Ha! Take that world! My voice will now soar above the interwebs spreading joy (and maybe a little sadness) wherever my melodious words land. That’s right folks, I have my very first something-cast. Will there be more? Who knows, this first one took me about four hours to make.
Is it of inferior sound quality? It is.
Do I have trouble pronouncing “inaugural”? I do.
Just click the link and then hit “Download file” once it appears. Enjoy.
Three more days till Buzz comes back. From what I hear, northeastern Ghana is at the moment experiencing the worst flooding in fifty years. Thank goodness my girl can swim, non? (Baltimore? Not so much flooding.)
Word is…Facebook is the place to be. You can tell it’s hot because, Time, Newsweek, Atlantic Monthly, and the “daily print media” (they still print things do they?) , have finally published articles about it, which of course means it’s been all over the internet for a year…at least. I saw Buzz’s Facebook page, and the complete lack of privacy and general transparency of the thing scared the hell out of me. Buzz…not so much. Still, all our SA friends (“i” before “e” right?) are on the Fbook so I’m kinda tempted…
It’s 6:45 am EST and so…Brain Dead…
That was Liam Lynch, musician/producer/director/podcaster who cracked the UK and Australian top 10 charts several years ago with the song “United States of Whatever“.
Check out his video podcast featuring an assortment of music and skits featuring computer generated whatnots at LynchLand. Funny! Serious and worthwhile? Not so much.
We’ll toss in the Fake White Stripes Song too. Sounds just like them.
Beware of mountain lions…I’ve got a t-shirt coming my way with this sign on it.
One of my co-oworkers mentioned that there was an Oyster and Guiness festival in Fell’s Point this weekend! I have been unable to find it. This is not cool man. There should be a law about getting a guy’s hopes up. I even had sushi with a side of a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich on Friday night (god bless, open till 12:00, XS) in an attempt to really subject my gastrointestinal system to some challenges. But alas.
Brewers are now a game back in the NL Central (stupid Cubs). If I was a callus and non karma observing fella I would direct a certain “nyah nyah nyah” in the direction of Peter for having sent a text message to Elizabeth bragging about his Cardinal’s victory while THE GAME WAS STILL GOING ON! Seventh inning lead don’t mean a thing, chum. Honestly, who brings that kind of karma down on their team’s head? Shame, man. Shame.
Are you familiar with the old saying, “A bull in a china shop”? Wanna see one? Hi-freaking-larious!
So what does a bull in a china shop really do?
Anyone know anyone with sickle cell disease? Terrible disease, but still it’s hard not to be irritated by most of them. The treatment for many of them is just morphine. So after a few years of treatment, what happens? You guessed it, J U N K I E. I’d be more sympathetic if there weren’t a number of sickle cell patients who specifically try to avoid opiods and really give it the old “stiff upper lip”. THOSE guys get my respect (and anything else they want, frankly). The others, not so much.
Interesting post about chilling out in the ER:
Ten ironies and truisms of the ER
Hey looky here, this is the George Bush remix video of the “United States of Whatever”.
How about a couple of Mr. Jesus cracks?
Holy hell, the sun is coming up! Where has the night gone? Gotta love the whole night shift thing though, everyday is a new day…so to speak.
Here’s the last of my frivolousness, before I wrap this thing up and go play some disc golf. I’ve been saving this video for a little while now. Platoon in the office. God bless America.
So I’m gonna leave you with a couple of songs from Jens Lekman. He’s a Swede who sings in English. First is a video performance of “The Opposite of Hallelujah” and the second is the audio of “Friday Night at the Drive in Bingo“.
I apologize for the general hither and yon-ness of this post; you can really see how Buzz is my mental grounding wire when she’s not around, and this has only been a week, after three, I may well be speaking in tongues.
Over and out space cadets.
Have you ever walked the halls of their elementary school since you’ve grown? Everything looks very familiar and yet very not. I’m kinda feeling that right now. Two months ago today was my last post! Lordy lordy.
I have not however, been completely oblivious to the state of my once vital blog. My “Blog Fodder” bookmarks folder is just plain bursting at the seams with all those witty (or not) tidbits I’ve been collecting since my last real post, and we’ll see how many of those I can drop on you guys in the next few weeks.
So firstly, Happy Birthday Sam!
Good on you old boy!
Birthday part1: So basically Elizabeth, Leslie and I just went out to dinner on the 5th, and then were joined by Adrien (a friend of mine from work) a bit later at a bar (the nationally recognized Max’s). A very nice night, fun, but not raucous, as I seem to have sort of outgrown “gettin’ tore up”. Sight, I must be getting old. Still I had a good ol’ time.
Birthday part 2: Yesterday Buzz and I went to a Orioles vs Red Sox game at Camden Yards. Now I love Miller Park, and a retractable dome may be the best invention since they raised the pitching mound, but I gotta say, Camden Yards is beautiful! Hands down the prettiest ballpark I’ve ever been to! A funny story; as we were walking through the turnstiles one of the ushers proclaimed, “Welcome to Fenway south!”. Now I assumed he was exaggerating until the BoSox hit a homer and fully HALF, if not more, of the fans jumped to their fans and started screaming. Kinda of an odd experience.
I gotta say, it’s really a nice thing to go to a game where you don’t really care who wins. I never do that, because I always go to National League games and one of the teams is usually either the Brewers or another team in the division, so I am always rooting for or against one of the teams. Not this time though. I got to sit back, eat some awesome pit turkey, drink some beer, and watch the O’s lose their 14th out of the last 16, 7-6 (though it was a pretty exciting game). Actually, for the first few innings I was a bit starstruck watching the Red Sox. Being a Brewers fan generally elicits comments about how promising our young players are, “Prince Fielder/Ryan Braun/JJ Hardy are gonna be a household name someday”. Of course by that time, the Brewers won’t be able to afford them, oh well. But the Red Sox! I mean there were Ortiz and Lowell and Wakefield and Varitek and even that Buchholz kid. Man, those guys are big time stars. Good stuff.
On to the random internet stuff:
Want to see my take on the famous “Subterranean Homesick Blues” video? Voila!
Create your own version after you watch mine and then post them in the comments.
Now this only going to appeal to a very small percentage of you out there. Anyone remember the game “Contra” on the NES? Well I really loved this game as a kid, until I discovered it was really hard. I mean I never made it past the boss on the third level! So here’s a video of a guy not only beating the game, but doing so without dying once. I sat there totally engrossed for the entire 18 minutes.
So a bit of family news, mom has jetted away to launch her 9 month tour of the mainland. That’s right she will be Hawaii-less for NINE WHOLE MONTHS! I’ll bet she gets agoraphobic. So watch out everyone, its only a matter of time till she shows up on your doorstep.
And finally a couple of web comics. Have a good one folks, see you soon.
xkcd – Commitment (Elizabeth picked this one)
It’s cool to read old Churchill speeches, right? Of course it is! Why do I even ask?
I discovered something interesting while perusing Churchill’s famous, “We Shall Fight on the Beaches” speech to the House of Commons on June 4, 1940. The entire text can be found here (though most of it is pretty dull).
Now this speech was made about a week after the British troops, after having been driven across France by the Germans, were successfully evacuated from Dunkirk back to Britain. So this was the about lowest point of the war for the Brits.
Now the part of the speech that got my attention was the very end, and it goes as such,
“We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.”
WHAT!?! Are you kidding me? What kind of leader announces that there are plans to flee your homeland and hide overseas? He basically says that they can’t win on their own, that they need (at the time, neutral) American aid! Boy I’ll bet Brits everywhere felt pretty optimistic the next day, huh? That may very well be the least uplifting thing I’ve ever heard. Crazy drunk!
***
Videos anyone?
An couple of awesome up close videos of a solar flare. Super trippy.
Since I’ve been making a few Dylan references recently I figure another wouldn’t be out of place. This is a parody of D. A. Pennebaker’s 1960-something Dylan documentary Don’t Look Back. Clever, and frankly, very true to the original.
Yep we did it, we got engaged. We are very happy about it all. We are very grateful for everyone’s very kind words. Yes we are. Yes we are.
My fiancee and I are of like minds on this whole marriage thing. It is good and we are pleased. We are expecting good times ahead, yes we are.
We like rainbows, and sunrises, and sunsets of course. We like puppies and bunnies and smiley faces, yes we do.
We look forward to tandem bike rides, and two person inner tubing, and that two person shoulder sitting pool fighting thing.
Aaaaaaaand CUT!!!
Whew! There you go onlookers, the one and only example of Buzz and I being “those people”. WE will remain the two of us, thanks.
Anyway, I gotta say I’m really looking forward to this whole thing. The closer it got to actually asking Elizabeth (I knew I was gonna due it on our anniversary for several months) the more excited I got. Its funny, after years of really feeling kinda negative about the whole marriage thing, I sure feel good about it now that its set in motion. Gosh, maybe I shoulda asked years ago. Huh.
***
On a completely unrelated note. A great couple of comics.
So I happened to come across the Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World video for Israel Kamakawiwoʻole (better known as Bruddah Iz). Basically Bruddah Iz was a powerful musical force in Hawaii (or Hawai’i?) starting about 15 years ago. He was a mix of traditional and general ukulele goodness. Now I have to admit when I first heard the guy after mom moved to the islands I was a bit dismissive (you know A BIT), but I’ve kinda come around to the guy.
Now Iz died in 1997 of what can only be called morbid obesity, he was over 700 pounds at one point. When he died at 38 he was only the third person to be laid in state in Hawaii, and the only non-politician ever. Over 10,000 people attended his funeral, and his ashes were spread over the ocean.
So here we have a guy who died at what can only be considered a very young age, but his impact in a very short period was enormous. He helped reinvigorate a sense of pride in his culture, not to mention put out some jammin’ songs.
So was it necessary? Did he have to die young to have the impact that he did? Did Kurt Cobain? Joplin, Hendrix, Morrison? Were their deaths necessary to leave their works as tours-de-force?
I remember dad saying once that had Dylan died in that motorcycle accident in mid-1966 he would have been propelled to the level of musical godhood. I can’t say I disagree, he’d just put out Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde, and then gone on a European tour and played ELECTRIC rock and roll! This culminated in the famous scene at the Royal Albert Hall, per Wikipedia:
‘At the climax of the concert, one fan, angry with Dylan’s electric sound, shouted:
“Judas!” and Dylan responded, “I don’t believe you… You’re a liar!”
He turned to the band and, just within earshot of the microphone, said “Play it fucking loud!”‘
So would Dylan have a different musical legacy had he died then? Would the world be better off without “God what garbage Bob” of the late sixties? Would we be better off without “Christian Bob” of the late seventies and early eighties? Sure he’s putting out good stuff now, but it can only be good if has the heart of ‘64-’66. Would he have remained forever young like the rest had he died in 1966?
So is it worth it? Is a short influential life preferential to a long uninspiring one? Was Iz’s short unhealthy 38 years better than 80 healthy years with children and grandchildren?
Maybe it all depends on who you talk to. I imagine there are thousands of Hawaiians (and not) who have been truly moved to be better, and try harder by Bruddah Iz’s lyrics and politics, and for them, maybe the trade off was worth it. But was it for him or his wife? Would they have given it all up for another year?
I found myself pondering all this, realizing that its always time to appreciate, not so much what, but who you have. Because there’s nothing more important than friends and family, unless maybe you speak to thousands, and then I guess they’re family too.
Weeeee post number 2 of the day!
Let’s be guided by the hilarity of others (so I don’t have to use my brain).
I just discovered (as in the last 12 hours) this web comic.
Now the strip is fairly new and the guy actually has a day job (or did until a couple of days ago) so there’s only so many of these made so far. Still I’m gonna link to my four favorite:
God bless any archaic Bob Dylan related lore.
And of course…any excuse to play with (I mean utilize) firearms.
And here we have a kitschy little joke post about the original Star Trek’s famously hilarious “Trouble with Tribbles” episode. I was in tears halway though this thing!
So on an interesting blog note, my recent post about nurses having off color senses of humor got a whole bunch of links from of all things, humor websites. Basically these sites just scrape large blog collectives (WordPress, Blogger, etc.) and then return any results that match certain keywords. For example nurse, humor, laugh, and the like.
And voila, they picked up my little old blog. I ended up under the workplace humor section of all of them, which is at least a little ironic considering my subject. Anyway the funny thing is that the links still haven’t been removed, in fact another site just found me yesterday. I guess there is no actual person double checking the automated software. I mean what if this was a porn site that happened to have the same keywords? Man that is lazy.
“Any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae.“
-Kurt Vonnegut
Anyone out there know a nurse or two? Well guess what? Nurses have the worst sense of humor known. Not “bad” in the not funny sense, but bad in the “Oh my god I can’t believe you said that!” sense.
And the worst part, I’m starting to become one of them. True, most of us manage to keep the jokes within our little health care family, thus not allowing the general public to become aware, but still, Damn!
I mean we’re talking about “ha ha cancer”, “ha ha car crash” and “ha ha amputation” kinds of jokes. Don’t even get me started on the drug addicts that constitute fully 25-30% of our patients, although how anyone can be so jittery about IV’s when you spend every day sticking needles in your arm is beyond me (see, it’s infecting me too!).
I suppose its just an extension of general workplace gossip/stories, you know, like “so and so are totally hooking up”, or “our manager totally did such and such the other day”. But in a hospital it tends to cross whatever lines you can think of. Trust me, all you patients out there, we talk about you. It’s not always bad, in fact sometimes its very positive, but you’re gonna get talked about nonetheless. And if you’ve got something really gross, or something rare, or you’re a really crazy MoFo, you’re gonna get talked about for a really long time (oh, and if you have any connections with maggots, you may be talked about forever).
Just remember, most of us have been burned before. We’ve all been very sympathetic to someone in pain only to find out that they’re just in for a “morphine vacation”. We’ve all had a perfectly nice junkie start screaming at us once they can’t have anymore cookies because they’ve eaten all of them. We’ve all had some little old person throw something at us because they can’t remember where they are. We’ve all had to dodge punches from an enraged psychotic (the things they don’t tell you about sleeping pills).
So maybe that’s why we tell these horrible jokes. Maybe it keeps us from throwing up our hands with the whole mess. Some how the terrible diseases and out of control patients seem a bit less terrible and out of control if you can sit down as a group and laugh at them.
Still, any joke that starts…
“So we had this bariatric patient starting chemo…”
…is never gonna end well.
Pic of the post:
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