- Half.com online gift certificate from the Powells (my perennially favorite gift but not this year), which I used to purchase:
- A Different Kind Of Christmas : Various Artists (CD, 1994)
- Sun Also Rises : Ernest Hemingway (Paperback, 1982)
- Dune Messiah : Frank Herbert (Paperback, 1994)
- The Areas of My Expertise : John Hodgman (Paperback, 2006)
- Salem’s Lot : Stephen King (Paperback, 1976)
- Quest for the Well of Souls : Jack L. Chalker (Paperback, 1995)
- The Mix-Up : Beastie Boys (The) (CD)
- Regal Cinemas gift card from the Bartons
- Cash from Uncle Buddy (second favorite gift every year except this year)
- Guitar Hero 3 for the Wii from Tina and the boys (second favorite all-time gift)
- A killer party mostly organized and thrown by my lovely wife
Simpson’s Theme
Be sure to check out the video responses.
Vital Statistics
Bike odometer: 1777
Weight lost: 40 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 8
Hours billed last week: 43
Aches & pains: abrasion near left elbow, right wrist, lower back
Current reading:: 2107 Curious Word Origins, Says & Expressions by Charles Earle Funk, The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, Writing Solid Code by Steve Maguire
Recent listening: Wolfmother by Wolfmother, Coverville, DrugMusic, NPR Story of the Day
Recent viewing: World Series of Poker, Hardball, Gilmore Girls
Recent playing: Gimme Friction Baby, Guitar Hero II (XBox 360)
Recently accomplished: Paid bills, fixed Thomas’ computer, scheduled doctor appointments
Imperative To Do: RMA old Tivo drive, sift through inbox, post office, finish garage, freecycle gorilla shelf parts, Goodwill trip
Gerry Phillips
This afternoon Graham and I saw an incredible performance of “Bohemian Rhapsody” on Jimmy Kimmel live by self-described “manualist” Gerry Phillips. We found his collection of music videos on YouTube after a little searching. You should go check out the entire list yourself, but some of our favorites include “Wizards of Winter”, “Sweet Child Of Mine” (a recent favorite of mine on Guitar Hero II), “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Classical Gas”, “Linus and Lucy” and “The William Tell Overture”. My absolute favorite is undoubtedly this one which he humorously calls the “The Fart of the Bumblebee”:
Crazy Theremin
Vital Statistics
Bike odometer: 1747
Weight lost: 42 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 6
Hours billed last week: 16.5
Aches & pains: none!
Current reading:: 2107 Curious Word Origins, Says & Expressions by Charles Earle Funk, The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester
Recent listening: CSN (box set) by Crosby, Stills and Nash, Coverville, DrugMusic
Recent viewing: Tournament of the Americas, Countdown
Recent playing: Gimme Friction Baby, Guitar Hero II (XBox 360)
Recently accomplished: Paid bills, finished “Medium” level of Guitar Hero II, beach pictures
Imperative To Do: RMA old Tivo drive, sift through inbox, post office, fix Thomas’ computer, finish garage, freecycle gorilla shelf parts, Goodwill trip, doctor appointments
Vital Statistics
Bike odometer: 1690
Weight lost: 41 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 10
Hours billed last week: 16.5
Aches & pains: abrasion on right calf, back, shoulders, bruise on right forearm
Current reading:: 2107 Curious Word Origins, Says & Expressions by Charles Earle Funk, The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester
Recent listening: Wolfmother, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Metallica
Recent viewing: Masters of Science Fiction, The Colbert Report, Gilmore Girls, Mindfreak, Tournament of the Americas
Recent playing: Pangea Arcade, Gimme Friction Baby, Guitar Hero II (XBox 360)
Recently accomplished: More garage re-organization, returned cans and bottles, cleaned cat box, foam recycling, cardboard recycling, mowed front yard, cleaned and lubed bike
Imperative To Do: RMA old Tivo drive, sift through inbox, post office, fix Thomas’ computer, finish garage, freecycling, Goodwill trip
Rachmaninov had big Hands
Vital Statistics
Bike odometer: 1654
Weight lost: 49 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 8
Hours billed last week: 39
Aches & pains: abrasion on right calf
Current reading:: 2107 Curious Word Origins, Says & Expressions by Charles Earle Funk, The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester
Recent listening: Poet In My Window by Nanci Griffith, Coverville, Pure Pod For Now People
Recent viewing: Gilmore Girls, World Poker Tour, The Colbert Report
Recent playing: Pangea Arcade, Gimme Friction Baby, Guitar Hero II (XBox 360)
Recently accomplished: Finished “Easy” level of Guitar Hero II
Imperative To Do: RMA old Tivo drive, sift through inbox, post office, fix Thomas’ computer, finish garage, recycling, freecycling, mow lawn, Goodwill trip, clean out van
We can laugh our lives away and be free once more
Recent events in the Portland Ring household:
- As mentioned earlier, our cat Nietzsche had to be put down on Saturday. Possibly more on that later.
- Tina saw her doctor on Monday and was disappointed to find that her foot fractures have not healed. I’m renewing my efforts to keep her off her feet. She will continue to wear “the boot” until she is healed.
- Tina’s dad, Leroy, arrived yesterday. He’ll be with us for a week. Tina’s cousin Natians (Buddy’s step-daughter) will be in town for 10 days starting on Saturday.
- Last night we took Leroy to his first zoo concert. The Charlie Hunter Trio played an incredible show. Hunter is a unique guitarists who simultaneously plays lead and bass guitar parts on his 7-string guitar. Unfortunately, after they returned from their mid-show break, the set became more solo jazz oriented so we left early.
- Because Natians and Leroy are in town we’ve got a busy week ahead of us: a long weekend at the coast, another zoo concert (featuring the beautiful voice of Richie Furay), Body Worlds 2 at OMSI and the annual CPS golf tournament and company picnic.
- I’m finishing up a big project at work and will soon be transitioning to a new project. When my product ships, I’ll have a link to the announcement here.