Gotta love these emails that try to get you to divulge personal info and get money out of you.

The sad part is that some people actually fall for these things.

My favorite part is the "Note:" at the bottom. 

By the way, I don't recommend that you follow any links contained in the text below. ;-)

 

Federal Bureau of Investigation ✆ fbi@gov.org	1:56 PM (7 hours ago)
to undisclosed recipients

 

I was just in a Shop Rite checking out, and as the cashier was taking the money from the guy ahead of me for his order, he offered to give her a quarter in addition to the bills he had already given her. I believe the amount of the order was something-dollars and 23 cents.
Well, since she had already entered the amount of the bills into the computerized register, after momentarily looking like a deer in headlights, she told him that it was not possible because she had already entered the amount of the paper money.
I found it quite disturbing that we now live in a society where a teenager cannot comprehend giving back 2 cents and one more dollar than the computer says rather than the 77 cents originally calculated by a soulless machine.
Whether she thought it would screw up her register or that she simply was incapable of figuring it out is irrelevant (I'm guessing it was both). It just goes to show that youth today has come to rely too heavily on automation. They no longer have the basic skills that most of us learned at a very young age.
Remember years ago? Before the computer age? The three very basic skills we were taught were reading, writing, and arithmetic. Somewhere along the way we dropped two of those primordial elements of our life. The penmanship of most of the kids I've seen lately is absolutely atrocious, and they don't know basic math.
On a related note, I was floored to discover that many kids today do not know how to tell time on an analog clock! Are you kidding me?
Look, I understand that we've made great strides in technology, but does that justify an evolution towards complete dependence on it? Shouldn't we still be raising kids with the basic skills to be self-functioning in the event there's ever a situation where there are no machines to function for them?
Make no mistake, I am not one of those stubborn old fools that is resistant to change and advances in technology. In fact, I take advantage of it to the fullest. I am composing and posting this from a small computer/phone/media player/camera/video recorder/etc., while sitting in my car.
But here's the thing...if I didn't have this little device, I am capable of picking up a pen and paper and writing all this down in either legible printing or script (another thing that seems to have gone by the wayside).
I can also figure out taxes, tips and change without the use of any mechanical device. Hell, when I was in college, I worked as a cashier on a manual cash register where I had to add the tax myself. With the tax rate being 5% at the time, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out tax; but it's a basic math skill you'd be hard pressed to find in todays youth.

So, to paraphrase the question asked by Ed Norton to chef of the future Ralph Kramden, with all these fancy new fangled technological advances, can it core a apple?
Simple.

This has been going around email circles for almost 10 years now, and seems it's making the rounds again.

Written by Regina Brett who, contrary to the email's claim that she is 90, is actually 55 years old.

This is some really awesome yet simple advice.

 

Originally published in The Plain Dealer on Sunday, May 28, 2006

To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.

It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolls over to 50 this week, so here's an update:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.

17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.

18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.

38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

45. The best is yet to come.

46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

48. If you don't ask, you don't get.

49. Yield.

50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Just received this in email and found it thought provoking:

 

Christmas 2011 -- Birth of a New Tradition‏

 

 

Sad news, and all the more reason to not miss this one.
I am glad that they're not letting it just fade away on this past year's cancellation.

Official NEARfest Press Release October 17, 2011

NEARFEST APOCALYPSE TO BE FINAL EDITION OF FESTIVAL

In 1999, the North East Art Rock Festival was started as an effort to return progressive rock music to the area where it thrived back in its heyday. In the 1970s, the Philadelphia area was a well-known hotbed of fandom for the brand of rock music featuring exemplary virtuosity. With the re-emergence of progressive music worldwide in the early `90s, festivals became a novel way to feature both new bands and re-invigorate some from the past. A few festivals had come before, namely ProgFest (CA), the ever-present ProgDay (NC), BajaProg (Mexico), and the short-lived ProgScape (MD), plus several after, but none have taken on the notoriety NEARfest had achieved. In just a few short years, NEARfest became the "most prestigious progressive rock festival in the world" and has remained so for over 12 years.

From its inception, NEARfest has strived to merge extraordinary bands from the global Prog Rock underground and the devoted community of eclectic music fans on this side of the pond. It was felt that otherwise, never would the two meet, especially en masse. This emotional combination of musical dedication has produced many a weekend of musical bliss. Ask any former attendee of the festival and you will get a different list of highlights from years past, which is validation in itself of NEARfest's dedication to a diverse lineup of Prog Rock subgenres. Favorites will range from Camel and Keith Emerson to Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and Miriodor; from Steve Hackett and Banco to Echolyn and Hidria Spacefolk; from Magma and Univers Zero to Kenso and Kraan; from Eddie Jobson and Three Friends to Cabezas de Cera and Beardfish; from Porcupine Tree and PFM to Anekdoten and Änglagård. And that's only a fraction of the over 120 bands that have performed at NEARfest to date.

And now, the time has come to complete the cycle.

2012 will mark the final edition of the North East Art Rock Festival. NEARfest has always employed a model, for right or wrong, where lineups were typically anchored by legends of the greater genre and featured a plethora of world-class bands spanning the broad range of subgenres. Part of the success of NEARfest and its rapid sellouts was its ability to attract legendary progressive bands that had played only infrequently, if ever, on the East Coast of the United States. As time has marched inexorably, it started to become clear that this headliner-centric model would not be sustainable indefinitely. Too much of a change in the model and those dedicated to attending and supporting the festival may feel that it is no longer in the spirit of NEARfest itself. Therefore, we have decided to retain the marriage of our successful model to our NEARfest brand name.

After the unfortunate events leading to the cancellation of NEARfest 2011, we could not allow the legacy of NEARfest to end with a dark and empty stage. The festival has meant too much to too many, including us, to just disappear without at least making an attempt at a joyous swan song. Therefore, since the spring of 2011, the three of us have been conspiring to put together a final NEARfest, one true to its roots and special to its faithful. We are happy to say that this will indeed happen.

NEARfest Apocalypse will be held over the weekend of June 22nd, 23rd, and 24th, 2012 at its rightful home, the Zoellner Arts Center at Lehigh University in beautiful Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. This will be a true celebration of progressive rock music as well as a "raising of the glass" to everyone who has made NEARfest so special to so many of us over the last 13 years, including our outstanding crew and production team, the wonderful staff at Zoellner, and everyone who has ever bought a ticket to NEARfest. There are plans for activities beyond the norm for the weekend, which will be detailed as the festival draws closer. For now though, we can tell you that both Roger Dean and Mark Wilkinson will be involved in the artwork for this final special event. We will also do our best to make sure that both of these fine gentlemen are in attendance.

In the coming weeks, we will announce the entire NEARfest Apocalypse lineup live on the air on the Gagliarchives radio program. The exact air date will be determined shortly and announced online NEARfest.com, our Yahoo mailing list, Facebook, Twitter, and Progressive Ears. Stay tuned!

We sincerely hope that you will join us for the final chapter of NEARfest. After all, the world ends in December 2012 anyway, right?

Most humbly, Chad Hutchinson Rob LaDuca Kevin Feeley

Links: NEARfest Website, http://www.nearfest.com

So I saw one of my favorite bands from the 80's last night at a club called Havana in New Hope, PA last night.
It was only my 4th or 5th time seeing them, and one time was at a small bar about 20 years ago without Fee, so I don't even count that one. I first saw them on the Pier in NYC for their 1983 Outside Inside tour (same tour that was broadcast on MTV for their Saturday Night Concerts series if I recall), and again a couple times on the 1985 Love Bomb tour.
One thing I've always said about the Tubes is that they put on the best show of any band I've ever seen. That opinion has not changed (although Zappa was a very close second). Keep in mind that my idea of a good show is not only the music and musicianship, but also the visuals and overall energy of the performers.
Last night, the Tubes proved to me that a bunch of 60 year old guys can still put on a fantastic show filled with energy to rival bands half their age. As far as theatrics go, the limited size of the bar stage did not keep Fee from changing costumes to act out various classics from their vast repertoire. Another important thing to note is that unlike many other bands well past their heyday, Fee's voice is still relatively intact with only slight noticeable degradation. By contrast, lead singers like Ian Anderson and Steve Walsh (of Jethro Tull and Kansas, respectively) don't even sound like the same person they once were.

As far as last night's show goes, it was a show for their devoted fans. Either that or a show aimed at forcing casual fans to realize that there was The Tubes before MTV. Anyone who went to see She's A Beauty and Talk To Ya Later had to stay for the entire show, and even then would find that these "hits" were two of only three tunes performed from their 1980's output. The remainder of the set was all from their 70's pre-MTV days.

While I didn't write down the setlist, here is what they performed, sorted by original release:

From 1975's debut The Tubes:
Haloes
Mondo Bondage
What Do You Want From Life?
White Punks On Dope

From 1976's Young And Rich:
Brighter Day
Pimp
Slipped My Disco

From 1977's Now:
Smoke

From 1979's Remote Control:
Turn Me On
Getoverture
Telecide

From 1981's Completion Backward Principle:
Talk To Ya Later
Don't Want To Wait Anymore

From 1983's Outside Inside:
She's A Beauty

They also performed two cover tunes; a very soulful rendition of James Brown's It's A Man's Man's Man's World, as well as Jimi Hendrix's Third Stone From The Sun.

Overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable show, and I would not hesitate to see them again. As I said, for a bunch of 60 year olds, they've still got it.

I took a handful of crappy cell phone pics, which can be viewed here.

Google+ Gets a Leg Up on Facebook - NYTimes.com

This Is What It's Like to Actually Use Google+, Google's New Social Network

Due to the fact that I recently got out of a situation where I was often berated and belittled, I've decided to leave the past behind me and focus on practicing a very positive outlook in my everyday life rather than let negative feelings consume me. Those of you who know me on facebook and twitter have surely noticed my posts of positive thoughts and just a general PMA. I've since noticed positive changes in myself as well as my surroundings. Things don't bother me like they once did. I see the good in people and the world again. I've even become a very calm and tolerant driver (those who know me know that this is huge). I've restored a self-confidence that a recently-removed-from-my-life individual constantly tried to demolish. In fact, after some reading and a lot of reflection, I now know that it is the person that does the berating and belittling that is the one that is sadly insecure. Positive and confident people do not put down others; it just doesn't happen. It is for that very reason that I choose to not waste energy on grudges and ill feelings. In fact, quite the opposite. I actually feel bad for this individual and hope that they can find inner peace. I have nothing but love and positive memories of them.

Anyway, I've been receiving emails from positive life coaches, and this is one I received today that I wanted to share because I feel it is very poignant and very simple.

Things better, people worse

• The average house was 1000 sq feet, now it's 2422 sq feet
• A McDonald's cheeseburger cost 30 min of wages, now it costs 3 min
• There was 1 car for every 2 households, now there are 2 for every 1 household
• Life expectancy has since gone up by an average of 8 years
• GDP has since tripled or gone up 8.9 trillion dollars

• The divorce rate has doubled
• Teen suicide has tripled
• Recorded violent crime has quadrupled
• And Depression has increased 10x - that's right ten times.