Paul Hardcastle

As a counterbalance to the amped-up nature of Joe Satriani's guitar playing, we have Paul Hardcastle. 

Paul has been Mr. Smooth Jazz over the last decade or two. His grooves are very relaxing, chill-full of mellowness. Somebody needs to take some of these mellow grooves and put beautiful pictures to them, but more than what you get with fan-made videos. I see a niche.

Paul really broke out in the 1985 with "19." You probably heard it, or traces of it. It was an auspicious start, and I'm glad he morphed into an easy-going groovemaster. After all, he's getting up there in years now. It's hard to dance all night at 60.

Here's "19" put to video.

And his more-current stuff, in fan-made form.

Paul asked me to share this one from his new release "History."

Menso

Menso by Brian Kent is an often brilliant single-strip comic that you'd probably never seen. 

Behold the Internet!

About Menso:

I’ve been drawing this cartoon in one form or another over the last fifteen years. An earlier and even less funny version of the cartoon appeared my university paper in the mid nineties. Since then I’ve drawn it mainly to hear the forced laughter of friends and family.

I’ve named the web-comic Menso, which is Spanish for stupid and foolish. The newer cartoons are in the taller format, and the older cartoons are wider, and they may or may not be colored. I have years and years of cartoons already drawn, so there’s no excuse not to post at least a few every week.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at mensocomic@gmail.com

Brian

Redneck Americans!

Recently Donald Trump has been trying to appeal to black voters by asking, "What do you have to lose by voting for Donald Trump?" I can think of quite a number of things, and anyone with a functioning brain ought to be able to do the same.

A comic long-thought to be deceased, A Whitney Brown, has reanimated again and is asking a similar question to the rednecks in America. After all, what the hell have Republicans been doing for YOU, rednecks?!

It's an excellent question better left answered by the professionals. That's your cue A.

To My Redneck American Community: What The Hell Do You Have to Lose

by AWhitneyBrown

And now, to my Redneck American Community, where are my Rednecks? There they are, there’s my Redneck American, okay… For generations, you have been giving your vote to the Republicans, and what has it gotten you? Nothing! Your lives are a catastrophe, believe me. You have no health care, your children are all dying of meth and heroin, you have no education, you are shooting yourselves with your own guns on accident every day. So sad. Just a disaster.

You have been losing, losing, losing. The big banks are buying all your farms, you have nothing to eat but junk food, you all have diabetes, and your water is totally poisoned from all the fracking going on. Absolutely horrendous. A complete waste. And what do you get for it? Nothing! Even the gays are better off than you. They’re taking all your marriages. Your homes are totally broken, I can tell you.

The Republicans have totally taken you for granted. They think you’re stupid! They are taking advantage of you and it’s got to end, believe me. The Democrats will straighten this out so fast it will make your head spin. We will give you Medicaid, if you will just vote in a Democrat governor, believe me. It will happen. I guarantee it. What the hell do you have to lose?

We will fix your environment, we will clean up your water, we will help you get educated, and we will take the guns away from your crazy neighbor. It’s going to be beautiful, believe me. We will give you Obamacare, we will give you an Obamaphone, and we will help your children go to college if they are smart enough. We will fix your roads and and bridges and we will stock lunker bass in all your fishing holes.

We are going to build bridges and roads, and send your kids to college. And who is going to pay for it? The billionaires, that’s right. They are going to pay their fair share once and for all. You are going to start winning again, and it is going to be beautiful. You are going to win so much you’re going to get tired of winning. You’ll say, Democrats, stop with the winning all the time, I can’t take it, and we will say, no, we are going to keep on winning for all the Redneck Americans. We will be your voice! What the hell do you have to lose, I ask you? And after 4 years, I guarantee you we will have 95 percent of the Redneck American vote. I guarantee it. Believe me. Just give us a chance.

Original, or, at least, where I found it.

watermelon!

Watermelon is one of my favorite foods of all time, and deep into the summer, watermelon is everywhere!! Here are a few interesting things you may not have known about watermelon, courtesy of the AARP.

6 Things You Didn't Know About Watermelon
 

Here is the amazing thing about watermelons: They are 92 percent water, which is why we want to dive face first into a cold, juicy slice on hot summer days. But that’s not the only reason to gorge on this delicious fruit. Watermelons are also “nutrient-dense,” as dietitians put it, which is a shorthand way of saying they are chock full of stuff that’s good for you. Here are six surprising things you may not have known about summer’s favorite melon.

It’s a fruit! No, it’s a vegetable!

Most of us consider watermelon a fruit, because it’s sweet and juicy; it also has seeds — the botanical definition of a fruit. But watermelon is also a vegetable, from the same family that includes cucumbers and squash. So which is it? Oklahoma thinks it knows. In 2007, watermelon was officially declared the state vegetable — probably because the state fruit was already taken.

The redder the better

Fully ripe, deeply red watermelons are the ones you want. That deep color signifies the most lycopene, an antioxidant and the bright red pigment that gives red fruits and vegetables their rosy color. Seedless watermelons also tend to have more lycopene than the seeded variety, say scientists with the government’s Agricultural Research Service. Research suggests that lycopene may help reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease. A recent Finnish study found that men with the greatest level of lycopene in their blood had a 55 percent lower risk of stroke.

Beyoncé believes in it

“Lemonade” may have been the name of her latest mega-selling album, but Beyoncé recently announced that she was investing in WTRMLN WTR, a company that turns surplus watermelons into cold-pressed watermelon juice. The entertainer, who has invested in other wellness-oriented companies, called watermelon juice “the future of clean, natural hydration.” Somehow she forgot to mention that it also helps reduce muscle soreness after exercise, according to a 2013 Spanish study. 

Good for prostate protection

Chow down on watermelon, guys — it can help with prostate health and erectile dysfunction, thanks to phytonutrients like lycopene and citrulline. Lycopene — also found in other red fruits and vegetables — plays a role in protecting against prostate cancer. And citrulline, according to a recent study published in the journal Urology, can help with mild to moderate erectile dysfunction by improving blood flow.

Eat it with a little fat

Watermelon is a rich source of vitamin A, in the form of beta-carotene, which is important for vision, healthy skin, teeth and gums. Vitamin A is fat-soluble, meaning it needs to be consumed with some fat to help the body absorb it. Try making a simple summery salad of watermelon, crumbled feta cheese, minced fresh mint and a lime dressing to get the most nutrients.

Kidney disease? Don’t go overboard

Watermelon is a good source of potassium, a mineral that helps maintain a normal blood pressure and helps muscles and nerve function properly. That’s great for most of us, but those diagnosed with hyperkalemia — too much potassium in the blood — or who have kidney disease and are at risk for the condition, probably should not eat more than a cup of watermelon a day, say kidney experts. 

Original.

solar is #1

It's past time for governments and corporations to take solar power seriously and quit putting roadblocks in front of it. Some of these fossil fuel multinational corporations talk alternate energies but they are not doing much about it. If they wait much longer, they are going to be irrelevant even quicker than by the inevitable, natural process of petroleum running dry.

From ThinkProgress

Solar Delivers Cheapest Electricity ‘Ever, Anywhere, By Any Technology’

Half the price of coal!

Chile exceeded 1000 Megawatts of solar this year. CREDIT: ACERA.

Chile has just contracted for the cheapest unsubsidized power plant in the world, Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) reports.

In last week’s energy auction, Chile accepted a bid from Spanish developer Solarpack Corp. Tecnologica for 120 megawatts of solar at the stunning price of $29.10 per megawatt-hour (2.91 cents per kilowatt-hour or kwh). This beats the 2.99 cents/kwh bid Dubai received recently for 800 megawatts. For context, the average residential price for electricity in the United States is 12 cents per kilowatt-hour.

“Solar power delivers cheapest unsubsidised electricity ever, anywhere, by any technology,” BNEF Chair Michael Liebreich said on Twitter after this contract was announced.

Carlos Finat, head of the Chilean Renewable Energies Association (ACERA) told Bloomberg that the auction is “a strong warning sign that the energy business continues on the transition path to renewable power and that companies should adapt quickly to this transition process.” Indeed, in the same auction, the price of coal power was nearly twice as high!

Grid-connected solar power on Chile has quadrupled since 2013. Total installed capacity exceeded 1,000 megawatts this year — the most by far in South America. Another 2,000 megawatts is under construction, and there are over 11,000 megawatts that are “RCA Approved” (i.e. have environmental permits).

Chile is aided by the fact that its Atacama desert is “the region with the highest solar radiation on the planet,” according to the Inter-American Development Bank. So much solar is being built in the high-altitude desert that Northern Chile can’t use it all, and the government is rushing to build new transmission lines.

Chile is part of a global trend where solar energy has doubled seven times since 2000. In the U.S. alone, it has grown 100-fold in the past decade thanks to a sharp drop in prices that has brought the cost of solar (with subsidies) to under four cents a kilowatt hour in many places, as I detailed last month.

The future for solar could not be sunnier.

Original.