Right Good Blog

An extraordinary life

2008-09-23T16:06:00.000-04:00

The Hartford Courant runs a column every month where they pick an extraordinary person who lived in the area. Of course, they picked Bobb.

R.G.B. R.I.P.

2008-05-15T12:22:00.003-04:00

Robert Gordon Brooks died of cancer May 14th, 2008 at 6:10 PM in West Haven, Connecticut. His son Gordon was at his side. He died following a week of care and music and story telling with his four siblings Meredith, Leah, Scott and John, his nephew Jesse and of course, his loving wife Martha. He was a good man and will be missed by all whose path he crossed. May he rest in peace.posted by

Cars

2008-02-15T18:06:00.003-05:00

I invite all to email me pictures or remembrances of our cars of youth. This I think is the model, or a year or two off, Grandma had in blue that I drove a few times as a teenager in LeRoy.It did have an early automatic "Hydramatic" transmission. Comments?

Edison National Historic Site

2008-02-15T05:57:00.003-05:00

I ran across some Edison Early Recordings made into Mp3s from old cylinders on the Edison National Historic Site, a real treat. Some early Sousa Marches played by Sousa's Band, and some minstrel stuff, and readings from as early as 1880s to the 1930s.Of course one of my folk favorites involve whistling and yodeling and banjos.For instance:Jere Sanford's yodeling and whistling specialty

Surprise! Good software: Copernic

2008-01-18T01:00:00.000-05:00

I usually don’t get on the bandwagon for software, or tout hardware, as some MAC addicted people do, but occasionally I find something that is a little different. I just discovered Copernic, so far proving to be a wonderful desktop search thing. I’ll explain below. The last program that got me that way was the graphics viewer ACDSee, which I actually bought, and still use it today. It

50 inch monitor-video glasses

2007-08-25T19:56:00.000-04:00

Finally, technology for sale now that has been hovering out there for years, virtual wide screen monitor or screen, optically out in front of you, but worn like glasses, for watching movies from any iPod, Mp4 player, DVD, or I guess even your Internet browser, though this article doesn't mention that. They call them video sunglasses, so I am assuming you could see through them for normal

VOIP Telephony

2007-08-18T00:44:00.000-04:00

I like the word; telephony. It might actually apply literally in this story, a combination of telephone and phony.Again, I have gone through an almost hilarious string of bungles on the part of a company in the "service" business" who really deserves to fail if they treat customers like they treated me. But because they are in the driver's seat, they get away with it. In times like these, I

Your car might use salt water as fuel?

2007-07-10T17:17:00.001-04:00

Tell ‘em you heard it first here! When I was in college at Allegheny, we called Erie, PA, 100 mi north, “Dreary Erie, the mistake by the lake.” but this news item from Erie is nothing but amazing!Watch this video about John Kanzius, inventor, who was inventing a radio wave gun to bombard cancer, hoping to make a breakthrough in fighting the disease. He discovered his device facilitated burning

Safari Browser from Apple

2007-06-13T03:54:00.000-04:00

I heard through the RSS world that Apple had released a windows version of Safari, so even though FireFox is so well established with me, I never have left a browser untried since Mosaic, so I downloaded the thing.I was dismayed that it wanted to force me to reinstall iTunes, the aggressive store they want to establish on my desktop. I had un-installed iTunes just recently after trying to

John Philip Sousa

2007-05-31T17:46:00.000-04:00

I played in one of the bands that took part in this year's Sousa festival. It was interesting on several levels, including that I met the great grandson, John Philip Sousa IV, and the governor proclaimed it to be John Philip Sousa Day in Connecticut.Here was my email to the community band mailing list:

I don't have vertigo, just out on the walkway.

2007-05-04T03:46:00.000-04:00

I have seen this in the news, both in the planning stages and since it was open, and it does bring out the shivers in me. The Grand canyon glass walkway, skywalk, or glass bridge or whatever you call it. I wonder if I would have the strength to overcome the vertigo and go out on it. On first thought, I love it when you see that view - once I saw it in one of those dome projected i-movies or

Just an interesting creature department:

2007-04-07T02:32:00.000-04:00

You know those little grey or brown rolly bugs that Mom used to call "Potato Bugs" but really were something else? They rolled up into a little ball when they were hassled?They apparently are in the "isopod" family biologically, (word origin: equal foot?) and low and behold some of their scary 2000 leagues (ft?) under the sea cousins have been found." Here is the giant isopod, known

Back on line with 3D rotating graphics!

2007-04-04T03:49:00.000-04:00

I originally posted this on my Catchall blog while Google was playing error games with my right good blog. It finally is fixed now, but I got a strange message from Google implying that it fixed itself, which is impossible. Anyway, I thought I would post this very very cool slide show gimmick I found on a blog and traced to "picture trail" a flicker-type photo web site. Here are some of our

Henry Filmore Arrangements

2007-02-19T18:21:00.000-05:00

I think we all are interested in people with a sense of humor - usually these people are obscure and ordinary, but in this case it's someone who was famous, at least in the field of band composers. Henry Fillmore wrote sometimes humorous, but always difficult rags, marches and jazzy things in the early 1900's. They often featured trombones. According to Herb Brock, staff writer for

Clip Art Flipping Show

2007-02-15T02:15:00.000-05:00

I have this collection of great clip art that used to come with Corel, that I actually own, and I think they even said I had the rights to use them. The clip art that comes with the newer versions is crap of lesser quality.But for instance there were 787 artistic images of people in various occupations and garb. What are the chances that I would use these things after maybe 10 years. I

Fred's Magic

2007-02-08T22:29:00.000-05:00

Another benefit of my volunteer work at the shelter is finding some nice people, and even some talented ones, like this guy Fred, a really clever and likable guy who plays the guitar and does magic as a hobby. He said he has been doing magic since high school. Personally, Fred got laid off five years ago from a good job at one of the biggest employers in CT, "Electric Boat" that builds subs and

Homeless Shelter

2007-01-05T00:17:00.000-05:00

I guess I have to admit it is partly because of my cancer thing that I was motivated to volunteer at the homeless shelter, but I'm glad I did. It has been interesting so far. Betty, the geriatric nurse who was a friend and a help to Martha's mother before we came up here, and has become our friend too, talked me into this, and we volunteer together on Wednesday evenings. I also signed up alone

God Bless America

2006-12-20T15:15:00.000-05:00

Feeling Patriotic? God Bless America! Just found this clip of the band I used to play in, The Farmington Valley Band. They recorded this track a couple of years back for a CD. I consider myself still a member, though I haven't been able to drive over there this past year to participate. It's on the other side of Hartford in Collinsville, about 45 minutes' drive from here. The pretty little

Chinese Translation - a Parable

2006-12-17T04:12:00.000-05:00

This song is so haunting and cozy, I can't help myselflistening to it many times. Ward's voice reminds meof other singers, maybe Hoagy Carmichael or something.These lyrics have extra meaning for me as well, somehowsearching for answers that might not exist.Sing along with me:I sailed the wild wild seaclimbed up a tall tall mountainI met an old old manbeneath the weeping willow treehe said now if

Christmas Lighting 1955

2006-12-04T02:53:00.000-05:00

As the Advent month progresses,I again wax nostalgic to a simpler time . . .December 22, 1955, LeRoy, NYTo see the entire page click here.

Strange Tree

2006-11-08T12:31:00.000-05:00

I thought I got a better picture of this, but this snap from the front seat of my old Ford Explorer will have to do. We again saw this solitary does-not-fool-anyone pine(?) on the Hutchison Parkway near the CT line on our trip down to NYC. There is another one up in the median of the highway just outside of Boston. Of course they are cell towers with fake branches. Blends right in with the

Floral Flickr Flick

2006-10-28T20:04:00.000-04:00

I found a neat slide show flash thing that shows pictures that you have uploaded to Flickr. Here is what it looks like: The Quiz is to tell which photos were not taken by us..dtop,.dbottom{display:block;background: white /* <- change the color of the corners here */ } .dtop b,.dbottom b{display:block; height:1px;overflow:hidden; background:#000} .d1{margin:0 5px} .d2{margin:0 3px} .d3{margin:0

L'Attitude Women's Barbershop

2006-10-17T22:12:00.000-04:00

My sister got to the national semifinals of the Sweet Adelines this year!Great quartet called L'Attitude.Watch and listen. Captured from the webcast.

NEWGATE PRISON

2006-09-23T01:31:00.000-04:00

(Sorry, this is a long post, but an interesting bit o' history- rgb)"Attend all ye villains that live in the state,Consider the walls that encircle Newgate."NEWGATE is the name of a famous prison in London. It is called "Newgate" because it was first built, centuries ago, over a new gate in the wall of the city. Later, when these rooms over the gate became too crowded, a larger prison was built

Is this a crime?

2006-09-17T00:42:00.000-04:00

There is just something so clever about this Grafitti artist - it is a way of getting around things that is somehow so great:Paul Curtis aka Moose is no regular graffiti artist. In fact, he’s the reverse-graffiti artist. He created his street art by *cleaning* the dirt and grime off of surfaces! Authorities are baffled: is selective cleaning a crime? The tools are simple: A shoe brush, water and

Warren Barker

2006-08-08T17:43:00.000-04:00

Warren Barker has died at the age of 83.Well known as one of the great composers and arrangers of concert band music, he also was one of those people that everyone loved, and like to tell personal stories of their contacts with him.A surprising percentage of the music in today's concert band repertoire was arranged by the master, Warren Barker. He was great at producing pieces for band

Progress

2006-08-06T20:07:00.000-04:00

Well, I am a few weeks out from my last chemo session and still have one main evaluation appointment this week with the docs.I know I am too impatient a patient, but I want to be back to whatever "normal" will be.This disease has left me with problems that keep me on the disabled list. I am still out of breath all the time, my legs are still very painful and feel numb and "asleep" and stiffen

Richard Feynman

2006-07-22T22:46:00.000-04:00

For years, I had a favorite memory of a little TV chat with Richard Feynman on PBS TV, that I really wanted to recall, and had hoped that it would have been in one of the books I read about him, but I never had found it. Of course when I got down to it, it took 10 minutes of Googling to find it.As I remembered it rightly, Feynman amusingly described how we accept without amazement our ability

Good Oncology News

2006-07-13T23:16:00.000-04:00

The news is good. I have just had my appointment with the cancer doc for an evaluation of the six chemo sessions, the cat scan of a week ago, and the most recent blood tests, as well as an assessment of how they think I have fared. Everything is above expectations!The tumor has been virtually eliminated by the chemotherapy. From reading the notes, it turns out that it had been bigger than I

Latest Chemotherapy News

2006-05-02T22:13:00.000-04:00

Well, Friday's CAT scan showed that the tumor had been reduced to less than half size, said the Docs. That means that the formula they were using for chemo is right, they think, so they are forging ahead with it. I had the start of the forth session yesterday, and am taking the oral 5 days at home. I also have to give myself the shots each day to improve white and red blood cell count. I do

Topsy Part II

2006-03-16T17:53:00.000-05:00

As I expected, time marches quickly on, dominated by the saga and treatment of my cancer.After the discovery of the tumor, I was kept in the hospital all of the month of February. There was continuous monitoring and seemingly endless extended tests and probes. I had scans;, CAT, PET and possibly other barn yard scans. Biopsies and vampire rivaling blood work. In my head I hear a version of

Reminiscing

2006-02-11T12:36:00.000-05:00

Where were you December 1955?Where were you March 1962?

It has not sunk in yet

2006-02-03T09:43:00.000-05:00

Well, I have some bad news that will probably change this blog permanently, as it is changing my life the most dramatically since I appeared the day before FDR died, April 11, 1945.I was diagnosed with some kind of a abdominal tumor monday night. It is there in the cat scan, so there is no doubt about its existence, but over the next week or so of tests I will find out about its malignancy or

Almost Never told Vietnam story

2005-12-28T04:06:00.000-05:00

In 1967 I had signed up for an extra year beyond my Army 2 year draft notice time in an attempt to stay out of the infantry. Against the backdrop of my high school friend Gary Scott being killed as an infantry officer timed with my going in, I nixed my OCS path that would have made me his replacement, most likely, and got into supply instead. I should have joined the band, but I didn't think of

My version of the High Point story

2005-12-28T01:53:00.000-05:00

When I was in first grade, (1951?) Dad moved the family from Eggertsville (Buffalo NY) to North Carolina. He had been personnel manager hiring people for a new Sylvania plant there, and apparently when the hiring was done, we moved back up north to LeRoy NY, and he similarly opened the Sylvania plant in Batavia. Here is a googleshot of our house we lived in then, 708 Montilieu Ave. High Point

Pet Peeves

2005-12-20T02:26:00.000-05:00

Plastic Baseball cap brims?I don't like the way they make baseball caps now with that stupid plastic in the brim. Any boomer kid can tell you that the idea of wearing your cap (of course not backwards) is to wear it in and get the curve of the brim and the peak of the front just right. Sort of like breaking in a baseball glove. The problem with the plastic brims is they are too curved for one

Japanese theme computer

2005-12-11T23:54:00.000-05:00

There is a kind of one-upsmanship among some young (at heart) techies to modify computer cases to wild themes, many times involving neon lights and all that. Here is one that goes a more artsy direction.

Opportunity knocks?

2005-12-07T16:38:00.000-05:00

I got two funny telephone marketing calls today on my second line. They did have a valid referral from a company I know, and I had foolishly put that second line number on a registration form one time, and they were calling me by the fake name I had used. So I didn't blow them away but cautiously let them start the pitch, partially for curiosity.The first one said they had a really interesting

Gordon E. Miller

2005-11-18T21:03:00.000-05:00

I've been meaning to put up something about my Grandfather, my mom's dad, who gave me my "G". He died when I was a kindergartner, (b1877, d1952) but I have vague memory of him digging deep in his suit pockets for goodies, and even a fuzzier memory of him carving an acorn pipe and a willow whistle for me in a park in Mercer, but this may be from stories from mom. We have that old wire recording of

MS stupidity

2005-11-15T19:42:00.000-05:00

Although Microsoft has done better in recent offerings, they still just can't help itself in its dumb and condescending comments and error messages. For one thing, they always sound as if the computer is actually talking to me. Or blaming me! Stop it!This error message is more like a therapy session!No, you bozo, I didn't forget. The keyboard repeated, or I hit two keys at once, or

Stormy weather memories

2005-11-11T19:25:00.000-05:00

Memories come various forms. We tend to think of visual things as memories, but the sounds, smells, and environmental combinations of senses have made their marks on us as well. One such memory of mine goes back to one night in 1964. There was an exceptional spring storm in Pennsylvania. I recall precisely where I was and how I felt. I'm sure I could go back in the records and find the very

Understandable history experience

2005-11-05T01:15:00.000-05:00

This is a wonderful resource for historical American graphics, sounds, politcal images,maps and charts, all kinds of sensory riches, all in date categories. I have to show a fewfavorites from The Authentic History Center web site: I actually have this "K-K-K-Katy" sheet music cover.This navy poster may show the role of womenhas changed, but at least they weren't ashamedto use the subjunctive.And

Eight Inch Floppy

2005-11-01T14:01:00.000-05:00

This might be a cheesy post, but I just ran across an old 8" Floppy in my file cabinet, qualifying for the dead media award of the week. You can see from the holes that I stick-pinned it to a couple of bulletin boards along the way, but it once had data on it as I recall. Which machine, what format, what language, is lost to the ages. Notice the hole in the lower left, which was usually covered

Scientific Facts

2005-10-22T12:58:00.000-04:00

NASA's images from space are always amazing, for instance this crystal clear one from the Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn. It looks like you can reach right out and grab this moon. The whole scene sort of looks like it could be a work of art thrown on a potter's wheel from clay, the moon spattered with fliks for dramatic effect.NASA linkBUT have I mentioned I get more questioning as I get

Ancient Music Videos

2005-10-02T00:01:00.000-04:00

Here are two memory lane type videos from the world of music. Don't likeexternal links, but these work better this way, linking over to "zippyvideos". The first is a Beach Boys thing. Interesting to hear the music, which hasn'taged at all, but see the faces of these young kids, including Brian Wilson, who looksso incredibly young. (I want in the comments, the story of my brother John who is

Google the new MS?

2005-09-29T16:08:00.000-04:00

Headline: (hat tip to scott)Digital Media Asia: News - NASA, Google to collaborate on 'entrepreneurial space industry'All these marvelous, surprising and enthusiastic things that Google keeps getting into, and the hundreds of things you assume they are doing behind the scenes in their "labs" as we speak makes me keep thinking about the difference. The contrast between their actions and

Silver Clef Music

2005-09-27T14:27:00.000-04:00

One new music publisher, Silver Clef Music, really is out in front, and I hope they are successful. They specialize in sheet music for school, community, and church groups - particularly bands, choirs, and orchestras, and for solos and ensembles of musicians from those types of groups. David Miller started this publisher of printed and digital sheet music to be part of the solution and the

Future thin client computers?

2005-09-27T10:39:00.000-04:00

I start this thread saying that desktop computers have evolved so they are too complex for their own good. Windows has tried to be all things and add multimedia, support for all sorts of content and hairy programs, making it vulnerable to viruses and other inherent problems just because it is trying to do so many complex things seamlessly, connected to the internet pipeline, subject to any kind

Kitchen low-tech

2005-09-18T18:58:00.000-04:00

This seems so trivial, but Martha Stewart is out, so I will do it in her honor.It has been a while since I went into one of those kitchen gadget specialty shops, but we used to laugh because no matter how complete, they never had the three things I thought were the best things in our kitchen. "Oh, we at Kitchens R Us have, or can get anything.", they say, but I get the last laugh because they

Chinese Inflatable Spam

2005-09-10T11:30:00.000-04:00

I almost deleted it, but somehow it had a curious look to it, so I clicked an unsolicited email from a Chinese company which sells huge custom made inflated plastic "toys". "We manufacture high quality and good price inflatable products in any size or style, please browse the inflatable products sorts."Bouncers______Castles_________ Sports __________ Slides____

Internet vs Katrina

2005-09-05T19:06:00.000-04:00

My internet hosting company, DirectNIC had an intereting challenge last week. You can see from my sitemeter graphs here that there was a bite out of page views mainly on friday and saturday. DirectNIC offices and servers are in an office building in New Orleans. One of the owners has had media attention with his blog during the hurricane and aftermath. He put out pictures and stories from the

Arthur Ashe Commemorative Stamp Unveiled

2005-08-28T00:04:00.000-04:00

Here's a story that has a few twists and turns. I have a Google news alert sent to me for three or four things. One is "Richmond, VA" since I lived there so long. Today I got a news clipping that the Bangkok Post(!) was reporting that The US Post Office was honoring Richmond VA native Arthur Ashe with a commemorative stamp.I feel close to the Arthur Ashe story, because I followed his presence,

Past Topics

2005-08-19T14:07:00.000-04:00

I did a little cleanup on my archives. Some of the posts from 2002 were linked to storage places that don't exist anymore, and they were identified by dates rather than title, so it was russian roulette to look at old entries. The result is a title list in the left column, linking to previous posts by name.I had forgotten about this post June 2002 that linked to some family pictures and some

template fugit

2005-08-12T14:39:00.000-04:00

Just a little tweaking in the template for a change.

Tech support Wizard?

2005-08-11T23:00:00.000-04:00

Tech support?A good friend of ours said that their 20-something daughter in Florida needed help because she didn't know how to get her new printer to work with her laptop. I figured I could walk her through it on the phone (to Florida) since I have set up hundreds of printers and drivers. I was not prepared for this, though. It took about 30 minutes for 5 minute's worth of actual work.The

Two telephone related rants

2005-08-09T16:40:00.000-04:00

Two phone related rants: a.) Can't dial and listen. b.)Phone times out too soon.a.) Most phones now, cell and standard have the dialpad in the body of the phone, not like the old days when you could look at the dial and listen too. This would be fine, except the phone company and corporate automated phone systems (eg. . . hit 1 for sales, 2 for customer service, etc.) still think you can do

emminent domain revisited

2005-07-19T14:56:00.000-04:00

There is a chance, albeit small, that the worst supreme court decision in memory, Kelo vs. New London, affirming the forced acquisition of private property for more profitable private, not public use, could be re-heard.Perhaps the justices will have seen the flurry of cities now emboldened to act on this, making plans to take private property for malls, golf courses and wall-marts, and have had

BPL

2005-07-12T23:44:00.000-04:00

BPL technology makes sense if it turns out to be profitble to develop. Broadband over Power Lines! The wires are already there! Makes sense for rural areas, for sure. Hard to get cable or DSL out to the boonies. Turns out it is not as simple as plugging an adapter in the wall. There are distribution problems, costs of repeaters and bypasses to transformers. One architecture being tested has the

Paul Winchell

2005-07-05T10:47:00.000-04:00

I had no knowledge of Paul Winchell's voice in Disney movies, as is being reported, but I sure remember his best friends, Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smith (or was it Smiff?). I always was a sucker for ventriloquists. You feel like a dummy yourself each time you realize you are accepting the dummy as a real character. I also read a witty statement that Jerry and Knucklehead were probably more

Oh, NO, The Supreme Court let us down!

2005-06-23T16:28:00.000-04:00

Justices: Homes may be 'taken' for local projectsThe Supreme Court ruled Thursday that local governments may seize people's homes and businesses - even against their will - for privately owned economic development projects. I guess the justices did not read my plain and simple plea in my blog back in march, They have ruled against a free country and for a communist system ignoring the rights

The Sky is Falling

2005-06-22T13:55:00.000-04:00

I cringed at this news item:Rescued Utah boy had hid from searchersThe 11-year-old boy lost for four days in the Utah mountains might have been found sooner had it not been for the fact that he was taught to stay away from strangers, his uncle and a sheriff told NBC News on Wednesday. I'm sure we all have wondered if the negative aspects of teaching a generation of kids to stay away from

Kuni Watch

2005-06-21T00:15:00.000-04:00

Just browsed on the web to notice that Japan has given almost 7 million dollars' worth of fire engines to Egypt, and of course our friend Kunihiko Makita was in the middle of it. Amazing and gratifying that Japan is such a friendly and generous country inthe modern world.

Worn out words

2005-06-19T14:04:00.000-04:00

I know T.V. is a time waster, and I know Seinfield is ancient history, But from time to time I think of the episode that included Jerry and his wise guy reaction to a rental car non-reservation.Seinfeld. I made a reservation for a midsize,. . . .Clerk: We have no midsize available at the moment.Seinfeld: I made a reservation. Do you have my reservation?Clerk: Yes. Unfortunately we ran out of

PostSecret

2005-06-12T23:20:00.000-04:00

Here is something a little different. Here is the site that invites all to send in a postcard with a secret on it. Cards are posted here: PostSecret: "Mail In Your Secrets Today".It's a little hard not to be cynical and think these are fabrications, but the little pulls at truth and sadness, or utter, though anonymous confession, makes you know that even if it isn't true in this case, there are

My Firefox Update

2005-05-28T20:48:00.000-04:00

Just a post to say that I almost exclusively use Firefox now.I love the tabbed browsing. I thought it might have been mainly because of my slower dialup access, but now that I have DSL, it hasn't changed. A browser without tabs would be a BIG step backward.Especially when reading blogs, there are often several links I might want to go to, but if I go to them when I see them, it is a diversion,

Art in the 3rd dimension.

2005-05-17T22:58:00.000-04:00

Brother Nardo sent me this link to the site of an unlikely and previously unfamiliar (to me) Dutch artist by the name of Rinus Roelofs. Did I say WOooooaaaahhhwooohoogahgahgahgahbubububububyeeeeeehaaa yet?I can't describe his sculpture, computer graphics, stuctures, optical brain toys all.Hoping to be within fair use of his copyright, I will send you on your way to check it out with the image

Big Band Gig

2005-05-16T14:27:00.000-04:00

I usually play best embedded (hiding?) in the midst of a concert band, playing a Sousa march or some overture or pops piece, but underneath, I really love the Big Band Glenn Miller or Dorsey type music. I don't have as much experience or skill at that, either, but from time to time I am asked to substitute in a local "Big Band of the 40's" for a "paid" gig where a musician can't make it. If you

Wheel lugs

2005-05-03T22:55:00.000-04:00

This is a mundane, non intellectual posting, but I get some traffic due to search engine hits on words from my archives, partially because my posts vary so much. So this qualifies as atypical, not unlike me.Though my '91 Ford Explorer runs pretty well, it has a variety of ills, and one that nagged at me was that the lugs nuts on this era of ford were made really crappy (crapily?). For some reason

Stupid airport security

2005-04-20T13:10:00.000-04:00

I think this issue is making people madder and madder, maybe some smart official will see the light at some point, but it really seems embarrassing that we still are frisking the old ladies and obviously non-threatening airport passengers.Is it because if we are accused of targeting racially or based on profile that it would offend someone? I really don't think that would happen. It could be

Quarters

2005-04-08T17:57:00.000-04:00

Quarters. I have said for quite a while that I would be willing to chair the committee to eliminate dimes, nickels and pennies, and round off to the nearest two bits: the quarter. Financial transactions could still reflect cents, or fractions thereof, if they want to. Lets face it, these little dimes, nickels and pennies are more annoying than they are worth. My plan,for a period of time you

Optical dilusions

2005-03-27T18:52:00.000-05:00

I have to pass on a couple of optical illusions that I ran across. Our eyes actually don't see things perfectly like cameras. Instead they have to report to the brain the partial data that they see, and then the mind interprets it from both eyes, and if it doesn't make sense, scans again quickly and tries to fill in the information that does not compute.It does this quickly and uses experience

Patent search

2005-03-23T14:21:00.000-05:00

A few years back I tried to look up patents on the internet and found you could not do it. I just found that they have changed that, and the U.S. Patent Office had a great searchable site.I was successful in finding some patents by my old friend John Adams in Virginia, for instance #4524476 However, I also looked up an old patent number off a gadget for paint pinstriping I had shown to

k-e-double-l-o-double-g-s

2005-03-21T11:11:00.000-05:00

I was browsing historical photos on the Connecticut state archive site, and just liked this old picture of a Kellogg's truck. Check out the corn flakes boxes on top. Ask for the WAXTITE package.

2005-03-05T14:22:00.000-05:00

© I was reading some material about copyrights on a government site after a discussion with some musicians about making copies of musical scores. Buried in small print, I discovered an interesting concept that I had not realized before, and I think most people have the same mistaken concept as I did.© I thought that copyrights (and patents for that matter) were established to protect the rights

Eminent Domain Abuse

2005-03-01T22:26:00.000-05:00

I have typically kept my governmental and political views out of this blog, but I feel a need to voice an opinion about an important constitutional issue here in Connecticut that has risen to the Supreme Court. The issue is eminent domain:Typically we were taught that if an interstate was going through, or a new town hall was being built, and the government needed the land,

Kuni - Kunihiko Makita

2005-02-14T16:19:00.000-05:00

Fire up the way-back machine ~~~~~ Our family hosted an AFS exchange student from Japan when I was a junior in high school. Kuni was a friend and "brother" to us.He went on to a career in the foreign service of Japan, and we followed him from a distance. I never knew how significant and important his roles were. I knew he was a "China Watcher " among other things. The first official post name I

CT Tobacco Barns

2005-02-10T13:55:00.000-05:00

Connecticut does have a Tobacco industry. It is just a sliver of what it used to be, though. Most of it is "shade tobacco" protected by net screens looking like so many square miles of spider web supported by scaffolding to make a sort of a greenhouse effect during critical times of the plant growth. This produces good tobacco for wrapping cigars, I am told. Local people my age remember having

Jew's Harp Revisited

2005-02-02T15:47:00.000-05:00

I was thinking that the fairly decent Jew's harp I have squirreled away in my drawer was a dying breed. Even in the old days when Johnson-Smith was the my Jew's harp source; (see my archive blog) and when Froggie the Gremlin (another past blog) was twanging, or Gerald Mc Boing Boing was boinging, we in the Brooks family were strangely proud to know the difference between a toy or cheap Jew's

Spring Thing

2005-01-15T02:15:00.000-05:00

This might seem very popular science weekend project-ish, but I have been enjoying the tools on puzzlephotos, so I have a few gadget related blogs in mind, including this one. I have installed too many door closers in my time, most are finicky and either take too long to close the door, or don't really latch it right, or slam it anyway eventually as the hyraulics fade, or the screws loosen. Well,

Pogo Stick owners manual?

2005-01-07T20:26:00.000-05:00

Our family was reminiscing about stilts and pogo sticks that we over-used as kids, but Martha, as expected, did us one better. Not only does she still have her pogo stick from the old days, but she has the spare parts envelope with instructions that came with it! My attitude would have been, if you can't figure out what to do with the cotter pin, or had to read instructions (for goodness sake) to

TubaChristmas

2004-12-13T20:47:00.000-05:00

I had a new musical-social experience last week. TubaChristmas 2004. I was encouraged into it by a friend, who wouldn't let me use the excuse that I am not good enough, joking that nobody would know if I was off or not, among 200 other tubas! About 5 months ago, I got a used Baritone horn, or euphonium, which is sort of a baby tuba. I thought I could learn the fingerings fairly quickly, and it is

College age Sea Monkeys?

2004-12-05T10:41:00.000-05:00

A posting on Fragments From FLoyd gives me another reason to doubt the flexibility, sense of humor or at least the appreciation of life of the next generation. Fred, professor of biology in Virginia (and so much more), did not describe this incident to disparage the students, but as a tongue-in-cheek failure of his stand-up comedy approach to a class lesson. However, I read more into it. He

CADD drawings show their age.

2004-12-01T01:54:00.000-05:00

The year 1947. The task: an architect drew by hand with artistic stroke and tedious detail the plans - multiple pages 36" x 48" for the dam and associated buildings, occupied and controlled by the Army Corps of Engineers. The Place: Buggs Island Lake - the huge reservoir on the N.C. - VA border that flooded untold acres and provided water for the region with watersports and vacation property a

Wayne Green

2004-11-23T09:35:00.000-05:00

In the first few years of the Microcomputer revolution, 1980's, I had the honor and curiosity of being hired by Wayne Green of New Hampshire. I was in Virginia, and through an ad and a trip to N.H. I got a job selling software (Instant Software) and publications (80Micro, etc.) to the first computer stores in the mid Atlantic area. I got to meet and talk with Wayne Green, who was a

Sporting spirit?

2004-11-22T11:57:00.000-05:00

I am not a regular sports fan, but I probably am like a huge block of people in the country, the fall baseball fans, taking interest in the playoffs and the series only, even though they have a casual favorite or interest in the regular season. I cherry pick from the sports smorgasbord, (to mix my metaphors). Basketball is even less on my radar screen, mainly because it has become such a physical

Community Band

2004-11-05T13:59:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple of shots of our Farmington Valley Band. It is sometimes a little bigger group than this, but is always quite the archetype spirited band. Sam, the director has saved hundreds of old arrangements from the old bands, some sounding like the old two step band 78's I have heard. I only wish I were a stronger player. There are many in the group with extraordinary ability. I love the

anticryptography

2004-11-04T14:35:00.000-05:00

Anticryptography is a new word for me, but it refers to those many times stupid iconographic signs that are supposed to tell us something where at first blush, a word or two would do. The idea of anticryptography is to assume no prior knowledge in communication, which means independent of ability to have language skill. (and some say a lack of common sense) On the other hand, I guess I can see

O IM A GOOD OLD REBEL

2004-10-28T14:45:00.000-04:00

The Civil War was not back that far. I am reminded that the Beebe house I live in was built in the 1830's. This Connecticut mill town here was going strong thirty years after that,during the Civil War, putting out woolen fabric for the Yankees, no doubt. Elsewhere, just after the war, there were some gloomy ex-rebels who clung to the old southern cause that they fought so hard for. I scanned a

Two tall tales of deception

2004-10-26T13:39:00.000-04:00

Two different times I have discovered that small fibs can catch up to you years later.Pictures set the stage:The first tale happened years ago, when I was parts manager at Richmond Power Eqpt. and I had just come back from a business driving trip to the western part of Virginia. I was in my office showing some pictures of that to some people and a wise guy Tom W. came in uninvited and was sort of

Open minded science

2004-10-12T13:45:00.000-04:00

You would think and hope that the scientific community really should be the most open minded about theories and changes in mega-trends and ideas due to the study of facts and opposing research. That may be true on the every day scientific method of research, but historically, scientists, notably in the medical arena, have fought stubbornly and non-scientifically against movements that go

Froggy the Gremlin

2004-10-01T16:28:00.000-04:00

Twang your magic twanger froggy! . . . . Hy ya Kids! Hy ya, hy ya, hy ya! Somehow I ran intoMichelle's world, a wonderful nostalgic site for us folks who are, "older than dirt" as my son kindly said once. I am amazed from the feedback comments, (or maybe not amazed) at the number of people who remember this strange piece of TV history, on Andy's Gang, and The Buster Brown show with

"Smart Road" in Virginny

2004-09-26T23:26:00.000-04:00

Something I learned about in VA after I left is an advanced outdoor "smart road" laboratory near Blacksburg. It is eventually going to go the whole 6 miles from Blacksburg to I-81, making a nifty bypass for travelers, and the professors and students of Va Tech as a side benefit. But it now extends just 2 miles, mainly the beautiful concrete and local "hokey stone" bridge in the picture below,

Mozilla one more time

2004-09-17T13:36:00.000-04:00

I am trying Mozilla FireFox So far, It's a possible winner (Update: It isn't winning. See comments.) I have always been reluctant to relinquish the default browser to Mr. Gates, but it was increasingly a hassle to deal with the variations, especially after Netscape joined the AOL Time Warner gang, it made no sense to stand up to Microsoft to be loyal to AOL(?) That was not logical, Mr. Spock. My

Rural Virginia revisited

2004-09-16T16:37:00.000-04:00

I got to thinking of offbeat places I discovered when I lived Virginia that probably would not appear in the travel guide. I kept thinking of "Swannanoa". There is a Swannanoa in North Carolina as well, quite a popular name around the Ashville area, and there probably was a connection to this lesser known spot through its original owner, but that is another story. Swannanoa estate is just past

Rural Virginia

2004-09-10T22:24:00.000-04:00

"Fragments from Floyd", is a site that I have visited from time to time,. This man Fred is a real naturalist, quite a writer, and his photographs are just wonderful. I won't use his pictures here since they are copyrighted, but I'm sure you will agree they are stunning. His ongoing intelligent and informed tales of events and activities in that part of the world are worth a browse. It does bring

Put your lips together and just blow.

2004-08-28T23:04:00.000-04:00

I never could whistle. I mean I always thought I was pretty much on tune, but there was a disconnect there, that sometimes I knew I was off, but couldn't correct it like I can on my trombone. If the note sounds a little flat, I just adjust the slide up a little. With my whistle, I don't seem to have that ability, even when I hear it. Even at that, I may be better than a whole lot of people, but

L'Attitude

2004-08-18T12:54:00.000-04:00

My sister Leah has been a singer and a musical force as long as I can remember, and I knew her when I was only 10 ¦;¬) . It is no surprise that she is again associated with an exceptional singing group, L'Attitude My idea that key lines from songs can trigger a song in your mind is expanded further, just reading some titles in their repertoire: If You Love Me I've Got the World on a String

Computeracy: Computer illiteracy?

2004-08-15T17:51:00.000-04:00

It still amazes me the fundamental ignorance of computers by some average people, even those who are using them daily, and are otherwise adept. This is not to knock ignorance, since I know I certainly am ignorant in so many fields. And it's not because I have knowledge of computers. It's just the way that it surfaces and the very basic confusion that puzzles me. Computers have been ubiquitous

APOD: 2004 July 17 - Transit of Venus Stereogram

2004-07-28T14:16:00.000-04:00

. Every day a new image from NASA, and they are so varied, every time I go to look there is something totally unexpected. I appreciate this stereo pair of our old friend the transit of Venus. It appears in black and white, but somehow the 3d takes you there. Credit: G. Schneider (Steward Obs.), J. Pasachoff (Williams College), TRACE Project, NASA You gotta cross your eyes to see the effect

Does this work?

2004-07-16T10:44:00.000-04:00

I saw this ad for a light control in one of those mail-order catalogs. Now I am not a rocket scientist, but how does this thing work? Let's see. . . 1. It is dark out and the bulb comes on. 2. Since the sensor is inches from the bulb, it will now think it is light, so the lamp will go off. 3. Then since it is dark, the light will logically come on. . . .??? 4. Since it is light,