eat fish, not fish oil

Omega-3 fatty acids, found in oily fish such as sardines and salmon and once touted as a way of staving off heart disease and stroke, don't help after all, according to a Greek study.

Based on a review and analysis of previous clinical trials including more than 68,000 participants, Greek researchers whose report appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association said the fatty acids have no impact on overall death rates, deaths from heart disease, or strokes and heart attacks.

This was true whether they were obtained from supplements such as pills, or from fish in the diet, said the researchers, led by Mosef Elisef at the University Hospital of Ioannina.

A decade ago, medical evidence suggested that boosting omega-3s, including the acids known as EPA and DHA, with food or supplements had a strong protective effect even though the mechanism wasn't understood.

Scientists cited improvements in levels of triglycerides - a type of fat in the blood - as well as blood pressure levels and heart rhythm disturbances.

But since then, the picture has grown clouded. Earlier this year, a group of Korean researchers found that omega-3 supplements had no effect on heart disease or death based on 20,000 participants in previous trials.

Because people who eat a lot of fish have been found to have less heart disease, researchers figured that perhaps putting the supposed "active ingredients" in a pill could provide similar benefits, said Alice Lichtenstein, director of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory at Tufts University in Boston.

 "What we have learned over the years is you can't think about individual nutrients in isolation," she added.
People who eat fish often may be replacing things like steak, hamburgers or quiche, making for a healthier diet.

Instead of supplements, Lichtenstein recommended eating fish at least twice a week, having a diet rich in whole grains and vegetables, getting lots of physical activity, and not smoking.

***

The medical world long ago noted that societies in which diets were high in fatty fish such as salmon, sardines, mackerel and others had lower rates of heart disease. A large 1989 study found that men who had already had a heart attack and changed their diets to include more fatty fish rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid were 29% less likely to die in the next two years. Because of these and other findings, many medical groups suggest that people at risk for heart disease either increase their fatty fish intake or take omega-3 supplements.

However, subsequent studies that looked at omega-3 fatty acid supplements derived from fish were less clear. Some supported and some refuted the findings, though overall the connection between supplements and lowered heart disease has been elusive. The study released today attempts to pull together all the current research.

The message Americans may not want to hear is that eating healthy foods, not taking pills, is what helps heart health, says Richard Karas, director of the preventive cardiology center at Tufts Medical Center in Boston.
Time and time again research shows that a diet rich in a certain vitamin or nutrient is beneficial. But then people think "if you take a pill containing that ingredient, you'll be healthier," Karas says. It doesn't work that way.

He now tells his cardiac patients to eat fatty fish in at least two meals a week.

mindfulness decluttering

Cleaning and decluttering, for me, are mindfulness practices. They are not chores that I dread, nor ways to strive for a perfect living environment, but ways to practice living in the present moment. As such, they are some of my favorite things to do.

As I wipe the counter, I notice the crumbs and dried spilled liquid. I feel the rag going over the bumpy surface of the counter, and gradually feel the surface smoothing out. I feel the tension in my shoulders and jaw, and relax them. I become aware of my breath as it comes in and goes out. I rinse the rag out carefully, cleaning it and watching the dirty water run down the drain.

This is practice for a mindful life. It is also life, already, not practice but the actual event. Wiping things down, mindfully, is just as full of wonder as any other moment in my life.

Michael Clarke Duncan

Michael Clarke Duncan, nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the 1999 film "The Green Mile," died Monday morning at age 54, according to a representative for his family.

Duncan "suffered a myocardial infarction on July 13 and never fully recovered," a written statement from Joy Fehily said.

Clarke died at a Los Angeles hospital where he had been since having the heart attack more than seven weeks ago.

In his 20s, he worked digging ditches for Peoples Gas during the day and as a bouncer at night. He told CNN in 1999 that his coworkers at the gas company called him "Hollywood" because he'd often talk about becoming a movie star.

"I'd be digging a ditch and they'd say, 'Hey, man, Bruce Willis wants to talk to you about a movie.' And they'd just crack up laughing," he said while doing press for 'The Green Mile.'

"Those coworkers had no way of knowing how that joke would turn on them."

In 1990, he decided to measure up his nickname and he moved to Los Angeles. He worked as a bodyguard then got a part in a commercial as a drill sergeant.

More roles followed -- often ones that depended more on his 315-pound frame than his acting ability. He was a guard in "Back in Business," a bouncer in "A Night at the Roxbury," a bouncer for 2 Live Crew in "The Players Club," and a bouncer at a bar in the Warren Beatty film "Bulworth."

In 1998, he landed his first significant movie part, playing Bear in the film "Armageddon," where a crew of drillers from an oil rig save the Earth from an asteroid.

"Armageddon" was the beginning of his friendship with Bruce Willis. They appeared in four films together. And it was Willis who called 'The Green Mile' director Frank Darabont to put in a good word for Duncan.

"I am terribly saddened at the loss of Big Mike," The Green Mile costar Tom Hanks said in a statement. "He was the treasure we all discovered on the set of The Green Mile. He was magic. He was a big love of man and his passing leaves us stunned."

***

I have at least three of his movies on DVD, Armageddon, The Scorpion King, The Whole Nine Yards.  Looking at imdb, Kung Fu Panda, The Last Mimzy too.  He also played The Kingpin in Daredevil.

pretending works!

CAMBRIDGE, MA—A study released Thursday by researchers at Harvard University's Department of Psychology has found that the simple act of pretending one's life is not a complete shambles threatening to collapse at any moment works.

"Even when everything is coming apart at the seams and disaster is almost certainly imminent, putting up a good front for friends and loved ones makes everything better," said Professor Christine Wanamaker, who explained that smiling a lot and evasive answers were usually enough to get by. "Tell everyone that things are fine, and they will be fine. Just don't over-think it."

When asked about her study's methodology, Wanamaker said the research was rock-solid, had been looked over by a bunch of scientists, and definitely wasn't anything to worry about.

***

Or maybe you don't have to pretend..

There's a theory in behavioral psychology called the fading affect bias. In simple terms, it states that negative emotions leave our memories much faster than positive ones -- a sort of natural aversion to unpleasant thoughts.


In 1948, psychologist Sam Waldfogel gave a group of participants 85 minutes to write down every event they could remember from the first eight years of their life, and rank them as pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. Logically, events should have been spread evenly between the three. But they weren't. Pleasant memories outweighed negative ones by almost twofold. People had a distinct positive bias when recalling their past.


So, what's this mean for your investments? People worry and the economy slows down. Then they get over it and it recovers. Same story again and again. John Maynard Keynes called these shifts animal spirits -- "a spontaneous urge to action rather than inaction." The important thing is that they happen consistently and predictably. You get to choose whether you want to stop worrying before the crowd, or wait and follow the crowd. It's the epitome of being fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. And it may be the single largest factor in determining whether you'll be a successful investor or not.

Phyllis Diller

Phyllis Diller, the zany housewife-turned-stand-up comic with the electrified hairdo, outlandish wardrobe and a barrage of self-deprecating jokes punctuated by her trademark laugh, has died. She was 95.

Diller, whose career in comedy clubs spanned nearly 50 years, died in her sleep Monday at her longtime home in Brentwood, said her agent, Fred Wostbrock.

As a professional comedian, Diller was a late bloomer: The Ohio native was an Alameda, Calif., mother of five when she made her nightclub debut at the Purple Onion in San Francisco in 1955 — at age 37.

Jack Paar once described her as looking "like someone you avoid at the supermarket." Bob Hope called her "a Warhol mobile of spare parts picked up along a freeway."

But Diller was always the first to address her colorfully eccentric stage persona, describing herself as "The Elizabeth Taylor of'The Twilight Zone'" and a woman who once worked "as a lampshade in a whorehouse."

During her long career, she was in more than two dozen movies, including three with Hope, with whom she also appeared on numerous TV specials and traveled with to Vietnam to entertain U.S. troops.

But the outlandish Diller always shined best in nightclubs, showrooms and concert halls, where one of her favorite targets was her domestic life, including her fictional husband "Fang."

"I don't like to cook; I can make a TV dinner taste like radio," she'd say.

"Fang's idea of a seven-course dinner is a six-pack and a bologna sandwich. The last time I said let's eat out, we ate in the garage."

"I put on a peekaboo blouse. He took a peek and booed."

my sink is clogged again :(

After having the bathroom sink clogged a few weeks ago, now it's the kitchen sink.

Last time I used Drano.  The half a bottle didn't work, so I poured in the whole bottle.  After two or three hours the sink finally drained.  Happiness.

I had been having trouble lately with the water backing up, but running the disposal for several seconds got the water drained.  This time it drained, then came right back up :(

This time I'm using Liquid Plumber.  Poured in a half a bottle.  The water was still there standing 45 minutes later.  So poured in the whole bottle.

About four hours later, the water is still there.  Now about six hours later, the water level is slightly down.

What to do?  (Besides calling a plumber.  Last time I called Glenn and he wound up having the cut the large pipe from under where I'm sitting - outside the kitchen - and snaking the pipe under the lawn toward the manhole.  But I think the heavy duty Drano I dumped into the pipe might have eventually worked.)

The easiest solution (for me) would be to pour some more chemicals down the sink.  Maybe Drano in addition to the Liquid Plumber.  Drano recommends Drano Max Gel -- it pours through water straight to the clog.

Then there's the baking soda and vinegar proponents.  [But maybe I shouldn't try it after using the Liquid Plumber]

1) Dump 1/2 box of baking soda down both sides of your two sided sink (I don't know why two sides in my case since the side seems to be draining fine.  Looking under the house I see each side going down separate pipes then merging into a big pipe.  Evidently the clog is above the merge.

2) Follow with a chaser of 1/2 cup of vinegar

3) Let sit for 10 minutes

4) Boil water and send down both drains

5) Halfway fill both basins with hot water

6) Stop up the non-disposal basin

7) Plunge the disposal side for 5 to 10 minutes

***

OK, now I see the water finally drained.  But running the faucet and now there's new water in there.  At least it's not completely clogged now.

***

Here's more steps to try.

Try the plunger (w/o the baking soda)

Clean the P-trap

Snake the line

Hopefully it won't come to the snake.

***

OK tried plunging a few times.  Seems to have clogged the sink even more.

WTH, turn on the disposal.  Sink drains.  But when I turn it off, the water fills up again.  Now the thing is stuck again.

Thinking about it, I've got a suspicion that it's leftover pie crust that's clogging up the sink.

***

OK went down to Longs, bought the Drano Max Gel (as well some some vinegar from Times for possible future use), and poured half the bottle in.  I didn't see anything happening for about five minutes so I poured the rest of the bubble.  I saw a little bubbling coming out of the sink hole (whatever you call it), so that was encouraging.  But now I see nothing.

OK guess I'll have to wait.

***

When this thing gets unstuck, I'll try not to throw the pie crust down there next time.  And/or maybe use that Drano Build-Up Remover.

***

Left overnight and hope for the best

Hey wake up and see the sink has been drained.

Run water.  Doesn't back up.

Thank you Drano!  Happy :)

The 60s (Sixties)

The '60s   This is the one of the best

 presentations of the sixties that I have

 ever seen online. It is very well done.

 Just click on the link and sit back and

 enjoy the memories. Great photos and

 facts, & Especially Songs!!

Click on the highlighted  link below .

                           the sixties 

-- from a chain mail (not to be confused with the PBS documentary)

J. Akuhead Pupule

Hal Lewis, better known as J. Akuhead Pupule, was the top deejay in the islands from 1947 until his death 29 years ago on July 21, 1983.

Aku was one of the highest paid deejays in the nation at the time, earning an estimated $500,000 a year. He was born April 14, 1917, as Herschel Laib Hohenstein.

By the time he came to Hawaii as a violinist on the Matsonia, he had changed it to Hal Lewis. KPOA (now KORL) gave him his first radio job.

"Aku had a perfect voice for AM radio," says KSSK's Michael W. Perry. "He just had the right timbre and register. He was a musician. He understood sound and how music and voice fit together."

Aku was one of the first to take phone calls on the air. "Hello dere," he would say. Listeners would ask about current events or tell him jokes. He took calls from President Richard Nixon, Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra. He had an array of bells, whistles, buzzers and sound effects to provide color.

When the rock 'n' roll era washed over the radio waves, Aku stuck with classical and big-band music. His 100,000 daily listeners stuck with him.

Lewis was given the nickname "Akuhead" by an irate listener when he gave the wrong time on air, sending her running to the office an hour early.

*** 11/13/20

‘A Day in the Life of a Fish-head’

calcium and vitamin D

I was looking up vitamin D (or something) and read somewhere that over 500 Mg of calcium is ineffective and that it was better to take them in separate doses.  So I started giving mom her calcium pill at night.

But now I can't find a reference.

And now I read that post-menopausal women should NOT take vitamin D and calcium according to a "government advistory panel".  WTH.

For years, experts have been touting the health benefits of these nutrients. Both calcium and vitamin D are key nutrients for bone health.

The Institute of Medicine, which provides independent advice on health, recommends that people daily get 600-800 IUs (international units) of vitamin D and 700-1,300 milligrams of calcium, depending on their age.

The task force's draft recommendation looked at doses up to 400 IUs (international units) of vitamin D and 1,000 milligrams of calcium for fracture prevention, and recommended against taking them, saying the nutrients slightly increase the risk for kidney stones. The authors add that there is insufficient evidence to draw conclusions about taking larger doses to prevent fractures.

Taylor Wallace, senior director of scientific and regulatory affairs for the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a trade group that represents supplement makers, says research shows that supplementation with calcium and vitamin D is beneficial for bone health, particularly in post-menopausal women and the elderly. "You want try to your best to get your calcium and vitamin D from food, but most Americans do not, so when there is a gap, they can fill that gap with supplements."

He points out that last month this same government task force said supplementation with vitamin D was beneficial in preventing incidences of falls among adults ages 65 and older. "Since falls commonly result in fractures, it's common sense for the elderly to consider supplementing with vitamin D and calcium."

***

Well, here's one link.  According to Dr. Bill Salt

Since most of us cannot absorb more than 600 milligrams of calcium at a time, it is best to divide the daily dose in two and take it twice a day.

And here's one from the Mayo Clinic

Calcium is absorbed most efficiently when it's taken in amounts of 500 or 600 milligrams (mg) or less at one time. If you take 1,000 mg of calcium a day, split it into two or more doses over the course of the day.

And here's another one

It is also important not to consume too much calcium at one time. For the most efficient calcium absorption, it is best to consume calcium (from food and/or supplements) in amounts of 600mg or less at one time. Your body uses calcium best when it is spread out through the day.

And from wikipedia

Most experts recommend that supplements be taken with food and that no more than 600 mg should be taken at a time because the percent of calcium absorbed decreases as the amount of calcium in the supplement increases.

Toyota key won't turn

I've been having this problem for a number of months. The key won't turn in the ignition. I found that I had to jiggle the key back and forth and kind of shove it in. And if that didn't work, turn the key upside down. Eventually it worked. But now a new problem. The key wouldn't insert all the way in. Had to try pushing it in and out a number of times and eventually it worked. I went home and sprayed it with some silicon spray. And now the key goes in easier. But when I tried the old (less used key) it wouldn't turn. And only the more worn out key works putting it in one way. Though even that doesn't work sometimes on the first crack. Google. Sounds like it's the lock cylinder. I think I'll take it to B&A and see what they say.

[8/20/12] Took it to B&A and they said there's nothing they could do, but that the keys looked worn out.

So I went to City Mill and made a duplicate of the key that was in mom's closet.  That seems to work better.  But now that the lubricant has settled in, I can put the old key in and turn it after jiggling a couple times.  The other old key still doesn't work though.  I'm keeping the new duplicate key on my keychain but trying not to use it so I don't wear it out.  I'm also keeping the other old key on my keychain too.  I can still use it to unlock the door.

Charmed

After finally having bought all the Charmed DVD sets for Christie (not that I know that she knows where all of them are), I see some Charmed episodes have been uploaded on youtube.

1.0 - Unaired Pilot (just uploaded today, an older upload)
1.1 - Something Wicca This Way Comes
etc.

Amazon sales tax

The free ride is ending..

Attention Amazon shoppers: Be prepared to pay more when you purchase goods, depending on where you live.
 
The online retail giant will start charging sales tax in eight additional states in coming years, starting with California and Pennsylvania in September, as it puts down physical roots in more places. Amazon already collects sales tax in six states.

Tyler and JLo leaving American Idol

LOS ANGELES >> Jennifer Lopez is the second judge in two days to say she's leaving "American Idol."

Her representative, Mark Young, said today that Lopez is ending her time on television's most popular show after two years. Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler said the same thing on Thursday.

Lopez broke the news to "Idol" host Ryan Seacrest on his radio show.

"I really was dreading this phone call with you," she told him. "I honestly feel like the time has come that I have to get back to doing the other things that I do that I've put kind of on hold because I love 'Idol' so much."

That means the show's judging panel is down to one, Randy Jackson, and there are reports that he may take a different role on the program moving forward.

[9/1/12] The dawg days are over at "American Idol" ... TMZ has learned Randy Jackson is officially LEAVING the judge's table ... but will still remain a part of the show as a "mentor."

Sources connected to "Idol" tell us ... there's some concern among the brass that Jackson is not well-suited for the mentor role ... but they feel they need him because he's the glue that helps keep the show together.

As for his replacement ... sources tell us Nicki Minaj's deal is 99% done ... but still not a sure thing just yet.

American Idol may be ready for a major makeover. Last year's season finale, with Jessica Sanchez vs. Phil Phillips, had the smallest audience of any American Idol finale; even smaller than the first American Idol finale which aired in the slower summer months. Season 11's finale got just 21.5 million viewers. The biggest viewership for an American Idol finale was 38.1 million in 2003.

American Idol remains a cash cow for Fox. It pulls in about $500,000 for a 30-second commercial, and it remains one of the biggest draws on TV, despite a decline in audience in recent years. But few blame the cast of judges as responsible for the decline. Most observers say the ebb is a result of a combination of audience atigue and the rise of copy cat competition, especially, the arrival of Simon Cowell's "X-Factor" and NBC's "The Voice."

[9/16/12] The "American Idol" judges' panel is now complete with the naming of singer-rapper Nicki Minaj and country crooner Keith Urban.

The Fox network officially tapped the pair with an announcement today, confirming rumors surrounding them both just hours before the first round of auditions for next season was due to begin in New York.

The announcement also settled the status of Randy Jackson. He will stay put as the sole remaining original "Idol" judge, scotching rumors he might assume a different role on the popular talent competition.

This trio will join pop star Mariah Carey at a judges' panel now expanded to four members from its previous three.

KITV blacked out

Wow, this gotta be front page news in Hawaii.

KITV, the local ABC affiliate is no longer being carried by Oceanic (the Time Warner cable channel which is probably used by 90% of Hawaii's TV audience).

And not only in Hawaii, but cities like Boston, Kansas City, Lincoln NE, Louisville (CBS), Cincinnati, Pittsburgh.

Score one for Direct TV.

Amazingly, I see nothing of this in the Star Advertiser.  Well, wait for Hawaii to wake up to that message!

We'll see how many days this lasts.

***

OK, here's the Star-Advertiser story.

*** [7/20/12]

KITV is back on Oceanic!

Ernest Borgnine

Ernest Borgnine, the beefy screen star known for blustery, often villainous roles, but who won the best-actor Oscar for playing against type as a lovesick butcher in "Marty" in 1955, died Sunday. He was 95.

His longtime spokesman, Harry Flynn, told The Associated Press that Borgnine died of renal failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with his wife and children at his side.

Borgnine, who endeared himself to a generation of Baby Boomers with the 1960s TV comedy "McHale's Navy," first attracted notice in the early 1950s in villain roles, notably as the vicious Fatso Judson, who beat Frank Sinatra to death in "From Here to Eternity."

Then came "Marty," a low-budget film based on a Paddy Chayefsky television play that starred Rod Steiger. Borgnine played a 34-year-old who fears he is so unattractive he will never find romance. Then, at a dance, he meets a girl with the same fear.

"Sooner or later, there comes a point in a man's life when he's gotta face some facts," Marty movingly tells his mother at one point in the film. "And one fact I gotta face is that, whatever it is that women like, I ain't got it. I chased after enough girls in my life. I-I went to enough dances. I got hurt enough. I don't wanna get hurt no more."

The realism of Chayefsky's prose and Delbert Mann's sensitive direction astonished audiences accustomed to happy Hollywood formulas. Borgnine won the Oscar and awards from the Cannes Film Festival, New York Critics and National Board of Review.

"The Oscar made me a star, and I'm grateful," Borgnine told an interviewer in 1966. "But I feel had I not won the Oscar I wouldn't have gotten into the messes I did in my personal life."

Those messes included four failed marriages, including one in 1964 to singer Ethel Merman that lasted less than six weeks.

But Borgnine's fifth marriage, in 1973 to Norwegian-born Tova Traesnaes, endured and brought with it an interesting business partnership. She manufactured and sold her own beauty products under the name of Tova and used her husband's rejuvenated face in her ads.

During a 2007 interview with The Associated Press, Borgnine expressed delight that their union had reached 34 years. "That's longer than the total of my four other marriages," he commented, laughing heartily.

Although still not a marquee star until after "Marty," the roles of heavies started coming regularly after "From Here to Eternity." Among the films: "Bad Day at Black Rock," ''Johnny Guitar," ''Demetrius and the Gladiators," ''Vera Cruz."

Then he successfully made the transition to TV comedy.

From 1962 to 1966, Borgnine a Navy vet himself starred in "McHale's Navy" as the commander of a World War II PT boat with a crew of misfits and malcontents. Obviously patterned after Phil Silvers' popular Sgt. Bilko, McHale was a con artist forever tricking his superior, Capt. Binghamton, played by the late Joe Flynn.

The cast took the show to the big screen in 1964 with a "McHale's Navy" movie.

Borgnine's later films included "Ice Station Zebra," ''The Adventurers," ''Willard," ''The Poseidon Adventure," ''The Greatest" (as Muhammad Ali's manager), "Convoy," ''Ravagers," ''Escape from New York," ''Moving Target" and "Mistress."

More recently, Borgnine had a recurring role as the apartment house doorman-cum-chef in the NBC sitcom "The Single Guy." He had a small role in the unsuccessful 1997 movie version of "McHale's Navy." And he was the voice of Mermaid Man on "SpongeBob SquarePants" and Carface on "All Dogs Go to Heaven 2."

On Jan. 24, 2007, Borgnine celebrated his 90th birthday with a party for friends and family at a West Hollywood bistro. He seemed little changed from his years as a lusty villain or sympathetic hero on the screen. His only concession to age had come at 88 when he gave up driving the bus he would take around the country, stopping to talk with local folks along the way.

During an interview at the time, Borgnine complained that he wanted to continue acting but most studio executives kept asking, "Is he still alive?"

"I just want to do more work," he said. "Every time I step in front of a camera I feel young again. I really do. It keeps your mind active and it keeps you going."

Andy Griffith

(CBS News) Actor Andy Griffith, whose portrayal of a rural sheriff in a popular 1960s TV show earned him the title of "America's Favorite Sheriff," died Tuesday morning. He was 86.

Pictures: Andy Griffith, 1926-2012

Read more: Celebrities remember Andy Griffith

His death was confirmed in a statement from the Dare County, N.C., sheriff's office. Griffith died at his home on Roanoke Island, Dare County, N.C., at approximately 7 a.m.

"Andy Griffith passed away, after an illness ... Mr. Griffith has been laid to rest on his beloved Roanoke Island," explained a statement from Griffith's family.

"Andy was a person of incredibly strong Christian faith and was prepared for the day he would be called Home to his Lord," the actor's wife, Cindi Griffith, said in a statement.

CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker reports that while Griffith's long career stretched from nightclubs to radio to movies to music, it was a role as a small-town sheriff that made him beloved to millions of Americans.

Viewers tuned in to "The Andy Griffith Show" not to watch Sheriff Andy Taylor solve big crimes, but to watch him solve the little problems of life in the fictional Mayberry, N.C. Don Knotts played Deputy Barney Fife, and Jim Nabors portrayed Gomer Pyle, the gas pumper. Most critics consider the show, which ran from 1960 to 1968, one of the top four or five sitcoms ever shown on television.

my movies on youtube (and other places)

I keep seeing more and more full-length movies on youtube.  Not sure how they upload full length movies.  And since they're probably violating copyright, the videos are likely to be taken off in a few weeks or months.  But anyway, here's some that I have found.

(Many of which I already have on DVD, so I have little to gain by watching them on youtube.  The other disadvantage?  No subtitles.)

Let's start with some Bruckheimer
Deja Vu (uploaded 3/25/12)
Gone in 60 Seconds (uploaded 6/25/12)
Enemy of the State (1998) (uploaded 2/18/12)
Armageddon (in 14 parts, uploaded 7/25/08)
The Rock (1996) (uploaded 2/20/12)
Con Air (8 parts, uploaded 6/7/12)
Crimson Tide (1996) (uploaded 2/22/12)

So you see, 5 of the 6 were uploaded this year (thus unlikely to last the year).
[7/13/12 - All except Deja Vu and Armageddon are gone]

Here's a few more that caught my eye
Independence Day (uploaded 11/1/11)
Push (uploaded 6/26/12)

X-Men (uploaded 6/25/12)
Hulk vs. Thor (uploaded 4/8/12)
Ultimate Avengers (uploaded 4/15/12)

[9/23/12] Green Lantern on vimeo (after I rented it from RedBox last night)

[2/9/13] checking the above links.  all the movies are gone except for Armageddon (which I have Criterion Collection DVD anyway).

shopping on Amazon

Went looking for Lysol disinfectant spray today (or equivalent) today. Checked Safeway and Longs. The best deal I found was $6 for a 12.5 oz can at Safeway.

Now I'm checking Amazon. They have a 3 pack for only $9.86. And these are 19 oz cans! Next time.

Also looked for bathmats. This is sort of hard to find. Didn't see any at Costco. They had a $6 one at Longs and also a $13 one. Wound up buying the $6 one. Amazon? The cheapest one I see is this $6 deal. I guess this real deal would be this Rubbermaid mat for $9.

How about coffee stirrers? Couldn't find any at Safeway or Longs. The best deal is this Genuine Joe 1000 pack for $5.95. Well I guess this one is even cheaper per stirrer. But I don't think I need 5000.

One thing that caught my eye was the Angry Bird hooded blankie (or whatever). I think this is the one. It was cheaper at Costco Also the Angry Bird pillow which was out of stock at Costco. This might be it. It was also cheaper at Costco (if they had them). How about the Angry Bird plush toy which they're selling at roku.com. Amazon has one with sound for $8.55. The one at roku is for $6.99 but I don't know if it has sound.

I wonder if they sell cranberry juice? Actually they do. But you have to buy in quantity, like this 8-pack.

Hmm. I can see you can almost buy everything by mail order. How about bread? The one I buy from Costco is Oroweat Oatnut. Nope. Though they do have Arnold oatnut whole grains bread who's packaging looks very similar. Apparently they're the same company. But it's much cheaper at Costco.

So I'll keep Amazon in mind for future purchases, but Costco does give free samples..

Little Princes

SEEING, THEY SAY, is believing. Little Princes, by Conor Grennan, is eye-opening. It describes the stark reality faced by thousands of children in Katmandu, the capital of Nepal. Gren nan writes, often surprisingly humorously, about his experience working as a volunteer at Little Princes — an orphanage in the region—and  how it transformed him from an “average, ordinary American guy” to a man who has risked life and limb to help stranded Nepalese children reconnect with their families.

-- Costco Connection, February 2011

toto toilet

We got a toto toilet some years ago.  It was good at first.  But then the flapper broke and now the handle broke.

It seemed our old toilet lasted much longer.  Though I remember we had to change the flappers too.  So maybe not.

Anyway, it looks like the part is available on Amazon for $20.77.  The part number is THU68-CP and the toilet model is the St743S. Looking on the inside of the handle I see the numbers 9592.

I remember the last time, Home Depot directed me to The Bathroom Store.  But maybe the part might be available at City Mill too.

***

Nope, not at City Mill.  Not at Lowes either.  And I figured not at Home Depot.  $34+ at The Bathroom Store.  So it cost me $13 (plus gas).

Wee-N-See

Potty training your little one is an important milestone for the whole family. Yet sometimes it’s easier said than done. Fortunately, Tammi Umeno has developed a product that can make potty training as easy as 1, 2, 3. Enter the Wee-N-See, a fun and easy way to toilet train your child.

The Wee-N-See works in three easy steps: First, place the Wee-N-See in the water of the toilet when your child is ready to “go.” Then, when urine makes contact with the WeeN-See, it will chemically activate the aid, and a picture design will be revealed. Finally, flush when done. There are 10 fun designs to choose from, including a dinosaur, ladybug, sun, train, bee, whale, dragonfly and more.

slideshow

how to raise a good man

The instant you looked into your newborn son’s eyes you knew that every hope you had for his future rested on what you did from that moment on. Would you be able to help him grow into a caring, confident, responsible man? Every mother questions how she’s doing when it comes to raising her boy. But if you follow the advice below, chances are, your son will turn into the kind of man you want him to be.

Read more: How To Raise Boys - Tips for Raising Sons - Woman's Day

-- Woman's Day, June 2011

Richard Dawson

Richard Dawson brought a saucy, unabashedly touchy-feely style to television game shows as host of "Family Feud."

The British-born entertainer, who died Saturday at age 79 from complications related to esophageal cancer, earlier had made his mark in the unlikely 1960s sitcom hit "Hogan's Heroes," which mined laughs from a Nazi POW camp whose prisoners hoodwink their captors and run the place themselves.

But it is as the kissing, wisecracking quizmaster of "Feud" that he will be remembered.

Enlarge Image

Associated Press

Richard Dawson, host of 'Family Feud,' in June 1978.

The show, which initially ran from 1976 to 1985, pitted a pair of families against each other as they tried to guess the most popular answers to poll questions such as "What do people give up when they go on a diet?"

Mr. Dawson made his hearty, soaring pronouncement of the phrase "Survey says..." a national catchphrase among the show's fans.

coconut oil and alzheimers / dementia

First the video that has been going around via email.

http://www.cbn.com/media/player/index.aspx?s=/mp4/LJO190v1_WS

Then a followup from Snopes

Then some people reportedly getting results.

I wonder if haupia ice cream and coconut pie can be beneficial?  [Coconut bao too!]  Even if it doesn't, at least we'll enjoy the food. 

[6/15/12] After looking on ebay for coconut oil, I see that it's also available at amazon.  Surprisingly there are only 34 reviews of Mary Newport's book, but 29 are five star and 3 are four star.

[8/7/12] Yep, it sure sounds like, from the way she's been acting, that mom has dementia.  Whether she has Alzheimer's or not, is another story.

Dementia is the gradual deterioration of mental functioning, such as thinking, concentration, memory, and judgment, which affects a person’s ability to perform normal daily activities.

Dementia occurs primarily in people who are over the age of 65, or in those with an injury or disease that affects brain function. While dementia is most commonly seen in the elderly, it is not a normal consequence of the aging process.

Dementia is caused by the death of brain cells. Brain cells can be destroyed by brain diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, or strokes (called vascular or multi-infarct dementia), which decrease blood flow to the brain.

In most cases, the symptoms of dementia occur gradually, over a period of years. Symptoms of dementia caused by injury or stroke occur more abruptly.

Difficulties often begin with memory, progressing from simple forgetfulness to the inability to remember directions, recent events, and familiar faces and names.

[8/7/12] Here's a couple of threads from Dementia Weekly:

What's Bad About Using Coconut Oil for Dementia?

Testimonials for Coconut Oil as a Dimentia Therapy

[8/19/12] Finally bought some coconut oil, found it at GNC.  Nutiva brand.  Put it on oatmeal but it didn't have much taste. So the next day I added honey too.  Not bad.

I remember Dr. Oz mentioning coconut oil on his show.  As far as I know, he didn't mention the affect on dementia, but it has some other benefits.  Here's some links:

Coconut Oil Super Powers, Part 2

What is coconut oil?

The Benefits of Coconut Oil (by Charles Mattocks)

Dr. Oz and Dr. Mercola

Joe Mercola, quack doctor

Dr. Oz changed his mind

one more for Jackie Chan

Cannes, France >> Jackie Chan is landing his last punch as an action star, but says he is stepping into retirement having made one of the most important films of his career.

The Hong Kong actor told the AP on Friday that his latest film "Chinese Zodiac" will be his last action movie.

Chan, launching the movie at the Cannes Film Festival with co-stars Kwone Sang Woo, Yao Xingtong and Liao Fan, said that people don't believe him when he says he is going to retire.

"They say 'no, you're still young, you can still do it,' but I have to stop one day."

The 58-year-old says he is bowing out with "Chinese Zodiac" — in which he plays a fortune hunter, travelling the world trying to track down missing astrological antiques — because it is one of the "most important" films in his career.

Chan says he spent seven years working on the movie — writing, producing, directing and coordinating fight scenes.

"For the last ten years I've been choosing the director to direct me. This one I direct myself." he said. "I hope this movie, 20 years later, people still remember it. For me, for the audience, for my future, for my history — it's very important."

Chan says "Chinese Zodiac," and the many films before it, have taken their toll on his body.

using your dishwasher

A Word About Prerinsing
Don’t do it. Yes, you read that correctly—prerinsing is wrong. “Dishes should be scraped to remove large chunks,” says Dries. “But if you’re rinsing, you’re really just wasting water and electricity.”

So why is everyone in the habit of prerinsing? Because older dishwashers removed food soil by diluting the food in water, and then hoping it went down the drain. Which it often didn’t.

The vast majority of today’s models have filtration systems designed to catch food and pump it down the drain so that very little dirty water carries over to the next cycle. Higher-end models not only have self-cleaning filters, but hard food disposers as well, which grind food and send it down the drain.

In addition, modern detergents are designed to attack food, which can actually cause problems if there isn’t any food on the dishware. “The detergent in the unit aggressively goes after something, and if you don’t have food soil in the unit, it attacks the glasses, which will get cloudy,” says Mike Edwards, a dishwasher designer and senior engineer for Bosch. So ignore your friends when they tell you that you have to prerinse.

How to Load the Right Way
Mike Edwards knows a thing or two about how to load a dishwasher—he’s been designing them for 22 years. His suggestion: “Read the manual. We put a lot of effort into it!” Each tub is a little different, but even so, there are two golden rules: Like items shall be loaded with like. (More items fit that way.) And all items should face the middle of the unit—that’s where the jet spray comes from.

• Avoid nesting Water, water vapor and heat need to touch every surface of the items being washed, so leave space between dishes and don’t overfill.

• Place Items facing Down Placing bowls, pans and cups upright means they’ll fill with dirty water and won’t be able to drain.

• The Lower Rack Put bigger dishes here, close to the jet spray. Plates, pots, pans, mixing bowls all go here; platters go against an outside edge so they don’t block other items. Durable mugs and thick glasses can also go on this rack.

• Silverware Load the silverware basket in the sink—knives handle-up, and forks and spoons handle-down—making sure not to overfill. Many baskets are designed to sit in a variety of bottom rack locations; after you load other items, place the basket where your remaining empty space is.

• The Top Rack Place glasses and cups along the edges, next to the tines (not on them; if you put them on the tines, the tines can break and you’ll fit fewer items). Load smaller plates and saucers in neat rows facing the middle. Long spatulas, cooking spoons and knives lie flat, in the long basket for this purpose, if your unit has one.

Read more: How to Use a Dishwasher - Use Your Dishwasher Efficiently at WomansDay.com - Woman's Day

***

[6/27/12] To rinse or not to rinse?

***

[2/13/13] using Quick Wash

Goober

NASHVILLE, Tenn. >> George Lindsey, who spent nearly 30 years as the grinning Goober on "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Hee Haw," has died. He was 83.

A press release from Marshall-Donnelly-Combs Funeral Home in Nashville said Lindsay died early Sunday morning after a brief illness. Funeral arrangements were still being made.

Lindsey was the beanie-wearing Goober on "The Andy Griffith Show" from 1964 to 1968 and its successor, "Mayberry RFD," from 1968 to 1971. He played the same jovial character — a service station attendant — on "Hee Haw" from 1971 until it went out of production in 1993.

"America has grown up with me," Lindsey said in an Associated Press interview in 1985. "Goober is every man; everyone finds something to like about ol' Goober."

He joined "The Andy Griffith Show" in 1964 when Jim Nabors, portraying Gomer Pyle, left the program. Goober Pyle, who had been mentioned on the show as Gomer's cousin, thus replaced him.

Dick Clark

Broadcast icon Dick Clark, the longtime host of the influential "American Bandstand," has died, publicist Paul Shefrin said. He was 82.

Clark suffered a heart attack while at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica for an outpatient procedure, his publicist said Wednesday. "Attempts to resuscitate were unsuccessful."

The family has not yet decided whether there will be a public memorial service for the multifaceted Clark, although Shefrin said, "There will be no funeral."

Clark suffered what was then described as "a mild stroke" in December 2004, just months after announcing he had been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

That stroke forced Clark to cut back on his on-camera work, including giving up the hosting duties for the "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" specials. He returned as a co-host with Ryan Seacrest on December 31, 2005.

Clark's "American Bandstand" work, which he began when it was a local TV show in Philadelphia in 1956, earned him the nickname "America's oldest living teenager." The dance show was picked up by ABC and broadcast nationally a year later.

"If you didn't go on 'American Bandstand,' you hadn't made it yet," singer Aretha Franklin told "AC360."

The savvy entrepreneur was a pioneer in introducing African-American and other performers to millions of young TV viewers. His audiences were integrated, among the first on television.

"Only God is responsible for making more stars than Dick Clark," said singer Tony Orlando, who was 16 when he first appeared on Clark's show in 1961.

the Dalai Lama in Hawaii

Bearing gifts of wisdom and good humor, the Dalai Lama arrived Friday in Honolulu and wasted no time charming the Kamehameha Schools students and administrators on hand to welcome him.

The Tibetan spiritual leader is in Hawaii for this weekend's "Pillars of Peace Hawaii: Building Peace on a Foundation of Aloha," a community peace-building event sponsored by the Hawaii Community Foundation with funding from the Omidyar Ohana Fund.

In addition to private meetings with Native Hawaiian community leaders and others, the Dalai Lama will appear at today's "Educating the Heart," an event for students only, and Sunday's "Advancing Peace Through the Power of Aloha," which is open to the general public.

Born Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama escaped Tibet in 1959 following the Chinese suppression of an uprising in Lhasa. He has spent the last 53 years in exile in Dharamsala, India, the seat of the Tibetan government in exile. In that time, he has come to be regarded as a international symbol of peace and compassion as well as a gently outspoken champion of human rights and cultural preservation. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his ongoing, nonviolent struggle to liberate Tibet.

The students, chastened by the heavy security presence outside and cautioned by school officials to be on their best behavior, said they found it difficult at first to reconcile the exalted reputation of the Dalai Lama with his disarmingly unaffected manner.

"I was intimidated at first because I didn't know what to expect," said Jacob Hookano. "But when he came through the door and was making jokes and everything, I relaxed. He was like a normal person, very friendly."

[8/24/12] What did the Dalai Lama visit Kailua High School?

Four Days With The Dalai Lama (by Don Chapman, MidWeek)

Clearing out the Lama Notebook

7 Steps to Happiness

Think less, feel more

Frown less, smile more

Talk less, listen more

Judge less, accept more

Watch less, do more

Complain less, appreciate more

Fear less, love more

-- from Roy

The Three Stooges movie

Weep not, for they live again.

Like ghosts from Saturday-morning TV marathons past, three familiar figures jump out from a row of bushes and materialize poolside in the steamy mid-July heat. One sports a distinctive bowl cut, another wears a corona of wild frizz, and the chubby fellow is as bald as a bikini-waxed peach.

Near a building that bears the sign Sisters of Mercy Orphanage & Spa, a ballistic ballet of comic bedlam unfolds: a face is slapped, a cranium is conked, clumps of hair are yanked by the fistful and the epithet "You idiot!" resounds throughout the movie set in suburban Atlanta.

Yes, Moe, Larry and Curly have returned to "woo, woo, woo" and "nyuk-nyuk-nyuk" another day in The Three Stooges: The Movie, opening Friday.

***

Maybe it was just a matter of time before Peter and Bobby Farrelly, the brothers who wrote and directed the comedy "Dumb & Dumber," made a movie about their original dimwitted inspiration, The Three Stooges. (Reuters)

The sound of “nyuk, nyuk, nyuk” will be heard across the land when The Three Stooges — the Farrelly brothers’ long-awaited tribute to the slapstick comedy legends — opens Friday, introducing the trio to a new generation of knuckleheads. (Newsday)

Mike Wallace

NEW YORK >> Within five months of each other, two of the men who helped make “60 Minutes” the most distinctive news show on television have died.

First it was Andy Rooney, the cantankerous commentator who died last November, a month after delivering the last of his show-closing essays. Late Saturday night, it was Mike Wallace, the hard-charging interviewer who frequently led “60 Minutes” and gave it journalistic heft with a showman’s flair.

Rooney made it to age 92. Wallace beat him by a year, although he spent the latter stage of his life in the New Canaan, Conn., care facility where he died.

“More than anyone else he was responsible for the continuing success of ‘60 Minutes,’ “veteran correspondent Morley Safer, a longtime colleague and frequent competitor of Wallace’s in chasing after big stories, said on Sunday’s show. “We are all in his debt.”

60 Minutes” plans an extended tribute to Wallace next Sunday.

Telebrands Bottle Top (a review)

Finally had the opportunity to try out the Telebrands Bottle Top that I got as a grab bag (actually it was somebody else's grab bag but they didn't want it).

The problem is that it didn't fit the can (a can of Sprite). It was too small and didn't snap on easily (or at all).

Comparing to this video, it looks like my bottle top is smaller than the one in the video and doesn't fit around the can.

Apparently they make em in different sizes (probably in China somewhere).

My experience was like this review. I put the can on the floor. Pushed down hard. Then the can collapsed, spilling soda on the kitchen rug :(

Thumbs down. Not worth the price I paid (which was free).

It might be an halfway-OK product if you get one that works. But evidently their quality control is really poor and none of my tops fit. At least I couldn't make it fit.

Leadership Lessons From Steve Jobs

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) may have plenty of lessons for companies to learn, but Steve Jobs has even more for other leaders to take note of.

After all, we're talking about a guy who resurrected a company that was literally a fiscal quarter away from bankruptcy and proceeded to grow it into the largest company in the world by market cap. In the most recent issue of Harvard Business Review, his official biographer, Walter Isaacson, has detailed 14 ways that other leaders can learn from Jobs.

movie and tv databases

As an alternative to imdb are themoviedb.org and thetvdb.com.

These are sort of like wikipedia in which anybody can add/edit information. (Supposedly. I never tried it.) But they both look pretty good.

There's also some front end software for both which downloads the info from these website. They are Free MovieDB and Free TvDB both from myportablesoftware.com.

5 simple rules for happiness

1) Free your heart from hatred.
2) Free your mind from worries
3) Live simply.
4) Give more.
5) Expect less.

-- via roy

the world is getting better

“The world has never been a better place to live in,” says science writer Matt Ridley, “and it will keep on getting better.” Today, in a world gripped by global economic crisis and afflicted with poverty, disease, and war, them’s fightin’ words in some quarters. Ridley’s critics have called him a “denialist” and “shameful” and have accused him of “playing fast and loose with the truth” for his views on climate change and the free market.

Yet Ridley, 54, author most recently of The Rational Optimist, sticks to his guns. “It is not insane to believe in a happy future for people and the planet,” he says. Ridley, who’s been a foreign correspondent, a zoologist, an economist, and a financier, brings a broad perspective to his sunny outlook. “People say I’m bonkers to claim the world will go on getting better, yet I can’t stop myself,” he says.

[Here's some of his 17 reasons..]

Compared with 50 years ago, when I was just four years old, the average human now earns nearly three times as much money (corrected for inflation), eats one third more calories, buries two thirds fewer children, and can expect to live one third longer. In fact, it’s hard to find any region of the world that’s worse off now than it was then, even though the global population has more than doubled over that period.

The rich get richer, but the poor do even better. Between 1980 and 2000, the poor doubled their consumption. The Chinese are ten times richer and live about 25 years longer than they did 50 years ago. Nigerians are twice as rich and live nine more years. The percentage of the world’s people living in absolute poverty has dropped by over half. The United Nations estimates that poverty was reduced more in the past 50 years than in the previous 500.

One reason we are richer, healthier, taller, cleverer, longer-lived, and freer than ever before is that the four most basic human needs—food, clothing, fuel, and shelter—have grown markedly cheaper. Take one example: In 1800, a candle providing one hour’s light cost six hours’ work. In the 1880s, the same light from a kerosene lamp took 15 minutes’ work to pay for. In 1950, it was eight seconds. Today, it’s half a second. In these terms, we are 43,200 times better off than in 1800.

Some people argue that in the past there was a simplicity, tranquillity, sociability, and spirituality that’s now been lost. This rose-tinted nostalgia is generally confined to the wealthy. It’s easier to wax elegiac for the life of a pioneer when you don’t have to use an outhouse. The biggest-ever experiment in back-to-the-land hippie lifestyle is now known as the Dark Ages.

Although the world population is growing, the rate of increase has been falling for 50 years. Across the globe, national birth rates are lower now than in 1960, and in the less developed world, the birth rate has approximately halved. This is happening despite people living longer and infant-mortality rates dropping. According to an estimate from the United Nations, population will start falling once it peaks at 9.2 billion in 2075—so there is every prospect of feeding the world forever. After all, there are already seven billion people on earth, and they are eating better and better every decade.

If you say the world will go on getting better, you are considered mad. If you say catastrophe is imminent, you may expect the Nobel Peace Prize. Bookshops groan with pessimism; airwaves are crammed with doom. I cannot recall a time when I was not being told by somebody that the world could survive only if it abandoned economic growth. But the world will not continue as it is. The human race has become a problem-solving machine: It solves those problems by changing its ways. The real danger comes from slowing change.

For 200 years, pessimists have had all the headlines—even though optimists have far more often been right. There is immense vested interest in pessimism. No charity ever raised money by saying things are getting better. No journalist ever got the front page writing a story about how disaster was now less likely. Pressure groups and their customers in the media search even the most cheerful statistics for glimmers of doom. Don’t be browbeaten—dare to be an optimist!

For more on Ridley, visit rationaloptimist.com.

[via libertarians_2000, see also 20 positive trends]

Bob Campbell

who was my science education teacher at U.H. is featured in Currents #34 2012.

It's not yet available at the website though.

[5/10/12 - OK here it is.  Page 32.]

S.M.A.R.T. Goals

In the book What They Don’t Teach You At Harvard Business School, Mark McCormack tells about a study of Harvard MBA graduates. After tracking the graduates for 10 years, the survey found that 3 percent of the graduates earned more than the 97 percent combined! Was it a particular skill, trait or industry that differentiated the two groups?

Surprisingly, it was much simpler than that. Researchers found that the 3 percent had clear, written goals for their future, while the other 97 percent did not. Simple goal-setting set the two groups apart. Studies show that goal setting is one of the most important keys to success in our personal and business lives. Setting proper goals provides focus, prioritizes your resources and helps you make the most of your life.

The best goals are S.M.A.R.T. goals, a handy acronym for five important components for welldesigned goals. S.M.A.R.T. goals help you get where you want to go in the context of your vision and purpose for your life.

S: Specific (Create goals that are clear and well-defined)

M: Measureable (Create concrete criteria to measure progress and know when it has been achieved)

A: Achievable (Create goals that are realistic, not too difficult, or too easy)

R: Relevant (Create goals that matter and will move you forward)

T: Time Based (Create goals with a time-frame and target date)

Goals with the S.M.A.R.T. components have a much better chance of success than vague and unrealistic goals. As the Harvard MBA graduates proved, proper goal-setting is a potent tool that can turn dreams into reality, boost your self-confidence and channel your energy so you feel a sense of achievement.

Davy Jones

Davy Jones, an actor-turned-singer who helped propel the made-for-TV band The Monkees to the top of the ratings and the pop charts and into rock ‘n’ roll history, died Wednesday in Florida.

Jones, lead singer of the 1960s group that was assembled as an American version of The Beatles, died of a massive heart attack in Indiantown, where he lived, his publicist Helen Kensick said.

Jones was a former jockey and child actor in his native England. He rose to fame in 1965 when he was picked for the rock band The Monkees, which was formed by Hollywood producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider to star in a comedy TV show called “The Monkees” about a band called, naturally, The Monkees. The show would include the band performing a song.

The Monkees quickly stormed radio and TV airwaves with a string of chart-topping songs that went on to sell an estimated 65 million copies worldwide.

how to know if you're incompetent

answer: you can't!

A growing body of psychology research shows that incompetence deprives people of the ability to recognize their own incompetence. To put it bluntly, dumb people are too dumb to know it. Similarly, unfunny people don't have a good enough sense of humor to tell.

This disconnect may be responsible for many of society's problems.

[via pbo]

$3.5 million worth of comic books

DALLAS >> Billy Wright plunked down dime after dime for comic books while growing up in the late 1930s and early 1940s, caring for the collection he started around the age of 9 until his death more than half a century later. On Wednesday, most of that collection sold for a whopping $3.5 million.

Wright's 345 comics, nearly all of which were published from 1936 through 1941, included many of the most prized issues ever, including Detective Comics No. 27, which features the debut of Batman, and Action Comics No. 1, in which Superman's first appears.

Whitney Houston

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Legendary pop singer Whitney Houston was found dead Saturday at a Beverly Hills, California, hotel, officials said. She was 48.

The entertainer, whose incredible talent was discovered at an early age, was pronounced dead at 3:55 p.m. (6:55 p.m. ET) at the Beverly Hilton hotel despite resuscitation efforts, a police spokesman said.

Beverly Hills Police Lt. Mark Rosen said there were "no obvious signs of criminal intent" and that the cause of her death is being investigated.

Houston's bodyguard found her body, said Courtney Barnes, publicist for hip-hop artist Ray J, who was dating the pop diva.

According to her official website, Houston sold more than 170 million albums, singles and videos. But she also struggled with addiction problems over the years.

Houston, whose hits included "The Greatest Love of All," died on the eve of the 54th annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. She had performed as late as Thursday night at a pre-Grammy event in the area. A pre-Grammy party was scheduled Saturday night at the Beverly Hilton.

celebrity appearances on Sesame Street

The documentary "Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey" opens this week, about every toddler's favorite red monster and the man who brings him to life, Kevin Clash.

One of the joys of watching Clash in action -- besides marveling at how effortless he makes it all look -- is seeing how seamlessly he relates to both children and adults. And the segments he does with celebrities, as Elmo learns a lesson or explains a new word, are among his best. So here's a look at five of the greatest celebrity appearances over the four-plus decades "Sesame Street" has been on air.

Stevie Wonder - Superstition

Paul Simon - Me & Julio

world more peaceful?

It seems as if violence is everywhere, but it's really on the run.

Yes, thousands of people have died in bloody unrest from Africa to Pakistan, while terrorists plot bombings and kidnappings. Wars remain in Iraq and Afghanistan. In peaceful Norway, a man massacred 69 youths in July. In Mexico, headless bodies are found, victims of drug cartels. This month, eight people died in a shooting in a Southern California hair salon.

Yet, historically, we've never had it this peaceful.

That's the thesis of three new books, including one by prominent Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker. Statistics reveal dramatic reductions in war deaths, family violence, racism, rape, murder and all sorts of mayhem.

In his book, Pinker writes: "The decline of violence may be the most significant and least appreciated development in the history of our species."

It runs counter to what the mass media is reporting and essentially what we feel in our guts.

Pinker and other experts say the reality is not painted in bloody anecdotes, but demonstrated in the black and white of spreadsheets and historical documents. They tell a story of a world moving away from violence.

In his new book, "The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined," Pinker makes the case that a smarter, more educated world is becoming more peaceful in several statistically significant ways. His findings are based on peer-reviewed studies published by other academics using examinations of graveyards, surveys and historical records:

-- The number of people killed in battle - calculated per 100,000 population - has dropped by 1,000-fold over the centuries as civilizations evolved.

-- The rate of genocide deaths per world population was 1,400 times higher in 1942 than in 2008.

-- There were fewer than 20 democracies in 1946. Now there are close to 100. Meanwhile, the number of authoritarian countries has dropped from a high of almost 90 in 1976 to about 25 now.

Pinker says one of the main reasons for the drop in violence is that we are smarter. IQ tests show that the average teenager is smarter with each generation. The tests are constantly adjusted to keep average at 100, and a teenager who now would score a 100 would have scored a 118 in 1950 and a 130 in 1910. So this year's average kid would have been a near-genius a century ago. And that increase in intelligence translates into a kinder, gentler world, Pinker says.

-- staradvertiser, 10/23/11, A21

George Yuzawa

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- George Yuzawa's social activism was rooted in a shameful chapter in U.S. history.

Months after Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, Mr. Yuzawa and his wife, Kimiko -- both Nisei, or American-born offspring of Japanese immigrants -- were sent to a Colorado internment camp along with their families. They were among the 120,000 West Coast residents of Japanese descent, the majority born in the United States, incarcerated in World War II by order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The Yuzawas lost their Los Angeles home and the flower business that George, who was named after George Washington, ran with his father.

"I was born in this country, an American citizen, educated here with a thriving business," the longtime Dumont resident told The Record in 1981.

"I never thought about being evacuated ... never. Then, suddenly, we were prisoners.

"We were put in these wooden structures with tar paper on the roof. My wife and I had a space maybe 8 feet wide and 20 feet long, which we curtained off with blankets. ... And the latrines would run over and flood the camp all the time. The stench and the sickness. ..."

Mr. Yuzawa's ticket out of the Amache Japanese Internment Camp came in September 1943 with the promise of a job at a New York flower shop. Once settled, he arranged for his wife and their families to join him. At 29, he volunteered to join the Army -- an act showing he was a "true American," his daughter, Pat Yuzawa-Rubin said. He was with a military intelligence unit stationed in Tokyo.

After his discharge in 1946, Mr. Yuzawa rebuilt his life. He operated an import and export business before resuming his former livelihood as proprietor of a shop his father had started, Park Central Florist on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The Yuzawas started a family and, in the late '50s, settled in suburban Dumont, N.J.

Mr. Yuzawa became involved in causes combating racial discrimination against Asians. He helped lead the successful 1971-72 backlash against Kenzo, a Japanese-born designer of French fashions, who printed the derogatory word "JAP" on clothing labels. Soon after, he targeted the International Ladies Garment Workers Union over a "Buy American" campaign that included subway posters asking, "Has your job been exported to Japan yet?"

Those efforts prompted Mr. Yuzawa and other Nisei to organize Asian Americans for Fair Media, which monitored print and broadcast media for racial slurs and negative Asian stereotypes.

Revisiting the difficult time his family spent in Amache, Mr. Yuzawa helped organize federal hearings that paved the way for the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which granted $20,000 to every living Japanese-American interned during the war. Mr. Yuzawa received his reparations check with a letter of apology signed by President Bill Clinton.

Gary Moriwaki, president of the Japanese American Association of New York, a community service group in which Mr. Yuzawa was long active, said Mr. Yuzawa was a "walking history book."

"His generation went through amazing ups and downs, but George persevered, and I never saw him bitter," Moriwaki said.

"My father was a man of peace," Yuzawa-Rubin said. "You could imagine how angry he could have been, but he wasn't. That wasn't his thing, and that's why people loved him."

Mr. Yuzawa spent a good part of his retirement helping elderly Japanese in New York.

"Here he was, 90 years old, delivering food to the elderly," Moriwaki said. "I'd say, 'George, what are you doing?' And he'd say, 'I'm helping old people!' He inspired others to be like him."

For years, Mr. Yuzawa enjoyed downhill skiing, and he swore by what he called the "three G's" _ gingko, garlic and ginseng supplements. Those habits and his serene nature saw him into his 97th year.

George Yuzawa died Oct. 8.

17 spiritual lessons

while searching for dog whisperer on ebay, I came across somebody selling this for 99 cents. Googling, I see that it is available for free.

17 Spiritual Lessons from The Dog Whisperer and The Tao Te Ching.

Haven't read it yet, but here's the first paragraph.

"A few days ago one of my students from Florida told me about this unusual TV program they are showing on the Discovery Channel called The Dog Whisperer! Do you know what it’s about? If not I’ll tell you about it in just a short while but before that I want to tell you something on a little different tangent."

Well, for one thing, it's not on the Discovery Channel, it's on National Geographic Channel (and now National Geographic Wild)... So it's off to a bad start. But take it for what it's worth..

So the first lesson might be, you get what you pay for.

Then again, the best things in life are free...

Nicolas Cage, vampire

Could Nicolas Cage be a vampire? A Civil War era photo that bears an eerie resemblance to Cage has sparked rumors that the actor is a real-life vampire.

***

Not to be confused with John Travolta, the time traveler.

Peace on Earth?

“Peace on Earth.” It is each year’s Christmas wish and indeed the great wish of the world’s religions across history.

Of course, any realist or cynic can tell you that this wish is an empty hope that will never come true. And oddly, the idealists who march in the streets for peace seem to agree — the world is awash in war, from atrocities in remote provinces of the Congo to drone attacks in Yemen to suicide bombings in Afghanistan. Whether you blame the military-industrial complex, the clash of civilizations, competition for natural resources, or human nature itself, peace on earth seems further away than ever.

Except, actually, it isn’t. While TV images will always show us the most horrible parts of the human experience, the big picture has changed dramatically in our lifetimes. Peace on earth as a complete cessation of violence may never arrive, but the distance between the dream and the reality has been shrinking for decades. Worldwide, wars today are fewer, smaller and more localized than at any time in living memory.