Saturday, October 27, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
For all of you who knew the Rat Pack wasn't just Frank, Dino, and Sammy...
'Rat Pack' member Bishop dies, 89
Comedian Joey Bishop, the last surviving member of Frank Sinatra's 'Rat Pack', has died at the age of 89. Bishop died of multiple causes at his home in California late on Wednesday, according to his friend and publicist, Warren Cowan.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
I am so screwed.
Your chance of survival: Preparedness: 63%, City Skills: 42%, Survival Skills: 35%, Nature Skills: 7%
“There are things that we never want to let go of, people we never want to leave behind. But keep in mind that letting go isn’t the end of the world, it’s the beginning of a new life.”
“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.”
“Even the end of the world is described as if it were only an exceptionally hot afternoon.”
“The heart of a man to the heart of a maid - Light of my tents, be fleet - Morning awaits at the end of the world, And the world is all at our feet.”
"If I left you alone in the woods with a hatchet, how long before you could send me an e-mail?"
| Link: The Apocalypse Survival Test written by mike_ix on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test |
Thursday, October 18, 2007
...but some days, this is the only way I stay sane at work.
3 Steps to a Permanently Clear Desk
3 Steps to a Permanently Clear Desk
The important thing to remember is that you must have a system in place, and you must teach yourself to follow the system. Otherwise, you just clean your desk, and it gets messy again.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Again, E and I headed to the first weekend of the twice-yearly Friends of the Library Book Sale. It was one of the worst lines I've ever had to stand in at all. We stood around longer than an old Soviet Union toilet-paper line, for pete's sake.
Supposedly, the local fire marshall didn't like the way people were crammed into the old warehouse, so he laid down the law and decreed that only so many people were allowed into that giant tinderbox at a time, which meant an unprecedented hour-long line.
Still, I had an agenda, and the fact that I got that second book in the pile there made it all worth while!
I thinks it's indicitive of the refinement of my reading tastes that the piles are getting smaller. I'm just not picking up every damn book I come across. That's good, because I'm spending less, overall. Well, not really--there'll always be stuff I want, but at least I'll eventually spend less on the classics.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
A Look at the Life and Work of Joe Zawinul
by David Was
by David Was
Day to Day, September 12, 2007 · We look back at the work of keyboardist Joe Zawinul, one of the founders of the fusion jazz movement. Zawinul died Tuesday at age 75.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Saturday, September 08, 2007
Apparently, when this essay was passed around and dissected a couple of years ago, I missed the memo. Bears thinking about, though...
From A Heritage of Smallness
From A Heritage of Smallness
Are we not confusing timidity for humility and making a virtue of what may be the worst of our vices? Is not our timorous clinging to smallness the bondage we must break if we are ever to inherit the earth and be free, independent, progressive? The small must ever be prey to the big. Aldous Huxley said that some people are born victims, or 'murderers.' He came to the Philippines and thought us the 'least original' of people. Is there not a relation between his two terms? Originality requires daring: the daring to destroy the obsolete, to annihilate the petty. It's cold comfort to think we haven�t developed that kind of 'murderer mentality.'
But till we do we had best stop talking about 'our heritage of greatness' for the national heritage is-- let's face it-- a heritage of smallness."
I've been clearing out the massive amounts of saved links, snippets, bookmarks, RSS posts, etc. of various types I've been accumulating off of teh intranets over the past few months. Hey, I've been busy!
Anyway, here's a gem I found back in July (I ferget where, sorry): An interview with Alan Moore on Lost Girls. Yes, that's an interview on Lost Girls on SexTV--you figure out if it's safe for work, or not :).
Anyway, here's a gem I found back in July (I ferget where, sorry): An interview with Alan Moore on Lost Girls. Yes, that's an interview on Lost Girls on SexTV--you figure out if it's safe for work, or not :).
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Anyone know the number of a good ambulance chaser? I'm kidding! I kept those jokes to a minimum, as I could tell people were nervous around me at work. A tempered glass window shattered and fell on me, resulting in superficial cuts to both my hands. It sounds worse than it is. After a few minutes, the cuts didn't even warrant a Band-Aid, although I got one.
That's the nice thing about working at the university health center. The speedy attention the center already pays to workplace injuries went doubly so for me. It's not what you got, it's who you know, and I knew darn near everyone I came into contact with. Authorized line-jumping rules!
That's not to say I didn't wait. I wasn't howling in pain, so I had to wait just long enough for the whole process, including filling out an accident report, to eat up the rest of my morning until it was time for lunch. Of course, I had to repeat the story about twenty times and quell some rumors that took mere hours to spread, everything from me slamming said window in a mad tirade, to some random student doing it, to the whole thing simply breaking on its own due to an act of God. Yeesh.
That's the nice thing about working at the university health center. The speedy attention the center already pays to workplace injuries went doubly so for me. It's not what you got, it's who you know, and I knew darn near everyone I came into contact with. Authorized line-jumping rules!
That's not to say I didn't wait. I wasn't howling in pain, so I had to wait just long enough for the whole process, including filling out an accident report, to eat up the rest of my morning until it was time for lunch. Of course, I had to repeat the story about twenty times and quell some rumors that took mere hours to spread, everything from me slamming said window in a mad tirade, to some random student doing it, to the whole thing simply breaking on its own due to an act of God. Yeesh.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Jazz World Mourns Loss of Max Roach
Currently listening: Clifford Brown/Max Roach, "If I Love Again"
Legendary jazz percussionist Max Roach is dead at 83. Having been associated with greats such as Duke Ellington and Dizzie Gillespie, the self-taught musician wowed audiences throughout the world.When I was busy worshipping jazz trumpet players in college, I didn't pay too much attention to the non-trumpeters with a few exceptions. Max Roach was one of them. When I was soaking up Clifford's work, you just couldn't help being as blown away by the drumming as you'd be by anything Clifford did.
Currently listening: Clifford Brown/Max Roach, "If I Love Again"
Saturday, August 11, 2007
So, who's seen this new show Human Weapon on the History Channel? You haven't? A couple of dudes travel the world, train for a bit in different styles, and then go one on one with one of the practicioners.
Check out segments from the eskrima episode.
EDIT: Duh, how about some YouTube-age?
Check out segments from the eskrima episode.
EDIT: Duh, how about some YouTube-age?
Friday, August 10, 2007
I know I've passed this video around to some, but I can't help it. I've been watching it at least every other day for the past month. It's the Tower of Power at the 2006 Montreaux Jazz Festival playing their signature tune "What Is Hip," featuring Carlos Santana on guitar. Now, Carlos isn't a funk guitarist. You'll notice he goes 8 bars trying to play in the style of the tune; it was a'ight. But then, he gives us 16 bars of pure Carlos.
Damn, this still gives me goosebumps!
Damn, this still gives me goosebumps!
I'm playing hookey from work today. Hey, it's been a hard week. Summer's usually a cakewalk, but I've been de facto covering for my boss. Not officially, mind you. But with the boss on vacation for two weeks, all of a sudden I've supposedly turned into the answer man.
Hey, I'm not bitching. I kept trying to tell people that it's like those old Star Trek episodes where all the senior officers plus redshirt would be down on the planet, and the only one left to run the ship was Mr. Sulu whose sole job was to keep the Enterprise in orbit.
Well, Sulu's on vacation--even though I am on campus right now. I suppose I could wander into work with my umbrella, brandishing it like a sword like Sulu did in "The Naked Time."
Hey, I'm not bitching. I kept trying to tell people that it's like those old Star Trek episodes where all the senior officers plus redshirt would be down on the planet, and the only one left to run the ship was Mr. Sulu whose sole job was to keep the Enterprise in orbit.
Well, Sulu's on vacation--even though I am on campus right now. I suppose I could wander into work with my umbrella, brandishing it like a sword like Sulu did in "The Naked Time."
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Via Stickman's Escrima Blog: seminar and interview vids of Sonny Umpad.
I haven't even made it all the way through the first video because I've been replaying snippets of certain moves, in total awe of the intricacies of Sonny's techniques.
I haven't even made it all the way through the first video because I've been replaying snippets of certain moves, in total awe of the intricacies of Sonny's techniques.
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