Coffee with Tod

Well, today marks the release of yet another Star Wars movie. This one kind of snuck up on everyone. The Clone Wars was originally envisioned as a DVD release only. That is, until after a screening, Mr. Lucas suggested that the film be released in theaters. By “suggested” I mean in the same way God “suggested” that there be light. It’s obvious that there are very few of Luca’s suggestions that are shot down by anyone.

As a Star Wars fan, I somehow feel betrayed by this “movie” release. Star Wars movies aren’t supposed to be like this. What happened to the years of anticipation? Where is the media circus showing lines of costumed fans having plastic light saber battles? What happen to the forums filled of wild rumors based on 30-second trailers? I feel like my best friend planned a party and forgot to invite me, or at best sent me a last minute invitation scrawled on a cocktail napkin.

The story takes place between the second and third prequel, what Morgan Webb calls one of the “tweenegy eras.” Obi-Wan and Anakin must save Jabba the Hutt’s son, named Rotta the Huttlet. The very idea that Jabba the Hutt has a son brings terrifying images to my mind regarding Hutt procreation. I just don’t want to know.

The Clone Wars is all done with computer animation…pretty much like the last three prequels. It grows out of what was originally daily five-minute cartoons on the Cartoon Network. The stories weren’t bad and the animation was done by the same folks who brought us Samurai Jack. I couldn’t resist tuning in to watch the next little chapter. I was delighted when they were released in their entirety on DVD. Most of the voice actor are not the originals, but are close, if not better…I’m looking at you, Hayden.  But I also had the feeling I was not the target audience for this branch of the monstrous Star Wars franchise.  It all seemed dummied down, and for Star Wars that’s saying a lot.  I was forced to face that fact that George Lucas no longer loves me like he did in 1977.  He loves my children now.

Am I going? Sure. Partially because I’m curious, but mostly because the kids would never forgive me if I said no. But even they weren’t that excited. We walked by The Clone Wars display at Toys R Us without much fuss. (Did that rhyme?) I’m sure this would frustrate the LucasArts marketing team since I suspect The Clone Wars is all about selling toys.

Anyway, I’ll let you know what I think. Maybe I’ll see you there. I’ll be the guy taking the coats.

He is big
I am small
I am hurt
He heals all

I will take Him as my own
Not as I have learned
But as He makes known
My heart sank down
When it turned to stone
Show me the way.

He sees all
I am blind
He leads on
I walk behind

Now my heart was incomplete
I tried it alone
I suffered defeat
My life is yours
It is at your feet
Show me the way.

This message brought to you by the Coffee Growers Council:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Long-term coffee drinking does not appear to increase a person’s risk of early death and may cut a person’s chances of dying from heart disease, according to a study published on Monday.

Previous studies have given a mixed picture of health effects from coffee, finding a variety of benefits and some drawbacks from the popular drink. The new study looked at people who drank caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee.

Researchers led by Esther Lopez-Garcia of Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in Spain followed 84,214 U.S. women from 1980 to 2004 and 41,736 U.S. men from 1986 to 2004.

They found that regular coffee drinking — up to six cups a day — was not associated with increased deaths among the study’s middle-aged participants. In fact, the coffee drinkers, particularly the women, experienced a small decline in death rates from heart disease.

The study found no association between coffee consumption and cancer deaths.

“Our study indicates that coffee consumption does not have a detrimental effect,” Lopez-Garcia, whose research appears in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, said in a telephone interview. “It seems like long-term coffee consumption may have some beneficial effects.”

There has been a debate among scientists about the health effects of drinking coffee, which typically contains the stimulant caffeine and a number of other important compounds.

The people who took part in the research completed questionnaires on how frequently they drank coffee, other diet habits, smoking and medical conditions. The researchers then studied the mortality risk over the period of the study among people with different coffee-drinking habits.

The study found that women who reported drinking two to three cups of caffeinated coffee per day had a 25 percent lower risk of death from heart disease than women who did not drink coffee. The researchers saw a smaller decreased risk for men but it was not statistically significant.

Drinking decaffeinated coffee was associated with a small reduction in overall mortality risk, the researchers said.

The people in the study had no history of cardiovascular disease or cancer when they entered it. The women were nurses and the men doctors, dentists and other health professionals.

Some studies have indicated coffee is a great source of antioxidants, substances that may protect against the effects of molecules called free radicals that can damage cells and may play a role in heart disease, cancer and other ailments.

Recent studies have offered a mixed picture on the health effects of coffee.

A study that came out in January found that pregnant women who drink two or more cups of coffee a day had twice the risk of miscarriage as those who avoid caffeine. Another study appearing in January found that drinking caffeinated coffee lowered a woman’s risk of ovarian cancer.

[Source]

Okay, time for some techie talk.  Some hosting services will give you a fancy option to create your own error pages. While I’m sure this works, sometimes you’ll need to do it the old fashioned way.  Specifically, I had to because the error page settings for GoDaddy web hosting only affect the main domain for the account, not the subdomains.  But as I found out, it’s simple.

Simply open up NotePad and create a file called .htaccess. Use this code:

ErrorDocument 404 /notfound.html

Upload it to the root folder for the site. Create your fancy custom page called “notfound.html.” Or you can do like I did and pointed it back to your index page. Piece of cake!

The sermon last Sunday was inspirational. The topic was forgiveness. It was about letting go of the pain in your heart and move forward with life. That’s why right after church, I bought a PS2.

Why did I need to forgive the PS2 you ask? It was released back in the year 2000. People were cheering their favorite polevaulters in Sidney, Microsoft was neck deep in antitrust lawsuits and the Sega Dreamcast was in its heyday. Then suddenly from out of Japan a dark cloud swept over the world. It was unimaginatively called the “Playstation 2.”

Were the games better? No. Were the graphics better? Not really. Could you use it to surf the Internet, raise a talking fish or play the maracas? Not by a long shot. So why did the PS2 kill the Dreamcast? Because it had a DVD player. Big whoop.

But the PS2 and I have shaken hands. Why? First of all, we’ve put the past in the past. It’s time to face that we Dreamcast fanboys can’t change the past. Secondly because it’s so tiny and silvery. How can I stay mad at a cute little console like that?

Now that I’ve lifted this heaviness from my heart I can start digging through huge discount bins of PS2 games. I think I can live with it.

I have to be honest, before I did this site I didn’t even know what a grave saddle was.  I guess I just don’t hang out in cemeteries as much as I should.

Anyway, Gravesaddles.com is my latest web site.  It’s a straight forward shopping cart that can get the customer from A to B without much fuss.  The folks who run the GraveSaddles.com are the best.  They were a lot of fun to work with.

Check it out!

We dads are always looking for ways to keep our offspring entertained on long trips.  It was this necessity which motivated me to find a way to transfer YouTube videos to my Sandisk Sansa e250 MP3 Player.  It’s a great little player with 2GB built in and a micro SD expansion slot.  Keep in mind, however, that the videos must go on the player’s drive, not the SD card.  Use the SD card for all your music.

It’s a three-step process, but one well worth the time…and free.

1. Use an add-on for Firefox called Fast Video Download.  This will create an icon in the bottom right hand corner of Firefox.  Simply go to the YouTube video you wish to download and click the icon.  This will download the video as a .flv file.
   
   
2. Next, you’ll need a program called Free FLV Converter.   (Make sure you opt out of the “Dealio” bar…this will not affect the performance of Free FLV Converter at all.)  Use Free FLV Converter to convert your .flv file to a .mp4 file.  Use the iPod presets.
   
   
3. Finally, you’ll need the Sansa Media Converter.  This could have come with your Sansa MP3 player or you can download it from the Sandisk site for free.  Plug in your Sansa MP3 player to the computer.  Use the Sansa Media Converter to convert the .mp4 file into a .mov file.  This program also rotates the video file for best viewing and transfers the file to the Sansa player.

There you have it.  A babysitter in the palm of your hand.  See?  I told you that you didn’t need a fancy iPod!

Well, everyone has something they’re not good at, I guess. For Obama, it’s bowling. In Altoona, PA, Obama scored a 37. 37?! I stink at bowling, but I don’t think I’ve ever gotten lower than a 90. Oh well.

Nixon had a bowling alley installed in White House, but it’s since been removed. I doubt there’s any chance that “President Obama” would have it rebuilt.

“My economic plan is better than my bowling,” Obama told fellow bowlers Saturday.

“It has to be,” a man called out.

Check out his bowling performance here.

In remembrance of St. Patrick’s Day, I thought I’d share a history lesson on the origins of that most consecrated of Irish beverages…beer.  This song was passed down through the generations in the traditions of the ancient bards.  I’m certain that it is 100% historically accurate…

Beer, beer, beer, tiddly beer, beer, beer
A long time ago, way back in history
When all there was to drink was nothing but cups of tea
Along came a man by the name of Charlie Mopps
And he invented a wonderful drink and he made it out of hops

(Chorus)

He must have been an admiral, a sultan, or a king

And to his praises we shall always sing

Look what he has done for us, he’s filled us up with cheer

Lord bless Charlie Mopps,

The man who invented beer beer beer, tiddley beer beer beer…

The Jury’s Bar, the Clancy’s Pub, the Hole in the Wall as well
One thing you can be sure of, it’s Charlie’s beer they sell
So come on all ye lucky lads at eleven O’clock ye stop
For five short seconds, remember Charlie Mopps
One, two, three, four, five

Chorus

A bushel of malt, A barrel of hops, you stir it around with a stick,
The kind of lubrication to make your engine tick.
Forty pints of wallop a day will keep away the quacks.
It’s only eight pence ha’penny and one and six in tax
One, two, three, four, five

Chorus

You can download the song here.  Click on the song called “Beer, beer, beer.”

I miss the old SNL classics…

Click here.