Stoked

...and gratified.

Some of you may have been wondering why I had little to contribute to the last FFOT. Well, it's because my sainted and blessed crew is scheduled to present their recent team projects at the company meeting in September. And this presentation looks exceedingly great. I've been working for a while polishing up the presentation, but the essence is this team's work. Hard work. A LOT of hard work. And my crew is the best. They ROCK (as is conveyed in the video we are presenting to the company). They do, indeed, ROCK.

Even if they are likely too young to get the best jokes I threw into it. [sigh] I'm so old. Anyway, I love these kids. They're the best.

UPDATE: So one of said jokes used is that the music used for the last part of the presentation is the (very recognizeable) crescendo from the Beatles' "A Day in the Life", superimposed over a photoshopped pic of my kids with their faces replacing the original Beatles' faces on the Sgt. Pepper album cover. Sad part? ALL of my kids on this spectacular team were born after that album was released. The only consolation is that all were at least born before 1980. I think. I hope.

GAWD I'm old.

Tired and sore

Helped DNT and her beau move into their new apartment today. Lot of heavy lifting, including a sofa and a very heavy desk. Into a second floor apartment.

I'm sure I will feel it even more tomorrow.

Random, pointless comment I really need to find a chance to work into a conversation someday

“Don’t make me put on my Smokey Bear hat and go all Louis Gossett on you”

I don’t really know why it popped into my head randomly this afternoon, but it amuses me.

'Splain me please

Apparently, some of those in favor of Obamacare are invoking Ted Kennedy to push for it. Apparently, some even suggest naming the bill for him in a desperate bid to counter the opposition (irony alert for how lefties raged against Rush Limbaugh for saying that a few months back).

So, given that (a) Kennedy was a participant in Congress's high-end health care plan, and (b) Congress has exempted itself from whatever plan they might foist on the rest of us, I ask:

How is Kennedy's death in any way relevant to the issue?

Yowsers

This is going to be so good.

So I spent my telecommute day (today) largely working on my team's presentation at the company meeting in Sept. Gads, I love these kids on my team, tho' they largely be too young to get the jokes I'm throwing into the presentation. But my team facilitator and I are old enough to get them, and that's what counts.

The kids on the team organized the content and left it to yours truly to make the jokes. And I did. Some old time rock 'n' roll. And it is good.

And now I just need to spend my next telecommute day (next week, not counting the time I spend on it this weekend) synching up the visuals with the background music. Vivaldi, of course. Need I say more? And someday I may even 'splain it.

It's an old joke

But it's mine and I refuse to part with it. Brief exchange with a coworker just a few minutes ago:

Her: Did you cut your hair?
Me: No, I paid someone else to cut it.

I never get tired of that one.

UPDATE: Interestingly, to me at least, the first time I ever used that joke, some 25 years or so ago, it was in Spanish.

Talkin' Baseball

Very cool. An unassisted triple play. Only the 15th in history, and only the second in history to end a game. Very cool. And of course, it's already on Youtube.

Heh

Okay, I've (obviously) never been a fan of Snoop Dog, seeing as how I'm an old fogey who doesn't listen to rap music. But I gotta tell ya, he does seem to be fairly personable and witty. And he chose Ken Jennings as his lifeline (I think, not actually certain on that point).

And, as I had suspected but never confirmed, he chose his stage name from Snoopy. I like that.

Congrats!

To New Daddy Mike!

Stop me...

... I'm having too much fun.

So I'm on my telecommute day for the week, working on my team's presentation for the company meeting next month. And having loads of fun at it. So much so it can hardly be called work. The creative juices are flowing, the beer is flowing, and my only fear is that it will run over the normally allotted time.

But no matter. It's fun. And we still have a few weeks to polish it. Life is good.

How oddly appropriate...

So I took some time today to get my new USB turntable set up with the appropriate software on the computer, for to be able to transfer those hundreds of albums we have on vinyl to useable mp3 versions for to burn onto CDs. It's a new era for us.

And what was the very first thing I transferred from vinyl to mp3?

Vivaldi's "Spring" from "The Four Seasons".

Oddly appropriate, no?

Random observation, apropros of nothing

While looking up an entirely different thing, I happened across a Doc Watson video. And, intrigued, I wondered if he was still among us. He is, born 1923 and still going.

And the random observation? I learned that he was (very possibly) "named" after Doctor Watson of Sherlock Holmes fame:

According to Doc on his three CD biographical recording Legacy, he got the nickname "Doc" during a live radio broadcast when the announcer remarked that his given name Arthel was odd and he needed an easy nickname to go by. A fan in the crowd shouted "Call him Doc!" presumably in reference to the Sherlock Holmes sidekick Doctor Watson. The name stuck ever since.

I find that very cool.

Coolness

So this facebook thing still kind of rocks. I've been in contact with some folks from high school. Including one (well, more than one actually) who was in my class all the way from kindergarten through high school.

This past summer, she had lunch with our second grade teacher. Is that too cool or what? And I now have contact info for said teacher, which I shall put to good use tomorrow.

Said teacher has also, I hear, recently completed one of her life goals - to visit all of the continents. How cool is that?

Sad

It just occurred to me that, with the untimely demise of 'Pints, the internet has a great, gaping void where there used to be Lesbian Gorilla Blogging.

I must remedy this. I just hope Bitter stills cares.

I finally found it!

THE GREATEST VOICE IN HISTORY DELIVERING THE GREATEST MOVIE LINE IN HISTORY!

Roscoe, you are so good.

"Forgive me for the men I have killed in anger, and those I am about to."

Back

From a whirlwind trip upcountry. Daughter Number Two needed to move out of her current apartment this weekend, though she can't move into her new one for a few weeks. So I boogied upcountry to retrieve the family pick-em-up truck from the ranch. Spent part of the day there bumming around, looking for coyotes, and plinking with the .45 and the 9mm and a .22.

Spent today packing boxes and cleaning and such at DNT's apartment, and packed her furniture into the truck and boxes into her mother's car to store at home for the duration. But that's not interesting. What is interesting is something I found at the ranch.

While there, I peered more deeply than I had before into one of my Mom's furniture items (not exactly a cabinet, more of an end table with storage space). Found a stack of old vinyl albums. A lot of Country/Western, of course. Also some Christmas albums and some of patriotic songs, even a couple of Broadway shows (Fiddler being one). All not unexpected.

Then I happened across a Fifth Dimension album. Now my Mom graduated high school in the early 1950s, and so was very familiar with the early rock 'n' roll. At one time, we even had "Rock Around the Clock" on a 45, though I don't know what happened to that particular record. But the Fifth Dimension were of a subsequent generation, though they have a lovely sound which appeals to many generations. A bit surprising, but I thought, could be. She liked Peter, Paul, and Mary and had one of their CDs. Heck, my Dad, and old school C/W nut, actually liked what he heard of Loggins and Messina.

Then I happened on the REALLY surprising one. An album of Junior Walker and the All-Stars. That is DEFINITELY not Mom's style (but I'd be VERY pleasantly surprised if it was). Most likely scenario that I can figure is that back in the 1980s or maybe early 1990s, my Mom bought a stereo system with a turntable that could transfer vinyl to cassette tapes. She was going to copy a bunch for my Auntie, and the only thing I can guess is that the stacks o' wax that Auntie gave her to copy included my cousin's albums.

That's really the only likely scenario, although I would love to learn that Mom was a fan of Junior Walker.

Sooo...

That attempt at Canadian Bacon. Not bad.

I started with a loin from a wild sow I took late last year, been in the freezer. I looked up a recipe for making the bacon and adapted it to a somewhat smaller scale. All things considered, not bad.

Those things considered?

Well, for starters, I thought of this on a whim and couldn't find nitrite (or "pink") salt at my local Safeway, so I did without. Next time I'll try to locate some in advance. For this attempt, just made do with the basic salt and sugar, plus some Montreal Steak Seasoning.

Second, I didn't try to smoke it after curing. I cheated and dumped some liquid smoke into the brine.

This evening I pulled the smaller piece out of the brine and fried some up. The recipe said to brine it for two days and it's been that. Just for kicks, though, I think I'll leave the rest in the brine for another day.

And in regard to...

Facebook. In addition to classmates from HS and college, I happened upon a Jr. High and HS teacher. How cool is that?

Well, this should be interesting

I just today started brining my first ever attempt at making Canadian bacon. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Um, wow

Shades of stream of consciousness and beer and stuff.

So I went on my normal bike ride earlier. Gotta do that cardio crap at least once in a while. I took along a CD, of course, continuing to listen to this once again. Not ten minutes down the road, the batteries crapped out. I really need to learn to carry spare batteries.

Anyway, I spent the rest of my ride rehashing music in my head. Some old time country. Some old time rock and roll. Lots of classics worth youtubing tonight. I've posted most of them before. But while searching on youtube this evening for stuff, I came across this. It's from the 50s, I think, can't be certain. It's Marty Robbins singing one of his well known songs. But what struck me about the video is the backup singers. They seem to have looks on their faces along the lines of "Man, I can do this stuff, how come I'm not the star?"

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but here's Marty with "Devil Woman":



UPDATE> I should have quit when I was ahead. I just found this sad song: