Herculodge

Swine Flu: Swine to Human Appears Worse Than Human to Human

On Larry Mantle's Air Talk this morning, the guest doctor clarified that it appears the flu's virulence is weakened in America because the flu is human-to-human as opposed to swine-to-human as some outbreaks in Mexico. At least that is some good news. 

Rare Radio from Russia: Circa 1992 Elektronika

You don't see these every day: a 1992 Elektronika, rare. A reader has brought to my attention that this IS NOT a radio. As the reader comments:

This is not a receiver. This is terminal for russian wired broadcasting network. This network used to broadcast 3 or 1 fixed channels. Currently broadcast schedule includes Radio of Russia ("Radio Rossii") on the 1st channel, "Radio Mayak" (translated "Radio Beacon" :) on second channel and various commercial stations on, place-dependent on 3rd channel. Also used for emergency broadcasts in Soviet era.

Can Love and Goodness Grow from Two Minds Seething in Hell?

In Robert Goolrick’s assured, masterful gothic novel An Assured Wife he portrays Ralph Truitt, a lonely man on the cusp of old age who squandered his father’s riches on decadence in his twenties, married an Italian beauty, and after his first wife betrayed him he gave up on love for decades, instead turning to his business empire in Wisconsin. 

Truitt is a man possessed by many demons not the least of which is the Puritanism his mother infected him with. There is one excruciating flashback that is prominent in Truitt’s psyche:  As a child his mother pierced his hand with a pin until the pin penetrated to the bone and his mother said, “This is what Hell is like except that Hell will last forever.” 

Overcome with a self-hatred for his body and its lusts and his tendency to give in to “licentious dissolution,” Truitt lives in isolation, his spirit seething with repression and self-loathing. When he can take his loneliness no more and finds himself desperate for a wife for whom he can pour out all his dark confessions, he puts an ad out in the paper for a “reliable wife.” The woman who answers his ad, Catherine Land, is a hustler who, raised by an abusive alcoholic father, finds refuge in libraries. Over the years she absorbs thousands and thousands of exotic travel books which have a twofold purpose: They feed her appetite for adventure and opulence. And two they give her the details she needs to tell others lies about herself and to completely re-invent herself; in other words, to make herself in essence a variation of The Great Gatsby.   

When Catherine Land gets off the train to meet who will be her new husband, we are as readers faced with the question: Can any love or goodness be born from two souls writhing in their hells? That is the novel’s suspense and that is what we must find out. 

This is a dark, sensuous, gothic novel, spare at 290 pages and one of the best contemporary novels I’ve read in a long time. Readers who enjoy this novel may also want to check out Serena by Ron Rash (its premise has striking parallels to A Reliable Wife and their opening chapters are strangely similar) and Asylum by Patrick McGrath. 

 

 

Sears Is "Giving Away" the iSongbook for $50

David L has apprised us of a "steal" at Sears, costing $50. Compare to Amazon's price of $400! But I fear it has been sold out because when I click on the product, I am diverted to another page. Or to get this low price, you may have to register on the Sears website. In any event, here is David's info:

You may already be aware of this deal on the iSongbook at Sears, but if not, here's the link:

Sears iSongbook

GE Super Radio II with Bent Antenna Tip Sells for $132

Fairly healthy price for a radio with a bent antenna. Based on this sale, I wouldn't be surprised if a mint one goes for $170 or so.

What's the Difference Between the GE Super Radio I and II?

Thanks, Huesby:

It's the same radio, all the electronics is the same, everthing it's in the same position, the values of the resistors, capacitors and coils are the same, the only difference is cosmetic appearance and the addition of a tweeter in the SR2, they both have the same performance in FM and AM, but the sound on SR2 has more treble and a deeper bass !!! Its sound is like a car stereo... Bright and full of bass... 

The SR3 has much of the electronics of these radios and althougt GE and RCA made this same radio there's a better performance on the RCA brand 'cause they corrected/improved some components.

If you have or intent to buy one check the alignment 'cause it has to be one of your best performer in AM/FM and if it's not, then you know the radio needs alignment.

Here's a link where you can learn how to do it:

http://www.geocities.com/rbrucecarter/sr2.htm
http://users.netonecom.net/~swordman/Radio/GEsrIIIAlign.h

Updated Information:

THE SECRET BEHIND THE GREAT PERFORMANCE OF THE SR

Look closely in this block diagram of the SR3 (SR1 and SR2 is more or less the same)http://users.netonecom.net/~swordman/Radio/sr3_board.htm

and you'll see 2 RF Stage for AM and 2 for FM (Most radios have none or very good old ones have 1) this provide brute sensitivity, plus 3 FI stages for FM and 4 for AM (most only have 1 for each) This provide selectivity and noise filtering.
The flaw on these radios is none seems optimum adjusted to extract their maximum performance (Quality Control).

I forget to mention they (SR1 ,2,3)carry a very long ferrite antenna which provide them of a BIG UNIFORM sensitivity in ALL the AM band; shorter ferrites doesn't have a uniform sensitivity in all the band just part of them.

Pastoral America Is No Paradise According to Robert Goolrick's A Reliable Wife

I had to buy Robert Goolrick's A Reliable Wife this morning after hearing his interview on Weekend Edition Sunday. Saying he was partly inspired by Wisconsin Death Trip, a book that chronicles murder and mayhem in rural America, Goolrick says he wanted to show that pastoral America was a place of grotesque extremes and out of this environment he has created a gothic novel. Set in 1907 Wisconsin, a lonely man puts an ad in the paper for a "reliable wife" and finds himself married to a woman who is reliably evil. I'm gratified to see that his novel is currently ranked #37 on Amazon. 

From Germany: Telefunken Bajazzo 301 Bidding for $205

Described as mint, this Telefunken could bid high. I have a Telefunken Partner 700 and this 301 looks even better. 

Making Beans Cool in the United States Isn’t Easy But This Cookbook Could Do It

 

Heirloom Beans by Steven Sando, the founder of Rancho Gordo, a food company, and food writer Vanessa Barrington, is on a mission to make beans—especially heirloom beans—cool in America. This is not an easy task, the authors point out, in spite of the fact that beans have been a heralded staple internationally.  Americans embrace the less nutritive and complex tasting corn but shun beans. The reason for this is the film Blazing Saddles, which harmed the reputation of beans more than any other cultural event. 

This book does not champion all beans. Non-heirloom beans such as kidneys, great northerns, and limas, Sando writes, are cheap but “boring.” In contrast, heirloom beans are tastier, more complex, and, due to their artisan growers, fresher. The book includes a list, accompanied by beautiful photos, of over 30 heirloom beans.

Sando is not dogmatic about how to prepare beans and includes many successful methods for preparing a pot of beans including the LA Times writer Russ Parsons’ way of simmering a cup of beans (with six cups of water) in a French oven and then putting the French oven inside the oven at 350 degrees for one to two hours. Nor is Sando dogmatic about rinsing beans saying that there is no definitive proof that rinsing them improves their digestibility. He does say that hard beans like runner Cannellini beans need to be soaked in order for them to cook properly. But most heirlooms don’t require rinsing. 

To fully utilize this book, you should invest in a Staub or Le Creuset 5 ½ quart French oven. Not only will you be able to cook beans more effectively; you can use the French ovens to cook all-in-one meals, which will save you time. 

Intelligently written with a healthy respect for heirloom beans, full of professional attractive photographs and easy-to-follow recipes, Heirloom Beans gives this much-shunned food the high esteem and attention it deserves. 

Panasonic RF-2600 Buy Now for $350 Plus Shipping

This is the highest price I've ever seen asked for the Panasonic RF-2600. I've tested this model and am a huge fan of it, but not this huge.