I re-discovered and fell in love with Davy Jones again when I saw that he was the voice behind our favorite Sandra Boynton song, I Want to be Your Personal Penguin.
I’ve always thought that one would be lucky in life to meet someone that makes you want to sing this song to them. We should all be so lucky to have our own personal penguins.
RIP Davy Jones.
… recently, and for the time being.
I have never been addicted to anything. Not even to love. That’s the tragic burden I have to bear as someone who can never seem to manage to stick to anything. But once in a while, I have passionate, obsessive affairs with some things that abruptly break into my consciousness to command all my attention, and then leave soon afterwards just as abruptly.
As a piece of evidence to the above tragic character flaw of mine, I present to you, The Ukulele.
It showed up from Amazon.com last August. Was used as a prop in several pictures. And then… sadly, it along with the instruction book and CD, was never to be seen again… until last month when I traveled with it all the way to San Francisco for a team building event, and then back, without once taking it out of its bag.
On the night of February 10, I jumped on the Linsanity wagon and stayed up the WHOLE night to follow New York Knicks’ win over Lakers. I was gaga over Jeremy Lin, and all the lin-puns that ensued.
Hey, if even Spike Lee caught the fever, who was I to pretend to be cool, right?
That weekend I had a lot of fun with Jeremy Lin Word Generator (of course!), and below is my favorite:
Actually, I’d like all of you to start calling me Linja from now on. In return, I will give you the awesome Dynamic Einstein Caption Generator: Have Einstein write anything you want on the blackboard! Yeah, naturally I had fun for a while with Einstein also.
My obsession this weekend? Quicken. Yup. Turns out that I have not reconciled my bank statement on Quicken since… drum roll please… September 2009, interestingly coincided with the time when I started getting to know the blogging community… You guys are a bad influence, you know that (and are probably proud of it too). I am now up to October 2010. Pray for me.
There is one thing that I should be more obsessed with but haven’t got around to it:
Sleep.
I am going to give it a try right now.
I came across this quote again tonight on the Interwebs, and it made me weepy.
I know this sounds extremely pretentious but sometimes late at night I am overcome by a sadness from remembering that Kurt Vonnegut is dead.
I truly miss him.
Many people need desperately to receive this message: ‘I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone.
There are plenty of good reasons for fighting, but no good reason ever to hate without reservation, to imagine that God Almighty Himself hates with you, too.
Where is home? I’ve wondered where home is, and I realized, it’s not Mars or someplace like that, it’s Indianapolis when I was nine years old. I had a brother and a sister, a cat and a dog, and a mother and a father and uncles and aunts. And there’s no way I can get there again.
As Jon Stewart said to him in the 2005 interview, what strikes me, and moves me the most, is the “inherent decency” in Vonnegut’s characters which often feels like a true reflection of Vonnegut as a person.
This post is completely random. Anyway, just thought some of you may appreciate these words from him. If there are other quotes by him that you love, I would really appreciate it if you share them with me in the comment.
xxoo
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Kurt Vonnegut | ||||
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p.s. Here is an old post of mine with “15 Things Kurt Vonnegut Said Better Than Anyone Else Ever Has Or Will ” (that I did not write)
Or you can watch her in action.
Or you can read her words in plain text:
There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. You built a factory out there? Good for you. But I want to be clear: you moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for; you hired workers the rest of us paid to educate; you were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn’t have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory, and hire someone to protect against this, because of the work the rest of us did. Now look, you built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea? God bless. Keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.
Just admit it. You've wanted to say this many many times...
I got something from The Husband last night. Something I believe that will allow him to forget my birthday this year. Honey, you are already forgiven!
THE best baby book ever. Really. If you know someone who just had a baby, or who is going to have a baby, RUN, don’t walk, and order this book for them. They will love you for it.
And it is possible that you may be saving their sanity.
If you have gone through this, the so-called sleep training, you probably have said this, nay, SCREAMED this inside your head, many many time.
WHY won’t you just SHUT THE FUCK UP and GO TO SLEEP?!
Yeah. That.
Then you probably felt guilty for screaming inside your head at your kid.
Yeah. That too.
Well, I hope this book will help absolve the sense of guilt you feel from time to time. No. You are not alone in feeling this way.
The Husband and I also really bounded overnight by staging dramatic readings of this book. I have to say, he did an awesome job in expressing the frustration. I did not realize he’s a method actor esp. when he was saying all the F word in his reading. Very convincing. Mine? Not so much.
Just when I thought this could not have been even more awesomer. Guess what? They have an audio version of this. Professionally done of course. Go ahead and guess who is the narrator.
Guess!
Ok. Fine. I will give you a hint.
Get out of here! Right? For real? For realz.
Dear Internet, I love you. That is all.
Now… for THE. BEST. THING. THAT’S. HAPPENED. ON. THE. INTERNET. Since yesterday when the world was given NPH’s opening number at the Tony Award.
Now, you know what I am going to say right?
Yup. Imma gonna go the fuck to sleep myself.
Tony Awards.
As a quote unquote Theatre Person (Notice how I spell Theatre the “wrong” way? Yeah, that’s the sign I AM a theatre person) who nevertheless has been living so far away from the epicenter of theatrical creativity aka NYC, I always find Tony Awards a bitter sweet event. Wishing does not bring about peace. Let me just put it this way. Still, once in a year, I bask in the glory, vicariously through television broadcast and now more than ever YouTube, of the community of thespians.
I will shut up now so you could watch the opening performance at the Tony Awards last night. NPH. “Broadway: It’s not just for gays anymore!” FUCK YEAH AWESOME!
Tru dat! And while we are at it, shouldn’t somebody go and sign him up to host the next Oscar now too?! Oh, what am I saying? Just sign him up for everything already!
p.s. I have to thank Brahm for posting this video first!
Have you ever seen mean comments left by irate YouTubers for people who videotapes the television as a show was going on and uploaded the footage of that onto YouTube?
“Hey loser. Why are you taping your own TV and then put that on YouTube?!”
I am a loser so I take pictures of magazines that I read and I post them on the Interweb…
Rarely did I take one look at The Economist and burst out laughing...
The Economist can be raunchy, and it has a sense of humor. Who knew?!
Hey, at least they refrained from using the picture of the now famous "bulge"... The ending of this article titled, The Weiner War, (of course), once again showed The Economist can be raunchy, IF they want to.
"THE earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident that struck Japan three months ago have revealed something important about the country: a seam of strength and composure in the bedrock of society that has surprised even the Japanese themselves."
“THE earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident that struck Japan three months ago have revealed something important about the country: a seam of strength and composure in the bedrock of society that has surprised even the Japanese themselves.”
To me, this picture chosen by The Economist to accompany this article, says so much about what is quintessential and unique about Japan. From the “light-hearted” (as much as one could in this situation) reference to the ubiquitous 7 Eleven, to a quiet, subtle display of the much-vaunted attention to efficiency, adaptability, cleanliness, orderliness, and personal appearances (Notice how the mother looks much more put together than I am on a daily basis, and in such chaos and under such duress…)
And then read these two stories of exemplary spirits:
24-year-old Miki Endo, who used the loudspeaker system in Minamisanriku, a fishing port close to the focus of the 9.0 earthquake, to urge residents to do what they could to escape the incoming tsunami. She drowned at her post. Television footage shows the rising sea approaching, with her haunting voice echoing over the waves…
One fisherman tells of the four days he spent clearing the wreckage of his village, with no knowledge of the whereabouts of his eldest son. When his son eventually appeared, walking down off the mountain after a long cross-country trek to reach his parents, the two wiped tears from their eyes but did not say a word to each other. The son did not wish to disturb his father’s toil.
All the world is watching, holding their breath, especially their neighbors in Asia, because, as some commentators in the news media in China, India and Taiwan have said, If the Japanese people, with all their disciplines, their perseverance, their technological know-hows, their attention to details and rules, cannot pull through, we are all doomed when the same thing happens on our soil.
Did you hear about the National Jukebox project unveiled by the Library of Congress earlier this month?
When I heard it on NPR, I was so excited I almost crashed my car into the truck with a Calvin peeing sticker in front of me.
The National Jukebox is, according to NPR,
“the largest collection of historical recordings ever made publicly available online.”
The new website provides access to more than 10-thousand historical recordings for free on a streaming-only basis – no downloads. It covers the first quarter of the twentieth century and includes music, poetry, political speeches and other spoken word recordings. Right now, it only includes recordings made by the Victor Talking Machine Company, which Sony controls. The project is also a collaboration with the University of California, Santa Barbara – and its Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Records – which is helping to create a searchable database for every recording in the National Jukebox.
I am so happy that the big shots over at Sony decided to grant the access to and sharing of the recordings they own. This is a truly amazing treasure trove of historical records that one could spend a lot of time on, just by randomly browsing the catalogue.
Popular music (3585)
Ethnic music (1525)
Opera (1366)
Classical music (1223)
Ethnic characterizations (729)
Humorous songs (613)
Ragtime, jazz, and more (603)
Religious (486)
Comedies (222)
Monologues, dialogues, and recitations (205)
Descriptive specialties (133)
Blues (112)
Ethnic spoken word (94)
Traditional/Country (73)
Whistling (62)
Speeches (35)
Yodeling (32)
Spoken word (13)
Some of these categories intrigued me: “Ethnic spoke word”. “Ethnic characterizations”. Remember, these were from the first quarter of the 20th century and we all know what it was like back then. Therefore, the LOC posts this warning on every single page:
WARNING: Historical recordings may contain offensive language.
and the full disclaimer says:
These selections are presented as part of the record of the past. They are historical documents which reflect the attitudes, perspectives, and beliefs of different times. The Library of Congress does not endorse the views expressed in these recordings, which may contain content offensive to users.
Good times, eh?
My favorite feature has got to be the Jukebox Day by Day. You select a date, and out pop the available recordings made on the said date. Naturally, I tried my birthday.
By Paul Whiteman Orchestra recorded on July 11, 1924. I was truly not born then. (For once, I am being honest about my birth year…). And it was composed none other than George Gershwin.
How amazing that we now have free and open access to the following recording, with George Gershwin himself playing the piano?
By Paul Whiteman Concert Orchestra, recorded on June 10, 1924.
Technology rocks. Internet is awesome.
I know it is kind of lame to keep on writing posts about how I am totally swamped and apologizing for MIA. I am being a selfish blogger at this moment: all taking and no giving back. I am compelled to write this post because I want to use this quote:
“I’ve got my country’s five hundredth anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder, and Guilder to frame for it. I’m swamped.”
Prince Humperdinck, as quoted by William @ Poop and Boogies
It’s ok though because I have told William that Imma gonna steal this quote. Because it is way cooler than putting up this picture on my homepage.
And now I am going to encourage all of your who are also under the water, barely hanging on to your multitasking sanity to steal this quote and post it on your blog.
We have a gorgeous day here in Chicago. In the 80s. I took a water taxi this morning to the new office.
I was on a friggin’ boat!
This song really was what I was humming the whole time I was on the water taxi boat.
(Note to self: Do NOT show this to your kids. Too late I guess. Now let’s hope they heed your warning of not repeating the bad words…)
Ok. I will come 100% clean. I am posting (instead of writing a check to IRS for the fines associated with our 2009 filing) because I want to pimp this video below…
Yesterday April 26 was Shakespeare’s birthday, well, it was the day he was baptized. Nobody knows the exact date when he was born but traditionally it was celebrated on April 23. I can tell you that on either day there was no Google Doodle for him and “Shakespeare” was not on the Twitter trending topic list.
So there’s that.
I did celebrate yesterday by playing with this randomizer for Shakespeare’s insults: The Shakespearean Insulter
And I have been trying to memorize as many of the insults as I could. You never know when one will come in handy.
Idol of idiot-worshippers!
Be put in a cauldron of lead and usurer’s grease, amongst a whole million of cutpurses, and there boil like a gammon of bacon that will never be enough.
We leak in your chimney.
Thou cockered onion-eyed clack-dish!
Thou art essentially a natural coward without instinct.
Thou froward common-kissing scut!
Thou odiferous dizzy-eyed fustilarian!
Thou qualling elf-skinned foot-licker!
Thou puny lily-livered death-token!
Thou loggerheaded fat-kidneyed pumpion!
Thou roguish fat-kidneyed horn-beast!
Thou dissembling folly-fallen hedge-pig!
Thou bawdy earth-vexing whey-face!
Thou paunchy bat-fowling apple-john!
I will be getting up at 4 am to take the first flight out for yet another business trip. A pox upon thee!
While I am away, please try and memorize as many of Shakespeare’s gems and use them on each other.
For the Bard: This is one of the most revealing scenes about the power of theatre I have seen. (And it is from my favorite TV show ever Sports Night. I am still waiting for it to come back the way I am waiting for a chance to see Freddie Mercury live…)
I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.
— Oscar Wilde, himself a gifted word master excelling at the art of insult