I was listening to Josh Groban and it made me start thinking about really very good singers of popular music (i.e. rock, pop, soul, country) and I realized while there are a lot of good singers in the popular genres of music there aren’t that many really great or A grade singers (and they’re not found on popular American television programs like ‘American Idol’- in fact a classically trained singer might not survive the venting process since the three ‘judges’ are looking for the next America...
Former President Clinton’s heart disease and subsequent quadruple bypass surgery present an opportune time to examine a little more closely arteriosclerosis and cardiovascular exercise. The clearest observation is that cardiovascular exercise does not work. Clinton was an avid jogger and jogged almost everyday. There is tons of anecdotal evidence that people who engage in cardiovascular exercise get and sometime succumb to disease of the arteries. The belief that doing cardiovascular ...
Mother Nature is pouring it on in Florida. Just three weeks ago the state was walloped by Charley and now, or what seems like forever the hurricane Frances is hovering and slowly sliding across the state of Florida. It will have covered the whole state of Florida as a typhoon or tropical storm before it moves on. Boy, I’m glad I don’t live in Florida. There are a lot of states that am happy I don’t live in largely due to the constant weather extremes that affect those areas. I mean nature ...
What political party does one belong to if he endorses a Republican President, attends the Republican convention, and gives the keynote address at the Republican convention? You are a Republican of course and so is Zell Miller. Miller is a Democrat in name only. If one truly wants to support the Party he or she belongs to then there are better ways to go about it and they don’t include endorsing the re-election of a President from another Party. Miller needs to let go of his hold on so...
Well the 2004 summer Olympic games are over. I watched the games occasional and kept my channel to NBC most of the time but I didn’t see many of the sports showcased at the games this year. I mostly watched the track and field events with most of my attention being on the runners. I tuned in to swimming, gymnastics, and diving occasionally but not to the extent I have in the past. This is kind of ironic to me sense the Olympic games were broadcast on more US cable, satellite and regular c...
I am listening to Vangelis excellent song Chariots of Fire. The song is from the movie Chariots of Fire (A grade {1981}- art house feel movie). It is a good film about the 1924 Olympics and two English runners with one who is a Catholic (from predominately Protestant England) who runs for the glory of god. Every time I see a runner I think of the score to Chariots of Fire. This is a big achievement by a score writer. It shows he created a feel pace, and picture with his music. I feel th...
After the terrorist attacks of 9/11 the distinguished governor McGreevey of New Jersey decided to appoint a homeland security czar for the state. He picked Cipal Golan, an Israeli citizen to fill this post. It was a complete mystery to the press and many others as to why he would pick Cipal since he did not have the training for the position, was relatively young for the position, and was not even an American citizen. A lot of controversy developed at this appointment and Cipal Golan s...
Saw the movie “Alien vs. Predator” yesterday. I must admit I had my doubts about this concept for a film. I don’t think Alien and Predator should be placed in the same universe in a match up. The Alien can symbolize perfection only when compared to humans. To have a film where Aliens fight Predator is totally missing the point in my view. The Predator aliens are a technologically more advanced race than humans and they enjoy going to different planets and hunting various violent life...
I purchased a used auto and without going into too much detail about such things like make and model I think I’ll talk about lessons learned. First of all the vehicle is a lemon and I feel ‘ripped off’. The immediate investments in repairs for this vehicle just in order for it to pass inspection are high. This is what I get for buying a used vehicle from an owner without having sufficient knowledge of auto mechanics. Luckily, so far, the engine and transmission seem to be in good condit...
Well I think it is as good a time as any to comment on my experience blogging on joeuser.com and livejournal.com. Both of these sites have been pretty good. Overall I have had very few problems accessing and using these sites. Updating my blog is quicker at livejournal. There is this unusually long delay whenever I update my blog at joeuser. Most of the time there is nothing slowing down the process on my end and the update blog process is much faster at livejournal so most likely there i...
Right now I'm listening to Rick James "You And I", one of his dance classics. I like this song and "Ebony Eyes" a slow love song he made. He is best known for his hit "Super Freak". I do not like that song that much. Well, here's to Rick James- "everybody dance on the funk". Goodbye James- Your music shall play on.
I really have nothing in particular to write about so I might as well comment on what I am doing now. I’m listening to mp3 and wma music files on my computer. I started with Sheena Easton singing For Your Eyes Only. I like this song. It was a theme song to a James Bond movie of the very same name. Besides the double entranda the song’s lyrics and musical arrangement is good also. I downloaded the lyrics to this song recently. It goes, “For your eyes only, can see me through the nigh...
‘The Village’ (2004) is the second film by M. Night Shymalan (I love saying that name) that severely disappoints. ‘ Signs’ (C- grade) a movie with two major themes that are never complete or satisfying and where the design of the alien was the main good thing about the film (which we didn’t see enough of) became a blockbuster despite its limitations. I don’t think the same fate awaits ‘The Village’ (or maybe it will. I just read it had a 50 mil opening weekend. I feel like a sucker. I'm I ca...
Teresa Heinz, presidential candidate John Kerry’s wife told a convention reporter who writes for a right wing paper to “shove it” for always misquoting her. The problem is the reporter was at least half correct when he repeated something Teresa had said and asked her to elaborate. I wouldn’t mind Teresa telling someone to “shove it” if just a little bit earlier she wasn’t talking about how bitter, personal, and uncivilized our public discourse had become. For Teresa soon after her admonis...
I, Robot: ‘I, Robot’ (2004) is not top of the line science fiction but it is watchable. The director tried to develop a complex story here but it never ever really gets ‘of the ground’. What we have here is a police officer who has developed a dislike for robots that are prevalent during the year 2035. These robots do all sorts of task for their human masters. The detective played by Will Smith is distrustful and resentful of these robots (the story eventually reveals part of the reason w...