Saturday, January 20, 2007

Audrey Hepburn


[Backtranslated by Pascal from French, I don't have the original text.]

Audrey Hepburn, interviewed by William Holden, was asked about her beauty secrets. This is what she said:

To have beautiful eyes, look for generous people.

To be serene, walk knowing you never walk alone.

People, even more than things, need to be restored, revived, salvaged and forgiven; never reject somebody.

Remember, if you need a helping hand, there's one at the end of each of your arms. While you grow up, you'll come to realize that you have two hands, one to help you, and one to help others.

A woman's beauty is not in the clothes she wears, her silhouette or the way she does her hair. A woman's beauty must show through her eyes, for they are the door leading to her heart, where love resides.

A woman's beauty is not in the prettiness of the face, for the true beauty of a woman is reflected in her soul. It's the care she gives with love, the passion she displays.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Well done, Microsoft

I don't use MS Office much (I rarely write for print or do any office work), but I appreciate a good direction when I see one: Microsoft is making Office easier to use! Well done, Microsoft.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

How Gentlemen Disagree

David has also written a very nice entry called "How Gentlemen Disagree".
It is about how even a disagreement can be an uplifting experience if both parts are pleasant and civil, and present arguments for their positions.

Fun songs

David Pogue has written an Ode to the RIAA.

And did you miss Eric Idle's FCC Song? (Warning, it uses the word "fuck" a lot.)

Apple

Somebody please tell me a way to go back five years in time and tell myself: "buy Apple stock!"

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Kids on Marriage

HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHO TO MARRY? (written by kids)

1) You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming.
- Alan, age 10

2) No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you're stuck with.
- Kristen, age 10

WHAT IS THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED?
1) Twenty-three is the best age because you have known the person FOREVER by then. - Camille, age 10

2) No age is good to get married at. You got to be a fool to get married. - Freddie, age 6

HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED? 1) You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids.
- Derrick, age 8

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD HAVE IN COMMON? 1) Both don't want any more kids.
- Lori, age 8

WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE?
1) Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough. - Lynnette, age 8

2) On the first date, they just tell each other lies and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date. - Martin, age 10

WHAT WOULD YOU DO ON A FIRST DATE THAT WAS TURNING SOUR? 1) I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the newspapers and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns. -Craig, age 9

WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE?
1) When they're rich.
- Pam, age 7

2) The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with that. - Curt, age 7

3 ) The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them and have kids with them. It's the right thing to do. - Howard, age 8

IS IT BETTER TO BE SINGLE OR MARRIED?
1 ) I don't know which is better, but I'll tell you one thing. I'm never going to have sex with my wife. I don't want to be all grossed out. - Theodore, age 8

2 ) It's better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need someone to clean up after them.
- Anita, age 9

HOW WOULD THE WORLD BE DIFFERENT IF PEOPLE DIDN'T GET MARRIED?

1 ) There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there? - Kelvin, age 8

HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK?
1 ) Tell your wife that she looks pretty, even if she looks like a truck. - Ricky, age 10

Red Berries

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Super-version of boat picture


If you like B/W photos with strong grain, and you either have a very large monitor or a good printer, here is a special edition of my popular boat picture. 3 megapixels. 1.5MB. (Clicking, alternatively, on the picture on the right gives a smaller version of the same picture.)
The grain was enhanced by a special procedure I invented, and which I'm pretty sure nobody else knows about. :)

Monday, January 15, 2007

Alice Babs






My father was a big fan of The Swe-Danes, and his LP of their good-bye concert from the early sixties was one of those I listened to as a child.
Apparently, despite being huge both in Europe and the USA back then, The Swe-Danes are almost lost to history now.

A web search turns out precious little, and I had to use eBay to get any kind of music from them, and what I found was not that LP, but a CD with "Alice Babs and the Swe-Danes" ("that's not 'the Sweet Danes'", as Ulrik Neuman jested during the concert. Alice is swedish, Ulrik and Sven Danish). Fortunately this one too is really nice and has some of the same music.

It swings something fierce. And it is so wonderfully happy and joyful music. Infectious. Listen to this! (If you have iTunes (free from apple.com) you can play this file.)

One thing that strikes me is another indicator of how much progress we have made in the last half of the 20th. Alice Babs would stand today as the penultimate in Safe And Wholesome entertainment to young people, her entire person and what she did in music and films was sweet and innocent and positive to modern eyes. And yet because sang in a jazzy and unusual manner, and because a big youth culture supported her, the conservative and religious establishment demonized her.

Amazingly, she is still singing! (At least a couple of years ago.)

I haven't heard this music for over thirty years, and yet I could still sing many of the songs near-completely, and getting this CD it sound like yesterday. (If you want more songs from it, mail me.)

Everybody Loves Raymond?

Everybody Loves Raymond is not my favorite sitcom, but it's funny enough that I keep watching it.
One thing I don't get though: Raymond's parents are obviously a huge drain on Raymond and Debra's energy, and highly abrasive to their nerves. Understandable, I know I would never stand for those parents for a day. So why don't they just kick them out? Just march them nicely to the door and say: "OK now, you can come back at Christmas. You'll have four hours then. If you behave nicely."

In real life too, many people will put up with anything for any length of time, from people they don't even like! Why? Usually the worst thing that can happen is that the people will never speak to them again, and isn't that a step up? I don't get it, I never did.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Andy Goldsworthy


Andy Goldsworthy nature art. Verra kewl. I wish I'd invented that.

Gilmore Girls clip

In case my earlier urgings have not been enough, here is a clip from Gilmore Girls season one.
Of course to really get the full flavor, you should ideally sit back with a full season on DVD.

Stream, house