We all need “Validation”

Great 15 minute movie!! It’s a modern day fable that starts out about a guy validating parking tickets, but evolves into a wonderfully uplifting movie!

http://www.flixxy.com/validation-short-film.htm?a=0

Family Tree

One of my grandchildren (Dustin) was asking me about our family tree today. I was wishing that I had a way of putting out on the web for the family to look at. I told him that I had looked into doing that in the past but hit some snags. I think the problem was that I wanted to display it in tree form. I still haven’t found a good way of doing that, but I did find that the program I have it in can create a web page that is at least a workable alternative until I can find a way to display it as a tree.

Here’s the link…

http://www.dougcoppock.com/dougcoppock/family-tree/index.htm

You can click on names and move back and forth up and down the tree… pretty clunky by my estimation, but it’s betther than nothing. It does include notes and a lot of birth/death/marriage data.

I’m still looking for a better way to display the tree.

It’s also accessible from my personal home page:

 http://www.dougcoppock.com

One cup of coffee is 4.5 ounces!!

I discovered today that the answer to the question, “how many ounces are there in a cup of coffee?” has a multitude of answers. I decided to use the scientific method and come up with an answer for myself that meets my needs (discussed below).

4.5 ounces = one cup of coffee in a standard carafe

I chose to use a standard which seems to be in place throughout the coffee maker industry. I used a standard coffee carafe, like you would find if you were looking to replace the one that came with your Mr. Coffee and somehow got broken. It takes approximately 55 ounces of water to fill the carafe to the 12 cup line. This means that someone thinks that a cup of coffee is supposed to be very close to 4.5 ounces. On the internet I found several instances where people define it as around 5 ounces so I’m going to assume they are wrong and use my painstakingly acquired measurement instead. My efforts were primarily aimed at finding out how many ounces of water a 12 cup pot of coffee would require since I was planning a trip and wanted to bring enough water from home to meet my needs.

It should be noted that many people consider a cup of coffee to be 6 ounces, and I won’t argue with that point since nobody really drinks a 4.5 ounce cup of coffee. Any cup that 4.5 ounces would fill would have to be considered by my estimation “dainty” and no self respecting male coffee drinker would be seen holding one in their hand. This means that your 12 ounce coffee carafe will hold very close to 8 cups of coffee….. I hope this makes the issue clear as mud…

Pandora Jukebox

A few weeks ago I discovered Pandora Jukebox. You create a station based on an artist or song and the website will try to guess what else you might like. I started out with Jackson Browne and Steve Earle and was quite impressed. Tonight I tried to stump the band, so to speak. I created a station based on Chuck Brodsky, but Pandora was up to the task. Among the offerings was a song I’d never heard from an artist I was unfamiliar with (Graham Lindsey). I think I’m gonna have to get the CD. Here’s the lyrics – I think they might be impressive even without the music.

 Matchbook Song
Graham Lindsey
(Key of E or C+4)

E
This ain’t no love song
Abm
This ain’t organized and scripted happenstance
A
This ain’t no ordinary radio selling straining for amends
E             B          C#m   B
It ain’t this and it ain’t that
E                                                 B
This ain’t no sideshow stripped out college vomit dance
          A       E
It’s just a song

 
E
This ain’t Kansas and this ain’t May
Abm
This ain’t the stuffing in a scarecrow wearing nothing but the rain
 A
This ain’t no cheap and dismal trick or treat di-ag-nosed in a day
E B C#m B
It’s what you want, so you say
E                                             B
If you need something more then I’ll be on my way
          A         E
It’s just song

 
Chorus I
A                                 
So here’s your posies, here’s my tray
C#m                                        C#m9
What I hope we live long enough to see a better day
E
This ain’t forever, there’s no such thing
Abm
This ain’t no frantic rag a-waiving for attention in my dreams
A
This ain’t political masturbation masquerading as a theme
E B C#m B
Ain’t no psychology blowjob for a scream
E B
It could be you or it could be me
A E
But it’s just a song

Chorus II
A
So here’s your hook and here’s my line
C#m C#m9
I apologize, I couldn’t give enough to you with rhyme
B (2 bars) A (2 bars)
- – - – - nothing – - – - – -
C#m                                        C#m9
But I promise while these words may not resound
E                                       B
I’ll always be here even if my heart is wrong
A                E
With just a song

B (2 bars) A (2 bars) C#m (2 bars) E B A E

Bridge
E
When we are strangers
Abm
and there ain’t no better place that we can go
A
This ain’t no sensational and cataclysmic centuries show
E B C#m B
No high tech prophecy of doom or hope
E B
I’m  only trying find the right road
A E
It’s just a song

 
Chorus III
A
So here’s the hook and here’s my line
C#m C#m9
There ain’t nothing at the end, but it’s sinking all the time
B A
——– nothing ———-
C#m C#m9
Well this can’t be the only way back down
E B
But it’s the only way I’ve got to reach the ground
A E
With just this song

Damn it was good!!! and while I’m posting this Pandora pulls up a Bill Staines song I’d never heard…. I LOVE IT!!!

http://pandora.com

Here’s Duggles

I suppose this should have been the first entry, but I guess it’s better late than never. I have another blog, but it is in association with a group I make music with and I hesitate to say all I might say if I were just speaking for myself. I also hesitate to post links to things that might not represent our group’s collective consciousness so…

inspired by how easy it is to use WordPress, I thought I’d open up this little spot for me to vent without fear of misrepresenting our group.

The group I refer to is Happenstance, and you are more than welcome to check out our website, on which you’ll find another “Duggles Stuff” blog. That’s where I try to post interesting stuff about our gigs and trips.

Cryptoquote pet peeve

When solving the cryptoquotes I get in the paper, It aggravates me no end when the author is obscure and the name contains letters that are not used anywhere else in the quote. In today’s we find that the author is Lyman Beecher, who may not be that obscure to some people, but the letters y, m and b were not used anywhere else in the quote. I guess filling in the “B” in Beecher wasn’t too tough, but the “y” and the”m” had me struggling a bit. With a quick google for the quote, the author turned up easily, so I guess I shouldn’t complain…. but I do!

4/4/08 Cryptoquote:
NEVER CHASE A LIE; LET IT ALONE AND IT WILL SOON RUN ITSELF TO DEATH. — LYMAN BEECHER