Saturday, September 29, 2007

Micro Camcorder - WOW !

Something I drooled over back in my high school days
while reading those James Bond novels by Ian Fleming
is now an everyday reality for just under $200. Yes, what
was once the exclusive domain of Secret Agent 007 is now
in the hands of today's voyeurs, eavesdroppers and viral
video buffs. And I'm still drooling.....

Yahoo Tech Diva Gina Hughes reviews the world's
smallest camcorder


that fits inside a pack of gum, stores 1GB of video and
can hold a charge for up to two
hours of video
recording time. The item which is available from
Spy Gadgets.com just might be sold out since their
website is currently experiencing too many hits from
users like myself. Keep trying.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Vegetarian Digs

Eat meat ? You'll have to cheat to get that apartment you've
been meaning to rent - if you're a meat-eater in Mumbai.
Seems unheard-of, but your status as a Vegetarian can make
all the difference in getting your foot over the threshold of
your new digs. According to
Amelia Gentleman who writes
for IHT.com :

"While Mumbai is one of India's most cosmopolitan cities,
much of its housing is splintered along ethnic and religious
lines. There are predominantly Muslim, Roman Catholic and
Hindu areas. And then there are extensive vegetarian-only
stretches, some of which occupy desirable patches of real
estate along the waterfront."

Read the story of Shailaja Hazare who lives the secret life
of a Non-Vegetarian....

I'm Non-Veg but that won't stop me from sharing this pic
of my favorite American Idol Carrie Underwood

who was named 'World's Sexiest Vegetarian'
by Peta.Org back in June 2007, and here's
Alicia Sliverstone the latest Peta spokesperson
looking very healthy indeed....then check out
Veg Source.Org
Veganism In A Nutshell Vegetarianism In A Nutshell Vegetarian Nutrition for Teens
Feeding Vegan Kids The Vegan Diet During
Pregnancy and Lactation
A Senior's Guide To Good Nutrition





Blogger Play : View Never-ending Image Uploads

Sensory overload for some of us from
The Official Buzz from Blogger ....
" Blogger Play will show you a never-ending stream of
images that were just uploaded to public Blogger blogs.

You can click the image to be taken directly to the blog post
it was uploaded to, or click “show info” to see an overlay
with the post title, a snippet of the body, and some profile
information about the blogger who uploaded it."

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Plank Pose from Body Architect TV

The right way to do the Plank pose as shown by
Mia. Although I am not a practicing Yoga student
I have a few moves which are rooted in Yoga
that help me loosen up/ breathe better and
make me feel more fit in general. I'll share those
moves with you all one of these days, but in the
meantime I'll keep bringing you the great stuff
online from the
pros at Body Architect TV.

Enjoy !

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Despair Now !



The folks at Despair.com may be funny-sounding but
they certainly have a sound scheme for selling
you some
unusual stuff including posters and a DVD, all related to their
tongue-in-
cheek philosophy.

As Founder and COO E.L. Kirtsen
puts it, "At Despair, Inc.
we believe motivational products create unrealistic
expectations, raising hopes only to dash them.
That's why we created our soul-crushingly depressing
Demotivators® designs, so you can skip the
delusions that motivational products induce and head
straight for the disappointments that follow!"

Go ahead. March to the beat of a different drummer.
Stop and smell the roses.

PETA : Too Hot For Houston ?


Alicia Silverstone
was too hot even for Houston, Texas

(where it's oppressive and humid more than half the year)
according to E! Online.

Ahhhh....Houston, my wonderful, 'safe' residence for the
past 11 years. Family-friendly, too. But not too animal-friendly.
Here y'all can walk into a store and buy guns and bullets over
the counter. Got you a couple kids you want to bring up as
proper Texans ? Take 'em to the Gun Show and Convention,
along with yer prized hunting rifle slung across yer shoulder.
Jes' make sure yew ain't late at the butchers' when yew bring
them deer carcasses to be ground for table venison, the
lines' gittin' longer every year !

Takes a two-legged varmint to git them fow-legged ones offuf
yer land....but we ain't gawn touch them nekkid Hollywood
nymphos nohow. This heah is the reel South, see, and y'all need
to show a young lady sum rispeck, now, y' heahh ?

Alicia Silverstone’s Sexy Veggie PSA
Order a FREE vegetarian starter kit at GoVeg.com

Monday, September 17, 2007

Poodwaddle

We all love coming across cool new sites that offer
freebies, especially if they are easy to use.
So surfing around the web today I found a neat clock for
this blog and am still
going through all the other useful
stuff over at Poodwaddle.com
. You really should
check out the Free Menu because there's something
in there for everyone !
Clocks
Calendars
Counters and Quizzes
Media Players
Calculators
Games

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Belinda Bedekovic Rocks

I vant to be a Korg !

Belinda Bedekovic: Tornado



Amazing Crotian musical prodigy Belinda Bedekovic
shows off her hot skills
on the keytar. Yes, she was
recently seen in the movies, jamming with Borat on
'You Be My Wife'.

TV Weatherman and roach

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

R.I.P. : Joe Zawinul


My earliest recollection of Joe Zawinul's music was from
the early '70s when his composition 'Mercy, Mercy, Mercy'**
was used as the background music to host Willis Conover's
Voice of America (VOA) broadcasts in India.***
( A sample of Willis Conover's deep voice introducing the
Miles Davis Group is here
)

Those sparse but soul-ridden opening notes are etched in my
memory and themselves serve as backdrop to the pages of my
life, when I was an aspiring guitarist in search of the meaning of
life as a musician.

I saw Joe Zawinul with Weather Report 'featuring' bassist
Jaco Pastorius back in '77
at the Capitol Theater in Passaic,
New Jersey. Of course I was blown away by Jaco's
antics
which accompanied his already-legendary style. But to aurally
witness Mr. Zawinul
who was surrounded by a myriad of keyboards
and electronics which he effortlessly
toyed with while producing
other-worldly sounds...Ahhhh....I was in heaven on this
, my most
favorite concert night ever !
So now, a sad farewell to a magician of
the keys who unfailingly provided some of the most far-out
World Fusion sounds ever.

Goodbye to Joe Zawinul who passed away from Cancer at
the
age of 75 in Vienna, on an auspicious Sept. 11th.
Birthday celebration YouTube video from 7-7-07 in Switzerland

Excellent look at his life and times from
National Public Radio


Joe Zawinul - Wikipedia, ...

**Related quote from Keybardist Herbie Hancock:
"For a white Viennese boy to write a tune that's that black is
pretty remarkable," Hancock says. "He just captured the essence
of the African-American heritage, just the statement of melody
and feeling of that song. Clearly, in some past life, Joe must've
been black."

***
Strangely enough, like Joe Zawinul, Mr. Conover passed away in
1996 at the age of 75, also from a battle with cancer.

ONE: A Different Kind of Vacation



Dear Fred,

As the temperature went up this summer, ONE members
like you didn't stay in to beat the heat. In the month of
August, ONE members organized dozens of in-district
lobbying meetings with members of Congress and sent
more than 90,000 letters to back those meetings up.







In those meetings, you advocated for poverty-fighting
legislation that offers practical solutions to problems
that keep millions trapped in poverty—from the
women-empowering GROWTH Act to the Education
for All Act, which would help a generation of children
get access to a real education.

You also stepped-up and responded to a special call to
advocate for the lifesaving Global Child Survival Act.
Your letters in support of the Global Child Survival Act
sent a very clear message: It is unacceptable that 30,000
children die everyday of preventable causes. The Global
Child Survival Act would make investments in low-cost
but effective lifesaving interventions, like immunizations,
vitamins, and basic sanitation. ONE members represent
the will of an American people that are ready to act.

Thank you. Your efforts reminded politicians in Washington
that there are millions of Americans who want to do the right
thing and lead the fight against global poverty.

The only thing more impressive than the sheer number
of letters and lobbying meetings is the impact they had.

The blog posts ONE members submitted about their meetings
with members of Congress show just how effective our
grassroots lobbying can be.

In Florida, ONE members met with Republican
Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart who:

...agreed to closely review the Global Child Survival Act.
He also agreed to support the GROWTH Act and saw
merit in the proposal to help women in developing
countries.

And in Alabama:

...seven ONE activists took turns briefing [Democratic]
Rep. Davis on three pieces of legislation: The Education
for All Act, The Global Child Survival Act, and the
GROWTH Act...

Rep. Davis, commented that this legislation builds a
"case for American values." He said that there is a
perception "that America is no longer interested in
marginalized people around the world."

Davis' district consists of some of the poorest counties
in the US where as much as 30-40% of the population
live below the poverty line. Davis says he is sometimes
asked how he can spend time on global poverty issues
when the needs at home are so great. He responded
that "in a strong country, addressing poverty abroad
and poverty at home should not be an either/or issue
but a both/and issue..."

And Rep. Davis said that he "would be happy to
co-sponsor" these three important pieces of legislation.
We hit the TRIFECTA!

There is more work to be done and I look forward to
continuing to press for American leadership in the fight
against global poverty and disease. But when the day
comes that we can celebrate victories on critical legislation
like the Global Child Survival Act, I hope you'll remember
that it was the good work of ONE members taking action
early and often that made it all possible.

Thank you for your voice,

Josh Peck, ONE.org



ONE.ORG | BLOG | PRIVACY | SUBSCRIBE | UNSUBSCRIBE | CONTACT US |

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Pardesi poster by Sam Millar


Pardesi poster2
Originally uploaded by FredMikeRudy


Recently found on the web. Relates to my father's artwork at the time, when he was working for the Indian film industry. If you come across this Soviet-Indian film you will catch me in approx. 12 seconds of the film, which was shot in Worli, Mumbai. I lived a few yards away from the film set and like the boys in the left side of the poster spent most days playing in the seaface. Originally I was scooped into the arms of the 'Pardesi' (foreigner) ship captain whose damaged boat lands in Indian waters. However that scene was chopped up so that all you see of me is a small boy with a loin cloth of sorts, no shirt, barefoot, running across the screen. It amazes me how this stays in my memory always, but if you had spent days on a movie set with all the cast and crew when you should have been in school, I suppose you would carry that memory with you too. Unless you have a poor memory for your childhood years.

The movie was held up for Soviet/Indian post-production and only released in 1957 according to IMDB.com if they are to be believed. My Dad did get IMDB credit for a couple of movies recently.

More on my father's art, for which he rarely ever got credit :
http://virtualpoona.blogspot.com/2005/11/mother-india-and-my-father.html