Mitsuo Aoki

The Rev. Mitsuo Aoki helped countless people, particularly cancer patients and their families, with his compassionate outlook on dying.

"He was sought out a lot for his wisdom," said the Rev. Clarence Liu, chaplain of Hospice Hawaii. "He lived his dying in the very same way that he shared about it and talked about it. There was great integrity and great truthfulness in the way he lived his life."

Aoki, a theologian, minister and college professor who founded the religion department of the University of Hawaii at Manoa and served as an influential figure in the establishment of Hospice Hawaii, died Thursday at his Pohai Nani home in Kaneohe. He was 95.

Zero Nukes?

HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — In this place where a fearful age was born one fiery instant 65 years ago, the Flame of Peace still flickers on, awaiting the day when the world is rid of nuclear weapons.

Many believe that day may be approaching.

"I saw a light in a dark tunnel," says Emiko Okada, 73. "President Obama said, 'Yes, I can.'"

For her and other "hibakusha," survivors of Hiroshima 1945, abolishing nuclear weapons has been a lifelong crusade. But the cause that Hiroshima never abandoned is now also the cause of a growing movement worldwide, embraced by statesmen in Washington and other capitals, endorsed by old Cold Warriors, promoted by Hollywood, financed by billionaires.

Ordinary people, too, in country after country, want "zero nukes," opinion polls show.

But is it achievable? Can doomsday arms be banished from the face of the Earth? Will man stop reaching for ever more powerful weapons? And, more immediately, will an American president, following his ambassador's unprecedented visit, finally walk this year among the cherry trees, the memorials, the unspeakable memories of Hiroshima?

Gabby and slack key

This has been a great summer for Hawaiian music, as Alan Akaka kicked things off with the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festival July 4 at the Waikiki Beach Plaza, Roy Sakuma presented the 40th Annual Ukulele Festival July 18 in Kapiolani Park and Cyril Pahinui celebrated the musical legacy of his father, Gabby Pahinui, last weekend in Waimanalo.

The next big event is this weekend as Milton Lau hosts the 28th Annual Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Festival Sunday afternoon at Kapiolani Park Bandstand.

(pics)

***

Times change. Magic moments become treasured memories. Cyril Pahinui is looking forward to bringing some of the magic back -- if only for a day -- with the Third Annual Gabby Pahinui Waimanalo Kanikapila tomorrow at Waimanalo Beach Park. The music will go on throughout the day, with more than 100 musicians playing in honor of Gabby, Cyril's father.

***

My friend from college days at the University of Hawaii-Manoa, Bob Moore, says being at a Gabby-fest in Waimanalo, when music-lovers and hangers-on would head out to watch the best of the best in Hawaiian slack-key guitar play music in a back yard close to the beach, is his best memory ever -- better than being at Woodstock.

***

'Ki Ho'alu: Slack Key the Hawaiian Way'

Various artists
(Hawaiian Legacy Foundation)

This 1993 documentary film about slack key music and musicians on DVD provides fans and students of ki ho'alu a valuable source of information on that important genre -- and the opportunity to watch several slack key masters play as well.

Film producers Eddie and Myrna Kamae introduce ki ho'alu with a look at the things that make it uniquely Hawaiian. They continue with sections on slack key tunings, playing styles, the history and evolution of slack key and the gradual shift from traditional to modern teaching techniques. One section focuses on Niihau and guitarist Malaki Kanahele; another, on Big Island legend Fred Punahoa.

Ledward Kaapana is featured in several clips -- he plays in some and shares family history in others. George Kuo demonstrates the distinct difference in the sound of guitars played with standard and slack key tunings, Manu Kahaialii speaks at length on the spiritual aspects of the genre, and Raymond Kane retells the classic tale of how he discovered slack key while living in Nanakuli. Vintage clips of Gabby Pahinui, Alice Namakelua and the Sons of Hawai'i are some of the other highlights.

Donnie Yen

[8/17/10] HONG KONG — For years, Donnie Yen worked in the shadow of Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Having fought both on-screen, the 47-year-old actor was considered a worthy opponent but not necessarily a leading man in his own right.

The dynamic changed after Yen took on the role of Bruce Lee's kung fu master in 2008. "Ip Man" was a hit and two years later, the sequel was also successful. "Ip Man 2" is the top-grossing local film in China in the first half of the year with a box office take of $34 million, second only to "Avatar" and beating other Hollywood blockbusters like "Iron Man 2" and "Clash of the Titans."

[11/1/14]  Donnie Yen movies currently on Netflix

Special ID (2013)
Dragon (2011)

Legend of the Fist (2010)

Ip Man 2 (2010)

14 Blades (2010)

Bodyguards and Assassins (2009)
Ip Man (2008)

Flash Point (2007)

Dragon Tiger Gate (2006)

Blade of Kings [aka Twins Effect II] (2004)

Highlander Endgame (2000)

Iron Monkey 2 (1996)
Wing Chun (1994)
Iron Monkey (1993)

quitting Christianity

"Today, I quit being a Christian."

With those words last week on Facebook, Anne Rice delivered a wake-up call for organized religion. The question is whether it will be recognized as such.

"I remain committed to Christ as always," she wrote, "but not to being `Christian' or to being part of Christianity. It's simply impossible for me to `belong' to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious and deservedly infamous group. For 10 years, I've tried. I've failed. I'm an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else."

You will recall that the author, famed for her vampire novels, made a much-publicized return to the Catholicism of her youth after years of calling herself an atheist. Now, years later, she says she hasn't lost her faith, but she's had it up to here with organized religion.

"In the name of Christ," she wrote, "I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life."

***

I object to the media using the name "Christian" to refer only to right-wing ideologues. They ignore the great majority of Christians who are not part of this loud minority.

With all the media coverage given to religious conservatives, it's not surprising that Anne Rice wants to divorce herself from any church ("More followers of Christ refusing to be Christians," Star-Advertiser, Aug. 5).

She and the media should be aware, however, that there are many progressive Christian churches across this country that support civil rights for all and work constantly to care for those who are homeless, poor or in need of help.

Please stop representing all members of the Christian faith as conservatives by your use of language.

Marita Nelson
Hawaii Kai

Quiz on Quotations

Isaac Asimov's Super Quiz

King Features Syndicate

Published Wednesday, August 4, 2010


Subject: QUOTATIONS

Provide the final word of the quotation. (e.g., Napoleon: "Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is ___." Answer: Forever.)

FRESHMAN LEVEL

1. Napoleon: "Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a ___."

Answer________

2. Dwight D. Eisenhower: "A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses ___."

Answer________

3. Jimi Hendrix: "Knowledge speaks, but wisdom ___."

Answer________

GRADUATE LEVEL

4. Winston Churchill: "If you are going through hell, keep ___."

Answer________

5. Vince Lombardi: "We didn't lose the game; we just ran out of ___

Answer________

6. Thomas Edison: "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't ___."

Answer________

PH.D. LEVEL

7. Aldous Huxley: "Maybe this world is another planet's ___."

Answer________

8. Xenocrates: "I have often regretted my speech, never my ___."

Answer________

9. John F. Kennedy: "Forgive your enemies, but never forget their ___."

Answer________

dogmatism

This article recalls the one thing I can't stand, but I kept forgetting what the word was.

I think the word is dogmatism.

The definition is "positiveness in assertion of opinion especially when unwarranted or arrogant".

I had been starting to think of the word was idealogue which is defined as an often blindly partisan advocate or adherent of a particular ideology.


Of course, since I'm not dogmatic, I could be wrong...

the key to a happy life

RT @D_G27: RT @johncmayer: I have found the key to a happy life is to surround myself with like-minded people who agree with me constantly.

via hansstolfus

small ways to make a difference

You never know how an act of kindness can change a life.

When we reached out to high school student Michael Oher and gave him a home, we didn't realize it would matter to anyone except the three of us. Lord knows, we never thought we'd be attending the Academy Awards with Sandra Bullock, who would win an Oscar for playing Leigh Anne in a movie!

There are so many Michael Ohers in this country, walking on the streets, close to falling through the cracks. We just need to be more cognizant of those around us.

Society pretty much had deemed Michael valueless. Through a random act of kindness, we offered him a simple ride. That turned into changing a life. Today, six years later, Michael is an immensely successful, happy young man. Now he's giving back, helping troubled kids in his community as a member of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens.

If good things can continue to happen from our little story, we can certainly keep doing our part. We'd like to help you do yours. Here are eight easy, small ways you, too, can help out and make a big difference in someone's life.

Superman rescues family from foreclosure

More than 70 years after Superman first saved the day in the pages of a comic book, the Man of Steel has reached out and saved a family in the real world.

Asylum reports that a family was packing up their belongings after their bank had started foreclosure proceedings, when they came across a box of comic books in the basement.

But this wasn't just any box, and the family suspected they'd struck gold when they discovered among the titles "Action Comics No. 1," the comic that introduced Superman to the world and brought to life the superhero genre, which remains popular to this day.

The comic is expected to fetch more than a quarter-million dollars when it goes up for auction on ComicConnect -- and that's a low estimate. In February of this year, an unrestored copy of "Action Comic No. 1" sold for $1 million, according to the Los Angeles Times, followed a month later by the sale of another copy in better condition at $1.5 million.

Life Expectancy

I was surprised to read in The Costco Connection (July 2007, page 65), that that average life expectancy for men in 1907 was only 45 years, compared to 78 years in 2007.

That got me to wondering how life expectancy has changed over the years.

According to wikipedia, it really didn't change all that much until the 20th century. It was about 30 until the early modern Britain (16th, 17th, 18th century) when it reached about 40. And now its near 70.

The average life expectancy in Colonial America was under 25 years in the Virginia colony, and in New England about 40% of children failed to reach adulthood. During the Industrial Revolution, the life expectancy of children increased dramatically.[20] The percentage of children born in London who died before the age of five decreased from 74.5% in 1730-1749 to 31.8% in 1810-1829.

Public health measures are credited with much of the recent increase in life expectancy. During the 20th century, the average lifespan in the United States increased by more than 30 years, of which 25 years can be attributed to advances in public health.

***

We're living in a unique time.

***

[7/26/10] TOKYO — Japanese women are expected to live longer than 86 years, topping the world longevity ratings for the 25th consecutive year, according to a government report released Monday.

The statistics for 2009 compiled and published by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare showed both Japanese women and men extended their average life expectancy to new records — 86.44 years for women and 79.59 years for men. Average life spans rose by almost five months for women and nearly four months for men compared to the previous year.

***

Looking up world longevity rankings (which turned up life expectancy, Japan tops the list at 82.6. The United States is at no. 38 at 78.2. Swaziland is at the bottom of the list at 39.6.

Wally Amos: Be Positive

Focus on what really matters

Recently I've been seeking an answer to the question "What really matters?" The e-mail below, from my friend Barbara Stewart, answers that question. I share it with her permission.

While officiating a track-and-field meet at a school in Rochester, New York, I watched a talented young triple jumper take off from the toe board and suffer the most horrific accident. There was a noise like a gunshot and she pitched forward in agony. She fell onto the runway, her leg destroyed and useless. She remained immobilized on the runway for nearly an hour, until they could move her to the hospital.

For her, it was excruciating pain and a traumatic event that changed the course of her life forever. For the rest of the athletes and personnel, it was a shocking reminder of how fragile life can be - one moment youth and strength and the next mortality. I was struck by her courage to remain calm, although in obvious agony.

Later I was told she had surgery and would remain in the hospital a few more days. The sharp noises I heard were her Achilles tendon snapping, then her femur fracturing. In my 25 years in track and field, I have never witnessed such a thing. Realistically, she will never again participate at full capacity as an athlete, so she needs to apply her character and abilities to other pursuits. I sent her a card and a book to wish her well.

Now comes the most coincidental part. I suddenly experienced extreme pain in my leg. I was sent immediately to the hospital for surgery on a massive, life-threatening blood clot in my leg. My life path, too is forever altered. I am reminded each day and each hour of the wonder and gratitude in each moment of life. Now I must continue to use it wisely.

I later had further news of unfavorable hospital test results, which momentarily unfocused my attention. Once again, I was reminded of what matters. The mail brought this incredible thank-you note from the athlete.

She wrote, "Wow! Your gift caught me off-guard because I wasn't expecting it. Thank you so much! My leg is getting better every day and I cannot wait to walk again. The fact that you didn't even know me but saw all of these positive qualities in me and thought enough about me to send me a card and a book is really touching and inspires me to do bigger and better things. As long as there are people like you in the world, I know it'll be OK. I've been walking. They told me six to eight weeks. I did it in five!"

This outstanding young woman has all the elements for success in life. Indomitable spirit, talent and excellent skills in literacy. Above all, she has awareness of others outside herself. What more could we ask for in the next generations?

I am having a positive day, remembering what matters.

-- The Costco Connection, July 2007

What's difference between England and Great Britain?

After all these years, I still didn't know the difference or if there was any difference.

I finally took a look at looks like a junior high web site for the explanation.

the best religion

Most people of faith are taught that their religion is true, often to the exclusion of any other religions. Actually, the importance one attaches to one's religion can be a source of strife, as we witness in many of the conflicts that are being fought even today in the name of religion. It can also be a source of spiritual nourishment.

The film clip is a brief dialogue between Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff and the Dalai Lama that occurred at a round-table discussion about religion and freedom. Boff, who was ordained a Franciscan but resigned from the priesthood in 1992, is an outspoken proponent of liberation theology, which calls for churches to engage themselves in the political and economic struggles of the poor and disenfranchised.

With what Boff describes as "malicious intent," he asks the Dalai Lama in this video, "What is the best religion?" Boff anticipated that the Dalai Lama's response would be Tibetan Buddhism or one of the other Eastern religions that are far older than Christianity. To his surprise, the Dalai Lama's response was, "The best religion is one that gets you closest to God. It is the one that makes you a better person."

Few, if any, of us would find it hard to accept such a wise answer. Seeking to rescue himself from his embarrassment, Boff asked him, "What is it that makes me better?" The Dalai Lama's response was even more enlightening:

"Whatever makes you more compassionate, more sensible, more detached, more loving, more humanitarian, more responsive, more ethical. The religion that will do that for you is the best religion.

"I am not interested, my friend, about your religion or if you are religious or not. What really is important to me is your behavior in front of your peers, family, work, community and in front of the world. Remember, the universe is the echo of our actions and our thoughts. The law of action and reaction is not exclusively for physics. It is also of human relations. If I act with goodness, I will receive goodness. If I act with evil, I will get evil."

The Dalai Lama continued, "Take care of your thoughts because they become words; words because they become actions; actions because they become habits. Habits will form your character; character will form your destiny; and your destiny will be your life. There is no religion higher than the truth."

John Ratzenberger and Pixar

John Ratzenberger searches his memory -- he's probably been asked this question a hundred times -- but can't remember anything special about his audition or voice-over sessions for the original "Toy Story." "It was a job," Ratzenberger says. "I believe in taking every job seriously, and doing my best work. But I didn't feel anything different. I definitely didn't know I'd be back."

Since that voice-over session for the 1995 movie "Toy Story," Pixar has grown tenfold, moved to a huge campus in Emeryville, Calif., and released six of the 10 top-grossing animated films of all time. But one thing has remained the same: Ratzenberger. He's returned to provide a voice for every one of Pixar's features -- "Toy Story 3" makes 11.

Pixar filmmakers refer to Ratzenberger as their "good luck charm." After voicing Hamm the piggy bank in "Toy Story," he was cast three years later as the ringmaster P.T. Flea in "A Bug's Life." The roles since then have been seemingly random: an abominable snowman, a school of moonfish, a supervillain, an anthropomorphic Mack truck, a waiter, a space traveler and a construction worker.

big screen, big price

Consolidated Theatres has upped the ante - in more ways than one - with its Titan XC "extreme cinema" experience featuring the largest commercial movie screen in the state.

At 66 feet wide by 35 feet high, it towers above the audience. Consolidated installed the new screen and Dolby Surround 7.1 system in one of its larger Ward Stadium 16 auditoriums, which already had a 56-by-35-foot screen.

Moviegoers also will really notice the comfy, wider seats upholstered in leather. The 487 rocker seats are high enough to allow you to lean your head back with support.

With such generous seating, moviegoers will no longer need feel claustrophobic when the house is packed, and there's no jostling for armrest domination with your neighbor because there is plenty of room to relax with your arms at your side.

Consolidated also is offering, for the first time, the option of purchasing reserved seating in advance, so no more coming early on opening weekend to wait in long lines at the box office.

But just how much will moviegoers be willing to pay for such luxuries?

General admission tickets for Titan XC shows are $14.25; $11 for seniors and children. Tickets for 3D movies sell for $16.25 for general admission and $13 for seniors and children.

Jim Bohlen, founder of Greenpeace

Jim Bohlen, whose snap decision to sail to Amchitka Island, Alaska, to protest an underground nuclear test led to the creation of the environmental organization Greenpeace, died Monday in Comox, British Columbia. He was 84 and lived in Courtenay, British Columbia. The cause was complications of Parkinson’s disease, his daughter, Margot Bradley, said.

Mr. Bohlen was a founder of the Don’t Make a Wave Committee, a group of Sierra Club members determined to oppose nuclear testing at Amchitka Island in the Aleutians, which had begun in 1969.

With a test scheduled for fall 1971, little more than a year away, Mr. Bohlen complained to his wife, Marie, that the committee was deliberating too slowly.

As she offhandedly suggested that they sail a boat to the test site, a reporter for The Vancouver Sun called to check in on the committee’s deliberations. Mr. Bohlen, caught off guard, said, “We hope to sail a boat to Amchitka to confront the bomb,” a remark that appeared in the newspaper the next day.

The committee made good on Mr. Bohlen’s pledge. After Irving Stowe, a core member, organized a fund-raising concert in Vancouver with Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Phil Ochs and the Canadian rock band Chilliwack, the committee leased the halibut fishing vessel Phyllis Cormack, and, after renaming it Greenpeace, sailed to Alaska.

Although the boat was intercepted by the Coast Guard, public outcry caused a delay in the test. The program was later abandoned, and Amchitka Island was turned into a bird sanctuary.

Today Greenpeace is an international organization with more than three million members that carries out environmental campaigns through its offices in 40 countries.

TV foods

If Americans ate only foods advertised on TV, a new report says, they would consume 25 times the recommended amount of sugar and 20 times the amount of fat they need, but less than half the dairy, fiber and fruits and vegetables.

For the study, being published this month in The Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers taped 28 days of prime-time television as well as Saturday-morning programming on the four major broadcast networks. They identified 800 foods promoted in 3,000 ads and used a nutritional software program to analyze the content of the items, comparing the foods’ nutritional values with the government’s food guide pyramid and recommended daily intake values for various nutrients.

The study assumed that individuals were limiting themselves to 2,000 calories a day of the advertised foods, said the lead author, Michael Mink, an assistant professor of health sciences at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Ga.

A 2,000-calorie diet made up solely of foods from commercials would provide too much cholesterol, saturated fat and salt, which are associated with chronic disease, Dr. Mink said, but not nearly enough nutrients like iron, calcium or vitamins A, D and E.

“Just one advertised food item by itself will provide, on average, three times your daily recommended servings of sugar and two and half times your daily recommended servings of fat,” he said. “That means one food item could give you three days’ worth of sugar.”

In fact, the sources of nutrition in the TV-ad diet were almost the exact opposite of what the government's food pyramid recommends. Instead of making up the smallest proportion of a day's calories, as nutritionists advise, fats and sugars accounted for the largest portion of calories in a diet based on television advertising. Couple this nutritional inversion with the fact that marketing campaigns are notoriously effective in influencing people's behavior and the result is what many nutrition experts call a toxic environment — one that dissuades Americans from making healthy food choices and encourages inactivity.

Larry King to hang up suspenders

In an announcement that ricocheted throughout the media world Tuesday, venerable talk show host Larry King said he will be stepping down after 25 years of hosting CNN's "Larry King Live.

"It's time to hang up my nightly suspenders," King said in a message via Twitter.

Later in the day, he released a more fleshed-out statement that he also read at the top of his primetime show.

"Before I start the show tonight, I want to share some personal news with you," he said. "Twenty-five years ago, I sat across this table from New York Governor Mario Cuomo for the first broadcast of 'Larry King Live.'

"Now, decades later, I talked to the guys here at CNN and I told them I would like to end 'Larry King Live,' the nightly show, this fall and CNN has graciously accepted, to agree to giving me more time for my wife and I to get to the kids' little league games."

He added that after leaving in the fall, he will remain affiliated with the cable news network in a more limited capacity, hosting the occasional special.

more medical care isn't necessarily healthier

More medical care won't necessarily make you healthier — it may make you sicker. It's an idea that technology-loving Americans find hard to believe.

Anywhere from one-fifth to nearly one-third of the tests and treatments we get are estimated to be unnecessary, and avoidable care is costly in more ways than the bill: It may lead to dangerous side effects.

***

Americans get the most medical radiation in the world, even more than folks in other rich countries. The U.S. accounts for half of the most advanced procedures that use radiation, and the average American's dose has grown sixfold over the last couple of decades.

Too much radiation raises the risk of cancer. That risk is growing because people in everyday situations are getting imaging tests far too often. Like the New Hampshire teen who was about to get a CT scan to check for kidney stones until a radiologist, Dr. Steven Birnbaum, discovered he'd already had 14 of these powerful X-rays for previous episodes. Adding up the total dose, "I was horrified" at the cancer risk it posed, Birnbaum said.

***

By LAURAN NEERGAARD (AP) – Jun 14, 2010

WASHINGTON — D.J. Soviero wanted the least treatment that would beat back her small, early-stage breast cancer, but her first doctor insisted she had only one option: tumor removal followed by radiation and chemotherapy.

Then she found a novel program at the University of California, San Francisco, that gave her an unbiased evaluation of the pros and cons of all treatment options.

"I realized that I didn't need to use a sledgehammer. It was my choice," said Soviero, of San Francisco, who went with the lumpectomy and radiation, but refused the chemo.

It's an unthinkable notion for a generation raised on the message that early cancer detection saves lives, but specialists say more tumors actually are being found too early. That is raising uncomfortable questions about how aggressively to treat early growths — in some cases, even how aggressively to test — along with a push for more of the informed-choice programs such as the one Soviero used.

"The message has been, `Early detection, early detection, early detection.' That's true for some things but not all things," said Dr. Laura Esserman, a breast cancer specialist at UCSF. She helped lead a study, reported last week, that found mammography is increasing diagnoses of tumors deemed genetically very low risk.

"It's not just all about finding any cancer. It's about being more discriminating when you do find it," she added.

***

Fast decisions on life-and-death cases are the bread and butter of hospital emergency rooms. Nowhere do doctors face greater pressures to overtest and overtreat.

The fear of missing something weighs heavily on every doctor's mind. But the stakes are highest in the ER, and that fear often leads to extra blood tests and imaging scans for what may be harmless chest pains, run-of-the-mill head bumps, and non-threatening stomachaches.

Many ER doctors say the No. 1 reason is fear of malpractice lawsuits. "It has everything to do with it," said Dr. Angela Gardner, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

The fast ER pace plays a role, too: It's much quicker to order a test than to ask a patient lots of questions to make sure that test is really needed.

***

The doctors finally let Rosaria Vandenberg go home.

For the first time in months, she was able to touch her 2-year-old daughter who had been afraid of the tubes and machines in the hospital. The little girl climbed up onto her mother's bed, surrounded by family photos, toys and the comfort of home. They shared one last tender moment together before Vandenberg slipped back into unconsciousness.

Vandenberg, 32, died the next day.

That precious time at home could have come sooner if the family had known how to talk about alternatives to aggressive treatment, said Vandenberg's sister-in-law, Alexandra Drane.

Instead, Vandenberg, a pharmacist in Franklin, Mass., had endured two surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation for an incurable brain tumor before she died in July 2004.

Worst Movies Ever

Here's another way to waste time. Not only can you watch movies to pass the time, you can watch the Worst Movies Ever which is actually a channel on youtube.

Here's a few highlights(?)

Karate Dog

SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2

The latest: Dragonball: The Magic Begins

Cowell era ends on American Idol

LOS ANGELES — Simon Cowell was known for being nasty and mean to aspiring singers on "American Idol," but his final appearance on the show was a total lovefest.

The caustic judge was feted in film and in song during Wednesday's season finale, which saw shy paint clerk Lee DeWyze win the "Idol" title.

There was a montage of Cowell's meanest insults ("It sounded like cats jumping off the Empire State Building ... just before they hit the floor") and memorable exchanges with fellow judge Paula Abdul.

She returned to the show to pay respects to Cowell, saying their work together "brought me immeasurable joy."

"I love all the fun we had together, I love all the laughter we shared together," she said, adding that the show "is not going to be the same without you, but as only I can tell you, it will go on."

Comedian Dane Cook offered a musical tribute, melding Cowell's quips into a song.

"You have the honesty of Abe Lincoln and the charm of the guy who shot him," Cook quipped.

Cowell said he felt more emotional than he'd anticipated on his final "Idol" episode.

"I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the support, the fun and your sense of humor," he said. "That's what's been the best part."

"It's been a blast," he continued. "Thank you."

Then he hugged host Ryan Seacrest and kissed Abdul on the head.

Ninjas to the rescue

SYDNEY (AP) - Three men who police said were robbing a German medical student in an alley fled in a panic when five members of a nearby martial arts school rushed to the rescue dressed in full ninja gear.

The trio attacked the 27-year-old man on Tuesday night after he got off a train, New South Wales state police said. As the assault was under way, a student coming out of class at the Ninja Senshi Ryu school saw what was happening and called on his teacher and three other students for help.

"We started running towards them and they took off. They would have seen five of us in ninja gear ... all in black with our belts on, running toward them," ninja sensei Kaylan Soto told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. "I think they're probably still running if I'm not mistaken."

Beatles Let It Be

Went back to Salt Lake for a few weeks, since no tennis (Lori went to Europe, then Cathy went to Vegas).

Steve is still looking for The Avengers on DVD (I got him one of them with his Tower gift card a few years ago, then Tower went bankrupt).

Anyway, he wants the Tara King episodes which is the last season shot in 1968-1969.

Wayne was interested in Remo Williams.

And Steve was also interested in Let It Be which is a sort of a documentary on the Beatles making their last album. The film is currently available only via bootleg, though I see it's on youtube (for now).

He was also interested in getting a copy of Red Cliff. But I told him I don't make copies.

Anyway, I'll see if I can get Remo Williams and The Avengers on swapadvd. Remo Williams looks possible. But it doesn't look so likely with The Avengers. Ebay might be a better bet.

playing in the dirt can boost your brain

Playing in the dirt is actually good for you, with brain-boosting effects caused by naturally occurring bacteria in soil, according to recent research from The Sage Colleges.

By studying how quickly mice negotiate a maze, associate biology professor Dorothy Matthews found that mice did better and showed less stress after eating snacks containing the bacteria, which earlier research shows can increase levels of serotonin, a brain chemical linked in humans with increased learning ability and mood.

“When we look at our evolutionary history, we spent a lot of time as hunter-gatherers, or even more recently in agriculture, where we had lots of contact with the soil,” Matthews said. “It’s only been the last 100 years or so that we’ve become more urbanized and are eating our foods in a different way.”

Her research focused on Mycobacterium vaccae, a strain of bacteria that occurs naturally in soil, and that was first scientifically isolated in cow dung.

Investigating Healthy Minds

Madison, WI, USA, 14 May 2010 (By Ryan J. Foley, AP) - After hearing about his cutting-edge research on the brain and emotions through mutual friends, the Dalai Lama invited Richard Davidson to his home in India in 1992 to pose a question.

Scientists often study depression, anxiety and fear, but why not devote your work to the causes of positive human qualities like happiness and compassion? the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader asked.

"I couldn't give him a good answer," recalled Davidson, a University of Wisconsin-Madison neuroscientist.

Since then, Davidson has become a partner in the Dalai Lama's attempts to build a connection between Buddhism and western science. This weekend, the Dalai Lama will mark the opening of the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the university's Waisman Center, where more than a dozen researchers will study the science behind positive qualities of mind. Davidson said the center will be the only one in the world with a meditation room next to a brain imaging laboratory.

Davidson's research has used brain imaging technology on Buddhist monks and other veteran practitioners of meditation to try to learn how their training affects mental health.

His team's findings suggest meditation and other "contemplative practices" can improve compassion, empathy, kindness and attention. They support the concept that even adult brains can change through experience and learning.

little known facts

VERY INTERESTING STUFF

In the 1400's a law was set forth in that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have 'the rule of thumb'


Many years ago in Scotland, a new game was invented.. It was ruled 'Gentlemen Only...Ladies Forbidden'.. .and thus, the word GOLF entered into the English language.


The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV was Fred and Wilma Flintstone.


Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the Treasury.


Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.


Coca-Cola was originally green.


It is impossible to lick your elbow.


The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska


The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% (now get this...)
The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%


The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $16,400


The average number of people airborne over the U.S. in any given hour: 61,000


Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair..


The first novel ever written on a typewriter, Tom Sawyer.


The Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.


Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:
Spades - King David
Hearts - Charlemagne
Clubs -Alexander the Great
Diamonds - Julius Caesar


111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987, 654,321


If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died because of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes


Only two people signed the Declaration of on July 4, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.


Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what?
A. Their birthplace


Q. Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested?
A. Obsession


Q.. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter 'A'?
A. One thousand


Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers have in common?
A. All were invented by women.


Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil?
A. Honey


Q. Which day are there more collect calls than any other day of the year?
A. Father's Day


In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes, the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase...'Goodnight, sleep tight'


It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon..


In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts.... So in old, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them 'Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down.'

It's where we get the phrase 'mind your P's and Q's'


Many years ago in Englandm pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. 'Wet your whistle' is the phrase inspired by this practice.


At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow!


YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2009 when....

1. You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is
home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't even have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12 You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list

~~~~~~~~~~~AND FINALLY~~~~~ ~~~~~~~
NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself.

Go on, forward this to your friends. You know you want to! Go lick your elbow.


[forwarded by Paula -- didn't check too many of them yet to see if they were true]

The Three Stooges Collection

I'm looking (one of these days) to get the Three Stooges Collection, which was remastered by Sony. Volume 1 came out on October 30, 2007. Volume 8 just came out on June 1 to complete the set.

Then maybe I will finally dump my copies on Betamax (sob).

Anyway I was looking around for an episode guide, and I found one at tv.com (26 seasons!). What's neat is you can also view some of the episodes online. (However, not all of the links worked, for example, the very first one, Women Haters, didn't for me.)

The episodes on volume 1 and volume 2 are currently on Hulu. Women Haters works here. (It's OK, but my computer is no match for my TV.)

They also list the episodes on the DVD set at wikipedia. And the complete filmography at the official site.

***

[6/6/10] Apparently in celebration of the release of volume 8 (the last of the shorts with Joe Besser), Costco is selling each for $16.99 with a instant rebate of $4.00. So that's $12.99 (plus tax). That's a pretty good price. I'm trying to get them a bit cheaper on ebay, but the pickings are slim so far.

***

[6/30/12] After finally completing my Three Stooges Collection on DVD (the first six at Costco in June 2010 and the last two at Best Buy in November 2011), Sony has come out with the Three Stooges Ultimate Collection [released 6/5/12] which has all eight volumes plus another three DVDs containing two feature films plus a bunch of solo shorts featuring Shemp Howard and Joe Besser (separately).  What's more both Amazon and Best Buy are currently selling it for only $44.99! (retail $95.99).  I bought this from Costco yesterday for about $56, but returned it today after I looked up the Amazon price last night.

... a couple hours later.  Hey I see the price at bestbuy.com went up to 69.99. OK order it from Amazon before they raise their price too.

[7/1/12]  Sure enough.  Amazon has raised their price to $64.59 this morning.  Good thing I jumped at the price.

[7/5/12] And now it's up to $89!  But with this ominous message,

"Item Under Review.

While this item is available from other marketplace sellers on this page, it is not currently offered by Amazon.com because customers have told us there may be something wrong with our inventory of the item, the way we are shipping it, or the way it's described here. (Thanks for the tip!)

We're working to fix the problem as quickly as possible."

[7/14/12] Back down to $64.59.  Every single episode episode in the entire collection painstakingly reviewed by Stuart Galbraith IV.  

Took a look at the Rare Treasures DVDs.  There were Columbia shorts that I never knew existed (after having watched the Three Stooges for 50 years).  These were essentially Three Stooges episodes but without Moe and Larry.  Featuring some of the same directors (Jules White, Edward Bernds, etc.) and same supporting actors (Christine McIntyre, Vernon Dent, etc.), but with just Shemp, Joe Besser, or Joe DeRita.  Strange.  One big plus with this set was the inclusion of subtitles unlike the others which just had closed caption.

[10/11/12] Looking at Disorder on the Court with the closed caption on.  After Moe says, "superstitious eh," Curly replies "Vici Kid".  I've been wondering what he said (for like 50 years).  But what does it mean?  Looking it up, "Vici kid was a fine soft leather used mainly for gloves and shoes.  So apparently Curly was commenting on the fine, soft leathery quality of the court clerk's toupee."  Oh.

[6/5/14] I couldn't resist and bought another Ultimate Collection at Best Buy (on 5/18/14) since it was selling for only $29.99!  Amazon is now also selling it for $29.99 (it was higher when I bought it at Best Buy).   The Rare Treasures alone is selling for $14.74 ($49.99 list).

[8/11/14]  Three Stooges is no longer streaming on Crackle :(  However free hulu has come to android.  So maybe it'll come to Roku and IOS.  So maybe Three Stooges will come back that way.  Meanwhile, you can still watch pirated episodes on youtube (no subtitles though).

Timmy Leong

Timmy Leong, a self-taught bodybuilder who was one of Hawaii's most prominent musclemen and owner of Timmy's Health Gym, died of natural causes May 16 at the Queen's Medical Center. He was 83.

Leong, of Kaimuki, represented Hawaii in Mr. America and Mr. USA competitions on the mainland in the 1950s. His ripped body, photographed on Hawaii's beaches, also appeared on national magazine covers.

For more than 40 years, Leong ran Timmy's Health Gym, where clients trained for local physique contests and beauty pageants.

Leong's gym became an informal headquarters for visiting professional wrestlers and local and international bodybuilders, including Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Born in Honolulu on Jan. 11, 1927, Leong graduated from McKinley High School as a shy and skinny youth too frail to play football.

Inspired by pro wrestlers, he took up weight training and used magazine articles as references for training, spending hours working out with homemade weights.

"I used to use sand -- anything that was heavy," Leong told the Star-Bulletin in 1995.

In the Army he served as a physical instructor and became a lifeguard at Fort DeRussy.

Leong eventually won all the physique contests in Hawaii and entered the Mr. America contest in 1953, finishing in seventh place and winning the "best back" award.

He entered the Mr. USA contest in 1956, placing fourth, and coming in sixth in 1957, according to the website musclememory.com.

In the early '50s Leong opened Timmy's Health Gym on King Street across from McKinley High School. When King Street was widened, he moved his gym downtown and moved at least two more times, said Tommy Kono, a friend and three-time weightlifting Olympic medalist.

Kono admired Leong for participating in national competitions. "He wasn't afraid to get defeated," Kono said. "He wanted to see how he would do against the best."

In the 1950s and '60s, Leong visited the neighbor islands to put on physique exhibitions, sometimes with Kono, who demonstrated weightlifting.

His nephew Darryl Lee said Leong continued working out and coaching friends on their health until his death.

Leong is survived by sister Audrey N.L. Lee and numerous nieces and nephews.

Family and friends may call at the Diamond Head Mortuary Chapel from 9:30 a.m. Friday. Service begins at 11:15 a.m. with graveside services at Diamond Head Memorial Park from 12:25 p.m. Aloha attire.

***

My dad sent me to Timmy's Gym when I was in the ninth or tenth grade. Nice man.

the comics, they are a changin'

[7/27/10] I'm checking the Sunday comics section.

Mutts, For Better or For Worse, Garfield, Zits, Prince Valiant, Sherman's Lagoon, Dennis The Menace, Agnes, Pearls Before Swine, Pickles, Dog eat Doug, Over The Hedge, Baby Blues, Between Friends, Hagar The Horrible, Brewster Rockit, Dilbert, Mother Goose & Grimm, Cul de Sac, Betty, Pooch Cafe, Sally Forth, Red and Rover, Jump Start, Non Sequitur, Tundra, The Family Circus, Lola, Candorville, Luann, Beetle Bailey, Blondie, Get Fuzzy, The Knight Life, Frazz.

So at least Sally Forth, Agnes, and Brewster Rockit are still in the Sunday comics.

On 7/4, the lineup was Trouble In Paradise, Mutts, For Better or For Worse, Garfield, Zits, Sherman's Lagoon, Doonesbury, Agnes, Pearls Before Swine, Pickles, Dog eat Doug, Over The Hedge, Baby Blues, Between Friends, Retail, Brewster Rockit, Dilbert, Mother Goose & Grimm, Cul de Sac, Betty, Pooch Cafe, Sally Forth, Red and Rover, Jump Start, Non Sequitur, Tundra, Prickly City, Lola, Candorville, Luann, Beetle Bailey, Blondie, Get Fuzzy, The Knight Life, Frazz.

So there weren't that many changes (see below). In are Prince Valiant, Dennis The Menace, Hagar The Horrible, The Family Circus. Out are Trouble In Paradise, Doonesbury, Retail, Prickly City. (And actually Trouble In Paradise, Doonesbury and Prickly City moved. So the only casualty was Retail.)

Physically, Trouble In Paradise vacated the top of the first page. Mutts, For Better or For Worse, Garfield, Zits moved up one spot on the page. And Prince Valiant moved into the bottom of the first page.

Dennis The Menace took the place of Doonesbury on the second page.
Hagar The Horrible took the place of Retail on the third page.
The Family Circus took the place of Prickly City on the fifth page.

[7/12/10] Comparing today's comics section to Saturday. Today there's Baby Blues, Sherman's Lagoon, Blondie, Beetle Bailey, Zits, Mutts, Get Fuzzy, Hagar The Horrible, Frazz, Pickles. Then on the right column, there's Garfield, For Better or For Worse, Mother Goose & Grimm, Betty, Pearls Before Swine, Luanne, Dog Eat Doug, Cul de Sac, Family Circus, Dennis the Menace.

On Saturday the lineup was Baby Blues, Sherman's Lagoon, Doonesbury, Pooch Cafe, Zits, Retail, Get Fuzzy, Sally Forth, Frazz, Pickles. Then Garfield, For Better or For Worse, Prickly City, Betty, Pearls Before Swine, Luanne, Brewster Rockit Space Guy, Agnes, Dog Eat Doug, Cul de Sac.

So, as mentioned below, in are Blondie, Beetle Bailey, Hagar The Horrible, Mother Goose & Grimm, Family Circus, Dennis the Menace. Moved to the editorial section are Doonesbury and Prickly City. And out are Pooch Cafe, Retail, Sally Forth, Brewster Rockit Space Guy, Agnes.

I definitely disagree on the ousting of Sally Forth and Brewster Rockit. Agnes too.

***

Prince Valiant returns to the Sunday comics section. Also returning by popular demand to the Sunday funnies as of today: "Hagar the Horrible," "Dennis the Menace" and "Family Circus."

And tomorrow the Star-Advertiser will welcome to the daily comics lineup "Beetle Bailey," "Blondie," "Dennis the Menace," "Family Circus," "Hagar the Horrible," "Mutts" and "Mother Goose & Grimm." And that will close the books on changes to the comics sections based on readers' comments.

***

With no prior notice, Housebroken was replaced by Dog Eat Doug on 5/3/10 in the Star Bulletin comics section (printed edition). Hmm, I never noticed until now that they had a comics section online.

Not that it matters, since I usually didn't read Housebroken, and I haven't been reading Dog Eat Doug either.

That makes the current lineup Doonesbury, Pooch Cafe, Zits, Get Fuzzy, Brewster Rockit: Space Guy, Dog Eat Doug, Betty, Cul De Sac, Sally Forth, For Better or For Worse, Prickly City, and Sherman's Lagoon. They also feature Garfield on page 3. And Dilbert in the Business section. And Agnes in the Today section.

I just so happen to going through the 3/31/09 paper from my pile (only now). The lineup was For Better or For Worse, Sherman's Lagoon, Zits, Get Fuzzy, Doonesbury, Housebroken, Betty, Cul De Sac, Sally Forth, Shoe, Classic Peanuts, Prickly City, Garfield, Brewster Rockit! Space Guy, Pooch Cafe, Agnes. Plus Dilbert in the Business Section.

So gone besides Housebroken are Shoe and Classic Peanuts, both of which I liked, as the lineup has shrunk from 17 to 15. I think Shoe and Peanuts vanished when the Star Bulletin went tabloid.

***

[6/13/10] Revamped Sunday comics section debuts

[6/6/10] With the debut of the new Star-Advertiser, these comics will appear:

Daily versions of:

» "Baby Blues"
» "Retail"
» "Frazz"
» "Pickles"
» "Pearls Before Swine"
» "Luann"

Sunday versions of:
» "For Better or For Worse"
» "Pearls Before Swine"
» "Retail"
» "Dilbert"
» "Mother Goose & Grimm"
» "Frazz"
» "Sally Forth"
» "Red and Rover"
» "Beetle Bailey"
» "Jump Start"
» "Between Friends"

Weren't we already getting For Better of For Worse, Dilbert, Sally Forth on Sunday? Maybe not. Well, if not, it's about time!

***

Here's some previous changes

2/3/08 - Prickly City and Cul De Sac replace State of the Union and Lucky Cow

7/15/07 - Maintaining added to Sunday section.

4/22/07 - Thorney's Zoo and Calabash added to Sunday lineup

4/15/07 - Zack Hill, La Cucaracha, Preteena booted off. HouseBroken, State of the Union, Brewster Rockit: Space Guy added.

1/8/06 - Peach Fuzz and Van Von Hunter added to Sunday lineup. (I kind of don't remember these, so I guess I never bothered looking at them.)

2/15/04 - 11 new comic strips introduced to Sunday lineup: Spot The Frog, Tina's Groove, PC & Pixel, 9 Chickweed Lane, Slylock Fox, Pickles (one of my favorites), Big Nate, Over the Hedge, Candorville and Rudy Park, Zippy, The Amazing Spiderman. Plus Isaac Asimov's Super Quiz.

9/20/99 - Get Fuzzy debuts

Redbox (and friends)

Redbox is popular on the mainland, but according to their website, there's only one on the island. And somehow it's at Iolani Palace.

However the Safeways here have DVDPlay. And Foodland has DVDXPress. I remember seeing a machine at the Times at Kam Shopping Center. I'll have to check what they have here. [6/6/10 - OK, finally got the spelling right, it's dvmatic.]

What's cool about DVDXpress is I can check what movies are available via the internet.

***

[8/22/10] I noticed RedBox at Walgreens a few weeks ago. And at Foodland too. RedBox is finally here. Looking at the website, I see it's at Foodland (School Street), Walgreens (School Street), K-Mart (Nimitz), Foodland (Dillingham), Foodland (Beretania), Walgreens (Kapiolani), and even at the Salt Lake Longs. In all, Redbox lists 46 on the island.

I even see a few Blu-Ray titles available. These rent for $1.50 per day rather than $1.00.

DVDXpress no longer lists any machines in Hawaii.

Quietus (for tinnitus)

I see this ad in Parade for Quietus which is supposed to cure tinnitus (which I have).

I wonder how good/not good it is. I'm not holding my breath...

I see it's for sale at Amazon for $99.95. 1-1/2 stars with 8 customer reviews.

One five-star review.

Benn using this for 3 weeks and have noticed the ringing slowly going away. great product and nice staff.

The other seven reviews were all one-star. For example,

I suffer from Tinnitus. Everyone from the American Medical Association to my Doctor to the Audio Engineering Society all say the same thing. "Tinnitus is permanent nerve damage. there is no cure"..but like a fool I tried it. Doesn't work.

***

I purchase three months worth of Quietus and can state with conviction that this product is very expensive and doesn't work. Subsequently, you may want to start looking at the root causes of your ailment, which means altering your diet and adjusting your attitudes towards your daily environment.

Many things have to be present in your body chemistry for Tinnitus to occur. Most prevalent is a stressful environment and high counts of salicylic acid in the bloodstream. Work on reducing stress the same way you would if you had a bad heart or high blood pressure. Consult your physician and if you do not have a heart condition immediately stop taking aspirin, which is the purest form of acetylsalicylic acid. Cutting out related ibuprofen pain killers is just as helpful.

Still more difficult is cutting down on or altogether avoiding foods with high levels of salicylic acid. Foods that most people love, including olives, tomato, mushrooms, raisins, dates, almonds, peanuts, curry, mustard, and pistachios. I have noticed that drinking even small quantities of red wine increases ringing in my years, so you may want to check that out as well. None of this is easy, but life's all about choices. Avoiding stressful situations will no doubt have the greatest impact.

Good luck and forget about Quietus.

***

A look around Amazon and other places online will quickly show you that unlike headaches and other bothersome ailments that make our lives miserable, as far as tinnitus is concerned there are very few solutions or miracle cures even being offered. Tinnitus sufferers don't even have the "luxury" of trying dozens of different concoctions in hope of some relief, for there are only a mere handful of so called remedies being offered at all. Quietus was the latest, and third in a line of promised relief that I have tried. Unfortunately, it moves to the head of the class as far as being not only totally ineffective, but the premier example of true highway robbery with its price. I am ashamed to admit that this is one product that I actually decided to spring for simply because I believed that no company would charge this much money for something that didn't work. Or at least work well enough to ease up the suffering just a little bit. I will never be so stupid and naive again.

***

What surprised me was the ad had a table listing ginkgo biloba and minerals: zinc/mag as other choice (obviously not as good as quietus) for tinnitus. That's news to me.

Here's a review of Quietus that mentioned that Gingko Biloba sometimes helps lull the ringing.

Here's reference that states that the regular medication with ginkgo biloba is effective in the treatment of tinnitus.

Here's another report that mentions gingko biloba as well as zinc and magnesium (as well as a lot of other information).

Here's another study that found no effect.

But here's one that found results.

But heck, what do I have to lose? I have some gingko biloba in a bottle that nobody is using anyway.

***

Getting better reviews on Amazon is Clear Tinnitus 60 Capsules for only $9.68. 3-1/2 stars, 11 reviews.

CLEAR TINNITUS, contains a unique proprietary blend of thirteen herbs, scientifically formulated to work in combination with active homeopathic ingredients to provide temporary relief of tinnitus.

Out of the eleven reviews, five were five-star and three were one-star.

I have had tinnitus for some time and have been using Clear Tinnitus for about 2 years off and on. My symptoms improve noticeably when taking two caps per day. When I stop, symptoms return within about a week. I've tried this a few times with the same results each time. I just tried to reduce to one cap in the morning and symptoms started returning. So I'm back to 2 caps in the morning. I was very skeptical after trying a bunch of other vitamins etc but this did help me. I don't think anything is going to be a panacea for everyone, but this does indeed help some people and is worth a try. The whistling is unbearable and while this doesn't stop it altogether, it helps significantly where I barely notice it most of the time... Just be aware that it doesn't work immediately. It starts to work after a few weeks or so.

On the other hand,

I took this product for 7 days before experiencing severe dizziness with vomiting. The room was not "spinning", but it did feel like the room was revolving around me. I didn't take the product again until the next day. Within a few hours of taking it, I again experienced the vertigo and vomiting. Once again, I did not take the product until one day later at which time I suffered the same symptoms for the third time. I quit taking the product and have not experienced the symptoms again. I think the product label should be changed from reading "no side effects" to say that there may be side effects of dizziness, vomiting and vertigo.

[but did the ringing stop? 8]

***

Here's another one, advertised in the 5/10/10 Star Bulletin, called Ring No More.

How good does it work? Well here's one comment.

This product is a scam! I ordered it, it took 3 weeks to deliver almost as the 30 day guarantee trial was up (3 weeks to ship), i had to fight with a supervisor to get a refund 1 day after the 30 day trial period was up, and then they say it will take up to 60 days to provide a refund. I think they make money on floating refunds after people figure out this little white tablet doesn't do a thing to help.

I hope others research before they order. Ringing ears are terrible and this company is preying on people's health issues. DO NOT ORDER THIS product.

And here's a report.

However here are some products that might be worth investigating.

*** [8/15/14]

IF YOUR EARS are ringing, hissing, buzzing, roaring, whistling, chirping or clicking, you may have tinnitus; the term is derived from the Latin word tinnire, which means “to ring.” An estimated 42 million to 50 million adult Americans have tinnitus, which is the perception of a sound in one or both ears when no external sound is present.

Tinnitus can be caused by loud noises, medications such as aspirin that can damage the nerves in the ear, impacted earwax, middle-ear problems (such as infections or vascular tumors), Ménière’s disease (a disorder of the balance mechanism in the inner ear), aging or clenching one’s jaw or grinding one’s teeth.

“Many things can trigger tinnitus, but the most common thing by far is hearing loss,” says Dr. David J. Eisenman, associate professor of otorhinolaryngology (head and neck surgery) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “Treatment of a hearing loss will often improve tinnitus.”

Costco Connection article, February 2014

[hearing loss?  what?  I think I should clean my ear wax first.]

Gary Coleman

Former child star Gary Coleman, who rose to fame as the wisecracking youngster Arnold Jackson on the TV sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes" but grew up to grapple with a troubled adulthood, has died. He was 42.

"We are very sad to have to report Mr. Gary Coleman has passed away," his spokesman, John Alcantar, said in a statement Friday afternoon. "He was removed from life support; soon thereafter, he passed quickly and peacefully. By Gary's bedside were his wife and other close family members."

Coleman died after being stricken with a brain hemorrhage following an accident at his home in Santaquin, Utah, on Wednesday, a hospital spokeswoman said. He was rushed by ambulance to a Provo hospital, Coleman's spokesman had said earlier Friday.

He was then taken to another hospital -- Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo -- later Wednesday night.

In the late '70s and early '80s, Coleman was one of television's brightest stars, the personality around which NBC's "Strokes" -- the story of two inner-city children who are taken in by a wealthy businessman, his daughter and their housekeeper -- was built.

"There was a touch of magic and a different stroke in Gary Coleman. He was the inspiration behind his show's title," said producer Norman Lear, whose company oversaw the show.

Coleman's natural charm and way with a line -- the frequently uttered "Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?", directed at his older brother (played by Todd Bridges), became a catchphrase -- helped make the show a breakout hit, a mainstay of the NBC schedule from 1978 to 1985 (and on ABC for a year afterward).

Art Linkletter

Art Linkletter, who as the gently mischievous host of TV's "People Are Funny" and "House Party" in the 1950s and '60s delighted viewers with his ability to get kids — and grownups — to say the darndest things on national television, died Wednesday. He was 97.

Linkletter died at his home in the Bel-Air section of Los Angeles, said his son-in-law, Art Hershey, the husband of Sharon Linkletter. "He lived a long, full, pure life, and the Lord had need for him," Hershey said.

Linkletter had been ill "in the last few weeks time, but bear in mind he was 97 years old. He wasn't eating well, and the aging process took him," Hershey said.

Linkletter was known on TV for his funny interviews with children and ordinary folks. He also collected their comments in a number of best-selling books.

"Because of Art Linkletter, adults found themselves enjoying children," said Bill Cosby, whose style interviewing kids on his own show in the late '90s was often compared to Linkletter's.

"An amazing fellow, a terrific broadcast talent, a brilliant businessman. An all-around good guy," CNN's Larry King added about his longtime friend and frequent guest.

Asked what made Linkletter so appealing to audiences, King said, "He had an unusual voice, a twang to his voice that was immediately recognizable. And he looked like your favorite uncle."

"Art Linkletter's House Party," one of television's longest-running variety shows, debuted on radio in 1944 and was seen on CBS-TV from 1952 to 1969.

Hitler parodies leaving the room

YouTube has recently begun removing videos that feature content from Constantin Films' 2004 film, "Der Untergang" ("Downfall"), despite the fact that many of these videos are parodies and thus constitute fair use of the material.

The "Downfall," or Hitler-parody, meme has been, arguably, a viral spate of publicity for Constantin Films in the past few years. The meme takes a now-infamous scene from the movie (the scene in which Hitler reacts to the news that Germany is about to lose the war) and puts satirical subtitles over the action (the movie is in German). Hitler parodies have been made for everything from "Hitler finds out Tony Romo dumped Jessica Simpson," to "Hitler is Fired from Whataburger," to, more recently, "Hitler Responds to the iPad."

Of course, the real question is: why? Why has Constantin Films chosen to suddenly claim copyright on these clips after six years — especially when the clips generate interest from parties who are otherwise unlikely to even look at the film (the film, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, was independently produced and is entirely in German). Certainly plenty of wayward YouTubers and Internet-goers have been driven to discover the source of the clips that provide them with so much entertainment. So, yes, you wonder why Constantin Films is suddenly putting the kibosh on this obvious stream of free publicity.

Even the director of "Downfall," Oliver Hirschbiegel, thinks the parodies are funny. He told New York Magazine in January 2010: "Someone sends me the links every time there's a new one. I think I've seen about 145 of them! Of course, I have to put the sound down when I watch. Many times the lines are so funny, I laugh out loud, and I’m laughing about the scene that I staged myself! You couldn't get a better compliment as a director."

***

We'll how long this one lasts.

bad habits can age you

Four common bad habits combined — smoking, drinking too much, inactivity and poor diet — can age you by 12 years, sobering new research suggests.

The findings are from a study that tracked nearly 5,000 British adults for 20 years, and they highlight yet another reason to adopt a healthier lifestyle.

Overall, 314 people studied had all four unhealthy behaviors. Among them, 91 died during the study, or 29 percent. Among the 387 healthiest people with none of the four habits, only 32 died, or about 8 percent.

The risky behaviors were: smoking tobacco; downing more than three alcoholic drinks per day for men and more than two daily for women; getting less than two hours of physical activity per week; and eating fruits and vegetables fewer than three times daily.

These habits combined substantially increased the risk of death and made people who engaged in them seem 12 years older than people in the healthiest group, said lead researcher Elisabeth Kvaavik of the University of Oslo.

Nobelity

I happened to see the DVD One Peace at a Time at Blockbuster (featuring the music of Willie Nelson and others). I thought it was in the $3.99 bin, but it turned out to be a rental. So I put it back.

Anyway looking at the comments on Amazon, it's sort of the sequel to Nobelity which is a film which interviews Nobel Laureates about their ideas on solving the world's problems. The project was spearheaded by Turk Pipkin who is an actor turned activist (well, I think he's still an actor).

The Nobelity Project has a website and a series of videos on youtube.

I see they're selling Nobelity for $24.95 and One Peace at a Time for $19.95.

I'm thinking I should begin by solving my own problems first (and I should -- just looking at the piles I stuff around me). But it looks like I can pick up Nobelity for "free" (well for a credit) at swapadvd, so maybe I should pounce on it. Maybe it'll give me a kick in the pants..

...

Do it! (Especially since there's only one copy available.) It'll be my first DVD ordered through swapadvd. (Right now, I have four credits to use. One free one to start. Two from three books I sent. And another from the Star Trek DVD I posted. And hopefully two more to come when the Star Trek gets received -- one for the DVD and one Movie Mogul credit.

Put it this way. If I saw this used on sale at Blockbuster, I would probably pick it up. And if it were to suddenly be gone from dvdswap, I would regret not grabbing it.

Doing a search at swapadvd for Nobelity also turns up Beyond The Call which is a DVD containing three short movies including an interview apparently from Nobelity. Evidently Beyond The Call appeared on PBS.

...

One Peace at a Time. Let's start with the pile on the coffee table..

***

[5/17/10] Cool. Turk Pipkin himself left a comment. Here's a link to his blog.

***

[5/24/10] Got the DVD on Saturday, watched it early this morning (woke up and went back to sleep). A very noble effort. Kind of reminded me of Charles Kuralt show, except Turk traveled around the world, talked to important people, and asked important questions. I can see where it might be slightly controversial, especially regarding comments on global warming. And some comments by Desmond Tutu. But I take everybody's opinions in high regard. Now to see if I can scoop up One Peace At A Time (and perhaps try to do my small part).

***

[3/22/13] Browsing Popcorn Flix on my Roku and notice that both Nobelity and One Peace at a Time are available on it (for free!).  I see they're also on hulu.  10 Questions for the Dalai Lama is also on popcorn flix (and hulu too).

[6/9/12] One Peace at a Time on youtube.

The Greatest 9200 Films of All Time

IF Brad Bourland were a movie character he might be T. E. Lawrence in “Lawrence of Arabia,” embarking on a small project yet ending up on an epic quest; perhaps he’d be Jake Gittes in “Chinatown,” relentlessly digging, following what he finds even if it takes him someplace disagreeable; or maybe Jefferson Smith in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” an outsider and novice who shows the establishment a thing or two.

Mr. Bourland, of course, is none of these. He’s a produce clerk in an Austin, Tex., grocery. But Mr. Bourland, 58, has spent nearly a decade on a monumental task that he hopes will make his a name to remember in the world of movies.

He has ranked the greatest films of the 20th century. Sure, the American Film Institute and endless others have generated Top 10 or 100 Greatest lists. But Mr. Bourland goes them — well, one better isn’t even close. He has ranked the 20th century’s 9,200 greatest movies, watching more than 7,000 of them in the process. (He plans to reach 10,000 from readers suggesting titles he has overlooked. The list is at themovielistonline.com.)

“I’m a huge movie lover and began to wonder if people were going to forget all the great old movies,” said Mr. Bourland. “I was going to make a list of about 200 old classics, but within six months it evolved into the best of all time.”

***

Hmm. I see the list is a doc file. Here's the top 10.

1. Casablanca (1943) d.- Michael Curtiz (7)
2. Citizen Kane (1941) d.- Orson Welles (7)
3. The Godfather (1972) d.- Francis Ford Coppola (7)
4. The Wizard of Oz (1939) d.- Victor Fleming (7)
5. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) (BR) d.- David Lean (7)
6. It's a Wonderful Life (1946) d.- Frank Capra (7)
7. Schindler's List (1993) d.- Steven Spielberg (7)
8. Singin' in the Rain (1952) d.- Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly (7)
9. Gone With The Wind (1939) d.- Victor Fleming (7)
10. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) d.- Milos Forman (7)

I suppose these are all classics, but I wouldn't go out of my way to see any of them. Well maybe I might sit to down catch a rerun of It's a Wonderful Life one of these years. I don't know what that (7) means.

My favorite film, Oh God!, ranks 1694. My second favorite film, Heaven Can Wait (the Warren Beatty version), is not far behind at 1714. Other favorites. Sneakers is at 2031. Wrath of Khan is at 751 (pretty high). The Voyage Home is at 1780. Fist of Legend is nowhere to be seen (I guess it's only American movies? Perhaps so, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon isn't on there either. Enter the Dragon is on there at 2168.)

[5/30/14]  Empire Magazine ranks the 301 Greatest Movies of All Time (as voted by their readers.  Let's browse.  295 West Side Story, 294 Back to the Future II, 292 King Kong, 291 Conan The Barbarian, 288 Batman, 286 Man of Steel (gotta finish watching this on HBO Go), 284 Bridge on the River Kwai, 279 Fantasia, 272 The Little Mermaid, 260 Blazing Saddles, 255 Transformers, 253 The Hunger Games, 250 Home Alone, 245 Star Trek Into Darkness, 244 Dumb and Dumber, 242 Iron Man 3, 241 The Crow, 239 Iron Man, 228 Finding Nemo (I'd rank this higher), 224 Star Wars III - Revenge of the Sith (still haven't watched the whole DVD), 223 Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone, 221 Goldfinger, 220 The Maltese Falcon, 219 The Sting, 218 The Incredibles, 212 Cool Hand Luke, 207 Life is Beautiful, 206 Planet of the Apes, 200 Ben Hur, 194 The Sound of Music (thought this would be higher), 192 Grease, 191 Field of Dreams, 188 Star Trek (2009), 186 Top Gun, 185 The Fifth Element, 183 Captain America The Winter Soldier, 181 The Great Escape, 179 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, 176 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 175 Dr. Strangelove, 174 Braveheart, 167 Monty Python and the Holy Grail, 162 Shaun of the Dead, 160 Casino Royale (2006), 159 Frozen, 157 Beauty and the Beast, 155 Airplane!, 153 Watchmen, 152 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II (haven't watched it yet), 151 When Harry Met Sally, 148 The Social Network (hadn't watched it yet), 141 The Goonies, 139 Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 138 Batman Begins (I guess I should add this to my collection), 134 Wall-E, 132 To Kill a Mockingbird, 129 Life of Brian, 128 Dirty Dancing, 126 Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgandy (hmm), 125 Annie Hall, 124 Robocop, 123 Wizard of Oz (I would have expected higher - it's #4 above), 121 Superman the Movie, 120 Star Wars VI - Return of the Jedi, 117 Good Will Hunting, 115 The Princess Bride, 114 Groundhog Day, 113 The French Connection (another one I never finished watching), 112 Evil Dead II, 111 Up, 110 Avatar (never watched the whole thing), 109 The Green Mile, 108 Predator, 107 The Terminator, 100 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, 99 The Blues Brothers, 96 Singin' in the Rain (no. 8 above), 95 Rocky, 94 Kill Bill vol. 1, 93 Fargo, 90 Serenity (never watched more than a couple of minutes), 89 Star Trek II: the Wrath of Khan (one of my favorites), 83 North by Northwest, 82 Spirited Away, 76 Saving Private Ryan, 74 Stand by Me, 73 Lost in Translation (really?), 72 The Dark Knight Rises (working on it), 70 Psycho (I was scared), 69 Raging Bull, 68 Amelie (still have the half-watched DVD), 67 Silence of the Lambs, 66 The Lion King, 65 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 63 Ghostbusters, 62 Titanic, 58 Toy Story, 57 Seven Samurai, 52 Gone with the Wind (#9 above), 47 The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, 46 Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, 45 Skyfall, 40 It's a Wonderful Life (#6 above), 39 Die Hard, 36 Heat, 35 Gravity (I guess I'll have to see this one day), 34 Forrest Gump, 33 Citizen Kane (#2 above), 31 Lawrence of Arabia (#5 above, did I ever watch this?), 28 Terminator 2: Judgment Day, 27 Gladiator, 26 Casablanca (#1 above), 25 Schindler's List (#7 above), 23 The Matrix, 22 2001: A Space Odyssey, 21 Alien, 19 Aliens, 18 Jurassic Park, 17 Back to the Future, 16 Avengers Assemble, 15 The Godfather Part II, 12 Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, 11 Blade Runner, 10 Inception (never saw this), 9 Raiders of the Lost Ark, 8 Jaws, 7 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 6 Star Wars IV - A New Hope,  4 The Shawshank Redemption, 3 The Dark Knight (really?), 2 The Godfather, 1 - The Empire Strikes Back (!)

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More lists via Bing

uncovering spam

Yes, I love Spam, but for a canned meat that's so near and dear to my heart, I didn't know much about Spam's history or what it's made of. Sure, we've all heard the rumor that Spam stands for "Spare Parts And More," but that's just an urban legend, right?

Originally called "Hormel Spiced Ham," Hormel reintroduced the canned meat as "Spam" in 1937. Spam owes its name to Kenneth Daigneau, who suggested it during a New Year's Eve party. There are many speculations and hypotheses as to what Spam stands for, but the official meaning of the name is that it is a portmanteau derived from "spiced ham."

Although Spam was a popular household product in America, it wasn't until World War II that Spam attained the recognition and consumption level it has today. Because Spam was a canned product and required no refrigeration, it was an ideal protein for the military and soon became a staple in K-rations for soldiers. These soldiers introduced the product to communities they went to, including Hawaii, integrating Spam into the local diet.

OK, so we've got the history down, but what is Spam made of? As the name "spiced ham" implies, Spam is a pork product, and don't worry, it's not made up of a pig's "spare parts." To put diners at ease, Spam is made out of a blend of pork shoulder and ham, the meat that comes from the pig's shoulders, rump and hind legs.

***

Who made the first spam musubi?

Sun-Ki Chai, moderator at the food-centric Hawaii eGullet forum, found some history in "Hawaii's 2nd Spam Cookbook" (Bess Press, 2001). The book is also cited in a June 2002 article on musubi in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

According to author Ann Kondo Corum, Mitsuko Kaneshiro first made spam musubi for her children, but then started selling them out of City Pharmacy on Pensacola Street in Mo`ili`ili. By the early 1980s, she was selling 500 a day — all made by hand — from her own shop, Michan's Musubi. She also sold them to the wide network of blind vendors running shops and kiosks in state buildings, perhaps putting them directly before the movers, shakers, and policy makers of Hawaii. (Or maybe not.)

***

Spam is not a healthy thing to eat.

older is wiser?

It turns out grandma was right: Listen to your elders. New research indicates they are indeed wise — in knowing how to deal with conflicts and accepting life's uncertainties and change.

It isn't a question of how many facts someone knows, or being able to operate a TV remote, but rather how to handle disagreements — social wisdom.

And researchers led by Richard E. Nisbett of the University of Michigan found that older people were more likely than younger or middle-aged ones to recognize that values differ, to acknowledge uncertainties, to accept that things change over time and to acknowledge others' points of view.

not a democracy

Some Utah County parents are calling on the Alpine School District to stop spreading "false educational ideas." First and foremost, the parents say, the district needs to clamp down on its use of the D-word: "democracy."

This week, a spokeswoman for Utah's Republic, a group that advocates for a strict interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, asked the Alpine Board of Education to scrap its democracy-centered mission statement. The issue has sparked a dust-up over the past month, garnering petition signatures from hundreds of Alpine parents and a rebuke of the school board by the Provo Daily Herald's editorial board.

Alpine's mission statement is "Educating all students to ensure the future of our democracy."

But this nation is a republic, not a democracy, said Oak Norton, a Highland father of five and the founder of Utah's Republic. The Constitution guarantees every state a "republican form of government." "Karl Marx said, 'Democracy is the road to socialism,' " Norton said. A true democracy, he said, relies solely on majority rule and inevitably devolves into anarchy, which then sprouts socialist dictators.

The term "democracy" is commonly used to refer to American society and the power of the people to participate in government, including through votes on ballot measures and representatives, said Kirk Jowers, director of the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics..

"Technically the United States is a constitutional republic," he said. "However, leaders from both [political] parties have often referred to us as a democracy."

Jowers said he received some of the same criticism about the D-word as chairman of the Governor's Commission on Strengthening Utah's Democracy.

"There seems to be a segment of the population who is worried not just about being technically precise on these words ... but somehow interprets a move to democracy as some type of a progressive movement that needs to be stopped," Jowers said. "For the most part, when people talk about strengthening democracy, they're talking about getting more people in the United States involved in our politics and government and more nations in the world being subject to elections instead of dictators."

***

For the most part I enjoyed the editorial, "The price of freedom is an active citizenry," (Star-Advertiser, July 4), but with one exception. The author called out our "democracy" when in fact our country was founded as and continues constitutionally bound as a "republic." While often considered as one and the same (in both scenarios government is elected by the people), there is a clear distinction. In a democracy the majority rules (potentially, "mob rule"). However, in a republic, government rules according to the law of the land, which in turn is framed by our Constitution.

Von Kenric Kaneshiro
Honolulu