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Category: music

11/25/08 10:17 - 37ºF - ID#46837

Adios Nonino

I break out in tears every time I hear this song, even without the accompanying video. If you need to flush out those lachrymal glands, Astor Piazzola is the man for the job. :)





PS: That is Princess Maxima of Netherlands. She strangely looks a lot my advisor in Rochester...
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Permalink: Adios_Nonino.html
Words: 67
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: tools

11/23/08 01:01 - 31ºF - ID#46805

What's THAT word?: Trumping Word-Blocks!

You are writing furiously and suddenly you come up against the dreaded WORD BLOCK! In my opinion, this is far worse than the writer's block. In contrast to the much-maligned writer's block, the word block doesn't deal with that murky uncertain ghost of your writing-future. It makes what you already wrote look like rot. The word block casts an unsatisfactory dirty shroud on the ghost of your writing-present.
image

To me, this is unacceptable. Thus, I declared war against word-blocks this morning. I then realized that I was poorly armed with just a Roget's Thesaurus. What I needed was a weapon to put my thoughts into pithy words. For every time I wondered, "what IS THAT word????" and for every time some miserable word dangled from the tip of my tongue but didn't quite make it to the brain, I needed a sort of white book for reverse look-up of thoughts. And lo and behold, the unknown angel of word-block rescue exists! It's called the one look reverse dictionary.

I realize it might be a bit rash to declare victory against word-blocks already, (for all I know, the word-block camp may have hidden WMDs headed for my document) but the ghost of my writing-present is nodding pretty appreciatively.
image

Do (e:strip) peeps have any other hidden writing-block-busters? As we all know, stockpiling is half the victory (besides being extremely handy for threatening, manipulation and such other nifty uses). :)
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Permalink: What_s_THAT_word_Trumping_Word_Blocks_.html
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Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: the odes

11/20/08 12:33 - 33ºF - ID#46771

Gmail Theme Mania

I am so in love with the Gmail theme changing thing! I have been changing my theme once every hour for the past 6 hours. Is that excessive?

image

I hope not. Because I have 24 more themes to go through.

WHOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEE, GMAIL THEME MANIA! :)



PS: I am just a Rahmbonics theme away from attaining complete self-destruction (distraction?). Thank goodness they don't have political-obsession themes... YET.

PPS: Maybe I should *design* a Rahmbonics theme! HEHEHEHE.

PPPS: Maybe I should just quit working on this ridiculous PhD and start stalking political celebrities full-time.

PPPPS: Um. Yeah. Scratch all those bad ideas,. TINY. GET BACK TO WORK!

PPPPPS: It's a sign of pure and unadulterated insanity that I am addressing myself as TINY (besides writing recursive post-scripts to myself). Ugh.
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Permalink: Gmail_Theme_Mania.html
Words: 128
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: {dodo}

11/19/08 01:14 - ID#46751

Rahm Emanuel - Positively Aware {Or Not}

Due to the enormous amount of pubmed whoring I do on a daily basis, I have a search engine plugin for Pubmed in my Firefox quick search bar. I accidentally searched for today's quota of Rahmbonics in Pubmed. Lo and Behold, he has an indexed publication!!!

Emanuel R. Politics and HIV: statement from Representative Rahm Emanuel (IL-5). Posit Aware. 2006 Jul-Aug;17(4):49.


Of course, I simply had to go and hunt the full-text version down.

image

I learned about some new Rahmbonics for my D.iary O.f D.aily O.bsession, {DODO}.

Did you know that:
-- Rahmbo supports the Ryan White CARE act that funds treatment for AIDS patients when no other resources are available. (Among 402 others in the Congress).

-- He voted for the AIDS assistance bill (H.R. 1298, the U.S. Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act)

Critical Note: Though the global funding aspect is great, the Anti-Prostitution pledge in this bill is despicable and counter-productive. As a medical professional, I think this sort of a reactionary approach to AIDS prevention and control will get us NOWHERE in our fight against HIV. In my dictionary, people who drafted this pledge are prime examples of what the terms "moronic" and "insular" actually mean. Two thumbs down to Bush and other crazies who heads are firmly under six feet of religious fanatic hard-packed dirt on this issue. Emanuel talks about the funding aspect of this bill in the Posit. Aware publication but not about the anti-prostitution pledge. I am dissatisfied over this glaring omission.

-- He voted to pass H.Con.Res.30, a bill supporting the goals and ideals of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

-- Co-sponsored:
H.R. 3859, the Early Treatment for HIV Act (ETHA),
H.R. 4792, the New United States Global HIV Prevention Strategy to Address the Needs of Women and Girls Act of 2004
H.R. 1409, the Assistance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act of 2005
H.R. 1413, the Women and Children in Crisis and Conflict Protection Act of 2005.

On the whole, that's an excellent record against HIV except for the one major blemish-by-association -- the Anti-Prostitution pledge. I wish I knew how Rahmbonics stand on this issue. Till then, I can't believe the title of this blog without reserve.
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Category: {dodo}

11/17/08 11:00 - 27ºF - ID#46728

While Rome burned...

image


  • YES. I am obsessed with this bloke. Apologies to all you 3 readers. You are unfortunately going to get a disproportionate amount of Emanuel on this channel, now that I have this insane urge to news-stalk for Rahmbonics. Consider yourself warned. :)

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Permalink: While_Rome_burned_.html
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Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: {dodo}

11/14/08 07:05 - 57ºF - ID#46693

Rahm Emanuel {His finger, to be precise}

I admit it. This man is immensely entertaining!

He once said {on the subject of losing his right middle finger}:

image

Of all the fingers to lose! I could not express myself for months. I had to learn to talk with my left hand.



Stephen Colbert latched on to this missing finger and what follows is a hysterical blackmail begging for a position at the White House.

::Download Flash Video::



Oh, and that finger is not just Colbert's favourite. Obama takes a jab at it as well... among a handful of other Rahmbonics.

Has he ever flashed that stubby little thing at you? It's appalling




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Permalink: Rahm_Emanuel_His_finger_to_be_precise_.html
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Category: e:strip

11/14/08 11:01 - 56ºF - ID#46684

Where do lost comments go?

Cue spooky ambience music...

::DOWNLOAD SOUND::



Have you ever wondered why..,
- Your comment # is more than the total number of comments on the home page?

- Some comments you make mysteriously vanish into the night?
image

- Some comments get lost and never see the light of the day?

- As you look down the new comment column, the ghost of your comment still taunts you from the netherworld??

- Is there a secret comment graveyard on (e:strip)?
image

- Is that where unruly comments go to die?

The answer lies with...

(e:paul)!!!!!!!*



PS: (e:paul) just posted in the chatter: tiny when you are posting a comment, make sure it says the right user and comment id at the top of the add comment window e.g. Post a comment to imk2's journal #46680

PPS: Thanks for that information. I will be sure to check in the future but how about the comments which have been posted without verifying this detail - is there any way to recover them?

PPPS: I am so addicted to this font-sizing thing. :)
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Permalink: Where_do_lost_comments_go_.html
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Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: music

11/10/08 09:45 - 37ºF - ID#46637

Milva... the extraordinary.

The last post reminded me of how much I love this awesome Goddess of voice and passion.
image
So instead of just listening to me jabbering on and on, I strongly recommend that you take the time machine back to the 60s for 10 golden minutes. :)

From 1968:


From 1966:


This is more recent, but showcases her incredible range and the life she brings to Piazzolla's works. This time, in French!
J'Oublie (Oblivion) (Piazzolla/McNeal)

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Permalink: Milva_the_extraordinary_.html
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Category: music

11/10/08 08:15 - 36ºF - ID#46635

Astor Piazzolla - Maria de Buenos Aires

I got to my department today morning and someone had left this on the general "help-yourself" table at the entrance.

image

I still can't believe it. Someone actually gave away one of the coolest tango-operas! And not just any tango-opera. A LIVE production* of the oratorio penned in 1968 by none other than the divinity of tango - Astor Piazzolla!

To give you an idea of what Piazzola's operatic works sound like, here's a very dramatic piece "Preludio para el año 3001 - Rinasceró" sung by the awesome Milva. The drama and emotion is sometimes so intense, that even not getting a word of Spanish, I find myself getting the story. That is the brilliance and magic of Piazzolla.

::DOWNLOAD SOUND::


(Orchestra: Astor Quartet, Per Arne Glorvigen (Bandoneon), Gidon Kremer (Violin), Milva (Voice), Vadim Sakharov (Piano), Alois Posch (Double Bass))

Needless to say, I snatched it away in one wild spasmodic movement before anyone could say, Piazzolla. It's now playing full blast and I am virtually dancing on the streets of Buenos Aires.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, dear mysterious benefactor! :D


  • Okay, Okay, the Gidon Kremer version of this Opera is more mind-blowing, if only for the technical precision of his playing as well as the orchestra's. However, as far as live productions go, this one is spot on with all the passion, if not the precision and sound.


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Permalink: Astor_Piazzolla_Maria_de_Buenos_Aires.html
Words: 234
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: whine

11/08/08 11:32 - 41ºF - ID#46609

What next: Bailout the oil-guzzling SUV?

From

Two representatives in the congress have written a letter to the Idiot-W urging him to bail-out the makers of the oil-guzzling SUVs and inefficient cars.

Pelosi and Reid:

"A healthy automobile manufacturing sector is essential to the restoration of financial market stability, the overall health of our economy and the livelihood of the automobile sector's workforce."



How can you perpetrate such constant fraud on the public? Can this get anymore outrageous? WHY should more money go into energy inefficient cars and SUVs while bus and metro prices are going up all over the place? For once, can't you just bail out the average population's livelihood by investing a fraction of that $700bn in a healthy PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION system??

Pelosi and Reid also said:

"It is our hope that the actions that Congress has taken, and that the administration may take, will restore the pre-eminence of our domestic manufacturing industry so that it can emerge as a global, competitive leader in fuel efficiency and in new and path-breaking energy-efficient technologies that protect our environment."



Yeah. Right. Fat chance of that ever happening - seeing as how the US goverment, the domestic automobile manufacturers, the oil industry, and the Californian government played key roles in very skillfully murdering the concept of the energy-efficient electric car back in the day.

This is a barefaced effort at siphoning of public money to the oil industry for immediate gains, and it makes me sick.
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Permalink: What_next_Bailout_the_oil_guzzling_SUV_.html
Words: 261
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