As Joseph Stalin might have said, " And how many albums has the pope sold?"
Britney And K-Fed Doing It All Wrong, Researcher Says
ScienceDaily (Nov. 14, 2007) — Britney Spears and ex-husband Kevin Federline continue to duke it out in the headlines over the custody of their two children. This week, a judge turned down Spears’ plea for joint custody. Her visitations rights were previously reinstated and she is allowed to see her two boys three times a week during monitored visits. A University of Missouri-Columbia researcher and expert in divorce and stepfamily issues said this story should open everyone’s eyes to the damage that can be inflicted on children who are caught in a custody war.
“They are doing almost everything wrong,” said Larry Ganong, professor and co-chair of the Department of Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) in the MU College of Human Environmental Sciences and professor in the Sinclair School of Nursing. “Interparental conflict is so damaging for kids. The message is that parents need to cooperate as much as possible, put the children’s needs first, stifle anger and take the high road. I don’t get the sense that Brit and K-Fed are doing that.”
More than half of America’s courts require some type of parental education for adults going through divorce or separation. Ganong is one of the co-creators of “Focus on Kids” – a program developed 12 years ago by HDFS faculty at MU and continually updated. It is used in many courts to educate parents on ways to put their differences aside for the sake of their children.
“We don’t necessarily expect the parents to like each other, but we do try to teach them to act cordial as though a person would with a co-worker or a business associate. In this case, that business is raising a child,” Ganong said.
As Mr. Sporty once said on his Christmas album, “‘Cause it’s all about the chillin.’”
So Larry thinks, “Interparental conflict is so damaging for kids. The message is that parents need to cooperate as much as possible, put the children’s needs first, stifle anger and take the high road.” Right, good luck. We’ve got toasters smarter than these two added together.
"From this single bone, which is about the size of a pastrami sandwich from the Stage Deli, I can say, unmistakably, that this dinosaur walked with an accent, spoke with a limp and was the inspiration for the Ramones song “Pinhead.” And you can’t prove I’m wrong, see.”
Fossil is new family of dinosaur
According to the BBC, a fossilised bone dug up near Hastings 113 years ago has been recognised as a completely new family of dinosaur.
The animal belongs to a general type of dinosaur called a sauropod - which was characterised by a large body, a long neck and a small head.
A PhD student from the University of Portsmouth stumbled upon the specimen while browsing through the shelves of London's Natural History Museum.
The work is to appear in the academic journal Palaeontology.
The fossil represents the dorsal vertebra (back bone) of a new family, genus and species of dinosaur now named Xenoposeidon proneneukus.
It lived about 140 million years ago, was about the size of an elephant and weighed 7.5 tonnes.
What, no Glenn Branca tuning?
World's first 'robot' guitar tunes itself
Six nonstandard tunings also available at the push of a button
According to MSNBC, Gibson has introduced the world's first robot guitar — an electric guitar that not only keeps itself in tune even after string changes but also allows players to access six nonstandard tunings at the push of a button.
After 15 years of research, Gibson Guitar is launching a limited edition Les Paul Robot Guitar next month that has set players abuzz with both enthusiasm and skepticism.
"It will not make you a better guitar player but it will allow the average player to access some very sophisticated tunings," Gibson Guitar Chief Executive Henry Juszkiewicz told Reuters on Tuesday.
The six nonstandard preset tunings were used on hits ranging from "Honky Tonk Women" by The Rolling Stones and Hendrix's "Voodoo Child" to Led Zeppelin's "Going to California" and Joni Mitchell's "The Circle Game."
Gibson says the robot guitar is aimed at amateurs who have a hard time keeping their guitars in tune, as well as professionals who now use technicians during concerts to keep about 100 guitars tuned to different keys.
"Professional guitar players use a lot of different tuning and people who listen to the stars wonder why they can't reproduce the same sound themselves," Juszkiewicz said.
Temperature variations, changing strings and simply playing the instrument have long been tuning challenges for guitarists with even the best musical ear.
But some have already poured scorn on the robot guitar.
"I'm sorry, this is just lazy. With stuff like this, tuning is going to be a lost skill," wrote LettheBassPlay on the www.ultimate-guitar.com Web site forum.
Gibson said the robot guitar is the biggest advance in electric guitar design in more than 70 years.
"It's very addictive," Juszkiewicz said.
Gibson will launch 4,000 limited edition, blue silverburst Les Gibson Robot Guitars around the world on December 7 at a price in the region of $2,500. It expects to roll out a standard robot edition starting in January 2008.
“So which tuning is appropriate for “Metal Machine Music?”
Headline of the day
Luxury pet hotel cancels grand opening
It’s called Chateau Poochie. No, really.
More from the Miami Herald.com
“Mitzi Bitzi, a Brussels Griffon who spent Tuesday at the groomers, was understandably miffed. Her big brown eyes and strawberry blonde locks had earned her the honor of modeling a $118,000 diamond necklace at the party.
''We were so disappointed,'' said Mitzi Bitzi's owner Marilyn Belkin, who lives in Delray Beach. ``I had just bought her eight new dresses and we were going to pick something from that selection to wear.”
Further proof that evolution is a sometime thing.
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