May you be in heaven
half an hour before the devil knows you're dead.
~ Old Irish toast
half an hour before the devil knows you're dead.
~ Old Irish toast
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Innocence and Despair
Back in 1976-1977 a group of middle school kids recorded themselves singing some of the hits of the day and their favorite songs. Over the years they had their copies and lost their copies and threw away their copies ... and one made its way into the hands of a producer who turned it into the recording below ... a recording true to the original as it is the original - no dubbing or polishing, just the music raw and unvarnished as the kids played the music and sang them those many years ago.
It is a must have for any record collection!
It is a must have for any record collection!
"The backing arrangement is astounding. Coupled with the earnest if lugubrious vocal performance you have a piece of art that I couldn't have conceived of, even with half of Colombia's finest export products in.me." --David.Bowie (on the Langley students' rendition of "Space.Oddity")
TRACK LISTING
(& original recording artists):
01) Venus and Mars/Rock Show
---- (Paul McCartney &.Wings)
---- >>listen to clip
02) Good Vibrations (The Beach Boys)
---- >>listen to clip
03) God Only Knows (The Beach Boys)
04) Space Oddity (David Bowie)
---- >>listen to clip
05) The Long and Winding Road
---- (The Beatles)
06) Band On The Run
---- (Paul McCartney & Wings)
07) I'm Into Something Good
---- (Earl-Jean/Herman's Hermits)
08) In My Room (The Beach Boys)
---- >>listen to clip
09) Saturday Night (Bay City Rollers)
10) I Get Around (The Beach Boys)
11) Mandy (Barry Manilow)
12) Help Me, Rhonda
---- (The Beach Boys)
13) Desperado (The Eagles)
---- >>listen to clip
14) You're So Good To Me
---- (The Beach Boys)
---- >>listen to clip
15) Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond)
16) To Know Him Is To Love Him
---- (Teddy Bears)
17) Rhiannon (Fleetwood Mac)
18) You're Sixteen *
---- (Johnny Burnette/Ringo Starr)
19) Little Deuce Coupe *
---- (The Beach Boys)
20) Wildfire (Michael Martin Murphy)
21) Calling Occupants of
---- Interplanetary Craft
---- (The Recognized Anthem
---- of World Contact.Day)
---- (Klaatu/The Carpenters)
Read more about this work here.
There's a kind of a hush all over the world ...
For the next few weeks, fans of Ann Coulter - Hello, is there anyone out there? -will have to rely on skippy-the-wonder-dog to provide their mind-boggling sound bites.
Because of a nasty fall last month, the 46-year-old slut will have her jaw wired shut.
Didn't think it was possible to silence Miz Coulter, but we are overjoyed that the screeching reactionary broke her jaw and the 'mouth that roared' has been wired shut.(Is there anyway to make that wiring permanent .... I wonder?)
And I Quote
"The Capitol Hill Christmas tree arrived. And they've got to decorate it so a $10 billion contract went to Halliburton."
~ David Letterman
At Least 80 Dead in India Terror Attacks
Coordinated terrorist attacks struck the heart of Mumbai, India’s commercial capital, on Wednesday night, killing dozens in machine-gun and grenade assaults on at least two five-star hotels, the city’s largest train station, a movie theater and a hospital.
Even by the standards of terrorism in India, which has suffered a rising number of attacks this year, the assaults were particularly brazen and drastically different in scale and execution. The attackers used boats to reach the urban peninsula where they hit, and their targets were sites popular with tourists.
"Mumbai" is the right way to pronounce "Bombay," which is considered the financial center of India.
New York Times
Addendum: After a night of fighting the police said 104 people were killed and 314 injured. Officials said eight militants were also killed.
The Obamas visit a Chicago food bank
The Obamas visit a Chicago food bank and help hand out food.
President Barack Obama and his family spent an hour handing out chickens, potatoes, bread and other Thanksgiving food to poor families on Chicago's south side this (Wednesday, November 26, 2008) morning after Obama introduced his latest economic advisers.
Then he shook hands with catholic grade school students ecstatic to see him...."at Thanksgiving, it's important for us to remember people in need," Obama said. "They told me the number of people coming here is up 33 percent from last year."
About 600 families got food, said Kate Maehr, executive director of the greater Chicago Food Depository.
That's up from 270 families last year, said the Reverend Matt Eyerman.This is the fourth year in a row that Obama has handed out food before Thanksgiving.
Last year, he did it in New Hampshire.
Rogue Cops in Newark
This rogue cop even says "I can do what I want". News Flash for you buddy ... no you can't.
Even though news cameramen and reporters are not the most welcome at times if they are on public property they can do their jobs ... how else do you think FauxNews gets their stuff from - they have to get a real picture and pull a misleading story out of their ass or have a real story and pull misleading pictures out of their ass every day.
Man steals three-year-old's identity
Authorities say a North Carolina man used a Social Security number belonging to a 3-year-old girl to sign up for telephone and natural gas service. The News and Record of Greensboro reported Tuesday that 44-year-old Michael John Maris of Mebane was charged with one count of identity theft and two counts of obtaining property by false pretense.
Alamance County sheriff's officials said the child's grandmother, Linda Raker, contacted authorities after a collection agency began looking for unpaid utility bills in her granddaughter's name.
The sheriff's office said the suspect is related to Raker, but did not disclose the relationship.
Maris was being held Tuesday on $5,000 bond at the Alamance County jail. Court records didn't show that he had an attorney.
Accused drunk driver ends up running over himself
From the "Now this is fine how do you do!" Department:
A 21-year-old man was accused of driving drunk and leading police on a chase that finally ended with him running over himself. The man was treated for minor injuries at a Santa Fe hospital and booked in to the Sandoval County detention center on charges of aggravated driving while intoxicated, fleeing a police officer, careless driving and two other outstanding traffic warrants.
A tip to the state's DrunkBuster hot line Sunday afternoon alerted authorities to a possibly drunken driver.
State Police Officer Grace Romero spotted the man's pickup truck swerving across both lanes of a highway, driving slowly and then fast. He refused to stop.
After narrowly missing other vehicles, police said the suspect drove through a ditch and a barbed-wire fence before stopping. He tried to put the truck into park, but it ended up in reverse.
Police said the man fell from his open door and both of his legs were run over by the front driver's side tire.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Marine archaeologists find remains of slave ship
Marine archaeologists have found the remains of a slave ship wrecked off the Turks and Caicos Islands in 1841, an accident that set free the ancestors of many current residents of those islands.
Some 192 Africans survived the sinking of the Spanish ship Trouvadore off the British-ruled islands, where the slave trade was banned.
Over the years the ship had been forgotten, said researcher Don Keith, so when the discovery connected the ship to current residents the first response "was a kind of shock, a lack of comprehension," he explained in a briefing organized by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
But after word got out "people really got on board with it," he said, and the local museum has assisted the researchers.
He said this is the only known wreck of a ship engaged in the illegal slave trade.
Keith and his co-researchers from the Texas-based Ships of Discovery organization came across a letter at the Smithsonian Institution that referred to the sinking and began their search for the ship.
"The people of the Turks and Caicos have a direct line to this dramatic, historic event - it's how so many of them ended up being there.
"We hope this discovery will encourage the people of the Turks and Caicos to protect and research their local history, especially the history that remains underwater," he said.
"It really is a mystery, it's a detective story," added marine archaeologist Toni Carrell.
"We do all of this because we recognize the importance of history. This is an important part of the Turks and Caicos history," she said.
The team was able to determine that authorities on the islands apprenticed the Africans to trades for a year and then allowed them to settle on the islands, many on Grand Turk.
The Spanish crew was arrested and turned over to authorities in Cuba, then a Spanish colony.
An 1878 letter refers to the Trouvadore Africans as making up the pith - meaning an essential part - of the laboring population on the islands.
When the wreck was first discovered in 2004 it was named the Black Rock ship because the researchers were unsure of its identity.
They have since become convinced by the timing and design of the vessel that it is the Trouvadore.
"We were not fortunate enough to find a bell with 'Trouvadore' on it," Carrell explained.
Useful parts of the ship had been salvaged before winds and currents carried it into deeper water.
"It's rare and exciting to find a wreck of such importance that has been forgotten for so many years," said Frank Cantelas, marine archaeologist for NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research.
The team also found the remains of the U.S. brig Chippewa, a ship built for the War of 1812 which was engaged in chasing pirates when it was lost in 1816.
That vessel was identified by the unique type of cannons, called carronades, it carried.
Indeed, the researchers said the Turks and Caicos now possesses one of the world's best collections of carronades.
Some 192 Africans survived the sinking of the Spanish ship Trouvadore off the British-ruled islands, where the slave trade was banned.
Over the years the ship had been forgotten, said researcher Don Keith, so when the discovery connected the ship to current residents the first response "was a kind of shock, a lack of comprehension," he explained in a briefing organized by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
But after word got out "people really got on board with it," he said, and the local museum has assisted the researchers.
He said this is the only known wreck of a ship engaged in the illegal slave trade.
Keith and his co-researchers from the Texas-based Ships of Discovery organization came across a letter at the Smithsonian Institution that referred to the sinking and began their search for the ship.
"The people of the Turks and Caicos have a direct line to this dramatic, historic event - it's how so many of them ended up being there.
"We hope this discovery will encourage the people of the Turks and Caicos to protect and research their local history, especially the history that remains underwater," he said.
"It really is a mystery, it's a detective story," added marine archaeologist Toni Carrell.
"We do all of this because we recognize the importance of history. This is an important part of the Turks and Caicos history," she said.
The team was able to determine that authorities on the islands apprenticed the Africans to trades for a year and then allowed them to settle on the islands, many on Grand Turk.
The Spanish crew was arrested and turned over to authorities in Cuba, then a Spanish colony.
An 1878 letter refers to the Trouvadore Africans as making up the pith - meaning an essential part - of the laboring population on the islands.
When the wreck was first discovered in 2004 it was named the Black Rock ship because the researchers were unsure of its identity.
They have since become convinced by the timing and design of the vessel that it is the Trouvadore.
"We were not fortunate enough to find a bell with 'Trouvadore' on it," Carrell explained.
Useful parts of the ship had been salvaged before winds and currents carried it into deeper water.
"It's rare and exciting to find a wreck of such importance that has been forgotten for so many years," said Frank Cantelas, marine archaeologist for NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research.
The team also found the remains of the U.S. brig Chippewa, a ship built for the War of 1812 which was engaged in chasing pirates when it was lost in 1816.
That vessel was identified by the unique type of cannons, called carronades, it carried.
Indeed, the researchers said the Turks and Caicos now possesses one of the world's best collections of carronades.
Tame deer at Houston sanctuary beheaded
The "LOWEST OF THE LOW" ...
A tame deer known as Mr. Buck has been found beheaded at a wildlife sanctuary in Houston.
The remains of the child-friendly deer were discovered Tuesday at Bear Creek Pioneers Park.
A bloodhound was used to try to track the killer.
Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack says anyone who attacks an animal in captivity "is just the lowest of the low."
Authorities say someone cut through a remote fence to reach the animal, taking the deer's head and antlers.
The carcass was left behind.
Taxidermy shops in the Houston area were being advised about the crime.
Charges including felony animal cruelty and poaching could be pursued against any suspects.
A tame deer known as Mr. Buck has been found beheaded at a wildlife sanctuary in Houston.
The remains of the child-friendly deer were discovered Tuesday at Bear Creek Pioneers Park.
A bloodhound was used to try to track the killer.
Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack says anyone who attacks an animal in captivity "is just the lowest of the low."
Authorities say someone cut through a remote fence to reach the animal, taking the deer's head and antlers.
The carcass was left behind.
Taxidermy shops in the Houston area were being advised about the crime.
Charges including felony animal cruelty and poaching could be pursued against any suspects.
One Liner
Home computers are being called upon to perform many new functions, including the consumption of homework formerly eaten by the dog.
~ Doug Larson.
DMT lab busted in Buffalo, NY
Four men were arrested this morning (November 25, 2008) as federal drug agents busted a South Buffalo laboratory where a potent psychedelic drug known as dimethyltryptamine — or DMT — was being manufactured illegally.The clandestine drug lab was believed to have been operated for at least the past six months in a house on Fredro Street, in the Clinton-Bailey area, said Dale Kasprzyk, a Buffalo supervisor of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
“To our knowledge, this is the first DMT lab busted in Western New York, and only the third ever in New York state,” Kasprzyk said. “DMT is a drug that is just beginning to emerge in this area.”
As Taboos Ease, Saudi Girl Group Dares to Rock
“They cannot perform in public. They cannot pose for album cover photographs. Even their jam sessions are secret, for fear of offending the religious authorities in this ultraconservative kingdom. But the members of Saudi Arabia’s first all-girl rock band, the Accolade, are clearly not afraid of taboos.
The band’s first single, “Pinocchio,” has become an underground hit here, with hundreds of young Saudis downloading the song from the group’s MySpace page. Now, the pioneering foursome, all of them college students, want to start playing regular gigs — inside private compounds, of course — and recording an album. “In Saudi, yes, it’s a challenge,” said the group’s lead singer, Lamia, who has piercings on her left eyebrow and beneath her bottom lip. (Like other band members, she gave only her first name.) “Maybe we’re crazy. But we wanted to do something different.”
In a country where women are not allowed to drive and rarely appear in public without their faces covered, the band is very different. The prospect of female rockers clutching guitars and belting out angry lyrics about a failed relationship — the theme of “Pinocchio” — would once have been unimaginable here. But this country’s harsh code of public morals has slowly thawed, especially in Jidda, by far the kingdom’s most cosmopolitan city. A decade ago the cane-wielding religious police terrorized women who were not dressed according to their standards. Young men with long hair were sometimes bundled off to police stations to have their heads shaved, or worse.”
From The New York Times.
Texas police turn traffic tickets into toy drive
Some police officers in a North Texas suburb are playing Santa Claus with naughty drivers.
For the next month, some motorists pulled over in Sansom Park will be given a "ticket for tots" instead of a formal citation. Drivers are then asked to drop off a $10 toy at the police station.
"This is a low-income community. A lot of the kids are not going to have a Christmas at all," Martinez says.
While it's not mandatory to donate a toy, police think forgoing writing motorists a ticket could lead people to return the kindness.
Officers have discretion over who gets issued a citation or "ticket for tots" depending on the violation.
Police point out that the average traffic ticket in Sansom Park - a Fort Worth suburb - costs about $165.
New Zealand billboard thief gets his own ad campaign
A billboard on the corner of a major road intersection in downtown Auckland, New Zealand, Monday, Nov. 24, 2008. A thief who stole expensive fittings from a billboard in New Zealand's largest city has become the subject of giant "Wanted" posters after the company that owns them obtained a photograph of the crime. The unidentified thief was photographed by a suspicious onlooker as he uncoupled 15 expensive electrical transformers that boost the lighting of a billboard in Auckland in October.
*****
A thief caught on camera stealing expensive equipment picked the wrong target if wanted to keep a low profile: a billboard company that has plastered his image around New Zealand's largest city seeking his capture.
The unidentified thief was photographed by a suspicious onlooker as he uncoupled 15 electrical transformers used to boost the lighting on a billboard in Auckland.
The photographer knew the pillaged sign belonged to Mark Venter, who runs OTW Advertising, one of New Zealand's oldest billboard companies.
So when the photographer offered pictures of the thief in action it cost Venter nothing to mount the images on four city billboards with the inscription: "Who is this Thief? Reward $500."
The photo of "the ratbag" was "too good an opportunity to let go," Venter told The Associated Press. "We've all had stuff stolen ... but usually they don't leave this calling card."
He said he had received more than 100 calls since the photograph was posted six days ago, though most were calls supporting his campaign rather than offering information on the crime.
Police Sgt. Roy Simpson said several calls to police and to Venter had named the same man as the possible thief, and he was now being sought by police.
Venter noted the thief had had one piece of good luck: If he had tried stealing the transformers at night "when they have 50,000 volts going through them - he'd be dead."
Student arrested for 'Passing Gas'
A student at a Florida school has been arrested after authorities said he was "passing gas" and turning off his classmates' computers. According to a report released Friday by the Martin County Sheriff's Office, the 13-year-old boy "continually disrupted his classroom environment" by intentionally breaking wind. He then shut off some computers other students were using.
The Spectrum Junior-Senior High School was arrested November 4.
A school resource officer placed the boy under arrest after he confessed about his behavior, according to the report. He was charged with disruption of school function and released to his mother.
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