Here's a little story about me in Popular Mechanics. Seems I owned a restaurant at one time. I guess I was a pretty decent fellow.
And here I am at age 19...
To view my biography detailing my experiences as an Alaskan hunting guide...
Here is my resume from when I was a doctor and living on the road to Oz...
And finally... from The Tidings: San Carlos Bay Sail & Power Squadron, April 2008:
Who knew?
Here is an interesting website I found. It is the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This link will take you to an inflation calculator, where you will find that in the year I was born, a person could live off of less than $200/week as easily as someone making $1000/week today. When I graduated high school, I could have lived just as easily off of less than $600/week.
This link will take you to the unemployment statistics, broken down by state. For a depressing experience, try setting it to January of 2008 and then forward it one month at a time.
If you look around a little, you will find a few good statistics, at least if you live in the midwestern states. For example, a few of these states have refused to get depressed, and some are even starting to show job growth.
Interestingly (just as a side note, of course), here is a link to a list of states that have Right-to-Work laws. Hmmmmm.
PC Police Officer Perez Hilton arrested and convicted Miss California for being honest and having a valid opinion. I usually don't pay much heed to the beauty pageants. In fact, they are usually more laughable than anything, especially when it comes to the question and blabber sessions. But something very special happened in this one. When asked a question about her stance on the gay marriage issue, Ms. CA stated that she believed that marriage should be between a man and a woman. She had to outspeak the boos emanating from the audience. I think this is awesome. What a unique opportunity this young lady experienced.
We talk of suffering persecution for standing up for what we believe to be right. Often, we experience this in very indirect ways. We are accosted through our TV sets or newspapers or internet. If confronted on a one-on-one situation, there is usually some semblance of respect given for your opinion by the other party, who may then go and gossip about you later.
This girl was confronted with a big dilemma. She likely would have gotten the crown. She didn't even have to give a strong stance. She could have given a non-answer that would have satisfied the head-hunting liberals who were reaching for their pitchforks as the question was being read. In fact, if you read her reply carefully, I think you see the struggle she is going through. She realized the importance of this question, and of this moment, and she went for it. What a defining moment in her life. In this moment, she rose above the crown... sort of a Miss USA++. The crown she wears will endure much longer than the one she gave up.
Arkansas finally enacted the law allowing officers to stop motorists for not wearing a seatbelt. It would be disingenuous to argue that seatbelts do not save lives. They do. Maybe not all the time, but enough to argue that it is probably, usually, a good idea to click it. And, yes, there is some cost to the State for people who are thrown out of their seats during wrecks. And, yes, there is probably some societal cost, families are left father-/mother-less, etc., etc., ad nauseum.
But so does breathing. In fact, poor Mrs. The Practicalist, has been suffering with a bronchial infection for the last month or so. She may have caught it from me, having lived in the same house as me for some 12 years. It comes and goes with me. We also catch colds, usually from one of the kids, who brings it home from school. The flu seems to make its rounds in similar fashion. There are annual numbers, usually in the ten's of thousands, of flu related deaths. The effect of these problems on the health care industry, the costs to the government and society are astronomical! And yet, we are still permitted to walk around breathing.
Interestingly, the effects of breathing are far more extreme than those of unbelted car wrecks. Once the car wrecks, it usually stops running. The person is ejected, which means he is no longer able to stand on the accelerator. The vehicle is no longer contributing to global warming. And if he is no longer breathing, then he, too, has ceased polluting our air. Unfortunately, we who remain alive, continue to exhale dangerous CO2. This is illegal, unless we have purchased our share of emission credits.
Understanding that the government has not yet figured out how to issue licenses for breathers; it does regulate our freedoms to drive. This is why it can so easily permit officers to stop motorists for not wearing seatbelts. They should also use this opportunity, once stopped, to see if we are breathing while driving, and, if so, fine the he!! out of that dirty, liberty-assertive breather!
There is a big trend on Facebook to list 25 random things about yourself. In that spirit, I include a few random thoughts of my own:
1. Another reason to be a Democrat: free pass on tax cheating (e.g., Tom Daschle and that other guy nominated to head the Treasury department). It looks like Obama can't find an honest Democrat and has had to start looking on the Republican side for cabinet members.
2. Maybe, instead of borrowing money just to give it away, in an effort to stimulate the economy, we could just pass some great big tax cuts, especially on corporations and stocks, then borrow whatever shortfall we end up with. I'll bet it won't approach ONE TRILLION DOLLARS.
3. I just laughed at a guy whose cell phone went off in class, only to have mine go off shortly thereafter.
4. My sweetheart cheered for Arizona because they wore red, and she likes red. I think that was pretty cool, since I was cheering for Arizona, too. I thought it was because I liked Kurt Warner, but I think it was because they were wearing red... and I like red.
5. I was disappointed at the umpiring during the Super Bowl. Harrison got his 100 yard touchdown with the aid of an uncalled holding.
6. I was hoping for a Cardinals win, but either team deserved it. They both played well. It was a great second half.
7. My wife is into sewing now. She is really picking it up fast and making some really cool things. She does a great job. I love watching her. It reminds me of when I used to watch my mom, only my mom would take up every available space and would stretch out the project for weeks on end.
8. While I hope that Obama becomes a good president, I hope that he fails with his ideas as they now stand and as they were promised during his election. He can be a good president by paying more attention to practical and conservative ideas.
9. I wish Republicans would pull their heads out and stand on their principles and quit worrying about re-election.
I am living in a war zone!! As I look out my front door, I see neighbors at the top of the street shooting their neighbors across the street, who are shooting back. Behind them are the shadows of old cars, silhouetted by bright, smoke-producing, flashing sparks. Shots are heard all around me. The sky is filled with exploding, colorful cannon flash. This has been going on now for about 2 hours. Suddenly, directly overhead, a long-lasting barrage of flashing color booms, shattering flack all around the house. Not to be outdone, the neighbor two blocks over responds with even bigger booms and more color, and more flack. Then, the entire sky seems to ignite with rocket fire, flack, cannon fire, musket balls, roman candles and magnificent sparkling fountains. Someone sets off a package of 500 Black Cats, and another shoots about 20 screamers. Then all is quiet, except for the occasional screamer and various sundry m-60's. But this is only a momentary lull. The whole process starts all over again... and for the next two hours, the neighborhood is aglow in brilliant flashes and booms and cracks of varying intensity.
What is remarkable about all of this is that I live in a neighborhood dominated by hispanics and marshallese immigrants. Never have I seen such intense celebration on the 4th of July.
A little over a year ago, I was privileged to witness a citizenship ceremony. It was a beautiful experience, as one after another immigrant pledged their allegiance to the United States of America. These people worked hard to get to this point. Many cried tears of joy, expressing gratitude to the presiding judge and all those present.
This Fourth of July, as on most, the president of the United States addressed just such a ceremony. I imagine this group of candidates have worked just as hard as those I witnessed, and were just as excited. Only this group is privileged to be addressed by the leader of this new country of theirs.
Unfortunately, just as the President begins to address them, some boneheads in the back begin yelling. "Impeach Bush! Impeach Bush!" they yell. The President pauses while these folks are asked to be a little more respectful. They calm down... until the President begins speaking again. "Impeach Bush! Impeach Bush!" they yell again.
How selfish! How insensitively selfish is this! It's one thing to oppose the President, and I certainly have no problem with some bonehead proving his stupidity vocally, but have some !$%@* respect! Interrupt a fancy dinner, or campaign stump... but let these folks have their day. This is like interrupting an adoption hearing to stump for the judge's opponent. Or protesting at the burial of a fallen soldier. It is selfish, insensitive, moronic and idiotic. It does nothing to promote a cause, and only hurts those individuals who are trying to appreciate the solemnity of the occasion. Have some class!
It sounds like the war is winding down now. There is the occasional boom from the left, responded by a louder boom from the right. Now the left pauses for a second or two, then sets off another m-60. The army on the right lights off a couple of bottle rockets. From somewhere in the back comes a lone muffled shot. The guy on the left doesn't seem to want to let it end. He gets off a few more shots. After a few minutes, the team on the right replies with a single shot. Lefty quickly shoots back... I guess he made his point.
Now maybe I can get some sleep...
What kind of a person thinks it is appropriate to leave a child tied to a tree for two nights and half a day?
There is a long-standing social rule that permits speaking ill of another so long as you, at some point during the conversation, bless that person's heart.
Ted Kennedy, bless his heart, is nothing more than the fortunate son of a wealthy businessman who knew how to buy his way into politics. While my heart goes out to him as a person for having to deal with such tragic news, there will be no love lost at his departure from the political arena. The stations all played his eulogy while he is still breathing. But there are many things they 'forgot' to include in all Ted's accomplishments, not the least of which was his beating the wrap for driving drunk and leaving a woman to die in a river. There was also his overcoming the problems most people face when caught cheating on their bar exams. More subtle among his accomplishments was his keen ability to avoid the controversy most senators would be subjected to were they to publicly call judicial nominees 'neanderthals' at a press conference. From what I could gather from the many eulogies was that he is most notable for outliving his brothers.
John McCain, bless his heart, is now coming under fire for being supported by a Christian minister who doesn't believe in Islam. Maybe this minister, bless his heart, could have been less controversial if, instead of using his pulpit to call for Christians to be Christians and not Islams, he had called for blacks to rise up against the white man. You know, though, if these ministers would just stick to teaching Christians how to be Christian, and not how not to be something else, or what political stand they should take, it seems they could do more good and avoid all this controversy. Like one wise leader once said, when asked why his church doesn't take political sides, "We teach the people good principles, and they govern themselves."
The California Supreme Court, bless their hearts, overturned the overwhelming will of the people to give the making of a lifestyle choice special constitutional protection. I think the Washington supreme court got it right when they held that a gay man has as much of a right to marry a gay woman as does a straight man or a straight woman. The law doesn't allow a straight man to marry another man, so there is no equal protection problem. The courts have to be very careful when they start subjecting marriage and family laws to strict constitutional scrutiny, as most courts have admitted that most such laws would fail. Those laws have traditionally been reserved to the states, and have been largely exempt from strict constitutional scrutiny for very good reasons. They serve society well by establishing a foundation for its perpetuity and moral guidance.
Our editorial page editor in Fayetteville, bless his heart, thinks that those Conservatives who want to make the California supreme court's (bless their hearts) decision a central issue in the campaign are interfering with the political process because Hussein Obama, bless his heart, thinks, we should instead be focusing on the major... social... ills... of our time. (?!) Yeah, that's kind of what I was thinking, too. If gay marriage is not a major social ill...?
Let me know who else's heart needs a blessing.
It's here! It's here!
A great blast from my past!
It was supposed to be here Friday, but no one was home to welcome it. The anticipation was too great, and I succumbed to strep throat. It knocked me out all week.
As I was lying here, on my death bed, pondering my very existence, I heard the rumble of a large truck, followed by the screeching of brakes. Mrs. The Practicalist looked at me with big eyes, and said simply, "It's here!" With those words, I suddenly jumped up and landed in my pants (perfect shot) and booked it to the front door, at the exact moment as the double-knock (a knock which had become familiar to us during the Christmas season). Mrs. P opened the door to my view, and there stood the man in brown.
"I just have the one package today," he said. He looked into my eyes, and knew he had one more satisfied customer.
As the door closed, I was in the process of ripping the box open. As the flaps separated, the music cued up: Cheese! Glorious Cheese!
There before my eyes sat FOUR pounds of beautiful yellowish-orange mild cheddar cheese curds.
Now, Mrs. The Practicalist had actually purchased a smaller shipment for Valentine's day. And it was a wonderful surprise, indeed. And they were the first curds I had had in many years.
So what was so special about these?
I grew up in Northern Utah, Cache Valley, to be exact. On the other side of the mountain was a dairy. One day, my mom came home with a big bag of the greatest snack I have ever had in my entire young life. It squeaked as we chewed it, and the flavor was so unique and pure.
We move away when I was still very young. A few years ago, the food channel went to a state fair in Wisconsin and mentioned this "squeaky cheese" that was all the rage there. All of a sudden, I tasted that scrumptious flavor, felt that spongy texture, and heard that soft squeak of the cheese as I sat on the front porch with my brothers passing the bag around.
Well, I found that dairy on line. I ordered that cheese. And I now hold a bag of it, and have to keep wiping off my keyboard.
No.
No.
Get your own!
The Congress is again taking up the challenge to require health care providers to cover mental health. Can you imagine how much this will increase the cost of health insurance?! I am not disagreeing that there are legitimate psychological disorders. I've seen a few. I've also seen a lot of attention-seeking, behavior-justifying, hypo-psycho-condriacs.
I read a case just recently in Arkansas where a man took his former daughter-in-law to court to enforce "grandparent visitation" rights. When the mom resisted, he had the court require psychological evaluations. His psychologist diagnosed the mom with a case of "seeing herself as more than others see her" and something like "dependent out-to-get-me-itis" where you allow someone else's "out-to-get-me-itis" enhance your own "out-to-get-me-itis." This was apparently enough for the court to declare that grandpa was better fit than the mom whom the grandpa had badgered to crap out of to get to see his grandkids. That alone is enough for another blog. What got me was the diagnoses. Unless you are depressed, you probably think others think of you more than they actually do. I didn't realize that was an illness. I better go see a psychiatrist to see if he can't help me get depressed so I can see him to try to help me get over my depression. And wouldn't it seem that if your father in law has been somewhat abusive, and takes you to court every time your schedule doesn't allow you to take the grandkids over to his house, and then sends the cops after you when you take the kids out of state (the kids' dad was dead, so she wasn't running from him), and then moves the court to take your kids, you would feel a little like maybe, just maybe, he had something out for you?
So, if everyone is psychologically ill to some degree, do you really think it would be fiscally wise to cover it in a standard health insurance plan? Is it too much to ask that, if you really fear that you will have mental health problems, maybe you could buy mental health insurance? Do they offer that kind of insurance, or can I just keep a running tab with my shrink's office? I'll ask him next time. I know he is thinking of me right now. He might even be out to get me.
When I was in high school, curiosity brought me to a meeting of Students Against Driving Drunk. I've never been a fan of drunk drivers, and it always made me mad that they were getting off with a slap on the wrist and a wink. I was soon thereafter approached by a school counselor to represent the school at the state level. While I was tempted to accept the offer, there was something about the program that really bothered me. I finally realized that it was the focus. Driving Drunk. It was actually more about students trying to persuade drunk students from driving. For me, it seemed more logical to persuade students from drinking. Then I wouldn't have much problem with them driving. That, of course, didn't go over so well. Students liked to drink. Or so they thought. I don't know many of them who enjoyed the flavor. I think they liked to drink because they thought they liked to drink - because they thought they were supposed to like to drink. Maybe I am wrong.
I didn't like to drink. Neither did my friends. In fact, we can still recall most of our parties. We had a great time. We had alternatives. For us, we didn't focus on whether we were going to drink or not. In fact, it very seldom came up. We just liked getting together and finding things to do. No one had to worry about who was going to bring the beer, or how they were going to get it. We were more focused on what movies we were going to rent, or whose house we were going to hang out at, or who was going to drive while we cruised Memorial, or the Fontana.
Nor did we worry about birth control, or sexually transmitted diseases, or whether we were going to have sex, or whether we were going to deprive ourselves of sex. We knew we would wait. We also tried to avoid getting too promiscuous. Why? Because we were learning the value of a relationship that was built on friendship and courtship. We didn't use the term "courting", but we lived by its connotations. We understood what sex was. We knew what sexual activity was. But we valued respect above all else. And we found that our relationships with the opposite sex were stronger for it. We fell in love. We recognized love. Love, for us, was not an activity we arrived at, but an emotion we experienced on both long- and short-terms. We had girlfriends. And while we sure each one was "the One", we cherished the sweet, innocent emotion that bloomed as we developed a pining for each other. We had long-distance, short-distance, marathon and sprint romances. But our focus was not on whether we would score. Rather, we focused on whether this one would bloom; whether this would be "the One".
Abstinence education struck me as a little odd. It began just as I was leaving school, so I never really got into it. But from what I knew of it, and from what I had been taught growing up, I saw the wisdom in it, and was happy to agree with its message. But, as beautiful as the message was, it was certainly vulnerable to snide and snappy comedic attacks. And it seemed almost doomed. Why? I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Tonight, I can. For the same reason I had a hard time with the SADD - the focus. Read this article for more. I thought it laid it out pretty good. Abstinence is fine, but innocent romance is where its at.
It's my birthday today. My sweetheart won't let me forget this sad reminder of my gradual demise. She even linked to me so all her blogger buddies could leave me birthday wishes. So I figured I'd better create a post to receive those greetings.
Turning another year is not so bad, though. Although my body is more than happy to comply with the requirements of aging, my mind still thinks I'm in my early 20's. It also thinks I still look as good (poor sap). I sometimes wish it was the other way -- a 37 year old mind in a 20-something year old body. Now wouldn't that be nice! I suppose I do have control over both situations (or I did, anyway). Had I properly nurtured both, I probably would have both.
But to think of all the buttery mashed potatoes, pumpkin pies, samoked ribs, pulled pork, homemade truffles, and Taco Bell I would have missed out on. I'm not doin' so bad, all things considered.
In any case, I am what I am. What a great thing to be! And if I say so myself, "Happy Everyday to me!"
(That is from a Dr. Seuss book, I believe it's "Oh, the Places You'll Go". That Dr. Seuss, That Dr. Seuss. I do so like that Dr. Seuss.)
I certainly believe everyone has a right to his opinion. As my dearest says, however, opinions are like buttholes... everyone has one but no one really wants to see it.
Well, I found perhaps the biggest buttholes to ever grace the anals of music journalism. My guess is, these lists were comprised by a group of twenty-somethings, influenced by a thirty-something or two, who are are so shallow they make my spit look like the Atlantic Ocean. I mean, of all the songs ever written since the beginning of the recorded music, "Billy Jean"??! And let me just point out a few of the worst ever: Meat Loaf "I'd do Anything for Love", Simon and Garfunkel "The Sounds of Silence", Dan Fogelberg "Longer", Five for Fighting "Superman", "Ebony and Ivory", and, in case there is still any doubt as to my characterization of these "people", Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue". In their immature blasting of the Honorable Mr. Keith, they proclaim the song "a fight anthem so vengeful it makes 'The Star-Spangled Banner' look like 'Give Peace a Chance'". Need I say more?
Anyway, I thought you might have fun perusing the lists while thanking God you're not half as dimwitted as these folks.
BTW, sorry I haven't been here to enlighten you as to truth and right. I have been rather taken up by school and earning a living and such.
Growing up in Tulsa, you have what is referred to as "The Big Four": Oklahoma Sooners, Oklahoma State Cowboys, Tulsa Hurricane, and Arkansas Razorbacks. If you are a wealthy snobbish golf-in-your-spare-time upper crustacean, you naturally root for the Sooners. If you are a laid back farm-grown good ol' boy, you are a Cowboy.
Oh, the other two?
Well, Arkansas is a long way away, but there's just something about them.
If you've got nothing going on a Saturday night, you can probably score a couple of complimentary tickets to the Tulsa game. Of course, you'll probably want to ask who they're playing... not that it matters.
Don't get me wrong, it's cool to root for the Hurricane (don't ask me why 'Hurricane' in the middle of Tornado country... and its the Golden Hurricane... single entity... no 's').
Tulsa has seldom been anything to get embarrassed about. They have a great quarterback program, and when they get some good support, they put on a tremendous aerial show. Now and again, they give "The Big Two" of "The Big Four" a good run for the money accompanied by a respectable upset.
After outscoring BYU last week, Tulsa is taking on Boomer Sooner in Tulsa tonight. As the wife and kids have abandoned me, I thought I would relax and take it in. The game is going fine. Tulsa actually looked pretty good there for the first half of the first quarter. Cool. If they can spank OU tonight, the economy of the entire state will probably take a two week slump as business execs decide whether to fire the coach or just take down the four-story banners.
But I guess it was already a foregone conclusion by the ESPN2 folks that Tulsa's butt was in the process of being kicked. To pass the time between commercials, they spent the entire second half of the first quarter, and then the first half of the second quarter discussing why Notre Dame sucks this year. Notre Dame!? The absolute worst team in college football (this is not an opinion, it is actually documented)!?
If this game means so little to you that you've got to call two former Notre Dame coaches just to have something to talk about... how about you just SHUT UP!!! It's not like you're contributing anything anyway. You don't even need to be here. I think I can figure out what's happening on my own.
I have to apologize to my faithful few. School has started back up and so my focus has been more appropriately elsewhere, lately. I try to keep up with things politick, but just don't get much chance to comment. While taking a full load of school, I am also working 3 jobs for about 30 work hours a week (still much less than when I was in undergrad). I blog when I can, but y'know, nurturing a strong family relationship requires a little time away from the laptop. I like my wife, and I think she likes me, too. I want to keep it that way. My chitlins are growing up behind my back. They all have birthdays coming up in the next three months, and I have tried to bargain with them to let them have a birthday so long as they promise to quit growing up. They're not willing to cooperate with that (and yet they still want to have a birthday...).
On another note, I forgot to mention that I grilled dolphin last weekend. I am not a fish-eater. I don't know why, either. I used to love fish as a kid. I remember liking it, and I don't remember what caused me to change. I would like to like fish. This dolphin helped me begin to accomplish that. I marinated it in some yellow carolina BBQ sauce (they like mustardy italian dressing for BBQ sauce out east. Makes for a better marinade than a dipping sauce, in my never to be humble opinion). Then I grilled it over some pretty hot lump charcoal until it started to flake, then flipped it over to grill the skin side for a few minutes. I tell you what, it was some pretty darn good eats. Tasted a little sweet, actually. My buddy has some more cuts (he caught it in So.Car. this summer), so I'm sure I'll be roasting up some more. I downed it along with a thick cut t-bone steak, grilled to perfection, along with some grilled onion (slice it thick, drizzle w/ olive oil and sprinkle with rosemary, then grill until translucent), fresh mashed potatoes, and corn.
I know it wasn't a smoke, but boy was it a good grilling!
Happy eats!
Sorry, I was just calling the Hogs. Don't know that they were answering, though.
Thanks to a great friend of mine, I got to attend the opening game for my Razorbacks. "We" played Troy (yeah, I had to wonder the same thing... not sure just where they are from, either). It was a great time, fun atmosphere. Whenever Mr. Obnoxious, who sat two rows down, would sit down, the seats were really great. They were on the 25 yard line, looking almost directly down on the field. I think most people stay sitting out of fear that if you lean too far forward you might just fall straight down on top of the home team. The stadium is built in a way that every seat is a good one.
I'm a little concerned with the way this season is going to turn out. McFadden is a powerhouse, as is Jones. "We" can run the ball, and... let's see... "we" can run the ball... and then there is the run. That about sums up the team this season.
On another note...
remember my post about the wonderful man (?) who designed the Chevy Astro van? Yeah, he stuck it to me again. This time, its the A/C tube. Guess where the hole is... yeah, under the dog house.
I brought the van in to the mechanic down the road, told him my a/c wasn't working. No problem, he said, we'll just hook it up to this here machine that will spend a few hours sucking out the old freon and adding new, along with some dye, so that "we" can check it later if it starts running out of freon again. I'm OK with paying a mechanic a fair wage, but machines just don't have wives and kids at home, and, imo, shouldn't be charging me the same hourly rate. I can give it money to go get a sno cone or something, but c'mon. Anyway, after $175 of personalized machine service, we were,once again, enjoying the comforts of warm air blowing at max in the middle of the summer.
We made it to a good friend of mine, who looked under the hood, then climbed under the van, reached his hand up, and felt the big wide gaping hole where the tube rubbed up against the transmission. Fortunately, he didn't charge me for his 2 1/2 minutes of mechanic diagnosis (although I would have gladly paid it).
Now, why is it that the guy I pay to fix the air has to hood it up to a sucking machine for two hours, just to SEE if there might actually be a leak (isn't that why I brought it in?), but then didn't look to SEE if there was actually a leak, and my friend, who is not (yet) a paid mechanic could find it by simply reaching up and touching the hole?
Now, I get the privilege of paying some $400 to replace a tube, which wouldn't be quite so bad if it wasn't in ADDITION to the $175 of wasted freon.
I have been blogging for about a year and a half now. I have not done a whole lot to promote this site, and sometime it gets a little frustrating to see how few people view it. But I use it primarily to think things through, and develop my thoughts, and sometimes fish for input and dialogue. Sometimes, I have gotten some really nice dialogue, which has caused me to reconsider a few things. I like that.
Well, this month was my best so far, as far as numbers go. It rivaled April, which shows to have gotten one more visit. But in April, I didn't have the counter set to not count many of my visits. For all of August, my visits didn't count, and I still came in with 174 visits, only one shy of April's visits.
So, thank you. And welcome to the few of you who have found my site, and returned, and commented (especially welcome to Shoprat and Redneck).
I apologize if the music you are hearing is a little grinding on the nerves. I kind of like it, and there is a reason it is playing now. I have always thought it was pretty cool when the same song gets made in different ways. Music is awesome that way. Don't like a song, change it to fit your style. Don't like a style, but like the song, change it to your style.
One of the most versatile songs has to be "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", as you can see from the playlist. I don't expect anyone to suffer through the entire versions of all those. But take a moment to tap on each of them, and see what I mean. Some, like what you are listening to now, are rock based and loud. Some have changed the intro, but kept the main tune. I think IZ (Israel Hakinakinakiolo'aloha) has one of the most interesting, and beautiful, versions. I first heard it at the end of a movie (don't get me to lying about which one), and loved it.
This song has been through Hollywood musical, blues, rock, country, Broadway, adult contemporary, big band, et al. It has been twisted, pulled, pushed, hurried, slowed, mangled, straightened every which way but loose. It is a timeless tune. Many a version has been mimicked by big names and small, alike. Through it all, though, there are still only a handful that can never be topped.
Have fun, see what you think. Enjoy.
It is amazing who you can connect to.
A good friend of mine, a work colleague, was mentioning in passing that his brother was a sculpturer. He then showed me this web site: Bronze Wildlife Sculptures--Fine Art Sculpture by Raymond Gibby
At the bottom of the page is a large fish. This artist is in negotiations with Bass Pro to build something like this that is about 20 feet high. Many of these sculptures are about 3-4 feet tall.
