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Showing posts from October, 2006

Whirled Peas

On my drive back to G.S. from Memphis I listened to a book on tape by Amy Tam. On my way up to Memphis, I listend to a book on tape by Neely Tucker. Amy Tam's mother was from China, as are all her relatives. She wrote the book, later a movie, The Joy Luck Club, and others. Neely Tucker was raised in Lexington, MS and became a foreign correspondent for major newspapers. The book I listened to of his was "Love in the Driest Season' which covered a series of experiences while he was living in Zimbawai, Africa in the 90's. Both are fascinating accounts of the thoughts and actions of cultures outside the USA. I am of the opinion that there will never be world peace until all peoples are of the frame of mind of the importance of and can afford to use...... dental floss. I now drive to G.S. from Memphis thru eastern Mississippi on Hwy 45 into Mobile. It is a great road, at least in Mississippi which is most of it, and it is sparsely populated. (Spotty cell coverage, cows don...

Wrong Guy

My neice, Frances, alerted me to the fact that Brett Rattner, in blog entry below about Smiley Perfume, is a famous movie producer. I did an email search in gmail and it turns out that the guy I did biz w/ last yr was Brett Ratner, one "T". I bet they get each other's mail.

Faster Loading

Still in Memphis, picking up a U-Haul trailer this morning. At the suggestion of my sister, Cary, who arrived last night, I have shortened the number of posts that appear on the opening page. To access an older post, use the archive links under the clock, etc.. on right margin. Great weather here for my whole visit. That helps as I have used the grass all around the guesthouse to open and sort thru boxes , and pack boxes for Goodwill. Man, the yardman comes today, so he and I will load furniture first, then boxes for the drive home tomorrow.

From Memphis

I have spent the last cople of days sorting thru boxes, making trips to the Goodwill and ck'ing email on a itty bitty computer w/ tiny keyboads on whiich i accidentally hit the edgeof the adjacent keys and get double letter typos using an earthlink dial up connection. Slow process. Plus the keys are hard and slippery, i think Id make lfewer typos if the keys were the rubber type. Worst is that occasionally I accidentlaly hit a symbol or F key and the whole browser says it has encountered a fatal error or some such thing and i loose what i hyad been working on.... I packed up some of momma's crystal laswt night, very carefully....and i am carrying down about a dozen national geographic issues every time i go up and down the stairs, so eventually i'll get most of those to the garbage area. I mentioned to momma throwing them out the upstairs window3 on to the concrete drive4 in front, i think it would be4 fun, she seemed less than enthuisiastic about that plan. i am off to goo...

Phase II

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This week I met with partners Steve Pruitt and Jim Merritt who may end up being the builders for my Phase II house addition. Steve did some work on Miller's condo after Ivan. Steve, Jim and I went to the Nasello job site so they could see a DAC-ART project in progress. Today Ted Dial (Mr. DAC-ART) is coming over to the Jerry Nasello job site to give instruction to the crew there and Steve and Jim are going to meet w/ Ted and Mark , Jerry's builder, too. Momma and Daddy need some help getting organized about this upcoming move. Jim Beck , the interior decorator is getting the decor of the new place organized, but the house they are leaving has about 3 X the sq footage of the new place, plus there is a ton of stuff there that Harry has brought from the Wilderwood Ln house and put in the guesthouse and garage that I have to pack into a U-Haul and get down here to go thru. A lot of the boxes are Miller's and were in storage in an airplane hanger and his old bedroom. The rest i...

Who Knew ?

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A real job....a Professional Etch-a-Sketch Artist ??? Yes, Christoph Brown is one. See his interesting website. Etch A Festival 2006 is in the works and may prove to be the biggest Etch A Sketch event ever! Check back for more details. NOTE: If you are a professional Etch A Sketch artist wishing to display your work at Etch A Festival, please email him. Tons more Etch-a-Sketch fine art in the official gallery

Does it rain in your town ?

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Way Cool Rain Boots. Isn't online shopping the greatest ? Makes a great gift. I wear an 8 1/2 :o)

Good Spanish Dresses

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Buy Some

Cute Dresses

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Reminds me of years ago when I saw skinnier and sewed a lot. See them all.

Share Your Secrets

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This blog posts the images of the postcards that strangers mail in... http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

Cool Band-Aids

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I don't know which I like best, the Kissie Band-Ads or the Strip of Bacon . Both are so cool. I need to order some and hope that friends have need of one whilst at my house. I won't let them know it is a special band-aid if it is on a part of the body that they can't see, I'll just offer to assist. What Fun ! Imagine a strip of bacon across the forehead.

Imagine My Surprise

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Ok , so I am reading the text on a French website...no I don't read French, they have an English language version.....and the site is about the "world's first antidepressant perfume". The stuff is called SMILEY and the logo is a circular yellow fellow that resembles Wal -Mart's bouncy 'Roll Back' employee. I watched the video, it is well done technically , if not somewhat monotonous ....then I am searching around the site and it says something about Cannes Film Festival. And I am thinking, "what could this silly looking perfume have to do w/ the film festival?" I randomly click on one guy's photo and low and behold, it says it is Brett Rattner, a guy who sent me a ck for 2 grand a year or so ago. He wanted to use some of my scrapbook graphics in a Flash program for some Nevada ISP . Small web world.

Pretty Funny

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MS FireFox Pro

Free Boxers for All

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - A Canadian city under pressure for alleged sexual harassment within its fire department has ordered firefighters to wear only boxer-style underwear. Richmond, British Columbia will spend C$16,000 ($14,200) to buy six pairs of underwear for each firefighter (men and women) in a bid to make firehalls in the suburb of Vancouver more gender neutral, a newspaper reported on Tuesday. Whole Article

Let it Grow, Let it Grow, Let it Grow

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Eyelash transplant surgery wants to become the new must-have procedure for women -- and the occasional man. Using procedures pioneered by the hair loss industry for balding men, surgeons are using "plug and sew" techniques to give women long, sweeping lashes. And just like human head hair -- for that is the origin -- these lashes just keep on growing. "Longer, thicker lashes are an ubiquitous sign of beauty. Eyelash transplantation does for the eyes what breast augmentation does for the figure," said Dr Alan Bauman, a leading proponent of eyelash transplants."This is a brand new procedure for the general public (and) it is going to explode," Bauman told (maybe we can get him to cover our WHOLE eyelids with hair !!!) A small incision is made at the back of the scalp to remove 30 or 40 hair follicles which are carefully sewn one by one onto the patient's eyelids. Only light sedation and local anesthetics are used and the cost is around $3,000 an eye. (Wh...

Local Crooks

According to the Oct 11 local paper: Dewanna C. K. was at Fairhope Police dept for an interview about outstanding traffic tickets. When departing, she left behind a drinking cup. Officers were puzzled when she returned shortly and 'demanded' the return of the hot drink. Officer Ben Taylor opened the lid and found a plastic bag w/ crystal meth and a glass pipe. She was charged w/ unlawful possession of controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. IDIOT. A Foley woman initiated a solo crime spree using a brick to smash the windows of local businesses. She was arrested after breaking out the glass front door of Victor's Food Mart. After her arrest, Ms. Goodwin stated that she "had hit all these stores and it was about time they caught her" according to the deposition on file in District Court. She is charged w/ 3rd degree burglary, 2 nd degree criminal mischief, DUI, obstructing gov. operations and resisting arrest. IDIOT.

Video Cams

I think I want to get a video camera. The Sony one that I found w/ Miller's stuf has some mechanical problems. Seems the auto focus motor has gone out and there is some mix-up with the audio. I have a ton of those little 8mm tapes for it, so I will see if it is possible to fix it for cheap. And, the big clunky ancient Canon camera is another possibility, and it uses the same tapes, but as I recall, about 5 yrs ago, Miller told me that it wasn't working right. Maybe he fixed it, don't know, but will try it out. One problem is batteries for both these cameras. The old batteries won't hold a charge and replacements are very expensive. I was looking on UBid to see what was offered, I read a couple over-view articles on PCWorld and PCMagazine's sites. (Ever tried to go back and find an article you read on either of these sites online ?---impossible. I have tried many times, I can never find the same article twice) I want to be able to record at least an hour video in one...

Ospreys in Oct.

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I wonder if the plural of osprey is ospries. Anyone know ? Guess I could do some research, if I had time. Or made time. Yesterday was georgous. I decided to bail rainwater and clean my pedal boat, which I did in a swimsuit, except the lagoon water was still too high to tip my boat up and drain the hull which got flooded in last week's weird 2 or 3 day wind/rain storm. So soon as the tide is lower, I'll pull the plug, tip it up and let it drain out the drain hole. When I first went outside, the osprey that is NOT 'my' osprey, was in the tree. I peeked around the corner of the house and took a couple of photos, but the second he saw me, he took flight. Look at the big version (click it) of the photo to see how enormous his wingspan is. First two photos are the 'other' osprey. Second two are my osprey buddy. After a little bit, MY osprey was in the same tree, and he watched me bail and mess with my boat. I came and went and did whatever I wanted and he just watc...

OMG, I am absolut-ly amazed

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Anyone have any idea how many millions absolut vodka spends on its website? Plan to spent an hour or more. http://absolut.com Broadband required I'm sure.

Ze Has Done it Again

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ZeFrank, one of my most favorite artists has given us a way cool absolut snowflake maker toy. Play with this, set it in motion, then set it in orbit. Tip: Try little tiny white bottles. Have fun. If you don't have broadband.....cancel cable TV and use that money to pay for broadband today. The Wonder of it All Hope this is as close to a snowflake as I get this winter !

Crime of Passion

While going thru boxes of packed up stuff in Memphis, I ran across a newspaper clipping from 1987 about one of our East High teachers, Linda Clements, who later became a lawyer & Public Defender. Seems she was so moved by the case of one of her clients, an inmate booked as Lee David Austin (aka Bruce Corrall Tillman), that she fell in love and was helping him plan an escape. The article states that she was first assigned to his case in 1984. The title of the article reads: "She Cared, She Trusted". I love how the old Commercial Appeal article was written with a slant towards compassion. In the South, crimes of passion have historically been treated somewhat differently than your plain ole out-and-out unlawfulness. In many cases of 'crimes of passion' the explanation 'she just snapped' has long been acceptably clear and logical. From the East Alumuni pages: Linda Richmond ('70) remembers: Getting drunk and Linda Clements locking me up with Tom ...

The Kind of 'Food' I Have Been Waiting For

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"Coca-Cola and Nestle are getting together to introduce a new beverage "proven to burn calories". Enviga will be in the U.S. Northeast in November, nationwide in January 2007. How does it burn calories? With green tea extracts, calcium, and caffeine . No word on how many milligrams caffeine per can. " from Slashdot Who cares what it tastes like, this stuff will FLY off the shelves. I will try to pre-order a couple cases !

Wally Wallington Can Move It

A retired carpenter (with a lot of time on his hands) uses physics to move large objects. Maybe he'd like to work on a DAC-ART addition.....stacking the blocks himself, by hand.

"Miracles" Come in All Flavors

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According to this website, Allah's Name Clearly Visible Over Africa An undeniable proof showing that Allah is the creator of the heavens and the earth. Discovery by Keyhan Mohmand from Almere Stad, Holland. We have verified this image with several other images of Africa from NASA website and all of them (without cloud covers) show the name of Allah clearly. SubhanAllah!

Photo a Day

You can learn a lot about a guy who takes a photo of himself every day.....watch it.

I Rescued a Boat Today

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Maybe I'll get to keep it...who knows. It's registration is good till July 2007 acc'd to the sticker on the side. We had this terrific wind storm that went on for 2 days solid. Sometimes there was rain, but mostly there was huge wind all the time. It was a lot like a hurricane's arrival or the aftermath if you are on the east side of it. The storm photos are from yesterday afternoon and evening. I saw what looked like a stray boat banging on the rocks and cracked concrete (from Fredric and Ivan) on the point of some nearby, uninhabited property. Today when the wind & rain finally stopped I put on a swim suit and flip-flops and grabbed a coil of rope and ventured over to it. The going was rough as the water is pushed way up into the lagoon and is over the tops of the bulkheads and the boat slips next door. Now what I didn't have with me was a lifejacket, a paddle or a cell phone. I managed to get the boat loose after I untied knots and un-did the messed up riggi...

P 2 P Lawsuits Getting Serious

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Stepping up its battle against online music piracy, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry announced thousands of new lawsuits against those it suspects of illegal file-sharing. The recording industry group has filed 8000 new lawsuits in 17 countries, bringing the total number of suits it has filed outside the U.S. to 13,000, the IFPI announced today. That's on top of about 18,000 lawsuits already filed in the U.S., said Alex Jacob, an IFPI spokesman in London. Of the cases outside the U.S., about 2300 people have settled with the IFPI rather than face fines, with the average settlement at $3028, the IFPI said. Visitors to the former Web site of Grokster, which shut down last year after losing a case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court., now see a warning that their IP address has been logged. "Don't think you can't get caught. You are not anonymous," the Web site says. Read Whole Article--PCWorld

From the Mobile Register Newspaper

"35th annual National Shrimp Festival set a record for highest attendance, said Michelle Brown, special events director for the Alabama Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the event. Last year, about 300,000 people attended the festival, Brown said. "We have clearly passed that number," Brown said Sunday, ...Retail and beer sales were also up over the 2005 event, Brown said. Tim Neilson, bass player for the Southern rock band Drivin' N' Cryin' that played at the event Saturday night, said the setting was ideal for their taste. The highlight for Neilson was the crowd's response to one of the Georgia bands more popular tunes "Fly Me Courageous," he said. "It was great. It was an awesome crowd, perfect weather," Neilson said. "We would love to come back next year." Jean McKee, a Spanish Fort artist who was selling her acrylic paintings on canvas, said sales were strong, but it was the surroundings that highlighted h...

Google Quote of the Day

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. - Hunter S. Thompson If you don't know who Hunter S. Thompson is, consider renting the Bill Murray movie, "Where the Buffalo Roam" which cover the years between 1968 to 1972 in Thompson's life or The 1998 film adaptation of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was directed by Monty Python veteran Terry Gilliam, and starred Johnny Depp (who moved into Hunter's basement to 'study' Thompson's persona before assuming his role in the film) as "Hunter Thompson/Raoul Duke" and Benicio Del Toro as "Dr. Gonzo". Thompson appeared in the scene at the club "The Matrix", sitting at a table. The film has achieved something of a cult following. The film Breakfast With Hunter (2003) was directed and edited by Wayne Ewing. It documents Thompson's work on the movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, his arrest for drunk driving, and his subsequent fight with the court system. "When I Die,...

Shrimp Festival

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was a huge success. I slept till 9 a.m. this morning. No alarm, I just wanted to sleep as late as I felt like. Whew....and I get to use a real bathroom today....yipee. The weather was perfect all weekend. Some people even commented that they thought Sat's weather made it the most perfect day they could ever remember. My friends, Jane, Glenn, Joy, Marti, Tab all were tremendous help in the Poster Tent. I also got assigned some great volunteers that I had not met before. We sold a ton of 2006 shrimp fest posters and a bunch of the older ones as well. Poster artist, Patty Mauldin came on Sat aft. to sign posters in person and I got to meet her. She is the sweetest, cutiest thing. From Laurel , MS and has a place in Orange Beach. The Poster Tent was located pretty near the East Stage, so we could hear all the music that happened on that stage and for the most part it was not so loud where we were that we could not hear or talk to customers. We were open on 3 sides, so we had a great ...

Mary Jo's New Car

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Good buddy , MaryJo Conley came by yesterday afternoon late in her brand new BMW Mini convertible. It is adorable, as is MaryJo, and she got Hank Aaron's signature since she bought it from him. She had to go to Atlanta to pick it up. MaryJo ordered it custom, just how she wanted it. When she drove up, I didn't even know she was getting a new car, so I asked her if she won it, (Stuff like that happens to her) , she said "Heck no, I bought it and I PAID CASH !"

Big Lego Constructs

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Football Stadium, Soccer Stadium ? Regardless, these are BIG

Background Jukebox Music

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I dont know how or why this travel site has this page, maybe the owner has a techie kid who likes to mess around on computer, but anyway, until these musicians want payment for the storage and distribution of their songs, here it is: http://www.playacofi.com/JukeB.html Each year will play about 28 songs one after another if you click on the first song. I also don't know why only half the image transfered...

Around Here

Shrimp fest is this week. The Kick-off party was Friday night. My days are full. My car is full. House guests arriving. Poster tent has to be set up by me and I can't locate one of the 4 light pole display laminated posters for the aluminum frames that i had a fabrication shop make for me. They didn't have the frames ready until yesterday ( they had 4 months !) and now, I can only find 3 of the inserts I made. I took one up to the aluminum shop a few weeks ago and I think maybe I was driving the VW Thing w/ the windows out. I think I ran some errands that trip out and wonder now if someone might have grabbed the big poster on foam core out of my car while it was in a parking lot. I don't even think I can remember seeing that other insert since then. So that means me having to go to about 3 locations to round up what I need to make another....yuk ! I have all sorts of house guests coming for SF. So there is house cleaning that needs to be done, but that is low priority...

Blogger Beta & Busy

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Blogger (Google) is gradually converting all their blogs to new software, BloggerBeta. The new version has some different features and they invite blogs to convert a few at a time. I'm a convert. Long time no post ! I have been really busy, and too tired to post when not busy. Shrimp Fest is next week. I'm in charge of a new tent this year. it is for the Chamber and is for selling just posters, all the previous years official posters as well as 2006. There is a whole lot to be rounded up and readied, including trying to be sure that I have enuf friends volunteering so that I do not have to be there every single second of all 4 days. Additionally, I have to make a notebook that tells what is needed and how to do the set-up for future volunteers. And, on top of that, I have to get all the merchandise photographed and everything ready for the SF merchandise web site to go on sale immediately after the close of SF. It sure is great that Heather is out of school this semester and he...

Code Search

from Slashdot: "Google now has a page that supports source code searching. I hope they extend it to be more programming-language aware (e.g., search for identifiers and functions) like the specialist code search sites (Krugle, Koders, and Codease), who probably now have very worried investors. From the Cnet.com article: "Google engineers, many of whom participate in open-source projects, already use these code searching capabilities internally. Since it is a Google Labs project, the company is not yet seeking to monetize searches through ads."

Broadband at Last :o)

Glad to be back in G.S. and my desktop computers. I have backed-up errands and stuf to do, but will do some posts later today. For now, I just read this bit of news.: Google Inc. said on Tuesday it is making it easier to add hundreds of miniature programs to independent Web sites, in a move that brings handy features to users instead of making users rely on Google.com All this stuf has been available to add to your desktop Google start page for a while, I guess the difference now is that you can add it to independent sites. Web site publishers can choose from a gallery of 1,220 so-called "Google Gadgets" -- small bits of code that function as dynamic applications when installed on a Web page. Less than two dozen of the applications come from Google. Most are built by outside programmers seeking distribution for the programs. Google Gadgets range from a miniature look-up for Google Maps or Google Calendar to independent applications ranging from financial information to spo...