Cave Sponges: critical to the coral reef's food chain

I'm sure you have heard about the challenges faced by our coral reefs. Researchers are saying that from 25% to 50% and more of our corals reefs are showing definite decline due to pollution, changes in water temperature, and other effects that can be attributed to man-made activities.

Because of the low level of nutrients in tropical waters, coral reefs have often been described as oases in the desert. And we are still learning just how they are able to survive in such a beautiful but harsh environment.

A recent report explores one component that contributes to the delicate web of a healthy reef: cave sponges. Marine biologist Jasper de Goeij has been studying the role that these basic multi-celled animals play in maintaining the nutritional cycle of the coral reef. His studies show that corals and algae dispense organic compounds that few creatures can use as food. The sponges, however, filter this particulate matter as part of its normal process in filtering vast amounts of water to extract what little nutrients are available.

To protect and sustain itself against this intake of organic material (that can include viruses, bacteria, and other poisons) the sponge is continually rejuvenating cells and the dead cells it sheds form an organic material that can be utilized by many organisms on the reef. In this way, a cycle of mutual dependence is formed.

While our attention is often focused on the most colorful of the basic reef builders, the coral, we must always remember that a coral reef is a complex system with many organisms, plant and animal, playing important roles - sometimes behind the scenes and out of view - in maintaining a healthy tropical ecosystem.

Read article from Insciences Organisation.

Yosemite National Park

No list of California parks would be complete without a mention of Yosemite. It can be crowded and noisy in the summer, but if you stay clear of the tourist-clogged Yosemite Village, you will see why John Muir, the father of America's environmental movement, said, "No temple made by hands can compare with Yosemite." The real magic happens in the late afternoon, when the setting sun casts a violet glow on the iconic Half Dome and Bridalveil Fall. Yosemite is about 80 miles east of Merced, along California 140. Info: (209) 372-0200, www.nps.gov/yose.
(Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Mt. Hoffman summit
Half Dome

John Muir Wilderness

California is home to 138 designated wilderness areas, protected by some of the nation's strictest land protection laws. For hikers, the John Muir Wilderness, southwest of Mammoth Lakes, has few equals. With 590 miles of trails, dozens of pristine aquamarine lakes and the most spectacular peaks in the Sierra Nevada, this wilderness area exemplifies the beauty its namesake so prized. The office to obtain permits to enter the wilderness is at 351 Pacu Lane, Bishop. Info: (760) 873-2485, www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/recreation/wild/john-muir.shtml
(Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times)

TRICERATOPS

A herbivore that could hold its own against the feared T-Rex and one of the two most popular dinosaurs of all time. The function of their frills and three distinctive facial horns has long inspired debate. Although traditionally viewed as defensive weapons against predators, the latest theories claim that it is more probable that these features were used in courtship and dominance displays, much like the antlers. You can decide for yourself. Triceratops was about 30 feet long. It's head, including the frill shield was up to ten feet in length.

Shark Sightings: a humorous perspective from New Zealand

Here is an amusing article from Stuff, a new Zealand web paper, first brought to my attention by my friends at the SharkDiver blog. The writer is having fun with all the news media hysteria that seems to always erupt with every shark sighting.

With every discussion or screening/lecture I conduct, at some point I have to respond to an audience member's question about whether the oceans are safe. Out comes all the statistics to try to put it in perspective. It still seems to be a "built-in" nervous response with the general public caused by, on average, a half dozen shark-related fatalities worldwide each year. Then they all drive home on the freeways where 50,000 people are killed annually in the U.S. alone.

Here's a part of Linley Boniface's take on it:

Shark yarns make me yawn
Linley Boniface
The Dominion Post | Monday, 26 January 2009

I never thought I'd say this, but I am bored with sharks. This summer, it has been impossible to open a newspaper or turn on the TV without being subjected to yet another daring shark escape story.

On closer inspection, these yarns have invariably turned out to involve nothing more thrilling than an exceptionally timorous surfer paddling for safety after spotting a fishy shadow pottering quietly along the shoreline, minding its own business.

While sharks in Australia do, as the Australians rather wonderfully say, "take" the occasional swimmer, Kiwi sharks are about as predatory as a newborn ladybug.
Occasionally, a shark will accidentally graze a surfer's calf with a tooth, while yawning: cue national panic and the mass closure of beaches.

Silliest of the many absurd shark reports the media has pestered us with this summer was one from Radio New Zealand. The national broadcaster quoted Constable John Paul Tremain as urging people to stay away from beaches near Dunedin because a large shark had allegedly chased a couple of surfers from the water.

RNZ said Constable Tremain did not know the "exact size or breed of shark" - terrifying news in itself; someone is breeding the things! - but was convinced it was "lurking with intent". Lurking with intent? Intent to do what? The sea is where sharks live: sharks no more lurk in the sea than I lurk in my house.

I would have thought the fact that the shark didn't bother eating the two surfers was sufficient proof of its benevolent intentions, but it would have had to have been waving a white flag and making a peace sign with its dorsal fin to alleviate Constable Tremain's suspicions.

(Read complete article.)

"Icestorm"

"Icestorm" is by hell.linux and is available as wallpaper (Click on the link below).

Here are some of the most well-recognized filming spots around Southern California

The Beverly Wilshire hotel is perhaps most famous for standing in as the grandiose exterior and lobby in "Pretty Woman." Tony Reeves, author of "The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations," writes via e-mail that "the rooms were a set built at the Disney studio in Burbank and bear little resemblance to the real thing." The movies "Bulworth" and "Beverly Hills Cop" also made use of the hotel's luxe décor.
(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Built in 1924 for Mabel and Charles Ennis, Frank Lloyd Wright's one-of-a-kind concrete block house was featured in 1959's "House on Haunted Hill" and 1982's "Blade Runne." It was also a vampire lair in the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" TV show. The exterior is photogenic, but the interior is not open to the public.
(Dale Kutzera / For The Times)

The domes and telescopes of the Griffith Observatory will always be associated with James Dean's iconic "Rebel Without a Cause" knife fight in 1955. Though it's featured in major motion pictures such as "Transformers," restrictions and fees make the observatory difficult for television shoots, according to "Entourage" location manager Bob Lepucki.
(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Hotel del Coronado is the "Miami hotel where Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis hide out in drag with Marilyn Monroe in the classic 'Some Like It Hot,' " author Reeves writes, in an e-mail, of the San Diego-area luxury hotel, which has offered high rollers a bit of R&R since 1888. This is also where L. Frank Baum wrote at least three of his "Wizard of Oz" books. (The novelist also designed the chandeliers in the hotel's Crown Room.)
(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

If it's a freeway chase scene, chances are it's this quarter-mile stretch in Long Beach, says "Criminal Mind's" Spellman, who recently used Shoreline Drive for a freeway in Orange County and as a location for a pivotal freeway driving lesson scene in the Alicia Silverstone movie "Clueless." It's also credited in the movies "Speed" and "Iron Man." Spellman says it helps that the city is so cooperative with film crews. It should be used to them: "CSI: Miami" and "Dexter" both shoot in Long Beach.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Loggerhead Turtles: proposal to protect them from bottom longlines in Gulf

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, a U.S. regional council established by the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976, is considering a proposal to request that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issue an emergency rule prohibiting the use of bottom longlines at a depth of 50 fathoms or less. The primary purpose of the prohibition is to limit the negative impact on loggerhead turtles that are often caught in the nets as they drag across the bottom to catch snapper and grouper.

Loggerhead turtles are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Nearly 1,000 turtles were caught in this fishery in just 18 months - eight times the federally authorized level.

"Under the ESA, immediate changes in this fishery must be taken to protect loggerhead sea turtles," said Elizabeth Griffin, marine wildlife scientist at Oceana.

The emergency closure would last for five months while the NMFS pursues a permanent solution. The council is expected to make its final review and approval today. Read entire press release from Oceana.

Antarctica redux: climate change

My previous post discussed a report that was meant to verify that overall temperatures in Antarctica were slowly on the increase. The report, featured in the journal Nature, has come under considerable scrutiny and the methodologies used to derived the results are being questioned.

Should it be proved that the researchers involved in the report chose to stretch the limits of sound, solid research and analysis, that would be unfortunate as it provides fodder for critics of climate change. In the end, the extremist positions taken on any issue never seem to help the various camps on either side of the debate.

Some critics of climate change seem to take the position that it doesn't exist at all, that it's a total fabrication amounting to some elaborate conspiracy theory to make money or gain political power.

Others seem to accept that the climate is changing but that it is due to a natural cycle, not influenced by man-made activities, and therefore there is nothing that can be done about it (unfortunately, I do not hear much from them in the way of suggestions on how to deal then with the inevitable consequences).

Something is happening to the planet's climate. And with a population of over 6.5 billion, we are definitely having an impact on the depletion of many natural resources - from water to timber to wildlife and sealife. After two centuries of dependence on fossil fuels, resulting in vast and verified quantities of greenhouse gases being generated, it doesn't take a phenomenal leap of faith or judgment to consider that our quality of life would be improved by developing alternatives to our current consumption habits.

For the brief time I have remaining on this planet, I would like to think I can make a positive difference in my life, the lives of my children, and the planet. Go ahead, call me an optimistic dreamer. I don't mind.

Reporting from Tampa, Fla. -- The NFL is willing to consider a return to its Los Angeles roots.

Evidently, so are the San Diego Chargers.
While the league is kicking around the notion of playing the 50th Super Bowl in L.A. -- where the first one took place -- the onetime L.A. Chargers appear to be inching closer to a possible return to their birthplace.

As is always the case with the on-again, off-again saga of the NFL's flirtation with the nation's second-largest market, nothing is written in stone. In fact, it's more like murky skywriting, completely at the mercy of the fickle winds of change.

What would a revamped Coliseum look like? Developer Ed Roski unveiled this model (above) of the Coliseum in 1999. That was the year that L.A. was in the running for an expansion franchise that would eventually go to Houston (as in the Texans) because city officials and the NFL could not agree on a stadium site or financing.

This model gives an idea of the scope of the project if Ed Roski and partners were to build a stadium in the City of Industry.

Antarctica: cooling in the east, but overall temps on the rise

Antarctica has been described as the "beating heart" of the planet - this massive expanse of ice actually expands and contracts over the course of the year as it regulates and impacts much of the planet's weather systems. And as we have all heard, it's future in the face of global warming can have a profound effect on the future of the planet.

Recent studies have shown that East Antarctica has actually been cooling slightly, and this has provided fodder for skeptics of climate change who claim that scientific projections of temperature change are in error.

However, a report just published in the journal Nature details a study of Antarctic temperatures over the past 50 years and finds that the icy continent's overall temperature is increasing.

"We now see warming taking place on all seven continents in accord with what models predict as a response to greenhouse gases," said coauthor Eric J. Steig of the University of Washington.

In fact, West Antarctica has experienced slightly higher increases in temperature and has summarily seen greater erosion or melting. The East Antarctica anomaly is being attributed to the location of the hole in the ozone layer, positioned over this area of the continent. The loss of ozone over the white ice of East Antarctica allows for reflective sunlight to escape, thereby lowering the temperature. With the banning of chlorofluorocarbons, the ozone hole should be closed by the middle of the century and by then temperatures for the entire continent of Antarctica will be warming at a much higher rate.

Peruvian Beauty: the Contrast, the Challenge and the Triumph

Climbing in the Cordillera Blanca of Peru










Images by Robert Zeithammer -- you can view more of his spectacular and extensive collection on his website. Click on the link below:

People miss George Freeth

The bare concrete pillar where his statue once stood is a daily reminder that the pier landscape is incomplete without him, and worse - that even surfing legends aren’t immune to the street value of scrap metal.

The bronze bust of Freeth, which had been a fixture on the Redondo Beach pier since the late 1970s, was stolen in August. Despite the offer of rewards, police have yet to identify the thieves. It is speculated that the nearly 100-pound bust was stolen for its scrap metal value.

But the statue will be replaced, thanks in part to donations from several residents, cooperation with the Redondo Beach Historical Museum and, now, in the form of a gala fund-raising event to be held Feb. 9.

The “Friends of Freeth” fund-raiser will be held at Starboard Attitude on the Pier at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 9. The evening will feature food from pier and boardwalk restaurants, live and silent auctions, and live music by rock band Thin Ice, with proceeds from the event going toward the casting of a new Freeth sculpture.

The new statue will be cast from the original molds created by the late artist Terry O’Donnell, which have been on display at the Redondo Beach Historical Museum.

So, Now You Know !!!

The "BLUE NOTE": In jazz and blues, a blue note (also "worried" note is a note sung or played at a slightly lower pitch than that of the major scale for expressive purposes. Typically the alteration is a semitone or less, but this varies among performers and genres. Country blues, in particular, features wide variations from the diatonic pitches with emotive blue-notes. Blue notes are often seen as akin to relative pitches found in traditional African work songs.

Antarctica is not cooling after all

Scientists have long believed that Antarctica has been bucking the global warming trend, but that is not the case, new research shows.

East Antarctica, as assorted studies have shown, has been cooling recently, but the remainder of the continent is warming at a rate that offsets the cooling, according to satellite and ground data.

Global-warming skeptics have pointed to the presumed cooling of the continent as evidence that researchers' computer projections of climate change are in error, but the new findings reported Thursday appear to refute their criticisms.

Saving Our Predator Cats: the Amur Leopard

Many of you are probably familiar with the critical need for conservation and protection of tigers (see previous posting). These great cats have been subject to relentless hunting/poaching and their numbers are in sharp decline.

But there are other cats that have been subject to poaching as well to meet the black market demand for furs. And one is the Amur Leopard found in the northern regions of Russia, China, and North Korea. A sub-species of the leopard more commonly found in Africa, the Amur Leopard has been listed on the IUCN 2000 Red List of Threatened Species as "critically endangered" and CITES has also listed it as endangered.

The good news is that some positive steps are being taken. In 1998, Russia adopted a conservation strategy that focuses on curbing poaching and the trafficking of leopard products, in addition to rebuilding dwindling populations of the leopards' primary food sources. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has been assisting the Russian government in monitoring the results of the strategy.

An amazing animal, with legs longer than the typical leopard for walking in snow, this cat is capable of leaping 19 feet horizontally and 9 feet vertically! The WWF has been an international leader in the conservation and protection of nature's feline predators - like many of our other predators, an important component to a healthy and balanced ecosystem.

#6 in CO2 Emissions: cruising the seas out of the spotlight

When we consider the impact of global warming and climate change on the land, air, and sea, we often think of the combined CO2 emissions generated by different nations and their various commercial and/or public sources. But do you know what ranks as the 6th highest producer of carbon dioxide, just behind the 5 nations with the largest combined output of all sources?

Global shipping.

That's right. Right near the top of the list of major CO2 polluters. And it continues unregulated by any U.S. or Kyoto Protocol limitations. Why? Well, for one, it's a bit removed from the public spotlight, cruising the seas as it were, underneath the radar of public awareness. And for another, the shipping industry is both a fragmented and powerful commercial force that requires major international intervention to bring it under control.

What is there to regulate? Engine types, fuels, proper operational maintenance, emission standards - in many ways, what we do (or should be doing) regarding auto or factory pollution can be applied to shipping.

If we in the United States can get the EPA on board, this can be a major first step not only for the U.S. but for the world as it can set a new standard, particularly if the United States seriously considers getting back in lock step with the rest of the industrialized or developing world and considers aligning itself with the Kyoto Protocol or its possible future manifestations.

To that end, Earth Justice, Oceana, Friends of the Earth, and the Center for Biological Diversity have petitioned the EPA and, due to a lack of response by the EPA, are preparing to take legal action. To learn more about this issue, click here.

The Gyroscopic UNO

A young inventor has created a motorbike with a twist -- it uses two wheels but they are positioned right next to each other, giving it the illusion of being a powered unicycle. And even better, it might help save the planet.

Ben Gulak has spent several years building the electric Uno that uses gyroscopic technology -- like the infamous Segway commuter device -- to stay upright.

The bizarre-looking contraption has only one switch -- on or off -- and is controlled entirely by body movement. The rider leans forwards to accelerate to speeds of 25 mph and back to slow down. It has two wheels side-by-side and has been turning heads wherever it has been ridden.
The green machine is so small and light it can be taken indoors and carried into lifts -- and is recharged by being plugged into the mains.

The wheels are completely independent, allowing the bike to turn on a sixpence and the technology takes the balance and guesswork out of riding a unicycle. Its 18-year-old creator is now looking for investors to get the Uno into production and onto the streets. Ben, from Ontario , Canada , said: 'I was inspired to make the bike after visiting China a few years ago and seeing all the smog.

They all drive little bikes that are really polluting and I wanted to make something to combat that. I started with this concept because if something doesn't look cool people just won't be interested.
After coming up with the concept I started to build it and now have the first prototype and the reaction has been amazing. It has two wheels side by side and that means it is easier to turn as they are completely independent and have their own suspension.

The bike has a 'neutral point' and when you lean forward it accelerates to keep the neutral point in the right place.'It has a couple of gyros and is basically self-balancing -- it takes the guesswork out of riding a unicycle. The bike takes a bit of getting used to because you have to learn to trust it. But it doesn't take long.'It takes any weight and weighs 120 lbs and can fit into a lift so you can take it indoors to charge it up.

Currently it has a top speed of 25 mph, but that will be increased greatly with bigger motors. It has a range of about 2.5 hours and it is designed for the commute to work through busy towns. This could be the electrical alternative to the car.

Santa Monica Pier Aquarium: screens Island of the Great White Shark

This past Wednesday evening, Island of the Great White Shark was screened to a curious and enthusiastic audience at the MLK Auditorium, Santa Monica Library, CA. The event was sponsored by the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, which is operated by Heal the Bay, a long-standing marine conservation fixture in Southern California that first came into existence in 1985 to help clean up the Santa Monica Bay.

After the screening, I had the opportunity to discuss several important shark conservation issues and spend time answering some terrific questions from the audience - their fascination and concern for these animals was clearly in abundance. My thanks to Tara Crow, Public Programs Manager, and Aaron Kind, Education Specialist, for all their help and support.

The Santa Monica Pier Aquarium is located beneath the famous Santa Monica Pier Carousel and while open to the public it also caters particularly to schools and other groups seeking an educational and hands-on experience with touch tanks and informative displays - all designed to enlighten the next generation of future conservationists. Click here to view their web site.

Wheels of Misfortune or "Murphy's Law" ???

It was 60 years ago that Murphy's Law was first formerly introduced to the world. Also known as Sod's Law, this is the landmark theory which, put simply, states: If anything can go wrong, it will.

Born in 1918, Murphy was the eldest of five children and attended the prestigious United States Military Academy, West Point, from which he graduated in 1940. A fine and conscientious pilot who was often described as 'no-nonsense', Murphy decided after the war to involve himself in the technological aspects of aircraft design, and went to work as a research and development officer for the Air Force. It was during this period of his life that Murphy became involved in the experiments that would give rise to the naming of his Law.

In 1949 the U.S. Air Force was keen to assess the impact of G-forces (gravity force) upon pilots, and set up a series of experiments to test the human tolerance for G-forces during rapid deceleration. Murphy was involved in these tests, which were conducted on the 'Gee Whiz' - a rocket-powered sled mounted on a railroad track. As fragile-looking as it was dangerous, this contraption could reach supersonic speeds.

Murphy arranged for one of his assistants to hook up a series of 16 sensors to the subject's body, and the terrifying speed and stop test was then carried out. To Murphy's surprise the sensors failed to pick up any readings. After investigating, he discovered the sensors had been installed the wrong way around, invalidating the entire test. Furious, Murphy was heard to say of his assistant: 'If there are two ways to do something, and one of those ways will result in disaster, he'll do it that way.' Later at a press conference the success of the team's safety record was attributed to their willingness to anticipate and factor in disaster. It was termed 'Murphy's Law', which was explained as 'Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.' The press picked up the coinage, and it quickly spread until it became common usage.

Others have teased out subtle intricacies, noting that nothing is as easy as it looks and everything takes longer than you think, while others have observed that left to themselves things always go from bad to worse.
The practical applications of Murphy's Law seem endless, with some notable gems including:

No matter how long or how hard you shop for an item, after you've bought it, it will be on sale somewhere cheaper;

The other supermarket queue always moves faster;

In the military, the more sophisticated your equipment, the further you will be from civilisation when it fails;

Your best golf shots always occur when playing alone;

A valuable object which falls in a hard-to-reach place will land at a distance which just exceeds the tip of your fingers;

And if you want something bad enough, chances are you won't get it.
The principle underlying this law is as old as humanity itself, with numerous descriptions of the phenomenon recorded in the 19th century and before.
And the classic example of Murphy's Law - the slice of bread landing on the butteredside - was noted in a poem as early as 1841:

'I never had a slice of bread
Particularly large and wide
That did not fall upon the floor
And always on the buttered-side.'

While it is easy to label Murphy's Law as the ultimate pessimist's charter, there is an undercurrent of optimism running just beneath the surface of this Law, one that wryly acknowledges that although things will probably go wrong, recognising that fact is the first step in being prepared for when that actually happens.

The "Master of Suspense" is back

The American Cinematheque shares "Hitchcock's Confessions" at the Aero Theatre this week, while the Egyptian Theatre celebrates the "New Hollywood" of the late 1960s and '70s.

The Alfred Hitchcock festival opens tonight with the 50th anniversary screening of his sexy romantic thriller "North by Northwest," starring Cary Grant as a confirmed bachelor and mama's boy who is mistaken for a covert government spy. Eva Marie Saint is the cool blond, with James Mason and Martin Landau as the villains. The Mt. Rushmore chase sequence is among the director's best. Friday's programs are devoted to the late screenwriter John Michael Hayes, who penned several of Hitchcock's films in the 1950s, including the 1956 remake of "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and the frothy 1955 romance "To Catch a Thief," pairing Grant with Grace Kelly.

On tap for Saturday are two classics from his first decade in Hollywood: 1940's "Rebecca," which won the Oscar for best film, and 1946's highly charged "Notorious."

A couple of his blockbusters from 1954 -- "Rear Window" and "Dial M for Murder" -- are set for Sunday. His 1960 shocker "Psycho" and the 1963 chiller "The Birds" will have audiences cringing on Wednesday.

Shown above is Joan Fontaine and Judith Anderson in 'Rebecca'

The poster below can be purchased at Allposters.com

YES WE CAN!

This mosaic portrait of Barack Obama is made out of photos of his supporters. The ones included in this mosaic are people from ths USA. But there are millions in the world who look with hope on this extraordinary man. He has been called a "once in a generation leader" and the whole world is watching with great expectations.

Let us hope that we are not disappointed.

“Man of the World”

“Man of the World” lives on and can be seen in a smaller-scaled bronze version in “The Art of Blake Edwards,” a retrospective of the director’s work including “Man of the World” (above)can be seen at West Hollywood's Pacific Design Center through Jan. 30.

Sentenced to an evening with Barry Manilow

Fort Lupton, Colo. -- The guiding principle in Municipal Judge Paul Sacco's courtroom is an eye for an eye. Or rather, an ear for an ear.

So when teenagers land in front of him for blasting their car stereos or otherwise disturbing the peace in this small northern Colorado city, Sacco informs them that they will spend a Friday evening in his courtroom listening to music -- of his choosing.

No, they can't pay a fine instead, he tells them. So, he adds with a snicker, ever heard of Barry Manilow?

For the last decade, Sacco, 55, has administered a brand of justice somewhere between "cruel" and "unusual."

Young people in Fort Lupton know that if they're caught, they're in for a night that could begin with the "Barney" theme song, move on to an opera selection and end with Boy George's "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me."

Sacco's answer to that last question: Yes, he does.

Or rather, he wants a little payback to the scofflaws blaring their tunes without regard for their neighbors -- a vexing habit in this blue-collar community of about 8,000, said Police Chief Ron Grannis.

For a while, Sacco -- a part-time judge who also has a law practice -- issued tickets, $95 apiece, to the noise violators. But one day, as he ordered a teenager to pay a fine, he realized the kid's parents, flanking him, would probably just pay it for him.

"It just seemed I was a rubber-stamper," he said. "I hate that."

What he really wanted to do, Sacco thought, was give the kid a dose of his own medicine. And the "music immersion" sentence was born.

The concept was simple: Stick the kids in a room -- on a night they'd rather be out socializing -- and turn up the volume.

Manilow immediately came to Sacco's mind. Not because he disliked Manilow, but because he knew they would. But the playlist also features other artists, mostly selected for their ability to annoy the younger set.