Another terragen landscape

Click to enlarge

Another landscape I rendered in Terragen. . .
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35 albums I can usually count on

Thirty-five albums I can count on. . .they may not be all my favorites, or even at the top of my best of list, but they are the Rock of Gibraltor.


Special Beat Service - The English Beat
The Sermon - Jimmy Smith
Dear 23 - The Posies
Old and in the way - Old and in the way
This Year's Model - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Imperial Bedroom - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Help - The Beatles
Louis Armstrong and the Hot Fives and Sevens
Abbey Road - The Beatles
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (and many others)
O Brother Where Art Thou - Various Artists'
My Four hundred hours of Radio shows by Jean Shepherd
Talking Heads '77 - Talking Heads
Roxy and Elsewhere - Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention
Revolver - The Beatles
Everybody's In Show Biz - The Kinks
Weld - Neil Young
Milestones - Miles Davis
A Love Supreme - John Coltrane
How Many More Years Have I Got - Lightnin' Hopkins
The Koln Concert - Keith Jarrett
Tonight's The Night - Neil Young
Hank Williams - 40 Greatest Hits
Crosby Stills and Nash - Crosby Stills and Nash
Forest Flower - Charles Lloyd
Amazing Disgrace - The Posies
Blonde on Blonde - Bob Dylan
Blood on the tracks - Bob Dylan
American Beauty - The Grateful Dead
Europe '72 - The Grateful Dead
Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan
The Tiffany Transcriptions - Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys
Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys
Today - The Beach Boys
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The 25th Amendment: one of my very favorite amendments

As you may have guessed, section four is my favorite section. The only time it has ever been invoked is on TV and in the movies. . .


25th Amendment to the Constitution (1967); Passed by Congress July 6, 1965. Ratified February 10, 1967; Replaced part of Article II, section 1 of the Constitution, originally written in 1783.

Section 1.
In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

Section 2.
Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

Section 3.
Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.

Section 4.
Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
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Beyond Belief Lyrics by Elvis Costello

The lyrics to one of my favorite (among many) EC songs. . .



History repeats the old conceits
The glib replies the same defeats
Keep your finger on important issues
With crocodile tears and a pocketful of tissues

Im just the oily slick
On the windup world of the nervous tick
In a very fashionable hovel

I hang around dying to be tortured
Youll never be alone in the bone orchard
This battle with the bottle is nothing so novel

So in this almost empty gin palace
Through a two-way looking glass
You see your alice

You know she has no sense
For all your jealousy
In a sense she still smiles very sweetly

Charged with insults and flattery
Her body moves with malice
Do you have to be so cruel to be callous

And now you find you fit this identikit completely
You say you have no secrets
And then leave discreetly

I might make it Californias fault
Be locked in Genevas deepest vault
Just like the Canals of Mars and the Great Barrier Reef
I come to you beyond belief

My hands were clammy and cunning
She's been suitably stunning
But I know there's not a hope in hades
All the laddies cat call and wolf whistle
So-called gentlemen and ladies
Dog fight like rose and thistle

I've got a feeling
I'm going to get a lot of grief
Once this seemed so appealing
Now I am beyond belief

(repeat chorus)
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Poem: Changes Ten/Treading

Tread the tail of the tiger
And she doesn't bite back

A one-eyed man is able to see
A lame man is able to walk

Dragging his wooden leg
Behind him.
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Jack at E3

Jack at E3 in Los Angeles 5-11-2006. Holding a .50 mm
sniper rifle at the America's Army game exhibit. Click to
enlarge.
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Keelin Curran, Army of One

Click photograph to enlarge. . .photo courtesy of the
United States Army


Keelin Curran in Los Angeles last Friday, checking out a .50 mm sniper rifle. The lieutenant said the way she handled that sniper rifle, he was ready to enlist her on the spot.
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Happy Mother's Day

Click the twins to enlarge. That's my mother on the left. Happy Mother's Day!
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all this is that reheated: The Godfather chapter titles

[while Jack continues his Hollywood sojourn, we arew reprinting another oldie but goodie. Jack liked the DVD chapter titles of The Godfather films so much, he typed them into a list. Jack returns in person tomorrow.]




The Godfather Chapter Titles
(originally appeared July 2005)

My family gave me The Godfather box set for father's day. I have probably seen the movies fifty times since they came out, and it's great to actually own them now. I am utterly fascinated by the chapter titles Coppola gave the scenes.

If you know these movies, the chapter titles are amazingly evocative of the movie, and just four words can bring the entire scene flooding back into your mind. This must be one of the most fun parts of creating DVDs for movies.

The Godfather:

1. I Believe in America
2. The Wedding
3. Johnny Fontane
4. Tom Hagen Goes to Hollywood
5. Meeting With Sollozzo
6. Shooting of Don Corleone
7. Luca Brasi Sleeps With the Fishes
8. Michael at the Hospital
9. It's Strictly Business
10. How's the Italian Food in This Restaurant?
11. The Don Returns Home
12. The Thunderbolt
13. Sonny Gives Carlo a Warning
14. Michael Marries Apollonia
15. I Don't Want His Mother to See Him This Way
16. Apollonia's Murder
17. We Are All Reasonable Men Here
18. The Don Puts Michael in Charge
19. I'm Moe Green
20. I Never Wanted This for You
21. Baptism and Murder
22. Don't Ask Me About My Business, Kay
23. End Credits

Godfather Part II (DVD 1):

1. Funeral in Sicily
2. It's Not His Words I'm Afraid Of
3. Ellis Island, 1901
4. Party at Lake Tahoe
5. You Can Have My Answer Now
6. Frankie Pentangeli's Complaint
7. Bedroom Shooting
8. New York City, 1917
9. Vito Meets Clemenza
10. Keep Your Friends Close, But Your Enemies Closer
11. I Remember She Was Laughing
12. Welcome to Havana
13. I Know it Was You, Fredo
14. Was it a Boy?
15. Fanucci Wants to Wet His Beak
16. Murder of Fanucci

Godfather Part II (DVD 2):

1. You Can Never Lose Your Family
2. The Dog Stays
3. Senate Hearing
4. You're Nothing to Me Now
5. Pentangeli Sees His Brother
6. Michael, You Are Blind
7. My Father's Name Was...Antonio Andolini
8. Mama Corleone's Funeral
9. You Can Kill Anyone
10. Like the Roman Empire
11. Kay With Her Children
12. Hail Mary, Full of Grace
13. Surprise Party
14. End Credits
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posted by Jack Brummet

all this is that reheated: The day I went bald

[While Jack is in Hollywood, we reprint a couple old favorites from all this is that]


The Day I Went Bald
(first appeared December 06, 2004)

It started one day--or, rather, I noticed it one day--right after I received a really bad haircut...you know, a haircut so bad that you fix it yourself with whatever crude scissors are around. So, I left the barbershop, went home and looked in the mirror. Most of my left eyebrow was gone! Just a few scraggly hairs remained. . .up to then, I had thick eyebrows. All of a sudden---pffffft! I was really steamed at that barber, but there was no way I was going to let him touch up my hair, and the eyebrow would just have to grow back. How did he butcher my eyebrow?

A week or so later, Keelin said "Turn around, Johnnie. What's that on the back of your head?" I turned around and she pulled aside some tendrils of hair. Gleaming there was a GIGANTIC bald spot!! It was about the size of a softball. And it happened literally overnight! I was going bald!!!!! I spent about five hours a day looking at that spot in the mirror. I could feel the wind on it. It always felt cold. And I was sure everyone was always staring at it. It wasn't in the center, but off to the left side. It just flat looked weird. Naturally, I obssessed about it night and day. I found out from some fellow sufferers that I was experiencing Alopecia Areata [1].

It could stay like this. Alopecia! The bald spots usually happened in twos and threes! Two more could sprout up! It could all grow back. It could also cause every single hair on my body, including my eyelashes and nose cilia, to disappear. I would look like a Grey! No one really knows much about Alopecia and there aren't any real treatments. My doctor said it was no big deal. She could refer me to someone. . .but they didn't really have any way to treat it. I wondered if she would have been so cavalier if I had been a woman?

I ranted and raved. My entire being was now focused on those few inches of bald real estate on the back of my head. I checked the spot dozens of times a day, My bald friends were fascinated and highly amused. A couple of months later, I was performing my obsessive scalp observations, and discovered it had now sprouted peach fuzz! Woohoo! All hail the mighty stem cell [see footnote 1]. Within a month, my skull had reforested itself. The eyebrow came back too; not so bushy as it once was. The hair coming back in my eyebrow was white! I dyed it a couple of times. And then my second growth eyebrow slowly darkened, and matched my other eyebrow.

There is nothing that says the alopecia won't come back with a vengeance. In fact, Keelin told me yesterday I was tempting fate by just writing about it.

Several years later, there have been no further rogue white blood cell attacks. Excelsior!
/jack


[1] In alopecia areata, your immune system/white blood cells attack the growing cells in the hair follicles. They start thinking your hair is some sort of infection! The affected follicles become small and drastically slow down production. Thank the Lord that the stem cells that continually supply the follicle with new cells do not seem to be targeted and the follicles COULD regrow. But the hair may also fall out again. No one really knows how or why. Some people lose just a few patches of hair, then the hair regrows, and the condition never recurs. Other people continue to lose and regrow hair for many years. A few lose all the hair on their head; some lose all the hair on their head, face, and body.
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In surprising turnaround, Vice-President Cheney announces he will seek the Presidency

In a stunning about face, Vice-President Dick Cheney today announced that he would seek his own term as President of the United States. Making his announcement with his wife Lynne at his side, the Vice-President promised that in one additional term he would be able to implement the programs the Bush Administration had to set aside in order to wage war. "We haven't come as far as we'd hoped. With your help, I intend to get us there."



In the surprise speech to the Cheyenne, Wyoming Daughters of the American Revolution, Cheney said he would cut taxes even further, while strengthening the military, and "finally cleaning up the Social Security mess."


The Vice-President also announced that he would continue and widen the war on terror. "We have them on the run now," Mr. Cheney said, "and I promise you, we will kill or capture the leaders of Al Quaeda as well as Osama bin Laden."

Other potential Republican and Democratic candidates had no comment on Cheney's announcement other than to say "we are utterly stunned and in disbelief."



One campaign chief on the G.O.P. side said "This is wrong on so many levels. Wait until tomorrow when the floodgates have opened." Another Democratic political operative guessed "On the face of it, this seems like a really sick joke. We could see Cheney withdraw from this race as soon as next week. When it comes, the blowback on this one will be nothing like we've seen this crazy year so far."

Several would-be Republican candidates already have press conferences scheduled for tomorrow morning.
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Senator Clinton files bill linking congressional pay to minimum wage

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has introduced a bill that linking Congressional pay increases to increases in the federal minimum wage. It would require that the federal minimum wage be increased by the same percentage amount as Congressional salaries every year. Senator Clinton's bill will immediately raise minimum wage to more than $7 an hour, and provide automatic raises, just as Congress receives.

This is either a great election year ploy. . .or a serious attempt at reform! Either way it works for me. I don't know how congress ducks out on this one--except by making sure it gets bottled up in committee. It won't affect us in this state (Washington), since our minimum wage of $7.63 is considerably higher than the federal rate.

Her bill follows:

S 2725 IS
109th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2725
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for an increase in the Federal minimum wage and to ensure that increases in the Federal minimum wage keep pace with any pay adjustments for Members of Congress.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 4, 2006
Mrs. CLINTON (for herself, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. JEFFORDS, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. HARKIN, and Mr. OBAMA) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

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A BILL
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for an increase in the Federal minimum wage and to ensure that increases in the Federal minimum wage keep pace with any pay adjustments for Members of Congress.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Standing with Minimum Wage Earners Act of 2006'.
SEC. 2. MINIMUM WAGE.
(a) In General- Section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) is amended to read as follows:
`(1)(A) except as otherwise provided in this section, not less than--
`(i) $5.85 an hour, beginning on the 60th day after the date of enactment of the Standing with Minimum Wage Earners Act of 2006;
`(ii) $6.55 an hour, beginning 12 months after that 60th day, adjusted for that year as provided for in subparagraph (B); and
`(iii) $7.25 an hour, beginning 24 months after that 60th day, adjusted each year as provided for in subparagraph (B); and
`(B) the wage provided for under clauses (ii) and (iii) of subparagraph (A) shall be automatically increased for the year involved by a percentage equal to the percentage by which the annual rate of pay for Members of Congress increased for such year as provided for pursuant to the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 31).'.
(b) Effective Date- The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
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