Squid and Music?

I was reading on the internet this week that Squid like the sound of music… or at least scientists think they do. I believe that what has actually been discovered is that music effects squid in much the same way it effects people. This should come as no surprise to us and I for one an amused that it has taken scientists so long to confirm what I have known for decades. Unfortunately, in this case, I learned that the researchers decided to play hip hop music to the squid, with the results that the squid broke out into an explosion of color, probably the same reaction I would have had if I had taken the squid's place!

The picture below is a close up of a squid's skin reaction.

According to the Backyard Brains website, the Longfin Inshore  (a kind of squid) has "three different chromatophore colors: brown, red, and yellow. Each chromatophore has tiny muscles along the circumference of the cell that can contract to reveal the pigment underneath."

And the best way to demonstrate the changing colors: hip-hop. The researchers attached the cephalopod to an electrode hooked up to an iPod nano, and let rip the Cypress Hill tune "Insane in the Brain."

I fail to see how this discovery is in any way impressive, and I am annoyed at scientists for causing pain to those tiny little squid eardrums by forcing them to react to an obnoxious pulsing beat! I see this as just one more example of the wisdom found in nature, squid, like many other creatures, know enough to react to bad music. Scientists should know by now that the change in color in a squid means something is wrong and they are trying to adapt, or get away. Similar studies have been done on mice, with separate groups being forced to listen to different types of music. The end result was that the mice listening to Mozart were smarter, faster, and growing more so over time, while the mice being forced to listen to heavy metal soon began fighting and eating each other.  I think that these scientists have been letting poor music effect their brain cells for too long, maybe they should spend some time in a sound proof room listening to Beethoven and Mozart.

If you would like to check out this article for yourself and draw your own conclusions, please check out:

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/squid-ipod-nano-180859091.html

Great Books make Great Movies

For those who enjoy watching British drama there are almost limitless options! BBC and Masterpiece Classic have been working very hard over the past decade to update great classics, and there are now movies for almost every classic book. The following is a list of several classic authors and the movies that have been made of them, for some of the books there are more than one good option so I will specify the date of publication after each title. No one list is exhaustive; this is just a list of the movies that I think are exceptionally good.

Charles Dickens: Charles Dickens is pretty serious; I would recommend these movies to people age 18 and up. The language is not too bad, but some of the content and situations is a little violent. I would say that the best movie to start with is “Our Mutual Friend” since the story is relatively easy to follow, and the characters are both engaging and interesting.

·         Little Dorrit (2009)

·         Bleak House (2006)

·         Our Mutual Friend (1998)

·         Nicholas Nickleby (2001 & 2003)

Elizabeth Gaskell: Not as well known as other authors, Elizabeth writes mostly about small communities populated by women with strong opinions. For those not familiar with her work but who know and enjoy Pride and Prejudice I would recommend “North and South” as a start. Cranford and Return to Cranford are based on a combination of three books by Elizabeth Gaskell “Cranford” “Dr. Harrison’s confession” and “My Lady Ludlow”. All of these movies are good for people of all ages, but I would still recommend parents watching them with their children.

·         Cranford (2009)

·         Return to Cranford (2010)

·         North and South (2005)

·         Wives and Daughters (2001)

R.L. Stevenson: Although only one movie is mentioned here, there are two different versions are mentioned here. Both versions are excellent, but the earlier version, which was made by Disney is definitely better suited for children, since the later version has violence and gun fighting.

·         Kidnapped (1991 & 2005)

Emmunska Orczy: Not as well known as other authors, this hero is the predecessor to Zorro and Superman. I would not recommend the 1998 versions for anyone under 17 due to violence and language.

·         The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982 & 1998)

·         Mademoiselle Guillotine (1998)

·         The Kidnapped King (1998)

Jane Austen: one of the best well known British writers of all time, there is no shortage of films about Jane Austen’s life and books. I have mentioned two versions of most of her books so that readers can choose for themselves which version they like best. This list is selective, so feel free to check out other versions of these films such as “Clueless”, “Bride and Prejudice, or “Lost in Austen” which are modern retellings of some of her best novels. For those who have not before seen a Jane Austen film adaptation, I would recommend starting with the 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility, it is a classic and beautifully done.

·         Pride and Prejudice (1996 & 2006 )

·         Mansfield Park (2008)

·         Emma (1996,1999 & 2010)

·         Persuasion (1997 & 2008)

·         Northanger Abbey (2008)

·         Sense and Sensibility (1995 & 2008)

Charlotte Bronte: Although she wrote three other books, none of them have been made into movies that I know of. So I am putting down several different versions of her best known work. The 1983 version is perhaps the closest to the book, but it can seem rather slow at times, and in my opinion, Timothy Dalton was not the best choice for Mr. Rochester. The 1997 version is much quicker than the other versions, but in keeping with the major story plots and with excellent casting choices in terms of primary and secondary characters. The last three versions are very stylistic, with a modern feel and excellent cinematography. I will only mention that the ending in the latest version leaves a little something to be desired, so I would recommend starting with the 1997 version, with Ciaran Hinds in it.

·         Jane Eyre (1983, 1997,2003, 2007 & 2011)

These and other movies make up just a small amount of the movies being made based on famous books. The above is just a small example of some of the amazing movies that are being made based on great English literature. There are so many amazing books and movies out there, I just wish I had the space to name them all!

Books for Children of all ages

In this age of technology there are so many ways we can spend our leisure time, playing video games, texting our friends, surfing the web or watching a video, the possibilities for entertainment are almost endless! Unfortunately, it seems that one of mankind’s greatest leisure time activities is becoming less popular, namely reading. Reading for me has almost always been a joy, the means to escape from the ordinary and invest in my imagination. For most people though, it is hard to find a good book, whether due to previous experience with books, or simply because the person does not know where to begin looking.

Some people can browse through the shelves of their local bookstore, others like getting recommendations from friends, and others like suggestions from people who know about books. As a tour guide leads a group of people through a museum, so a Librarian can be your guide when it comes to deciding what to read. For most people, the first place to start is with their interests, by finding out what a person likes or dislikes, the search for the perfect book can begin!

Choosing a book is as simple as knowing your interests. Knowing what you do and don’t like is one of the easiest steps when it comes to determining what book to read. There are more books than any one person can read in a lifetime, and more are being written every day!

My love for fiction began at an early age, and it continues to this day, and with all the wonderful books out there, it would be a challenge to write them all down! For the purpose of this blog then I will just write down the names of a few books that I consider to be well written and entertaining for children of all ages.

Books about Animals

·         Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH: Robert, C. O’Brien

·         Masterpiece: Elise Broach

·         Watership Down: Richard Adams

Science Fiction/ Fantasy

·         A Wrinkle in Time: Madeline L’Engle

·         The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe: C.S. Lewis

·         20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Jules Verne

Action Adventure Fiction for Boys

·         The Golden Goblet: Eloise Jarvis McGraw

·         Kidnapped: R.L. Stevenson

·         Around the World in 80 days: Jules Verne

Fiction for Girls

·         Daddy Long Legs: Jean Webster

·         The Little White Horse: Elizabeth Goudge

·         Ella Enchanted: Gail Carson Levine

·         Carney’s House Party: Maud Hart Lovelace

Jane Austen at the Movies

For most people in the United States, Jane Austen is as well known as most movie stars and music artists. Author of six popular novels, she is possibly the most famous English writer after Shakespeare. 

What makes this woman so amazing is that over time, her popularity has only seemed to grow, and now a sort of Jane Austen mania is sweeping the nation. From games and book sequels, to websites and Blogs dedicated to all things Austen, there is almost no type of media that does not have some small portion of space dedicated to something Austen-themed, and one of the places her infulence is the most strong in the Movies.

Some of her more popular books that you may have recognized as movies are:

Pride and Prejudice Starring Keira Knightley & Matthew Macfadyen

Sense and Sensibility Starring Emma Thompson & Kate Winslet.

Many have fallen in love with the writing of Jane Austen, and many a fan page has been devoted to her most famous hero Mr Darcy ,  but I that much of the credit for keeping her books popular for such a long time has to go to the media. With Blogs, websites, games, Facebook pages, and movies, there is no shortage of the different ways people can enjoy all things Jane. Since the beginning of TV, screenplay writers, directors and actors have tried to capture the spirit and essence of each Jane Austen work.

It can easily be argued that some of these visions were more successful than others, but the point is that we keep coming back for more. With only six books to chose from, we would assume that only a few movies would have been made, but thanks to the cleverness of movie people everywhere, from screenwriters to directors, there is no shortage of material for that avid fan to pick from. From 1938 to present day, film makers all over the world have given us their interpretation of Jane Austen’s books, both modern and classic, each film gives us a taste of Austen, like a sequel to a beloved book. What is so amazing about Jane is that although just over 200 years have gone by since the printing of her first book, her popularity still grows, and I think that TV and movies have a great deal to do with that.

Until the 1990’s only one movie every few years, and never more than three, was made in an attempt to bring the spirit of Jane’s books to life. Suddenly, in 1995, four movies were made:

Sense and Sensibility

Clueless (based on the novel "Emma")

Pride and Prejudice

     

Persuasion

And with these movies, many in America realized that Jane Austen was not as old-fashioned as they had once believed, but a contemporary, whose plots and characters could fit into any time or place. Since then, Jane Austen has maintained her fame, with at least one movie being made every year. The media has not stopped loving Jane, she is just as amazing now as ever before, her movies are both classic and new, since everyone can put a new twist on one of her plots, or even steal her characters to make an entirely new movie like “Lost in Austen” or “Bridget Jones Diary”. Long live Jane, thanks in great part to modern technology.

Some of the more popular film adaptations of Jane Austen’s work have been made in the past 10 years, among them, the ones I most highly recommend checking out are:

2010

Aisha

Film adaptation of "Emma"

2008

Lost in Austen

TV mini-series based on the novel Pride and Prejudice

Sense & Sensibility

TV mini-series based on the novel

2007

Persuasion

TV movie based on the novel

Mansfield Park

TV movie based on the novel

2005

Pride & Prejudice

Film based on the novel

Media Studies on Caffeine

Caffeine is a staple the average Americans diet, found in Energy Drinks, Tea and Coffee, caffeine has had a disputed reputation for decades. Over the years, many studies have been done trying to prove the benefits or health risks associated with caffeinated drinks, specifically coffee. Every few weeks the media jumps on the latest study about the effects of caffeine on people, with most people targeting coffee as the key offender. The latest study claims that green tea has more caffeine than coke, and most energy drinks have less caffeine than a cup of coffee. As with all studies, there is room for error, so aside from the amount of caffeine found in your daily cup of Joe, it is unlikely that you will find most studies about coffee or soda agreeing with each other.

 According to Energy Fiend, a site that tracks caffeine content in food and drinks, some of the most popular drinks out there have far more or far less caffeine than you might think. What I find so amazing about the media is that they can release any study, not matter how detailed or specific, via magazine or internet, and we choose to believe them, regardless of what we believed about previous studies. You can look up articles online like 7 myths about caffeine , or  Caffeine in pregnancy won't harm offspring, study says, but the point still is, these are just studies, tests that were done to prove or disprove a hypothesis.

 I for one am always ready to believe what the media says about the positive effects of coffee. I am a long time coffee drinker, I look forward to my morning cup every day, so I am willing to believe those studies that say that a cup of coffee a day helps lower my chances of getting cancer or suffering from stress. I am not saying that all studies about health related issues are wrong, just that we need to think carefully about believing every story that pops up about the benefits of our favorite beverage. There are certain facts about caffeine content that have been tested and studied that most if not all researchers agree on, such as the amount of caffeine found in certain types of coffee and energy drinks.

All energy drinks need to be tested to show how much caffeine is in there and for the general public to have access to these drinks, that information needs to be correct.  Monster M3 Energy Drink has a whopping 150 mg of caffeine per 5-ounce can (that's 32 mg per fluid ounce), and Red Bull has about the same amount of caffeine as a Starbucks latte.

Interestingly enough, the amount of caffeine found in coffee differs from brand to brand, roast to roast.
Your old-fashioned coffee can have anywhere from 51.3 mg of caffeine per ounce (in espresso form) to 0.3 mg per ounce for instant decaf (yes, decaf). A lot also depends on how the coffee is prepared and what coffee shops you frequent:

Ø  Drip coffee- 18.1 mg per ounce

Ø  Brewed coffee - 13.4 mg per ounce

Ø  Instant coffee - 7.1 mg per ounce                                                                                             

Ø  Dunkin' Donuts' coffee- 13.2 mg of caffeine per ounce

Ø  Caribou Coffee- 15 mg per ounce

Ø  McDonalds- 9.1 mg per ounce

Ø  Starbucks regular brew- 20.6 mg per ounce

In the end, I believe in my own common sense, anything in moderation is fine. And while I still read those studies about the effects of coffee with interest, until scientists and studies agree, I see little need to take these statements at face value.

It only takes a second!

Every day in the media we hear about the latest movie star happenings, financial ups and downs, and natural disasters. One thing the media is now focusing on is something that not enough people are paying attention to, security. It seems like there are more websites and news related articles devoted to identity theft and how to prevent it today then there were five years ago, and I think media has a point. In today’s society, an identity theft is something we all hear about, but until it happens to us, it does not sound all that serious. The problem is that all it takes these days is a little information for someone to open an account, get a credit card, or buy several costly items. Your name and social security number are the easiest targets, since once someone has your social security number; they can do almost anything, from destroying your credit score, to buying a house. Another problem is stolen ID, since with an ID identity thieves can commit tax return fraud and open new bank accounts among countless other crimes.

There are many resources out there for thieves to steal our identity, but fortunately for us, there are also many resources for us to defend ourselves with. One of the strongest weapons we can use against identity thieves is knowing what they are looking for; this can help you remember the importance of not letting certain information fall into the wrong hands. Taking simple steps like committing your social security number to memory rather than carrying it around with you can save countless time and money, not to mention worry, if you lose or misplace your wallet.

Other things you can do include:

Not carrying around passwords- one password gives thieves access to any number of personal records, since most people will use the same password for everything, from email, to social networking sites and bank accounts.

Blank checks- often we see women with big purses, it only takes one lost check for a thief to cause damage. A solution for this is only carrying around only the number of checks you are going to need that day, plus maybe one extra.

Multiple Credit cards- some people have as many as five or six credit cards in one wallet or purse. Try carrying around only one or two, maybe use one only for food, and the other only for gas, and next week rotate, this enables you to keep track of what was spent where, and carrying around more cards just means having to cancel more cards if your wallet or purse does get stolen.

Receipts- who does not carry around at least one receipt? But thieves can be clever, using the info like the last few digits of your credit card number to find out more info, and possibly learn those other digits. A good solution is to empty out your purse or wallet at the end of every day, make a copy of the receipts you need to keep, and destroy those you don’t want or need.

According to Emily Inverso, in “8 Things not to keep in your wallet” receipts can be just as useful for a thief as your passwords or mother’s maiden name. Emily writes that a good method for keeping your receipt info out of the hands of thieves is “Clear those receipts out each night, shredding the ones you don’t need. But for receipts you save, keep them safe by going digital. Apps such as Lemon and Shoeboxed create and categorize digital copies of your receipts and business cards.

Remember that we live in an age of technology; nothing out there is unavailable for someone who has the right resources or access to the right information, being a little more careful with what we do with our personal information can ultimately save us more than just money, it can save us our peace of mind.

Farewell To Andy Griffith

Born June 1, 1926, died July 3,2012, Andy Griffith was a man who most came to know and love as the star of the 1960–1968 situation comedy The Andy Griffith Show. Although some of his earlier work may not be as well known as his famed role as the calm cool headed sheriff of Mayberry, I think it would be well worth it for fans of his to check out some of his earliest works as a  monologist.

My favorite of these long stories is What it Was, Was Football, a hysterical monolog where a rural country boy tries to explain football. To hear for yourself his brilliant delivery technique, you can check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNxLxTZHKM8

Perhaps his best known work was his Television show “The Andy Griffith Show” with the amazing talent of his co-star Don Knotts, in the role of Deputy Barney Fife, Taylor's best friend and partner. He was also Taylor's cousin in the show.

Other costars included Ron Howard (then known as Ronny Howard), who played Taylor's only child, Opie Taylor, and Jim Nabors, who played Gomer Pyle.

It might surprise some people to know that in spite of his long career in radio, television, and even movies, Andy never won an Emmy, although he did go on to win many other awards such as:

  A Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album for I Love to Tell the Story — 25 Timeless Hymns in 1997.

       In October 2002, an 11-mile (18 km) stretch of US Highway 52 that passes through Mount Airy was dedicated as the Andy Griffith Parkway.

        He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bush on November 9, 2005. (This is the highest award a civilian can win in America)

      In 2007, he was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

According to an article on Yahoo. TV at: http://tv.yahoo.com/photos/andy-griffith-1926-2012-five-surprising-facts-slideshow/

“He was a Southern boy through and through, Griffith didn’t just play a good old country boy on TV; he proudly celebrated his North Carolina heritage throughout his life. Born in Mount Airy, NC in 1926, Griffith graduated from the University of North Carolina and set his “Andy Griffith Show” in his home state, in the fictional town of Mayberry (said to be based on Mount Airy). And he was a tar heel right up until the end; he passed away on July 3 in the town of Manteo, NC.”

Goodbye Andy, we will miss your timeless sense of humor, honor, and small town loyalty.