Somehow This All Fits Together

Who Knew?

No Spots Until 2012?

Picture of spotless sun taken March 31, 2009

The sun hasn't been this quiet in over a century.
Scientists are still speculating.

Nanotube Batteries

Carbon nanotube based ultra-capacitator, battery 2.0

(PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time, MIT researchers have shown they can genetically engineer viruses to build both the positively and negatively charged ends of a lithium-ion battery.

Three years ago, an MIT team led by Belcher reported that it had engineered viruses that could build an anode by coating themselves with cobalt oxide and gold and self-assembling to form a nanowire.

In the latest work, the team focused on building a highly powerful cathode to pair up with the anode, said Belcher, the Germeshausen Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Biological Engineering. Cathodes are more difficult to build than anodes because they must be highly conducting to be a fast electrode, however, most candidate materials for cathodes are highly insulating (non-conductive).

To achieve that, the researchers, including MIT Professor Gerbrand Ceder of materials science and Associate Professor Michael Strano of chemical engineering, genetically engineered viruses that first coat themselves with iron phosphate, then grab hold of carbon nanotubes to create a network of highly conductive material.

Because the viruses recognize and bind specifically to certain materials (carbon nanotubes in this case), each iron phosphate nanowire can be electrically “wired” to conducting carbon nanotube networks. Electrons can travel along the carbon nanotube networks, percolating throughout the electrodes to the iron phosphate and transferring energy in a very short time.

Who Knew?
Autism and Hurricanes?
I found this in an article about Autism.
They believe that stress plays a central role in dysregulation of the LC-NA system, especially in the latter stages of prenatal development when the fetal brain is particularly vulnerable.

The central tenet of the theory, published in the March issue of Brain Research Reviews, is that autism is a developmental disorder caused by impaired regulation of the locus coeruleus, a bundle of neurons in the brain stem that processes sensory signals from all areas of the body.

As evidence, the researchers point to a 2008 study, published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, that found a higher incidence of autism among children whose mothers had been exposed to hurricanes and tropical storms during pregnancy. Maternal exposure to severe storms at mid-gestation resulted in the highest prevalence of autism.

My sister sent me a link to a
birthday calculator website.

http://www.paulsadowski.com/birthday.asp

It has a bunch of commercials,
but you only need to use this;

This is just a picture. Use the real thing at the website.

I used it today, April 1, 2009
and the following appeared;

21 May 1945

Your date of conception was on or about 28 August 1944 which was a Monday.

You were born on a Monday
under the astrological sign Taurus.
Your Life path number is 9.

Your fortune cookie reads:
If you would be loved, love and be lovable.

Life Path Compatibility:
You are most compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 3, 6 & 9.
You should get along well with those with the Life Path numbers 1 & 5.
You may or may not get along well with those with the Life Path numbers 2, 7 & 11.
You are least compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 4, 8 & 22.

The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2431596.5.
The golden number for 1945 is 8.
The epact number for 1945 is 16.
The year 1945 was not a leap year.

Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 2/13/1945 and ending 2/1/1946.
You were born in the Chinese year of the Rooster.

Your Native American Zodiac sign is Elk; your plant is Mullein.

You were born in the Egyptian month of Epipy, the third month of the season of Shomu (Harvest).

Your date of birth on the Hebrew calendar is 10 Sivan 5705.
Or if you were born after sundown then the date is 11 Sivan 5705.

The Mayan Calendar long count date of your birthday is 12.16.11.7.12 which is
12 baktun 16 katun 11 tun 7 uinal 12 kin

The Hijra (Islamic Calendar) date of your birth is Monday, 8 Jumadiyu'th-Thani 1364 (1364-6-8).

The date of Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 1 April 1945.

Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 9.12954990215264 years old. (You old hound dog, you!)

Your lucky day is Friday.
Your lucky number is 6.
Your ruling planet(s) is Venus.
Your lucky dates are 6th, 15th, 24th.
Your opposition sign is Scorpio.
Your opposition number(s) is 9 & 11.

Today is not one of your lucky days!

There are 50 days till your next birthday
on which your cake will have 64 candles.

There was more info, but you get the drift.

No Tropical storms during mid-gestation.

I can sing and play most of the songs of 1945.

That might explain a lot.

Newborn Dipsomaniac Lullaby?

They look a little scary to me. Probably drove me to drink.

Rum and Coca Cola -Andrews Sisters

New Hat

A woman at the bakery said it looked good, so I bought it.

I figured I should get a new hat for summer. The other hat is a little warm when the temperature is over 100, and the winter that never happened is almost over, so I have been looking at summer hats. I was never a hat kind of guy until I moved to Redding. People had told me that the weather would be extreme, so I got a hat to keep my head warm. Last summer, I noticed it kept the sun out of my eyes and provided shade. Cool.

This new hat is even cooler.

High Tech Recording

Recording studio.

Adding bass part.

Cleaning up and adding tracks to songs in anticipation of the new microphone that I ordered. The time has come for me to polish up my wares and do some quality recording.

I have been putting the right equipment together over the past year, to help capture the "feeling" part of music, in a recording.

The right combination of microphones and recording equipment can put you in the song when you listen to it. A performance that gives you goose bumps or makes your heart ache, can be captured for posterity to be experienced again, when recorded with the right stuff. Or, the recording sometimes doesn't get it. Many a "perfect take" has been lost in translation between live and Memorex. My recordings are letting me know I am on the right track.

Everything seems to be on schedule and coming together marvelously.

Speaking of Time

American Clock-Salvador Dali Gallery

This from PHYSORG.COM ;

As if extra dimensions weren’t strange enough, new research has probed an even more mind-bending possibility: that spacetime has dimensions that change depending on the scale, and the dimensions could have fractal properties on small scales. In a recent study, Dario Benedetti, a physicist at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario, has investigated two possible examples of spacetime with scale-dependent dimensions deviating from classical values at short scales. More than being just an interesting idea, this phenomenon might provide insight into a quantum theory of relativity, which also has been suggested to have scale-dependent dimensions. Benedetti’s study is published in a recent issue of Physical Review Letters.

What they are studying is how the scale of the sphere also determines the number of observable dimensions. I think they sum up their research with the following statement;

"In both k-Minkowski spacetime and the quantum sphere, the dimensionality becomes non-integral, which is a typical signature of fractal geometry."

It's nice to know that others see the universe in ways that are similar to my own observations and deductions.

This supports my thoughts regarding how God's Universe uses fractal geometry, and how human artifacts use Euclidean geometry.

I am so grateful that I am able to use the internet to find that other people have discoveries and observations similar to my own. In addition to being relieved to know I am not alone, it is exciting to see these concepts and theories being put into practical applications.

Today's Relatively Appropriate Song;
Till The End Of Time -Lennon Sisters

Life is Amazing

God is Good

History Includes Everything

Everything We Know, So Far

Remember the Messerschmitt?

The Messerschmitt was sold in 1955.

The new Volkswagon
seems familiar

It's like deja vu all over again.

There were a lot of gas saving small cars available in the 1950's.

My sister had a
Nash Metropolitan convertible.

I, "borrowed", Sue's car once when I was 13 0r 14.

One of my Favorite Cars, was
the Isetta 300.

The hills were alive with the sound of Isetta's.

The new Isetta

The new Isetta will be available in 2012.

The Mercedes Smart Car

Earlene, and her smart car.

I was checking out Facebook the other day, and I got in touch with a friend from Alpine High after 47 years, or so. She and her husband have Smart Cars. She wrote that you have to order them a year to 18 months in advance.


Earlene writes; "They are really fun to drive, great mileage and really safe, with a 5 star crash rating."

I Want A TaTa Air Car

This car is powered by air. No gasoline required.

And The New TaTa Nano

The Nano sells for $2,500, new!

These little cars are popping up all over the world just like they did 50 years ago.

I guess the point I am making is about repeating history, because we haven't been learning very well. I think it's the flawed formula we use for our educational system. We divide knowledge into separate categories like, Math, Reading, Writing, Science, Sports, Music, Art, etc.

Everything we know is included in history.

That should be the whole curriculum.
Just one subject.
History.

You can start with language, basic survival skills, social organization, and keep adding knowledge as it was discovered and developed to bring the students up to the present. Students with aptitudes for certain disciplines would naturally develop more interest and energy in that field.

I don't have a complete answer, but I think this idea of just using history to educate, would be an improvement over the present methods.

Another Coincidence?

I was just reading about this bust of Nefertiti, yesterday.

BERLIN (AP report)– Researchers in Germany have used a modern medical procedure to uncover a secret within one of ancient Egypt's most treasured artworks — the bust of Nefertiti has two faces. A team led by Dr. Alexander Huppertz, director of the Imaging Science Institute at Berlin's Charite hospital and medical school, discovered a detailed stone carving that differs from the external stucco face when they performed a computed tomography, or CT, scan on the bust.

The findings, published Tuesday in the monthly journal Radiology, are the first to show that the stone core of the statue is a highly detailed sculpture of the queen, Huppertz said.

This is so amazing, to me. Those of you who read this blog regularly know these, "coincidences", occur much too often to be accidental.

I was reading a novel that had the characters in Berlin. They stopped at Museum island specifically to view this bust, and ask that it be 'loaned' to the museum in Cairo. ( Egypt feels that they are the rightful owners.) In the book, as in real life, moving the fragile bust was considered too risky. The outer stucco face might separate and break away from the underlying stone face if it is jarred or shaken in the moving process.

Today, those refusals to transport the 3,300 year old statue, have a scientific foundation. Nefertiti will stay in Berlin.

Magic continues to fill my world with wonder.

Time To Get A Large Diaphragm

Condenser Microphone

Tracks to, "Life is what you make it", awaiting vocals.

I have been getting close to finishing the music tracks for several songs, and the timing is right for me to invest in an appropriate microphone to capture my vocals. I had the search narrowed down to two possibilities, last month, but it's time to see what is available, appropriate, and on sale, now that I am in position to make this important purchase.

This One

This was the most microphone I found for the money.

The MXL V63M is a condenser microphone with a 1" diameter, 6-micron-thick diaphragm that delivers high sensitivity and detailed recordings. Wired with Mogami wire for added clarity.

It said I am saving $320. I ordered it. What the heck is Mogami wire?

All questions will be answered when it gets here in a few days.

Happy Phil

Balancing my checkbook with glee. 3/31/09

Last year, when I was smoking cigarettes, I would be broke by this time of the month. Since I quit, I can afford to buy a good quality microphone, and still have money left over.

If A Tree Falls In The Forest?

Today's Relatively Appropriate Song;
Woodchopper's Ball -Woody Herman

The Gift of Grace

Reality In Different Media

Collection

Thanks to Jo and Brandi for sending this in an e-mail.

If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

I have been wonderfully busy with many different projects to fill me with joy, wonder, and a sense of accomplishment. I am even completing some of the projects I begin.

An interesting combination of mediums is a video I am making for a little contest. Entries are supposed to explain nano science. To do mine, I have written and recorded a song called, "Fullerenes", to use as the soundtrack. This is one of 4 songs that are giving me, "hands on", experience with the new iLife '09, GarageBand. The on screen interface looks like this...

Song production with GarageBand,(Life Is What You...).

Next, visuals.

Chimney Sweep Mouse

I figure to use this little mouse to carry the storyline. He will sweep industrial smokestacks, collect CO2, and separate the carbon from the oxygen. From the carbon, he will extract Fullerenes, and Nano Tubes, by the ton. He will then give them to scientists and engineers to use in the construction of bridges, elevated trains, super conductive cable, nano circuits, and thousands of other applications. In the end the air is cleaner, America is the world leader in manufacturing, and the skies are not cloudy all day.

Well now, how the heck am I going to animate the mouse? I could hand draw a couple of thousand pictures, photograph them, string the photos together into a motion picture, and have my video ready sometime next year. I could just put a cutout on a stick and move it around. Or, I can figure out how to use the animation program I got today, and make it that way.

I think I will sleep on it.



Dorothy O'Neil's Garden Awakes

From Dorothy's backyard garden....3/10/09

I found this poking up out there too.

This was growing from a dropped bulb on the path.

What a nice surprise. I looked out behind building, "A", this afternoon and saw that flowers are beginning to adorn Dorothy's garden. I took some pictures and there may be another greeting card or two in the bunch.

Dreams
I had some very interesting dreams last night.

In one, I got to play some blues guitar for my Dad. He was my dad, only he looked like Ernie Kovacs. There was a great cast of characters and it took place on a dusty hillside. I played a red Gibson, double cutaway, solid body guitar, like I had for awhile in 1966, when I played in Houston.

In another dream, I was walking from banquet room to banquet room, to find the party for the disabled people, that someone had told me about. Finally, after twisting and turning through the back passageways, I came to a poorly lit room where there was a party with cake and ice cream. I looked past the people, to the other side of the room and saw Chrissy looking to catch my attention. I could see the light of love in her eyes. She had her wheelchair, and we made our way out of the building, where we came to a canal, or flooded street. (New Orleans?).

As she would often do, when she was alive, she drove her wheelchair right into the water to get to the other side. It was deeper than we thought, but she plowed on until the only thing above water was her head, moving along through the dark water, as her wheelchair kept on going. It was fun to see.

I wonder if there will be more to the story tonight?

Tonight's Relatively Appropriate Song;
Because

Sweet Dreams

How I See The World I Live In

Majestic Surroundings

Mount Shasta today, from the dam road. 1/11/09
I was up on the dam road recording vocal tracks today. I like this new way to record vocals on the songs I assemble. It's amazing what we can do with the digital toys out there.

6 months ago I was thinking I needed a laptop to record in unusual locations, but I can use a little digital recorder to record a part while I listen with headphones to an MP3 of the basic track from a little iPod kind of device. I can then import the newly recorded part to the song project on my computer when I get home.

I still need a couple of adapters to make it work smoothly, but it works. You can hear a test that I did yesterday. I recorded the vocal up by the Bridge Bay Resort. The song is an old Charles Calhoun blues that I first recorded in 1962. It's on the right hand side of this blog page, under, My Video Experiments.

I am so happy that I am capable of finding simple solutions to accomplish complex aspirations.
Thank you Marian for helping me believe that I can find a way to do just about anything.

Moonrise last night 1/10/09

Shasta just before the moonrise 1/10/09

Lassen just before the moonrise 1/10/09

I am surrounded by the majesty of God's beautiful earth.
I am filled with gratitude and wonder.

Sometimes I worry about those people who, in their arrogant, ignorance, thoughtlessly destroy God's creations. Somehow we can be led to believe that we know better than God how to operate this planet. We eradicate lifeforms that annoy us without a second thought. We kill off the mosquitoes, then complain that there are no more fish in the pond. We are not being taught that everything on earth is necessary for life to exist.

We kill our own species by the thousands because they do things differently, or they happen to be "in the way" of someones grandiose scheme that doesn't include "those" people.

I wonder about people who praise God, then chop down trees, or level a mountain because it blocks their view.

I wonder about people who will fight for the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, even though it's based on a book that defines women as dirty and sinful.

I wonder.

Can I "fix" those broken, greedy, savages? No.

Can God fix them? If they ask God to be fixed.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.

Thank you.

I am at peace, again.

I Am Happy

Louis Armstrong Orchestra, 1929.

Today's Relatively Appropriate Song;
When Your Smiling

The good I do and feel, defines me.
Happy Phil

The New Year Beckons With Open Arms

Part Two

Sunny day at the river 12/30/08
Wow! Another year has gone by, and what a year it was. I am much happier and my out look is healthier since I followed the light to Redding. Since I have been living here, I have shed a few old habits and grown into a lighter, brighter, me. I love it.

Another bridge across the Sacramento River 12/30/08
Sandi suggested I go on down the road past her house, where there are some photogenic places to see. I did, and she was right. I am still editing the 50 or so pictures I took. When I am done I will upload them to my Picasa photo albums so you can see for yourself. In the meantime, here are a couple of river shots to whet your whistle.

Along the Sacramento River

Roll Out The Piano

How cool is this? It's a keyboard that rolls out when you want to play. The headphone jack allows you to plug in to a sound system and it sounds powerfully good. It has most of the regular piano, organ, marimba, horns, strings, and stuff you expect to find in a keyboard these days, plus it can record your song ideas while you are out in the woods, or wherever you go to write music.

I hope to have recorded a song and video using this, by the time I post this page in my blog.
I got it at Rite Aide, on sale, for $15.

Bass-$50, Piano-$15, hours of fun-Priceless.

Whew! I did it. I just about wore out my old equipment getting this done on time, but I think I managed to write, record, and upload a video in a matter of a few hours. This is fun. I am learning new stuff, step by step. It just gets better and better.

Today's Relatively Appropriate Song;
Step By Step By Step -Me

Happy New Year

This Is My 101st Post On Phil's Place

Jumping Jupiter

Jupiter and Ganymede in newly released image.

Ganymede is the largest of Jupiter's four moons, with a diameter of about 3,270 miles (5,262 km).
Jupiter is so big that only part of its southern hemisphere can be seen in the Hubble image.

Flinging Stars

The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, M83

The blue and pink pinwheel in the center is the galaxy's main stellar disk.
The galaxy's farthest-flung clusters of young stars are up to 140,000 light-years from its center.
The gaseous hydrogen atoms, or raw ingredients for stars, make up the arms.
Astronomers are excited that the clusters of baby stars match up with the extended arms

Sock and Awe

Throw Shoes at Bush Video Game. Play for Free. Fun.
This is Funny. TRY IT

Video Here At Last
You may have noticed a new addition to Phil's Place. The video player. One of the features of my new digital camera is that it will record videos. I have been experimenting with uploading, and what type of video file works best.

Rudolf is the un-edited file from the camera. I did an edited version, but the sound was messed up like the little blues santa. The microphone in the camera is surprisingly good. Look for more raw sounds in the future.

When I uploaded the dancin' blues singing santa, I tried a couple of export file types from iMovie. The sound didn't come out too good, so tonight I recorded a new sound track.
I hope to put it on in place of the crummy one.
It could take some time.
Maybe by tomorrow.

Recording bass for, "Santa's Comin' To Your House".

I noticed that the little blues Santa guy was playing a 3 string bass, so I wrote a blues song for 3 string bass and vocal. We shall see and hear how it works out. If it's okay, then I can use the editing features of iMovie for the picture, and record and enhance the sound track in a different program, and add it somewhere along the line.

Steamed Stir Fry

I love vegetables and they love me.
I tried another brand of veggies in a bag that you can cook in the microwave for 4 minutes and they are steamed. So far, both were tasty and tender without being limp or soggy. What a great idea.

I am not very likely to be eating at the Food Court in the mall, but I saw this article that you might find interesting.

WORST MALL FOOD IN AMERICA
Quizno’s
Large Tuna Melt Club with cheese and dressing
1,820 calories
147 g fat (27 g saturated, 1.5 g trans)
2,020 mg sodium
85 g carbs

CALORIC EQUIVALENT:
12 Taco Bell Fresco Style Beef Tacos!

Read more about mall food HERE

Today's Relatively Appropriate Song;
No Spinach
Shirley Temple, Jack Haley, Alice Fay

Peace

Food, Genetically Modified Food, and Goodby Mr. Hayes

Food for thought
There is a world of knowledge that can be accessed with google and the internet. It has become second nature to me, that when reading an article on the internet, I look up the source of the information. Sometimes the source is untrue, or bogus, and sometimes the source is unimpeachable. Here are somethings I found today, interspersed with entertaining diversions;

Jatropa, instant diesel fuel.
Each hearty, drought and pest resistant, plant produces a gallon of fuel without refining.
Information about Jatropa with video's
You can't eat Jatropa, but here is a site that lists some foods that are really good for you...
Choosing healthy foods to eat
What you should know about Polyphenol-Antioxidants and what foods contain the most.


Something one should not do in an SUV...

Boating.

Here is part of a letter that my friend Fred e-mailed to me;
The problem I have is the distribution of my tax dollars to people who don't have to pass a urine test. Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check since I have to pass one to earn the money for them?

Please understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet. I do, on the other hand have a problem with helping someone sitting on their BUTT, doing drugs, while I work!

. . . Can you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test in order to get a public assistance check?
That is a good idea. I wonder why no one thought of it before?

Finding food fit to eat;
I like to think that the food I put in my system is something that my body actually needs, and can digest. I try to avoid processed foods, when possible, because I know that most of the useful nutrition is missing, like Polyphenol-Antioxidants. But I do enjoy a bowl of cereal now and then. The problem with that is the grain,(except wheat). Today it is nearly impossible to find grains that are not genetically modified. 70% of our corn, in the United States, is from Monsanto's genetically modified seeds. Soon it will be 100% as farmers are forced to use these seeds if they want to get a loan to plant their crops.

It's not just here, it's happening all around the globe. The U.N, world bank, and the World Trade Organization, have teamed up to force farmers around the world to use Monsanto, Roundup-ready seeds for everything from soy beans to eggplant. It's against the law in the new, "free", Iraq, for farmers to use anything but Monsanto seeds!

These crops are toxic to bees, butterfly larva, microbes, and animals. That includes humans. Scientific studies that link these genetically modified, "foods", to illness and diseases are intentionally ignored by the FDA. The head of FDA oversight is supreme court judge, Clarence Thomas, formerly a lawyer for Monsanto.

Monsanto corn in Mexico since 1995 has given them US rates of Diabetes.

I found a website called, "Friends of Monsanto".
I spent 2 hours going through the people and organizations that are part of Monsanto. They include Donald Rumsfeld, John Ashcroft, The Department of Homeland Security, the EPA, The World Trade Organization, the Safe Food Coalition, Bill Gates, USAID, General Electric, and the Worl Bank, to name a few. You can go to their website if you want to...
Friends of Monsanto

My father was, at one time, a research chemist for Monsanto. While he was there, he invented some of the plastics we use today.
When Disneyland first opened in 1955, he took me there to see the Monsanto, "House of the Future". We were given V.I.P. treatment while at the park. The 10 year old me was thrilled with the Auto-bon, Matterhorn, Adventure Land, and, my all time favorite,"Tom Sawyers' Island."

Earlier today, enjoying 110° weather. 4:34PM 8/11/08

I am beginning to understand how the people of Germany were led to become part of the third Reich. The blueprint for Hitlers rise to power was sitting on bookshelves gathering dust. The whole plan was in the book, Mein Kampf, but people didn't read it.

Today we have the New World Order and people will soon be asking themselves; "How did this happen?"
The blueprint for the New World Order is in the Congressional record, U.N. resolutions, and the Library of Congress. It's on internet sites, in books and magazines, but are the "fast food eating-American Idol watching-registered voters" reading? Nope.

Karl Rove is using the same type of propaganda as Joseph Goebbels to obtain the unquestioning obedience of the masses. He is stirring up peoples fear and prejudice against Obama to motivate them to vote for McCain. Some of the anti-Obama stuff is insidious and hateful, but it's working.

On a parting note;
In the late 60's, Fred Mitchell had an idea that we should build a recording studio to record and promote local talent. We called it, "Jackson Sound". It was there that I produced an album on my friend, Joe Shamwell.
Joe had been a writer for Stax records and when we had finished his album,"Natural Blackness", we sent a copy of the tape to Stax. They liked it and Joe and I went to Memphis as guests of Issac Hayes.

Issac Hayes 1943-2008
With Issac, we toured the Stax recording studio, we went to his favorite soul food restaurant, we made a pending record deal, we shared his enthusiasm about the movie soundtrack he was writing and recording, and admired the new bell bottom jumpsuit his tailor just made. I felt honored to be welcomed to Stax, the home of Booker "T", Sam and Dave, Otis Redding, Peaches and Herb, and the Bar Kays. I got to talk music with David Porter and Issac, and even was asked for my 2 cents worth. I will always remember Issac saying; " You've got a lot of soul Phil,... for a white boy". Thank you Mr. Hayes.
Play on.

It's So Nice To Be

Here and Happy

Sunset Clouds 8/5/08
It was so nice to see clouds at sunset. The last time we had clouds like this was in June, just before the giant thunder storm that started over 1,000 fires. Some of those fires are still burning. We are pretty much clear of the heavy smoke that obscured the clouds and stars for over a month. Once again, "It's So Nice To Be Outside".

The song is almost finished and you can hear the latest version on
My Space.

Papa Paul Thomas and I, are having fun with writing and recording, back and forth across the globe using MP3's and e-mail. I recorded the beginnings of a couple more songs yesterday and sent them to Paul in Scotland via, e-mail. That is so cool. He sent me a song he recorded the other night with his son, called, "Roderick The Imposter". He said he wrote it while visiting St. Kilda. I googled St. Kilda and watched a video about it's history. His story for the song is related to the history of that island.

Dawn clouds 8/6/08
It's 6:21 in the morning. The birds are waking, the residents are stirring, and its 70 degrees on the balcony. Last night there were occasional flashes of distant lightning and thunderstorms are possible because of the monsoonal moisture pushing northward through California and Nevada. Details on the 6 o'clock news. Ha Ha.

120,000 Gorillas found living in an African swamp.

It seems that these gorillas have avoided detection by hiding in a remote swampland. Good for them.

Morning clouds 8/6/08
This is turning out to be a lovely day. It's a good thing I didn't get the Buick washed yesterday. We have had just enough sprinkles to mess up a clean car.

I was talking to a friend down at the club today. He is a computer technician, set-up, repair guy. Windows, of course. Not a lot goes wrong with a Mac. Anyway, he was telling me I should get a page with, "Tagged". He thinks it's a lot safer than My Space, when it comes to viruses and such. Viruses aren't really an issue with a Mac, but I thought I would check it out.

The sign up process is just too invasive, and insists on submitting way too much of my security data. It included a redirect to another site that wanted even more information that could be used to easily steal my identity. It even sent an invitation to me, at an e-mail address that I didn't give it.

The only reason I was even filling out the forms was to see if it had a place where I could post my music, like I have on My Space. The pages were DOS clunky, and I got out of there as fast as I could. My advice is to avoid, "Tagged".

In the end I will continue to have my music playing on My Space for your listening enjoyment. Feel free to go there without fear of viruses, just don't open anything that looks odd or has the words DOS or Windows or Microsoft and you will be just fine.

Green hills and clouds 8/6/08
Although you can see some burned patches, most of the mountains are green with forests after the wildfires.
It's a beautiful day.