A Ghostly Voice from the Past

O.K. Folks,

This blog is about something so strange even I have to say it's ghostly. I read in the newspaper (the new york Times) about this recording that was done in France in 1860 that pre-dates Edison's tin-foil experiment of recording "Mary had a little Lamb".

Seems this Frenchman names Scott, was a tinkerer and Librarian and he was coming up with a way to write down what the human voice was saying, but this was so it would be deciphered by some new means in the future, Scott was not thinking of an audio recording but a type of writing form in which people did not have to write their words down, just speak into a tube and it would be written down by a machine and then scientists in the future would find a way to translate the waves into the written word.

Little did he know, so he used a roll of heavy duty paper and black soot put it on a small hand cranked drum placed a fine needle point on it that was attached to a speaking tube and then it was cranked while someone either spoke, sang or played an instrument into the tube.

The result was wavy lines that recorded the voice, much like the up and down grooves on a record. This Scientist---whose name I forget----is an audiophile researcher, he had heard about Scott's experiment and have come across several of these lampblack soot recordings, several done in 1857 and 1858 were of people talking and someone playing a guitar, but they were not very clear, all there was pops and hiss.

Now how did this Scientist convert these recordings? Well he created a virtual "needle", using light (much like how the sound is transfered to movie film), separated the sound (using computers) into 16 tracks to separate the hiss and pops, allowed for the unevenness of the hand cranking and did find something. So this was promising.

But he needed to find a really clear lampblack recording, he found out that Scott had left one with a diagram of his invention at this institute for mechanical science in France, and the recording was a gem.

He was able to reproduce a voice of a young girl, possibly Scott's daughter, singing an old french folk song called "Au Clair du lune" and the line is about seeing Peirrot by moonlight.

If you go to the New York Times Website for March 28, 2008 they will have attached two recordings---one from 1931 (very clear) of a opera singer singing this song (listen to this one first) that will give you an idea of how it is suppose to sound. The second is Scott's recording it runs for 10 seconds and it is ghostly, it is the tune, but there is something so eerie about it.

I had to play it several times just to feel comfortable about it, the voice of a young girl singing an old french folk tune from almost a hundred and fifty years ago before Edison developed the phonograph. And preserved on a flimsy piece of paper with easily smuggable soot, how quick it could be to wipe away something like that with one careless swoop.

It made me think of those ghost hunters EVP's (electronic voice phenomena), but this is real from a girl long dead and now just reaching out to us across the expanse of time.

Well the scientist presented this finding to about 150 scientists and audio researchers and was greeted with resounding applause, I don't know if it was for the fact that the recording was recoverable and the scientists techniques worked, if it was for Scott or for his long dead daughter's performance---maybe all three.

Oh and don't worry about Edison's place in history, his is still solid, because he was looking for recording sound, not writing sound, but when I looked at the picture of the recording it looks much like how we "read" sound now, so they were both on the same track this just pushes it back further.

Another thing I was thinking about is that some writer is going to write a suspense story (a la Da Vinci Code) using this re-discovered science. I'm looking forward to that.

A suggestion and a link

Hey Folks,

I have a friend---I think she's sweet in her own way---I've mentioned her before, my friend "The fabulous Diva" she has her own blog site "ladivalocafabulous".

But she had some really good advise on her blog and I think you folks should check it out---now I know she sounds pretencious, but she really does sound that way, until you get her into a talk about investing and stocks and business, and boy does that all fall away.

She can hold her own with any man---and she knows more about this stuff than I do. If I had the money to invest I'd go to her for advise.

So for all you young folks out there and all you gals that plan on being real Diva's check out her web site---I have it on the "my links" part of my blog.

And that is my recommendation to ya.

It's the WATER---that fish swim in---bleah!

Well Folks,

There is so much for me to rant about I just don’t know where to begin.

And if I cram it into one long blog I think each subject is going to get lost.

So This one is going to be on chemicals in the water. Please check below for my other 3 blogs that I have posted today---yep! I’ve been busy.

O.K a couple of weeks ago it was reported that all kinds of medical chemicals is in our San Francisco/Alameda County drinking water----excuse me but who has been pissin’ in our water supply!!

It is my understanding that we get our water from Hetch Hetchy all that wonderful pure mountain snow----I guess all those chemicals that the deer and the antelope and bears and mountain lions have been getting and pissin’ into the snow is finally getting to us.

Well it seems that they got part of that story all mixed up, it seems that some areas recycle their water from waste water---but not in the Bay Area where we get ‘pure’ mountain snow. Places like Los Angeles, and San Diego and New York and such---no WONDER the people are nuts there!!!

And forget bottled water folks---that stuff is straight from the tap, they can claim pure spring water if 1 thousandth of a part of the water you get has a drop of pure spring water.

So Arrowhead, Alhambra, Perrier, Dasani, and the other designer waters is just plain tap water right from the lead (or copper pipes) Have you ever tasted Los Angeles water? It’s awful, and now I know why. People are pissing their chemical laced urine into the john, it gets flushed and goes to a holding waste water tank far, far away where it gets filtered, treated, “purified” and other stuff and it tastes like crap!!!

Of course a lot of people don’t know what to do with the expired pills and such that they have left over so it’s easy to dump it down the toilet.

But at least our water source is from ‘pure mountain snow’ where deer and antelope and bears and mountain lions can piss in it.

If there is one thing I WISH T.V. and News reporters do is to at least get the story RIGHT!! Because the next news day they had to come up with a report saying that our Bay Area water is the Best in California. Well I hope So!!! After all, that water originally came from evaporation of the ocean water, fell as snow and rain into the mountains where even all those wild animals pissed in it, it was filtered through the natural granite rock surfaces and in the Dam, and then it tumbles down the dam and into various holding areas and through pipes and filtration systems into the rivers where people swim, do water sports, pan for gold, fish---hey fish swim in the stuff, and then to some lakes, and then through more pipes and more holding areas into the covered areas (so no one can piss in it) to be filtered, treated and sent to our homes to drink.

But I tell you compared to Los Angeles water it tastes good and if you have a charcoal Brita water filter system you can filter it further from any impurities in your house hold water pipes, chill it and it can taste good. I even go one step further when our neighbors lemon tree is producing lemons and squeeze a little lemon juice in it or float thin lemon slices in it for extra freshness. And on a hot day it’s pretty good.

Now they’ve come up with a new marketing idea, Flavored water that has 25 calories, ahhh isn’t that putting sugar in the water??? And isn’t sugar another type of chemical?? I mean why buy flavored water that puts a strain on your body’s natural filtration system. You are suppose to be drinking natural (yeah right) water to filter your body. So what is wrong with this picture???

I tell you people in their search for “green living” go nuts!!

No wonder W.C. Fields was always drunk and never drank water. He use to say “I never drink water, fish fornicate in it.”

It’s enough to give a person body shudders just thinking about it. brrrrrr.

Ya Don't own the whole damn Road!

Well Folks

This is in a way a sad story, but I am also mad as well.

The sad part is that a sheriff’s deputy fell asleep at the wheel and veered into a bunch of cyclists coming up a curving hillside road, and two were killed and one was injured.

No one likes to hear about that and I am sad for the people and their families who were killed and injured.

Now with that out of the way----WHY were those idiots Training, yes Training Folks, on a public road???!!! And one with blind curves at that!!

I’ve been on that road several times and the area where those bicyclists were killed is a blind spot, you don’t even have to be falling asleep at the wheel to nearly hit somebody. It’s dangerous to have bicyclists on that road anyway.

And they were in Training??? FOR WHAT!!!! Just to win some gold medals that is just gold plated??? That is nonsense!!

Do you know why bicycles were invented---as a means of self propelled transportation for people who cannot afford a horse, or take a coach or horse drawn trolley in the city. It was also a means for store owners to have young people deliver groceries or medicine or special delivery letters, newspapers or telegrams to people without the extra added expense of the cost of a horse and wagon.

I even remember the ice cream man had a special bicycle that had one wheel in the back and two wheels in the front and a special heavy duty box to hold the dry ice and the ice cream bars and fudgesicles and Popsicles that way the man didn’t have to worry about balancing himself, and he had a lever that could engage and dis-engage the bells that tinkled and sent us kids rushing out of the houses on a hot summer day.

Police officers use to use them to patrol large areas, that couldn’t be covered by walking, and they didn’t have enough patrol cars or the roads were too narrow for a car.

And you certainly didn’t have to be in training for that!!! You got plenty of training just bicycling around.

Then as time and a half went by cops used the car more often, but now the bike patrols are back which is fine.

But what gets me is the Damn bicyclists, they act like they own the whole damn road---Hey guys and gals YA DON’T---GET THAT THROUGH YOUR BIKE HELMIT HEAD YA DON’T OWN THE WHOLE DAMN ROAD!!!!

You are a motor vehicle, without a lot of protection, granted your means of propelling yourself is your two legs BUT you are still classified as a motor vehicle and you have to follow the vehicular laws----Which you IDIOTS DON”T!!!!!

So why do you TRAIN on a public Road???? That does not make sense, but then anything a bicyclist does or a “greenie” does never makes sense---I guess it’s all that ‘healthy organic veggan” eating that they do. It makes them STUPID!!!!

I don’t know about the sheriffs deputy but I think his career is over and he is going to have to live with his mistake----Now THAT is the guy I really feel sorry for.

Mean Kitty grumbling at stupid Veggans signing off.

Puppies, Help Animal shelters

Ya know Folks, When Perata is gone, who am I going to kick around----certainly not Beaucephus the dog, she’s too sweet and stupid and loving.

O.K. here’s one that gets me---people “hoarding animals” right now at Marin Animal shelter they have taken in a number of small dogs (and they are cute too) that an elderly couple in Texas where “hoarding”.

Now as I understand it---this elderly couple would find these dogs and instead of taking them to their local shelter would take care of them, themselves. Well that’s understandable----BUT they didn’t get them fixed and we all know what dogs and kitties do when they are not fixed---ya get more puppies. About 800 of them to be exact.

Now the upside is that all the dogs were in reasonable good health but a bit more care was needed to bring them up to full health. They were not starved or anything like that and they were lovingly taken care of as well as the elderly couple could take care of them----BUT---well it was a good thing someone found out and took measures.

So now the Marin Shelter people are working to making the dogs healthy and ready for adoption but they need donations and volunteers. So folks if you got a little extra change, or the time to help out, or the time to love and devote yourself to these little guys, check out the Marin Animal Shelter.

As a matter of fact check out your local Animal Shelter and help them out as well. We can’t save the entire world, but we can save and help a small piece of it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

Well guess what Folks,

I just celebrated my 61st birthday---yep I survived 61 years of living!!!

So what did I do, you may ask. Well I just played it mellow. At work my friends gave me cards, we had a little cake and laughs, my Hunka, Hunka Burnin’ Love gave me flowers (pink roses) some candy ( I just love the milk chocolate Hershey’s symphony bars) and a beautiful card---he’s got other plans for me as well but it’s going to be spread over the year.

I was looking up and down my block and I was suddenly taken in by the yearly beauty of it all. It seems that my block has these trees that in the early spring blooms with these white flowers, then they leaf out later developing berries which are no problem to wash off or sweep away, and then they lose their leaves in the winter----but around my birthday I get this big splash of white flowers just making my block look so beautiful. Make me feel good.

When over to my brother’s Bubba’s house, for a bit of desert, my niece was also celebrating her birthday she’s way younger than me. So I gave her a card and so spending money.

I even wrote a note in the card---it said---

“Dear Niece,

Every year when I give you a card I include a long winded speech in it with all kinds of advice, but this year it’s going to be short.

My advise as you are now a young lady is this---Respect your Parents, your Aunts and Uncles (even if a couple of them are nuts) and especially your Grandparents (even if you think they are weird) as you get older you will appreciate them and what you learn from them and their lives that they have lived.

In regards to your brothers and your cousins, well I will leave that up to you.

With everyone else---TAKE NO PRISONERS!!!!”

My niece laughed and smiled at that----I do wish you could have seen the look on my brother’s face, it was “Oh boy are we in for trouble” type look. I just love doing that.

Like I love watching the show “COPS” if they have a police dog I always yell “Loose the hounds!!!” Heck I’m always on the dogs’ side. My brother knows I’m weird. Good thing he loves me.

I know that this year, things are going to be a bit slow and more home focused, I do not think we will be taking any trips---except maybe to the county fair. Well we had so much fun last year, but this year is the year to pay the piper and get the cash flow going in a good way.

We shall see what we shall see, after all I am starting on my 62nd year of living.

Mean Kitty signing off and relaxing.

I'm Back!!!

Well Folks Did Ya miss me???

Maybe not, but who's counting.

O.K. I haven't been blogging because I've been trying to take care of business, such as taxes---and boy this time they are fast with the refund!!! And just in time too, because I've got to pay the property taxes, the tax man taketh, giveth and taketh again.

I am so glad that the primary is over, but I am soooo bored with the T.V. news guys constantly talking about clinton and obama, Frankly I could care less.

If Obama gets in he'll get eaten alive and Clinton is useless, if she wanted that health care program for everyone she would have pushed her husband to do it when he was in office. I mean they Had 8 YEARS to do something besides covering up his infidelities, and hiding the fact that terrorists were planning to bomb the U.S. of A. from the Republicans when they got into office.

Huckabee I knew would bow out, just too much controversy, but McCain---I still can't trust an ex-Navy Flyer who crashed his plane making a landing on an aircraft carrier, talk about a mistake.

And now Ralphie Nader is in the works----It's a Crap shoot.

Frankly I'm going to watch DVD's and avoid the news or at least mute it when it's about the polotics.

And now even the State of California is screwed up---and cutting moneys from very needed programs like medi-cal and education----Escuse me!!! But why cut it from needed programs, why not cut the salaries of our ineffective politicians, have them drive tiny honda's instead of those fancy Dodge Chargers with 22 inch rims like old Donnie Perata---that's where the money is being mis-spent.

O.K. I know he's driving a Crown Vic now, but frankly he needs to be squeezed into a honda.

So now they are going to cut the sports programs from the schools in our town, and everyone is protesting----Hey wait a minute, they didn't protest this much when they cut the music, theatre, dance, and art programs---but just touch football and they are screaming all over the place.

Says one student- "Duh, un well I need it like for a scholarship or something" Or SOMETHING???? How about getting down and cracking the books and improving your speech and diction and talking the English. Playing football does not make a doctor, a fireman or a lawyer, cracking the books and being in a good excerise program does.

This comes from all those pork barrell polotics (o.k. I can't spell that word) that has been wasting our money---there is no one really looking into all these bills that are being passed, because anyone can piggy back a pork barrell onto a bill and it is blindly passed it's called "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" THAT is why we are in this situation.

And the cost of gasoline well don't get me going there----frankly we have access with a very friendly country to get tons and barrells and barrells of oil, but we don't.

Why? Do you ask. Well it's simple---the country we can get it from is ----CANADA!!!

But we don't because Canada's crude has sulfer in it---and most of our refineries do not have the heavy cores to process the Canada crude---only two of them here in the U.S. of A. can handle both the Canada crude as well as the Saudi oil, one of them is called Frontier Oil forgot the name of the other.

But Frontier preferrs Canada crude---why you ask? Simple Frontier Oil can buy Canada crude for 40 dollars a barrel refine it and still make a 30% profit.

But our other refineries prefer what they call "sweet crude" from Saudi Arabia, Kuawit, Mexico and Venezuala (sp) because it has less sulfer, so our other refineries do not have the heavy cores to process Canadian crude and if they did our gas prices would be only $2.00 a gallon at the very most.

And the Enviormental defectives will NOT allow our refineries to re-tool to handle CAnadian crude---SO WHO BESIDES THE SAUDI'S ARE JACKING UP OUR GAS PRICES!!!!

It doesn't take much thought on that.

So me and my Hunka, Hunka Burnin' love plan our auto trips carefully, we stay home a lot and use the internet to keep connected to our love ones---because telephone calls are getting expensive and even stamps are going up by another penny in May----I didn't know glue was getting so expensive.

And now here's something for all you folks in Vallejo---your fire stations are closing down---at least 3 of them have closed---pray for a miracle that your house doesn't get on fire, or someone doesn't have a heart attack or anything in which time is of the essence. And it's all because they don't know how to budget.

Me---I'm buying more fire extingueshers(sp) and mounting hoses on all my outside spigots---the only one who can save you---is you!!

Right now my Man is watching a horror program---PBS is doing a program on the music from the 1960's---and I have to say that all those clothes we wore (I didn't wear that stuff even then I thought they were ugly back then) well like I said they were ugly back then and they are even worse now, I just can't watch it. Although the music wasn't too bad. But then "I'm a little bit country" and he's "a little bit rock and roll"

Well I'm going to bed and listen to "Coast to Coast" hosted by George Noory, I think it's ghost to ghost night---so I'll get to hear other types of spooky stories----ooooooo.

Nity-Night all. and don't forget to re-set your clocks Saturday night, remember it's Spring Forward, Fall back.