Boooooooo

Once in a while I run over something while Googling or reading Blogs and this one blew, err booed me away...
The Essential Ghoul's Record Shelf
A most intriuging study of goulish music over time, utterly facinating and with mp3's to boot, or is that hoot? In any case it is a blog I will be visting from time to time in future as well. Makes me want to see what I have in my collection... Lo and behold here we have the GhostlyHaunted playlist:
16 tracks in playlist, average track length: 4:22
Playlist length: 1 hour 10 minutes 0 seconds

1. Poe - Haunted (Chris Vrenna Remix) (3:49)
2. Trembling Blue Stars - The Ghost Of An Unkissed Kiss (4:33)
3. Rage Against the Machine - The ghost of Tam Joad (5:42)
4. Nightwish - Ghost Love Score (10:35)
5. The Specials - Ghost town (3:41)
6. B*Wiched - Are you a ghost (3:37)
7. Joe Dolan - Dreaming (ghosts on the moon) (3:24)
8. Placebo - Sleeping with ghosts (4:38)
9. Paul Oakenfold - Nixon's spirit (2:48)
10. Eros Ramazzotti - Lo spirito degli alberi (4:12)
11. Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit (4:37)
12. Norman Greenbaum - Spirit in the sky (3:57)
13. Ronan Hardiman - Spirit In The New World (1:35)
14. Sacred Spirit - Yeha noha (4:24)
15. Evanescence - Haunted (3:06)
16. Poe - Haunted (5:22)
Yes, had to start and end with Poe, she fits the bill together with Nirvana and Placebo... darkish nuances and forboding in some of their music. However Eros Ramazotti is slightly out of place but the title had spirit in it... a fun listen in any case. To end it all I found this as the quote of the day...
"A cap of good acid costs five dollars and for that you can hear the Universal Symphony with God singing solo and the Holy Ghost on drums." Hunter S. Thompson (1939 - 2005)

Crabby Cat

The man (lowercase intentionally) is a lazy blogger... It has been almost 7 months since he had me sorted... and posted that fact of my torture.
Tonight he sits and chortles while he reads my Starcats profile... mmmm "Think that that little book will give you all the dope you need to understand this feline?"
Starcats: Astrology for Cats (And Owners) by Helen Hope

The Cancerian Cat: Catus Canceria
Herb: Tarragon
Stone: Pearl
Number: 2
Element: Water - Would like to be temple cat.
Celebrity cat: Disraeli - Florence Nightingale's cat

Sheesh like I like water? Must be something in in one of my decending signs...
More to follow in the blogs to come, that is if I can get the man behind the keyboard... flippin dirt racer nut... or maybe I can get L to do some blogging... when she gets back from vacation that is... mmmm Now where do you switch this thing off?

Nooks and crannies

Malvacae growing amongst the ruins, I will have to find out what kind of ruin it was, either some farm or Boer War relic.


Amazing to see where some plants can grow, I took these one afternoon while hiking on one of the koppies near bloem. Glad to see that uploading from my pc to Blogger is soooo easy now, no flikR or other stuff needed.
Just need to figure out the layout and sort the image size.
Just as these plants seem to defy logic by growing in these austere places so it is with music, a gem is sometimes found in an unfamiliar place. The version of the following song done by Gregorian Masters of Chant is brilliant.
Hide and Seek - Howard Jones
There was a time when there was nothing at all
Nothing at all, just a distant hum
There was a being and he lived on his own
He had no one to talk to, and nothing to do
He drew up the plans, learnt to work with his hands
A million years passed by and his work was done
And his words were these...

Hope you find it in everything, everything that you see
Hope you find it in everything, everything that you see
Hope you find it, hope you find it
Hope you find me in you

So she had built her elaborate home
With it's ups and it's downs, its rains and its sun
She decided that her work was done, time to have fun
and she found a game to play

Then as part of the game
She completely forgot where she'd hidden herself
And she spent the rest of her time
Trying to find the parts

Hope you find it in everything, everything that you see
Hope you find it in everything, everything that you see
Hope you find it, hope you find it
Hope you find me in you

There was a time when there was nothing at all, nothing at all
Just a distant hum
"Life has its own hidden forces which you can only discover by living." Soren Kierkegaard (1813 - 1855)

Time

Wonderfull stuff one can do these days on webpages... here is my clock showing the exact time here in Bloemfontein...
As time is such a fleeting thing I thought it would be fun to put a clock up so that people could see how long they dallied on my words of wisdom... or something like that... Some time related lyrics for the day from Tina Cousins, quite a good voice although some may not like the style but as I am an eternal Rave Rocker I like it a lot.
Killin Time - Tina Cousins
If I could get over you
then I could get away from here
it's such a lonely place
I only have myself to blame
and if I make it through
the wasteland of my mind
maybe then I'll find a way
to find a brighter day

But I'm just killin' time
since you went away
all I have are memories
and every day they fade
I'm the love you didn't want
the love that couldn't reach
I reminisce on every kiss
and I'm just killin' time

Thought that I could change your mind
but some things can never be
and so our story ends
if only we could be friends
and though you're far away from home
I feel every breath you take
you're livin' deep inside of me
and I just can't be freed

But I'm just killin' time
since you went away
all I have are memories
and every day they fade
I'm the love you didn't want
the love that couldn't reach
I reminisce on every kiss
and I'm just killin' time

Where are you now?
Where are you now?

I'm just killin' time
since you went away
all I have are memories
and every day they fade
I'm the love you didn't want
the love that couldn't reach
I reminisce on every kiss
and I'm just killin' time
So without wasting any further time here is the quote of the day.
"A man with a watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure." Segal's Law

Biojewellery and eye teeth...

Biojewellery, I do not quite know what to say!
I suppose one day this may become de regeur at a wedding, talk about giving one's eye tooth for someone.
Something else has caught my eye! Yep, PhotoBlogger! Now it is just a simple click on the image icon and you upload that picture to the blog... must try it soon. Some other neat tools have been added as well, the unformatting tool is also handy...
Seems like the topic is eyes so I will delve into my lyrics bin for an appropriate song. The Moody Blues Story in Your Eyes could be one or even Behind Blue Eyes by The Who and covered by Limp Bizkit but I think I will settle for Eyes Wired Shut by Edgewater, this song was from the soundtrack of The Punisher as well. Especially considering that I think it totally wierd to wear someo's bones as a ring... Gold will do fine for me thanks...
Eyes Wired Shut
I've thrown away, I've thrown away again
The pills that make me
I've thrown away, I've thrown away again
The chance, the want to change
I've thrown away, I've thrown away again
Standing all alone
I've thrown away, I've thrown away again

Eyes wired shut
Running through my brain
Pulling back the skin
It happens, we're getting older
Eyes wired shut
Running through my brain
It's all the same
But in the end, it keeps me coming

I've blown away, I've blown away again
The fear of failing
I've blown away, I've blown away again
The lies that make me sane
I've blown away
The chance to make it right
I want to be
I want to see
I want to make it back to me

Eyes wired shut
Running through my brain
Pulling back the skin
It happens, we're getting older
Eyes wired shut
Running through my brain
It's all the same
But in the end, it keeps me coming

It's time to face away
A chance to talk and fake some change
To make myself to think that things are better

Eyes wired shut
Running through my brain
Pulling back the skinIt happens, we're getting older
Eyes wired shutRunning through my brain
It's all the same
But in the end, it keeps me coming

Eyes wired shut
Running through my brain
Pulling back the skin
It happens, we're getting older
Eyes wired shut
Running through my brain
It's all the same
But in the end, it keeps me coming
Strong lyrics... but as I grow older my vision may be failing somewhat as regards to being able to read registration numbers at 100 metres my insight grows clearer... with age comes wisdom.
Looking for a suitable quote and as I have been seeing a shrink lately I found this quote absolutely histerical! At least mine speaks english and afrikaans... But twelve years? hopefully not!
"After twelve years of therapy my psychiatrist said something that brought tears to my eyes. He said, 'No hablo ingles." Ronnie Shakes

Sixteen Tons

Yaay! Play this one loud! I call it Sixteen Tons of massive wall to wall dance sound. Some more on a few tracks later on...
30 tracks in playlist, average track length: 4:57
Playlist length: 2 hours 28 minutes 51 seconds.

1. BWO - Sixteen Tons Of Hardware (3:28)
2. Venice Beat - In The Year 2525 (3:29)
3. Benni Benassi - California Dreamin [Benny Club Extended] (4:47)
4. Delerium - Heavens Earth - Matt Darey Remix (8:17)
5. Safri Duo - Played-a-live(the bongo song) (6:45)
6. Darude - Sandstorm (3:44)
7. Skylab Nine feat Christabel Cossins - Go deeper (7:13)
8. Solex - Close to the Edge (3:35)
9. Paul Van Dyk - Nothing But You (6:57)
10. Second Sun - The Spell (3:26)
11. Real McCoy - Run Away (3:48)
12. Krister Torkelsen And Eric Lidstrom - Lightfields (7:53)
13. Paul van Dyk - For an angel (mixed by System) (3:56)
14. Dario G - Dream to Me (3:09)
15. DJ Sammy Ft. Loona - Rise Again (3:37)
16. Blank & Jones - Desire (5:36)17. Enigma - Age of Loneliness (6:33)
18. Watergate - Heart of asia (3:05)
19. t.A.T.u. - Nas ne dogonjat (Original Version)-"Not Gonna Get Us" (4:37)
20. Sophie Ellis Bextor - Mixed up world (3:43)
21. Novaspace - Dancing with tears in my eyes 2004(radio edit) (3:34)
22. Blank and Jones - Timeless (4:05)
23. Darude - Out Of Control (5:02)
24. Southside Spinners - Luvstruck 2005(Klubbheads Mix) (3:29)
25. Alice Deejay - Got To Get Away (3:40)
26. Delerium - Silence(dj tiesto) (6:02)
27. Hi-Gate - Pitchin' (3:17)
28. Blank and Jones - Perfect silence (6:14)
29. Shapeshifters - Lola's theme (7:57)
30. Ocean Lab - Sky falls down (7:53)
BWO short for Bodies Without Organs... wierd name for a Russian band that I quite like, they almost get a Phil Spector sound with Sixteen Tons of Hardware... Wonder how Phil's trail for murder will turn out. My favourite track is the DJ Tiesto mix of Delerium's Silence with Sarah McLachlan doing the vocals. Delerium is of course also known as Conjure One/Intermix/ Synaethesia/Noise Unit/Pro-tech/Equinox/Front Line Assembly or Bill Leeb and Rhys Fuller. Venice Beat's cover of the 1969 hit In the Year 2525 is also quite impressive as dance beats go however I still prefer the real thing... I did mention it in my FutureRama posting a while ago... In any case here are the lyrics to the title track of my compilation for this week.
Sixteen tons of hardware - BWO
Sixteen tons of hardware
Sixteen tons of hardware

Every night has got a crowd to cheer
A show to get things right
Every band has got a stage to fear
A kick when the crowd is in sight

Turn on feedback looper super trouper
Flashes clashing a screen
Tune in consecrating masquerading
Ghosts in our sonic machine

We load sixteen tons of hardware
Blazing steel and galvanized
We crash fifteen supersonic tanks
Through the gates of paradise

We load sixteen tons of hardware
Blazing steel and galvanized
We crash fifteen supersonic tanks
Through the gates of paradise

Digging deep inside a wall of sound
The cheering of the crowd
Take me high I'm feeling heavenbound
The sound when I shout it out loud

Turn on feedback looper super trouper
Flashes clashing a screen
Tune in consecrating masquerading
Ghosts in our sonic machine

We load sixteen tons of hardware
Blazing steel and galvanized
We crash fifteen supersonic tanks
Through the gates of paradise

We load sixteen tons of hardware
Blazing steel and galvanized
We crash fifteen supersonic tanks
Through the gates of paradise
BTW... It's great to have another body around the pad, L is enjoying her stay here and of course Myoo thinks it is heaven to have a choice of legs and hands to pounce on... more later.
Sometimes the quote is very hard to match to the blog's theme... so here goes.
"A little inaccuracy sometimes saves tons of explanation." Saki (1870 - 1916), "The Square Egg", 1924

Quran abuse, all's fair.

US Guantanamo guard kicked Koran
And we see the muslim hordes howl in idignation... just becase a peice of paper is handled in a way that upsets their thinking... it just goes to show how backward and narrow minded this pseudo religion is. In the meantime back in Afganistan these same quran wielding terrorists blow up a mosque with umteen qurans... so it is ok to blow them up yourself but hey! no infidel may! Cowdung I say...

Life... Beating the cosmic odds

Is there life out there... yes I believe so... Is there Intelligent life? Not likely... Seems like I am not alone in this view, I think the chances on this is much more slender and that we live on a Privileged Planet... I will detail some reasons why I believe so. Bear with me as this page will be expanded upon from time to time.
The points I will cover will make things clearer. This has also been debated on Space.com.

The Cosmos is inherently hostile to life
Consider the creation of our universe, it was an extremely violent thing and early stars did not have planets at all, planet forming elements just did not exist. If one considers that stars run out of drive so to speak at the Iron stage it was many billions of years before the first protoplanet may have formed.
When one looks at most Galaxies we also see violent environments that to my mind preclude any existence of life. Supernovae and galactic centres beam out massive doses of cosmic radiation that sanitize the surrounding cosmos for thousands of light years.

The green band
Astronomers discover where to find ET
It seems that any life has only a 10% region of possible habitation in most galaxies, the outer regions are poor in elements for life and the central regions are just too hostile for life to exist let alone form.

Two is not company
Recent studies have shown that around more than 50 % of observed stars are Binary Systems and in some cases Quadruple systems. The turmoil in such systems to my logic would just be too much for any lifeforms. We are thus an exception to the rule.

DisaStars
Possible Hyper nova Could Affect Earth
Coming back to Supernovae, there is a class of Nova that spews out such radiation that even being 3000 light years away is no guarantee of safety.

How far is a light year
Then there is the distance factor, even at faster than light speeds it would take years to traverse the galaxy, at sub light speeds it is an insurmountable obstacle to my mind.

Physics or the lack thereof
If there is intelligent life they will have to overcome the laws of physics to travel from one star to another to even make it worth their while.

Do they need us
Any civilization capable of faster than light travel would to my mind find us as interesting as an elephant would an ant.

Do we need them
Here the plight of the Inca springs to mind... when they were conquered by the Conquistadors they had no answer for the technological capability of the Spaniards as well as the biological impact that European illnesses also had on them. What would happen if we were to be invaded by space traveling aliens?

Rare Earth
This is where I come back to my basic argument, when one looks at all the factors that have made this blue dot such a special planet one has to believe that we are rather unique in the Galaxy if not the Universe...
Our Solar system is in a quite backwater of the Milky Way, no big star fields or star forming areas with stars threatening to go nova or other galactic bullies.
Our planet is in the sweet spot... not too close or too far from the single sun, protected by 3 gas Giants from incoming strays.
It has a moon that contributed to setting up geologic conditions for life to evolve.
It has water in the right proportion, not so much to drown the continents and not so little that things have gone into deep freeze like Mars.
In fact the chances are so astronomical that to my mind it is not chance but very much by forethought that we are where we are in the universe. Truly we live on a Rare Earth...
.

FutureRama

This months Popular Mechanics SA has an article on how things will be in 2025, some still seem like science fiction... I recall listening to a radio show called The Challenge of Space and in one episode there was this trip to Mars... not so far fetched at all these days what with the two Rovers still trundling around on the Red Planet. Seems like just yesterday that this song became a hit in 1969...
In the Year 2525 - Zager and Evans - also done by - Visage - Supertramp - New Romantics & Venice Beat

In the year 2525 If man is still alive. If woman can survive, they may find.
In the year 3535 Ain't gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lies. Everything you think, do and say, is in the pill you took today.
In the year 4545 Ain't gonna need your teeth, won't need your eyes. You won't find a thing to chew. Nobody's gonna look at you.
In the year 5555 Your arms hanging limp at your sides. Your legs got nothing to do. Some machine doing that for you.
In the year 6565 Ain't gonna need no husband, won't need no wife. You'll pick your son, pick your daughter too. From the bottom of a long glass tube. Whoa-oh
In the year 7510 If God's a-comin, he oughta make it by then. Maybe he'll look around himself and say. Guess it's time for the judgment day.
In the year 8510 God is gonna shake his mighty head. He'll either say.I'm pleased where man has been. Or tear it down and start again. Whoa-oh
In the year 9595 I'm kinda wonderin if man is gonna be alive. He's taken everything this old Earth can give. And he ain't put back nothing.Whoa-oh

Now it's been ten thousand years Man has cried a billion tears. For what he never knew, now man's reign is through.
But through eternal night. The twinkling of starlight. So very far away. Maybe it's only yesterday.
In the year 2525 If man is still alive. If woman can survive, they may find.
In the year 3535 {fade}
Doing a Google on "The year 2025" comes up with some amazing websites... Some even speculate us finding Aliens by 2025. Although I personally do not believe there is a possibility of this, the distances in the universe are just too huge in my view. But that is another discussion on it's own, I may elaborate on my Science Blog at some time in the future.
So as we speed through space half way through the first decade of this Century we should pause to consider where we came from and where we are heading...
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Arthur C. Clarke (1917 - ), "Profiles of The Future", 1961 (Clarke's third law)

Food... for thought

Wow... I really had to scrach my head before logging in to post a blog again, eish... "Met ys ja!" but that is a story on its own... more to follow.
Last week I was doing some shopping and spied soft shin... this was at a bargain price so I nabbed about 750g... had soup in mind, however today I decided to use it in a stew/casserole type dish.
As it can be tough due to sinew and binding tissue I recomend ripening it at least 2 days before use and the marinade also tenderised it perfectly.
Here is my recipe for marinated Soft Shin with Sweet Potato:

750g soft shin
750g sweet potato
500g carrots
Large onion
Packet of oxtail soup
Dried fruit 250g (optional)

Marinade
A pinch of dried garlic, pinch of aniseed (this can be pungent so rather use very little), 2 tablespoons of whole coriander, some cooking oil or olive oil (about 3 tablespoons) and a tablespoon of vinegar. Grind the spices and garlic in a mortar and pestle... sprinkle over meat on both sides after placing in a dish, sprinkle oil and vinegar over meat... let it all rest in the refrigerator for at least one hour, turning from time to time.

Preperation
Dice the marinated soft shin and prepare the vegetables also (unless you bought ready prepared like I did). Nuke the veggies in the microwave for around 6 minutes to par cook.
Heat a pan or saucepan with some olive oil and proceed to brown the meat, add the onion to glazed state before adding 2 cups of water (cover the meat) and simmmer while preparing the soup.
Add 250ml of water to a bowl and add the soup powder... stirr and let it stand for a few minutes while you add the carrots and sweet potatoes on top of the meat, adding some veggie sprinkle at the same time. One can also add some dried fruit at the same time, I used some apricots. Stir the soup one last time and pour over the veggies and replace the lid... let it all simmer on very low heat for at least one hour... this gives you time to make some rice to go with the dish and knock together a salad. Pick up daughter from class and tuck in!

Ja... Poppet has moved in and it really great having her here... although the getting up for school has put paid to my 7 am wake up and dash to the office routine... all good I say.
"You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces - just good food from fresh ingredients." Julia Child (1912 - )