beancounters

Hasta la vista, Taurus

Psst, buddy! Wanna help out a state that's down on its luck?

Wait! What if I throw in a car that's signed by an action hero?

Everyone's gearing up (heh) for the big state garage sale this Friday and Saturday. But what I didn't know is that the cars, lately owned by Department of General Services, are already up for bid on eBay. I'm going to watch the bids to see what we get. Hopefully enough to replenish our education system.

Own a piece of cult history

Say, if you have $2.3 million, the house where Cameron Frye lived is up for sale.

THE BEN ROSE HOME-site of the famous movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", cantilevered over the ravine, these two steel and glass buildings, which can never be duplicated, have incredible vistas of the surrounding woods. This is a unique property designed by A. James Speyer and David Haid, both notable architects of the 20th Century. Estate Sale Sold "As Is" No disclosures! This is an amazing architectural treasure.

"As is"? Do you think this means they never repaired the garage window?

Everything you need to know about swine flu is

here.

Okay, okay, if you want to see an interactive map, go here.

And if you want to keep up with reliable news in the Sacramento area, go here.

But whatever you do, do not get your news from here. Avoid that place altogether. This is why.

Those alpha kids

What traits distinguish boys and girls at school as the alpha kids? The Times takes a crack at it. You'll be shocked - shocked! - by their conclusion: the most popular children are good-looking, social and funny, get good grades but make it look effortless, and usually have a zany sidekick.

Except for the bit about school ties, I'm re-living four years of high school inadequacy right this minute. I was never even alpha enough to rate the job of sidekick! Read on, please, while I go and breathe into a paper bag.

Academic achievement seemed to be performed relatively effortlessly, at the same time as socialising in class.

"In this sense they are notably different from the high achieving but not popular pupils, including those delineated 'boffins' or 'geeks', who tended to be far more exclusively focused on the demands of learning," said the research.

While alpha pupils were assertive, their behaviour was not excessively disruptive, involving good-humoured "cheek" and "attitude" rather than overt confrontation.

I'm better now. Um, "boffin"?

Boffin was a common colloquial term used in Britain during WW2 for the technical experts, the backroom boys, who were helping to win the war.

An affectionate term, but with some practical fighting man's scorn for the academic brain worker.

Hmm. Do we still deride boffins here in the U.S. anymore?  These days, Americans seem to have a collective crush on web geeks. Or is it a different story at the grade school level?

Obama halo

I hereby declare a moratorium.

Photographers are no longer allowed to take pictures of the President of the United States from this particular angle, so the head is situated within the circle of the Seal of the President, which is hanging on the wall to one side of the podium. We get it: it looks like he's wearing a halo! How interesting! How droll! We remember this trick very well from the last presidency. Now cut it out.

Quick thought:

Herr Fritzl's prison cell ought to be a tiny, tiny box.

Just in time for the weekend

Add two more things to our growing list of fun ingestibles that have been found to prevent Alzheimer's Disease.

Red wine
In animal trials, UCLA researchers found that compounds known as polyphenols, which naturally occur in red wine, can inhibit the development of proteins that deposit in the brain and form the plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease. [thx Maya]

Marijuana
Wenk's studies show that a low dosage in the morning of a certain cannabinoid, a component in marijuana, reversed memory loss in older rats' brains. In his study, an experimental group of old rats received a dosage, and a control group of rats did not.

Another food fights dementia

A growing body of evidence demonstrates that we can take steps to delay age-related cognitive decline, including in some cases that which accompanies Alzheimer's disease, according to a study published in the January 2009 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

Thomas B. Shea, PhD, of the Center for Cellular Neurobiology; Neurodegeneration Research University of Massachusetts, Lowell and his research team have carried out a number of laboratory studies demonstrating that drinking apple juice helped mice perform better than normal in maze trials, and prevented the decline in performance that was otherwise observed as these mice aged.

So far this month, we've been given three potential keys to fighting senior dementia - coffee, a calm demeanor, and apple juice.

Heck! Throw in a bagel and the funny pages and we'll be reversing Alzheimer's at my breakfast table.

Grow Tower

It's Saturday, so you have plenty of time to play with the latest version of Grow. It seems we're building  a tower this time, blogfolk. Enjoy!

Also, I hope you're not tired of photographs of the inauguration, because I'm about to present you with The Mutha Of All Inauguration Photos. It's 2 gigabytes, and detailed enough that you can zoom in to see Yo-Yo Ma stealing a pic with his cell phone.

Pop quiz: Senioritis

BBC News - People who are more laid back are less likely to develop dementia in old age, a study has suggested.

Research published in the journal Neurology asked 500 healthy elderly people to fill out questionnaires about their personalities.

Those who were calm and relaxed had a 50% lower risk of developing dementia during the six years of the study.

The dementia risk was 50% lower for people who were outgoing and calm compared to those who were outgoing and prone to distress.

Pop Quiz

When I read that laid back people are less likely to develop senior dementia, my first thought was:

a) 'Wait - wasn't there a U.S.study recently that said that coffee wards off dementia? How am I supposed to keep calm through a daily caffeine rush? Hmm? Hmm?'

b) 'I missed that coffee study. I drink tea, not coffee. Why isn't tea mentioned? Typical! Anti-tea bias!'

c) 'I find that non-stop web-surfing keeps me calm, so this study is really good news. Now I'm off to read the comics.'

Veep-crush

We watched (and partially fast-forwarded through) the whole inauguration last night. Especially loved Joe Biden's exuberance after being sworn into office. We pictured him saying, "Well, that's it! Thanks for coming, folks! Snacks and lemonade in the rotunda! Follow me - oh, wait, sorry, I forgot about Barack's thing. Back to your seats, everybody." 

January 20 - it's been a long time coming

Happy inauguration day! I know many of you have taken the day off work to watch the celebrations. Believe me, if I had any vacation time, I'd do the same. Luckily, my office has a TV, a cable box and a benevolent supervisor, so I know we'll all stop and watch the swearing in and the inaugural address.

While we're waiting for high noon (EDT), let's generate our own speech and see how ours wind up faring against Obama's, shall we? I'll start:

---><---

Today we celebrate, but let there be no mistake – America faces bellicose and pugilistic challenges like never before. Our economy is secretive. Americans can barely afford their mortgages, let alone have enough money left over for Twilight novels. Our healthcare system is enormous. If your elbow is sick and you don't have insurance, you might as well call a journalist. And America's image overseas is tarnished like a sasquatch muscle car. But signifying together we can right this ship, and set a course for Toledo.

Finally, I must thank my holy family, my devilish campaign volunteers, but most of all, I want to thank Albus Dumbledore for making this historic occasion possible. Of course, I must also thank you, President Bush, for years of terrifying the American people.

I think my best line was the one about a sasquatch muscle car. Yes, it's a new day for fictional concept automobiles.

Inaugural dinner: will there be tartar sauce?

This is the first time in a long time that I've been interested in the upcoming presidential inauguration.

Daisy, my UK friend, sent along the inaugural luncheon menu and suggested we make some of the courses and post them on Flickr. It's a great idea, except I'm no foodie. Dinners at our house consist of three items, heated if necessary in their own pots and pans, and then placed on one dinner plate, far enough apart that they can't touch each other. When I read that the recipe for Seafood Stew calls for poaching lots and lots and lots of fish, I got light-headed and had to put my head down. In our kitchen, all our fish comes prepared in advance by a famous chef. I doubt she'd approve of the poach technique for her boxes of frozen, breaded cod squares. But it's a cool idea in theory, replicating some of these recipes. Just putting it out there.

Yes We Did

My husband BB and I sat glued to the TV last night, flipping between CNN, PBS and Comedy Central's "Indecision 2008". We got one call from BB's dad at the 8:00 hour, right when CNN called California, Oregon and Washington for Obama and made it Official. My father in-law is a WWII vet and retired schoolteacher. He and his wife are absolutely thrilled to see an end to the Bush years.

Got another call from Anthony on the East Coast, whose internet connection had failed and who needed to hear if he had bragging rights this fine day. He did. We all do.

Now: too early to be funny? Naaah.

Nation Finally Shitty Enough To Make Social Progress

WASHINGTON—After emerging victorious from one of the most pivotal elections in history, president-elect Barack Obama will assume the role of commander in chief on Jan. 20, shattering a racial barrier the United States is, at long last, shitty enough to overcome.

Best part:

"Obama had the foresight to run for president at a time when being an African-American was not as important to Americans as, say, the ability to clothe and feed their children," Pung continued. "An election like this only comes once, maybe twice, in a lifetime."

As we enter a new era of equality for all people, the election of Barack Obama will decidedly be a milestone in U.S. history, undeniable proof that Americans, when pushed to the very brink, are willing to look past outward appearances and judge a person by the quality of his character and strength of his record. So as long as that person is not a woman.

O warriors, look within

I was perusing all the Twitter posts well after tonight's debate ended, and found this particularly delightful.

That's my friend Grace, followed by famous self-proclaimed geek Wil Wheaton, tweeting at the same time about the last question of the town hall debate.

So which was it - awesome, or epic fail? I remarked to BB at the time that this final question was quintessential Brokaw. I've always noted that mile-wide philosophical streak in the man. Shoot, if Brokaw had delivered the final question as haiku, I would not have been surprised. So I liked it, and listened closely to hear how each candidate would answer. (Neither really did - big shocker!)

Because Mr. Tibble Whiskers told them to

Pet owners prefer McCain to Obama

WASHINGTON (AP) — If the presidential election goes to the dogs, John McCain is looking like best in show.

An AP-Yahoo! News poll found that pet owners favor McCain over Obama 42 percent to 37 percent, with dog owners particularly in McCain's corner.

"I think a person who owns a pet is a more compassionate person — caring, giving, trustworthy. I like pet owners," said Janet Taylor of Plymouth, Mass.

Taylor, who described herself as a retired stay-at-home wife, owns two cats, Lady Jane Taylor and Mr. Tommy Katz.

Pop Quiz (25 pts.)

When I read that pet owners favor McCain over Obama, my first reaction was:

a) Hmm. Newspaper reporters being laid off everywhere, yet somebody at the AP got paid to write this POS fluff piece. How nice.

b) Frankly, I've heard of worse reasons to favor a presidential candidate. This beats the old "which candidate would you rather barf with in the alley behind a bar" saw.

c) Mr. Tibble Whiskers always chooses who I vote for.

d) Omigod! That is so freaky! I used to own this dog, Gizmo, right? And he loved everybody! He was such a li'l lover! Omigod! But when he met that Dave, that checker from 7-11? Gizmo just growled and tried to bite him and wouldn't let him near me. So, long story short, that's why I drive my grandma's Nissan! .. What was the question again?

Iraq body count flags

Iraq body count flags
Originally uploaded by beancounter

By one count, at least 655,000 Iraqis have been killed since the start of the Iraqi invasion in 2003; 4,010 Americans have lost their lives in Iraq as well.

Whatever your view on the justification of the war effort, these numbers are a sobering reminder of the cost of human lives.

I took a couple of pictures of an exhibit placed here in Sacramento by the group Iraq Body Count Exhibit. Each white flag represents five Iraqis who died, each red flag represents one American. The exhibit, which was put up for a week, stretched three blocks down the center of Capitol Mall.

A slideshow of the IBCE in other cities may be viewed here.

O hai, herez yer Friday readz

The 20 Biggest Record Company Screw-ups of All Time

Everybody's remarking on #2, the famous story in which the Beatles did not get signed by Decca. Just as interesting to me was this recap of Napster being squashed by the record labels.

Napster’s users didn’t just disappear. They scattered to hundreds of alternative systems—and new technology has stayed three steps ahead of the music business ever since. The labels’ campaign to stop their music from being acquired for free across the Internet has been like trying to cork a hurricane—upward of a billion files are swapped every month on peer-to-peer networks.

'Like trying to cork a hurricane'. Ain't it the truth, Kato? But you didn't hear that from me ... I don't want to be the next #5.

Earth: not at all harmless

It’s so terribly perilous to live on this little tiny rock in the universe that I don’t blame space aliens for keeping all their visits covert.

R.O.U.S.'s did exist

I'm here to complain that this headline sucks.

One Ton Rodent Found in Uruguay

It would have been nice if they'd mentioned in the headline that it was a dead rodent. Or a four million year old rodent. Or a palentologist's find. Anything like that! Because every time my eye landed on the phrase "One ton rodent found in Uruguay", I would panic for a second and begin to wonder how far Uruguay is from Sacramento.