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Okonomiyaki recipe.
http://japanesefood.about.com/od/holidaytraditionalfood/r/okonomiyaki.htm
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This is a test.
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Great show about California history, culture, natural wonders.
http://www.calgold.com/calgold/
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Bon Iver.
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http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20502896,00.html
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Watching SNL. This week's guest band has a French horn.
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Yup, working
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This is a test to see how things are added to the vocab db. If I put a "word" like this or a http://url.com like that, I wonder if it will be properly added.
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Went looking for a birthday cake for our 6 month old baby today. The supermarket didn't have anything that looked nice, so I headed to Whole Foods, expecting them to have decent quality. Was disappointed by what they had -- looked to be a couple days old, with dried out fruit, etc.
Ended up going to our favorite place, Chantilly, on Lomita Blvd in Lomita. Small, expensive, and nice.
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Http://www.rejetto.com
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So I have a personal web server running on my hoe PC. Works great after you figure out the initial configuration for the router, firewall, etc. I would like to stream mp3s to my ipad using this system but for some reason I cant open them. Works from a normal PC, and I can download files using downloader apps with no trouble. But just clicking on the link won't open them up from the server.
I can stream songs from conventional URLs, I.e. my domain.com/song.mp3, but not from my server ip number, I.e. 65.77.45.32/song.mp3.
Odd... Might be Apple attempting to obstruct piracy? Or something simpler.
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Which email provider is the easiest to sign up for?
Gmail requires some kind of confirmation of identity, so they like to send a code via text message for you to enter.
Hotmail requires alternate email addresses so they can cross reference you.
Yahoo is pretty easy to sign up for but requires download of applets to use uploads, which can be tricky for folks who don't have permissions to install applets.
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Is it possible to have multiple users log into one Gmail account? Yes! I had thirteen students log in to my account this morning to practice using email, as they don't have their own yet.
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My six month old baby has changed the channel to USArmenia channel, and I have to admit that it is more entertaining than the usual fare.
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I finished recording the musical "Little Women"today with PCPA in Santa Maria, Calfornia. Good group,.
Unfortunately I rarely get to see shows because we live a few hours away. But I do recommend PCPA to SLO and Santa Maria residents.
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...of Metallica song...
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Enter Sandman http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBmM79YadYM&feature=email
Smooth jazz version!
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Funny how Apple built in so many limitations on the iPad. It's a great machine but the standard browser doesn't allow upload buttons, you have to add files through iTunes (including photos) and the only Bluetooth devices are headphones and keyboard. I can think of reasons for these decisions but it can be frustrating sometimes.
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This new iPad of mine doesn't have G3,so I depend on my home wi-fi, coffee shop wi-fi or good old McDonalds for net access. It would be nice to be connected all the time but I'm avoiding the 50 or so dollars per month fee for the moment. If I change my mindi might try a mobile hotspot, and that would allow me to hook up other machines as well.
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Got myself an iPad, and it's pretty fun. However, I'm not used to using a computer that has no file system made apparent to the user. Meaning one cannot save documents (photos, text documents, etc) in user-created folders as with conventional computers.
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I can recommend "Departures", a Japanese film that won best foreign film in 2009. It's quite funny and serious at the same time. I enjoyed the slow pace of the film, and seeing some authentic country-life scenes. I got a little irritated at the theme music coming back so often..the scenes where the main character plays it on solo cello, outdoors under a snow-covered mountain are not realistic to me. But its not real, so I guess thats OK!
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After being plagued by the Google Redirect virus for way too long, I used TDSSKiller and that took care of it. Apparently it was inside of a CD-ROM related file (can be different on each computer. Tricky virus, this one).
Before TDSSKiller I also ran Combofix, which has a good reputation. But results for me happened with TDSSKiller.
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Cirque du Soleil "Ka" show was amazing, and much better than I expected. I was gripping my armrests firmly from start to finish.
I couldn't really figure out the story, but I don't think this is too important. For a brief moment I felt afraid that they were going to do lance-twirling a la bad kung-fu movies for the whole show, but that didnt happen.
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Recently I met this amazing 11-string bass player:
http://www.jeanbaudin.com/
He's kind of famous for doing the Super Mario theme on his crazy bass. Which, by the way, has LED lights on the side of the neck so you can figure out where the heck you are..
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A couple years ago I recorded some background strings for a short film: High Water
http://www.bet.com/video/1468784
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Recently played with Cho Eishun, erhu player. He makes his home in Hiroshima, and is a fantastic performer.
http://niko.yu-nagi.com/
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his is a bar/music venue in Culver City, California:
http://joxerdalysirishpub.com/
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This is a bar/music venue in Culver City, California:
http://joxerdalysirishpub.com/
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Recently I ordered some luthier "hide glue" from https://www.stewmac.com/
They have lots of hardware, parts, tools, luthier supplies, etc,. for guitars, mandolins, banjos, fiddles. The website looks much more professional than most luthier supply sites.
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Books:
Right now I'm reading "As I Lay Dying", which is somehow the first book that I have read by Faulkner. I'm enjoying the stream of conciousness style and excellent writing, although I do often lose track of what's happening. I actually gave up on "The sound and the fury" by the same author, as I happened to be particularily sleepy around that time, and couldn't keep track of who was who or how many people were in the room..
Faulkner is a great writer, so I put up with his trying to phonetically write out his characters' Southern speaking style, something that most writers cannot pull off.
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Somewhat amusing story about a Facebook-account hijacker getting caught trying to scam somebody:
http://www.aolnews.com/opinion/article/opinion-how-to-reel-in-a-facebook-phisher/19652213
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Yesterday (9/27/2010) was a whopping 113 degrees in downtown Los Angeles, a record for any day in that area.
Down in Torrance it was a mere 101 degrees, and we hid out in the apartment until late afternoon, and hit the beach at 530 p.m. for a walk.
This caught everybody by surprise, as this past summer it rarely got above 80 degrees in Torrance.
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My violin is getting worked on by Mr. Benning and son in Studio City, CA. I'm looking forward to getting it back and hearing the improvement in sound. Turns out some seams were open, and a minor crack that had been there for some time had opened up recently.
Mr. Benning says that when seams open it creates more tension on the top of the violin, so this is something we should all be looking out for.
And moving a violin from a humid country (Japan) to a dry climate like Los Angeles can also create problems, of course. I'm going to ask him whether I should use an apartment humidifier, or just try to keep it in stable humidity from now (take a lessor violin when traveling).
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It's mahi mahi baked with lemon juice, pepper, mayonnaise and chopped onions, and bread crumbs on the top. Just try to brown the top without overcooking the whole thing.
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http://www.grouprecipes.com/6580/baked-mahi-mahi.html
This is a simple mahi mahi recipe that worked out well...
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Oh, I tried a different translation site and got this:
Lorem itself pain he is amet consectetur to come up to elit. Up to the time when faucibus nibh but to set free easy but a quiver diam blandishments. Up to the time when to make sad person responsible tincidunt. Consequently but some lorem. Whole dignissim rhoncus fermentum.
hehe!
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Recently I got an odd email asking for a donation, ostensibly for a theater company that I played some music for a couple years ago. It was odd because it contained a message in Latin. I decided to try to translate the content into English using http://translate.google.com and got the message:
We are not yet able to translate from Latin into English.
...which suggests that Latin is on their laundry list...
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I'm hearing that the namesake of southern rock band Lynrd Skynrd has passed away: Leonard Skinner, I believe. Always wondered where that band name came from.
Seems that Leondard was a teacher at a high school who once sent the young band members to the principal for having too-long hair. Wikipedia says that they invited him to introduce them at some concerts in later years.
Skynrd is some pretty low-brow stuff, but I like all that guitar, the authentic southern sound that we don't get a lot of here in California, or in Japan where I used to live, for that matter. I'm not really into draping Confederate flags around my pad, however. Just bad taste, huh.
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The Lo Life is a little segment aired on KPCC, not sure what times. Ms. Lo's voice is quite annoying, but her observations about life, family, society, etc. are hysterical. You can get them as "podcasts" as well.
http://lolife.com
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I counted 29 high-backed armchairs. Awesome.
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Photo is Edwin's buddy, who I didn't meet. Jim Beaudet is the bassist, and Edwin Fountaine.
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The Whiskey Man Band had a jam at the Westwood Brewing Company last Saturday night, and it was fun as usual. A guitarist named Edwin Fountaine came with a buddy, and knocked our socks off again. That was his second time at the jam. Fantastic players--a little bit like having George Benson or B.B. King show up and give you a free show. Nice.
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...and there is a fireplace!
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We found a nice coffee shop in Redondo Beach, after trying out several others.
Catalina Coffee Company:
http://www.catalinacoffee.com/
126 North Catalina Avenue
Redondo Beach, CA 90277
(310) 318-2499
At Starbucks you have to deal with no reading material and the loud clientele, some of whom smoke outside. Coffee shops in Borders, Barnes and Noble and The Coffee Bean are miserably crowded and have an unpleasant vibe.
This place is like a giant living room with lots of soft lighting from lamps and angled windows. All the furniture is real home stuff and very comfy, and they have newspapers and 2,000 mystery novels on hand (although I always bring me own reading material).
And it is about two blocks away from the Redondo Beach pier. Perfect for parking and returning to after a long walk on the beach trail. Nice.
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Johnny Winter's coming to the Brixton South Bay venue in Redondo Beach. He's older, can't stand when he plays due to a broken hip. But I'd love to see him play.
The "Be Careful With A Fool" video on youtube is pretty awesome:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Tyg5SJDpiQ
The drummer gets confused about how to end the song, but Johnny still manages a great ending.
www.brixtonsouthbay.com
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Regarding the Florida church that was threatening to burn Korans:
Jones said that his church's goal was "to expose that there is an element of Islam that is very dangerous and very radical."
Replace "Islam" with "Christianity", "dangerous" with "boneheaded".
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I spend Labor Day weekend in Las Vegas, my first trip there in almost twenty years. A lot has changed...
It was 105 or so degrees during the day, and night time temps were around 87 degrees.
We stayed at a regular hotel near the airport, as hotels are just where you sleep. But we were able to get one great dinner at Carnevino in the Venetian Hotel, and watch "Ka", a Cirque du Soleil production that I highly, highly recommend. We were sitting dead center in the fourth row, and that made it even better.
We also went to Crazy Horse Paris at the MGM Grand Hotel. This is a spinoff of the Paris production, in a sort of over-21 burlesque with a lot of exotic lighting. Seems to be very popular with couples, and is a good alternative to the bachelor-party kind of clubs.
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Blues Jam this Saturday, Sept. 11 at Westwood Brewing Company, 1097 Glendon, Westwood, CA 90024, 9 PM - 1 AM.
Players, vocalists, listeners welcomed. Good beer and food, nice venue.
http://whiskeymanband.com for more info.
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Faulkner comes in first here.
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Category: Folk/Americana
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http://www.myspace.com/tomrenaud
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My fiddle is on one song...
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Tom Renaud's "Walk Til Morning" CD has been submitted to the Grammy committee for consideration. Nice!
http://www.tomrenaud.com/
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Here's a quartet in British Columbia, Canada. I went to university with one of the violinists:
http://armadillo-stringquartet.com/
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Goodwin, wearing red with an American flag tied around his waste, scaled the Millennium Tower in about three hours.
hehe!
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/09/07/california.skyscraper.man/
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Another LA luthier:
http://www.vitadolceviolins.com/
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Entertaining list of "top greatest writers of all time", with photos and witty comments.
http://thisrecording.com/today/2009/8/3/in-which-these-are-the-100-greatest-writers-of-all-time.html
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Check out Rachel Grace, improv violinist:
http://www.rachelgraceviolin.com/
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http://rayraepix.smugmug.com/Music/Whiskey-Man-Band-wRin-POW-PDR/13520396_kwuU9#985025228_74zwr
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Some photos from this show:
http://rayraepix.smugmug.com/Music/Whiskey-Man-Band-wRin-POW-PDR/13520396_kwuU9#985025228_74zwr
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