DelValley Silver: your tri-state silver connect

With my recent mention of gold and hard money, I figure I should take just a moment to tell you what I’m talking about: “hard currency” is a currency characterized by the stability of its value, typically as precious metals or alternative medium of exchange, such as sheep, cattle, seeds, cloth, or other agreed-upon asset.

Claudius II coin

As synopsized in Dr. Ron Paul’s 2009 book End the Fed, the United States’ currency has been systematically devalued since the Federal Reserve’s creation in 1913 and suspension of the gold standard in 1933.  The Fed’s policy of inflation, by which it prints more dollars without the requisite hard currency to back it up, reduces the purchasing power of each dollar and carries with it a corresponding increase of the cost of goods and services.

If the greenback is slated for a steadfast demise, it stands to reason that other tangible goods would remain a better vehicle for long-term investment.  Historically speaking, gold and silver have long held sway in terms of preferred metals for currency, with copper, platinum, palladium, and a few others trailing behind.

Some sustainably-minded folks, along with taking steps to live in a self-sufficient manner, are making the transition to hard currency.  And here is where I introduce DelValley Silver, an “an asset-based barter trade unit namely silver tokens as the marker for our trades,” bringing together merchants and customers who seek to use the silver token system in their mutual transactions.  I had the pleasure of meeting DVS President Karen Emery recently, at last month’s End The Fed rally in Philadelphia – she is extremely kind and helpful and will patiently explain any questions about the company you might have.

Silver Token 1oz / .999 pure silver

Silver tokens are available directly on the site in 1.0 oz and 0.5 oz denominations and, guaranteed at .999 pure silver, can be used as a discrete investment vehicle, as well as within the DelValley network.  The tokens are always sold as close to the spot price for silver as possible.  The DVS site also sells both deerskin pouches and Air-Tite coin holders, in case you don’t want to leave your silver pieces randomly lying about.

My only pause comes courtesy of Golden State Mint, the company producing DelValley’s coins, as the mint’s site includes the following as a sample:

GSM sample coin: New World Order

I’m just hoping the company isn’t really affiliated with the aspiring New World Order or its champions, and that there aren’t any tracking chips in my silver pieces.  Pushing that momentary fear aside, I recommend you check out the DelValley Silver site when you can.

There are even consumer-side perks for those who refer a merchant to join: “Referring Members are entitled to receive two one-ounce silver tokens for each Merchant they refer to DelVal who requests a Merchant membership. For each additional year the merchant signs up, the Referring Member shall receive an additional one-ounce token.”  Sweet.

Jon Stewart, Glenn Beck and hard money, pt2.

To build on the last post: there are those who apparently think Jon Stewart and Glenn Beck are quite similar, whether in temperament, or ideologically, as left and right poles on the spectrum of political correspondence.  The March 19, 2009 edition of “1600 Pennsylvania Ave,” MSNBC contributor David Shuster’s political panel show cancelled earlier this year, includes Republican guest Brad Blakeman drawing parallels between Beck and Stewart (and Bill Maher):

Glenn Beck remains a good sport about the parody and punditry, self-deprecatingly including clips from The Daily Show, Saturday Night Live, and South Park in his program:

I must give Beck a kudo or two for having Judge Andrew Napolitano, Dr. Ron Paul and his son, Dr. Rand Paul, on his November 6, 2009 show:

Back to the Stewart-Beck rivalry: I can understand Stewart doubting the purity of Beck’s intentions, since Beck’s occasional cry to buy gold shunts his viewers directly to Goldline International, a gold coin dealership that also happens to sponsor Beck’s show.

So, Beck is a paid spokesman for Goldline.  I may join Stewart in questioning Beck’s motivations, but I cannot argue with the hard money policy he claims to support.

Jon Stewart, Glenn Beck and hard money, pt1.

Listening to NPR’s Fresh Air program yesterday, I heard tv critic David Bianculli and host Terry Gross’ discussion of several things television.  Amidst the talk of best shows of 2009 and changes in broadcast and cable, Bianculli mused on the inevitable end of tv as the cultural glue holding America together.  With a nod to cell phones and portable online devices, and their tendency to decrease consumer dependence on television for accessing media, he commented, “We’re not going to have another shared national experience once we lose tv.”

I see Bianculli’s point; however, I am going say connectivity itself, rather than the simple act of watching tv, is the [national] experience being shared.  Emails, Facebook wall posts, Youtube uploads, tv images transmitted on cathode ray tubes, handwritten letters sent by carrier pigeon are all but stepping stones along the path to that connectivity.

Moving on, I would like to join with Bianculli in his inclusion of The Daily Show With Jon Stewart as noteworthy programming.  Stewart might not be unbiased (he trends towards left in his social, if not economic, policy), but I concur that he’s “doing more for deconstructing the media than anyone.”  Biased or not, the man’s knack for decrying the inconsistencies of our federal government is a beauty to behold.

Stewart and the other Daily Show writers continued to eluciate the public with the recent December 10 show, which included a bit on political pundit Glenn Beck.

The 3:25 segment, “Beck – Not So Mellow Gold,” reflects on the FOX News contributor’s peal for gold, and his position on the tendency of gold to increase in value during times of public fear.  Unlike Beck, I wouldn’t quite say gold is “friendly to inflation” – seems to me if the currency is inflated, you will need to pony up more greenbacks for the same ounce of gold.  But the abusive and unsustainable policies of the Fed will usher us into recession, depression, or collapse, as Beck has suggested, though it may take a few more presidential terms to rise to a full head…

Apple MacBook Pro: to bite, or not to bite

I must face a looming fact: my son Michael, recently turned 11 and daily showing signs of increased rebellion independence, will soon need a computer of his own.  “Need” might be too strong a word, in truth, but the potential utility is real: homework-related research, personal edification (with Mom-installed porn and other filters running – and after homework is done – naturally), MMORPGs out the wazoo (he prefers World of Warcraft and Wizard 101), and likely audio/video media procurement.  To this end, I’m considering a transition process in which Michael would buy my late-2006 model Apple MacBook, and I might invest in some sort of upgrade.  (Yes, Apple offers financing.  And student discounts!)

What would I upgrade to, though?  If not the latest MacBook model, then perhaps the MacBook Pro.

The enclosure’s aluminum unibody design packs only slightly heavier than the MacBook’s polycarbonate; and the 2.53GHz (to 3.06GHz) Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB of RAM, and increased hard disk economy, simply blows my 60GB dinosaur baby away.

Any contribution that Michael puts towards this plan will neatly go to some small-ish repairs that need doing on the 2006 model: one of the case hinges is somewhat unhinged, the disc drive doesn’t always read or write cleanly, and wi-fi signals aren’t received with the robustness and consistency that they should.  (The 3-year warranty, extended (for a price) from the complementary 1-year warranty included with all Macs, is now quite expired.)

I watched a brief review of the MacBook Pro by Stuff.tv:

and another, longer, one by Mobile Computer Mag:

But I’m not quite convinced: a replacement MacBook starts at $999 for 250GB, while the MacBook Pro – aluminum unibody or no aluminum unibody – asks $1199 for only 160GB.  Gig for gig, there’s no question.

Either way, the improvements to the processor and memory would bring me to where I could run Logic without crashing.  That would be valuable.

So, what do you think – to upgrade, or not to upgrade?

Meetup.com & Survivalism

I thought I’d take a moment to introduce one of the internet’s most wondrous, most functional gifts: that of Meetup.com.  This site lets you locate or start your own “Meetup Group” based on location and common interest, to meet like-minded people, enjoy like-minded activities, and work towards like-minded goals.

Could be knitting, pug-walking, Libertarianism, or collecting old 45s – pretty much anything is game.  Currently, I am a member of four groups, focusing on political activism and survivalism.  If you’re interested in knowing (and, perhaps, are also in the South Jersey/Tri-State area and want to attend):

Living Free in Delaware Valley

South Jersey Ron Paul for Liberty

SURVIVE AND THRIVE – Philadelphia Region

TRUTH, FREEDOM, PROSPERITY

Aside from the potentially limitless benefits to Meetup and its analogs, let’s not forget that it’s completely free.  Some events may request a donation, depending on the nature of the meetup, and who’s running it.  Otherwise, the sky’s the limit.

But there is one caveat I’ve uncovered so far: events that may be cross-referenced to several Meetup Groups can *occasionally* bear inconsistencies, such as with a recent survivalist training I was to attend.  One Group’s page said the event was to start at 2pm, the other said 3pm, and the net result was that I missed out, preferring to make the next training rather than be an hour late.  So, if you join similar or related groups, keep your eyes peeled for this sort of thing, and ask the Admins if unsure!

While I didn’t catch the survivalist course, I *was* pleased to see a fellow SURVIVE AND THRIVE member shared this, from EatTheWeeds‘ YouTube Channel:

This video series – 109 Episodes and counting – comes to you courtesy of Mr. Green Deane, self-proclaimed “forager from a family of foragers.”  I’ve only watched a couple so far, but it looks to be an extremely thorough, thoughtful discussion on how to live in the wild, harvesting, innovating, living in harmony, and other sorts of nature-lovin’ stuff.

Deane has a separate site for EatTheWeeds.com, with additional resources, a searchable wildlife archive, and info on his public foraging classes.

In case anyone in the web-o-sphere doesn’t know much about me (and wants to), I’ve recently begun the likely long process of training myself to survive in the wild, and accumulating such tools and provisions as might aid me in that goal.  To that end, if anyone has suggestions regarding books to read (ie: edible wildlife guides), supplies to procure, or other persons/groups I can learn from, please let me know!

Niblets, of the musical and theatrical persuasions: Tin Hat redux, Sleepy Gorillas and Sweet Land

To close the musical niblet entries, I am going to bring it back home to the band Tin Hat Trio.  Well, to a couple of its band members, actually.

Enter: Carla Kihlstedt, violinist and vocalist for THT.

Some noteworthy bits from her bio:

• raised in Lancaster, PA (born in Illinois)
• Oberlin Conservatory graduate
• lived in San Fran for a spell

(note: I lived in Berkeley for a year, and my heart remains soft for all things Bay Area)

Kihlstedt is also a member of 2 foot yard (another trio), and 5-piece Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, whom I will speak on for a moment now: I can imagine some would interpret SGM’s homepage, with its upside-down texts “Open your heart to the lord of the light,” and “Dawn of the rising star” as referring to [the character of] Lucifer in the Christian Bible.

The Wiki on Lucifer claims the Latin “Lucifer” [Morning Star] is a misnomer, and not one and the same with the Christian idea/character of “Satan.”  Interesting.

Still, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum seems to flirt pretty sincerely with some sort of “dark side,” such as is depicted in the video for “A Hymn to the Morning Star”:

And here’s an (apparently) early live version of “Sleep is Wrong,” a blood-gnashing, basically unintelligible number, largely in 5/8 time (or is it 15/8):

Frontman Nils Frykdahl has described Sleepytime’s approach as a mixing of contemporary classical composition with industrial music’s “texture and sound rather than…melody and harmony.”  As the band’s official bio states, the music features homemade instruments (with names like the “Electric Pancreas”!) and a diet rich in “the other black meat” – coffee.  Compelling stuff.

Still, if these folks aren’t quite up one’s alley, there’s another winding turn off Tin Hat Trio lane I’d like to make known: that of guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Mark Orton, who composed the soundtrack for the film Sweet Land (2005).  That is some good music.  If you want to support the soundtrack with some real money, visit either Mark Orton’s CD Baby site or the Apple iTunes store.

The film is a sweet one (description here) about homesteading, bias and prejudice, loyalty and love in 1920s Minnesota, based on Will Weaver’s short fiction piece A Gravestone Made of Wheat.  Worth watching if only for the music:

If memory serves, 22 songs of the soundtrack’s 24 are instrumentals composed by Orton. The song played through the end credits, Quiet Breathing, is a nice lyric number, with vocals by Haley Bonar.

Well, enjoy!

Niblets, of the musical persuasion: Tatum, Horowitz, Caramuta, Fiorillo

Enter: Art Tatum
This early 20th-century jazz great pianist was largely blind, largely self-taught, and phenomenally skilled.   As a continuation of the preceding blog post, I am sharing Tatum’s version of “Willow Weep for Me,” as found on last.fm.

I am a classically-trained pianist of 25 years, and yet I find myself as speechless as a babe on the matter of Tatum’s playing; I can only close my eyes and laugh.  (And then get back to practicing.)  If classical piano legend Vladimir Horowitz was in awe, I guess I can make myself some allowances for not being quite up to par.

I will, however, share another of his recordings, as he riffs on Chopin’s Valse in C# Minor (another piece I’m studying, incidentally).  Just close your eyes, and revel in the nastiness of the skills:

Enter: piano chops
All this talk has me curious to track down my musical “lineage” once and for all.  My understanding is that I have a link to Franz Liszt and Carl Czerny, through Horowitz’s student (and my teacher) Americo Caramuta.  But I don’t see Caramuta listed as one of Horowitz’s students anywhere on he web-o-sphere.  And since I haven’t heard from Caramuta in over ten years, there is no proof in my pudding. Perhaps he’s a student of a student?

But I did sit down once or twice with Alexander Fiorillo, a bona fide student of Horowitz™, some years back…  It looks like he is teaching nearby at Temple U.  Perhaps it’s time for me to take some lessons again.

Niblets, of the musical persuasion: Tin Hat Trio

I don’t listen to much popular radio these days, usually sticking to the news (or some version of it) on NPR; occasionally, I’ll switch to classical/jazz on 90.1 WRTI, or (from the cool cats at Princeton) the eclectic ecstasy that is 103.3 WPRB.  So it is with uncommon pleasure that I share the work of some current musical artists, and my journey of exploration therein.

Enter: Tin Hat Trio
The time was around the start of this century, circa 2000-1, when I was working for then-Fresh Fields (now Whole Foods) in Marlton, and a friend from the store invited me to the Tin Angel in Philly -  a venue where I would eventually perform, a few times – to see the Tin Hat Trio.  I think my friend called them “nouveau classical,” or some-such.  Never heard of ‘em, but sure, I’d go.

The band may go by Tin Hat Quartet now, or maybe just Tin Hat, but at the time of the show it was a Trio: Mark Orton on guitar, Carla Kihlstedt on violin and vocals, and Rob Burger on accordion.  They offered a mash of folk, contemporary, and classical styles; they yearned in color; each player was an honest-to-goodness virtuoso.  I was lucky in being close to the stage end of the narrow room, and the show was mind-blowing, both musically and emotionally.

Here’s a share-worthy clip I found, of the band in 2003 (as Tin Hat Trio) doing Ann Ronell’s “Willow Weep for Me” (1932), with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia:

Having never heard the song before, seeing this version has inspired me to learn the music.  And transpose it: the sheet music I have (in G) is a little supra-optimal for this alto.  But it’s so lovely to sing, and to play.

Considering I’d not heard of this song before, I wonder what other versions are out there to consider?

And Now For Something Completely Different.

And now for something completely different:

While doing some late-night Facebook posting and perusing, I saw a friend’s link to an article on water bears (courtesy of another wordpress blog).  I’d heard of these marvelous creatures before: they can withstand high levels of radiation, the vacuum of space, dehydration, and various other environmental extremes.  Fascinating.

Then I noodled around some more and found this site:

in Bb 2.0 – a collaborative music/spoken word project

The project is the brainchild of Darren Solomon (of Science for Girls), consisting of 20 separate YouTube videos composed around the theme of the key of B flat (major).  Most of the vids are musical, with a few spoken, synth-noise, and other avante garde-y ones – none are more than a couple minutes long.  As the site instructs, we can “play these together, some or all, start them at any time, in any order.”

Here are a few of the separate submissions:

toy sax w/ delay:

ELECTRIBE MX (EMX-1)

A Love Of Bb Major

You can find them all on YouTube separately if you do a little work.

I stuck with 4-5 at a time…seriously in need of more processing speed, I didn’t want to tweak my baby [Macbook] out…but this was just enough sensory input to give me some serious feelings of bliss.  I recommend checking it out.  Highly.

You can listen to a few other of Solomon’s songs on the Science for Girls site; or, for those of you who don’t share my phobia of MySpace (despite my still having a music profile), you can listen there as well.

Reminds me of what the Song of the Morning must sound like.  Ahh…

Free Market Healthcare, pt1.

This past Friday the 13th, I heard a program on NPR’s All Things Considered, “Price Disparities Common in Health Care System,” delineating the economic blunder wonder that is the pricing rationale of hospital care in America.  (Listen here to the 6:20 segment.)

Much like doing cost-comparisons for a can of SpaghettiOs© (classic American example of how to shove otherwise-absent nutrients into a “fun pasta shape”), the program demonstrated we can also shop around for the lowest-cost health care procedures.  Take this example of MRIs offered by two different Pensacola, FL providers, not a mile away from each other:

• Pensacola Open MRI & Imaging: MRI with the 3-Tesla, $400-450
• Sacred Heart Hospital: MRI with the 1.5-Tesla, about $900

Now, the 3-Tesla is a higher-resolution model, providing a definitive diagnostic edge, and can be accessed for half the price at Pensacola MRI.  But according to a rep for Sacred Heart, the admittedly “made up” price [gap] reflects an important healthcare reality: such aggregated price tags do not represent the actual procedural costs, but instead are designed to defray the costs of uncompensated care given by the hospital, primarily resulting from Emergency Room visits. In other words: the cost is part of a bundled figure the hospital negotiated with insurance companies.

Ah.

So, those of us who have health insurance do not have direct contact with the true costs of the care we are given.  We do, however, experience a once-removed effect of these costs, by observing how our insurance premiums rise based on the amount of care we use, or, in the case of our uninsured compatriots, the amount of care they use.

Would we have it any other way?  Are we not glad for E.R. care?  Do we need to reduce the frequency of non-emergency E.R. visits, as suggested by U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ)?  I certainly understand Sen. Brown’s position, as I am another strong advocate of preventative care as a more effective, and cost-effective, way to maintain one’s health.

But as free market entities, aren’t hospitals entitled to set their own policies, and prices?  Or are we pressed by the need to act in hospitals’ interest, given that most facilities are obligated by law to provide emergency care?

According to Sen. Brown, the “taxpayers” are the ones who suffer when the uninsured come to the E.R., though I think he would be more accurate to say the “insured consumers” are the ones who pay.

And this brings us back to the methodology behind hospitals’ pricing, what terms they set and with which insurers.  It grows more apparent every day that the U.S. Government is determined to be Insurer-In-Charge.  Just how will that fact affect our nation’s healthcare?  Stay tuned…