Avoid The Rush Altogether!!!

Say What? More real than real!

In The Know: Situation In Nigeria Seems Pretty Complex

Garbage! Join The Revolution!

The 'Tappening' movement was inspired by 'Garbage!'...

Over 40k bottles sold!--So long bottled water!

Beautiful Dreamer

“Has Jennifer Aniston become smarter since signing on as the new spokesperson of SmartWater last spring? Yes!

Jennifer Aniston Recruits Tom Brady To Sell Dumb Water

Happiness Machines

The Century of the Self

Episode Guide

The Century of the Self is an acclaimed documentary by filmmaker Adam Curtis released in 2002.

Adam Curtis (born 1955) is a British television documentary maker who has during the course of his television career worked as a writer, producer, director and narrator. He currently works for BBC Current Affairs. He is noted for making programmes which express a clear (and sometimes controversial) opinion about their subject, and for narrating the programmes himself.

"This series is about how those in power have used Freud's theories to try and control the dangerous crowd in an age of mass democracy." - Adam Curtis

Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, changed the perception of the human mind and its workings. His influence on the 20th century is widely regarded as massive.

This documentary describes the impact of Freud's theories on the perception of the human mind, and the ways public relations agencies and politicians have used this during the last 100 years for their "engineering of consent".

The Century of the Self asks deeper questions about the roots and methods of modern consumerism, representative democracy and its implications. It also questions the modern way we see ourselves, the attitude to fashion and superficiality.

Where once the political process was about engaging people's rational, conscious minds, as well as facilitating their needs as a society, the documentary shows how by employing the tactics of psychoanalysis, politicians appeal to irrational, primitive impulses that have little apparent bearing on issues outside of the narrow self-interest of a consumer population. He cites a Wall Street banker as saying "We must shift America from a needs- to a desires-culture. People must be trained to desire, to want new things, even before the old have been entirely consumed. [...] Man's desires must overshadow his needs."

Download Here! or Watch Film Now! • Episode One: 58 minutes

From: freedocumentaries.org

Or Try Google In 6 Parts

Happiness Machines (part 1 of 6)

Happiness Machines (part 2 of 6)

Happiness Machines (part 3 of 6)

Happiness Machines (part 4 of 6)

Happiness Machines (part 5 of 6)

Happiness Machines (part 6 of 6)

All 4 episodes of the documentary are also available as download or streaming video at Google Video

The Century of the Self (as well as The Power of Nightmares) are available for streaming or download from The Internet Archive

Here is the DVD Set

Fifty Bucks at Amazon - Run Time: 240 minutes

More on the series...

Nikon D300: Just In Time For Xmas!

The Big Lebowski - F_cking Short Version

F count of The Big Lebowski I think is 281!

This isn't all of them!

New York Underground

What would you find if you could take a giant core sample of the

Big Apple?

A confusion of cables, gas and steam lines, a sliver of the subway, putrid sewers, and--below it all--huge water tunnels.

Imagine venturing...

Under New York.

Alice's Restaurant

This Dump Is Closed On Thanksgiving!
Click on the picture above to see Arlo Guthrie perform Alice's Restaurant.

Keep Tradition Alive!

Have A Great Holiday!

Alice's Restaurant

By Arlo Guthrie

This song is called Alice's Restaurant, and it's about Alice, and the restaurant, but Alice's Restaurant is not the name of the restaurant, that's just the name of the song, and that's why I called the song Alice's Restaurant.

You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant

Now it all started two Thanksgivings ago, was on - two years ago on Thanksgiving, when my friend and I went up to visit Alice at the restaurant, but Alice doesn't live in the restaurant, she lives in the church nearby the restaurant, in the bell-tower, with her husband Ray and Fasha the dog. And livin' in the bell tower like that, they got a lot of room downstairs where the pews used to be in. Havin' all that room, seein' as how they took out all the pews, they decided that they didn't have to take out their garbage for a long time.

We got up there, we found all the garbage in there, and we decided it'd be a friendly gesture fous to take the garbage down to the city dump. So we took the half a ton of garbage, put it in thback of a red VW microbus, took shovels and rakes and implements of destruction and headed on toward the city dump.

Well we got there and there was a big sign and a chain across across the dump saying, "Closed on Thanksgiving." And we had never heard of a dump closed on Thanksgiving before, and with tears in our eyes we drove off into the sunset looking for another place to put the garbage.

We didn't find one. Until we came to a side road, and off the side of the side road there was another fifteen foot cliff and at the bottom of the cliff there was another pile of garbage. And we decided that one big pile is better than two little piles, and rather than bring that one up we decided to throw our's down.

That's what we did, and drove back to the church, had a thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat, went to sleep and didn't get up until the next morning, when we got a phone call from officer Obie. He said, "Kid, we found your name on an envelope at the bottom of a half a ton of garbage, and just wanted to know if you had any information about it." And I said, "Yes, sir, Officer Obie, I cannot tell a lie, I put that envelope under that garbage."

After speaking to Obie for about fourty-five minutes on the telephone we finally arrived at the truth of the matter and said that we had to go down and pick up the garbage, and also had to go down and speak to him at the police officer's station. So we got in the red VW microbus with the shovels and rakes and implements of destruction and headed on toward the police officer's station.

Now friends, there was only one or two things that Obie coulda done at the police station, and the first was he could have given us a medal for being so brave and honest on the telephone, which wasn't very likely, and we didn't expect it, and the other thing was he could have bawled us out and told us never to be see driving garbage around the vicinity again, which is what we expected, but when we got to the police officer's station there was a third possibility that we hadn't even counted upon, and we was both immediately arrested. Handcuffed. And I said "Obie, I don't think I can pick up the garbage with these handcuffs on." He said, "Shut up, kid. Get in the back of the patrol car."

And that's what we did, sat in the back of the patrol car and drove to the quote Scene of the Crime unquote. I want tell you about the town of Stockbridge, Massachusets, where this happened here, they got three stop signs, two police officers, and one police car, but when we got to the Scene of the Crime there was five police officers and three police cars, being the biggest crime of the last fifty years, and everybody wanted to get in the newspaper story about it. And they was using up all kinds of cop equipment that they had hanging around the police officer's station.

They was taking plaster tire tracks, foot prints, dog smelling prints, and they took twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against us. Took pictures of the approach, the getaway, the northwest corner the southwest corner and that's not to mention the aerial photography.

After the ordeal, we went back to the jail. Obie said he was going to put us in the cell. Said, "Kid, I'm going to put you in the cell, I want your wallet and your belt." And I said, "Obie, I can understand you wanting my wallet so I don't have any money to spend in the cell, but what do you want my belt for?" And he said, "Kid, we don't want any hangings." I said, "Obie, did you think I was going to hang myself for littering?"

Obie said he was making sure, and friends Obie was, cause he took out the toilet seat so I couldn't hit myself over the head and drown, and he took out the toilet paper so I couldn't bend the bars roll out the - roll the toilet paper out the window, slide down the roll and have an escape. Obie was making sure, and it was about four or five hours later that Alice (remember Alice? It's a song about Alice), Alice came by and with a few nasty words to Obie on the side, bailed us out of jail, and we went back to the church, had a another thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat, and didn't get up until the next morning, when we all had to go to court.

We walked in, sat down, Obie came in with the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one, sat down. Man came in said, "All rise." We all stood up, and Obie stood up with the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures, and the judge walked in sat down with a seeing eye dog, and he sat down, we sat down. Obie looked at the seeing eye dog, and then at the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one, and looked at the seeing eye dog.

And then at twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one and began to cry, 'cause Obie came to the realization that it was a typical case of American blind justice, and there wasn't nothing he could do about it, and the judge wasn't going to look at the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against us. And we was fined $50 and had to pick up the garbage in the snow, but thats not what I came to tell you about.

Came to talk about the draft.

They got a building down New York City, it's called Whitehall Street, where you walk in, you get injected, inspected, detected, infected, neglected and selected. I went down to get my physical examination one day, and I walked in, I sat down, got good and drunk the night before, so I looked and felt my best when I went in that morning. `Cause I wanted to look like the all American kid from New York City, man I wanted, I wanted to feel like the all-, I wanted to be the all American kid from New York, and I walked in, sat down, I was hung down, brung down, hung up, and all kinds o' mean nasty ugly things. And I waked in and sat down and they gave me a piece of paper, said, "Kid, see the phsychiatrist, room 604."

And I went up there, I said, "Shrink, I want to kill. I mean, I wanna, I wanna kill. Kill. I wanna, I wanna see, I wanna see blood and gore and guts and veins in my teeth. Eat dead burnt bodies. I mean kill, Kill, KILL, KILL." And I started jumpin up and down yelling, "KILL, KILL," and he started jumpin up and down with me and we was both jumping up and down yelling, "KILL, KILL." And the sargent came over, pinned a medal on me, sent me down the hall, said, "You're our boy."

Didn't feel too good about it.

Proceeded on down the hall gettin more injections, inspections, detections, neglections and all kinds of stuff that they was doin' to me at the thing there, and I was there for two hours, three hours, four hours, I was there for a long time going through all kinds of mean nasty ugly things and I was just having a tough time there, and they was inspecting, injecting every single part of me, and they was leaving no part untouched. Proceeded through, and when I finally came to the see the last man, I walked in, walked in sat down after a whole big thing there, and I walked up and said, "What do you want?" He said, "Kid, we only got one question. Have you ever been arrested?"

And I proceeded to tell him the story of the Alice's Restaurant Massacre, with full orchestration and five part harmony and stuff like that and all the phenome... - and he stopped me right there and said, "Kid, did you ever go to court?"

And I proceeded to tell him the story of the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with the circles and arrows and the paragraph on the back of each one, and he stopped me right there and said, "Kid, I want you to go and sit down on that bench that says Group W .... NOW kid!!" And I, I walked over to the, to the bench there, and there is, Group W's where they put you if you may not be moral enough to join the army after committing your special crime, and there was all kinds of mean nasty ugly looking people on the bench there. Mother rapers. Father stabbers. Father rapers! Father rapers sitting right there on the bench next to me! And they was mean and nasty and ugly and horrible crime-type guys sitting on the bench next to me. And the meanest, ugliest, nastiest one, the meanest father raper of them all, was coming over to me and he was mean 'n' ugly 'n' nasty 'n' horrible and all kind of things and he sat down next to me and said, "Kid, whad'ya get?" I said, "I didn't get nothing, I had to pay $50 and pick up the garbage." He said, "What were you arrested for, kid?" And I said, "Littering." And they all moved away from me on the bench there, and the hairy eyeball and all kinds of mean nasty things, till I said, "And creating a nuisance." And they all came back, shook my hand, and we had a great time on the bench, talkin about crime, mother stabbing, father raping, all kinds of groovy things that we was talking about on the bench. And everything was fine, we was smoking cigarettes and all kinds of things, until the Sargeant came over, had some paper in his hand, held it up and said.

"Kids, this-piece-of-paper's-got-47-words-37-sentences-58-words-we-wanna-know-details-of-the-crime-time-of-the-crime-and-any-other-kind-of-thing-you-gotta-say-pertaining-to-and-about-the-crime-I-want-to-know-arresting-officer's-name-and-any-other-kind-of-thing-you-gotta-say", and talked for forty-five minutes and nobody understood a word that he said, but we had fun filling out the forms and playing with the pencils on the bench there, and I filled out the massacre with the four part harmony, and wrote it down there, just like it was, and everything was fine and I put down the pencil, and I turned over the piece of paper, and there, there on the other side, in the middle of the other side, away from everything else on the other side, in parentheses, capital letters, quotated, read the following words:

("KID, HAVE YOU REHABILITATED YOURSELF?")

I went over to the sargent, said, "Sargeant, you got a lot a damn gall to ask me if I've rehabilitated myself, I mean, I mean, I mean that just, I'm sittin' here on the bench, I mean I'm sittin here on the Group W bench 'cause you want to know if I'm moral enough join the army, burn women, kids, houses and villages after bein' a litterbug." He looked at me and said, "Kid, we don't like your kind, and we're gonna send you fingerprints off to Washington."

And friends, somewhere in Washington enshrined in some little folder, is a study in black and white of my fingerprints. And the only reason I'm singing you this song now is cause you may know somebody in a similar situation, or you may be in a similar situation, and if your in a situation like that there's only one thing you can do and that's walk into the shrink wherever you are ,just walk in say "Shrink, You can get anything you want, at Alice's restaurant.". And walk out. You know, if one person, just one person does it they may think he's really sick and they won't take him. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony, they may think they're both faggots and they won't take either of them.

And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. They may think it's an organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day,I said fifty people a day walking in singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. And friends they may thinks it's a movement.

And that's what it is , the Alice's Restaurant Anti-Massacre Movement, and all you got to do to join is sing it the next time it come's around on the guitar.

With feeling. So we'll wait for it to come around on the guitar, here and sing it when it does. Here it comes.

You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant

That was horrible. If you want to end war and stuff you got to sing loud.

I've been singing this song now for twenty five minutes. I could sing it for another twenty five minutes.

I'm not proud... or tired.

So we'll wait till it comes around again, and this time with four part harmony and feeling.

We're just waitin' for it to come around is what we're doing.

All right now.

You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Excepting Alice
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant

Da da da da da da da dum
At Alice's Restaurant

©1966,1967 (Renewed) by Appleseed Music Inc. All Rights Reserved.

"WKRP Turkey Drop"

Remembering WKRP on Thanksgiving!

"America's Favorite Radio Station"

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

"It's a helicopter, and it's coming this way. It's flying something behind it, I can't quite make it out, it's a large banner and it says, uh -- Happy... Thaaaaankssss... giving!!!

:)

"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!!!"

The Nikon D300 should be ready any day now...

The favicon is here...Long live the favicon!

FavIcon from Pics

Would you like to display your own icon on the browser address bar when visitors view or bookmark your web page?

Try FavIcon from Pics

http://www.htmlkit.com/services/favicon/

Do you ever feel like an outcast?

Writers' Strike: Cut To Bla[n]k:

The comedy and tragedy of [NOT] writing in Hollywood

The 'Sam and Jim go to Hollywood' show expounds on the plight of the writers' strike in show #35.

Show #35: WGA On Strike!
The deadline passed. Now we're on the picket lines. The latest updates, and...
why you shouldn't even think about scab work.

Is this your first time listening to Sam and Jim? After listening to their latest show, I encourage that you go to the archives and listen to the backstory shows--volume 1, 2 and 3 in the "how we got here" series. I'm sure you'll be hooked:)

Backstory volume 1: From Minnesota to L.A.
The first of 3 podcasts about Sam and Jim giving up their old lives to become writers in Hollywood.
In this episode, Sam and Jim decide to try writing, even though they have it pretty good in Minnesota. Then they got a call...

Backstory volume 2: The wonderful world of Disney
In this, the second of 3 podcasts, Sam and Jim move to LA. And while having a job on the Disney studio lot is pretty cool, it ain't easy starting all over again.

Backstory volume 3: What, we can get paid for this?
This is the last episode in the Sam and Jim "how we got here" series 1, 2 and 3.
Sam and Jim finally sell a script. Then another. And another...

Let the journey begin.

If you enjoy the Sam and Jim go to Hollywood show, subscribe to the podcast at http://www.samandjimgotohollywood.com/

The easiest way? Go to http://www.apple.com/ or http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/ and download the iTunes software if you don't have it already (don't worry, it's free). Click on this link to iTunes to subscribe, and you're all set.

Robert Reich and the Writers' Strike

From Robert Reich's Blog

The Writer's Strike and Chinese Pirates

I was supposed to appear on the Daily Show tomorrow night. But I won't, because the Daily Show will be doing reruns tomorrow night. That’s because the show’s writers have gone on strike. This may look like the kind of strike that used to cripple American industry years ago when big labor was really big. But look more closely and you find an issue more closely related to Chinese pirating of American movies and CDs. You see, entertainment is coming to be a larger and larger part of what skilled and creative Americans do for a living. Watch the credits at the end of movies and try counting the names. Add in all the people involved in producing musical recordings, animated computer games, books, magazines, advertising. And the ever expanding numbers doing all this and more on the Internet – through streaming media, webisodes, downloads.Entertainment is also becoming an even larger portion of America’s exports. Depending on how broadly you define it, about 12 to 15 percent of what we sell to the rest of the world. In short, entertainment is among our most valuable properties. But it’s intangible, weightless. Easily expressed in digits, it can be sent anywhere around the world in a second. And the cost of reproducing it is close to zero. So who’s entitled to the money that comes from the sale of creative, digitized products? That’s what we’re trying to negotiate with the Chinese and developing nations around the world.That’s also what the writers for movies and television are trying to negotiate. They want more of the revenues from sales of DVDs, webisodes, and other forms their creations now take – forms they couldn’t possibly have anticipated years ago when their contracts were last negotiated. Whether the clash is with the writers’ union or the Chinese, the underlying issue is the most basic of capitalism: Who owns what? And in this new digital age, the answer has to be negotiated anew.

Happy Halloween! :)

NYC's High Line

Take A Walk On The Wild Side

Follow the links below to some really beautiful images!
Take A Walk On The High Line

Did you ever go to Chelsea in Manhattan and question to yourself why an old, rusting elevated railroad line existed in this area?

"The High Line" Film

"The High Line", a 6-minute documentary film, offers an excellent overview of High Line, its history, the movement to save it, and designs for its reuse. Directed and produced by John Zieman.

Friends of the High Line

Actor Edward Norton and Friends of the High Line Co-Founder Joshua David walk on the High Line and discuss the project's history and future. Produced as part of GOOD Magazine's debut issue.

Edward Norton on the Charlie Rose Show

A 2003 interview with actor Edward Norton discussing his involvement with Friends of the High Line. Mr. Norton became a supporter in 2001 when he read Adam Gopnick’s article in The New Yorker.

May 21, 2001
New York Journal
A Walk on the High Line [ABSTRACT]
NEW YORK JOURNAL about an abandoned, elevated New York Central Railroad track on the lower West Side that activists are hoping to turn into a park… The archeology of Manhattan is reversed: the past is not buried in the ground but held up in the air, on the upper floors…
by Adam Gopnik

High Line Supporters

Construction Update: View construction photos from the first section of the High Line (Gansevoort to 20th Streets) to open in 2008. Construction on this section began in April 2006 and is currently on-schedule and on-budget.

Walking the High Line: Photographs by Joel Sternfeld. Introduction by Adam Gopnik.In photographs that span four seasons, Sternfeld captures the unique beauty of the spontaneous natural landscape that has gradually seeded itself atop the High Line's elevated tracks since the trains stopped running. This book is currently out of print but copies are available on Amazon.com.

Caution: Do Not Trespass

The High Line is currently owned by the City of New York.

I am not recommending that one climbs up on top of the viaduct to take a walk along the right-of-way. From what I hear, the New York City Police Department doesn't take a liking to these actions, and it could possibly get a person arrested for trespassing.

It is not (yet) open to the public.

Post Script:

There are two competing groups that have different agendas for determining the fate of the High Line. Friends of the High Line would like to see the High Line remain intact. The Chelsea Property Owners group, which represents businesses in the area, would like to see the line demolished. Recently the Chelsea Property Owners, a group of property owners demanding demolition of the High Line since 1989, acknowledged that it might drop its opposition to saving the 70-year-old structure. The Bloomberg administration has been suggesting to owners of property under the High Line that their development rights could be transferred to other sites. In the past Mayor Rudolph Giuliani wanted to see the High Line razed. Each concern has their own reasons as to why they take their positions.

The Friends of the High Line are working with the Rails-to-Trails program in order to secure the High Line with a Rails-to-Trails designation. The Chelsea Property Owners would like to use the ROW (right-of-way) and air rights over the line for commercial and residential development. The long gone (good-writens) Mayor Giuliani wanted the line taken down because he felt it was an eyesore to the community. He also felt that if the line were to be taken down, continued economic development in the area would result, stimulated by extra property that would be gained by razing the line.

On November 16, 2005 the Bloomberg administration released the following announcement:

MAYOR BLOOMBERG ANNOUNCES CITY ACQUIRES HIGH LINE

FROM CSX TRANSPORTATION

Trail Use Agreement Signed Permitting Recreational Uses on the Elevated Rail Structure;

Transformation into Public Open Space to Begin in 2006

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced that the City of New York acquired title to the High Line elevated rail viaduct from CSX Transportation, Inc. this month. CSX donated the High Line to the City, and the transfer of ownership clears the way for the structure's transformation into a public open space to begin in 2006. Open space on the High Line will run from Gansevoort Street in Manhattan's Meatpacking District through West Chelsea to the Hudson Yards. In addition, the City and CSX signed a Trail Use Agreement, permitting the rail structure to be used by the public as a recreational amenity. The first section of the High Line is projected to open to the public in 2008. Read More Here...

...

High Line Reuse Picks Up Steam

Under previous administrations, the city had sided with property owners who saw the rusting steel structure just west of 10th Ave., last used for freight in 1980, as a blight on the neighborhood. Indeed, in one of its last official acts in 2001, the Giuliani administration signed an agreement joining the property owners’ move to demolish the High Line.

“Back in 1989 city officials said the High Line had to come down. What has changed in 14 years?” asked Roger Nober, S.T.B. chairperson. Read More Here...

...

Precedent in Paris:

During the early 1990s, the city of Paris successfully converted a similar elevated rail viaduct near the Bastille opera house into a three-mile pedestrian walkway called the Promenade Plantée. It crosses the entire 12th arrondissement from the Place de la Bastille to the Bois de Vincennes at the eastern edge of Paris. For more images, visit the Promenade Plantée Gallery.

Go ahead: Find Me Guilty!!!

"One day...

even a last day...

--is worth more than a thousand days of a lifeless future".

more: DELERIUM Silence

Look here for more DELERIUM...

SILENCE
By Delerium

Give me release
Witness me
I am outside
Give me peace

Heaven holds a sense of wonder
And I wanted to believe
That I'd get caught up
When the rage in me subsides

Passion chokes the flower
Till she cries no more
Possessing all the beauty
Hungry still for more

Heaven holds a sense of wonder
And I wanted to believe
That I'd get caught up
When the rage in me subsides

In this white wave
I am sinking
In this silence
In this white wave
In this silence
I believe

I can't help this longing
Comfort me
I can't hold it all in
If you won't let me

Heaven holds a sense of wonder
And I wanted to believe
That I'd get caught up
When the rage in me subsides

In this white wave
I am sinking
In this silence
In this white wave
In this silence
I believe
:)

Art Wolfe's Travels To The Edge

Click on the links above, to explore the world of Art Wolfe.

Nikon D300 On Order!!!

I have this camera on order from my local camera shop. It should be in stock by November! Look here at KenRockwell.com for a very good overview. Look here at NikonUSA.com for more info. Oh ya, and here is the lens I'll be using which is also reviewed here at Ken's site.

Briscola

Briscola The Classic Italian Card Game

Briscola is a very famous Italian card game. Briscola is a classic Italian card game. Briscola is very popular in Italy, Portugal, and Spain; but can be enjoyed by anyone with a deck of cards. Briscola is a multi-player game for two to six players.

The original game of Briscola is played using an Italian deck containing 40 cards of four different suits; cups, coins, batons, and swords. But Briscola can be played with a normal deck of card by removing three cards from each suit. The deck contains the ace through seven, plus the jack, queen, and king. The eight, nine, and ten of each suit have been removed. The ranking of cards for any given suit from highest to lowest is ace, three, king, queen, jack, seven, six, five, four, two. However, only certain cards have point values, the remaining cards have no value.

Card Points: Ace 11; Three 10; King 4; Queen 3; Jack 2, the remaining cards have no value.

Learn more about Briscloa here: http://www.pagat.com/aceten/briscola.html

You can find a downloadable game here:

http://www.tucows.com/preview/303901

And here:

http://pages.zid.com/~orfeo/bmm/bmm.html

You can play online here:

http://members.iinet.net.au/~bdimasi/extra/briscola/briscola.htm

That's here. That's home. That's us.

Visit CarlSagan.com

Our mission is to awaken the broadest possible public to the wonders of nature as revealed by science.

From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of any particular interest. But for us it's different. Consider again that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it, everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history of our species, lived there on the mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam.

The earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel, on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light.

Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity--in all this vastness--there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. The Earth is the only world known so far to harbour life. There is nowhere else--at least in the near future--to which are species could migrate. Visit...yes. Settle...not yet. Like it or not, for the moment, the Earth is where we make our stand. It has been said that astronomy is a humbling, and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.

Four Eyed Monsters .com

Visit FourEyedMonsters.com

Watch Section 2<<~>>Watch Section 3
See the story of the film created in Episodes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8

Join a Revolution. Make Movies. Go Broke.

NY Times Article

Mr. Crumley and Ms. Buice spoke about their 14-month ordeal making "Four Eyed Monsters," which dramatizes how they met online, and in which they co-star. The movie was well received at its Slamdance Film Festival premiere in January and screened at 16 other festivals. But like so many independent labors of love, it has yet to attract a theatrical distributor.

"If the result was going to be this," Mr. Crumley mused, "a film with no distributor, no way for anyone to ever get a chance to see it beyond those who saw it at a few festivals, would I have done it? That's a tough question to answer." Ms. Buice added: "The answer is, 'no,' it's not O.K. for our film to have been mildly successful on the festival circuit. But otherwise, it was just a jaunt into the abyss and now we have financial hell to pay."

The first-time filmmakers used their $10,000 in savings to begin production and borrowed $55,000 on seven credit cards to complete the film. Ms. Buice's parents have contributed $20,000 more for film festival travel and living expenses.

Coming Soon: The Canon 40D

It's about time for a NEW camera!

Teacher's Nightmare: Ogling Video on YouTube--Internet Videos Such as 'Hot for Teacher' Clip Raise Privacy Concerns

Former elementary school teacher Keri McIntyre discovered someone had taped her and posted the video online without her consent. (ABC News)

The scene was a fifth grade graduation ceremony in Charlotte, N.C., and the star of the amateur video was not exactly the student body, but a teacher's body.

"The video was three and a half minutes of me. It would go to my face, to my butt, to my face," said former elementary school teacher Keri McIntyre. "And then he had his fun zooming in to my butt."

Chocolate Rain

WARNING! WARNING!

-Warning Will Robinson-

YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO GET THIS SONG OUT OF YOUR HEAD!!!
-YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED-

If you click on the above link you will see the following message.

-This video has been removed due to terms of use violation-

That's because it is linked to a video clip of VH1's, 'Best Week Ever' on Google's, YouTube.

This is the ongoing battle of content and privacy rights. I guess VH1 would rather have people come to their own website to view what they produced.

You can find it on VH1's Web site but good luck...Look here for Best Week Ever on VSPOT; then look for week of August 6th. If you wanted to send a link for a specific video, to a friend, you will have to give VH1 your email address, and your friend's email address.

You will also be swamped with junk mail!!!

They hide the links pretty good.

You could, once you download the video clips, save, and play them on your computer, using your own player.

When you play a file in Windows, it is stored in \Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files. You can save and rename the file keeping the .flv extension. YouTube uses .swf file extensions that can be changed to .flv. Here is a simple standalone cross platform player called Wimpy Desktop FLV Player (FREE).

For Mac or Windows you could use Firefox with an extension like DownloadHelper.

For Mac there are other convoluted ways to locate the .flv file. You could purchace a Safari plug-in called FLVR, or use a standalone utility like Tubesock.

Or you could also use the activity trick: If you go to the activity window in Safari it will show the various parts of the website and the largest file is usually the video file. Also usually in .flv format though sometimes in others. Simply double click the .flv line and it will begin downloading through Safari. You can then convert the movie with Isquint or QuickTime Pro with the Perian plug-in. Or just view it using VLC.

Here are some other free players.

-Download SMPlayer (Win) Here-

-Download VLC Media Player (Mac/Win) Here-

-More on converting .flv Files (Win) - (Mac)-

Chocolate Rain

Original

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Parody

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Simpsons

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Jimmy Kimmel

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John Mayer

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Chocolate Rain Lyrics

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Chocolate Rain - Some stay dry and others feel the pain

Chocolate Rain - A baby born will die before the sin

Chocolate Rain - The school books say it can't be here again

Chocolate Rain - The prisons make you wonder where it went

Chocolate Rain - Build a tent and say the world is dry

Chocolate Rain - Zoom the camera out and see the lie

Chocolate Rain - Forecast to be falling yesterday

Chocolate Rain - Only in the past is what they say

Chocolate Rain - Raised your neighborhood insurance rates

Chocolate Rain - Makes us happy livin' in a gate
Chocolate Rain - Made me cross the street the other day

Chocolate Rain - Made you turn your head the other way

: (Chorus)

Chocolate Rain - History quickly crashing through your veins

Chocolate Rain - Using you to fall back down again [Repeat]

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Chocolate Rain - Seldom mentioned on the radio

Chocolate Rain - Its the fear your leaders call control

Chocolate Rain - Worse than swearing worse than calling names

Chocolate Rain - Say it publicly and you're insane
Chocolate Rain - No one wants to hear about it now

Chocolate Rain - Wish real hard it goes away somehow

Chocolate Rain - Makes the best of friends begin to fight

Chocolate Rain - But did they know each other in the light?

Chocolate Rain - Every February washed away

Chocolate Rain - Stays behind as colors celebrate

Chocolate Rain - The same crime has a higher price to pay

Chocolate Rain - The judge and jury swear it's not the face

: (Chorus)

Chocolate Rain - History quickly crashing through your veins
Chocolate Rain - Using you to fall back down again [Repeat]

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Chocolate Rain - Dirty secrets of economy

Chocolate Rain - Turns that body into GDP

Chocolate Rain - The bell curve blames the baby's DNA

Chocolate Rain - But test scores are how much the parents make

Chocolate Rain - Flippin' cars in France the other night

Chocolate Rain - Cleans the sewers out beneath Mumbai

Chocolate Rain - Across the world and back its all the same

Chocolate Rain - Angels cry and shake their heads in shame
Chocolate Rain - Lifts the ark of paradise in sin

Chocolate Rain - Which part do you think you're livin' in?
Chocolate Rain - More than marchin' more than passing law

Chocolate Rain - Remake how we got to where we are

: (Chorus)
Chocolate Rain - History quickly crashing through your veins
Chocolate Rain - Using you to fall back down again [Repeat]

Battle at Kruger - Over 13 Million Views

Views: 13,809,815 and counting...
Very amazing video--shaky cam and all.

What Goes Up...

Unintended Consequences

Ouch!!!

We All Hear The Call of High Places

Go here for a look at some unbelievable base jumping!!!

SILENCE
By Delerium

Give me release
Witness me
I am outside
Give me peace

Heaven holds a sense of wonder
And I wanted to believe
That I'd get caught up
When the rage in me subsides

Passion chokes the flower
Till she cries no more
Possessing all the beauty
Hungry still for more

Heaven holds a sense of wonder
And I wanted to believe
That I'd get caught up
When the rage in me subsides

In this white wave
I am sinking
In this silence
In this white wave
In this silence
I believe

I can't help this longing
Comfort me
I can't hold it all in
If you won't let me

Heaven holds a sense of wonder
And I wanted to believe
That I'd get caught up
When the rage in me subsides

In this white wave
I am sinking
In this silence
In this white wave
In this silence
I believe
:)

The Simpsons Quotes

Homer: Here's to alcohol, the cause of—and solution to—all life's problems.

Homer: Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try.

Homer: You don't like your job, you don't strike. You go in every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American way.

Bart: I am through with working. Working is for chumps.
Homer: Son, I'm proud of you! I was twice your age when I figured that out.

Lost Boy - In Search of Nick Drake

Ok...this is probably the last post on Nick Drake. I just thought I should post this audio file for those that are interested in hearing more on Nick's life.



Nick Drake is the quintessential cult hero, and you can hear again why as Radio 2 presents another chance to hear 2004's acclaimed documentary, presented by Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt.

Pitt was approached by Radio 2...after the network learned he was a huge Nick Drake fan. Pitt says: "I was introduced to Nick Drake's music...and am a huge admirer of his records. "When Radio 2 approached me to get involved in this project, I was delighted to be asked and pleased that I was able to fit it into my schedule.

This documentary looks to explore Drake's life through the words of those who knew him - collaborators such as producer Joe Boyd and arranger Robert Kirby, his family (including his sister, actress Gabrielle Drake) and his friends. -BBC Radio 2

Download: Lost Boy - In Search of Nick Drake - Size: 25.9 MB

Enjoy :)

Nick Drake Documentary - A Skin Too Few

First broadcast in 2000, this movie documents the 26 short years of Nick's life (1948-1974). Focusing on his brilliant music, as well as the talented musical and technical people who helped shape his sound, in London, during the late 60's & early 70's, as well as his sister Gabrielle, and haunting audio segments of both his late parents. Unfortunately, Nick was not of his time, and was never really appreciated during his oh so short time here. But his 3 albums, Five Leaves Left, Bryter Later and Pink Moon, continue to indoctrinate new fans day after day, being moved by the songs that were written almost 40 years ago. Amazing !!! This is an entirely different documentary from A Stranger Among Us.

This documentary has been uploaded onto YouTube and is in five parts approximately 10 minutes each.

Nick Drake Documentary - A Skin Too Few - Part 1

Nick Drake Documentary - A Skin Too Few - Part 2

Nick Drake Documentary - A Skin Too Few - Part 3

Nick Drake Documentary - A Skin Too Few - Part 4

Nick Drake Documentary - A Skin Too Few - Part 5

Bonus audio file: This is a mp3 audio file of the same show as above, all five parts.
Download: A Skin Too Few - Size: 20.8 MB

Enjoy :)

Nick Drake Documentary - A Stranger Among Us

First broadcast in 1999, this documentary looks at Nick Drake's life through the memories of his family and friends. This is an entirely different documentary from A Skin Too Few.

This documentary has been uploaded onto YouTube and is in four parts approximately 10 minutes each.

Nick Drake - A Stranger Among Us Documentary Part One

Nick Drake - A Stranger Among Us Documentary Part Two

Nick Drake - A Stranger Among Us Documentary Part Three

Nick Drake - A Stranger Among Us Documentary Part Four

Bonus audio file: This is a mp3 audio file of the same show as above, all four parts.
Download: A Stranger Among Us - Size: 17.6 MB

Enjoy :)

Pink Moon

Every once in a whimpering while you have to confess you've succumbed to the advertising ruse, you've been successfully seduced by the smirking leeches of Madison Avenue and fallen for something they've hawked your direction via some otherwise cloying TV commercial, like it or not and usually not.

And it's a rather sad and sickening feeling when you realize you've given in to these ad execs, this nefarious breed who we all know would sell the souls of their own despondent mothers for an irresistible Snapple or aspirin or deodorant catchphrase, ever seeking the perfect marketing campaign swiped straight from youth culture and sold right back to them as nifty repackaged crap-on-a-stick. -SFGate.com

Like many others, I discovered Nick Drake's music through the use of his song Pink Moon in a VW ad campaign.

I thought...great song, great message. The song makes great background music...although it seems to have nothing to do with the commercial's message--which seems to be about taking a higher road. The backup light adds a nice touch.

The song is Pink Moon by Nick Drake - vocals, acoustic guitar and piano.

From the album Pink Moon - recorded October 1971.

Pink moon -(2:00)

I saw it written and I saw it say

Pink moon is on its way

And none of you stand so tall

Pink moon gonna get you all

It's a pink moon

It's a pink, pink, pink, pink, pink moon.

The following are exerts from YouTube's
Comments & Responses

VW always has great commercials... leave it to the Germans for fabulous propaganda.
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VW should really have thought twice about using this song in a video considering it's a song about death. A pink moon was looked upon as a sign of apocalypse in medieval times. Bang-up job VW, you've made a commercial that makes it sound like using your car is a death sentence.
Beautiful song though, just like all of Nick Drake's work, may he rest in peace.
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Great commercial. Even better song. It is sad, but I probably would have never even heard of the late Nick Drake if it wasn't for this commercial. Now he is one of my favorites.
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When I saw this ad 7 or 8 years ago I thought maybe it was Richie Havens then discovered it was this little English guy with a big voice and precise guitar fingers that had died way too soon. If this song is new to you, start with the CD "Way to Blue" if you can still find it. Has most of Drake's better known songs put into great order. Heard rumors that Brad Pitt had fought for rights to make a movie about Drake but I never understood why it was never made.
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There is something fitting about this ad, considering that Nick would often get in his own car and drive it until he ran out of gas and/or got lost (then having to call his parents to come pick him up). While I don't think that's what the VW folks were aiming for, I do picture Nick driving alone at night when I see this.
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Great that VW introduced so many people to Nick, but what a weird song to use! Pink Moons represent (variously) death, the coming of the apocalypse, and the presence of the devil. Which is encouraging. Nick is still awesome, of course.
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As much as I dislike commercials, I will be forever indebted to VW for introducing so many people to the music of Nick Drake. Some of the most pure and honest music ever made.
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Fantastic ad. Says so much without saying anything. One of the greats.

Northern Sky

Northern Sky - Written and performed by
Nicholas Rodney Drake - (June 19, 1948 – November 25, 1974)

From the LP Bryter Layter, recorded in 1970.

John Cale, celeste, piano and organ; Dave Pegg, bass; Mike Kowalski, drums.

In 2004 the NME has called this song "The greatest English love song of modern times".

The song, written in DADGDG tuning.

I've seen an excellent video on YouTube called How to Play "Northern Sky" by Nick Drake. It shows how to use an alternate tuning BEBEBE, capo on the 4th fret.

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Northern Sky - (3:42)

I never felt magic crazy as this

I never saw moons, knew the meaning of the sea

I never held emotion in the palm of my hand

Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree

But now you're here

Brighten my northern sky.

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I've been a long time that I'm waiting

Been a long time that I'm blown

I've been a long time that I've wandered

Through the people I have known

Oh, if you would and you could

Straighten my new mind's eye.

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Would you love me for my money

Would you love me for my head

Would you love me through the winter

Would you love me 'til I'm dead

Oh, if you would and you could

Come blow your horn on high.

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I never felt magic crazy as this

I never saw moons, knew the meaning of the sea

I never held emotion in the palm of my hand

Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree

But now you're here

Brighten my northern sky.