| Looks like the production studios of Another "You're Tribbin Me Out" Short Films has crapped out yet another nugget of digital wonder. This one is starring Stella (of coarse) and she is doing her own rendition of the timeless classic, Jesus Loves Me. It is a cute little gem that she picked up during her time at a Christian pre-k school early in the summer. This was taken last Friday evening while testing out our new digital video camera (more on that later). I hooked a microphone up to one of my amps and told her to "sing something" and this was the end result (and a damned fine one I might add!). Now it's very important that you have your sound turned up for this because she is singing the song. If possible, for those of you that do not have speakers, find a way to watch/listen to this for the full effect! |
On a related note, this video was taken with our new digital video camera. Now unfortunately, when converted for playing over a computer, some of the clearness is distorted. However if we play it through our TV by connecting the video camera to it or if we download the video directly to CD and burned through NTSC-PAL format, it is very clear and clean.
Now, you may ask yourself, "What made those notorious cheapskates go out and buy a digital video camera?"
Well, in 4 more days, Stella will make her first visit to Walt Disney World! A digital video camera (w/a 6 megapixel still photo feature) is less cumbersome then lugging around a standard videotape camera, accessories, regular camera, ect. Seriously folks, this new video camera can fit in your pocket. It is slightly larger than a deck of cards. So we bit the bullet, pried open our wallets and took the plunge. Stella is so excited. Now we will be on vacation next week but never fear my faithful readers, we will have the technical means necessary to update the blog not only with entries, but with little videos of the trip too! So check the site while we are away!
Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood is heading for rehab huh? That was as predictable as Michael Jackson getting aroused at a boys orphanage. Ron Wood is such a lush, if it weren't for the olives in martinis, he would starve to death. This guys addictions make Keith Richards look recreational. This is the same guy that no longer has any sense of smell because he has literally fried all the respiratory sensors in his nose due to a $12,000 a day cocaine habit from the late seventies to the early eighties. I swear, if brains were dynamite, he wouldn't have enough to blow his nose. If he were to take the Pepsi challenge, he would choose Jiff. I tell ya, one day we are going to wake up and read the following news item:
Rolling Stone Ron Wood died yesterday from injuries sustained while trying to boil water in a toaster. Autopsy results pending. Wood, best known for his guitar work with The Rolling Stones and the youngest member of the group, was also an aspiring children's book author. He had just recently completed a draft of his first children's novel tentatively titled, "The 10 Most Barbaric Things I’ve Ever Done to My Genitals." Wood was 114 years old and is survived by his wife of four years, Lyla "Desirae" Schlock-Wood, 18, and their son Rupert, 5.
And contrary to what they looked like back in their prime, let's face it people, the Rolling Stones are not the most attractive people on earth. Keith Richards is so ugly, his pillow cries at night. I mean it's so bad, his face looks like it caught on fire and Ron Wood put it out with a fork (actually knowing the "partying" history of those two Rhodes scholars, that would not surprise me).
But women still love them, even to this day. When they were 20, they were about to break loose and challenge the Beatles as, "Kings of the English Music Scene". Even then, they were bedding half the female population in London...the Beatles were doing the other half.
When I was 20, I couldn't get laid in a women's prison with a handful of pardons.
But God bless 'em. They found a niche, ran with and dominated it and the market rewarded them for it. Here we are over 40 years later and they are still one of the biggest draws in arena rock. I wish nothing but the best of luck for those guys...Keith recovering from his head injury and Ron getting help overcoming whatever addiction is gutting him these days.
Keep on Rolling!
Just some random thoughts today...
Tom Shane has been a fixture on Atlanta radio for as long as I can remember. Now he is doing television spots. Unfortunately these ads do not show what he looks like. That would be interesting to see. I mean, with all his talk about going to Bangkok and Antwerp, I can just picture him as some sleazy old man with a greasy looking comb-over that hires under-age hookers to come up to his room and pee on him.
It was in 1983 that the first TCP/IP packet transmission network was put into use by the United States National Science Foundation. Many people point to this as being the birth of the Internet as it is known today. Who knew that 23 years later, this technology would allow for people from around the world to share bum fight videos, hidden toilet cam footage and read crummy blogs written by frustrated web admins kicking themselves in the pants for not going to college when they had the chance.
I am depressed at the fact that unless we hit the lottery, I will never, ever again experience the thrill of flying in first class. The first/last time I did in my adult life was back in October when I flew to San Diego to attended the decommissioning ceremony of my former ship, The USS Belleau Wood (LHA-3). Laura, bless her heart, was able to cash in a butt load of frequent flier miles to upgrade my round trip ticket to first class. Ahhhhh....it was nice. I remember when we were about 45 minutes from landing in San Diego, the flight attendant came out carrying a tray of wonderfully smelling, freshly microwaved cookies! I have to restrain myself from yelling, ”Yaaaay!" and clapping wildly like a retard. It’s not that I’m embarrassed about my unbridled joy over the cookie, it’s just that clapping wildly makes my blubbery man-boobs jiggle and I don’t need to be reminded of that right before I am going to consume such a fattening dessert. I also had to exercises restraint from opening "the curtain" that separates the good (me at that time), from the lowly(coach passengers) and yelling, "Hey second-class coach cretins! We are having chocolate chip cookies and you aren't, so SUCK ON IT!!!" But alas, should I ever fly again, it is back to coach with the rest of the cretins.
That's all for now...later!
So for the past 10 weeks now, me and a buddy of mine have been jogging around 3 miles a day. Now, some of you may already know, but in March I was diagnosed as a Type II Diabetic. My blood sugar was estimated to have been hovering dangerously in the 400 to 500 range. I knew something was wrong when I noticed that I was pissing constantly. I was going around every 30 to 45 minutes...sometimes closer in that time range. I would wake up at least 4 or 5 times a night to stumble into the can and pee. I noticed that my fingers were getting numb and tingly. I thought it was just poor circulation from lack of exercise. My eye sight had diminished rapidly to the point that I was unable to even read large print on road signs. Again, I excused it as an overdue lens prescription. I was also very irritable to the point that I would feel nauseated. I wrote that off as stress due to starting in a new position at work and worry over my father's health woes.
Then one Saturday afternoon, Laura had it with me running to the bathroom every 20 minutes. It had gotten so bad, that we had to stop at Maloof's Tavern in Atlanta on my way home from visiting Mom's so I could run in and use their restroom. Laura stated that I had all the symptoms of diabetes. In the past few weeks I had doubted her and was being stubborn about getting my blood sugar tested. But in those past few days...I was worried, and yes, getting scared. The following day, we went to my father-in-law's so he could test my blood sugar (he is a Type I diabetic). My blood sugar, (after 16 hours of not eating and very rested) registered at 376. So it was quite easy to guesstimate ranges from the 400's to 500's when I was spiking.
We went to the doctors the very next day. I had a series of test done and was diagnosed on the spot as a Type II diabetic with elevated blood pressure. Ever since I quit smoking in December, my eating of sweets and carbs had gone up dramatically. That was all it took to push me into dangerous territory. I was given an insulin shot and prescribed Metformin. Metformin is used to regulate blood glucose (sugar) levels. Metformin works in three ways: first, it reduces the amount of glucose produced by your liver; second, it reduces the amount of glucose absorbed from food through your stomach; and third, it makes the insulin that your body produces work better to reduce the amount of glucose already in your blood. I then cut back the amount of sugar I was eating which included all candies and processed sugar sweets. No more popsicles with Stella and my nightly bowls of cereal and ice cream. I am also trying to eat more veggies. Once the diet was in place, it was time to start the exercising.
Which leads us to me and my buddy running every day during our lunch hour. We meet at 11:30am in front of the Tech Tower, and run around the perimeter of campus. Since we started 10 weeks ago, I have lost 24lbs. On my last check-up with the doctor, he was please to see my blood sugar base-lining at 105. My blood pressure was perfect and he was very pleased to see I was losing weight. My eye sight returned to normal without having to upgrade my lenses and I no longer have that numb, tingly feeling in my fingers. He said I was one of the few Type II diabetic patients he had that took what he said to heart. Most of his patients come in, blood sugar still dangerously high, still over weight, not exercising, still eating sweets demanding to know "why the medication was not working".
I see all the health problems my dad is going through. I do not want to go through that. At a time in his life when he should be making preparations with mom for retirement, he is now the shell of a man he used to be. At a time in her life when she should be looking forward to finally relaxing and spoiling her granddaughter, mom is working 2 full time jobs. One as an Administrative Assistant at a bank, another as a nurse to my father. I do not want to put Laura through that.
Back in my parents time when they were younger, nobody really understood just how dangerous the risks of an unhealthy lifestyle were. It was not until the 80's that this country became more health conscience, almost to a point of it being a fad. Was it too late for dad? Who knows? But one thing I do know.
It's not too late for me.
Ok everyone, here is one of the first public photos of the most famous baby ever born since Jesus:
Can we now continue with the rest of our lives please?
Last weekend, legendary pianist/keyboardist Billy Preston died due to kidney failure after a kidney transplant performed late last year. He was 59.
Throughout the sixties and seventies, Preston played with some of the biggest names in rock music, most notably The Beatles. He sat in as guest keyboardist for the Let it Be sessions and performed on a few tracks for their swan song album (and my personal favorite) Abbey Road. Preston then went on to not only play, but write songs for some of the biggest names in rock music throughout the seventies, such as Joe Cocker (he wrote and played piano on "You are so Beautiful"), The Rolling Stones, Ray Charles, both Ringo Starr and George Harrison 70's solo efforts, Bob Dylan, Peter Frampton, Eric Clapton, Stevie Winwood and unfortunately Neil Diamond.
Now I lot of people make reference to him being "The Fifth Beatle". I am not one of them. This is not to be a negative reflection on the man, truly he is considered one of the greatest keyboardist/pianist in rock music and an accomplished songwriter/arranger/and sometimes producer. But my vote for "fifth Beatle" will always be George Martin. George Martin was the exclusive producer of nearly every single Beatles record.
He first auditioned the Beatles in 1962, after they had been turned down by Decca Records and most of the major British labels. Although his initial reaction was that "they were pretty awful", Martin saw the potential in the raw sounding group and signed them to a recording contract. This marked the beginning of a long relationship, in which Martin's musical expertise helped fill the gap between the Beatles's raw talent and the sound they wanted to achieve. Most of the orchestral arrangements and instrumentation (as well as frequent keyboard parts on nearly all of their records) on Beatles records were made or performed by Martin, in collaboration with the band. (A good example of this was on "Penny Lane", where Martin worked with McCartney on a piccolo trumpet solo: McCartney hummed the melody, and Martin wrote it down in music notation for the classically trained trumpeter.)
Martin's distinctive arranging work on Beatles recordings appears in "Eleanor Rigby", for which he scored and conducted a strings-only accompaniment (inspired by Bernard Herrmann's music for Psycho), "Strawberry Fields Forever", where he turned two very different takes into a single master through careful use of vari-speed and editing, "I Am the Walrus", a quirky and original arrangement (for brass, violins, cellos and choir) effectively complementing the surreal imagery of the song's lyrics, playing a sped-up Baroque piano solo on "In My Life", and the orchestral 'windup' appearing in "A Day In The Life". He also contributed less praised but integral parts to other songs, including the piano in "Lovely Rita", the circus instrumentation in "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite", and the orchestration in "Good Night".
Within the recording industry, Martin is noted for going independent at a time when many producers were still salaried staff A&R men -- which he was until the Beatles' success had matured. When the Beatles contract with Capital was set to expire in 1966, the group unanimously refused to re-sign unless Martin was written in to their "points agreement" so that he could receive a share of royalties for producing and arranging their albums (today's album producers automatically receive "points" for producing, however before Martin, they were simple salaried employees of the record companies).
Simply put, I do not think any other person on the face of the earth at that time could have helped the Beatles change the face of rock music. Not Stu Sutcliff, Pete Best, Brian Epstein and no, not even Billy Preston. Though no Beatle has ever gone on record confirming a "fifth Beatle", John Lennon was the closest by saying:
"In the studio, we simply gave George (Martin) a lump of marble which was a rough demo of a song and asked him to help us carve it into art. I never like the term fifth Beatle because to me, despite all of the disagreements, the Beatles will always be me, Paul, George and Ringo, end of story. But if you are asking who is the one person that could very well call themselves a fifth Beatle, I would never hold it against George if he did because he damned well earned it!" - John Lennon (Playboy Magazine, 1980)
Billy Preston
September 9, 1946 - June 6, 2006
Saw something funny on the way to work today.
Outside an apartment condo door on Tenth St. heading west, there was what looked liked a white poster board sign written with a Sharpie marker taped to the main door that said:
"Holly Worley is a husband stealing c*#t that lives in 2C of this building!"
No, that word was not spelled with special characters on the actual sign. It was the big C-U-N-Tahiti. I wish that traffic was lighter so that I could have whipped out the camera-phone and snapped a picture. It reminded me of that scene in Goodfellas when Karen discovers the name and address of her husband, Henry Hill's mistress. She goes to the mistresses apartment and lets all her neighbors (and the landlord) know that she was sleeping with her husband.
Say what you want about us guys...but ladies...you can be sooooo vicious. I mean for a lady to use the most loathed word around women (the "C" word) against another lady!!! And advertising for the rush hour morning commuters (and the neighborhood) what said lady living in 2C of that building was doing with her husband! Wow...that is pure, unmitigated anger!
And yes, I do hope the sign is still there after work so that I can pull off to the side and snap a picture so that I can share with all of you, my faithful readers.
Since it has been a while since I have blogged, allow me again to remind y'all that my brother-in-law Steve has his own blog, The Georgia Road Geek. Unlike me, he actually keeps his blogs updated regularly . Now that the kids are out of school and summer is almost upon us, damned the gas prices, let's travel! If you have any questions regarding road travel, post them to the Road Geek. Now, I say the following with the utmost respect and affection, but my I am going to begin referring to my brother-in-law Steve as Google. Why, you ask?
Because he is without a doubt the smartest person I have ever met in my life!
Folks, that's a pretty big statement coming from a guy who works on one of the most prestigious technical colleges in the world and who has a grandfather who is a certified genius whose favorite hobby was doing complicated physics equations for fun. I refuse to play Trivial Pursuit against this man out of pride for my ego...I do not wish to be humiliated. He seems to know the answers to everything!!! And folks, he is not talking out of his ass when he sharing with you some obscure bit of trivia or some common knowledge or insight...I have verified some of the things he has stated and damned it all if he was not on the money! So do yourself a favor and check out his sight and once again...let him know he has the second greatest blog on the internet .
On July 5th, our daughter will turn 3. She is able to have full conversations with us and is no longer the helpless, neglected baby we first laid eyes on 2 years ago. She is no longer the toddler that would barely make a peep no matter how many times you coaxed her into playing with other kids her age. She is not a baby, nor a toddler but a full-fledged little girl with a happy-go-lucky attitude that enjoys playing with other kids her age. She is very smart and sociable. The little baby that was so far behind other babies her age is now ahead of them by leaps and bounds. She knows her ABC's and can count to 25. She is able to breeze through Kindergarden work books written specifically for 4 and 5 year olds and is in the early stages of being able to spell.
She is growing up so fast. There is a part me that is rejoicing at the fact that she is becoming this strong-willed, independent individual who is fast becoming less dependent on us for daily things. I take great pride in seeing what she has accomplished in such a short time. There is also a part of me that wants to scream, "STOP! YOU ARE GROWING UP TOO FAST!!!" There is a part of me that is so proud that she, some of the time, can tell you that she "has to go potty" and all you have to do is get her to her potty in time. Soon the days of training pants and dirty diapers will be a thing of the past and yes, I admit that makes me happy. But then there is a part of me that also sees a door to a part of her childhood will be closing soon.
And yes that makes me sad.
She is a tough little broad. Late last year me, Laura and Stella went to the Mall of Georgia's indoor playground. Around this time Stella was beginning to come out of her shell when it came to playing with other kids her age. She wanted so desperately to go down the little 3-foot slide they have there with the other kids. Early on she was doing good, laughing with the other little girls and patiently waiting her turn. But there was this one boy who was about a year older and slightly bigger than Stella that was pushing the other kids, girls and boys, out of the way so that he could go on the slide. Well this kinda upset Stella, she had never encountered it before. So I called her over to us, plopped her on my lap, looked her in the eyes and said, "If anyone ever pushes you, you have my permission to push back...so long as you did not say or do anything aggressive to them to warrent it". Laura, as any concerned mother would, questioned if that was proper piece of advice to give her. I assured her that sometimes, situations call for you to make a stand. It just takes time and maturity for you to know when to push back. If not done during the right occasions, people will keep pushing you...especially bullys. "Besides," I said, "She is only 2, she probably has no idea what I told her. I just said it because there really is not a whole heck of a lot I can do. What am I gonna start a fight with a 3-year-old, snot nosed little boy because he is being a bully?" I said with a laugh.
I did not realize just how much my daughter understood me. I gave her a kiss on the forehead, set her down and watched as she marched back to the slide to wait her turn. Well, lo and behold, who should come around just when it was her turn to go? Yep, Snot-Boy. He pushed Stella out of the way. He chose the wrong kid to push this time around. She glanced at us, gave what I remember to be an evil grin, turned to the boy, and pushed him back. Snot-Boy did not know how to react. Obviously this was a first for him. So he tried climbing the little stairs to the slide. Stella literally pulled him off the stairs by his shirt and, just to let him know she was not f*cking around, pushed him again. Snot-Boy, the 3-year-old bully of the Mall of Georgia backed off and let Stella go. Stella climbed up the stairs, sat on the slide, turned to us, and looked me in the eyes. She then smiled, waved and pushed herself down the slide, and continued sliding without further incident.
I took that smile and wave as a "Thanks Dad!" And that made me happy.
I also took it as, "Thanks Dad, but I can take it from here!"
And yes that makes me sad.
Long time, no see!
Yeah yeah yeah, no blog entries in forever, I know. I have been pretty darn busy with this new position and such. Oh yeah, June 4th will mark my 6th month anniversary of not smoking!
And now, from the producer that brought you "Stella's First Birthday" and "Stella's First Christmas", You're Tribbin Me Out productions proudly presents, in association with Another Stella Film, another Stella Film called:
Coming this Summer, 2006
(make sure your sound is turned up)
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| "Ozzy friggin rules dude, and don't you forget it!" |
Actor Paul Gleason, a.k.a. Principal Richard Vernon from the commie indoctrination film, The Breakfast Club , died at the age of 62 from mesothelioma (yeah, I do not know what it is either so you do the footwork and "Google it"). Allow me to indulge myself in speaking to the fictional character of Principal Vernon from The Breakfast Club.
I know you did everything you could to get those ungrateful miscreants to shape up and behave. I mean c'mon, I am sure you had better things to do on a Saturday as well then to try to get those whiney, spoiled brats to see exactly why they were being punished. But in the end they wrote a condescending "it's not my fault and I bear no responsibility" essay to you bitching about their Saturday detention. God forbid they are punished for destruction of property, assault with intent to harm and insubordination.
R.I.P. Principal Vernon...your death is yet another blow to the train wreck known as public education.