Halloween photoshop picture contest

Very cool Halloween photoshop picture contest here.

Digital TV Signal Changing

Our friend Mary sent this.
Here's what you need to know about the digital tv signal conversion:

(Absolutely hilarious).

looking for new music? try nuTsie.

I have a friend who has a very eclectic collection of music. Ever wonder where people find all the cool music at? Try nuTsie.

or try the iTunes top100 on nuTsie

where I would like to be right now.

unbelievable...



it speaks for itself... click on image for higher resolution image.

Canon in D Minor, YouTube, jerryc, funtwo, and Mattrach

In August 2006, I was listening to a story on NPR about some of the most watched videos on the internet: The first was a video / new rendition of Pachelbel's Cannon (1680 - by Baroque Composer Johann Pachelbel ) arranged by guitarist "JerryC".

This is an amazingly difficult piece; it's hard to believe he put it together.

funtwo
As great of a version, an unknown virtuoso guitarist named Jeong-Hyun Lim, also known as Funtwo had been stealing the show, ripping through this song with amazing feriocity. Funtwo was a self taught 23 year old from Korea. In August 2006, there were 7.6 million hits on this Youtube movie. Today, 11/12/2008, there were 51.5 million hits.
Take a look:



Amazing guitarist!!!

Soon after, many attempted the same arrangment and few came close (Search You Tube for Cannon in D Minor).

mattrach
Then in October 2006 came MattRach, a young 15 year old from France who plays like Mozart, Jimmy Hendrix, and Eddie Van Halen all in one. His arrangement, more like Van Halen, then Pachelbel, screams with raw, wrenching power. In my mind, this young man is probably one of the greatest guitarists of all times, a modern Mozart. Take some late Friday night, grab a glass of scotch (a'bundah ... Thanks for the bottle Todd and Deb!), go to www.youtube.com, and search for mattrach. You'll quickly learn that he plays other instruments and is quite amazing there, too.

Here are his version of Pachelbel's Canon in D Minor (6.9 million hits) followed by "Amadeaus Rock!"

Quotes from Einstein

Quotes by Albert Einstein, that hit home:

• "Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school."
• "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."

More can be found here:
http://rescomp.stanford.edu/~cheshire/EinsteinQuotes.html

Earth Lights

Click on the picture, for a much larger image.

Looking at this reminds me of how small and fragile we are... Makes me think that we are all just a bunch of busy little bugs waiting for some fat kid to fry us with his magnifying glass.

Veterens Day

To my brother Dennis, brothers in law Chris and Rick, GrandPa Joe, Cheryl, Milt and John and all other Veterens,

Thank you for the sacrifices you made for us.

Nirvana - Never Mind CD Cover

Do you remember the cover of Nirvana's "never Mind"? Ever wonder, what that baby would turn out to look like?
Me either. But if you stop for just a second and imagine it... would it be any different then the picture below????

Phoenix Foundation

Things you don't see everyday... some of it's just different....

Ever hear of the band called Phoenix Foundation?

The London Underground.

This is just wrong... funny as hell...

NOT FOR KIDS. Also, may not be appropriate for work because of foul language.. keep your speakers down/

Some Hilarious individuals did a song about the Subway/Metro drivers in London  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYVJSOFZxDE

Karatedojo

Game shows in Japan are just silly. So is this one:
Karatedojo

(notice: file is a 22 mb mpeg and may take some time to download)

What time is it

What time is it?

Hava Nagila

My 11 yr. old son Tom was practicing the guitar this evening. The two songs his teacher assigned him were Auld Lang Syne and Hava Nagila. When he played them, they were barely reconinzable, so I utubed them so he could hear how they should sound.

Here's one of the first hits's that I got back from Hava Nagila... this put me on the floor, rolling:

Hard Days Night Hava Nagila


or




by the way, the english version of the words are simply "Let us rejoice and be glad".
Lyricsfly

World Sunlight Map

How cool is this.... a world sunlight map

(click on picture to go to link)

Paul Peel

A few years back, we took one of many trips to Toronto and visited the
Ontario Museum of Art...

They have a collection of an artist from the late 1800's, named Paul Peel. He's from London, Ontario which is about 70 miles north across the lake from where I grew up. Later in his short life, he lived in Philadelphia and then in Paris, France.
The majority of his work are children in their daily lives. We have purchased and framed a few of these prints. I love the young biologist (bottom). The little guy has a wonderful smile on his face. He stares grinning at the toad, quietly and secretly holding a bucket... waiting for the catch so that he may further inspect.

The images are "After the bath" (1890), "The Modest Model" (1889), "The young Botanist" (1888-1890), and "The Young Biologist" (1891)



On a separate but similar note:

November 11, Veterans Day in the U.S. is nearly upon us. ("observe one minute’s silence at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month each year to remember those who died or suffered for us.. ". :On Nov. 11, 1918, at exactly 11 a.m., the guns fell silent on the Western Front. World War I had officially ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month").

Paul Peel painted a picture called "The Beach at Normandy". It was painted in 1887 where he vacationed with his family at Étaples France. Anytime I see or think of this photo, I don't think of it at all, but instead of the 150,000 men who stormed the beaches there, 58 years later. Considering the location of Etaples and the proximity the beaches that the troops stormed, one would have to think that the beach may be one in the same. I can't imagine what those men went through, but I know if I were in one of there shoes, I would be somewhere else in my thoughts to try to escape the fear and intensity. I wondered more about this, about the men in their Higgins boats, coming ashore, waiting for what might be. If one of those men were from Detroit, Northern Ohio, Ontario, Buffalo, etc. they might be familiar with Paul Peel's work and to escape the rush and anticipation of the sacrifice they were about to make, did their thoughts take them elsewhere? Did they too wonder, of the painter and the lovely lady in white, under the red umbrella who sat and read on those same beaches...

Toronto...

Arlene and I have been to Toronto many times. It's an amazing town.

The city is so hip, so clean, and we always get a sense that things are a bit safer there then other major cities. I think the first time we were there, we were riding the subway around 9:00 PM and sat near a teenage school girl. It happened a few more times during that trip. We were so surprised that people felt that comfortable.





Some pretty cool time lapse pics:
http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/flash/cntower_timelapse.swf

Back in the 90's and all the way up to 2006, because of the strength of the US dollar, it was financially advantageous to go to Canada on vacation for 4 or 5 days. We would go almost every year, even if we were doing a week at the beach during the summer. We'd stay at a wonderful hotel like the Delta Chelsea. I love staff at this hotel. They turn and talk to you in English, and move on to the next customer speaking Japanese and then German.

There are so many great places to dine. We were there last fall and ate at a place called Alice
Fazooli's. Food was amazing. I had a flight of martini's....awesome.


The dollar has started to get stronger again and well.. it's time for a trip..

Zombie Walk of Toronto

Things you don't see every day:
Every year, a few weeks before Halloween, Toronto has a Zombie Walk It's pretty spooky.




Also check out the Flikr Site:
ZombieWalkPics2008 ZombieWalk2007