Rendezvous, Apple's software for instant networking of computers and smart devices by getting them to connect to each other minus the user configuration hassles, had been "used by some in ways that have surprised and disappointed us," according to a statement released by Apple. Apparently, users have been using Rendezvous to access, stream and download music files from other users who have purchased them from Apple's Music Store. These users are taking advantage of software titles like iLeach and iSlurp to workaround restrictions that prevents users from downloading music files.

The piracy problem has always been the crux of the problem that the music industry has been dealing with since the introduction of MP3 files. This is an interesting dillema for Apple, who convinced the "Big Five" music industry players that piracy can be controlled with their new music store.

Read more at Moore's Lore.

Katherine Chronis, a talented artist living in Chicago and one you should know, is interviewed here.

Danny Hakim of The New York Times wrote: "Redemption chic, of course, is in full bloom, with everyone from the Dixie Chicks to wayward college coaches to Winona Ryder trying it on. Now comes G.M., the largest auto maker in the world."

According to an article by Jane E. Brody in the New York Times, "Americans are not eating less fat; rather, per capita consumption of fat has risen by 10 pounds a year since 1973. All things being equal (which they are not), this alone would result in an average of 11 more pounds than people weighed" in the 1970's.

A recent study of the late Dr. Atkins' high protein/high fat weight loss diet shows that participants lost more weight in faster time than dieters using low fat/low calorie regiments.

In general, Americans, today as compared to the 1970's, consume more calories, fat and carbohydrates and have more sedintary lifestyles; "we are consuming more calories and burning fewer. That is why we have an obesity epidemic."

The bearer of a fish-lover's bad news...

There at your grocer you'll find America's favorite freshwater fish. Just in case you didn't know, it's salmon.

Today's New York Times article written by Marian Burros estimates that 80% of America's favorite freshwater fish are raised on farms and "the Department of Agriculture says farmed salmon contains almost twice the total fat, more than twice the saturated fat and fewer beneficial omega-3 fatty acids than wild salmon."

Enviromentalist warn of pollution concerns with the farm rasied salmon variety. Read The Times article here.

phrase of the day

Just when you thought a phrase like back in the day has "retired" from practical, everyday dialogue use... and then in a moment when groupings of words are the equivalent of diving into a chilly pool, that phrase reappears with teeth chattering surprise.

Billy Branch, a renowned Chicago Blues artist, provoked the latest version of Wow, I Haven't Heard That One In A Long Time with his re-bringing out of back in the day: "You couldn't pay enough money today for the kind of talent that came through there back in the day." -- The Chicago Tribune

Mr. Branch, however, re-bought out today's phrase-of-the-day in reference to the closing of a Chicago cultural icon: The Checkboard Lounge, a south side blues club whose owners may be forced to close. (that article is here)

Paul Westerberg.

np: Live - Irving Plaza - New York City - August 27, 2002

something about SARS


masked palm civet

Keith Bradasher and Thomas Crampton, in an article published in The New York Times, wrote that

Yuen Kwok-yung, a microbiologist at Hong Kong University, said that the corona virus had been found in the feces of masked palm civets, a nocturnal species found from Pakistan to Indonesia that is considered a delicacy in southern China. Some of the first known cases of SARS occurred last November among chefs and others in Guangdong Province involved in the preparation of wild game for expensive banquets.

the earth from mars


This is the first image of Earth (top and middle)
taken from another planet, with a digitally
created reference to show the Earth's
position. (Image by NASA/JPL/Malin Space
Science Systems)

Read more from National Geographic

You don't say...



James Risen in today's New York Times writes that "the Central Intelligence Agency has begun a review to try to determine whether the American intelligence community erred in its prewar assessments of Saddam Hussein's government and Iraq's weapons programs."

Ahhhh. I see -- it's the intelligence community's fault that Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld got it wrong.

The review, which has the support of some analysts and officials who have said the intelligence on Iraq was politicized, will not examine all Iraqi-related intelligence, but will focus instead on a few sensitive issues, including whether the United States overstated the threat that Iraq was trying to develop biological, chemical and nuclear weapons, according to officials familiar with the study.

But the review comes at a time of increasing tension between the Pentagon and C.I.A. over the handling of intelligence. Intelligence officials said that several C.I.A. analysts had quietly complained that senior Defense Department officials and other Bush administration officials sought to press them to produce reports that supported the administration's positions on Iraq. In addition, several current and former C.I.A. officers who have been upset about what they believe has been the politicization of intelligence concerning Iraq were the first to disclose the existence of the new C.I.A. review.

The New York Times article is here

a memorial day alternative



Mark Bittman, in his article in today's New York Times, believes that fried chicken is a fine alternative to using your barbecue grill. Bittman writes that "if there is one food that is more easily and reliably fried than grilled, it is chicken, which often as not is incinerated when cooked over flames. And if there is one special home-cooked dish that has near universal appeal it is fried chicken, not grilled hamburger."

One moment, Mark. The blog knows of many who are lacking insight as to techniques to employ for famously delicious chicken, barbecued or fried. Frying chicken is easy. Fried chicken that is crispy, delicious, and a candidate for thirds (and fourths) ain't easy. To infer that good tasting fried chicken can be accomplished as easy as it is to find a H2 Hummer speeding on a U.S. Interstate is pure hyperbole. Preparing delicious fried chicken is like a fledgling democracy -- it can be a bit "untidy."

While this blog may disagree with Mr. Bittman's assertions that good fried chicken is within the reach of the average, fast-food eating public, he does opine about items of which we can all agree: "While best hot, fried chicken is still quite good three or four hours later in the park, on the roof or even down at the beach."

Yes sir, even "cold" fried chicken is a treat.

Mr. Bittman's recipe: Cinnamon-Scented Fried Chicken

Time: 40 minutes

Lard and butter combined, or vegetable oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon coarse salt
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 good chicken, cut into serving pieces, or use 8 to 10 leg pieces (drumsticks and thighs), trimmed of excess fat.

1. Choose a skillet or casserole at least 12 inches in diameter that can be covered. Add enough fat to come to a depth of about 1/2 inch, and turn heat to medium-high. If you are using butter, skim any foam as it rises to the surface.

2. While fat heats, mix together the flour and seasonings in a plastic bag. Toss chicken in bag, 2 or 3 pieces at a time, until well coated. Put pieces on a rack as you finish.

3. When oil is hot (a pinch of flour will sizzle) raise heat to high. Slowly add chicken pieces to skillet (if you add them all at once, temperature will plummet). Cover skillet, reduce heat to medium-high, and cook for 7 minutes.

4. Uncover skillet, turn chicken and continue to cook, uncovered, for another 7 minutes. Turn chicken again and cook for about 5 minutes more, turning as necessary to ensure that both sides are golden brown.

5. Remove chicken from skillet and drain on paper towels. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Yield: 4 servings.

The Jessica Lynch story is a hoax



Robert Scheer of The Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times wrote an article that debunks the Jessica Lynch capture/rescue story as told by United States Central Command.

Mr. Scheer's piece is based upon an investigation that was conducted by The British Broadcasting Company, which "presented a shocking dissection of the 'heroic' rescue of Pvt. Jessica Lynch, as reported by the U.S. military and a breathless American press." "Almost nothing fed to reporters about either Lynch's original capture by Iraqi forces or her 'rescue' by U.S. forces turns out to be true."

The first casualty of war is (once again) the truth.

Mental health is big business

According to Erica Goode in an article published in The New York Times,

national sales of antipsychotics reached $6.4 billion in 2002, making them the fourth-highest-selling class of drugs, behind cholesterol-lowering drugs, ulcer drugs and antidepressants, said IMS Health, a company that tracks drug sales. According to NDCHealth, another company that tracks the industry, in 2002, more than 7.4 million prescriptions were written for Zyprexa and more than 7.6 million for Risperdal (antipsychotic drugs)

In San Francisco on Wednesday, the American Psychiatric Association will meet to debate the merits of newer antipsychotic meds, or atypcials, and their side effects.

Since their introduction in the mid-90's, the new atypicals were thought to be the new wonder drug for those suffering from schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Today there are users and doctors who think that these medications may be the cause of some serious side effects like diabetes.

Ms. Goode, who this blog covers regularly, wrote that debating the new meds is the easy part. Determining their effectiveness is the catch because "many studies, including those that appear in peer-reviewed journals, are financed by drug companies."

Continue to look here for blog coverage of the San Francisco debate.

the question of fowl

In the course of human existence is it fair for one to cull -- primarily and particularly -- upon one class of beast for his choice for sustenance?

An exuberant Yes is the position this blog will abdicate. (You, dear reader, shall be witness thereto, henceforth, and for what it's worth.)

Beast:
Pronunciation: 'bEst
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English beste, from Old French, from Latin bestia
Date: 13th century
1 a : a four-footed mammal as distinguished from a human being, a lower vertebrate, and an invertebrate b : a lower animal as distinguished from a human being c : an animal as distinguished from a plant d : an animal under human control
2 : a contemptible person
3 : something formidably difficult to control or deal with

Chicken:
Pronunciation: 'chi-k&n, sometimes -k&[ng]
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English chiken, from Old English cicen young chicken; akin to Old English cocc cock
Date: 14th century
1 a : the common domestic fowl (Gallus gallus) especially when young; also : its flesh used as food -- compare JUNGLE FOWL b : any of various birds or their young
2 : a young woman
3 a : COWARD b : any of various contests in which the participants risk personal safety in order to see which one will give up first
4 [short for chickenshit] slang : petty details
5 : a young male homosexual
(source: M-W online dictionary)

Perhaps this blog's position on chicken could be best summed-up with these simple phrases:
(1) "Why must I be like that? (2) Why must I chase the cat? (3) Nuttin but the Dog in me.

The dog in me commands this to hanker the wanton delicacy of Le chick, a beast ill-fated as to serve for thine personal pleasure. It’s this same Dog who speaks to this in many different languages -- mostly in Chihuahuaese -- to seek Le chick, and devour delicious dumplings with cluck-cluck as special guest of honor.

The numbers

Regarding numbers, let’s calculate consumption theories and choose the best results shall we?

Let’s say, on average, this blogger was to consume one quarter of one whole chicken per week for a time lasting 38 years. That period of time calculates to 1976 weeks for a total close to 2000 pieces of chicken. If this blogger's ratio of chicken consumed per week were to increase to a level of one half of one whole chicken per week, there will have been 7904 consumed pieces of fabulous fowl.

The question remains: is it fair to concentrate appetite's eyes onto a certain class of fowl?

A fortune to me is abysmal to you

Does it matter, in the scheme of life, if one chooses and continues to devour chicken without thoughtful consideration or deliberation? Does chicken -- AKA Le chick -- have the solemn right to live in a man's house? Take up a man's precious fridge space? Space in a man's car trunk?

Hell's no, it doesn't.

blog pesotum will not stand idly around as Le chick attempts to invade this beloved homeland. This blog finds the notion of a chicken-run republic repulsive.

blog pesotum final policy on chicken: "da Chick gets eaten and that’s final. If Le chick pays a litle rent, and hooks-up a nice ribeye in his place, only then shall there be negotiation. Until then, old funky feathers bettah remember these words: back off of the plate or you're getting ate."

on location: new orleans, louisiana

audblog audio post

Joye, she operates a bed n breakfast in N.O., hosted an all day all night party, with band, food, drink, swimming, hot tub, and a whole lot more.

This blog is posted from New Orleans, LA, the home of many serious musicians.

movie: laurel canyon

Frances McDormand, who played a record producer, a big-time partyer and Christian Bale's mom, was my highlight for this movie. More on her character later.

Laurel Canyon was an And Your Point Is? movie. The story has been done many times before and during the whole time watching I kept wondering to myself: "okay, where's the defining point, here." There wasn't one. It's a movie with planned obsolescence built into it, methinks.

What's been done before you ask? The premise.

Laurel Canyon took Kate Beckinsale (a Harvard Ph.D. candidate in genomics) from her analytical, gray herring boned, ivory towers of Cambridge, Mass. and drops her into the pop-cultured, fast-paced, hedonistic Hollywood Hills, where she comes in contact with a (nameless) band that successfully, but unknowingly, pulls off a Counting Crows tribute. It's a movie about the clash of two cultures as well as some sort of left brain/right brain conflict. I already saw that movie... I think. Oh yeah, Valley Girl.

It's a movie about perspective -- Beckinsale's that is -- and how the grass seems to be greener on the other side.

Predictable is another word that fits. I knew from the beginning scene that the two lovers -- Beckinsale and Bale -- would be tested and I had a good idea that drugs, alcohol and sex would be it. Guess what? It was.

"Preachy" was recorded in my notes (yes, I take notes at movies). I'm not sure why I jotted preachy, maybe it was because the generalizations were so in-your-face that I took it to be preachy. The rockers were always partying, and one was portrayed as having a rabbit-sized sexual appetite, while the medical residents were controlled, relatively boring, and they watched movies as their way of letting their collective hair down.

Ms. McDormand played an excellent record producer (though there was no production miracles that would have saved the band in question). It was interesting to eavesdrop into what seemed like realistic interactions between the commerce-focused record label and the creatively-centered band and production team. Being a fan, but yet an outsider, of music, I rarely have the opportunity to peek into the working lives of those in the big time. That was interesting.

McDormand's character was also a classic MILF; she was saucy, sexy and provocative.

Christian Bale's character was studying psychiatry at Harvard, and for the summer he chose to do his residency in LA., living at Frances McDormand's house/recording studio.

Bale's character displayed a large amount of reactionary emotional qualities towards McDormand that made me feel uncomfortable. I assumed that his character had issues with McDormand's, but that dynamic was barely touched upon, and the movie would have been so much better for me if that aspect of the relationship played a bigger role.

Beckinsale looked great. She did a lot of jogging and in one scene she jogged in an AC/DC T-shirt. That was a Wow moment.

The sets were killer. The house was decorated with album covers, show promos (some Matador ones, too), photographs of rockers.

I walked away from Laurel Canyon and thought it was interesting, but not one with a purchasable DVD future. However, if I wanted to get into the mood for a night of drugging, liquoring and partying, this is the movie for that.

blog pesotum give Laurel Canyon 2.5 outta 4

Hiwatt power


In Chicago, there is a man on the North side, perhaps still in pajamas, rocking-hard on a 1961-reissue Gibson SG and a Hiwatt Classic 100W head with a Hiwatt 4X12 cabinet.

Yesterday, there was a slight problem with the Hiwatt; however, things with it now are peachy as pie.

The Chicago man, wailing on the SG so loud and so powerful, repaired the amp and is currently shaking and rumbling walls in his neighborhood.

Low tones now vibrate walls as if a giant sea vessel is passing, and the high-end sounds like a company of knives slashing through sheet metal.

There is rock on the north side this blog is happy to report.

Dude:

I cleaned all the sockets and surfaces on the board and chassis, re-set and fully tightened the pots and knobs, and removed the Canadian pot and cheap-ass Japanese jacks, speaker wire and duct tape bullshit. It's all set up and screaming like an f'n mofo freight train! Now that the tone controls are back -- PLUS the prescence knob -- you can get millions of sounds out of that thing. It's crystal clear with the gain knobs pulled back and blistering with full distortion. I am using the heavy metal Boss pedal with dramatic effect. I played around and got the full death metal tone heretofore unavailable to me. It is righteous to say the least. Now I am curious to research Marshall and see how they relate to the classic amp scene in general, and how they competed with Hiwatt.

Later.

--
Mike Nissley.

--

If you would like to read more about the Hiwatt history and legacy, here's a piece.

If you need to fix your own Hiwatt, go here. Everything you ever wanted to know about the Hiwatt. Comprehensive.

Auditory hallucinations


(by Erica Goode, The New York Times)


The New York Times' Erica Goode is author of an article, Experts See Mind's Voices in New Light, that describes the work of scientist who have

begun studying auditory hallucinations more intensively. Aided by new brain imaging techniques, they have begun tracking such hallucinations back to abnormalities in the brain, finding that certain brain regions "light up" on brain scans when patients are actively hallucinating. And the experts are listening far more carefully to what patients say about their hallucinatory experiences.

The research has led to new theories of what may cause such bizarre alterations in perception and has spawned at least one promising new treatment: the delivery of low-frequency magnetic pulses to areas identified by the brain scans seems to quiet, at least temporarily, the voices of patients who have not found relief through standard treatment with antipsychotic medications.

Schizophrenic patients describe voices that not only talk to them but talk about them, haranguing, insulting and sometimes provoking them to hurt themselves or to perform other actions. In many cases, the hallucinations become more intense when the patient is under stress.

According to the Federal Highway Administration and Texas Transportation Institute, the United States has experienced the following increases since 1980:

• miles of roads: 2.4%


• number of drivers: 31.2%


• registered vehicles: 39.8%


• miles of travel: 81.2%


• time in traffic: 232%

Hey asshole. Yeah, you in the Hummer

In an article written by Rick Popely, and published in today's edition of The Chicago Tribune, "22 percent of Hummer H2 owners marked the militarylike sport-utility vehicle down for 'excessive fuel consumption' in a survey by J.D. Power and Associates."

"We are absolutely not happy with those results, and there certainly was some impact from higher fuel prices," said Kevin Williams, GM's vice president for quality.

Hummer spokesman Pete Ternes said the H2 averages "about 11 miles per gallon" in GM's tests. GM does not post mileage estimates on the vehicle's price sticker because its weight of more than 6,000 pounds makes it exempt from federal EPA fuel-economy standards.

The Hummer's poor performance led to a fifth-place finish for GM in the annual survey, which measures complaints in the first 90 days of ownership for all new models.

Brian Walters, one of the study's investigators, added that H2 Hummer owners, on average, reported 225 problems per 100 vehicles.

This blog, as indicated in past entries, firmly believes that the H2 Hummer serves no utilitarian purpose for motorist; the vehicle shouldn't be sharing the roads and freeways with other passenger vehicles.

First, the beast is a gas guzzler and this blog, as indicated in past entries, believes the United States should embark on a course of energy conservation. The H2 Hummer and many vehicles that are produced in the United States are not fuel effecient. Danny Hakim of The New York Times wrote an article this week that reports vehicle fuel effeciency has not improved, but has actually declined over a recent period of time.

Second, H2 Hummers, and many sport utility vehicles for that matter, do not have to pass the same emissions standards that traditional passenger vehicles must pass in order to be considered road worthy in the United States. Vehicles like the H2 Hummer may cause more pollution via its emission, thus contributing to more green house gases, depletion of ozone and more cases of asthma in Harlem.

Third, the H2 Hummer is large and is one of the heaviest vehicles on the road today. On a freeway at a rate of 70 M.P.H, the H2 Hummer is a weapon capable of crushing and or killing anything in its path. The roads are no longer equal opportunity killers, where drivers once operated under a "mutual assured destruction" frame of reference. With the increase of H2 Hummers and S.U.V.s, drivers in traditional passenger vehicles have to be more defensive as these large monstrosities are speeding on the passing lane, tailgating any vehicle in its path on a quest to burn as much gasoline as it can before it rolls over.

A cat's life



The Chicago Tribune and The Associated Press are reporting that a former stray kitty cat named Tinker "now lives in some splendor in his own house, valued at $560,000, and dines on fish bought from his $160,000 trust fund."

Margaret Layne, 89, in her will named Tinker as the beneficiary of a large chunk of her estate, including her house in Harrow, northwest London.

When he dies, the estate will pass to the trustees, Layne's former neighbors, Ann and Eugene Wheatley, who deliver Tinker's food and milk each day.

In an interview, Wheatley, 75, said Tinker now shares the house with Lucy, "who was our pussy but decided to move there after she had a litter.

"And there's Stardust, a white cat who came to us from a friend who couldn't look after him any more but chose to go and live there," he said.

Wheatley said recent stock market falls had hit Tinker's trust fund but "there's a limit to what you can spend it on."

He said he had used some of the money to maintain the house "and Tinker is fond of coley (fish), so we bought him some."

Betta have my money

The New York Times and The Associated Press are reporting that a doctor "who treated 50 Cent for bullet wounds three years ago has sued the rapper for more than $32,000 in unpaid medical bills."

Dr. Nader Paksima says in papers filed in Manhattan's State Supreme Court that he operated on 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, at a hospital in May 2000 for several gunshot wounds. The papers don't say how many wounds 50 Cent had.

Paksima says the bill for 50 Cent's medical care, including follow-up treatment in June, was $32,511.87. Court papers say the 26-year-old rapper hasn't paid any of it.

The Jayhawks



The new Jayhawks record, Rainy Day Music, which this blog purchased over the weekend at M-Theory Music in San Diego's South Park, is a two CD set that includes a beautiful song (one of a hand full on the record) entitled "Save It For A Rainy Day."

The web site mp3.com lets users download a full mp3 of "Save It For A Rainy Day."


Here's a Jayhawks history primer

The Jayhawks were formed in February 1985, at Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mark Olson, standup bass player for the local rockabilly band, Stagger Lee, and sometime solo acoustic performer, invited former Neglecters guitarist Marc Perlman and drummer Norm Rogers to form a band. Soon after, Olson convinced Perlman to switch to bass. Olson, Perlman and Rogers were joined at their first gig by temporary guitarist Steve Retzler. Only a handful of people attended that gig, but most importantly, Gary Louris was among that handful. Louris had formerly played guitar in Schnauzer and the rockabilly band Safety Last. Olson was still looking for a permanant guitarist and asked Louris if he had any recommendations. Louris suggested himself. source: The Jayhawks FanPage

This is from American Recordings' Jayhawks web page

Steeped in the tradition of Gram Parsons, with a dash of Neil Young tossed in for good measure, The Jayhawks emerged from the 1980s to record what's become recognized as a contemporary classic in "Hollywood Town Hall." In "Tomorrow The Green Grass" and "Sound Of Lies" the band continued to establish themselves as one of the most talented and engaging groups of the decade. Taking Alternopop for a ride in the country, The Jayhawks paved the way for groups like Wilco and Son Volt by creating and popularizing a whole new place in music.

This is an interesting image


Elizabeth Smart, Mama Smart and Mr. Bush
(Reuters photo by Win McNamee - May 1, 2003)

Death by rollover

Danny Hakim of The New York Times reports that "42,850 people died in traffic-related deaths in 2002, the highest number since 1990," according to regulators.

What's causing this increase?

According to Mr. Hakim "Rollovers of S.U.V.'s and pickup trucks accounted for more than half of the 734-death increase from 2001 to 2002, according to the traffic safety agency. Some independent safety advocates believe that increasing seat-belt use, airbags and computer safety systems should have led to a dramatic decline in auto death rates — but that the rise of rollover-prone vehicles has dampened their effect."

Rollovers account for a staggering 32 percent of automobile fatalities, more than 10,000 annually. And rollover deaths are increasing along with sales of light trucks — S.U.V.'s, pickups and minivans. Since 1980, light trucks have grown from a fifth of the nation's sales to more than half, and S.U.V.'s and pickups in particular are prone to upend because of their high centers of gravity.

Automakers, however, argue that rollovers are relatively infrequent and that S.U.V.'s are safer than cars in other types of crashes.

"S.U.V.'s are two to three times more protective of their occupants in frontal, rear and side-impact crashes that make up 97.5 percent of all crashes," said Jay Cooney, the director of safety communications at General Motors, in a statement earlier this year. Rollovers, he said, accounted for "only 2.5 percent of all crashes."

Inbreeding a concern in the Arab world

"Across the Arab world today an average of 45 percent of married couples are related," according to an article written by Sarah Kershaw in The New York Times.

Widespread inbreeding in Saudi Arabia has produced several genetic disorders, Saudi public health officials said, including the blood diseases of thalassemia, a potentially fatal hemoglobin deficiency, and sickle cell anemia. Spinal muscular atrophy and diabetes are also common, especially in the regions with the longest traditions of marriage between relatives.

Saudi health authorities, well aware of the enormous social and economic costs of marriage between family members, have quietly debated what to do for decades. Now, for the first time, the government, after starting a nationwide educational campaign to inform related couples who intend to marry of the risk of genetic disease, is planning to require mandatory blood tests before marriage and premarital counseling.

Health officials and genetic researchers here say there is no way to stop inbreeding in this deeply conservative Muslim society, where marrying within the family is a tradition that goes back hundreds of years.

Today, when most unions are still arranged by parents, marrying into wealth and influence often means marrying a relative. Social lives are so restricted that it is virtually impossible for men and women to meet one another outside the umbrella of an extended family. Courtships without parental supervision are rare.

The full article is here.