Breathing Out So You Can Breathe Me In

For today’s Final Jeopardy answer:

It is this phenomenon that that is the common link between these 3 things:

-Eureka, CA’s black-sand beaches in spring,
-January in Ft. Sill, OK,
-Showers in the Taylor household while the water heater is broken.


The question is, of course, “What is shrinkage?”

We would have also accepted, “What are things that sounded like a good idea at the time” and “What are some examples of The Universe’s perverse sense of humor”.

Misnomer

Happy Father’s Day to all my hypothetical chums who happen to be fathers, daddies, poppies, steps, gramps, pa- whatever you are called by the children you do right by.

For myself, its more of a celebration of family than anything else- sure, there’s a-gonna be beer and chlorine and yummy food, but also community, good-will happiness enough to go around=) Stay safe and make sure they know you love em… even if they are knuckle-heads.

The Things We Choose To Care About

Seriously, thank God for internet nerds with too much time on their hands. This fan-made trailer goes under the 'awesome' heading for a variety of reasons, not the least of which being it's ability to make me smile on an otherwise bleak day.

Thank you Trav, it's good to hear from you=)

My good chum Trav recently shared an awesome little ditty by Norm Sherman detailing the dangers of industrial waste, atomic testing and the Japanese monster movie sub-culture. The song is called "Radioactive Runaways" and its definitely worth checking out. Very clever lyrics and expert guitar craft combine to tell a humorous tale and iff'n it brightens your day a bit (as it did mine) be sure to send both the artist and Trav a little good ju-ju in way of thanks.

Listening to a song about a monster battle royal in the streets of Tokyo caused me to reflect on all the interesting and excellent music I have been exposed to in the past few years. This, in turn, reminded me of another pastime of mine- sort of a musical hobby I have where I am constantly on the look out for covers, the acoustic guitar variety in particular. Here is a small sample:

I begin with this young lady because the combination of her talent, her chosen surroundings and the look on her face give the impression that she is expressing actual sentiment rather than singing simply for the sake of hearing herself which, to me, is always worth a few extra points. Regardless of whether my interpretation of her 'tude is correct, it pleases and comforts me to share this little bit with the few people in my life who I know enjoy this song. Btw, this young lady's sobriquet is thebathroomgirl and she has quite a few covers and original pieces on her site... they are all worth investigating.

Hey Ya -covered by Obadiah Parker. I recently heard Ted's rendition of this cover on an episode of 'Scrubs' and while I always enjoy Sam Lloyd's musical stylings, Matt Weddle's version is still my fav.

Flagpole Sitta -covered by Julia Nunes. I was introduced to this artist as my friend Brian's "Ukulele-playing girlfrend who lives in the internets".

The Climb -covered by Tiffyiffyiffy. The other night Blonde-girl and Angry-girl were both waxing rhapsodic about a Miley Cyrus song they had heard so when I noticed that one had been covered (and greatly appreciated) I thought I would give it a shot. While I enjoy this cover, I have yet to hear the original and it's not likely I will unless something extrordinary occurs.

3AM -covered by Mike McBee. While I've never been a big fan of Matchbox20, I find myself really enjoying this young man's soulful rendition.

Brothers in Arms -covered by MrLoupiot. Although his ability to sing is far outweighed by his impressive guitar craft I still found myself listening to this cover over and over. It serves as a potent (and painful) reminder of the limitations laid upon me by The Cosmos and my own filthy, clumsy human hands.

Fast Car Acoustic Guitar Lesson -brought to you by Handsome Alvin. The lesson is so comprehensive and yet easily followed it's now distracting me from my current project.

*To Rabbit: I hope you noticed that 3 of the 7 artists listed here are female.

-and-

*To There4: I hope you noticed that 3 of the 7 artists listed here are aZn.

-and-

*To Tanner: Thank you for introducing me to James Blunt. You shipped out almost immediately after we graduated from whiskey w/10thMTN and that was the last I have heard of you. Wherever you are, battle, I hope you are well.

Me versus The Cosmos

You are The Tower

Ambition, fighting, war, courage. Destruction, danger, fall, ruin.

The Tower represents war, destruction, but also spiritual renewal. Plans are disrupted. Your views and ideas will change as a result.

The Tower is a card about war, a war between the structures of lies and the lightning flash of truth. The Tower stands for "false concepts and institutions that we take for real." You have been shaken up; blinded by a shocking revelation. It sometimes takes that to see a truth that one refuses to see. Or to bring down beliefs that are so well constructed. What's most important to remember is that the tearing down of this structure, however painful, makes room for something new to be built.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

*you know, I don't think I've gotten a good one of these yet=) I looked through the source code and discovered that there are indeed 'good' ones (nicer ones, anyways) lurking in the possible results... I had a similar experience in my miscreant youth when a Magic 8-Ball stubbornly refused to tell me anything other than "It is uncertain" and "Ask again later".

Summer Of Fun

Memorial Day is here! It’s the official beginning of the summer-fun season replete with sunshine, chlorine, bonfire/grill antics and movies. Today is also the day we choose to celebrate my Sister’s b-day with some chicken-y goodness and corn on the cob.

At some point today we will also go check out the latest Terminator movie complete with CGI-Arnold. Now, I’ve read the script, read the reviews and interviews and after some reflection I’ve decided that I am still optimistic about this effort by nouveau artist McG. (ug, I know, I know…) Despite the unevenness of his previous works (apparently he had some difficulty controlling Bill Murray’s ego on the set of Charlie’s Angels… seriously? Bill Murray’s ego?) I realized that no matter who was involved, I really only have simple needs when it comes genre films with only a few exceptions.

As an example: Terminator Salvation.
Q. Does it have a Terminator in it?
A. Yes.
Q. Does said Terminator run around doing Terminator things? I.e. Blowing shit up, showing bits of endoskeleton, being a nigh-unstoppable killing machine? You know, being Terminator-esque?
A. Yes.

This guy = mollified.

This dirt-simple equation works (for me) for nearly everything in the related fields.

Another example: Any Zombie Movie.
Q. Zombies in the flick?
A. Check.

Now I know, zombie flicks are supposed to be about biting (lol) social commentary but I really enjoy them for their survival horror aspect and as long as there are infected/effected MoB’s rolling around while peeps are trying to, er… survive, then I’m good.

I find that this easily digestible philosophy works rather well in many other aspects of my life:

Yet another example: My Friends.
Q. Me like you?
A. Check.

The result being I go outta’ my way to spend time with you. Everything else seems like minor details like the difference between adding rosemary or saffron to the risotto.

*Risotto, btw, is NOT on today’s menu, as much as I enjoy it. Today we will be serving Grilled Chicken n’ 40 cloves, grilled white corn w/ garlic-butter dressing, deviled-egg potato salad and melon. Gawd, I can already smell the chicken=)

Hopefully today will bring it’s own pleasant surprises rather than the couple unpleasant ones that have already been cropped up. If not, then I shall remain optimistic in any case as there is always next Memorial Day, right?

Candy is Delicious

/sigh... there's NEVER any candy.