When you care enough to hit send

I love this site: Some eCards
"When you care enough to hit send."

Check them out, and send one today!

The Kids Are Alright

We went to see the Dallas Theater Center's production of The Who's Tommy last night, a surprising season opener for this conservative venue. It brought the house down, as they say. Thunderous Standing O.

Signs warned of "loud rock music." Someone behind us said this was the first time she'd ever been handed ear plugs at the theater. When the local band, Oso Closo, opened up full blast, I thought, "You call this loud? Hah! I saw the original Tommy performed by The Who back in the 70s when Keith Moon was still alive. You don't know what loud is!" (Which, incidentally, is why composer Pete Townshend, whom I've actually met, is almost completely deaf now.)

I couldn't have been more pleased with the band's performance. Truly first-rate. I love the fact that not one of the band members or actors was born when Townshend wrote this first-ever rock opera back in 1969. The Kids Are Alright, indeed. 

There were a couple of departures from the original story:

In this version, Tommy's father, Captain Walker,  kills Mrs. Walker's lover, not the other way around. The actor who plays Captain Walker, Nehal Joshi, has a phenomenal voice not to mention the ability to act.

Also in this version, Tommy is assassinated, which when you think about it, is just the thing that usually happens with messiahs in general, so it makes sense. 

Cedric Neal's adult Tommy was good, certainly, but imo lacked the necessary charisma for "the new Messiah." As for stage presence, he might as well have been part of the ensemble.

The performances of Liz Mikel (the Acid Queen/Gypsy) and Gregory Lush (Uncle Ernie) were exceptional.

The best part of the whole production was the way the band interacted with the cast. In fact, the band was part of the cast, made possible by wireless technology. I loved this aspect of it, and I know we're going to be hearing a lot more of Oso Closo.

Click here to see pics from the production and to read more about Oso Closo. 

Kitchen Sink

Ooh! Tomcat's parents gave us iPods for Christmas! The first thing I downloaded? LIVE AT LEEDS, Deluxe Edition. Best live album ever. Definitive My Generation. Serious Magic Bus. Shakin' All Over. Young Man Blues. Raw, pure, back when Keith Moon and John "Thunderfingers" Entwhistle were still alive. Great banter between Pete and Keith. Deluxe edition includes the "new" rock opera, Tommy. Best ever "Sparks."

Check it out, here , also here (for a bit about the follow-up Live at Leeds II).

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A man ahead of his time: J. Edgar (Who needs habeas corpus?) Hoover, who wanted to round up 12,000 Americans shortly after the Korean War began.
Check it out, here.


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From the Fundies Say the Darndest Things department, we learn:

There are four main religions in this country that are engaged in a holy war against Christianity. The number one religion, The Abortion Charismatics.The abortion religion in truth has as its foundation the worshipping of anti-submission to men. These death Stalinists use accusations of oppression as their guardian while marching on, putting the sword to the enemy, the trespassing fetus. Conversly, The Bible advises us to choose life and states that those who side with death are with the devil.

Religion number two, The Orthodox Homosexuals. The homosexual hit squad, they worship immoral sex and preach its acceptance with a formidable vigor. The religion of orgasms, just as long as you partake with someone of the same gender.

Religion number three, The Pentecostal Environmentalists. They worship myths and have as their god mother nature. This includes the global warming cash cow. They worship animals, the same animals God instructed us to subdue in Genesis. They worship the earth, the same earth God advises us in the Bible not to love due to the fact that it is fallen and ruled by Satan.

And the forth religion, The United Church of Envy. The religion of envy has as its decree welfare, social programs of all kinds, and higher taxes. It wishes to crucify anyone who is successful. The wealth of others is condemned. They fiercely seek conversion, not conversion of souls...conversion of other people?s money - to themselves. This faction is represented by Poverty Pastors from all status levels in society.

The Mega Church of Liberalism houses all these religions. They are extremely tolerant of any religion so long as its not that of the true God. Their enemy is not Satan as in Christianity, but their common enemy is in fact Christ. Hence the unity among the various religions.Their strategy is to incrementally replace Christianity with their false gods and religions of idolatry. At the same time they are attempting to diminish the credibility of God of the Bible and of Christianity.

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And finally, here's "my" Cranberry Chutney recipe, from Cooking Light Magazine:

Cranberry Chutney

Ingredients

1 cup chopped Granny Smith apple
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup sugar
1 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup water
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 (12-ounce) bag fresh or frozen cranberries

Preparation

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 30 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring occasionally. Serve with turkey, chicken, roast pork, or ham.

Note: Refrigerate remaining chutney.

Yield

4 cups (serving size: 1/4 cup)

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The reason for the season (literally)

HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE!

Celebrate the Coming of Light into your world.

Ten random things about me

I was tagged by Randal at L'Ennui Melodieux.

1. I'm in my tenth year of menopause.

2. Tomcat is still living, and still loves me.

3. I am married to a saint.


4. I was raised by a violent paranoid.

5. So I tend to see dangers everywhere (they call this "hypervigilance").

6. I'm definitely in the "glass is half empty" camp.

7. In elementary school, they played "Safety Lady" tips over the speakers every morning. While all the other kids were talking, laughing, and generally having fun, I was straining to hear every single fucking word the Safety Lady said (just as I listened to the paranoid who raised me - oh, and I became expert at interpreting body language, too - very important to survival.)

8. In fact, in psychology, people like me are called "Survivors."



9. The more I learn about Singularity, the more I'm convinced that sentient biologicals most certainly have, and will, elect to become nonbiological beings. (See also The Singularity Institute.)

10. Which is why I sometimes wonder if we sentient biologicals are part of an ancestor simulation program conducted by the nonbiological beings our species will become. (Not that I'm paranoid, mind you.)

Bonus: 11. This is a pic of my virtual self and Lavender Dawn (in black) on her virtual pirate ship.



Hm, it may be that most folks have already been tagged with this one. Let's see ... Pooks? You're tagged. And um, Lavender!
_____________________________

Finally!

Japanese researchers develop transparent frogs

When I first saw this headline, I thought, "And we need these because ... ?" But it turns out we do need these - kids will no longer have to dissect frogs in biology class because they'll be able to see everything!

[Article excerpt]

TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese researchers have succeeded in producing see-through frogs, letting them observe organs, blood vessels and eggs under the skin without performing dissections.

"You can see through the skin how organs grow, how cancer starts and develops," said the lead researcher Masayuki Sumida, professor at the Institute for Amphibian Biology of state-run Hiroshima University.

"You can watch organs of the same frog over its entire life as you don't have to dissect it. The researcher can also observe how toxins affect bones, livers and other organs at lower costs," he told AFP.

Later on in the article, they mention the possibility of producing "illuminating" frogs.

Transparent frogs that glow in the dark, people!

You're welcome.
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Kitchen Sink

Thrills and chills


If you're hesitating to buy the CD because you don't care for opera, don't worry, because it doesn't matter. I'm not an opera fan, either, but like thousands of other fans have discovered, this guy's voice will send chills up your spine. He could sing the phone book and still enthrall you. I mean, here's this bloke, this bloke from Wales who worked for a cell phone company, was a cancer survivor and in debt up to his vocal cords, and now he's an international star with a world tour coming up.

Besides Nessun dorma, which you've probably already heard him sing on YouTube, the CD has Everybody Hurts - in Italiano! - and a fantastic rendition of Music of the Night. Some parts are way over-produced (shades of Phil Specter, there), but that's (sort of) understandable considering that Simon Cowell rushed to get it released. It's topped the charts in the U.K., Australia, the Netherlands, Denmark - okay, let's just say all those other places, months before it was released here, where it is now No. 1 on Amazon's Classical and Opera & Vocal lists, and No. 5 on the Pop Rock list.

You will love this CD.
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The Society of Children's Books Writers & Illustrators meeting I attended over the weekend was inspiring, as usual. At every meeting, they have "brag time," which is where people who have had recent successes - meaning in the month since the last meeting - stand up and tell us all about it. I am in awe. Every month we hear about new books coming out, new contracts having been signed, awards won, and so on. Those of us who are unpublished just sit there with our mouths open. I found out that one lady, who is putting together the annual conference next month, has written 76 books, and some of them have been made into movies.

I also found out that they sent the first chapter of my YA novel, The Earthquake Doll, to a NY editor for critique (in other words, I was one of the first ten people to get the chapter out in time!) I won't have her critique until the conference, in mid-October. I have visions (some would say "delusions") of her liking the chapter so much that she will ask me to send her the full MS, and/or will know of someone who will want to see it. That's why I'm working so hard to get it (re) edited. Even if that bubble is burst, I'll at least have a polished MS to send out to ... someone ... next month. Well, first I'll have to send out the query letters to see if anyone wants to see the whole thing - this is called the query-go-round. Anyway, please wish me luck.

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In the meantime, I'm one of several online people critiquing a novel written by an extremely talented young woman in SCBWI . I got to meet her for the second time over the weekend. When we saw each other this time, we hugged, and she and I both said, at the same time, "I just love you!" Awww... This gal will have no problem getting published one day. I'm sure of it.

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For any LOTR fans, here's a great clip I recently Stumbled - let's call it "Advice from Boromir." Enjoy!

Wrap your heads around this

Good morning, boys and girls!

Whilst Stumbling, I kept seeing references to the coming Singularity, which is expected to occur sometime around 2035, give/take a few years.

There doesn't seem to be much debate about whether it will happen; that seems to be foregone.

There is minor debate about when it will arrive; some say sooner, others say later.

There is some talk about what could possibly stop it (and general agreement that nothing short of a global catastrophe capable of wiping out Civilization As We Know It could stop it.)

But there is lots of discussion about what it will mean, even though, it seems that, due to the nature of the Singularity itself, the effects are unknowable.

At first, I didn't pay much attention to this because I thought all this was some kind of New Age thing, like the so-called Harmonic Convergence of yesteryear. But one evening, I decided to Google me some Singularity and see what this was all about.

I really wish I hadn't.

Surviving the Singularity

A Butlerian Jihad

The Singularity is Near


Have a nice day.

I shall swoon

I heart steam punk.

On Notice

You can create your own notice board here.

That's "Captain Candace" to you

James T. Kirk

An impassioned commander with more respect for individuals than for authority, you have a no-holds-barred approach to life and its obstacles.

I don't believe in the no-win scenario.

Richard Dawkins launches social network; StumbleUpon

I was pleased to learn that Richard Dawkins just launched a Social Network for like-minded people to share their ideas. After creating a Profile page, there were several tabs I could explore right away. I clicked on "Articles" and found this gem, a YouTube recording of Kirk Cameron's appearance on Bill O'Reilly's show, with superb commentary. Enjoy.



Also, I stumbled upon StumbleUpon, which allows you to surf sites keyed to your specific areas of interest. StumbleUpon will learn your likes and dislikes as you go along. Any time you see a website you like, you click on the thumbs-up icon that comes free with the download. The site gets recorded on your Profile page, and your fellow Stumblers can (if you allow it) see the pages you have recommended. If you StumbleUpon a website you can't stand, then clicking on the thumbs-down icon will tell StumbleUpon to spare you stuff like that in the future. Like the Dawkins network, you can also join groups and meet people whose interests you share.

Of interest to bloggers: you can put a StumbleUpon button on your blog posts, as I have, so that if someone StumblesUpon one of your posts and they like it, they can click on the button and recommend your post to other Stumblers (about two million peeps as of today.)

We live in a Decidership

Decidership

A form of government with one person exercising absolute power and unrestricted control in a government who regularly disregards opinions, petitions or mandates of the people or elected representatives.

The misguided War On Terrorism has turned the United States of America from a Democracy to a Decidership.

This is from the Urban Dictionary. Isn't it perfect? Even though we live in a Decidership, you still get to vote - on whether or not you think this is a brilliant word and definition. So please, click on the link now and VOTE!

Tell your friends.

Carry on.

Deja Vu

One of my blog pals, Dr. Deb Serani, wrote a post one time about the phenomenon of deja vu.* That's something I'm interested in because it is a side effect of ECT (electro-convulsive therapy), which I had a year and a half ago for severe depression. Today, I found an article saying that they've discovered where, exactly, in the brain, this phenomenon occurs.

Origin of Deja Vu Pinpointed
-Dave Mosher, LiveScience Staff Writer

The brain cranks out memories near its center, in a looped wishbone of tissue called the hippocampus. But a new study suggests only a small chunk of it, called the dentate gyrus, is responsible for “episodic” memories—information that allows us to tell similar places and situations apart.

The finding helps explain where déjà vu originates in the brain, and why it happens more frequently with increasing age and with brain-disease patients, said MIT neuroscientist Susumu Tonegawa. The study is detailed today in the online version of the journal Science.

(Click on the article's title to read the rest of it.)

If that's not fascinating enough, then you might enjoy reading this:

Top 10 mysteries of the mind

10. Sweet Dreams (what are dreams?)

9. Slumber Sleuth (why do we need sleep?)

8. Phantom Feelings (experienced by amputees)

7. Mission Control (biological clock)

6. Memory Lane (how do we remember?)

5. Brain Teaser (what is laughter?)

4. Nature vs. Nurture (which has the most influence?)

3. Mortal Mystery (why do we age?)

2. Deep Freeze (cryonics - would it work?)

1. Consciousness (what is it?)

The mystery of consciousness, it seems, is finally coming to the attention of (some) physicists. In the blurb about consciousness on the preceding list, there's a link on this phrase, "... scientists have managed to develop a great list of questions... ." The link takes you to this fascinating article:

Why great minds can't grasp consciousness
By Ker Than, LiveScience Staff Writer
(08 August 2005)

At a physics meeting last October, Nobel laureate David Gross outlined 25 questions in science that he thought physics might help answer. Nestled among queries about black holes and the nature of dark matter and dark energy were questions that wandered beyond the traditional bounds of physics to venture into areas typically associated with the life sciences.

One of the Gross's questions involved human consciousness.

He wondered whether scientists would ever be able to measure the onset consciousness in infants and speculated that consciousness might be similar to what physicists call a "phase transition," an abrupt and sudden large-scale transformation resulting from several microscopic changes. The emergence of superconductivity in certain metals when cooled below a critical temperature is an example of a phase transition.

Gross isn't the only physicist with ideas about consciousness.

Beyond the mystics

Roger Penrose, a mathematical physicist at Oxford University, believes that if a "theory of everything" is ever developed in physics to explain all the known phenomena in the universe, it should at least partially account for consciousness.

Penrose also believes that quantum mechanics, the rules governing the physical world at the subatomic level, might play an important role in consciousness.

***
Ah! Now this is very interesting: ... quantum mechanics ... might play an important role in consciousness." This seems to be what "the Ancients," those long-ago mystics of the great Eastern philosophies, were talking about all along.

What if science finds that consciousness doesn't play just "an important role," but plays THE role? What if ... consciousness is the substance of the universe? What if ... it's really true what John Lennon famously wrote, paraphrasing Eastern philosophers, "I am he and you are me and we are all together." What if ... everything and everyone in the universe is connected, intertwined, like unto a ... network?

Oh wait, this seems familiar. I think I've blogged about this before. Haven't I?


*Deb, I couldn't find the post you did on that, even though I used the search feature on your blog. If you have the link, please let me know so I can update this.

Have you tried this yet?

Tomcat brought home a pint of the new Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor, Stephen Colbert's AmeriCone Dream, and OMG, you have got to try it!

From their website:

The flavor, Stephen Colbert’s AmeriCone Dream™ is a decadent melting pot of vanilla ice cream with fudge-covered waffle cone pieces and a caramel swirl. It’s the sweet taste of liberty in your mouth.

Recognizing that we, as a country, are at a time in our nation’s history where we need to reach across the aisle to people of all political ideologies — the left-leaning liberals at the company’s headquarters in Vermont felt it was fine to combine forces with the media man-of-steel. The company adds there are many similarities between Colbert and themselves. “He’s about political activism, so are we. He stands up for what he believes in, so do we. He supports Bill O’Reilly, and we… think he has a right to his opinion,” says ice cream Co-founder, Jerry Greenfield.

OMG, if anyone ever sends you an invitation to IMVU, do not, I repeat, do not accept (UNLESS I was the one who sent you the invitation, then please DO accept because that way I'll earn credits, and the more credits I have, the more STUFF I can get, so accept!!! because right now I have my eye on a really nice Roman Villa.)

Evil Lavender Dawn sent me an invitation and I ... accepted ... and now I will never get anything done ever again because I'll be playing around with this stuff! She is evil! I was having enough trouble just keeping up with emails and blogging, but now ... oh man, I'm in big trouble. First I had to choose how my avatar looked, then what she'd wear, and then what her house looks like, only I need more credits for that, plus then Lavender (did I mention she's evil?) and I had to try out the 3D chatroom, which is amazing! and then all the things you can do and the sounds you can make and omg, just be forewarned that this is a complete waste of time and you'll love it/hate it just as much I do.

Carry on.

Okay, I'm Learning Chinese

"Women's town" to put men in their place

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese tourism authorities are seeking investment to build a novel concept attraction -- the world's first "women's town," where men get punished for disobedience, an official said Thursday.

The 2.3-square-km Longshuihu village in the Shuangqiao district of Chongqing municipality, also known as "women's town," was based on the local traditional concept of "women rule and men obey," a tourism official told Reuters.

"Traditional women dominate and men have to be obedient in the areas of Sichuan province and Chongqing, and now we are using it as an idea to attract tourists and boost tourism," the official, surname Li, said by telephone."

Tourism, hell - give me a condo!

Time Is On His Side

There's a joke that every time The Stones go on the road, it's the:

Oh-my-god-Keith-Richards-Is-Still-Alive?Tour

Yes, he is. And here's proof that he's immortal:

Keith Richards snorts dad's ashes

‘I couldn’t resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow,’ Keith Richards said of his father's ashes.

Now see, right there? That's why I love this guy. If you live life like Keith Richards, then ... you've lived, man.

And in the If You Can't Beat 'Em

Joint 'Em Department,

Mexico wants to partially decriminalize drugs
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Felipe Calderon's government wants to decriminalize first-time possession of small amounts of drugs in a move likely to draw criticism from U.S. anti-narcotics officials.

Cute Captions

"Finally photographed, we find bigfoot is a ... Dork."

That's one of the highest-rated captions for this picture over at Cute Captions. If you're ever looking for something cheerful, browse their pictures, read the captions people have come up with, or even better, try adding your own. You can also add Cute Captions to your blog, as I have!