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2008
10.13.2008 MUSIC: What's a Contrafact? (permalink)Many jazz composers have done this as well. Charlie Parker used the chord changes in How High the Moon to compose his song, Ornithology. There are lots of other examples of this in jazz. This technique is known as a contrafact. The most common contrafact is based on Gershwin's I've Got Rhythm. Basically, it repeats these changes:
C - A minor - F - G
Next time you are stuck composing a song try this technique.
10.06.2008 FILM: Favorite Actors/Actresses (permalink)
...ability to play a variety of roles
...ability to bring the character to life in a believable way
...ability to balance their role with the ensemble
Below is a current list of my favorite actors.
- Alan Rickman
- Amy Adams
- Ashley Judd
- Audrey Tatou
- Bill Murray
- Bill Nighy
- Catherine Keener
- Charlotte Rampling
- Chris Cooper
- Daniel Auteuil
- David Strathairn
- Diane Lane
- Elizabeth Banks
- Emma de Caunes
- Emma Thompson
- Gena Rowlands
- George Clooney
- Guy Pearce
- Helen Mirren
- Hiam Abbass
- Hugh Grant
- Jean-Pierre Bacri
- Joan Plowright
- Josh Brolin
- Juliette Binoche
- Kelly McDonald
- Kevin Spacey
- Laura Linney
- Liam Neeson
- Maggie Gyllenhaal
- Melissa Leo
- Morgan Freeman
- Nicole Kidman
- Patricia Clarkson
- Phillip Seymour Hoffman
- Reese Witherspoon
- Renée Zellweger
- Scarlett Johanson
- Steve Buscemi
- Tom Hanks
- Toni Collette
- Vince Vaughn
09.22.2008 SITE: Wordspy (permalink)
Google in its capacity as the ultimate reference has become a great resource for ambient findability.
With the bad economy, the real estate market is in a state of brickor mortis.
Try not to be one of those employees that spend all day social notworking.
Sarah Palin is a stay-at-work mom.
John Mackey's use of a sock puppet to praise his business savvy and personal charm blew up in his face.
09.15.2008 MUSIC: La Folia (permalink)
What do composers JS Bach, Corelli, Rachmaninoff, Scarlatti, Vivaldi and Vagelis have in common. They have all written treatments of the folk theme La folia. Like the popular tune Greensleeves, La Folia has been around for hundreds of years. Also, both have been referenced by many composers. This site documents many uses of the La Folia theme. Arguably, the most famous use of the La Folia theme is the Variations on a Theme of Corelli by Rachmaninoff (needless to say the original theme is not by Corelli).
Here is a guitar arrangement of the theme:
09.08.2008 SITE: O'Reilly Covers (permalink)
Sample:
08.25.2008 TIP: New Use for Old Boomboxes (permalink)
There is a simple work around that costs about $10. Search Amazon for "Line-in Cassette Adapter" and you should find a gadget that looks like a cassette with a cord connected. With this, you plug the jack at the end of the cord into your mp3 player's line-out and you insert the cassette player into your boombox. This also might work with your car cassette. Before you dive in to this make sure the cord is not going to cause problems by getting jammed into the cassette. With my boombox this works just fine but there is also the possibility that when the cassette is inserted, it will spin in place, making a little noise (or maybe a lot of noise). This simple technique has made my old boomboxes useful with the more current devices.
08.18.2008 SITE: Music w/ Better Enunciation (permalink)
08.11.2008 SITE: Scratchy 78s (permalink)
For me, hearing an old country western song with the scratchy surface sound evokes distant memories. I didn't necessarily like the music but it was around a lot so many memories were imprinted with the music as a kind of soundtrack. So hearing the music now causes memory flashbacks that had been lost for ages.
Cliff Bolling took it upon himself to convert a bunch of 78s (over 3700 songs) to mp3 format. Currently, all the songs reside on one page and when I accessed the site the server crashed. But it may be because Wired Magazine had an article about the site today. So far, Mr. Bolling has not had any copyright problems.
Check out the site. (Hopefully, the site is back up now).
Give it a listen...
08.04.2008 SITE: The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating (permalink)
The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating
- Beets
- Cabbage
- Swiss Chard
- Cinnamon
- Pomegranite Juice
- Dried Plums
- Pumpkin Seeds
- Sardines
- Turmeric
- Frozen Blueberries
- Canned pumpkin
The list was submitted by Jonny Bowden, author of The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth.
07.28.2008 TIP: Credit Reports--The Good and the Ugly (permalink)
07.21.2008 TIP: Recipe Books & Sheet Music (permalink)
A real inexpensive solution is converting the recipe books and sheet music to spiral bound. I go to a copy/print shop and get this done for about $3-5. I have done this with large songbooks with over 500 pages (e.g. The Real Book). Ask the clerk which type of binding is most suitable for your book.
07.14.2008 Antares (permalink)
Saturday evening I was taking pictures of the moon. I took about 10 pictures. Afterwards, I was looking at the results in XNView and I zoomed to the moon to look at the detals. The images were moderately sharp but I noticed a small red dot just below the moon in the sky. I thought it might be a dead pixel or noise or something.
I looked at more photos and the red dot was in all the moon pictures. I tried taking a picture in pitch dark and the red dot was not there.
Next, I went to a Web planetarium and entered the latitude and longitude for Austin and viewed the evening sky (virtually). The heavenly bodies near the moon were labeled. There was a sun called Antares that seemed to correspond to the red dot.
Wikipedia describes Antares as "a red supergiant star in the Milky Way galaxy and the sixteenth brightest star in the nighttime sky..."
It was kind of cool that my camera is able to register a distant star (600 light years from our solar system) even if it just shows up as a small dot.
07.07.2008 Prepaid Cell (permalink)
After postponing for years, I FINALLY got a cell phone. Admittedly, I was stubborn and I really didn't want to pay $50-$75 for a monthly service with lots of hidden charges and a 2 year commitment. Especially since I didn't think I would use it except in emergencies.
Anyway, I decided on a modest phone (Nokia 1600) and basic prepaid service (Net10). It is looking like it will cost about $15/month for 150 minutes and I can carry over leftover minutes. With this plan you have to keep adding minutes in order to extend the expire date.
Researching online, I encountered a lot of negative chatter on both my chosen phone and service. I was concerned about all the problems the reviewers encountered. However, as it has turned out it, the process was trouble-free and I'm glad I finally went ahead and took the plunge.
06.30.2008 RECIPE: Mexican Lasagne (permalink)
Mexican Lasagne
Author: New York Times
Category: Entree
Ingredients:
| 1.5 | lb. | ground beef |
| 1.5 | tsp | ground cumin |
| 1 | tbsp | chili powder |
| 1/4 | tsp | garlic powder |
| 1/4 | tsp | red pepper |
| 1 | tsp | salt |
| 1 | tsp | black pepper |
| 1 | can(16 | oz.) tomatoes, chopped |
| 10 | to | 12 corn tortillas |
| 2 | cup | small curd cottage cheese, drained |
| 1 | cup | Monterey Jack cheese with peppers |
| 1 | egg | |
| 1/2 | cup | grated Cheddar cheese |
| 2 | cup | shredded lettuce |
| 1/2 | cup | chopped tomatoes |
| 3 | green onions, chopped | |
| 1/4 | cup | black olives |
Steps:
Brown beef, drain thoroughly.
Add next 7 ingredients, heat through.
Cover bottom and sides of 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish with tortillas.
Pour beef mixture over tortillas, place a layer of tortillas over meat mixture and set aside.
Combine cottage cheese, Monterey Jack cheese and egg.
Pour over tortillas.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Remove from oven.
Sprinkle rows of next 5 ingredients diagonally across top of casserole before serving.
06.23.2008 GADGET: Speedo Vanquisher Plus Goggles (permalink)
The Speedo Vanguisher Plus googles are a big advance. I got a pair recently and it was a matter of seconds before I was using them. They didn't leak or fog and they did a good job of reflecting bright sunlight.
05.27.2008 GADGET: Breadmaker (permalink)
It's strength is its ability to prepare dough. I use it just about once a week to prep dough for pizza. It is so easy. Just mix the ingredients and navigate the simple breadmaker menu. The dough prep takes about an hour. So about 20 minutes before the prep cycle is done, I pre-heat the oven and prep the pizza toppings (veggies, meat, olives, cheese and sauce).
Baking using an electric heat element is inferior to an oven. But it is handy for banana bread and during the summer it heats the house less.
I used to try to make pizza dough from scratch: I ended up with a lousy crust and a big mess (flour dust everywhere). Now with this gadget you can easily make pizza or lots of other items.
05.20.2008 TIP: Prevent Browser Hijacking (permalink)
On one of my computers, I had a constant problem with Browser Hijacking. I tried a bunch of different fixes to no avail. Then I tried the following and it worked:
- Right-click on IE icon and select properties
- In Target text box after the path/file for IE, add a space and type (or paster) the URL that you want as a home page. This is the site that will come up when IE is launched. e.g. "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" http://www.digg.com
05.13.2008 GADGET: La Crosse Battery Charger (permalink)
The thing that sets the La Crosse Technology BC-900 AlphaPower Battery Charger apart from other battery chargers is that it can run diagnostics on rechargeable batteries. It can charge, AA and AAA and it has an adapter for C and D batteries. It has the ability to charge batteries at a low current which easier on the battery (extends its lifespan). The charger is also effective at evaluating the condition of a battery. 05.06.2008 FILM: about...TEACHERS (permalink)
04.28.2008 RECIPE: Apple Crisp (permalink)
Apple Crisp
Author: New York Times
Category: Dessert
General Information:
Try substituting brown sugar for sugar
Ingredients:
| 4 | Large | Apples |
| 1 | teaspoon(s) | Cinnamon |
| 1 | cup(s) | Sugar |
| 10 | tablespoon(s) | Butter |
| 1 1/2 | cup(s) | Oats |
| 1 | cup(s) | Walnuts or Pecans |
Steps:
Heat oven to 375
Peel and chop apples and place in buttered pan with sugar(9in. X 9in.)
In food processor mix butter, oats and nuts
Spread topping over the apples and bake for 40 minutes.
04.14.2008 GADGET: Fiskars Lopper (permalink)
I have gone thru 3 loppers doing yard work over the last 10 years. I got the Fiskars PowerGear 31-1/2-Inch Bypass Lopper #9154 recently and it is really handy. It has long arms so there is a lot of leverages. In addition, this lopper has additional cutting power thanks to its PowerGear technology. It can cut limbs up to 2" in diameter.
04.14.2008 TIP: Foliar Feeding (permalink)
Foliar Feeding Formula
Mix up the following for frequent spraying
2 TBSP Fish emulsion
1 TBSP Seaweed extract
1 TBSP Blackstrap molasses
OPTIONAL
1 TBSP Medina Soil Activator
[Source: John Dromgoole]
04.07.2008 Portable Apps (permalink)
A portable app is a program that can run off a USB flash drive (or other external storage devices). It is a great concept for sharing work (play?) between home, office and the road (with a common O/S). The application must be reasonably small and portable (it shouldn't depend on a bunch of registry settings).
My favorite apps (Windows freeware) are:
- Audacity (audio studio)
- AutoStitch (stitch photos into panorama)
- CamStudio (capture screenshots and video)
- Dexpot (desktop virtualizer)
- FileZilla (FTP tool)
- FotoTagger (tagging tool for graphics)
- FreeMind (mind mapping tool)
- Inno Setup (software installer)
- JOCR (image capture and OCR)
- Launchy (search system and launch files)
- MRU Blaster (Clears most recently used settings)
- nMacro (macro builder)
- NNTP Power Grab (NNTP tool)
- Radio Screamer (Web radio)
- SIW (system info)
- Stickfigure Animator (simple animator)
- SyncBack (file synchronizer)
- TightVNC (VNC)
- Trillian (IM)
- Unlocker (file lock assistant)
- VLC (media viewer)
- Yankee Clipper (clipboard organizer)
- XAMPP (integrated Web dev tool)
- XNView (graphics viewer)
03.31.2008 RECIPE: Little Cheesecakes (permalink)
Little Cheesecakes
Author: Lola
Category: Dessert
Ingredients:
| 3 X 8 | ounce(s) | Cream Cheese |
| 3/4 | cup(s) | sugar |
| 4 | eggs | |
| 1 | teaspoon(s) | vanilla |
| 1-20 | ounce(s) | pie filling canned |
| 1 | teaspoon(s) | lemon juice |
| 1 | box | vanilla wafers |
| 16 | muffin paper cups |
Steps:
1) Cream together: cream cheese (which has sat at room temperature) and sugar using a hand mixer.
2) Beat eggs slowly, mixing well with the cheese mixture
3) Add lemon juice and vanilla and mix well
4) Place a vanilla in the paper muffin cup (use a 12 muffin tin to hold paper cup for baking)
Add cheese mixture
5) Bake at 350¿ for 25 to 30 minutes.
6) Top with pie filling
03.10.2008 TRIVIA: Eleanor Clift (permalink)
03.03.2008 FILM: about...FOOD (permalink)
02.25.2008 RECIPE: Carmelized Pecans (permalink)
Caramelized Pecans
Author:
Category: Dessert
Ingredients:
| 1/2 | Cup | Pecans |
| 1/2 | Tbsp | Butter |
| 1/2 | Tbsp | Sugar |
Steps:
Melt butter in small skillet over medium-high heat and add sugar and nuts. Stir constantly until sugar loses grainy appearance, about 5 minutes.
Pour nuts onto sheet of aluminum foil and let cool about 15 minutes. Store up to 2 days in airtight container.
Yields 1/2 cup pecans.
02.18.2008 TIP: Shelling Pecans (permalink)
Boil the pecans for 5-10 minutes. Then, drain them drain in a olander and crack away. Not only do they crack easily, but the shelling and removing the meat is a BREEZE! Seriously - I did a few pounds in less than an hour while I watched TV and got mostly nice halves instead of little bits and pieces I had been getting. It's much easier on the fingers too, because the shells are softer and super easy to remove.
SHELL PECANS IMMEDIATELY AFTER THEY COOL...if they sit a while they dry out/cool off and are more difficult to shell.
[Source: Amy B.]
02.11.2008 TIP: Site Search (permalink)
02.04.2008 FILM: about...WEDDINGS (permalink)
01.28.2008 RECIPE: Cookies (permalink)
Cookies
Author: Jack
Category: Dessert
General Information:
This cookie recipe can be modified so that a different type of cookie is made each time.
One stick of butter = 1/2 cup of butter
1 cream cheese = 2 X stick of butter
Ingredients:
| 2 1/2 | cup(s) | Flour (use a mix of white, whole wheat, corn or oat) |
| 1 | teaspoon(s) | Baking soda |
| 1/2 | teaspoon(s) | Salt |
| 1 | package | Cream cheese |
| 2 | Eggs | |
| 1/2 | teaspoon(s) | Vanilla flavoring |
| 1 1/2 | cup(s) | Sugar (mix white and brown) |
| 1 | cup(s) | Optional--Chips, nuts, raisins, dried fruit. |
Steps:
1) Preheat oven to 375.
2) Mix eggs, sugar, vanilla, butter, salt and baking soda with hand mixer or in food processor.
3) In a bowl mix the above mixture with flour. Add optional ingredient
4) Bake for about 10 minutes. Be aware of hot spots in the oven where cookies might burn.
01.21.2008 SITE: Talk Show Humor (permalink)
This site archives bits from the monologues of late night talk shows (Letterman, Leno, Stewart, Colbert, Conan, etc.)
01.14.2008 SITE: I want to speak with a human... (permalink)
At Get Human you can find phone numbers that companies like Amazon, Ebay, etc. don't necessarily want you to obtain. They list the phone number and the codes to navigate the annoying menu.
01.07.2008 FILM: Movie Directors (permalink)
- Pedro Almodóvar--Spain
- Jacques Audiard--France
- Marc Caro / Jean-Pierre Jeunet--France
- Gurinder Chadha--Kenya/England
- Stephen Daldry--England
- Lasse Hallström--Sweden
- Juzo Itami--Japan
- Aki Kaurismäki--Finland
- Krzysztof Kieslowski--Poland
- Ang Lee--Taiwan
- Majid Majidi--Iran
- Mira Nair--India
- Giuseppe Tornatore--Italy
- Lars von Trier--Denmark
- Yimou Zhang--China
2007
12.31.2007 RECIPE: Lemon Bars (permalink)Lemon Bars
Author: Southern Living
Category: Dessert
Ingredients:
| 2 | cup(s) | Flour |
| 1/2 | cup(s) | Powdered sugar |
| 3/4 | cup(s) | Butter |
| 1/2 | cup(s) | Flour |
| 1/2 | teaspoon(s) | Baking powder |
| 4 | Eggs (beaten) | |
| 2 | cup(s) | Sugar |
| 1/2 | teaspoon(s) | Lemon rind (grated) |
| 1/3 | cup(s) | Lemon Juice |
Steps:
Combine 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup powdered sugar.
Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
Spoon flour mixture into an ungreased 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan; press firmly and evenly into pan using fingertips.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until crust is browned.
Combine 1/2 cup flour, and baking powder; set aside. Combine eggs, 2 cups sugar, lemon rind.
Stir dry ingredients into egg mixture and pour over baked crust.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until lightly browned and set.
Cool on a wire rack. Dust lighly with powdered sugar.
12.24.2007 TIP: Creating Passwords (permalink)
12.17.2007 TRIVIA: Another Homer (permalink)
A: Homer Simpson
11.26.2007 RECIPE: Bread Pudding (permalink)
Bread Pudding
Author: Jack
Category: Dessert
General Information:
This recipe is kind of like baked French Toast
Good use for dried but not stale bread and bagettes
Fruit possibilities are
Rum soaked raisins
Canned Peaches
Canned Pineapples (w/ almond flavoring)
Ingredients:
| 2 | cup(s) | Bread in cubes |
| 3 | Eggs | |
| 1 3/4 | cup(s) | Milk |
| 3/4 | cup(s) | Brown sugar |
| 2 | cup(s) | Fruit topping |
Steps:
Mix milk and eggs well into batter
In a 9" x 9" casserole dish spray with non-stick and add bread
Pour in batter
Add sugar on top
Add vanilla or almond or cinnamon or other flavoring.
Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes
11.19.2007 SITE: Page Rank (permalink)
10.29.2007 RECIPE: Cauliflower Soup (permalink)
Cauliflower Soup
Author: Nancy
Category: Soup
General Information:
This is best served with homemade crispy french fries to float on top.
Broccoli can be substituted for cauliflower.
Ingredients:
| 1 | head | Cauliflower |
| 1/2 | cup(s) | Milk |
| 2 | cubes | Bouillion of Chicken |
Steps:
Cut cauliflower florets
Cook florets in boiling salty water
Drain florets
Dissolve bouillion in hot water; set aside broth
Mix floret and broth in brender
Mix in milk and heat at low temperature
10.22.2007 Zooming Images and TV Dramas (permalink)
10.15.2007 My 1st Mashup (permalink)
Try it out (Javascript must be enabled).
For more examples, check out my Stock Data Grabber. I use this same technique for pulling info from Amazon (e.g. ISBN info), IMDB, as well as a bunch of other sites.
09.10.2007 SITE: Browser Stats (permalink)
08.20.2007 SITE: CSS and Zen (permalink)

08.13.2007 SITE: Surname Ranking (permalink)
For example, MOORE ranks 9th in terms of frequency. 5.312 percent of the sample population is covered by MOORE plus the 8 names occurring more frequently than MOORE. The surname, MOORE, is possessed by 0.312 percent of our population sample.
08.06.2007 TRIVIA: Swoozie's Dad (permalink)
07.31.2007 GADGET: The best pruning shears (permalink)
This is a comfortable and durable pruning shear. It really is a classic!