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I Heart Global Warming
30 Dec 2006 22:55 EDT
December 30 in Columbus, Ohio, and it’s 55 degrees: bring on the greenhouse gases! I love it! So warm we actually went hiking in light jackets today..
for xmas later this year
25 Mar 2006 20:18 EDT
1. IHTBOCD
2. JTTW
3. AWHHOH
4. HCSC
5. OCAYF
6. AIWFCIMTFT
7. ICUAMC
8. DTH
9. JB
10. RATCT
11. LIS
12. DB
13. GKW
14. WC
15.OHN
16. WWYAMC
lindsey and al
18 Mar 2006 04:35 EDT
For years, I had thought that the lead vocals on “Breakdown” from The Alan Parsons Project I, Robot had been sung by Lindsey Buckingham. Why? Well, it sounds a hell of a lot like Lindsey, and also, Lindsey Buckingham is quite appropriate for that song, being batshit crazy already.
Turns out of course that I was wrong. But wrong in a cool way. The vocalist on that track is none other than Allan Clarke of the Hollies. Which is cool enough for me.
a day at franklin park conservatory
04 Mar 2006 22:24 EDT
Today we carted the whole family plus one to Franklin Park Conservatory near downtown Columbus. In addition to the normal plant rooms, there are FOUR special exhibits there right now: a permanent exhibit of Dale Chihuly‘s glass art; a traveling sculpture installation of Patrick Dougherty‘s “stick works” giant twig-scultpures; an orchid show; and of course the headliner, the 12th annual Butterfly Exhibition. Thousands of butterflies flying free in a pacific islands tropical greenhouse room.
Of course we went initially for the butterflies. The adults and older children will always enjoy butterflies; the middle kid wants to be an entomologist when he grows up; and the baby, well, what baby doesn’t enjoy buffafweyes? Not only did we get to see freely flying lepidopterans, but they have a good-sized butterfly nursery too, with hundreds of chrysali and newly emerged butterflies.
So we went for the butterflies, but everything else was an amazing hit too. The Dale Chihuly glass sculptures literally elicited ‘wow’s from all 6 of us, including the 20 month old.
The Dougherty twig scultptures were amazing in scale and execution: giant sweeping structures reminiscent of cocoons throughout the Conservatory.
My personal favorite for a variety of reasons was the Orchid Show. Orchids with blooms six inches across — orchids with blooms smaller than a pencil eraser. Pink, white, yellow, red, green; subdued and shocking. An infinite variety but all variations on a single theme.
Our middle child in particular was captivated by the beauty and variety of the orchids they had displayed: 500 plants and over 10,000 blooms.
So in sum, a wonderful convergence of exhibits which made for a great day’s outing for the whole family.
Surrender, My Sister (or) Cheap Trick, Juliana Hatfield.
03 Mar 2006 22:04 EDT
I’ve heard the following music on the radio recently which made quite a re-impression on my as being examples of what I find to be the best in rock:
——————————-
Surrender, Cheap Trick: This entry is from 1979, sounds like it came from later, and is one of the best rock songs ever written and recorded.
The folks at Blender agree. Trivia from that article: Surrender is supposed to sound like an homage to the Sex Pistols (listen to the Live at Budokan version, above). It only peaked at #62! That’s because popularity is nearly disjoint from quality. But the song is absolutely perfect, both musically and lyrically. Lyrically it combines both a message as timeless as Ecclesiastes, with a surrealism as modern as the Beatles. Musically, what’s not to love? Townshendian guitars, ostinato synthesizer, a key signature and chord structure designed to fool you, layered vocals, etc.
Mother told me, yes, she told me I’d meet girls like you.
She also told me, stay away, you’ll never know what you’ll catch.
Just the other day I heard a soldier falling off some Indonesian junk that’s going round.
Mommy’s alright, Daddy’s alright, they just seem a little weird.
Surrender, surrender, but don’t give yourself away.Father says, your mother’s right, she’s really up on things.
Before we married, Mommy served in the WACs in the Philippines.
Now, I had heard the WACs recruited old maids for the war.
But Mommy isn’t one of those, I’ve known her all these years.
Mommy’s alright, daddy’s alright, they just seem a little weird.
Surrender, surrender, but don’t give yourself away.Whatever happened to all this season’s losers of the year?
Ev’ry time I got to thinking, where’d they disappear?
When I woke up, Mom and Dad are rolling on the couch.
Rolling numbers, rock and rolling, got my KISS records out.
Mommy’s alright, Daddy’s alright, they just seem a little weird.
Surrender, surrender, but don’t give yourself away.Away.
Away.
Now that is a real love song, people. Agape, not eros. Too rare in rock and roll.
——————–
My Sister, Juliana Hatfield. Of course, Ms. Hatfield’s schtick is usually eros, not agape, but this song is a worthwhile exception. This is one is from 1993, quite a bit later than Surrender. They are both part of the same musical movement and quite nicely bookend my adolescence.
My sister. My sister. My sister. I hate my sister, she’s such a bitch. She acts as if she doesn’t even know that I exist. But I would do anything to let her know I care. But I am only talking to myself ’cause she isn’t there. My sister. I love my sister, she’s the best. She’s cooler than any other girl that I have ever met. She had the greatest band, she had the greatest guy. She’s good at everything and doesn’t even try. She’s got a wall around her nobody can climb.She lets her ladder down for those who really shine. I tried to scale it, but to me she’s blind. So I lit a firecracker, went off in my eye. I miss my sister, why’d she go? She’s the one who would have taken me to my first all-ages show.It was the Violent Femmes and the Del Fuegos. Before they had a record out.Before they went gold and started to grow. I miss my sister! I miss my sister! Imiss my sister! I really miss her!
Again, a strong combination of music with lyrics: the sine qua non of singer/songwriter rock-and-roll. The guitar, bass, and vocals all stridently conspire together to inform the listener of the protagonist’s anger and anguish, and they cannot be ignored. They way her voice itself literally climbs in vain as the protagonist does the same. The way you, the listener, feel punched in the face in sympathetic reaction to the firecracker. If you desire pain, it doesn’t get much better.
UPS
02 Mar 2006 18:23 EDT
Usually one can rely very well on UPS to make deliveries on time. They have a pretty good system and logistically seem to do a good job. But sometimes they just screw up. I ordered a school workbook for my 4th grader, and ordered it with 1-day delivery. I ordered it early in the day on March 1st, the Amazon.com system told me it was in stock had plenty of time to get to me on the 2nd. In fact, the package seemed to be making good progress through UPS! See:
COLUMBUS, OH
03/02/2006 6:06 A.M. OUT FOR DELIVERY
03/02/2006 6:05
A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
03/02/2006 5:59 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
03/02/2006 5:32
A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
LOUISVILLE, KY
03/02/2006 4:41 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
03/02/2006 2:53 A.M. ORIGIN
SCAN
03/01/2006 10:56 P.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED
Then…oops!
Status:Exception
COLUMBUS, OH, US
03/02/2006 10:36 A.M.
THE PACKAGE WAS MISSED AT THE UPS FACILITY, UPS WILL DELIVER ON THE NEXT BUSINESS DAY
I had never seen an error like that in the system before. Translation: The dude scanned it, then forgot to put it on the truck, and didn’t realize it until he got to our house and had no package!
I have asked Amazon.com for a full refund of shipping charges. We’ll see what happens.
UPDATE 2 MAR 2006: That was quick. I just got a note as follows:
Please accept our sincere apologies for the late delivery of this shipment. We do take full responsibility for any delays that result from errors made during shipping. In an effort to compensate you for this inconvenience, I’ve requested a full refund of the shipping charges you paid for this package.
Props to Amazon.
Additions to the list of Renaissance Men
02 Mar 2006 17:50 EDT
http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Mar2006/Feature1.asp
Ronan Tynan, M.D.: Inspirational Irish Tenor
The amputation of both legs didn’t stop this Irish tenor from winning gold medals in the Paralympics, earning a medical degree and singing for the Yankees…
And this genteleman, while still only a candidate for Renaissancehood, deserves more kudos than most of you could ever conceive of:
http://www.tommcmahon.net/2006/02/what_i_have_lea.html
What I Have Learned In 15 Years
It was 15 years ago today that our 8-year-old son Ryan suffered a severe brain injury that left him unable to walk or talk or feed himself. He was in the hospital (in two hospitals, actually) for over six months, and ever since has lived with us at home. I thought I would share some of the lessons I’ve learned in these past 15 years…
Read ‘em and weep.
Oh Long John
01 Mar 2006 16:08 EDT
Oh Long John
Oh Long Johnson
Oh Don Piano
Why I eyes ya
All the live long day
DMC and McLachlan: Cat's in the Cradle
27 Feb 2006 21:54 EDT
Powerful. powerful story:
In 1997, hip hop legend Darryl McDaniels should have been riding high. Run-DMC was touring Europe after a remix put them back atop the charts, and money was rolling in. Instead DMC found himself alone in a hotel room, contemplating suicide. Coping with vocal troubles and creative differences with his group, he found no joy in the spoils of the rap game. Poison, a bullet, a giant leap were all options he considered. As he now recalls it, it was a song by Sarah McLachlan, “Angel,” that brought him back from the edge.
Continuing:
After learning he was adopted, D approached Sarah McLachlan about collaborating on Chapin’s classic, “Cats in the Cradle.” Not only did she agree but D’s musical `hero’ let him in on a secret that would further cement their connection: she, too, was adopted.
More here. Very powerful indeed. Glad to see a very positive, very pro-life message coming from the music world.
about mark beadles
I write the things you read here. Polymath renaissance redneck. I build software, stories, and young men. More...on the desk
around the web
in the vault
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