Charles Prentiss: Salinas Valley Farm

Salinas Valley Farm: 

Oil on canvas (#322.2013)   24x24

Seen at Kelly's French Bakery, Santa Cruz.

"Charles Prentiss is an artist, museum exhibit designer and architectural consultant living in La Selva Beach,  Santa Cruz County, CA"

Film: Chi-Raq

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi-Raq

Listened to an audio review. "The film is based on Aristophanes' Lysistrata, a Classical Greek comedy play in which various women withhold physical affection from their husbands as punishment for fighting in war."

Radio Songs

Heard on KRSA 103.3 FM out of Moss Beach, California:

• New York City-based Son Lux's "I Am The Others", from his 2015 album "Bones", on the Glassnote Records label. Audio.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Tonight, Sunday night/Monday morning 2:30 a.m. showing, in San Francisco, in IMAX 3D.

From the IMAX web site:

Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be released across our various cutting-edge projection technologies including our xenon digital system, IMAX 15/70mm film and our next-generation laser system. Lucasfilm and visionary director J.J. Abrams join forces to take you back again to a galaxy far, far away as Star Wars returns to the big screen with Star Wars: The Force Awakens.The film stars Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Max Von Sydow. Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk are producing with Tommy Harper and Jason McGatlin serving as executive producers. The screenplay is by J.J. Abrams & Lawrence Kasdan.The IMAX release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of An IMAX 3D Experience® with proprietary IMAX DMR® (Digital Re-mastering) technology. The crystal-clear images coupled with IMAX's customized theatre geometry and powerful digital audio create a unique environment that will make audiences feel as if they are in the movie.

The AMC Metreon theatre has 3D IMAX Laser projection:

“Another of the largest IMAX theaters in the country, SF’s Metreon also boasts a local connection that makes it the place for Bay Area Star Wars fans to see the new film. Since SF is also the home of Dolby Laboratories, the Metreon theater is fortunate enough to have both 3D IMAX Laser projection as well as a theater equipped with AMC ETX, which features Dolby Atmos sound.”
Via: http://www.wired.com/2015/12/best-star-wars-screens/

Parking:

• SFPark
• Sutter Stockton Garage (444 Stockton St): 
• About 0.5 mile walk to the theatre and back
• Rate: midnight--9:00 a.m., $1/hr

UPDATE:

• Parking went smoothly
• Raining, lightly
• Union Square:
• Saw the ice skating rink, at Union Square--skaters skating through the thin layer of rainwater which had collected
• Inflatable Snoopy, by Macy's (someone had dropped a fork onto the top)
• Saw the "Winter Walk": http://www.visitunionsquaresf.com/blog/winter_walk_sf_is_here/ "second annual Winter Walk, organized by the Union Square Business Improvement District with help from the SFMTA. This year there will also be light shows, food trucks, San Francisco-centric live performances such as Velocity Circus and a variety of other attractions set in the pop-up plaza along Stockton Street between Geary and Ellis. Visit WinterWalkSF.com for event schedule and details."
• Walked through Macy's; looked at holiday decorations
• Walked to the theatre, stopping for coffee, on the way
• Waited, in the lobby, sitting on the floor, played Words with Friends
• More coffee and root beer soda, to stay awake
• We attended the 2:30 a.m. showing, the last of the premier weekend
• Premier weekend merchandise:
• Got a number of free "AMC IMAX Star Wars print", #1 of 4: "Every Sunday from December 20 to January 10, get an exclusive AMC IMAX Star Wars print when you see the movie in IMAX 3D! A new poster will be given away each week, so make sure to collect them all!"

  

  Ticket takers encouraged us to "take as many as we liked", so we grabbed about a score of them

• Dawn purchased a women's cut Star Wars tee shirt, for $25:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The concession booth attendants suggested Dawn get the purple "Galaxy Premiere Star Wars Force Awakens Women's Dolman Tee", but, after trying them on, she got the grey one
  
• They also tried to sell me a "Star Wars The Force Awakens: 30,000 Limited Edition Galaxy Premiere Ticket Holder"...but yeah, probably a mistake not to buy and resell, but, then again, lots of stuff floating around never amounts to anything
  
  
  
  
• We had seats G28 and G29, dead center, both front-to-back and right-to-left
• Fans cheered upon the opening crawl, but otherwise very respectful and quiet
• One fan walked in with a "IT'S A TRAP" white trucker cap and a purple plastic lightsaber; we saw a few others with lightsabers
• Movie notes:
• Solid showing; very enjoyable; would watch again
• Poe's character reminded me of Scott Baio, from Charles in Charge
• Leia's character's voice (gravelly?) reminded me of someone...haven't put my finger on it, yet (UPDATE: I think it reminds me of Kate McKinnon's portrayal of Hillary Clinton, on Saturday Night Live. Heh. For example)
• Luke's character looked overweight...sort of out-of-place, for an ascetic living so remotely
• Rey's character did very well--much harder to portray than the others...more complicated
• Finn's character seemed to express the emotions of the audience
• BB-8 a clear winner
• Maz Kanata = the new Yoda

Just for fun:

"NOT AN ENTRANCE [N] OR EXIT"

Corrected. Heh ; o )

This door existed, in West Sacramento, as of September 1, 2010. I saw it after walking across the Tower Bridge, to go pick up our car from the mechanic, who had done some welding on the exhaust. Who knows, if it still exists.

Omar Khayyám: "Yesterday This Day's Madness did prepare...."

"Yesterday This Day's Madness did prepare;
To-morrow's Silence, Triumph, or Despair:
Drink! for you know not whence you came, nor why:
Drink! for you know not why you go, nor where."

Source: Omar Khayyám [ عمر خیام Persian] (18 May 1048 – 4 December 1131) was a Persian mathematician, astronomer, and writer; originally named Ghiyath al-Din Abu'l-Fath Omar ibn Ibrahim Al-Nisaburi Khayyámi (غیاث الدین ابو الفتح عمر بن ابراهیم خیام نیشابوری) Edward FitzGerald's translations of his poetic Rubaiyat (Quatrains) were immensely popular, and remain influential.

The Bloggess - Book Signing Event

Dawn and I attended a book signing event, at the Bookshop Santa Cruz, for The Bloggess, on Friday, December 4, 2015.

You may have to embiggen, but we do exist, in the top photo of this montage...partially obscured by masks...several rows back

Here we are, in line

Animation - Miyazaki Hayao Complete Box/Works (13BDS) [Japan BD] VWBS-1531

Saw Subject mentioned, today, on Angry Asian Man.

Web site CDJapan lists Crown Tokuma, as the Japanese distributor, while Walt Disney Studios seems to represent the North American distributor, in partnership with Amazon. Amazon seems to list a November 17, 2015 North American release date.

Have read through some commentary, on differences between the Japan and North America versions, as well as comments on the North American release itself. In general, comments seem positive.

Leaving this here, as a page to note details, as I read more.

Differences

• Languages

Notes

• Individual film notes, from the 2015 North American release:
1. Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) 
2. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) 
3. Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986) 
4. My Neighbor Totoro (1988) 
5. Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
• This collection seems to include Disney's 2010 reissue
• Wikipedia lists the differences between the versions
• An Amazon comment summarizes: "Disney reissued the dub in 2010 without the extra dialogue (notably Jiji's one-liners) and jettisoned the Sydney Forest opening and ending songs for the Japanese ones. Why? Because purists absolutely DETESTED them. They DETESTED them with a vengeance, so Disney bowed to their whims and fixed them. But yes, it came with a price; it's impossible for me to listen to the 2010 DVD update because of the bad sound quality. The original cut of KIKI had crisper audio. Unfortunately because this edit is more accurate to the Japanese presentation, it was decided to include this on the BD release instead. I would have preferred if Disney issued the movie with BOTH versions of the dub, so as to allow people a chance to choose."
6. Porco Rosso (1992) 
7. Princess Mononoke (1997) 
8. Spirited Away (2001) 
9. Howl's Moving Castle (2004) 
10. Ponyo (2008) 
11. The Wind Rises (2013)
• Special features:
• Misses special features from individual releases
• Includes:
• Dubtitles:
• Dubtitle issues have been fixed

Stikkmenn

http://stikkmenn.no/

What's with everyone in Santa Cruz having these amazing vehicles to travel in? Saw a Stikkmenn camper, in the parking lot, at Trader Joe's, a couple of weekends ago.

I Want to Believe: Deercow

The University of California, Santa Cruz "deercow" legend...I want to believe. I also want a poster like the one above, from The X-Files, but with a deercow. I also want to know what a deercow looks like, because I don't know what a deercow looks like. It's a deer and a cow, obviously. In what proportion, though?

I believe the book, "An Unnatural History of UCSC", ISBN 2800840059880, quotes a woman who relates the anecdote of how she coined the term, while walking, at night, through the campus fields and redwoods. I can't find much reference to it, otherwise, other than the book listings and one obscure page. 

Deercow. I want to believe.

Panchosway2015: Simone Rupp & Stefan Leicht

Saw this vehicle, in Santa Cruz, this past weekend:

http://www.panchosway2015.de/

Will Model 4 Toyz

Saw a sticker:
http://www.willmodel4toyz.com/

I called the Nintendo Hotline, in 1987

Really enjoyed reading the Onion Inc.'s A.V. Club's article, "What was it like to be a Nintendo game play counselor?", by Annie Zaleski, published on 2015-11-21:

http://www.avclub.com/article/what-was-it-be-nintendo-game-play-counselor-224289

The article mentions Shadowgate, a 1987 point-and-click adventure video game developed by ICOM Simulations, Inc. and published by Kemco, for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

The name sounds familiar, and after looking it up, I remembered why: it represents the one game I called the Nintendo Powerline about. In the game, you eventually have to kill a werewolf. My 10-year-old self didn't know silver represents a weapon to use against werewolves. Well, to the Nintendo Powerline I went, after many, many hours of frustration. A man answered. In response to my explanation, he began leisurely hinting at the answer. Not knowing the key insight, I just got frustrated, because, at that time, long distance calls cost a non-trivial amount, per minute. A per-minute surcharge may have also existed. Zaleski's article describes this:

CF: The funny thing was, we were originally told to just counsel them into the answer, and help them feel like they’ve figured it out themselves. Give them some hints, or kind of coach them along. But people sometimes would lose their patience completely with that, and want the answer immediately. Which didn’t always end well on the phones.

He finally told me, and I thanked him, and that was that. It went fine, no angry words, just frustration, which I think he sensed. I learned something, succeeded in getting past the room, and eventually completed the game. Ta-da. Looking back, I can appreciate and understand the point of their approach, with giving hints.

An ex-werewolf (via)

So, it provided a very useful service, in the pre-Internet era, and I am grateful for the service.

The other game I called about, to the Origin game help hotline, was an RPG PC game, I think, near the end game, which may have glitched out? Again, very helpful.

UPDATE: It was Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds, a 1993 first-person role-playing video game developed by Looking Glass Technologies and published by Origin Systems. Near the endgame, I would use the colorless potion of Basilisk oil, but nothing proc'd. The person I called got me through it, but I am not sure what the issue was. I think I was attempting to use the basilisk oil potion, at the place of the ritual in the Void, when I needed to use it instead of on mud in the ice caverns, and so forth, and so forth.

Basilisk oil, when only colorless will do (via)

The article mentions the game Legacy of the Wizard, a 1989 fantasy-themed action role-playing platform game, developed by Nihon Falcom and published, for the NES, by Brøderbund. The article mentions the game gave the Nintendo game counselors a bad time:

CF: ...My first day on the phone was just terrifying—just call after call after call. I had no idea what these people were talking about. They were playing The Goonies II, which was one of the most dreaded calls you could possibly get—that and Legacy Of The Wizard. [Bloom and Lowder groan.] 

SB: As soon as someone called me and said, “Legacy Of The Wizard,” I was just like, “There goes my day.” 

AVC: What was wrong with that game? 

SB: We had maps of it, like screenshot maps, and we could see the whole entire game. It was basically a side shot. But how many rooms were in that? Like 100 rooms? 

CF: They all kind of looked the same. “Yeah, I’m in a room with gray bricks.” [Laughs.] You’re like, “Kill me. Kill me now.” So I made a horrible impression my first day. All the veteran game play counselors wanted to kill me. They kept getting transfers from extension 782—why I remember [my extension number], I have no idea. That was a rough first time on the phones....

That game I got through, on my own. That is, probably with the help of Nintendo Power magazine? Heh. ; o )

Good times.

Dash cam: Koonlung K1S Dual Channel Dash Cam

In early 2015, Chinese manufacturer Koonlung began selling dual camera dash cam model KS1, which has two mini cameras and separate control display and GPS modules:

http://www.techmoan.com/blog/2015/3/1/k1s-the-first-front-rear-hidden-1080p-dash-camera.html

Currently priced at ~$275, with GPS, from Spy Tec. Initial reviews seem to indicate possible overheating and reboot/freeze issues.

The last time I checked, in October, 2014, the Vico Marcus 5 seemed like the only model available which worked well. However, while the Marcus 5 has a mini rear camera, the front camera included the display module, making it look bulky. Plus, it cost nearly $400.

Looking forward to more competition, in this category.

LINKS

Previously, Previously, Previously
http://www.koonlung.com/

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-dash-cam/

http://www.koonlung.com/productview_33.html (note: Kooklung KS1 product page)

MetaRatr

Listening to random music on SoundCloud, via MetaRatr.

Some I like:
fernandosinesio - 5 - Braseiro

Superstititous
Kash Unlimited Music - Pusha T - King Push

Self-deceit: Redding's "A Short Lesson in Perspective"

Read the whole thing:
http://www.lindsredding.com/2012/03/11/a-overdue-lesson-in-perspective/

Shepard Fairey Artwork: Debbie Harry (Blondie)

Saw this art, in the background, as part of a photo of Maria Popova, from the About page of her blog, Brain Pickings:

Great photo

The original artwork represents a 18 x 24″ handmade canvas silk screen print, from May 2010 by Shepard Fairey, depicting Blondie band member Debbie Harry. Photo by Bobby Grossman.

RESOURCES

http://www.obeygiant.com/prints/debby-harry-canvas-print

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepard_Fairey

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blondie_(band)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Harry

Ben Franklin, On Liberty and Safety: Source and Context

WikiQuote lists 11 variations of Benjamin Franklin's quote. Today I found the original wording (attributed to Franklin):

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

SUMMARY - ORIGINAL INTENT

"Liberty", in this case, refers to the question of whether the 1755 Pennsylvania Assembly, which included Benjamin Franklin, had the authority to tax lands owned by the Penn family, the legal landowners of the Province of Pennsylvania, per the charter granted by English king Charles II.

"Safety", in this case, refers to frontier defense against attacks during the French and Indian War, which had started the previous year, in 1754.

In brief, the Pennsylvania Assembly members seemed to have two choices:

1. Choose Safety over Liberty: the Assembly could immediately create a tax to raise funds for frontier defense, with the condition that they could not tax the Penn family's lands
2. Choose Liberty over Safety: by re-asserting the Assembly's right to tax lands owned by the Penn family, an administrative delay might occur in getting authorization to create a tax to raise funds, for frontier defense

From below:

"Franklin was thus complaining of the choice facing the legislature between being able to make funds available for frontier defense and maintaining its right of self-governance--and he was criticizing the governor for suggesting it should be willing to give up the latter to ensure the former."

SOURCE

From WikiQuote: "This was first written by Franklin for the Pennsylvania Assembly in its Reply to the Governor (11 Nov. 1755)", which, in part, reads:

"In fine, we have the most sensible Concern for the poor distressed Inhabitants of the Frontiers. We have taken every Step in our Power, consistent with the just Rights of the Freemen of Pennsylvania, for their Relief, and we have Reason to believe, that in the Midst of their Distresses they themselves do not wish us to go farther. Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. Such as were inclined to defend themselves, but unable to purchase Arms and Ammunition, have, as we are informed, been supplied with both, as far as Arms could be procured, out of Monies given by the last Assembly for the King’s Use; and the large Supply of Money offered by this Bill, might enable the Governor to do every Thing else that should be judged necessary for their farther Security, if he shall think fit to accept it. Whether he could, as he supposes, “if his Hands had been properly strengthened, have put the Province into such a Posture of Defence, as might have prevented the present Mischiefs,” seems to us uncertain; since late Experience in our neighbouring Colony of Virginia (which had every Advantage for that Purpose that could be desired) shows clearly, that it is next to impossible to guard effectually an extended Frontier, settled by scattered single Families at two or three Miles Distance, so as to secure them from the insiduous Attacks of small Parties of skulking Murderers: But thus much is certain, that by refusing our Bills from Time to Time, by which great Sums were seasonably offered, he has rejected all the Strength that Money could afford him; and if his Hands are still weak or unable, he ought only to blame himself, or those who have tied them."

ADDITIONAL CONTEXT

In pre-American Revolution 1755, at the time of first use, Franklin and company, as members of the Pennsylvania Assembly, found themselves in an ongoing dispute with the Pennsylvania Colonial Deputy Governor, Robert Hunter Morris, who served at the pleasure of members of the Penn family, who lived abroad, in England.

The Penn family was led by Thomas Penn, the son of William Penn. William Penn had founded the Province of Pennsylvania, in 1681, initially owning all 120,000 square kilometers, via king Charles II of England, who granted the charter transferring the lands to Penn, in part to satisfy a debt owed by Charles II to William Penn's father, the sea admiral Sir William Penn.

Thomas, unlike his father, ruled from afar, in aristocratic fashion, perhaps in an attempt to salvage the family's finances, as his father had died penniless.

The dispute centered around the determination of whether a proposed tax, created by the Pennsylvania Assembly, for "Safety" (that is, frontier defense), could tax the lands owned by the Penn family, or not. 

Franklin and company argued the Pennsylvania Assembly had the "Liberty" to tax the Penn family lands. The Pennsylvania Colonial Governor, who served at the pleasure of the Penn family, disagreed. No surprise, there.

The quotation arises in a letter Franklin and company have written to the Governor. They seem fired up. It seems the Governor has given them two options:

1. Immediately obtain the Pennsylvania Governor's permission to create a tax, for "Safety" (that is, frontier defense), by accepting the Governor's poison-pill condition: the loss of the Assembly's "Liberty" to tax the Penn family's lands
2. Assert the Assembly's "Liberty" to tax the Penn family's lands, via joint letter to the Governor, at the risk of delays in raising funds for "Safety" (again, frontier defense)

By writing the letter, the Pennsylvania Assembly members chose the latter option, using Franklin's quote, for emphasis. 

A TechCrunch ariticle, from February 14, 2014, provides context, in part, via a July 15, 2011 article, from the Brookings Institute’s Benjamin Wittes' blog Lawfare:

“The letter was a salvo in a power struggle between the governor and the assembly over funding for security on the frontier, one in which the assembly wished to tax the lands of the Penn family." 

From Wittes article:

"The words appear originally in a 1755 letter that Franklin is presumed to have written on behalf of the Pennsylvania Assembly to the colonial governor during the French and Indian War. The letter was a salvo in a power struggle between the governor and the Assembly over funding for security on the frontier, one in which the Assembly wished to tax the lands of the Penn family, which ruled Pennsylvania from afar, to raise money for defense against French and Indian attacks. The governor kept vetoing the Assembly’s efforts at the behest of the family, which had appointed him. So to start matters, Franklin was writing not as a subject being asked to cede his liberty to government, but in his capacity as a legislator being asked to renounce his power to tax lands notionally under his jurisdiction. In other words, the “essential liberty” to which Franklin referred was thus not what we would think of today as civil liberties but, rather, the right of self-governance of a legislature in the interests of collective security.

What's more the “purchase [of] a little temporary safety” of which Franklin complains was not the ceding of power to a government Leviathan in exchange for some promise of protection from external threat; for in Franklin’s letter, the word “purchase” does not appear to have been a metaphor. The governor was accusing the Assembly of stalling on appropriating money for frontier defense by insisting on including the Penn lands in its taxes--and thus triggering his intervention. And the Penn family later offered cash to fund defense of the frontier--as long as the Assembly would acknowledge that it lacked the power to tax the family’s lands. Franklin was thus complaining of the choice facing the legislature between being able to make funds available for frontier defense and maintaining its right of self-governance--and he was criticizing the governor for suggesting it should be willing to give up the latter to ensure the former.

In short, Franklin was not describing some tension between government power and individual liberty. He was describing, rather, effective self-government in the service of security as the very liberty it would be contemptible to trade. Notwithstanding the way the quotation has come down to us, Franklin saw the liberty and security interests of Pennsylvanians as aligned."

In the short-to-medium term, the Pennsylvania Assembly's effort failed, in two ways:

1. The Pennsylvania deputy governor ultimately refused, stating the terms of his commission did not grant him the authority to tax the lands owned by the Penn family
2. Franklin's subsequent effort, in 1757, to bypass the Pennsylvania governor, via travel to England and direct appeal to the English government, also failed, for lack of support in Whitehall

In the long term, after the American Revolution, Franklin lived to see the Penn family lose all their lands. Thomas Penn had died several years earlier, in 1771.

PRIOR USAGE

As noted, on WikiQuote, Franklin seems to have published an earlier variation, in Poor Richard's Almanack (1738):

"Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power."

ADDITIONAL NOTES

I should note the ongoing discussion about whether contemporary usage of this quote reflects what Benjamin Franklin meant to imply, seems a topic of muddy value. Is it a quote limited to governmental taxation (liberty) and defense (safety)? Or, in more contemporary usage, does it refer to learned helplessness, by which citizens give away civil liberties to the Leviathan government, which promises to protect them? 

Benjamin Franklin was a revolutionary. He overthrew governments and led a non-conformist life. The quote, as a part of him, seems quite of the same cloth. 

He was also human, just like you and me. His usage in the 1755 letter reflected a spin on a phrase he had most likely long used. In my opinion, it reflected a means to an end.

In the big picture, the tension and trade-offs between anarchy and ossification represents a common theme stretching across thousands of years of human organization (hat tip, Bertrand Russell). Think: Renaissance Italy and European dark ages, respectively.

RESOURCES

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Pennsylvania
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin#Quotes
http://franklinpapers.org/franklin/framedVolumes.jsp?vol=6&page=238a
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hunter_Morris
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_and_Indian_War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Penn_(Royal_Navy_officer)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Penn
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Penn
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2011/9/21%20platform%20security%20wittes/0921_platform_security_wittes.pdf
http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/14/how-the-world-butchered-benjamin-franklins-quote-on-liberty-vs-security/

Prius High-Intensity Discharge Headlamp (HID) Bulb Replacement

Replaced both headlamp bulbs yesterday, on November 12, 2015.

NOTES

• Driver's side seemed harder, for me, due to the fuse box, which limited space more than the passenger's side, I think
• Driver's side clip's shape seemed distorted, a bit, so I had difficulty replacing it. I eventually did the best I could and tested it for snugness--it was snug, so replaced the cap and called it a day...note: did not have this problem on the passenger's side
• Dealership "Toyota & Scion of Santa Cruz" quoted me $200+ to do the job, just for labor
• Used new, disposable latex gloves while installing the bulb, and Mechanix gloves otherwise...protected my hands nicely from random scrapes and scratches, and gave better grip
• Night before, I wiped the bulbs with rubbing alcohol (that is, 70% isopropyl alcohol); dried overnight
• New headlamp bulbs glow, in a blueish white color
• Aligning the bulb: hold it in place with one hand, then step back and look through the front of the headlamp...you will see the bulb poking through and get another indication of whether you have aligned it properly
• The electrode, the part which looks like a metal bar and runs along one side of the bulb glass, should face down (?)
• I think the knobs, on the bulb back should align horizontally (?)
• Time elapsed: 45-60 minutes
• Do it again? Yes

RESOURCES

• Driver's and passenger's side bulb replacement (shows: plastic tab removal; mirrored view of bulb clips, and so forth): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6Ih1CPQUzM
• Removing the entire headlamp assembly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zG2BPEK0dQ
• Driver's side bulb replacement, only (gave me the idea of using the screwdriver, for torque): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er0oEHNUfQs
• San Francisco's Luscious Garage YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/lusciousgarage/videos
• Bulb source: 
• HighPerformanceBulbs.com
• Product: "High Performance Xenon D2R HID replacement bulbs (2 bulbs) (Choose Your Color) Part # D2RHID"
• HID Bulb Color : 4300K OEM White
• Parts cost (two bulbs), with shipping and handling: $52.74
• Warranty: 1 year for defects or failure
• Estimated HID Bulb Life: 3000 Hours
• Recommended, via PriusChat
• Previously

A Suitable Wardrobe

Link: https://asuitablewardrobe.com

Have read his blog for a number of years. Too expensive for my tastes, generally, at this time. Well versed, though.

Matcha Yogurt

Saw a delivery truck for Los Angeles-based 北京酸奶 (Beijing Yogurt) while driving near San Jose, on I-880/Highway 17 area, on Monday.

They sell Matcha Yogurt, which seemed noteworthy.

https://www.facebook.com/BeijingYogurt/
http://www.bjyogurt.com/

T-Swizzle, K-Shizzle

Reading an Esquire magazine while waiting at my barber, and read that Taylor Swift occassionally refers to herself as T-Swizzle.

K-Shizzle?

None Too Keene: Nancy Drew Noir

Performance art of Nancy Drew, in a more hardboiled style:

"She knew. About the coded phrases served up at social teas. About the untidy passions externalized in a broken locket. About what goes down on a hidden staircase. With one hundred and seventy five mysteries solved by age eighteen, Nancy Drew had seen more than Philip Marlowe, Sam Spade, and Mike Hammer combined. And she'd seen enough. On graduating high school, she quit sleuthing, and took to writing her memoirs. "For profit," she once told an inquiring librarian. "And no other fool reason." When the manuscript for The Secret of the Old Clock hit Grosset & Dunlap's desks in 1930, they knew they had gold, but they balked. "On prose like that," said friend James M. Cain, "You could've cracked a shotglass". Enter "Carolyn Keene," a collective pseudonym for a group of editors who cake decorated Drew's language with enough twee adverbs to choke a Girl Scout. It worked. The books sold 80 million copies, a new role model emerged, and Nancy Drew laughed all the way to the bank.

In the process, American literature got swindled.

To help restore this lost voice of hard-boiled crime writing, we called on the best: noir preservationist Eddie Muller, author of Dark City; The Distance; and Grindhouse, and founder of The Film Noir Foundation, and San Francisco's Noir City Film Festival. In celebration of this literary justice, we are presenting an evening of selections from Ms. Drew's first original manuscript, read by streetwise gamine of local theater, Lydia Odette Warren. Muller will be on hand to provide context and commentary, and piano-bar veteran Richard Leiter "

: o )

(via)

SAMFOX

SAMFOX represents an acronym (emphasis added):

"The base is also tasked, under what is known as "SAM FOX", to provide worldwide airlift for the vice president, the president's Cabinet, members of Congress, military leaders and other high ranking dignitaries. At one time, "SAM FOX", was used as a prefix to an aircraft tail number, during radio transmissions to identify Air Force aircraft that were transporting high-ranking VIPs, typically on foreign flights. The call sign prefix was constructed from the acronym SAM (Special Air Mission) and the initial F (Foreign), which at the time was represented by the phonetic word "Fox.""

Today, it represents "...a term that represents the ultimate in professional dedication."
(via, via)

Prius Replacement Headlamp

Tips:

• Replace in pairs (light changes, over time)
• D2R
• Sources:
• Highperformancebulbs.com (via)
• "Buy a Phillips or Osram labeled bulb that is 4100k or 4300k D2R ... and you will be set." (via)

Went with: "High Performance Xenon D2R HID replacement bulbs (2 bulbs) (Choose Your Color) Part # D2RHID", per recommendation and one year warranty. (link)

Earthquake Preparedness

http://www.cityofsantacruz.com/living/emergency-management/preparedness/earthquakes

With cats:

http://patch.com/california/santacruz/maybe-youre-ready-earthquake-santa-cruz-what-fido

Just a starting draft

Homeless in Sacramento: A death on the streets

http://media.sacbee.com/static/sinclair/Genny/index.html

Recommended by a friend, who knew Genny, as an acquaintance.

"Reporter Cynthia Hubert, who writes about both mental illness and homelessness for The Bee, began piecing together Genevieve Lucchesi’s story in February, after learning that her body lay unclaimed for weeks in the county morgue. She tracked down Genevieve’s relatives, some of whom had not spoken to her in decades, and used public records and family memories to reconstruct her early life. For descriptions of Genevieve’s life on the streets, Hubert interviewed dozens of people who fed, clothed and fought to protect her for the better part of 20 years."

In the same vein as this story, "The Lonely Death of George Bell", featured in the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/18/nyregion/dying-alone-in-new-york-city.html

Zero Motorcycles

Saw a bumper sticker advertising Zero Motorcycles. From Wikipedia:

"Zero Motorcycles Inc. is an American manufacturer of electric motorcycles. Formerly called Electricross, it was started in 2006 by Neal Saiki, a former NASA engineer, in Santa Cruz, California. The company is now located nearby in Scotts Valley."

Kuzanga

Heard musical group Kuzanga on Saturday as they performed near the Octagon, in Santa Cruz:

"Kuzanga Marimba of Santa Cruz, California plays traditional and contemporary music from the Shona culture of Zimbabwe. We play seven marimbas ranging from soprano to bass, along with hosho (gourd shakers). 

Kuzanga has been a favorite of ethnic-music enthusiasts since 1994. Several generations, from young to old, often dance to this exciting music simultaneously. We are all acoustic, so require no amplification."

Sounded great.

The Waffle Roost

What a name. Saw an advertisement for Subject on Monday, while driving through Fremont.
http://thewaffleroost.com/

License Plate Personalization (Special Interest)

Starting a page to catalog what I see:

• YOMAMA3
• PEACHY
• (?)

WIRED magazine - Colophon, October 2015

Noting a number of new items, to me, per Subject:

• Tamarindo Beach (Costa Rica): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamarindo,_Costa_Rica#Beaches
• Miegakure (Japanese video game, in 4D)
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miegakure
• XKCD: http://xkcd.com/721/
• The Astronaut Wives Club (television drama, canceled after one season): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Astronaut_Wives_Club
• Floras Lake (Oregon): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floras_Lake
• Catalano-Chase Youth Hostel: ??? Spain???
• Panticapaeum Institute: a fictional place, via True Detective, "...Panticapaeum is the name of an ancient Greek city. It was destroyed by the Huns around 370 AD."
• The Cow Palace: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_Palace
• "The space between the wicked lies we tell": Dave Matthews Band song lyrics, "The Space Between"

Radio Songs

Heard on KRBQ 102.1 FM out of San Francisco (note: until 2011, this was classical KDFC--"Classical, and then some"):

• Slough, Buckinghamshire, UK-native Tracy Ullman's "They Don't Know", from her 1983 album "You Broke My Heart in 17 Places", on the Stiff Records and MCA Records labels. Video.

Heard on ???:

• Venice Baroque Orchestra's "Antonio Vivaldi: The Four Seasons", Andrea Marcon conducting, with violinist Giuliano Carmignola, from their 2000 album "Antonio Vivaldi: The Four Seasons / 3 Violin Concertos - Giuliano Carmignola / Venice Baroque Orchestra / Andrea Marcon", on the Sony label. Audio.

Heard on KPIG 107.5 FM out of Freedom, California:

• Pleasanton, California-native Tony Furtado's "Deep Water" from his 2009 album "Deep Water", on the Funzalo Records label. Audio.

Wheego Electric Cars

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheego_Electric_Cars

Saw one of these in Sacramento, charging, via an extension cord running from the car, parked curbside, up the side of an apartment complex, and in through a second-story window. The following image shows the extension cable, sans car:

Brooks England Bike Saddle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooks_England

Saw this last weekend

The Art Museum - Phaidon Press

Saw the masterly book "The Art Museum" by Phaidon Press, at the Santa Cruz Book Shop:

SPECIFICATIONS

Hardback

420 x 320 mm (16 1/2 x 12 5/8 in)

992 pp

2700 colour illustrations

9780714856520 | 0714856525 

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Art Museum is the finest art collection ever assembled between two covers. This revolutionary and unprecedented virtual art museum in a book, features 992 oversized pages of nearly 2,700 works of art. It is the most comprehensive and visually spectacular history of world art ever published. Ten years in the making, this unique book was created with a global team of specialists in all fields of art, including museum curators and educators, who have collected together important works as they might be displayed in the ideal museum for the art lover.

Unrestricted by the constraints of physical space, this luxurious book is organized by innovative color-coded "galleries," "rooms," "corridors" and "special exhibitions" which display hundreds of paintings, sculptures, frescos, photographs, tapestries, friezes, installations, performances, videos, woodblock prints, folding screens, ceramics and manuscripts that tell the history of world art. This is the only museum to house Leonardo’s Mona Lisa, a collection of Rembrandt’s finest self portraits, Velázquez’s Las Meninas and Picasso’s Guernica, as well as ceramics from China, Hokusai’s woodblock prints, gold artefacts from Peru, and works by Jackson Pollock in one place.

With intelligent in-depth text throughout, explanatory labels for each artwork, a comprehensive glossary and detailed location maps, The Art Museum, is accessible for everyone from casual art fans to experts in the field.

IN THE PRESS

'What is a great work of art? The question asks itself when you leaf through The Art Museum, a colossal new book that gathers together an ideal collection of superlative sculptures, paintings, vases, embroideries and installations.' The Guardian

'The 2,500 works that really matter in 1,000 stunning pages.' Readers Digest

'Unprecedented, unique, and vast in scope, this visually spectacular survey of world art belongs in large public, academic, and special libraries. Destined to delight, inspire, and educate, as well as become an invaluable, classic, art reference resource, it is very highly recommended.' Library Journal.com

Frozen Fever

Saw a plush Olaf the snowman advertising the 2015 short film Frozen Fever:

.

What Would Atticus Do?

Saw this bumper sticker on Saturday. From the Santa Cruz Book Shop web site:

We were so inspired by our Community Book Group celebration of the 50th Anniversary of To Kill a Mockingbird that we created bumper stickers to carry the spirit of the book’s beloved characters year round. As Public Defender Larry Biggam said, he always asks himself, “What would Atticus do?” before talking to his teenage son. We hope you enjoy this sticker along with our other version, “What would Scout do?” available now.

HOH Rainforest

Seen on a bumper sticker:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoh_Rainforest

Monarch Butterflies at Natural Bridges State Beach

Walked to the Westside Farmers’ Market, got coffee, then walked to Natural Bridges State Beach. At the Visitor Center, we met a female State Park employee named Jean.

Jean asked where we hailed from, then shared she grew up in upstate New York. In the natural history section of the Visitor Center, she shared several anecdotes:

• Monkeyface prickleback (Cebidichthys violaceus) - it's 19 years old, currently, and near the end of its life. It lives in a large aquarium tank with other tidepool creatures. She shared an unnamed individual had illegally removed it from a tidepool, in a pail, when it was only an inch or two in length. The person then donated it to the Visitor Center, where it has lived since.
• She usually work at Seacliff SB
• All mounted animals at the Visitor Center met their end naturally
• The mounted bobcat represents the actual size, and it will attack deer
• Owls will eat cats and other small animals; she had a personal experience while walking her small dogs...one, Mr. Wilkerson, was passed over by an owl looking at it for dinner
• Owls have great hearing and vision but below average smell-bad for skunks
• The Gray Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) will nest in trees...seeing them out in the daytime looking for food represents an indication of their hunger
• Jean had to transport the stuffed animals in her car, at one point, for cleaning (they got buggy)...she felt weird, driving to Watsonville, wondering what others might think if they saw them in her back seat
• The monkeyface prickleback had a name, something like Ms. C?
• She shared Wilder Ranch has their annual Heritage Harvest Festival today...from the web site: "Celebrate harvest time the old-fashioned way at Wilder Ranch State Park.  Choose and decorate a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch, take a draft horse wagon ride, see antique tractors, and living history demonstrations, try your hand at some old-time harvest activities, listen to live bluegrass and western music, learn to square dance, play the snap-apple game, make corn husk dolls and other crafts, taste hand-cranked pumpkin ice cream, hand pressed apple cider, apple and pumpkin pie for sale.  The California Rare Fruit growers will sponsor apple tasting for a small fee.  You’ll get to taste over 40 varieties from light and crispy to super sweet to tangy; Sample and then vote for your favorite! Food concessionaire available or pack a picnic lunch.  Admission to the event is free; parking is $10.00 per car."
• Jean recommended fish tacos at Kelly's French Bakery, with coleslaw--will have to try it
• She said near Thanksgiving represents the best time to see Monarch Butterflies
• Sunny days represent the best times, as Monarch Butterflies move about, in general, above 55 degrees Fahrenheit
• She brings treats to the understaffed maintenance crews around Halloween, on a courier for the "good witch" ; o )

Overall, a really easy person to talk to.

At 11:00 a.m., we went on a free guided tour. The guide looked and sounded like Andy Richter. Very articulate, well paced speaker. We learned about the migration cycle and milkweed. At the bottom of the nearby canyon, we saw the clusters of butterflies on the eucalyptus trees.

We walked to the beach, then home.

Bob Ross Sunset

Driving past the Ghirardelhi Chocolate Factory Outlet, this afternoon, and noticed the sunset looked just like a Bob Ross skyscape.

Majestic Tee

What do you think?

Available from PacSun.
On The Byas x The Mountain Animal Crew T-Shirt

Description:

"On The Byas and The Mountain call on man's best friend to complete this men's tee. The Animal Crew T-Shirt features an animal look throughout.
Multi color print tee
Crew neck
Short sleeves
Machine washable
90% polyester, 10% cotton"

Note: Man's best friend refers to a different tee pattern.

SFO to ORD

Planning a trip to the American upper-Midwest.

Friday, November 13

• 07:15: Depart from home (~1:15 hour commute, Santa Cruz to SFO)
• 08:30: Arrive at airport extended stay parking lot
• 08:45: Arrive at terminal/ticketing desk
• 09:30: Plane begins boarding
• 09:45: Plane departs
• 16:09: Plane lands
• 17:00: Vehicle rental from ORD (Budget Rental)
• 17:15-17:30, to 18:45-???: Commute to Milwaukee/Colgate, WI area (1.5, to 2-2.5 hours)
• 19:00-19:30: Arrive at lodging (Renee?)
• Supper

Saturday, November 14

• Breakfast (?)
• 10:15 a.m.: Depart Colgate, WI
• 45-60 minute drive, Colgate > Port Washington
• Arrive 11:00-11:15 a.m.
• 11:30: Funeral, Port Washington, at The Port Hotel (includes lunch)
• Supper (?)
• Lodging (Renee?)

Sunday, November 15

• Breakfast (?)
• Lunch (?)
• 13:00: Depart from lodging (2-2.5 hours, Colgate to ORD)
• 15:30: Arrive at ORD vehicle rental return
• 16:00: Arrive at ORD terminal/ticketing desk
• 16:45: Plane begins boarding
• 17:00: Plane departs
• 19:49: Plane lands, SFO

Flight of the Conchords

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_of_the_Conchords

Inner Tube Water Polo

Via: https://www.tubeproinc.com/m/content/article.php?content_id=63

• NO handles to interfere with game mobility
• 37" deflated outer diameter
• 33" inflated outer diameter
• 16" inner diameter hole
• Made with heavy-duty 30 gauge PVC vinyl 
• Doubled welded, smooth inner seams
• Single main air chamber with small push in valve
• 2 self -adhesive repair patches per unit
• Available in BLUE and YELLOW

Classical Music Comparisons: Holst Vs. Lord of The Rings

Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England-born Gustav Holst's "Jupiter" from his seven-movement The Planets, performed by the Berlin Philharmonic, Sir Simon Rattle conducting, on the EMI label (#69690). Audio.

This is another from my "Lord of the Rings or some-other-composer" series; jump to about the three-minute mark of the audio to see what I am reacting to.

Gustav Holst:
https://youtu.be/Nz0b4STz1lo?t=173

Howard Shore

Note: noting just for future reference...not sure if really Lord of the Rings or some other movie, but it sounds so familiar.

Radio Songs

Heard at Peet's Coffee, via satellite radio, in Sacramento:

Belfast, Northern Ireland-native Bap Kennedy's "The Right Stuff", from his 2012 album "The Sailor's Revenge", on the Proper Records label. Channeling Bob Dylan.

The Age of Adaline

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Adaline

Saw this as an option, at the supermarket RedBox today.

Wiper Blades

http://priuschat.com/threads/wiper-blade-refills.37939/

PIAA Super Silicone blades

• DS: 95065 (adapter: C1/C11)
• PS: 95045 (adapter: C1/C11)

Bosch constant pressure design

• DS? Front Left - 26A
• PS? Front Right - 18A

Erik Hosino Art

http://erikhosino.com/

One of my favorites.

Headphones and Behind-the-Ear (BTE) Hearing Aids

I have a hard of hearing (HoH) friend with a behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aid, who requested info about headphones. Keeping notes, as I go along.

CONSTRAINTS

• Corded (no BlueTooth, as the iPod Shuffle does not support it)
• Over-the-ear (not on-the-ear); that is, circumaural
• Noise-canceling 
• Prefer simplicity (for example, no headphones amp needed, minimal buttons, so not accidentally pressed)

STYLES

• Headphones
• Telecoil (also known as T-coils)
• Bone Conduction
• Phonak ComPilot (?)

POSSIBILITIES

• Sennheiser
• RS 165 Wireless RF TV Listening System
• RS 170 Wireless RF TV Listening System
• HD 380 PRO
• Koss
• UR-20 Home Headphones
• SteelSeries
• SteelSeries Diablo III Gaming Headset
• Beyer Dynamic
• Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO

OUTSIDE-THE-BOX IDEAS

• Upgrade hearing aids to make/model supporting Bluetooth
• Pros:
• Stream audio directly to the hearing aid
• Works with many devices
• Cons:
• Cost...$800-$2,000
• Time
• Bone conduction headphones
• Pros:
• Conducts audio directly, so no feedback
• Cons:
• May interfere with glasses and/or BTE hearing aid
• Telecoil option (for example, under-chin receiver, neck-worn receiver)
• Pros:
•  No feedback from headphones
• Cons:
• Complicated setup (?)
• Pandora internet radio, and so forth

RESOURCES
https://www.reddit.com/r/deaf/
http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-wireless-home-theater-headphones/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headphones
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearing_aid

GENERAL NOTES

• TV wireless amplifier: two birds with one stone (?)
• Headphone's music must reach the hearing aid's microphone; therefore, for BTE hearing aids, the headphone's ear cup must open up, at the top, and cover the top of the hearing aid
• Noise canceling option a big plus
• Take hearing aids out, during use (?)
• A caution, on feedback: "If the headphones push on the hearing aid or sit too closely to the hearing aid, you may experience feedback, a whistling noise coming from the hearing aid. This is an indicator that you either need to re-position the headphones or are unable to wear those headphones with your hearing aids."
• Hearing aid adjustment may minimize or eliminate feedback. 
• (?)

Tangerine Dream

Via:
https://echoesblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/17/ten-tangerine-dream-albums-to-blow-your-mind/

Sleep - Tips for falling asleep

Everyone has different strategies.

My mom told me she occasionally tells body parts to fall asleep, starting with the toes. She's lucky and can fall asleep that way, but I have tried it and found it unsatisfactory.

Lots of externalities, like caffeine, alcohol, stress, exercise, and so forth.

Beer

Beers tried.

2015

• Iceland
•  Einstök Beer Company (Akureyri, Iceland)
• White Ale
• Pale Ale
• Toasted Porter
• USA
• Uinta Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Punk'n Harvest Pumpkin Ale
• Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing (Santa Cruz, California)
• Devout Stout
• The People's Porter
• Amber Ale
• Chocolate Pumpkin Porter
• Boardwalk Blonde: European-style malts and organic California grown hops featuring locally harvested honey.  With aromas of wildflowers, smooth in body yet strong in character, seaside amusements don't get any better than this. 
• Afternoon Delight: An American Wheat brewed with Xiang Xing Oranges and infused with Lemon Zest. A light and citrusy beer perfect for an afternoon drinking session!
• 
  
• Uncommon Brewers' (Santa Cruz, California)
• Baltic Porter
• Hermitage Brewing Company (San Jose, California)
• Ale of the 2 Tun Imperial Stout
• Maltopia Double Scotch Ale

2014

• USA
• Anderson Valley Brewing Company (Boonville, California)
• Winter Solstice Seasonal Ale
• Summer Solstice Seasonal Ale

2013

• Czech Republic
• Krušovice
• Royal Dark
• Primátor
• Premium Dark, Dark Lager
• USA
• 
  

PREVIOUS

• USA
• "The Champagne of Beers", Miller Lite (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
• Pabst Blue Ribbon (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
• Old Milwaukee (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
• "From the Land of Sky Blue Water", Hamm's (St. Paul, Minnesota)
• Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company (Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin)
• New Glarus Brewing Company (New Glarus, Wisconsin)
• Sprecher Brewing Company (Glendale, Wisconsin)
• "Milwaukee’s Finest Beer", Valentin Blatz Brewing Company (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
• "When you're out of Schlitz, you're out of beer", Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)

Super Blood Moon, September 2015

Sounds more awful than it is.

Out here on the edge of the western United States (Santa Cruz), we had partly cloudy skies, so tough to pick out the moon, as it rose over the horizon.

We noticed it as the eclipse waned, around 8:45-9:00 p.m. Dawn and I sat with our cats, on the balcony, and listened to the people below, who also had noticed and clustered together to discuss. A perfect view.

DETAILS

Total Lunar Eclipse | September 27, 2015
All times in Pacific Standard Time

Partial umbral eclipse begins: 6:07 pm
Total eclipse begins: 7:11 pm
Greatest eclipse: 7:47 pm
Total eclipse ends: 8:23 pm
Partial eclipse ends: 9:27 pm

Wikipedia has an animated illustration of the moon passing through the earth's shadow.

DEFINITIONS

• Blood Moon: the fourth and final eclipse of a lunar tetrad: four straight total eclipses of the moon, spaced at six lunar months (full moons) apart
• Super Moon: Because the sun is about 50,000 miles closer to the earth than at its furthest point – and it’s a full or new moon – the moon will appear larger and brighter than most full moons. To be considered a supermoon, it has to be within 224,851 miles (361,863 kilometers) of our planet, as measured from the centers of the moon and Earth

Via: http://sf.funcheap.com/supermoon-night-san-francisco/

Dreams6 - LED Bath Lights

http://www.dreams6.com/products/ilovenewyoku/lineup.html

DeWalt Drill Notes

Have a DeWalt DW926, purchased in ~2001. It came with a 9.6v, NiCd battery pack (x2...2000mA each?), a charger, and a carrying case.

The batteries failed to hold a charge, roughly around the same time, in 2014.

Use cases: basic domestic stuff, plus random jobs. Infrequently used, as we have lived in rentals.

Thinking about replacing it. Would like a Li-ion battery pack, but only see Ni-MH or Ni-Cd.

Noting just as a placeholder.

UPDATE, 2016-03-20: Ordered the DEWALT DW9061 XR 9.6-Volt 1.7-Amp NiCd Pod Style Battery Pack.

Swedish Potato Sausage

Something I have fond memories of eating, while a child.

From Wikipedia, Swedes call it "värmlandskorv":

Our family includes: pork, potato, onion, and spices (salt, pepper, garlic, and so forth).

Suggested preparation: frying pan and 0.5-inches of water, steamed until evaporated.

Note: not so fatty, as really just the extra bits of pork leftover. Seems a bit sketchy, that word, "leftover", but sausage is as sausage is.

UPDATE 01/16/2020: Looks like Dittmer's in Los Altos sells it frozen.

Mark Twain's White Suits

Listening to Mark Twain's autobiography, and he recounts this story about transitioning to wearing white, his second favorite clothing style, behind wild color:

Next after fine colors, I like plain white. One of my sorrows, when the summer ends, is that I must put off my cheery and comfortable white clothes and enter for the winter into the depressing captivity of the shapeless and degrading black ones. It is mid-October now, and the weather is growing cold up here in the New Hampshire hills, but it will not succeed in freezing me out of these white garments, for here the neighbors are few, and it is only of crowds that I am afraid. I made a brave experiment, the other night, to see how it would feel to shock a crowd with these unseasonable clothes, and also to see how long it might take the crowd to reconcile itself to them and stop looking astonished and outraged. On a stormy evening I made a talk before a full house, in the village, clothed like a ghost, and looking as conspicuous, all solitary and alone on that platform, as any ghost could have looked; and I found, to my gratification, that it took the house less than ten minutes to forget about the ghost and give its attention to the tidings I had brought. 

I am nearly seventy-one, and I recognize that my age has given me a good many privileges; valuable privileges; privileges which are not granted to younger persons. Little by little I hope to get together courage enough to wear white clothes all through the winter, in New York. It will be a great satisfaction to me to show off in this way; and perhaps the largest of all the satisfactions will be the knowledge that every scoffer, of my sex, will secretly envy me and wish he dared to follow my lead. 

In other words, he's nearly 71, he doesn't care anymore, he likes white, that's the way it's going to be, and...people get over it pretty quickly.

Via:
"8 October 1906: Paragraph 14," in Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 2. 2013, 2008. <http://www.marktwainproject.org/xtf/view?docId=works/MTDP10363.xml;style=work;brand=mtp;chunk.id=dv0055#pa001821>

Buckwheat Hull Pillow

A number of years ago, I purchased a king-size buckwheat hull pillow, from vendor Beans72 (Yumiko Oshima). She vends pillows on Amazon.

It seems they resell pillows manufactured by Organic-Web Ltd Co., out of Brownsville, Texas.

It's worked OK. I don't think I would recommend it, currently, as I have yet to make the attempt to dial-in my own pillow. It feels overfull.

Leyla World Frozen Yogurt and Ice Cream Co. - Closed

Went to Leyla World Frozen Yogurt and Ice Cream Company a few times, but noticed it closed, this afternoon.

Never seemed busy. Always seemed a bit tired, despite eclectic interior. We always had a good ice cream experience, though, with helpful staff.

Last we noticed, they had advertised custard on a big banner outside the store. We had tried the lemon custard, I think.

I guess the summer season did not bring in enough to sustain the operations (?)

Cat foods tried

Our two cats have different approaches to food.

The orange cat eats everything.

The white cat snubs things.

So, journaling the results of foods we tried, for the white cat:

• Simply Nourish
• Tuna, Pasta, & Peas Casserole
• 9/26/2015 - snubbed, AM
• 9/26/2015 - eaten, PM
• Chicken & Duck Stew
• 10/10 - eaten, AM, 9:45 a.m.
• 11/1 - eaten, AM, 9:45 a.m.
• Tuna Recipe in a Savory Broth
• 10/25 - snubbed, AM
• 11/1 - snubbed, AM
• Newman's Own Organics Premium Cat Food
• Organic Liver Pâté
• 9/27/2015 - eaten, noon

NOTES

• When as important as What, it seems (note: we have an autofeeder set to dispense kibble every three hours, portioned appropriately)

Cat Toys

While at PetSmart a few weeks ago, we watched kittens playing. One toy they had looked like it involved a motorized pink feathery object. I didn't think to investigate, at the time, and attempts to find it online failed. So, best to probably go back and see if I can identify it, in person.

In the mean time, I looked online for motorized cat toys and found a few highly rated ones, on Amazon. But nothing standing out.

9/26/2015: Purchased the Cat's Meow toy, on sale for $6. Will see how it goes.

Bees clustered near water

On Q Street, in Sacramento, a front yard has a small waterfall, very zen-like. Around the edges of the water bucket cluster bees (wasps?):

Bees collect nectar, pollen, propolis (plant resin) and water for their colonies. On very hot days, you'll see scores of bees at a water fountain, bird bath, or pond.
... 

Flottum points out: "Water is as necessary to your bees as it is to your pets and to you. Whatever watering technique you choose for your bees, the goal is to provide a continuous supply of fresh water. This means while you are on vacation for a couple of weeks, when you get busy and  forget to check, and especially when it's really, really hot--bees always need water."

"Water is used to dissolve crystallized honey, to dilute honey when producing larval food, for evaporation cooling during warm weather, and for a cool drink on a hot day," Flottum writes in his book. 

Via: http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=11349

Mark Twain's Nom de guerre - First Use

Samuel Clemens' first use of the nom de guerre "Mark Twain" (?) It seems he assumed the name from Mississippi River pilot Captain Isaiah Sellers:

"I was a cub pilot on the Mississippi River then, and one day I wrote a rude and crude satire which was leveled at Captain Isaiah Sellers, the oldest steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River, and the most respected, esteemed, and revered. For many years he had occasionally written brief paragraphs concerning the river and the changes which it had undergone under his observation during fifty years, and had signed these paragraphs “Mark Twain” and published them in the St. Louis and New Orleans journals. In my satire I made rude game of his reminiscences. It was a shabby poor performance, but I didn’t know it, and the pilots didn’t know it. The pilots thought it was brilliant. They were jealous of Sellers, because when the gray-heads among them pleased their vanity by detailing in the hearing of the younger craftsmen marvels which they had seen in the long ago on the river, Sellers was always likely to step in at the psychological moment and snuff them out with wonders of his own which made their small marvels look pale and sick. However, I have told all about this in “Old Times on the Mississippi.”

"The pilots handed my extravagant satire to a river reporter, and it was published in the New Orleans True Delta. That poor old Captain Sellers was deeply wounded. He had never been held up to ridicule before; he was sensitive, and he never got over the hurt which I had wantonly and stupidly inflicted upon his dignity. I was proud of my performance for a while, and considered it quite wonderful, but I have changed my opinion of it long ago. Sellers never published another paragraph nor ever used his nom de guerre again."

Via: "10 September 1906: Paragraph 5," in Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 2. 2013, 2008. <http://www.marktwainproject.org/xtf/view?docId=works/MTDP10363.xml;style=work;brand=mtp;chunk.id=dv0050#pa001690>

Longplayer

Longplayer stream down, since July 1, 2015:

The live stream is down while we try and resolve some technical issues. It’ll be back as soon as possible. In the meantime the Longplayer iOS app is available from the app store which plays independently of any data connection.

2015-10-12: Looks like it works again. Note: the page linked to, above, no longer resolves.

Clothing color combinations

https://www.reddit.com/r/malefashionadvice/comments/2wi8yt/an_improved_visual_guide_to_quick_easy_color/

Looks reasonable (?)

Also, first time I have seen the term, "lumbersexual".