One Clear Dot

I was on the phone with a friend tonight and stream of consciousness conversation being what it is; I eventually landed on the topic of the film “Over the Edge”. It’s a 1979 teen iconic film. Also, it has a killer soundtrack. I looked on YouTube for the film trailer to show the friend and I saw that someone had uploaded the entire film in nine-minute blocks. Awesome!

Laugh the boys wearing short-shorts and knee socks if you must. And, I realize that Matt Dillon is high-wasted bell-bottom jeans and a cut-off t-shirt is absolute jam-packed with humor when viewed through the eyes of the modern world, but this movie’s message about bored teens is timeless. Of course, these days there would be way more guns and drugs.

1979! This movie is coming up on being 30 years old! It makes me feel absolutely ancient to identify so closely with something that old. Take a look at Matt Dillon and Vince Spano. They are so young and pretty they almost look like wood sprites flitting around.

Posted on May 17th, 2008 by onecleardot
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There are so many great things about the internet. Most of them involve the access you have to shopping, information, and interaction without the need to actually leave your house. Take, for example, seminars that you can “attend” imply tuning into a web cast online. There are online seminars, or webinars, on pretty much any topic you can dream up in your pretty little head.

If you are interested in prayer, meditation or positive affirmation exercises, there is a webinar scheduled for May 21 at 5pm PST / 8pm EST that directly addresses the issue of getting the absolute most out of your meditation time. It’s a worthy topic, seeing as how so many of us have such a hard time actually fitting the time into out daily schedules to do something as important as praying.

“How to Increase the Effectiveness of Meditation and Intention” is a 45-minute online session that looks at simple techniques and available technology that can help you to develop practices that lead to fulfilling, effective experiences. It’s brought to you by the people at www.heartmath.com and you can actually get a good idea about how technology like the emWave works by taking a look at the YouTube feature I linked.

Posted on May 15th, 2008 by onecleardot
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I’ve been missing my glass top range ever since moving into my current home. I loved how easy it was to clean and how quickly it heated and cooled back down to a safe temperature. I’ve been thinking seriously about upgrading the stove here and going back to a glass top. That is, until I read the article in Money Magazine about magnetic induction technology.

The technology turns magnetic energy into heat. The magnetic copper coil creates a a high frequency electromagnetic field and if you put a cooking pot made out of magnetic material (like iron or steel), the heat is transferred to the pot. The heat only goes to the pot, nothing else gets hot, and so the surface is safer. It’s also more powerful, more precise, quicker, needs no hood for ventilation, and will save on electric costs.

Right now there are not too many models available and they are expensive. But, the technology is here to stay. Like any other technology, just give it time and the prices will come down to a palatable level. So, this is something I will have my eye on for the time being. There is no reason to upgrade to a glass top if I know that I will eventually be installing a magnetic cook top.

Posted on May 12th, 2008 by onecleardot
Filed under: Gadgets - Toys - Technology | No Comments »

I know that kids today are more than likely making their first music purchase in an MP3 format, but back when I was a kid, it was all about 45s. Yes, records. Can you even believe it?

So, I was thinking recently about the first song I bought with my own money. I’m not counting records I was given as gifts or inherited from others. I am talking about the first time I plunked down a buck or so for a little black disc of plastic with grooves in it.

My first music purchase was Abracadabra by the Steve Miller Band. Surely you can recall the catchy lyrics:

I heat up, I can’t cool down
You got me spinnin’
‘Round and ’round
‘Round and ’round and ’round it goes
Where it stops nobody knows
Every time you call my name
I heat up like a burnin’ flame
Burnin’ flame full of desire
Kiss me baby, let the fire get higher
Abra abra cadabra
I want to reach out and grab ya
Abra abra cadabra
Abracadabra

These guys are still playing. They have a tour kicking off on May 24 in Florida and are playing all kinds of big venues across the nation after that. Most of the concerts are in massive amphitheaters, but they also do Vegas hotels – the Orleans Hotel on August 9, to be exact.

I got a little off track here. What I meant to ask is:

What’s the first song you bought on your own?

Posted on May 9th, 2008 by onecleardot
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For years my mother, my sister, and I have sat around at various times and debated the whole burial vs. cremation issue. We talk about religious implications, economic points, personal preference, and even the option of green burial (Florida does have one green cemetery up in the Panhandle).

We completely overlooked one option, apparently. It turns out you can have your body dissolved in lye and then just wash away the remains. It’s called alkaline hydrolysis and initially was developed to get rid of animal carcasses. The process uses lye, 300-degree heat and 60 pounds of pressure per square inch in a stainless-steel cylinder. It’s a lot like pressure cooking on your stove, only bigger.

It’s not yet a common procedure for humans. You cannot find a funeral home that offers the service. Right now only two U.S. medical centers (The University of Florida in Gainesville and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota) use it on humans, and then only on donated research cadavers.

Experts predict the process may one day be as popular as burial or cremation.

Posted on May 9th, 2008 by onecleardot
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I think sometimes we assume everyone has a cell phone or one of those all-inclusive phone plans on their home phone. That’s just not true. There are still a lot of people who find that access to a long distance call – whether at home or while away from home – is still costly and inconvenience. And then, there are those who recognize that the cost of maintaining a cell phone, or a land line, or both is becoming more and more expensive.

That’s why calling cards are still as popular as ever. Back when I was in college, they were pretty much the only way for me to make long distance calls from the pay phone in my dorm. You can tell I went to college a long time ago, huh? These days, though, people choose calling cards for other reasons than just sheer necessity. In fact, the benefits of keeping a phone cards on you at all times are numerous.

When it comes down to it, though, most people choose pre paid phone cards simply due to the fact that you can get some of the cheapest per minute calling rates available by using a calling card. There is such hot competition between the companies offer calling cards that the prices have become insanely reasonable.

Posted on May 6th, 2008 by onecleardot
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A local Tampa news station’s website carried a little blurb today about a new free magazine that is being published in the Tampa Bay area. It is called “Hot Moms and Cute Kids.”

I’ll pause now so you can take some time to gather your thoughts and decide how you react if you saw a magazine with this title sitting on the magazine rack in your local Chinese takeout restaurant or gym.

I understand that “hot” has become the new catchall word for attractive these days, but to be quite honest, when I saw this magazine last month in a local shop, the first thing that came to mind was that new breed of hootchie mama we all see running around at the park and at PTA meetings. They wear teetering stiletto heels, sport French pedicures with toenail extensions, and generally wear baby doll t-shirts that dip low enough in front to show off their boob job and lacy bra while also riding up to show the world their navel piercing.

In other words, those moms that come inappropriately dressed to drop their kids off at school in the car line. They are the ones that make you shield the eyes of your 5th-grade son. They are the women who are actually proud when some calls them a MILF; flattered that some snot-nosed teen has the bad manners to admit in public that they want to f*ck them.

Ew.

I believe the publisher had good intentions when she developed the magazine and is sincere when she says, “You can still be a great mom and look good and take care of yourself and take time for yourself, and that’s what the whole magazine is all about.”

Despite that, the title puts me off. I think it is a true testament to the fact that naming a product is more important than you will ever know.

Posted on May 6th, 2008 by onecleardot
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I really need to start doing my research about the political issues that will drive the presidential race this year. I cannot just listen to the candidates to glean my information. I know they are always going to present things with a certain twist.

I heard John McCain on the Glen Beck program yesterday, I think, and he spoke very briefly about health care and his idea to give a tax credit to people who would purchase their own. He also talked about reworking some of the legal issues surrounding healthcare that make it impossible for most of us to purchase private health insurance outside of our residential state. For example, if you live in North Carolina and want to buy a private policy, you would have to find a North Carolina health insurance package, rather than being able to look nationwide for competitive rates.

So, that all sounds great to me, but I have to be honest when I admit that I am not sure about the background of the issue and how accurate McCain’s statements may or may not have been. Rather than giving him the benefit of the doubt, and without calling him dishonest, I just feel better if I can put it on my list of things I want to research before the election.

Posted on May 3rd, 2008 by onecleardot
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I watched most of the first season of ‘Rock of Love’, because one of my good friends and I would get on the phone and watch the episodes together. Our running commentary was what kept me entertained, but when it came down to the show itself, and the almost too pathetic to look at Bret Michaels, there was nothing compelling enough to make me want to watch any of the second season.

Well, there was that bizarre scene where Michaels is about to go into a diabetic coma and is begging the girl he is riding the dune buggy with to stop the vehicle, but she just drives blissfully and selfishly one. That was some compelling TV.

Plus, I was always dismayed at the fact that the girls on the show were so dirty looking I could almost smell the cigarette smoke, stale beer, and cheap Jean Nate perfume right through the cathode ray tubes of my TV. In fact, the funk almost knocked the set of the tv wall mount.

The first season ended badly. The winner actually already had a boyfriend, so Michaels was tossed aside in a humiliating reunion show. The guy might always look like he has been eating pork chop with his hands behind his back, but I still felt sorry for him as he faced the awkward situation with stunning discomfort.

Rumor has it that with the winner of the second season, he has found TLA (true love always, for those of you who have been out of junior high too long).

But wait, it’s not over. There will be a third season and Bon Jovi guitarist Ritchie Sambora will step in as the new dirty boy. Sambora might be just the right man for the job. We have to remember that he was married to Heather Locklear and then went on to date her best fiend, Denise Richards. Classy guy, huh?

Posted on May 3rd, 2008 by onecleardot
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Everyone has their own pet peeves of the road. I’m personally not all that fond of those asinine “bull testicles” danglies that men in need of compensation put on the back of their pickup trucks, but they are still not one of my pet peeves.

Mine involve things that distract me when I am driving, like under-lighting, lit license plate frames, and idiots with tail lights out so that I have to stare into the back of their car and a blinding white light. And, those ridiculous spinning hubcaps. I loathe those things.

Last week I actually saw a white-haired, elderly man driving a wood paneled station wagon – with spinning hub caps. I kid you not. It was like a page out of a surreal comic book. I thought those annoying things were only for small teenaged boys who over accessorize their cars to cast off the perception of being cooler than they actually are so that mindless girls with brittle, bleached blond hair and a purse full of Fenphedra will consent to ride with them to the local mall.

The state of Florida just banned those nasty bull balls, so maybe there is hope that truly distracting things like spinning hub caps will be next on the state’s hit list.

Posted on May 2nd, 2008 by onecleardot
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