The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated 40 years ago today. Because of the work of several courageous and clever people, Boston avoided most of the rioting that overwhelmed most major cities. Boston's only black city councilor, Tom Atkins, and Kevin White, mayor, arranged to have the April 5 James Brown concert broadcast on the city's public broadcasting station, Channel 2, WGBH. The streets were quiet that night as thousands stayed home to watch the show.
VH1 will broadcast a documentary about the events around and on that night. See Rock Docs : The Night James Brown Saved Boston for more info. WGBH's Greater Boston had a story about the movie and the night. VH1 will release the movie, along with WGHB's concert footage, on DVD.
Friday, April 04, 2008
Thursday, April 03, 2008
No benefit in drinking eight glasses of water a day, scientists say - Telegraph
A key part of the weight-loss canon is that we should drink a half gallon/two liters of water per day to flush the system and make us feel full. It's interesting to learn, then that scientists have not determined the benefit in drinking eight glasses of water a day.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Why people hate computers and cell phones
I've been trying to transfer a couple of pictures from Sandra's phone to our home computer using Bluetooth. Following what I believe are the proper instructions, I received the following message:
Tooth Regeneration May Replace Drill-and-Fill
Friend eba has offered several reports about her and her husband's dental experiences of late. Thus far, dentists are still making their boat payments by using mechanical means for repairing teeth - drills, filling, crowns, and implants. Some new techniques, still in the research and testing phases, may allow our teeth to regenerate themselves. The new procedures still require intervention by dentists, so they'll still be able to afford their Rolex watches.
This, by the way, is one of my Pearly Gate questions: why don't human teeth automatically repair themselves? The teeth in some animals, such as chipmunks and squirrels, keep growing, so the animals must eat hard food to wear down their teeth. We humans, however, get two sets of teeth. The first jettisons itself fairly easily. The second, so-called permanent set, crumbles and fails over the next three or four score years, bringing us pain and an increasing reliance on soft foods. What evolutionary (or creation-scientific) advantage does this dental design bring?
This, by the way, is one of my Pearly Gate questions: why don't human teeth automatically repair themselves? The teeth in some animals, such as chipmunks and squirrels, keep growing, so the animals must eat hard food to wear down their teeth. We humans, however, get two sets of teeth. The first jettisons itself fairly easily. The second, so-called permanent set, crumbles and fails over the next three or four score years, bringing us pain and an increasing reliance on soft foods. What evolutionary (or creation-scientific) advantage does this dental design bring?
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
This week's RoasterBoy playlist
Benny Goodman - Sing, Sing, Sing (with a swing) |
| This one is always on any of my lists of best song/recording ever. 04/01/2008 04:18 PM |
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Gnarls Barkley - Who's gonna save my soul |
| Modern R&B with a classic Al Green feel. 03/27/2008 01:39 PM |
Last lumps of winter
The woods still have big patches of snow and ice, but our yard has turn the corner to spring. 
According to the weather forecast, we might get some snow on Friday, but the ground is getting too warm to let the snow stay for very long.
Sandra and I have had a nickel bet for a month or so. I wagered that the pile of snow on our back deck would still be here on April 1st; she believed that it would be gone.
Had we closed the wager this morning, I would have won. A day of 60 degree weather, however, ate through the snow like Marley through his breakfast.
This is Post #800. We're coming up on four years in a couple of weeks.
According to the weather forecast, we might get some snow on Friday, but the ground is getting too warm to let the snow stay for very long.Sandra and I have had a nickel bet for a month or so. I wagered that the pile of snow on our back deck would still be here on April 1st; she believed that it would be gone.
Had we closed the wager this morning, I would have won. A day of 60 degree weather, however, ate through the snow like Marley through his breakfast.
This is Post #800. We're coming up on four years in a couple of weeks.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Vernal suburbia
A pair of robins have been hanging around on Holden Street, midway between Shrewsbury Street and the Worcester line, for more than a week. This weekend, we saw a robin in our yard, a half-mile north. The rest of the gang, the grackles and blackbirds and cardinals and mourning doves, are eating voraciously at our feeders. If I kept the feeders full, I bet they would go through 50 pounds in a week.
We're seeing the first noses of crocuses and poppies where the sun has warmed the earth. There are still patches of snow around the yard. The ponds are trying to melt by day, but the freezing temperatures overnight put a fresh, thin coating of ice on the open water. The ice is too thin to support the Canada geese, but the smaller ducks can sit comfortably, if you call sitting on ice comfortable.
So, we're ready for spring, ready to get going on the yard work and living outdoors and all that. Last night, I cooked (or, rather, undercooked) supper on the gas grill on the back deck. Today, March is going out like a lamb, if you call snow and cold wind lamb-like.
We're seeing the first noses of crocuses and poppies where the sun has warmed the earth. There are still patches of snow around the yard. The ponds are trying to melt by day, but the freezing temperatures overnight put a fresh, thin coating of ice on the open water. The ice is too thin to support the Canada geese, but the smaller ducks can sit comfortably, if you call sitting on ice comfortable.
So, we're ready for spring, ready to get going on the yard work and living outdoors and all that. Last night, I cooked (or, rather, undercooked) supper on the gas grill on the back deck. Today, March is going out like a lamb, if you call snow and cold wind lamb-like.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
The state of the retail economy
This article, Penney’s Warning Adds to Retail Gloom, from yesterday's New York Times, is the latest in a relentless parade of news stories about our troubled economy. When we walk through midrange or upscale malls, the dispirited atmosphere is too much to take. If it was not for the teenagers, preening and parading, there'd be no energy at all in these joyless caverns.
The business articles have a lot to say about demographics, marketing programs, and earnings-per-share. What the articles don't say, however, is that, in store after store, pretty much all that they have to sell is crap. If you took down the signs over each doorway, I doubt that your typical shopper could tell which store you're in. The clothing and housewares in Penney's is nearly the same as in Sears. You've got three stores specializing in sneakers, but the department stores have sneakers, too. Chico's, Coldwater Creek, Express, and The Limited are, imo, indistinguishable. I believe that a third to a half of the stores could go under and few people would notice. We'd notice the empty storefronts, but we wouldn't feel pinched by reduced choices.
So, here's a tip for American retailers, sell good stuff at a decent price or close up shop and do something else.
You know, it used to be that we'd measure the health of the American economy by what we produced -first the Gross National Product, now called the Gross Domestic Product. Now, our excitement is about how much we can spend. What's the bellwether of the economy? Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, when we show the world how insane we are about our shopping. If we're not good shoppers, we'll all be sad when Baby Jesus comes on Christmas Day. I'm sure that Baby Jesus will be sad alright, but not for the reasons that we think.
The business articles have a lot to say about demographics, marketing programs, and earnings-per-share. What the articles don't say, however, is that, in store after store, pretty much all that they have to sell is crap. If you took down the signs over each doorway, I doubt that your typical shopper could tell which store you're in. The clothing and housewares in Penney's is nearly the same as in Sears. You've got three stores specializing in sneakers, but the department stores have sneakers, too. Chico's, Coldwater Creek, Express, and The Limited are, imo, indistinguishable. I believe that a third to a half of the stores could go under and few people would notice. We'd notice the empty storefronts, but we wouldn't feel pinched by reduced choices.
So, here's a tip for American retailers, sell good stuff at a decent price or close up shop and do something else.
You know, it used to be that we'd measure the health of the American economy by what we produced -first the Gross National Product, now called the Gross Domestic Product. Now, our excitement is about how much we can spend. What's the bellwether of the economy? Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, when we show the world how insane we are about our shopping. If we're not good shoppers, we'll all be sad when Baby Jesus comes on Christmas Day. I'm sure that Baby Jesus will be sad alright, but not for the reasons that we think.
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