Snippets:
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Computer: Wipedisk from Gaijin. Overwrites (deletes, 'wipes') hard disk, memory sticks etc. 14 different methods possible. Also has a program for deletion of files (Wipefile). Website in German.
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Computer: Circumvent unwanted error messages in Vista and XP with 'Unlocker' (get from Download.com).
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Computer: Portable Freeware Collection. Similar functions as Portable Apps.
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Computer: Spybot Search & Destroy. Find and delete malware. Useful.
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Computer: Bandwithplace.com: Free Internet speed test: DL Speed: ~2.6 megabits/sec = ~320 kilobytes/sec]. Speedtest.net: Free broadband speed test with servers located all over the world [DL Speed ~ 2879 kb/s; UL Speed: ~450 kb/s]
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Art: Olafur Eliasson (b. 1967), Take Your Time: MoMA and P.S. 1, NYC, April 20 - June 30, 2008. Danish-Icelandic artist. Works a lot with light and mirrors. Intriguing.
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Snippets:
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Computer: Primary Games. All kinds of free computer games, including Mini Golf. See List of all games.
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History: First Sounds.
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DVD: The Official Story (La Historia oficial, 1985). Director:Luis Puenzo. w/ Norma Aleandro (Alicia), Héctor Alterio (Roberto). Wife of a businessman in Buenos Aires starts investigating the history of their adopted daughter when she learns that the child may be from a politically imprisoned mother. Multiple side stories. Sometimes melodramatic. 1986 Oscar-winner for Best Foreign Film. Overall rating: 5 out of 10.
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Photogaphy: Bernd Nies. Good amateur photographer. Some spectacular shots.
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Computer: Team Viewer: Desktop sharing, presentations and file transfer, even through firewalls. Free of charge for private (non-commerical)use. Does not require installation. Great for technical support. Works well.
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Books: Library of Congress: Has online exhibitions.
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Recreation: State Parks in New York. Map included.
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Recreation: Croton Dam near Cronton-on-Hudson, built 1906. NYC water supply.
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Shopping: Pricegrabber: Price engine with useful commentaries and reviews.
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Snippets:
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DVD: 1941 (1979). Director: Steven Spielberg. w/ Dan Aykroyd (Sgt. Frank Tree), John Belushi (Capt. Wild Bill Kelso). During WWII in 1941, Hollywood needs to be defended against an imminent Japanese attack. Aloof comedy. Hardly any story. Poor jokes. Waste of time. Some good special effects though. Overall raiting: 2 out of 10.
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Computer: winhlp.com. Windows problem solver.
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Shooping: Nuts Online (knutscholin). Good selection of nuts amd dried fruits; some chocolate-coated.
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Music: TuneCore. Make your music and videos commercially available on the WWW for a small fee, no royalties.
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Movie: Lissi und der wilde Kaiser (2007). Director: Michael Herbig. CGI (computer-generated imaging) movie about the fairy tale-like marriage between Bavaria's teenage Princess Elizabeth and Austria's Emperor Franz Joseph. Lissi is abducted by Yeti to be brought to the devil as the most beautiful woman in the world. Spoof on the "Sissi" trilogy (1955-57). Some funny moments. 'Badesalz' provided voices to Lucifer. Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
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Life: Fragrance: Good Life by Davidoff. For Men. Eau De Toilette.
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Movie: Atonement (2007; German: Abbitte). w/ James McAvoy (Robbie Turner), Keira Knightley (Cecilia Tallis). Writers: Ian McEwan (novel), Christopher Hampton (screenplay). Director: Joe Wright. 13-year old girl accuses her sister's lover of raping a girl and therby changes their personal histories. Won Oscar: Dario Marianelli for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score. Saoirse Ronan was nominated for Oscar for her role as Briony Tallis (Aged 13). Core question: When is someone old enough to distinguish between right and wrong. Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
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News: LiveNewsCameras. Collection of live TV news feeds around the world.
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Online versions of Bibles:

• Bibleserver: Various versions in several different languages; can be viewed side-by-side. Old and New Testament. Also has additional resources


• BibleGateway: Various versions in differnt languages


• Biblos: Online Parallel Bible Project. Many versions, many languages


• Bibelkommentare: in German
  

Snippets:
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Art: 12/29/07: Metropolitan Museum, NYC: 1.) Annual Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche, November 20, 2007–January 6, 2008, Medieval Sculpture Hall 2.) The Age of Rembrandt: Dutch Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 18, 2007–January 6, 2008, Special Exhibition Galleries, 2nd floor.
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Bar: Ice Bar at Chambers, Minneapolis, MN: Outdoors. Counter made of ice, an artsy fire place to warm up. Chambers is the Luxury Art Hotel in Minneapolis.
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Food: Murray's, Minneapolis, MN. Old-fashioned steak house. Famous to be the "Home of the Silver Butter Knife Steak". Food fine, but too pricey. Interior has probably not been renovated since the place opend in 1946. An expericence, no doubt!
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Art: 1/4/08: MoMA: 1.) Lucian Freud: The Painter's Etchings, Dec 16, 2007 - March 10, 2008. Like the paintings better 2.) Martin Puryear Nov 4, 2007–Jan 14, 2008: Sculptures. Not impressed.
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Travel: FlightStats. Info on flights and airports.
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Music: Song Meanings. People commenting on the meaning of songs.
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DVD: Hamlet (1948): Director:Laurence Olivier. Movie version of the play by William Shakespeare. w/ Laurence Olivier (Hamlet, Prince of Denmark), Basil Sydney (Claudius, The King), Eileen Herlie (Gertrude, The Queen), Norman Wooland (Horatio, Hamlet's friend), Felix Aylmer (Polonius, Lord Chamberlain), Terence Morgan (Laertes, son of Polonius), Jean Simmons (Ophelia, daughter of Polonius). Hamlet goes mad over the murder of his father by his uncle, Ophelia goes mad over her love for Hamlet. All dead in the end. Great acting. Great play. Somewhat 'dusty', but full of vice and virtue. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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Life: Masdar: Plan for an entirely self-sufficient city near Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Supposed to have no carbon dioxide emissions by using solar and wind energy. To be completed around 2016.
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Architecture: 570 Lexington Ave, NYC. Art Deco. Originally buildt by RCA Victor in 1931, soon became the General Electric Building.
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Music: 55 Bar 2/17/08, 6 PM: Iris Ornig (bass, compositions); played in a quartet. Mainstream jazz. Could be more progressive.
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DVD: Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959). After the novel by Jules Verne. Screen play: Walter Reisch and Charles Brackett. w/ Pat Boone (Alexander 'Alec' McKuen), James Mason (Sir Oliver S. Lindenbrook), Arlene Dahl (Carla Goteborg), Diane Baker (Jenny Lindenbrook). Geogology professor and crew descent into the ground to explore the center of the earth. Some good special effects for its time. Some funny moments in dialogue. Cheesy at times. Overall rating 6 out of 10.
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People: Nina Totenberg. b. 1944. Legal affairs correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR). Daughter of violinist Roman Totenberg. Fired from the National Observer for plagiarism in 1972. In response, Totenberg told the Columbia Journalism Review in 1995: "I have a strong feeling that a young reporter is entitled to one mistake and to have the holy bejeezus scared out of her to never do it again". List of other NPR people.
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Literature: Halldor Laxness, Iceland's Bell (1943): "... answer me candidly one question: who has suffered more for the other in this world, God for men or men for God?" (p.253)
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Snippets:
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Philosophy: Bhagavad Gita. Text and MP3 audio, with translations.
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Religion: Ganesha: One of the most popular deities in the Hindism. One of the five prime Hindu deities (next to Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Durga). Lord of success. Remover of obstacles. Son of Shiva and Parvati. Elephant head denotes wisdom and its trunk represents Om. More info.
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Video: Trouble in Mind (1985). 111 min. Director: Alan Rudolph. w/ Kris Kristofferson (Hawk), Keith Carradine (Coop), Lori Singer (Georgia), Genevieve Bujold (Wanda). Music by Marianne Faithful. Ex-cop, just released from prison, tries to build a new life. Tries to win over woman who is married to a crook. Depicts atmosphere of crude survival well. Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
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Music: Pink Floyd RoIO Database. Contains collection of 'Records of Illegitimate/Indeterminate Origin'. Track listings. Some explanantions. Great resource. Site currently not actively maintained.
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DVD: The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (L' Uccello dalle piume di cristallo, 1970). 96 min. Director: Dario Argento. w/ Tony Musante (Sam Dalmas), Suzy Kendall (Julia), Enrico Maria Salerno (Inspector Morosini). A writer and an inspector are trying to solve the mystery of a series of murders of young women. Has some gripping moments. Suspense enhanced by and erie soundtrack. Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
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Music: Caravan: Progressive rock group from the 60s and 70s. Song: A hunting we shall go (Live), from the album 'Caravan & The New Symphonia'
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Music: Garth Stevenson Group on Friday, October 26, 2007, 9 PM at The Neighborhood Church of Greenwich Village, 269Bleecker St, NYC. Garth Stevenson, bass; John Lockwood, bass; George Garzone, sax; Ted Poor, drums. Great line up with two upright bass players; creative tenor sax and drums. Part of 'Jazz Underground'.
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DVD: Quadrophenia (1979). Director: Franc Roddam. w/ Phil Daniels (James Michael 'Jimmy' Cooper), Leslie Ash (Steph), Sting (Ace Face). Member of a 'Mod' gang in London and Brighton in 1963 tries to find his identity and way through life. When the girl he fancies turns to another guy, he spirals downward. Music by The Who, who produced the film. Movie inspired by their concept album from 1973. Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
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Music: Tiff Jimber. Singer-songwriter from San Diego. Reminds of Vanessa Carlton. MySpace.
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DVD: The Passanger (Professione: reporter; 1975). 126 min. Director: Michelangelo Antonioni (Blow Up). w/ Jack Nicholson (David Locke), Maria Schneider (Girl; from Last Tango in Paris). Slow pace, some good dialogs. Good cinematography. Story sometimes to sluggish. Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
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DVD: Performance (1970). 105 min. Directors: Donald Cammell, Nicolas Roeg (Bad Timing). w/ James Fox (Chas), Mick Jagger (Turner), Anita Pallenberg (Pherber), Michele Breton (Lucy). Gangster on the run finds a quiet, bohemian place to hide in an East London mansion with trippy beatniks. Not much content, but plenty of 60s spirit. Many references to the culture of the time. Violence, sex, drugs, Rock'n Roll. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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Movies: Filmsite. Info about history of film.
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Life: John Maeda: The Laws of Simplicity: Law #2: Organization makes a system of many appear fewer. Maeda is currently Associate Director of Research, The Media Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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Photography: Jean Guichard. Born 1952. Famous French photographer of lighthouses.
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DVD: Blade Runner (1982). 117 min. Director: Ridley Scott. w/ Harrison Ford (Rick Deckard), Rutger Hauer (Roy Batty), Sean Young (Rachael), Daryl Hannah (Pris). After the novel ("Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?") by Philip K. Dick. In the year 2019, technology allows the cloning of human-like so-called replicas that are used to conduct lowly work on other planets. A retired cop gets the task to 'retire' (kill) 4 replicas seeking their freedom. Great special effects for the time; however the plot has lost its excitement over the years. Boring stretches. Overall rating: 5 out of 10.
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Life: 10/3/07: Touring the East Village: 1.) The Stone 2.) Casa Adela 3.) Nublu 4.) Alphabet Lounge 5.) Lava Gina 6.) Uncle Ming's 7.) Hummus Place 8.) Jules 9.) Cachaca
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DVD: Minority Report (2002). 145 min. Director: Steven Spielberg. After the short story by Philip K. Dick (1928-1982; also Blade Runner, Total Recall). w/ Tom Cruise (Chief John Anderton), Max von Sydow (Director Lamar Burgess), Samantha Morton (Agatha, a Precog), Colin Farrell (Danny Witwer). In the year 2054, murders are prevented through a technology that allows to observe them before they are committed. At the heart of thee system, three humans with visionary capabilities are held captive. Everything is stirred up when the chief of the department is predicted to commit a murder. He sets out to unravel who set him up. Plot and dialogue often lack realism. Some inconsistencies. Overdone. Schmaltzy at times. Not inspiring. Overall rating: 4 out of 10.
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Theater: The Exonerated. By Jessica Blank and Eric Jensen. The Red Fern Theater Company, 78th St Theater Lab, 236 W 78th St @ Broadway. A play about people who were wrongfully put on death row but later released. One of the characters tells the story of Kerry Max Cook who was imprisoned for 22 years for a crime that he did not commit. Cook was finally exonerated and then wrote the book 'Chasing Justice'. Moving stories. Touches on racial issues.
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DVD: Beyond the Clouds (Al di là delle nuvole, 1995). 112 min. Directors: Michelangelo Antonioni, Wim Wenders. w/ Fanny Ardant (Patricia), Chiara Caselli (Mistress), Irene Jacob (The Girl), John Malkovich (The Director), Sophie Marceau (The Girl; also in The World Is Not Enough), Vincent Perez (Niccolo), Jean Reno (Carlo), Kim Rossi Stuart (Silvano), Ines Sastre (Carmen), Peter Weller (Husband). Four episodes of unusual relationships between men and women, woven together by a director who shooting a movie. Some parallels between individual stories. Mysterious. Sparse dialogues increase the tension.Overall rating: 7 out of 10. DVD also contains a portrait of Michelangelo Antonioni as a filmmaker.
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DVD: Pandora's Box (Die Büchse der Pandora, 1929). Director: Georg Wilhelm Pabst. w/ Louise Brooks (Lulu), Fritz Kortner (Dr. Ludwig Schön), Francis Lederer (Alwa Schön), Carl Goetz (Schigolch), Alice Roberts (Gräfin Geschwitz). After the plays "Erdgeist" and "Die Büchse der Pandora" by Frank Wedekind. Life of a young impulsive woman in the late 20s. Movie is notorious for its frank treatment of modern sexuality, including the first screen portrayal of a lesbian. Overal rating 8 out of 10. Website on the silent movie star Louise Brooks.
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Science: 'Baertierchen im All'; Tardigrada; engl. Tardigrade (water bear): small, segmented animals; 1000 species of tardigrades have been described; most frequently found on lichens and mosses; able to survive in extreme environments; currently testing survival in space (unprotected); can reversibly suspend their metabolism; cryptobiosis(anhydrobiosis i.e. through desiccation).
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Poetry: William Wordsworth (1770-1850): Complete works. Prelude (1885): autobiographical, "philosophical" poem in blank verse.
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Travel: Wequassett Resort and Golf Club , Cape Cod, Chatham, MA. Located on the water. Adjacent to the beach.
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Food: Cabot's "Famous" Cape Cod Fudge & Salt Water Taffy. 276 Commercial St, Provincetown, Cape Cod, MA.
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Snippets:
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Patents: Peer to Patent: Novel patent review system that includes the public. Project in cooperation with USPTO.
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Travel: SeatGuru: Info about airplanes and airline seats for all airlines.
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Computer: Prevent Expanding "User" Folder When Opening Windows Explorer in Windows XP and Vista: Change shortcut target to '%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /e, c:' or see here.
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DVD: Ringu: Anthology of Terror: 1.) Ringu (1998): Director: Hideo Nakata 2.) Rasen (1998) 3.) Ringu 0: Basudei (2000): Prequel to Ringu 4.) Ringu 2 (1999). The films that inspired the American version 'The Ring'. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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DVD: Short Circuit (1986).98 min. Director: John Badham. w/ Ally Sheedy (Stephanie Speck), Steve Guttenberg (Newton Crosby). The robot Number 5 is struck by lighting escapes and evolves into an intelligent being with the help of a young woman. While one of his creators tries to retrieve and deactivate Number 5, he falls in love. Cute but some amateur acting. Overall rating 5 out of 10.
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DVD: Last Tango in Paris (Ultimo tango a Parigi). 129 min. Director: Bernardo Bertolucci. w/ lon Brando (Paul), Maria Schneider (Jeanne). Stormy love affair between a beautiful French woman and a depressed American. Weird, disturbing movie. Partly explcit. Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
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Computer: Yugma: Free web conferencing, online meetings and web collaboration services. However, slow at times.
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DVD (Airline): Easy Rider (1969). 95 min. Director: Dennis Hopper w/ Peter Fonda (Wyatt); Dennis Hopper (Billy). Two hippies make a trip from L.A. to New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras. On their journey they are searching for America. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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DVD: Troy (2004). 163 min. w/ Brad Pitt (Achilles), Diane Kruger (Helen) , Eric Bana (Hector), Orlando Bloom (Paris). Director: Wolfgang Petersen (The Perfect Storm, Outbreak, Das Boot, Die Unendliche Geschichte). Adaptation of Homer's great epic. Some good special effects. Entertaining. Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
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DVD: The Grapes of Wrath (1940). 128 min. B/W. Director: John Ford. Afterr the novel by John Steinbeck. w/ Henry Fonda (Tom Joad), John Carradine (Casy). Poor Oklahoma family is displaced from their land and makes a journey to California in hope of a better future. Gripping story. Superb cinematorgaphy, reminds of pictures by Dorothea Lange. Overall rating: 8 out of 10.
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Music: The Pink Floyd album 'Animals' showed Battersea Power Station, a defunct power plant near London on its cover.
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Music: Douglas Spotted Eagle: combines Native American flute with synthesizer. Also records movie and TV soundtracks.
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DVD: Bad Timing (1980). Director: Nicolas Roeg. w/ Art Garfunkel (Alex Linden), Theresa Russell (Milena Flaherty), Harvey Keitel (Inspector Netusil). After a woman is rushed to the hospital with an overdose of pills, her lover is interrogated by the police, slowly dissecting the course of their affair. Inter-cutting is predominant, ie not chronological. Starts benign, then spirals downward. Disturbing ending. Sexually explicit. Mediocre acting by Art Garfunkel. Was originally named 'Illusions', but then renamed before release due to conflict with the book of the same name by Richard Bach. Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
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Cities: Bangalore (officially Bengaluru), India: Capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Estimated metropolitan population of 6.5 million. Sights: 1.) Vidhana Soudha: Legislative House of the State of Karnataka 2.) Karnataka High Court 3.) Bangalore Palace 4.) Lal Bagh: Botanical garden w/ lotus ponds, fountains, glass houses and stone formations that date back over 3.0 billion years 5.) MG Road and Brigade Road. Also to visit: Iskcon Temple (ISCON = International Society for Krishna Consciousness), 'Hare Krishna'; built to promote vedic culture and spiritual learning); Indian Institute of Science; Mysore (2 h drive; famous for its palace and sandalwood).
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Music: London '66-'67 (London 1966-1967): An EP w/ two "lost" tracks, a longer version of "Interstellar Overdrive" and "Nick's Boogie". Tracks were originally recorded for "Tonite Let's All Make Love In London" on January 11 and 12, 1967, a film by Peter Lorrimer Whitehead, an English filmmaker who documented the counterculture in London and New York in the late 1960s.
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Cities: Amsterdam, NL: 1.) Avenue Hotel, Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 33 2.) ACH Leidse Square Hotel, Tesselschadestraat 23 3.) Rijksmuseum 4.) Van Gogh Museum 4.) Maurya: An Indian Cuisine, Korte Leidsedwarssraat 49A.
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Art: Ten Dreams. Galleries cover galleries cover the works of more than 180 master artists during the last 200 years. Includes Balthus, Tamara de Lempicka, Maxfield Parrish, Max Beckmann, Paul Gauguin, Edward Hopper etc.
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Photography: Eugene Atget (1857-1927): French photographer. Made photographs documenting the architecture and street scenes of Paris. Neighbour of Man Ray at Montparnasse. Photographs at the George Eastman House.
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Photography: Bruno Bisang (b. 1952). Swiss photogapher. Advertisement, magazines, fine art.
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Life: Angie's List: Info and ratings for contractors in your area. Requires sign-up. One year free service.
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Science: Otto Hahn (1879-1968): German chemist; Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1944; discovered nuclear fission together with his assistant Fritz Strassmann and Lise Meitner. Meitner needed to escape from Germany in 1938 because of her Jewish heritage and was later overlooked for the Nobel Prize.
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DVD: 11:14 (2003). w/ Hilary Swank (Buzzy), Patrick Swayze (Frank), Rachael Leigh Cook (Cheri), Henry Thomas (Jack). Director: Greg Marcks. Five more or less parallel events intertwine the lives of residents in a small American town. A dead body lands on the hood of drunk man who passes under a bridge on the highway. At the same time, a young woman is hit by a car carrying three rambunctious juveniles. The story and sequence of events slowly unravels. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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DVD: Thunderball (1965). 130 min. w/ Sean Connery (James Bond), Claudine Auger (Dominique 'Domino' Derval). Director: Terence Young. James Bond is on a mission in Bermuda to recover two stolen atomic bombs. Many diving scenes. Bond in macho style. Overall rating 6 out of 10.
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DVD: Pink Floyd --- Live at Pompeii (1972). The Director's Cut (2003). 92 min. Director: Adrian Maben. Original film contained mainly music from the Pompeii event. In later versions, studio recordings from 'Dark Side of the Moon' and interview footage was added. DVD also contains interview with director with some insights into the project. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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Astronomy: BLAST (Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope: submillimeter telescope held by andd launched using a high altitude balloon. 2 meter primary mirror. Apparently, BLAST was destroyed during its last mission in Jan. 2007.
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Literature: Ricarda Huch (1864-1947): German writer, poet, and historian. Wrote three volumes about German history (Deutsche Geschichte) during the Nazi regime (which she opposed) and about German romanticism (Die Romanik).
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DVD: The Devil Wears Prada (2006). 109 min. w/ Meryl Streep (Miranda Priestly), Anne Hathaway (Andy Sachs), Emily Blunt (Emily), Stanley Tucci (Nigel). Young aspiring journalist gets introduced to the world of fashion through her new job with the arrogant chief ('the devil') of a fashion magazine. At first she resents the people, but her desire forr a career makes her one of them while destroying her personal life. Life is full of choices... Streep plays her role as the red dragon well. Some scenes rather comical and exaggerated. Slightly superficial. Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
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Snippets:
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Real Estate: Realtor.com
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Art: Frick Collection, NYC. Sunday, June 3, 2007, 12:25 PM (pay as you wish).
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Mathematics: Gerolamo Cardano (Girolamo Cardano; Engl.: Jerome Cardan; Lat.: Hieronymus Cardanus), 1501-1576, celebrated Italian Renaissance mathematician, physician, astrologer, and gambler. Greatest achievements in algebra. Cardan shaft (automotive driveshaft). More info at Engines of our Ingenuity #1950. Biography by William George Waters.
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Art: Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ.
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DVD: Thir13en Ghosts (2001). 91 min. w/ Tony Shalhoub (Arthur Kriticos), Embeth Davidtz (Kalina Oretzia), Matthew Lillard (Dennis Rafkin), Shannon Elizabeth (Kathy Kriticos). Director: Steve Beck. Arthur inherits house from his uncle who happend to collect ghosts to open the gate to hell. When Arthur, his two kids, and a nanny see the house for the first time they get trapped. Horror movie with some good special effects, but very poor story and some bad acting. Overall rating: 3 out of 10.
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Life: Background checks at Sterling Testing
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Psychology: Cognitive Dissonance: Uncomfortable tension that may result from holding two conflicting thoughts or from engaging in behavior that conflicts with one's beliefs. Dissonance increases with the importance of the subject to us, how strongly the dissonant thoughts conflict, and our inability to rationalize and explain away the conflict.
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Jazz: Friday, August 3, 2007, Smalls, NYC: 10:00 PM: Harry Whitaker Group feat Claudia Acuna, Abe Burton, Joe Magnarelli. w/ Harry Whitaker, piano. 12:00 AM: Ralph Lalama Trio w/ Ralph Lalama, tenor saxophone.
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Jazz: Velvet Lounge, 67 E Cermak Rd, Chicago, IL 60616. Owner: Fred Anderson, tenor saxophonist.
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Computer: Gotta Be Mobile: Articles, news and forums on Tablet PCs and Ultra-Mobile PCs.
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DVD: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). 157 min. w/ Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Emma Watson (Hermione Granger), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley). Director: Mike Newell Writers: Steve Kloves (screenplay), J.K. Rowling (novel). Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts. He participates unwillingly in the 'Triwizard Tournament' while continuing his struggle against Lord Voldemort. Story overall too flat and predictable. Some good special effects. Overall rating: 5 out of 10.
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Computer: CCleaner. Freeware system optimization. Deletes junk and cleans registry.
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DVD: The Da Vinci Code (2006). 149 min. w/ Tom Hanks (Dr. Robert Langdon), Audrey Tautou (Agent Sophie Neveu; from Amelie). Director: Ron Howard. Langdon and Neveu try to find the Holy Grail. Too flat at times. Reasonable acting. Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
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DVD: Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993). 104 min. Director: Mel Brooks. Cary Elwes (Robin Hood), Amy Yasbeck (Maid Marian). Comedy retelling the story of Robin Hood. Funny. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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Snippets:
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Thought: Life is a constant experiment. We try things out every day, analyze, evaluate results, and make plans for doing it better or different. (Carl Sagan, Demon Haunted World)
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DVD: Blow (2001). 124 min. w/ Johnny Depp (George Jung), Penelope Cruz (Mirtha Jung), Franka Potente (Barbara Buckley), Paul Reubens (Pee Wee Herman; Derek Foreal). Director: Ted Demme. The story of George Jacob Jung (Boston George), a major player in cocaine importation in the United States in the 1970s and early 80s and a part of the Medellin Cartel in Colombia. Some fun, some touching moments. Age/appearance of actors does not always match up with the scenes. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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Thought: Happiness: Feels right. Belong. This is it. (Blow)
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DVD: Casino Royale (2006). 144 min. w/ Daniel Craig (James Bond), Eva Green (Vesper Lynd). Director: Martin Campbell. Bond fights terrorist and plays poker. Overpromised. Overall rating: 6 out of 10
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DVD: Dial M for Murder (1954). 104 min. Director: Alfred Hitchcock. w/ Ray Milland (Tony Wendice), Grace Kelly (Margot Mary Wendice), Robert Cummings (Mark Halliday). Man who want to murder his wife comes up with an (almost) ingenious plan. Too static at times. Was originally written by Frederick Knott as a play. Overall rating: 6 out of 10
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Art: 6/2/07: Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC. 1.) New Greek and Roman Galleries. Opened April 20, 2007. 2.) Poiret: King of Fashion. 3.) Neo Rauch at the Met: para. 4.) Frank Stella on the Roof.
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DVD: Chinatown (1974) w/ Jack Nicholson (J.J. 'Jake' Gittes), Faye Dunaway (Evelyn Cross Mulwray), John Huston (Noah Cross). Director: Roman Polanski. Private investigator Gittes is hired by a woman to spy upon an enginer and his extra-marital affairs. When he is murdered, Gittes slowly uncoves a vast conspiracy centering on water management, state and municipal corruption, land use and real estate. Great acting, but story too slow at times. Cameo appearance by Polanski himself as 'Man with Knife'. Overall rating: 5 out of 10.
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DVD: The World is not Enough (1999). w/ Pierce Brosnan (James Bond), Sophie Marceau (Elektra), Denise Richards (Christmas Jones) . Full of one-liners. Better story than other Bond movies. Many humorous scenes. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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DVD: Ran (1985). 160 min. Director: Akira Kurosawa. w/ Tatsuya Nakadai (Lord Hidetora Ichimonji), Akira Terao (Taro Takatora Ichimonji), Jinpachi Nezu (Jiro Masatora Ichimonji), Daisuke Ryu (Saburo Naotora Ichimonji). Japanese Lord steps aside and determines his succession, but learns that greed is strongerr than family ties. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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Astronomy: Astro Viewer: Interactive star map (in German); can be customized.
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Food: Numi: Tea brand. Has Simply Mint / Maroccan Mint, said to have a "bright vibrant flavor that tastes like a fresh picked leaf."
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DVD: Syriana (2005). 126 min. w/ George Clooney (Bob Barnes), Jeffrey Wright (Bennett Holiday). Several parallel stories about oil, money, and corruption. Story too complicated. Overall rating 4 out of 10.
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DVD: Les Biches (Bad Girls, 1968). 104 min. Director: Claude Chabrol. w/ Jacqueline Sassard (Why), Stephane Audran (Frederique), Jean-Louis Trintignant (Paul Thomas). Rich woman meets street artist and invites her to her home. They fall in love with the same man. Liberal for its time. French 60s feeling. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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DVD: Kim (TV, 1984). 150 min. After the novel by Rudyard Kipling. w/ Peter O'Toole (Lama), Bryan Brown (Mahbub Ali), Ravi Sheth (Kim). Director: John Howard Davies. In colonial India, an Indian boy with an Irish father lives a life between a Tibetan lama and the British Secret Service. Good story. Some of the acting leaves room for improvement. O'Toole appears a bit too shaky. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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Astronomy: Hyperion: Very porous moon of Saturn. Approx. 120 km in diameter and 10 km deep. Rotates caotically. Picture taken by Cassini spacecraft.


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Medicine: Aristolochic acid may be responsible for etiology of endemic (Balkan) nephropathy. Contamination of bread (flour) with seeds of Aristolochia clematitis. A. clematitis is native to the endemic region and often grows in cultivated fields where its seeds comingle with wheat grain during the annual harvest. PNAS, July 17, 2007, Vol. 104, No. 29, p. 12129-12134.
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Snippets:
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Art: Giclée, pronounced "zhee-clay": High-quality ink-jet print
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Art: Create your own Jackson Pollock -like painting on screen.
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Art: The famous violinist Joshua Bell played more or less unrecognized in the subway in Washington D.C. and earned $32.17 in 43 minutes, as described by the Washington Post. Art seems to determined by its statement, claim, and frame. Deutschlandfunk: "Seit rund hundert Jahren wissen wir, dass Kunst zu einem wesentlichen Teil in ihrer Behauptung besteht. Die Konzertkarte ist der Garantieschein für das Musikerlebnis, das Museum macht die ausgestellten Werke erst bedeutsam. Daraus folgt umgekehrt, Dass große Kunst zur Straßenmusik wird, wenn sie auf der Straße oder in einer U-Bahn-Station dargeboten wird."
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Philosophy: Rhetoric (from Greek rhetor, orator, teacher) is generally understood to be the art or technique of persuasion through the use of oral and/or written language. Classical rhetoric can be defined as the art, technique or practice of persuasion. Derived from Pre-Socratic philosophers known as Sophists. Later taught as one of the three original liberal arts or trivium (next to dialectic and grammar) in Western culture.
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Art: Discover Islamic Art: Online museum on Islamic art. Numerous photos with explanations.
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Humor: Says-it: Generator for stickers and refrigerator magnets. Church signs, badges, cassette labels etc. Can be customized.
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Music: Alan Ferber Nonet, Saturday, May 5, 2007 at The Neighborhood Church of Greenwich Village, 269 Bleecker St, NYC, 8:00 PM; w/ David Smith / TRUMPET, Alan Ferber / TROMBONE, Jon Gordon / ALTO SAX, Jason Rigby / TENOR SAX, Douglas Yates / BASS CLARINET, Nate Radley / GUITAR, Bryn Roberts / PIANO, Gary Wang / BASS, Mark Ferber / DRUMS. New CD: The Compass.
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DVD: The Living Daylights (1987). 130 min. w/ Timothy Dalton (James Bond), Maryam d'Abo (Kara Milovy). Director: John Glen. Story: Ian Fleming. James Bond falls in love with one woman while fighting arms dealers and other evil. Standard Bond movie with good action sceenes. Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
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DVD: Kingdom of Heaven (2005). 145 min. w/ Orlando Bloom (Balian; Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Carribean), Eva Green (Sibylla; Casino Royale), Jeremy Irons (Tiberias), Liam Neeson (Godfrey). During the time of the 3rd Crusade, a man follows his father to the Holy Land to find forgiveness for his sins. As he is drawn into war, hemerges as a leader and defends Jerusalem from the Arabs. Colorful epic, but overall flat story. Great cast. Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
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DVD: An Inconvenient Truth (2006). 100 min. Director: Davis Guggenheim. w/ Al Gore. Documentary by Ex-Vice President on causes and consequences of global warming. Eye-opener. Contains some impressive long-term statistics. Must see. The entertaining autobiographical notes are expendable. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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DVD: Belle De Jour (1967). 101 min. Director: Luis Bunuel. w/ Catherine Deneuve (Séverine Serizy aka Belle de Jour), Jean Sorel (Pierre Serizy). Frigid wife of a wealthy man fullfills her fantasies by working as a prostitute. Dream and reality alternate, but eventually become indistinguishable. Daring for its time. Overall rating: 7 out off 10.
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Literature: Tolkien Gateway. J.R.R. Tolkien encyclopedia in Wiki form. Good source of information on characters from 'Lord of the Rings'
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DVD: La Strada (1954). 108 min. Director: Federico Fellini. w/ Anthony Quinn (Zampano), Giulietta Masina (Gelsomina), Richard Basehart (Il 'Matto', The 'Fool'). Girl (Masina) is sold by her poor mother to a street artist (Quinn). Together, they go on the road, but he treats her badly. She falls in love with him, but looses her mind when Zampano kills a handsome tightrope artist, 'The Fool'. Poetic fable of love and cruelty. A classic Fellini film. Masina was Fellinis wife. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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DVD: Rashomon (1950). 88 min. Director: Akira Kurosawa. w/ Toshiro Mifune (Tajômaru). In 12th century Japan, a samurai and his wife are attacked in the woods, the woman raped and the man killed. The notorious bandit Tajomaru is captured and brought to trial. But the defendant and each witness give completely different accounts of what they saw. Which version, if any, is the truth?. Great plot despite the simple story. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, 1988): Director: Pedro Almodovar. w/ Carmen Maura (Pepa Antonio), Antonio Banderas (Carlos). Woman is left by her lover, and while trying to find him finds out that he is married, has a son and another girlfriend. At the same time, one of her friends flees from the police because she got involved with terrorists. In the end, all stories come together. Turbulent comedy, partly grotesque. Characteristic faces. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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Food: Gazpacho soup (gazpacho): cold, Spanish soup, popular in warmer areas and during the summer. Contains tomato juice and bell peppers. Also: stale bread, garlic, onion, olive oil, salt and vinegar.
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DVD: The Departed (2006). Director: Martin Scorsese. w/ Leonardo DiCaprio (Billy), Matt Damon (Colin), Jack Nicholson (Costello), Vera Farmiga (Madolyn). Nicholson is great, Damon and DiCaprio mediocre. Farmiga too shallow. Story too superficial and ending disappointing. Makes little sense. Overall rating 5 out of 10.
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DVD: North by Northwest (1959). 136 min. Director: Alfred Hitchcock. Cary Grant (Roger O. Thornhill), Eva Marie Saint (Eve Kendall), James Mason (Phillip Vandamm). New York advertising executive is kidnapped because he is taken to be a secret agent. While on the run and trying to find the real man, he falls in love with a double agent. Ahead of his time regarding sexual directness. Famous scene on top of Mt. Rushmoore (although actually filmed in a back lot). Good story. Good pace. Good acting. Overall rating 8 out of 10.
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Cars: Used Car Dealer on WWW: Carmax. Makes written offer good for 7 days.
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Snippets:
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Music: Fri., 3/23/07(Late Show), 55 Bar, NYC: Brian Mitchell Trio: Brian Mitchell: Keyboards and Vocals. Far out funk and rock 'n roll. Blues.
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Art: Jeff Wall. Exhibition at the MoMA, NYC, Feb 15-May 25, 2007.
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Art: Octavio Ocampo: Paintings with optical illusions.

Octavio Ocampo: Buddha

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Snippets:
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NYC: Free NYC. Calendar of free events in the City.
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Restaurants: Restaurant Row. All over the U.S. Various search options. Hardly any reviews though.
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Music: List of live music venues in the NYC area.
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Literature: Franz Kafka: Die Verwandlung (in German; engl.: The Metamorphosis). HoerGut Klassik. One morning the traveling saleman Gregor wakes up being turned into a giant bug. While he does not seem affected much by this change, his family is first shocked, then tries to cope with the new situation, but finally neglects and abandons him. Bizarre, but full of metaphors. Kafkaesque: of, relating to, or suggestive of Franz Kafka or his writings; especially: having a nightmarishly complex, bizarre, or illogical quality.
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Snippets:
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Fort Apache (1948). B/W. 128 min. Directed by John Ford. w/ John Wayne (Capt. Kirby York), Henry Fonda (Lt. Col. Owen Thursday), Shirley Temple (Philadelphia Thursday), John Agar (2nd Lt. Michael Shannon O'Rourke). Colonel, unfamiliar with the West, is transferred to the frontier and gets into conflict with Indians, while his pretty daughter finds a husband. Simple story. Some funny elements. The DVD featurette 'Monument Valley: John Ford Country' explains how Ford came to shooting in Monument Valley, UT, and about the Monument Valley trader Harry Goulding, whose lodge and trading post provided housing for the crew, and who was a pivotal contact between Ford and the Navajo Indians. Overall rating 6 out of 10.
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Photography: Histroric Photo Archive maintained by Thomas Robinson, Portland, OR.

Elevated Railroad, NYC, 1890s

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Snippets:
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Music: 2/21/07, 10 PM: 55 Bar, NYC: Mike Stern, Contemporary Jazz Guitar (Mike Stern - Guitar, Kim Thompson - Drums, Janek Gwizdala - Bass). Funky jazz. Stern has played with Miles Davis in 1981-83 and 1985. Toured with Jaco Pastorious. Currentt album: 'Who Let the Cats Out'. Thompson is more of a rock drummer, but fits the band well. Always comes up with another new rhythm.
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DVD: Fight Club (1999). 139 min. w/ Edward Norton (The Narrator) Brad Pitt (Tyler Durden), Helena Bonham Carter (Marla Singer), Meat Loaf (Robert 'Bob' Paulson; as Meat Loaf Aday). Directed by David Fincher (Se7en). Insomniac meets anarchist. Together they start a fight club. Bizarre. Violent moments. Disturbing at times. Some good lines. Need to pay attention to detail. Explores the human psyche in full depth. Strange twist toward the end. Q's: How would a fight club ever start if the narrator has fought himself? How does the narrator know where to go, i.e. where Tyler 'lives' after his apartment is destroyed? Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
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Photography: Sally Mann (b. 1951): American photographer. Portraits. Often B/W photos of young women or children.
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Art: Hans Baldung Grien (c. 1480-1545). German (Alsatian) Renaissance painter and printer. Joined Albrecht Dürer's Nuremberg workshop in 1503. Many of his works.
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Music: The shenai is a double-reed, oboe-like instrument best known from the work of the great Indian virtuoso, Bismallah Khan. Also played by the jazz musician Yusef Lateef in the song 'Sister Mamie' on the album 'Live at Pep's'.
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People :

Around 1300:

• Dante Alighieri Florence, (1265-1321)
• Marco Polo, Venice (1254-1324).
• Giovanni Boccaccio, Florence (1313-1375)

Around 1400:

• Geoffrey Chaucer, London (c.1343-1400)
• Jeanne d'Arc. France (c.1412-1431)

Around 1500:

• Leonardo da Vinci, Vinci (1452-1519)
• Niccolo Machiavelli, Florence (1469-1527)
• Raphael, Florence (1483-1520)
• Christopher Columbus, Italy and Spain (1451(?)-1506)

Around 1600:

• William Shakespeare, London (baptised 1564, d.1616)
• Galileo Galilei, Pisa (1564-1642)
• René Descartes, France (1596-1650)
• Pierre Gassendi, France (1592-1655)

Around 1700:

• Isaac Newton, England (1643-1727).

Snippets:
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Music: 8/13/06: Caffe Vivaldi, 32 Jones St (Off Bleecker Street Near Seventh Ave) NYC: 1.) Brianne Chasanoff. Singer. Rather quiet. 2.) Amy Laber. Folk singer. Quiet.
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Weather: National Weather Service and National Snow Analysis.
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Philosophy: Pierre Gassendi (1592-1655): French philosopher, scientist, astronomer/astrologer, and mathematician. Disputes with Descartes.
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Movie: Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others, 2006) . Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. w/ Sebastian Koch (Georg Dreyman), Ulrich Mühe (Captain Gerd Wiesler), Martina Gedeck (Christa-Maria Sieland). in the GDR around 1985, a successful writer and his girlfriend, a popular actress, are wire-tapped by the secret police because he is suspected to oppose the regime. But the officer in charge of the operation becomes infatuated with their lives. Clearly defined roles for each character, which sometimes makes the movie too static. Devastatingly realistic though. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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DVD: Bird (1988). Directed by Clint Eastwood. w/ Forest Whitaker (Charlie 'Bird' Parker), Diane Venora (Chan Parker), Michael Zelniker (Red Rodney). Life of jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker (1920-1955), his creativity, drug addiction, family (common-law wife Chan Parker) and the music of his time. Great music! In 1945, Bird was about 10 years ahead of his time. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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Jazz: Baroness Pannonica (Nica) de Koenigswarter (1913-1988). Considered one of the most important patrons and friends of modern jazz musicians in NYC in the 1950s and 1960s. Charlie Parker died in her suite at the Stanhope (995 Fifth Avenue, across from the Metrolopitan Museum) in 1955. Was also close to Thelonious Monk and his family. In October 2006 the French company Buchet Chastel published Nica's book 'Les musiciens de jazz et leurs trois vœux' (The Jazz Musicians and their Three Wishes). Compiled between 1961 and 1966, it is a book of interviews with 300 musicians in which she asked each for their "three wishes", and is accompanied by her Polaroid photographs. The book was edited for publication by her granddaughter Nadine de Koenigswarter.
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Photography: Joe Brown. Includes a guide to Zion National Park with photos.
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Art: Bauhaus: Art and architecture school in Germany, 1919-1933 (U.S 1937-1938). Existed in four different cities: Weimar 1919-1925, Dessau 1926-1932, Berlin 1932-1933, Chicago from 1937 to 1938). Important members: Walter Gropius, Hannes Meyer, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Henry van de Velde, Lyonel Feininger, Johannes Itten, Josef Albers, Paul Klee (starting 1921), Wassily Kandinsky (starting 1922) und Oskar Schlemmer (staring 1921). Wanted to emancipate the arts from industrialism and revieve crafts, opposing the aesthetics of Historism ('an organic succession of developments') of the late 19th century in which various styles were mixed and crafted ornaments were simply repeated by industrial manufacturing. The Bauhaus Dessau is a building designed by Gropius that housed the school. Partly destroyed in 1945. Reconstructed in 1976.
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Art: Albert von Keller (1844-1920). Swiss painter. Worked in Munich. Society painter. Known for painting elegantly clothed ladies. Can be viewed at the Neue Pinakothek, Munich, Germany.

Albert von Keller-Die Frau des Kuenstlers, 1900

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Art: Online Exhibition: Gothic Nightmares. Fuseli, Blake, and the Romantic Imagination (at the Tate Britain Feb 15 - May 1, 2006). Explores the work of Henry Fuseli and William Blake in the context of the Gothic – the taste for fantastic and supernatural themes which dominated British culture from around 1770 to 1830.
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Snippets:
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Shopping: DealTime. Prince engine like Froogle.
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Video: Brainstorm (1983). 106 min. Directed by Douglas Trumbull. w/ Christopher Walken (Dr. Michael Anthony Brace), Natalie Wood (Karen Brace; The Searchers, Rebel without a cause), Louise Fletcher (Dr. Lillian Reynolds; One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest). A team of researchers has developed a method to record thoughts and emotions. The government quickly becomes interested to use the technology for military purposes including torture and brain washing. After the project leader Lillian dies from a heart attack and records her death, he colleague Michael almost dies when he watches it. The tape is locked away and Michael becomes obsessed with finishing to watch the tape as well as to destroy the technology. He gets help from his wife Karen. Great idea for a movie. Some scenes are B-movie-like, however. The production almost stalled when Natalie Wood (wife of Robert Wagner) drowned in an accident in 1981. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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Travel: Motel.com: Search engine for motels. Allows Map Search.
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Music: Alice Coltrane: Journey in Satchitananda (1971). Satchitanada is a devanagari compound of three Sanskrit words, Sat, Chit, and Ananda, meaning True Being, Pure Consciousness and Bliss, respectively. The expression is used in Yoga and other schools of Indian philosophy to describe the nature of Brahman. Satcidananda is also a monastic name for a number of Hindu gurus, sadhus and ascetics of different Hindu philosophical schools and lineages, e.g., Swami Satchidananda (1914-2002), 'father' of Integral Yoga.
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Life: Bits and pieces of 'smart' conversations: Overheard in NY, Overheard in the Office and Overheard on the Beach. As funny as real life can be!
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Travel: Public Routes. Directions for using public transportation. Has many ads and is not very user friendly at this point. UPDATE 6/14/08: Interface improved.
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Philosophy: tai chi - do: free resource related to tai chi. Includes a tai chi netguide with explanations of forms.
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DVD: Rebel Without A Cause (1955). 111 min. w/ James Dean (Jim Stark), Natalie Wood (Judy), Sal Mineo (John 'Plato' Crawford). Directed by Nicholas Ray. Rebellious young man seeks friends in his new home town and falls in love with rebellious young woman. Film has typical 50s feel. Probably important for its generation, but no real surprises. Sometimes pseudo dramatic. Overall rating 5 out of 10.
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Art: MoMA, NYC, 2/10/07: 1.) Doug Aitken (b. 1968): Sleepwalkers. Featuring Tilda Swinton, Donald Sutherland, Chan Marshall (Cat Power), Seu Jorge, and Ryan Donowho. The artist's first large scale exhibition in the U.S. 2.) Josiah McElheny (b. 1966): Projects 84: Alpine Cathedral and City-Crown. Model-scale landscape of two abstract, crystalline structures, comprised of hollow glass modules. Follows the theme of Paul Scheerbart (1863-1915) and Bruno Taut (1880-1938), who believed in the spiritual qualities of glass and envisioned a brave and perfect new world of glass buildings illuminated in color. Scheerbart was a visionary Expressionist architectural writer and inventor engaged in avant-garde circles, Taut was an architect. 3.) Vik Muniz (b. 1961): Narcissus, after Caravaggio, 2005. Photograph. New MoMA acquisition. Arrangement of pieces of junk to mimic a painting by Caravaggio.

Vik Muniz: Individuals, 1998
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Snippets:
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Philosophy: Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) wanted knowledge for practical purposes ('Knowledge is power'). He also advocated to make knowledge public.
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DVD: Ninotschka (1939). w/ Greta Garbo (Nina Ivanovna 'Ninotchka' Yakushova), Melvyn Douglas (Count Leon d'Algout). Directed by Ernst Lubitsch. Prude Russian envoy is sent to Paris to arrange for the sale of jewels, but falls in love and begins to fancy Western life. Praised for Garbo's performance in the transition from 'poor' communist comrad to a lady with a sense of humor. Film was probably important in its time, but seems schmaltzy, obvious and predictable today. Overall rating 4 out of 10.
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DVD: United 93 (2006). Directed by Paul Greengrass. Real time account of the flight that was hijacked by terrorists on September 11, 2001. When passangers became aware via phone contact with relatives on the ground that the plane might be targeted to fly into the building, they decided to regain control and attempted to land it. In the course of the struggle, the plane crahed into a field in Pennsylvania. Important movie, realistic, but therefore also has stretches of little activity. Overall rating 7 out of 10.
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Literature: Laurence Sterne (1713-1768). English novelist, best known for his novels 'The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman', a book that in its style and humor was far ahead of its time, and influenced many subsequent writers. Also wrote 'A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy'.
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Art: Exhibition: Spanish Painting from El Greco to Picasso. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Nov. 17, 2006 - March 28, 2007. Paintings arranged not by time period, but by subject, allowing comparisons of the various periods.
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Life: New Years Eve Cruise with Atlantica NY Yacht Cruises. Royal Princess: 3-deck yacht, up to 200 people for sit-down, open-air deck.
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Life: New York City Blog: Gothamist.
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Life: Placeblogger: Directory of local blogs around the world. E.g. Blogs in NYC and Hoboken, NJ.
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Maps: 1.) Microsoft Live Maps. Analogous to Google Earth. Includes locations of businesses and live traffic. Has 3D feature. 2.) Wikimapia. Can link personal events to a map.
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Web: Open Culture Podcast Portal: Includes listings from universities.
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DVD: The Searchers (1956). 119 min. John Wayne (Ethan Edwards), Jeffrey Hunter (Martin Pawley), Natalie Wood (Debbie Edwards, older; Brainstorm). Directed by John Ford. 10-year search of a lone racist war veteran for his little nice who was kidnapped by Comanches in 1868. Typical John Wayne movie. Filmed in Monument Valley, UT, that was discovered for movies by Ford. Commentary gives hints on Ford's signature, such as moving the camera and designing beautiful shots of the landscape. Need to pay attention to detail, especially in non-dialogue scenes to appreciate the work. Overall rating 6 out of 10.
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Video: The Big Trail (1930). w/ John Wayne (Breck Coleman), Marguerite Churchill (Ruth Cameron). Directed by Raoul Walsh. Scout, who is friends with the Indians, leads the wagon trail to Oregon, falls in love with a girl on the way, and avenges the murder of a couple of old friends. Story is straightforward. Some of the scenes remind of the times of silent movies. Some spectacular scenes for the time, e.g. when wagons are lowered over a cliff or river crossings. Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
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History: George Armstrong Custer (1839-1876). First a soldier in the Civil War, later an officer in the fight against Indians in the Northern Plains. Died at the hands of Lakota and Cheyenne warriors at the Battle of the Little Bighorn (today southeast part of Montana), after attacking an Indian village. It seems that overall he was a mediocre military man, but a myth created around his persona made him a well-known figure in American history. Little Bighorn was the pinnacle of the Indians' power and their greatest victory. Custer is also a town in the Black Hills in soutwest North Dakota (population 1860 in year 2000), near Mount Rushmore.
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History: Ghost Towns in the U.S. amd Canada. Catalog of deserted human settlements Includes photos and directions.
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Physics: Satyendra Nath Bose (1894-1974): Bengali Indian physicist, specializing in mathematical physics. Quantum mechanics in the early 1920s. Provided foundation for Bose-Einstein statistics and the theory of the Bose-Einstein condensate.
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Psychology: Gustave Le Bon (1841-1931). French social psychologist, sociologist, and amateur physicist. Studies, among others, herd behaviour and crowd psychology. Book: 'The Crowd: Study of the popular mind' (1896)
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DVD: My Darling Clementine (1946). 96 min. w/ Henry Fonda (Wyatt Earp), Victor Mature (Dr. John 'Doc' Holliday), Cathy Downs (Clementine Carter). Directed by John Ford. Earp takes a job as a sherrif in Tombstone to find the murderer of his little brother, and falls in love with the former girlfriend of Doc Holiday. Movie culminates in the shootout at the O.K. Corral. Partly filmed in Monument Valley. Film has multiple factual errors (e.g. dates; Doc Holiday did not die at the O.K. Corral). Some errors (e.g., year on James Earp's grave) were introduced when producer Darryl F. Zanuck edited, re-cut and re-shot certain scenes of the film in the absence of John Ford to improve quality. An Alternate Pre-Release Version (work-in-progress version) of the movie and explanations to changed scenes is available on the DVD. Sometimes amusing, but a classic. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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Francis Parkman (1823-1893): The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life. Text at Project Gutenberg. HTML-Version. Parkman was an American historian who followed on the trail in 1846.
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History: National Register of Historic Places: List of cultural resources worthy of preservation. Administered by the National Park Service, which is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior. The National Register Information System (NRIS) is a database that contains information on places listed in or determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.
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Video: The Oregon Trail. (1992). 120 min. Includes: Beginnings; Across the Plains; Through the Rockies; Final Steps. By Mike Trinklein and Steve Boettcher. PBS documentary about the history of the Oregon trail. Relates the experiences of its travellers using live action re-creations, archival materials and visits to important sites along the trails (including Scott's Bluff, Fort Laramie, and the nearby trail ruts). Also contains discussion of the rigors and dangers of the journey west. Shows the trail today and also uses interviews with historians, still photos, maps, drawings, and excerpts from emigrant diaries. Tells, among others, the story of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, who were probably the first emigrants to make the journey in 1836. The origin of the name 'Oregon' is still controversial today. More info on the Oregon Trail from Idaho State University. Some good historic facts, but sometimes confusing. Reenactment is partly repetitious. Overall rating 5 out of 10.
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Snippets:
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DVD: Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festival (1997). 127 min. Documentary of the 1970 music festival held on an island in the south of England. Shows some of the music (e.g., The Doors, Bob Dylan, ELP, Jimi Hendrix, Jethro Tull, Joni Mitchel, Ten Years After, The Who) but also 'life' of the fans during the concert, and the crisis that led to allowing free entrance for many thousands. Great music! Some touching moments. Describes well the clash of the Hippie generation with the music business. Overall rating: 8 out of 10.
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DVD: Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989). 100 min. Directed by Steven Soderbergh (Oceans' Eleven, Solaris, Erin Brockovich). w/ James Spader (Graham Dalton; Stargate), Andie MacDowell (Ann Bishop Mullany; Green Card, Hudson Hawk), Peter Gallagher (John Mullany), Laura San Giacomo (Cynthia Patrice Bishop). Guy who films video tapes of women talking about their sex life visits former best friend who has an affair with the sister of his wife. Unusual idea for a movie. Sometimes appears too static. Plot rather confined. Acting alright. Memorable quote: "I remember reading somewhere that men learn to love the person they're attracted to and women become more and more attracted to the person they love." Overall rating 7 out of 10.
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Art: Thomas Rowlandson (1756–1827). English caricaturist. Pictures at Artcylopedia. Large collection at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
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Art: Rodney Graham. Canadian artist. Tree pictures mounted upside down. Looped videos. Whitney Biennial 2006: Torqued Chandelier Release, 2005.
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DVD: Code 46 (2003). Directed by Michael Winterbottom (The Road to Guantanamo). w/ Tim Robbins (William Geld), Samantha Morton (Maria Gonzales). In a future world where an insurance policy is the basis of normal life, a detective who can read the mind of others through a placed virus falls in love with a woman who sells insurance cards on the black market. The couple ignores Code 46, a law prohibiting physical relations between gentically similar human beings, that has become necessary after human cloning and IVF is common practice. Dystopic love story set somewhere in the near future. Some unrealistic parts, but not entirely improbable. Some stunning city scenes. Robbins' acting is good, but Morton rather disappointing in her role. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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Technology: Silent Aircraft Initiative (SAI). Researchers from Cambridge University (UK) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) unveiled their revolutionary concept for a silent aircraft.

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Music: Guano Apes. German band with a fusion of metal, pop and rap beat.
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Music: Two bands that somewhat remind of Evanescence: Fireflight and Nightwish.
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Art: Dahesh Museum of Art, NYC: Napoleon on the Nile: Soldiers, Artists, and the Rediscovery of Egypt, June 8 - December 31, 2006. Focusses on the 'Description de l’Egypte', the seminal multi-volume work that remains the single most important European scholarly study of ancient and modern Egypt. It was initiated under the patronage of the young General Napoleon Bonaparte as he invaded Egypt in 1798, and completed in 1829 during the reign of King Charles X. The 'Description' was written by Napoleon’s savants, i.e. 167 physicians, engineers, economists, mathematicians, zoologists, botanists, archeologists, translators, journalists, and artists who accompanied the army. The exhibition tells the story of Napoleon’s ill-fated bid to add Egypt to the growing French empire, and how the British, who had their own colonial interests in the region to protect, ultimately thwarted this plan. Informative exhibiton.
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Food: Stash Teas. Founded in 1972. Includes Peppermint herbal tea from Oregon. Also has loose herbal teas. Mail order.
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Health: Confabulation: memory disorder; the confusion of imagination with memory, and/or the confusion of true memories with false ones. Spontaneous production of false memories: either memories for events which never occurred, or memories of actual events which are displaced in space or time.
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Biology: Gribble (e.g., Limnoria Iignprum). Sea mite. Mostly pale white and small (1-4 mm long) crustaceans. Bore into wood and plant material for ingestion as food. Ecologically important role, by helping to degrade and recycle driftwood, but also cause damage in costal areas, such as piers.
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Food: German products at German Deli, located in Southlake, TX. Russian products at Russian Foods.
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Shopping: The Find. Search meta engine for online stores. Useful!
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Literature: Klaus Mann. German writer. Son of Thomas Mann. Opposed the Nazi regime. Comitted suicide in 1949. Re-discovered in Germany in the mid-1950s. Important works: Mephisto (1936), Der Vulkan (1939), The Turning Point/Der Wendepunkt (1942).
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Video: The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945). w/ Hurd Hatfield (Dorian Gray), Donna Reed (Gladys Hallward), Angela Lansbury (Sibyl Vane; Murder She Wrote). Directed by Albert Lewin. After the novel by Oscar Wilde. After being painted by his friend, Dorian Gray gives his soul to evil in order to retain his youth and let the painting age instead. Great moral story, typical Hollywood presentation. Overall rating: 6 out of 10. The original picture of the aged Dorian Gray was painted in 1943-44 for the film by Ivan Albright (1897-1983) and is now on display at the Art Institute of Chicago.
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Poetry: 'The Light of Asia', an epic poem written by Sir Edwin Arnold (1832-1904). First published in 1879. Arnold also wrote The Light of the World (1891) about the life of Jesus.
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Tea and Coffee: Simpson & Vail in Brookfield, CT. Many lose-leaf teas.
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DVD: Unforgiven (1992). 131 min. w/ Clint Eastwood (William 'Bill' Munny), Gene Hackman (Little Bill Daggett), Morgan Freeman (Ned Logan). Directed by Clint Eastwood. Retired assassin leaves his farm one last time to kill two men that mutilated a prostitute in a small Western town. Won 4 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Gene Hackman). One of the themes is the difficulty of cold-blooded killing without good reasons. Different from the average Western movie. Film has some funny, self-ironic moments, but becomes boring quickly. Unrealistic. Overall rating 4 out of 10.
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DVD: Th Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus (1996). Originally filmed in December 1968. w/ The Rolling Stones, Jethro Tull, The Who, Marianne Faithful, Taj Mahal, John Lennon, Yoko Ono. Ties together musical acts in a circus theme. Some great spontaneous moments. Last big project of Brian Jones. Overall rating: 5 out of 10.
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Music: Michelle Walker. Jazz vocalist. Played at 55 Bar, NYC, on November 25, 2006. Good voice, but little change between songs.
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Physics: Tachyon: Hypothetical particle that is predicted to move faster than the speed of light. When a tachyon loses energy its momentum increases. Existence has been neither proven nor disproven.
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Literature: Medea. Play written by Euripides (c. 480–406 BC) around 431 BC. Based on the myth of Jason and Medea. After Jason leaves Medea for another woman, Medea is devastated at first, but than gathers new strength and kills the new bride with a poisoned robe, as well as the two children she has with Jason in order to cause him further pain. Medea is also the third part of Franz Grillparzer's trilogy 'Das Goldene Vlies' (The Golden Fleece; 1821). More works by Euripides and Grillparzer.
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DVD: History of the World Part 1 (1981). w/ Mel Brooks. Directed by Mel Brooks. Comical retelling of important periods in world history. Typical Mel Brooks comedy. Funny moments. Overall rating 6 out of 10.
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Health: The Glycemic Index (GI) is a ranking system for carbohydrates based on their immediate effect on blood glucose levels. Defined by the area under the 2 hour blood glucose response curve (AUC) following the ingestion of a fixed portion of carbohydrate (usually 50 g). Glucose is used as the reference food (GI = 100). Low-to-moderate GI: pasta, vegetables. High GI: potatos, white rice. A database of GIs can be found here. The Glycemic Load (GL) takes the amount of consumed carbohydrates into account: For a single serving of a food the GL can be calculated as the quantity (in grams) of its carbohydrate content, multiplied by its GI.
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Recreation: Allamuchy Mountain State Park, NJ. Includes Waterloo Village with several historic buildings located on the banks of the Morris Canal.

Morris Canal at Waterloo Village

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Food: Cambiotti's Cafe Tomato Pie Cafe in Landing, NJ (Northwestern part of the state, near Lake Hopatcong). Neighborhood restaurant stablished in 2000, known for its unique thin crust pizza and home cooked Italian food.
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Snippets:
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DVD: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Whitch, and the Wardrobe (2005) w/ Tilda Swinton (White Witch), Georgie Henley (Lucy Pevensie). Directed by Andrew Adamson (Shrek). Four children discover and rescue the magical land of Narnia from the powers of the White Witch. Rich in special effects, but sometimes too obvious, some poor acting. Often too melodramatic. Swinton in excellent. Overall rating: 5 out of 10.
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DVD: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005). 109 min. Book and screenplay by Douglas Adams. Directed by Garth Jennings. w/ Martin Freeman (Arthur Dent), Zooey Deschanel (Trillian), Mos Def (Ford Prefect), Sam Rockwell (Zaphod Beeblebrox), John Malkovich (Humma Kavula). Slightly stupid earthling flees from his planet with his alien friend just before the earth is destroyed by Vogons, and meets the love of his life. Silly comedy after the renowned book. Some great costumes. Entertaining, but does not live up to expectations. Overall rating: 5 out of 10.
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Music: Sparklehorse. Is essentially the singer/songwriter Mark Linkous. Acclaimed debut album 'Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot' in 1995. New album 'Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain' in 2006. Rock-Pop, sometimes reminds of Neil Young, Pink Floyd etc., but not as good.
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Music: Brett Harriss. CD Release Party at the Bitter End, NYC, on 9/9/06. Straightforward rock-pop, sometimes reminds of Dave Mathews.
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Photography: Shomei Tomatsu. Japanese photographer.
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DVD: Good Bye Lenin (2003). w/ Daniel Brühl (Alex), Katrin Saß (Mutter), Chulpan Khamatova (Lara). Directed by Wolfgang Becker. Son creates a GDR-like world around his socialist mother who lay in a coma during the days of Germn reunification in 1989. Great idea, but sometimes dwells to long on a topic. Khamatova is good. Overall rating 6 out of 10.
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DVD: March of the Penguins (La Marche de l'empereur, 2005). 85 min. Directed by Luc Jacquet. Won 2006 Academy Award for Best Documentary. Describes a year in the life of a pengin colony in the Antarctic ice. Sunning pictures. Narration and music have too much emphasis on feeling and well-being. It is annoying that some interpretations of the animal world are 'humanized' (love, joy etc.). There often is not enough detail given to actually learn about the penguins. Overal rating: 5 out of 10.
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DVD: More (1969). 116 min. Directed by Barbet Schroeder. w/ Mimsy Farmer (Estelle Miller), Klaus Grünberg (Stefan Brückner), Heinz Engelmann (Dr. Ernesto Wolf). Experimental young man meets heroin addict in Paris, and joins her to Ibiza to live a relaxed live. Sun worhipping is one of the themes throughout the film. Experimenting with drugs. Describes well the thinking of drug addicts for the next fix. Bumpy dialogues. Great 60s atmosphere. Overall rating 7 out of 10.
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DVD: The Wall (1982). 95 min. Written by Roger Waters. Music by Pink Floyd, based on the 1979 album. Directed by Alan Parker (Fame, Birdy, Evita). Animation by Gerald Scarfe. w/ Bob Geldof. Burnt out rock star retracts in hotel room in front of a TV and goes insane over reflecting about his parent, his upbringing during WWII, his failed marriage, and his need for power. Mostly music, little spoken text. Cult film. Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
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Music: Hiromi. Jazz pianist with modern influences.
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Poetry: Emma Lazarus. Written in 1883, her celebrated poem, "The New Colossus," is engraved on a plaque in the Statue of Liberty. Over the years, the sonnet has become a part of American culture, serving as everything from an Irving Berlin show tune to a call for immigrants' rights.
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Real Estate: Buy property on Moon, Mars, or Venus at Moon Estates.
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Technology: The Kinzua Viaduct was a railroad bridge in Kinzua Bridge State Park, McKean County, in Northern Pennsylvania. Originally built in 1900, the bridge was mostly destroyed by a tornado in 2003.
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Life: Free international phone calls at FuturePhone. Gateway access number 712-858-8883. Iowa-based. Works, but often has problems actually getting connected to the destination number.
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Photography: Terra Galleria by Quang-Tuan Luong. Photos from around the world.
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DVD: Good Night, and Good Luck (2005). 93 min. Directed by George Clooney. w/ David Strathairn (Edward R. Murrow), George Clooney (Fred Friendly), Jeff Daniels (Sig Mickelson). Story is set around 1953, the early days of televison, and tells the story how the journalist Edward R. Murrow takes on Sen Joseph McCarthy (Wisconsin) on his CBS show 'See It Now'. Mc Carthy was known for his intense anti-communist politics. A main theme of the film is freedom of the press. Film tells a good story, but appears too narrow and static. Overall rating: 5 out of 10.
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Life: Cohiba: Cuban cigar brand.
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Humor: Darwin Awards: Saluting the improvement of the human genome by honoring those who remove themselves from it.
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Humor: Demystifying urban legends at Snopes.
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Humor: Learn about the dangers of DHMO (dihydrogen monoxide).
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Snippets:
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DVD: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) w/ Paul Newman (Butch Cassidy), Robert Redford (The Sundance Kid), Katharine Ross (Etta Place). Directed by George Roy Hill. The adventures of two bank and train robbers on the run. Unusual for a Western. Some funny moments. Well-carved characters. Some sequences are too long. Overall rating: 5 out of 10.
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Art: Figure Drawing.
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Art: Art Mobs. Amateur audio blogs for select painting in the MoMA, NYC. Information rather diluted.
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DVD: Alexander (2004). w/ Colin Farrell (Alexander), Angelina Jolie (Olympias), Val Kilmer (Philip), Anthony Hopkins (Old Ptolemy), Jared Leto (Hephaistion). Directed by Oliver Stone (Natural Born Killers, JFK). Story about Alexander's conquests in Persia and India. Mostly bad acting (especially Farrell and Jolie). Gory fight scenes. Poor development of story. Overall rating 2 out of 10.
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DVD: The Snow Walker (2003). w/ Barry Pepper (Charlie Halliday), Annabella Piugattuk (Kanaalaq). Directed by Charles Martin Smith. Follows closely the short story 'Walk Well My Brother' by Farley Mowat. Arrogant pilot in Northern Canada crashes his plane while flying a young Inuit woman with tuberculosis to the hospital. While they struggle for survival in the tundra, she teaches him many things about life in the wilderness. Great landscape scenes. Good story. Acting alright. Too slow at times. Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
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Life: Engines of Our Ingenuity No. 1840: Questions and Igorance by John H. Lienhard: Water flows from high places to low places. It flows from a region of high pressure to one of low pressure. Knowledge likewise flows to the point of greatest ignorance.
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Video: The Paper Chase (1973). w/ Timothy Bottoms (James T. Hart), Lindsay Wagner (Susan), John Houseman (Charles W. Kingsfield Jr.). Directed by James Bridges (Mike's Murder). First year law student falls in love with the daughter of his most difficult professors, who also happens to be his idol. Campus life. Well done, even though rather dry at times. Funny moments. Lindsey Wagner is good. Overall rating 6 out of 10.
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DVD: Alice in Wonderland (1951, 2004 release). 75 min. w/ Kathryn Beaumont (Voice of Alice). Walt Disney animated feature after the book by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, 1832-1898). Film varies from the book, but includes Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, and the Queen of Hearts. Story is partly nonsense. Some poor singing. Overall rating: 4 out of 10.
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Video: NOVA: Infinite Secrets: The Genius of Archimedes (2003). 60 min. Documentary about the discoveries of the Greek mathematician Archimedes (c. 287 BC – 212 BC), and the Archimedes Palimpsest, a medieval manuscript discovered in 1906 and resurfaced in 1998.
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Astronomy: NASA has found direct proof of dark matter (photo: in blue) in a composite image of the galaxy cluster 1E 0657-56 (a.k.a. bullet cluster)



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DVD: The China Syndrome (1979). 121 min. Directed by James Bridges (The Paper Chase). w/ Jane Fonda (Kimberly Wells), Jack Lemmon (Jack Godell), Michael Douglas (Richard Adams). Reporter team experiences an accident in a nuclear power plant and starts an investigation on the cover-up. Film was released only days before the Three Mile Island accident near Harrisburg, PA. Film picks up pace slowly. Gripping story, especially in the context of nuclear fear in the late seventies. Last 30 min are best. Overall rating 6 out of 10.
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Computer: Good Windows XP tips and tricks at The Elder Geek.
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Computer: Jay Lee has posted a solution to a very annoying problem: "How to set Internet Explorer window size. Q. When I open up the Web from any source, including shortcuts, it comes up in a reduced size and I have to click on Maximize to get the window to its full size. I have closed the windows in every way possible that I know of including File, Exit. But nothing changes. How can I get my Web pages to open up in full size? A. Programs like Internet Explorer will open to the same size and placement as they were when they were closed. The gotcha is that clicking the X in the upper right corner of the application does not officially close the program. That just exits the application quickly. If you want Internet Explore to open full-size when you start it up, you must first start IE. Then maximize the window. Now click File, then Close. Now restart IE, and it should start up in a full-sized window. If half of the window is off the screen when you start a program, bring the window to the location you want and then click File and then Close, and it will re-open in this position the next time." However, this does not seem to solve the problem when links are opened in a new window --- then it opens again in non-maximized mode.
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Art: Cai Guo-Qiang on the Roof: Transparent Monument. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC. April 25, 2006–October 29, 2006. Cai Guo-Qiang (pronounced sigh gwo chang, b. 1957) is a contemporary Chinese-born artist known for sculptures and gunpowder projects.
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Art: AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC. May 3, 2006–September 4, 2006. Focuses on British fashion from 1976 to 2006. Set in the Metropolitan Museum’s English period rooms—the Annie Laurie Aitken Galleries. Exciting territory to explore.
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Music: Syd Barrett (1946-2006). Co-founder of Pink Floyd. Was asked to leave the band in 1968 because of mental instability. 'Shine on you crazy diamond' on the Pink Floyd album 'Wish You Were Here' was written about him. Incidentially, Barrett showed up unexpectedly in the studio with his hair and eye brows shaved off when the song was recorded in 1975.
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Music: Tender Forever. Album: The Soft and the Hardcore. Interesting lyrics, but music is raw. Vocals by Melanie Valera. Review at PopMatters. Song: Then If I'm Weird I Want to Share.
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DVD: Shikoku (1999). 101 min. w/ Yui Natsukawa (Hinako Myoujin), Michitaka Tsutsui (Fumiya Akizawa), Chiaki Kuriyama (Sayori Hiura ). Directed by Shunichi Nagasaki. After the novel 'Shikoku' by Bando Masako (Kadokawa Shoten), who also wrote 'Inugami'. Woman returns to her home town on the Japanse island Shikoku and finds that a childhood friend she long admired is about to return from the dead. Not very scary, but some great moments. Slow, but adequate pace. Acting not always at its best. Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
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Music: Charly Haden Quartet West at the Blue Note, NYC on 8/18/06, 8 PM. Charlie Haden (b), Ernie Watts (ts), Rodney Greene (d), Alan Broadbent (p). Great concert.
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Video: Valley of the Dolls (1967). 123 min. w/ Barbara Parkins (Anne Welles), Patty Duke (Neely O'Hara), Sharon Tate (Jennifer North Polar), Paul Burke (Lyon Burke). Directed by Mark Robson. Three young women in film and show business are trying to manage their careers, lives and love affairs, and their addiction to dolls (happy and sleeping pills). Some good moments, but overall melodramatic, and dwells too long on the same theme. Overall rating: 5 out of 10.
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Snippets:
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Games: Magnetic Poetry Online Kits. Allows to publish results on the web.
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Poetry: Karoline von Günderrode (1780-1806) (suicide with dagger). German poet during the period of Romanticism (time between 1795 and 1848). Poems at Gutenberg.de.
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Life: Computertakeback.com has information on how to recycle computers and other electronic devices that produce toxic waste. Find a recylcer near you.
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Photos: When They Were Young: A Photographic Retrospective of Childhood. Library of Congress.
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DVD: Solaris (2002). 99 min. w/ George Clooney (Chris Kelvin), Natascha McElhone (Rheya), Viola Davis (Gordon), Jeremy Davies (Snow). Directed by Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Erin Brockovich. Ocean's Eleven). Produced by James Cameron (Titanic). Based on the novel by Stanislaw Lem. Remake of the 1972 Russian movie 'Solyaris'. A psychologist (Clooney) tries to figure out mysterious events on a remote space station. As he gets pulled into the events, he tries to make up for the suicide of his wife. Very slow story, very boring. Profane, pseudo-intellectual plot without any meaning. Many questions remain unresolved. Overall rating: 3 out of 10.
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Photography: Gary Fong. Markets the 'Lightsphere', an inverted dome system that is put on top of the flash to diffuse flash light. Fong is a sucessful wedding photographer; also holds seminars. Webjournal.
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Life: Public Routes. Public transportation in the NY Metropolitan area. Usefulness questionable though. Lacks connections via Path train from NJ to NYC.
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DVD: Crash (2004). 113 min. w/ Matt Dillon, Sandra Bullock, Brendan Fraser, Don Cheadle, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges. Direccted by Paul Haggis. Scenes from a neighborhood in L.A. Focusses on racial/ethnical issues. Characters all interact with each other at one point. Parable. Diffuses the boundaries of black and white. Well done. Overall rating 9 out of 10.
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Philosophy: Herbert Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980). Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar, professor of English literature, literary critic, and communications theorist, who is one of the founders of the study of media ecology. Today an honorary guru among technophiles. Coined the phrase "The medium is the message", in which he proposes that the media themselves, not the content they carry, should be the focus of study.
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Physics: Mpemba Effect: Under certain circumstances, warmer water will freeze sooner than colder water. Also see 'Engines of Our Ingenuity' #2100.
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Art: Gail Ingis-Claus. Paints a veriety of motives, including architechture, seascapes, people, and abstract.
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Music: Isa and the Filthy Tongues: Rock-Punk-Blues band from Edinburgh, Scottland. Debut album 'Addiction'.
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Music: Lala. Search engine for CD swapping. Cost $1 per CD plus $0.75 S&H. Currently 1.8 million titles. Provides envelopes and shipping labels. A new way to update the CD collection.
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Life: He really did it! It has taken Kyle MacDonald only 1 year to trade one red paper clip into a house. Amazing!
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DVD: Solyaris (1972). a.k.a Solaris. 169 min. Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. w/ Natalya Bondarchuk (Hari), Donatas Banionis (Kris Kelvin). After the novel by Stanislaw Lem. Science fiction movie about the psychologist Kris Kelvin who tries to find out what is wrong on a space station orbiting the mysterious planet Solaris. When his wife Hari, who committed suicide many years ago, appears on the station, Kelvin is plagued by his conscience. Very slow story, but better than the 2002 remake (see above). Listening to the commentary on DVD helps to understand important details. Overall rating 5 out 10. Study Guide for Stanislaw Lem's Solaris.
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Maps of all kind:

1.) David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
2.) Maps.com: Commercial
3.) Platial: Personal maps
4.) Google Maps
5.) Yahoo Maps
6.) Mapquest
7.) Nighttime!
8.) MapMachine: Some theme maps
8.) Google Earth
9.) Google Moon
10.) Google Mars


Snippets:
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DVD: Miles Electric: A Different Kind of Blue (2004). Documentary on the music of Miles Davis, with focus on his innovative style. Interviews with fellow musicians. Includes his performance at the Isle of Wight in 1970, a Rock festival in the south of England with 600,000 attendees. Good interviews, great perfomance. Overall rating 7 out of 10.
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DVD: House of Sand and Fog (2003). 126 min. w/ Jennifer Connelly (Kathy, from A Beautiful Mind), Ben Kingsley (Behrani, from Ghandi). After the book by Andre Dubus III. Woman, deserted by her husband, gets evicted from her house under allegations of not paying her taxes. A Persian refugee/imigrant buys the house at an auction and moves in with his family, but the former owner refuses to accept this. Even though every character makes grave mistakes, the plot has a natural flow, spiraling downward. Ends in drama. Good acting. Gripping story. Always gives the viewer a sense of suspense. Overall rating 7 out of 10.
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Evolution: Darwin. Exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. Nov 19, 2005 - Aug 20, 2006 (Extended). Includes live tortoises and a green iguana (from Clyde Peeling's Reptiland in Allenwood, PA). Notes to Online Exhibition: Charles Darwin's grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, had already formulated ideas of evolution several decades prior, but was not taken seriously. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck proposed that use of a body part would make it stronger, but thought this quality was then inherited. Darwin's voyage on the 'Beagle' was from December 1831 to October 1836. He brought back specimens of more than 1,500 different species, hundreds of which had never before been seen before in Europe. On the Galapgos Islands, many animals had no fear of humans, making them easy to catch. Darwin, who as a student at Cambridge had formed a club dedicated to eating animals "unknown to human palate," cheerfully sampled the iguanas. Glyptodont: an immense shelled animal that looked like a giant armadillo. Penguins usually live in Antarctica or the southern tip of South America. One species lives on the Galapagos Islands. Darwin kept his theory of evolution secret for two decades before publishing it in 'The Origin of Species' (1859), only prompted by emerging competition with the young naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace. A follow up publication was 'Descent of Man' (1871).
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History: Alien and Sedition Acts: Acts of Congress passed during the administration of President John Adams, who signed them into law in 1798. These laws were designed to silence and weaken the Democratic-Republican Party. The acts increased the residency requirement for American citizenship from 5 to 14 years, authorized the president to imprison or deport aliens considered "dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States" and restricted speech critical of the government. Negative reaction to the Alien and Sedition Acts helped contribute to the Democratic-Republican victory in the 1800 elections that made Thomas Jefferson president. Congress repealed the Naturalization Act in 1802, while the other acts were allowed to expire.
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Life: GasBuddy. Compare gas prices across the U.S. Includes maps and historical price charts.
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Art: Andrew Wyeth: Memory and Magic. Philadelphia Museum of Art. March 29, 2006 - July 16, 2006. Retrospective of the works of the American artist over seven decades. Ticket includes audio tour. In self-portraits, Wyeth usually did not show his face, but -- for example -- his shoes. Strong symbolism (e.g., grass, doors, windows). Unfortunately, Christina's World (1948) was not on display. Overall, good exhibition, but crowded at times.
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Art/Science: Places & Spaces: Mapping Science. New York Public Library, Science, Industry, and Business Library. Attempt to physically show what and where science is today, how different branches of science relate to each other and where different branches of study are heading. Some comparisons to early topographic maps. Podcast from the New York Academy of Sciences with explanations. Includes a map of Henry Smith Williams' (1863-1943) 'History of Science' (all 4 Parts) created with TextArc. Also includes map and globes by Ingo Gunther from his 'Worldprocessor' project.
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Literature: Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases by Greenville Kleiser (1868-1953) at Project Gutenberg.
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Sightseeing: The Beast Speed Boat, operated by Circle Line, 42nd St., NYC. Ride on the Hudson River to the Statue of Liberty and back.
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