Steven Wilde

Yep - one step at a time, but also listen to the body to a point. Remember, no pain no gain, but pain is there for a reason.

Things on Bill Gates the Knight's To-Do List

5> Get injunction against vendors trying to unbundle chips from fish.

4> 1. Challenge Linus Torvalds to a joust. 2. Make sure I have enforceable patents on the lance, mace & shield.

3> Battle the Black Knight, armed only with the dreaded Blue Screen of Death.

2> Ring for tea and when it comes, threaten to sack that commoner Steve Jobs for mixing up your scones with your crumpets.

and the Number 1 Thing on Bill Gates the Knight's To-Do List...

1> Can't pull the sword from the stone? Buy the friggin' lake!

New Order Fans

Their new single Krafty is available on iTunes

mjs99

BigBunny

Yummy - the black gooey stuff in a tube, not unlike tooth paste.

Signs Your Cat May Be Planning to Kill You

5> Has taken a sudden interest in the wood chipper.

4> Instead of dead birds, leaves cartons of Marlboros on your doorstep.

3> Ball of yarn playfully tied into a hangman's noose.

2> You find a piece of paper labeled "MY WIL" which says "LEEV AWL 2 KAT."

and the Number 1 Sign Your Cat May Be Planning to Kill You...

Wisc. Hunter Wants Open Season for Cats

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Hunter Mark Smith welcomes wild birds on to his property, but if he sees a cat, he thinks the "invasive" animal should be considered fair game.

The 48-year-old firefighter from La Crosse has proposed that hunters in Wisconsin make free-roaming domestic cats an "unprotected species" that could be shot at will by anyone with a small-game license.

His proposal will be placed before hunters on April 11 at the Wisconsin Conservation Congress spring hearings in each of the state's 72 counties.

"I get up in the morning and if there's new snow, there's cat tracks under my bird feeder ... I look at them as an invasive species, plain and simple," Smith said.

Smith's proposal has horrified cat lovers, but is seen by others as a way to stop cats from killing wild birds.

University of Wisconsin-Madison wildlife ecology professor Stanley Temple, who trapped more than 100 cats and analyzed their stomach contents during a four-year study, has estimated that between 7.8 million and 219 million birds are killed by rural cats in Wisconsin each year.

"It's obviously a very controversial proposal," Temple said, but added, "I think there really is a basis for having a debate about it."

The Conservation Congress is a five-member elected body whose duty is to advise the Department of Natural Resources and the Legislature on natural resources issues.

DNR attorney Tim Andryk said the vote would simply be "an advisory recommendation" to state lawmakers.

"We (the DNR) don't have authority to regulate domestic animals. Legislation would have to be passed to accomplish this," Andryk said. "You might also have to amend laws relating to abuse of domestic animals."

But Temple said he thinks legislation is not needed. He said the department does have the authority to declare rural cats an unprotected species — because unclaimed cats can be considered nonnative wildlife species like house mice, Norway rats, pigeons and starlings.

"If they are not a pet, if somebody doesn't claim ownership, they become a nonnative wildlife species and not entitled to protection by the state," he said.

Cat enthusiasts Cheryl Balazs, Ted O'Donnell and Adam Bauknecht are trying to organize opposition to Smith's proposal. O'Donnell, a co-owner of MadCat Pet Supplies, recently set up a Web site, dontshootthecat.com, to inform people about it.

O'Donnell said Smith's proposal "is a callous response" to the problem of cats preying on wild birds.

"There's more humane solutions," he said. "We as citizens should step up and solve the problem humanely."

Sheri Carr, senior humane officer at the Dane County Humane Society, said the group has not yet taken a position on the proposal, but wants cat owners to abide by their local ordinances and not let their animals roam.

Laughter May Be Good for the Heart, Study Finds

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A daily dose of laughter may be good for the heart because, like exercise, it makes blood vessels work more efficiently, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.

Depression, on the other hand, can raise the risk of dying from heart failure, a separate study found.

The two studies, presented at a meeting of the American College of Cardiology in Orlando, Florida, show how psychological factors can affect a person's health.

"We don't recommend that you laugh and not exercise, but we do recommend that you try to laugh on a regular basis. Thirty minutes of exercise three times a week, and 15 minutes of laughter on a daily basis is probably good for the vascular system," said Dr. Michael Miller of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore.

Miller and colleagues at the school showed two movies, one humorous, one stressful, to 20 healthy volunteers and tested the function of their blood vessels.

The researchers specifically looked at the endothelium, the lining of the vessels, and found that blood flow was reduced in 14 of the 20 volunteers after stressful movie clips. But blood flowed more freely in 19 of the 20 when they laughed at funny movie segments.

Average blood flow increased 22 percent during laughter, and decreased 35 percent during mental stress, they told the meeting.

"The endothelium is the first line in the development of atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries, so, given the results of our study, it is conceivable that laughing may be important to maintain a healthy endothelium, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease," Miller said in a statement.

Laughter may be almost as helpful as exercise, Miller said.

"The magnitude of change we saw in the endothelium is similar to the benefit we might see with aerobic activity, but without the aches, pains and muscle tension associated with exercise," he said.

In a second study, Dr Wei Jiang and colleagues at Duke University in North Carolina followed 1,005 heart failure patients and also tested them for depression.

Those with mild depression had a 44 percent greater risk of dying, Jiang told the meeting.

"This adverse association of depression and increased long-term mortality was independent of other factors, including age, marriage, cardiac function and the root cause of the heart failure," Jiang said in a statement.

"Approximately half of all patients with heart failure will die within five years of diagnosis, and we believe that our study appears to identify a group of these patients who are at a higher risk for dying."

Jiang said it is not clear why, but he said patients with depression tend not to exercise or take medications properly.

SupaaDave

jazzzzzzzy

scooba

The Lone Ranger

The Lone Ranger and Tonto went camping in the desert. After they got their tent all set up, both men fell sound asleep.

Some hours later, Tonto wakes the Lone Ranger and says, "Kemo Sabe, look towards sky, what you see?"

The Lone Ranger replies, "I see millions of stars."

"What that tell you?" asked Tonto.

The Lone Ranger ponders for a minute then says, "Astronomically speaking, it tells me there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three in the morning.

Theologically, it's evident the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What's it tell you, Tonto?"

SupaaDave

True - but they could eat what is on the inside.

The cans could be recycled, some plastic bags can be too.

Maybe we could eat the cats?

Man Loses Fingers in Quest for Girlfriend (fingers and some toes too)

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - A Los Angeles man who sneaked into Canada in February to see his Internet girlfriend will be deported -- minus all his fingers and some of his toes, the Winnipeg Sun newspaper reported Tuesday.

Charles Gonsoulin, 41, will have the fingers and toes amputated because of severe frostbite suffered during a 100-hour trek from Pembina, North Dakota, across the border to Emerson, Manitoba, where he was found wandering on a golf course on Feb. 23, suffering from hypothermia.

"It is better to have loved and to have lost than never to have loved at all," the Sun quoted Gonsoulin as saying. "It was all worth it for me. It's the difference between sitting around dreaming about things and going out and getting them."

Gonsoulin and the Canadian woman met in an Internet chat room in 2002. The woman lives in Quebec, Gonsoulin's lawyer, Mike Cook, told a court hearing. Quebec is about 2,500 kilometers (1,600 miles) east of Manitoba.

Gonsoulin could not enter Canada legally because he was convicted of robbing a Pizza Hut in Arkansas in 1984, the newspaper said.

His girlfriend could not afford to travel to Los Angeles, he told the Sun. So he took a bus to North Dakota where he crossed the border.

"Mr. Gonsoulin didn't really know that there was any place on Earth that could be so cold and so inhospitable," Cook told a court hearing Monday, adding his client had never felt temperatures colder than 10 degrees Celsius (50 F).

Temperatures dipped below -26 C (-15 F) during his long hike.

Gonsoulin is receiving medical treatment in a Winnipeg jail. He still has not met his girlfriend face-to-face but they have spoken on the phone and Gonsoulin said they are still in love.

GODGUNSGUITARS

Aerosmith's Joe Perry Rocks the Basement on Solo Set

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Aerosmith (news - web sites) guitarist Joe Perry didn't have far to travel when it came time to polish the material on his upcoming self-titled solo set.

Instead of flying across the country or even driving to the other side of his Boston home base, he simply walked down the stairs and flipped on the lights in his basement home studio, the Boneyard.

"Part of my process for writing is, I like to go down and cover other songs just for the hell of it, just to see how they come out," Perry told Billboard of the set, which was largely a solitary endeavor.

"That's one of the benefits of having a studio at the house," he said. "There's nothing like being able to just go downstairs and get the guitar sounds I have in my head to come out of speakers and get them on tape."

The new album, due May 3 via Columbia, blends relatively recent compositions such as "Shakin' My Cage," "Lonely" and "Push Comes to Shove" with new versions of old, never-completed ideas. Perry said the closing instrumental, "Mercy," has been around in some form since sessions for Aerosmith's 1993 album "Get a Grip," while "Ten Years" was written "about 10 years ago for my 10th wedding anniversary, as a present for my wife. I never really planned on anybody hearing it other than her."

Also featured are covers of Woody Guthrie's "Vigilante Man" and the Doors' "Crystal Ship." Perry said of the former, "It's a tip of the hat to one of the most important musical figures of the last century, in my book anyway. Hopefully somebody who doesn't know Guthrie will hear this and explore, or grab one of his records."

The artist recorded enough material that he was left with several extra tracks he hopes will form "the backbone of another record. I will definitely put out another solo record after this one. I'm not sure when, but I'd like it to be more sooner than later."

Steven Wilde

Figures - we are getting snow today, tomorrow, and then cold for the next few days.

Today - been putting more songs onto my iPod - put another 10 or so on today.

AngieRead

Dave Mustaine having second thoughts?

Is Megadeth guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine rethinking his plan to disband Megadeth?

Steven Wilde

I am really into music - listening and enjoying. Unfortunately, I do not have the gift of creating music. I will be the person in the audience, or backstage, but not on stage making the music.

I have played acoustic when I was young, and trumpet - but not good at either. I enjoyed it, but just wasn't for me.

Signs Your Inner Child Is Unhappy

5> Sudden urge to knock your morning cappuccino and bagel onto the floor.

4> You discover you have an Inner Madonna carrying your Inner Child.

3> Says she can't wait until she's 18 so she can "get the hell outta this dump."

2> You keep your therapist at bay with a Lego Uzi until Gummi bear ransom is delivered.

and the Number 1 Sign Your Inner Child Is Unhappy...

Signs Your City's Not So Bright

5> City Hall is located at the intersection of Jessica Simpson Blvd. and Britney Spears Ave.

4> As the citizens of Poopyturd Falls will attest, you'd better make sure some legal safeguards are in place before you decide to resolve a budget shortfall with that "rename our town" gimmick on eBay.

3> Your mayor gets re-elected running under the campaign slogan, "Bitch set me up!"

2> To improve the town's image, the population unanimously voted to change the name from "Skanksville" to "Skanksburg."

and the Number 1 Sign Your City's Not So Bright...

1> City Council just granted an Indian Gaming license to a business consortium from New Delhi. (oops)