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Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:17:27 GMT

Sunday shambles

Cross your fingers and whisper your incantations. As you read this, I think Pablo has finally managed to get back to Roundrock after a three week dry spell (in visits, not in precipitation). What surprises does the game camera hold? Have any more cattle come by to muddy the lake? Did any trees fall across the road? Will Pablo get the chance to swim in his lake for only the second time this year?

Some time in the last week, the visit count here at Roundrock Journal "surged" past the 60,000 mark. Normally that would be cause for celebration and intensive (and sometimes successful) research into who number 60,000 was. But I decided long ago to stop paying attention to visit count on this humble blog. Compared to most of you — even you whippersnapper startup blogs — my numbers are dismal. Rather than take that as an indication that my writing or subject matter is typically dismal, I ignore the numbers and go one my merry way, blissfully ignorant of any unpleasant facts.

On our trip to Springfield, Illinois several weeks ago, Libby and I skirted Hannibal, Missouri. The river was high then, but the devastating floods had not arrived yet. If you’d like to see some pix of what Hannibal looked like in flood, head over to Larry’s blog, Riverside Rambles, and especially this post.

And as long as you’re rambling, why not head over to Hal’s blog, Ranch Ramblins , and help him come up with a name for his place. The name "Roundrock" suggested itself to me for my patch, but Hal is juggling a few clever choices, and he has asked for advice. I gave him my idea.

#2 Son Adam returned from India last Sunday, full of tales about squalor, poverty, disease, and wading through water knee deep on the streets of Mumbai to get to his clinic during the monsoons. He was only with us for two days, though, before he hopped another plane for sunny California to be part of a friend’s wedding. He’s due home this evening, though his flight lands long after Pablo will be in bed, so #1 Son Seth gets the pick up duty.

The 25th Edition of the Festival of the Trees is now up over at Earth, Wind & Water. It’s a beauty, written in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the first publication of the theory of natural selection. It was an idea that was slow to catch on but that now is the foundation for all of biology and much of the rest of natural science.

Tai Haku has gone beyond simply listing the links to posts about trees. He gives informative background with a scientific perspective that is easily accessible to those of us liberal arts majors. I know you’ll enjoy it.

What is Pablo reading now? I can’t believe my summer of free reading is already one third over. (One half actually. The next library discussion is in August, and it is of a difficult, 19th Century work, so I’ll have to devote August to reading it I fear.) I finished The Virgin of Small Plains last week. It was a satisfying mystery story with a convoluted plot that tied up neatly in the end. So what am I reading now? I’ve picked up a book called Bound for Canaan , which is an erudite tome about the Underground Railroad in U.S. Civil War history. It will probably tell me more than I ever wanted to know about this subject, but I know so little now that it can’t hurt.

That photo above is of an astilbe in a pot in my backyard in suburbia. It’s an old photo, but I think it gives suitable floral fireworks for this weekend.

Missouri calendar:

• Texas horned lizards bask in open areas on sunny, hot mornings in the southwestern corner of Missouri.

Today in Missouri history:

• The Democratic National Convention began on this date in St. Louis in 1904. It nominated two candidates who barely campaigned, and Theodore Roosevelt was re-elected in a landslide.

Posted by: Roundrockjournal      Read more     Source

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:12:25 GMT

Kabluey

In Kabluey, Scott Prendergast "assembles an assortment of unappealing characters, an exhausted setup (spiritual emptiness in McMansion land, ho-hum) and every conceivable anxiety-inducer known to late-00s Americans - joblessness, war, credit-card debt, menial labor, economic turmoil, live offspring - to pull off what may be the best evocation of contemporary alienation in a movie so far this year," writes Mark Holcomb in Time Out New York.

"The film''s distance from factual reality oddly enhances its bleak underlying vision," writes Stephen Holden in the New York Times. "It portrays a demoralized American work force fearfully going through the motions of life while waiting without much hope for things to get better." Posted by: dwhudson      Read more     Source

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:24:05 GMT

Connect Your Corporation

SocialCast allows your corporation to network and has recently announce a new way to do so. With their latest version of SocialCast you'll be able to integrate your SocialCast corporate network with such sites as Twitter, Digg and YouTube.

Social networking can be used, on a corporate level, to make sure everyone in your corporation can cross communicate with each other. This is beneficial when information needs to be passed on from one level of your organization to another.

SocialCast offers features like idea exchange, collaboration tools, search functions and questions and answers. These are all features that make sure your company is able to make sure all employees in your corporation are able to collaborate.

Hot Topic and Jet Propulsion Laboratory are a couple of the corporations already using SocialCast for their corporate social networking needs. Posted by: Linda Roeder      Read more     Source

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:49:48 GMT

Pummeled Pecan

When the interloping cattle were wandering about Roundrock last week, they spent some quality time among the pecans. What you see above is one of the staked and fenced pecans that I guess one or two of the cattle decided might be a good place for rubbing. Obviously, my handiwork was no match for their backsides.

The brown condition of the leaves tells me that this happened earlier than just last weekend. Or it could have been that the tree had come out with leaves this spring and then died. (The pecans have tended to do this — I think it’s just to thwart me.) I didn’t take a close look to see if those were green pecan leaves at the bottom, but I suspect that this spot in the planted grid is now a void too.

Elsewhere in the pecan plantation is this happy looking tree:

I think this one might actually make it in what seems to be a pecan-hostile territory. (I planted pecans here because someone who ought to know said it would be a good place for them. I think it would have been if there was more than just rock in the ground.) This tree is now taller than I am, which I take as a sort of important milestone achieved by the tree and by my dreams.

That’s the dam in the background, and if you can make out some white dots at about two o’clock, that’s the plastic bag experiment station.

It’s time for me to give some love to the pecans. I need to put new fencing around the survivors since their cages are getting too small. I could also mow around them a bit to give them less competition. In the late summer, the grasses and other plants here can grow taller than the pecans, depriving them of sun.

Missouri calendar:

• First day of summer/solstice: longest day of year.
• Cattail blooms are covered with pollen.

Today in Missouri history:

• Actor John Goodman is born in Affton, Missouri on this date in 1952. (I lived in Affton for a couple of years after I was married.)
• The flowering dogwood is named as Missouri''s official tree in 1955.
• Kansas Citian Mastin Gregory won the LeMans 24 Hour Grand Prix on this date in 1965.

Posted by: Roundrockjournal      Read more     Source

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 03:55:00 GMT

George Clooney Slips The Noose Again

It's beginning to look more and more like George Clooney is in fact a confirmed bachelor.

There are conflicting reports as to how and why George Clooney left Sarah Larson.

One report states that Larson's mischievousness during her youth was the factor, or that she was too young for him.

Another rumor that she blabbed too much in public about her relationship with Clooney is also making the rounds.

So take you pick as to which it is and let's see who each of these attractive people ends up with next.

Source:www.dailymail.co.uk Posted by: jim      Read more     Source

Sat, 24 May 2008 22:34:26 GMT

Nanoworms and Malignant Tumors

You've probably heard that Senator Edward M. Kennedy has a malignant brain tumor called glioblastoma. This is really unfortunate news because malignant brain tumors are very difficult to treat. There are no cures or really effective remedies. However, nanotechnology research may improve clinical care as scientists discover new ways to apply technology in healthcare.

Nanoparticles called "nanoworms" may change the way doctors treat tumors. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego are collaborating with other scientists to create nanoworms that resemble earthworms. If these nanoworms can reach microscopic tumor cells, they can deliver drugs to destroy the cancer before it spreads. Can you imagine trying to explain this to a patient? The mention of nanoworms might stir up all sorts of images and preconceived notions of nanobots, robots, and other sci-fi ideas. Posted by: Joseph Kim, MD      Read more     Source

Mon, 19 May 2008 00:02:56 GMT

SomethingStore

Do you like surprises? At SomethingStore in New York, a new online shop, you can buy something for $10. But you do not know what you are buying. They will send you something, an item selected randomly. You will find out what your something is when you receive it.

It maybe something you need, something you want or something you desire. It may be a cool gadget, rare book, handmade necklace, box of gourmet chocolates, set of shiny shower curtains, popular video game, a set of kitchen knives, a pair of designer jeans, garden tool, electronic equipment, or a magazine subscription. Your something will most likely be brand new, though it may also be refurbished or antique. Posted by: Gerard      Read more     Source

Sat, 17 May 2008 02:18:02 GMT

SFIFF Dispatch. 7

David D''Arcy on an award-winning short.

One of the discoveries at the San Francisco International Film Festival was an essay on an icon who barely had the 15 minutes of fame to be a shadow on the media record of his moment in history. Death Valley Superstar takes us back to Zabriskie Point, Michelangelo Antonioni''s epic 1970 meditation on the American landscape and American culture at the height of the war in Vietnam, which is never mentioned in the film.

The male lead of the movie, inspired in part by a young man who stole an airplane for a joy ride in the desert and was gunned down by the police on his return, was Mark Frechette, who was "discovered" when he was spotted in a fight at a Boston bus stop. Death Valley Superstar is a 27-minute elegy to Frechette by Michael Yaroshevsky, a Russian living in Montreal. (Before showing at San Francisco, Death Valley Superstar premiered at the International Festival of Film on Art [FIFA] in Montreal.) Posted by: dwhudson      Read more     Source

Fri, 09 May 2008 00:55:49 GMT

Free Cookboook from Cooking Allergy Free

Got an email from Alex, about the revamped site design of Cooking Allergy Free:
While not a drastic overall, we definitely think we've made it even easier to find recipes tailored to your allergy-diet, along with more recipes and recipe photos!

We've also just added the ability for users to create their own Profile. They can enter some information about themselves, upload a photo, allow others to see their allergies, and allow people to privately contact them. It's just another way that we're trying to keep our great community of users together and providing great support to each other.
And here's the best part:
To celebrate the addition of Profiles we're having a contest through May for any users that create their own Profile. At the end of the month, all users who have created one will be entered in a raffle for a free cookbook of their choice!

SO head on over and create your profile. And while you're there, I'm sure you'll find great allergy-free recipes to try! Posted by: ruth      Read more     Source

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:21:48 GMT

Those that stand in the way....

A few years ago a producer was doing auditions for a television show that he was fighting another producer to create.


© striatic

There were several actors who auditioned for the part but it was really down to two. The producer wanted actor number one for some unknown reason and the television network wanted actor number two.

Having seen the audition tapes, I can tell you actor number two was far superior to actor number one. He had more stage presence, did his lines better and was more believable in the part. But because the producer already decided he wanted actor number one he brushed criticized the job actor number two did.

Sometimes we are going to get rejected and as a business owner you have to be ready for that. For whatever reason, sometimes because of things completely out of our hands, we will loose or not get some business. However, the worse thing we could do is give up and not try again, or if someone is too critical of our business idea we give up and stay in the labor pool.

Actor number two in the above scenario could have easily given up. However, actor number 2 kept on trying and eventually lands a role on a quirky television series. While the show was short lived, the career of Tom Hanks has not been.

The Bold Advice for Success Blog has more stories of people that succeeded despite what others said. Posted by: John Dornoff      Read more     Source

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:13:35 GMT

Cheap Eats in Phuket, Khao Lak

If there is one thing I can tell you about budget travel in Thailand, it's to avoid eating your meals at hotels. They are never as authentic as what you will find outside, and they are far more expensive. In some Thailand restaurants, a meal for two can be had for under ten dollars. The great thing about food in Thailand is that it will vary distinctly at each location. For example, no two restaurants will have the same Pad Thai recipe. Fresh fruit drinks are both delicious and inexpensive. For a special treat, try the coconut juices that are actually served in the coconut itself.

Thai food makes use of a variety of interesting spices, which often turn up where you least expect them. You might find a subtle hint of cinnamon in grilled fish, or a vegetable dish that is flavored with cloves. Another thing to realize is that a great restaurant might be located on a less than lovely street. Such is the case with The Natural Restaurant in Phuket. Located on a nondescript street, the interior of this restaurant is decorated with vines, rafters, antiques and waterfalls. The tables are actually antique sewing tables, which provide the weary traveler with a wonderful way to stretch the tired calves.

In Khao Lak, the best spring rolls can be found at Bussba Restaurant. An absolute "must do" in Khao Lak is the Rim Lay Restaurant on Khao Lak Beach. After the Tsunami, it was a popular gathering place for survivors. In fact, it was once called the Tsunami Survivor's Cafe. Order a fish dish at Rim Lay, and you will probably be eating something that was caught within the last few hours. While you are in Khao Lak, be sure to visit the Khao Lak Police Boat. During the Tsunami, this boat was swept 5km inland.

Posted by: Lisa Marie Mercer      Read more     Source

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 02:20:58 GMT

Mulvey & Philadelphia

"In 1973, Laura Mulvey dropped her essay ''Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema'' on the unsuspecting world of film theory, and came as close to superstardom as any theoretician is likely to get," writes Sam Adams in the Philadelphia City Paper. "Mulvey, who will introduce the screenings [of her films Riddles of the Sphinx, Frida Kahlo & Tina Modotti and Amy!] as part of a Penn Cinema Studies program on her work, has spent much of her career wrestling with the issues in her original essay, not least the problem that the feminist narrative she conceived is so self-marginalizing that its political effectiveness is circumscribed. Finding a new language that is still intelligible to speakers of the old one is a riddle that remains unsolved."

The screenings are on Tuesday, but Mulvey is already in town, lecturing away. Meantime, The Duchess of Langeais has arrived in Philadelphia; you might also find Rick Valenzuela''s cover story on the Hacktory of interest. For more local goings on, see Matt Prigge in the Philadelphia Weekly. And of course, the city is gearing up for the Philadelphia Film Festival, opening a week from today and running through April 15. Posted by: dwhudson      Read more     Source

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 02:05:04 GMT

My Blueberry Nights

"A big deal no one is making: the first Western-language films by the two most inimitable, imitated Asian filmmakers of our time are opening in New York on the same day." So, on the same page, the L Magazine''s Mark Asch reviews both Hou Hsiao-hsien''s Flight of the Red Balloon and Wong Kar-wai''s My Blueberry Nights, "a film as American as apple pie, and as out-of-time iconographic as that phrase implies."

"If I was a snarkier writer, I''d say that this is a love story to New York from someone who''s still afraid of Manhattan subways," blogs David Lowery. "Which is true, as evidenced by some of the dialogue in the film, but Wong''s foreign perspective on Americana isn''t necessarily a problem; nor is it the English delivery that makes his dialogue so bad, or Norah Jones''s lack of acting experience that makes her lovelorn monologues so cloying. It''s just that it''s all so damn trite, a problem exacerbated by a serious case of self-importance."

Updated through 4/5. Posted by: dwhudson      Read more     Source

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:26:24 GMT

Portland's Gardens

Portland is a green city. No, I do not mean green in the Al Gore/environmentally friendly way (though Portland does win praises for that kind of "greenness" too). I'm referring to the color. Portland is a city of trees and gardens. the positive side to all the rain that the city experiences is consistent presence of that color.

Portland's Classical Chinese Garden is one of the best in the city. It is exactly what the name suggests, a garden that brings to mind Peking more than Portland.

Leach Botanical Gardens, South of the city, features plant life that originated a little closer to home. Species and hybrids from the Pacific Northwest.

The International Rose Test Garden is a beautiful place to spend a summer afternoon. Fans of the world's favorite flower will be treated to sublime scents and sights.

Portland's public gardens are a great addition to any itinerary.

Photo Posted by: Josh Lew      Read more     Source

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:06:24 GMT

Chapter 27

"Visually ugly, morally non-existent and a complete black hole in the departments of insight and wit, Chapter 27 is quite possibly the most godawful, irredeemable film to yet emerge in the 21st century," declares Premiere''s Glenn Kenny. "This inverted vanity project of pretty-boy actor [Jared] Leto (he co-executive produces as well as stars), for which he packed on seventy pounds in order to portray John Lennon murderer Mark David Chapman, tries to take the viewer inside the head of the obsessive assassin. As it happens, that''s a pretty empty place."

Ed Gonzalez in the Voice: "Making the Fincherian The Killing of John Lennon seem like the masterpiece Zodiac wasn''t, this misbegotten psychological portrait eagerly foregrounds Leto''s excess blubber and histrionic blather, delivered like bad improv outside the Dakota building - ''home of the great and powerful,'' according to Chapman, clearly oblivious that Rex Reed also lives inside." Posted by: dwhudson      Read more     Source

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 01:16:09 GMT

A Cut Above The Rest

A trendy haircut often cements your fashion status, so where better to look than to Charlie Le Mindu, hairdresser extraordinaire. Having recently relocated to UK shores from Berlin and taken residence in a deserted warehouse in the London''s east end, Charlie is to hairdressing what Gaultier is to fashion.

Posted by: Gabi Muller      Read more     Source

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 01:42:00 GMT

Caterpillar food plants

I’ve been reading a bit lately about butterflies and how to attract them to your yard and garden. It’s important to plant flowers whose nectar attract butterflies, but don’t forget the larvae (caterpillars). Many butterfly (and moth) caterpillars only eat specific plants. The best known example is the monarch butterfly caterpillar, which eats only the sap from Asclepias species, or milkweeds, including butterfly weed (A. tuberosa) and swamp milkweed (A. incarnata).

(Author’s note: At this point let me acknowledge that it is a cheap ploy on my part to publish butterfly photos with this post. I should be posting caterpillar photos, but really….who wants to see those.)

There are many other examples:

The only host plant for larvae of the the Zebra swallowtail (above) is the pawpaw (Asimina triloba)–another great reason to plant this native fruit tree. Larvae of the gulf fritillary larvae (right) subsist exclusively on Passiflora species, known as passionflower or maypop. Alfalfa butterfly caterpillars (also known as orange sulphur) subsist only on, well, alfalfa (Medicago sativa).

Eastern black swallowtail caterpillars feed on members of the carrot family, primarily Queen Anne’s Lace that grows in the wild, but also including carrots, parsley, dill, and fennel. All caterpillars in the Speyeria family, which includes the regal fritillary, feast only on plants in the Viola species (violets). Scarlet runner beans (Phaseolus coccineus) feed gray hairstreak caterpillars, and Dutchman’s pipes (Aristolochia) are the only food eaten by the appropriately named pipevine swallowtail.

And as if I need any more reasons to love asters (Aster spp), they are the only food source for larvae of the aster checkerspot butterfly.

It perhaps should be said that if your goal is to attract larvae by planting these plants…you have to be prepared for them to be eaten. Share and share alike is rule #1 of the wildlife garden, after all.

OK, OK, in the interest of fairness, here is a monarch caterpillar.

And here is a gulf fritillary caterpillar on a passionflower:

All photos courtesy of Wikipedia, except the passionflower, which is courtesy of the Santa Rosa County, Florida Extension Center. Posted by: Caroline Brown      Read more     Source

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 03:03:38 GMT

Demi Moore defends age gap with Ashton Kutcher

Demi Moore says the age gap between her and husband Ashton Kutcher never worried her.

The Hollywood star - who, at 45, is 15 years older than Ashton - can''t understand why people were so shocked by their romance.

She said: "People made such a fuss about my relationship with Ashton. You would have thought they had never seen it before. Age wasn''t what I was thinking about, but to the rest of the world it was a very big deal."

Ashton also revealed he makes sure he spends as much time as possible with Demi when he is not working.

He told America''s Harper''s Bazaar magazine: "I have a rule for myself when I am not on location shooting - that I am home for dinner for six o''clock every night. I think that''s very important and I stick to it."

Demi and Ashton first began dating in 2003 and married at Los Angeles'' Kabbalah Centre in 2005.

The Striptease actress has three daughters with her ex-husband Bruce Willis - Rumer, 19, Scout LaRue, 16 and 14-year-old Tallulah Belle. Posted by: Melissa      Read more     Source