's excited, obviously proud to be a part of it - and he says "we're just waiting to help people, all they gotta do is show up tonight under the MSB!"

And that was it. Nobody bothers to clarify what "the MSB" is - not the guy being interviewed, not the reporter, not the news anchor.

Now I've lived in Philly over 20 years and I've never heard of "the MSB", or the em-ess-bee, or anything like that. I'm trying to figure out "Market Street Broad something?" Is it an address, a statue, a fountain, an intersection? I had to poke around in Google to figure it out.

Turns out that MSB is city worker slang for Municipal Services Building.

OK, I can understand if you're so familiar with the place that you just use the acronym on the job, but hello! when you're promoting it in the media, don't be lazy, SAY: "Municipal Services Building"! Otherwise people won't know what the hell you're talking about!

People are so informal nowadays that if somebody grunts "uh", they expect you to know what it means... come on! Not in Government! Not on the radio!

City of Philadelphia spokespeople need to use official names, especially when talking to the media - otherwise they're just amateurs in a big league game, and it makes our city government sound like a bunch of insiders (hey, isn't that sort of a problem right now?)

Anyway, not to diminish the program, because I'm really glad to hear about it - The Municipal Services Building is located at 1401 JFK Boulevard in Philadelphia PA 19102... Caddy corner, northwest of City Hall.

Cuica!

2005-11-23T19:09:00.000-05:00

Just like Christopher Walken, in the role of legendary record producer Bruce Dickenson, told Blue Oyster Cult:

"Guess What? I got a fever and the only prescription is MORE COWBELL!"

Well it's like that with this song:

Cuica-01d1-44-HR.mp3 - (high bandwidth - stereo)
Cuica-01d1-44-LR.mp3 - (low bandwidth - mono)

Again, this was done with Chocopoolp "Bhaji's Loops", the music studio that fits in the palm of your hand! (Hey, that's a good slogan...)

What is Dick Cheney Smoking?

2005-11-18T18:00:00.000-05:00

So, ex-CIA Director Stansfield Turner has labeled US Vice President Dick Cheney as the "vice president for torture":

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/11/18/turner.cheney/index.html

He didn't make up this nick-name by himself - Cheney has solicited the US Senate to allow the use of torture in certain instances:

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/news/nation/13090396.htm
Link not working? Search Google News for this story - click here

I don't care what your political leaning is... the Geneva Convention forbids it. These are the accepted rules for warfare, and our country has used this convention to prosecute Nazi's and other war criminals over the last 55 years.

Legalizing the use of torture puts US military personnel & civilians in direct jeopardy - we cannot criticize or prosecute our enemies for doing the same things we allow, nor expect reciprocal civility from them. It lowers our country's standards to the same level of immoral behavior as regimes we have fought against, where we've cited their brutality as a reason for sanctions or removal.

If this passes, then vice-president Cheney and every representative who votes for it may as well charter a bus to Mount Vernon to celebrate, and take turns shitting on George Washington's grave.

The most disturbing part? An ex-CIA director from the Cold War thinks legalizing torture is going too far.

Almanac Market...

2005-11-05T21:57:00.000-05:00

I'm wearing my Larry King hat again:

John Manhardt (former bassist for Trained Attack Dogs, Tri-State Kill Spree, former Mardi Gras float builder and ex-con) has gone into business with Joanne and Bob Aretz to open Almanac Market, on the corner of 4th and Poplar Streets in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia.

It's a nice little neighborhood spot in a good location, selling produce, cheeses, prepared foods, etc, with an organic bent where possible. They rehab'd the space themselves, built custom furniture and have done a really nice job with the place and have a nice selection of food. Today was their "soft opening".

So if you live down there or pass that way, you should stop in and get some groceries from your friendly neighborhood grocers.

By the way - I've noticed that Regis Philbin has replaced Larry King as the Welch's Grape Juice spokesman... I can put on a Larry King hat, but I don't know if I can put on a Regis hat... nothing personal Regis, I've just never seen you wear a hat, your hair's too nice.

Stick it to the (working) man...

2005-11-05T13:06:00.000-05:00

So SEPTA is on strike.

Or more specifically, 5,000 city transit workers from TWU Local 234 are on strike against SEPTA.

For those of you unfamiliar with Septa, it's the South Eastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority - the entity that runs all the busses, trolleys, trains and subways for the Philadelphia metropolitan region.

Six days into the strike, there are no negotiations, and 400,000 regular Septa riders have been left to fend for themselves, to traverse the 135 square mile metropolitan area on their own - in a city where 1 in 3 families do not own cars, and where tax dollars already subsidize the mass transit system.

There is no schedule for talks to resume, and both sides keep using emotional language in their statements about the situation to bash the other side. Is this anyway to run a business - especially one that is paid for twice, both out of taxes and out of pocket by the riders?

In case you need an illustration of the ratio, it's like having 405 people in a room, where 5 people's actions are making life difficult for the other 400 people. Now, where else is this tolerated?

Septa riders feel helpless, stuck in the middle - they are experiencing scenarios ranging from inconvenience to hardship, and can't make the two sides come to the table.

It's up to TWU Local 234 and Septa to act responsibly on behalf of their riders - which they're not doing.

I have a suggestion: Septa Riders should stage a boycott after service is restored - one day for each week the strike lasts. Without taking sides, this will remind both SEPTA and TWU Local 234 that there are THREE parties involved, and that without Septa Riders the whole damn system is irrelevant. If they stay out a month, Riders should boycott a week longer after the settlement.

Pretty tough talk from a guy who drives a car, eh? Well, I'm one of the riders Septa lost. I was a die-hard Septa rider between 1986 and 1998, but after two significant strikes during that period (and regularly repeated threats of additional ones), major cutbacks in service, unreliable service and poor attitude from vehicle operators, I gave up on Septa after 12 years and bought a car. As a result I have more freedom to come and go, but I do pay more to get around - and I certainly add more exhaust to the atmosphere as well. Maybe my next car will be a hybrid - I can't see going back to Septa, especially with strikes looming every few years.

The authority and the union don't get it: Mass Transportation is losing Federal and State funding each year because more dollars are being spent on asphalt roads and systems for individual drivers. We have a Washington Oval Office staffed by oil-men with little sympathy for Mass Transit Systems, and a conservative congressional majority who view Mass Transportation as a liberal expenditure for cities, where all the damn liberals live anyway. Whether this is true or not, TWU and SEPTA are shooting themselves in their own feet respectively each day this strike lasts. Don't forget, Washington tried to dismantle Amtrak earlier this year... I hope these guys wake up before they strike themselves into non-existence.

SSSS...

2005-10-18T21:43:00.000-04:00

... if you ever see this on your airline ticket, be prepared for the rubber glove treatment. I didn't know this before last week.

Apparently, this means you have been "randomly" chosen by your airline to be separated from all other passengers as you pass through the TSA checkpoint, and you will have everything you own searched, you will receive a wanding, a pat-down, they'll check inside your pants, (I'm using the back of my hand, the back of my hand, tell me if you are feeling uncomfortable...) they'll dump your carry-on luggage out, they'll thumb through your wallet (that didn't seem right...)

This happened to me on both legs of my journey. Oh, well - I guess that's the price of freedom in a democracy, right? But you know - it made me nostalgic for the old days, when you could meet somebody at their flight-gate in airport, and hug them as they came off the plane. Now people have to run out to your car in the waiting zone out front, where cops are chasing you off. Flying now is really impersonal and actually sort of stressful, since if you get separated and super-searched it sort of puts you on the defensive when you've done nothing wrong. Again, I guess that's the price of freedom in a democracy, right?

Anyway, enough belly-aching. I went to an Apple sponsored conference on 1:1 laptop computing initiatives in higher educations in Laguna Beach in Southern California (Hey Fuzz, just north of San Diego!) - so the scenery made up for any inconvenience coming or going.

SO, on the plane rides out and back, I experimented with yet another music making software application on my Palm, titled "Bhaji's Loops", made by the same people who make the Microbe software I've been chatting up in this blog. It's pretty damn impressive software.

I can compose & produce multi-track arrangements of sound-sampled instruments directly on my Palm. (Remember, this is a little handheld gadget about the size of a cell-phone).

Anyway, here's a song that I did to teach myself how to use the basics of this software (as I sat on the plane to and from California):

Laguna-02b-44-HR.mp3 - (high bandwidth - stereo)
Laguna-02b-44-LR.mp3 - (low bandwidth - mono)

I figure if I ever get a TV series, I can use this as my opening theme.

Edward Dormer: Flat Rock @ Carbon 14 Gallery...

2005-10-06T18:30:00.000-04:00

Edward Dormer is a Philadelphia based artist (scuptor, designer, videographer) who does interesting and exquisite work with natural materials in both outdoor and indoor settings.

He's having an opening on First Friday (Tomorrow, October 7, 2005 from 5 to 9pm) at Carbon 14 Gallery in Old City (126 North 3rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106 - tel: 215-923-2352)

It's a new video and anthracite work - you'll have to go see it to know what that means. The installation will run from October 7 through October 28th.

Here's a link to a site hosting a Flash based invitiation to the opening event and installation (make sure your browser has the Flash plug in)...

http://www.ambientdin.com/flatrockinviteDORMERfs.html

If you click on his name in the Flash invite, you'll also get to see a body of his other work as well - definitely worth it. If you're able, go check out his installation!

I am...

2005-10-04T20:00:00.000-04:00

... really exhausted.

Huuuhhhhhh...

You knew this would happen eventually...

2005-09-30T20:41:00.000-04:00

What's that you ask?

It's that I would write a blog entry while connected to the internet via my Palm.

Of course, it's not all that straight forward...

Neither the Web Pro nor AvantoGo browsers have either the right combination of security and forms compatibility.

So I am writing through pssh (a palm ssh client) logged into my ISP's bash shell, using LYNX to fill out Blogger's forms.

But - it's working!

Granted - it's not all that earth-shattering, but it is pretty wonky - and it's good to know it can be done!

Credit where credit's due...

2005-09-26T17:49:00.000-04:00

OK... In my last post I was like Nikita Kruschev banging my shoe on the UN table as I described Ronna & Robert's situation as evacuees from the New Orleans disaster.

I did indeed write to both the National Chapter and my local Philadelphia Chapter of the American Red Cross. The National Organization responded within two days, with a confirmation that Ronna & Robert are indeed eligible for assistance, without the requirement of residence in a Red Cross shelter.

This is very good news.

I've forwarded the Red Cross response to Ronna & Robert, and I've posted it here, in case anybody else might benefit from the information.

So, in giving credit where credit is due - Thank you, American Red Cross.

Un-American Red Cross

2005-09-23T16:04:00.000-04:00

Sounds a little harsh, eh? Well, I'm ticked off.

Nancy's brother and his wife, Robert & Ronna, live(d) in New Orleans.

They evacuated their house before the storm hit. They've now been on the road for about a month. Their house has sustained flood damage, and they cannot go home yet to even assess their property. As college professors in the city of New Orleans, they have lost their jobs for the forseeable future because their schools cannot open. They have a son in his 2nd year of college and are still paying tuition despite the disaster, in addition to existing bills and mortgage. They're digging into their life savings in order to live day to day - spending money on gas, hotels, food (always more expensive on the road). They are staying with friends whenever possible. And very importantly, Ronna had major surgery about a month before the storm and is still recovering...

Let's recap:

Good citizens, evacuated when told
Have spent several thousand dollars to live on the road for a month
Have lost a major source of income
They are homeless
Property is damaged & uninhabitable
Recovering from major surgery & needs medical assistance & supplies

Ready for this?

They requested medical assistance from the Red Cross for Ronna's condition & medical supplies - and were TURNED AWAY because they are not living in a Red Cross shelter.

Can you believe that?

They have gone out of their way to not be a burden on the relief system, to only ask for truly needed medical assistance, and were denied.

The Red Cross has been designated as the primary relief agency in this disaster - with millions, if not billions of dollars coming in earmarked for Katrina victim relief.

What is the Red Cross doing with those donations if they're only putting it toward people in their shelters? There are MANY MORE VICTIMS living outside Red Cross shelters than in them. Why are victims being denied assistance? I thought when I donate to the Red Cross that moneys & assistance got to victims who need it - who knew there was a policy that penalizes people for being responsible in the face of a disaster?

I think this is AWFUL. So does Nancy, even more than I do.

We feel we people should know that although the Red Cross is willing to take donations in the name of Katrina victims, it is also WITHOLDING assistance from Katrina victims --- and that if people have donated intending to help victims in situations like Robert & Ronna's, that their contributions are not being used for that purpose.

That is WRONG.

Does anybody out there have any suggestions about to whose attention to bring this?

I'm sending a link for this blog entry to the Red Cross, to see if they respond with an explanation, or offer of assistance. Maybe somebody there can clarify how Robert and Ronna can be helped. If not, I'll start inquiring with media outlets to see if they're aware of this situation, and how people have been dealing with it.

Also on the topic of Katrina disaster management and assistance, C. S. Thomas, Managing Director of CACH International Ltd Co, Business Continuity and Crisis Response consultants notes this situation in a posting to the Yahoo Finance Discussion board - see points #6 & #8:
Uncensored from the NOLA Front

Holopaw...

2005-09-17T20:18:00.000-04:00

Holopaw is an independent band on the SubPop label, and they're based between Philly & Florida...

I know Michael (guitars and things), and they're going out on tour very soon (Michael's looking forward to it!)... I can tell you that their CD is really good, and if they're coming near your city, they're worth going to see...

Here's Holopaw's website: http://www.holopaw.net/
Here are their tour dates: http://www.holopaw.net/holopaw/tour.htm

And if you can't see them, go buy their new CD, Quit + / or Fight - because, they're really good, and it's important to support a working band: Holopaw from Amazon.com

I sound like Larry King here, don't I?

What? Another PalmTune?

2005-09-17T19:00:00.000-04:00

Yes, I'm not trying to be prolific or anything, I just am. At least right now.

I mean does anybody complain when Lance Armstrong wins the Tour de France, time after time? Well, maybe the French do, but their job is to criticize anything that's not French. Who can blame them?

Anyway, this Microbe tune is named Ether - Listen to it, and after you're hypnotized, I'll contact you with further instructions:

Ether-03 - (hi-bandwidth / stereo) - will pop up in a new window

Ether-03 - (lo-bandwidth / mono) - will pop up in a new window

----------

And while we're on the topic of free music for you, (don't look gift horses in the mouth, OK?) here's one I've had in the pipeline for a while. Sure, I've had my ideas of what I'd tweak, but really after six months, who am I kidding? So I'm putting it out there...

Frankly, the hi-bandwidth version sounds much better than the lo-res version, so even if you have a dial-up connection, listen to the hi-res... Hey, I'm not some freakin' Hollywood producer here with time to make everything for everybody! I told you what I'd listen to! Hey! Yo! Whatta-ya-want-here-yo-hey? Yo? Hey?

Funk-01-200b-2-HR.mp3 - (hi-bandwidth / stereo) - will pop up in a new window

Funk-01-200b-2-LR.mp3 - (lo-bandwidth / mono) - will pop up in a new window

For the record, nobody played anything on this tune - it's all sampled and scored in Reason. Plus, if you're paying attention, it does this sort of reverse-o-thing with the organ downbeats, but since I wrote it, I'm probably the only one whose interested...

Strawberry Pancakes

2005-09-15T23:36:00.000-04:00

Strawberry pancake; don't make me wait for it! Strawberry pancake; I'm coming for you! Strawberry pancake, Strawberry pancake, I'm riding my bike into town!
Here I come on my bike, I'm looking for pancake - pancake! pancake! pancake!
Oh Yum! Give me your Pancake!
Here I come on my lovely girl's bike, it's a girl's bike, you can tell 'cause the crossbar's really low; I'm riding my bike into town!

http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/Strawberry+Pancakes/

Would somebody please let me know how this finally ends?

Baby, you can...

2005-09-14T20:00:00.000-04:00

Yes, it's Palm-Tune Time again. Yes, it's a cover-tune. Yes, it's a Microbe song.

It kept playing over & over in my mental jukebox this summer whenever I would take the convertible out for a spin... Hopefully, I don't owe anyone royalties for putting this up...

Drive My Car - (hi-bandwidth / stereo) - will pop up in a new window

Drive My Car - (lo-bandwidth / mono) - will pop up in a new window

If I had a time machine...

2005-09-13T20:00:00.000-04:00

... I'd go back 40,000 years and find the VERY FIRST hominid sonofabitch who ever scraped a sharpened clamshell against his face, and I'd haul his neanderthal ass out in front of all his clansmen and kick it up and down the pleistocene tundra --- and I'd make it clear that I would do the same in turn to the next cro-magnon who tried the same thing, in the name of all us guys in the future who as a result are now stuck with having to shave every day.

Yeah, I really don't like shaving.

More Palm Tuneage...

2005-08-28T18:59:00.000-04:00

Again, even though you never asked for it, here it is - another Microbe extravaganza produced entirely on the Palm (well, except for the fade-out at the end, which I processed in Audacity on my Mac):

Wong (hi-bandwidth / stereo) - will pop up in a new window

Wong (lo-bandwidth / mono) - will pop up in a new window

Don't say I never give you anything... in return, I won't say you wanted it.

Penn Jacobs is alive and well...

2005-08-23T20:58:00.000-04:00

I was duped for a period of at least 3 years.

A friend of mine introduced me to a friend of his at a party - his friend's name was Penn Jacobs. Penn was a really likeable guy - intelligent, witty, charming, handsome. He lived in Boston. He was erudite - I thought "Wow! How lucky is this guy to have such a great name like Penn Jacobs!?!?! It totally fits!"

A few years later we visited Penn at his apartment in Washington, DC - he'd moved to take a job down there. During that visit, they dropped the bomb.

Penn's real name wasn't Penn Jacobs. That was merely a put-on, a josh.

I won't say what his real name is because this is the internet and I have a sense of decorum. Besides, I wasn't mad or anything - just a little shocked and disappointed - not in anybody, but just that his name, which fit him so well, wasn't really his name.

I still like Penn, and I even accept his actual name now, but I always think first of Penn Jacobs. Let this be a lesson to ALL of you - first impressions are the ones that count!

If you ask me, I still think he should legally change his name to Penn Jacobs. So rarely does a name fit one so well.

Anyway, the former Penn writes a blog named Thumos.
http://thumos.blogspot.com

Now he's Mr. T... albeit, no mohawk.
Will it never end?

There's no longer a P.

2005-08-19T19:00:00.000-04:00

... it's just "Diddy" now, in case you weren't paying attention.

So, what do those North Koreans think of us, anyway?

2005-08-16T20:31:00.000-04:00

NK-News.net offers a searchable database of articles from the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the official press outlet of North Korea (otherwise known as the People's Democratic Republic of Korea: DPRK).

The official KCNA archive lacks a search engine. So the nice guys at NK-News (who live in San Francisco and are not associated with the KCNA or DPRK), have developed a search engine for the KCNA archive, which will pull up whatever terms you're looking for in KCNA articles dating back to 1996.

Lest you think that Al Franken, Rush Limbaugh and Anne Coulter are the height of demagoguery, they are feather-weights in comparison to the lambasting, fire-breathing voice of the DPRK channeled through the KCNA.

Do one of the suggested searches for "human scum"... my particular favorite result is "KCNA Blasts Hwang Jang Yop's Hysteric Remarks", where this Hwang Jang Yop fellow is described as, well, human scum! (A term also reserved for Donald Rumsfeld - who alternately is described as a "political dwarf"...) Later in the article Hwang Jang Yop is referred to as an "ugly looking man". In the DPRK, this is the propaganda, er, news that's fit to print...

In the US, we may complain about Fox News, but at least we have 1,000 alternatives... in the DPRK, you'll listen to the KCNA and like it. Or else.

DPRK - government or cult? You decide:
http://www.nk-news.net

He talks the talk, but does he walk the walk?

2005-08-13T11:30:00.000-04:00

Okay - regular readers of this blog (yes, both of you, and I'm one of them) will recall that last week I busted on SUV's. I said:

"And that's why a Boxter, Miata, or any other 2 seat roadster convertible is still "cool": you can't do ANY of that stuff in it - you can only drive from point A to point B with the top down, enjoying the real world as you're living in its elements."

And anybody who knows me said:

"What the hell does that Hunter-Green-Jetta-Driving-Wonk know about driving a roadster?"

Well, I guess it's time to 'fess up: I picked up a Miata back in May.

It's a little white number with a red dual racing stripe down the center (no really, it actually does look snazzy)... it has a black convertible top. It's a 1990, the first production year, and I'm told that vintage of Miata is already considered a classic car because of its history and design.

For a 15 year old car it looks just great - it was well-maintained and mildly restored... and the best part of it is, the former owner let it go very inexpensively. I bought a great 2 seat roadster sports car for less than many people pay for a TV system these days! (Ok - maybe a 42" plasma screen with an High Definition TV receiver, but still half that price...)

I took it to the dealer for a used car inspection, and they gave it the A-OK - and told me these vintage Miatas were really well built and just keep on running! That's fine by me.

So far, everybody seems to like it - Nancy, my Folks & Family, strangers on the street. It needs a tiny-bit of body work, and maybe some engine work (the engine is very clean), but I intend to drive it around as-is during the warm weather, and then have work done on it in the Winter months (once it becomes too cold to drive with the top down).

So, yes, it's a new toy. It won't replace my Jetta (the practical car), it's a fair-weather weekend supplement for riding with the top down. And no, I won't do any practical errands in it - it's totally about the ride. I'd never drove a convertible before this car - I really enjoy it. Maybe motorcyclists feel this way as well, but when you drive with the top down, it really immerses you in the environment.

Anyway, enough of the blah-blah: here's a link to some photos...
http://www.kenkramar.com/images/miata/miata-viewer.html

Mr. Fastfinger's Guitar Shred Show

2005-08-12T17:45:00.000-04:00

http://www.guitarshredshow.com/

This site requires a broadband connection, but boy! is it worth it!
Props to Mika Tyyskä, who made the thing.
Thanks to Michael Johnson for bringing it to my sphere of consciousness...

Another Palm Tune

2005-08-11T19:30:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted any music on here for a while... so here's a recent Palm tune done with Microbe, a 2 voice + drum step-sequencer for the Palm.

Blinky (hi-bandwidth / stereo) - will pop up in a new window

Blinky (lo-bandwidth / mono) - will pop up in a new window

Yes, there indeed is a weird left-right tremelo thing going on in the stereo version (it's an effect!)... also the drum machine is run through a phaser, and the higher-pitched synth is going through a digital delay - all effects processing done in real time on the Palm!

The Litterbox Challenge

2005-08-10T01:29:00.000-04:00

OK... we have four cats.

That may sound like a lot, but think of it this way: we live in a house that has three floors and a basement, so that's one cat per floor. I know several people who have a much higher cat-to-floor-ratio. Needless to say, we are vermin free.

Anyway, there's a thing that happens when we clean the litterboxes. Now it's fair to say that cleaning the litterbox is as much good deed for the cats as it is for us. Cats are clean animals and they like clean litterboxes. They appreciate the fact that their poopies magically disappear, giving them a clean slate to again express themselves fecally.

But these cats - they are not content to let the litterbox lie fallow for a moment. A clean litterbox is a challenge to these little beasts. They watch as we scoop the litter, wide-eyed and calculating... with the intention to rush in the moment we replace the litterbox lid and poop as they have never pooped before.

I don't know where they get it all - do they wait all day like some bulemic in reverse, do they collectively pool their poops in the other litterbox and carry them down to make one big hoe-down, do they have it trucked in from out of state?

I am at a loss to explain why the litterbox looks the same 5 minutes after being scooped. Their productivity is remarkable.

None-the-less, I love the cats. Really.

SUV's are the new minivan

2005-08-03T20:00:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time, the Sport Utility Vehicle was a creature made for off-road travel, found in the back-country of the American Southwest or on the African Savannah. They were a rare sight.

Now, they they jam city streets, clog highways, and cram mall parking lots.

The minivan fell out of fashion as being too unhip, too uncool, too square - too tied to the mundane activities of life. Soccer Moms and Business Dads wanted something flashier to keep ties to their youth - to keep alive the fantasy of adventure, like off-roading in the Desert... They've chosen the SUV.

Unfortunately, it's not the form-factor of a vehicle that defines it's "cool-ness", it's what you do with it: grocery shopping for the week, loading the kids off to soccer practice, moving your daughter to college, cocooning into a protected environment detached from the world outside, pacifying the children with the built-in flip-down DVD player... the mundanities remain the same. Real adventure is rare if the family car can't afford to be put at risk.

And that's why a Boxter, Miata, or any other 2 seat roadster convertible is still "cool": you can't do ANY of that stuff in it - you can only drive from point A to point B with the top down, enjoying the real world as you're living in its elements.

The fact of the matter is - SUV's are the new minivan.

Happy Swiss National Day!

2005-08-01T11:57:00.000-04:00

Today is Swiss National Day!

Having obtained a BFA in Graphic Design from PCA (now UArts), I would like to acknowledge the country that has contributed greatly to the profession.

Please take a moment and enjoy the following Swiss imagery:
(To my knowledge, they're not copyrighted - if they are, let me know and I'll remove them...)

Work around the house...

2005-07-24T12:00:00.000-04:00

Well, Nancy wanted me to mention that we've been doing some big things 'round here lately... mainly in the region of our basement.

Nancy contracted with a construction company to re-cement the basement of her 120 year old house. But that's not all: in doing so, they've lowered the floor eight inches (I no longer bang my head on the rafters) which gets us another 500 cubic feet of space. They've put in a french drain & sump-pump, sealed and re-cemented the walls, moved sinks & water-heaters, re-run plumbing lines, put in thinner furnace ducts, performed mold-abatement and have rebuilt the basement stairs.

All this in the space of less than 3 weeks.

The surprising thing to me was, I had no clue that this was about to occur until 2 days before it started...

The new blog feature at kenkramar.com

2005-07-22T12:45:00.000-04:00

Well, I thought that I would try a true blogging system for this site, since the phpBB discussion board wasn't quite cutting it for that purpose.

Hence, the blogger powered page.

This will let me write in a sort of continuous "column" and let people respond with comments, without having to click through lots of messages.

For now, I will still keep the message board, although maybe it will get re-purposed at some point.

Anyway, Welcome to kramarama !

My New Blog

2005-07-22T11:59:00.000-04:00

Well, I thought I would try this Blogger thing... Let's see if it works!

Holy Bat-Knot Batman!

2005-07-13T11:29:00.000-04:00

Batman, Batgirl and Robin - Has that dastardly Penguin slipped you a Viagra mickey yet again?
http://www.catsupbottle.com/otherfun/friendspix/batgirl/knot.html

Blogging can be creepy...

2005-07-05T18:33:00.000-04:00

What is this blogging thing?

Is it the opportunity to write your own articles?
Is it your chance to share your diary on the web?
Is it your soapbox for every arcane and extreme issue?
Is it your disseminator of misinformation?
Is it police evidence?
Is it your confessional, alibi and suicide note?
Is it a chronicle of your descent into madness?

http://fifthnail.blogspot.com/
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/07/02/idaho.children/index.html

Bob Kramar, from Hommasassa: Good night!

2005-06-26T01:30:00.000-04:00

Well - it's June 25th, 2005... it's hard to believe that my Dad passed away on this date seven years ago, at the age of 65 - relatively young these days, but he probably lived harder than a lot of people who live longer. None-the-less, I still miss him.

My Father's health had declined rapidly during the last 5 years of his life. He was a complex man - an electrical engineer, with a passion for poetry, photography, and many bohemian excesses of those with an artistic soul, he lived a rather rambling lifestyle - and a number of factors probably contributed to his death. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, but I don't really think that was what took him. He had a voracious appetite for alcohol my entire life - very few thoughts can come to my mind that are not related to how my father's drinking affected his life and all those around him, alienating many including me. On the flip side, my Dad was one of these guys whose presence could be so affable and charming that you tended to forgive them for whatever made you so angry at them - until they did it again.

At the same time, he had a disease called "Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia", or HHT for short. This is a relatively rare disease, and if you have it, researchers really want access to you and your family these days - but no so much when my Father was younger. (My Grandmother Alice and my Uncle Jac had it also). http://www.hht.org

Basically, the disease is this: people with HHT don't properly develop capillary blood vessels, and so the blood takes its own path through the skin and organs - shunting its way without the benefit of a protected vein. The result is that blood pools and collects in the skin and organs - they look like little red dots. If a "dot" breaks, there's no blood vessel wall to constrict and stop the blood flow, so it puts people at risk of hemorrhaging. But that's only one part of the problem. Many of these "dots" occur in organs like the lungs and brain... so if a blood pool develops inside the lungs, this can actually allow airborne bacteria to invade the bloodstream because they can pass freely into it. In the brain, in addition to blood pooling and making a blood abscess, bacteria can get to parts of the brain and compound those abscesses. Surgery is required when this happens, both in the lungs and in the brain. That's HHT in a nutshell. It's a tough battle that lasts many years - you can't be cured since it's genetic. I lucked out - I did not inherit it.

My Father had surgeries in his lungs, his stomach and his brain from the disease - yet, he kept on keeping on. He moved to Florida after my parents divorced, and remarried a woman named Carol in the mid 1980's - we did not keep in close touch.

My last visit with my Father was in February 1997 - I stayed at their house in Hommasassa, as I headed home from a trip out to Arizona. I had left Philadelphia 2 months earlier to get my head straight after my marriage had collapsed earlier that summer - I was in a terrible state of depression.

Meanwhile, my Father's health had declined terribly - he was unable to walk, barely able to communicate, and apparently pretty out of it most of the time - he would normally stay in bed for weeks.

Carol told me he really perked up when I arrived. He used his walker to come out of his bedroom, wearing a snappy plaid robe; he insisted on getting dressed and wanted to go outside for a walk! We shuffled down the street to a playground - as we passed the sliding board, he insisted on stopping... he eyed the 10 ft ladder, shuffled over to the ladder, set his walker aside and climbed up the sliding board. At the top, he looked down, grinned and slid down the board - this amused him greatly, and surprised me as well - the old guy still had spunk! He said "Don't tell Carol..." (since this was clearly not allowed behavior), and I kept it as our secret until a year and a half later at his memorial.

By all rights, that is where I wish I could leave the story - but I only stayed for one evening. I was overwhelmed by my Father's condition and my own depressed state of mind, and had the terrible urge to flee. The man I knew was no longer the man I knew, and I could not deal with the change right then. If I were in a different period of my life I may have been able to stay and spend another couple of days. When I look back at that, I feel sorry that I did leave, selfish in my flight. As I backed my car out of the driveway, my Dad and Carol invited me to stay - I declined, with a promise to visit later - my last sight of my Father is of him waving forlornly from their front porch. I think I may have broken his heart, and for that I am truly sorry.

Later never came - I missed my opportunity, and my Father's diseases finally took him.

If I could make time run backward, I would return to Hommasassa and stay another February evening.

Well, I decided to take Kyle's suggestion to heart...

2005-06-15T17:20:00.000-04:00

... to try and run a "blog" style section of this board...

This may look a little clumsy at first, since I don't really know anything about modifying the css sheets for this board, but I'll get it figured out eventually. I thought of trying out the Moveable Type solution, but that will require maybe a whole new structure, and maybe even money... and being the cheapskate I am (about certain things) my philosophy is to try and make this work within the limitations of of the FREE BBS system.

I guess the appeal of this is that I can give "sections" of the board to people do with as they please - their own "column" or what-ever, maybe like a magazine or newspaper. Yeah! Freedom of speech! Power to the People! Stick it to the Man! Attica! Attica!

So anyway, under this "Bloh, Bloh, Blog" section, I have two columns set-up, one for myself, and one for Susan Laracy. Sue LIKES people from Philly (even if they no longer live here) so this is her virtual voice in the Delaware Valley.

So, what's the difference between a blog section and a discussion section on this board? Well, the blog area is oriented around one primary author, and people can respond within that section. The open discussions are free-for-alls right now. That could change...

Anyway maybe this board could stand a little restructuring because it's been rather dead here lately. Totally my fault - it IS my board!

Update from Ken - October 2, 2004

2004-10-02T14:32:00.000-04:00

(Deep exhale)... For the moment, my rechargeable gadgets have become analgous to my existance...

I recently purchased a Palm Tungsten T3 - I depend on my PDA greatly to stay on top of things, I have for years - the T3 is great, but like my iPod it has a rechargeable battery - and therefore runs out of energy at times when I need it most...

Okay, rare admission for this bulletin board, since I don't want to bring much work stuff into the environment: In addition to being Director of Academic Computing at The University of the Arts, in the past 2 weeks I've been given interim "oversight" of the Network Services Division as well... there's faith in my abilities to manage technical staff & administrative hierarchies, deal with end-user customer service and ask weird questions that make people go "oh, yeah, that might work, I hadn't thought of that... - But 2 Directorships at once! Of course I'm simultaneously: flattered, freaked-the-*f--k*-out, and feel like a column of water that has fallen to the ground and is spreading in all directions to find the low and common ground (is that a convincing visual? - otherwise I can alway refer to Holden Caufield standing at the cliff).

Anyway, back to the analogies - I need more battery life! And I need 30 hours in a day, not that damn 24 - WHO CAME UP WITH THAT NUMBER? (Oh, yeah, God, that's right...) And more data storage space in my brain! I need more processing power to get these tasks turned around!

Well, as far as consolation goes, Nancy has been very understanding, and my boss has advised me to drink heavily - since I don't have kids, I can probably follow up on that advice more readily than many people...

(Hey! that gives me an idea for a poll!)

Anyway, that's my deal - I usually bust ass in my job, but more so from June until September - when I expect to take a breather and even get some time off - this year, just when I was looking to crash, I got a bigger assignment... am I complaining? No - just venting, actually. I really care about where I work - I believe in the institution, the people I support, my colleagues, the students - I think the world would actually be worse off if UArts didn't exist - not for my own gain, but because creative people, who think outside of the mainsteam, are needed - and we educate them, train them to be articulate, express their discontent and propose their view of how things should work... HEY! we're training them to be PUNK ROCKERS!!!!!

Too bad that's "anachronistic" these days - I need to figure out the current semantic term that avoids being "slacker" but promotes being "activist" without sounding like "comfortable old-head".

Suggestions? Post 'em in the General chat forums...

By the way - where are you guys these days? This board is dead lately! The majority off you people (exclusively invited none-the less) are either ex-Punk Rockers or conservative Republicans... (who need middle ground?) Doesn't any anybody have anything to say? You all know me - be polite, but say what you want to say - be respectful, but have discourse... I'd love to see that here, if you're all up to it - do so, and you'll make friends for life here... not to brag, but I know GOOD PEOPLE: you guys! I'd love to get everybody talking and bring you together.

This board is the "happy hour" party I could never host in real life - I respect you all - and have always thought "I would love for "so-and-so" to talk with "so-and-so" "...

And as an aside, in following my bosses' advice, and keeping with the happy hour metaphor, if you are out of olives, capers will do just fine in a Martini.

Update from Ken - May 26th, 2004

2004-05-26T11:36:00.000-04:00

OK then... I've been busy as of late!

I've mostly moved out of my apartment over to Nancy's house.
(My residence of 14 years - yeah I know, I could have bought a house by now, I don't wanna hear it)

Great thanks to:

- Nancy for great assistance in the move and a great new place to live.
- Rachel (Nancy's daughter) & Arin (Rachel's boyfriend), who will take over my former residence, for great assistance in the move.
- Bob, my landlord, for amazing action on renovations to the apartment.

Once my stuff is fully moved in, I'll still need to unbox and "place" it... so, we'll see how that goes...

Also - I'm taking a trip with Nancy, her sister Barbara & their Mom to visit New Orleans for Nancy's nephew's (Ben's) high school graduation (could you follow that?) ... We're driving, almost straight thru. Should be fun!

And thirdly, I'm busting hump to get orders out for the University before I leave for our summer projects.

When I get back from NOLA, I'll have a few days and then it's out to Madison, WI for business for 5 days.

After that, I'd just like to lie flat on my back for a day or two...

Sheldog Oyster ultra-light pick-up / Seebris engine & drive train

2004-05-02T22:37:00.000-04:00

A superlight pick-up truck for small loads...

Dual bicycle chain drive trains on inflatable bicycle rims in the rear - a 2 person cab in front - body made of aerodynamically molded, white enameled fiberglass - the vehicle is thin in overall width.

Excellent gas mileage, uses little oil as well since engine is a small 2-stroke.

I dreamt this - the design & the name - I even saw the logos.

Seebris even made a matching pair of running shoes for owners of vehicles using their engines & drive-train!

Here's how the dream went:

Nancy & I came out of some store or restaurant in the evening, headed back to our car which was across the road (not sure where, but not urban - there were trees & woods around).

From behind, some young teen with a southern accent catches my attention as he complains to his dad about something, the dad tells him not to worry about it - as they pass us, maybe the kid appears emotionally handicapped - hard to tell.

As we cross the street we see they're part of some multi-vehicle contingent passing thru ... There are at least a dozen or so people, and I notice that some of the people speaking with the father are missing limbs - arm, legs - not in a gruesome way, but I notice their prosthetics as they speak with him.

The father is a sort of tall lanky sandy-haired guy, with a moustache, late 30's, nice fellow - very Alabama, sort of Nascar... Anyway, I pass this one car noted above, and I'm intrigued since it's so unusual - I ask the father - who's already gotten in the vehicle if I can take a closer look, and he gives me the tour... (see the above description).

Welcome to the Board

2004-03-16T00:00:00.000-05:00

Hi... I always wanted to run a board, but never quite got around to it.

So - here's my entry into the fray.

This area is where I'll probably "Blog" - if anybody wants to know what's happening (and if I can find the time to write regularly!)

I hope it won't be too pompous, and that maybe an occasional laugh can be gotten out this section.

I don't think I will open this section up to other posts, it'll just be my monologue - but the other areas of the board will be open to everybody.

Thanks for tuning in!

The term "Computer" is out-moded

2004-02-06T22:55:00.000-05:00

OK - I may be going out on a limb, but for how they're generally used today, the term "computer" is pretty out-moded: it's, like, so 20th Century.

Most people don't sit down to a computer to specifically "compute" anything, except maybe spreadsheets. People generally use computer systems for personal productivity: correspondence, communication, research, channelling information, creating art, design & music... Rarely does anyone except a scientist consciously "compute" anything.

So the "computer" becomes the engine for this productivity. Just like a combustion engine powers a car... But we don't call a car a "combuster" and we don't just sit inside it and watch it "combust": We GO places and do things with it. Same with computers... I mean, sure, it works by crunching numbers and manipulating the results, but we don't just feed them equations and watch them compute munitions trajectories anymore. General use systems need to be called something else.

My department (Academic Computing!) wrangles computers daily... But the funny thing is we often don't refer to them as computers. We call them "systems" or "stations" or "seats" - we associate their use with people - we may refer to a specific component, like a hard drive or a software package. The closest industry term that refers to how they're used is "workstation" - but that's so generic and could just be a wooden desk & cubicle.

The other thing that really drives the point home is to see a network go down and then watch hundreds of people get nothing done. Their interface for basic productivity vanishes when a computer dependent population is disconnected. Seeing this makes you realize the "computer" now occupies a significantly important spot in personal productivity. Such an important thing need a more appropriate name...

Depending on what software is installed, a computer is chameleonesque: you can design buildings one moment, you can send a picture of your daughter to a friend in Japan the next, you can play a movie after that, you can write and record a sonota, then you can print a billboard and then jump into a virtual 3D world to kill villans, while chatting with your best bud. And it goes on. This isn't merely crunching numbers anymore...