Merry Whatever

Posted on January 1, 2010 by Gandalfe

image In the spirit of the season as well as the both ecumenical and controversy-doting spirit of this office, I offer the following:

Please accept with no obligation, expressed or implied, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practice of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

Also a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally-accepted calendar year 2010, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only "America" in the western hemisphere), and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability or challenge, religious faith, choice of computer platform, or sexual or clarinet/mouthpiece/reed preference of the wishee.

By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher actually to implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher.

This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first; warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher. – Anon

Posted in Humor | 2 Comments

Slate: Fix Your Terrible, Insecure Passwords in Five Minutes

Posted on December 31, 2009 by Gandalfe

image This is for my friends and family and something that can easily be done to protect you from unscrupulous hackers. Slate provides some ideas including using a mnemonic to make it near impossible to guess your password.

“Start with an original but memorable phrase. For this exercise, let’s use these two sentences: I like to eat bagels at the airport and My first Cadillac was a real lemon so I bought a Toyota. The phrase can have something to do with your life or it can be a random collection of words—just make sure it’s something you can remember. That’s the key: Because a mnemonic is easy to remember, you don’t have to write it down anywhere. (If you can’t remember it without writing it down, it’s not a good mnemonic.) This reduces the chance that someone will guess it if he gets into your computer or your e-mail. What’s more, a relatively simple mnemonic can be turned into a fanatically difficult password.”  Read more…

Here is an example of guidance that is normally given. Most people won’t read through the whole thang.

To increase password strength and help prevent unauthorized access to <our> computer systems, passwords must:

  • Not contain your username.
  • Be at least eight characters in length.
  • Contain characters from three of the following categories:
    • English uppercase letters (A through Z)
    • English lowercase letters (a through z)
    • Numbers (0 through 9)
    • Special Characters (ex. !, &, #, $)

    Examples of poor passwords:

    • Passwords that are the same as the username.
    • Default passwords.
    • Passwords shorter than eight characters.
    • Passwords in all lower case, all upper case, or all numbers.
    • Anything from a dictionary.

    Examples of strong passwords:

    • Passwords greater than eight characters (longer the better)
    • Combinations of uppercase, lowercase, numeric, and special characters.
    • Passwords that contain a space make it significantly harder to guess.*
    • Passphrases are recommended by Computer Services as opposed to a single word.
    • Special characters in the middle of the password.

    Examples of bad passwords:

    • ‘password’
    • ‘1234’
    • ‘someuser’
    • ‘turtle’

    Examples of strong passwords:

    • ‘I paid $3,000.00 for thispc
    • ”My[super^*^STRONG]Pa55word’
    • ‘All $ign$ –> to GO’
    • ‘Take 12 months+ 2 CRACK’

    Be safe out there.

    Posted in Security | 1 Comment

    Red Underwear means Happy New Year

    Posted on December 30, 2009 by Gandalfe

    image Want to celebrate New Year’s Eve the Italian way? Prepare cotechino (pork sausage) and lenticchie (lentils – which symbolize money), a dish that stands for prosperity on La Festa di San Silvestro (New Year’s Eve). And don’t forget to wear red underwear, which is purported to bring the wearer good luck for the new year.

    I’ve been reading about it and have discovered that wearing red underwear for New Year’s Eve does indeed seem to be the tradition in Italy. It’s better if they’re given to you as a gift, and if they’re brand-new this year. A really sensual red underwear set, inspired by the Greek goddess Danae, lover of Jupiter and mother of Perseus should be considered as the correct prescription for a happy new year.

    Don’t take my word for it though, check this Wikipedia article. Guess what Suzy is getting for this New Year celebration? Gotta luv the Italians. That’s amore.  :o)

    Posted in Holiday, Panties, romantic, Too Spicy for some, Xmas | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

    Surviving the Vicious Cycle of Making & Breaking New Year’s Resolutions

    Posted on December 30, 2009 by Gandalfe

    image Chris Dunmire (CoachingYourCreativity.com) has designed a tool to help you get a list of New Year’s resolutions that may actually work. I really don’t make too many resolutions and this approach makes a lot of sense to me.

    List your 10 resolutions, then:

    a. Cross off the ones you’ve tried before, but ditched before January 15th.

    b. Then cross off the ones you’re doing for your friends/co-workers/family/partner/etc.

    c. Next cross off the ones TV commercials have berated or guilted you into doing.

    d. Now cross off the ones you generated by saying, “I should/would/could…”

    e. Then cross off the ones you think “your life will be perfect when…”

    f. Next cross off the ones you’re doing out of spite, jealousy, anger, hate, or revenge.

    g. Now cross off the ones you know your heart is not really into.

    h. Then cross off any others that are variable on your mood, hormones, Mercury Retrograde, etc.

    i. Now look at your remaining list. If you feel strongly that these resolutions will still be important to you in April when you’re trying to get your tax returns done, you’re on your way to success!

    IMPORTANT: If everything on your list is crossed out, you just learned why New Year’s Resolutions don’t work for you. This knowledge is key to breaking the vicious cycle.

    Read more…

    Posted in Health and wellness | Leave a comment

    Forbes Magazine: America’s 25 Best-Paying Jobs for 2009

    Posted on December 29, 2009 by Gandalfe

    image

    "Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness." -Frank Tyger

    Forbes Magazine: America’s 25 Best-Paying Jobs 2009

    Listed with average annual pay

    1. Surgeons: $206,770
    2. Anesthesiologists: $197,570
    3. Orthodontists: $194,930
    4. Obstetrician and Gynecologists: $192,780
    5. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons: $190,420
    6. Internists: $176,740
    7. Prosthodontists: $169,810
    8. Physicians: $165,000
    9. Family and General Practitioners: $161,490
    10. CEOs: $160,440
    11. Dentists: $154,270
    12. Psychiatrists: $154,050
    13. Pediatricians: $153,370
    14. Specialist Dentists: $142,070
    15. Podiatrists: $125,760
    16. Lawyers: $124,750
    17. Natural Sciences Managers: $123,140
    18. Engineering Managers: $120,580
    19. Pilots: $119,750
    20. Petroleum Engineers: $119,140
    21. Computer and Information Systems Managers: $118,710
    22. Marketing Managers: $118,160
    23. Financial Managers: $110,640
    24. Sales Managers: $110,390
    25. Air Traffic Controllers: $108,090

    Other High Paying Jobs

    1. Movie Directors: $185.71/hr; $956,050/yr
    2. Bank CEO : $111.42/hr; $567,050/yr (entry level)
    3. Actors: $91.15/hr; $357,430/yr
    4. Athlete: $71.31/hr; $131,680/yr
    5. Computer programmer: $64.3/hr; $126,940/yr
    6. Actuaries, certified: $57.52/hr; $119,680 (base salary only)
    7. Pediatricians, general: $56.03/hr; $116,550/yr
    8. Psychiatrists: $54.60/hr; $113,570/yr
    9. Family and general practitioners: $52.89/hr; $110,020/yr
    10. Dentists: $53.28/hr; $110,820/yr
    11. Pharmacists: $53.00/hr; $110,240/yr
    12. Chief Executives: $51.77/hr; $107,670/yr
    13. Airline pilots, co-pilots and flight engineers: (N/A); $99,400/yr
    14. Steamfitter (L.U. 638): 47.65/hr; hr wages double after 2pm daily; $150/yr
    15. Podiatrists: $45.43/hr; $94,500/yr
    16. Lawyers: $44.19/hr; $91,920/yr
    17. Optometrists: $42.35/hr; $88,100/yr
    18. Computer and information systems managers: $40.33/hr; $83,890/yr
    19. Physicists: $40.26/hr; $83,750/yr
    20. Air traffic controllers: $40.07/hr; $83,350/yr
    21. Petroleum Engineers: $39.33/hr; $81,800/yr
    22. Nuclear Engineers: $38.56/hr; $80,200/yr
    23. Judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates: $38.24/hr; $79,540/yr
    24. Marketing Managers: $37.70/hr; $78,410/yr

    When a kid sez, “Nice Xxx” where Xxx is a car, house, saxophone or whatever, I say, “Stay in school.” They usually get it even if they don’t follow up on the suggestion. Remember, it is never too soon to go back to school. Be well my peeps.

    Posted in Health and wellness | Leave a comment

    CagleCartoons.com: Peace on Earth

    Posted on December 28, 2009 by Gandalfe

    image

    Posted in Humor | Leave a comment

    Catching Up via NetFlix

    Posted on December 27, 2009 by Gandalfe

    image Suzy recently decided to try NetFlix and I seem to be the primary beneficiary of the service. Since we purchased a subscription I have probably seen 20 new movies (in three months). We purchase a ROKU box ($79) so that we can instantly view about 80% of their vast library. This came in as rather handy during the holiday break for the regular TV season. I’d like to highlight some of my finds for my readers but if you draw the line at PG-13 most of these will not fit the bill. I’ve tagged this as, “Too Spicy for Some” and you know who you are so move on to the next post.  :o)

    image Dexter has become a passion of mine. Click on the link for the background music and then comeback to this blog, I’ll wait…

    I’ve made my way through the first season (it’s OMG good) to the middle of the third season. All though there is some highly sexual content in this series, always a draw for me, it is mostly about a serial murder taught by his adopted father, a policeman, to use his killing addiction to get rid of other serial murders. And he was taught how to not get caught. As a forensic tech on the Miami police force, he has the resources to track and find these killers. This one didn’t seem like something I’d be interested in, so my intense fascination surprised me. And how does a serial killer attract someone as fine as Rita (above) and with no real lasting commitment so far?

    The Man From Earth starts out slow and is rated as average by the average NetFlix viewer. However by Amazon raters it’s rated as one of the best out there (4.5 of 5 possible stars). Renowned sci-fi writer Jerome Bixby penned the script for this thought-provoking film starring David Lee Smith as John Oldman, a college professor who reveals to his colleagues that he’s actually a centuries-old caveman. And so begins a captivating philosophical meditation on immortality, the last work from screenwriter Bixby, who earned career accolades for his contributions to such genre-defining shows as “Star Trek” and “The Twilight Zone.”

    image Finally there’s Californication, another Showtime series that I didn’t have interest in. It is rated very high on Amazon too at 4.5 stars. Lots, and by that I mean mostly, sexuality in all forms. But this spoke to me too:

    My favorite Hank line:[People] seem to be getting dumber and dumber. I mean we have all this amazing technology and yet computers have turned into basically four figure wank machines. The Internet was supposed to set us free, democratize us, but all it’s really given us is Howard Dean’s aborted candidacy and 24-hour a day access to kiddie porn, you know. And people don’t write anymore, they blog; instead of talking, they text; no punctuation, no grammar. LOL this and LMFAO that. You know it just seems to me that it’s just a bunch of stupid people psuedo-communicating with a bunch of other stupid people in a proto-language that resembles more what cavemen used to speak than the king’s English.

    Henry’s reaction: “Yet you’re part of the problem, blogging with the best of them”

    Hank’s reply, “Hence, my self-loathing” then takes a swig of liquor.

    Posted in Too Spicy for some | Tagged | 2 Comments

    Pete Thomas’ Sax-o-glue and My Flying Fingers

    Posted on December 27, 2009 by Gandalfe

    I have a habit when I get into some great music of just letting my fingers fly. It is a bad habit and one, of the many, that all my instructors have suggested I work on. And it doesn’t matter whether I’m on clarinet or sax. The other bad habits include intonation challenges (too many horns to memorized their quirks), alternate fingerings, learning my scales, and keeping my foot from tapping. So this stuff touted by Pete Thomas still looks like a good quick fix to me:

    image

    I’ve heard of people taping their fingers to the sax keys to work on this bad habit, but I haven’t tried that either. :o)

    Posted in Saxophone | Leave a comment

    Introducing Count Saxula, a vun and a two…

    Posted on December 25, 2009 by Gandalfe

    DSCF0006When I was a kid, I loved a puppet called Klinker who was modeled after a blond cocker spaniel. I delighted in telling stories with the help of “my little friend”. It was as fun for me as it was (apparently) for my younger brothers. So when Suzy started making Muppet-style puppets I asked her to make Count Saxula.

     ZootThis is not the first saxophone welding Muppet. Some of you might remember  Zoot from the first season of the Muppets. Zoot is the balding, blue-haired saxophone player for the Electric Mayhem. According to his performer and builder Dave Goelz, “Zoot is just a fifty-year-old burnt-out musician.”

    Zoot first appeared with his band mates in The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence before securing a regular gig on The Muppet Show, where he played both in the Muppet Orchestra and with the Mayhem. He has also appeared in every Muppet movie, the most recent being The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz.

    Count One of Zoot’s trademarks is blowing small notes of music at a time. He notably blew the final note of “The Muppet Show Theme” in the closing credits on every episode of The Muppet Show. Although most of his appearances were with the Electric Mayhem, Zoot was more prominently featured as an individual in the early episodes.

    I look forward to using Count Saxula to help my grandchildren learn to count, something that I still struggle with. So he is kind of a homage to the Count von Count Muppet. The Count has a compulsive love of counting (arithmomania); he will count anything and everything, regardless of size, amount, or how much annoyance he causes others around him. In one song he stated that he sometimes even counts himself.When he finishes counting, The Count laughs and announces his total. This finale is usually accompanied by a crash of thunder and a flash of lightning. So maybe Count Saxula’s dialog could go something like, “Let’s count in 3/4 time; a vun, a two, a tree.” and then end with a honk of a sax instead of thunder. It’s a work in progress but in my practice runs I can get Suzy to laugh.  :o)

    Update, here is how the Count looks today after having used and refined him for six months. We’ve add the glasses and the Bon Tempi child’s saxophone that is usually on sale at eBay.

    Posted in Art, Collectable, Hobbies, Saxophone, soprillo, Toys | Tagged , | Leave a comment

    Santa Baby, in an F Mezzo style

    Posted on December 24, 2009 by Gandalfe

    This has been a very festive season indeed in many ways. So many friends, family, and lots of music. First Matt (aka QuinnTheEskimo on eBay) found me a pristine 1928 Conn F Mezzo soprano sax. What can I say, the man is good at this sort of thing. Then Merlin Williams wrote me a sax quartet arrangement of Santa Baby.

    So my friends Molly Pond (on a silver Selmer Mark VI alto) and Greg Cagle (on a Yani B990 baritone) joined Suzy (on a Selmer Reference tenor) and me (on a Yani S991 soprano and Conn F Mezzo) for three gigs. Here is a video created by my friend Jeff Keith of ‘Santa Baby’ performed in Redmond.

    Happy holidays everyone. Here’s hoping that y’all have a festive season doing the things you enjoy with the people you luv.

    Posted in Holiday | Leave a comment