2008-02-21 Arts & Entertainment

Mind Candy Painkillers and Alternatives

February 21, 2008 The Sunset Sessions Kika Kane [CD] It's difficult to describe the music that comes from Kika Kane's "slack-key"-tuned guitar. It's mellow, but not soft. It's classic without sounding tired, and it's Local without sounding super Hawaiian. His instrumental tracks make you want to pop in ear buds and lay out on the beach on a warm, breezy day. It came as no surprise that Kane wrote most of the tracks on Sunset Sessions in the afternoon while lounging on the sand after surfing. They all have a soothing, satisfied sound. Besides being a great album to chill to, it also works great for massage or meditating. The local vibe and Maui feel is a great alternative to all the New Age-y walking in the forest stuff that's out there. www.kikakane>www.kikakane, target="_new">www.myspace.com/kikakane Vaughn's One-Page Summaries [WEBSITE] Vaughn's One Page Summaries is a treasure of useful information. On this site, which is regularly updated, you will find details on animal cross-species, the top movies of all time, golf club comparisons, main constellations to view by month, star magnitudes, diamond grading charts, EMF detectors, diet pills and–my personal fave–a handy prescription painkiller comparison chart. It lists all of the over-the-counter and prescription painkillers, what they are best for, any risks involved and then rates them on a score of one to 10 on how they alleviate back pain. No shock that plain old aspirin rates just a one, but I was surprised that Demerol, which I've had a few times after surgery, came in at only a four with 800 mgs of Motrin ranking close with a 3.5. I feel a headache coming on. www.vaughns-1-pagers.com target="_new">www.vaughns-1-pagers.com The Blue Day Book: A Lesson in Cheering Yourself Up By Bradley Trevor Grieve [BOOK] I first came across The Blue Day Book after a lousy breakup and it's now one of those books I often turn to for advice. It always gives me a good laugh when the day/week/year feels like a trip to the dentist. The book is short, just 93 pages. Each page has a black and white photo of an expressive animal–polar bears, bulldogs, hippos, mice, turtles, frogs, pigs, penguins and chameleons. You get the picture–as well as a short encouraging editorial. It sounds fruity, but it's actually funny as hell. "Live every day as if it were your last, because one day it will be," states one page that displays a photo of an adorable baby lion about to be crushed to death by a gargantuan elephant foot. Another: "On blue days you can become paranoid that everyone is out to get you. (This is not always such a bad thing.)" That's next to a picture of a large long-beaked bird attempting to swallow a live guinea pig. They also make this book for kids, but I'm sure they leave out the potentially disturbing images like a pig humping the sheep, but it's probably just as good. MTW

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