Blog at Richard Call Dot Net

Drug Deal gone bad or Friendship gone right?

// October 24th, 2009 // Comments // Laugh, Music // Laugh, Music

I found this humorous video looking for a good video for Yo la Tengo’s Autumn Sweater.

Pounds by David Horwitz and David Yee

Song: Yo La Tengo — Autumn Sweater
amazon | iTunes | last.fm

Tuesdays Playlist — Twilight New Moon Edition

// October 21st, 2009 // Comments // Download 15, Music // Download 15, Music

Below are the movers and shakers of the indie music scene as ranked and aired by on Sirius XMU. From the October 17 Download 15:

13 Soft Pack — Fences (Phoenix Cover/remix)
Myspace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | Buy MP3 | Buy Album

08 Chromeo – Night By Night
Myspace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | Buy MP3 | Buy Album

04 Flaming Lips– Convinced of the Hex
Myspace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | Buy mp3 | Buy Album

Please enjoy but keep in mind these songs are here for sampling purposes. Please support the record labels by purchasing a copy of the album or MP3. Better yet, go see the band when they come to your town. These files are not hosted by me and are subject to removal at anytime.

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Bill Maher and Bill Frist on vaccines

// October 21st, 2009 // Comments // Sceince, opinion, politics // Sceince, opinion, politics

From Real Time with Bill Maher 9 October:

Maher, a normally Pro Science guy and recipient of the Richard Dawkins Award asks Senator Frist this:

“Conservatives always say about health care, especially, you know, are you going to let the government run health care? They screw everything up. So why would you let them be the ones to stick a disease into your arm?”

I have never been a big fan of kitten killer, Vanderbilt Heart Surgeon and former Tennessee Senator Bill Frist, especially after his video diagnosis of Terry Shivo, but I have to agree with his stance on vaccines. I am actually kind of surprised at Bill Maher stance. His distrust for the government makes sense for a Libertarian point of view, he has in the past been Pro- Science. How in his right mind can he even tell pregnant women, who’s immune systems are naturally suppressed, not to get the vaccine? Evan Lerner at Seed said:

When you make a doctor who is famous for diagnosing a woman’s brain activity via teleconference look like a paragon of evidence-based medicine, we have a problem.

I agree with Frist on this one. Vaccines are extremely important, effective and necessary for public health. I’ll let the medical and scientific experts at the CDC explain (emphasis mine):

The effectiveness of the vaccine depends in part on the match between the viruses in the vaccine and influenza viruses that are circulating in the community. If these are closely matched, vaccine effectiveness (VE) is higher. If they are not closely matched, vaccine effectiveness can be reduced. During well-matched years, clinical trials have shown VE between 70% and 90% for inactivated influenza vaccines in the prevention of serologically confirmed influenza infection among healthy adults.

Interim results from a study carried out this season with the Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin found overall vaccine effectiveness (VE) of 44% for the 2007-08 flu shot. This included VE of 58% effectiveness against the predominant influenza A (H3N2) viruses, but no effectiveness against influenza B viruses. No influenza A (H1N1) viruses were seen in the study population, so VE against these viruses could not be assessed. A higher VE against H3N2 viruses than against influenza B viruses was likely because the circulating H3N2 strains and H3N2 strain in the vaccine were closely related while the circulating B viruses were antigenically and genetically much different from the influenza B virus in the vaccine and there was little to no cross-reactivity.

CDC has other systems for estimating vaccine effectiveness. These systems cover multiple sites across the country, which provides vaccine effectiveness data on different populations in areas where different influenza strains may predominate. However, vaccine effectiveness estimates using these systems are not yet available.

If you decide to not get the seasonal or H1N1 flu vaccine, do so only after discussing it with your doctor. He or she knows your health better than anyone. and can advise you based on peer reviewed, published evidence. Anyone else telling you other wise is acting irresponsibly and putting you and you family in a dangerous place.

I have and always will trust science I have gotten my seasonal flu vaccine and will get the H1N1 once it is available as a shot. What are you going to do?

Tuesday’s Playlist

// October 13th, 2009 // Comments // Download 15, Music // Download 15, Music

Below are the movers and shakers of the indie music scene as ranked and aired by on Sirius XMU. From the October 10 Download 15:

9 Of Montreal — Brush, Brush, Brush
Myspace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | Buy MP3 | Buy Album

5 Chromeo – Night By Night
Myspace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | Buy MP3 | Buy Album

3 Soft Pack — Fences (Phoenix Cover/remix)
Myspace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | Buy MP3 | Buy Album

Please enjoy but keep in mind these songs are here for sampling purposes. Please support the record labels by purchasing a copy of the album or MP3. Better yet, go see the band when they come to your town. These files are not hosted by me and are subject to removal at anytime.

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Obama Chia, Really?

// October 11th, 2009 // Comments // Laugh // Laugh

This is wrong on soo many levels.

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

I’m pretty sure this doesn’t say “I’m Proud to be an American”.

you can also get a Chia Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.

What do you think?

Things can change in an instant

// October 8th, 2009 // Comments // Live, personal // Live, personal

We live in a world of uncertainty and change. A world of chaos and unpredictability. It was a beautiful, cool, crisp Saturday Morning the I and 11 other will never forget.

Last Saturday as i was driving to pick up a friend, I came up on a terrible 3 care accident right after it happened. From the witness descriptions apparently a car ran a red light and ran in to another car making a turn which caused one car to spin and the impacting car hit another car after.

Having been a EMT, I instantly jumped out of the car to see what i could do. I ran to the closest cars passenger side door. Inside was a man, badly injured with the dashboard of the car on his lap. I tried to open the door but it was either locked and jammed. I yelled “Can you unlock the door”. Another bystander was climbing in to the back seat. I yelled again, “I’m an EMT, I can help, can you unlock the door”. He said ” So am I, I got this go see about the baby”. It was then I could hear the screams of a woman over by another car. She was screaming “Help me!! Help my baby!” That is an image that I will never get out of my head, the absolute panicked helpless look on her face. I ran over as fast as I could but by the time I got there 5 other people has swarmed to her. He was screaming and clutching an approximately 2 year old child covers in blood, not crying, arms dangling. I decide I was not going to be much of a help there so I looked in to the smashed up car to see an older Indian woman in the passenger seat. I climbed through and unlocked the door and ran around to her, opening the door. She was breathing and in obvious pain. I asked her where she hurt. She said something, not in English, so I yelled if someone could translate. A man, the driver of the car amazingly unhurt, came over. I told him to ask her where she hurt. She said her chest, stomach and legs, the Right one worse. I reached over to pull the keys out cause the front of the car was smoking, but I could not get them out. Another guy was trying to tell me to pull her out but I said, “not unless the car is on fire. If you see flames tell me and we pull her out. At that point I climbed in to back and held her c spine as straight as i could. In EMT school we are taught to assess the airway, breathing and circulation and if that is ok then assume neck injury. The car she was in (see photo) was absolutely destroyed by the almost full on front impact. I wasn’t sure where the engine of the car was.

The White Car, It was hit almost full head on and spun. (click to enlarge)

White Car which was hit almost head on and spun.

I so I held c-spine untill the Nashville Fire Department showed up. I held it there for almost an hour since the baby was critical and the first of the Fire Personal to show up were attending and extracting the 2 guys in the other car. Once they got to me, I assisted getting the neck collar on and them moved out of the way. In the process i noticed the back seat, where the baby was, was covered in blood. I am not sure exactly what happened to it.

When they pulled the lady I was helping out, her hip was deformed and her foot had a bone sticking out of it. I hung around to see how the other people were doing. The third car (red one) has 2 younger girls, a baby, a toddler and a kid about 12 or so. They had injuries but nothing Life threatening. After all was done 10 of the 11 people involved had been transported, The driver of the white care was not hurt. I heard on the news that night that one of the guys and the baby was in critical condition. I will probably never know how they will be, or how the lady I helped will be. I am just glad i was able to help.

Life is short and in an instant things can change. On this day the lives of 11 people changed. The lesson to take for this is, never take life for granted because you never know what will happen or who will be taken. Just make sure you tell everyone you care they you care about them everyday.

The Other 2 cars (click to enlarge)

Tuesdays Playlist

// October 7th, 2009 // Comments // Music // Music

Below are the movers and shakers of the indie music scene as ranked and aired by on Sirius XMU. From the October 3 Download 15:

15 Florence and the machine – You’ve Got the Love (The XX Remix)
Myspace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | Buy MP3 | Buy Album

13 Anya Marina – Satellite Heart
Myspace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | Buy MP3 | Buy Album

12 Nirvana – Scoff (Live at the Pine Street Theater)
Myspace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | Buy MP3 | Buy Album

11 Chromeo – Night By Night
Myspace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | Buy MP3 | Buy Album

9 Sufjan Stevens– Too Much Love
Myspace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | Buy MP3 | Buy Album

8 Wavves – Cool Jumpers
Myspace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | Buy MP3 | Buy Album

3 Girls — Lust for Life
Myspace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | Buy MP3 | Buy Album

Please enjoy but keep in mind these songs are here for sampling purposes. Please support the record labels by purchasing a copy of the album or MP3. Better yet, go see the band when they come to your town. These files are not hosted by me and are subject to removal at anytime.

.

Olbermann on Prop 8 — Do unto others…..

// October 6th, 2009 // Comments // Love, opinion, politics // Love, opinion, politics

Once again.. Olbermann hits it on the head… This vote or anyone who says, “no you cant get married because you are gay”, is denying the single greatest thing in this world……Love, So please … tell me where in you religious text where that statement is. To hate someone because they love or to take love from someone.

excerpts

“I keep hearing this term “re-defining” marriage. If this country hadn’t re-defined marriage, black people still couldn’t marry white people. Sixteen states had laws on the books which made that illegal in 1967. 1967.

The parents of the President-Elect of the United States couldn’t have married in nearly one third of the states of the country their son grew up to lead. But it’s worse than that. If this country had not “re-defined” marriage, some black people still couldn’t marry black people. It is one of the most overlooked and cruelest parts of our sad story of slavery. Marriages were not legally recognized, if the people were slaves. Since slaves were property, they could not legally be husband and wife, or mother and child.”

…..

“What is this, to you? Nobody is asking you to embrace their expression of love. But don’t you, as human beings, have to embrace . . . that love? The world is barren enough.

It is stacked against love, and against hope, and against those very few and precious emotions that enable us to go forward. Your marriage only stands a 50-50 chance of lasting, no matter how much you feel and how hard you work.

And here are people overjoyed at the prospect of just that chance, and that work, just for the hope of having that feeling. With so much hate in the world, with so much meaningless division, and people pitted against people for no good reason, this is what your religion tells you to do? With your experience of life and this world and all its sadnesses, this is what your conscience tells you to do?With your knowledge that life, with endless vigor, seems to tilt the playing field on which we all live, in favor of unhappiness and hate… this is what your heart tells you to do? You want to sanctify marriage? You want to honor your God and the universal love you believe he represents? Then spread happiness — this tiny, symbolic, semantical grain of happiness — share it with all those who seek it.”

…….

“You are asked now to stand, not on a question of politics, not on a question of religion, not on a question of gay or straight. You are asked now to stand, on a question of love. All you need do is stand, and let the tiny ember of love meet its own fate.

You don’t have to help it, you don’t have it applaud it, you don’t have to fight for it. Just don’t put it out. Just don’t extinguish it. Because while it may at first look like that love is between two people you don’t know and you don’t understand and maybe you don’t even want to know. It is, in fact, the ember of your love, for your fellow person just because this is the only world we have. And the other guy counts, too.”

With the National Equalty March Upon us, I would love to hear your opinion on this. My comments allow for Video Comments… so break out the webcam and speak your mind.

New Music Tuesday

// September 29th, 2009 // Comments // Music, Nashville // Music, Nashville

Below are the movers and shakers of the indie music scene as ranked and aired by on Sirius XMU. From the July 11th Download ummm 14?:

11 The Golden Filter – Thunderbird
Myspace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | Buy MP3 | Buy Album

10 Pavement – Summer Babe (Winter Version)
Myspace | Last.fm | Buy MP3 | Buy Album | iTunes

9 Chromeo – Night By Night
Myspace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | Buy MP3 | Buy Album

8 No Age – You’re A Target
Myspace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | Buy MP3 | Buy Album

7 Death Cab For Cutie – Meet Me On The Equinox
Myspace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | Buy MP3 | Buy Album

6 Flaming Lips – Convinced Of The Hex
Myspace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | Buy mp3 | Buy Album

5 Washed Out – Feel It All Around
Myspace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | Buy MP3 | Buy Album

4 The XX – Crystalised
Myspace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | Buy MP3 | Buy Album

3 Monsters Of Folk – Dear God Sincerely MOF
Myspace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | buy mp3 | Buy album

2 Volcano Choir – Island, IS
Myspace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | Buy MP3 | Buy Album

1 Julian Casablancas – 11th Dimension
Myspace | Wikipedia | Last.fm | Buy MP3 | Buy Album

Please enjoy but keep in mind these songs are here for sampling purposes. Please support the record labels by purchasing a copy of the album or MP3. Better yet, go see the band when they come to your town. These files are not hosted by me and are subject to removal at anytime.

.

G20 protests in Pittsburgh

// September 27th, 2009 // Comments // History, Protests, politics // History, Protests, politics

I wasn’t able to make it to the G20 protests in Pittsburgh, PA but I found this neat little app that is a Twitter/Flickr mashup called Twitterfountain which is a small window in to the happenings.

(you can adjust the speed of the twitter updates.)

I’ll add more information as i find it.