robviti

Co-Creator of Frisbee and Hula Hoop Dies at 82 by Karen Grigsby Bates All Things Considered, January 17, 2008 Richard Knerr, co-founder of the company responsible for turning the Hula Hoop, Frisbee and many other ingenious creations into iconic toys died Monday at age 82. Knerr spent his final hours in Methodist Hospital in Arcadia, Calif., after suffering a stroke earlier in the day at his home. He left behind a legacy of fun. Knerr and childhood buddy Arthur "Spud" Melin started a slingshot-selling business in 1948 in Pasadena and called their company Wham-O after what they said was the sound a slingshot made when it hit something. "They were like John Wayne and Ernest Hemingway all rolled into one. They were all about fun," recalls Richard's son, Chuck. Melin and Knerr had run a used-car store together in downtown Los Angeles before founding Wham-O. They started making slingshots, just for kicks, out of the ends of orange crates, Chuck recalls. "Then their barber recommended they put an ad in a magazine and try mail order," he says. At first business was slow — and the pair struggled to get by on just a couple dollars a day — but gradually the orders were pouring in. A series of equally ingenious toys – including Slip 'N Slide, Silly String, the Hula Hoop and the insanely bouncy Superball – would soon follow. All Knerr's creations had a way of bringing out the most mysterious aspects of physics, Knerr says. "Superball was such a great one. I remember being so proud when that toy was banned from my school. Kids would just throw it on the ground and it would just take off to the ceiling, into lights." Promoting the creations was a family affair. Knerr and Melin devised a test of an early version of the hula hoop in 1958 by holding demonstrations at parks. If subjects mastered the swing of it, they got to keep the toy. "[My mother] and Spud's wife would demonstrate hula hoops in parks and recreation centers around the country," Chuck says. Soon, Wham-O was producing 20,000 hoops a day. Within four months, 25 million hoops had been sold, according to Wham-O, and hooping was an integral part of American youth culture. "They really liked enjoying life and enjoying their toys, and they really wanted to share that sense of fun," he says. "I think he proved the American success story."

for my money, it doesn't get any better than south park's "closet" episode featuring cruise, travolta, and r. kelly in a completely hilarious look at scientology. here's a link to the full episode: tom cruise trapped in the closet btw, i believe cruise got the episode banned in the u.k. - it's that good!

so if a government wants to support a vital part of culture - let's use jazz music, for example - they should do it by enacting laws or practices making it more difficult/costly for other genres like pop music to profit? if the french government wants to offer support to the indie bookshops, why don't they subsidize with lower taxes, public funding, etc., rather than penalize others who are in a position to compete? i guess i already know the answer: the people probably wouldn't agree to have their taxes spent that way. it's more acceptable to take from the other guy than to give to your own. but if this is true, isn't that the will of the people?

i just got this baby for a few bucks over $100 and it is s-w-e-e-t! there's a 250gb version for less $. Amazon.com Product Description When it's time to back up and protect your digital content--photos, music, documents, and more--it doesn't get much easier than the Seagate Free Agent Desktop 320GB USB Portable Hard Drive. Simply plug it in to any power source, connect the USB cable to any computer, and you're ready to go. This hip-looking hard drive takes up less room on your desk than an ordinary stapler, giving you more space for your other desktop items, but with the capacity to hold the files you need protected. Access to the items on the drive is password-protected, so you can give permissions to whomever you choose without compromising your personal data. Portable Performance and Security If you're still relying on your personal computer or back-up CDs or DVDs to store your digital content or vital personal or family documents, you're running an unnecessary risk. Your computer can only hold so many files and can crash at any time, leaving you helpless to access your content. DVDs and CDs have a place in archiving, but they get easily scratched and lost. It's too risky to store everything in your computer, and too time-consuming and cumbersome to have a drawer full of CDs or DVDs. The Seagate Free Agent is big enough to store a huge portion of your digital content in a safe and secure environment, but small enough to let you take that content with you wherever you go. In other words, having the Seagate Free Agent is like having your entire computer with you at all times, but in a package that's a small fraction of the space and weight of your computer. The sleek and slim design of this hard drive--only measures 7.5 x 1.6 x 6.4-inches (H x D x W)--and a weight of less than four pounds. The Seagate Free Agent lets you transfer files seamlessly from your computer via its USB 2.0 connection at a brisk transfer rate of up to 480Mb/sec. The drive delivers a spindle speed of 7,200 RPM, giving you the high-speed performance you need to back your data up quickly and safely. The Seagate Free Agent is ready to use out of the box with a PC, but it can be made Mac-ready in a matter of minutes with Mac OS X's Disk Utility. This portable hard drive is already compatible with Windows Vista (as well as Windows XP and Windows 2000), allowing you to backup your content regardless of operating system upgrades. At this compact size, and with this high performance, you now have the ability to take your data with you anywhere you go, so your digital content finally has room to breathe. A five-year warranty is also included, giving you complete peace of mind.

did you never see or hear about his drug-related meltdown two years ago on celebrity fit club 3? check out this clip from the show where he lost it after taking "two benedryls." conaway meltdown

there's a furniture store in my area with three locations. they're huge really, with an imax theatre in two of them. anyway, while looking for new stuff for my condo, i noticed that different rooms had different types of music playing. needless to say, i spent more than enough time looking at the furniture in the rooms that were playing ella, miles, billie, etc. i'd be there sitting on a big leather sofa, staring into space, and a salesperson would come up and ask if i needed any help. i'd say, "no, i'm just diggin' the jazz you're playing." they were courteous, but unimpressed. what music would i like to hear in this store? how about anthony braxton's or maybe even the great imagine the kind of furniture they'd be selling in that room!

taking exception to a four-year-old post? damn, you sure can hold a grudge!

does it really, or does it say this was on enja? so that's steam, not stream, omg! sorry, just having a little fun with you. actually, the material from the jazz hour reissue comes from shepp's live recordings at montreux in 1975 that appeared on the arista/freedom label.

actually, it's SHEMP!

when contacting kevin, be sure to put something like "new porn releases" in the message title so his wife doesn't find out he's buying more cds.

i hope your question is directed toward jim. frankly, i don't think i could explain my knowledge of my cat's "fesse-like halitosis" without seeming like an idiot or a perv (maybe both if i'm lucky!).

i never cease to learn from you. btw, my cat Max's breath smells like butt, and not just after he's ah..."played the cello."

she smells like butt?

and if you liked that meltdown, you'll probably like seth green's response: seth green says "leave chris crocker alone"

January 5, 2008 Britney Spears in Hospital After Standoff By THE NEW YORK TIMES LOS ANGELES — Britney Spears was strapped to a gurney late Thursday night after a three-hour standoff involving her two toddler sons, Kevin Federline, a court-appointed child monitor, police officers, paramedics and a locked bathroom door. She was rolled out of her home in the hills near Mulholland Drive as photographers swarmed and helicopters hovered, and taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center "for her own welfare," as one police spokeswoman put it. In plain terms, Ms. Spears was in lockdown on a 72-hour involuntary psychiatric hold for treatment and evaluation, the authorities said later, speaking on condition of anonymity because of federal privacy laws. And by Friday afternoon she'd been stripped of the right even to visit with her sons. Thursday's ordeal came at the end of a day that began with Ms. Spears showing up for barely a quarter-hour of a scheduled two-hour deposition in her custody fight with Mr. Federline, her ex-husband. He had been given temporary full custody of their sons, Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden, 1, and was seeking to make it permanent. Ms. Spears, 26, whose personal life has doubtless made more money for the celebrity tabloids, news shows and Web sites than she ever made as a singer, spent time with the boys later in the day and was scheduled to return them to Mr. Federline's bodyguard at 7 p.m. at her home in the Summit, a gated enclave of multimillion-dollar homes just off Mulholland where it meets Coldwater Canyon Drive. But after the court-appointed monitor had already put the older boy in the car, Ms. Spears barricaded herself in a bathroom with Jayden and refused to come out, according to a member of Mr. Federline's camp. The police arrived at 8, and, The Los Angeles Times reported, a police supervisor said Ms. Spears had been "incoherent and arguing with officers in a way that made no sense." Paramedics arrived about 10:30, and Ms. Spears was taken from her home before 11 as photographers mobbed the scene, peering through the ambulance windows to snap shots that circulated on the Internet showing Ms. Spears smiling as if posing one instant, appearing distraught and disheveled the next. Her son Sean Preston was turned over to Mr. Federline at her home, but Jayden was returned to his father at the hospital after the boy had been taken there in a second ambulance. It was unclear if he was treated or for what. Outside the hospital, meanwhile, fame-seekers and flamboyant fans gathered like fireflies, expressing hope that her downward spiral be brought to a halt before she winds up like Anna Nicole Smith. By Friday afternoon, Mr. Federline's lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan, had persuaded Commissioner Scott Gordon of Los Angeles Superior Court, who is overseeing the custody fight, to award Mr. Federline sole legal and physical custody of their children and to suspend Ms. Spears's visitation rights, a court spokeswoman said. A hearing is set for Jan. 14. Ms. Spears's lawyer, Sorrell Trope, said he ultimately expected her to regain shared custody of the boys.

i want to share a gripe i have against jazzloft. i placed an order for several titles early last month. ten days later i recieved notification that my order had been shipped. a week and a half after that i got three cds in the mail. for the past week i've been checking my mailbox daily, waiting for the rest of my order to arrive. today, i finally called them. initially, the woman on the other end of the line had no idea why i hadn't received all of my cds. after many questions, i learned that the other five titles were sold out and unavailable for re-order. I asked her why I hadn't been notified of this at any point, and frankly, she was clueless. while i was at it, i inquired about a subsequent order i made to determine its status. all she could say was that it hadn't been shipped yet, and they were having trouble getting one of the titles. i know we've had previous discussions about other vendors advertising items that they didn't have to ship. frankly, i thought this smaller, jazz-oriented operation was different. what really bugs me is the fact that they confirmed my order and even sent a shipping notice without ever alerting me that some items weren't coming. to top it off, there's the apparent lack of knowledge from what i assume is their customer service. i'm not advocating that anyone change their opinion or their buying habits with jazzloft. i'm just saying that in the future, i'll look elsewhere before placing any more orders with these folks.

another thanks for the heads up. i went to frank's website for additional info and found out that he is performing at my local public radio station later this month. i just called the station and got a ticket for the studio peformance!

first, you'll have to learn how to spell statistical dr. stangelove.

those that stayed

hey, you just gave me a great idea for another thread !

i'm sorry to be the one to say it, but going to see the last two is reason enough to pause and seriously question your sexual orientation. not that there's anything wrong with that! p.s. if you ever attended a cher concert, that's the clincher.

1. chuck mangione - mid/late '70s (revolving stage in a dinner-theater tent, free tickets) 2. styx - 1980 (i loved my young girlfriend very much) 3. herbie hancock - chicago, august 2007 (if you don't think this was cause for embarrassment, just ask mark, sal, joe segal, or jim "beehive" neumann)

i strongly recommend that you experience this music live. when i started to attend creative music shows a few years ago my appreciation grew tremendously. the free communication between artists is easier for me to comprehend and enjoy when i see it as well as hear it. i think another thing this music has going for it is that there can be a lot more communication and collaboration than in some jazz bands where there's one soloist who is paying more attention to the changes than to what's going on around him. granted, it doesn't all "make sense" to me, just like abstract art, and some of it probably is crap. if you're near the city, you have many opportunities to catch free music in a live setting. and as others have said, don't worry about whether you "get it." focus more on feeling it. enjoy it if you can, and please post when you see and hear something you like. i think this board could use more helpful discussions about improvised music in the years since bebop and hardbop.

damn. if that's going to be the order of the day, then i might as well take off. i mean really folks, if you can't tolerate different opinions, then stay out of social settings like this board where the free exchange of ideas is welcome, nay essential. Er, what's the point of having an argument about this? MG the point is, people here have the freedom to discuss what they like and what don't like about an artist. what i don't understand is why you give three thumbs up to someone who questions why anyone should have anything to say unless they like the artist. when did this board become a popularity contest, and where does this "if you've got nothing good to say, don't say anything" crap come from? if i only wanted to read positive things, i'd stick to the promos on the labels' websites. i strongly second catesta's lament over jim's stepping down. it's a shame that intolerance can have that kind of impact on the board. btw, i'm staying and i'm still talking - whether i know what i'm talking about or not.

damn. if that's going to be the order of the day, then i might as well take off. i mean really folks, if you can't tolerate different opinions, then stay out of social settings like this board where the free exchange of ideas is welcome, nay essential.