Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Deval Patrick
The Governor of Massachusetts gives almost every indication that he just doesn't WANT to be Governor of the Commonwealth beyond his current term. If that's the case, why doesn't he just announce it and let us all move on with picking a willing Democratic nominee?
Monday, January 4, 2010
My latest favoritist app
Adrenaline Pool Online. You can play 8-ball, 9-ball, straight pool or snooker against other folks online. You can't have a custom screen name or play against the computer unless you buy the full app for $4.99, but the Lite version is good enough for now.
It tracks your games and keeps a separate ranking for you in each game. Also tracks the time you've spent playing.
My nephew, brother-in-law and I were playing quite a bit over the vacation week.
It tracks your games and keeps a separate ranking for you in each game. Also tracks the time you've spent playing.
My nephew, brother-in-law and I were playing quite a bit over the vacation week.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Innanet fun
Not only can you have fun using new technology on the interwebnets and with portable cellular handheld smart phone iDroids, you can have fun on websites that capture the funniest stuff on the interwebnets and portable iDroids.
For your browsing pleasure, I give you:
Texts from Last Night. Purportedly actual texts people have sent to others. The numbers in parentheses are the area code from which they were sent. Area code 508 is represented with a non-kid-friendly text today.
Lamebook features some of the best pictures, comments and interactions on the popular social media site of a similar name. Be sure to watch for links to "Read the rest of this entry." There are some very, very, very funny things to be found in some of those. Again, much of the content is adult in nature.
For your browsing pleasure, I give you:
Texts from Last Night. Purportedly actual texts people have sent to others. The numbers in parentheses are the area code from which they were sent. Area code 508 is represented with a non-kid-friendly text today.
Lamebook features some of the best pictures, comments and interactions on the popular social media site of a similar name. Be sure to watch for links to "Read the rest of this entry." There are some very, very, very funny things to be found in some of those. Again, much of the content is adult in nature.
To my concerned readers
I'm going through some blogger doldrums. Multiple reasons for it. But this blog is not finished. Keep visiting and you'll soon see an uptick in activity. Thank you for your support.
I finally took off the Twitter box that was filled with garbage. I've been keeping up with Twitter a little bit more, so keep up on that at twitter.com/noternie.
Happy Holidays!
I finally took off the Twitter box that was filled with garbage. I've been keeping up with Twitter a little bit more, so keep up on that at twitter.com/noternie.
Happy Holidays!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Beats me
No idea what's going on with the Twitter box on the blog. Seems to be picking up some static from the cyber world. To get my actual twitter...tweets, visit twitter.com/noternie
Turkey Turkey Turkey
This year's Thanksgiving holiday (extended) has been an unqualified success. As faithful readers know, I'm a big fan of turkey sandwiches. (exhibit a, exhibit b, exhibit c and exhibit d.
After dinner at family's house Thursday we spent the night at my folks. My mom always makes a turkey the day after, for sandwiches. So...
Friday featured two sandwiches for lunch. Dinner was at the Melting Pot in Providence after mrs. noternie and sister of noternie did their annual black Friday pilgrimage at ungodly hours.
Saturday, we stopped at my in-laws and picked up some turkey leftovers (didn't take any from mom and dad's). Lunch Saturday was out with friends. My dinner was turkey sandwiches. Total: 4.
Sunday I had turkey sandwiches for lunch. (6) Mrs. noternie and I also decided that we might need more leftover turkey and stuffing. So she picked up a 15 lb turkey (only $4.75!!)and we threw that in the oven. Dinner was new stuffing and new turkey.
Monday's lunch was turkey sandwiches. (8) Dinner was turkey sandwiches. (10)
Tuesday's lunch was turkey sandwiches. (12) Dinner was turkey some sort of pasta dish, I think.
Wednesday's lunch was tacos(!) but dinner was turkey pie.
Today's lunch was turkey sandwiches. (14) And since mrs. noternie has to go out tonight, I get to have them for dinner, too. (anticipated 16)
So the tote board currently reads:
14 turkey sandwiches
2 turkey dinners
1 turkey pie
Keep and eye on this space and my twitter for further updates.
After dinner at family's house Thursday we spent the night at my folks. My mom always makes a turkey the day after, for sandwiches. So...
Friday featured two sandwiches for lunch. Dinner was at the Melting Pot in Providence after mrs. noternie and sister of noternie did their annual black Friday pilgrimage at ungodly hours.
Saturday, we stopped at my in-laws and picked up some turkey leftovers (didn't take any from mom and dad's). Lunch Saturday was out with friends. My dinner was turkey sandwiches. Total: 4.
Sunday I had turkey sandwiches for lunch. (6) Mrs. noternie and I also decided that we might need more leftover turkey and stuffing. So she picked up a 15 lb turkey (only $4.75!!)and we threw that in the oven. Dinner was new stuffing and new turkey.
Monday's lunch was turkey sandwiches. (8) Dinner was turkey sandwiches. (10)
Tuesday's lunch was turkey sandwiches. (12) Dinner was turkey some sort of pasta dish, I think.
Wednesday's lunch was tacos(!) but dinner was turkey pie.
Today's lunch was turkey sandwiches. (14) And since mrs. noternie has to go out tonight, I get to have them for dinner, too. (anticipated 16)
So the tote board currently reads:
14 turkey sandwiches
2 turkey dinners
1 turkey pie
Keep and eye on this space and my twitter for further updates.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
It's almost time
Saw and ad last night advertising the return of Lost on February 2. I bet the groundhog goes back in his hole to watch!
Song of the Day: To Love Somebody
Ray Lamontagne and Damien Rice do justice to the Bee Gees classic.
Patriots comments
They're just not that good. The Saints, Colts and Vikings are. So in order for the Patriots to win, they have to make some special things happen and those teams have to be a little bit off.
This is where, I think, Belichick is at his best. Like Parcells, he doesn't get caught up in romanticizing the past when assessing his team. "You are what you are," is the phrase that's appropriate. Parcells used to say that you couldn't claim a team was "better than their record shows. If you're 5-6 or 11-1 or 10-6, that's what you are. No better, no worse."
So Bill will take a very harsh, cold look at the good and bad and try to use what he has in the best way it can be used. No trying to mold this or that to what he wants. You play the cards you're dealt in the way they can best be played.
And if they don't win a Super Bowl, that doesn't mean Bill isn't at the top of his game or that the Patriots have lost some mystique. It just means they're not that good this year.
This is where, I think, Belichick is at his best. Like Parcells, he doesn't get caught up in romanticizing the past when assessing his team. "You are what you are," is the phrase that's appropriate. Parcells used to say that you couldn't claim a team was "better than their record shows. If you're 5-6 or 11-1 or 10-6, that's what you are. No better, no worse."
So Bill will take a very harsh, cold look at the good and bad and try to use what he has in the best way it can be used. No trying to mold this or that to what he wants. You play the cards you're dealt in the way they can best be played.
And if they don't win a Super Bowl, that doesn't mean Bill isn't at the top of his game or that the Patriots have lost some mystique. It just means they're not that good this year.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Great News for Fall River Chow Mein fans!!!
Hoo Mee is back!!!!!
Herald News reports it will be next week before the boxes are on store shelves, but if you want to show up at their door, the company will gladly sell you 1, 2, 3 or 5 pound bags.
Herald News reports it will be next week before the boxes are on store shelves, but if you want to show up at their door, the company will gladly sell you 1, 2, 3 or 5 pound bags.
The real and true meaning of Christmas
Stolen, lock stock and barrel from Quriltai on the Shore, one of my favorite bloggers. Look through the rest of his blog for equally insightful posts on a variety of topics. I'm seeking his permission after the fact to reproduce his excellent piece in its entirety.
The War by Christmas
It was an unnecessary war declared quite some time ago without a clear exit strategy, where the tide is running against conservative dreams, yet it is still cheered on by Fox News and their friends despite all evidence. Iraq? No, the War by Christmas.
That's not a typo, and it is something that needs clarification up front...we don't have a case of a recently declared "war on Christmas" in America that seeks to victimize delicate Christians, but rather a new phase in a centuries-long war declared and conducted by Christmas. The war was begun by Christmas, and I see no reason to ease up now that the aggressors are seeing the tide reverse. From now on, I will refer to this conflict by the historically accurate name "War by Christmas" and encourage you to do the same.
You likely know the full story. The most primitive of humans knew that life was warmer, better, more comfortable with more time with that bright thing in the sky. The two greatest miracles of their world were childbirth and the sun, so no small wonder that almost every culture assigned an Earth-mother and a Sun-god. However, on a yearly basis the sun seemed to be moving away, and weakening. Their god was dying. And every year, somehow, at the point of death, the Sun-god returned and grew again in strength.
We call it an astronomical event, the winter solstice. They turned it into a seminal religious feast. This near-dodge with the end of the world was a solemn annual moment, and inspired a wide range of rituals that would occur in late December. The Incans tied a celestial rope to the sun lest it stray too far away. The Kalash of Hindu Kush still offer dances and praise. Egyptians honored Aset. European pagans and their early Roman neighbors celebrated Saturnalia in late December. Most Romans marked the feast of Natalis Sol Invictus -- the Birth of Mithras, the Unconquered Sun -- on December 25th. Mithras became known to the Roman in the second century BC as a sun-god of Persian background who was born of a virgin mother, and would later die and resurrect in order to offer salvation to all. (Mithraism was as fundamental to the final shape of Christianity as Judaism. It is as accurate to say that Paul and Luke set out to spread Christianity to Mithraists as it is to say they were targeting Gentiles.)
Then the Christians came. Insofar as we can trust the Christian Bible with the label of "history", we are told that Jesus' birth occurred as "shepherds were outside, keeping watch over their flocks by night" (Luke 2:8). Shepherds only lived outside with their flocks while the sheep might be birthing -- something that only happened in springtime.
However, by the early 3rd century, the Christian church moved the feast of Jesus' birth lock, stock, and barrel to December 25th. A few days from the winter solstice and the exact day of the birth of Mithras. When exactly this occurred, we don't know, as the Catholic Church has a long history of keeping inadequate and questionable records on things like historical developments, treasury, and personnel shufflings. So when Emperor Constantine decided to use the Roman army to force Christianity on all, the die was cast. Christmas had declared war on all comers. Several centuries later, it is losing the war it began.
So don't give me this "War on Christmas" BS. About 1,700 years ago, Christmas declared a war in which it is experiencing a reverse. So Fox "News", the AFA, and the rest of you morons, stop complaining.
The War by Christmas
It was an unnecessary war declared quite some time ago without a clear exit strategy, where the tide is running against conservative dreams, yet it is still cheered on by Fox News and their friends despite all evidence. Iraq? No, the War by Christmas.
That's not a typo, and it is something that needs clarification up front...we don't have a case of a recently declared "war on Christmas" in America that seeks to victimize delicate Christians, but rather a new phase in a centuries-long war declared and conducted by Christmas. The war was begun by Christmas, and I see no reason to ease up now that the aggressors are seeing the tide reverse. From now on, I will refer to this conflict by the historically accurate name "War by Christmas" and encourage you to do the same.
You likely know the full story. The most primitive of humans knew that life was warmer, better, more comfortable with more time with that bright thing in the sky. The two greatest miracles of their world were childbirth and the sun, so no small wonder that almost every culture assigned an Earth-mother and a Sun-god. However, on a yearly basis the sun seemed to be moving away, and weakening. Their god was dying. And every year, somehow, at the point of death, the Sun-god returned and grew again in strength.
We call it an astronomical event, the winter solstice. They turned it into a seminal religious feast. This near-dodge with the end of the world was a solemn annual moment, and inspired a wide range of rituals that would occur in late December. The Incans tied a celestial rope to the sun lest it stray too far away. The Kalash of Hindu Kush still offer dances and praise. Egyptians honored Aset. European pagans and their early Roman neighbors celebrated Saturnalia in late December. Most Romans marked the feast of Natalis Sol Invictus -- the Birth of Mithras, the Unconquered Sun -- on December 25th. Mithras became known to the Roman in the second century BC as a sun-god of Persian background who was born of a virgin mother, and would later die and resurrect in order to offer salvation to all. (Mithraism was as fundamental to the final shape of Christianity as Judaism. It is as accurate to say that Paul and Luke set out to spread Christianity to Mithraists as it is to say they were targeting Gentiles.)
Then the Christians came. Insofar as we can trust the Christian Bible with the label of "history", we are told that Jesus' birth occurred as "shepherds were outside, keeping watch over their flocks by night" (Luke 2:8). Shepherds only lived outside with their flocks while the sheep might be birthing -- something that only happened in springtime.
However, by the early 3rd century, the Christian church moved the feast of Jesus' birth lock, stock, and barrel to December 25th. A few days from the winter solstice and the exact day of the birth of Mithras. When exactly this occurred, we don't know, as the Catholic Church has a long history of keeping inadequate and questionable records on things like historical developments, treasury, and personnel shufflings. So when Emperor Constantine decided to use the Roman army to force Christianity on all, the die was cast. Christmas had declared war on all comers. Several centuries later, it is losing the war it began.
So don't give me this "War on Christmas" BS. About 1,700 years ago, Christmas declared a war in which it is experiencing a reverse. So Fox "News", the AFA, and the rest of you morons, stop complaining.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Song of the Day: They're not here, they're not coming
Say what you will about Don Henley, the guy is a great songwriter. Think of all those tremendous Eagles tunes. One of the lesser players in the band said a not so small part of the reason the band broke up was songwriting. All of them wrote songs, but gradually Henley and Frye ended up with more songs on the albums, because their songs were better. There was some resentment and some attitude about it on both sides. Then it got to a point where even Frye couldn't keep up with Henley and the whole thing fell apart.
Henley can probably be a MAJOR pain in the ass to deal with. If you don't agree with his politics, you don't need to be told this, I'm sure. So let's bypass love and heartache, even the environmental and liberal politics and take a look at a pretty damn good song he wrote about...aliens.
From the Inside Job album, which is full of good songs from front to back, here's "They're not here, they're not coming." Great lyrics.
Henley can probably be a MAJOR pain in the ass to deal with. If you don't agree with his politics, you don't need to be told this, I'm sure. So let's bypass love and heartache, even the environmental and liberal politics and take a look at a pretty damn good song he wrote about...aliens.
From the Inside Job album, which is full of good songs from front to back, here's "They're not here, they're not coming." Great lyrics.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Random commentary
Lakeville Hospital: It's creepy, it's sad, it's almost gone. I'm always interested/sad to see buildings after they've been left a while. There's the part of imagining them as haunted places like in movies. (I like horror movies) But there's also inherent loneliness and visible neglect that stirs feelings that something went wrong and and is on the very edge of reaching a point where it can never, ever be put right.
I generally don't like to hear of things being torn down.
I generally don't like to hear of things being torn down.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Song of the Day: It makes no difference
Brilliant. Danko sings it like his heart is bleeding all over the stage and Robbie and Garth show that just because you can do something with an instrument doesn't mean you should.
What's wrong with a lot of the music these days? The recording artist acts like the song is serving them. The Band understood they were supposed to serve the song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJXc0NRCmRQ
What's wrong with a lot of the music these days? The recording artist acts like the song is serving them. The Band understood they were supposed to serve the song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJXc0NRCmRQ
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Computers + Trains + Music
Cool stuff, courtesy of Universal Hub. UH linked to a company who took MBTA data from a day, matched each line to an instrument and then tied volume of the note assigned from the instrument to rider volume. Pretty cool result. Check it out. Warning: they say Internet Explorer will crash, but they link to a youtube version.
Song of the Day: Empire State of Mind
Tremendous song. If the NY Board of Tourism hasn't bought the rights to use this in an ad campaign, they're crazy.
Jay Z and Alicia Keys.
Jay Z and Alicia Keys.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
iTouch, so far
Since Sunday, I have downloaded the following apps to my iTouch. All of them have been free.
Bubblewrap
Google
TweetDeck
iHandy Coin Flip
Facebook
Firemint R.Racing GTI
Lightsaber
Flashlight
Paper Toss
Whoopie (cushion, not pie or bedroom activity)
Optime Chess Free
Doodle Buddy
Zippo Lighter
Word Warp
Shazam
Grand Lite (piano)
Dog Whistle
Super KO Boxing 2
TED
Touch Hockey
Stick-Fu Lite
Bubblewrap
TweetDeck
iHandy Coin Flip
Firemint R.Racing GTI
Lightsaber
Flashlight
Paper Toss
Whoopie (cushion, not pie or bedroom activity)
Optime Chess Free
Doodle Buddy
Zippo Lighter
Word Warp
Shazam
Grand Lite (piano)
Dog Whistle
Super KO Boxing 2
TED
Touch Hockey
Stick-Fu Lite
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Song of the Day: Old Man
A Neil Young tribute to the starting pitchers in tonight's World Series Game 6.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
"Brilliance"
I've begun worshipping the Sun for a number of reasons. First of all, unlike some other gods I could mention, I can see the Sun. It's there for me every day. And the things it brings me are quite apparent all the time: heat, light, food, a lovely day. There's no mystery, no one asks for money, I don't have to dress up, and there's no boring pageantry. And interestingly enough, I have found that the prayers I offer to the sun and the prayers I formerly offered to God are all answered at about the same 50-percent rate.
George Carlin
George Carlin
Monday, November 2, 2009
Song of the Day: Touch Me
I got an iTouch over the weekend. I'm really liking it and my eyes haven't quite started to bleed yet.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Song of the Day: The Gunner's Dream
Mesmerizing. Absolutely. Pink Floyd has done a lot of visual work to accompany their music, from videos to movies to their concerts. As good as all of that is, my favorite way to enjoy Pink Floyd is in a quiet, dark room or with headphones on. This tune's from the Final Cut, but the Wall and Dark Side of the Moon (the first disk I bought when my mom bought me a Pioneer six disk cd player) and Wish You Were Here are massive favorites as well. And even though it's a bit of cheating, I'll take the double live Delicate Sound of Thunder in my all time collection, as well.
The Final Cut came to me on a tape, actually. This was on one side and I think the Waterboys were on the other side. My sister's then-boyfriend (and father of my nephew) made it for me. Such was the eclectic nature of his musical tastes. I loved it the very first time I listened to it and love it just as much now: "Possible Pasts", "Paranoid Eyes", "The Fletcher Memorial Home" and "Southampton Dock" are sublime. "When the Tigers Broke Free" is an emotional tour de force. Roger Waters was a master.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Song of the Day: Busy Child
In honor of the stunning news here's a recognizable tune by The Crystal Method, off of their Vegas album.
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