Some beatbox - just add rhythm!

Beatbox Fame Game
Uploaded by loranger

Hat tip to Judie for the link

Great Voice - Great Song

Alanis Morissette - Ironic Acoustic Live @ Sessions

Amazing Grace - Promise Keepers 1995

...gospel artist Wintley Phipps explains the origin of "Amazing Grace" and leads an audience full of men singing this honored hymn as presented during the 1995 Promise Keepers conference at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC.

NetFlix - Back in da House

When I was commuting between Nashville and Raleigh, NC for fourteen months, one of the best ways to keep from going insane with loneliness away from my family and being generally nocturnal was to have a heavy dose of NetFlix. Three movies at a time filled the bill. I even remember watching Kill Bill 1 & 2 back to back with the laptop roasting my legs before I settled down to go to bed at 2 am for work in a few hours.

There was a resident movie critic inhouse who always suggested movies for me. Sean was the living embodiment of Recommendations - If You Liked _____ , Then You'll Love... . I got a heavy dose of Quentin Tarantino with Jackie Brown, Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs. The Butterfly Effect and Phone Booth was disturbing. I Am Sam, Dear Frankie. The Killing Fields and The Grapes of Wrath were moving. The Bourne Supremacy and I Robot wired me beyond caffeine's potential.

As you can probably tell from the movies described, I don't get out too much to the movies. And I probably should because of the sheer fact that I even saw A Movie, even ten years later is automatically in my mind, pretty good to begin with. I missed out on the whole Titanic movie fever - I simply commented, "Was that movie based on a true story?"

I've yet to see a Harry Potter movie, and I seen bits of Lord of the Rings. Is BattleStar Galactica a movie or TV series? I seen Star Wars once or was it Star Trek? That's right, they are two different movies. To my credit, I have seen Blazing Saddles, Terminator Two and The Blues Brothers maybe ten times each.

I was an extra in Ernest Scared Stupid as a pizza delivery guy for two seconds.

I even read of someone - I wished I saved the link - blogging about seeing a movie every week at the local theatre house for one year. Now that's ambitious! I did a variation of that about twenty years ago when I canvassed a city selling for the Yellow Pages. We would be holed up in a apartment complex with Aaron's Rents furniture and some of us were lucky enough to drive home for the weekend - in my case, Memphis to Nashville.

I would tape the newpaper's movie listings on the fridge and head down to the local theatre and maybe catch 3 to 5 movies a week. Life on the road was no fun back then. No VHS, laptops, cable... sitting by the pool and talking shop was the alternative. Thus, seeing a movie every week? Ambitious indeed.

After watching at least 90 to maybe 120 movies (my NetFlix rental history only goes back to October of 2004) in North Carolina over a course of fourteen months, lately my rentals have sat dormant for weeks. With football season winding down, I've recently watched Superman Returns, X-Men 3: The Last Stand, United 93, Syriana and Tuesdays with Morrie. Tonight, I just finished Invincible.

I'm not a movie critic by any stretch of the imagination; I'm just thrilled I can set aside some time to enjoy some movie time with Mrs. WonderDawg and the dogs on the couch.

Oh my... ironic

An old man turned ninety-eight
He won the lottery and died the next day
It's a black fly in your Chardonnay
It's a death row pardon two minutes too late
And isn't it ironic... don't you think
- ALANIS MORISSETTE

Except the old man turned forty three -

Ralph Stebbins and his wife, Mary, had big plans for the $208-million Mega Millions lottery jackpot they won in April 2005.

Buy a farm. Buy a cow.

But after less than a year of incredible wealth -- taking home a $124.7-million lump-sum payment -- Ralph Stebbins has died at age 43.

Paul Dennis Reid finally has his appeals denied by the Tennessee State Supreme Court with his execution date set for January 3, 2008 (NOT 2007).

He received seven death sentences. In Nashville, he was convicted of the execution-style murders of three Nashville McDonald’s employees who were shot to death after being forced to lie face down on the floor. Source - The Tennessean

Yet in Iraq, former dictator Saddam Hussein is sentenced to die within 30 days...

Dufar, poverty, abortion, lost jobs and another clerk shot in a robbery... I just don't understand or rather I can't wrap my head around the news of the day and the wickedness that abounds everywhere I look...

Every year, I use the days between Christmas and New Year's Day to get a vision of how I can make a difference in this world one life at a time, but I need a new vision and new passion with more vigor to do so...

Life - ain't it ironic indeed...

I Like A Big Bible (please)

I like big Bibles and I can not lie
You Christian brothers can't deny
That when a girl walks in with a KJV
And a book mark in Proverbs
You get stoked...

Rocky Balboa is back...

or rather Rocky Jr. ... I am so looking forward to the new Rocky Balboa movie!



The trailer looks like a winner - check it out.



(Click on the picture to play the movie trailer)

Hat tip to Lianne

"Elmo-mania"

I continue to amuse myself with these collectible Gift Cards from Target -



Press the button to the right and Elmo chortles with a contagious laugh. The dogs sometimes come running like my cat Roddy (RIP) did whenever the electric can opener was used.

Elmo in action:



I may have to ask for an Elmo for Christmas!

Elmo on the WIKI

Essence of Sweet Lullaby

Mrs. WonderDawg turned me on the CD "Deep Forest" after hearing it back in 1992 at The Nature Store. It's one of those muzak soundtracks that just fits the environmental/science/nature/discover the world storefront environment.

Today the CD "Essence Of the Forest - Deep Forest" arrived in the mail and once again, I'm enjoying this compilation by French artists Eric Mouquet and Michael Sanchez.



The song "Sweet Lullaby" is very memerizing with a language I've never heard before (vocals by Afunakwa (Northern Malaita, Solomon Islands) masterfully arranged over lush electronics and a tone down dance beat.

Thanks to the Internet, I'm able to locate the "Sweet Lullaby" video (up for Best Video at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards):



and understand the lyrics:

(Solomon Dialect Based on English)
Sasi sasi o to aro aro
Young brother, young brother you be quiet

O angi si nau boroi amu
Although you are crying to me

Ni ma oe e fasi korona
Your father has left us

Dolali dasa na, lao dai afuimae
He has gone to the place of the dead

Afuta guau mauri, Afuta wela inomae
Protect the head of the living, Protect the orphan child

Sasi sasi ae o angisi nau
Young brother, young brother hey? although you are crying to me

Boroi nima oe e fasi koro na
Your father has left us

Dolali dasa na, lao dai afuimae
He has gone to the place of the dead

Afuta guau mauri, Afuta wela inomae
Protect the head of the living, protect the orphan child

Interpreting the Song:

This interpretation and lyrics come from one very old lady, living in Fataleka (one of the Solomon Islands), as translated by her grandchildren. The song is said to be very old and hence the new generation does not understand every word.

The song is about a young child crying because he does not see his father with the family. In response his elder sister sung this song to comfort as well as tell him the reality, with an appeal for their deceased father to protect this child in the land of the living (local ancient belief is that the dead care for loved ones they left behind).

The old woman also said that the sample, if listened to carefully, used some words and sounds that were added to make it sound more melo. Expression of some words twice, as well pronounciation of most of the words are different from that of normal conversation. Eg. 'O' should be OE', Angiangi should be angisi. This is very common with local traditional songs.

Source: Deep Forest Music

Check out the web site for history of Deep Forest as this band explores world music at its finest; and especially the Multimedia section for downloadable wallpaper.

Buy the CD and sample the music Essence of the Forest - Deep Forest at Amazon.

Good stuff.

Do the Budweiser Wave

Last night during the Colts/Patriots game, this Budweiser commercial aired. I turned to Mrs. WonderDawg and yelped, "THAT"S AWESOME!" Apparently it's been out for awhile, but hey, I must have had my head in the fridge at that time.

Thanks to Google, I'm able to find out How Did They Do That???

"The Budweiser Wave TV ad was made using only 300 actors, just like the Carlton Draught Big Ad. Massive Software's artificual intelligence-based 3D animation systems were used to make up to 97,000 actors. By modifying Massive's Ready-to-Run Stadium Agent, Method Studios placed a digital character underneath each card that would behave with all the randomness and realism of a real individual in a stadium scenario. Method Studios were able to add believable characters, such as spectators and football players on the stadium field, at the last minute without practical elements or new shoots."

The rest of the story at Duncan's TV Ad Land

NBC Primetime Preview: The Office Clips

NBC Primetime Preview: Featuring the cast of The Office (and classic Dwight lines)



Who's up for a Office viewing party?

Conan O'Brien - 58th Emmy Awards Intro

58th Emmy Awards Opening 2006 Part 1



58th Emmy Awards Opening 2006 Part 1

Classic Intro to the Emmys

Wasn't the opening introduction to the 58th Annual Emmy Awards hysterical tonight?



Seeing Host Conan O'Brien deadpan his way on the plane crash to the island in "Lost", jumping down the hatch to land on on Dwight's desk in "The Office", dealing with Chloe & Jack on "24", getting a medical exam from a cranky Dr. House, winding up in the closet with Tom Cruise via "South Park" and finally ending up on "NBC Dateline's To Catch A Predator" (conebone69) had me laughing in tears and glued to the set all night!

The musical number was great as well: "We got trouble, right here at NBC, with a capital T and that rhymes with G, as in 'Gee, we're screwed!'"

I really liked the suspense involving Bob Newhart to have me stay the full three hours. This will go down as one of the classic intros to an Awards show - simply brilliant writing!

Here's the full list of winners

My investment in TIVO finally paid off. I'm sure YouTube or iTunes will have this clip up soon -

Slo-Mo Home Depot

How would people react if they found themselves surrounded by people moving forward at a different rate or time (or not moving at all)?

Improv Everywhere, an improvisational acting troupe, invaded a Home Depot.

Here's the mission details. "We would sychronize our watches and then walk over to Home Depot and shop. At exactly 4:15 we would all begin moving in slow motion. We'd do that for five minutes, and then shop normally for five minutes as if nothing had happened. At exactly 4:25 we would all freeze in place for five minutes. When that was over we would go back to normal and eventually leave the store."



Amazingly, about thirty seconds before the freezing in place began, the Home Depot PA system started playing Jewel's 2001 hit, "Standing Still."

Funny stuff with videos and full documentation.



This to me is the perfect example of living (and loving) life with a community of folks for the sake of having fun! Cheers!

Rappin' George Carlin?

George Carlin's simply masterful "Modern Man" as performed last week on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno...



"I'm a modern man, a man for the millennium. Digital and smoke free. A diversified multi-cultural, post-modern deconstructionist that is anatomically and ecologically incorrect. I've been up linked and downloaded, I've been inputted and outsourced, I know the upside of downsizing, I know the downside of upgrading. I'm a high-tech low-life. A cutting edge, state-of-the-art bi-coastal multi-tasker and I can give you a gigabyte in a nanosecond!

I'm new wave, but I'm old school and my inner child is outward bound. I'm a hot-wired, heat seeking, warm-hearted cool customer, voice activated and bio-degradable. I interface with my database, my database is in cyberspace, so I'm interactive, I'm hyperactive and from time to time I'm radioactive.

Behind the eight ball, ahead of the curve, riding the wave, dodging the bullet and pushing the envelope. I'm on-point, on-task, on-message and off drugs. I've got no need for coke and speed. I've got no urge to binge and purge. I'm in-the-moment, on-the-edge, over-the-top and under-the-radar. A high-concept, low-profile, medium-range ballistic missionary. A street-wise smart bomb. A top-gun bottom feeder. I wear power ties, I tell power lies, I take power naps and run victory laps. I'm a totally ongoing big-foot, slam-dunk, rainmaker with a pro-active outreach. A raging workaholic. A working rageaholic. Out of rehab and in denial!

I've got a personal trainer, a personal shopper, a personal assistant and a personal agenda. You can't shut me up. You can't dumb me down because I'm tireless and I'm wireless, I'm an alpha male on beta-blockers.

I'm a non-believer and an over-achiever, laid-back but fashion-forward. Up-front, down-home, low-rent, high-maintenance. Super-sized, long-lasting, high-definition, fast-acting, oven-ready and built-to-last! I'm a hands-on, foot-loose, knee-jerk head case pretty maturely post-traumatic and I've got a love-child that sends me hate mail.

But, I'm feeling, I'm caring, I'm healing, I'm sharing-- a supportive, bonding, nurturing primary caregiver. My output is down, but my income is up. I took a short position on the long bond and my revenue stream has its own cash-flow. I read junk mail, I eat junk food, I buy junk bonds and I watch trash sports! I'm gender specific, capital intensive, user-friendly and lactose intolerant.

I like rough sex. I like tough love. I use the "F" word in my emails and the software on my hard-drive is hardcore--no soft porn.

I bought a microwave at a mini-mall; I bought a mini-van at a mega-store. I eat fast-food in the slow lane. I'm toll-free, bite-sized, ready-to-wear and I come in all sizes. A fully-equipped, factory-authorized, hospital-tested, clinically-proven, scientifically- formulated medical miracle. I've been pre-washed, pre-cooked, pre-heated, pre-screened, pre-approved, pre-packaged, post-dated, freeze-dried, double-wrapped, vacuum-packed and, I have an unlimited broadband capacity.

I'm a rude dude, but I'm the real deal. Lean and mean! Cocked, locked and ready-to-rock. Rough, tough and hard to bluff. I take it slow, I go with the flow, I ride with the tide. I've got glide in my stride. Driving and moving, sailing and spining, jiving and grooving, wailing and winning. I don't snooze, so I don't lose. I keep the pedal to the metal and the rubber on the road. I party hearty and lunch time is crunch time. I'm hanging in, there ain't no doubt and I'm hanging tough, over and out!"

Friday Flashback "Love Shack"

Thanks to YouTUBE, I'm going to post a music video every Friday... just for kicks.

Here's a video performance of The B52's - "Love Shack" which is a major party song (and great for crusing down the highway).

I got me a car, it's as big as a whale and we're headed on down to the love shack.
I got me a Chrysler, it seats about twenty, so hurry up and bring your jukebox money!

The love shack is a little old place where, we can get together.
Love shack baby. (A Love Shack bay-hay-bee).



About The B-52's from Wikipedia:
The B-52's is a rock band from Athens, Georgia; the first of many from the college town that has become one of the most important centers in alternative rock.The name comes from the bouffant wigs that are a part of the band's distinctive look, worn by singers Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson. Along with Wilson and Pierson, drummer Keith Strickland, guitarist Ricky Wilson (Cindy's older brother) and vocalist Fred Schneider formed the band after a drunken night at a Chinese restaurant.

The song "Love Shack" was inspired by a real-life cabin in Athens GA that was home to singer Kate Pierson in the early days of the B-52's. It was destroyed by fire in late 2004.

(Note: since the video takes a while to load based on your bandwidth, just hit play, then pause... while the video buffer gets full.)

The B-52's Official Home Page

King of the Hill: Church Hopping

Nice article from Adam Finley from TV Squad (reprinted here in its entirety)

Just because a place is big doesn't mean it's bad. The Pentagon's good. --Hank Hill

I wouldn't have though I could ever become nostalgic for those days when I was forced to wake up early, don uncomfortable garments and too-tight shoes, get shuttled off to church, and then try to stay awake through some boring sermon. I don't recall ever actually enjoying church, but it was part of our routine, and last night's episode managed to touch on all the ups and downs of attending church in a small town.

The episode begins with the Hills arriving late for church, only to find a new family has taken their seats. Hank tries to get them to move, but they refuse. He confronts the reverend about it, but she refuses to assign seats. Upset, Hank leaves the church for another church, which is more like a gigantic worship complex, complete with a coffee bar and a movie theater. Hank is wooed right away by the promise of assigned seats, but eventually grows tired of the fanfare and goes back to his old church, though not before trying out Luanne's boyfriend's worship approach, which involves getting drunk at the bar and singing along to the jukebox.

The episode showed that religious people each have their own way of worshiping and communing with God, and that no way is necessarily worse than the other. It also brought out a major part of Hank's character, which is that he does not accept change very easily. In fact, he's willing to make his life vastly more complicated rather than accept the fact his family has to sit in the back of the church.

I lamented in my last review of a lack of Peggy, so I was happy to see her back in full force this time, offering her unsolicited suggestions to the reverend of their new church, and at one point addressing the congregation to see if anyone had taped The Amazing Race. Yet another great episode, and another funny and poignant look at small town America. Having King of the Hill lead into the rest of the Sunday night lineup and shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy is like having a folk singer open for a punk band. It's different, the styles aren't even the same, but it's the perfect respite for those of us who don't mind a show that's willing to slow down and let us soak everything in.

Friday Flashback "Black Horse and The Cherry Tree"

Thanks to YouTUBE, I'm going to post a music video every Friday... just for kicks.

Here's a live performance of KT Tunstall - "Black Horse and The Cherry Tree" where she sings solo with loops and a variety of instruments.

well my heart knows me better than i know myself
so i'm gonna let it do all the talking.
(woo-hoo,woo-hoo)
i came across a place in the middle of nowhere
with a big black horse and a cherry tree.
(woo-hoo,woo-hoo)



About KT Tunstall from Wikipedia:
Kate "KT" Tunstall is a Scottish singer-songwriter from Fife. Her mother is of partial Chinese descent, and her father Irish. She was raised by adoptive parents, scientists who did not own a television or stereo, as they would interfere with her congenitally deaf adoptive brother's hearing aid. In her twenties she met her birth mother, who told her that her natural father was a folk musician, long after she had chosen that route herself.

Her nickname, "KT", is a play on "Katie". While a student at Royal Holloway, University of London she performed on an acoustic guitar in a student bar, under the name "Katie". Her style of music varies from the folk genre to the more pop genre.

(Note: since the video takes a while to load based on your bandwidth, just hit play, then pause... while the video buffer gets full.)

KT Tunstall Web Site

Friday Flashback "Girl From The North Country"

Thanks to YouTUBE, I'm going to post a music video every Friday... just for kicks.

Here's a live performance of Johnny Cash and Joni Mitchell - "Girl From The North Country" which is a great classic from Bob Dylan's The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan recording and the alternate duet with Johnny Cash on Nashville Skyline.

Well, if you're travelin' in the north country fair,
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline,
Remember me to one who lives there.
She once was a true love of mine.



About Joni Mitchell from Wikipedia:
Initially working in Western Canada and Toronto, she became associated with the burgeoning folk music scene of the mid-1960s in New York City. She achieved her greatest fame in the early 1970s and was considered a key part of the Southern Californian folk-rock scene. Throughout the 1970s she expanded her musical horizons to include pop and jazz and became one of the most highly respected singer-songwriters of the late 20th century.

Retrospective appraisals of Joni's work have often commented that her quality and influence render her the "female Bob Dylan", although Mitchell would be the first to criticise such gender-orientated judgements.

Mitchell is also an accomplished artist; she has, through photography or painting, created the artwork for each of her albums, and has described herself as a "painter derailed by circumstance." A blunt critic of the music industry, Mitchell has stopped recording and now focuses mainly on her visual art.

Trivia: Bob Dylan used the lines "Remember me to one who lives there, She once was a true love of mine" taken from the old traditional "Scarborough Fair" which Simon and Garfunkel rendered.

(Note: since the video takes a while to load based on your bandwidth, just hit play, then pause... while the video buffer gets full.)

Joni Mitchell Web Site

Johnny Cash Web Site

Bob Dylan Web Site

Friday Flashback "This Must Be The Place"

Thanks to YouTUBE, I'm going to post a music video every Friday... just for kicks.

Here's a live performance of Shawn Colvin with Strings Attached - "This Must Be The Place" which is a great cover from the Talking Heads album: Speaking in Tongues.

Home is where I want to be
Pick me up and turn me round
I feel numb - burn with a weak heart
(so I) guess I must be having fun
The less we say about it the better
Make it up as we go along
Feet on the ground
Head in the sky
It's ok I know nothing's wrong . . nothing



"I used to be able to set aside a few days and just lock myself in my house and not even answer the phone," Colvin says of her songwriting process. "I can't do that anymore. So I went to a little studio, did some vocals, played guitar on the couch and sat around with my notebooks. Prior to that, I had gone to New York a couple of times and just did some powwowing."

Which isn't completely out of character for Colvin, whose ambient folk reflects her wanderlust, detailed by Joni Mitchell-like musings on love, life and loss. Born in Vermillion, South Dakota, she taught herself guitar at the age of ten before moving to London, Ontario, and then Carbondale, Illinois, where she formed the Shawn Colvin Band. After relocating to Austin and retiring briefly from music, Colvin moved to New York in 1983, and garnered a laudable following among the burgeoning neo-folk movement. Rolling Stone / JESSICA ROBERTSON

(Note: since the video takes a while to load based on your bandwidth, just hit play, then pause... while the video buffer gets full.)

Shawn Colvin Web Site