For the time being anyway... this blog is pretty much just a way to post various articles or links that we have come across that we thought might be of some interest to our customers, friends and family. We don't necessarily support all of the articles written here. We do hope that they will at least stir some thought or provide something to talk about at the coffee shop.
Why USDA Organic Certifications are Critical for our Future Every compound that passes through your skin ends up in your bloodstream. So check all labels for these 8 synthetic and potentially hazardous ingredients found in most moisturizer brands. Plus, see how we've produced one of the very few USDA Organically Certified natural moisturizers available exclusively at Mercola.com.
What Single Compound is Crucial for Every Cell in Your Body? Every cell in your body desperately needs this substance to help produce the energy you need to live. Unfortunately, as you get older, your levels of this critical compound sharply decline. See why I personally take and recommend this nutrient for nearly every adult (hint: your heart is just one of many body organs and systems that will thank you...).
Above is a video of Andy Pratt's big hit "Avenging Annie", from 1973. The song was covered by The Who's Roger Daltrey on his 1977 album "One of the Boys". Rolling Stone Magazine raved that Pratt "has forever changed the face of rock."
Above is Roger Daltrey's version of "Avenging Annie". I thought it would be cool to put them side by side so people can hear both versions!
And here is an interesting write up from the LAWeekly blog I found....
TOP SURREAL MOMENT OF THE FESTIVAL: I'm in the coffeeshop today at 1 pm, waiting to meet up with a friend. The only available seat is near a lanky, white-haired man, who hunches over his table and sways slightly, like one touched.
I take a risk and grab the seat. Of course, he turns around and wordlessly places some sort of piece of paper on my table in slow-motion. I look at the photo on it, and I look at him. "Andy Pratt," it says.
Andy Pratt. Oh, if you only knew how I have hunted for Andy Pratt.
I first heard him while flipping around the radio dial seven years ago, one Sunday-night three a.m.; as it turned out, Jon Brion was guest-DJing on The Open Road, and playing something simple, and bizarre, and real. And beautiful. And incredible. And true. And it was Andy Pratt.
I hunted for Andy Pratt, ultimately ordering something difficult-to-find through a record store, called Resolution. This was all way before MySpace or iTunes were ever an option for me. He sits at a piano on the cover, looking like a much taller Lindsey Buckingham. I never heard anything on it as amazing as that stuff on the radio. Yet he seemed a charismatic figure. He'd later become a Christian. Sometimes, the really gifted ones, the ones who really face the music, and madness, do that.
You may hear Jon Brion talking at length about Andy Pratt, and playing three of his songs, here. He even "steals" my theory of musical time-travel, suggesting his influence on Radiohead and Beck.
Anyway. At one moment in history, Andy Pratt was the Next Big Thing. Andy Pratt was touted in Rolling Stone as some kind of genius, and his song "Avenging Annie" was a hit.
And I had his album, and I always wondered what had happened to him. Much as I'd wondered what had happened to Dory Previn, another '70s misfit whom I'd discovered once while taking a bath in my apartment in Hollywood. (I heard a sound of key-twisting melody and androgynous, strange vocals wafting through the open window. I yelled out the window, what is this music? (It was Mythical Kings and Iguanas.)
I'm in the coffeeshop, and Mr. Andy Pratt places a flier on the table. I tell him I know his music, I have his album. He smiles oddly, and says, "That's out of print now. Write about it so they'll put it back in print."
He then tells me he's doing a book signing, and he pulls out a book: A psychedelic-looking photo of him on the cover. Shiver In the Night, it's called. A memoir. I ask him to sign it, and he does: For Kate, Love, Peace, and Power.
"So you're writing articles?" he asks.
"I'm doing a blog," I says, adding (and hoping it's not insulting), "Do you know what a blog is?"
"Yeah," he says, smiling. "So, you write up your daily report and all your fans read it?"
"Um... I don't have any fans."
"OK, so no one reads it!" he says, chuckling.
"Yes, nobody reads it!" And then we both laugh.
And then he adds, almost off-the-cuff, "It's OK. I do lots of great stuff no one knows about."
Let me just savor that for a moment. "I do lots of great stuff no one knows about." He said it without bitterness, but also like someone who's not happy to be forgotten.
And nor should he be. Tonight, I've done a brief search, and found that he has a couple different MySpace pages, here and here.
His shit is incredible. And so of course MySpace is good for some things, and obviously The Open Road at 3 am is, too. But I couldn't ignore the irony of being stuck here in the mouth of the indie-hype-monster-machine, this event that launches the short-lived careers of next-big-things on an annual basis, and sitting surrounded at a cafe by young assholes in dark shades and cool haircuts, all of 'em hoping for that all-precious mantle of hype. And meeting this man with the crazed eyes and the unspeakably lovely music that not one in a hundred of these cats could hope to touch.
On the inside of the dust jacket, at the end of his bio, it says, "[Andy Pratt] is now happily married, and he is ready to rock."
Above is Chris Jamison's video for his song "What Freedom Means". When you listen to his fantastic CD "Into Surrender" you can't escape comparing his music to Paul Simon!
Above is Chris Jamison's video for his song "Savage Nation", another track from his "Into Surrender" disc. Even with the reggae flair, the Paul Simon characteristics of his voice shine through.
Looks like there may be yet another reason to kick sugar and white flour out of your diet: eye health.
Cutting back on processed carbs could lower your risk of advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness in people 60 and older.
The Carb Connection What makes refined carbs so bad for your peepers? Seems their high glycemic index may be partly to blame. High-glycemic-index foods boost a whole bunch of bad things linked to AMD -- like increases in oxidative stress, inflammation, and blood-fat levels. (Get a simple breakdown on what high or low glycemic index means.)
See the Future Along with replacing the "bad" carbs in your diet with high-fiber whole grains, try these other sight-saving steps:
Here's a novel weight-loss strategy. Before you take one single bite, think about your last meal -- every detail.
It may sound silly, but there's science behind the idea. People in a study who thought about their last meal before snacking munched less. So before your next nibble, picture your lunch plate.
Mind over Matter It made no difference how tempting the treat. When people were asked to remember what they had for lunch that day prior to eating a popcorn snack, they ate less of the munchy stuff -- regardless of whether it was seasoned or served plain. All of which suggests that appetite may be linked to food memory cues. (Can you afford to eat that fudge brownie? Find out here.)
Daily Strength for the Dieter Give yourself some superhuman willpower with these tricks for resisting dietary temptations:
Scrap the three squares . . . and eat smaller, more frequent meals. Here's why.
A walk on a treadmill or a walk in the park? Either one will get you fit, but the walk in the park may make you feel a whole lot better!
Research confirms it: Exercising in a green environment puts you in a better frame of mind than working out in a sterile gym. Go figure!
The Green Scene In a study, people walked on a treadmill and viewed pictures of urban areas or images of rural scenes with lots of green spaces. The result? Besides bringing down blood pressure, viewing the green scenery improved energy and activity levels, raised self-esteem, and boosted mood. (Read how going green indoors is good for your health, too.)
Not Your Everyday Travel Tips Even seasoned travelers may not have heard these seven unique travel tips, gleaned from the experiences of frequent fliers.
What Dangers Lurk in YOUR Summer Survival Kit? Between your sunscreen and your bug repellant, I'm convinced you may be slathering your body with the equivalent of a 'toxic waste dump'. Check out this new article to discover the truth about these two common substances -- and what you can do now to have a fun and nontoxic summer season.
