A Potpourri of Posts
28 DecWhen you are in need of new reading material try reading some of these posts:
Audio Post
24 NovAs promised here are some posts that are worth reading:
- Are You A 21st Century Father
- Reciprocity In Blogging
- 5 Jedi Mind Tricks That Make People Read Your Post
- Bitter Dad Blogger Bites Back
- Dad, Can I Have The Car Keys
- Always Back Up Your Work
- My Review of Google Music
and
Jack’s Story Nov. 23 Update
Tags: Post by Voice
Why Do You Blog?
9 Jun
Why do you blog? Have you ever thought about it? Do you do it for fun? Is it business related? What drives you and how long do you think you will keep on doing it?
16: Moments- Our Lives Are Made Up of These
3 AprMany thanks to Experiate for tipping me off to do this. This video is going to lead to many blog posts.
One Slightly Used Pump For Sale
4 MarThe Words We Speak
8 Feb
Friday’s Theme Song: Let Me Hear You Scream
7 JanLet me hear you scream!
I’m black and bruised, beat up but still I take the blows
‘Cause all I need is blood and sweat and skin and bones
I’ll take this bait, resolve your case, nobody said it’s easy
It’s do or die, only the strong survive, get ready for the last stand!
Get ready, I’m your hangman!
Let me hear you scream like you want it!
Let me hear you yell like you mean it!
If you gotta, GO DOWN!
GO LOUD!
GO STRONG!
GO PROUD!
GO ON!
GO HARD OR GO HOME!
Let me hear you! (let me hear you!)
Let me hear you! (let me hear you!)
Let me hear you scream!
I’ll pull you up and push you right back in your place
I’ll take you down and wipe that smile right off your face
I’ll watch you break, you’re mine to take, don’t blink, you just might miss it!
It’s all or nothing, nowhere left to run, are you ready for the last fight?
Get ready with the war cry!
Let me hear you scream like you want it!
Let me hear you yell like you mean it!
If you gotta, GO DOWN!
GO LOUD!
GO STRONG!
GO PROUD!
GO ON!
GO HARD OR GO HOME!
Let me hear you! (let me hear you!)
Let me hear you! (let me hear you!)
Let me hear you scream!
[Guitar Solo]
Let me hear you scream like you want it!
Let me hear you yell like you mean it!
If you gotta, GO DOWN!
GO LOUD!
GO STRONG!
GO PROUD!
GO ON!
GO HARD OR GO HOME!
Let me hear you scream like you want it!
Let me hear you yell like you mean it!
If you gotta, GO DOWN!
GO LOUD!
GO STRONG!
GO PROUD!
GO ON!
GO HARD OR GO HOME!
Let me hear you! (let me hear you!)
Let me hear you! (let me hear you!)
Let me hear you scream!
Candlelight – The Maccabeats
3 DecMy kids can’t stop singing this. Although I suppose it is easier for them than Hanukkah Gone Metal.
The Lonesome Kicker
29 NovI love this not just because it is funny but because it tells a story. And if there is one thing that I have learned about myself it is that at heart, I am a story teller and a collector of stories.
Were it a thousand years ago I might have been some sort of Bard or Minstrel. But it is not and I am not- but who I am today will not be who I am tomorrow.
Cookie Monster Auditions for Saturday Night Live
23 NovHere at the Shack we are huge fans of Cookie. You may recall that we included a post about how he cures writer’s block, Cookiegate among others.
Veterans Day – November 11
11 NovToday is Veteran’s Day. It is easy for those of us fortunate to be living now to forget that freedom isn’t free. That is not a campaign slogan or something that should be ignored. There are men and women who died for us. Thousands who made enormous sacrifices so that we could live in a country that is free.
It is to honor veterans of all wars, those that are ongoing today and those of the past. They deserve our gratitude as do their families for they bear the brunt of the weight.
He Thinks That It is Ok To Cheat
10 NovKonstantin Ravvin you just appeared on national television and said that cheating is ok. Is that really what you wanted to do. Do you really want to be that guy- the one that says it is not a big deal.
The Road Not Taken
5 NovTWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 5
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same, 10
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back. 15
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
The Road Not Taken- Robert Frost
That video above has resonated with me ever since I first saw it.
I watch it and I can hear echoes of the future and hints of the past. Reminders that for better of for worse I have chosen to do things in an unconventional fashion.
The life of a writer calls to me. I can hear the sound of my voice pushing my children to live their dreams and not dream their lives away.
It doesn’t mean much to them, this push to try to find that place somewhere over the rainbow. They don’t have life experience that tells them that something might be too hard or too tough. It is part of the joy of talking to them, that uninhibited imagination that sees all things as being possible.
It is a gift that they gave back to me. It took a little time to remember who I was and really who I am- but I have. These are not empty words to me but a promise to myself. In the quiet of the night as I close my eyes I do so with a smile knowing that I am making steady progress towards hitting the mark.
So perhaps the road less traveled by means a more difficult path but I have to agree with Frost that it has made all the difference.
Challah as a Fertility Drug
3 Nov
You never can eat enough of our special challah. Sorry, I can’t stop laughing at this. Oy.
Benji get’s the hat tip for this one.
Musical Morning and Some Links
28 OctA few links and some music:
Me & The Ultimate Fighter- Road RageWalking With The Dead Courtesy of the iTunes Shuffle: As Good As I Once Was- Toby Keith
How Do You Like Me Now?! – Toby Keith
Waiting on a Woman- Brad Paisley
Thunderball- Tom Jones
Battle Without Honor or Humanity-Tomoyasu Hotei
Calling All Angels-Train
Panama-Van Halen
Long Live Rock (Kid’s Are Alright Mix)- The Who
Rain in the Summertime- The Alarm
Why Should I Care- Diana Krall
Do You Have An Accent?
28 OctSo here is the question of the moment, Do You Have An Accent? Not clear on what the meaning is, take a look at this link.
The latter part of the definition is really what we are talking about.
The word accent in English is also understood to mean the pronunciation and speech patterns that are typical of a speech community;
As a child I never realized that all people have accents, or should I say that it never occurred to me that people would think that my own speech has an accent. I grew up on the West Coast, Los Angeles born and bred. We didn’t sound like people from Long Island, Brooklyn, Nashville or Alpharetta.
And we certainly didn’t sound like we had rolled out of Tel Aviv, JoBurg, Sydney or Mexico City. To be clear, I have always enjoyed accents. It tickled me pink to hear people speak English yet sound so different. In fact, there was a point in time in which I was disappointed that I couldn’t speak with an English accent, but that was short lived. It was during that famous summer of 1985 trip to Israel that I learned that people thought that I had an accent. I don’t remember exactly when it happened, but I do remember some Israeli boy telling me that I speak Hebrew with a thick American accent. Whoa. What do you mean that I have an accent. One of the other people with me confirmed it. He was a Jewish kid from Buenos Aires. He said that I sounded like an American. I was truly dumbfounded by this because until that point, I had never thought of myself as having an accent, that was something that other people had. But I had to admit that it made sense, it hadn’t ever come up before. In the years that have passed I have been told by others that I have an accent and I am sure that many of my international readers would agree with this. Upon occasion people tell me that they can hear some East Coast influence, or that pronounce some things like a Chicagoan. I laugh when people think that I am from New York. IMO, my voice doesn’t sound like that at all. If I am around people with a thick Southern accent it is not unusual for me to start to affect a drawl. I have been asked if I am from Texas. As for Chicago, well half my family is from there, including my mother so there is probably some truth to that. One of the funnier occasions came during a wedding I once attended. The bride was Irish and quite a large number of the guests had come to the states to help her celebrate her nupitals. During the reception I walked over to the bar and placed an order for a drink. The bartender smiled and began preparing it. While he was doing so he looked at me and said: “I have Irish relatives. What part of Ireland are you from?” I laughed and said “Hollywood.” The bartender scratched his head and said “Wow, you know that we have a city called Hollywood too.” Now I’d like to say that it was an easy mistake to make. I’d like to say that he was competing with the band and that some trombonist was especially loud, but that wouldn’t be true. The band was on a break. It was relatively quiet so I said, “Begorra, this ale do taste mighty fine.” It probably sounded more like pirate than Irish, but it fit my mood and was lot kinder than asking him if I looked like Lucky the Leprechaun from the Lucky Charms cereal box. And while we are on the topic of accents let me share something else. Someone once told me that Australian women loved to hear American men speak. The legend said that if you found a nice Australian girl your voice would give you an edge. As a scientist I have always been disappointed that I couldn’t test that theory. In the interest of discovery and human development I would have enjoyed running a lab on that. Anyhooo…………………………………………. Let’s go back to the topic of the post. Do You Have an Accent?This Time
25 OctA new insert for Fragments of Fiction;
<i>”Ran into you yesterdayMemories rushed through my brain
it started to hit me
now you’re not with me
I realized I made a mistake
I thought I needed some space
But I just let love go to waste</i>
<i>This Time- John Legend </i> It sounds like a cheap rip off of a Beatles song but when I saw you standing there my heart stopped beating for a moment. You took my breath away and for a moment I didn’t know where I was or why I was there. And then just like in the movies there was a loud whoosh and suddenly time started moving and the loud noise that I found so irritating turned into a woman saying, “excuse me.” I moved out of the way and wondered what to do. You were standing there in a red dress, completely unaware that I was in the store. I took two steps backwards and one to the side. I was so stunned to see you there that I needed a moment to compose myself. Thirty seconds wasn’t enough time to figure out whether I should slip away unseen or come say hello. Don’t think you ever realized how much I enjoyed just watching you. In the <i>old days </i>I would watch you brush your hair or read the paper. You always had this natural grace and beauty that was and is refreshing. No pancake makeup. I remember how sometimes you’d catch me looking at you and then say, “what.” I’d tell you that I liked looking at you and sometimes you’d blush. It used to make me laugh, but sweetly. Sometimes when we would kiss I’d keep my eyes open intentionally knowing full well that you’d feel me staring and open yours. But every now and then you’d fool me and I’d find dark eyes staring back at me with the same intensity as my own. That intensity, it is part and parcel of us now, then and forever. Kind of silly to say now because there is no us anymore, at least not now. Or so I tell myself. It is what I have to say because my heart and my head are at war. I really don’t know which one to trust or listen to. Can’t help but believe that this is a break, just time apart. But maybe I am wrong. Maybe I was a fool or am or still are. I just don’t know. All I can say is that everything about you feels unexpected and un-something or other. It is like one day life was one way and then the next it was different. You were a part of it and things were better than they had ever been. I had found the great love of my life, the woman I called my girl and so much more. You helped me realize and understand things about myself and relationships that I had never known. And then when you left it was complete carnage, a storm that came through and just wrecked my sense of perspective and understanding- destroyed my equilibrium. I kid around about being a hardass and a tough guy, but in some respects it is true. I am freaking tough in every way and have been for years. It is just been a part of me for so long that I don’t know how to reconcile having that hard shell torn off and no one there. <i>”It’s so crystal clear now
that I need your here now
I gotta get you back today”</i> For a while I tried to get you back. I did what I could to appeal to you in every way that I could think of, but it didn’t work. I told myself that you wouldn’t really go away, said that it couldn’t be. We both agreed that the world had to have a minimum of 10,000 people that we could fall in love with. It was logical, rational, made sense, but when have logic or sense had anything to do with love. So I stand there in the store staring at you, thinking about all these things and remembering it all. A thousand thoughts swirling through my head I can’t help but get frustrated. Is your appearance simply coincidence or is the universe sending me a message. If it is coincidence I don’t have to do anything, I can just stand here and stare. But what if it is a sign, what if this is the universe saying, “go talk to her.” What happens if I don’t, am I blowing it again. Coincidence doesn’t mean that I can’t talk to you or that it can’t lead down the path I so dearly hope it will, but it might not. If I don’t talk to you I can’t be disappointed if you don’t want to talk or the conversation doesn’t go well. But that doesn’t sit so well with me either. I am not the guy who hides from life. That fire in my belly burns brightly because I go the distance, I take the chance that dancing in the fire might burn me. But oh lord that ring of fire we kid around about burns so fiercely. <i>”Last time I wasn’t sure
This time I will give you more
I’m more mature
I’ll show you
Last time I didn’t know
I messed up and let you go
I need you
don’t say no. Lying alone in this room</i> <i>
All that is missing is you
pick up the phone
Won’t you come home?”</i> That is what I want, for your to come home. That is what I want, to make a life with you and to fulfill the potential that lies there waiting for us to take it. And then you turn and look in my direction and my heart stops again. I almost fall down trying to hide from you. I am not ready, can’t talk to you- not yet. I need another moment. I need to figure out what to say. Got to have a silly story that I can tell, try to make you laugh. Got to have something innocuous that doesn’t make me sound like an idiot but gives me room to make a dignified exist if necessary. I can see you staring in my direction. I know that look, you aren’t sure if you saw me, but you suspect that you might have. At least that is how I am interpreting it. For all I know you might be wondering if your favorite ice cream is located over here. And wouldn’t that be fitting. Me standing here like some bumbling fool wondering if you have seen me while you are trying to figure out if this is the place to get some Ben and Jerry’s Cookie Dough or whatever flavor it is that you’d like. See if life were like the movies you’d walk over here and I would be waiting with a box of Godiva chocolates and a dozen red roses. Do they sell either one of those in the frozen foods section? I don’t think so. My mind is racing a mile a minute so I take a deep breath and close my eyes. I need something to calm me down, center me. I want to open my eyes and be cool like Rick in Casablanca but am afraid that what will come out will be a cross between Rocky and Porky Pig. The thought makes me giggle, “Eye of the Tiger” baby, that is what I need. For a moment I am lost, I can hear the song and I visualize myself in the gym punching a heavy bag. Can’t help myself, I am the idiot shadowboxing with the Tombstone Frozen Pizza. Now I can hear the theme to Rocky, Gonna Fly Now. I am running through the streets of Philadelphia, kids trailing after me, I am running up the stairs straight to the top- no stopping me. In a moment I’ll be at the top, jumping up and down I’ll throw my arms up in an exultation of victory. Except when I open my eyes you’ll be gone. My Adrian isn’t running to the ring to congratulate the champ. There is no Paulie to exchange witty banter with and later when I get home there is no Mickey in my corner to tell me to keep fighting. It is just me and my memories because for now I have to live my life alone and apart. Later I’ll sit on the couch and admit that my heart is still broken and wonder how long before it heals this time. Because the one really valuable thing about life experience is that I know it will heal and that the sun is going to shine again. And while I sit there I decide that it is good that we didn’t speak. I have some plans of my own that I am working on. Got some things that I have to do, goals to be accomplished. I am doing them for you, but if God smiles upon us and we find our way back to each other it will be good for both of us. And if not it is good for me so it is a win-win. Because though I still love and miss you I am living my life. It would be better if you were in it, but for now you aren’t so I’ll chalk this up as just time to get new stories to tell you. And I’ll make a mental note to ask you to wear that red dress for me because you looked amazing in it. Anyway, after that episode in the store I loaded up the iPod with Rocky and other workout music. Might as well make use of the extra time and energy. Not going to say goodbye because I don’t say it so I’ll leave you with the very hokey, “Gonna Fly Now.”
A Better Way To Commute- The Human Monorail
14 OctThe Shweeb is one of the interesting and intriguing solutions to commuting that I have seen which probably explains why Google invested in it. I’ll let you decide as to whether it is coincidental that the Zorb is in New Zealand too.
http://www.youtube.com/v/lhxVtUFZVzk&hl=en&fs=1
It is an interesting concept and something that I think is worth exploring. I can see health benefits tied into it.
And as always we try to include a list of past posts that contained useful information:
Ladies: Your Bra Might Save A LifeImprove Your Marriage/Relationship Immediately
How To Use Office Supplies to Build a Crossbow
Who Invented Balloons
It is A Bathroom Revolution
How to Make Hard Boiled Eggs
What Not to Do-Snakebites
The Cubicle Celebrates 40 Years
How Velcro Was Invented
My New Desk- I Have To Get One
London Restaurant Tries To Solve Gas Crisis
Who Wants To Buy An Artificial Foreskin
Untapped Sources of Energy
The Mangroomer
Business Cards That Will Get You Business
Medical Technology- The future is now
Inventions You have Got To Have (Includes the ladies urinal, toilet forehead support system and much more.)
The Nose Pouch
How Much Would it Cost To Build The Death Star
Lose Weight With The Greatest Exercise Ever
The Best Clothing You’ll Ever Own
When Disaster Strikes- Blow Up Your House
A free guide to the toilets of the world
Aquanotes
The Passion of Promises Kept
8 OctThere is a man who lives on the opposite coast from me. A blogger who is feisty, passionate and honest. His family has weathered a few storms this year and from my perspective done so with more grace and class than many would. I can’t help but smack him occasionally for choosing to root for the wrong teams. Really, his choices make me shake my head, but I respect his faith in them. I respect his passion and his willingess to support them.
In fact, I am serious when I say that he deserves season tickets from both franchies because the man will put his money where his mouth is. When he makes a bet he follows through on it.
http://www.youtube.com/v/d4R83H72fig&hl=en&fs=1
http://www.youtube.com/v/XM782wcVczs&hl=en&fs=1
So though I may mock his choices in teams and remind him that the devil loves those who root for Boston, I do respect him as a person. You’re a good man Aaron who fortunately can write because like me you can’t sing or dance. I am looking forward to watching the Lakers stomp on you guys again.
A Short Tempered Father
6 OctIt won’t be long before my children can recite the lines in the clips below with their eyes closed. In part it is because they are part of practical skills tool kit. That is a goofy term I use for finding ways to roll with the punches and deal with the changes, transitions and challenges that life presents us with.
http://www.youtube.com/v/1cgJte9iK1w&hl=en&fs=1&hd=1
http://www.youtube.com/v/SiLIWoyxQU8&hl=en&fs=1
Ya see, right now I am in the midst of a battle that is just a small part of a war. There are things that are going on behind the scenes that are making my life a bit more difficult than necessary. And what makes it most challenging is that a substantial part of the war is out of my hands. It is frustrating because although I am not responsible for those things I am still accountable. The people, places and things that are involved won’t allow me to just walk away and to an extent that is ok.
I don’t not do things because they are challenging or just too damn hard. Yet I am also an advocate of not banging your head against the wall unnecessarily. Even if your head is as hard as mine you will find that the wall wins. So I do what I can to let some of it go and just wash over me. I seek ways to stay centered and maintain my peace of mind even when I wish to give some people a piece of my mind. There is a long list of them, those who deserve to hear from me.
A laundry list lamenting the lame might be cathartic, but only momentarily. I am not interested in bandages that cover up the problems. I am not interested in short term, feel good moments. Not now, not at this juncture. No, I am fighting for a future that offers sunnier skies, brighter days and better opportunities. The good news is that I can see it happening. Some of the plans that I have been working on are showing signs of success. Tenacity and a willing to wade through the muck will be the reason why they come about sooner than later.
But in interim it requires tolerating some things that should be intolerable and accepting others that should be unacceptable. It means working longer hours and my children having to deal with a short tempered father. I have apologized more than once to them about being short. I sometimes worry that they don’t understand why I am like this, but it seems that they have a better grasp on the situation than I sometimes realize.
It makes me happy to see them take on the world. It makes me proud to be their father to watch them in action. At times they humble me with little acts of kindness towards others and each other. I remind them often that I love them and that nothing will change that. I don’t worry much about them not knowing that or not understanding all that happens. These guys are tough and they lean on each other. That makes me smile.
So how can I be anything less. I do what I do because that is what has to be done and because of the future. I just sometimes need to remember not to forget today while I worry about tomorrow.
The Universe Taps You On The Shoulder
4 OctJohnny sat on his couch, a bottle of Fat Weasel Pale Ale in hand and a goofy grin on his face. For more than a while he had this feeling that someone was trying to send him a message, but he was never clear about what it was or what he was supposed to do about it. He was a man who liked to base his beliefs upon science and the tangible, or so he would tell you. But sometimes in the quiet of the night he would stare up at the moon and feel like there was something more than science out there. He’d lie on his back and look for shooting stars and just open himself up to the possibility that maybe the universe did send you messages.
It wasn’t always easy for him. He was a skeptic who sometimes straddled his disbelief by silently reviewing the reasons why something or someone wasn’t really meant to be. It wasn’t hard to poke holes in these dreams. If you would have asked him he would tell you that it was easy for con artists to take your money. The old gypsy woman who sold Love Potion Number 9, the psychic and mediums who told your fortune knew that most people visited them because they wanted help with their love life or finances. All you had to do was give people an opening and they would practically write the story for you.
And yet he had experienced things that made him wonder if perhaps he was wrong. There were moments in which those signs were as clear as a grapevine or that yellow rose of Texas. He took a swig of the Fat Weasel and sung softly, “The stars at night, Are big and bright, Deep in the heart of Texas…” He wasn’t so sure what made him think of Texas, but in an odd, convoluted way it sort of fit. The song did talk about stars and he did like to spend time staring up at them. He had told June more than once that if she wanted the moon he would find a way to get it for her. He smiled again and muttered something about not knowing who was crazier, him or June.
It felt like forever since he had spoken with June and had you talked to him a week or two earlier he would have told you that he was done. He was tired of it all, worn out, exhausted and ready to say that it was fun while it lasted. These weren’t just words to him. He meant what he said and he had intended to do what he had to do to walk. So he drew a mental picture in his head of himself standing in a room and then pictured himself turning out the lights, pulling the shades and walking out the door.
That mental picture wasn’t easy to come up with, but it seemed to be the right thing so it was what he did. And with a simple click he locked the door and took the first steps to an unknown future. At least that was what he had intended to do but life has a funny way of taking your intentions and turning them inside out or upside down. If life were made by Hollywood the scene would have been easy to script. All that he described would be performed by skilled actors who would make it clear that this wasn’t a part of some formulaic romance. It was real and it was true. And just when the audience bought into the story something would happen that would lead the two of them back into each others arms.
But it wasn’t Hollywood- it was life and sometimes the hero stumbles or the villain gets the girl. And Johnny, our closet skeptic wasn’t willing to open himself up to the possibility that some of this was part of some larger master plan. Sure, he wanted to believe that there was something more but it really didn’t make sense so he didn’t bother to consider it as even being an option. At least that is how it started and maybe if were a different person that is how it would have stayed. But things happened, weird moments that he couldn’t explain as being anything other than signs that maybe someone or something was trying to speak to him.
At least that is what he was beginning to think. Still it wasn’t a comfortable thought so he fought it down and read the newspaper. And just when he had pushed it out of his head he heard the opening to Helter Skelter.
“When I get to the bottom
I go back to the top of the slide
Where I stop and turn
and I go for a ride
Till I get to the bottom and I see you again
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Do you don’t you want me to love you
I’m coming down fast but I’m miles above you
Tell me tell me come on tell me the answer
and you may be a lover but you ain’t no dancer”
He smiled and shook his head again. He didn’t know if the universe was tapping him on the shoulder but he couldn’t shake the feeling that somewhere out there June was silently asking him to call. It would be fitting, damn woman used to tease him that she only let him think that he was in control when in reality she was. So he sent out a silent message in response where he told her that he heard her calling and that if she wanted to talk her damn fingers weren’t broken. Dial the damn phone woman and I’ll talk to you.
With a snort and a smirk he finished his drink and wondered if the universe worked that way. He figured that if there was anything to it he would find out, because if the universe really does speak to you, well he is listening or it seemed.
Self Promotion- The Donald Trump Rules of Business
1 OctIn the first or second episode of the current season of The Apprentice there is a scene in the boardroom in which Donald Trump says that many talented people fail to succeed because they do a poor job of marketing themselves. I have no disagreement with that, many people do a very poor job of articulating their accomplishments and their strengths. During harder economic times such as now that is something that can be fatal.
You can break that up into two kinds of self promotion/marketing. We’ll call the first visual. That ties into your appearance, resume, portfolio, blog etc. These are not the areas that deal with the substance and or ability of your work and who you are. The flip side of the self promotion/marketing coin is your ability to do just that, promote and market yourself. You may be the among the ten best machinists/artists/athletes in the world but the value of your abilities is diminished without good marketing skills.
In other terms it is called building your brand so that it is recognized as being among the best. Do that well and good things will come to you. So as part of my shameless attempt at self promotion allow me to share the picture below with you. As you can see my fabulous blog is being used as an example of how to use the term, steely eyed. Pretty cool stuff.
Dancing at the Movies – Music Video
25 SepBet you can’t find me in there.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 Official trailer
23 SepI am a fan for a whole variety of reasons, but one of them is because I find JK Rowling intriguing. Her story is kind of cool, the whole rags to riches bit. As a writer I appreciate how she improved with each book.
A Musical Interlude
23 Sep El Dorado- Iron Maiden
It is A Livin Thing- ELO
Beth- KISS
You’re My Best Friend- Queen
Fooled Around and Fell In Love- Elvin Bishop
Strange Magic- ELO
W*O*L*D*- Harry Chapin
I’d Love To Change The World- Ten Years After
Call Me- Blondie
Highway To Hell- AC/DC
Shoot To Thrill- AC/DC
Junebug- B52s
Ironman – You Will Do This
6 SepThese are pictures of my future. I want this…badly. It is a personal thing, a goal, an accomplishment that is for myself and my kids. It is on my bucket list, but I also want it because the children need to see what can happen when you set big goals.
I tell them to dream big and to get those dreams. Live your dream, don’t dream your life.
What I see
4 SepI wish that I had the ability to show people what I see. I don’t mean to be poetic or dramatic. I am serious. I wish that you could see inside my head and view my dreams and my experiences. I don’t expect you to feel or think the same way as I do, but so often the words are just not enough.
Maybe I am lying to you and myself. Maybe I really want you to see so that you can understand, so that you can share in my joy and my pain. But is that fair or realistic to ask of you. Is it reasonable to try and influence you, to try and make you view the world as I do. Then again, why wouldn’t it be ok and is it any different than what I do right now. Here is a sample of the things I have thought about today. It is not nearly as explicit or as descriptive as it could be, but it is accurate.- Today I remembered the final two weeks of a friend’s life. I thought about his final moments and I remembered carrying his casket. I remembered the tears his friends shed as we buried him, the pain in the eyes of his parents. It was a hollow look that I cannot describe. I remember his brother leading his parents away and promising that I would see that he was buried. Not the funeral home, but me. It was an obligation that I happily took on, but it also felt like a commandment.
- Today I remembered the way it felt when I kissed the girl in this story. But I also remembered more. I remembered perfume and the soft touch of others. I closed my eyes and inhaled and I could feel my wife’s touch upon my body. I felt her press up against me and sensed her deep love. I felt her naked body upon my own and I remembered much more about her.
- Today I remembered the look on my son’s face when I introduced him to his little sister. And then I remembered the feelings I had when my parent’s introduced me to my baby sisters. I remembered teasing them and being chased. I remembered my father yelling at me to stop tormenting them and then I heard myself chastise my son, my words an echo from 30 years ago into the present.
- Today I remembered that I may be 36 but at heart I am still 5. I can still run like the wind. I am still faster than my grandfather’s car and my father is still the strongest man in the world.
- Today I remembered that last week I died in one of my dreams. I can’t remember how, but I know that I did. I was dead and people mourned my loss but I was not forgotten because my life had been meaningful.
- Today I remembered that sometimes I hate my writing and that the words are never good enough, never evocative enough, never strong enough and so I decided to write a post about it.
Did I succeed? I don’t know. Part 2 is coming up. This time it will be called What I See Five Years Later
Somebody’s Crying
30 AugI know somebody and they cry for you.
So please, return the love you took from me.
They lie awake at night and dream of you.
I bet you never even know they do, but somebody's crying.
I know somebody and they called your name.
A million times and still you never came.
They go on loving you just the same, I know that somebody's trying.
Or please, let me know if it can't be me, I know when,
Somebody's lying, I know when somebody's lying. ( Guitar Solo ) I know that somebody's lieing, I know that somebody's lying.
Give me a sign and let me know we're through.
If you don't love me like I love you.
But if you cry at night the way I do I'll know that somebody's lying.
So please, return the love you took from me.
Or please, let me know if it can't be me.
I know when somebody's lying, I know when somebody's lying.
Oh I, oh I……
Somebody's Crying- Chris Isaak
It is a little past midnight I am wide awake. I am stationed in front of the computer where I share my thoughts, ideas and feelings about life. Simple stories about the things that I see and experience are transcribed here to be forever immortalized in my corner of cyberspace. Memories of the people, places and things that make my up my life are all fair game. All I see and all that I experience is considered and carved into bite size pieces of this and that. Some are fragments of fiction and others are figments of imagination about things that might have been or could be.
My heart is pounding or is it my head, I am not really sure anymore. Maybe because the two have been at war with each other, head and heart, heart and head. Each of them jockeying for position in a vain attempt to gain control of the direction of one man's life. Passion drives me forward, pushing me out of my comfort zone and forcing me to move towards a future that I am unsure of. Uncertainty and opportunity dance around me while I cross a bridge that is burning.I can only go forward for the flames have already consumed the places where my feet once stood. There are no rest stops here, no oasis or refuge to be found. All that you can do is keep moving forward or risk falling into the pit below. Sometimes I consider the merit of allowing myself to fall. I already dance in the flames perhaps I can also learn how to fly. The problem is that I haven't a parachute so failure will come at a stiff price. The fall won't kill me. I know it won't because death would be too easy and that is not something I am allowed…easy that is. I do things the hard way. Sometimes I do it by choice because I wish to test myself and sometimes by mistake. I tell myself that next time I won't let it happen like this.Next time I will be smarter about it and all I can do is wait to see if I hold fast to my promise. iTunes is playing I Will Find You by Clannad. It is from Last of the Mohicans. Someone out there might remember that I made that promise to them and perhaps in time we shall see whether that comes to be.Head and heart wrestle over that one. Later on I will stare in the mirror and mark the new lines in my forehead and the places that hair once covered. The boy has grown into a man, at least physically. A navy blue tank top makes it easy to see that repeated visits to the gym are having the desired effect upon his upper body. This is good, but he is impatient and frustrated. Impatient because the progress is slower than he would like. Frustrated because that which came easy is now far harder than it used to be. He feels like a contradiction. In many ways he is far more than he was and yet he is diminished and less than he should be. It remains to be be seen if this will remain as the epitaph that will be written or just a comment about a blip in time.Man Eating Squid- Paging Jules Verne
29 AugYou can list giant man eating squid alongside the rest of the maneaters as one more creature that I will take on in single combat. There is one caveat, they can fight me on land or meet me in cleveland. I’ll take them on in water in the land of the burning river.
DEADLY sea monsters have woken from the deep to cause carnage among some of the world’s richest fishing grounds.
Millions of killer giant squid are not only devouring vast amounts of fish they have even started attacking humans.
Two Mexican fishermen were recently dragged from their boats and chewed so badly that their bodies could not be identified even by their own families.
No wonder the giant squid are called “diablos rojos” – red devils.
Monster squid are the stuff of legend. But for fishermen and marine biologists along 10,000 miles of coast from Chile to Alaska, the myth has become reality.
And their story is told this week in a Channel Five documentary.
Since 2002, Humboldt giant squid, named after the 18th century German explorer, have been spreading their tentacles to deplete fishing stocks by moving from their traditional tropical hunting grounds off Mexico and laying claim to a vast sweep of the Pacific.
Hunting in 1,000-strong packs the giant squid can out-swim and out-think fish. Scientists believe they coordinate attacks by using pigment cells to communicate.
A single female is believed to be able to lay 30 million eggs, each one capable of becoming a giant killing machine.
Marine biologists wear chain-mail to protect themselves from creatures that can measure 8ft, weigh 100lb and carry an armoury of more than 40,000 fearsome teeth along two “attack” tentacles.
Twitter and Time
28 AugHere are the Cliff Notes for the audio post here. I am taking a hard look at the number of "social media" platforms that I am using. They include a Twitter account, several blogs and Facebook. So the question that I ask myself is whether these things are adding value to my life or serving a role as a "time suck."
The short and unofficial answer to that question is that the main blog is something that I truly love. Writing is a passion and I can't imagine life without it. Twitter doesn't take up much time so I think that for now I will continue using it. Facebook is a mixed bag for me. I have found a number of professional uses for it and been relatively pleased with how it has enabled me to reconnect with some old friends. More on this later. Let's focus on Twitter again. I have noticed that there are quite a few people who have an enormous number of followers and it raises a number of questions for me. If the purpose of Twitter is to engage with others the law of diminishing returns has to apply here. The more followers you have the harder it becomes to engage with a large portion of them. I suppose that if you are a business or celebrity you might argue that it provides you with a platform for communicating with customers/fans and that there is value in that. But I am also left wondering how big an influence you really have on your followers. If you ask them to do something will they really do it. If you have 10,000 followers and less than 2% respond to call to action are you really making a difference. Or are you just adding to the existing noise and confusion. What do you think?Shofar Callin’: The Rosh Hashanah song
28 AugElul is in full effect. Time to start thinking about more serious things.
Is It Plagiarism or Love
28 Aug
Sauna Etiquette
23 AugSent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Perseverance and A Father’s Love
12 AugI never get tired of watching this Derek Remond video. I can’t say for certain if I saw this live but I know for certain that I saw it. It was hard not to as it was played so many times and made into a commercial.
My children have watched it with me and we have talked about what it means to keep going even when it seems like you have lost the race. And I readily admit that I got choked up a bit when my son said that he knew I would do the same for him.
Some people have turned it into a religious message and that is ok, but I don’t want or need it for that. What I see is a teaching moment, a chance to show the kids that finishing the race can be just as or more important than winning it.
That Crazy Feeling
5 AugSent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
This Is Why I Want To Direct Movies
2 AugI am not a director. Haven’t had any training, but I like to think that I know how to tell a story. This clip here calls out to me. It makes me want to learn how to do it, direct that is.
The chance to translate the pictures in my head into something tangible that can be seen is compelling.
BBC News – Australian drunk survives attempt to ride crocodile
15 Jul13 July 2010 Last updated at 06:43 ETShare this page
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Australian drunk survives attempt to ride crocodile
Michael Newman explains why he tried to ride the crocodile
A drunk man who climbed into a crocodile enclosure in Australia and attempted to ride a 5m (16ft) long crocodile has survived his encounter.
The crocodile, called Fatso, bit the 36-year-old man’s leg, tearing chunks of flesh from him as he straddled the reptile.
He received surgery to serious wounds to his leg and is recovering in hospital, police say.
He had been chucked out of a pub in the town of Broome for being too drunk.
The man, Michael Newman, climbed over a fence and tried to sit on the 800kg (1,800lb) saltwater crocodile.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
If it had been warmer and Fatso was more alert, we would have been dealing with a fatality”
End Quote Malcolm Douglas
“Fatso has taken offence to this and has spun around and bit this man on the right leg,” Sgt Roger Haynes of Broome police told journalists.
“The crocodile has let him go and he’s been able to scale the fence again and leave the wildlife park.”
‘Right mind’
Malcolm Douglas, the park’s owner, said that the crocodile was capable of crushing a man to death with a single bite.
“The man who climbed the fence was fortunate because Fatso was a bit more sluggish than normal, due to the cooler nights we have been experiencing in Broome,” said Mr Douglas.
“If it had been warmer and Fatso was more alert, we would have been dealing with a fatality.”
“No person in their right mind would try to sit on a 5m crocodile, Saltwater crocodiles, once they get hold of you, are not renowned for letting you go.”
The man staggered back to the pub bleeding heavily.
Pub manager Mark Phillips said staff told him that the man reappeared at about 11pm with bits of bark hanging off him and flesh gouged out of his limbs.
“They said he had chunks out of his legs and things like that,” Mr Phillips told The West Australian news website.
An average of two people are killed each year in Australia by aggressive saltwater crocodiles, which can grow up to 7m (23 ft) long and weigh more than a tonne.
Here at the Shack we are well familiar with foolish encounters with animals. Just review the list below:
Former hot dog eating champ arrested
4 JulSomewhere Oscar Mayer is crying, Nathan the hot dog man is gnashing his teeth and the higher power that runs Hebrew National is preparing to send down avenging angels.
New York (CNN) — He didn’t compete for the hot dog eating title this year, but he did cause a scene at the contest.
Takeru Kobayashi was arrested at Coney Island after his rival, Joey Chestnut, won the annual Nathan’s International Hot Dog Eating Contest.
The six-time champion of the contest was trying to make his way on stage after this year’s event, according to a representative for Kobayashi and a New York police officer at the Brooklyn precinct booking desk.
This year’s competition had already caused a stir after word that Kobayashi — who took home the title every year from 2001 to 2006 — would not be participating because of a contract dispute with Major League Eating. He watched from the stands.
Kobayashi was trying to prove he was better than other competitors, said Yuki James, one of Kobayashi’s handlers.
Chestnut won by consuming 54 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes. The win — Chestnut’s fourth straight — was short of his 68-hot dog record set last year.
Click here for the full story.
I Am Not Awake Yet
28 JunTime zone changes never affected me much. I always attributed that to having a personality that allows me to adapt and adjust quickly to whatever is going on around me. Today is a little bit different, not really sure why.
It is the last day of a two week trip around the East Coast and I am not quite awake yet, though I probably should be. Technically it is almost 11 but my cellphone and laptop disagree with the clocks in the house and maintain that it is not yet 8 A.M. Don’t ask me why, but I never changed any of the clocks for this trip. Kind of odd for me as normally that is among the first things that I do, change the clock that is.
My normal hours are probably different from most people, or so I assume. I routinely stay up past midnight and then rise again around six or so. I am slow going in the morning so I take my time waking up. It is fair to say that I am not unlike the grouchy bear. Those that know me understand that caution is needed in the early morning because like that bear I am willing to use claws and teeth. The children of course ignore these things. Fearless little cubs climb into bed and hop on pop. They jump, poke, prod and tickle me.
Progeny does have its privileges or maybe it is natures way of protecting the young, but I am relatively tolerant of these things.
Under normal circumstances I would have injected myself with a dose of high powered caffiene, showered and headed out the door. But today is a travel day so I do things differently. I am not really ready to be awake yet. Even though I didn’t change the clocks I did make a few adjustments so I am kind of in this time zone, although I guess that it would be more appropriate to say Mountain or Central. Might not be New York City, but it could be Dallas.
Staring out the window I see deer walking through the trees and squirrels dancing in the leaves. The squirrel reminds me of a few that live in my backyard. My flight isn’t for hours, but I am starting to get restless. I can feel the pull of responsibilities of home life calling to me. There is a gate to fix, junk in the garage to be given away and painting to be done. I try to push it out of my mind- no reason to think or worry about that which I cannot deal with now.
Still, I hear silent whispers inside my head- these are the signs of the end of a vacation. Little symbols that though I may not be home physically the mind is preparing the body. The end of the trip is bittersweet. Overall it has been a very good time and I have some special memories to take home. My new toy, the Flip camera has been a joy and an incredible amount of fun to play with. I have made a bunch of videos and am enjoying it immensely.
It is good for me, this camera. These videos tickle my creativity and I find joy in it.
Joy is something that I discuss with the children. Joy and happiness. We talk about what brings us joy and what makes us happy.These are things that are important and noteworthy. They help us to get through the days be they good or bad.
One last stretch and another sentence to share here. I still am not ready to be awake, but I suppose that a hot shower will help take care of that. Won’t be long before the Traveling Jack show boards the plane to head back home and another tour becomes a memory…………
The Posterous Problem
28 JunI have a secondary blog that I run on Posterous. I set it up about a year ago as a place that I would use on sort of an experimental basis and have found it to be quite useful. Along the way I decided to import the posts from Random Thoughts to it. I thought that it would be a good way for people who discovered me on Posterous to get a better feel for who I am and that it might also serve as a way to back up the main blog.
It would have worked out quite nicely but I didn’t know that Posterous didn’t have a mechanism in place for discerning which posts had already been imported. The system was designed to work as a primary blog not a secondary. It imports posts beautifully and with great efficiency. So my moment of genius actually created an issue because I have a Posterous blog that has multiple copies of my posts.
I did manage to keep the blog up to date but I also created a ton of duplicates. I felt a bit like the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. So now I have this beautiful Posterous blog that requires a fair amount of maintenance and repair.
So the question I am asking myself this fine morning is whether it would be easier to simply start over or if I am going to take time to pick out the duplicate posts….one…by….one.
Johnny Cash – Ghost Riders In The Sky
15 JunMy kids like to listen to this- or should I say they like it when I let them pretend that I am the horse and they are the cowboy.
Twitter’s Follow Friday- The Rules You Need To Know
28 MayThe Best Part of each Friday is when I log on to Twitter and see 52 links to posts about the rules for using social media. Many of these posts are written by self proclaimed Social Media experts who claim to make their living by advising businesses and people on their social media strategy. Color me dubious but I don't think that most of these experts are earning a living through their social media work.
Maybe I am wrong. Maybe more than a few people have managed to capitalize on the social media gold rush. Maybe some of these experts have figured out a way to leverage the interest into something that pays. It wouldn't be the first time that I have been wrong, but judging by the ongoing posts by mommy bloggers about a desire to be paid for their work there is little evidence to suggest that I am. It is probably unfair to poke fun at those who designate themselves as Social Media Experts but I almost can't help myself. What sort of qualifications does it take to become an expert in the nascent field of Social Media. Are universities offering a B.S. in Social Media. Can you earn a masters or a doctorate. Maybe you can. Maybe I should google it and see what happens. A little research is often the difference between a blogger who has credibility and those who do not. But we'll save that discussion for a different day. Instead let's talk about Follow Friday and whether it serves a purpose or not. As indicated by its moniker Follow Friday is a weekly event on Twitter. In theory it is a way for your followers to find new people to follow courtesy of the recommendation that you offer by promoting them in your twitter stream. The real question is whether the theory translates into a practical and useful application. During the past year or so I have read a number of posts by people who think that it doesn't work anymore. The central tenet of their complaint is that Follow Friday has turned into a time in which people churn out lists of names without supplying a reason why people should follow them. I can't say that I completely disagree with it. Sometimes when I review my stream it is nothing but names. I am not pressed for time that works for me. I'll click on a name and review their profile to see if they're someone that I might be interested in following. But given a choice I'd much rather see a reason for following than just a name next to the Follow Friday hashtag. The extra effort lends more weight to your recommendation. It makes it a little bit more credible and enhances the likelihood that I'll follow them. But I wouldn't say that this is a rule for using Twitter because I see Twitter the way that see most social media. There are no rules to refer to. At best there are guidelines that you can follow or to use tired business jargon, Best Practices. For me it all comes back to a question of whether I am making effective use of Twitter and other social media tools as they relate to my personal goals. I am not sure that the current practice of tweeting lists of people for Follow Friday is doing that for me. It has some use for building a communal feeling among the daddy bloggers, but beyond that I am skeptical. What do you think?Music For Friday Afternoon
9 AprDownload now or listen on posterous
19_Dont Change On Me_Ray Charles.mp3 (3616 KB)
Download now or listen on posterous
18_If You Were Mine_Ray Charles.mp3 (3317 KB)
Download now or listen on posterous
Download now or listen on posterous
04_Always On My Mind_Johnny Cash and Wille Nelson.mp3 (4841 KB)
Dolph Lundgren/Ivan Drago Plays Elvis
8 FebThis is too weird not to include on the blog.
The Princess Bride ANDRE THE GIANT – A LOOK BACK
5 FebI thought that this was very cool.
Stewart to O’Reilly: Fox News a ‘perpetual emotion machine’ (video) — The Live Feed | THR
4 FebJon Stewart isn’t someone to be trifled with. The guy is smarter than people realize.
Jimmy Kimmel DESTROYS Jay Leno as a guest on 10@10 (The Jay Leno Show 1/14/10)
15 Jan
YouTube – Chinese Jews from Kaifeng arrive in Israel 2009 – a moving documentary
29 NovSent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
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