Thursday, March 31, 2011

A Little Technology History

This is a very interesting article written by Paul Allen in Vanity Fair, regarding what had happened when Paul left Microsoft. I had wondered what had happened, from Paul's point of view, and here it is. And yes, life is too short, live it while you can.

Microsoft's Odd Couple

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Hooked On A Feeling

The song for the day. And no, this is not the David Hasselhoff arrangement. Not interested in him, sorry.



Bjorn Skifs, the lead singer, has evolved somewhat over the years. Here he is singing with Agnes for the Royal Wedding of Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria.

Disney Adventures - Neuschwanstein Castle

They have some cool travel packages.



Link: Neuschwanstein Castle

Friday, March 18, 2011

Meet Beezer


I know Beezer is short for a literary name, but right now I can't remember what that name is. I keep thinking it's Ebenezer, but I'm probably wrong on that one.

Beezer's Mom is a friend of mine who recently had full hip replacement surgery. Due to allergies of friends who are helping Beezer's Mom until she is self reliant, I'm foster parenting Beezer. Rachel is starting to adjust to this, but she still doesn't like him.

In the meantime, Beezer has found he can relax...


And enjoy himself.



He's a very loving cat, I've enjoyed having him in my home.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

They Write The Songs

This is a series Barry Manilow is doing for the BBC in the UK, featuring the lives and works of some of the great American songwriters. If you love music (I do), it's definitely something you'll enjoy. It's only up via their web site for a limited time, so be sure to check it out quickly. Tuesday night's show was the first of what is 10 shows.

They Write The Songs On BBC

One of the interesting parts he points out in the first episode - George Gershwin - is the introduction to the song. You don't see this too much anymore in music. When I play the hymns at Church, a brief introduction is played to give everyone the key and tempo of the hymn, but this is different. It's a section of the song that sometimes doesn't even sound like the song itself.

I first learned about this when I was much younger, and saw, for the first time, the actual sheet music to Someday My Prince Will Come from the Disney movie Snow White. There was this first section that never made it into the movie I never knew about!

Most versions of the song have also cut it out, with one exception. It was moved to after the 2nd verse of the song for added effect in the arrangement recorded by Barbra Streisand. I was really happy it actually made it into a recording because it's a brief, but sweet part of the song. On the video below, the introduction is 2:25 into the song.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Pure Country

I saw today at a grocery store there is a Pure Country 2 out on dvd. I don't know if it's as good as the original, but the original is, to me, a classic. This scene in particular.

Monday, March 14, 2011

I Wonder If He Was Fired By Tweet?

Gilbert Gottfried, the voice of the Aflac duck, fired over insensitive tweets.

From CNN

I wonder how many times this continues to happen before people realize they need to be mindful of what they post?

When Elected Officials Refuse To Listen

There have been some interesting things going on in Wisconsin.

Apparently the elected officials have gone off on a tangent that they are going to "clean up" the government - by removing collective bargaining from government workers.

So what is a citizen to do, when elected officials refuse to listen to their demands?

1. Peaceful protesting - this is continuing to happen in Wisconsin.

2. Recall petitions - I'm assuming this is going on in Wisconsin, I know there is a recall petition in Arizona to remove Russell Pearce from the Arizona Legislature.

If those still don't work, perhaps the most effective way of getting your message across:

From The Nation

Basically, hit that elected official's biggest donors in their pocketbooks and start an all out campaign to put those donors out of business.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

The Other Side of Our Military


How thankful I am that they are willing to leave home and serve, not just in times of war, but in times of emergencies.

7th Fleet

From CNN

Mood Music

I was listening to Barry Manilow's new song, played on BBC Radio, but for some reason I kept thinking of Michael Jackson.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011