A River Of Fluffernutter

I was thinking of how much images in nature are repeated as I looked over this recent photo from Mars. It certainly appears to be channels caused by the flow of something viscous, maybe water or lava or possibly chocolate syrup.



However I was thinking of how much this could reflect the roots of a tree, image-wise that is. That started me contemplating all of the repeating images on our planet and the connective relationship of things. I'm not really going anywhere with this line of thought so don't expect a big conclusion or anything. But for gosh sakes throw your own two cents in if you know of images in nature that relate.

Oh here's one I just remembered: I saw a dolphin swimming gracefully underwater last summer and it reminded me of flying.
Here's another, the way certain seashells swirl around in a circular style is kinda like the shape of a tornado.
Okay you name one.

R U ready for 2010? The Winter Olympics. The World Cup. What else? Blog and tell us....

sure i hear him knockin?

Enjoy Louie, singing like no one else can.

"....'zat you, Santa Claus?"

Want ice in that?

What's on THE SCOOP....

You've all heard and read already about the massive iceberg heading toward Australia...so THE SCOOP asks: since it's summer down-under and about 90 degrees, isn't ice in their drink a welcomed thing?

NASA can't get the little Spirit Mars rover unstuck from it's sand dune....THE SCOOP advises: rock it back and forth, guys. Any car driver who has ever spun their wheels knows that!

Stephen Colbert is trying to get on the US Olympics team for Vancouver this winter. The rocket sled isn't working real well for him. THE SCOOP can solve his problem: stick with curling and work that broom.

I'm sure there is other news but I can't think of anything else. So have a great holiday season and Merry Christmas.

got to crack this ice and fly....

The Men Who Stare At Goats....what can we say. Maaaaaaan! Hey, dig this, this wasn't the big song in the flick, but, like, hey man, who cares? It's a true anthemic "carry me away" type tune from the 1970s and it sails you out the door of your mind. (So does the motion picture.) TMWSAGs is hilarious and goofy and you just drift right out into the deep with it.

Aren't movies supposed to be escapism? ....Well then.... This story completely escapes.

Play this one loud like you did in HS. Remember? Or were you too jacked up on the junk to recall?

Power To The Flower! Visions burst forth like a soaring 70s rock anthem in 'psy'-fi

Gettin to 'the other side' has never been easier than with this flick themenwhostareatgoats which I caught last weekend. The dude is again being channeled thru the warrior-monk with terribly big powers of 'psy' and zen some. Dig this man: you can run thru walls if you believe far (out) enough. Oh, and, like, spiking the water with LSD helps the process along righteous. The giggle-loop rating for us was up to almost a full stack of beer glasses. And that's mighty HIGH! Go see it....don't try to understand it....don't bother with reviews....just let it be baby, let it be....

found out about

Lots of retro and punk but let's not forget the 1990s. These dudes rocked but they faded and I think the singer passed. The booze came off the bloom, finally, or something.

What do you think the Chocolate Kisses galaxy tastes like?

We is rollin da science at ya today. Four hundred years ago, in 1609, a guy turned his telescope to the stars and in essence started the field of astronomy. Here's a cool image released just yesterday of the center of our galaxy. (Click on the image to get a larger view.)



This from NASA—"In celebration of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, NASA's Great Observatories -- the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory -- have produced a matched trio of images of the central region of our Milky Way galaxy. Each image shows the telescope's different wavelength view of the galactic center region, illustrating the unique science each observatory conducts.

Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive and Dodge (and F1)

THE OCHO—not being a movie critic, I am only one opinion, but the flick Dodgeball is just a hoot. And it's on espn 8, "the ocho". Best line: 'you are about to witness the greatest spectacle in sport, sudden death dodgeball'....Hilarious. There's nothing better than a good pseudo-sports movie. Can any of us deny the grandeur of Caddyshack or The Big Lebowski?

SPARE ME—Question I overheard in a grocery line the other day...."So what are you doing with your spare time these days?" That struck me...."Spare time" .... now there is a nonsequitor. If you have any, blog and tell us all floating here in the great blogosphere what it feels like!

....and speaking of spare time (that was my weakly weak seque)....

GIVETH UPETH—this is not Latin so relax. I'd never hit you with any of that Socratesian stuff here on the milkshake. The question of the week is.....(cue big trumpet section)....how do you donate your time or effort? Paul Newman, god rest his soul, had his salad dressing. McDonalds has its RMH, or Ronald McDonald House, which is pretty neat (I've worked at a few of them making dinners and it is very rewarding to help families and kids hospitalized far from their home.) Are you into RePower America and all that? How about the environment? Save the whales? Or just picking up trash in your neighborhood? Are you a giver of your time to volunteer projects in your community? (So many of you walk for a cause or donate food at the holidays.)

Tell us about those worthy organizations we should pay attention to and help out if we can. As Dickens said the saddest thing (paraphrasing) is to watch people who want to help others but have lost the power to do so. While we're here on the ol blue marble let's make a difference in someone's life. I'm sure you do. Tell us. Maybe you can spark others to join in.

Okay that's my socially redeeming message. I can now scratch that off my decade-at-a-glance list.

DODGY—randomness continues....back to the flick....if you love dodgeball press F1 on your keyboard. If you don't love it then don't press F1.

I see a lot of F1iness coming in!

Noche de Tunis

At almost seven minutes jazz piano player Arturo O'Farrill and his trio rip through A Night In Tunisia.

Vintage Flicks Weirdly Funny, Watchable

THE FLICKERING MOVIE SCREEN....it doesn't just have to be Halloween to talk about sci-fi and horror. Here are two oldies; gems that are marketed today as "Midnight Movies". I recently checked them out from my local library (for free).


Robinson Crusoe On Mars

Paul Mantee stars as an astronaut marooned on "the fiery red planet" battling for his survival, at first all alone. The science is way ahead of its time. Quirky and pretty cool! Sort of an underground masterpiece that will stay with you. I think many blockbusters that came later must have lifted their ideas from this flick, esp. Star Wars.


Panic In The Year Zero


Ray Milland in a stylish suede coat that never gets dirty protects his family in the mountains of California after the bomb goes off. He's cool in any situation and always has a plan! Love when he and Frankie Avalon start wielding guns around. Dated, still, his reactions and strategies to survive are totally believable and it has a sort of weird "what if" fascination to it; it's also accidentally funny.

"Hello, You're On Fry-Time"

In honor of the Futurama news shown two posts below, here's a nice bit about the show starring Philip J. Fry.

this moozik: it be punky

Stuff n Junk

WEBHEADS
For fans of Futurama, here's the latest word off of their site:

We just got this word from 20th Century Fox: "Just wanted you to know that we now have deals with the entire Futurama voice cast to return: John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche, Billy West, Tress MacNeille and Katey Sagal."

Apparently the date for the new season to begin is June 10, 2010.

As Professor Farnsworth would holler...."Good News Everyone!"








THE SCOOP (taken from a tip on the Sierra Club website)
Heavier luggage burns more fuel. So if everyone leaves a little more at home, we'll save immense amounts of emissions.

That's John Muir on the rock.

You're the boss

The answer is....Light Blue, Dark Blue and Blue!
The other answer is Vanilla Ice Cream, the building block upon which all ice creams treats are made.
The next answer is Snow.

There ya go.

The questions are obvious: favorite three colors, favorite food, favorite weather.

The answers tell us all we need to know about you. Don't they. Now blog us your answers by clicking on the comments below.


These guys could have been subtitled "The Wookies". Hahahahaha. But seriously, I loved BTO. They were IT in the early and mid 70s man. This tune was one of my favorites back then in, oh, about seventh grade. By the way....couldn't they fit right into that commercial that runs on tv all the time?...."Mom says boys gotta go!"

Drive

Park, Peace and Parking

THESE DAYS

Monday, September 21, is the International Day of Peace. Do something peaceful on Monday to show your Ghandi-like qualities to celebrate this one day of the year where peace reigns. —One day!— Leave the other 364 days alone. They are NOT meant to be peaceful in any sort of international way. Okay? ....But they could be peaceful in a county, state or municipal sort of way, couldn't they??


Tuesday, September 22, besides being the Autumnal Equinox, is international car-free day (not carefree day) CAR-FREE, as in, don't drive day. I have no graphic for this but we can use our imaginations here. Imagine if you will, all the roads on the planet empty for one day! That would be the day a film crew should go out and film a sci-fi movie! But you'd have to equally imagine all the hotels, gas stations, mall parking lots, rest-stops and truck-stops jammed with autos and trucks. There'd be no room to park anywhere if all cars pulled off the roads.


NATURE
Here's what the Sierra Club is saying....
We're on the edges of our camp chairs in anticipation of the new Ken Burns documentary, "The National Parks: America's Best Idea." Friends of the Sierra Club have organized over 750 house parties around the country on or around September 20, where they'll screen a special sneak-preview DVD about the series and share national park experiences.

Spam-bam

Okay! Cash Cab is at commercial so listen up. After chatting in recent weeks with bloggers H and P about web-related junk and issues we decided that we get way, way too much spam. You know spam. It's the junk emails we all get.

But what we wondered was, "how much junk email do we really get?"

This is going to be highly scientific because as you know the milkshake is all about science. I began to analyze my email to see what sort of spam I'm getting and from whom.

Here's what I'm seeing:

Borders, Apple, several credit card companies, Sierra Club, Yahoo, Media Bistro, Dick's Sporting Goods and Amazon seem to lead my list of "constant spammers". These are my self-titled Star Trekkers. Called because they can 'beam aboard' my email anytime they want.

There are other culprits as well however most of those (I'l spare the names) are because I have stayed at a hotel chain, subscribed to a publication, joined a club, bought something at a store or simply failed to unclick a box that had one of those pre-checked "send me your literature" lines at the bottom of something.

How much spam are we getting as a percent of email.

To quantify you simply do the math. But to qualify it you have to subtract the stuff you've probably brought on yourself (such as the catalogues and magazines ala list rentals that get your name because you made a purchase). I don't think we can include this stuff because you want to eyeball them even if you toss them most of the time. You want to 'stay in the loop' on these babies since you might need a coupon or want to jump on a seasonal sale or‚ especially in the case of snail-mail you might just be fed up with getting bill after bill and want a diversion in your pile of mail and welcome an occasional circular (Hello Victoria's Secret!) .... insert sly little snicker here...

Let's say I get 20 emails over a weekend. It looks like 15 are junk, but wait, 6 of those I actually open and read because of the above-mentioned reasons. So really 9 of the 20 are totally flushable: I don't want to invest in gold mines; I don't want to host a Nigerian prince who needs to dump his fortune; I don't want to 'stay hard' for four hours (christ! I ain't superman!); I don't want to join a book club anytime soon; I'm not needing to fly one-way to Topeka, Toledo or Tuscanny on the fourth Thursday of never; and I don't want a free supply of a year's worth of sugar pills laced with a derivative from the root of the magical Ginsing plant.

During the week I probably get 15 emails per day. I'd say I'm running at about 6 out-and-out junkers per day.

To keep the math easy, if I receive, on average, around 100 emails per week, I'm probably seeing, truly, about 40 percent junk emails of the type you'd just delete without bothering to open.

These results are probably not too unusual for most of us. What do you think?

Have you received some unusual spam? Do you have some names of companies in heavy rotation you'd like to add to the list? Blog and let us know. Click on the word 'Comments' below and tell us.

Make it Vin

An interesting number is the number 7. It is associated with luck and it is the number in a movie, as shown below.

"We deal in lead..."

Opine To The Stars

September here you are. How did you arrive so quickly? You are bringing an earlier sunset. You are chilly in the a.m. Damn you!
In French it's: Septembre (The spelling looks like a spanish cologne.)
In Italian it's: Settembre (They just skipped the 'p' totally. The nerve.)

Now for something different.... What's with the song 'pick up the pieces"? What pieces do they mean and why the hell do they have to pick them up? Did they drop these 'pieces'? Or did the item they drop break? And did these people remember to sweep up the little slivers, you know, the ones you never see but feel when you get them in your foot? Oh and by the way, in the song, do they ever sing the words? Someone blog and sort all of this out.

I know what you are saying right now...."Oh god the randomness! The randomness of it all!! I can't take much more!!!"

What about this....it's the latest image of Mars showing gullied crater walls. It is courtesy of my friends at NASA/JPL. (They aren't really my friends, I think so, but they hang up whenever I call to give them notes about their so-called 'scientific missions'. Hah! Ingrates!)

Good Evening

Setting Sun Over Fort Lauderdale—I was trying for a sort of 'farewell to summer' kinda feeling in this shot. (Click on the image for a nice big view.) Since astronomical autumn starts tomorrow I thought it was fitting to post it today. Goodbye summer (but only on the calendar) cause you know it's always gonna be summer-of-the-mind here at The Milkshake!

This is Static

A tune from Green Day to rev you up for the weekend.

(let's) all head toward the refreshment stand

Film at Eleven

Let's All Go to The Lobby!—Gotten out to the movies lately? Post a message below and give us your pick for the best/worst movies of the summer. I've caught three or four flicks but nothing too memorable. I didn't care for Transformers. Despite the all-out action, the plot was, well, there was none. It was more of an extended commercial than an actual movie. The last flick I saw was Julie & Julia and it was surprisingly good. I had low expectations as it wasn't really my type of film but it was funny and well acted. Blog and let us all know what you enjoyed this summer. (Or what you are looking forward to this fall).

Take A Free Ride

This one is going out to you.

....Right there at your keyboard.

....I see you.

....Don't be looking back over your shoulder.

....I'm pointing right at you.

....Quit grinning.

....If you aren't swilling a cocktail, shame.
....Go get one.

....Go on.

....I'll wait.

OceanSunPalmsWavesHeatManateesandTurtlesatMidnight

Couple of "beachscape" images from Fort Lauderdale. Click on image for bigger view.





Thoughts: being on vacation you tend to have a good time and then you tend to people watch. There was no shortage of either down in the southeastern portion of the sunshine state. Number one thought: the ocean is awesome and no images can capture it fully. Number two: there is something about a climate where there is no seasonal change that drives residents a little batty. Some of the folks we met were awesome but some we simply described as "baked" for a myriad of reasons. I am glad to return to "the north" and I look forward to the autumnal season and eventually winter. (I happen to love snow and all winter sports.)

Some further thoughts: The Manatees are awesome, especially when they swim past you so effortlessly in the water. The sea turtles are incredible when you see the hatchlings scrambling to get to the sea at night; and when you come across a giant mamma turtle under the moonlight crawling up on the beach to lay eggs. I saw a relatively small one—which was about as big as a coffee table and weighing about 400 pounds-come up for a visit on our last night and a few lucky late-night observers witnessed an incredible sight in nature. It was like being on a Nature Documentary tv show.

Have a great weekend everybody!

All of that "show the way you feel" junk

In a full-on purposeful effort to be tremendously random and musical in a 70s sort of way I give to you these images and this song (which I cannot get out of my head). The Jetsons you know. Annnndddd you love em. This image does not have their maid Rosie so apologies to hardcore Jetsons enthusiasts. But doesn't Astro's arm around George sort of say it all? Don't you think? The next photo is a sort of Kon-Tiki affair except that the ship was constructed out of all recyclables.




Finally there is Magnet and Steel.

Ahhhh yes!

Magnet and Steel.

Play it as loud as your speakers will go (you'll do it proud, believe me) and absorb the 70s vibe.



What can I say that hasn't been said before about this late 70s surprise No. 1 hit other than it came right smack dab in the middle of the disco era and, as I remember, was totally awesome in its awesomeness.

Hearing it once more makes me misty, thinking back about the end of high school and moving on in life. Remember that time? Yeah you do! All that sock-hops and drive-ins stuff and getting into a little bit of harmless trouble with friends—and laughing long and hard about it—and then moving on with your life to college and beyond. All that jazz. Magnet and Steel baby. Let it wash over you like that great lawnmower smell in the backyard on a summer evening (or some such thing). Awww hell, I'm just rambling now.

Sleeping Now, Rocking Later

WELCOME TO the milkshake blog in August.

Oh how I have been neglect in my duties. But I am back.

I have been traveling near and far across this great land and have tales to tell and photography to share.

I bought some new music and will be working up some new graphics as well later on this summer and fall.

....but....right now I need some sleep....so....forgive me for a day or two....I'll post lots of stuff soon along with a large new selection of SHAKE RATTLE N ROLL FRIDAY.

Hey Now

If you can guess what group did this little summer sippin tune then you are really good with bands and tunes. I had to look them up. Sort of reminds you of that first James Bond movie when he's at the tiki bar questioning the fisherman and Felix sneaks up behind him pointing a beretta at his back. Now that was action 007 style. Iko Iko.

What is it about water?

Hot or cold, whatever your feelings, this one will make you think of the ocean.

Do you think we have some hard-wired primordial yearning to return to the surf where once we came?

A science show once explained that, if you really look at the situation closely, planet-wise, the continents are really just islands amidst a water planet.

From space we are a little tiny blue marble.

The oceans of planet earth may not be the deepest oceans in the solar system. On Europa, an ice-covered moon of Jupiter, there is most likely an ocean under the surface ice that is up to 50 or 70 miles deep. 50 OR 70 MILES DEEP.

For reference: our deepest trench in the pacific ocean, the Challenger deep, is about 7 miles.

50 TO 70 MILES DEEP!

(wanted to shout that again....felt good!)

BTV

Saw the Shel Silverstein tribute last night outdoors at the millennium park bandshell in downtown Chicago. Big, happy, dancing, smiling, singing-along in the cool breezes crowd of families. Ella Jenkins and Tim Kazurinsky were among those who did readings from 'Where The Sidewalk End's and 'A Light In The Attic' among others, and there was a great band including an incredible steel guitar player performing some of the songs Shel wrote. One of them was 'Boy Named Sue' that Johnny Cash performed and made famous at Folsom Prison way back when. Nice night, good times!

Just really digging the 50th anniversary special motion picture being shown on AMC of Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo in hi-def no less. I've recorded it and am planning to groove on this classic western some late night. Walter Brennan is very funny and all the actors are great. So is the music. Did anybody else check it out?

For fans who enjoy Fry, Leela The professor, Zoidberg, and that lovable rascal Bender 'Bending' Rodriguez and all of Futurama, here's some news right off the gotfuturama website (link below right, scroll down and check out a great site). "A spokesperson for 20th Century Fox Television confirms that the cable net has ordered 26 new episodes of Matt Groening and David X. Cohen's late, great animated series to air beginning in 2010. The studio cites Futurama's "blockbuster" performance on DVD and in reruns on Comedy Central as the reason for its rebirth."





After four movies released to DVD during the past two years they are returning the show to the air with regular episodes. Awesome! Now if Reno 911 will just stay around it'll be manna from heaven next year on the boob toob.

Maybe

Talking with a few friends over the internet about Big Kahuna Reef and other web-spots to cool out on, the talk was that you should take a break from the web and detach yourself from the electronic apron strings and get outside. Get away from the same old. That's summer defined: get out and get groovin. If you've forgotten how hot summer can get you might want to sit down and relax under the shade of a tree and feel the cool breeze on your face and maybe it will make you feel better. A couple of us agreed to that. Or go take a swim in the water. Many more liked that. Or maybe just get in your car and roll the windows down and cruise around tonight under the stars and let your hair blow in the wind. Maybe stop at an ice cream shop and load up on the cold stuff. We all agreed to that! Hey, whatever floats your canoe, it's summer. Let the maybes roll all day and night.

wanna come home all covered in mud

A nice little jammer you pin the needle with.

They glow, so I like them

Looking for the unusual or the retro or the off-the-beaten-highway type deals on the information super on-ramp?


Check out these:





all-unique.com
(for more 70s kitsch)

coolgadget.net
(for expensive junk)

tripletsandus.com
(for 1980s games, including several versions of frogger)

godzillatemple.com
(all things about the large, fire-breathing lizard)


These site are meant for you, web-head!

Drums Unlimited

This one goes out to Harry and Sheila and also J and double a; it's Max Roach's jazz drumming wundertune, Off My Back Jack.

it's....That Music! THAT music!

Let's go to the Movies

Have a favorite summer movie? Going to see anything new in the theatres? Blog and tell us. The only thing I'm even remotely interested in seeing right now is probably the newest Transformers movie which opens June 24.

Do you enjoy any of those old horror movies? Frankenstein? The Wolf-Man? How about Abbott and Costello Meet The Killer Boris Karloff? Makes me think of the old Creature Features on Saturday nights. Man did that opening squence creep me out as a kid! But I never missed it!

Share your favorite summer flicks with us and comment. (In case you haven't bothered with it yet, it's easy. You just select anonymous from the drop-down list or else name and then type your message. There's a step they added where you type their code they give you which takes all of five seconds. That's it. Pretty simple stuff.)

C'mon, let's hear from you guys, you've been way too quiet. (Don't make me come over and drag you out of your house!) Peaches? Redbird? Big Bob? K? A? LT? BeBe? M? Shadow? And many others. Check in and tell us what's up with your summer? And what your taste is in summer movie fare?

We all gotta be strong

It....

is....

"Shake Rattle n Roll Friday!"

— so dial it to 11 —

enjoy the 70s....again

<wait!>

Did we ENJOY them

the first time?

(Not really sure?!)

Do YOU remember them?....blog and tell me if we enjoyed them or not.

Star-stuffed

Feed Your Science GEEk—



There are more planets out there beyond Pluto. (Which is now considered to be a "lesser" planet—it lost its planet cred! Whew, talk about getting rejected, maaaan, kicked out of the whole solar system! Damn!....poor little Pluto!) Anyway, this one is something called, um, new planet. I'm not really sure what the name is so if you know tell us.

Do you have a little space-wonder inside of you? I do. I confess I am slightly science geeky and own an eight-inch Dobsonian (that's a telescope). It's taken over my garage. But that's okay we don't park our jalopies in there anyway! Do you have a telescope? Blog and tell me what you check out. Keep it on-message! I don't want to hear about your failed attempts to peer into the Vasser shower room on Friday night! I know you've dived into the craters on the moon, but have you checked out Saturn and Jupiter? They are awesome in the summer.

Science websites are all over the place in the geekdom. There's NASA and there's JPL. Also there is Stardust, which anyone can be a part of. You have to sign up and pass a test and then you can become a "Duster", helping scientists identify particles of a comet brought back by the ship Stardust. It flew through the tale of a comet about five years ago and returned to earth with star stuff lodged in a material carried onboard called aerogel which is like 'liquid smoke' and trapped this star stuff. All very cool. (I've been involved since its 2006 as a Duster, which means you examine slides under a microscope trying to locate this star stuff for further scientific study.) Go check it out if you need to feed your inner Sagan.

Get Your Swim On

Today on THE SCOOP we're bringing you a cause, if you need one, here's one that's all wet. It's the Save the Manatee Club. If you sign up (for free) you get their E-newsletter called Paddle Tales. It's pretty cute. I have added their website in my links list at right. Scroll down until you find it.

it's me, don't you know who i am?

Summer means these guys and we're all over it so let the tunes spin, the suntan lotion flow and the burgers sizzle to Girl Don't Tell Me, one of their least played/best groovy songs. (Note: I saw Brian Wilson and his crew play the Chicago Theatre recently and he is awesome, rolling through a medley of these great records.)

Power 'On'

As you can see we spare no expense (and spend no expense) to keep the grounds looking sharp at the blog office. We have opted for the prairie motif. And there is plenty of juice to keep the blog at maximum power levels at all times. The buzzing and crackling off the high tension wires keeps me up at night but that's the price you pay for prime real estate.

Hot Fun, Cool Water

Meteorological summer is coming June 1. That means get out the shorts, the suntan lotion and the grill.

Here's the burning question we're asking on The Milkshake:

What are you doin' this summer?

Comment and let us know what your plans are.

Oh those pesky 'bots

Speaks for itself doesn't it? We all need better robot awareness. Mine are completely undisciplined and run around here at the head offices of The Milkshake blog like they own the place. I'm typing from my washroom. They, um, pennied me in again (whimper).

Just rocked you up

Ain't that a shame....from the 70s....this rock is jamming and that is good, so good, so very very good indeed. Yes indeed. Yes yes. So good. So very good. So very very very very good. Yes yes yes yes and yes! So so so good. So very very—

(Oops, just realized my computerized random blog writing program was stuck in a loop there, apologies. Darn robotics! You just can't trust them completely. You know? You really can't? Know what I mean? You can't trust them. Darn robotics. They get in a loop and get stuck. That's the problem. Know what I mean? Do you? Darn robotics....they....get....caught....in....a....loop....and....can't....be....trusted....darn....robotics....know....what....I....mean—)

Oops! Sorry! My computerized 'computer blog writing program overseer' system was caught in its own loop. How ironic! Do these things ever happen to you?

Foil Jackets Back In Style

NET-HEADS (I have no design yet for this feature)—do you think there will come a time when we no longer need keyboards for our computers? Can you envision a day when we speak and the computer automatically delivers the words on screen? Probably already exists now in a computer lab. How about the day when we just think it and it appears on screen? Okay THAT'S a little far-fetched. By then won't we be able to beam ourselves over to the person and just tell them. Imagine if Star Trek technology comes to pass....that will be the end of commercial airplane travel, travel agents, buying gas for cars, oh yeah, and cars.

Speaking of Star Trek....it always bugged me that they had a ship and a crew of 400 going all these places. Why not just use the beamer to travel? Their explanation was lame: it was only good at close range. YOU MEAN they had the technology to disassemble a living human's molecules, send them through space, and then almost instantly reassemble them in another place perfectly but only for short distances? What, they can't work out a long-distance carrier? What, do they have the dish network? I guess Comcast must be going strong in the future-

I was asked recently if I have staff helping me with the blog and also where my offices are at.

Here is a shot of Igor and Boris working in the offices at The Milkshake. As you can see working conditions are safe and healthy and the work is meaningful. They are busy smelting or something. I'm not really sure. BTW—I fired them both last week for melting down my car keys into an ash tray. We don't even smoke. That was so not cool. Now if it had been something practical like a miniature anvil....



Coming soon....photos of The Milkshake head office.

Didn't you know her in HS?

We all knew her in high school. You know who I mean. Sheena. And now that sweet girl is a punk rocker! Let me say it again. She's a....punk-punk, punk-rocker, now!

One of my fav's. If you happen, for some crazy reason, to have a 12 on your dial, not 11 but 12, this would be a good one to try it out with. Really, it would. Really.

Gamers in 3-D....that's—prepare the echo chamber—....thrrreeee-deeeeeee)

So you say you're looking for some hot gaming sites? Well, sip a nice refreshing beverage and cool off because this probably isn't the place. However, here's a few spots you might just wanna go check out when your not busy inventing cold fusion or solving global heating or whatever it is you do between sunrise and sunset.

Gamers, dive in and tell us what you think....— —

mindjolt.com There is a whole host of stuff on here. I've only played scramball2 and it's got great techno-pop music for a simple timed puzzle game.

playpacman.net will get you those wonderfully slow retro classics like little frogger (my favorite) and the pill-eating star himself, the man of 'pac'.

radicalplay.com might scare you at first but hang in there and try out 'need for madness'. It sort if defies physics and that's perfectly okay because what are physics, really, but silly mumbo-jumbo invented by scientists to show us how brainy they are. Right? Need for madness will dispel all those "laws of phyics" and, be warned, may get you hooked for a long time. (I know people who just can't stop playing—and crashing—and playing—and laughing—and playing still more.)

Here's their corporate message from the game's first page: "And we are never going to find the new unless we get a little crazy"

yahoo.com If you are looking for me on any interactive games, keep an eye out for my handle 'trb4320' in the yahoo games, deuces wild section late nights mostly on Fridays or Saturdays. Also I've been known to be spotted now and then out on 'Big Kahuna Reef' .

facebook.com Play something called mafia wars. This is an interactive game where you carry out hits, fight, and get gifts from the mafioso. Thanks Notley for inviting me to play. I need to build up my crew so come on over and join. You liked fenced goods don't you?....who doesn't?!

Up From Brazilia

You need to play these soothing sounds in the evening when you are relaxing on the setee. It's Coba from my man Stan Getz, so sit back, sip a cool one, and just jazz yourself silly right 'bout now.

Note: just to make sure my rump is covered, I want to make it clear that all the music on the milkshake is bought and paid by me for my personal enjoyment and the enjoyment of my friends who stop by my music lounge. Nothing is sold, re-sold or profited. This is simply for enjoyment. The Milkshake is free, always.

When pigs fly

Hola! Ciao! Bonjour! Hello!

Several of you have been emailing me this week and that's cool. But other ways to lay down some of your vibes is to blog them right here using the Comments button below. It's all fixed now and easier than ever. I can guarantee you it won't hurt a bit. Not one eeeny-weenie bit.

If you DO need to send me an email like Shakes: Redbird, Paul, Ann, Kate and others, use trb4320@yahoo.com or use trbthemilkshake.yahoo.com. Both are fine and dandee.

Among the many messages of interest, Paul told me he doesn't much care for the new light bulbs and Redbird has a photo to share (see below). Way to go Redbird! I knew you'd come over and roost sooner or later! Yippppeeeeee!


AVOID SWINE FLU, DON'T DO THIS:



Can anyone write a funny caption for Redbird's photo. Take a shot at it. I think I'd say: 'S'not Just Any Ol Kiss'

Make sure to tell your friends about "The Milkshake" and send them the link. Tune in this coming Friday for the very first "Gamers" along with some design artwork I've been developing and some gaming sites you aren't gonna believe. (Except Shake Notley of course, who got me hooked on one of them.)

Alright now, go "Cinco your Mayo" and remember don't drink and drive, you might spill some. Adios amigos!

Whose your pet?

With the word "swine" in the news so much lately it got me thinking of all those trendy pot bellied pigs people used to crave as companions. Whatever happened to the good ol goldfish or marmot? What about the spotted eel or the vernicious knid?

The question today is: what (or who) is your pet?
The answer can't be found in this song, can it not? Or maybe it won't, will it?....well? I'm waiting for an answer.

(Don't you dare not try to answer this question if you don't know whether you know it or you don't.)


sHAkE rATTLE n rOll—This is "dial it to 11 Friday". 'A' asked what does that mean? I answered: means play it loud and rock out!

Scooped

Our very first SCOOP feature looks at energy efficient light bulbs, a simple way to help out planet earth and save yourself some money on bulb replacement around your home. The SCOOP artwork is mine.



In an informal survey conducted by The Milkshake (I talked to eight people about their light bulb use) it seems we were running at just over 50 percent on the use of energy efficient bulbs. Five people said they had some "eebs" in their house. I asked if they knew how much money the bulbs were saving but the jury was out on that question.

Personally I have been slowly changing over to eebs during the past couple of years and all I can really say for sure is that I haven't replaced one of them. I surveyed some eeb packaging on store shelves last weekend and it seems most of them are designed to last nine years. There is some helpful cost-savings math right on the bulb packaging that indicates somewhere around a $50 per bulb savings over it's life time. Apart from keeping your wallet fat, the bulbs use energy at a lower rate and that helps earth.

Here's a little shot I made to highlight the cost savings aspect of these bulbs.



So are you using eebs at your home or business? Comment and tell us.

I will be starting my Links feature soon, here's a site I will be adding: sierraclub.org. They are advocates for enjoying, exploring and protecting the planet. If you stop by, check out their article "Message In A Bottle" about two guys who took a ship made out of recyclables across the Pacific to Hawaii (see photo below), and along the way found some very disturbing things floating in the ocean, and in the stomachs of fish.

Also while you are surfing their site, make sure to check out "Hey Mr. Green", a column where you can ask Mr. Green questions like "how cold should I be keeping my fridge and freezer?" and he'll answer you through a podcast, audio only.




The Sierra club founder was John Muir (guy in beard) standing here with Prez Teddy R. This image is off their site. I just liked it.

Jane, stop this crazy thing!!!

Out of the steamer chest of randomness we pull this bit of classic cartoon trivia. Play if you really want to show your age. Comments are working properly now so click right on the word "Comments" and opine your brains out.

Who is your favorite classic cartoon pet?


Could it be Scooby-Doo? (Named after a lyric in a Sinatra song...."scooby-dooby-doo....")



How about that lovable mutt, Astro, endlessly caught chasing that cat on that treadmill floating outside the Jetson's apartment.



And let's not forge— LET's NOt FORGEt—Dino the dinosaur. Didn't he trample Fred Flintstone every time?


Name a cartoon pet of your own if those three don't do it for you. Personally I always liked Scooby. He talked; plus those meddling kids chased around to bubble-gum 70s pop music. It was, like, groovy man, groovy!

Yeah, Yeah Yeah

Is Friday itching you like crazy? Need some jams? Well here you are....right in the right place, if I may say so! Welcome to the first of many "Dial It Up To 11: Shake, Rattle n' Roll Fridays" on The Milkshake. There'll be rock, jazz, pop, whatever else we uncover in the Milkshake music vault. Go crank the tunes and have a great weekend. Spin that dial past ten. MAKE IT go past ten!

FYI—If you are scratching your head about how to leave a Comment....I fixed the problem and got it working now. Just click on 'Comments' below any post and type in your message. You can select 'Name' and type in your name, or a clever alias, or click "Anonymous'.

Okay. Start yer engines! Getchyer ya-yas out! Have an awesome and splendiferously great weekend. Did I build it up enuff?

How Wild?

If his name is 'Van' he must be rockin' (hee-he) so it works for 'Friday Dial it to 11' here on The Milkshake. "...then the wind catches your feet, and send you flyin, cryin...."

V is for....

"Calling all the freaks from the freak, freak planet, I'm a...."

Who thinks up this stuff? Genius! Freak Magnet from the boys from Milwaukee.

Are you an opera singer?

Have a big slice of Cake today. Love those phat horns.

The Cold Tin, The Warm Heart, The Sweet Tooth

Good morning!

Welcome to a brave new world!

Here on The Milkshake anything goes. We're promoting music, art, design, photography, the written word and all kinds of games, mind-bending puzzles, current events, career resources and, of course our favorite cold, sweet treat....the glorious milkshake!

I'm glad you guys are finding your way over here. Make sure to blog your comments galore and share whatever it is you feel you need to share with me. (You know I'm laughing already, donchya!)

A little terminology....let's call us bloggers over here "Shakes" for short. How do you like that? If something else appeals to you, let er rip and tell me. Already I've noticed a couple of Shakes are following along. That's maximum cool. C'mon and sign on, it's gonna be a fun ride.

I'm planning quite a few features to roll out over the coming weeks. Things such as: "The Scoop" for latest environmental awareness type of news; and good ol "Gamers" will appear with tips on cool gaming sites; "The Blender" for all sorts of ridiculous randomness; "Net-Heads" for anything internet related; and a bunch of other stuff for kids of all ages. There'll be lots of surprises along the way and I'm going to try and work out some sort of nice "Links" section with all sorts of crazy gunk.

Finally, throw me an idea of your own and for god-sakes get involved. Don't sit on your hands around here. This place is for playing music, whistling while you work and play, and sharing all the good stuff that makes life what it is—a glorious roller-coaster ride filled with death-defying turns and white-knuckle, gut-wrenching dips and spins....okay, okay, I'm getting wound up....but we love every second of it on it here on The Milkshake don't we?

Now we're gonna get this thing shakin, baby. Set your fun meter to off-the-hook. Leave a comment, leave a rant, but make sure to bookmark us.

FRIDAY ALERT——Stop by tomorrow for our very first "Dial it up to 11, Shake Rattle n' Roll Friday music special". (Rolls right off the tongue doesn't it?) And post your requests.

Shakes (you know who you are): It's about time to switch the blender on high, so to speak, load up your favorite ice cream, as it were, and pour the chocolate sauce, in a manner of speaking, and get in the mix at The Milkshake. Rock on y'all!

Summer Music all year at TRB's The Milkshake

You can't say summer without these guys. Rock out with Jan & Dean's Drag City. A blue coral wax job sure looks pretty!

The Milkshake is Here!

Welcome to TRB's "The Milkshake". This is my new blog where you can shake, rattle and roll. It's a place for music and just hanging out. Also it's the same name as my restaurant idea, The Milkshake, which I am planning to try and open next summer. Come back often and post comments about music or whatever floats your ice cream. Meanwhile, enjoy the tunes! ....and Happy Earth Day! Note: isn't it kinda weird we have to officially have an earth day. Should we start an "Air-Breathing Day" too?! --You heard it here first, it's copyrighted now. Ahahahaha.