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Tips on how to restore that fire… (Arenal, Costa Rica)
Look, it happens…
And not only to 90 year old men.
Low libido is silently becoming an epidemic and the reason no one knows about it is because — at least in America — we're all too prude to talk about it.
Today, I address 4 ways to do this naturally, as well as answer questions about Vitamin B12 and IV hydrogen peroxide treatments.
Let's get started…
Barbara says her brother has super-low libido…
I have an older brother (63) who is suffering from very low libido– any suggestions for alternative treatments??? Barbara
Hey Barbara, there's a lot of buzz about "low-T" in the medical field today.
This is the pharmaceutical term for low testosterone. Men in their 60's and younger — even into their 30's are experiencing this on a large scale. I, personally, don't know if it's because more doctors are testing, if the pharmaceutical industry wants to market to a new demographic, or if it actually is getting worse.
What I do know is that low testosterone for men as they age will decrease libido for sure. It will also cause lethargy, poor ability to build muscle and eventually muscle loss.
All these don't bode well for his personal longevity, since those who keep stronger muscle mass into their later years have a better chance of staying healthy.
So here are some natural ways to for him to harden up (heads out of the gutter, I was talking about building muscles…)
Cut the stress.
Stress will wear on the adrenals enough to interfere will the entire endocrine system. When the endocrine system (your hormone producing/messaging system) is out of whack, then his ability to produce testosterone will decrease.
A common example that I've said in the past is this, "you don't think of sex when you're being chased by the tiger."
What this means is simply, when you're body is in stress mode, it doesn't produce enough sex hormones for you to have a normal natural sex life.
Change up the exercise routine (or start it.)
One of the best ways for men (and women) to increase their libido is to do strength training. Aerobic exercise like running or walking is fantastic for your heart, but strength training is what will raise testosterone levels.
Tell him to see head over to the gym and work with a trainer for a session or two to give him some ideas to get him on his way.
Herbs may help, but not before the top two…
There are herbs that work with the endocrine and hormone system that may be able to help raise testosterone, but the exercise and stress relief will give you the biggest boost — it's also the fastest approach.
Some of these herbs that do work are maca, wild yam, and deer antler. (I'd prefer he stays toward the non-animal sources.)
Also, taking adaptogenic herbs like holy basil and ashwaganda are helpful to cool the endocrine system so it can have time to restore its natural balance.
Replace those hormones naturally.
At his age, if the things above can't seem to bring him back into balance, I'd have him talk to a doctor who is well versed in natural hormone therapy. Depending on where you are, there are a few that I think really know what they're doing. They are — in no particular order — Dr. J. E. Williams (Sarasota, FL), Dr. David Brownstein (Bloomfield, MI), and Dr. Leigh Erin Connealy (Irvine, CA). I'm sure there are more, but these are three to check out.
Natural hormone replacement therapy is not the same as taking synthetic hormones. The body completely recognizes and uses these natural hormones like they were its own. The synthetic hormones are altered so drug companies are patented and it has been shown these increase risk of side effects — one of which is cancer.
A good doctor will be able to put him on a protocol that is very well tuned to his body and needs (they rarely just give testosterone) and will like be able to get him back into the shape he wants to be.
Also, be sure to have him go to a doctor to draw blood and check to make sure he doesn't have heart or cardiovascular issues that could be interfering with his blood flow as well.
Jannai has numbness in her fingers and toes, possibly from B12 deficiency…
Question – I am a vegan and take nutritional yeast and occasionally take B-12 – spirulina, chlorella and a VERY healthy diet….high raw… I have had numbness in my toes and fingers – I thought it was from frost bite that I got over 35 years ago….I started noticing it just a few years ago – my natural doc thought I needed the b-12 injections even tho she tested me and I was not B-12 deficient Thoughts? Jannai
Hey Jannai, seems like symptoms of B12 deficiency, but I have no idea. Here's what I would do…
I would get a Methylmalonic acid (MMA) test. This is a test that shows how you're metabolizing B12, not how much is in your blood.
You can have analog B12 in your blood — which is not metabolized by the body — and test high on a blood serum B12 test, but you still may not have enough of the kind you need.
Analog B12 is found in seaweeds, chlorella and spirulina and is not usable by the body. This may be the reason you're testing high but still feeling symptoms of B12 deficiency.
So go and get that MMA test and let us know how it goes. If these results tell you that you are very low, then I would ask your doctor again about those B12 shots.
B12 deficiency can cause very serious, irreversible neurological damage, so there's no time to mess around.
Stephanie wants to know about B12 and anemia…
I have a question about B12… when I had my blood tested recently my doctor said that my B12 was fine and that I could stop taking it. What are the optimal levels for B12 and are there any benefits from using taking it if you are already in the optimal range? I am mostly Vegetarian. Occasionally I do eat eggs, or fish. Sometimes I use kefir from goats. But I try to stick to coconut kefir. I also eat Quinoa and I use Brendan Braziers whole food formula and his smoothie mix occasionally. I am anemic though and don't want to take iron supplements on a daily basis. Thank you, Stephanie
Hey Stephanie, I'd read what I wrote to Jannai above to answer your question about B12.
Anemia is related to low B12 levels, but this may not be the cause of it in your case. So be sure to get an MMA test and see what turns up.
Also, be sure to ask your doctor what type of anemia you have — this may give you a better understanding of how to deal with this issue.
Monique wants to know how often to do hydrogen peroxide IV treatments…
When you had IV chelation, and other IV treatment down in Sarasota how many did you have? I'm considering trying some out when we are down there for spring break. I also heard that Hydrogen Peroxide by IV was a good way to get ride of Candida. I did get Donna's book and am also following her advice. However, I would not refuse any process that would speed getting ride of Candida… Are a few sessions sufficient, or should I plan to be there for more than a week.
Any additional advice is appreciated, Monique
Hey Monique!
For me, my treatments were more experiential than useful. While one hydrogen peroxide treatment may be mildly helpful, most people who need this type of therapy because they're sick, would need much more than the one that I did.
I'm aware of the use of IV hydrogen peroxide therapy for boosting the immune system and how it can be anti-microbial in the blood. So based on this evidence, you may see improvement for candida.
I wouldn't use this as the only therapy to assist though, I would consult with a practitioner who can give you a few options so you help your body heal with the best chances of success.
Some of the other ways to help get rid of candida are removing alcohol from your diet, lowering your intake of sugar and complex carbohydrates for a period of time, eating fermented foods (like you are), eating an alkaline diet full of veggies, exercising regularly, lowering levels of stress and assisting your adrenals and thyroid with high quality adaptogenic herbs — like ashwaganda and holy basil.
Monica wants to know who does blood work analysis near her…
Can you recommend who to see for the extensive bloodwork you are suggesting? I have a neurologist for my MS and an internist that keeps changing. Should I see a nutritionist or dietician to get these tests? I am looking for someone in the Santa Monica, CA area. Thank you! Monica
Hey Monica, I would see a naturopathic physician or a functional medicine MD. These people are usually well versed in the different types of blood testing and may even be able to choose additional tests for you based on your own medical history.
In Santa Monica, there should be plenty — unfortunately, I don't know any personally. I'm sure someone here on the blog will be able to point you in the right direction. I do know Dr. Leigh Erin Connealy in Irvine, CA, which is in Orange County — but it might be quicker to fly from LAX to John Wayne Airport to get over to her office.
You can also check www.FunctionalMedicine.org to find a practitioner in your home town.
Also, surprisingly enough, doctors are starting to get reviews on Yelp.com — obviously proceed at your own risk — but we've searched in the Berkeley area for dental care, then cross referenced the Yelp reviews and picked one. When we went to visit it all seemed to work out and the reviews were right.
Weird times these days, huh? LOL!
Your question of the day: Who do you know in your area that can do blood work? If you know of someone and recommend them, please put their name and website below.
Live Awesome!
Comments are closed for this post.
I only read your article because I am so dim I had no idea what "making doughnuts" meant! We don't have this problem in our house although sometimes I wish we did.
I just wanted to warn you and your readers about yelp and the reviews there, they may or may not be real.
Your blog is great, by the way, and I have really enjoyed reading your articles.
code words…funny kevin…made me laugh. i have zero recommendations for blood work. i had mime done here in honduras recently…but they do not test for the things i wanted (vit d, omega 3's, B12)…but other than the unknown…i'm supremely healthy. 🙂
If you listen to David Wolfe..everyone is estrogen dominant these days due to ubiquitous plastics and chemicals that mimic estrogen. This is obviously as issue with men and testosterone. The E damages the liver even in children due to lack of methylation..linked to methyl part of molecule. A good methylating agent is dimethylglycine and really cheap at 5 USD. So we need methylating foods/agents, can be acceptors or donors like gogi berries. We also need food that poorly dissolves estrogen like cruciferous veg., citrus,and best of all OATS like sowing your wild oats. for low t nettle root and whole range of fats, olive, coconut..anyway he is fascinating to listen to, a genius…
I found that when I began eating more meat in my diet I had a much greater testosterone production.
Getting rid of sugar and bread; eating more meat and liver. That's what did it for me.
I'm a 51 year old female currently peri menopausal. I was taking Maca and Mucuna Purines off and on for the past year which super-charged my libido!! It really helped keep my mood positive as well. Unfortunately, my menopausal symptoms are getting worse and these herbs are no longer helping me like they use to. I'm not sleeping, my tendons are starting to ache, my libido has gone dry again and I'm so moody and tearful. I'm considering getting bio-indentical hormone replacement thereapy but I'm kind of worried I might be starting something that might be harmful in the longterm. Any thoughts?
Dr. Liebowitz is located in Santa Monica. He does blood work, is an MD Internist but holistic doctor, does bioidentical hormone balancing, IV treatments, etc. I found him through Suzanne Somer's books.
After my check up and blood tests, Dr. Connealy recommended wild yam lotion and she explained to me how to reduce chemicals and xenoestrogens in my life. Low sex drive can be effected by estrogen dominance. Our own estrogen won't make us sick, but environmental estrogens are of great concern. She is helping me try to steer me away from getting breast cancer like my mom got 2 times. She check my vitamin D and much more. Your average MD is trained to treat the sick, not prevent illness. (Dr. Connealy also offers breast thermography in her office.)
I buy my bloodwork from Life Extension and get the work done at LabCorp. They are all over the country. An additional upside is you get the results sent directly to you via email. 2 years ago CT repealed it's patient right to know laws so doctors no longer have to share test results with patients, so this is important to me.
ROFL!!! Loved the doughnut talk. 🙂
I am in the UK and get my blood work for specialized tests done through the BioLab in London.
I have been to Dr Mouton in the past. He is a Belgian Functional Medicine Doctor and comes to the Hale Clinic in London every month. He gets tests done at a lab in Belgium which is cheaper than London but he wants a lot of tests done and it is still very expensive.
For anybody who lives near Olympia, WA, I recommend Dr Evan Hirsch at Hirsch Holistic Family Medicine. I don't know if he's taking new patients, but he's great to work with, very amenable to doing needed or wanted testing, and he has other practitioners who share office space, including acupuncture, naturopathy, nutrition, chiropractic, etc. He has been a godsend to me.
On the subject of B12, I think everybody needs to be tested for MTHFR (MethylTetraHydroFolateReductase), a genetic defect I've mentioned before. It affects up to 41% of the population, and even more in Canada. If you have this problem, it means you don't methylate folate and you don't use B12 properly, either. But there are solutions, including taking methylated forms of both B12 and folate (never folic acid, the artificial form).
People with this genetic problem only detoxify through the liver at 7-10% of normal, which leads to a buildup of toxins in the body, leading to illnesses like fibromyalgia and cancer, among many others.
Since this affects so many people, and doctors know little about it, you can have a simple blood test to find out if you have it or not.
You can read more on my blog at wwwadifferentway-rebecca.blogspot.com. Go back to Eleven. Also, please read Folate vs Folic Acid.
Kevin, your sense of humor of delightful. Thanks for the laugh 🙂
Patrice, I can't believe there even has to be a "patience right to know" law, much less have it repealed. We are living in crazy times!!!
I don't know a doctor where I can get the blood work done I want. The doctor that is through my HMO (which I HAVE to take where I work) is a typical doctor. She has seen great improvement in my health – despite the fact that I went against the recommendations of the medical world – and doesn't even want to know how. She just says "what ever you are doing, it is working – keep it up" Really?!?!?! Anyway, I would like to get some of the bloods tests you mention, but not only do I not know doctors that would do it, I couldn't afford it.
Two weeks ago I broke a tooth that has an silver/mercury filling in it that I've had for years. I've been looking and looking for a doctor that can take out the filling safely and, surprise, surprise, I can't find one. Unreal!!
Thanks #4, Patrice for posting your experience here. It helps us newbies.
No prob with libido here, but glad it's being discussed openly, (well, sort of.)
Another point that I want to mention is about anemia. I had low iron type of anemia. It is usually from some loss of blood at some time. I believe mine was from an ulcer caused by Ibuprofin. My levels were built back over time with the use of liquid iron. I am told that now that the "stores" are built up, I am ok as long as I don't have any more bleeding episodes. I will have the normal testing.
I understand that b12 anemia or pernicious anemia is quite different and very serious so it is important to get the complete story about ones anemia and recovery plan.
I do use the b12 patches twice a week to maintain normal levels of b12.
Just a quick note regarding hydrogen peroxide IV's and candida, I have been doing medical ozone therapy: drinking ozonated water, and periodic sauna and other insulflations to aid in detoxing. I can tell it's helped a lot, including with candida symptoms… and it is a very simple in-home protocolwhich I heard can be a safer route than peroxide, says Mr. Oxygen.
I had problems with my iron for years and years and couldn't figure out what was wrong. All doctors would say was…your ferritin is low, supplement and come back for another test in three months but I've now found a great doctor in Australia and found that I have a condition which is genetic and causes my body to dump huge amounts of zinc and B6 and causes the iron deficiency. I had three blood iron infusions and my ferritin is currently great and am starting high supplementation of zinc/B6 and manganese on Tuesday which is the treatment for my condition. Once we find the right dose I will take this ongoing which apparently has a quasi miraculous effect on all symptoms of this condition.
So please have comprehensive tests done. What put my doctor onto it was my extremely low zinc. So great to finally find pieces of the puzzle. The other thing too which this condition is that the body is depleted in arachidonic acid and one must consume Omega 6 (evening primrose oil) and avoid all the great Omega 3s that I usually eat and supplement with. And to think that I was making things worse by taking Omega 3 fatty acids.
As a practising naturopath of 16 years, I have seen many clients who were anemia or low in iron complain of numbness of fingers and/or toes. Often there is a greater tendency for cramping in feet/legs especially while exercising. This all improves when iron levels are brought back up to optimal.
Sometimes too much rutin which is in buckwheat sprouts can cause tingling in extremities including the nose. This would most likely only occur if you'd been juicing buckwheat sprouts for some time.
Hi there Anne (#10)
Could you please post the name of your doctor and the state they work in – for those of us living in Australia?
Thanks for sharing this important information… 🙂
This comment is for #14 Velda, who posted on March 9th at 5:26pm.
Hi Velda,
Regarding your mercury amalgam filling.
Please check these two biologic/holistic dentist associations for members in your area. Even if they are not close to you, they can often refer you to dentists who may not be members but who practice holistic/biologic dentistry. Also, make sure to include IV vitamin C and chelation while undergoing mercury filling removal. Good luck.
And thank you so much Kevin & Annmarie for your wonderful work.
Hi Dorothy,
I am 52 and had the same as you, but changed my diet drasticly 4 or 5 years ago, to mostly raw: fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, raw dairy, an egg once in a while, and maybe fish a couple times a month. I don't do soy anymore. I also take green powders everyday: spirulina, chorella, barley, wheat, alfafa, and a full spectrum green powder like Barlean (most days).
I no longer have any, and I am ANY menopause symptoms, whatsoever, no hot flashes, no tension, irritibility, cramps, nothing. And I was diagnosed with fibroids about 6 years ago and had terrible cramps. I can now tell what foods will give me hot flashes: peanut butter is a biggie, meat that is not organically grass fed, pasturized dairy, wheat, and sugar, for me, is a big no no, and anything processed or packaged.
So I would say, go back to eating mostly fresh fruits and veggies, no meat for a while, some nuts and seeds. Drink green smoothies every day putting one whole bunch of greens in each smoothie, and juice vegetables – drinking at least 1 qt. a day. Then see how you feel in a month!. I'd love to hear from you the results! firstname.lastname@example.com
as for the iron deficiency…my mother and I have a "genetic" condition called thalacemia minor which is common among mediteranean people(we're greek decendants). our low iron always startle doctors until they know we have this condition, then they say it's "normal." is it okay, or can we/should we treat?
I appreciate the good humor and the subject for today. I realize the subject line was well chosen to arouse(pun intended) curiosity and interest for people to open the email. We do find ways to censor what we will read or not wish to read.
However I think we could talk more plainly so that we all know what we are talking about. The private parts of our body are held in privacy but when we talk about them they do have names. A penis is still a penis. An erection will always be an erection no matter how we want to cloak it in some wink-wink coded terms. Testicles are what they are. After all we are made in the image of God and the angels. So why do we want to disrespect these parts of the body by putting up a veil of secrecy when we talk about them. As if we didn't really know what we are talking about. I think there is no need to talk about the things of the body in double meanings as if we didn't really say it.
Kevin..I want you to continue having fun with the subjects you bring to us. I enjoy them.
By the way…Maca works wonders for me but it has some side effects that I don't like.
Hey Monica
I have Wegener's Disease (GPA) and require regular blood labs to check inflammatory markers etc. I just ask for additional tests from the ordering Doctor checking my labs. My Pulmonologist at Mayo Clinic thinks I am crazy because he doesn't understand where I am coming from but he does it. I have to fight for them but it can be done! Because it is a specialist at Mayo requesting the test officially on the paperwork, my insurance pays for it most of the time.
Attn: Mr. Frank Berg, I like your comment. Do you have any advice for raising the libido of women 65 and over? Anything would be helpful. Thank you in advance.
Hi Monica, I to was diagnosed with, a very progressiv,only MS in 1988, I was 36. After talking to some folks they asked me a question..do you want to regenerate your body or substitute? There was only ONE answer: REGENERATION! They introduced me to different "herbs" and I did have no more symptoms after 4 month. As a side benefit my hormones straightend out, no more PMS and 10 day bleedings, my body changed shape (no more peare shape). When I went back to the research clinic after 6 month they did not ask why I had no more symptoms, there only comment was that they had misdiagoned me (and that in 3 hospitals/clinics?). By the way, don't "own" it, these are just symptoms of what THEY call MS…you can get rid of thoese. By the way…I am 59 now and have hade no menopausel sympoms at all. I am also mostly raw for the last 5 years. If you want to know more..firstname.lastname@example.com. God bless
Although the issue of sexual energy can be helped with what one ingests orally no one has touched on the subject of emotional health.The work I do (intuitive counselling) means i speak to over 50 people a week and everyone who has wanted to heal their sexual related imbalances should we say has deep rooted emotional defences that once talked about and worked with consciously , releases layers of deadness in the body mind and brings back the life force that could be a reason for the so called low libido. I find many different cases of emotional numbness to be the reason behind the lack of energy one can put into loving sex, it seems to be more prominent as people grow older because there has been more time to block and cut off from emotions. On another note, i went through some deep healing 3 months ago, i just saw a grey looking hair on my head so i pulled it out to inspect and the root was my normal colour 3 inches after the root it was grey. A little bit of evidence that rawdom and emotional detox works! im 9 yrs raw this year! bless all those wanting great love and remember….it aint just a genital affair theres a heart in there too xx
Hey Anna. Do you have a website?
[…] (This was in reference to this article on boosting libido here.) […]
I am a 34 year old with 3 children. I was on IUD for six years and I just removed it less than 2months ago. I was 100% Happy with it. However I was having yeast infection all the time. Now I am taking Microgestin FE 1/20. My sex drive is dead gone. I am very moody as well. Is there any sugestion for me?
Oh the yeast is coming back to? Or could I be allergic to my partner sporms?
Im a 44 year old male, ive lost my labido about 9 months ago, its now affecting my relationship, and im shit scared!!!!, in the past, we have had the most wonderfull sex life, swinging and everything else that you can imagine, and all of a sudden … I lost it! … she now thinks it is her fault, but I know its me. I don't have the urge anymore, i make excuses and dont even masterbate anymore! my GP ran some tests, he said that I have the testosterone of a rhino! He gave me Viagra, this does what it should do, but I still don't look forward to the intercourse? … Please help me, I love my partner and dont want to lose her! I want my Labido back.


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Verbal+Visual had a great time in Toronto at Shopify Unite. It was a reunion of many familiar faces in the Shopify community, old and new. We also were introduced to the new features Shopify rolled out with, which we're eager to share with our clients.
Here is a quick recap of all the great things we'd like to share with you.
Plus Day Zero kicked off with our Shopify Plus team presenting Verbal+Visual as a preferred Shopify partner. They shared our ethos on aligning with clients who share a passion for sustainability and positive change.
Harley Finkelstein, COO of Shopify took the stage at Day 1.
Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau and Verbal+Visual's CEO Anshey Bhatia.
We continue to be excited by the future, power, and growth of the platform, the warmth of the Shopify team, & our continued partnership. A special appearance by the PM of Canada was icing on the cake!
Our favorite new features that Shopify rolled out with are:
- Multi-currency - the ability for Shopify Plus merchants to sell in 9 currencies around the world without a multi-store setup through built-in geolocation functionality.
- Inventory Distribution - location-aware intelligence so you can see all of your inventory and locations from one place for seamless backend operations.
- Marketing Simplification - a simplified marketing tool that will help you better understand your customers.
- Dynamic Checkout - lets your customers check out directly on the product page.
Click here for a summary from Shopify Plus on Unite 2018: Everything They Announced and How it Will Simplify, Automate, and Accelerate Your Global Growth.

subset: commoncrawl


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Critics' Pick
(No longer in theaters)
Luc Besson, Pierre-Ange Le Pogam, India Osborne
20th Century Fox
Release Date
Jan 30, 2009
Release Notes
Official Website
In Taken, Liam Neeson plays Bryan Mills, an exJason Bournelike spook who wants to make amends for being an absent dad to his 17-year-old daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace), so he whines and pleads with his chilly ex (Famke Janssen) not to let her travel to Paris with her rich girlfriend. It's a bad world out there, he insistsa bad, bad world. You don't know. I know. Believe me. I've seen things. You don't want to know. Dismissing him as a hysteric, Kim jets to France and is promptlyI mean, she doesn't get to peesnatched by Albanian sex-slavers for sale to sheikhs and sundry other wealthy sadists. This is where Dad gets to prove that he can karate-chop the windpipe of one Albanian while taking out three more with a paper clip, a wad of gum, and a hard stare. (I exaggerate, but not by much.)
The script, by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, panders to macho American wet dreams that feel distinctly antiquated in the new age of American non-exceptionalism. And in a just universe, the idea that rich white American virgins are the prime targets of sex-slavers would make tens of thousands of captive underage Asian girls rise up shouting, That is the last straw! I would leave it there except that Takenin the hands of director Pierre Morel (District B13), with Neeson in nearly every shotworks like gangbusters. The Frenchies have made the filet mignon of meathead vigilante movies.
Morel stages the action so cleanly that even when it hurtles by fastalmost too fast for the naked eyethe killings have a satisfying snap. There's no fussy slo-mo, no vulgar splatter, just blasts, breaking bones, and baddies who barely hit the floor before the hero has moved on to the next Albanian wave. But it's the big, dolorous Neeson who makes the movie a keeper. He does not gloat, he does not preen. But neither is he a blank terminator. His motivation is clear: He wants his daughter back. (What's your motivation, Liam? I want my daughter back.) As he gives instructions over the phone to Kim, cowering under a bed as Albanian footsteps approach, his focus is uncanny. He is stripped down to pure, righteous, patriarchal American genius.


text: The Free Offer: Biblical and Reformed By David Silversides Marpet Press, 2005 Yet another former sturdy defender of the faith now endorses a deceitful gospel which outclasses the errors of older Liberalism. David Silversides has joined such modern apostles as John and Iain Murray, Malcolm H. Watts, Phillip R. Johnson, Errol Hulse, David Gay and Ken Stebbins in their campaign to alter radically the Christian's view of God and His Word. Pastor Silversides traces the roots of opposition to his new divinity in the formation of the Protestant Reformed Churches in the nineteen-twenties under the leadership of Herman Hoeksema (1886-1965), arguing that the PRC presented a caricature of the free-offer position thus fostering… Full Article


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Pasco County and a Clearwater-based developer have reached a suitable solution to end a 2-year-old, sometimes-acrimonious land-use debate. The county will buy from the private company the 42 acres on which a controversial apartment complex had been proposed, a plan that spurred strong neighborhood opposition, multiple litigation threats and flawed governing from a County Commission majority.
Under a proposal, scheduled to be considered by commissioners Tuesday, the county would spend $3 million for land owned by Scherer Development to be used - at least initially - as preserved green space amid Riverside Estates. At some point, the county may use the land to improve storm water drainage. The only catch now is for the surrounding neighbors to agree to pony up an annual fee to offset the cost of acquiring the land for public use.
They should not hesitate. The modest yearly assessment of $125 equates to $2.50 a week for the 1,600 homeowners who will benefit from the transaction. It's an attractive deal to ensure they will have a passive park within their community rather than a proposed apartment complex that residents feared would strain local roads, exacerbate flooding and diminish property values. Scherer already has permission to build 102 apartment units on the site and in January applied for county approval to build 138 more on land that is properly zoned for multifamily use. Neighbors argued the apartment complex would be incompatible with the surrounding single-family homes.
The protracted debate saw residents from five communities organize as We Are 5333 Strong Inc., a reference to the number of registered voters in the vicinity. And, at various times, the developer's attorneys threatened a lawsuit to stifle public participation and later warned three commissioners they faced potential personal liability after refusing to approve the proposed apartments without a valid reason. That got the attention of Commissioner Jack Mariano who later (and correctly) switched his vote.
Kudos to Commissioner Kathryn Starkey who proposed the deal and to Scherer for acquiescing to the sale at a reasonable price. Starkey and Commissioners Jack Mariano, Pat Mulieri and Ted Schrader also should be commended for wisely killing Commissioner Henry Wilson's idea to waive the annual assessments for residents and just absorb the $3 million purchase out of the county's reserves. Doing so would have been irresponsible budgeting. It also would set a dangerous precedent for political expediency, effectively opening the door for others to pitch a county land purchase whenever neighbors objected to a proposed development.
The beneficiaries of this acquisition are clearly the five neighborhoods near the 42 acres, which sits a half-mile east of Little Road near the Trinity/Seven Springs area of southwest Pasco. The residential communities pre-date the current county ordinance requiring neighborhood parks in new housing developments, so the passive recreation site will be a welcome community asset. And, if the county determines the land can help alleviate drainage problems, then those same neighbors should see less standing water in their streets during heavy rainstorms.
The 15-year assessment, at little or no interest, is a fair resolution. Residents should support the plan at an upcoming public hearing and the county should complete the transaction in a timely manner.


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Bird survey methodology enables planning consent
Since 2011, Baker Consultants has conducted detailed bird surveys and assessments to support a proposed development site in East Yorkshire on behalf of Associated British Ports. Our regular monitoring and robust bird survey methodology enabled the team of specialist ornithologists to amass a dataset that was used to fully assess the impacts of a potential development. This culminated in planning consent being granted and the creation of a set of impact avoidance measures, which Baker Consultants is now monitoring.
The issue
The proposed port-related development is a 260-hectare site primarily of open arable farmland, with some open scrub and wooded copses. It is in close proximity to the Humber Estuary Special Protection Area (SPA), designated for its important populations of wintering bird species such as bar-tailed godwit and golden plover, as well as migratory species such as knot, dunlin, black-tailed godwit and redshank. In the breeding season, the SPA supports important populations of avocet, marsh harrier, little tern and bittern.
In addition to these individual species, the SPA citation states that the area supports almost 154,000 waterbirds in the non-breeding season, as well as non-qualifying species of interest such as peregrine falcon and merlin.
One of the primary issues surrounding the potential development of the site was to assess its importance for the species listed under the SPA designation. In particular, the large, open areas could potentially offer foraging or roosting opportunities and, as such, a significant change in this landscape could affect these important species.
Bird survey methodology
With habitat adjacent to the site primarily consisting of mudflats used by feeding waders in the non-breeding season, and limited breeding habitat in close proximity, surveys and monitoring have focused on migratory and wintering species. Since 2011, Baker Consultants has been carrying out this monitoring during the autumn, winter and early spring periods.
The surveys, led by highly experienced Baker Consultants' ornithologists, are carried out between September and April inclusive and involve three surveyors; two standing at vantage points to overlook the widest open areas of the proposed development site, while another walks a transect around the entire area. In this way, full coverage is achieved over the course of the high tide period and two hours before and afterwards. Any birds present are recorded and mapped, and detailed information is also taken about important species that are relevant to the SPA, such as the time recorded and the duration of their presence on site, as well as their behaviour (e.g. roosting, feeding or loafing).
In order to ensure that the bird survey methodologies used are suitable for the specific requirements of the assessment, Baker Consultants designed the survey protocol as an adaptation of the British Trust for Ornithology high tide counts, used previously as part of their regular Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) monitoring.
The outcome
As a result of our regular monitoring and consistently applied, robust bird survey methodology, Baker Consultants has been able to amass a dataset that was used to fully assess the impacts of the potential development. This led to granting of planning consent and the creation of impact avoidance measures, which are now being monitored at the site.
This is an ongoing project and Baker Consultants continues to conduct surveys at the site during the winter and migratory seasons.
Laura Morrish, Projects Manager at Associated British Ports said: "Baker Consultants has been undertaking regular bird surveys for approximately five years across a wide area of ABP owned land in Hull in order to provide baseline data information for Environmental Impact Assessments and to allow for the preparation of annual monitoring reports. We have developed an excellent working relationship with the team, who are left to undertake the bird surveys independently but inform us quickly of anything substantial or notifiable."
Related work
In addition to carrying out bird surveys, Baker Consultants carried out an extended Phase 1 habitat survey at the proposed development site, recording the character and extent of vegetation and habitats across and around the site. We also conducted a review of East Riding of Yorkshire Council's Habitats Regulations Assessment of the proposed development.


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Ultrafast And Loose With The Truth
No one likes to be lied to, so it's especially annoying when someone writes to you and there's a lie in the first line.
I opened a letter today from Nick Lane, the Managing Director of Customer Care at BT. It said, "Hello Graham, You're eligible for an ultrafast upgrade. It's an exclusive deal we've made just for you".
Just for me, really? Out of the 9.28 million UK retail broadband subscribers, Nick Lane has decided that only Graham Mack is eligible for this deal?
The letter goes on, "Get the UK's first and only broadband with a 100Mb speed guarantee, even at peak times, for a monthly price of only £44.99". We're so confident in our connection that we're putting our money where our mouth is. – if your speeds drop below 100mbps we'll give you £20 back".
I'm not sure you understand how basic business transactions work Nick. If I pay you £44.99 for something and you don't give it to me, I would expect to get £44.99 back, not £20.
To answer the question you asked at the end of your letter, no, I'm not ready for life in the Ultrafast lane, especially when it's sold to me in this way by the Ultra-dodgy Nick Lane.
If you're going to send me any more letters like this, you should change the name of your company from B.T. to B.S..
Craic on!
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Wednesday was a "Day Without Women," and if not for all the news stories about it we wouldn't have noticed. It was already the annual "International Women's Day" on the calendar, so women got together and declared a general strike to protest President Donald Trump and other affronts to womankind, and a "Day Without Women" was the catchy name they came up for it.
The protest reportedly drew large crowds to rallies in New York and Los Angeles and Chicago and other large cities, with smaller ones scattered around the country, and enough public school district teachers joined in to force several districts to shut down for the day. Meanwhile Trump remained president, the Republicans in congress went right ahead with consideration of a budget that would cut funding for Planned Parenthood, and someone on the Howard Stern was telling a sexist joke, along with all the usual domestic abuse and unwanted cat-calls and the slightly indignities that accumulate every, and all the coordinated outrage about it went largely unnoticed around here.
Being the contentedly solitary sorts we've survived many a day without women, or even men, and usually found it blessedly hassle-free. Even to the extent that we count on women for fast-food service and other commercial transactions, or just for some friendly conversation, the "Day Without Women" was pretty much as usual. The same group of delightful women in the local amateur theatrical we do every year were there at rehearsal, afterwards a lovely and charming young lady at the Thai fried rice place on West Street got us out take-out order of the very spicy chicken fried rice with admirable efficiency, and the woman with the mellifluous voice on the old folks AM radio station was playing some sultry Peggy Lee on the way home. There was nothing in the station's news break about the local schools being closed, which was too bad for the local kids because the weather was unseasonably perfect for a day off, and although we didn't check our Facebook we don't think the general strike had much an effect on Wichita, Kansas.
Even here in the middle of the big red splotch on the electoral map, and despite our blissful bachelorhood, we're quite sympathetic to at least some of the striking women's complaints. Especially the more striking ones, if you'll forgive the joke, which we couldn't resist. Although we've never hesitated to argue with a woman that de-funding Planned Parenthood doesn't constitute a "war on women," and neither did any of that silly stuff they used against Republican nominee Mitt Romney back in '12, we aren't so willing to start a potential shouting match in defense of Trump. Especially if we were at a party and she were attractive and drunk and flirty, which is also a joke we apologize for but couldn't resist.
The relative dearth of female cabinet picks and that transgender bathroom rule and the rest of what Trump has thus far done as president doesn't bother us all that much, and most of the women we know seem similarly unbothered by any of it, but we can well understand the objections to the whole Trump persona. Even the most die-hard Republican women we know, and being here in the middle of that big red splotch of the electoral map that includes some pretty damned die-hard Republican women, would have preferred that their party had beaten Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton with someone, for that matter anyone, who wasn't a thrice-married and proudly adulterous strip club owner who habitually makes public comments on women's looks and tells sexist jokes on the Howard Stern show and goes around grabbing women by their wherevers. That's what our Republican women friends say, so you can easily understand that what our Democratic women friends have to say about Trump does not bear repeating in such a genteel and family-friendly publication as this.
Perhaps it's some vestigial sense of chivalry, or maybe we've just been wussified the feminization of America, but we find it hard to argue with any of the women we meet who don't like Donald Trump. Our God-fearing Church of Christ mother taught us an old-fashioned and even Old Testament respect for women, the old movies on the late show taught the same manly code, a series of ferocious girlfriends and fiancees and fleeting encounters have successfully demanded our full respect, and although feminism far too often makes a fool of itself we can't deny it still has some valid complaints.
Trump doesn't treat women well, either by the standards of early 21st century feminism or the manly code you'll see in all those old movies that still pop up on the late show, and that is a conspicuous flaw in a President of the United States. If it hasn't inarguably affected any of his policy decisions, it has given license to the up-and-coming comic who's taken Trump's place on the Howard Stern show to keep up the sexist jokes, and for the construction worker to feel unbound by political correctness and shout out his appreciation of female passerby's breasts, and to confirm that the most vulgar aspects of our popular culture trump all.
This is bad news for both the old-fashioned fuddy-duddies on the right who thought they controlled at least the Republican party, and for those hippy-dippy do-in-the-road lefties who thought their domination of the popular culture would bring about a utopia of sexual equality, but that's where find ourselves on another generally fine day without women.
— Bud Norman


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The Phantom Speaks! An Interview with Cult Movie Critic Joe Kane
Joe Kane writes about the fun stuff on the fringes -- low budget horror movies and action movies, exploitation movies, cult movies, B movies.
Joe Kane has been writing about movies for four decades, now. However, Oscar contenders or the latest box office blockbuster have never been his beat. The films Kane writes about are the ones that are more likely to go straight to DVD. In other words, Kane gets to write about the fun stuff on the fringes -- low budget horror movies and action movies, exploitation movies, cult movies, B movies.
In the following email interview, Kane tells about his time writing and editing the first tabloid magazine about monster movies, The Monster Times, freelancing in NYC, drinking with Lester Bangs and Nick Tosches, penning the B Movie column for the New York Daily News as "The Phantom of the Movies", starting his own cult movie magazine, VideoScope, and lists his choice for the five greatest American horror movies to come out in the '70s.
How did you first start writing professionally and what did you first start writing about?
Actually, the first three pieces I sold were all college class assignments—an article on doomsday movies my film course teacher suggested I submit to Take One magazine; a short story/memoir my English teacher submitted to a Doubleday anthology called "Growing Up in America"; and a media course paper on how comic strips reflected the changing culture, which New Times used as a cover story, illustrated by legendary underground cartoonist Yossarian, no less. My main areas of interest were fiction, satire and genre-movie criticism, though I wrote a bit about rock music and other pop-culture topics, as well. I also co-won the Queens College literary award my senior year, which paid cash, which, as Yogi points out, is just as good as money.
Eagerly misinterpreting these signals, I used some of that dough to rent a slum pad ($28.50 a month!) deep in New York City 's now-posh, then-rancid Lower East Side , and decided I would try writing for a living.
Welcome to the real world: My first post-college gig (which I wrote about in VideoScope #64) was hacking out comic porn stories for two sex rags, Luv and Bang, run by a then-notorious artist/street narcissist named Louis Abolafia, most infamous for his aggressive Presidential campaign on the self-invented Nude Love ticket. (I probably should have hired one of my college profs as an agent.)
To make ends meet, I briefly took a file clerk job at an insurance company, which cured me of the 9-5 life within three months. Luckily, with help from legendary underground genius Dean Latimer, I landed a gig at Screw X, a comic spin-off of Screw magazine (sounds pretty redundant, then as now) art-directed by ex-acto wizards Larry Brill and Les Waldstein. As most people did, Larry and Les eventually had a falling out with Screw publisher, legendary mogul Al Goldstein, and had the bright idea to launch The Monster Times, sort of a Famous Monsters of Filmland filtered through an NYC underground attitude in an East Village Other vein.
In general, where one looked for publishing outlets was mightily dictated by the time and climate back then (circa 1970). A fierce generational/culture war raged in the media. There were essentially two separate (if not quite equal) publishing orbits in New York City . Mainstream outlets like The New York Times and The New York Daily News were not interested in hiring "hipsters" and in fact largely dissed or dismissed "counter-cultural" topics.
At the same time, most of my contemporaries had little interest in joining the mainstream media, where their work would be straitjacketed. My peeps and I felt our present and future lay in the alternative media, which really thrived then, with underground papers and mags like The East Village Other, New Times, The New York Ace and the slightly more ossified Village Voice, rock zines like the early Rolling Stone, Crawdaddy, and Creem, the aforementioned The Monster Times, National Lampoon and slightly later High Times, Art Spiegelman and Bill Griffith's Arcade, along with lots more I'm forgetting, including dozens of short-lived titles. The lesser-tier men's magazines, like Gallery, Genesis and Swank, sharing a somewhat similar outré attitude (and whose editors hit the same bars as the rest of us), were also friendlier to counter-culture writers than the mainstream media at the time.
The one time I tried to score a mainstream gig, right out of school, I answered an ad for an editorial assistant ($85 a week) at Esquire. I was totally shocked to find some 15 other applicants—all older than me, some by a wide margin, many with thick resumes—there to interview for the job. I didn't get it, natch, but it confirmed my belief that better ops awaited downtown.
Tell me some more about The Monster Times for those that don't know or don't remember. I'm not sure but it seems like a good music magazine anology might be that if Famous Monsters of Filmland was Rolling Stone, The Monster Times was Creem? What kinds of things did people write about for The Monster Times?
The Rolling Stone/Creem analogy would be pretty accurate. Forrest J Ackerman's Famous Monsters of Filmland invented the monster-movie mag concept in 1958 and took a compelling but largely "fan"-oriented approach to the material, a combo of great visuals, interesting industry info and bad puns. It spawned many imitators that, with the exception of the more scholarly Castle of Frankenstein, basically hewed to the same formula, appealing mostly to a pre-teen and early adolescent demographic.
The upstart The Monster Times, debuting in 1972, was geared to a totally different, more irreverent era and took a totally eclectic approach, mixing in detailed scholarly articles on classics like King Kong, with reviews of then-current horror and sci-fi films, books and TV shows, wide-ranging interviews, humor pieces like the "Do It Yourself Exorcism" kit, travel articles (e.g., a tour of modern-day Transylvania), even a Godzilla for President campaign.
Another major difference—The Monster Times was the first monster publication to use a tabloid format, filled with wild visual designs, lots of silhouettes, bleeds, flamboyant typefaces and the like. We were the first to celebrate beloved bad movies with our Worst of the Monster Times edition (well before the Medved Brothers' Golden Turkey awards)—my personal fave issue (#30). We were also the first to interview then-fringe, later cult figures like Herschell Gordon (Blood Feast) Lewis and William (Death Curse of Tartu) Grefe; I'm probably proudest of working those into the mix.
We had contributions from quite a few writers who already had some visibility, like Village Voice film critic J. Hoberman, journalist Mark Jacobsen of New York magazine fame and National Lampoon regular Dean Latimer, along with filmmakers like Roy (The Projectionist) Frumkes and Alan (Deranged) Ormsby, plus artists like Gray Morrow and Bernie Wrightson.
The Monster Times folded in 1976, mostly, I think, because the underground style was on the wane; while it still did decent numbers, it became more of an uphill climb for Les and Larry to maintain. A couple of years after our folding, Fangoria appeared and became the new model for a new fan base—a slick color glossy with a more earnest, less ironic (and generally bloodthirstier) tone. Ironically, Fangoria has been looking to revive The Monster Times and currently features a complete collection of The Monster Times covers on its site.
So after The Monster Times folded, you did some freelancing for High Times, Penthouse and The Village Voice. What kind of stuff did you write for High Times and Penthouse?
I only did occasional pieces for The Village Voice—one about the Babe Ruth Museum with its talking robot Babe in Baltimore comes to mind, another dealing with my intimate, early history with downtown slum dwellings—for legendary The Village Voice editor Ross Wetszeon.
Penthouse repped my single biggest thrill sale to that point (late '70s, around the time Bob Guccione was about to launch his science mag, Omni) when they bought—cold over the transom--a satiric sci-fi short story called "Death After Death", a riff on the Life After Death craze of the period. It was the biggest check I'd ever received for a spec piece and the most prominent placement for one of my fiction stories. Plus they ran it virtually 100 percent intact, sans changes (I believe they were known for heavy editorial supervision at the time)—another kick. The acquiring editor called me in for a meeting and assigned a lot of stuff but wanted the pieces to be more in the "traditional" Penthouse mode, so that didn't work out that well; still, their kill fees paid more than a lot of articles I actually sold elsewhere.
I did extensive writing for High Times, mostly humor pieces (e.g., a cultural history of bananas), movie reviews and, my fave, a long-running multi-part book-length series on "Dope in the Cinema", with which founder Tom Forcade planned to debut an High Times book imprint with a major publishing partner. Didn't happen, though; his suicide may have been a factor.
Didn't write many music articles at that point but did play in a couple of writer-driven mock-rock bands, Blind Orange Julius (in 1975, first group to play CBGBs on dead weekday nights) and King Rude. King Rude used to perform a tune called "Rock Critics' Roll" when we played the Bells of Hell bar, during which we'd try to shame our rock-crix buds in the house—Lester Bangs, Billy Altman, John Swenson, John Morthland, Bob Duncan, among others—into getting up and kicking out the jams. Lester later got his revenge by bringing his band, Birdland, to the Bells for some counter sonic dissonance.


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The queen birther Orly Taitz, who was recently warned to quit wasting the court's time with frivolous lawsuits regarding President Obama's citizenship, has been smackdown once again. This time it will hit her pocket book in the form of a $20,000 fine for continuing her crusade against Obama.
Counsel Orly Taitz is hereby ordered to pay $20,000.00 to the United States, through the Middle District of Georgia Clerk's Office, within thirty days of the date of this Order as a sanction for her misconduct in violation of Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Judge Clay Land wasn't impressed with Taitz
The Court finds that counsel's conduct was willful and not merely negligent. It demonstrates bad faith on her part. As an attorney, she is deemed to have known better. She owed a duty to follow the rules and to respect the Court. Counsel's pattern of conduct conclusively establishes that she did not mistakenly violate a provision of law. She knowingly violated Rule 11. Her response to the Court's show cause order is breathtaking in its arrogance and borders on delusional. She expresses no contrition or regret regarding her misconduct. To the contrary, she continues her baseless attacks on the Court.


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Bhubaneswar: Prime Minister of India visiting millenium city Cuttack after 31 long years. It is a matter of pride for the 1,000-year-old cultural city of Cuttack that a Prime Minister of the country is visiting it after 31 long years, said Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan
Minister Pradhan said this while reviewing the arrangements in Cuttack on Friday for Prime Minister Modi's visit on Saturday.
Pradhan said the PM's visit to the State would bring many positive developments for Cuttack and Odisha. Replying to a question that the Congress is observing the fourth anniversary of the Narendra Modi Government as 'Betrayal Day', Pradhan said that in Odisha the Congress is on the search for a Kumaraswamy.
Speaking on the BJD's protest on the Mahanadi issue, Pradhan said the Prime Minister's opinion on the Mahanadi issue is clear. But the BJD Government which failed to conserve even a drop of water of the Mahanadi and other rivers in 18 years is only making a drama to hide its ineptness.


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The original indie pop prodigy holds forth on everything from the current state of the music industry to Mark Lanegan filling in for Siouxsie Sioux and Johnette Napolitano to, naturally, his addictive new album, Fresh Flesh.
It's been more than two decades since Jonny Polonsky put out his stellar indie pop debut, Hi My Name is Jonny. Since then, he's added one interesting chapter after another to his life's work. He's toured and recorded with a slew of diverse musicians over the years that seemingly have no obvious imilarities, everyone from Neil Diamond and Pusifer to Audioslave and Johnny Cash.
All the while, he's continued to put out his own records, including his latest, Fresh Flesh, a smart, fun rush of British Post Punk and Polonsky's fantastically addictive wry wordsmithing. A spur of the moment recording, Polonsky and crew spent all of two days in the studio recording Fresh Flesh, but the result is anything but slapdash.
Polonsky was kind enough to trade some questions back and forth over e-mail recently.
BLURT: This album sounds a bit different than some of your other records. Was that a conscious decision?
POLONSKY: This album really just fell together almost by accident and had no premeditation at all. I had put a band together, we worked up a bunch of new songs and were playing lots of shows in Los Angeles. We were offered free studio time, and we took it.
You have to work with what you've got in any situation, no matter the limitations of time, money or materials. That's something I learned from David Lynch. We had two days to make the record. I knew we could just go in and play our live set and it would sound good. Because we had such little time, I knew it wasn't gonna sound like The Joshua Tree, so I went into it knowing it would be kind of loose and raw. No click tracks, no auto tune, no drum edits. Just lay it down and smack 'em yack 'em.
We recorded all the songs, most of them first takes; I did a few overdubs, most of the vocals were one or two takes, and bada bing – a bouncing baby record! At the time I was really into a lot of English punk and post punk bands like Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, X-Ray Spex… and also really liked how smooth and dreamy some of the Horrors' records sounded, particularly Skying. That was the general aesthetic – hopefully not the general anesthetic, for those of you still with me… But it wasn't really planned. It's more like looking in your fridge to see what you can cobble together for a meal.
I like making records where you really labor over everything too, but this way is a lot of fun because you don't overthink anything.
I've been a fan since the first album and, while I love that you aren't constantly writing the same album over and over, I still listen to Hi My Name Is Jonny all the time. It's been decades since you first worked on that one. Do you still identify with that record or is it just too different from where you are now?
It's a corny analogy, but true, that it's like looking at old photos of yourself. You know it's you, you remember how you felt back then about certain things, little details about your life and personality… it's you, but it's not you anymore. I still have tons of great memories and a lot of fondness for those songs and that record, but it feels kind of faraway now. Every once in a while, I'll do one of those songs if I'm doing a solo show and someone wants to hear it, but it feels like I'm covering someone else's song.
Kevin Haskins plays on this new record. You had mentioning getting into a lot of post-punk; was/is Bauhaus a big influence on your music?
I love Bauhaus, Love and Rockets, and Tones on Tail. They're all really imaginative bands that know how to create a mood, and not paint themselves into any corners. They get labeled as goth for obvious reasons, but the music is really diverse, dynamic and multi-dimensional.
Kevin and I first met a few years back through Zander Schloss. Zander was the guitar player in Joe Strummer's first solo band, post-Clash. [Also a member of the Circle Jerks and Weirdos, along with a respected indie film actor. —Strummer Ed.] When I was a teenager, I bugged Zander on the phone and would send him tapes of my stuff because I loved his guitar playing. Still do. Anyway, Zander had set up a tribute show to Joe Strummer. Kevin and I were part of the house band. We did one or two more Strummer tributes over the years, and I also played on a horror film soundtrack that Kevin scored. He and I became buddies over the years, and I was real excited to have him play on that song—he gave it the perfect extra lift.
Lovely guy and great drummer. Poptone [Haskins' band with Bauhaus' Daniel Ash] is awesome too. I saw them last year and they were great.
Did you always envision Mark Lanegan for the voice over the intros "Solar Child"?
Actually, I initially wanted a woman to do the intro. I put out feelers for Siouxsie, Diamanda Galas, and Johnette Napolitano, but didn't get anywhere. I love Mark Lanegan, he's a huge hero to me. Incredible singer, great writer. A mutual friend connected us, and he agreed immediately. Wouldn't let me pay him, either. Pure class. Gargoyle was one of my favorite records from last year. [Lanegan songs] "Goodbye to Beauty"… "Old Swan"… forget it.
You started out in the music business in the mid'-'90s—obviously a very different time than now for the industry. What are some of the pros and cons of where record labels are now?
Honestly, I really haven't had anything to do with a record label in years. But the benefit of being on a label is money, if they have it (duh). Making records can be expensive, touring is very expensive, publicity is very expensive. The downside is if they don't want to spend that money, then what's the point of being involved with them? Unless you are fortunate enough to be hooked up with some really smart, visionary people who can offer more than cash—like good ideas, clout, new adventures, red wine, dark chocolate, hiking, no hookups… I'm so sorry! My Bumble app just went off.
Anyway, the benefit of doing everything yourself is total freedom of expression. The downside is you have to find a way to pay for everything, and you have to find a way to reach your listeners. You just have to be crafty, frugal, patient, and have realistic expectations.
Any plans to tour when the record comes out?
There are a couple shows planned for Los Angeles. [Polonsky performed Jan. 29 at Love Song Bar and Feb. 9 at Hotel Café; the video above and the photo below is from the latter gig, courtesy of Polonsky's Facebook page.] But nothing on the books after that. I'm working on some ideas to get us on the road.
What's next for you? Are you working on or with anyone else?
I'm not working with anyone right now. I haven't done any work as a side musician in several years. I love playing with other people, but I really want to concentrate on my thing. I've got lots of new songs. I've been doing some recording with a drummer friend, but I don't know what will happen with those tracks, we'll see.
I'm also doing a bunch of recording at home. I've got a couple albums' worth of good songs, we'll just see where it all lands.


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Personal finance social network WalletHub.com released a report that ranked Tennessee as having the sixth-lowest tax rate in the nation.
WalletHub's analysts compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia against national medians across four types of taxation: real estate tax, vehicle property tax, income tax, and sales and excise tax.
It calculated relative income tax obligations by applying the effective income tax rates in each state and locality to the average American's income.
WalletHub also surveyed 500 residents across the nation, asking a series of questions related to taxes.
When asked what people would do for a tax-free future, 20 percent would get an IRS tattoo, 16 percent would move abroad, and 10 percent would stop talking for six months.
When asked who they would most like to punch, respondents overwhelmingly said Donald Trump, with the answer "a congressman" coming in second.
Additionally, 65 percent of those surveyed said that Trump's tax reforms would not save them money.
And many people would rather do just about anything than their taxes-40 percent would rather change dirty diapers.
Click here to read all the survey questions and responses. Click here to read the full report.
Eric Wise is a contributing writer. He is currently attending UTC, where he is a staff writer for the school newspaper, The University Echo. He also serves as the alumni relations chairman for his fraternity.


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September 5th, 2012
9-4-12 (@ Miami)
On Tuesday I was planning on finding a transit center where I could purchase a transit card. I gave up after the rail stop I visited didn't sell them. I walked into a US Bank, gave them a 20 dollar bill, and got 20 singles; easy enough. I then proceeded to make it rain. I am of course joking about making it rain, but having 20 singles makes it tempting. I took the C bus at 11:35 AM to Miami Beach and spent some time here:
At about 1:45 I went to CJ's Crab Shack for lunch. I got the Crab Cake Dinner, and it was good. They add 18% gratuity no matter how big your party is and my total came to $34.23. Expensive but every place on Ocean Drive is expensive. At CJ's they take the meat out of the crab, do whatever it is they do and then put the mixture back into the shell and cook it. I chose corn on the cob and hush puppies as my side.
After lunch I was craving a Piña Colada (even though I don't think I've ever had one) so I went to Wet Willie's. I could've sworn I just heard a song that mentions "Wet Willie's on Miami Beach" and that's partially what put me in the mood. They have many choices at Wet Willie's:
I could get used to this:
I got on the bus at 3:15 and rode it back to downtown Miami. I got ready for the game and took a 5:20 bus to Marlins Park. While I was waiting for my ticket at will call I noticed that they have this on one of the parking garages, not sure if it is someone in particular or not.
I got my ticket from will call at 6:10 and went inside. They have a "Bobblehead Museum" on the main concourse of the stadium. I put it in quotations because it's really just a giant collection, and I mean GIANT. They have so many that they can't hold them all in the two-sided display structure and they periodically switch them out. If you look closely at the first picture you can see a couple of the racing sausage bobbles on the second row in the bottom left (the pole covers them up a bit). The bobbleheads are all on shelves that shift every so often so that the bobbles actually bobble. Well done, Marlins, well done.
I went to the upper deck to get game photo number 135 taken. I asked a nearby Marlins fan, who I found out is Zach, to take it for me. Thanks Zach!
Zach was with four or five girls and they all were 18 or 19 (I would guess). I walked over, gave them each a business card and told them about Be The Match and how easy it is to join the registry. I saw them in the concourse a little later and one of the girls said she would be joining the registry. Nice!
While walking around in the upper deck I noticed guard rails protecting the water fountains. I'm not sure if running into fountains is a regular occurrence at ballparks but at Marlins Park they are protected in case a service cart driver loses control.
I went to the same stand that I had gone to on Monday but this time I ordered a drink with mangos, carrot juice and fresh squeezed orange juice. Normally you have to take them at their word if they say "freshly squeezed." At this stand you know for sure:
I saw a Sushi stand nearby and I considered getting a roll. $12 seemed a little pricey but it's in a ballpark, I don't know what I was expecting it to be. It came with a little wasabi packet and soy sauce packet. I think I put a little too much wasabi in the soy sauce the second time, because after dipping a piece in the mixture and putting it in my mouth I could feel the heat in my nostrils. Overall the spicy tuna roll was very good. I never thought I would use chopsticks at a baseball game, but I did.
The game started and Wade LeBlanc threw a strike to Aoki.
A Ryan Braun single scored Ricke Weeks in the 1st and the Brewers had an early 1-0 lead.
In the top of the 2nd Marcum batted with two outs and I thought to myself: "this is good, if he gets out we'll have the top of the order due up in the 3rd, if he gets on base it will be a bonus and give us a chance to score here in the 2nd." Marcum singled and then Aoki drove one to right field:
Bang! The ball cleared the right field fence and went into the Brewers bullpen. The Crew had a 3-0 lead once Aoki crossed the plate. Marcum is giving Aoki the finger-mustache thing and he returned the gesture (not pictured).
In the bottom of the 2nd the Marlins cut into the lead on an RBI-single from Murphy. In the top of the 3rd Aramis Ramirez was down 1-2 in the count and LeBlanc threw him a high fastball. It was somewhat towards his head and Aramis got out of the way (mostly). The umpire ruled that it was a foul tip strikeout (the catcher hung on) while Ramirez started walking to first base because he thought (and so do I) that it hit his thumb. Ramirez quickly took off his batting glove to show the umpire his finger. Roenicke came out to argue:
The first base umpire came in to talk (I'm guessing he's the crew chief) and then all four umpires had a pow-wow near the pitcher's mound. They came to the conclusion that it didn't hit Ramirez, or maybe that even if it did it also hit the bat. I don't think Ramirez would take off his batting glove and show the umpire if it didn't appear he had been hit. It was a weird situation all around.
In the 4th Giancarlo Stanton (who is a man-child at the age of 22) hit a bomb over the wall in center. The centerfield wall is 418 feet away so it was hit extremely well. The home run cut the deficit to one but more importantly I got to see the home run sculpture do its thing. It lights up, the Marlins go around on a track and water shoots up from the side.
In the 5th I got to see it in action again when Gorkys Hernandez hit his first major league home, a 2-run shot that gave the Marlins a 4-3 lead. The Brewers tied the game at four when Aoki drove in Nyjer Morgan with a 7th inning double. After Rickie Weeks reached first on an infield single Braun came to the plate with runners on first and third, trying to give the Brewers the lead. He swung at the first pitch and sent a dribbler towards third:
If you look closely at the picture above (you might have to click on it) you can see the ball in foul territory above Braun's left (front) foot. It had a bunch of spin on it though and it rolled in the grass down the third base line for the go-ahead RBI. In the boxscore it's the same as a line drive base hit.
The 5-4 lead didn't last long because Jeff Bianchi hit a 3-run home run in the top of the 8th to increase the lead by 300%!!!
A.J. Ramos pitched the top of the 9th inning and was making his major league debut. The first three batters he faced were Rickie Weeks, Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez. What did the rookie do? He struck them all out, now that's an impressive feat. Veras came on to pitch the bottom of the 9th and struck out two of the four he faced but the other two walked and singled, respectively. The single with two outs made it a save situation (since the tying run was in the on deck circle). Axford came in and retired the only batter he faced to pick up the save. Final Score: Brewers 8 – Marlins 4.
On my way to the bus stop I looked back at the stadium and noticed that the panels and roof were open. If I would've known they were going to open them after the game I might have stuck around to see them in action.
I took the 11 bus back to my host's place but just over halfway there the bus driver stopped at a corner and got off the bus. I thought I heard something about "a smoke" but I wasn't sure. There were two other riders on the bus but they got off after a minute or two of us just sitting there without a driver. I waited probably five minutes and then decided to walk the 8/10 of a mile back to Claire's. I had no idea if that was smart or not because I'm not familiar with Miami or the neighborhoods. One block down the bus zoomed past me and I felt like a chump. At one point I saw a tiny lizard on the sidewalk (which was pretty neat) and literally 2 seconds later a cockroach scampered past (not neat).
It's after 10:30 AM on Wednesday and I'll be throwing out a first pitch in less than nine hours. I'm trying to decide if I should do the fake to third, look at first move while on the mound, but I'm thinking I might get booed.
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Thai Paradise Ratings and Reviews
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Thai Paradise
Ratings and Reviews
Thai Paradise
2770 E. Bidwell St
(916) 984-8988
Total Rating
Based on 21 votes
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2018/7/25 15:06:07
Rating: 10.0000
2017/5/1 8:11:06
Rating: 10.0000
2017/4/14 14:25:45
Rating: 10.0000
2017/1/8 11:32:27
Rating: 10.0000
2017/1/1 23:44:16
Barnypok Barnypok
Rating: 10.0000
2016/4/16 23:23:57
Rating: 10.0000
2011/4/16 18:53:59
Linda West
Rating: 10.0000
Thai Paradise
"This our favorite Thai restaurant in East Hwy 50 corridor. The management and wait staff are friendly and efficient. The ingredients are fresh and the dishes are deliciously prepared. We also asked for "less spicy" and were told that any dish could be prepared at any level of spicyness required. An unusual plus is the availability of refills on Thai iced tea and coffee."
2010/1/13 13:30:34
Sam Norseman
Rating: 4.0000
Good food, lousy service
"I went there for lunch based on some good reviews and a recommendation. The salad dressing tasted ok, but looked like it was squeezed out of a tube and there was way too much of it. Then we waited much longer than the "fast service, even when busy" I'd seen on other reviews stated (we finished our salad and waited quite a while after) for our food. The thai iced tea was good, and I was looking forward to the "free refill" promised on the menu, but no amount of friendly waves, nods, or, eventually, glass waiving, could get a waitress to stop or even look in our direction. In fact, we couldn't get a waitress to even speak to us until, after we had our bill (dropped-and-ran), I had to go up to the counter to get a box for my leftovers, and then only after a few glares. I won't be going back."
2009/10/23 16:02:02
Maggie M.
Rating: 9.0000
"I love Thai Paradise and am a frequent customer! I think it is perhaps the best Thai restaurant in Folsom, with Thai Siam near Old Folsom being very close. I regularly get the red and green chicken curries and thai chow mein. My kids especially love the chow mein. The only dish I have ordered that I was less than satisfactory was the chicken soup (Tom Yum Kai). It was not spicy enough and had a strange flavor. Perhaps the chef should do some research and replace that recipe? But other than that, I have been very pleased with Thai Paradise. They have great customer service too. I will be back again!!!"
2009/5/22 22:54:18
Rating: 10.0000
2009/3/23 9:53:15
michelle r
Rating: 9.0000
"The pot stickers are cravable. The service is great. The food is dynamite!! "
2009/3/15 8:23:17
mike berry
Rating: 1.0000
Overpriced, overcooked, and RAMEN noodles.
"Wow. Got one night in the past 2 months to get a babysitter and take out my wife. They looked busy, which is a great sign in this economy. Definitely hoping to get something great, or at the least bit, satisfying. We ordered the soup (one of my favorite choices) and it said very spicy next to it. Great! just what I wanted. They burst my bubble. Not spicy in the least bit. served in a flame shooting bunt pan that I couldnt even get the serving spoon in. Ah, well. maybe the next thing would be great. Ordered the chicken satay appetizer. That was the only average part of the meal. Nothing special. just pricey. Wife ordered the Thai chicken noodles. Had 4 pieces of chicken on top of obvious TOP RAMEN noodles that were undrecooked. Pretty carrot garnish, but that is all they spent time on in that dish. Then the coup de gras. Ordered the 19.95 Rack of Lamb. I got 4 minute pieces of lamb, sliced about as thin as a poker chip and overcooked until they were so dry that even the spicy sauce couldnt bring the back. Even with a $25 off coupon, we were charged $34 (they included an 18% gratuity!)... NEVER going back to there."
2009/3/14 18:39:29
Rating: 8.0000
Good But....
"good food, but their chicken is always chewy and tough."
2009/1/29 10:27:22
Diem Dang
Rating: 10.0000
2008/8/29 11:06:55
Clark Shueh
Rating: 10.0000
Experience Thai Paradise without ever leaving Fols
"This place is awesome! Having experienced dozens of Thai restaurants all over the Sacramento region, Thai Paradise in Folsom has the best food, service, and Thai Iced Tea/Thai Iced Coffee (you also get a free refill!). From the moment I stepped in during their Grand Opening, I knew this was a special place and predicted it was going to be very popular with the locals. It is! The service is excellent... even with a full restaurant with everbody savoring the cuisine, I still get my Thai Iced Tea or iced water filled before I even ask. I love the fresh and authentic taste of all of their dishes and always leave extremely satisfied. I have frequented this restaurant and tasted just about all of their lunch specials and taken my friends and family here for dinner. It is a gastronomic paradise for everyone each time. When I leave, I am already thinking about my next visit ... craving for another taste in paradise. If you like spicy, you can have them make your dish "Thai Spicy" and be ready to sweat. You can also order you dish without the heat or "American Mild" as my wife puts it. My 2.5 year old loved the Pad Thai and will even eat his vegetables here. We hope that Thai Paradise will become your favorite Thai restaurant as it has for us. I'm going there for lunch again today... hope to see you there!"
2008/8/2 17:46:47
M de Bock
Rating: 10.0000
"Lived in Thailand for 10 years! The food here is excellent. "
2008/7/23 15:24:31
Kevin Andrews
Rating: 10.0000
Excellence in Thai Dining
"We were delighted to find this place, after having discovered that our previous favorite (which rhymes with Tamarin) had become complacent. The Thai iced tea is always a favorite, but not every place delivers. I've had some bad tea in otherwise decent restaurants. Thai Paradise delivered a HUGE glass of tea, delightfully prepared, and it includes a free refill, a rarity for Thai tea. It was a little on the sweet/strong side, which is fine, because you can dilute it with ice water and it goes twice as far, and still tastes better than the stuff served across town. The menu is good, and I hope they will continue to expand and improve on it. In particular, I'd love to see them add Maeng Kham to the menu. It's not often found, but when it is, it is a welcome addition to the menu. The prices are on the high side, and the portions a little on the small side. But the quality is high enough to justify it, so they are to be forgiven."
2008/7/1 16:11:11
Lisa Tomiak
Rating: 10.0000
"My husband and I recently had the pleasure of dining at Thai Paradise. It was the best meal I have had in years. The wonderful layered flavors and beautiful presentation of the food was beyond words. If you love Thai food this resturant should be top on your list."
2008/6/16 9:42:04
Dr. Robin Falkov
Rating: 10.0000
Outstanding Thai food at Thai Paradise
"Hello! I was fortunate to have friends that knew of this amazing restaurant on my last visit to the Folsom area. The food was outstanding. Perfectly prepared salmon. Sauces that develop in the mouth with multiple layers of taste. Beautiful presentation, friendly and knowledgeable service, elegant, ultra modern decor and well priced. Just writing about this restaurant, has me looking forward to my next visit! Can't wait to have dinner on the lovely, outdoor patio."
2008/6/5 18:12:00
Fritz Ziegenmeyer
Rating: 10.0000
far better than pick up stix
"Had dinner there tonight, food was excellent and so was the service"
2008/6/5 9:27:28
Rebecca Malekian
Rating: 10.0000
Great Food! Great Service!
"We loved this wonderful Thai Restaurant. The service was great, the food was wonderful, and I felt the portion sizes were really hearty, compared to the smaller portions I am used to at other Thai restaurants!"
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