Saturday, January 19, 2008
More pork, please.
Prince Edward Island meat production businesses are in trouble. The hog processing plant has slipped into receivership and the large grocery stores are bringing pork products from other parts of Canada. The locals are pleading with Island consumers to buy local or their neighbors will go out of business.
Skillz I haz them
Most people over 30 will think of video games as, well, games, stuff that younger (mostly male) people do until they get around to growing up. The real world, however, is realizing that the skills learned while playing video games aren't completely useless. For example, we learn that surgeons hone skills on Nintendo Wii
. In addition, the military has found that "video games made better soldiers and sailors faster, safer and cheaper." In addition, businesses are finding that, along with learning manual skills, video games can teach leadership.
. In addition, the military has found that "video games made better soldiers and sailors faster, safer and cheaper." In addition, businesses are finding that, along with learning manual skills, video games can teach leadership.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Weapons of the winter war
On Monday evening, we were watching a news story about how much better the state and local public works departments handled Monday's (modest) snowstorm. I remarked that, for narrow streets, instead of plows, they ought to use flame throwers. I didn't realize that I was 35 years behind the times. (The ad is from 1972.)Update: This article, in the 1/20/08 Boston Globe, describes how New York and Toronto use, and Boston does not use, snow-melting equipment to clear the streets.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Huck stories - skis
When my father was a kid, he asked his father for money (maybe ten
bucks) for a pair of skis. "We're not paying for skis," the old gent
said. Instead, they went out into the woods, found a good, straight
birch trees, cut it down, and dragged it home. There, they cut,
carved, paned, and polished the wood into a set of skis. If I remember
the story correctly, Huck broke theis on the first or second time out.
bucks) for a pair of skis. "We're not paying for skis," the old gent
said. Instead, they went out into the woods, found a good, straight
birch trees, cut it down, and dragged it home. There, they cut,
carved, paned, and polished the wood into a set of skis. If I remember
the story correctly, Huck broke theis on the first or second time out.
RIP, Huck, one year ago today
--
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Drink from the well and yield your place to another. - Jose Ortega y Gasset
This Week's RoasterBoy Playlist
YouTube - Garland Jeffreys - Hail Hail Rock 'N Roll ( Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 at 09:25 AM GMT)
YouTube - Garland Jeffreys - Hail Hail Rock 'N Roll
YouTube - The Rolling Stones - Love In Vain ( Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 at 08:39 AM GMT)
YouTube - The Rolling Stones - Love In Vain Listening to the Stones naturally leads to other artists, such as Chuck Berry and the Temptations. On this Chuck Berry clip , however, you'll need some ear bleach; the Bee Gees join in the chorus. Better to find something like this medley of Promised…
YouTube - The Velvet Underground - Heroin ( Monday, Jan 14, 08 at 01:22 PM GMT)
Friend Ken, tall and lanky, looking like Cookie Monster, died a junkie's death in a burned-out van a number of years ago. Each time I hear this song , I remember him. Even on the underground radio stations in the late 60s into the 70s, this song was banned because it told the story too well.
YouTube - The Velvet Underground - Sweet Jane (Live) ( Monday, Jan 14, 08 at 01:07 PM GMT)
PBS has been teasing its Jane Austen series with the Cowboy Junkies refrain of Lou Reed's Sweet Jane (Live with The Velvet Underground) .
MilkandCookies - Animaniacs: Yakko's Universe Song ( Monday, Jan 14, 08 at 10:06 AM GMT)
It's a great big universe and we're all real puny. We're just tiny, little specks, about the size of Mickey Rooney.
MilkandCookies - Pink Floyd: Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Live ( Monday, Jan 14, 08 at 09:58 AM GMT)
MilkandCookies - Pink Floyd: Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Live . More , from Wikipedia.
James Brown - It's A Man's World ( Thursday, Jan 10, 08 at 01:11 PM GMT)
I'm never sure what to think or say about this song . From one side, it's arrogant, sexist, and demeaning to women. From another, its ache is like no other. Add to Luciano Pavarotti and, well, I don't know what you get. On that theme, though, of why men do what they do, here's Al…
Old folkies ( Wednesday, Jan 09, 08 at 02:49 PM GMT)
Today's Boston Globe has a review of a show at Passim's this past Sunday. The show included lots of performers from the Boston folk music scene of decades past. These people were an essential part of our sound track. It's not only impressive that these musicians are still performing, but…
FARK.com: Fark YouTube Player (3315843) Bob Dylan shows Donovan a thing or two..."Love Minus Zero/No Limit" ( Wednesday, Jan 09, 08 at 11:40 AM GMT)
FARK.com: Fark YouTube Player (3315843) Bob Dylan shows Donovan a thing or two..."Love Minus Zero/No Limit" From "No Direction Home"
YouTube - The Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star ( Tuesday, Jan 08, 08 at 10:27 PM GMT)
From Charles Laquidara's blog : YouTube - The Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star
Monday, January 14, 2008
How Massachusetts are you?
Even though they get the pronunciation of Worcester wrong, it's a fun quiz:
Dude! You're 100% from Massachusetts!
Dude! Me and Sully and Fitzie and Sean are gonna hit Landsdowne tonight after the game, hang out at the Beerworks. I'll pick you up at the Coop at 6.
How Massachusetts are you?
The hand of God reaches out to us.
I've had a copy of this George Booth cartoon for a long time, 30 years maybe.
Booth's cartoons appear regularly in The New Yorker.
Booth's cartoons appear regularly in The New Yorker.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
"I'm an optimistic people"
President Bush and Prime Minister Olmert Participate in Joint Press Availability: I'm an optimistic people -- people say, do you think it's possible during your presidency, and the answer is, I'm very hopeful and will work hard to that end.
Finding our way back to winter
When I let Marley out the back door so that he could chase the squirrel at the bird feeder, he made a quick left turn and hit the black ice on the deck. His body went forward, but all four feet went sideways. By the time he regained traction, the squirrel was mocking him from a tree far away.
Half of our yard is snow-free. The other half, sheltered from the sun, has, at most, four or five inches of wet-pack snow. We had thunderstorms with downpours yesterday, but the temperature stayed in the 30s, so there wasn't much more melting. We're closer to normal temperatures now. The forecast indicates that we might have a good-sized storm starting tomorrow night and through the day on Monday.
Happy Birthday, Krista.
Half of our yard is snow-free. The other half, sheltered from the sun, has, at most, four or five inches of wet-pack snow. We had thunderstorms with downpours yesterday, but the temperature stayed in the 30s, so there wasn't much more melting. We're closer to normal temperatures now. The forecast indicates that we might have a good-sized storm starting tomorrow night and through the day on Monday.
Happy Birthday, Krista.
Friday, January 11, 2008
On the recurring battle against stuff
Most of us have heard George Carlin's riff on stuff. In brief, we spend a lot of our energy on our stuff, carrying it with us, finding places to keep, wondering where our stuff is.
Having cleaned out my father's house in the past year, we've come to appreciate how important it is to keep important stuff and how difficult it is to get rid of the stuff that isn't important. Thoreau wrote of the good men of Concord, pushing their barns in front of them:
Thoreau also wrote of the Mucclasse Indians who, when the new harvest comes and when they have acquired new pots, pans, clothes, and furniture, would burn their old stuff, cleansing and simplifying.
Update: "Selfish capitalism is bad for your mental health."
Having cleaned out my father's house in the past year, we've come to appreciate how important it is to keep important stuff and how difficult it is to get rid of the stuff that isn't important. Thoreau wrote of the good men of Concord, pushing their barns in front of them:
How many a poor immortal soul have I met well-nigh crushed and smothered under its load, creeping down the road of life, pushing before it a barn seventy-five feet by forty, its Augean stables (8) never cleansed, and one hundred acres of land, tillage, mowing, pasture, and woodlot!So, while some folks try to show us how to hang your books from the rafters, we're trying to find ways to trim the amount of stuff that wanders into the house and stays, thanks to Newton's first law. We've cleaned off one bookshelf in our study, sending a couple of boxes of books to the town library's used book sale and planning to sell a few on Amazon. I've decided that I can get by with six portable radios (three of them short-wave) and so will donate the extras to next summer's Phillipston flea market.
Thoreau also wrote of the Mucclasse Indians who, when the new harvest comes and when they have acquired new pots, pans, clothes, and furniture, would burn their old stuff, cleansing and simplifying.
Update: "Selfish capitalism is bad for your mental health."
Computer operators going the way of telephone operators?
In the early 20th century, the exponential growth of the telephone system caused some to estimate that, by mid-century, half of the people in the country would be working as telephone operators. Automation, of course, stepped in. Fewer operators were needed to support many, many more customers.
So, too, it seems to be happening in the computing world. In the early 90s, we started hearing the term "lights-out computing," referring to a computer room that pretty much ran itself, requiring no lights because there were no people in the room. That trend is continuing, such that, within a decade, there won't be a computer room, at least not one inside the business. It used to be that many business had to generate their own electricity. As the overall electrical grid system improved in capacity and reliability, businesses found it simpler, cheaper, and better to rely on a utility rather than manage their own. In time, we'll buy computing cycles in the way that we buy electrical and phone service.
So, too, it seems to be happening in the computing world. In the early 90s, we started hearing the term "lights-out computing," referring to a computer room that pretty much ran itself, requiring no lights because there were no people in the room. That trend is continuing, such that, within a decade, there won't be a computer room, at least not one inside the business. It used to be that many business had to generate their own electricity. As the overall electrical grid system improved in capacity and reliability, businesses found it simpler, cheaper, and better to rely on a utility rather than manage their own. In time, we'll buy computing cycles in the way that we buy electrical and phone service.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
The reading cure | Review | Guardian Unlimited Books
My mother was a practicing bibliotherapist: "The right book to the right person at the right time." It's good to see that the world still recognizes the healing powers of books.
The reading cure | Review | Guardian Unlimited Books
The reading cure | Review | Guardian Unlimited Books
It's a good thing we didn't read this article earlier
We've received a nice offer on my father's house and expect to close the sale at the end of the month. The buyers are a family relocating from Ohio.
This is the house where I grew up. Mike and his crew renovated the place this past spring and summer, so the place looks great. I believe that the new owners will like the house and like the town.
8 reasons why your house is unsellable - TODAY 101 - MSNBC.com
This is the house where I grew up. Mike and his crew renovated the place this past spring and summer, so the place looks great. I believe that the new owners will like the house and like the town.
8 reasons why your house is unsellable - TODAY 101 - MSNBC.com
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