April 21, 2008
Ants, Scale Infestations, and Tanglefoot
About this time of year in the spring, when the weather warms up, the blooms are off the stone fruit trees, and the new fruit are just beginning to grow, the ants start to stake their claims on the trees. You can see them marching up the trunks and disappearing into the foliage. What are they doing? Most likely building their scale nurseries. The ants nurse and protect the scale insects, which, tapped into the sap of the tree, produce a sweet nectar that the ants love to eat.
You can pick off the scales one by one (they're squishy underneath their hardened shells, like baby snails, yes eww gross, wear gloves) but unless you tackle the ants, the scales will just come back.
So, what to do?
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Posted by elise on April 21, 2008 to Gardening | Permalink
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April 3, 2008
The Return of Doctor Who
Doctor Who fans, season 4 is about to start, at least in the UK. I am completely and unabashedly in love with this show and its star David Tennant. Took an episode or two to recover from the loss of Christopher Eccleston and his sexy, swagger Doctor. Tennant is decidedly more subtle in his performance than Eccleston. But, boy can he act. He skillfully fills the range required by the role. Charming, exuberant, funny, determined, loving, sad, lonely, Tennant can navigate across all of these qualities and emotions within moments. The good Doctor returns for another adventure-filled season and I can't wait. Billy Piper comes back. Catherine Tate joins the cast. Here's a review.
Who is your favorite Doctor Who?
Posted by elise on April 3, 2008 to Random | Permalink
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February 20, 2008
It's About Time
Stanford announces financial aid enhancements.
Stanford University today announced the largest increase in its history for its financial aid program for undergraduates.Under the new program, parents with incomes of less than $100,000 will no longer pay tuition. Parents with incomes of less than $60,000 will not be expected to pay tuition or contribute to the costs of room, board and other expenses.
The program also eliminates the need for student loans.
Other significant enhancements have been made to the program that will benefit aid recipients at all levels of income.
When I was at business school I heard former Stanford president Donald Kennedy speak on the need for those of us "best and brightest" to go into public service. I talked to Mr. Kennedy after his talk about the financial realities of this. When I got out of undergrad my school loan payments were as high as my rent. There is no way I could afford to take a job that didn't pay much. In fact, my observation was that the only people who could afford to work for non-profits were those with trust funds, or those who had gone to a state school and weren't loaded down by debt.
I didn't pay off my combined business school and undergrad loans until I was in my mid-thirties, and then I celebrated by throwing a "zero net worth" party.
As an alumn, I'm tired of having my donations to the school go to maintaining more and bigger buildings. Stanford has a huge endowment, one of the largest in the country. There is no excuse to saddle their students with huge debt burdens that take decades to pay off and limit career choices.
Thanks to similar announcements by top tier East Coast schools, Stanford has been compelled to offer more aggressive financial aid, just to stay competitive.
All I can say is that it is about time.
Posted by elise on February 20, 2008 to Random | Permalink
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February 15, 2008
Henry Ward Beecher - Perseverance and Obstinancy
The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't.
~ Henry Ward Beecher
Posted by elise on February 15, 2008 to Quotes | Permalink
Laurence Shames - Success and Failure
Success and failure. We think of them as opposites, but they're really not. They're companions - the hero and the sidekick.
~ Laurence Shames
Posted by elise on February 15, 2008 to Quotes | Permalink
January 4, 2008
Interview with Allee Willis of Bubbles and Cheesecake
I first met Allee Willis in the mid-nineties when we worked together on "Willisville", a virtual world of 19 or so wildly amusing fictional inhabitants of a town by the same name, accessible only through the Internet. It was a grand experiment, funded by Intel, and like so many things that Allee creates, years before its time. Allee is one of the bravest, truest artists I know. Brilliant ideas come hurtling out of her faster than most of our brains can process. She seems to thrive teetering on the edge of either disaster or brilliant success, ready to leap fully into the next thing, forging ahead wherever her creative juices take her.
Recently Allee teamed up with recording artist Holly Palmer to create and publish their own music, skipping the established record labels all together. Their video It's a Woman Thang was featured on YouTube and has had over 800,000 downloads to date. Allee is a grammy award winning songwriter, over 50 million songs sold, used to write a lot for Earth Wind and Fire, wrote a lot of the music to Beverly Hills Cop (remember Neutron Dance?). She co-wrote the music to the Broadway show "Color Purple", produced by Oprah, based on the book by Alice Walker. I've always been awed and amazed by Allee Willis and am delighted that she agreed to be interviewed about what motivates her and the latest stage of her career:
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Posted by elise on January 4, 2008 to Art, Music | Permalink
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January 2, 2008
Hermann Goering - The People Can Always Be Brought to the Bidding of the Leaders
“Why, of course, the people don't want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship...
Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
- Hermann Goering (as told to Gustav Gilbert during the Nuremberg trials)
Posted by elise on January 2, 2008 to Quotes | Permalink
Previous 20 entries...
Arianna Huffington - Whittled and Sandpapered Nov 26, 2007Fernando Flores - We Human Beings Belong to Language Nov 26, 2007
Rumi - If you are irritated by every rub Oct 10, 2007
Woah - Google 411! Oct 3, 2007
Christine Kane Live - Right Outta Nowhere Sep 29, 2007
Imogen Heap - Goodnight and Go Sep 2, 2007
Time Aug 28, 2007
Spider Love Aug 23, 2007
Fun with Photo Booth Aug 11, 2007
Christine Kane at BlogHer Aug 9, 2007
Fail Early And Get It Over With Jun 26, 2007
Imogen Heap - Just for Now (Live Acapella) Jun 23, 2007
Portraits of Women in 500 Years of Western Art Jun 9, 2007
Hundertwasser and Quixote Winery Jun 3, 2007
Free Credit Report Jun 2, 2007
Instead of Making Art Apr 22, 2007
BlogHer Business 2007 Mar 30, 2007
The View from the Empire State Building Mar 27, 2007
Elise on Japanese "Blog TV" Mar 16, 2007
Why Tree Work is So Expensive Jan 26, 2007
More...
