Funny mismatched Google ads

It's well known that Google has some awesomely smart folks working for them. But computers are computers and sometimes they don't get it right, in spite of the geniuses that program them. Witness this screenshot of my gmail. Google generates ad revenue by scanning your email content (yeah, a little creepy, but whatevers) and matching up advertisers to what it perceives the content of the email to be. For instance, everytime I get email from my golf club, Google will match up golf-related advertising.

This email is no exception, but click on the pic to get the full-size version at Flickr and check out the other ads that made it to the top of the sidebar. Did "cup pairings" trigger this? Go figure.

Fried clams @ Costello's !!

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Our favorite spot to get fried clams is Costello's, which is in the village of Noank, CT. It was a beautiful warm day today, so we decided to head down to the boatyard and have dinner overlooking the water. It was great!! If you ever visit the Mystic area, let me know and we'll go for clams with you! :)

Discouraging the barn swallows

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When our house was being built, a pair of barn swallows built a nest in the incomplete garage, in the uppermost rafters. Consequently, they or their progeny have been returning every year to try to nest. This week, I had to evict them from a nest they'd started on our front porch. They moved to the back porch, at which point I bought some plastic webbing and have tried to prevent them from making nests there. The problem is that once they have eggs or hatchlings in the nest, they become very aggressive and will attack at high speed anyone who ventures onto the porch near the nest. Sorry guys, but it's our house not yours!

Terra Naomi's "Say it's possible"

Terra Naomi has released an "official" video of her song "Say It's Possible." But I don't think it's half as good as the original YouTube video she posted months ago that she made in her LA apartment. The original is so much more real, simple, honest, personal and vibrant.

Terra, I love you, dear, but dance with the one that brought you. And by the way, what happened to the live performance of "Goodbye Letters". That was so incredibly good. I miss listening to it. Can we have it back, please... Please?

New, improved legislation on Internet Radio??

I received this email today from Joe Lieberman, US Senator from Connecticut regarding an internet petition I signed. Seems to indicate there's action to reverse the penal charges that were going to be levied on Internet radio stations.

May 10, 2007 Mr. Joseph Cascio, Jr.

Dear Mr. Cascio: Thank you for contacting me regarding the Copyright Royalty Board's decision with respect to royalty rates for webcasters. I appreciate the concerns you raised about this decision. You may be interested to know that in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Jay Inslee (D-WA) introduced the Internet Radio Equality Act (H.R. 2060). H.R. 2060 effectively voids the Copyright Royalty Board's decision and sets new rates for the royalties to be paid by Internet radio stations. Specifically, H.R. 2060 states that commercial Internet radio stations instead pay one of two royalty rates for the next five years, to be determined by the station itself, as follows: 1. 0.33 cents per hour of sound recordings transmitted to a single listener; or 2. 7.5 percent of the revenues received by the provider during that year that are directly related to the provider's digital transmissions of sound recordings. H.R. 2060 also alters the formula for determining the royalty payments for non-commercial Internet radio stations so that these stations will pay lower rates than those determined by the Royalty Board.

For more information on this topic, I encourage you to visit the federal resources section of my web site at http://lieberman.senate.gov/issues/resources/, where you will find a "Congressional Research Service" link to a collection of informative and research documents prepared by the Library of Congress. A report entitled "Statutory Royalty Rates for 'Small' Webcasters: Decision of the Copyright Royalty Board" has been made available, which I hope you find helpful.

A companion version of H.R. 2060 has not yet been introduced in the Senate at this time. However, please be assured that I will keep your views in mind should legislation on this subject come before the full Senate for debate. To keep track of actions on specific legislation, you can go to the "Bill Tracking" service at http://lieberman.senate.gov/issues/resources. My official Senate web site is designed to be an on-line office that provides access to constituent services, Connecticut-specific information, and an abundance of information about what I am working on in the Senate on behalf of Connecticut and the nation.

[...]Thank you again for letting me know your views and concerns. Please contact me if you have any additional questions or comments about our work in Congress. Sincerely, Joseph I. Lieberman UNITED STATES SENATOR

Black bean soup with avocado chutney

In our 34 years of marriage, my wife Barb has developed a flair for cooking that's pretty incredible. Tonight she made a mostly-veggie soup with a chutney garnish that's really delicious. When she was doing the prep, I noticed the gorgeous yellow sweet pepper she was chopping and decided to record the process. Unfortunately, you can't taste the final result, but trust me, it was heavenly. And there's some left over for tomorrow, too! :)

Here's one of the pics of the Flickr set I put up.