Posts filed under 'The Loose Change'
Last night saw Billy Joel in concert. It was a perfect night at the outdoor amphitheater for the occasion, about 75, slight breeze. Had seats in the lawn/grass part of the concert, but the sound system was so good, I don’t think it really mattered that much where you sat.
All in all, me and the packed place seemed to have a great time. The huge monitors showed close ups of Billy playing the piano, and man can that dude play the piano. Amazing.
I hadn’t been to a Billy Joel concert in like 20 years. He’s lost a bit of hair, seems a lot more humble and was very funny on stage telling jokes between songs. It was the first time he’d ever been to the beach. And he played and sounded much like he did back in his 30’s. I hope I can ‘perfom’ that well when I am 60.
On an interesting side note, his much younger wife went the same college that I did back in Oxford, OH, but I didn’t know her.
Anyway, the songs were the usual and the audience seemed to know most of the words. A good time was had by nearly all.
June 22nd, 2008
In a moment of optimism for something ‘healthier’, at least a rationalization for it, I ordered a Papa Johns whole wheat crust pizza. I went Hawaiian (pineapple and ham) with some added beef for more flavor. Ok, so not exactly healthy, the pizza was unique to say the least.
First of all, there was an unusual smell compared to the regular original crust. That should have been my first clue.
I have tried many ‘whole wheat’ products in the past. And usually they taste slightly better then cardboard. There is a reason that we use white flour - for ‘taste’ and ‘texture’. But I figured Papa Johns wouldn’t possibly put out a product that tastes slightly better than cardboard.
Well, uh, nice try Papa John, but I successfully ’struggled’ through the first piece. Somehow I think maybe a thinner crust or a ‘blend’ with less whole wheat would deliver much better results. Whole wheat has a way of ‘dominating’ the taste of whatever you put it in. And in this case, Papa Johns pizza was no exception.
Now, interestingly enough, there were 2 definite positive things I noticed.
#1) I couldn’t eat more than 1 or 2 slices at a time, because it was so dense. And I also couldn’t eat it very fast, because of the whole wheat factor. It really made me chew the pizza more. This is probably a good thing in the long run.
#2) The pizza tasted MUCH BETTER the second day after sitting all night in the refrigerator. I warmed a slice up in the toaster oven and I almost got used to the ‘new’ flavor. I even ate 2 pieces this time.
So, all in all, my review of their whole wheat pizza is that they need to go back to the drawing board and change the ratio or make it a thin crust of something.
If you are thinking about ordering this version of their pizza, be warned it does not taste ANYTHING like their original pizza. It is edible, but I don’t really know if it was truly enjoyable.
Kudos anyway for attempting something ‘healthier’…
June 1st, 2008
Recently I was at a friends home and they are usually up to something interesting and unusal. This time they had “the best green tea in China”, according to another friend who brought it back straight from China. Curious, and being a green tea drinker, I wanted to try the tea. They debated a while, as they did not have much left, but after careful consideration, allowed me to drink a cup or three.
Bottom line, it was truly amazing. It was incredibly full bodied and very sweet. It was easily the best tea I had ever had. And it didn’t have any added sugar or anything, it was just loose leaf pure green tea. One small problem, they didn’t know the name of the tea and neither did their friend who brought it back from China. So they gave me a box of “Gunpowder Tea”, and sent me on my way. Of course, the taste of that gunpowder tea was no where in comparison to the “best tea in China”.
So that lead me on a quest searching for the “best tea in China”. I have since purchased a lot green tea, loose leaf form. The stuff in bags are not the highest of quality and usually what’s leftover from the loose leaf, so I stopped drinking bagged tea. I now only drink loose leaf tea (the kind that you spoon out into a strainer and steep for anywhere from 1 - 3 minutes and generally not available in supermarkets) and I have drank a lot of it. I have tried about 20 different types of green tea and NONE of them came even close to the tea I had at my friends house. Many of them are quite good and have sublte depths of various flavors, but that one tea was still the sweetest tea I have ever tasted. But I have no idea what the name of it is.
So for now the quest continues, I buy tea from incredibleteas.com, dragonherbs.com, and Silk Road Teas. I even have and grow my own little green tea bush in my backyard (which fortunately has taken hold and is starting to grow like crazy) and in a couple years, might be able to a cup or two from it. As I understand it, the best tea comes from 500 year old bushes. Just my luck.
In case you didn’t know ALL tea comes from the same plant - Camellia Sinensis. It doesn’t matter if it’s black, green or oolong tea. They are all the same leaves from that particular Camellia plant. It’s ultimately a matter of how oxidized the leaves are allowed to get after picking that determines whether it’s green, black, white or oolong.
If I ever discover the “best tea in China” then I will blog about it, I suspect, or I might just keep it a secret and let people venture down their own path of consuming copious amounts of the green stuff. I hear it even has health benefits…
May 24th, 2008
Ok, so I broke down and upgraded my 32″ 1080i TV to a brand new Sony 46″ Bravia 1080p 120 hz Full HDTV. The result? AWESOME! So much better I can’t even tell you. I also hooked up my PS3/Blu-Ray Player and now watch DVD movies in FULL 1080p. Anyone telling you there isn’t a difference is either blind or needs glasses. Seriously.
And having done so here are some things I have learned about HD since then:
Not all HD is created equal. Most cable and satellite HDTV programs are broadcast in 720p (also known as 1080i). And on cable systems, some HD channels aren’t even 720p, they are compressed because they can’t fit all that data through the cable. So you aren’t even getting the full HD effect. Sad, but true. HD takes up alot of bandwidth.
Blu-Ray has become the most popular HD format for DVD’s. More and more companies are now making DVD’s for blu ray, made by Sony. So if you are thinking about getting an HD DVD, then get a Play Station 3 and you’ll automatically have a great blu-ray DVD HD player. Not to mention you should buy Call of Duty 4 and play it in 1080p mode (FULL Hi Def) on at least a 46″ TV. Simply Amazing. I think my accuracy went up when I did.
Not all games for the PS3 are in 1080p. For example, one of the top games, Oblivion 4, is not in 1080p. It’s 720p. Which means it has 30% less detail than it could. Hopefully the next game in that series will be FULL HD. So, it’s important to check the back of the box to see what the graphic detail is. Lately I am addicted to full HD, and fortunately and amazingly COD4 is Full HD (1080p). Be prepared to be sucked into hours / months of game play should you buy Call of Duty 4. You have been warned.
Finally I also upgraded to a quad core PC with 4 gb and rocking graphics card. This new system smokes. Should have upgraded a long time ago for sure.
May 13th, 2008
I have a great cardiologist friend of mine. Every time I talk to him he asks, “Have you spent any time with yourself today?”. Meaning no TV, no computer, no itunes in the ears, no cells phones, no distractions, just a few moments of listeniing to and feeling just your self. And I have to admit, I don’t experience that as often as I’d like. And the troubling thing is that I don’t have anyone to blame, other than myself.
The times that I do make an effort to quiet my mind, pay attention to my body and be calm and still are like mini-vacations. And the great part, is that you can do it anytime you like…except while driving or operating heavy machinery. Side effects will vary :)
And yes, you will still have to do the dishes, or go to work, or dress yourself, it just might be even better with a quiet mind 
September 7th, 2007
If you’ve updated your reception to hi-def, then chances are you have seen or heard about a show called “Sunrise Earth” on Discovery HD. If you don’t have hi-defintion channels (different than regular cable), then this might be a good reason to upgrade. It’s a very simple show. Just a high definition camera, great natural live sound and nature. THat’s it. And not like Africa on the plains with suspenseful music and a high profile actor narrating the consummate struggle with life and death. Nope, Sunrise Earth is more toned down.
Today’s episode was about some horses grazing in a green field with majestic mountains in the background while the sun was rising on a ranch in Wyoming. That was it. For an hour. And worth every penny. No narritive, no commercials, just some horses. Tranquil TV.
In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it’s easy to forget to pay attention to the natural flow of this planet. Not our screwed up, technologically saavy, productive society, mind you, but something even deeper. Our natural world. Nature - as healing as it gets. And sadly, glimpses like these are slowly, but surely disappearing. I drove down a rode I hadn’t been down in a while here in town. Normally lined with woods on either side. In just a year or two, all the trees were gone and there was nothing but houses.
Thank God and the former presidents (not W, btw) for creating and preserving natural parks, forrests and the like. It’s entirely possible that someday at the rate of current construction, these video recordings might be all that we have left of what life was like on our planet before all the human development.
It’s ironic to rave of a TV show inside the comforts of our homes about nature, but I think it’s a good thing, independant of time and space to get a chance to experience moments (even if just virtual and temporary, without the smell, touch and ‘energy’) of the experience. An experience I might not have had otherwise. It’s like a breather and a reminder that we choose this life and these experiences and our stress levels. And watching in hi-def seems to help amplify the experience.
The other day, I was walking through the state park and this spontaneous thought popped in…
I don’t know what makes the trees grow,
I don’t know what makes the wind blow
All I know is that I like it.
September 7th, 2007
Alright, so I had some free time this afternoon and coincidentally got my brand new shiny tri-field meter in the mail. Everyone’s got to have a hobby right?
Well, this trifield meter measures electromagnetic fields. It’s been suggested that habitually being around devices with strong emf fields could be detrimental to our health and well-being. I’ve known about subtle energy, respect the concept and feel that it might warrant some attention.
The tri-field meter I got measures not only magnetic fields, but electrical and radio/microwave emissions. It’s very easy to use, you just turn it on and walk around. For the most part, my house was fairly inert - or lacking big emf fields. Except for the major appliances. The most notable being the refrigerator. And the side of the refigerator put out even a stronger field. Other strong ones (strong meaning way past 3 milligauss) was the stereo receiver for which I have my TV audio hooked to. That actually had a quite a big field (extended several feet beyond the device itself).
A couple interesting things. I switched over to measuring microwaves and turned on my microwave. Lesson learned. Don’t stand right next to my microwave when it’s on. The waves were strong, even with the door shut. I guess that’s why people with pacemakers shouldn’t use microwaves.
The other strong field was emitted by the Portable Sony Playstation (PSP). That cranked out some strong numbers. Makes me wonder if playing that over hours is such a hot idea. No pun intended.
My alarm clock in my bedroom had a pretty big em field. I guess that’s why the alternative docs suggested not to keep it near your head when you sleep. Fortunately, I keep mine on the other side of the room.
Lastly the surge protector to my computer equipment registered some of the strongest electromagnetic fields in my house. They were huge em readings. And I haven’t read that there are easy ways to counter em fields, something bout sheet metal. So I will have to play around with that, considering how much time I spend playing in that room.
Other than that, those were the most notable.
Being probably one of the few people in the world who don’t own a cell phone, I didn’t get a chance to play around with that yet. Also, it would also be interesting to see what the fields are like inside a car. Electric and gas powered.
September 6th, 2007
Ok, I’ve been a fan of tennis for decades. And I’ve been patiently watching and putting up with the players obsessive compulsive behavior. It’s almost funny at this point. Djokovic’s obsessive ball bouncing (the announcers even have me counting the number of times he bounces the ball), Maria Sharapova’s loud screaming (not to mention the placing of hair behind her ears before each serve), but I have to draw the line with Nadals picking the underwear out of his crack on nearly every point. Now he picks the underwear out of his crack, then bends over and checks his shoes, sometimes wipes his hand and is ready to play.
I know there’s a difference between obsessive compulsive behavior and habit, but for the life of me can’t figure it out. And for some reason watching Nadal pulling his underwear out really gets me to NOT want to watch Rafa play. I mean I respect the guy and all, I think he’s the real deal, but I just can’t handle his social demeanor, uh I mean sports ritual. And I, of all people, am not one usually for social demeanor.
So my suggestion to Rafael Nadal and his shorts problem is to try a different brand of underwear. Maybe he’s wearing a jock strap, perhaps he should switch to boxers. Maybe briefs might help prevent the underwear from riding up into his butt crack on every point. How about powdering that area so that it doesn’t stick. I mean something, anything.
I just don’t ever recall seeing any other player in the history having so much problems with his underwear as Rafael Nadal does. So there has to be a solution, somehow, somewhere.
September 4th, 2007
1) You’re pretty pissed off you own a 1080i LCD TV, as opposed to a 1080p
2) You waited in line on the first day to buy an iPhone.
3) You spent extra money on the HDMI cable for your new PS3
4) You use the extra heat and radiation coming from your cell phone to warm up your ears on cold days
5) You have to check your email at least 6 times per day
6) You lose sleep if you didn’t check your email before going to bed
7) You have calluses from text messaging so much
You have eyestrain from playing your PSP on the way to work or school
9) You crave a liquid cooled quad core desktop with a 32 inch monitor
10) You lose sleep, skip meals, and ignore people because you are too busy surfing the web, blogging, checking email, and playing video games
And this is just the beginning, I am sure there are tons more I didn’t even consider. Feel free to comment…
September 4th, 2007
I’ve always been a believer that nature offers some of the best solutions for our health and well-being. Food being one of them :) For those of you dealing with inflammation, either chronic or acute, there is an herb out there that has been used for centuries. It’s called Turmeric, or Curcuma Longa. And it’s part of the ginger family. It’s also been used not only medicinally for centuries, but as a spice for our foods. It’s in the well known yelllow/orange herb in curry dishes from the east. It’s also in a lot of the mustards on the shelf.
But for the past several years, I have taken turmeric on and off. And I have personally observed noticeable anti-inflammatory responses as a result of taking turmeric. I take it by the capsule, 500 to 1000 mg a few times per week, when needed. It’s been suggested that it even acts like a mild cox-2 inihibitor, further backing up the idea of it being a anti-inflammatory solution.
Recent studies have shown that Tumeric to have pronounced anti-oxidant properties, and even tumor suppressing properties. And it’s been suggested that a little turmeric is actually better than a lot of turmeric. I have experimented with higher doses and lower doses, and for me, found the lower doses to be just as effective. Taking more, turmeric didn’t reduce inflammation any more or longer. So just one or two capsules seem to work just fine.
There are also tons of recipes out there so that you could just as easily add turmeric into your lifestyle. Try it and see for yourself.
September 4th, 2007
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