Surreal Christmas Album from The Flaming Lips...

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Giclee Fine Prints and Mini Art: Great Gifts!

As some of you may know, my wife Andreina is an artist. She has put a lot of her prints up for sale through Etsy.

Make sure to visit her Etsy store and, if you need to get a friend or a loved one a gift for the holidays, perhaps you can take care of it there!

Below you can see some of the pieces she has up on the store... If you see something you like, check it out.

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade evolveartstudio.etsy.com

Marillion: Grendel Live

Hammersmith Odeon, 1983... one of those jewels I hadn't listened to in a while.

It came to mind when I listened to this great band where the son of a good friend plays (guitar, on the left).

Soda Stereo, Me Veras Volver...

Now listening to...

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Is Magritte More Popular than Diabetes?

A few days back, Amy Tenderich of DiabetesMine wrote this great post explaining why Google would most likely NOT do a World Diabetes Day doodle... as they in fact didn't.

One of the arguments she was given was this:
"Google chooses its doodle subjects by pure metrics: “diabetes” is searched for a good bit in America, but not enough worldwide to make the doodle short list."

So, based on the fact that Google's home page today featured a Rene Magritte doodle, I am sure "Rene Magritte" must be an incredibly popular search on Google, compared to "diabetes"... right?

Anyway... as sarcastic as this post may be, I just had to let it out. :)

Video of a Meteor Over Alberta, Canada

I had never seen something like this!! It was captured by a police unit.

Not By Choice: A Song About Living with Diabetes

This song sums it all up... George is one of the most beloved bloggers in the diabetes blogosphere.

You can read the lyrics here.

On Meeting Regis and Hallmark Heroes

I am still recovering from the surreal experience... A little over 24 hours ago, I was briefly in New York, at HBO Studios, after shooting a brief segment that will air Christmas Day as part of Hallmark Heroes. YES! I met Regis Philbin! The guy is super-cool and full of energy.

I had a chance to chat on camera with him for about two minutes, during which I shared a bit about TuDiabetes, the Diabetes Hands Foundation and the Global Diabetes Handprint. Along with this footage, Hallmark Channel will air a very cool 6-minute segment that they recently shot in the Bay Area. This will go on Christmas Day on Hallmark Heroes.

Along with this extraordinary opportunity, I also had the chance to meet three incredible people:
* Kathy Hatfield: founder of KnowItAlz, an Alzheimer's Caregiver Community.
* John Beltzer: founder of Songs of Love, a nonprofit that provides songs for children facing tough medical, emotional or physical conditions.
* Hal Honeyman: president of Project Mobility, a nonprofit that makes bikes for disabled children.

Radiohead Covering Portishead

Great for a Sunday afternoon...


Find more videos like this on w.a.s.t.e. central

World Diabetes Day 2008

Location: San Francisco City Hall
First 6 photos by: Mark Yarchoan, diatribe.us


Find more photos like this on Tu Diabetes - A Community for People Touched by Diabetes


How was your World Diabetes Day?

What to do for World Diabetes Day?

November 14, get involved:
Visit www.WorldDiabetesDay.org

Join www.TuDiabetes.com


Music from the movie Making a Living, with Charlie Chaplin (1914): www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY1csKCVZMg

How to NOT pay $1,500 to Talk @ a Conference

So a person contacts you to tell you that they are interested in having you present your work at their conference. They leave you their name and a number. You call back and leave a message with your email. They send you details.

You go to their web site and they happen to charge $1,500 for the chance to be considered to present to a group of people who MAY consider funding your project... what is wrong with this picture?

Does it remind you of the guy that speaks on the TV infommercial? The one that says: "Send me $100 and I will send you a book and two DVDs explaining how you too can become a millionaire."

Fast forward in time, your book and the DVDs come in the mail: you open them and the advice is plain and simple: "Get yourself enough people willing to pay you $100 so you can tell them how they too can become a millionaire... and YOU will become a millionaire."

It's pretty amazing how there are still outfits that conduct "business" this way... and by the way: heck no, I am not paying $1,5000 to talk! :)

Nov. 14 is World Diabetes Day

Nov. 14 is World Diabetes Day
Originally uploaded by Manny Hernandez

Light up in blue!!

Loving Fleet Foxes!

I first saw their album while paying @ Starbuck's. They are REALLY good!

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TuDiabetes.com Reaches 5,000 Members

TuDiabetes.com Reaches 5,000 Members!
Originally uploaded by Manny Hernandez

No words to describe this... I am just... happy!

Why I Don't Vote in the US Election

The answer is simple: because I can't. I am not a US Citizen. I am a Permanent Resident. But if you are reading this, there's a good chance you can vote in the US Election.

If you want change, you can make it happen. As Clinton's impersonator was saying in SNL last night, regardless of who wins today, there will be a new President in the White House starting next year. But today you can help choose who that person will be.

So if, unlike me, you can vote and you haven't done it yet... PLEASE VOTE. For you, for me and for anybody else who may not yet realize how important it is to exercise this right.

T-Mobile @ Home: Not Worth It

After a whole month of not having T-Mobile @ Home service and going back through layers and layers of customer service and technical support, THEY FINALLY got the service to work again. Once I was done with speaking with the highest layer of Tech support, I asked her what would they do to compensate the month that I had no service for and the time I spent on the phone with them. She said Customer Service would have to help me with it, so I called them.

I spoke with a rep and then with a supervisor, after it became obvious that the best she would be able to do is give me a whopping $10 credit (one month of no service) in my case. I spoke with the supervisor and he clearly said "we do not credit you for your time."

That is completely unacceptable: I have spent more than 8 hours in the course of the past month, on hold and troubleshooting their service. This was time that I was not productive and time that I would have not had to spend doing this if their service had worked so it is disappointing that they are missing this... and sticking to a policy that clearly disrespects customers and disregards that negative impact they can have on customers' lives when they don't deliver.

I ended up canceling the service and biting the $200 early cancellation fee: I would have paid more than that between now and the end of the contract. And the supervisor didn't seem concerned about losing a customer, when he could have easily retained me by at least asking what did I want as credit. I would have probably settled for $40-$50.

One thing I know for sure: I will think twice to extend the rest of my contract for our cell phones when they come to an end.

And if you ask me about T-Mobile @ Home, it's not worth your time as cheap as $10 for home phone service may sound. If you don't believe me, read the experience of other people here.