Welcome again everyone to The Friday Follies! Haven't had my requisite coffee just yet (though it's in the process of brewing), but still have enough brain cells to pull it off methinks, so here goes.
1) Best Cars To Drive To Death: A recent study came up with a list of the 10 best cars that you could drive for OVER 200,000 miles before you even needed to THINK about trading 'em in, and they are, according to Consumer Reports:
Honda Civic, Honda CR-V, Honda Element, Lexus ES, Lexus LS, Toyota 4Runner, Toyota Highlander, Toyota Land Cruiser, Toyota Prius, Toyota RAV4
And from the same source, the WORST cars (no surprises here for the most part);
BMW 7-series, Infiniti X56, Jaguar X-type, V8-powered Mercedes-Benz M-class, Mercedes-Benz SL, Nissan Armada, Nissan Titan, Volkswagen Touareg, V6-powered Volvo XC90.
More details HERE
2) Howdy Doody's Diplomatic Skills (or supreme lack of): Our esteemed Smiling Idiot In Chief while in Australia for the APEC summit, had a rather senseless and testy exchange with South Korea's president over an armed conflict (namely the Korean War) that ended over 50 years ago in a truce for cryin' out loud! President Roh challenged our intelligence-challenged President to formally end the "hostilities" (which now only exist on paper, technically speaking). Good 'ol Howdy Doody asserted it would only happen when North Korea fully dismantled it's nuclear program. Talk about irrelevant, ill-timed and just plain BONEHEADED! More can be found HERE
3) Lost In Space: More and more, NASA, once thought to be the last bastion of sanity, proves its utter ineptitude and incompetence. Along with the loss of Challenger (due to incompetence and negligence), a bizarre attempted murder over a love triangle involving astronauts, billions down the drain in failed gear, other untold wastes of money and time, and now, going into denial mode. An Air Force doctor who did a thorough study of NASA's astronaut health and looking into allegations of astronauts being intoxicated is reprimanding NASA for intentionally discouraging open-communication and honesty in dealing with such things. NASA is so desparate to paint itself as a Can Do Nothing Wrong Agency (despite OBVIOUS blunders and tragedies) that it'll go to ANY length to supress the truth about itself. A news story HERE. and HERE . Honestly, I've come to think that NASA's time has long passed. It once was a bastion of innovation, exploration and embodiment of the classic American "Can Do" spirit, but somehow it's horribly lost its way after the Apollo/Skylab eras. Nowadays and going forward, I honestly think that private enterprise can do a far better job of space exploration and at less cost than the unwiedly NASA, if the pioneering Spaceship One suborbital flight in 2004 was any indication.
4) Really HIGHER Learning or Lost In Space Part 2: This is pretty danged funny! The setting is Northeastern University in Boston MA. One not-too-bright student yelled out his dorm window to another student, "If you're looking for weed, my roommate Ferrante has some for sale," And also in earshot were 2 plainclothes Boston cops, who wasted no time in busting Mr Loudmouth and his roommate. Now facing criminal charges and being kicked out of Northeastern, you have to ask these dunderheads, "was it worth it?". More HERE
5) What's Old Is New Again #8341: In Boston MA, a remarkable transformation took place. The old Charles Street Jail (which closed in 1990, a year I first arrived in Beantown) has been completely transformed into a beautiful hotel with lots of character and just enough remnants to remind you of its past. The Liberty Hotel is now open for business, have a look at their website, ESPECIALLY the history section. A job well done I must say! http://www.libertyhotel.com/
6) My Favorite Vegetable: CELERY! I LOVE this particular vegetable, mainly because:
1) Tasty as all get out, just the right amount of natural saltiness
2) The CRUNCH!! It's really great if you set some celery stalks in ice water for a little while.
3) Loaded with water. It's even quenched my thirst on a couple occasions when water was not readily at hand.
4) Goes great in salads and soups.
But there's far more at play here. The celery seed has ENORMOUS medicinal benefits and the celery stalk posesses serious nutritional value. Check out this Wikipedia Article for starters and a little more HERE.
AND ON THE PLAYER
STEELY DAN - CITIZEN
(Box Set)
The twosome of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker will NEVER be duplicated for their sheer uniqueness and genius. After first meeting at Bard College in the 60's, they started writing songs together, playing in a few bands (one even sported Chevy Chase as a drummer) and recording as they had opportunity (even doing the soundtrack to a low budget Richard Pryor movie called "Ya Gotta Walk It Like Ya Talk It Or You'll Lose That Beat"). After a not quite successful attempt at trying to do the Brill Building thing (they did however get one song on a Barbara Streisand album), ABC records producer Gary Katz was sufficiently impressed with the duo's work that he invited them to move to L.A. to work as staff songwriters for ABC Records. This in turn led to them forming a full blown band to flesh out their unique songs, combining accessible catchy melodies, angular jazz-inflected harmonies, top-notch musicianship, unpredictable chord progressions and hilariously wry, biting, satirical and ironic lyrics. The hits came fast and furious ("Do It Again", "Reeling In The Years", "Peg" and more) from 1972 onwards. Eventually, they decided to stop performing live altogether and exist solely as a studio entity (owing to their extremely perfectionistic ways) from the "Pretzel Logic" album onwards, before calling it a day in 1981. They regrouped back in the early 90's to play live and still do so now. In any case the "Citizen" box set is every Steely Dan album from their debut "Can't Buy A Thrill" through "Gaucho", remastered and with some cool bonus tracks to boot. Great stuff!!
HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment