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Putting Our Money Where Our Mouths Are: Boycott the RIAA in March - Gizmodo Gizmodo is declaring the month of March Boycott the RIAA month. We want to get the word out to as many people as humanly possible that we can all send a message by refusing to buy any album put out by an RIAA label. purchase music from unsigned bands and bands on independent record labels Go see them live and buy their merchandise Technorati Tags: riaa , music , independent , social responsibility powered by performancing firefox

Discovery Channel Accused of Attacking Christianity -- 02/27/2007 If the findings are accurate, Charlesworth said, "we're finding a basis for Christian hope and vision indeed the Christian affirms that Jesus was fully God and fully human." I've never understood why this isn't the way more people think. I remember the hub-bub about Last Temptation of Christ and thinking, if you see the movie you know the story ends just like the Bible says besides, what is so wrong with thinking that Jesus was more like us? The concept was brought up again in Half Nelson - a tree is both strong and weak, yin yang are entwined, that was no longer good enough. At some point Christians and especially American Protestants became extemely fixed on the fact that Jesus is God. He was no longer the Son of God, he was no longer "born of a woman (virgin or not)"...except "baby Jesus". It's absolutely ridiculous. The Holy Book itself says He was both man and God...

I was born, raised, confirmed and educated Episcopalian and I think the Anglican Communion has lost its grip on its mission. I know, the Catholics are dealing with the same thing but this is ridiculous. Their job is to bring people to the Word of God and bring the Word to the people. Unless I missed something in my Confirmation class, as well as Catholic Catechism , the Word of God is love. If Christians believe God is omnipotent and omniscent then surely His Word is all inclusive. Thank God for people like Bishop Sisk . Grow up you scared little puppies. If you haven't the strength to impose your own terms upon life, you must accept the terms it offers you. T.S. Eliot Technorati Tags: episcopal , catholic , gay

Cover story : Post-Katrina Baton Rouge struggles with its identity. I lived in BR from 1991-1995 and hated it. I met tons of great people and it was wonderful being so close to New Orleans Lafayette but what a shitty city. No energy, not much beauty and no style. I remember driving into downtown and thinking, "Is this it? This can't be downtown." There was no movement, there were lots of boarded up buildings, it was barren and drab and that hideous State Capitol! But while there I began to come into my own. I spent the first year or so broke...I discovered NPR b/c I didn't have a TV. I started trading tapes I considered dreadlocks. I was "adopted" by a family of New Orleanian catholics who I adored but I lost touch with when I left. I worked with a painter who is now a rock singer . I regularly sat in on guitar with a regionally famous blues musician. I interviewed Tabby Thomas and had several conversations with his son, Chris Thomas King . I learne

I've never done a meme b4 but this one was in my inbox (credit to The Life Of a Wife and Teacher ): IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE? So, here's how it works: 1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc) 2. Put it on shuffle 3. Press play 4. For every question, type the song that's playing 5. When you go to a new question, press the next button 6. Don't lie and try to pretend your cool... 7. When you're finished tag some other people to do it! Here are the areas that you need to fill out: Opening credits: Waking up: First day of school: Falling in love: First song: Breaking up: Prom: Life: Mental Breakdown: Driving: Flashback: Getting back together: Wedding: Birth of Child: Final Battle: Death Scene: Funeral song: End Credits: Here's Mine!!! Opening credits: Joe Hill by Paul Robeson Waking up: South Heading by Groundthruter ( DJ Logic version) First day of school: Nowadayze by Georgia Ann Muldrow Falling in love: She Bel

Gung Hay Fat Choy! Every mental formation that manifests needs to be recognized. If It is wholesome, mindfulness will cultivate it. If it is unwholesome, mindfulness will encourage it to return to our store consciousness and remain there, dormant. Thich Nhat Hanh ( The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching )

This started as a comment on Marjorie's blog, Brown Bunny Tanning , but it was getting long so I figured I'd flesh it out over here. The Queen was a good movie, we saw it back in Oct or so (sneak peak), and Helen Mirren made me fall in love with the Queen. I was completely entranced I am not an Anglophile (I do love British soccer and the pub culture), I never understood the Diana thing, but this was such a well-written and well-acted movie I am smitten with Helen Mirren. We (Marjorie And I) are on the same tip with Dreamgirls . This was a schlocky Hollywood bombast of a perfectly good (from what I hear) Brdwy production . The problem I had (other than hating musicals) is that the off-stage characters (except Jamie Foxx ) had no story. I didn't care about any of them, I just wanted to get to the next on-stage scene, which they ALL did great jobs with. After Jamie Foxx, J-Hu 's character and Eddie Murphy 's character had the most depth but they had so little it

A person of wisdom should be truthful, without arrogance, without deceit, not slanderous and not hateful. The wise person should go beyond the evil of greed and miserliness. Do not get excited by what is old, do not be contented with what is new. Do not grieve for what is lost or be controlled by desire. Sutta-nipata, translated by H. Saddhatissa

While at Davis-Kidd I lost close to 30 lbs. Five years of a day job had killed my waistline. One year at Davis-Kidd, running up and down two flights of stairs a thousand times a day...well, that'll take some weight off. Now that I'm back at a desk job, the weight is returning and it sucks. The day job allows me more hours at night to spend with Tara but if I workout at night, I will once again lose time with her. Morning workouts, which require me to get up earlier, are, of course, out of the question. So, what do I do? My answer is...whatever I can. I ran across this article from lifehack.org somewhere. Buy a digital scale Weigh yourself everyday Drink 8 glasses of water everyday Make your diet public Don’t diet on the weekends Don’t sacrifice your life for your diet If I didn’t diet on Tuesday, for example, I would diet on Saturday, instead. Make the small changes Rather than giving up what most diets say you should give up (soda, coffee, beer, caffeine, etc.) just make he

Venus & Serena (done) beat more white girls than OJ & Rick James put together Field Mob "Blacker the Berry"

As I have gotten older I have gained more self-esteem. I have learned that my opinion is valuable, I have learned that I am valuable. Sometimes I still have trouble volunteering myself, my info, opinion or knowledge but I don't have to be prodded nearly as much as when I was a kid. I have family and friends who are not as far along this path as I am so hopefully they can get something out of this post. Self-esteem is how you feel about yourself, how confident you are, how accomplished you feel. It reflects whether a person loves, accepts, and believes in who they are. For some of us, however, it can go up and down. One day you might feel really on top of everything, great about yourself, unafraid to try anything. And the next day, you’re just as likely to feel completely at the bottom, unsure of yourself, afraid to say or do anything. Building high self-esteem is a process, not something you can develop overnight. And this isn’t necessarily easy. Yet, every single person has the ca

Hang your clothes out to dry instead of using your dryer Harvest your rainwater Make sure none of your water fixtures are dripping Insulate your hot water heater Have your furnace or boiler cleaned Harvest your greywater Get a home energy audit Replace your lightbulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL’s) Make sure to turn appliances off completely (with a power strip, or unplug them) Winterize your house Buy energy-efficient appliances Install renewable energy Install a solar hot water heater Buy rechargeable batteries Use recycled gift wrap Use geothermal heat Turn your thermostat down Close your curtains or drapes at night during the winter Close your curtains or drapes during the day in summer Turn your hot water heater down to 120 degrees Fahrenheit Buy clothes made from organic or recycled material Use petroleum-free products Don’t buy products tested on animals Make your own cleaning supplies Convince your boss to let you telecommute at least part of the time

Yeah, it's Feb. and most folks aren't thinking about what they loved last year. I am not most folks, I am a master procrastinator. I am not necessarily proud of that fact but I have accepted that it is as much a part of me as my geeky goofiness. Anyway, I have been mulling over my favs of 2006 since December and I am gonna try to put down a few things. Since I watched the Grammies last night I thought we should talk about music first. I found my favorite album of 2006 back in Feb., a whole year ago I predicted this would be the best rock album of the year. I heard a lot more music through the year and I know there was a lot I didn't hear but I have to stick with my first choice. I think song for song this is the classiest, sexiest, most soulful album I heard this year. The album could be easily classified as soul or world music or even jazz but I call it rock because of it's blues base and it's guitar focus...two defining characteristics of rock, as far as I am con

If you wanna know what it's like to be in a music industry town go to Fido when you come to Nashville. You will overhear conversations about music history, you will see people with editing software on their laptops, and you will hear people say things like, Yeah, man. Everybody listened to the record and loved it. You will see all sorts of hip and beautiful people. Of course, one problem is the lack of diversity, not too many non-whites, but if you can handle that and love the vibe of a creative place (with very good food and extraordinary coffee) this is the place to be. Technorati Tags: coffee , fido , nashville , music industry , food powered by performancing firefox

People bitch about what a drag being environmentally aware can be. You can't do this, you can't eat that. Well, look at the list below (and on subsequent pages) and see how simple things add up. Shoot, you probably already do some. Buy organic food By local products (the link talks about food but the concept applies to more) Use reusable containers to bring lunch to work/school Buy fair trade coffee , chocolate and other products Compost your food scraps Skip the bottled water Eat less meat Adjust your refrigerator and freezer temperatures Bring your own grocery bag to the supermarket (reuse the plastic & paper bags you already have) Buy unpackaged produce instead of prepackaged Grill corn in its husk instead of aluminum foil Use reusable coffee filters Avoid the drive-through Only buy sustainable, environmentally friendly seafood Keep your refrigerator and freezer full Grow your own food Allow food to cool down to room temperature before putting them in the frid

Prince 's press conference for the Superbowl. He is a bad boy.

You yourself should reprove yourself, should examine yourself. As a self-guarded monk with guarded self, mindful, you dwell at ease. Your own self is your own mainstay. Your own self is your own guide. Therefore you should watch over yourself-- as a trader, a fine steed. Dhammapada, 25, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

[Wisdom] is like a lamp, O king, which a man might introduce into a house in darkness. When the lamp had been brought in it would dispel the darkness, cause radiance to arise, and light to shine forth, and make the objects there plainly visible. Just so would wisdom in a man have such effects as were just now set forth. -Milindapanha

Who doesn't want to be smarter? Who doesn't want their smarts to last as longs as they do? Apparently their are 8 things you can do to help: 1. PLAY HEAD GAMES Brain games may help improve mental function, and could possibly help prevent dementia. 2. TRAIN YOUR BRAIN The training exercises included: -Memory: To help people memorize word lists, one method was to organize a grocery list by the sections of the store, said Marsiske, an associate professor in the department of clinical health and psychology at the University of Florida. -Visualization: Use all your senses to remember things. For example, if you need to remember a dog's name, visualize what the dog's fur feels like, recall the sound of its bark, and, yes, try to re-create its smell. -Reasoning: Participants learned to use highlighters to identify key points in complicated information. That included underlining important information like dosage and frequency on a medication. 3. TAXES 4. BUILD YOUR "COGNI