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For many years I have proudly helped with maintaining HazzardNet.com, in my humble opinion one of the best Dukes of Hazzard websites out there. As such, given the amount of time and work I’ve contributed to the site, I tend to view other websites dedicated to American pop culture with a critically biased eye. 

One such site is the official estate sanctioned website of Glenn Miller, (yes, another Miller related topic!). Overall it’s a nice site, with several photos, biographical information, tidbits, trivia and links to merchandise (mostly CD’s). Kinda like HNet, only without the sass. Khee!

For several months earlier this year the site came up as being “Under Renovation”. Great! I thought, must be a big update right? Maybe a new fresh look to the site, some new long lost images or something, maybe an announcement of some release of material long collecting dust in a vault somewhere? Nope. I noticed a few weeks ago the site is back up and looks the same as it did before, with the same last news posting dating back to 2004.

But more recently I was browsing through a section of the site where you can download desktop wallpapers and screensavers for your computer and such. The designs are eh…okay, but not really something that put me in the mood to want to download them and use them on my desktop. The colorings match that of the site (minty green) and there’s just a few different versions to chose from. I had looked at these once before but didn’t really pay too much attention to them at the time because, like I said, they just didn’t strike me.

This time, however, I noticed something. One of the desktop wallpapers is not even a picture of Glenn. The gentleman pictured, looks kinda like Glenn, is holding a trombone but despite the name next to him, it is NOT Glenn Miller….

Hell no, that’s Tommy Dorsey! HUH?! Okay, maybe they kinda sorta look similar. After all, here’s Miller…

So I suppose anybody could make a mistake but…as the Official website of GM, this is a major faux paux. Especially considering Miller worked for Tommy Dorsey (and his brother Jimmy Dorsey) at one point before starting his own band. I imagine Miller would not have been impressed with this “oops.” 

This would be like us at HNet, even though we’re not an official site, using a picture of David Soul instead of John Schneider.

The mistake could maybe be understandable but nonetheless unacceptable. Obviously, we at HNet hold ourselves to a higher standard.

Plus we know damn well enough the difference between David Soul and John Schneider! LOL.

But shame on the people maintaining the GM site for not knowing the difference between Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey. I’d contact them to express my displeasure but their feedback, contact and business inquiry pages all come up blank. Well. That’s helpful. Ironically this is the only thing about the site that seems to have changed with this “renovation.” Thus, I’m forced to complain here in my blog.

And, since I was sooooo impressed with the desktop wallpapers to begin with, I created a couple of my own….

Now that’s more like it! =)

In my MyCan’tGetNoSatisfactionSpace.com entry, I linked to a news story from a CBS affiliate in Texas. At the very end of the article was this…

In the interest of timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain occasional typographical errors.

So THAT’S why the news on Yahoo sometimes looks like it’s written by a buncha yahoos. The Associated Press are apparently the guilty yahoos! Allowing for typographical errors in the interest of timeliness? Man, if I adopted that dogma can you imagine what my blog entries would look like?

Heck, if CNN, FoxNews or any of the evening news programs adopted that dogma can you imagine what that would sound like?

“We wnat to bring this reaking nwers story out of Atlana…..”

Wow. Although, I admit I did discover a typo in a previous blog entry which I’ve since fixed (and I’m sure there’s others out there that I’ve missed). But if I worried more about timeliness instead of quality, not only would there be typos up the wazoo, it probably wouldn’t make a hell of a lot of sense. Although I can pull together my thoughts pretty well in the written word, it takes me awhile to do it. I revise, reword and reorganize a lot of what I write. Which is why instead I take this writer’s code to heart: The first draft is always *$#&!%!

And there are no finer examples of that then my first drafts. Khee!

But seriously, I sincerely hope that the AP has atleast one proof read of material before putting stuff out on the wire and isn’t just sending this stuff out willy-nilly. I hate to think that our news media (which I have rather jaded opinion of to begin with) is sacrificing quality writing and professional presentation in the interest of “timeliness.”

Monday night I happen to catch a short news item on CNN regarding everybody’s favorite website to bash, MySpace.com. Apparently, some 30-odd deathrow inmates in Texas have MySpace pages set up. Now, obviously the inmates themselves are not running these pages, the pages are maintained by family and/or friends. They include the usual topics of likes and dislikes, images and photos and whathave you. According to CNN, none of the pages make any reference at all that these people committed terrible crimes nor is there any show of remorse. Victims advocates are crying foul with MySpace.

Man, MySpace just can’t catch a break. If it’s not your average run-o-the-mill weirdo it’s pedophiles praying on young people and now, deathrow inmates setting up shop! Then you got the really weird people, like me and Brian who have MySpace pages. Damn, it’s a scary world out there!!

This actually isn’t my first commentary about MySpace. I have a blog entry that’s been sitting in drafts for several weeks now having to do with MySpace and the teen element. Or rather the teen lament. My local newspaper has a segment they run weekly called “Teen Life” and a month or so ago they showcased some MySpace postings of local teenagers (names and identities withheld to protect the innocent). The postings highlighted teen angst and rebellion. It was the kind of stuff that I thought would prompt outraged letters to the editor, where people would comment that the postings not only boded bad for MySpace, they didn’t bode well for the future generation of MyState. The subsequent letters to the editor more or less blasted the newspaper for being yet another mass media outlet taking part in the seemingly vogue bashing of MySpace. 

I’d post my blog entry but it really loses it’s punch without the examples from the article. My copy of the paper has long since gone to recycling, and the paper hasn’t updated the “Teen Life” archive on their website since June.

So not only does MySpace not get any satisfaction….neither can I!

13 Foods That Kill 

For years now, we’ve been bombarded with ever changing lists of foods that are bad for our health. Eggs, coffee, alcohol, red meat….the list has been endless. All these foods that will cause us to have high cholestrol, clogged arteries and general flux of the innards.

Now, eDiets.com has come up with the ultimate “one-up” list. Foods that could just outright kill us if we’re stupid enough. With the recent outbreak of E. coli contamination in spinach, I’m really not surprised that this list came to be. What bugs the hell out of me though, is that this list is nothing but pure fear mongering. We should all know and be aware that foods not properly prepared, stored or cooked is asking for trouble. But just how stupid do these “doctors” think the general public is?

Apparently very. For example, number 2 on the list is: Water. Yes, the very foundation of our existence could kill us. The article warns that water from wells/private streams is especially at high risk for contamination and people who get their water from a public utilty should make themselves familar with the yearly consumer confidence analysis report on the local water supply, making sure it continues to be safe to drink.

Well duhhh!! I would think that people who have wells would be extra aware of making sure the quality of their water is safe, since afterall, they have to drink it, cook with it and bathe with it. Those folks who use the public water supply, granted, may not have to be as extra aware as it’s the responsibilty of the town/city/municipality to keep the water supply safe, but certainly consumers should pay attention to any reports on the water quality. Kind of a no-brainer if you ask me. (But nobody did.)

Also on the list of Killer Foods: moldy peanuts. Moldy peanuts? Hello?? Is there some sub-culture I’m not aware of that goes around eating moldy peanuts? What moron would eat moldy peanuts? What moron would eat moldy anything?! Bread, for example, is not like bananas. When banananas go from green to yellow, they’re ready to eat. When bread goes from white to green, it’s ready to go in the trash! 

Moldy peanuts, incidentally, have little white spores on ‘em. Do not eat peanuts with little white spores on them. Throw them away. Do not pass go, do not say hello to Mr. Peanut. 

Finally, on the list of thirteen that I found somewhat ludicrious: Turkey and stuffing. This is great timing since we’re just about a month away from Thanksgiving. I don’t know about you, but in my family we’ve had turkey and stuffing since the dawn of time. We’re all still alive and none of us have ever gotten sick from it. Cooking instructions are placed on the turkey packaging for a reason folks, and it’s not to make the label look pretty. My mother has faithfully followed the instructed cooking temperatures and times for stuffed turkey and we’ve enjoyed many a delicious turkey dinner over the years.  I’m sure there are some idiots out there who crank the temperature up in order to cut down on the time. I think the people who come up with the cooking instructions for the turkeys know what they’re talking about. If the bird was meant to be cooked at 500 degrees for 1 hour, then the instructions would say that.

Other items on the list include other no-brainer situations such as raw eggs, raw fish, and the long disputed Evil of All Evil Foods That Could Kill You….raw cookie dough. I’ll admit I’ve nibbled on raw cookie dough when baking cookies, but let’s be serious. If cookie dough was meant to be eaten in it’s non-baked condition then we wouldn’t be given baking instructions for it would we? Again, I wasn’t asked…

In addition to all these foods that could kill you, practically everything we eat can ruin our teeth. Coffee leaves stains, hard candy is a sugar bath for our teeth and that turkey dinner you just ate that I described above has left small offerings inbetween your teeth which will convert into plaque, cause cavities and then become tooth decay. All in a matter of minutes if you don’t brush right NOW! Or…chew on this special gum.

Unfortunately, chewing the gum can ruin your jaw joint….

Peanuts anyone?