Plugs.
No plugs today
The Mood of Red Sox Nation.
I can tell you right now, those old Red Sox Nation psychosises are coming back.
KMP softball.
We are doing extremely well, we are 12 and 4 and tied for second. Malach is batting in the mid .600's and as far as pitching goes, I have only given up 15 runs is the past 5 games.
Can't they go 6 months.
Without sometype of craziness in this part of the Middle East?
Gay Marriage in MA.
Here's the issue. These religious nutcases including the Catholic Church want this brought to a ballot question. The problem with that is the majority should never be allowed to vote on the civil rights of the minority.
Imagine if you will if Black or Women Civil Rights were put up to a vote by the people? Imagine if desegregation of Boston Public Schools was a ballot question . .
Some actual real good news about Global Warming.
Beyond what's listed in this article, I could go swimming in March.
Dicken's World.
This is heaven for the Angry Piper. Looks like fun.
Yeah right.
Sure he's dead . .
I thought the caught all the Nazi at Nuremburg . .
Evidently there was one crazy one left in Berlin.
Malach's Quote/Video of the Day
Some of you might enjoy this cool mashup (warning profanity and sort of nudity).
I am Malach and I approve of your behavior
One thing I can tell you is you got to be free
We all want to change the world
Plugs.
Sunshine number 41 is up, and all I can say to that is YEEEEHHHAAAWW!
Also, Malach's Slow Pitch Softball Pitching Primer has gone nuts, and since I reloaded it I have gotten close to 35 emails about it, and it has gotten a TON of link from several popular softball forums. I got two emails today requesting I put up a YouTube video about it. Well, that is going to happen buckos . . . stay tuned.
The WoW has interesting article up today including an recipe for Mussels from the Angry Piper. And an article by moi about my adventures in going green and compact flourescent blubs part one.
The Mood of Red Sox Nation.
This is the first three game losing streak we have had this season, still 9 games up, we will back on track tonight, trust me. Mood: Trust me.
Stem Cells.
A break through, perhaps, but we need to study it more. Hurry up though, I need a new elbow.
Wiitis.
Hehehehehe . . hey I am onld enough to remember the severe friction burn stigmata you got from playing Mario Party . . . .
Boy do I miss Ratzy's blog . .
I would of loved to have heard what he says about this.
Dare I print it?
More good news about global warming . .
Gotta Love Stan Lee.
He's so Cukoo . .
Mrs. Tom Brady.
Please stand up! And no she was not the first "celebrity" . . Malach was the preaching this years ago.
See.
Satellites are good for something more than Google Spying.
Malach's Quote/Video of the Day
I am Malach and Revolution rocks.
The Walrus was Paul!?!?!
No Plugs Today.
Sorry Buckos.
So Malach has realized something about himself.
So, today was yet another beautiful pre-summer day, almost 90 degrees. So, I am out in my studio painting, while the kids are playing in their wading pool and with the hose, with the large double doors open watching them while I paint. My 4 year old daughter keeps coming over to help and give advice. I am playing The Beatles album Love
Since I haven't done a painting since the last commission a few months ago. And since so many people liked following along with the painting and what I think about and do while I paint; I decided to do it with this one. Unfortunately, I did not photo my pre-canvas creation process which I will do next time.Ok, Fixed the Feed
But first as always, plugs.
Sunshine number 39 is up, and as usual, totally true, but there are even worse situations.
Hey, guess who got the number one comment on Schilling's blog.
Ok, my RSS Feed.
So here is the problem. I use Ice Rocket RSS Feed Builder to build the feed, love their feed builder. Here's the problem, I use Feed Burner to promote the feed, they are awesome also. Basically Ice Rocket sends this to Feed Burner, and you end up with something translated, plus Feed Burner has all sort of cool feature thy provide with, one of the big ones being this.
So here is the problem. I have been using a feed since 2003. That feed got so huge, Feed Burner no longer supported it. To top it off, Ice Rocket has no way to archive or easily edit your feeds so it won't get bigger than the 512K that Feed Burner accepts.
So this left me with a quandry. I love both Ice Rocket and Feed Burner, but I need Feed Burner more than I do Ice Rocket. So I came up with and idea. Why not just use the .xml that come with this blog? So I did. Blogger feeds are easy to regulate so this won't happen again. Also I am not totally convinced someone registering for my feed nowadays wants to read through 2000 old feed updated dating back to 2003.
So, my new feed will look a lot different than the old one. It will contain these blog posts, so the 40 or so of you that subscribe, don't be shocked. Also if you just subscribed for site updates, I do put those in a section right at the beginning of every blog called "Plugs", so you won't miss an update, you will just get them once a day all at once. And to top it off, the feed address did not change and it also contains categories, and I don't have to manually update the feed. We will see how this works.
The Mood of Red Sox Nation.
Day off yesterday, now a rain delay in Texas, and from what I understand it is only about 65 there. It was 95 here all day and still in the 80's right now. Mood: Hot.
Ok, when I was in high school.
Someone left a carton of milk inside one of those old huge steam radiators and it took them about 2 week to find the nasty smell.
Can the little man fight Big Oil?
Suprisingly this could work, most small gas station make a silver of profit per gallon of gas, my father used to own one. Of course just wait until Wal*Mart start selling gas.
Damn the Man!
It is the 1960's all over again brother! I can just picture Just Me out there protesting!
Advice for those of Death Row.
If you are going by Lethal Injection, get really fat.
Well.
It looks like Malach might starting playing around with his Facebook account.
Now this!
Would make a really good webcomic.
Malach Quote/Video of the Day
I am Malach and you just took a ride on one of my favorite roller coasters.
Mother's Day part Duex.
Plugs.
There is a new 8 1/2 by Eleven up . . . unfortunately, Nillian sound like Malach at 22 in this episode (number 531).
Mother's Day.
Happy Mother's Day again, and there is a Mother's Day post over at the WoW. Malach's Mama might even like the song there a bit better. As for my mother's day it was interesting as it was not only my daughter's 4th birthday party, but it was combined with my niece's 2nd. Also you might want to check out yesterday's official DMDSS mother's day blog.
The Mood of Red Sox Nation.
Wow. I have said this team is good, perhaps the best Sox team I have ever seen, but to come back down by 5 in the bottom of the ninth, after Beckett left in the 4th . .. amazing. Mood: Amazed
Nutty Sea Lion!
But if the send him to Mystic, it is one of my faves, and only 45 minutes from here.
Hey, I like the heat.
Let see 2080, I will be 108 . . . I got a new goal to live that long!
Uhhh . . .
OK, yeah I think I can side with the parents with this one. A little bit of a nutty idea with the advent of cell phones, this could of turned into a huge disasater . . . of course it was in the Tennesee, if this say occured in New Bedford, the students would have shot back.
Malach's Quote/Video of the Day
There are things about organized religion which I resent. Christ is revered as the Prince of Peace, but more blood has been shed in His name than any other figure in history. You show me one step forward in the name of religion and I'll show you a hundred retrogressions. Remember, they were men of God who destroyed the educational treasures at Alexandria, who perpetrated the Inquisition in Spain, who burned the witches at Salem. Over 25,000 organized religions flourish on this planet, but the followers of each think all the others are miserably misguided and probably evil as well. - Ole Blue Eyes.
I am Malach and I am not a mother.
Living is easy with eyes closed
No Plugs Today.
There will be quite a few tomorrow though.
Some more Beatles info.
After the release of Magical Mystery Tour, The Beatles were basically exhausted physically and mentally. After a bit of a respite, they began recording for The Beatles (White Album) in May of 1968, 5 months after the release of Magical Mystery Tour. The Beatles was not released until almost exactly one year after Magical Mystery Tour, the longest amount of time ever between recordings. In that time a number of singles were released, but we will get into some of those after exploring Magical Mystery Tour.
During this period between albums several significant events occured. The Beatles went to India and explored Eastern thought, The Apple Boutique opened up as they expanded the Apple name and then promptly closed a year later in finacial ruin, Yellow Submarine the animated movie made it's premiere, Apple Records began releasing other bands music and began having hits, Cynthia Lennon sues John for divorce which he would grant three months later (he was already living with Yoko), Lennon and Ono are arrested for cannibus possession after a raid of their flat, and Hey Jude is released (a song by McCartney about Lennon's divorce).
I will get more into these events and The White Album looms, it's quite a ride.
Lock her up.
Oh Yeah, they will love Paris Hilton in Prison.
Stupid People are so adorable.
Shocking their ceiling didn't collapse.
No freaking way!
Someone wants to ban coolers at NASCAR events . . way to ostracize your longtime fans.
Hey Cash.
Ron Mexico runs a canine brothel. He raises your young for pooch on pooch violence.
Agreement?
Perhaps. What dissappoints me is there seems no commitment to exploring other forms of less polluting energy.
Another reason not to visit Mexico City.
It seems the crocodiles are also on the crime spree.
Spidey Villain Quiz.
Malach got 75%, which means he a geek.
The Mood of Red Sox Nation.
Man, is Dice-K can get rid of the one bad inning . . won yesterday, tied right now, and Dice-K is out. Mood: Ok.
Malach's Quote of the Day
There are few things in the world as dangerous as sleepwalkers. - Ralph Ellison
I am Malach and I am more dangerous than sleepwalkers.
Let take you down, cause I'm going too . .
Plugs.
Sunshine 34 is up starring SKELETOR! 8 1/2 by Eleven has also updated with strip 527. I am also, almost finally done with the Wraith.
Also some stuff to check out at the WoW. First you got to check out today's Hump Day Jokes, more specifically joke number 2. Tainted~Love posts Hump Day Jokes every Wednesday. This one is great, Malach loves to poke fun at the Irish. Also an incident happened today at work where I thought another one of my clients had died. That got me thinking to the 6 that have died over my career in human services, and decided to post a bit of a tribute to them. Read it, comment if you like.
You are listening too . . .
One of The Beatles best songs of all time, by consesus, Strawberry Fields Forever. And if this song don't make you feel trippy, I don't know what will. A double A side with Penny Lane, as stated in previous post, the two songs are a very interesting juxtapostion. Strawberry Fields is perhaps the defining song of psychedelic rock.
Both Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane are actual locations in Liverpool. Both songs address childhood memories, and landmarks of the city. Penny Lane, mostly written by McCartney is a happier version, while Strawberry Fields written by Lennon is much more morose. Both songs were recorded for Sgt. Pepper, but left off to make singles, which George Martin still regrets to this day (how much more amazing would Sgt. Pepper be with these two songs added).
Again the song express an nostalgic view of childhood, but with surrealistic tones. Strawberry Field is an orphanage down the block from where Lennon grew up with his aunt. Lennon used to play behind the building in the woods with his childhood friends. Strawberry Field had a garden party every summer which the neighborhood was invited too, and Lennon loved.
This song was written during a period of change for Lennon. The bigger than Jesus controversy, his failing marriage to Cynthia Lennon, the disastorous last year of touring. Lennon became more introspective, and some of the pain of his childhood resurfaced (his mother died when he was young and you will see his future albums explore these feelings). Lennon was getting heavy into drugs, especially LSD. The song itself has no drug references, but is highly influenced by those mind altering experiences.
One of the nice parts of this recording is the myriad of demos, and outakes saved from the recording of the song. You can see the creation of the lyrics, and the sound through that. The song, over most of the songs of that period (sans perhaps Tomorrow Never Knows, and a Day in the Life), is a masterwork of sound engineering and recording. There is extensive overdubbing, looping, reverse recording, and compression through the song. The arrangement includes a piano, a Mellotron (played by McCartney), trumpets, cellos, and an Indian swarmandel.
One of the most amazing parts of the song and something many people notice, is that the song is two different version melded together. The were two distinct versions of the song, a acid rock style in the vein of Jefferson Airplane, and a more complex orchestral musical arrangement.
Lennon decide he liked parts of both, so he told George Martin to mix them. Problem. Each version is played in both a different key, and a different tempo. Luckily, the faster version was in a higher key this allowed them to slow down faster version and speed up the slower one and match the tempo. Lennon was amazed, and pitch and slight speed differences in the song, give it that otherworldly sound. Lennon always described it as a "swimming quality".
The flute like sound at the beginning is a Mellotron, which Lennon had purchased, but McCartney soon discovered it's potential. Strawberry Fields is the first rock song to use it, and it was quickly picked up by a number of other bands.
Strawberry Fields also had a very groundbreaking conceptual music video. Both (Penny Lane video) were originally broadcast in 1968 on The Hollywood Palace.
Brian Wilson claims Strawberry Fields ruined the anticipated Beach Boys concept album SMiLE. He says The Beatles achieved the sound he was going for and then he shelved the album. Of course Brian Wilson went a even a bit more nuts after that.
The Mood of Red Sox Nation.
Well Papelbon proved he was human, or at least Mariano Rivera. It is currently 5 - 3 Sox in the eighth. Mood: Disbelief.
KFC.
Uh, Doc, don't eat there. Have you even seen their disgusting Flavor Bowls?
Some more good news.
"Global Warming is all in your head".
Malach's Quote/Video of the Day.
I am Malach and you gotta love YouTube.
For the Beneft of Mr. Kite!
Plugs.
A new 8 1/2 by Eleven, strip 522. And let me tell you, there is nothing like a Canadian based webcomic, having and entire strip dedicated to hockey, eh?
Beatles History, 66 - 67, Sgt. Pepper era
Sgt. Pepper took 120 or so days to record, and in that time several significant things occured. Their manager Brian Epstein merged with the Robert Stigwood Association while retaining sole control over the Beatles. As of March 11th of that year, there were 446 recorded and released version of the song Yesterday. Also in that month, McCartney in a very messy relationship with Jane Asher, meets for the first time Linda Eastman, who would later become his long time wife. After the release of the album, McCartney caused a bit of an uproar by announcing he has experimented with LSD. This seemed to shock much of the world (anyone listening to their recent music?). About a week later The Beatles performed live in one of the highest rated TV events of all time with All You Need Is Love on their 2 hours TV special Our World. This was done during the height of the Vietnam conflict.
To further addled the establishment, The Beatles and Epstein signed their names to a full page advertisement that declared: "the law against marijuana is immoral in principal and unworkable in practice." The list included a number of artists, actors, authors, doctors, and politicians also. They also began their first experiments with eastern meditation and religious thought.
One of the most painful incidents, and a turning point for this band, was Epstein death from an overdose on August 27 of '67. You will see with later years and albums, The Beatles begin to disintegrate without Epstein as the glue holding them together.
More history at a later date.
Interesting Ethical Debate.
Texas v. Gonzales. Of course Texas, the US most killing state, wants the kid ventilator pulled. Mom of course, loves her baby, even though the baby is essentially dead, and waste resources. Where do you stand?
This is in a way similiar to the Terry Schiavo case. On one hand, the optimist in me is to say let the kid live as long as he can, you never know what tomorrow brings. The rehab part of me sees the kid as a lost cause.
And so it begins.
We will soon see just how crazy Phil Spector is . . . is he OJ crazy? Ike Turner crazy? Brian Wilson Crazy?
The View . . .
OK, can't stand the show, can't stand Rosie O'Donnell, but I will miss the little controversies that come up from time to time.
Another reason to be glad Captain America is dead.
He gropes women, get's into bar fights, and sells drugs.
Nice.
You know, I make fun of Canada alot eh? But this should be done in the US, eh? Slowly converting my house to these bulbs also.
Well that nice to see.
Pirate attacks were down in the 1st quarter of 2007!
BAD JOKE ALERT!
So Heather Mills got booted from Dancing with the Stars. She did not have a leg to stand on.
Malach's Quote/Video of the Day
I am Malach and LGBNAF.
