Category: Gordon

Ear candling

My mom’s 80 and in reasonably good health. (BTW, Andy Williams just turned 80 a couple days ago and is still performing.) Her primary health complaint is this ringing in her ears, which makes conversations sound muffled. I’m not sure what causes it – it might be from various medications she’s taking – but her doctor hasn’t identified a solution.

One of my sisters asked about something called Ear Candling. I had never heard of it. From one website:
For thousands of years, a form of hygiene known as Ear Candling, was used as a way of naturally cleansing the inside of the ears and head.

Today, more and more are seeking alternatives to digging in the ears with Q-tips or using a hydrogen peroxide flush to clear blockages in the ear canal.

Ear Candling is a natural, non-intrusive procedure that may help alleviate the painful effects of chronic headaches or sinus conditions, ear infections, allergies or vertigo, as well as minor hearing loss due to excessive earwax…Ear Candling helps drain and dry out the small, dark places where germs live and multiply…Ringing in the ears can be a cause of dehydration coupled with wax build-up. Drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces of pure water per day. Then the Ear Candling procedure can help break down the wax…

How does it work?
It is believed as the candle burns, gentle warm smoke is drawn into the ear canal that softens and loosens candida, wax, and other debris through osmosis. This means anything on the other side of the eardrum turns into a gas form to pass through the ear drum membrane. It is then collected into the remaining unburned portion of the candle.

Through osmosis?

So, I looked for more information. About.com was at best, mixed about the procedure. The FDA is not fond of it at all. Nor are website such as Quackwatch and Straight Dope . Let’s put it this way: I’m as skeptical as this guy.

Anybody out there had any experience or have insights into ear candling?
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Gordon finds out a little about his roots, and himself.
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Jaquandor discovers kosher ham. And just in time for the holidays.
ROG

ROG

November Miscellany

Politics, Race, Comics, Music, Sports, Weather – we do it all

U.S. Thanksgiving Day, we drove from Albany to Oneonta, and saw the temperature rise from 44 and fog to 52 to 68F in a little more than an hour. Then that afternoon, the temperature plummeted, where it’s been ever since.
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I received this question, as did a number of other bloggers: “I’d be interested in your reaction to this: An effort underway to remove Pelosi as Speaker, and make way for impeachment. Details. What flaws do you see with this plan; and is there a way to block this?”

As I’ve made abundantly clear, I favor the impeachment of Bush and Cheney. But the idea of impeaching Pelosi for her “high crimes and misdemeanors” of NOT impeaching them in order to impeaching them seems a bit surreal. Actually, it reminds me of a maneuver of my former church whereby the associate pastor was removed in order to make way for removing the senior pastor, except that it took 10 years to actually remove the senior pastor.

Regardless, the impeachment of Nancy Pelosi is highly unlikely to happen. And even if it did, impeachment of Bush/Cheney won’t happen. The Democrats are too risk averse. And oddly, from everything I’ve read, impeachment might very well STRENGTHEN the Democrats as it did in 1974, and as it did for the Republicans in 1868.
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The current TV Guide lists the current Presidential candidates’ favorite television programs. Will Fred Hembeck support Barack Obama, now that Obama’s come out in favor of SponngeBob Squarepants? And speaking of Fred, read Hembeck: Court Jester of Comics, an interview by Peter Sanderson in Publishers’ Weekly.
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A couple things I learned from ADD, one directly, one indirectly:
Tom Spurgeon’s Holiday Shopping Guide and
an interview with David Michaelis, biographer of Charles Schulz. Oh, and Gordon says nice things about the book about the creator of the Peanuts comic strip.
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I don’t really follow college football, and don’t like how the polls determine rankings; I’m more of an NFL fan. Still, I prefer the way cthe college game settles ties, with each team getting a chance or two (or three, in the case of Arkansas’ upset of LSU last week) to the randomness of the coin toss to determine who’ll get the ball first, and quite possibly, score and win.
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Cracked.com shows video clips of 8 of The 9 Most Racist Disney Characters:
#9. The Merchant from Aladdin
#8. Sebastian from The Little Mermaid
#7. The Crows from Dumbo
#6. King Louie from The Jungle Book
#5. The Siamese Twin Gang from Chip n’ Dale Rescue Rangers
#4. Sunflower the Centaur from Fantasia
#3. The Indians from Peter Pan
#2. Uncle Remus from Song of the South
#1. Thursday from Mickey Mouse and the Boy Thursday (Book)
The Little Mermaid clip surprised me, but I see its validity on the list.
Even though I feel uncomfortable with Song of the South – I do remember it in re-release c. 1960, I think, the movement to get Song of the South released on video doesn’t bother me. Not to say that I’ll buy it.
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Also from Cracked.com: Ridiculous Overseas Rip-Offs of American Films, including a hysterical “Thriller” from India, a cheesy “Star Wars” from Turkey, and this Beatles Indian riff featuring, of all people, Mark Cuban:

ROG

ROG

Writers Guild Strike QUESTIONS

Much to my surprise, I have found myself utterly fascinated by the WGA strike. I freely admit my sympathy for the writers, who are getting ripped off on DVD sales and streaming video broadcasts. I’ve watched the WGA videos on YouTube; while The Office Is Closed is the most entertaining, Why We Fight is the most useful in understanding the situation. Oh, and here’s info about an episode of The Office you may not see for a while, scheduled for only a couple weeks out.

I’ve added to my webroll the United Hollywood website, where I found out about an online petition, which I signed (#1018); I never know the efficacy of online petitions, but what the heck. I’ve been also following Writers Strike, Ken Levine and Mark Evanier’s posts. In fact, Mark answered my strike-related questions; how did he know I was specifically interested in JEOPARDY!?

1. What do you think of the strike? Do you side with the writers, with management, a pox on both of their houses, or you just don’t care? (Gordon cares.)

2. Has the strike already affected your viewing? (Maybe Lefty can finally catch up with The Daily Show and Colbert.)

3. If it is a prolonged strike, what will the networks use to fill up the time? Reality shows and repeats, sure. Old movies? Unaired episodes of Viva Laughlin?

4. What will you do with all that found time? (After I catch up with MY backlog of programs, I’ll read more.)
ROG

ROG

Follow Up

Since today is my fifth semianniversary (or is demi, or maybe hemi?), but in any case, 2.5 years, I thought I’d write a little about things I’ve written about in the (usually recent) past.
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If you listen to Gordon’s podcast where he answers questions, you’ll hear me asking him some irreverent question about Raymond Burr, inspired, no doubt by a picture of Burr as Ironside on Gordon’s blog a couple weeks back. It made sense at the time.
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The scariest Halloween costume I saw was this woman dressed up as a baby, all in pink, smoking a cigarette. Truly frightening.

Ken Levine wrote: “We had a dentist who gave out toothbrushes [for Halloween]. Thank goodness he wasn’t a proctologist.”
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In the Supreme Court stay of execution this week, the lawyers for the defendant said, “It is clear that irreparable harm will result if no stay is granted.” Well, yeah. If a lawyer says it, it’s legalese; if anyone else had said it, it’d be d’oh-worthy.
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I’ve mentioned more than once about why I left the Methodist church I had been attending for over 17 years, of which I was a member for most of that time. Now, it’s come out that the pastor, who was at least in the center of my departure, has retired, and not willingly; here’s a letter from an apologist of his. My wife and I had to at least briefly think about what this meant to us. We’re happy where we are, but we do miss some of the folks at the old place. What made it easy for me, though, was hearing about some internecine fight over whether someone who opposed the pastor should now chair the Pastor-Parish Relations Committee. And I realize that I don’t miss the grief.
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My sister Leslie wrote to me: “San Diego has been hit hard, thousands of homes lost, I could see the fire from outside my front door, so we were packed up and ready to go in the event of an evacuation, but thank God, we were spared.”

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Yeah, I’m happy that the Red Sox won; I picked them to win in six. The TV grid for the FOX network said the game was in a three-hour slot, but the games didn’t even start until 8:30 Eastern Time, and they all ran more than 3 hours. I’m thrilled by the sweep, because it means more sleep. I’d watch the game as long as I could stay alert, then record on the DVR programing up through 1:30 a.m., then wake up and watch in the morning. The key to watching the playback is to make sure that when I turn off the TV, to set it first to some non-sports station that does not have morning news; I recommend the Home & Garden Network.
I’m still in shock that Boston College beat Virginia Tech last week; I tuned in with five minutes to go, and BC was losing 0-10, so I figured the curse of the 2nd place BCS team was holding. I couldn’t believe it when the FOX baseball announcer said that they had won 14-10.
But my Boston rooting does not extend to the NFL Patriots, though I can’t explain why; it predates the Bellicheck cheating incident. I’m rooting for the 7-0 Colts to beat the 8-0 Pats this weekend. Can we have a 16-0 team and a 0-16 team (Miami) in the same season?

Confirmation of my feelings about the Cleveland Indians mascot.
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Yes, I know that an Albany guy appeared on Jeopardy! last week; I haven’t seen it, I haven’t read about it, so please don’t tell me about it.
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Smashing pumpkins on the ground
Makes bicycling difficult, I’ve found.

All of the US State Laws Concerning Bicycling.

Info about Critical Mass bike rides in Tucson (several posts) and here in Albany (October 29).


Cranksgiving! Race start: 9pm, Nov 17; registration/sign-up starts 8:30pm
A charity race where ALL the $$ goes to direct action. The Homeless Action Committee is on the streets doing work night after night. You WILL NEED a lock and a bag for this one. Ride any uni or bike or trike you like; as long as it’s got wheels and pedals and is you-powered, it’s all good. You will not be turned away for excess spandex or your lack of white belts.
Pre-registration via email to soze@fork-bomb.com is encouraged for planning purposes.
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Re: me feeling autumnal – The Stress Pig – Open the link, turn on the sound (but not too high) then, JUST CLICK ON HER NOSE. She may come in handy when you are having one of those days.
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My prayers/good wishes go out to ADD and to Gordon’s mom.

ROG

ROG

Hello, it’s me

No idea where I found this:
Click to view my Personality Profile page
I told you I was shy. Why do so few people believe me?
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Someone was complaining about my spelling of the word pierogi (as pierogy) recently, even though most sources cite both as correct. It’s in that spirit, and in honor of Dictionary Day last week (yes, I missed it, alas), that I share this piece about some other words where the standard spelling is changing:

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Besides the last of the Rat Pack guy, whose late-night show I used to watch – Regis Philbin was his sidekick; and that From Here To Eternity woman – still a steamy sea scene a half century later; I noticed the death recently of Vernon Bellecourt, who led the “charge against Indians as sports mascots”. More than merely the nickname, the goofy image of the Indians logo has long given me pause. In any case, the Red Sox whomped Cleveland last night, so it’ll be Boston who I’ll be rooting for against Colorado.
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I’m recommending you read Dan Van Riper’s October 14 piece on Yassin Aref, who was almost certainly convicted in a bogus FBI operation. On a lighter note, see how ADD discovers he’s not five years old anymore and how Scott answers questions posed by, among others, me.
ROG

ROG
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