1. What’s a good movie for October that has nothing to do with monsters or Halloween?
For me anytime of the month is great for watching classic science fiction movies such as "Star Wars", "Star Trek" and legions of others. Of course several do have monsters. So to not include anything remotely connected to monsters or sci-fi, I consulted this list (http://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/reviews/g844/classic-fall-movies/) for a few suggestions. Two that come to mind that fit the fall / October season for me that I like are "Rudy" (the football movie) and one of your favorites, "The Breakfast Club". 2. What’s a good couple of songs for October that have nothing to do with monsters or Halloween?
At the top of my stack would be John Lennon's "Imagine". Why? Lennon was born on October 9, 1940. The song also hit its peak on the charts and radio airplay in the fall of 1971. Other songs that I associate with October that are non-Halloween include:
* Where Evil Grows - The Poppy Family (1971)
* Everything is Coming Our Way - Santana (1972)
* Straight On - Heart (1978)
* Magic - The Cars (1984)
* Desert Moon - Dennis DeYoung (1984)
* Like The Weather - 10,000 Maniacs (1987)
3. What are some reasons to love October?
Generally I don't "love" a month over any other. Whatever comes around in a given month, goes around, only to come back next year. Perhaps the thing I like the most about October which is not unique to that month alone, is that it is one of 7 months that have 31 days in it. So it gives you a slightly longer time before you have to pay next month's bills.
4. Radio stations sometimes call this month Rocktober, doing special playlists or giveaways in celebration of rock music. What would be a better rhyming name for this month, and how might it be celebrated?
How about "Cartober", a month to celebrate the automobile! The obvious way to celebrate is to have car shows all around the nation on a specific day and a national weekend to go out and drive your car for a leisurely ride.
5. What would be a good holiday to establish in October for those U.S. states not commemorating Columbus Day?
From the National Day Calendar website here are suggested October holidays that I would consider adopting for states not commemorating Columbus Day.
1. From whom did you receive your first real paycheck?
Village Pharmacy in 1976. So very long ago. Store no longer exists.
2. Among board games involving the exchange of money, which have you enjoyed most?
Monopoly
3. PayDay is the name of a candy bar consisting of salted peanuts rolled in caramel surrounding a firm, nougat-like center. How does it sound to you if you haven’t tried it, and how do you like it if you have? Is there a similar candy bar you like better?
Never had one. Can't eat too much sweets, borderline diabetic.
4. When did you last do something nice for yourself just because it was pay day?
Nothing recently. Paycheck is too small. Have to use that for living expenses.
Beside the two mentioned on the linked list (Daniel Day Lewis, Sandra Day O'Conner) I know no one personally with the surname Day. The other celebrity that I know with a name sounding exactly like "Day" is Susan Dey, actress who was in the TV series, The Partridge Family in the 1970s and L.A. Law in the 1980s - early 1990s.
1. Twitch is an enormously popular livestreaming platform mostly for watching people play video games. It has more than 1.5 million broadcasters and more than one million visitors per month, and Amazon acquired it for nearly a billion dollars in 2014. Which of your computer activities would you livestream if there were a way to make some money doing it?
I was almost going to answer this as totally “none” but after thinking about the EDM answer below, why not stream the creation of a real time EDM mix? I don’t know if there’d be money in this, but barring the RIAA, it could be tried I guess.
2. EDM (electronic dance music) is usually performed by DJs on stage in front of audiences, playing tracks they’ve mixed, right off their laptops. If you were a push-button DJ playing your tunes in a club, what would be your opening and closing songs, assuming everyone’s there because they’re into whatever sounds you’re into?
I’d probably start out with “Hello” by Martin Sloveig & Dragonette and finish with some kind of EDM mash up of The Doors’ and The Beatles’ “The End” with a whole pile of stuff in-between.
How’s that? I’ve messed with this stuff on my Mac using Virtual DJ Home and “songs” off of Soundcloud, Jamendo and my own tracks on iTunes. Been awhile since I done one. There are way too many EDM songs and mixes out there to keep up with the stuff. Plus you kind of have to be in the mood and make time to do a mix… not to mention be confident enough that you are not going to mess it up!
3. What’s a good Adele song, and why is Adele so popular?
I have no idea why she is so popular, but I have to guess her music appeals to a wide demographic. Teen and college age girls, middle aged and older people like myself. Her music gets played on “top 40 CHR” radio as well as “Adult Contemporary”, “Soft Rock” and even some “Alternative” formats. So her appeal must be wide enough to cut across the age and demo barrier. Furthermore I think the critics and her peers love her. She’s got a bunch of Grammy Awards. Plus her three albums are just like numbers corresponding to her age I think…. 19….. 21….. 25. I have 2 of 3 albums.
That all said my top 5 Adele songs:
1. Hello
2. Rumour Has It
3. Send My Love (To Your New Lover)
4. Rolling in the Deep
5. Water Under the Bridge
Don’t ask me why I like the songs. They’re pretty good IMO and I have played them many times. 4. The Walking Dead?
Oh I was a “Walking Dead” on the morning I had my heart attack. I was in pain, walked back to the car and called an ambulance. Help!
Never watched the TV show, cut my cable cord years ago.
5. Every generation seems to arrive at a “They don’t write ’em like that anymore” attitude. Why does it seem like most middle-aged people lose interest in new music?
A verse right out of the Greg Kihn Band’s “The Break-up Song”... heh… Why do middle age people lose interest in new music? Well since I am a bit beyond middle age I think, and was part of the walking dead (in the question above) I may be able to offer this speculative answer:
It’s generational. The succeeding generations are seeking their own type of music and would rather disassociate themselves from the music their parents liked, especially during the teen and college aged years. They found their own music. They are going to stick to it, nurture it and cherish it in the years to come.
Funny thing about that, as they age, they hold on dearly to the music they grew up with and when their kids start listening to weird crap, the former youngsters who are now the parents and near retirement, hold on to the music that they associate with memories of their life just as dearly as the generation before.
It gets to a point that “hey I don’t want to listen to that rap crap you’re into” and they stick to familiar stuff like The Beatles and Led Zeppelin. Imagine this: A lot of senior citizens have now grown up on rock n roll.
Their ranks will get larger as The Rolling Stones generation of baby boomers age and stay in rest homes, still trying to rock out to Mick Jagger but excluding modern artists like Justin Beiber, Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar and others. Am I making any sense here?
I kind of consider myself sort of the exception as I have incorporated some of the newer artists into my music collection and playlists I often create on my iTunes and Google Play Music.
Perhaps older people just don’t want to “discover” new music, because the way we used to do music discovery was mainly through the radio. Today radio is targeted for younger people and skews heavily toward the “Urban Contemporary” format meaning that you will get way too much hip hop music… which to people of my generation is like, no dice… not for long stretches of the broadcast day.
So we turn to more melodic formats such as “adult contemporary” (which lately is skewing more towards a CHR 1990s plus demo), “classic rock” and “oldies”. One thing about “oldies” is that oldies radio doesn’t play much 1950s and 1960s rock n roll since a lot of people in those demos are not listening to the radio. Stations can still make some money on 70s and 80s music though not as big as before.
Younger people are more foolish spenders so advertisers rather reach them than the reserved adults who don’t spend as much. Hence more hip hop music.
Variety is still the spice of life. I jump from format to format with streaming services such as the free Accuradio site just to listen to music that is different. They have a wide selection of music formats and eras you can listen to. Check it out.
I’ve rambled on too much here… Bottom line is that old fuddy duddies will mostly stick to the music they grew up with to the exclusion of trying something new. It probably gets to the point where the new music of today is just “noise”.
Since I work mostly at nights now, Mondays are usually not bad. I already had off for the day and by the time work comes around, I don't have a Monday blah.
2. How do you fight off a case of the blahs?
Sleep in or listen to music if I can.
3. How do you deal with a bad hair day?
If it is still long I comb it down. Otherwise it is manageably short when I can afford a haircut. Any guys cut their own hair? 4. What’s your strategy for FOMO?
I've seen this acronym before. Had to look it up. There is a Wikipedia entry for this:
"Fear of missing out or FoMO is "a pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent". This social anxiety is characterized by "a desire to stay continually connected with what others are doing". "
I don't get anxious about missing out on things I see people post about on social media websites. So what if I don't eat a fancy meal, travel to an exotic place, buy the latest expensive iPhone or whatever. Most of the things people do cost a lot of money that I don't have or don't want to spend. I do hit that like button if they take a nice picture of a place or something.
I get more anxious about how much government recklessly spends our money, taxes us, builds stupid things like elevated rail on a small island, or advances a leftist, liberal agenda. Ugh! 5. How prone are you to Instagram envy?
Not at all. I stopped using Instagram the day they said "we own your photos and can use them for promotional purposes without compensation" a few years ago. I yanked all of my posts and discontinued my account.
Last year I rejoined under a different user name but haven't posted anything since 1. I don't use the app and 2. I only have about 4 to 8 followers. I am happy not to be an active Instagram user. I only check it once in a while via the website and you can't post anything that way.
I also don't do Snapchat, and Facebook messenger. Ugh!
The following questions come from Scrivener's weekly Friday 5 blog.
1. What is your paper towel consumption like?
I go through one standard roll about every 5 to 6 weeks.
2. What condiment do you use most often?
Since I am not supposed to consume too much salt, Pepper is my #1 go to condiment. Also use other condiments from the Mrs. Dash family of seasonings. Pepper is the new salt! BTW, seasonings are about as close as I get to regularly consuming a "condiment". I rarely do ketchup, mayonnaise, salad dressing, etc. since much of these things have a salt content.
3. What is your sticky note consumption like?
I'm not a post-it notes type of person. I usually just keep rough notes on scraps of paper on my desk which are usually the backs of sales receipts and bank ATM statements. If the note is very important I either re-transcribe them on the computer and save them in Google Keep or Evernote. If I am feeling lazy or not readily available to access my computer or connected device and don't want to lose the paper scrap? I take a picture of the note, save it to Google Photos in my album called notes and stuff.
I also have a small white board (photo below) that I can write notes on. If I want to keep the note, I take a picture of it.
Granted the three computer methods are not that efficient since notes could exist anywhere among the three. But at least they won't get lost.
The main reason why I don't use post it and other sticky notes is that I can get by using what I have for free instead of buying these expensive, throwaway sticky note pads.
4. What’s your coin jar setup?
1 jar for Quarters, 1 jar for dimes and nickels and 1 jar for pennies. When they fill up I take em to Coinstar and change them for cash bills. The downside to that is that Coinstar does take a cut. However if I have too much loose change it gets to be a humbug to count them all.... especially pennies.
Quarters I mostly keep since I have to gamble on the coin slot machines (known as washers and dryers) in my building to do laundry! Don't you just hate it when you dump a bunch of quarters in the dryer and your clothes don't completely dry on the first cycle! Errrrrrrr.....
5. What’s something you’ve purchased recently that was lower in price than usual?
Don Quijote had a vendor outside selling donut hole sized Andagi (Japanese malasada) in a bag of 4 for a dollar the other day.
I go to the HMSA Farmer's Market to buy a bag of 4 lemons for $2 and a bag of 4 or 5 onions for $2. The other Farmer's Market at Kaiser Pemanente at Pensacola have onion bags for sale at $1.50.
"Hello, and welcome to this week’s Friday 5! Please copy these questions to your webspace. Answer the questions there; then leave a comment below so we’ll all know where to check out your responses. Please don’t forget to link us from your website!"
Before we get started let's put in the definition of what a sandwich is. From the Merriam-Webster Dictionary the definition of sandwich is: a : two or more slices of bread or a split roll having a filling in between b : one slice of bread covered with food
Furthermore Wikipedia gets a more elaborate on the word with photos and everything else.
1. Why is or isn’t a hot dog a sandwich?
A hot dog is a sandwich. You got your wiener / sausage sandwiched between two buns which is usually made out of the same stuff as bread.
2. Why is or isn’t a hamburger a sandwich?
Again a hamburger is a sandwich because it consists of a patty or patties sandwiched between two (or more) slices of bread and/or buns, plus all the other stuff in-between. Shown above is a home made burger that I cooked up for lunch with a macaroni salad and juice some years back. Mmmm... yummy! 3. Why is or isn’t a wrap a sandwich?
In a most casual way I consider it a sandwich though we are stretching it since it is a single wrap rolled with the meat and other goodies sandwiched in-between.
4. Why are or aren’t Oreos and ice cream sandwiches sandwiches?
Getting further from the definition above, Oreos and ice cream sandwiches are technically not sandwiches. However marketers have done a great job as defining them as sandwiches... mostly the ice cream people... When I go to a place and see "ice cream sandwich" I know exactly what they are talking about. Frozen treat dessert between two slices of crispy (supposed to be) cookie/cracker layers.
Ditto for Oreos, because the white cream (or whatever other color they are selling) is sandwiched between the 2 chocolate cookies.
So while not strictly sandwiches, I will go with the marketing hype that describe these foods as sandwiches in their own right.
When you think about it, using the term sandwich seems to be "anything placed between two items front and back, top and bottom"....
You got sandwich boards... you know those advertising signs that stand up as an A-shaped tent or worn by people passing out flyers on the street.
A car wreck can be "sandwiched" as one vehicle between two other vehicles or between one vehicle and a solid object such as a wall.
5. Why does or doesn’t listening to an audio book count as reading the book?
To me an audio book is the same as reading a regular book or ebook. The content for the most part are the same for the printed book as it is for an audio book. The only thing you miss in an audio book are photos and graphics since those cannot be presented within an audio format.
Whether you read the text yourself or listen to it and get the message or story being conveyed in the book, then it counts as "reading the book."
I have a friend who has poor eye sight. She is a prolific reader. In recent years she has read hundreds of books that she either borrowed from the State Library for the Deaf and Blind or through her subscription from Audible. Traditional print books are marketed as such... the audio edition of the book.
Not too much food, so it is not very messy. I have plates, cups and a few other things in the other cabinet. 2. What’s an art project you did in school that you remember fondly?
In "Summer Fun" classes way back in 1965 we did two wood pieces that I still have back home on the Big Island of Hawaii. I think I may also have a ceramic truck and ash tray we made in 5th grade. Gotta look for that. Took photography in college, learned how to do black and white processing and still have plenty of my negatives and contact sheets. Slowly scanning those old negatives in to digital.
3. What’s the best thing you ate on your most recent trip?
Probably some cake & ice cream at my sister's place back in February since it was around her birthday.
4. What’s the dumbest non-political thing you’ve seen lately?
RAIL... oh that's political.... sorry I can't shake that one since it is the biggest, most expensive and stupidest mistake of the century still costing us way too much money and creates more problems than it solves.
Other than that I can't think of anything else.
5. What’s soemthing in your home that’s lasted longer than you expected?
I tend to buy or keep things that will last a long time. I hate built in obsolescence. That said here are photos of some old things that have lasted a long time in my home:
Above: I bought this 1950s era Kodak Brownie Hawkeye flash camera at the Salvation Army store in Honolulu for $4 back in 1979. It still works and I currently have a roll of old 620 film in it. Below is the 1960s era Minolta SRT-101 35 mm SLR camera that I've owned since buying it used in 1978 for $70. I have taken many pictures with it through my college years, and even use it from time to time today. I have since massed a small collection of manual focus Minolta 35 mm SLR film cameras over the years.
One of the best things I ever bought brand new is this Realistic 4 channel stereo mixer. I've had this thing since 1985 and it still works just fine today. There are a couple of things wrong with it... the headphone monitor output seems to have lost it, and one of the knobs broke off when something hit it in 2016.
This is probably the last of the 5 or so stereo cassette tape decks that I have owned over the years. This one still works and I should use it more often to transfer the content of some of my cassettes over to a digital format before the belts inevitably break someday.
Top photo:My 1993 Toyota Corolla which I bought used in 2000 is still runs with only 101,200+ miles on it. I drove it from Honolulu to Waimanalo Park just the other day to catch some sunrise and beach photos.
Other old things I have around my home which are over 10 years old now include: Power Mac G4 tower computer, Macintosh Plus computer, many vinyl records, cassette tapes, and even CDs, old photos, negatives, cups, plates, an old pot, and a Sears Kenmore refrigerator.
