Antitrust laws in Europe split Microsoft wide for exactly the sort of merged functionality that both Google and Firefox are offering.
Shades of Blade Runner: Could Bioprinted Replicants Be Around The Corner?
This article announces a technology that uses cloned tissues to print 3d Replicas of real human tissues. The analogue to “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” is remarkable. It’s nothing new for technological advancement to mirror Science Fiction and Fantasy but, for me at least, the idea of homonculi assembled from living tissues is nearly as pase’ as Frankenstein’s Monster. It seemed that the destination of science and technology was moving inexorably toward the organic growth of replacement tissues and tailored organisms. This miniature liver however presents all sorts of intriguing and horrifying possibilities.
A Dictionary Word to the Wise
“The contest, for ages, has been to rescue Liberty from the grasp of executive power.”
~Daniel Webster, Speech in the Senate, May 27, 1834
They problem in Websters day was the over bloated presidency and the thoroughly dominated Congress. It took it’s greatest expression in the dictatorships of the early republican presidents and a few significant democrats at the time. The last 25 years have been a resurgence of that dictatorship. Today however it is a union of all three branches in the interest of curtailing individual human rights. I will not use the word liberty, which implies that these freedoms are a grant of largess by an altruistic state. These are rights given by God and only kept available by hawkish curtailment of abuse by all three branches of government.
Having a rough night: dreams of shirking.
Dreamt I was hiding out while family and friends had a party across the street. Tried to sneak out the side gate in a hooded bathrobe with my scooter, but was spotted by kids at the party. Mom popped in to tell me I had to make a small appearance at the party to satisfy propriety. Said they’d never let it go, having caught a glimpse. I woke up seriously contemplating sneaking my scooter through the house and going out the front door and avoiding the saccharine festivities.
Extra, Extra–Penfeathers Press Release.
Download as PDF
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OXNARD ARTIST, F FRANKLIN DAVIS, MAKES READING ACCESSIBLE WITH 21 HUMOROUSLY ILLUSTRATED CHILDREN’S RHYMES.
One concern parents have is how to inspire their children to love and excel at reading. From Jack and Jill to Jack Sprat, classic and not so well-known nursery rhymes are brought to colorful life by Franklin Davis quirky Characters. Learning to read with classic Mother Goose counting rhymes, and humorous full color illustrations is a fun and intuitive path to success. Set the young children in your life on a path toward reading excellence!
Author/editor Richard Fredric Grenvile and artist F Franklin Davis–native to Oxnard, CA–have selectively edited and illustrated twenty-one mother goose favorites with the goal of easing the learning curve toward reading. From Jack and Jill to Jack Sprat, this kid-size book depicts these favorite characters in bright, lively and humorous detail. Penfeathers provides an intuitive path to reading success by combining beloved children’s rhymes with humorous and colorful images designed to encourage association between text and image.
Traditional counting rhymes have long been used to capture young imaginations, and easily commit themselves to memory. New readers approach the learning curve empowered with familiar and fun text, enabled to anticipate context. Humorous depictions encourage the reader to form visual associations between spoken verse, written text and iconic images. Oversize text and images allow a teacher or parent to create an interactive learning environment. Familiar verses help the new reader to feel more comfortable with the learning process. New readers are encouraged to transition from being read to, through simulated reading play, to reading success. Penfeathers: An illustrated Mother Goose is a perfect foundation for any beginner’s library, and
“In Penfeathers, Richard Fredric Grenvile has captured some of the liveliest Mother Goose rhymes with an uncomplicated, unadorned folk-art-style of illustration which nicely accompanies this selection of classics without overshadowing them.”
~Timothy Reynolds, author of Dragons in Suburbia and other short, dark tales.
On sale online June 1st, 2013 at Amazon.com, dieselbookstore.com, Barnes & Noble, and Powell’s Books. eBook format also available at Kindle, Nook, iTunes/iBooks, Kobo, diesel, Sony Reader Store Indigo, and Smashwords.com. Get yours now and speed your new readers to success.
For more information on Penfeathers, Richard Fredric Grenvile, or F Franklin Davis contact Fred@Grenvile.com. Penfeathers is 170 pages; Library of Congress number 2013908453. The full sized paperback is ISBN 978-1-48487857-6, the compact paperback is ISBN 978-1-48497775-0, and the eBook is ISBN 978-1-30127624-0
Dodging the Coffee Clutch
Yesterday, I was at The Coffee Place, or the coffee place, depending on my mood. I laid my burdens on the big black, enameled table and ordered a cafe’ au lait, with my usual swagger. The coffee came, I took my seat, and unpacked my little mobile office. I ride a gas powered scooter (Chinese made 150cc gy-7 with 16″ rims), so I’ve learned to travel with a courier’s bag and a computer case smaller than most purses. But, out of these, I can soon fill a large desk with pages of manuscript and electronics.
Sadly, I had covered the large table and, realizing I was being bad neighborly, I asked the woman at the next table if I might have the empty chair next to her, to pile on some of my stuff and clear room for others to share. She had her purse perched in the chair, in just the same way, but, after an awkward negotiation where I declined the chair and she pushed, I finally stacked my courier bag and helmet in the chair, and cleared the table, except for my netbook and my computer case (the little one).
Thus situated, I decided to check my Skype, before getting down to work. A friend had shared this story, about a four-year-old, Mini, and her precocious imagination, and the embarrassment it caused her mother. The story was funny, and touching, and a quirky commentary on the paranoid, judgmental culture, that is America today (or when Mini was four). When we got to the part where Mini was explaining proper water-ride etiquette to her exhausted mother, I burst out in laughter.
It was spontaneous, but the septuagenarian at the table next to me jumped nearly out of her seat. Apparently, she’d been watching me and paying an inordinate amount of attention to what I was doing. Rather a funny coincidence, given the story I was reading.
Since I’d disturbed her, asking for the chair and again with my laugh, I decided to give a short, very short, explanation of the conversation tween Mini and her mom. I was quite terse, but hit the high points regarding infectious water and water ride etiquette, (you really should read it). That done, I said, “Well, I best get back to my writing.”
Okay, technically, I was reading. But I was nearly finished with the entry, and about to move on to writing. I had a short story to finish–about a mysterious traveler forced by local bandits and an ignorant police inspector to investigate a murder he is illegally charged with. With the aid of an array of anachronistic inventions–you get the picture. But now I was stuck in one of those conversations.
Ah, yes. Those conversations. They are a pitfall of the coffee house. The large number of aging boomers and homeless who congregate as the coffee house have a tendency toward garrulousness that approaches the level of social disorder. They are a real impediment at times. It’s very hard to write bout faeries and steam powered interstellar craft, when the guy next to you won’t stop regaling you with the details of his motion for conservatorship over his father, or her forbidden love with a Mexican celebrity who she must watch from afar using Google Satellite images of his villa in Yucatan.
In this case, it was the movie she’d seen with her son. How disgusting! It was one of those juvenile romps where an adult who should know better, goes out and acts like a teen-ager on break in Cancun in the eighties. Of course there was the obligatory, unwanted insinuation we should go see a movie together. I listened politely, making concerned noises and even sharing a quick anecdote from my own life, to show my basal concern for her as a person, before excusing myself and getting back to writing. Remember that? It’s the reason I’m even at The Coffee Place.
That’s when things took a decidedly distasteful turn. In the course of the movie discussions, Siskel and Ebert came up. Of course, she felt the need to stress the tragedy of Roger Ebert’s disfiguring cancer. I pointed out that Gene Siskel had been a bit of a healthnick, and still died far earlier than Ebert. Rather than allowing me to return to my computer, she continued talking as if I had simply made a bad joke. Now, she began to try and get personal information about me. I tried to be polite, but I did, again, remind her I was there to work. She quizzed me about my computer, tried to drag me into a critique of the ethics of dumping beta tech on an unsuspecting buyer at Fry’s, and used colonoscopy recommendations as a means to try and get me to tell her my age.
Mind you, it never occurred to her to simply ask for the information she wanted, or to have an frank conversation. She was too busy playing at pushing to get anywhere with me, and her lack of subtlety only made it worse. Bearing in mind I’m a heterosexual, I’ve been hit on by both men and women. Not that I’m a George Clooney or Brad Pitt, but it happens. This is the first time, however, I’ve ever encountered:”Have you had a colonoscopy yet, they say every man should have one at fifty,” as a pick-up line. My advice don’t use it.
Reynold’s Rap: Notable Quotables for Penfeathers
I approached Timothy GM Reynolds aka Alex T Crisp, a rather prolific writer whom I think we can forgive for being Canadian, and asked him to comment on my new book of children’s Rhymes. Nope, not the German musician, or the expressionist painter. Tim was gracious enough to look over Penfeathers, despite his busy schedule and the egregious (my word not his) demands on his time and personal resources. The following is his response, which I deeply appreciate.
______
Hi Fred.
Firstly, thank you for letting me read your collection. It certainly took me back to my childhood. So, here is something I hope you can use for the back cover, although what you have there already is quite good:
“In Penfeathers, Richard Fredric Grenville has captured some of the liveliest Mother Goose rhymes with an uncomplicated, unadorned folk-art-style of illustration which nicely accompanies this selection of classics without overshadowing them.”
~Timothy Reynolds, author of ‘Dragons in Suburbia’ and other short, dark tales.
~~~~
Cheers,
Tim.
After the tildes, he also forwarded some extremely helpful critique which I appreciate, greatly. He is a real gentleman and a great writer. I suggest that after you have purchased Penfeathers, you then pick up a copy of Shanghai Steam, or Dragons.
Slick Snake Charmer Oils the Slope
It is disturbing when any medical practitioner abuses her position to do harm. But this is a startling example of inveterate sociopathy. This woman was a Board Certified, Emergency Room specialist–why was she practicing oncology, homeopathy and New Age hokum? The simple answer is that she could, and it paid well.
What I find even more disturbing is the fact that she had a “Snake Oil” sale, selling her New Age magical potions on Trinity Broadcasting Network, a primarily Christian religious cable network. Not that New Age practices and theologies are unknown to TBN, where the Word Faith or Christian flavor of “the secret” is commonly flogged.
But there are unsubstantiated reports on the Huffington Post and in the LA Times, that this woman was an ordained minister, either Evangelical or Pentecostal; reports vary. The subtle suggestion, that her faith caused her to be a fraud, is just submerged enough to avoid liable, but it persists.
I take exception to that because, similar practices by self identified pagans and witches are never prosecuted. In fact, prosecuting a witch or other pagan for using holistic medicine, even if that medicine turned out to be little more than beef broth and preservatives, would never come to court. The ACLU would tie it up in injuctions and motions, while the witch continued to practice.
Let’s take it another step. Make the hypothetical a Muslim, an MD, and the network a Major Broadcast Network–and the hypothetical becomes a celebrated expert and guru to one of the most influential figures in Talk Television. No one questions the snake (fish?) oil, no matter how absurd or unscientific, or Red.
Make no mistake. I’m glad this woman was convicted and that she’ll spend years in prison for a crime that I argue is manslaughter. But her conviction and sentence, however just, seems to smack of double standard. When will the FBI, AMA and Medical Establishment go after a the quacks of other flavors. Where is all the tax money going that the Tea Party complains of? Maybe a good portion of it is buying krill and paying internists to treat heart disease with yoga! Just a thought.
This Is Just a Middle-Aged Man Dressed as a Japanese Schoolgirl.
This Is Just a Middle-Aged Man Dressed as a Japanese Schoolgirl.
Now honestly. I have so many disparate responses that it’s hard to put it into words. I see a man in A Sailor Moon suit and I have to ask, is this a fetish or a hobby. The immediate response is to assume fetish, at least if you have grown up in the United Oper States of America during the lifetime of the Millennials. The immediate response is to assume he has some diabolical labyrinth of tunnels and cells where he keeps little Sailor Girls sewing skirts for him and darning his socks.
But what of middle aged Americans dressing as Darth Vader, or a random Airship Pirate and going off to comic con. The comparison is obvious but is it that they are as pathetic as him? Or is it that He’s as pathetic as they. But then there are the UoS or British Civil War reenactors. Where is the value in pointing muzzle loaders at one another and firing puffs of smoke while everyone lies down for a nap in fancy 17th century dress.
Ah but not all renactors are playing to a script! What about the Society for Cruddy Accoutrements? They really hit one another, and then there are the jousters and the ones who use live steel, albeit blunted, usually. Now those guys are for real so it’s not crazy right? Except didn’t some guy get killed in the utility tunnels under UC Berkeley back in the ’70s playing Chainmail the original LARP form of D&D? Oh wait we’ve come full circle haven’t we.
Like I said it just makes my head spin. Have a nice lunch and read a book.
Where’s My Hookah?
A friend urged me to dig out my old Mushroom loaf recipe’. It had issues–word to the wise, don’t mix minced raw mushrooms with minced raw meats or meat byproducts, unless you particularly like muddy lavender colored foods–so I made some repairs and here is it. If you like it you can thank me, if you hate it blame Kevin.
Tha Rescape’:
Mushroom Loaf
Ingredients:
1 lb mixed mushrooms, minced (I recommend chanterelle, crimini, and all American white)
½ lb mushroom caps, whole without stems
1 cup beef broth
2 packets unflavored gelatine
¼ large onion minced. (you can use a whole golfball sized onion but the taste will be a bit mild)
3 cloves of minced fresh garlic (recommend fresh or wet from a jar. If you must use dried reconstitute it with the wine before saute)
⅓ cup California Merlot. (you can substitute that other Merlot from that French place west of Switzerland but the recipe calls for Cali Red)
2 eggs beaten
2 cups bread crumbs (panko will blend with the loaf flavors best)
¼ cup cornstarch
2 tsp sesame’ oil
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp chopped basil
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
Optional:
½ cup whole or chopped pecans
Directions:
Add gelatine to cold broth and set aside until blossomed. Saute mushroom caps with with ghee or a mix ½ and ½ of olive oil and butter. Don’t use margarine since the emulsifying effects of butter are needed. Set caps aside to rest. Saute minced mushrooms until they release their liquid, then add onions and garlic and continue saute until onions sweat. Deglaze with wine and simmer until wine reduced by half. Add mixture to caps and allow to rest. Toss mixture with gelatine solution, sesame oil, basil, salt and pepper. Add eggs and mix by hand, folding in cornstarch and bread crumbs.
Mixture should resemble a loose meatloaf. Grease a loaf pan or oven safe mold with olive oil and mold loaf. Place pan in an oven preheated to 350 deg F and bake for 1 hour or until firm. I recommend lightly browning each slice and serving with a bit of hollandaise, bottled brown sauce or gravy.