Occasional Quote:

Black Knight: Have at you!
Arthur: You are indeed brave, sir knight, but the fight is mine.
Black Knight: Oh, had enough eh?
Arthur: Look, you stupid bastard. You've got no arms left!
Black Knight: Yes I have.
Arthur: Look!
Black Knight: Just a flesh wound!

-Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Parrot Troubles

Apparently having a parrot for a pet doesn't mix well with cheating on your boyfriend. Details here. I have a series of parrot jokes, but this is funnier because it's true.

Great American Speeches

When I was looking for MLK's I have a dream speech, I found this website. It has all sorts of American speeches both the text and in many cases the audio. I have some issues with their top 100 because they have skipped over everything prior to 1900.

Here is the kicker. They have some of the speeches from movies. Here are my favorites:
(Warning, the connection is slow)

Colonel Drummond Interrogates Mathew Brady on the Scientific Authority of the Bible

Larry the Liquidator's speech in Other People's Money

Aragorn's speech before the battle (LOTR)

And my absolute favorite from the site: Howard Roark Addresses the Jury

Occasional Quote:

Jeff: Do you know what would be the best way to wipe out all of human kind if you were a space alien with a special kind of mind ray..? Make all women telepathic. Because if they suddenly found out about the kind of stuff that goes on in our heads they would kill us all on the spot. Men are not people - we are disgustoids in human form.

From the British TV SHOW-Coupling.

I think this tells you more about Jeff than it does about men. I highly recommend Coupling.

Wilson Pickett Dies

Wilson Pickett died of a heart attack today. Blues has lost a legend.

Happy Birthday Buzz

Coverville, Podcasting, and Trouble

A big thanks to Kim, who recommended Coverville to me. The podcast is a show of cover songs only. [Except for the show of non-covers-ie the songs you think are covers but aren't.]

Of course, I'm a bit of a curious creature so I dug up some info on Podcasting, and I think I may be in trouble. You see, blogging takes some time, but not a lot. Podcasting would take some more time, but, damnit, I've always wanted a radio show!

Now, to cut off any snickering, chortling, or general hysterical laughing, I am NOT talking about a talk show. I'm talking about a good old fashion radio show, with music interspersed with news, traffic, and sports updates.

I will let you know how this interest progresses, but I may be in trouble. On the positive side, I may be able to use my blues name for this!!!

Occasional Quote:

Individual rights are the means of subordinationg society to moral law.

-- Ayn Rand, "Man's Rights," The Virtue of Selfishness

What Kind of Rock Star Am I?

You Are a Freedom Rocker!

You're stuck in the 70s - for better or worse Crazy hair, pot soaked clothes, and tons of groupies Your kind showed the world how to rock Is that freedom rock?... Well turn it up man!

What Kind of Rocker Are You?

I guess I listen to too much Stones and Led Zeppelin!

Merchant Adventurers by Berton Braley

Merchant Adventurers

Merchant Adventurers sending their galleys

Seaward from Sidon and Tyre,

Freighting their wares over mountains and valleys,

Desert and jungle and mire.

Merchant Adventurers - traders of Venice

Peddling their goods overseas,

Dauntless in face of the terrors that menace;

Merchant Adventurers, these!

Merchant Adventurers -- "English Exploiters"

Sailing the perilous Main,

Threading the haunts where the Buccaneer loiters,

Dodging the galleons of Spain.

Merchant Adventurers -- dealers and jobbers,

German, Italian and Gaul,

Fighting the greedy baronial robbers --

Merchant Adventurers, all!

Merchant Adventurers! All through the ages

Somehow their business was done,

(Seeking their profit and paying their wages)

Everywhere under the sun.

Jasons of trade who were ceaselessly faring

Over new countries and seas,

Shopkeepers canny, courageous and daring,

Merchant Adventurers, these!

Now? Writers damn them as "commonplace Babbits,

Clogging the path of advance,

Middle-class dullards of standardized habits,

Utterly lacking romance!"

If we believe all these critics and censurers

Business is humdrum to-day,

Gone is the spirit of Merchant Adventurers

Crumbled to dust and decay!

Don't you believe it -- that spirit is glowing

Under the Business Man's vest;

Jasons of Trade are still joyously going

Forth on a magical quest.

Gambling with Fate, burning bridges behind them,

Wagering all in the till,

Bucking the world for a profit, you'll find them

Merchant Adventurers still!

Occasional Quote:

John F. Kennedy
"The ancient Greek definition of happiness was the full use of your powers along lines of excellence."

Occasional Quote:

Xander: "I mean, guys'll do anything to impress a girl. I once drank an entire gallon of Gatorade without taking a breath."
Willow: "It was pretty impressive. Although later there was an ick factor."

-From Buffy

Happy Birthday Ben Franklin

His bio.

Second Hand Songs

I love cover songs. For some reason, I like to hear different versions of the same song, different interpretations, different senses of life. When Frank Sinatra sings "My Way" it gives you the feeling of the individualist who stood by his own principles and lived his own life. When Sid Vicious sings it, you know that he has rebeled against the world, that he is a lone wolf, and that if he stands for anything it is that he stands against the normal. Another example is "Personal Jesus". Think about how Depeche Mode originally sung the song, then think about Marylin Manson's version, then think about Johnny Cash's.

I stumbled across a website dedicated to cover songs. It is called SecondHandSongs.com. My favorite section was their statistics. I'll share a few:

Top 5 Most Covered Performer
1. The Beatles
2. Bob Dylan
3. The Ramones (!)
4. The Rolling Stones
5. Fabrizio De André (?)

Top 5 Most Covering Performer
1. Frank Sinatra
2. Elvis Prestley
3. Tony Bennett
4. Rod Stewert
5. John Hammond (?)

Top 5 Most Covered Songs
Song/ Artist /Number of Covers

1	Eleanor Rigby	The Beatles	112
2	Cry Me a River	Julie London	109
3	(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction	The Rolling Stones	81
4	Blackbird	The Beatles	79
5	And I Love Her	The Beatles	78

I'm going to spend some time and figure out which blues songs my future band is going to borrow. Hopefully I can pick some tunes that haven't been covered before.

Occasional Quote:

Spanish Proverb
"Drink nothing without seeing it; sign nothing without reading it."

Occasional Quote:

Lady Astor: Winston, if I were married to you, I'd put poison in your coffee.

Sir Winston Churchill: Nancy, if you were my wife, I'd drink it.

MLK Quote:

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

--from Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech.

For the whole speech go here and for the audio go here.

Curious Sparky

Denver in 2000, Everywhere else today

AssetAllocator has this cartoon talking about today's housing markets. Well, today's housing markets everywhere but Denver.

the 69 meme

I stole this from Stephanie Klein. The intro is hers, but the answers are mine.

Welcome to the new 2006 edition of getting to know your friends. What you are supposed to do is copy (not forward) this entire e-mail and paste it onto a new e-mail that you'll send. Change all the answers so they apply to you, and then send this to a whole bunch of people including the person who sent it to you. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little things about your friends.

1. What time did you get up this morning?
5:30

2. Diamonds or pearls?
Gold... preferably coins or bars.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Munich--hated it.

4. What is your favorite TV show?
Veronica Mars

5. What did you have for breakfast?
Breakfast Burrito

6. What is your middle name?
Alan

7. What is your favorite food?
Sushi

8. What foods do you dislike?
Erm... there was this thing I age once in Japan made from fermented soybeans.

9. Your favorite Potato chip?
Pringles.

10. What is your favorite CD at the moment?
The Best of John Lee Hooker

11. What kind of car do you drive?
Toyota

14 Favorite drink?
Alcoholic: Scotch. Non-alcoholic: Diet Coke

15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would it be?
Sydney, AUS

16.What color is your bathroom?
Dark Green

17. Favorite brand of clothing?
If you knew me, you wouldn't ask this question

18.Where would you retire?
I like Stephanie's answer: Somewhere with a view of the ocean. Perhaps abroad, but I want to be buried in America.

I'll add that I would need to have a sailboat!

19 Favorite time of day?
Morning after I'm fully awake.

21. Favorite sport to watch?
Boxing or collegiat wrestling

22. Who do you least expect to send this back?

I'm not sending this out.

23. Person you expect to send it back first?
See 22.

24. What laundry detergent do you use?
Tide

25. Coke or Pepsi?
Coke, Diet.

26. Are you a morning person or night owl?
Morning person, but I hate to admit it.

27. What size shoe do you wear?
11

28. Do you have pets?
A foster cat named Sparky

29. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with your friends?
They already know.

30. What (who) did you want to be when you were little?
Talented and Brilliant

31. Favorite Candy Bar?
Almond Joy

33. What are the different jobs you have had in your life?
Primarily an appraiser. I worked at Walt Disney World as a conductor on the steam trains and I brewed coffee at Starbucks.

34. Favorite season?
Spring

35. Nicknames you've had?
J, Jason, Monekyboy (don't know where that came from)

36. Piercings:
My left ear piercing closed up

37. Eye color:
Hazel

38. Ever been to Africa?
No

39. Ever been toilet papering?
Yes

40. Love someone so much it made you cry?
Not during, but after.

41. Been in a car accident?
Yes. Stupid girl ran a stop sign.

42. What's a question no one has ever asked you? (I added this since #42 was missing)
Are you pregnant?

43. Favorite day of the week?
Sunday, if I don't have the blues.

44. Favorite restaurant?
Fontana if I'm buying. Morton's if someone else is.

45. Favorite flower?
I don't play favorites

46. Favorite ice cream?
Mine, because I made it

47. Disney or Warner Brothers?
Why, why must I choose?

48. Favorite fast food restaurant?
Chipotle... fast casual counts right?

49. What color is your bedroom carpet?
Light grey

50. How many times did you fail your driver's test?
Zero

51. Before this one, from whom did you get your last e-mail?
My accountant

52. Which store would you choose to Max out your Credit Card?
I wouldn't max out my credit card. If I was given $30,000 to spend though.... el corte ingles. They literally sell EVERYTHING, except men's clothes that fit me... but that's not what I'd be buying

53. What do you do most often when you are bored?
Play guitar.

54. Bedtime:
10ish

56. Last person you went to dinner with?
The Columbian.

57. Ford or Chevy?
Toyota

58. What are you listening to right now?
The humm of the radiator in my office.

59. What is your favorite color?
I won't play favorites here.

60. Lake, Ocean or River?
Lake. All the space of the ocean and none of the sale.

61. How many tattoos do you have?
None

62. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
I don't know, I've never ordered both at a restaurant before.

63. How many people are you sending this email to?
The world--this is Steph's answer, but I guess it is accurate because I'm posting it on my blog too.

64. Favorite Cocktail?
Gin Martini w/a twist

65. Red or White wine?
Red

66. Where would you go for a girls or boys weekend get-a-way?
Heart of Gold... sorry, a bit of firefly humor. I guess I'd want to rent a sailboat and sail from anywhere to anywhere.

67. What do you want to be?
Rich

68. Republican or Democrat?
Independant.

69. Favorite Family Vacation?
Hawaii.