George Aar

Dave, I guess I don't understand your apparent outrage. Uh, gee, if one really wants to hang onto the notion of the "evil" AMA and seek out alternative "cures" for such things as baldness or maybe some "fat dissolving" herb that magically melts the pounds away while you sleep, be my guest. But when it comes to diseases where one's very life is at stake, I think maybe a little more prudence is in order. And while I'm sure the vast majority of AMA-type Doctors and healthcare professionals are hopelessly possessed and are simply out to make a fortune off of everyone's suffering, there might just be a kernel of truth to some of what the science-based healthcare providers have to say. It might just be worth considering for a moment anyway. Maybe?

Well, from what I understand, they still have many millions in reserve, they can only realistically pay themselves (the BOD and minions) so much of that money every year without raising the eyebrows of the I.R.S. (again). So what else can they do with all that dough? According to the laws governing non-profits, the money can only be used for the purpose it was originally given for, so that kind of limits what they can do with it. Yeah, they can have their yearly meetings in the Bahamas and maybe an ocassional sabbatical to somewhere or other (Belize or Cancun maybe?), and they can certainly pay themselves a handsome salary with all the bennies, but they've got a LOT of cash to dispose of. I'm thinking maybe they've finally done the math and figured out that they're not going to live long enough to drain away all the resources, so they can afford to be real egalitarian with what's left of the ABS. That and the fact thay they probably don't really give a flying &*$% about promoting their particular brand of superstition anymore...

Boy, there's a question that doesn't get near enough air play, if you ask me (but then, few do)...

Greer Garson's favorite movie (or so says The Internet Movie Database). I didn't know Ronald Coleman had fought in WWI! I guess that's not all the surprising, just not the persona he projected... Another tidbit about music though (I only bring this up because I heard this song on the radio a day or so ago, in a moment when I was feeling particularly bleak, and it really turned me around). I was pretty tired of the normal Rock & Roll/Disco Duck crap being aired on the radio back in the mid 70's when this album came out. It was instrumental (no pun intended) in turning me into a jazz fanatic... http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...usic&vi=samples "Birdland" is THE cut to listen to. What a great piece of music...

Might I also suggest reading this: http://www.quackwatch.org/00AboutQuackwatch/altseek.html

A few years earlier Bonnie had taken to touring with "Mississippi" Fred McDowall, another semi-forgotten blues man that she put back in the limelight. Likewise with Ruth Brown. Pretty neat thing to do, methinks... 'Course I like her playing too. Especially her bottleneck slide stuff... "Your sweet and shiny eyes Are like the stars above Laredo Like meat and potatoes To me In my sweet dreams we are In a bar And it's my birthday Drinking salty marguaritas with Fernando Young and wild We drove 900 miles of Texas highway To the Mexican border As the day was comin' on We crossed the Rio Grande River And we swore we'd have things our way When we happened to walk in to Nuevo Leon Your sweet and shiny eyes Are like the stars above Laredo Like meat and potatoes To me In my sweet dreams we are In a bar And it's my birthday And we're having our picture taken With Fernando" Bonnie Raitt "Home Plate" 1975

Here's some samples of Charles Brown's music (from amazon.com): http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...usic&vi=samples

Well, my favorite male vocal, at least for R&B stuff has got to be this guy: http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american...th_blues_singer And what a sweet man! I had the chance to talk with him a bit when he played at a local jazz club a few years back. About as mild-mannered and nice a guy as I've ever met. He had absolutely enormous hands. He could reach 11 keys on the piano. And when I shook hands with him, I felt like a little kid as his huge hand just swallowed mine up. He was quite the star in the 40's and early 50's but had long since fallen from favor until Bonny Raite tracked him down and took him on tour with her in the late 80's. He was asked once why he sold the rights to "Merry Christmas Baby" for only $150. His reply was "Cause I needed the $150." A unique voice and on-stage personna. I'd make sure to see him whenever he was in the area. I miss him a lot.

The first time I ever even heard of Thelonious Monk was from the mouth of "Maynard G. Krebs". It was my first introduction (of sorts) to Jazz. Kinda funny in retrospect, from the ridiculous to the sublime...

Well, personally, I'm awaiting the return of Ambrose Bierce, but I realize that's not quite mainstream as yet...

Well, Sirguess, I'm glad you had the chance to "share", but I'm afraid we just don't view the world in the same light. And sorry, I'm still not much impressed. But it's your life, waste it or improve on it as you see fit. I was just trying to sort of hold out the olive branch and try to explain where it is that I'm coming from, rather than always just being the smartass. Let me just say, I'm not unwilling to accept anything that comes along, I just require a - seemingly substantial- amount more proof than you would seem to. And, yes, there's all sorts of stuff I dismiss out of hand, with only a cursory look. Why? Because after awhile you get a feel for things. After I spent some time looking into chiropractic methods, homeopathy, and some other "alternative" medicine practices you start to see the same themes repeated over and over. "Toxins stored in your body" "energy channels", "metabolic imbalances" and such like are the constant refrain of the alternative community's. After awhile you don't need to spend a lot of time "researching" crystal therapy or such like, you've already heard the (bogus) claims a gazillion times, so you can quite reasonably write them off after a cursory inspection. After a short time, we all develop a basic "sniff" test, I think. Likewise with all sorts of "gee whiz" claims of the paranormal. After some initial reading about psychics, remote veiwing, telekenisis and such, you don't need to spend a lot of time studying mind readers or crop circles or other such baloney, you've already handled the same sort of claims with a different name. The basic test I would apply then, to any of the wonderful, spiritual techniques being pandered is simply "Does this agree with the laws of physics" If the answer is an obvious "NO!", well, time to move on. So, no, I'm not closed-minded - at least from my perspective - I'm just not interested in spending another nanosecond with some bogus spiritual guide or seer. If they can't express their tenets in terms that agree with physics, "well, thank you very much, I'll be going now." It would seem that such a mindset is anathema to your belief system, but there you go. That's the difference between us...

Yeah, most everyone here has read it by now, I think, or, at least, have heard of it. Some of the information Karl got was, I believe even he will admit, erroneous, but for the most part, it's a devastating expose of what really went on at WayWorld. There are those dedicated Wierwillites, though, even here at the cafe, who have a real problem with it. The truth can be a harsh taskmaster it would seem...

Give it a shot if you'd like. But, as you've probably guessed, I'm not an easy "sell" anymore...

How about those that vehemently accept such? I know you don't appreciate my imput. I tend towards the "smartass" end of the spectrum, no matter the subject, I admit. But don't you ever get tired of chasing rainbows? I mean, does ANYTHING tangible ever come out of any of your mind-expanding experiences? I find I'm always far more intriqued by reality than I am by the often half-baked, spiritualized "explanations" of same. Yes, the known laws of physics are more comforting to me than some garbled Jungian notion of "sychronicity" or somesuch. But that's who I am, and maybe Garth is in that camp as well. The vague, the pseudo-scientific, the "feelings" based explorations of life's mysteries have zero allure. If there's no proof for something, then hypothesizing about it is a pointless fool's errand, for you don't even know if such a thing even exists yet. But therein lies the rub. I don't set out to upset or antagonize, but our view of life itself is so disparate, it can be difficult to find common ground. Personally, I think you leave yourself open to disappointment far too readily, and are too willing to forgo critical thinking if something sounds "good". But then, that's how I (and possibly a few other of the GS "critics") view life. YMMV...

Oh, it finally struck me. This is that "King Kong" wannabe "The Mighty Joe Young" isn't it?

Personally, I think it tends more towards the "Ron Popeil" school of enlightenment. But, then, that's just me...

Well, the song is "A Summer Place" and I believe it's done by Percy Faith and his orchestra, but the movie has me stumped. There were several flicks that used this music in the last few years, but the original I'm not quite sure of. Maybe "A Place in the Sun " with Montgomery Clift?

Well, I think we should all pray, real hard: Oh Lord, please don't finish the job that you are so want to do, PLEASE! Amen

Well, you'd know better than me. I was gonna bet on "Ten Years After". It kinda had the same sound as "I'd Love to Change the World"...

O.K., if you insist: I stuck my hand in a bucket of 500 degree asphalt... (due to stumbling while carrying said bucket) and immediately started to panic. This panic manifested itself at first in the linear, highly-auditory panic - the LHAP mode (running around screaming at the top of my lungs). But shortly devolved into the vertical, moderately obscene panic - VMOP mode (jumping up and down in place while cursing at the top of my lungs). After considerable effort put into both of these modalities, I eventually resorted to the simpler, but every bit as ineffective, LDAW mode (lying down and wimpering). After considerably more time these techniques all gave way to the DTYSAFPO coping strategy (drink till you're stupid and finally pass out). Then after just a few short weeks, everything was just fine. Boy, and the lessons I learned! Geeze, I sure miss "hot" roofing! I mean, back in the beginning, before it got all messed up. Wow, we had so much fun, and the people were all so great! Sniff...

Hell, looking back there was "value" in a lot of my experiences. There was value in: 1. Putting my hand in a bucket of 500 degree asphalt 2. Going through the windshield of a GTO (after a rather sudden and dramatic stop) 3. Watching my father die of a heart attack 4. Getting fired from my job 5. Getting food poisoning and the list goes on... I don't recommend any of these experiences, BTW. But they do all contribute to making me who I am. Should I wax poetic and talk about how "blessed" I am that they all happened to me? I think not...

I'm just one huge sack of regret right now. But, yeah, ....ing away my existence for fifteen years in WayWorld was probably the biggest thing that f&**(ed up my life. That and another choice I made...

Oh, and I don't think Marni Nixon had anything to do with the production of "Mary Poppins". I believe Julie Andrews handled all of her own singing duties. Least, I think so...

Sorry, just came home from a fishing trip so I haven't been keeping up... Is it just me that finds "Mary Poppins" a horribly depressing story? I always did. Here the kids are living wretched little lives with an anal-retentive jerk-off for a father. The father lives a horrible, pointless existence trying to measure up to an absurd, arbitrary standard, and never takes the time to enjoy life. So Mary Poppins comes along, who knows exactly how everything should be done. The kids and eventually everyone in the household falls in love with her, and then she abandons them! Bert will no doubt die of blacklung disease at a very early age - along with all of his friends. And the town will be overrun with GD pigeons, crapping all over everything while necessary duties are abandoned so everybody can waste away their time feeding filthy birds and flying kites. It must be just me. I guess I take this stuff too seriously...

Reminds me of the dog that limped into the saloon. He looks around the place, then announces to the clientele "I'm looking for the guy who shot my paw!" O.K., I'll go back to sleep now...