Editor resigns after death threats from furious gun owners (via Raw Story )

An editor of a small newspaper in North Carolina resigned this week following an onslaught of death threats over his information request for the names of concealed carry permit holders and applicants in his area. Robert Horne, former editor of The Cherokee Scout, asked the local sheriff in Cherokee…

Our Funny Valentine

Yesterday was Bastille Day here on the hill, a beautiful day of perfect temperatures and a light breeze, after a week of 90+ degree days. Yesterday was also the day that we decided it was time to say goodbye to our beloved sixteen year-old beagle mix, Valentine, aka, "Val Montrose."

Before I met her, my wife, Leia, was living in Southern Indiana, an area well known for torrential rainstorms. On Valentine's Day 1997, one of these storms forced her to detour down a road she didn't usually travel and as she drove, she caught sight of a pair of six month-old dogs, apparently litter mates, leaving a small creek near the road. She stopped and tried to coax them to her car so she could take them to a shelter. Only one, a female, came to her willingly, so she took her home, dried her off and held her to keep her warm through the night. Leia decided to keep the pup, appropriately naming her Valentine, but quickly shortened it to "Val," a handle she lived with the rest of her days.

Leia and I met online in October of the same year and I quickly learned that of all the pets they had, and there more than a couple, Val was the most special. When I first "met" Val in person, she promptly peed at my feet; I took that as a sign of her future fealty and she had my heart at that very moment. Ours was a bond that remained unbroken ever since.

When we were about to get married in May 1999, Leia had to give away most of her pets for adoption, but we wanted to keep Val and move her to California. The little pseudo-beagle (as I would call her) spent a few months with a woman who boarded animals for a nominal cost while we looked for a house. Even after we found our new home, it took several months for construction to be completed and by October, the woman presented us a hefty bill for Val’s care and feeding. We still weren't sure when our house would be move-in ready, so we bailed our dog out and boarded her with my future in-laws.

With the construction finally completed, we flew Val back with from Indiana on December 31st, 1999, a day before the infamous Y2K meltdown-that-never-happened. She survived that traumatic flight, and after a couple of weeks of getting adjusted to the dry heat of Southern California, she settled into her life as a West Coast dog, at least in name only. The most ironic thing was even though she was found coming out of a creek, she shunned water, including the mighty Pacific. While other dogs cavorted on the beach, she eschewed such canine sport, instead looking askance at those of her species. Val never thought she was a dog.

This wasn’t the only thing different about our Val. She didn’t like chew toys in the least — no squeaky Busy Bees for that gal, no sir. Instead, she liked to chew on rocks for fun. More than once, we’d find rocks in her bed that she smuggled there to support her incessant gnawing habit. Sure, she’d rip into a nice rawhide bone like any other red-blooded American hound when given the chance. But rocks, well, they were her favorite chew toy of all.

Unlike most other dogs that would lick your hands or face, Val rarely (if ever) deigned to lower herself to that level. Strangers would come over and she’d sniff their fingers, then after satisfying her curiosity, she’d go off to find a pebble to play with. Visitors would always marvel that she didn’t like to lick, but we were used to her slightly offbeat ways and got amusement from others’ reactions.

Val could charm the pants off a stranger, but she was aloof at the same time, even with us. She would love being with her family, especially my wife, and would suffer terrible separation anxiety when we’d leave her alone for even a short while. However, she wasn’t one for climbing up next to us except on rare occasions. Instead, she was happiest just lying in one of her many beds with us in the room. I could count on one hand the number of times she jumped up next to us uninvited. One time, I was lying on the couch, taking a nap, and she launched herself from the floor and jumped on my chest to join me. That never happened again and I had no idea what prompted it in the first place.

When we moved to the area we live in now, we were at the local pet store and my wife asked me to get Val a new name tag and have it engraved at one of those self-service machines. I had three lines for the information to include. After a few moments, I decided to write this:

                                             VAL

                                      MONTROSE

                                 (XXX) XXX-XXXX

When my wife read that, she quipped that Val had a new last name, “Montrose.” I corrected her, telling her that no, this was the name she only used as pole dancer. After she began wearing her new tag, we would frequently refer to her by her new stage name.

But exotic dancer wasn’t the career Val would’ve chosen for herself. Leia somehow stumbled on this video (warning: a wild bird gets shot in this):

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

A turkey dog! Was our little beagle mix bred to hunt turkeys? Sometimes, if Val would flash us a look of disdain for some infraction (like if one of us got up from a chair, for example, because she liked her den mates to stay where they were), either Leia or I would speak for Val by saying something like “You people kidnapped me from my home where I could’ve had a successful career as a turkey dog.” No doubt, if she could talk, she’d give us hell just like that.

Over the years, I took on the job of feeding Val, at least most of the time. It wasn’t like my wife or stepson wouldn’t want to do it, it was just that I’m a man of routines and I easily adopted feeding Val into that process. This really became instantiated when Leia had to fly back to help her mother with her dying father. I would feed treats to Val at the same time in the morning when I woke up to have my own breakfast and then around the same time in the evening, I would feed her, too. Dogs (and the guy writing this) love schedules, and from then on, I tried to maintain at least that much on a constant basis.

Val had been Leia’s boon companion and comfort, through good times and bad. Almost five years ago, I was seriously ill with dermatomyositis and had to spend a month in the hospital while doctors pumped steroids and other medications into my system to arrest the disease. There was a small chance I wasn’t going to make it out of there, certainly without having serious and lasting side effects. While my wife kept a brave face during that time and worked tirelessly as my health advocate with the medical professionals, it was Val she turned to when she got home to shed her tears. A dog’s love is truly unselfish — we take much more than we give — and Val was there for Leia during the “dark times,” as we refer to them now, never wanting anything from her in return.

About a year ago or so, we figured out that Val had gone mostly deaf, which led to some comical results. While other dogs are deathly afraid of vacuum cleaners — including Val when she was younger — now she would just lie in her bed while my wife would push the vacuum around in front of her, even refusing to get up so her bed could be moved out of the way. She slept peacefully through fireworks shows, which we can hear easily from our little enclave, while in the past, she’d run cowering for our comfort. The same went for the rare thunderstorms we have in Southern California, though she did act a bit put out during the two or three hailstorms we experienced over the years. At one time in her life, she ran with abandon through Indiana snow; now a little bit of ice under her paws annoyed her to no end. Getting old ain’t for sissies!

We noticed the signs of aging more and more since discovering Val’s deafness. Her nap times became more frequent and longer and oftentimes, she’d go into such a deep sleep, she wouldn’t sense us anywhere around her. She began limping, a little at the beginning, then a bit more and more, very gradually. At first, we thought it was her pads had gotten tender because she slept so long and wasn’t walking around enough to keep callouses on them. Eventually, we concluded she had developed arthritis, which in recent months we tried to treat with glucosamine supplements, but to little effect.

The recent heat we had here over the last month really did not agree well with our old dog. As late as last summer, she seemed to have no problem with the hot days, always finding a shady place on our back deck to hide in depending on where the sunshine landed. Now it was obvious she was in distress most of the time. When she began throwing up, we figured it was heat exhaustion, so we started bringing her in our air-conditioned house to keep cool. But even at night, she seemed increasingly lethargic and unable to keep food or water down, really unable to stand steadily on her own. We finally (and reluctantly) concluded our baby was coming to the end of her earthly journey.

Neither Leia nor I wanted to take Val to a vet to have her put to sleep. She absolutely despised going there and the only time we’d do it was to board her when we went out of town. With that in mind, my wife went online and found a few vets that perform in-home euthanasia. After reading reviews on Yelp, we settled on our angel of mercy. I called her yesterday afternoon and scheduled an appointment.

A couple of hours before the vet was due to come, Val lay on her side a the doormat in our breezeway that leads to our kitchen. She never got up again; I don’t think she could. Just like a clock winding down, she was running out of time.  My wife & I just sat and petted her, both of us anxiously awaiting the inevitable.

The vet arrived promptly at 5:30 PM. Unlike with the mailman earlier in the day, Val didn’t bark or even growl at this new stranger. She was done with all that nonsense. After examining her, the vet confirmed what we already knew — that it was Val’s time. She gave her a sedative / painkiller cocktail and after five minutes, our little dog was fully in the Land of Nod. I carried Val to her favorite bed on the back deck against the glass door adjoining our bedroom, and laid her limp body down in a comfortable position. The vet shaved our pup’s hind leg and inserted the IV, and when we gave her the okay, she made the final injection. Val was gone in a minute or so, with us petting her all the way through.

After giving us a few minutes alone with her, the vet and I carried Val on a stretcher to the her SUV. Leia & I said our final goodbyes to our beloved dog and off they went. The vet took her to an organization that cremates pets and sprinkles their ashes at sea. An unexpected final send-off for a dog who despised the water, but as this is how we want our own remains to be disposed of, we thought it fitting. She can yell at us about it when we meet again.

I didn’t have pets as a child — my mother didn’t (and still doesn’t) like animals — but I got my love of animals from my father, who grew up with cats around. Val was the first real pet I lost to a death; I had to give away my one and only cat when I moved to another state years ago and the only dog I jointly owned went with my ex-wife when we divorced. Losing a pet that has lived with you for so long truly is like losing a member of your family. They are a constant in a sea of turbulent times. They love you unconditionally, only expecting food, water, affection and in Val’s case, an occasional rock to chew on. We will miss her like crazy, but we take solace in the fact she’s in a better place, chasing turkeys and gnawing pebbles.

Goodbye, old friend. It was an honor knowing you.

Can You Be a Foodie and Eat Healthy, Too?

When you hit middle age, you finally realize that you can't eat anything and everything and expect to get away with it.  Love pasta?  One small serving, please, no seconds - and God forbid if you want cheese on it.  Enjoy a huge steak with all the trimmings?  Sure, go ahead, indulge in that heart-attack-on-a-plate.  Can't live without potatoes, white rice, bread and the like?  Carbs are the Devil in tasty regalia - fuggedaboutit!

So what's a foodie to do?  I spent my entire life eating the tastiest, richest foods I could get my hands on, thanks to a family of outstanding cooks and my own need to continue the tradition.  Sure, when I was a kid, I could eat anything - I mean ANYTHING - and not gain a pound, in fact losing weight if I was particularly active.  "Active" is the key word here ... when you're young, you're running around all the time, riding bikes, climbing trees, playing sports, etc. for hours in a day.  Summertime comes and you have to eat three dishes of your mama's manicotti just to stay even.  *sigh*

This all leads to the inevitable change when one's metabolism slows down, between the adult sedentary diet and the natural aging process (not to mention my favorite, BEER).  Throw in the routinely consumed fast food and what do you get?  An overweight (or dare I say, "obese") middle-aged man (or woman).  Even regular trips to the gym doesn't drop the weight like you think it should, especially if MacDonald's is your first stop on the way home after working out.  Losing weight - and staying fit - requires a major lifestyle change.  In fact, it requires a brand new relationship with food and all its yummy, creamy goodness.  If you don't do this, you'll go to the doctor one day - and you should do that sometimes, guys - and he'll be prescribing medication for reducing your blood pressure and cholesterol or if you're REALLY unlucky, Type II diabetes.  And, of course, with all that come the lectures about losing weight or dying too young.  Who needs it?

One thing we humans - in particular, we men, I think - hate is being told what to do like we're children.  We all know what we have to do, we just don't want another adult telling us what's good for us.  What's the answer then?

Here are a few simple tips on reducing weight and getting healthy, all with the following caveats:  your mileage can and will vary, you must be patient and that with any diet / exercise program you absolutely should consult with a physician before beginning.  The last disclaimer:  I'm not a doctor (nor do I play one on TV), but these suggestions have helped me and may help you, too.

1. Start slow - Every one of these tips are prefaced with this same premise.  Without listing all the clichés you've heard over and over again ("Rome wasn't built in a day," etc.), just remember you're rebuilding your relationship with food for a lifetime of good health.  Diets are short-term wins; reprogramming requires a long, slow process to burn in.  Trust me, it's totally worth it!
2. Quality, not quantity - As they say, everything in moderation.  If you drink three low-cost beers a day, cut back to two better quality ones.  If you eat two Burger King hamburgers at lunch, cut back to one at a local diner.  Try this trick:  once a week, take half the fries off your plate and place them in a doggie bag before you start eating.  Over time, you'll get fuller faster and won't even need to do that, especially if you ...
3. Eat slower - Face it, folks, our moms were right.  Chew your food, don't wolf it down.  Give your brain a chance to register there's food in your stomach.  Listen to your natural signals to stop when it's time to do so.  No, don't chew your food 26 times (or whatever the prescribed number is these days), but do CHEW, not inhale.
4. Get moving - Okay, here it comes, the exercise talk.  Again, start slowly, like taking a short walk after dinner tonight.  Try it again after lunch tomorrow.  Get  ten minutes a day of light exercise just to begin with.  Do that until you're putting in ten minutes seven days a week.  Then, increase it to fifteen minutes one of those days, then two, and on and on.  Move to twenty minutes a day, seven days a week and by then, your brain has become rewired to the thought of regular exercise.  Now it's just a matter of increasing the amount of effort in those twenty minutes - walk faster or do a few jumping jacks before you start to warm up - anything to make the hear beat just a little faster.  Break a sweat, you'll like it!
5. Avoid the evil carb monster - Face it, carbs taste good and no matter how hard you try to avoid them, they're are contained in even healthy foods.  The problem with carbs is we overeat them (along with fats) the most and we get them from the worst possible foods.  Pretzels, potato chips, crackers and the like are pretty much empty calories and carb overload at the same time.  The idea here is to get your carbs the healthy way and avoid all the preprocessed, "enriched flour" and corn sugar-laden products we just have come to accept as a normal (and even necessary) part of our diets.  Cutting out carbs will go a long way toward losing that unsightly stomach fat you're carrying around.
6. Make it healthy, make it tasty - If you don't like vegetables to begin with, you may hate this part.  Suck it up, boys/girls, these are simple facts.  Vegetables (and fruits) are healthy and necessary dietary components.  Just because you have to eat them, doesn't mean that have to taste like hay.  There are plenty of herbs & spices - not just salt and pepper, the former of which you should use sparingly - that will make vegetables palatable, if not downright delicious.  Start out with the dry ones from the seasonings aisle in your grocery store - things like onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, parsley, thyme, rosemary and the like.  Or if you're bold, get them fresh from the produce department and learn how to chop and add them to your vegetable dishes to suit your tastes.  That means you will need to ...
7. Learn to cook - This is especially important if you want to save money, too.  It really doesn't take much money or time to learn how to prepare simple, healthy meals to eat now or during the work week.  Besides the vegetables, look at the proteins - skinless chicken, turkey, fish and lean beef all work and should be eaten in moderate quantities along with the veggies.  When you need fats, try PAM or olive oil, both health alternatives when you need fats.  Experiment if you want, or if you're not the adventurous type, go to the internet and look up simple recipes there.  Remember, your microwave may be your best friend, both in the preparation and reheating of the meals you make yourself.
8. Eating out - If you're like me, you LOVE going to restaurants and if so, you can survive that fairly unscathed, too.  Many restaurants have lite menus which you've probably never seen as your eyes have been programmed to skip them for all these years.  These sections of the menu will now be your saving grace - or, if there isn't such guidance, ask your server.  It may require a few extra instructions, like "hold the potatoes" or "no sauce" or "grill it, don't fry it," but most restaurants are happy to accommodate you.  Try it sometime.

There are no miracle foods or tricks out there, but here are some more ideas to consider:

• Drink green tea, one cup with every meal.  Besides being an antioxidant, some swear by its ability to help one lose weight.
• Lemon tree, very pretty.  Make the first thing you consume in the morning a glass of hot lemon water.  It will soup up your digestive system before you eat a bite.
• Water, water, everywhere.  Drinking eight glasses a water a day has recently been largely debunked as valid science, but three things that are definitely true about water: you need some quantity of it to survive; dehydration will trigger the hunger response; water has zero calories and fills you up.
• Coffee or tea, it doesn't matter to me.  Unless your doctor tells you otherwise, caffeine in moderate quantities can boost your metabolism and help burn calories, in conjunction with all your other efforts.

If you find these tips helpful and you're able to lose weight as a result, don't hesitate to add a comment to this post and brag about it.

From our hill to yours,

Michael

To Maintain a Healthy Level of Insanity ...

To  Maintain A Healthy Level Of Insanity 1. In the memo field of all your checks, write "For marijuana." 2. Order a diet water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face.  3. Specify that your drive-thru order is "to go." 4. Sing along at the opera.  5. Five days in advance, tell your friends you can't attend their party because you have a headache.  6. When leaving the zoo, start running towards the parking lot, yelling "Run for your lives! They're loose!" 7. Tell your children over dinner, "Due to the economy, we are going to have to let one of you go." And the final way to keep a healthy level of insanity:           8. PICK UP A BOX  OF CONDOMS AT THE PHARMACY, GO TO THE COUNTER AND ASK WHERE THE  FITTING ROOM IS.

Legend of Black Lotus by Angelo — Kickstarter

About this project

THE LEGEND.
Legend says, during a magical time in Ancient China an honorable emperor had a vision of his kingdom in ruins and his people suffering. The emperor prayed to the Spirit of the Black Forest for help. The Spirit promised the emperor that she would send a warrior to restore the kingdom to its former glory. Years, then decades passed. Legend became myth, and soon only a few still believed in the Promise. When the kingdom was at its most corrupt, the Spirit spoke to the new empress, calling upon her to deliver the warrior who would bring honor back to the land.

THEMES: LEGEND OF BLACK LOTUS explores themes of faith, honor, prejudice, unconditional love, and sacrifice. It puts the fate of an empire into the hands of an emperor governed by fear, an empress led by faith, and an ostracized child who's led by love.

THE LOCATION: The film will be shot in good ole Los Angeles County. All interior locations will be shot on a soundstage, which I'm excited about because I've never shot on a soundstage before. The exterior locations are the L.A. Arboretum and a dry lake bed in the California desert.

THE CREW
The cast is hired! We have the award-winning leading actress, Emayatzy Corinealdi playing the lead role (Daiyu) with Julia Kubo playing the younger version of the lead. Additionally there's Steffinnie Phrommany (empress), Clint Jung (Emperor), Irene Park and Jade Doheny (older and younger princess), Victor Chi (captain), Kerry Liu (nurse), Anne Lee Mako (wife).

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
PRODUCTION DESIGNER
ART DIRECTOR
KEY MAKE-UP
KEY HAIRDRESSER
COSTUMER
COMPOSER

These folks are already hired and eager to start! We are ready to hit the ground running.

BACKGROUND
The first incarnation of LEGEND OF BLACK LOTUS was as a feature film project based on the fascinating story told to me by Nicole Sessions. That script is written and ready to go -- in the future. But the story had such a lasting effect on me that I want to do something NOW. That's why I adapted the feature script into a short film script.

THE PERKS
When you contribute to this film project you'll be a "partner" in the creation of a film, of which, you will forever be proud. But that's the intangible. Some tangible perks include everything from high-res desktop wallpaper, posters, DVDs, sponsor certificates, film credit, to advance sneak peeks at cool cast videos and a visit to the set!

HOW FUNDS ARE SPENT
Legal fees; equipment rental; food; travel & lodging (for out of towners); lighting equipment; costumes & props; post-production equipment; and DVD production.

HEY, I KNOW THAT GUY!
I imagine a few of you are saying, "I've seen that guy somewhere before." And some of you might ask, "Why is Marcellus Wallace on Kickstarter trying to raise money for a film?" This is our third round of funding! We've got some very encouraging feedback and now Kickstarter was the most logical next step. Remember, this is an all-or-nothing campaign, so pledge today.

Thank you in advance for helping me make this movie!

Project location: Los Angeles, CA

via kickstarter.com

Only 22 days left to help support this project! Are you a backer?

Posted via email from Michael's posterous

Spicy Chicken a la Bernstein's

Our first summer with our new grill, an event which will allow me to experiment and develop some unique recipes for outdoor cooking. Here’s the first one of the season which I’m sharing.

WARNING: This is a very spicy recipe! Note the optional ingredient listed below, which if eliminated, will cut back the spiciness significantly. You have been warned :-)

Some basic food safety caveats first:

• Always handle raw chicken while wearing rubber gloves
• Immediately dispose of any packaging in which the chicken came
• Thoroughly wash any utensils used while handling raw chicken as well as any surface areas where raw chicken rested

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 14 oz bottle of Bernstein’s Restaurant Italian Dressing & Marinade

Spice mix:

2 tablespoons of chili powder
2 tablespoons of Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
1 tablespoon of fresh ground black pepper
1 tablespoon of paprika
1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon of onion powder
1 tablespoon of garlic powder
1 large pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

Chicken preparation:

Shake the bottle of dressing well, as the spices as well as the oil and vinegar separate quite a bit. Simply put the chicken in large, sealable plastic bag. Pour the entire bottle of dressing in the bag and seal it. Shake the bag, evenly distributing the dressing on all of the chicken pieces. Open the bag and squeeze out as much air as you can, then reseal the bag. Cover a large plate with two sheets of paper towel, then put the bag with the chicken on the plate and place into the refrigerator. Let marinade for 4-12 hours.

Spice preparation:

Place all the spice mix ingredients into a small, sealable bag. Seal the bag and shake the contents until the color is completely even.

Cooking:

Spray PAM made for higher grill heat on the grates. Heat grill to 250 degrees F.

While the grill is heating, finish the chicken prep. I recommend you do this at the kitchen sink. After donning your (fresh) rubber gloves, remove and gently shake each chicken piece over the sink, then place into a large bowl. Once all the pieces are in the bowl, sprinkle your spice mix evenly over the chicken, “stirring” the chicken gently with your hand as you continue to sprinkle the spices. The goal is to get the spices on all the chicken pieces as evenly as possible.

Place the chicken pieces on the grill’s grates using tongs, giving each piece enough space from its neighbors. Close the grill hood to maintain the heat. Turn the pieces every 15 minutes during this stage of cooking for a total of 45 minutes of cooking. Then turn over the pieces one last time and turn up the heat to 300 degrees F. Close the hood. This last step is necessary in order to get a bit of char on the outside of the chicken.

After a full hour of cooking, your chicken should be done. However, it is advised that you use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of the meat, using the guidelines on your thermometer. Once your temperatures are confirmed, your chicken is ready to server.

Side dish:

2 medium red bell peppers
2 medium yellow bell peppers
2 medium green bell peppers
1 large brown onion
1 tablespoon of Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
1/2 tablespoon of freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Slice the peppers, taking care to remove the seeds and white “stuff” inside. Wash the pieces and drain them well, then place them in a bowl. Peel and slice the onion, slicing the pieces into the bowl with the peppers. Sprinkle on the seasoned salt and black peppers. Pour the mixture into a grill-safe vegetable cooker (they have holes on the bottom) and place on a cookie sheet (only used to prevent spillage here). Drizzle olive oil on the mixture.

Set the grill temperature to 300 degrees F. Place cooker in the grill and cook until the vegetables are soft and have a bit of a char on the outside (20-30 minutes). Remove and serve.

==============================================================

If you try these recipes, please do let me know how they turn out.

Happy grilling!

Michael

5 Things The Simpsons Taught Me About Life

OK, fanboy time. I heart The Simpsons. There, I said it. Ever since they appeared on The Tracy Ullman Show back in 1986, I became instantly enamored with the whole dynamic of the characters (and the fact that I’ve always loved animation didn’t hurt). As the show evolved and The Simpsons spun off into their own series, I followed along and became a rabid fan. Even to this day, while my Sunday night TV viewing doesn’t revolve around the show anymore, I still frequently watch them in syndication. I’ve seen every episode at least once and in most cases, dozens of times, particularly for the earlier ones.

So, as a devotee of the Yellow Crowd, here are the top five things I learned from watching The Simpsons for all these years:

1. Everything can be made better with beer or donuts (or both)
   
   

Face it; you want to believe this one. Beer is nature’s perfect drink and donuts, while hardly something nature provides, gives sustenance without the complication of vitamins, minerals or anything else good for you. While pretty much any foodstuff makes Homer drool, he has a special something for his suds and cakes - they get him through (or into) the bad times.

   
   
2. You can be a total screw-up, but if you’re lovable, people will forgive you anything


   
   Homer is an everyman, but has almost every flaw known to man. Just look at the facts: Homer has destroyed lives, businesses, homes, even people with his incompetence-enhanced laziness and yet because he’s such a good-hearted “person” (down deep underneath all that blubber), everyone eventually overlooks those flaws. Life can’t be too bad if you’re a Homer.

   
   
3. Don’t be stuck in the same old career your whole life - branch out and try new things
   
   

Besides his normal full-time job as a safety engineer at a nuclear power plant, Homer has been a recording artist (twice), an astronaut, a volunteer fireman, a team mascot, to name a few of his jobs. Who wouldn’t want to be him? If your current job bores you, try something completely new and unfitting for your background and education. Succeed, fail and grovel for your old job, only to try it all over again another time. Brilliant! Where do I sign up?

   
   
4. Being a nuclear plant safety engineer means you get to travel ALL the time and still keep your job
   
   

I knew there was a perfect job out there and Homer has it! You’d wonder why he keeps trying to find other careers when he has the deal everyone wants. The man can take his family anywhere around the world - Brazil, Israel, France, England - for weeks at a time and never get penalized! How much vacation time does he have? Come on, you all want that.

   
   
5. All you need to do is produce an animated series about a dysfunctional family and you can get great guests
   
   Amazing the number of big names that have given voice to their animated selves on The Simpsons. To name but a few: Paul & Linda McCartney, famed physicist Stephen Hawking, Sting, Ron Howard, architect Frank Gehry, reclusive author Thomas Pynchon. The list goes on and on. Whatever it is about Springfield’s favorite family that lures in these famous luminaries, the writers have found the formula.
   

Do you have any favorite life lessons taught to you by The Simpsons? If so, please share!

The Russian Lawrence Welk?

I continue to be fascinated by this video, circa the late 1970's, of Eduard Ghil, a Russian entertainer singing a song that has no lyrics (entitled "I Am So Glad I Am Finally Coming Back Home!," subtitled "Vocalization") and has already become an Internet meme. I'm not sure why this appeals to me so much - it is as much for the "camp" value as it is completely the antithesis of our former arch-enemy, the Soviet Union.

Rumor has it that this song actually does have lyrics (about an American cowboy returning home after being out on the range), but Soviet censors forbade Ghil to sing them because they put the U.S. in too favorable of a light.

When you watch this video, note the half-hearted attempt by Ghil to do a credible job lip-synching as well as his somewhat comic facial expressions and gestures. Of course, you may find plenty of humor just taking note of his 70's-era suit or the Welk-esque production values.

Here's to you, Mr. Ghil! My fondest wish is that you reprise this song live for American television some day.

From our hill to yours,

Michael

Peacock peek-a-boo

Peacock peek-a-boo
Originally uploaded by socalvillaguy

A day trip to see some of our favorite fowl, featuring our fine-feathered friends, the peacocks (and peahens). Enough alliteration for this post, don't you think?

City planners at work

via lee.org

Posted via web from Michael's posterous

iTunes "Genius" - Does It Live Up to the Hype?

Some time ago, Apple introduced Genius into one of the iTunes releases, a feature I suspected of "spying" on my listening habits and turned off immediately. Okay, I'm really not paranoid, but I wasn't convinced I should be inviting a "Genius" into my musical life.

Things changed. I purchased a MacBook Pro, my first Macintosh after being a PC snob for so many years, ignoring my wife's claim "If you go Mac, you won't go back." After building my iTunes library on my new toy, I decided to enable Genius.

Man, was I surprised! The first mix out of the box that Genius created was a winner for a couple of reasons. First, the songs all made sense for the theme. They segued nicely into each other and really established the mood. Second, and probably most interestingly, it chose songs I forgot I even had in my extensive library, including a number of B (and C and D) sides I never really listened to very much. I love new music - in fact, I go out of my way to listen to music I know I never liked before just to give it yet another chance. Genius is already helping me in that capacity without even having to download anything new!

What has been your experience with Genius? Are you a believer or a skeptic like I was?

Michael

Photo Credit, Johan Larsson

Monks in Siemrap

via flickr.com

Posted via web from Michael's posterous

Computer Fun

The fires are long gone, but that doesn't mean hell has frozen, at least here on the Hill. I am a technology junkie and have been since childhood. I've had professional and person success in that particular industry and even though I've lamented certain practices in the technology realm - in my opinion, computers have primarily been a boon to modern society.

That is, when they work. When they don't, then it's sometimes akin to hell on earth.

Case in point, my four year-old Toshiba Tablet PC suddenly decided it was tired of using its built-in display, forcing me to scramble around on Friday morning until I could hook it up to my external monitor. Meanwhile, I'm trying to decide if I can just live in this split mode or have to break down and get a new laptop).

You may ask if I'm such a techie, why don't I just fix it? Well, I spent several hours on Friday and Saturday adjusting drivers & configuration settings, running diagnostics and fiddling around in general. My conclusion is that this is a hardware issue that can only be fixed by an authorized Toshiba service establishment. It's very unlikely that the cost of repair will make sense in light of the relative low cost of new laptops. And while its replacement won't be a tablet PC (I don't use those features anymore), there are a number of applications I've installed on this one that would be difficult for me to reestablish on a new one. Even if I could find the installation files and the registration codes for the purchased programs, it would take me hours to reconstruct my new environment. Who has that kind of time?

This problematic computer doesn't leave me high and dry, computer-wise. I still have my trusty Aspire One, my primary writing computer (primarily because of its size and battery length) and my MacBook Pro, my latest favorite computer toy. It's just I hate being in a TBD state with my technology. I like fast solutions and none are in the offing.

So, technology challenges are the concern of the day at the Villa in these waning summer days. I'm sure this story will eventually have a happy ending, but until then, I'll remain in computer hell or at least a form of limbo.

Until next time, stay true to your technology!

Michael

110 Fwy view of Station Fire

110 Fwy view of Station Fire
Originally uploaded by socalvillaguy

This is what the Station fire in La Canada Flintridge looks like to those traveling north on the 110 Freeway just south of downtown Los Angeles. The fire has consumed 7,000 acres thus far and is 0% contained as of this writing.

If the Smoke Doesn't Get You ...

Hello, gentle readers ...

A brief update from your friendly correspondent on the Hill. 

La Canada Flintridge, a mere stone's throw from us if you can heave stones three or so miles, has had an unwelcomed visitor in their backyard for the past few days.  A brush fire started on Wednesday and has developed into an official conflagration.  The side effects of this ongoing inferno, at least to us folks here in our neck of the glen, has been smoke and ash.  On top of that, we've had a couple days of triple digit temperatures, forcing us to say inside or occasionally take refuge in the cool embrace of our pool.  To pile on more kindling, as it were, our air conditioning system decided to take a siesta, thanks to its overheated compressor.  Who knew that running the A/C night and day for two days would cause such havoc?  Something tells me there's more behind the scenes, but I'm too damn hot to argue with the technician about it right now.

So, the mood in the Villa the moment:  hot and irritated.  My darling spouse has minor surgery in the morning as well, so she's not going to enjoy convalescing in tropical temperatures.  Who can blame her?  I'm getting overheated just writing this short blog post.

I'll leave you with a few fun photos from the Villa.  Please send rain.  Thanks.