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The World In A Box

Ha required. Who can make a squirrel laugh?

Couch Poatato: Get Smart

Terrible movie. There, said it: Terrible Movie.

Not funny. Derivative. Steve Carell falls on his face.
Anne Hathaway fails to deliver a believe 99!

Perhaps I was too big a fan of the TV show to get his humor But --
There's too much Butt humor here. Fart jokes galore. Even the
Cone of Silence gag rendered in 3D graphics failed to get this
Couch Potato startled or even amused. Anne Hathaway is too
modern. Too 21st century nightmare chick to be believable.

The DVD box claims the film is 'Funny & Exciting' - R. Ebert
I found it dull & boring. I fell asleep :40 into it. What's that?

Bonus: Locate Bill Murray as a talking tree in Washington, DC...

Can you say soporiphic
Get Smart. ** skip it

Couch Potato: ArtRage Deluxe 2.5

I must confess to being quite the cheapskate when it comes to purchasing software.
I won't shell out unless I've heard some really amazing things about it. So when I was handed:
ArtRage Deluxe 2.5 I jumped at the opportunity to paint myself silly. It feels like you're really
just painting with a real brush. They've gone a step past Fractal Painter from a few years back.

If you want to become a painter, make sure you buy a good little tablet for your machine. I've
seen them from $50 - $200. Anyway, ArtRage delivers in spades. Check it out! **** Painter

Rethink the bomb

I cannot say exactly How I arrived at this topic, but I believe It's going bare.
It my be time to rethink the Bomb.

What is a bomb? Seems to me it's an enclosed vessel or container under some internal
pressure that is ignited and the contents therein are exploded. The container is
crucial to the design of the Bomb.

Just about anyone can make a bomb. So when people speak of The Bomb,I haveto laugh.
I've made one myself: A Sterno Inferno in
Boy Scouts. We let the top lid of the Sterno canister open or easily opened to prevent
too much bomb condition. Are Moltov Cocktails bombs? Not so much.

We are told just about everyday that nuclear weapons could destroy the world. Do they
mean the planet EARTH? Perhaps. But I dont think so. All the people in it? Maybe, but
I doubt it. I think they're taLKING ABOUT your world. You. Your pill popping, cash
stomping world wherein you got to work, to church and to the grave!

Incendiary devices just aren't that physically thorough. They land in one place and
probably blow up real good. One nuclear bomb can ruin your entire day but it ain't
gonna eliminate Earth too easily. Then there's fallout and the insuing radiation...

If you wanna destroy Earth, check the movies. Blowin' up the Death Star and whatnot.

Incidentally, when you say SPACE BAR, I'm Thinking: Oh, Star Wars!
So that's how media culturally relevant I am. How about you?

Watch the World dine

The world got pretty far on their Finite-state machinery. Nobody in the BB seemed to complain when the injuries
arrived and chewbacca the Wookie famously hollared: RRAARGH. Me? I've got a broken neck, but that's another
tale for another day. In the words of Al Jolson (The Jazz Singer, 1927): "Ya ain't seen nothin' yet."

Once we can divide by zero, humanity will be free of the chains of Finite-state machinery. We'll be growing
software, like buildings or plants... Sure death will still be the end for some of us, but we'll understand
what they meant when we pledge allegiance to the flag! You'll see soon enough.

Might makes Right

If there's one thing I've learned in 44 years of strolling about this wonderful planet: It's
that might makes right. That if you're big, smaller things will be afraid of you. And You're
right by the inherent bigness of your being. America? It's right 'cuz it's big. It'll kick
your little ass all over the place. Corporations? Right: they are because they're big. GL

What's small that ever wins? Only big things win. As true in the Animal kingdom as well.

What a November that was!

Remember the November of ought-nine?
There was the early-month election. Local and otherwise.
The weather was splendid. Not too hot, not too cold. The nights crisp.

Me? I was playing videogames mostly, as that's what Life is handing me.
Sure, there were cartoons and paintings. Songs and poems. Beer and skittles.

Speaking of skittles, has everyone played skittles? I've played it with
friends. You spin a top and try to knock down mini-pins
in a big maze house with doors between rooms. Sound familiar? It should,
it's sitting next to your hockey game under a bed somewhere. Oh, yeah:
Novemburr.

New music from Beck: Guero and Modern Guilt and I resurrected some old CDs
from the vault: Elvis Costello and Tone Loc. All are very Verbal artists.
Thanks November!

Couch Potato: Robotech - Battlecry

Are you a plane or a robot?

I couldn't decide in this 40 level thriller. Thriller because you're flying above the sea.
There are a lot of robot games, but only one Battlecry. There's also land based missions
and the game will give you enough of the I-am-a-Robot feeling you so desire. I know I do.

The graohics are most interesting as the (game) developers have chosen an outline function
that's rarely seen in games like this. Each robotic unit is outlined in a strange black
marking which makes for heightened realism. Look for it wherever you get your games. ****

Couch Potato: 'UltraTron' for Mac

Remember Robotron in the Arcades?

You piloted a man with one joystick and shot lasers with the other joystick. It was exhausting to say the least.
The player's brain was split down the middle by the two-handed action required.
Now you can bring the arcade home with UltraTron for the Mac -- Robotron effects with lights and colored pixels and whatnot. Excellent implementation from
Puppy Games. I'm still trying to get the game to work with my gamepad so you could use two thumbsticks instead of the clunky keyboard.

The graphics are tight to say the least. Large lorez pixels define the playspace. Ultratron ***, get it.

Peace is Easy. But so is tuning your guitar!

Tune
Alternative (electric) guitar tuning for the hearing impaired.
"There are a lot of guitars. There are a lot of guitars 'in-tune.' There are some guitars that are not in tune."

If you want to comprehend sound, try detuning your guitar. New Strings? Don't lace the laces all the way
to the top!

Huh? Don't immediately fall into the EADGBE guitar tuning trap. Detune! Crank the E string down to a C#.
A down to G. And finally the high-E to another C#. Whatdoyagot? A detuned G machine. Anything you
strum will be a open G. Huh?

C# G D G B C# = open G

Think of your guitar as one-long string. I tried this out in my Shack where I keep all the essentials. It was
such freedom to just make sounds and noises and whatnot that didn't need to make sense. STOP MAKING
SENSE. Play detuned as a Freedom instrument. Rhythm guitar strum. Let's build it back up from the bottom-up
this time. I once saw a Sonic Youth show where I'm pretty sure the main guitar was completely detuned.
He was just making noise. What an experiment!

Granted, there was probably other guitars they had that were in sync but the metaphysical implications were staggering.
DO you have a new guitar tuner and are repulsed at the thought of not having a perfectly tuned (Ovation) guitar? Thought so.

Along the same lines, do you think J. Page split the musical universe in two in ~1973 by playing a two-neck solo with the Zep?
I believe the show was MSG: as seen in The Song Remains the Same. Robert Plant, J. Bonham and old-whats-his-name! !


Oxymoronic

What's your favorite oxymoron?
What is an oxymoron? An oxymoron is a word-phrase that contradicts itself. Say 'military intelligence.'

My new favorite is Human Nature.
Human nature never changes, yet we hope it will somehow through time. Tragic, really when one considers
what's been lost to this simple observation. Lives, boats and cars. Trains planes and Automobiles...

How about Moral Dilemma? Maybe. Or Sex worker? Work Party! Occupational Therapy? Perhaps, but that's bordering on:
The Dept. of Redundancy Department. How about Barbershop Quartet: Nope that's not an oxymoron.

Music Business. Cartoon business. Have you ever met anyone in the business business?

I just heard this one on ch 13 (M. Warner) "International Community"
One hears this all the time and nobody stops people who say it.
Just say 'World,' [one syllable instead of 9]

act natural
border security
http://www.drmardy.com/oxymoronica/oxymora.shtml

Dancing Santa spied in Riverside

option-click in scrollbar to fast-advance the proverbial thumb!

I just picked this one up for all of you scroll bar clickers.
Basically: one may advance the thumb that sits in the scrollbar to the desired location
quickly and directly by option-clicking where you want the thumb to move to. Neat.

Learned this from Macworld Oct. issue I believe. Just a tip to keep you clicking...

My illustrious Videogame Career

As J. Cameron said: You don't know F***.
It all started with my grandfather. For his Birthday we gave him a Sinclair Z80 white computer which was
really a calculator that you could hook up to the old TV. This was great for us cuz it knocked out his
TV time at 6:30 when he would watch the national news (after a few cold ones). My grandfather was not impressed.

"Who in the world would want to use this thing?" he asked. ANd I agreed. 8K RAM and a chicklet keyboard that
could caluclate salestax. And that's about it. I'm told it's processor was the Z80, but that meant nothing.

He could see his grandson's eyes light up however and the next thing I knew: I had an Atari 800 on my (dad's)
desk. Wow. Talk about possibilities. Man went to the Moon on less computing power, and I knew it. I crafted
two games that were published for that machine: Incoming and TwoGun: Both shootem-ups from 198? Now this
is way before the first-person-shooter. Way before thumbsticks. Why I had to walk through three miles of
snow just to get to the machinery!

Anyway, enough about me. Those games were good and they're still out there somewhere on 5 1/4" floppy disks.
TwoGun capitalizes on one-to-one player action. Opponent/friend/enemy. Also, territory is marked and otherwise
distorted by player actions on-screen. So the longer you play, the more screen clutter there is. (Like life!)

Incoming was one-player a ripoff of HeliRaid on the Apple II by a fellow in NJ who was unwise enough to
Telnet his game over the phonelines to us (J and I). The player controls a butter nozzle of a gun that
shoots UP and tries to stop helicopters and shuttles from dropping men on the player's city. Nice. Look
for it wherever eightees games are realized or otherwise exchanged freely. Incidentally, kudos to the
fellow who scribed the SHOOT! source code for the 6502 machines. They really helped. Also, SoftSide and COMPUTE!
magazines had type-in code for the computer hobbyist. (read: Most of us)

Not to mention A.N.A.L.O.G. magazine which published both games. We miss you.
These types of mags never got replaced
after the 8-bit turned 16- tuned 32 and now 64?

SO If you're reading this on an 8-bit Lynx machine: Hats off to you!
Lynx

What I look for in a great videogame

I admit it: I'm gathering dust. It's under my bed. It's on my computer screen. My next nickname
will be Dustmaster. But that doesn't stop me from pretending to be 17 and enjoying videogames.

What do I like? Let me count the ways -- Jump cut explanations that leave more questions than
answers. Exposition in the beginning of the game that actually gets resolved by the end. This
includes games where you CAN get to the end. (Incidentally, I must really be dusty as I kinda
stink at most games. Save NHL 2004 which I can school my nephew at regularly <I don't even have
a nephew> That's how dusty I am) I look for action where action is required; Intrigue where I
least expect it and some new tools thrown in along the way. I havenot even played Halo or Halo2.
I refuse the xbox. Refuse the gamecube. refuse the DS. It's strictly PS2. Like I said: I'm dusty!

Since my brain can barely distinguish between fantasy and reality, I love the alternative Universes
proposed by thinkers like Spore and SimCity. (seriously!) I crave the raw violence provided by the
GTA series. Yeah! Grab a car and let's get across town! I'm a bankrobber! (Roleplaying)

Ratchet & Clank? Sure. Solid 3D fundamentalism. It's a shooter. But it's crafty. Also in my Game
Library are: Fight Night which closely resembles a boxing sim. Well done! I'm a black guy at 220 lbs.

Mace Griffin, bounty Hunter: Sure. I never got very far in this one, can anyone help me out?
The Golden Compass let's you believe you can ride a polar bear
around. 007 Nightfire. Has too many sexy blondes for this videogamer. What kind of weapons does
Bond have? I wanna know! Then there's the EA Sports Madden franchise. As anyone who reads my blag
knows: I'm an NHL guy. Love it. Love the color commentary. I'd love to see the code for the announcers.

I have Ace Combat 4 wherein we fly a jet plane around the mountains. OK. Excellent. Then there's
the anthologies: Namco Activision and Capcom. I saw an Intellivision box, but it slipped my grip.

I plunked down like $14 for MLB Slugfest 2006 and played it but once. There were fireballs coming
out of the pitching. I'm too old for this I thought. HalfLife is solid entertainment, but you know what?
That extended intro takes too damn long to load. Rar: The Cranky gamer! And don't get me started on
Terminator: Rise of the Machines. Arnold has too much screen time for my liking. But that's just me.

Let me just say: The Couch Potato is probably old enough to be your dad. So I just keep making them...
and I'll keep reviewing them. Review suggestions to AAAZA9@Yahoo.com Rar: couch Potato

Couch Potato: Star Wars: Battlefront

Call me an old-timer but I grow weary of the FPS. So-called First person shooters have been
popular since Doom around 1993: That's 16 years ago. Yikes. Talk about a genre. That said,
this one's good. The user commands a drone fighter in an all out assault on something or other.

I admit I am way to old to even be looking at this stuff anymore: But it crossed my desk
and I had to satisfy my curiosity. LucasArts games are usually worth their while anyway!

So go ahead and shoot-em up if you've got it in you. I'm not going to stop you...

Most intriguiing are the map system wherein users make their game selections over a very
detailed (and I must say: color-coded) Map that shows the current battle being waged. Nice!

Also: You'll recognize old characters from previous Star Wars incarnations which I presume you
will understand better than I. Noob? yup...

Battlefront, *** fps

There are no GO signs!

Where I live in America, there are no GO signs. Only STOP.
And most (traffic) signs are telling you what not to do.

I know traffic signs are like this in most of the world: Prohibitive.

Nobody tells you what to do, but I could use a little positivity!
It's the nature of laws I suppose to prohibit. You can't make laws
that tell you what you have to do, and laws are just statutes that
we all agree on. If you don't agree, you break the law and go to jail.

It seems fair, but who said everyone should agree on how to behave?
And do some people have a choice? Do you believe in free will? The
ability of the individual to choose? I seem to, for the most part.

Also, when was the last time a law go repealed? Removed for its silliness
or antiquity. Irrelevance. Here's a local law I'd like to see repealed:

NO SKATEBOARDING

It's the law here. It's a liability issue, obviously but kids skate anyway!
Welcome to the jungle tuffy. Let's encourage skating in our towns!

Recommended Blaag topics for the recently unemployed and otherwise wise among you...

,

1. What if we all refused to eat anything we couldn't pronounce?

2. The Best Science Fiction isn't about the future.

3. Why is everyone wearing orange so stupid?
What colors will make one look smart in the future? Who can't choose their shirt color?

4. Refrigerator lists by Hawaiians are the best. Why is this?

5. Alaska as the 50th state: For better or worse?

6. Flushing the toilet as a Sin. Do you agree?

7. Wisdom creates doubt among idiots and ugly women.

8. Pollution is just unharvested resources. Who said it?

9. Why don't evolutionists have eyes in the back of their head?

10. Why is love invisible? Where do New Yorkers go to think?

11. What's the etymology word-origin of the term: Honkie?

12. White guys are great but who came up with the word Diarrhea?
(It's hard to say with a straight face, hard to spell and ugly!)

13. Nanotech: Who turned out the light?

14. If evolution is true, why are there still monkeys? (G. Carlin)

15. Zero and One: Odd or even?

16. My cat has pubic hair. Lots of it.

17. The musician: Beck (aberration or trend?)

18. Eponymous musicians and acronyms that rhyme.
(Huh? SCUBA and tuba as an example, elaborate)

19. If japan is so great, why is it such a small island?

20. Russian plutonium - why can't I find any on the web?

21. Anarchy and punkrock, Was J. Strummer from another planet?

22. Brazilian music, Irish music and Scottish music. ('nuff said)

23. 2009 is a little late for _____________. (fill in the blank)

24. What does it mean to read something? (and understand it?)

25. "I could do this all day." who said it?

26. We get milk from a cow. We get milk from a C-store. Let's call the whole thing off.

27. We educate the young and clothe and feed the old, what's left in the middle?

28. Computers only do what they are told to do and nothing more.

29. The leadership vacuum will require a few windbags to fill.

30. Leadership: Friendship with gifts?

Compare and contrast: Intuition and Instinct

At the risk of splitting hairs here, I've come up with Webster's definitions of two important words:

Instinct - behavior that is mediated by actions below the conscious level.

Intuition - the power or faculty of attaining direct knowledge without rational thought and inference (inferring).

So, the two words are different in that one is about thought (mind) and one is about action (body).
They are similar in that they involve actions inherent to animals. (Connradd's explanation)

I don't know about you, but I've been using those two words practically interchangeably for years!
Like ephemeral and ethereal, I thought I knew the difference! Let the enthusiastic beware.

People speak of women's intuition, and it's true generally. Men may have solid instincts tho'.
A gut reaction would be instinctive. Blinking at a suitor would be intuitive I believe. Incidentally,
who knows what the in- prefix means... I hope your response is insightful. Oh interesting! intelligence.

What's the difference between Animals and Humans?

Thanks for asking!

1. (body) Opposable thumbs
The use of the hand to manufacture objects/tools and Art!

2. (mind) Long-range planning
As far as we know, animals are just looking for their next meal.

3. Humor
No joke I can think of will make a squirrel laugh. Tho' cats and crocodiles seem to smile.

4. Stories about animals and nature in general have no ending, human stories end; are finite.

5. Divinity
Humans worship. Topic #2: Ritual.

6. Instinct/Intuition
When an animal displays intelligence, it's written off as instinct. That said, I've seen some animals
that displayed some serious Intuition: A sentient sense of what-to-do next.

7. Humans tend to view themselves as the 'king-of-the Jungle.'
Is this because we ultimately don't eat each other; We just eat animals and plants and nuts & berries?

Of course any list like this is categorizing and will introduce the so-called Platypus effect (animals
cannot be categorized). But this is a start toward a better understanding of our place in things...

It all begs a larger Q, one of my favorites: What is nature? Or what isn't nature? Even that plastic
fan by your desk comes from nature I believe. Plasticity being what it is! Incidentally, I'm a fan.

Couch Potato: 'Knowing'

Hidden amongst the major studio releases that everyone considers important enough
to make movie posters for is this gem of SciFi we call 'Knowing.' Just why they
call it Knowing is beyond me as If anything, Nic Cage doesn't know. He doesn't
know that the sheet of numbers that he pulled from his son's school's timecapsule
reveals dates and #'s of deaths of major world catastrophes encoded as dates.

He doesn't know that a UFO spaceship is going to take his child away. He doesn't
know whether the Universe is a random event or a methodical pattern of cause-and
-effects. Despite his teaching position at M.I.T., he doesn't know why his wife
died in a hotel fire. There are just too many questions to call this film 'Knowing.'

That said, it's a great movie. Walking the line between fantasy/imagination and
some solid reality, 'Knowing' delivers an eye opening romp of a ride that includes
a planecrash. It's serious pyrotechnics here, folks. Cage is well known for playing
Everyman characters, as he says in Leaving Las Vegas: 'I'm everyman baby.'

C.P. came across this movie from the Internet. They were discussing 2012 which is a
major release when a (phone)caller piped in and said he preferred: 'Knowing.' Thanks!

Knowing, **** call it 'Not Knowing'

Couch Potato: Joe Jackson - 'Rain'

If you haven't already, go pick up A Cure For Gravity a book by musician Joe Jackson.
It's a twisted tale of one musician's Love affair with Music. The son of twisted parents,
Joe claims that music saved his life, and I don't doubt it. I've been listening to Joe
caroon about unfaithful lovers, skateboard salesmen and jilted men wearing suits since
about 1982; and Joe's seen it all -- the perfect foil for adsolescence: a role model!?

Rain is both a CD and a DVD: You get them both. Here are the songs on the CD:

1. Invisible Man
2. Too Tough
3. Citizen Sane
4. Wasted Time
5. The Uptown Train
6. King Pleasure Time
7. Sold (so low)
8. Rush across the road
9. Good Bad Boy
10. A place in the Rain

Sound familiar? It shouldn't. They're all new as of 2008. But the song titles seem familiar to you? Joe Jacksonish?
I agree. He's got a system for naming songs. Joe's on keyboards on the DVD, bowing between songs.

Joe Jackson, Rain **** too short!

Teardowns galore

In the town where I live, in lower Fairfield, CT: The Teardown is popular.
When the value of the land exceeds the value of the house, it becomes a 'teardown.'
A House that is considered totalled, as a car might be after an accident. Here's a pic of one from
last winter.

Now I'm no real Estate Agent, but it seems to me we're tearing down history ALOT of
the time. Which houses are worth saving and more importantly: Who decides?

This house was on Sound Beach Avenue for decades. Now it's gone.
The thinking goes that the new house will be somehow better than what stood there
for years. Is this so?? Is new construction that much better than it used to be?
Or: Does the owner just want something new. I consider myself a bystander in all of
this. I can't afford a house. Especially a new house; but shouldn't we be saving some of what we call class?

New houses to my eye look like they were built by a corporation. Who wants to live in a cubicle?

YouTube for Bloggers

,

It seems that one of the most powerful tools of the new century is lowly YouTube.
Often the punchlines for jokes, the service has grown into a valuable commodity and part and parcel of the
fabric of America.

Me? I like the User Chosen Content options. You can make videos more than :10 long if you put them in the
same playlist and set the order of the Numbers. Also, the use of cloud computing vastly simplifies the role
to the video editors (us).

I try to keep original iMovie files from which I export multiple .mov ie versions from the palette and timeline.

Huh?
The beauty of all this storage and bandwidth is the infinite options it provides. Why have six versions of your
movie when you can have 60? Tailor the content and pacing (and even the story) to the audience. Trying to
reach youth? Good luck.

I'm sure that all this is covered in those so-called For Dummies books but I havenot checked. Maybe I invented
it. Huh, a new process. Maybe I should patent it. Just give me credit if you decide to use that tool. Tell em Couch
Potato sent you.

Now if I can just get my Blender, game creation tools and ArtRage up to speed...

LAA Open Studios Tour 2009

, ,

YouTube LAA

We toured the Open Studios 2009 with a camera and a microphone. Look what we found!
Artists include: John Newcomb, Susan Frey, Liz Squillace, Alissa Siegal, Mary Louise Long, Jody Silver, Renee Kahn and the Remnants.


AMFAB Show Coverage: Bridgeport, CT Nov 2009

,

Here's a quick comic illustrating just what went down...

AMFAB Show Coverage: Bridgeport, CT Nov 2009

Madeleine and Conrad rallied up to Bridgeport, CT

wherein Madeleine interviewed select Artists for your perusal ( and comment ).
She's good, she'll talk to anyone I suppose.

Couch Potato: 'The Red Violin'

Everything's inter-related in this, the Best of all Possible Worlds!
If you don't believe me, sit down with this classic from 1999: The Red Violin starring Samuel L. Jackson.
What's old is New as the (his) story of a Red Violin unfolds before your eyes. The stories and events surrounding a certain
red Strat violin play in present day NYC in a twisted tale involving auctions, performances and all-around violin construction.

This movie really got me thinking about the past and present. If all of these objects we surround ourselves
with are destined to endure through time, then we really are living in some kindof dream. When I fired up
the old VCR to view this film, I also popped in a Kinks concert from 1980. (One for the Road, Providence)
and I was considering how all of those guitars are still out there getting played and exchanged and otherwise
building stories around them. Then I thought of all of the concert guitars in use and it blew my mind. We live
in a musical miracle here in this 21st Century and we're building a future that
nobody can quite picture correctly. If it's true that all of these relationships endure too, expect a boon.

Not a boondoggle. The Red Violin ****, must see.

Couch Potato: Art through Music

,

Occupying the main gallery at Bendheim (Greenwich Arts) are two similar
artists: Su-Hua Chen Low and Aldo Parisot. Abstract and acute, the
overall effect of the show is (what you'd think would be a)
stunning overflowing color that leaves the viewer saturated to say the
least. A lot of the picture titles are related to sound and it helps to
listen to your own personal favorite music as you tour the grounds.

Art through Music at Bendheim [Greenwich Avenue]. Greenwich, CT through November
Recommended musical accompaniment:
Black Francis (Frank Black)

Couch Potato: Single Video Theory

'Give way to Nature' is what E. Vedder calls the meaning of Yield: The album covered in their single video
about the band. Single Video Theory tells the story of an up-and coming American Rock n Roll band recording
an album.

The dynamics of the band are explored and stories swapped as the boys rock out in a large group. Apparently
recorded in Seattle, there are about eight songs explained, picked apart and otherwise exposed. In a word: It
Rocks.

The production and editing in this film are par excellence. Frequent cuts, interesting shots and images that
make one wonder are in abundance. I must say I used to think PJ were a crew of longhaired dudes obsessed
with guitars. But this long explanation paints a much different picture. Oh, of course! They're humans.
Cooperating to make music!

Single Video Theory, **** must see. CP out.

Stamford, CT occupies a Saturday for R. Bros.

Beautiful Stamford was host to a variety of activities on Saturday afternoon including,
but not limited to: moving a big old houseboat on the harbor. And: Loft Artist's 2009
Open Studio Tour. You're left to your own devices at the latter and I'll have video to prove
it later. In the meantime, here's a sample of some images I snapped with an iPhone quickly...
This painter works fulltime and has work in collections I must say. His name? Of course
I know his name: ALAN JUDELSON He gave me great idea I must
say which I'll probably never pull through on... Alas, Talking to artists is not recommended
for the weak stomached, the livy livered or the light weight!
Here's a useful pic of a tugboat that was hauling work into the harbor. I'm not making
this up. Tugboats really look like that! We could have used this as a solution for our housboat problema.

This makes a pretty nice pic I believe considering. Considering what? Considering it's a camera phone.

Planet Earth is About Music

I got off my big ol' Butt and went to the Library to get some new discs to listen to.
I ALMOST felt guilty with the embarassment of riches I discovered. Here then are my thoughts:

The Posies 'Amazing Disgrace'
I must have grown up somewhere cuz I've outgrown the Posies. Skip this disc. Get a disc of whalesongs. hear "SONG #1"
Nerf Herder 'Nerf Herder'
Freshman effort from a bunch of freshmen. The Clash meets The mosquitoes. But who are the mosquitoes?
It is an original name however, and remember I consider myself old at 43.
Black Francis 'sv n f ng rs'
Beck 'Guero'
I've heard that this is an excellent disc for a November day. And it's true!
Beck 'Modern Guilt'
Note to anyone younger: You're going to have to forgive us. To anyone older: This is not Jeff Beck.
I love the beginning rhythms of these tunes. Especially: BLACK TAMBOURINE
Frenchkicks 'Young Lawyer'
Brian Eno 'Before and after Science'
Enough has been said about B.Eno to fill a blag and he deserves it! Very accessible rhythms and harmonies.
David Byrne 'live from austin'
D. Byrne deserves accolades for his explorations and this disc is no exception. Life During Wartime covered!
in our lifetime 'vol. 3 the revenge of Boston'
The Hives 'Veni vidi vicious'
There were a handful of these spy-type bands in the early century, See: Jet.
The Winners 'NME 2005 awards'
Mostly male review of bands. Witness: Franz Ferdinand. Also, what is Babyshambles?
No Use For a name 'Feel good record of the year'
1967 Classic Rock
These have been done-to-death I know but I can't help liking these classic toones.

So far, my favorite disc is Beck MODERN GUILT but I haven't heard them all yet. YET
Now, none of these artists received any payment (from me) for their effort and for that I applaud them, but they'll
surely make up for it in other ways. I'll probably end up picking up these some of these efforts for my collection anyway. What's my point? It all comes out in the wash would be the applicable cliche for this space.

I've written about this before. How there's twice (2x) as much music produced as can be listened to, SO why buy music anymore? Well the short answer is: To support the Artist. But I'm not sure how long that's going to hold out here.

Christmas comes all year

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Somebody has to say this every year, and it's always the same!

This is what I like to read...Oz is good stuff!

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Shelfari is a most excellent way to keep track of all the books in our little Universe. Unfortunately, it's intimately tied with Amazon.com so watch it!

Fall Classic (where is everybody?)


Frisbee Golf w/Will & Conrad
We don't do this everyday tuffy.

My opponent at his desk. Worthy and committed!

Connecticut's Second Best Band: Murdervan

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Just thought I'd underline CT's thriving Art Scene that includes new Music.
My Story? I was driving up to N.Haven in a snowstorm to see Camper Van Beethoven. It was snowy!
D.Lowery (understandably) canceled the show. I went to a record store where the attendant was the bass
player in a little trio called MurderVan. I showed up at Cafe9 later that night and rocked with the band.

D. Lowery is a world class musician but I'm sure he'd have been happy to hear I saw a new band instead.
I sent his Fan Club a note but they've moved addresses. (California) Anyway, check out MurderVan willya?

Somewhere between Metallica and Godsmack lies the sweetspot that is: MurderVan. These guys are cool.
They were hanging outside between sets and I was just talking to the guitar player. I told him his
guitar was talking to me. And it was: Note for note. like another Universe.

RALLY BROS. ENDORSES MURDERVAN (disclosure: none)

Do you grow weary of Beatles-esque Love rock? Love songs with OOO-baby as the overarching theme? Desire? Lost Love/lovelorn?
Then give Murdervan a spin. Let's hear some songs about washing machines!!

Oh, and here's another tidbit I gleaned from the boys: Drums can be tuned! Did you know that? LSNED

Ordinairy excuses that hold water

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I'm a big sucker for the Ordinairy: That which doesnot change from day-to-day.
But everyone knows that everything is always changing, morphing and manipulating itself into something new.

I got to thinking about this at my college Homecoming over Halloween in Schenectady, NY (Union College).

The only permanence was the roads and the buildings, and even these had changed. New roads built, buildings expanded and generally extruded from what they were. Why, there was even a new telescope on campus!

Of course, the people had changed the most. Colleges usually have reunions every 5 years and it's a 4 year school so: YOU DO THE MATH. It's fascination Street! Anyway, we beat RPI Football 20-13 but lost the hockey game. Barnburner. We burned the barn. Anyway, nothing beats upstate NY in the Fall...

The Future is Robotic

I don't know if I'm going to go Open Source with this idea, or if I'll have to imitate Steely Dan (Actually the name of a dildo)
but I have a great idea for a videogame involving Robots. It hasnot been done before, I'm sure cuz I've checked.

Now, Steely Dan are one of my fave bands. Kickin' Since the 70's. Hey Nineteen, etc. Story goes they shopped themselves all over kindomcome without any bites
on the line. Finally, they pooled resource and self-recorded their first record. Just goes to show: People can be blind, (or deaf!). The Steely Dan theory is not to be
confused with the Chuck Jones Animation competition theory previously espoused. (What you don't read every blog entry you see?) The C.J. Animation Competition
theory holds that competition is healthy up to a point. At which point, it quickly becomes unhealthy for all participants. Where is this point? Exactly. You tell me!

Chuck is one of my heroes: Started out washing animation sheets in a Studio, ended up with Bugs Bunny on his Show Reel. Hero.
Also, the Wright Bros. Started out fixing bikes. Invented the Airplane: From reading the newspaper. Yikes. Heroes.

What about Steely Dan? Couch Potato? Sophisticated songs that defy comprehension and grace. Named after a sex-product! Yes, I suppose Steely Dan get nominated
for induction without resistance. Ohm me. Ohm my. [Electrical jokes follow] I'm riffing here cuz I done drank too much coffee, but that's what Blaags are for, No?

Has anyone else started calling this the Internay? No? Is it just me typing on my Culture cannon about Tecular Humanism and other topic releventa. Are you creating
your day yet? Me too. Nice. Keep it up!

Lastnight, Couch Potato screened I, Robot with Will Smith on the u-verse At&T cable hookup with have here in tha lair. A great movie that could have been just so-
so were it not for the thoroughsity of the director. And the excellent CG that brought the robots to life. Does every little kid dream of robots? Blog-quiz: who can
tell me what the funniest thing ever said about Robots is? Hmm? France? Cars? Anyone listening. I thought so. Check this, blog smartguy and keep reading...

Couch Potato -- Over and out

Couch Potato: Michael Hedges 'Taproot'

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Am I the only dummy to have heard this disc?
I couldn't be! Tho' I UNderstand that M.Hedges is no longer with us...This is a great effort: Worth tracking down and popping in the player if you haven't heard it yet.
Micheal strums unfamiliar melodies into your head that demand replaying. It's not just a disc: It's an adventure. Get it. Most familiar is On The Threshold of Liberty.
http://www.amazon.com/Taproot-Michael-Hedges/dp/B000000NHV

Rally Bros. to host 2009 Frisbee Golf Tourne Saturday afternoon/evening OCT 24th CANCELED DUE TO RAIN

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There has been a lot of talk. Maybe too much talk.


"A lot of talk before the shoot, now it was time to Deliver!"

Location: 100 Hendrie Ave Riverside, CT
Tee Time: 5pm (call first 554-0273 for directions/schedule/teetime update) Note: Event is Canceled due to the rainstorm

Since the sunsets and it's dark now at 6:30 we're planning a 5 pm tee off with stock 141G frisbees. The frisbee you play with is
(pretty much) up to you. Anything from a CD up to a GCL [garbage can lid] is kosher, even on a Saturday. RAIN/CANCELBOT Time: Sometime Sunday

FAQ
Q: What's this game they call frisbee Golf?
A: It's not just a game.

Q: How much thought should I put into my Frisbee product purchase?

Q: Where do I procure the Stock bee?
A: Alpen Pantry OG, CT (~$10) see Gary open Sat til 5

Q: Should I Leave a comment to reply to this post?
A: Definitely Anonymous

Q: Does every Q have an A?
A: Do you have to ask? Is this the question game?

Q: What's the entry fee?
A: The best things in Life are free.

Q: What do I do after the tourne?
A: Gingerman Bar on Greenwich Ave: Brunswick Reunion

Q: What/who can I bring on the course? What can I wear?
A: There are no rules about that. I'd suggest footwear to Play tho'

Friz Golf query

YouTube Link
Photo taken by JCT Fall 2009. There have been few changes to the course...

There is an excellent Friz Golf V Game available on the Wii game system. It's called Wii Resorts or sumsuch. I'd provide a linq for you but I'm actually trying my darndest to outgrow V Games. Advise?

Slow idling Days of October

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GT works in the garden grove. (See photo) in preparation for the eyeballs of the world's
best Frisbee Golfers. Meanwhile, It is Oktoberfest at the local Eatery (MacKenzie's) and we'll probably dine german soon enough.
In the mean time, it's me and the computers and the drawing board. How do you spend October? Old ladies among the greenery? I smell wisdom coming! Or at least a few frisbees! !