Jill Bolte Taylor: Neuroscientist and Stroke Survivor

I listened to this woman speak on Fresh Air this morning. It is an amazing story and one that is close to my heart as my dear Aunt Blanche suffered a few years ago and I want to understand more about this medical occurrence..

In short, Jill's story:

One morning, a blood vessel in Jill Bolte Taylor's brain exploded. As a brain scientist, she realized she had a ringside seat to her own stroke. She watched as her brain functions shut down one by one: motion, speech, memory, self-awareness ...

Amazed to find herself alive, Taylor spent eight years recovering her ability to think, walk and talk. She has become a spokesperson for stroke recovery and for the possibility of coming back from brain injury stronger than before. In her case, although the stroke damaged the left side of her brain, her recovery unleashed a torrent of creative energy from her right. From her home base in Indiana, she now travels the country on behalf of the Harvard Brain Bank as the "Singin' Scientist."

4th Generation Cattle Rancher is VEGAN

If you care about the future of this planet you'll watch these. If you don't, you'll at least understand why I don't eat meat. It isn't ONLY about the animals. It is about the human race. We can't survive at this pace of reproduction, deforestation, and livestock farming. I am not trying to persuade anybody. I am just trying to get the information out there so that you can make an informed decision and TRULY understand the impact of a meat-eating diet. Al Gore, for all the good he did with The Inconvenient Truth left out the BIGGEST cause of greenhouse gases: confined factory farming. Not surprising since Al was raised by ranchers but it was an Incomplete Incovenient Truth. Well, here is Harold Lyman, the mad cowboy.

Part I


Part II

food for thought and thoughts on food

The Skatalites

Thanks to my good friend, singer-songwriter Jonny Meyers I was given some free tickets to see The Skatalite at Castaway's here in Ithaca New York. This weekend was the Ithaca Festival and they were here as oine of the visiting bands . Jonny is doing some work with Kevin Batchelor who plays trumpet in the band and Kevin was nice enough to put me on the list. I wasn't feeling like going in the afternoon but i got my ass together and went to the show. Thanks nancy for being my designated driver! We saw Jon and Suki there - I even ran into my masseuse, Janna, who was dancing the night away — the press's IT guy, Adam, and a thousand others i always see around town. It was a fun night - thanks everybody! I especially want to thank the 60- year old white guy in the button-down shirt for doing the elaine-robot dance. That was rhythmic ;)

George Carlin

Found out that George Carlin passed away. I love people who test limits and push the edge, especially in a funny way. He just had an amazing perspective on things and could frame the absurd found in the ordinary and make it incredibly funny.

As good 'ol Wiki says:
George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was a Grammy-winning American stand-up comedian, actor, and author.

Carlin was especially noted for his political and black humor and his observations on language, psychology, and religion along with many taboo subjects. Carlin and his "Seven Dirty Words" comedy routine were central to the 1978 U.S. Supreme Court case F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation, in which a narrow 5-4 decision by the justices affirmed the government's right to regulate Carlin's act on the public airwaves.

George Carlin's most recent stand-up routines were primarily focused on attacking the flaws in modern-day America. He often took on contemporary political issues in the United States and satirized the excesses of American culture.

He was considered by many to be a successor to the late Lenny Bruce and was described by Comedy Central as the second greatest stand-up comedian of all time behind Richard Pryor, and right before Lenny Bruce. He was a frequent performer and guest host on The Tonight Show during the three-decade Johnny Carson era, and was also the first person to host Saturday Night Live.

Below is a video of his famous "Seven Dirty Words." Enjoy!




Another great bit is Baseball and Football,
also below.


Here is a link to his bit on Stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac

Another bit on Drugs



And last but not least, SOME PEOPLE ARE STUPID

It's been a while....

...since I posted about what is going on or has gone on in the last few months. I guess the biggest thing would be the end of my relationship with nancy and the sale of our house in Groton. Nancy and I are still great friends and talk everyday so that has ended up well (and yes, I remain a vegetarian). The house sold in three weeks and we made a few bucks so that wasn't as bad as it could have been. Honestly I am not going to miss Groton. Now that I have moved back to Ithaca I realize how dead, boring, and backwards it was out there. Groton will remain behind because that is what it wants to do. The people there are just 'good 'ol boys' who blindly follow what has been passed on from generation to generation. Shit like hunting, and souping up your pick-up truck, the piles of junk on front porches and political views that scream "I am an ignorant, biased person." The house and yard were great but the populous not so much. I do have to say that I had great neighbors out there and there are maybe two handfuls of residents that are free thinkers.

So now I am renting an attic apartment in Cayuga Heights. It is a lot to get used to - less room, less privacy, neighbors that make noise.... One good thing is that I am able to walk to work and save money on the gas (it was a 1/2 hour each way driving back and forth to Groton). More exercise, less gas consumption: sounds good to me.
Plus, my commute leads me ovber suspension bridges that cross over the famous Ithacan gorges. I'll post some pics soon.