Ontario Empoblog

One or Two More Depeche Mode Albums? From the Redlands Daily Facts (an article about 101 ): A 15-year gap has passed since the tour, which broke the band in America....But after the Songs of Faith and Devotion Tour, Wilder left the band, Gahan had a publicized battle with drug addiction, Gore had a brain seizure and Fletcher had a nervous breakdown. The three remaining members have continued as a group, with work on a new CD set to commence in April, but where it goes from there is anyone's guess. "Creatively, we think we have one or two albums left in us to keep the quality high," Fletcher says.

The "Ali" Score Has Me Going Again I rarely go to theaters (or theatres, if Eddykins et al are reading this), but I made an exception to see the Michael Mann/Will Smith film Ali . While viewing the film, I was captivated by the song that was played while Ali jogged through Zaire, and when he beat George Foreman. After some investigation, I found out that the song was "Tomorrow (Sadio)" by Salif Keita, and I ended up buying his Papa album so that I could play the song (and others) over and over. Well, tonight I was playing my DVD of the Ali movie, and I'm trying to track down another song. This is the song (in A minor) that is played while Ali is riding the subway, ignoring those around him. The song is some sort of hybrid electronic soul (imagine Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, and Alan Wilder being born black in Detroit in 1948). I've checked the sound samples from both the Ali soundtrack and the Ali score , but haven't had any luck. I'll keep on s...

D.A. Pennebaker on Depeche Mode From a 1998 article : There are three guys: Alan [Wilder] was never really part of the original group, and I think he's out of it now, but he was the consummate musician of the group, so they all turned to him to see that they played the right chords and whatnot. But they really were just three working-class kids who came from a little place outside of London, and they had all grown up together and gone to the same school, and they had doped out together. They had no manager, so they really managed themselves. I mean, they had this guy from Mute Records who would advise them on certain things, but he basically just liked them. He didn't try to tell them what to do or anything. But they had figured out this incredible system for making money where all of their stuff was on a pre-recorded tape, so they didn't need drummers or the rest of the band. And there were really only two of them, because one of them, his keyboard wasn't even plu...

Fake Interview unrelated to Saddam Hussein While we're at it, here's a fake interview of "Britney's boyfriend" and the other members of N'Sync. From rootnode.org .

Fake Interview about Saddam Hussein deadbrain.com has recorded Britney Spears' reaction to Saddam Hussein's capture at a website which includes the words "satire," "spoof," and "parody." "I'm so gigantically relieved they finally captured that scary bearded guy!" Spears said, while having Band-Aids applied to her nipples for an MTV appearance later that day. "He's, like, all gnarly and stuff! I've even had nightmares about him – but he looked a lot more like Justin in those."

Fake Interview with Saddam Hussein Some people are convinced that the US did not capture Saddam Hussein, but an imposter. One article notes that: Many Arabs who saw Saddam as a champion of Arab rights did not want to believe it was really him in custody. “If it were really Saddam, he would have resisted capture. But if in the end, it is proven that it is really him then these pictures are humiliating for every Arab and Muslim,” said Yemeni salesman Ali al-Zebaidi. “I still think the pictures are of a Saddam look-alike. They don’t prove it’s really him,” added fellow Yemeni Badr Obadi. While this may irritate Americans, think how Saddam must feel about this. He makes a statement to someone, and that someone doubts that it was Saddam who made the statement. See the December 16 entry in the KOER blog for the consequences of this view.

Hiking Website Found this listed in Seb's Blog . localhikes.com lists a number of hiking trails in major metropolitan areas. For example, here is their listing of a Wier (sic) Canyon hike , including a map and pictures .

You Do NOT Equate Trista and Ryan to My Favorite President From today's Denver Post (Bill Husted) : Ryan Sutter and Trista Rehn are finally married. Enough already. The "Bachelorette" couple has brought a lot of good publicity to Vail, where Sutter is a firefighter. So what does the town give the couple for a wedding present? An official 2-foot-diameter, 52-pound, $295 Town of Vail manhole cover.... "We thought the manhole cover would be an appropriate and suitable gift," says Suzanne Silverthorn, info officer for the Town of Vail and gift chooser. "We wanted to stay away from anything that has a return possibility or a duplicate possibility. They have become Vail celebrities and we are treating them as such." She's not kidding. The town has given away only two other manhole covers: One was to President Gerald Ford and the other to the New York Philharmonic when it was there last summer. It's like getting the keys to the city. Says one well-wis...

But France is Cleaner Than The US... From the Transparency International Bribe Payers Index 2002 : Transparency International Bribe Payers Index 2002 835 business experts in 15 leading emerging market countries were asked: In the business sectors with which you are most familiar, please indicate how likely companies from the following countries are to pay or offer bribes to win or retain business in this country? A perfect score, indicating zero perceived propensity to pay bribes, is 10.0, and thus the ranking below starts with companies from countries that are seen to have a low propensity for foreign bribe paying. All the survey data indicated that domestically owned companies in the 15 countries surveyed have a very high propensity to pay bribes - higher than that of foreign firms. Rank/Country/score 1Australia 8.5 2 Sweden 8.4 Switzerland 8.4 4 Austria 8.2 5 Canada 8.1 6 Netherlands 7.8 Belgium 7.8 8 United Kingdom 6.9 9 Singapore 6.3 Germany 6.3...

Nigerian Corruption Crackdown From the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs : LAGOS, 5 Dec 2003 (IRIN) - President Olusegun Obasanjo has fired his Labour Minister, Hussaini Akwanga, over allegations that he took bribes to approve the award of a major government contract to a French electronics group....The French electronics company SAGEM won a US $214 million contract two years ago to produce national identity cards for Nigeria. Akwanga was the top bureaucrat in the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the time. He and several other officials are alleged to have taken large bribes to approve the deal.... The Commonwealth Business Forum was part of preliminary activities to the opening of the Commonwealth Head of Government’s Meeting in the capital Abuja this weekend. The summit, attended by Britain's Queen Elizabeth, opened on Friday with 54 leaders from Britain and its former colonies in attendance. "I find it an unusual coincidence that Obasanjo chos...

MALDEF Only Partially Supports Boycott From MALDEF's web site MALDEF officials support the idea of a Dec. 12 economic stoppage by Latinos in California in order to demonstrate what the state’s economy would look like without Latinos, an activity organized by Latino groups, including Hermandad Mexicana and MAPA, to denounce the repeal of the driver’s license law SB60. However, as educational advocates who have fought hard to achieve equality of educational opportunity, for example, by lengthening the school calendar year for Latino students, they were unable to support the idea of keeping children from attending school.

If It's Successful, Traffic Will Be A Breeze Tomorrow From the San Francisco Chronicle : Boycott planned over license bill Protest organizers ask Latinos not to shop or work on Dec. 12 Jose Antonio Vargas, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, December 5, 2003 ...Latino immigrants -- angered by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's repeal on Wednesday of the driver's license bill that would have given illegal immigrants the right to drive -- will participate in a planned "boycott": a one-day economic strike in which Latinos are encouraged to not go to work, school or buy anything...."This could very much shut down many businesses," said Nativo Lopez, president of the Los Angeles-based Mexican American Political Association, one of many Latino organizations across the state that called for the boycott...."We are the fulcrum, the lever, of the state's economy, and we intend to shake that fulcrum. This strike will only be the first of many in the ...

While We're At It... Quote from the movie Tunnel Vision : Tom Davis (to Al Franken): Well, don't worry about your breath or your armpits, Al. It's your personality that stinks.

Al Franken On His Impressions of Paul Simon and Others From Al Franken at the National Press Club, February 28, 2002 : MR. AUBUCHON: I think we talked in the introduction about some of your others. But who's the easiest person you ever did an impression of in your SNL days? Who was the easiest? MR. FRANKEN: I have this odd thing which is I do a certain small set of impressions. I'm not someone like Daryl Hammond or Dana Carvey, who can do like an incredible number of impressions. So I've only done maybe, you know, a handful. Strom Thurmond is fun to do, because he has that cracker accent that doesn't really exist in America anymore -- (laughter) -- because it's died out. (Laughter.) And I loved during the Anita Hill hearings when he couldn't hear her, and he was saying, "Are you talking (in the machine?" (Laughter.) Talk in the machine, I can't hear you -- talk in the machine." (Laughter.) He -- I think he's going to make it. (L...

Ignoring Motiviational Banners (YOU CAN DO IT!) Many organizations post motivational banners to inspire their employees. (EVERY SECOND COUNTS!) The theory is that the employees will see the banner, and will respond with the correct behavior. (IGNORE THE NONESSENTIALS!) If the employees see the banners enough, the effect is supposed to be subliminal. (DON'T LET OTHERS TELL YOU WHAT IS IMPORTANT!) However, jaded employees can immediately identify such motivational banners. (DON'T WASTE TIME READING THESE!) Wary of propaganda, the employees "tune out" the motivational banners or, if they are angry at the employer, end up doing the opposite of what the banners suggest. (IGNORE MOTIVATIONAL BANNERS!)

From Jefferson to Albright Found a list of former U.S. Secretaries of State (foreign ministers), with links to biographies of each.

Name One...OK, I Will From maris.gr : A dynamic treatment for those who demand instant results. Pressotherapy combats cellulite by flushing out toxins , thus deterring toxin retention. From the Shanghai Star : Colonic treatment involves allowing a nurse to insert a tube into your rear end and flush out all the toxins that have accumulated there. From herbcorner.net : Actually, I talking about Deep Tissue Stone Therapy. Using hot basalt stones and cold marble stones, wonderful thermal gymnastics happen in your soft tissue....The hotter the better, tho, as the heat quickly penetrates deep into the tissue causing it to relax, allowing blood to flow more freely, flushing out toxins that have built up and bringing in fresh oxygen and nutrients. From lronhubbard.org : Clear Body, Clear Mind: The Effective Purification Program is the comprehensive text that explains in detail the exact procedures of the Purification program, covering every aspect necessary to DO the progra...

It All Ties Together (The Politically Incorrect Online Store) Here's a link to a CafePress online store for the University of Northern Colorado Fighting Whites intramural basketball team.

More on Disk Drive Relationships Here is a link to an L.A. Daily News article on the subject. Excerpt: Under orders from the affirmative action office, county departments have surveyed about 1,000 pieces of equipment and taped over "master/slave" and put "primary/secondary" on the equipment, officials said. Joe Sandoval, division manager of purchasing and contract services in the Internal Services Department, started the flap with a memo to electronic equipment vendors saying the county wants master and slave labeling removed from computer equipment it buys. "The County of Los Angeles actively promotes and is committed to ensure a work environment that is free from any discriminatory influence be it actual or perceived," he wrote in the Nov. 18 memo. "One such recent example included the manufacturer's labeling of equipment where the words 'Master/Slave' appeared to identify the primary and secondary sources. Based on the ...

Appropriate Use of the Acronym "LOL" This item (part of the 12/5/2003 Robert X. Cringely column in InfoWorld ) literally had me laughing out loud: Watch Your Language: In other news, Los Angeles County officials have urged vendors to stop using the term "master/slave" to describe technology where one device controls the actions of others, saying the term is racially insensitive. Rumor has it several hard drive makers are dropping the offending phrase from their documentation; new drives will now be labeled "dominant/submissive." (I’ll just apologize for this joke now and get it over with.)

Apart Together (Kissing the Outkasts) I've been mulling this whole "solo albums by group members" thing. Normally when members of a group start issuing solo albums, they're independent efforts that don't really have anything to do with what the main band is doing. Examples include the solo efforts of the Beatles prior to Abbey Road , Alan Wilder's Recoil project which started while he was still part of Depeche Mode, and Phil Collins' solo work while he was still a member of Genesis. Even the recent Martin Gore/Dave Gahan solo efforts are independent of Depeche Mode (no matter what the Depeche Mode website might have implied earlier in the year). I've been racking my brain and can only think of two instances in which a music group coordinated simultaneous releases of solo albums by group members. In 1978 , KISS was riding a huge wave of popularity when they released four solo albums. The Gene Simmons , Ace Frehley , Peter Criss , and Paul S...

Accuracy in Media Fascinating site: Everything is Connected . Excerpts from random surfing: Shakira's platonic love as a teen was Kurt Cobain. Melissa Auf Der Maur is an ex-girlfriend of Dave Grohl. not only did Foo Fighters contribute the song "Breakout" to the soundtrack of "Me, Myself & Irene", but JIm (Carrey) joined them onstage at their second appearance on Saturday Night Live. Paul (McCartney) and Kevin (Bacon) were once lovers. Based on that last entry, it looks like I can add my false (?) assertion that Brian Eno is the illegitmiate son of Slim Whitman.

Hey Ya! There's Nothing New Under the Sun I rarely watch videos any more, primarily because MTV has apparently become a 24/7 channel for bad reality shows. However, I just found an online version of the Outkast video for "Hey Ya" ( available via dotmusic.com ). Although both the video and the audio were lo-fi (at least on this computer with this connection), it did look like a fairly good video. However, 90% of the strength is in the song itself; conceptually, the video is a combination of Paul McCartney's video for "Coming Up" and Billy Joel's video for "Tell Her About It." Frankly, in terms of Ed Sullivan video parodies, Nirvana is still tops .

On My To-Do List Explore the weblog of Frank Showalter. I got there because of an Alan Wilder reference. As I have already noted , Alan attended one of Dave Gahan's shows .

Those Danged Brits I had never heard this story before: Marathon Man (1976) While filming Marathon Man Dustin didn't sleep for days in order to create the weary look. This obviously did not go well in the eyes of Laurence Olivier who grew impatient of the modern (Method Man). - Scottman Addition: In fact, Laurence Olivier became so irritated by Dustin Hoffman's "method acting" that, one day during filming, he asked Hoffman why he looked so terrible. Hoffman told him that he had stayed up all night to achieve the exhausted look of his character. Olivier quipped, "Try acting." - Gibborino The story is also included in an article in the Hindu newspaper , a comment by Brian Risselada at ymdb.com , and probably a ton of other places.

An Era Is Over http://www.mp3.com/oemperor/ cannot be found. I started with mp3.com back in 1999, posting the mp3 "Days Summer Days" to the site in January of that year and releasing the four-song CD "Cheating at Solitaire" in February of that year. Back then my Macintosh didn't have CD-writing capability, so the facilities at mp3.com were much appreciated. Forget Ontario Emperor for a moment: what about "Taco Taco Taco" by Doctor Orange? I hope someone can come up with a financial proposition that will allow independent artists to publish their music on the web. I hope that the current proposals don't end up degenerating into a "we only want your music if everybody will like it" ho-hum.

Nancy Reagan on the Reagan Dime From today's Inland Valley Daily Bulletin : Nancy Reagan voiced her opposition Friday to an attempt by Republican lawmakers to put Ronald Reagan's likeness on the dime in place of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. "While I can understand the intentions of those seeking to place my husband's face on the dime, I do not support this proposal and I am certain Ronnie would not," the former first lady said in a statement released Friday. "When our country chooses to honor a great President such as Franklin Roosevelt by placing his likeness on our currency, it would be wrong to remove him and replace him with another," she said. "It is my hope that the proposed legislation will be withdrawn." Although Nancy Reagan didn't allude to it, the fact that FDR was one of Ronald Reagan's early heroes, and a supporter of the New Deal , certainly influenced Nancy's assertion that "Ronnie would not" su...

A Change to This Blog While I was working on the Oppose Traffic Calming Obstructions web empire, I took a moment to make a change to this blog. Henceforth, only fourteen days' worth of posts will appear on the main page. Previous postings appear in the archives.

Oppose Traffic Calming Obstructions The Oppose Traffic Calming Obstructions web site has been created. In addition to a few reasons to oppose traffic calming (which will look familiar to Empoblog readers), the site includes a reposting of the song "Non Sequitur 15" , a number of anti-traffic calming links , and even a blog that is solely dedicated to traffic calming issues . About the music : The Ontario Emperor song "Non Sequitur 15" (mp3 format, 764K, 0:48) originally appeared on the CD Besieged, issued in October 2000 by mp3.com (R.I.P.). This was the only Ontario Emperor song from the mp3.com period that included lyrics. The lyrics: "Oppose traffic calming in Ontario California." About the blog : The first couple of postings in the Oppose Traffic Calming Obstructions blog were obviously taken from this blog, the Ontario Empoblog . However, in the future I plan to place any traffic calming-related comments in the other blog .

Oppose Traffic Calming in Your Community The Rational Motorists' Guide to Opposing Obstruction Strategies includes several tips for combating "traffic obstruction initiatives." Excerpts: I. Know Thy Enemy Traffic obstruction advocates are local residents, usually few in number, who have decided to rid their street of unwanted traffic.... II. Know Your Advantages If you also live in the community and you can attend public meetings, your influence will be equal to or greater than your opponents'. Your presence puts elected officials on notice that they can't eliminate the source of their aggravation by appeasing the other side.... III. Know Your Allies ...Devices that physically impede vehicle speeds hinder emergency response services such as the police, EMTs, and fire trucks. These same devices create problems for public works departments, road maintenance crews, and delivery services....Representatives from such factions, combined with a few local r...

Oppose Traffic Calming in Ontario Canada (and other parts of Canada too) The Canada Safety Council cites several dangers and other problems resulting from traffic calming. One specific example for Canadians: "Proponents cite studies from Australia and Europe. Canadian infrastructure, climate and transportation needs are quite different from these countries. In Canada, snow clearing and icing are critical issues. Public transit needs are different. Canadians travel relatively long distances on a regular basis." Another example, filtered through a Canadian lens: "A delay of just one minute due to speed humps or congestion on narrowed roads can mean the difference between life and death. Inefficient traffic flow on an access route to a hospital puts lives at stake. Snow clearing problems associated with blocked-off streets and other traffic calming obstructions will increase delays in winter, when many home fires and medical emergencies occur. Liability issues assoc...

Reading on a Jet Plane The advantage of sitting around in an airport or on a plane is that you can get some reading done. St. Peter's Hospital in Albany, New York has an online job bidding website, which nurses can use to bid for shift work. According to BusinessWeek , "Nurses scan the available shifts, then post the hourly wage they would be willing to work for. The hospital reviews the bids, taking into consideration each nurse's skills and the number of hours already worked that week. The nurses usually hear back from the hospital within 24 hours." The Tapwave Zodiac was cited by Stephen H. Wildstorm as an extreme example of the differences between Palm vs. Windows Mobile development. While PalmSource encourages divergence of platforms, leading to significant innovation but at a loss of compatibility (applications for a Tapwave Zodiac may not run on other Palm devices), Windows Mobile devices emphasize application compatibility, which results in a ...

Roy Disney Resignation I haven't really said anything about Roy Disney's resignation from Disney in this blog, but I have posted a comment at Michael Hanscom's Eclecticism blog .

The Compromise OK, I am forced to conclude that the best environment is one which is a combination of big and small business. I guess that means that the world will be dominated by Amway salespeople. Frankly, I'd prefer a world dominated by Creative Memories salespeople, but that's my personal opinion. You can live in the Amway world if you like. I still remember an incident around 1980 when a friend invited several of us to a meeting. He wouldn't tell us what the meeting was about. It turned out to be an Amway presentation. None of us signed up.... Today Amway is part of Alticor , a company with $4.5 billion sales worldwide. The Amway Grand Plaza Hotel is located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Well, we know what the maids use for cleaning .

Wal-Mart, Schmal-Mart After reading these two articles about continued centralization in the grocery industry, the following excerpt from the Smiling Owner web site made my head spin around: Today we live in a small enterprise culture. Governments encourage business start-ups. More people work for small and micro businesses than for large corporations. Small business now exceeds the export potential of large multi-nationals. Economies depend on small business.

Another Argument That Supermarkets Are Evil The U.K. office of Friends of the Earth issued a press release stating ten reasons why they oppose supermarkets. Note that the U.K. "Safeway" referenced in the press release is NOT related to the U.S. Safeway. 1. Supermarkets don’t offer the best price to consumers. 2. Supermarkets favour imports over British produce. 3. Supermarkets’ bullying tactics can put small farmers out of business. 4. Supermarkets are squeezing prices to farmers. 5. Supermarkets are forcing small shops out of business. 6. Supermarkets do not support the local economy in the same way that local shops do. 7. When a large supermarket opens there is a net loss of jobs. 8. Supermarkets import food over huge distances, often by air, resulting in large emissions of carbon dioxide. 9. Supermarkets also transport food large distances around the UK due to their distribution system. 10. Supermarkets waste food by placing difficult conditions on ...

Supermarkets by Robert J. Morton Robert J. Morton has written a 360,000 word book about human society entitled The Lost Inheritance . One of the topics associated with Chapter 10: The Capital Men is entitled "Supermarkets." His thesis, in brief, is that unfettered capitalism results in continued concentration of the British (and world) grocery industry into the hands of a few very large proprietors. A few brief excerpts: Once upon a time, the food and general household needs of the population of Britain were provided by thousands of small shops and street markets of various kinds. Gradually, a handful of them in different parts of the country took over the shops that were failing and those belonging to retiring proprietors. As a result, they became a little bit bigger than their peers. And they grew. Eventually they became very big businesses, dominating their communities.... With all the local shops put out of business and their competition thus eliminated, u...

Well, Maybe It IS Good Marketing In That Culture I just posted a link to the eegfree web site. It was referenced in the November 21, 2003 Robert X. Cringely column . First off, let me state that I cannot speak a bit of Korean. That having been said, the author of eegfree's English-language site may not be sensitive to the nuances of the English language. The product is described as "the newest mind control machine." The company means to state that the user can affect his/her own mind to study better, etc. However, the wording implies that person X is controlling person A's mind. My first reaction was "Ha ha ha" (in English), until I realized that many cultures are less individually-oriented than my own. In such a culture, mind control by a leader might be a good thing. Don't forget that Rev. Sun Myung Moon is Korean...

Non-Random Links "Hackett Died Too Soon" by Mr. P oxymoronlist.com Blogolith - Music from the Blog Blogolith's Online Shop at cafeshops.com cafepress.com pdf995 - create PDFs for free (I have not tested this) eegfree (more later) Independent on Sunday 50 Eno Moments Oblique Strategies

Oops 2 Mappoint isn't the only mapping service with location problems. Ramada uses Mapquest to provide its on-site maps; however, their map for their Lake Havasu location places the hotel southeast of its actual location (it's actually NORTH of Smoketree, not SOUTH of Smoketree).

I am a Guy I am a guy, and as such am ignorant about the specifics of make-up and the like. For example, I was surprised to see that Wynonna could look like this . I will give her credit, though - her statement after her drunk driving arrest was impressive.

Oops... According to mappoint.msn.com , the Barstow Station at 1611 E Main St is west of Interstate 15. Only problem is, it's actually east of Interstate 15. Don't know if this is an underlying problem with multiple maps, or whether this is just a Microanomaly. mapquest.com shows correct data.

Taking a trip Going to Lake Havasu City . If all goes well, we'll also get to Barstow Station and the Kingman Cracker Barrel . See you later...

Surfin' Safari Stan Ridgway's links include a link to "friend" Mark Mothersbaugh , "Brillant Composer and Devo mainstay." If you go on to the Mutato Muzika "Personnel" link, you can get to Greenspan Artist Management . The list of recording artists includes a woman named Jorane , a classically trained musician from Quebec City. That's as far as I got.

More on Switzerland charts swisscharts.com has a wealth of information stashed away in its archives. For example, here are the charts for all of the Depeche Mode singles that have ever charted in Switzerland. The song title, date of entry into the chart, highest position, and weeks on chart are all listed. As you can see, dM hasn't have a top 10 hit since "I Feel You" (although "In Yoor Room," "Only When I Lose Myself," and "Dream On" made the top 20 since then). Everything Counts 16.10.1983 8 14 People Are People 15.04.1984 4 13 Master And Servant 23.09.1984 8 9 Blasphemous Rumours 23.12.1984 19 7 Shake The Disease 02.06.1985 6 12 It's Called A Heart 06.10.1985 7 7 Stripped 02.03.1986 8 10 A Question Of Lust 18.05.1986 12 7 A Question Of Time 07.09.1986 9 7 Strangelove 10.05.1987 3 13 Never Let Me Down Again 06.09.1987 7 13 Behind The Wheel 24.01.1988 6 7 Little 15 12.06.1988 18 8 Personal Jesus 24.09.1989...

Selected Singles Charts Here are a couple of on-line singles charts from: Sweden Switzerland

Where Are They Now at laradio.com laradio.com includes an excellent "Where Are They Now?" section. Here are some excerpts: Baka Boyz: KPWR, 1993-99; KKBT, 1999-2000. Eric and Nick Vidal moved to Miami in early 2003. Blade, Richard: KNAC; KROQ, 1982-2000. Richard left KROQ in April 2000 and moved to St. Thomas Island to teach scuba diving. He returned to the Southland in 2003. Burton, Michael: KROQ, 1990-95. Michael "the maintenance man" left the Kevin & Bean morning show in the fall of 1995 and filed a wrongful-termination suit charging the station with racial and religious discrimination. The suite was settled in late 1996 with both parties prohibited from revealing financial details. Furillo, Bud: KABC, 1973-75; KIIS, 1975-79; KABC, 1979-87; KFOX, 1988-90. Bud is working at KPSI-Palm Springs. Jackson, Michael : KHJ, 1963-65; KNX, 1965; KABC, 1966-98; KRLA, 1999-2000; KLAC, 2001-02. Michael left KLAC in late 2002 following a format change from Talk to Adult S...

Empoblog, Reformatted Just added a "links" column to the blog, listing some of the best (?) Ontario Emperor links, some links to other blogs, and a few additional links. Not that I'm about to put Backflip ouf of business...

Wckr Spgt Here's the website . Long story...

Scooter Charging? From the 10/22/2003 Gresham Outlook . Emphasis mine. To scoot, or dart off speedily, the choice of wheels these days may be the scooter, a vehicle consisting of a long footboard between two small end wheels, powered by battery or gas with the forward wheel controlled by an upright steering handle. Already a smash in Asia and now California (where restaurants and convenience stores have scooter battery chargers installed on the premises for their customers’ convenience) , a local family is betting once Oregonians have an avenue to get their hands on them, they’ll scoot on over to the brand-new business Scootin’ Along Scooters at 18200 N.E. Halsey St. My comment: huh?

Selected Googlisms for November 26 Here's the link to see all of the entries. november 26 is the feast of christ and king and is traditionally the sunday that children receive first november 26 is republic day in chad november 26 is the target date for those penguins who have enrolled in the "marathon" to shed 26 pounds november 26 is observed by baha'is as the day of covenant november 26 is international buy nothing day november 26 is the jubilee day for lay ministers november 26 is payroll benefits coordinator jennifer demare?s first day november 26 is a tentative date for the arbitration concerning the dismissal of a high school teacher november 26 is the eighth annual international buy nothing day november 26 is the fire festival in tibet

Googlisms Here are some Googlisms : Who: Barry Manilow What: Madrid New Mexico Where: Space When: November

Social Networking Links Oracle of Bacon Spoke Software Visible Path Friendster Beta

Join the U.S. Hacker Corps, See The World From a 10/20/2003 article by Roger Harris in the Ventura County Star : Money and effort now spent tracking down hackers and throwing them in prison with bank robbers and drug peddlers would be better spent recruiting hackers for national security work, said [John] Arquilla, co-director of the Center on Terrorism & Irregular Warfare at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey.... Skeptics contend hackers are untrustworthy lot who, among other things, have broken into Pentagon computers and sent damaging computer viruses swirling through government and business computer systems.

This entry proves the point of the cited study Lyman, Peter and Hal R. Varian, "How Much Information", 2003. Retrieved from http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/how-much-info-2003 . Excerpts from the executive summary : 1. Print, film, magnetic, and optical storage media produced about 5 exabytes of new information in 2002. Ninety-two percent of the new information was stored on magnetic media, mostly in hard disks. 2. We estimate that the amount of new information stored on paper, film, magnetic, and optical media has about doubled in the last three years. 3. Information flows through electronic channels -- telephone, radio, TV, and the Internet -- contained almost 18 exabytes of new information in 2002, three and a half times more than is recorded in storage media. Ninety eight percent of this total is the information sent and received in telephone calls - including both voice and data on both fixed lines and wireless. The following excerpts are from Chapter 8, Sec...

Get Supercenters AND Tax Revenue Union opposition to Wal-Mart Supercenters may benefit taxpayers and consumers in the long run. Let's look at the situation today. Megacorp approaches the City Council for Itty Bitty City and plays hardball. "Itty Bitty City," says Mr. Megacorp, "we MAY decide to build one of our stores in your town, giving you the benefits of associating with us and giving your city tremendous tax reve- strike that - giving your city a number of customers who will shop at your existing trash stores if we don't put them out of business first. All you have to do is build a freeway to our store, waive requirements to pay taxes and things like that, and all this will be yours! Or perhaps we'll go to your neighbor city across the street." However, the actions of the city of Oakland and other jurisdictions have changed the balance of power somewhat. Here's what those conversations will look like in the future: "Itty ...

Teller Speaks Link to Teller Speaks - the name says it all.

See Fine Print Clearly Method From the "See Clearly Method" disclaimer at http://www.seeclearlymethod.com/disclaimer.asp : ...The See Clearly Method (tm) is an educational tool that teaches the user how to see more clearly, comfortably, and efficiently. It is not a medical or assistive device, nor is it a substitute for diagnosis or treatment by an optometrist or ophthalmologist. Unless otherwise indicated, the statements found on this web site (and in other advertising for the See Clearly Method) are either derived or quoted from See Clearly Method printed materials or express the opinions of the authors of the See Clearly Method.... By making use of the contents of the See Clearly Method training kit, the user agrees that it is his or her sole responsibility to determine the suitability of the See Clearly Method for his or her intended purpose, and assumes all risks and liabilities resulting from application of the techniques and recommendations, including any a...

Stairway Schmairway This morning when coming out of commercial, Imus in the Morning played an excerpt from the old Focus song "Hocus Pocus" - the better of the two best instrumentals from the early 1970s and, according to top40.about.com, the 69th most popular song of 1973 .

CDE To keep this going, I went to www.cdesoftware.com . After listening to a tune and watching a cat, I went inside. CDE Software is the industry leader in software for the sport of bowling. CDE products feature an easy to use interface and provides flexability (sic) and several options to support most needs. WHAT THE HECK DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH A CAT? Fearing an angry reprimand from John Dvorak, I continued to the About CDE Software page, where I learned that Seattle is "technologically diverse." (Free to be you and Amiga?) AND WHAT ABOUT THE CAT?

Bookcrossing Cluetrain Dimensional (Yes, that was weak.) Seven copies of the Cluetrain Manifesto are floating around in the world. See the Bookcrossing search .

Al Bookcrossing Combination (Notice the alphabetical title. Pretty good for 10 o'clock in the evening.) Skimmed Al Franken's book Why Not Me? The Inside Story of the Making and Unmaking of the Franken Presidency earlier this evening. I had forgotten that Sandy Koufax appeared in the book as Franken's Secretary of Veterans Affairs, part of his all-Jewish administration. Here's a brief book review via a Bookcrossing link. By the way, here's my Bookcrossing bookshelf . As you can see, I haven't released any books since July, although I have a few ready for release.

Nez Eat Your Heart Out I've finally committed my parody My Oh My, Look How Creative We Are to virtual paper. Follow the link .

Welcome to My Restaurant! Not you, Charles... Mohamed Al Fayed has his own website . While I certainly appreciate his efforts to investigate his son's death, the home page looks like something out of an upscale men's magazine .

Information Wants To Be Free! As Cluetrain states, people do not want to hear banalities from PR hacks. They want to hear the truth from people who know something. So there was this guy named Richard Tomlinson who tried to live up to Cluetrain. One problem: he was a Secret Intelligence Service agent and he was planning to set up websites that published the names of other agents. Robert Novak probably got some ideas from this...

If Osama Had One, This Whole September 11 Thing Could Have Been Avoided Well, here's one I forgot about - the security threat posed by Furbies.

Clueless? The whole Cluetrain thingie was the rage several years ago, and I just heard about it this month. So, what else did I miss in 1999? The BBC will help me find out.

Cluetrain, Gluetrain, Nighttrain? OK, I finally read Chapter One of the Cluetrain Manifesto . Actually, I skimmed Chapter One, which basically boils down to the following: People shouldn't talk funny. Previously, I had read a couple of other items: John C. Dvorak's article "Cult of the Cluetrain Manifesto." Sample quote: Yet the apparent faith in this odd vision of an idealistic human-oriented internetworked new world/new economy marches forward. I imagine all these folks holding hands in a large circle, rolling back and forth, with some in the middle of the circle, spinning and chanting and hugging, all naked. I'm betting that most of these folks go to Burning Man and all of them write blogs about it and how cool it was. They link to each others' blogs and read what they say about each other—all highly complimentary. In fact the brown-nosing that goes on between bloggers singing each others' praises makes the worst office kiss-ups look ...

saveeverybody.com One morning while I was walking around downtown Brea, I ran across this article in Orange County Weekly about savekobe.com . I hope this doesn't start a trend. As of now, the Michael Jackson Fan Club merchandise page does not include pictures of young boys wearing official shirts saying "Michael is innocent!" As of now, there is no Scott Peterson fan club website selling "Scott is innocent!" boats. And I haven't yet found a "Searching for the real killer" t-shirt, although I did find a reference to a I HELPED EXECUTE O.J. SIMPSON sentence t-shirt. (Offered by a talk-show host who states, AIDs: Stands for: "Another Infected Dying Sodomite" and God has the right to forgive murderers but we don't [have the right] because we're not God.

Beyond Vanity Most labels founded by popular artists (e.g. Apple, Swan Song) may have a few additional bands, but not a whole lot. The most notable exception (other than Reprise) is Madonna's Maverick Records , started in 1992 by Madonna and her then-manager and still going strong over a decade later. In addition to Madonna, here are just a few of the other artists on the label: Michelle Branch, Meshell Ndegeocello, Alanis Morisette, Oakenfold, Prodigy, William Orbit, and a ton of others. They have also released material from Olive.

Some More Inland Empire Blogs Inland Anti-Empire : Progressive News and Views from Southwest Riverside County Seb's Blog Child Abuse Prevention Center Riverside County Ryan Cox's One Way Mirror to the Soul

Claude Bell's Cabazon Dinosaurs Here are some links from roadsideamerica.com , bigwaste.com , armchair.com (1) (2) , and roadsidepeek.com .

Home is a Box Well, I woke up, and I read (among other things) Deuteronomy 6:4-9 . The focus was on the word home in verse 7. I could devote some thought to the concept of the virtual home, but instead I'm thinking about literal vs. symbolic. See verse 8, then see this explanation of tephillin . This is not a case in which you want to think outside the box.

Don't hate her because she likes bad food Revisited the Inland Empire blog T.M.I. About April , and discovered that April loves Reese's Peanut Butter cups. Now, I like peanut butter, and I like chocolate, but I can't mix the two together. Two goods don't ALWAYS make a better. Pizza and chocolate? No. Oranges and chocolate? Forget it. Cereal and chocolate? N- wait a minute, that Count Chocula was good. (I encourage you to follow the link - here's a quote: "When I was a child, the only thing that got me going in the morning was a good healthy dose of sugar and the occult.") Which reminds me that I'll be reading from Deuteronomy and Jude in 7 hours...time for bed...

I'm Behind Still haven't read the Cluetrain Manifesto (see 20 November 20:24 entry).

Let It Be Over With This one's brief (oops - shouldn't use "brief" and "naked" in the same post; people will think we're all Michael Jackson all the time), and somewhat negative: After Sgt. Pepper they never did anything worthwhile anyway. You can't top perfection, and sometimes you shouldn't even try. My opinion differs somewhat. Anyone who ever heard the Kazutaka Hori Music Hours knows that I like music that veers from one style to another in mere seconds. Anyone who knows their music knows that I stole THAT idea from a little piece called The Beatles , released in 1968 and better known as The White Album . If Sergeant Pepper is a snapshot of 1966-1967, the White Album is a complete film...

Someone's review of Let It Be...Naked The blog is either called Mondo Miscellanea or Musical Fruits - my brain has already gone to sleep, so I'm not sure which. The reviewer is NOT a fan of Spector ("I hate the friggin' Wall of Sound"). I wouldn't go that far (let's just say the Righteous Brothers' version of "Unchained Melody" is...um...SIGNIFICANT in Ontario Emperor music), but when an artist (in this case McCartney) absolutely detests what a producer (in this case Spector) does to a song (in this case "The Long and Winding Road"), then said producer deserves criticism. For more reasons to criticize Phil, see this review of Ronnie Spector's autobiography Be My Baby . What a control freak. Oh yeah, and there's that little murder thing. But I still like "Unchained Melody." And, in a related vein, I still like "Thriller."

The Place for Unassociated Information Try a Google search on the terms erika landin sugarhill gang . Then search joe millionaire i demand a japanese car .

Bill Withers Website and "Lean On Me" lyrics/mp3 excerpt Here is the link . Forget the remake of "Lean On Me" - the original is still the best. ( Hear an excerpt!)

Don't You Want Me Baby? In RS 369, David Fricke reviewed four albums from across the pond: the Human League's Dare , Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's Architecture and Morality , Soft Cell's Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret , and Depeche Mode's Speak and Spell . Because Fricke didn't have a crystal ball when he wrote this review, the excerpts are interesting: Yet, more important, the League itself now strikes an appealing balance between modern technique and tuneful charm, epitomized by the hit single "Don't You Want Me." Too much sincerity and not enough spunk on Architecture and Morality make for attractive but dull fare. Not surprisingly, then, the best tracks on Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret–"Frustration," "Sex Dwarf," "Secret Life" – bump and grind with vibrant, tawdry soul. Compared to Soft Cell's smutty pop, Depeche Mode's Speak and Spell is strictly PG-rated fluff. A group of fresh-faced, suburban lad...

Site of the Day anecdotage.com . Tons upon tons of short anecdotes. Here's a sample : While attending a White House event one evening, Bob Dole happened to notice former presidents Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon standing side by side. "There they are," he drily declared. "See no evil, hear no evil, and... evil." [12/28/2006 - my del.icio.us tags for Gerald R. Ford Jr. are here .]

Strange Bedfellows, or Smooth Criminals? Michael Jackson is complaining that his recent arrest was timed to interfere with the release of his new CD . This CD features a new song, called "One More Chance." The songwriter? R Kelly , who has had his own problems with children.

Confidentiality of the Physician-Giraffe Relationship From The Jefferson Muzzles , linked at a-life-online . Soon after [the giraffe] Ryma's death, a Washington Post reporter sought access to the relevant medical records, including necropsy and pathology reports. To the reporter's amazement, an e-mail from National Zoo director Lucy Spelman flatly refused access to the records which had been requested. Even more startling were the reasons given for such a rebuff. Releasing such records, Spelman declared, would violate the late giraffe's right of privacy. "The privacy rules that apply to human medical records, and to the physician-patient relationship," Spelman explained, "do not apply in precisely the same way to animal medicine at a public institution like the National Zoo. But we believe they do in principle." Lest there be any doubt about the rationale for withholding such materials, Spelman continued: "The core of veterinary medicine [a...

Women Exchange Wedding Vows at First Christian Church? Ms. Kelly Schultz and Ms. Carolyn Wiggs exchanged wedding vows yesterday. But it's not what you think. From the El Paso Times (link may quit working 7 days from now): There were no guests and no wedding march, and the groom was absent when Kelly and Pfc. David Shultz exchanged wedding vows Thursday. In an unusual marriage by proxy ceremony performed by senior minister David Grousnick at First Christian Church in Central El Paso, the 25-year-old bride, while holding their 3-month-old son, David Shultz Jr., promised to love and honor her husband, while smiling at associate minister Carolyn Wiggs, a stand-in. And when Grousnick asked Wiggs if Pfc. David Shultz promised to love and honor Kelly, Wiggs responded: "I do." At that point, the minister said that in this case, ceremony would forgo the customary bridal kiss.

Revisiting the Pet Shop Boys Back in August 1998 , I maintained that the Pet Shop Boys was the most humorous band of the 1980s. I quoted the overwrought lyrics of "Paninaro" to prove my point, but I could have just as easily have proven it with the video of "West End Girls" (what the heck was Chris looking at?) or the arrangement of "Always on My Mind." Other over-maximum musics: the arrangement for Crystal Gayle's "When I Dream," the lyrics for the Bee Gees' "I Started a Joke" (see previous entry), and just about everything about the Prince song "Christopher Tracy's Parade."

For the life of me, I can't remember what JUDOMETRIC meant Digital Judge Usenet promo from November 18, 1999.

Told Ya We'd Talk About Frogs My first known post in alt.silly.little.newsgroup . Haven't visited the place in years...

Past into the Forward Doing a web search and finding all sorts of old Ontario Emperor links, including homepages.org , macmusic.org (also here ), news2mail.com , free-music.com , the-emperor.org , music-styles-list.com , and the famed Crooked Door Archives . Unfortunately, most of these sites link to my mp3.com site, which will be wiped away in just a few weeks...

Eddyland While I'm in a link-posting mood, I should post this link to Eddyland , the front door to all of Eddykins' Yahoo! groups, including one I've mentioned before - Silliness and Nonsense . I mentioned this blog there once , and even explained (with a little help from Babelfish ) what a blog is .

All Those Years Ago Here's a link to Victorian Lace's site . I used to play Hold 'Em Poker with her. From the site: The Victorian Era is the eclectic period of time between the mid- and the late 19th century, covering the 64-year reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901. Though Queen Victoria's reign over England ended in 1901 when she passed away, the era which bore her name continued on for several more years, creating styles, fashions, and symbols of a gilded age, rich with elegance, splendor, and romance. Often I have heard other people who share my interest for Victoriana proclaim that they sometimes feel that they were born in the wrong century, and I completely understand what they are saying. I am a lover of all things Victorian, from the rich diversity of Victorian styles to the incomparable glamour of a bygone era. While visiting my webpages, I hope that you will find something here that interests you, informs you, or delights you, and that per...

Dang Google So I started in October , and continued in November . Will this link work in December? Never mind me; I'm just trying to figure something out real-time...

Cluetrain Manifesto I'm bookmarking this here to read later: Chapter One of The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business As Usual

And She Visited Monaco! I was in a meeting this afternoon, during which the moderator asked the question: Why is it important to have a change management process? My reply: A headless chicken doesn't know where it's going. Later I wrote about the meeting...sort of.

Network Car is Real KFI has been playing a commercial, purportedly from a company called "NetworkCar," for a product that claims to send you information about your vehicle's location and running status. The majority of the commercial is composed of humorous disclaimers ("bazillion" is not a real number, don't use this to track your spouse, etc.). This commercial has aired multiple times on KFI, so I was wondering why someone would run such a commercial, or what the website was really about. Since KFI airs the Phil Hendrie Show , I figured the fake ad might have someone to do with him. Well, I went to networkcar.com , and it turns out the business is legit. Network is a technology partner of Cingular Wireless, received a technology award from R&D Magazine, and is part of the publicly traded company Reynolds & Reynolds (NYSE:REY) . The technology sounds invasive, but interesting. Personally, I'd prefer some way to interface to my car...

Paper Monsters Review Here is a link to a review of Dave Gahan's Paper Monsters (review by Marco Passarelli). I like Marco's perspective: After Depeche Mode’s last album, 2001’s ironically titled and completely lackluster “Exciter”, grave doubts came into being over the band’s future – were their best days behind them? With Paper Monsters, there is now reason to believe the band can remain a creative entity with the songwriting talents of Dave Gahan. Let us hope that Martin Gore can loosen his grip and open himself up to a new phase of Depeche Mode.

Recent Reality Links Sirlinksalot is a good source for reality TV links. Here's some recent ones that I've just read: Joe Millionaire's Father's Wealth, 11/10/2003 MediaFiends interview with Erika Landin of BB4, 11/6/2003 PennLive's account of William "Mega" Collins' (BB1) loss in the Philadelphia City Council race, 11/4/2003 BigBrotherUpdates.com interview with Erika Landin of BB4, 10/30/2003 Joe Schmo Finale Recap, 10/29/2003

Chino Valley? Not Really Now here's an example of a business that changed their name as their geographic coverage increased: Citizens Business Bank . They were formerly known as Chino Valley Bank , but they spread beyond Chino Valley and went toward a business focus. "Currently, the Bank serves the business banking needs of business people in the Inland Empire, Los Angeles County, Orange County and the Central Valley areas of California." So, perhaps Century 21 Beachside should change its name. Here are my suggestions: Century 21 Locals and Non-Locals Only Century 21 Beachside and Desertside Century 21 Southland Century 21 Wipeout (Surfboard or Dragstrip, it's up to you)

Beachside? Yes and No I was surprised to learn that Century 21 Beachside actually does have locations by the beach. I was only familiar with their locations in such beach communities as Upland and Brea . Their website, however, indicates that they also have two ( 1 ) ( 2 ) locations in Huntington Beach, and one location in Long Beach . So I can't say that all of the Century 21 Beachside locations are nowhere near a beach - just most of them.

Won't come back from Dead Man's Curve... Now here's something to get one thinking: "Many celebrities were recently solicited by Mr. [Larry] King, who asked them to write their own eulogies (while they're still very much alive), explaining how they want to be remembered after they're gone....Jan Berry got just such a letter in the mail from Mr. King's literary agent....After five months, we heard from Jeanne Welsh of Bill Adler Books: 'We recently received the manuscript back from the publisher, Doubleday. With an overwhelming 475 replies to Larry King's collection, the publisher decided to make a number of cuts.'" It's a pity that King won't be using Berry's contribution, since Berry is a person who actually had to confront mortality at a young age. I encourage you to read Berry's response to King's request, which has been posted here .

Hotel, Motel... A little on the origins of the Sugarhill Gang: oldschoolhiphop.com link

This Has Nothing to Do with Wesley Willis But it's a link that I've had on one of my computers for some time, so I figured I might as well post it here: The Truth About the Truth About De-Evolution - the story of Bob Lewis, former member and producer of Devo who conceived many of the ideas that Devo used.

Frank Murphy Web surfing is fun. While researching Wesley Willis stuff, I ran across this bio of Frank Murphy (who met Wesley while working for Kevin and Bean ). Frank's bio includes a link to an MP3 of the Wesley Willis song "Frank Murphy." For those who have never heard of Frank, he was a fixture in Los Angeles in the 1990s, producing the aforementioned Kevin & Bean as well as Jay Thomas, and Mark & Brian. Interesting reading: " Notes on being a morning show producer ."

Arnold Schwarzenegger It's probably timely to re-examine the lyrics of one particular Wesley Willis song: "Arnold Schwarzenegger." Here's an excerpt; the full lyrics are here . You are my favorite movie star You are my big buddy You are a low down rotten man You are crazy like a roll lizard Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Schwarzenegger

Rock Off Chicago!!! Wesley Willis died in August of this year. See the Alternative Tentacles web site (yes, THAT Alternative Tentacles). P.S. "California Uber Alles" was one of three songs that I permanently banned from my KRRC radio show in the early 1980s (because it was so obvious). The other two: "Don't Fear the Reaper" (too ugly) and "American Pie" (too long).

Links of the Minute Did a search for Inland Empire weblogs and found a few. http://www.daynah.net/ucr/ : UCR Community Blog http://daynah.net/ : Daynah.net http://appleshell.blogspot.com/ : T.M.I. About April