Musical Interlude 6/2/2009

Does anybody really keep track of the fact that summer officially “starts” three weeks into June?  Forget that!  For the bulk of America, summer starts the 1st of June, or within a few days of, depending on when school lets out.  (Of course for working stiffs that don’t have time or can’t afford vacation, it means nothing more than hot afternoon rides home from work.)

So to celebrate the beginning of another summer, I’ll give you the Dick Dale/Stevie Ray Vaughan rendition of  “Pipeline”, from the eminently forgettable movie Back To The Beach.  The only thing I remember about that movie was that Pee-Wee Herman showed up in it.  But watch this video and tell me that Dick and Stevie didn’t have themselves a good time shooting it.  BTW nice hair, Dick.  And some nice guitar work on an old classic to the both of them.  So let’s all get into a summertime, party at the beach type of mood by enjoying this video.

Technical difficulties

WordPress seems to have eaten my blogroll this morning.  I’ve got an email into support, so we’ll see what happens.  Meantime if any of my regulars stop by here, don’t panic, I didn’t delete you.  Hopefully the problem will be fixed soon.

UPDATE: Fixed.  Within five minutes of me sending an email to support.  Pretty good service, if you ask me.

Back to our (ir)regularly scheduled programming.

65 Questions

Here’s one I pulled off Facebook that many of you probably are familiar with.  I decided to post it here because it contains a little more information than I wish to share with my Facebook friends.

65 Questions You’ve Probably Never Been Asked…you know the rules. tag people in this note (including the person who tagged you!) to learn more about people. Also, try to tag people who you’ve tagged in other notes, sometimes you learn things in new notes that you didn’t know before about them…….

1. First thing you wash in the shower? Hair, of course.  Starting anywhere else would be unnatural.
2. What color is your favorite hoodie? Don’t wear the things.  Not really needed in Georgia.
3. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? I certainly hope so.
4. Do you plan outfits? Never.
5. How are you feeling RIGHT now? Slightly upset stomach from last night’s leftovers eaten for lunch.
6. Whats the closest thing to you that’s red? Design on my shirt.
7. Tell me about the last dream you remember having? Being pushed out my front door.  No, I don’t understand it either.
8. Did you meet anybody new today? You kidding?  Happens about as often as a lunar eclipse.
9. What are you craving right now? Something sweet.
10. Do you floss? When necessary.
11. What comes to mind when I say cabbage? Lots of farting.
12. Are you emotional?  Rarely, unless pushed.
13. Have you ever counted to 1,000? Why would I want to do that?
14. Do you bite into your ice cream or just lick it?  Both.
15. Do you like your hair? When it’s short.
16. Do you like yourself? Rarely.  But I’m trying.
17. Would you go out to eat with George W. Bush? Sure.  Especially if he’s paying.
18. What are you listening to right now? The fan by my desk.
19. Are your parents strict? Not really, until you pissed them off.
20. Would you go sky diving? Uh, don’t think so.  Little problem with heights.  And sudden stops after falling.
21. Do you like cottage cheese? I can deal, unless something gross is mixed in.
22. Have you ever met a celebrity? Not sure.
23. Do you rent movies often? My wife does.
24. Is there anything sparkly in the room you’re in? Some assorted junk that we haven’t found a place for yet.
25. How many countries have you visited? One.  I need to make more money and get around more.
26. Have you made a prank phone call? Might have, but don’t remember.
27. Ever been on a train? Been awhile, but yes.
28. Brown or white eggs? Never tried brown.  Do they taste the same?
29. Do you have a cell-phone? Yes.
30. Do you use chap stick? Sure do.
31. Do you own a gun? Bust in my door at 2 AM and find out.
32. Can you use chop sticks? Inexpertly, but can make do.
33. Who are you going to be with tonight? My wife & daughter.
34. Are you too forgiving? At times, perhaps.
35. Ever been in love? Yes.
36. What is your best friend(s) doing tomorrow? Probably working.
37. Ever have cream puffs? Yep.
38. Last time you cried? After my dad’s funeral.
39. What was the last question you asked?  Where’s the grocery list?
40. Favorite time of the year? Late fall.
41. Do you have any tattoos? No.
42. Are you sarcastic? I try not to be, but happens sometimes.  My wife, on the other hand…
43. Have you ever seen The Butterfly Effect? No.
44. Ever walked into a wall? Has happened before, usually when barely awake trying to find the bathroom.
45. Favorite color? Blue.
46. Have you ever slapped someone? Yes.
48. What was the last CD you bought? Sting’s Bring On The Night, sometime last year.
49. Do looks matter? Generally, no.
50. Could you ever forgive a cheater? Yes.  But the trust may or may not ever return.
51. Is your phone bill sky high? Luckily, no.
52. Do you like your life right now? Could be better, but could easily be far worse.
53. Do you sleep with the TV on? I try not to, but it’s happened before.
54. Can you handle the truth? In due time, but I might not be happy with it now.
55. Do you have good vision? Marginal, but I can still drive without glasses.
56. Do you hate or dislike more than 3 people? Hate is too strong a term.  Intensely dislike, definitely.
57. How often do you talk on the phone? I avoid it, unless I know the caller or they’re employment related.
58. The last person you high fived? A kid who I helped with his Eagle Scout project.
59. What are you wearing? Shorts and t-shirt.
60. What is your favorite animal? Anything cute, furry, four legged, and poops outside.
61. Where was your default picture taken? My dad took a picture of the dog on the bed.
62. Can you hula hoop? Once upon a time.  Now?  Prepare to laugh until you puke.
63. Do you have a job? Not currently.
64. What was the most recent thing you bought? Milk, cheese, and sandwich meat from Ingles.
65. Have you ever crawled through a window? Yes.

Once again, don’t bother with the tagging.  Usual rules, take it and post it if you like, or just comment on it.  And if you do post it, leave a comment and a link.

Happy Blogiversary To Me (and happy Memorial Day)

Happy Memorial Day to all!

And happy one year blogiversary to me.  One year ago yesterday, I took up blogging.

Where has the time gone?

Overall, I think I did okay the past year.  Not very consistent, there were several periods with lots of gaps in between postings, particularly during the six-month period I had no internet access, but I made do.  Some decent postings, a few I’m actually proud of, some filler crap, and some I decided I’ll never tackle such a subject again.

My main purpose of having this blog was to have a place where I could air out the true me the way I wanted to, apart from family and close friends.  None know I have this blog, and I likely wouldn’t give them access anyway.  I stated way back when that I wanted to blog in a forum where people could get to know me without anybody really knowing me, and I’ve been fairly successful at doing that.  I do have a small core of readers (nothing against the ladies, but sometimes I wish some more guys read me, so I could do more guy-type posts), and I thank those that do come by here semi-regularly to listen patiently to my drivel.  I extend many thanks to who I would consider my blogparents, Jim Peacock (formerly of Snoozebutton Dreams before it became a spamhole), and Shannon from Everyday Stranger.  Both have been an inspiration and an example to me in this rather strange world.  As well as several others that stop by here on a semi-regular basis.

So, did I achieve any of my goals while blogging?  Since I never really set any goals and never had much of a focus beyond using it as a sort of brain dump, I guess the answer would be yes.

About a week ago, I took another deep plunge – I joined Facebook.  And I’m totally addicted to it – reconnecting with family members and old friends I haven’t seen in years.  I’ve also become addicted to the many quizzes and surveys, as well as Mafia Wars.

A quick word here – I want to keep my Facebook account separate from my blog.  Facebook is where I communicate with family and close friends, and I want to keep the two worlds apart.  I’ve already gotten some requests from bloggers to friend them on FB, and I gave in a few times, but for the time being I’d rather you knew me right here.  In time, that will possibly change and we may start corresponding over there as well, but for now this is where you can find me.  Please don’t take it personally.

Facebooking with family and close friends has opened a door for me that has been shut for years.  I’ve kinda been isolated for quite a while, partly by choice, partly because we get too busy to get together, all well covered by the cobwebs of time, and mainly by the fact that I’m not much of a soc and really haven’t made a huge effort to make many new friends and get to know people.  Just the way I am, that’s all.

Yet I found myself yakking with my brother and sister, commenting on embarrassing photos we posted of each other and other family members, and quizzes posted on each other’s walls.  And I got into a chat with an old friend of mine (been a good ten years) and it was like we just picked up where we left off.

To tell the truth, feels good.

And I can also connect with other friends there, mainly ones from my church, ones that I keep close in my heart, but not close enough to where they may get frightened off by some of the things which stir within me.  Some of the dark things about me, things for which I’m thankful I have another forum separate from them where I can take control of the darkness, express it in a way where it doesn’t hurt me or anybody else, where it can be aired in front of strangers who have become sympathetic friends who in many cases understand where I come from.

I’m also proud of the fact that I’ve mostly kept to some self-imposed boundaries on my blog, yet allowed myself to expand my horizons when I felt it was necessary.  I kept the politics light, yet put in just enough to give others an idea on how I view things.  I kept the raunchy humor to a minimum, but allowed just enough to spice things up and indulge my quirky sense of humor.  I shared some deeper thoughts of myself that I never would’ve done in a roomful of strangers.  And, perhaps best of all, I avoided turning it into a bitch blog, where I do nothing but complain about things in my everyday life, including my occasionally rocky relationships with my wife & kids.  Some things really do need to be dealt with privately and not aired in any public forum.

So I wish everybody a happy Memorial day, hope we all keep focus on the meaning of this day and all the sacrifices our servicemen and servicewomen made for us during the course of history (no matter how much O-Hole tries to apologize for our “atrocities”, not realizing he IS the atrocity), and stay safe out there.

from Free Stock Photos

Baby blogging

This is a new club for me.

Blogging while babysitting.

Nice big bed? Check.

Lotsa toys on bed?  Check.

Soft pillows?  Check.

Tom & Jerry on the tube?  Check.

Remote within easy reach of both grandpa & baby? Check.

Laptop? Check.

Diaper bag close by?  Check.

I’m still squeamish on the diaper thing, but will do if necessary.  Besides, at his current age, it’s not so bad.  Older (past a year) is when I get scared.

Ladies out shopping?  Check, check, check.

Getting the daughter to part with baby for this length of time is a remarkable achievement.  Hopefully we can get her to do so more often.

Googled TMI

I should know better by know.

I need to be very careful what I google.  Sometimes ignorance really is bliss.

It’s bad enough that I had to google what came out of wRitErsbLock’s pond.  That eventually led to a link with some, uh, questionable material.  The kind of stuff you don’t want showing up in your Internet history if your spouse & kids use your computer.

But that was nothing compared to what I found over at Blog’d'Elisson.

The Name Game

1. YOUR REAL NAME
I need to keep SOME things private (though you probably know 2/3 of it).

2. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME (mother and father’s middle names)
Miles Lee.  (pretty good)

3. NASCAR NAME (first name of your mother’s dad; father’s dad)
James Elmer. (even better)

4. STAR WARS NAME (the first three letters of your last name, first two letters of your first name)
Ferda (Ehhh…I guess so)

5. DETECTIVE NAME (favorite color, favorite animal)
Blue Orangutan (never work, suspects would laugh themselves to death)

6. SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, town where you were born)
David Hurricane (think this should be entered below instead)

7. SUPERHERO NAME (second fav color, fav drink, add ‘the’ to the beginning)
The Red Pepsi (picture that logo on the front of my uniform)

8. FLY NAME (first two letters of your first name, last two letters of your last name)
Jall (fly name?  What the hell is that?)

9. ROCK STAR NAME (current pet’s name, current street name)
Ne-hi New (must be part of a gay band)

10. PORN NAME (first pet, street you grew up on)
Buck Melrose (hey, that sounds good)

11. GANGSTA NAME (first three letters of your real name, plus izzle)
Davizzle (whatever)

12. IRAQI NAME (second letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, first two letters of your middle name, last two letters of your first name, then last three letters of your last name)
Ardaesell (hoo…kay…)

13. GOTH NAME (black, and the name of one of your pets)
Black Ne-hi (sounds like a 200 proof soft drink)

14. STRIPPER NAME (favorite perfume, favorite candy)
Old Spice Nestle Crunch (God, that sounded horrible.  Cue mass exodus of people screaming into the streets)

Any takers, post on your own blog and comment here that you did so.  If no blog, just post in the comments.

Hysterical

My mom sent me this one, and I have to share.  Here’s a video from The Johnny Carson Show back in the mid/late 70’s.  A clip starring the recently late great Dom DeLuise doing an egg trick for the equally great late Johnny Carson.

Why can’t TV be this good again, without having to resort to all the reality crap out there?  (Excepting shows like The Deadliest Catch, of course).

Laughing this hard sucks when you have a splitting headache.  Oh well, just’ll have to take some extra Advil Migraine.  The laugh was worth it.

The Egg Trick, starring Dom DeLuise and Johnny Carson:

Musical Interlude 5/14/2009

I think I should start a new category – Songs That Guys Love But Are Ashamed To Admit It (at least in front of their beer-swilling buddies).

This one definitely makes my list.

Bonnie Raitt is one of my favorites amongst female performers, and this song is one of my faves by her.  She’s a hot guitarist, but she also has the vocals which can stand alone all by themselves, like with this song.

This video shows hints of dubbing, but that’s okay, because she looks great here anyway.  If you’re paying attention, back there on the keyboards is the prolific Bruce Hornsby, well known for a lot of session work with the Grateful Dead, as well as some really good solo stuff (”The Way It Is”).  A little urban legend:  Supposedly once Bruce’s life insurance company found out he was working with the Dead, they dropped him like a hot rock.  Given the fate of their two previous keyboardists, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan and Brent Mydland, you can’t blame the insurance bean counters.  Anyway, nice piano work here, Bruce.

Did I ever mention before that I love Bonnie Raitt?  Something about a redhead picking a guitar and singing beautifully really gets to me.

My presentation for a Thursday morning – “I Can’t Make You Love Me”, by Bonnie Raitt.  Watch, listen, and enjoy.

The perfect job

Apparently  Multnomah Co, Oregon, really needs a blogger and a tweeter badly.

They’re willing to pay an annual salary of $70,000 for a “social media coordinator”, who will basically blog, tweet, and Facebook all day.  Read the whole article here.

Of course, to make room for this special job, they may have to cut 200 other county positions.  And hand out a few pay cuts.

Some people in this world are really blessed.  I wish I was fortunate enough to get paid such a nice salary for sitting on my fat lazy ass all day…