Definition, please? | Welcome to one year

At work the other day, the HR lady and I were talking about some things and we got off subject for a minute and we ended up talking about music.

In this place I'm at, sometimes conversations go off on completely different topics, as I work for a small company and discussions usually lead to other information.. totally random one offs, kind of thing. 

There's usually the attempt to make everyone to try to get along and know each other a little better, versus the "oh, that's so and so" with no background information on the specific person. At least there is some semblance of understanding of the humans in the building by way of various squirrel moments. It's not for every case, but has been proven in most instances. 

When the conversation came up about music, the woman said that she was jamming out to various Spotify playlists (she tends to keep her door shut, as she is human resources and needs some privacy). While she was trudging along on her computer, she stumbled on a "New" / "Nu Metal" station on her phone. Okay, she can get down with that, as she's only five years older than me, therefore 90s songs are a part of her history. 

Well... it's one thing to have Korn, Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park, but then the station played ICP. The woman had to double check what she was listening to, as Insane Clown Posse isn't your typical metal band. On top of the fact she's from the Mitten State and tends to recognize other Michiganders, even though there are some artists you are willing to forget about from your home turf. With ICP, we are all used to that name being in the horrorcore / hiphop / rap subgenres and totally not the horns abound with long hair genre. 

The topic got me thinking: If one Psychopathic Records band is listed, would others? What about the one off group called Zug Island? I mean, they're not the every day talked about band that Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope brought in to the fold (actually the rock band Jay created), but they are still on (or were on) the label. Given that Zug is more rock than metal, I don't know if they would have been played. Then again, Twiztid and Anybody Killa might not either. Surely, ICP doesn't belong as well? 

It's so confusing these days what bands are classified as. Look at my post the other day with Knothead - how many genres he's put himself in. If some guy out of Washington can jump into all sorts of areas in the record store, why can't Spotify put a couple of Wicked Clowns on a new channel? 

You know you're getting old when you can't keep up with it anymore and you ask the simple question of "when are they listed as "classic" anything to us??? 

To get off the music subject and onto the next, we are officially 1 year out of the destruction Hurricane Ian left behind. Thursday was the mark of the storm beast. There's been plenty of advertising about how far the area has come in the last 365 days and how new opportunities have risen. 

For example, researchers from FGCU's Water School went on to various points in Southwest Florida to see how the hurricane affected the Gulf, Caloosahatchee and the mangroves.  Not only would algae bloom show up, but the winds cleared some of the older / dying trees in the barrier islands. With a clear canopy and churning of soil, new growth can happen and help delay wind in future storms. 

The places hard hit like Matlacha, Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel / Captiva are still struggling. My mother and I saw a hourly news show (ABC7's "Survival to Revival") the other night that showed places on Pine Island are still looking freshly destroyed. The shockingly interesting thing is, the news stated there's one place that has the highest elevation in Florida, so the damage was minimal for them. 

Cabbage Key "is a private island" that is "located north of Upper Captiva" and "is only accessible by boat" (NBC2). According to the Cabbage Key website, it is "One hundred acres of tropical vegetation" and has a "historic restaurant, inn and rental cottages. A panoramic view of Pine Island Sound, near Fort Myers in Bokeelia, is provided from the front porch of our open-air restaurant situated atop a thirty-eight foot Indian shell mound. There are no cars here, not even a paved road. You will find winding nature trails, romantic picturesque views and relaxation". 

Also on its website, there is history of the island: "Cabbage Key is an ice age sand dune. According to geologists, the island has not flooded completely since the last ice age. [...] The key has an irregular shape with its long axis measuring approximately 3,500 feet in length".  From what the hour news cast reported, as well as what's listed on the history, "An extensive Calusa Indian shell midden is located on Cabbage Key. [...] The Calusa Indians were known to have lived in the Pineland area for about 2000 years until the mid-1700's. Remarkably, they survived for 200 years following the arrival of the Spanish". 

Side note, according to University of Maine, "Middens are an archive of ancient coastal lifeways and environments. Archaeologically, middens preserve a record of thousands of years of coastal occupation". 

To continue on with the history of the island, it explains there's a home that "[sits atop the midden] 130' from Pineland Sound at approximately 33' above sea level". Which made the storm surge not touch much of the island as the sea shells, clay pots and dirt are piled on top of each other. The major thing that was hurt was the boat docks to get onto the island. 

Where as the Sanibel Causeway is slowly getting its beaches back and the road is finally paved all the way through. Fort Myers Beach got its Times Square Clock unveiled yesterday, yet the pier is still in shambles. According to a June, 2023 article, there is still no timeline on the reopening, however I couldn't find a specific article pointing directly to when and if it'll get touched. 

I have seen some news pieces that the artists on Matlacha have moved over to various places within downtown Fort Myers, much like some of the restaurants have fount opportunity to go into vacant places in shopping plazas. It's not ideal because they want to be where they belong (on the island to support the locals), but until the areas can be completely redone, they have to move inland for now. It also can be seen as a win because there is a very good chance of gaining more clientele from these new spots and when the ability to move back home occurs, word of mouth will gain traction and it will be bigger and better. One restaurant said they'd be game to make a couple franchises from this, if it turns out to be okay. 

Although, on the other hand, I don't know much about what's redone on Captiva, but I think the hotel (South Seas) is still being worked on, much of the businesses are still boarded and only a handful have really come back to life. 

I know on a few of the housing sites (the "house for sale" ones.. not the website Craig built) list multi million dollar places for half of what they should go for, and that's because the houses are down to studs. I'm sorry, but if I'm seeing pictures of a house or even touring it, with 4 feet of drywall gone from every room or even the entire wall gone, I am not going to spend $500,000 on the place because I'm going to have to spend that and then some to continue building it. 

That is a bad comment on my end, but it is completely different of a story to buy a place and spend a couple thousand to replace appliances, carpeting, painting, etc., and lay down half a mil, but to know I've got to put at least five grand in drywall in the place, then start from square one with doors, locks / knobs, appliances, bathroom stuff (tubs, toilets, sinks), countertops, furniture, ad nauseam... I'm better off moving north and buying a place and fixing it to make it my own. Since you're pretty much starting from square one down here and having to basically rebuilt the house, would it be cheaper to flatten it and start from the ground up? And if it is, aren't lot prices significantly lower because the expectation is to build a house? 

Again, I know that makes me sound like an ungrateful bastard, but I'm just trying to think realistically. I know people are hurting right now and they just want whatever money they can get so they can walk away and rebuild somewhere else, but I kind of don't want someone else's problem, knowing I am about to live in the path of a hurricane. We probably won't get another storm of Ian's caliber, but I don't want to take that chance and put together a place to live and then worry about what I'm going to face if something wicked comes my way. Like I said, I'd rather deal with snow up north than storm surge and everything else even a minor hurricane can bring. 

A positive note happening soon, a business called "Charity Pros" is putting on an "All Star Concert" to "honor the presence of the Heroes who risked their lives to rescue hundreds by land, sea, and air during the massive flooding, those who came to our aid with food, supplies, and medical through extreme conditions, and the many unsung heroes that have exhibited incredible acts of humanity, kindness, and generosity over this past year. Proceeds from the event will support our local musicians and music industry workers severely affected by the stor" [the 'stor' ended that way on the site]. 

The site also states that there's going to be some big names coming to play and a big tailgate party is happening to "honor Jimmy Buffett. Plus, if you spend a big amount for a ticket, you can get amazing looking seats and wined and dined by the local sponsors of the event. 

Who's playing, you ask?

"Internationally acclaimed Rock Band Matchbox Twenty will headline the event [...]

Special guest, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, and four-time Grammy winner Don Felder, formerly of the Eagles for over 27 years, will also be taking the stage. [...]

SWFL rock band Red Hannah will kick off their All-Star set, featuring special appearances by local professional musicians Matty Jollie, Sheena Brook, and more surprises. Proceeds from this event will help support local musicians through Music Alive SWFL, the Tabarrini Children’s Outreach Foundation, and the Charity Pros “Megan’s Wish” program".

It really looks like a superb lineup and I wish I could go, but sadly, it's not something I can afford to do right now, especially where it's an outdoor festival, next Saturday, and nosebleed tickets are slightly above my pay range (starting at $79). I'm not trying to use that as an excuse, but it's rain or shine and since it'll be outside at Hammond Stadium (👎boo... Twins territory!!👎), it's also a drive I can't do at night as I don't see well in the day time or the night time.

But I totally dig what this is trying to accomplish and 100 per cent wish I could go. 

This might be the only time I get to see Matchbox Twenty and I still kick myself for not going to the Goo Goo Dolls concert when we first moved here (we literally had only been in Fort Myers a couple months and I had been looking for work and didn't know of the Barbara B Mann theater until I drove past the billboard for the college and saw the band was playing there that week. By that time, it was too late to get tickets and having no dosh, I didn't go). I'll hate myself for missing Matchbox too, I know. But that's part of life. 

At some point I do want to try that Tito's Cantina and FK Your Diet, as there has been positive reviews about them. FK Your Diet keeps showing up in my Yelp feed. 

Overall, there's so much I want to say and yet I feel like I'm beating some of this topic to death. I know I don't have any recent pictures of the cleanup locally, but I do want to add 2 pictures I took on the way back from Sarasota. 

The blue of the sky with the white clouds mirroring on the water. I forget where exactly we were, but we were close to Fort Myers.

This next photo I have, was taken in the house I was staying at. I just thought it came out interesting. I was on the floor playing with the dog and ended up looking up at the chandelier.

Oddly, it looks like some wall painting, but it's actually me laying on the floor looking at the ceiling. 

All pictures taken on an iPhone 11 and edited in Photoshop CS5 just to add my name. WYSIWYG.

It keeps storming around here.. tis the season. So I'll post more if I can and will do some other research for the continual revamping of the area. 

Cheers;

Heads up: Prime Day deals are coming October 10-11. Get your preview on here. 

See also (bands and playlists via Amazon):

* Korn 

* Limp Bizkit 

* Linkin Park

* ICP

* Zug Island

* Twiztid

* Anybody Killa

* Psychopathic Records

* Spotify app download

See also (links about hurricane cleanup):

* FGCU Water School

* WGCU / NPR Gulf Coast Life report about gathering water quality data a few weeks after Ian

* Wink News article about the "slow growth" of the mangroves

* NBC2 article about Cabbage Key

* Cabbage Key website

* Times Square Clock unveiling

* Cabbage Key History

* University of Maine. Why Are Middens Important?. https://umaine.edu/middenminders/why-are-middens-important/

* ABC 7 "Survival to Revival: One year after Ian". The videos are cut up in segments on Youtube here

* FORT MYERS - Beach Observer and Beach Bulletin. No timeline for Fort Myers Beach Pier reopening. https://www.fortmyersbeachtalk.com/2023/06/07/no-timeline-for-fort-myers-beach-pier-reopening/

* Charity Pros Hurricane Heroes All-Star Concert Event

Don't be so guttural; this isn't screamer music.

 After listening to two rounds of The Memoirs of Billy Shears: The Nine After 9-09 Edition by Thomas E. Uharriet, Billy Shears and narrated by Gregory Paul Martin, there is something that was said that has stayed with me. 

The basis of the work being a "tell-all" of the Paul Is Dead theory notwithstanding, there are passages in the book where there are explanations of "throaty" singing versus "diaphragm" singing. 

Allegedly Paul sang with his throat, so he was more hoarse by the end of what they were doing (concert, album recording), where as Billy sang with his gut and could go on to do more recordings in one night, rather than need to take a break to relax the vocal chords. 

It was also said that the smoking didn't help the cause, as Paul's throat would have been a scratchy scene after a while. Sure, Billy smoked in the beginning to keep the illusion up, however, the throat singing was something he couldn't get behind. It was not something he was trained to do, as a professional studio musician / backup musician. If you want a gig, you have to expand your repertoire and being able to carry on with hours of recording, you'd need to be able to not wear out the one thing you needed to record with. 

There some audio manipulation that happened when Billy entered the picture because he didn't want to risk harming his own voice for the sake of this new deal. Subsequently, there are works out in the world where you can tell the difference between the real Paul (aka James Paul in some PID circles) and the imposter Paul (William / Billy... aka "Faul" - Fake Paul in circles). Billy also states that he wishes there were better clues for people to recognize the difference, but due to the way interviews, songs, etc. were recorded back in the 60s, he knows some conversations that existed no longer are around. 

He specifically calls out a few behind the scenes discussions that happened with John and James Paul where there were no instruments, no background sounds, nothing. It was just the two men having a chat, and this would have been one of the last recordings of the real Paul before Billy joined the band. Using that recording to compare Paul's speaking voice to Billy's, it would have been one of the things to knock any theory out of the park that James Paul is still around. The unfortunate thing for anything being sung, is that they recorded everything with the instruments. Most tracks have some sort of sound embedded below the vocal track, so there was no way to snip out Paul's throat singing to compare it to Billy's diaphragm singing. You'd still get some sort of instrument bleed and it wouldn't be as well defined as a source. 

I remember when I was in junior high and attempted to take chorus for a semester before dropping out after a month. The music director spoke often about how to properly sing and what the ways were that made everything worse. We tend to speak from our heads and throat on a normal basis, so it's "only natural" we attempt to sing that way too. But those who speak from their belly tend to sing from there too.

It's also a thought process behind the lecture circuit. You can't project your words from your throat. You need to push it up from your intestines in order to speak loudly and clearly; the way to be heard is from your toes, literally. 

When Billy suggests to try singing along to one of the Beatles songs (or any song, really), with your throat, see how you feel. Then try to sing along with your diaphragm. You may be winded at first, but which version makes you sound more clear? It doesn't matter if you're the world's worst singer. We all make the attempt to be a rock star. But there is a point to it  and it's a valid one. The difference is totally noticeable and for me to say it, must be good since I'm hard of hearing (yet I do a lot of audio work. Go figure). 

It's so weird how once things are pointed out, you start thinking of other things. 

For example, Roy Orbison barely opened his mouth when he sang, yet his octave range is crazy. What started this whole idea of a post was my singing along (in the car) to "You Got It" (track 01 off 1989's Mystery Girl, the last album made, as Orbi died the month before. It was a posthumous release). If you try to sing along with your head, you're going to not hit the notes Roy could. Try to sing with your stomach, you may reach it all, but then again, not a lot of people hit his notes all the time. Again, if you ever watch any video recordings of him, all through his life, he barely opened his mouth. So to hit those notes is purely amazing. 

Yet, conversely, there's a need for sub genres of music where people are having guttural voices heard. Screamer, growler, hardcore, post punk, metal, hair banging, aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!! gets you mosh pitting anywhere your feet land. However, they have to be doing something every day to keep their voice from cracking and going bad because you're not going to be able to talk the same if you do this type of music day in and day out. 

Surely? Possibly? I don't listen to a lot of that music. I know of it because I've heard bits and pieces of thumping bass mixed with electric guitars and the lead singing something so incoherent, you need closed captions to go with the song. 

There's an indie hip hop artist named Knothead and he is out of Washington State. He dives into hardcore metal but lists his genres as:

• acid 
• rap 
• hip-hop/rap 
• horrorcore rap
• hip hop alternative 
• hip-hop industrial 
• industrial rock 
• alternative 
• insanity
• noisecore rap 
• rap alternative 
• rap metal 
• rapcore 
• underground hip hop 
• Spokane

The first song off Hadlock for Life is called "Stompin'". It's not immediately of a start of a growling throater, but he does work his way in to it. As lyrically explicit as his music can be, it's ominously eloquent. He's not degrading a woman or flaunting a gang life, but he's also not stepping away from talking about a part of drug use ("chemically induced psychosis"). 

When I was active on Twitter, I was actually following him because I tend to find randomly obscure music only and if the person is new to online scene, I would do the "Follow Friday" tag to help them get more listeners. 

Much like an independent artist out of New York (by way of Australia) named Joe Var Veri, he is the opposite end of a throat singer. Mr. V is one of those artists I've been following for over a decade. If you watch any of Joe's Youtube videos, he totally knows how to use his abilities. Yes, he digs Elvis (a lot), but he's enthusiastic and clear - just watch his facial expressions... he enjoys what he does. It feels like he sings from his guitar some days because he resonates with you. But he sings from below, not from above. It is why he can cover artists like Elvis and Roy Orbison, as well produce his own music - he's not letting his neck sounds get in the way. 

Sure, you can say "Knothead sounded like he sings from his diaphragm too", and I could say "you're right, since you need some push of air to get that "grrr" out", but there's a difference in how the sounds finally reach the world. Throat singing is dark and scratchy while diaphragm singing is happy and clean. Both are equal in what they accomplish as they get the job done. It's a matter of what the intention is and how you can swing it to be beneficial for yourself and for others. 

I'm not a fanboy for Apple products, but if you want a movie to watch, download the Apple TV app on your streaming device(s) if you don't have the app already (or the streaming box itself). After the trial, it's $6.99 a month or $69.99 a year (price has gone up since I started subscribing). It's worth the purchase for the original content, and I've utilized the hell out of it. There are plenty of shows I recommend to people who are new to the fruit life and want something to watch. The sci-fi kids get "For All Mankind" recommendation while in this case, the movie "CODA" fits in with what I'm talking about. Unfortunately, it's not available on Amazon to link to, nor is it on any other site or DVD.

CODA is an Apple Original movie and the basic synopsis (pulled from Apple TV site) is: "As a CODA (child of deaf adults), Ruby is the only hearing person in her home. When she discovers a passion for singing, Ruby must choose between family obligations and her dreams". Ruby is the only hearing person in her family of 4 and they are a fishing family in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Her dreams are to become a singer, so we see the trials and tribulations of a teenager in high school, trying to do right by her parents yet have a need to succeed for a future life. The music scenes where the teacher is trying to get the students to warm up and sing rather than stand there like lumps on a log are why I think this movie relates to the theme of this post. The teacher actively tries to get the students to contribute to the overall goodness of what they can achieve in his class and Ruby particularly, can go on to get out from the family business. 

I've completely turned in circles with this, so I think I'm going to stop here before I go on about other examples in music history. 

Take care of yourselves, drink lots of tea with honey, and don't over reach in telling others your story. 

Cheers;

Eeps

I updated my iPhone last night to iOS 17, which is fine. I would have had to do it eventually after it rolled out and I saw all the articles about it. The only problem is, I was tooling around with some of the "features" and found a Photos gift that isn't so fun. 

Apparently, "add to stickers" is new enough it came out with an update in iOS 16, but I never noticed it. It might have been in one of the 16.x versions. I just didn't have a need for creating personalized stickers from my photos on my phone. 

Well, now we have a problem as I can't find a way to ask the internet how to delete an accidentally created sticker. 

There are plenty of instructions on how to create one, but no where does any of the research I've done, say how to delete / erase the sticker. 

I think it's now permanently part of my phone. 

Okay, so let me actually explain what's happening.

When you take a photo on your iPhone (I think this works for iPad as well), if you long hold on an image, a white line moves around a shape (usually the main item) and it "cuts" that shape out so then you a few options will pop up - "copy", "add to sticker", and something else (I forget what). 

From that point, if you copy the new item, you can paste it in Messages or anywhere else that you want (email, etc/ Places where you can paste stuff). If you select "add to stickers", a copy of that image is created somewhere on your phone. 

I don't know where it goes and since you can't root the phone / see other internal folders besides the DCIM on a computer, I can't go in and delete the photo. 

So where ever it is, it seems permanently there. 

In order to see the sticker, you have to be in iMessages (or a program where you have to use the keyboard). The option to get into emojis on the keyboard, has the option for the stickers you create. From there, you can select the image you want to use / add to a text, and it can get placed inline with what you write. It looks like it's almost like you've selected a photo to share with people. I think I read there's an option to place the sticker over someone else's text and they'd see it, but I didn't test that theory out. I was too concerned with how to delete the image. 

I'm still concerned with how to delete the image. Like I said, the research I've done so far, says there's no way to get rid of the photo. 

I've submitted two different pieces of feedback on the Apple website, asking them to have an option to delete personalized stickers. I hope they fix this, but I'm doubtful. This feature is not a game changer if you don't know what you're doing or want to be able to get rid of items you've created. 

Yes, "the internet is forever" and "your tech owns you", but there still needs to be a way to erase / move / whatever personalized stuff. What if you have kids and gave your kid the phone to play with, and they are of the age where they might not be able to read? They could be looking at photos and somehow make a sticker of something you don't want. Then what? 

Trust me, I've gotten toddler texts from friends kids before - I've sent someone a message and I get back a string of nonsense, only to be told either a few minutes later (because the parent stopped hearing sounds from the phone) or a few hours later "sorry; [kid] was playing a game and I didn't know they had opened the text message and replied". If the kid was wrapped up in playing something, of course the text bubble will be hit and someone will get a response accidentally. So it's very plausible something similar can happen with stickers. 

This is definitely when #techfail and #humanfail comes into places. When you've got everything in the world telling you how to do things, but none of it tells you how to get rid of it. Seems like they don't want you do. One of the articles I read from Apple says the new images you create stay with you on all your devices, so you can use it on your Mac, your iPad, your phone. It is attached to your user ID, so it goes everywhere you do. 

If it is attached to your ID and can be transferred to each device, there has to be a way to delete it as well. Give an option in iCloud if you don't have a Mac (or iTunes if you're still going that route, since a few things still rely on it) or give the option on the phone or iPad itself to delete things. 

It's just like the two ringtones I created back in 2017. I have an alarm tone made out of Francesco Renga's "Angelo" (track 14 from the Camere Con Vista album) and a ringtone made of out a Jan A. P. Kaczmarek song from the movie Aimee & Jaguar (the song is listed as "First Memories", but other sites list it as "Memories of Better Times" or "Aimee & Jaguar Main Theme". The soundtrack doesn't seem to be readily available except on auction sites. Totally glad I bought the CD on Amazon when I did, if it's no longer available for reputable (buy as new) purchase. 

But... both tones are now permanently attached to my user ID and they don't show up in iTunes on my computer anymore. They only show up in my phone as ringtones, so I can't even delete them from my account. I'd like to swap them out with something else, but for some reason, a glitch happened with owning my devices and I've been stuck with old tones for 6 years. Don't get me wrong - I don't hate the songs, but I'd like to be able to get them off my phone and out of my account. The fact Apple seems to be treating them like stock music is upsetting. 

Yes, I've tried to re-upload the snippets to iTunes and sync my device (like some instructions say), but it didn't work. There's a disconnect somewhere and I don't know what it is. 

All the more reason Android might be better than Apple, due to the fact you can plug the phone (or tablet or whatever) into your computer via USB and see all the folders on the device, move things around and do what you need to do. Tay tells me all the time the things he does on his smartphones (he buys them at flea markets for cheap, just to play with them. He doesn't have any cellular service plan; he only uses the phones on Wi-Fi. He's gotten a lot done in a few years, in manipulating things with all the generations of phones he buys). 

At the end of the day, maybe people are right - in some instances, Android rules and Apple drools, but there still needs to be a simple way to fix even the littlest of things. 

Therefore, if you read this and have an Apple, please submit feedback requesting the option to remove stickers created from photos. AND, be careful about making them yourself!

Until all of this gets sorted, go have some coffee and eat your breakfast. It's getting late already. 

Cheers;

Deodorant TMI

I know I've talked about challenges with deodorant before, so consider this a fair do's warning: If you can't handle some smelly TMI, turn away now and come back at a later date to see if I've uploaded something new. If you can handle conversations about armpits and things we use to relive the sweat, read on. 

I've decided that not only am I allergic to heat and humidity (fat kid problems in "the tropics"), I think I'm allergic to Cymbopogon Flexuosus Oil (lemongrass oil) and now anything with lemon in it (even if it's not in the ingredient list).

Although, it's not an "allergy" if you ask one of my doctors because my throat doesn't close. It's more of a really shitty reaction to the oil. I sometimes use "reaction" and "allergy" interchangeably. 

Why do I think I've got a bad reaction to these oils?

Because every time I tried "natural" deodorants with "essential oils" (like Arm & Hammer Essentials or Tom's of Maine (Unscented)), I've broken out within days of starting it because the ingredients include natural lemongrass oil and it gives me some sort of major armpit rash. It's ugly, it smells, it's not for the faint of heart. 

So I have to attempt to keep my pits clean and try other things while everything heals. It's a lousy lesson in maintaining good hygiene while having to go out in the world and do the adulty things. 

For as much as I like the Tom's brand, I'm learning that even the Lemon & Bergamot is giving me problems. I have been previously fine with that scent, but lately, I've broken out. It's to the point I needed to throw out the stick I was using because I couldn't make the rash go away. 

Maybe it has to do with summer still being in place down here in Florida (it's been over 90° with humidity) and I've been sweating more because of it, or it's just that I now can't handle something in that stick. I think it's hidden under "natural ingredients", the lemongrass oil. 

After the last round of flare up, I decided to try something new, since I had to throw out the Lemon & Bergamot. Whomp Whomp.

So I started trying something similar to the hello Activated Charcoal Fresh and Clean Deodorant. It's the same brand, but it's antiperspirant deodorant. It must be the same thing, or so I hope. It's working without any problems thus far, and if my pits continue to stay calm, at least then I know I have another deodorant to try. 

The other thing I can think of, is the fact there's activated charcoal in this one. I didn't have any problems when I was using the Native Deodorant | Charcoal. 

Price note: 

By using a special code on the Native site, the first order you get can be 20% off (I get 20% off my next purchase as well). Which means the one stick at $13 would be $10.40 before any taxes. Plus, it's free shipping across the continental US for any order over $10. A subscribe and save would bring it down to $11, which is a 15% discount. 

Comparatively, Amazon has it for $12.97 regularly and before tax and shipping (if you are not a Prime member, otherwise it's just tax). Prime members can save 10% off the bat if they do subscribe and save, which makes it $11.67. 

In this case, Native site for the win? Especially since they have random sales (and for build your own 3 pack)?

I have tried other Native sticks before and have been completely fine with them. The only problem I have had was the Cactus Flower and Poppy scent damn near killed me (it's a seasonal scent that went vintage so it's not available now). The scent was just too overpowering that I couldn't wear it. It's worse than gardenia smell but was almost that level of headache inducing. Even a friend of mine (hi Erica) smelled it one day at work (I brought it in because I was telling her about it), and she had to take a step back after smelling it. She started coughing because it was that powerful. Because I couldn't return it, I'm now using it as a travel deodorant, so I only have to put up with the smell when I go on vacation. 

Otherwise, no problems with any of them - Cucumber Mint, Coconut Vanilla, Charcoal, Peppermint (seasonal) and Sweet Peach and Nectar. I've been in big box retailers and smelled the candy shop ones and refuse to buy those because they smell way too flipping sweet. I'd not be able to wear them due to it being headache inducing - sugar rush versus flower power smell. 

Which is why you've got to be so careful buying things online. I promise I'm not a paid advertisement for anything. I've just learned that you never know what you're getting online, but then again, if you have a known reaction to one brand, you have to try another. If you know one brand works better, you're literally going to buy out the product line when you see it. Which is what I've done with some stuff. I try one brand when it's on sale (after reading the ingredients), and if it works, I continue to look for it and purchase it when I see it. I'm not going to keep using things that make me sick, that's for sure. 

I guess to wrap things up and let all those who walked away for the TMI part, just because you want to go Earth Friendly / natural / limit your footprint / try new products, it doesn't mean it'll work. I hate knowing some things read "castor oil" because it just puts a bad image in my head, but that's just me. I need to find a product that won't make me break out in a horrible rash and make me smell like I've been at the gym non stop for a week (and haven't showered in between). Yet, I also need to possibly ask my doctor to give me an allergy test. Then I really know what I should and shouldn't buy. It might also help with some of the gurgles in my gut too. (LOL).

Until I can find an answer... stay clean.

Cheers;

"We're coming from far and wide"

"We're singing a song to you

Gather us together

For cake and candle light

The red heifer is here

And cousins of twelve tribes

Count up all our faces

Divide up the cake in pieces

We've all come here to see

Happy birthday Jubilee"

Farrell, Perry. 2001. Happy Birthday Jubilee [song]. Song Yet To Be Sung. Virgin Records; Capital Records.

I've got a few friends who have birthdays this month, so I wanted to surprise them with not only snail mail cards, but a cool song in their inbox. Only a few people would like Perry Farrell (from Jane's Addiction), so giving them the first track off a 22 year old album would be dated, but then again, this would be going to friends older than I am. 

Through the power of a music search, I found a 2002 Psy-Trance remix of an Israeli guitarist's song, Birthday. 

Yeah, I know I just said I don't want to go 20+ years in the past, but since I've not heard of Berry Sakhoff, I wanted to download the song and save it / share it with some of my friends and family who understand Hebrew and also appreciate trance music (here's looking at you, Rach). The remix is from another Israeli group called Infected Mushroom, and is pretty catchy. 

You just have to understand to עִברִית (Hebrew) grasp the meaning of the song. 

Or just try finding a website with the translation.

The song is called "יום הולדת (Infected Mushroom Remix)" and it's track one of a three song collaboration EP called Birthday. 

I have found snippets of other songs, but only on Youtube, and with them not available on Amazon, I couldn't download the music onto my devices. Total bummer because I really was hoping to share cool new stuff with people. 

Sure, sending a music video link in an email is neat, but spending the time to actually support the music industry and buy the album for myself is a little better, because then I get to randomly share a song with someone.

I know, I know. I'm technically doing something bad by purchasing an album and emailing / texting a friend a song, but, we've all been doing it for ages. Let us not forget mix tapes on cassette. What was that? You create a whole new songbook for someone and they're now turned on to a new group. It'll be a win for everyone since the person may potentially go out and purchase more music. 

I know I have. 

Every time someone sent me something, I would listen to it. If I liked it enough, I would go out and buy either more singles of that artist or full albums. There's a reason I have a few compilation albums in my collection. It's from me purchasing the individual tracks over the years. 

Some of my friends look specifically for things I may or may not have, and they share what they've found. So birthday inbox surprises are a good thing. 

That's just me and my opinion. I know I've trailed off my original introduction of why I was making this post today, so I suppose I should wrap it up here and actually go get together some cards to send to people.

I've to to make sure they're postmarked within the next couple days or else the envelope won't make it to the home in time... 

Keep your mind open and your ears listening for the groove...

Cheers;

See Also

* Jane's Addiction music on Amazon

* Perry Farrell music on Amazon

* Berry Sakharof music on Amazon

* Infected Mushroom music on Amazon

How many ounces to peedom?

No, I'm not trying to re-work the old Sublime standby (again), but I was measuring a couple plastic cups this morning, as there truly are no such things as equal sizes. 

I had an XL iced cup from WaWa (gas station / convenience store for those who live outside of  Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Florida). It was a freebie drink with the rewards app last month - I could get any sized fountain drink for nothing. So I chose the biggest size I could get, and rightly filled it up with a diet drink. 🙈

Since I like to reuse / recycle the larger cups (when I can), I saved this one so I can put other drinks in it. 

The unfortunate part is, there's no number on the bottom of the cup, telling you what the total liquid inside is (24 ounces, 32, etc). So a little kitchen math (with a cross reference on Google), the cup measures out at 40 ounces. 

Without ice. 

Depending on how cold you like your drink, you're looking at roughly 32 ounces with cubes in it. Maybe less. Therefore, you're paying more money for the next size down. 

Which is how all places are - order an iced beverage at any fast food joint, and you're apt to get a smaller size in a bigger cup. No wonder why rumors were swirling around a coffee giant charging more for "less ice" requests - you then get more liquid which costs the company more. Ice is free for the facility, charge for the customer. 

Because I felt the need to see what the WaWa cup held, I decided to put it next to the Dunkin' (large) iced coffee and McDonald's (large) fountain cups. 

From left to right: Dunkin' is 32 ounces. McDonald's is 32 ounces. WaWa is 40. 

It looks so skewed, but trust me, it's not. The funny thing is, the WaWa cup is 8 ounces larger, but it looks like it's just a mere inch taller. The Dunks and Mickey D's don't look the same height, but they're the same heft. 

Yet all three fit into each other like Russian Stacking Dolls. 

Weird.

But true to form, not all sizes are created equal, pay what you must, and don't look at the lines on the cups - they are cheat sheets for the workers so they know how much ice and liquid to put into each vessel. 

And now, after drinking a full 40 ounces of water with lemon... I must run to spend a penny.... 

Cheers;