Scapegoating Masquerading As Science

Dr. Brian Primack, a University of Pittsburgh professor, surveyed 700 teens about their music preferences and sexual behavior. The study, set to be published next month,  links lyrics in rap music to teen sex . Primack avoids declaring a causal relationship - Rap Music Makes Teens Have Sex - but the headlines reporting the research come dangerously close.   Strictly speaking, you'd need to know if the tendency to engage in sexual behavior at age 15-16 led the teens to seek out music with explicit lyrics.  (I suppose you'd also need an adjustment factor to account for any predisposition to have sex at age 15-16.)

The study doesn't say that teenage fans of Daughtry and ColdPlay and U2 aren't having sex. And while the explicit lyrics include describing "degrading sex acts", there's no indication that the teens are engaging in "degrading sex acts."

Then

After interviewing 95 tween-aged girls, researchers at Iowa State University, led by Prof. Douglas Gentile, concluded that cartoon violence leads to acts of aggression in children . "The study also found that youngsters tended to mimic the negative behaviour they saw on TV such as rumour-spreading, gossiping and eye-rolling." Puh-lease!

The research fails to explore the effects of distress one may experience when he discovers that wearing a dress and batting fake eyelashes while holding a lacy handkerchief will not fool his enemy into falling in love and facilitate his escape from said enemy.

Sadly, I still don't know whether it's Rabbit Season or Duck Season.

Tags: [Dr. Brian Primack]
[Explicit Lyrics]
[Professor Douglas Gentile]
[Cartoons & Violence in Society]

Shoplifters' Rush Ends Up Sugar-Free

Kayla Raymond, 19, and Michael Kautz, 21, were detained after Wal-Mart employees in Hazel Dell, Washington reported a shoplifting incident early Thursday evening.
According to the report, the pair had not paid for a SOBE^® energy drink and a vibrating condom that were found in their possession. (Article...)

Just to make sure that I understand ...
Wal-Mart^® sells vibrating condoms, but censors its CD product mix?

Tags: [Kayla Raymond]  [Michael Kautz]
[Wal-Mart]   [SoBe Energy Drinks]
[Censorship]   [Safe Sex]

Herb Alpert Still a Chart Topper

The Giving Back Fund has released its list of Most Generous Celebrities. GBF looked at public records of donations in 2007 and ranked the stars' philanthropy. Oprah Winfrey tops the generosity chart, donating more than $50 million to various charities throughout 2007.

Herb Alpert is ranked #2 in giving, surpassing the benevolence of power couple Brangelina (6), Hugh Hefner (14) and Tiger Woods (18).

The Herb Alpert Foundation sponsors awards in the arts ranging from elementary students through to fellowships for professionals. At California Institute of the Arts, the foundation provides annual fellowships of $50,000 to five artists.

In 2006, Herb Alpert released a re-mastered version of Whipped Cream and Other Delights. It went to #5 on Billboard's Jazz Chart.
Herb Alpert and former business partner Jerry Moss received the Lifetime Achievement Award and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Forty-six years after The Lonely Bull broke into the top 10 and Alpert's still there. Makes me wonder where Chuck Mangione is.

GBF'S 10 Most Generous Celebrities
1. Oprah Winfrey
2. Herb Alpert
3. Barbra Streisand
4. Paul Newman
5. Mel Gibson
6. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt
7. (tie) Lance Armstrong
7. (tie) Michael Jordan
7. (tie) Eric Lindros
10. Rush Limbaugh

Tags: [Giving Back Fund] [Herb Alpert] [A & M Records]
[Oprah] [Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie]
[Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame] [Jerry Moss]

April Day! Alitalia Si È Rotto

On August 1, airline industry analysts warned that high fuel costs were threatening to bankrupt more than 50 European airlines. The same day, The Financial Times reported that delivery of a rescue proposal for Italy's Alitalia Airlines would be delayed due to stalled merger negotiations. Days later, Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's Prime Minister, promised to save Alitalia from bankruptcy. 'We will perform another miracle and will offer a profitable national company, he said'. The Italian government owns 49% of Alitalia. The ensuing three weeks were filled with rumors of new investors and partners to save the troubled airline; until Thursday when it was confirmed that Alitalia had filed for bankruptcy protection.

You need to know that Alitalia history and Pavlov's Theory of Classical Conditioning to understand the impact this airline industry turbulence has had on me.

Anytime I hear the words Alitalia Airlines, the song Eh Cumpari plays in my head. The Italian novelty-song from the 1950's is about the different instruments from the orchestra playing the song. Julius La Rosa sang it, backed by Archie Bleyer's band. It's The Gaylords' cover of La Rosa's #1 hit that plays in my head. (I could only find La Rosa's version to put here.

for your entertainment).

Say "Alitalia" and I hear the whistle of the friscalettu; the toota of the saxofona; the pling of the mandulin; the zing of the viulin; the poppa-pop of the trumbetta and the story told during the extended instrumental bridge. It goes something like this:

I received a letter from my Uncla Guisseppe.
He tella me he heard from my Uncla Pasquale. Pasquale, he fly, he fly right into Italia. Onna big plane, he fly right into Italy.
They be in the air about 20 minutes an' the pilot, he come onto the radio.
"Hello, this is your cap-i-tan speaking. I just wonna tella you that earlier, we had a little bitta' trouble. Its-a all o.k. now, but I juss wanna to letta you know."
He be in the air about another 20 minutes an' the pilot, he come onto the radio.
"Hello, this is your cap-i-tan speaking. I just wonna tella you that we hadda a little bit more trouble. Its-a all o.k. now, but I juss wanna to letta you know."
He be in the air about another 20 minutes an' the pilot, he come onto the radio again.
"April Day! April Day! This is your cap-i-tan. We havin' a bigga trouble right now. We gonna haff to make a splash-down landing. All of the passengers, iffa you know how to swim, go to the right side of the airplane. All of the passengers, iffa you don't know how to swim, you go to the left side of the airplane.
After we hit the water, the people on the right - I tella you - you know how to swim, you swim to shore. We juss about 20 miles from shore. You gonna be o.k. The people on the left, those of you who do not know how to swim - I tella you - thanks a lot for flying Alitalia Airlines. (chorus)

I keep hearing on the news that Alitalia's bankrupt, but what I really hear is Tippity-Tippity-Ta!

[Eh Cumpari!]  [Alitalia Airlines]  [Silvio Berlusconi]
[Julius La Rosa]  [Archie Bleyer]  [The Gaylords]
[Pavlov: Classical Conditioning]

Finding Hope In A Strange Place

It ain't easy. It ain't easy.
Well all the people have got their problems,
That ain't nothing new.
With the help of the good Lord
We can all pull on through.

(written by Ron Davies,
performed by David Bowie on The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars)

It sure ain't easy.
It must be August since Andrew had surgery again; but it's all good, because I found Hope where I least expected it -
the refrigerator.

I was making a path to get something from the back of the fridge. I shifted the bag of meds to on top of the milk, moved the bowl of melon salad up one shelf, relocated the yogurt containers closer the juice carton and there it was:

OK, so it's just a magnetic word tile, but surely it is a sign.

Usually the word tiles are put together like this on the fridge door:

I am fuzzy with cheer and we be sunny giggle

Right now, we have he is Goofy and

I AM Lucky Amazing Special and Silly

It has to be a sign; because two days later, I saw this:

You don't have to clobber me over the head.

Tags: [Hope] [Omens] [Rainbows]
[Ron Davies] [David Bowie] [Ziggy Stardust]

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

Sweeping Up Detritus, Cleaning in the Corners

I was vacuuming under the blog topic production table and found these among the debris.

Jackson 5 Reunion Tour?
In November 2007, Jermaine Jackson announced that the quintet would hit the road with a Reunion Tour in 2008. Jermaine Dupri, Janet's beau, announced that the brothers would appear on stage for the first time since 1990 at his private New Year's Eve party at Studio 72 in Atlanta.

The Jackson 5, featuring brothers Tito, Marlon, Jackie, Jermaine, and lead singer Michael found fame in the 1970s with hits I Want You Back and ABC. Later, youngest brother Randy joined his brothers onstage and the band was renamed The Jacksons.
I don't think the warm up reunion happened in Atlanta; I doubt there will be any Jackson Tour soon.

(Photo: The Jackson 5 & Randy with The Summers 5 et. al, ca. 1972)

Biddell Wins Project Runway Canada
I started watching Project Runway Canada's encore broadcasts in the wee morning hours. One Canadian designer would take away $100,000 to start his/her own line and receive a feature in Elle Canada.

I saw just 4 of the 11 episodes, and caught the announcement of the winner during the prime time finale. Because I didn't watch the entire 2-hour finale that featured the designers' collections at L'Oréal Fashion Week (I flipped it back just in time to see the judges' comments), I was shocked that judge Rita Silvan was moved to tears by the embodiment of hope that Lucien's collection exuded.

PRC was hosted by Iman. Brian Bailey acted as mentor to the contestants and the other judges were Shawn Hewson and Rita Silvan.
I know who Iman is (from I Am African and she's married to David Bowie). The other pros on the panel? No idea.
Crying over an evening gown? I don't get it. Up until now, my fashion runway exposure primarily came from Zoolander.

Project Runway Season 4 premieres tonight with host Heidi Klum. Emmy nominee Tim Gunn is back as mentor.

Gladiators Ready
The Writers' Guild of America's prolonged strike is good news for Hulk Hogan. Hogan returns to prime time television as host of American Gladiators. NBC announced AG as a possible mid-season replacement in October. With shows forced into hiatus from the lack of scripted material, NBC slotted the Weekend Warrior vs. Athlete remake in early.

Hogan was pursued to host not just because of his WWE success, but also the success of his VH-1 reality series Hogan Knows Best (2005), still the highest-rated debut of any VH-1 series.
Questions: Will the Challengers dodge tennis balls as they run through the obstacle course, or has this challenge been updated à la The Running Man?

Is it true that people are pre-ordering the action figure dolls?

American Gladiators debuted last night. A new episode airs tonight.

Tags: [Jackson 5]  [Michael Jackson]  [Jermaine Jackson]
[Jermaine Dupri]  [Reunion Tours 2008]

[Project Runway]  [Iman]  [Biddell]
[Lucien Matis]  [I Am African]  [Heidi Klum]  [Tim Gunn]
[Derek Zoolander]

[American Gladiators]  [Hulk Hogan]
[W.G.A.]  [WWE]  [Hogan Knows Best]
[The Running Man]  [Richard Dawson]

Remembering The Fabulous Moolah

Lillian Ellison, known to wrestling fans around the world as "The Fabulous Moolah," passed away at her home in Columbia, South Carolina, on Nov.2, 2007. She was 84.

The Fabulous Moolah began wrestling in the late 1940's. She took the women's championship belt in 1956 after defeating Judy Grable in a 13-woman Battle Royale.

Moolah held the title, except for a two-week period, until 1984, when she lost to Wendi Richter, in a match that was aired on MTV.

In 1984, The Fabulous Moolah was managed by Captain Lou Albano, who was involved in a feud with Cyndi Lauper. Their dispute was settled in the ring by their wrestlers, Moolah and Richter, in The Brawl to End it All. That bout marked the beginning of Rock'n'Wrestling in Vince McMahon's W.W.E. (which was known as W.W.F., at the time).

I hope Moolah didn't hit St. Peter with a folding chair on her way through the pearly gates.

Tags: [Fabulous Moolah]   [W.W.E.]   [Wendi Richter]
[Vince McMahon]   [Lou Albano]   [Cyndi Lauper]

Country Kicks Rock & Rolls to #1

Billboard magazine, the sacred book devoted exclusively to the music industry since 1961, set a new record this week. "In a Billboard 200 first, three country debuts occupy the Nos. 1-3 slots on the chart, led by Carrie Underwood's "Carnival Ride." " (Read more...)

1. Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride 2. Robert Plant/Alison Krauss - Raising Sand 3. Gary Allan - Living Hard 4. Serj Tankian - Elect the Dead 5. Josh Groban - Noel 6. Coheed And Cambria - No World For Tomorrow 7. Kid Rock - Rock N Roll Jesus 8. Rascal Flatts - Still Feels Good 9. Seether - Finding Beauty in Negative Space 10. Soundtrack - High School Musical 2

Billboard has been publishing for the complete entertainment industry since 1894. The first album ranking appeared in 1945, and it became a weekly staple beginning in 1956, with the explosion of rock music. The Billboard 200 rankings are based upon sales data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. Sales

include retail album sales and digital downloads when all tracks on the album are purchased.

HipHop is unrepresented in this week's top 10. Artists may need more than a limited vocabulary and a nickname to score those top spots.
Fo sho.

Tags: [Billboard Magazine] [Music Charts] [Carrie Underwood]
[Nielsen Company] [SoundScan]

Fill Your Black Jack With Grog

September 19 is International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

It started as a joke between friends John "Ol Chumbucket" Baur and Mark "Capn Slappy" Summers. The tradition gained notoriety after scallywag columnist Dave Barry heard about the tradition.

TLAPD boasts its own anthem. Tom Smith wrote and recorded
"Talk Like a Pirate Day"
(plays in Windows Media Player)

Need help finding your Pirat-titude? View the instructional video produced by Loading Ready Run.

And be havin' a good tide!

Tags:[Talk Like a Pirate Day]
[Dave Barry] [John Baur] [Mark Summers]
[Tom Smith] [Loading Ready Run Comedy]

Venus

Since the 1970's, the first Sunday in September has been set aside in Piobbico, Italy for the annual Festival of the Ugly. At each festival, club members elect a new president. For 30 years Telesforo Iacobelli has accepted the honor.


Signor Iacobelli heads the Club dei Brutti in Italy. The club has links that go back to 1879. It is now known as The World Association of Ugly People, and at the 2007 Festa on September 9, 2007, Iacobelli will unveil a monument to ugly people.
The prototype picture is shown at right.


The motto of Club de Brutti is 'a person is what he is and not what he looks like.'

Iacobelli describes the monument as a tribute to the one who is beautiful on the inside.

Fact: Brigitte Nielsen is a member of The Club

Goddess on the mountain top burning like a silver flame The summit of beauty and love and Venus was her name CHORUS: She's got it. Yeah, baby, she's got it I'm your Venus I'm your fire At your desire (Stock, Aitken & Waterman) Performed by Bananarama

Tags: [World Association of Ugly People] [Piobbico] [Telesforo Iacobelli]
[Bananarama] [Brigitte Nielsen]

Squeezing Lower Prices

I don't shop at Wal-Mart. There are many reasons.

I don't like the way they do business. Here's how my relationship with Wal-Mart started:

When Wal-Mart came to Canada, it initiated a campaign to convince shoppers the merchandise in its stores was Canadian merchandise. It looked to me like Wal-Mart was disguising the truth. Sure, it buys merchandise from a warehouse located in Canada. That warehouse receives goods from an offshore supplier. The shipment was ordered and arranged by Wal-Mart. A Canadian truck delivers the cartons to the final destination. I know a little about Canadian content and I wasn't buying their claim. Wal-Mart hadn't demonstrated enough Canadian content for me.

Bryan Adams' album Waking Up the Neighbors was deemed ineligible for Juno award nomination in 1992. The CRTC concluded that the album did not meet Canadian Content (can-con) criteria. Amid tremendous controversy in 1991, Adams, his management and A&M Records convinced the CRTC to amend its criteria for Canadian content to include a Canadian artist who has collaborated with a non-Canadian and receives at least half of the credit for both music and lyrics. All about Bryan Adams Tags: [Bryan Adams] [Bruce Allen] [CanCon] [Juno Awards] [CRTC]

I'm all for great deals for shoppers; I absolutely support making money. I've seen corporate purchasing, and the bullying tactics of big retail on the suppliers...suppliers who are struggling to match increased volume at smaller margins and be profitable.

Sorry to put you through all this. I wanted to offer a little backgrounder before you went on to the next post. Will Work For Free?

Encyclopedia of Music in Canada

[Wal-Mart] [Everyday Low Price Strategy]
[The High Cost of Low Prices]

The Changing Climate of Parenting

Parenting Through the Decades

Decade	Theme	Expert	Reward	Conse- quence
1950s	Strong Values/ Firm Leadership	Dr. Benjamin Spock	Allowance	Extra chores like wash out the garbage cans
1980s	Put children first	Saul Scheidlinger	Psychotherapy	Psychotherapy
1990s	The child's sense of self	Dr. Barbara Colorosa	Spend quality time together recog- nizing the accomplishment	Reward the effort made attempting to meet expectations
2000s	Nurture Nature	Dr. David Suzuki	Select from list of ethical / green choices++	Deduct/Withhold Carbon Credits

⁺⁺ Green Choice Rewards may include:

Jewelry from natural beads	Organic cotton clothing
Clothing purchased second-hand	Eco Jeans (organic material)
Shoes with treads of recycled tires	Anything from Bono's fair-trade-focused fashion label
School bag made from recycled inner tubes

Some suggested music: Dave Matthews, Alicia Keys, Melissa Etheridge, Jack Johnson, The Beastie Boys (especially Mike D), John Legend, Ludacris, Sting, U2


Tags: [Parenting] [Dr. Spock] [Barbara Colorosa]
[David Suzuki] [Climate Change] [Carbon Credits]
[Brushfire Records] [Tibetan Freedom Concert] [Fair Trade]
[Bono] [An Inconvenient Truth]

Silent Treatment

Recently, I hooked up with Yahoo!^®'s online radio service, LAUNCHcast. Michelle found Yahoo!^® radio 2 years ago and claims that her personal station is the coolest around, but that's just because she hasn't heard mine.

It's not just an online radio station, it's a personalized and customized station.

The listener suggests some artists whose music he likes. LAUNCHcast starts with that and then suggests music by similar artists to add to the station. The listener rates the new music, from Don't Play it Again through to Can't Get Enough, and more music suggestions follow. The more ratings you provide, the sharper the tuning of the playlist. What you end up with is continuous streaming of music that you like.

Today, in protest of changing royalty rates, online radio stations are off the air. According to the Savenetradio Coalition "the future of Internet radio is in immediate danger."

The Copyright Royalty Board decided to increase the royalty fees paid by radio webcasters between 300 and 1200 per cent and make the increases retroactive to January 2006. (MSN Music, June 2007)

Web radio offers promotion to the artists, the same as land-radio. Online listeners are more loyal to their artists and the personalization feature of web radio generates tight market targets. Why wouldn't you want that?

In the U.S., terrestrial radio doesn't currently pay the artist for a spin. Webcasters have been paying 7/100^ths in digital performance royalties for their spins. We want that.
I absolutely believe that artists deserve to be paid for their work. That's why I pay for music instead of downloading it from a P2P site. Webcasters are paying royalties that land radio is not. It's pretty unclear to me the justification of an increase of 300%- 1200%.

Today, I'm craving radio.

"Do you believe in Rock and Roll?
Can music save your mortal soul?" - Don McLean, American Pie (1971)



Read RAIN for a better explanation of the changes and their impact on webcasting.


[Savenetradio] [Don McLean]
[LAUNCHcast] [Radio and Internet Newsletter]

Stumbling on Melons *

Dug up from The Canadian Press (June 1, 2007) :

Archaeologists in Japan unearthed the world's oldest melon. It was intact, the flesh still attached to the rind, after 2100 years. The Research Institute for Humanity & Nature in Kyoto used radiocarbon testing to determine the age of the fruit.

Researcher Shuji Yamazaki explains: the melon might have been so well-preserved because it was in a vacuum-packed state in a wet layer below the ground, an environment hostile to micro-organisms that might otherwise have broken down the remains.

The ancient Shimongo settlement was built near water and protected by moats, circa 300 BC to A.D. 300.

So, it looks like even 2100 years ago, people liked to have melon after they swim...Wayne didn't start that!

All I can say is that my life is pretty plain....

* Andrew Marvell (1621-1678): "The nectarine, and curious peach, / Into my hands themselves do reach; / Stumbling on melons, as I pass, / Ensnared with flowers, I fall on grass."


[Oldest Melon Discovered] [Blind Melon]
[Shuji Yamazaki] [Melon Salad]

Wedding Thriller

Who doesn't love a wedding? Who doesn't love a wedding reception?

This ain't no Bird-Dance! Check out a great wedding dance:



My family, with well-founded Motown roots, boasts our own 'Dancin'-Machina'...but Patricia is looking pretty pale compared to this.

Christian Rocks

Christian C's debut public performance: Live at HT.

Who doesn't love a song from the Red Hot chilee Peppers?

Check out Christian performing Sam Roberts' Bridge to Nowhere

Not caught on video: the cell phones waved by fans marking approval.

That Song Sounds a Little Flat

Last night, Jessica's hockey team completed their usual training at CIA. Normally, Jess and Rebecca are the last ones out of the dressing room. Sometimes it's Jess and Liz. This time it was Jessica and Mindy. No matter, Jess is always last out.

Coach Mark always waits until the last player is finished before he leaves. Last night, his daughter Maddy, wasn't even at the practice, and Mark still waited. Each week, Mark teases Jess about being the final player to leave. It's a bit they do.

In the parking lot, Jess was throwing her gear into the trunk. Mark was parked beside us. He backed out of his spot. At the same time, Jessica decided to pull her MP3 player and phone out of her pocket. She dropped the music player onto the laneway.

And Mark drove over it with his Jimmy. Now those music files are really compressed.

Crushed Stone

Beth, on contract with CCAC, told me yesterday that I am not invincible.
"I am so! Helen Reddy told us so!"

Listen

Over the past 2 weeks, I've turned in my Superhero Club Card and now this! Devastating.

In the Pink

Roni's indoor soccer team sports new colors and uniforms.

Sponsor: Trenton Home Hardware and Building Centre
[Psychedelic Furs] [Pretty in Pink]

Go to No Access to Health Treatment

London Beckoned Songs About Money Written by Machines

Just for the record,
The weather today is
slightly sarcastic with a
good chance of:
a) Indifference or
b) Disinterest in what the critics
say

from the album: A Fever You Can't Sweat Out
by: Panic! At The Disco
on the Label: Fueled By Ramen

Parts of this song have been stuck in my head for a week!

Click the Panic! button to hear it.

[Panic! at the Disco] [Fueled by Ramen]

Front Page, Very Random

Go to No Access to Health Treatment