The Tour of Missouri

Nothing could be better than a world-class 6-stage bicycling race that starts on the Plaza, for goodness sakes! Talk about stoked...

Sweet direct mail video

I just love this little movie about direct mail, from the Plus Marketing Community on Facebook. "A film made for the Belgian Post to promote direct mail. The original idea was to let people open their direct mail and film their emotions. I suggested then to film everything in a surreal world and it worked pretty well."

Thank you for this...

Bill Clinton is still my hero.

Bill Clinton is spot on at the 50th Anniversary Keynote Address for the Harry Truman Library.

I little Pixar creation...

Sweet...

Lifted
Uploaded by tycovka

Off season but still worth saving...

Couldn't let this one get away -- and the longer version, too!

Icy Roads In Portland - Watch more free videos

les kiriki acrobates japonais

Injured. Injured bad.

Bicycle racing in NYC

One of my original favorites...

Extreme Diet Coke Mentos domino effect

Another all time favorite.

Russian climbing

Just trying to catch up with some of the very first videos that are still favorites.

Confrmed amazing...

And now for another hair-raising, tear-producing performance by Paul Potts. Truly inspirational.

Truly beautiful.

In case you need something to blow you away... Paul Potts.

Just wanted to save and listen to this again...

Beautiful women through time...

A brief look at women in art, beautifully morphed.

Planting and Painting

This weekend was gorgeous. I totally took off work for a change and gardened all day on Saturday. Planted lots of vegetables just to see if my crop rotation concept will pan out. Maybe it will. Last year, and the year before, I was hounded by what seemed to be a fungus. Loathe to really apply fungus eradicator (it's extra funky), I'm just giving beans and tomatoes a rest. In the pod garden are now collards, patty pan/acorn/zucchini/yellow squashes. Some leaf lettuce, arugula along with a japeleno and a yellow pepper. That ought to keep us busy. Now I just have to go out and coax the little dears up in a not sunny enough environment. Wish me luck there.

The warm pink azaela bush is lovely in the front yard and I also planted a 6' magnolia bush. That should be interesting as it tries to crowd out the forsithia which I'd like to way pare back.

Guess I should have been on Skype on Saturday to talk to Meredith, but I did all the planting, whacked down a bunch of ugly brush, and made squirting attempts at killing random poison ivy. That was a day long job. Meanwhile a guy was working on my new part of the bedroom – he spent hours and hours this week making repairs and priming and painting… and now it’s all painted. Next I put up blinds, then it's on to laying down the little FLOR carpet squares and finding fun furniture, meanwhile moving everything around from room to room and floor to floor in sort of a game that remind me of those square hand-held games with sliding pieces that you have to get in the right order but along the way, they get totally jumbled and seem hopelessly out of order. Oh yea, that’s my life!

Fifteen Puzzle!

Sunday I found myself lazing around reading the Sunday paper. Afterwards, I pulled out the laptop and upgraded the ram and new CD/DVD drive that was nearly starting to collect dust. Well that was entirely too easy to do, I must say. Next, it's on to the fun software/hardware that lets me convert video to DVD. I hear it's not a totally successful process. But we will see. The primary goal is to reduce VHS tape clutter, to travel more easily with media and to convert my sister's old tapes (work, family, whatever) onto a more dupable and shipable format.

Vacuumed the new room, dusted and looked at the vast amount of crap that I'm afraid will simply end up in the basement that's not organized either. Argh.

Time for the 3rd to final Sopranos, which I taped (VHS no less).

Good weekend. Much accomplished.

My Star Wars personality ...

Stayin' alive, 2007

New disco with a cool screensaver-like light sequence. But it's the beat, by Karri O., a Finland artist I hadn't heard of before that cooks. Find it here... http://www.vimeo.com/clip:174357

Or watch it here...






Magnetic Sphere (audio by Karri O.) on Vimeo

Fantasyland is a nice place to visit

Which Disney Princess am I? Why, Ariel. For today. That's hot.

Take the test at http://www.brainfall.com/test6_1.php

So it goes.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

1922 — 2007

New absorbing book...

It's been a week since I wrote anything here because I've been spending time bumming around Lawrence with Brad and reading a fantastic new book, The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards. Written several years ago, it's been out in paperback long enough to land in used booked stores, which is a favorite haunt of ours.

That's what we were doing in Lawrence, plus stopping in to the Free State Brewery which is at least not smokey, but it was too crowded to be much fun. And a rather serendipitous thing happened after we were seated, ordered and were partway through our lunch. A designer I had just met two days before, working on a project together for a new client, sat down in the table next to us. Well, I didn't recognize him with his railroad hat on. But within about 10 minutes he introduced himself. I responded that I didn't recognize him with his hat to which his girl friend said, "I told him the hat was sketchy." Just another odd thing on an odd planet that is vast and small at the same time.

After a delicious lunch of pastrami on French bread and a nice porty-beer, we headed back to the bookstore where I picked up this book, along with several others. I also talked to the shop-cat, Kasper (...no, that's not his name, hmmm.) I've flown through this book. It's not a literary work of art, but it's a real page turner. Boy, those are a Godsend. That night, I read 100 pages. And then on Sunday, after the morning paper, I sat on the purple couch for hours and read 100 more pages. So much for working on stuff around the house or in the office.

Here, Brad's caught enjoying a Stone Cold Creamery cup of Chocolate Decadence (?).

Give me a break Time Warner 2.0

The ongoing Time Warner Cable TV saga continues. I called today to find out why my rates just went up over 30% in the last 2 months. Given my delight with their funkedelic services and product, I guess it's not surprising that when I called and finally reached someone, had to go downstairs to read them the last four digits of my driver's license (in order to be able to confirm who I am -- it's just my invoice for chrissakes!) to finally be able to ask her why my rates increased. She went into a laundry list of expense line items, so I told her how dissatisfied I was with the huge rate increase and then she tried to upsell me on bundled services.

I told her it was unimaginable that they would inact a rate increase in the midst of such poor service due to their adoption of the new Navigator to which she responded that she was sorry I was having trouble. And I replied that no, they were having trouble, in keeping me as a customer. That their decrease in product quality and customer service certainly didn't warrant the annual amount spent and that I needed a solution that resulted in lower prices or that I would act on what I've been considering since they adopted the ridiculous Navigator ... to cancel TWC.

So she asked me to hold on and put me on hold for, I dunno, maybe 45 minutes ... and here's why I'm bothering to write this boring drivel .... the on-hold music was Simply Red's "I'll Keep Holding On." I think someone in programming has a good sense of humor, which you'd certainly need to work for TWC! So, now I'm on hold again and they note it will be a one hour hold time. How can they get away with that I really wonder? I know they're the only cable game in town, but you'd think they couldn't sleep at night over this level of bad service.

And the song has cycled back on again ... amazing.

Finally got through, and to my further amazement, I actually reached a human with feelings and a brain. Tim #8022. This was one good guy, who not only shared my frustration, he shared that others shared my frustration, explained what was in the works at TWC (though no time-lines), and gave me a $180 credit which represented a 6-month credit on the cable boxes I have. Not that this is a huge amount compared to the rest of my annual cable bill, but he was a blessed relief. So I called the "compliment line" at Time Warner, which I assumed would have NO wait time, and told them how nice he was.

Oh yea, Tim said knowing the guys in the voice/music area, they do have a sense of humor.

Been reading and things...

So I got swept up in a semi-delicious little book that I completely devoured in about a week. Lost In Translation by Nicole Mones. Her first novel, I believe. It was a fast read and it did seem to draw me in. It was so easy. And full of interesting cultural references and translations -- the heroine being a translator living in China. This book is not the source for the movie by the same name, though they are both about a young American woman who are translators in an Asian country. This book is more of a mild mystery about China, daily mannerism, finding Peking Man and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.

Here's a sample, starting on page one...

So it was nice to disappear in this easy novel. But alas it's done. Maybe Brad will enjoy it now.

There's a promising blog entry on an MSNBC link that just popped up -- which reflects on the enormity of the country plus more. Just into starting to read about that. Here's the name/link to it: Lost ... then found in China's multitudes -- Blogger has time to reflect while
traveling by rail to Beijing

And all this makes me recall this fascinating website I bookmarked called 100 x 100, with 100 photographs by Michael Wolf of residents in their flats in Hong Kong's oldest public housing estate. Each room is 100 square feet in size. I poured over this site when I found it last year; each room is so cramped, but how each one was furnished, the colors, the neatness, the messiness -- all mirrored the individual.

What is with this minor China obsession I seem to be exhibiting? Or is that simply Asia Minor? Apologies, it's late.

Totally unrelated, I just read an amazingly refreshing interview with Elizabeth Edwards. She is definitely showing grace against enormous odds. My hat is more than off to her. She said, "I come from a family of women who live into their 90s, so it's taken something real from me. There was a time during the day when we were getting test results when I felt more despair than I ever felt in any of the time I had the breast cancer. I have a lot that I intend to do in this life. We're here at the house. I'm going to build paths through these woods so we can take long walks that I intended to take when I was 80. And I have a 6-year-old son. I was going to hold his children someday. Now I'm thinking I have only a slim chance of seeing him graduate high school ... I have an obligation to try to live as long as I can for my family." You know, some things just resonate.

Mundane ramblings and a few photos

Just so's I don't look like I fell off the face of the earth, I thought I'd write just-about nothing here. Which is also just about-nothing, come to think of it. I've been trying to build my facebook page so that Meredith quits pinging me about my under-developed page. Which it is not now.

This is a picture of my newly patched up garage that Brad calls a shed. The window was falling down and some shingles were getting eaten up by the elements. I've been supervising the work. Next is getting Brad to do the painting. But I need to get an outside estimate first.

And this is Brad with a rhino hairstyle. We didn 't think it made him look any more youthful, but he feined a nice rather blank look to go with it, and we both cracked up and were just about in tears, laughing.

Obviously not much new here.

Oh yea, except Funkhouser got elected mayor tonight. I wonder if I voted correctly, and with only a 1,010 vote margin between the two. Hmmm. We'll see.

Probably the coolest award ever...

This has to be the best award I've ever received. When I got it home, I stared at a while, re-read it, and then remembered: OMG, I art-directed the award myself tons of years ago because the award needed updating.

That makes me grin. I also remember what I was thinking back then, too. How cool is that?

The liquid-slick surface, soft beveled edges and a shiny gold lettering surface embedded under layers of what feels like glass. It's heavy ... and it's hot.

So how made sides ARE there on a triangle...?

And other obviously unanswerable questions.

My version of the little thingy I sent to Meredith...

Done...

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Oh Al. Oh Bob. O stone be not so.

Today's too-early installment. In case it's not obvious, the lyrics are made entirely of palindromes.

Rachmaninov had big hands

Yesterday's enjoyment-installment.

This eye track set of photos got me to laughing.

Go figure...

Caption: This image of George Brett was part of a larger page with his biographical information. All users tested looked at the image, but there was a distinct difference in focus between men and women.

My new vendetta...

All right already. I'll post.

It's been a rocky few weeks.

Oh so delighted to receive the 2007 Direct Marketer of the Year award from the KCDMAssociation, but it meant time-consuming shopping for fancy digs, which I enjoyed putting together nicely. Missy helped me find the slacks that would look good with the dusty black silk mandarin-collar top (with bugle-beads in a firefly pattern along all bottom edges.) Unfortunately, no good photo from the night because the winner is a "secret," so carrying a camera on my arm would have been a give-away. Jill took a camera-phone photo and someone else took a photo that he said he'd get to her. Bradfo looked sweet and polished, and my well-practiced speech went off really nicely. Missy and Jill were in tears by the time I finished. Really. Wild.

Here's me and Jill.


Note to self: shop for tiara.

And I then I promptly got a cold, though not like the dastardly New Year's one. This one was more reasonable and usual -- the 5 short day variety. Was it the zinc spray I used this time? Who would know.

The weather turned usually warm this week, though it's back to a more predictable 45 today. But yesterday was 80! So this Monday I did the yard spring clean-up gig, raking leaves out of the flower beds and other nooks, plus raking up the millions of rather annoying little pointy balls that hover and fall off my huge sweetgum tree. I drove down a street yesterday and noticed that some fool had planted those trees along a length of the street so an entire block or two was covered with the messy-looking little numbers. They not only kill the grass because when you step on one, they bore into the ground, but they also are amazingly effective ankle twisters. I filled 4 large yard bags with them. And they're totally heavy to drag to the curb. But it was very cool to be out in the yard again. The tulips, crocus and iris I planted for Kath in fall of 2004 are peeking out, so that's kinda exciting to wait for.

Makes me think of Molly, Kath's college and long-time friend. She always focuses on gardening about this time of year. I'll ping her and see what's coming up in her yard.

It's Brad's birthday which is a sort-of birthday.

But I called to tell him I'm making the dinner of his choice and now I need to run out and find a non-birthday birthday cake. And a card. And a small gift. He'll get to experience a small birthday and I'll bet he likes it fine.

Pizza, soup and a book on 39th Street

Okay, so Brad and I go out to dinner last night. Well, more like walk a block to d'Bronx for pizza and soup, which was good enough. And then to Prospero's for a used book store night. Browse, select, sit down to read until they close at 10:30 or so.

Got "The Dubliners" by Joyce which I'm surprised I haven't read by now. But being as I stayed in the same hotel that he wrote some stuff at, I thought, maybe it's time. And a few other books, too. (Why do I buy three books to Brad's one when he reads three books to my one? Security, I suppose.) Came home and read some of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff at Work, which, for me would be more like DSSS at Your Home Office but, hey, I'm trying to get better. To paraphrase Mary K. Blige, "I'm reading everything I can to be a kinder better person."

But after I got exhausted reading about how to look at the bright side of things, I picked up the book my Uncle-Uncle Dal(las) gave my Uncle Tad that I retrieved from being thrown out when he died. (I can't remember the title.) I'm reading it because I want to have read something Uncle Dal read and liked enough to share, and because it's set on Lake Coeur d'Alene in Idaho. Which if you know anything about me, would remind you, that is where my mother and my niece both went to camp. That being ironical -- I have photos from both eras.

After some hard apple cidar that was actually darn good, and a relaxing read-while-I-massage-your feet footrub from the Bradster, I hit the sack and watched some indulgence-TV, and called it a night.

Happy Valentine's Day!

(click on the image to read...)

One of the best games ever.

Meredith hit the boards on the first attempt. But then she has 20-year-old fingers.

Spell Or Die...
http://cognitivelabs.com/word_shoot.htm

America's next high school idols...?

High school talent. Great to watch.

A thrilla

Why didn't Chuck & Lynne think of this??

Today's exercise

Another lazy Tuesday...perfect for a game of Ping Pong.

Because George would need more than his 2 hands to count this...

Win ... lose... it was still a GREAT game!

Beth and Hawa joined Brad and me last night at another exciting Roos game. Great fun!

UMKC Falls To Valparaiso In Overtime :: Kangaroos fall to Crusaders, 56-52, in a defensive battle

Favorite things...

When all thought is nil, enlist a favorite...

How one waterbuffalo can make a difference

Get out your Kleenex for this one. Pure joy. (updated -- previous link wouldn't work...)

Either link from here:
http://www.jazzviolin.com/china/2007/01/16/4-generations-water-buffalo-movie-here/

or here:
http://www.thompsonjazz.com/movies/waterbuffalo/

Considerations...

Today's delightful find...extra sweet cause it looks nice with my blog graphics.

Take breaks often

Play whenever possible. www.orisinal.com

It's all about title-ness

Serving to direct. I love this definition of directory, now used as direc-tre. It best explains the purpose of this new blog. Okay, maybe I really love the vagueness of the definition, the you-define-it-ness of it. Or maybe it's the Idi Amin-esque, conductorly feel.