Friday, February 28, 2014

Nightshade At Night

I would be a liar if I said I previously knew much about Mike Oldfield apart from seeing occasional references to him here and there. While trolling Youtube for new things to love I came across this amazing piece by Oldfield. The original album version is seems slightly more acoustic and is slightly shorter, but this version from his 2005 album Light + Shade was a religious experience to hear from the first time it hit my ears and I have played it oft-times since then. Tonight while researching it a bit for this blog posting I discovered a not altogether insignificant explanation for why it sounds so good. Christopher von Deylen of Schiller collaborated on it lending his inimitable mark upon it doing the base and drums to Oldfield's guitar work. Enjoy!

West Coast Pinwheel

I've seen bigger storms approach California than this as viewed from NOAA GOES-8 satellite but I do not recall ever seeing one as photogenic and striking in structure and dramatic in form than this one approaching now. Image courtesy of NOAA.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Ruhe

Since I first heard "Ruhe" (Silence) by German electronica, trance, New-Age and world music wizard Schiller on the first Trance Allstars album Worldwide from 2000 I have been in love with it. I love the sumptuous sounds and beats of this track and what it says very much speaks to my heart and who I am at this point in my life. Below are the German lyrics you hear and their English translation.
"Das hochste Gluck auf Erden kommt
Sehr oft nur durch Einsamkeit in das Herz."

"Silence is the greatest joy on Earth
Very often comes into heart only because of loneliness"

Below the first player featuring the original and shortest version of this song are two remixes which are more suited to either those warnting to listen to dance tracks or whom are as addicted to this track as I am. The first remix is by Humate and is more of a chill-out version and which was featured in the second Trance Allstars album Synergy II in 2002 followed by the Ayla remix below that which is more danceable like the original version but is twice as long.





Tuesday, February 25, 2014

California Golden Hoard

A year ago this month the Saddle Ridge Hoard was discovered in California's Gold Country dating back to the 1890's and featuring gold coins mostly minted in San Francisco from the period 1847-1894. The gold coins were stored in eight metal cans holding a grand total of 1,427 coins of $5, $10, and $20 denominations totaling $27,980 in numismatic value. However, given that the coins are gold they are much, much more valuable and given the mint condition of most of them and rarity of many of them  therefore some of them might fetch as much as $1 million apiece. The couple who found the hoard on their property remains anonymous and their location unknown for obvious reasons. This is the largest gold coin hoard ever discovered in the United States.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Quote of the Day - Abraham Lincoln

Today I came across this quote from Abraham Lincoln (my favorite U.S. President) for the first time and immediately was struck with its wisdom. I have never really much cared for Lord Acton's much more famous statement about power and its effects upon Mankind as it is not always accurate whereas I feel this quote is nearly always accurate.
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Santa Margarita Ranch Wedding Train

Today I worked a wedding at Santa Margarita Ranch. The wedding party ordered up the ranch's train and crew for the festivities. Although this was not my first wedding there it was my first wedding there wherein the train was part of the package deal. Many people do not realize that the original Disneyland train had six cars and four of those original cars are to be found at Santa Margarita Ranch and two of them were used in today's train ride. The engine pulling this train came from a munitions plant somewhere in the Mid-West many years ago. 

All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Friday, February 21, 2014

Stormscapes Is #1

My friend Roxxfoxx posted this on Twitter today where I found it and was immediately entranced by both the stormscapes as well as the perfectly-matching musical score. Description of these scenes is located below the player.


"Feb. 19, 2014—The menacing, magnificent storm clouds of Wyoming come to swirling life in this time-lapse, "Stormscapes," by photographer Nicolaus Wegner. He braved lightning and the erratic fury of supercell storms to capture these images in the summer of 2013."

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Relatively Worthless Carbon

I knew much of this information already but this cleverly synthesizes it in such a fashion that I just decided I will NEVER give a woman a diamond engagement ring... I'll give her a ring with something not mined by De Beers that is more colorful and not price-inflated.

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Quote of the Day - Alan Moore

I previously encountered this marvelous quote from British graphic novel author Alan Moore (best known for authoring V Is For Vendetta) a few years ago but neglected to or was unable to determine at the time its author. Regardless, I loved it immediately as I grasped it's essential truth... that man is not in control and cannot be in control no matter how much he tries and no matter how much power the Tin Foil Hat crowd attributes to mysterious malevolent men. From that time until now I never really forgot it aside from forgetting the entirety of its specific wording. I was in a friendly online debate/discussion tonight and was reminded of this gem of wisdom. Now I don't at all agree with Moore in regards to the last sentence of the quote. The world is indeed rudderless in so far as much as man is concerned, but the world is not the least bit rudderless to its Creator who reigns sovereign in this universe.
"The main thing that I learned about conspiracy theory is that conspiracy theorists actually believe in a conspiracy because that is more comforting. The truth of the world is that it is chaotic. The truth is, that it is not the Jewish banking conspiracy or the grey aliens or the 12 foot reptiloids from another dimension that are in control. The truth is more frightening, nobody is in control. The world is rudderless."

Friday, February 14, 2014

Single's Awareness Day 2014

On this day of Singles Awareness here in the United States I note that I have been alive post-partum for 526 months and of those I have been alone and single for 495 months.

I am beginning to recognize and may have to accept that I might never again experience the sort of amazing multiple layers of love I felt for two different people in the 2000's which were my first serious forays into any sort of emotional intimacy and romance in my entire life. The first one was a one-sided emotional affair for me with an amazing (in so many ways) but also extremely messed up young woman (whom I loved so much it hurt) who did adore me as a dear friend (and we remain dear friends to this day). The other one was a rebound relationship from that first one and was also my first ever romantic relationship, period, and it was with someone half my age at the time.

Now that I am in my 40's I realize my youth is ending and I may never again experience youthful love and have it be requited and consummated. My life has been a strange and mostly solitary journey that I am grateful to be undertaking but it is periodically tinged with a bit of loneliness and longing for love. To quote Selina Kyle a.k.a. "The Cat Woman" in the movie The Dark Knight Rises, "I'm adaptable". I will endure and survive and I will derive profound meaning from my life. I do not need another person to complete me. However, I do desire a companion and compliment and help-meet and soul-mate and lover.

It is thoroughly untrue what they say about one not being able to miss what one has not experienced. I am painfully aware of what I feel I have missed and am missing now. I will be patient and wait for God's provision.... regardless of what He does or does not provide and when if at all. My solitude has forced me to become emotionally self-sufficient and I am developing into a complete person all by myself. This is a good consequence of my ongoing status.

On the flip side of this equation is the fact that God has not given me the gift of celibacy which for me is therefore an unnatural and unhealthy state of existence. Consequently, my ongoing celibacy is a white knuckle experience wherein I find myself daily holding on for dear life baring this cross all the while being naturally wired by God to be anything but this sort of person. I am in an ongoing quandary, but I will continue to trust God because things always seem to ultimately work out best when I do and not work out well when I do not.

Going back to the wonderful cinematic character of Selina Kyle as portrayed masterfully by Anne Hathaway, she clearly is emotionally self-sufficient and rather cynical about men and relationships and seems to have given up on relationships apart from using men. Yet, by the end of the movie she has unexpectedly met her match and her soul-mate in the form of her nominal nemesis. Let's see if I receive an unexpected and wonderful surprise from God in the form of someone as equally well-matched to me as that fictional union.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Sunset Above The Clouds

My big sis by another mother, Linsis, found this and posted it on Twitter a little while ago... provenance unknown, author unknown, but titled "Sunset Above The Clouds" and clearly captured from an aircraft at a tropical latitude.

Are Liberals Inherently Racist?

One of my white, female, knee-jerk Liberal acquaintances on Facebook posted the graphic below on her Wall which I found just a short time ago. Upon seeing it I was amazed and stupefied by its contents from start to finish. This is so rich that it seems almost cartooonishly Onion-esque... but it's fer realz! In its caption below I respond to its contents.

"Genetically-inherited ignorance and racism"? WOW, what could be more racist than that? How is that any less racist than the Bell Curve or suggestions that black people are genetically predisposed to crime generally and/or sexual aggression on white females specifically? If this doesn't confirm and conform to the concept of perception-as-reality I can't imagine what could.  "Smartest" president? Smarter than Bill Clinton? I trow not! "Overwhelmingly loved" by what majority? Talk about a Liberal wet dream! Whoever wrote this was smoking crack. That is simply not supported by any reasonable approximation of reality. Obama is not our first African-American president... he's our first self-identifying African-American president but grew up white (his friends knew him as "Barry") and then when he decided to re-brand himself for political reasons he was such an Oreo that in order to acquire Honorary Blackness he had to attend an Angry Black Church for 20 years and be pastored by its racist pastor who also presided over the ceremony for his marriage to his racist wife. It is also self-aggrandizing racism to suggest that to deign to disagree with this insidious man is somehow inherently racist... but I suppose that since Liberals can't win on the facts they have to play the race card which they invariably end up chronically doing since they can't win most debates on the facts anyway.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Live The Life

This afternoon while hitching a ride with my buddy Kameron I heard "Viva La Vida" (trans: "Live The Life") by the British band Coldplay playing on his smart phone through his pickup's speakers. I had forgotten about this song of late, but loved this 2008 modern rock classic from the moment I first heard a short clip of it from the pre-release hype leading up to its hitting the airwaves. I not only love its sumptuous sound but being a lover of history and theology and the like the lyrics stimulate my mind and soul with its rather haunting existentialist elements. The visual component of the music video itself is also rather stirring and stimulating as it features the texture of the entire surface of the field of view being crackled like an old painting. Below the music player are aforementioned the lyrics provided for your edification.



I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own

I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"

One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand

I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field

For some reason I can't explain
Once you go there was never
Never an honest word
And that was when I ruled the world

It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn't believe what I'd become

Revolutionaries wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh, who would ever wanna be king?

I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field

For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh

I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field

For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

Monday, February 10, 2014

View Atop Atascadero's Pine Mountain

Today I hiked Pine Mountain in Atascadero for the first time this year. I also took my new Canon EOS Rebel digital camera (one of my Christmas gifts from mom) out with me for its maiden voyage and with it captured these images. My focus today was top of the mountain and the view from there. The sun was unseasonably intense, the sky was washed off from the recent rains as was the long-dusty land which today was germinating its grasses and other annuals en masse. However, given that this germination has only now just begun in this second week of February, therefore the landscape across California is inordinately brown to dull gray as opposed to verdantly green as would be typical this time of year. Another thing that was evident on this walk was the fact that despite the rain totals we received late last week in the year's first significant storm (or rather, first storm PERIOD!) the land seems to have sucked up the water as I did not encounter the mud that I would have expected to find on the mountain and its flanks.

The view northwest from the northern-most rampart of the mountain. Note the original downtown at center.
Detail of the original downtown including the Rotunda Building and the Carlton Hotel as well as Masonic Lodge and Atascadero Junior High School.
Very top of the Pine Mountain as viewed from the north looking south at the end of the ascent.
View from the top looking northwest. Note the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey marker in foreground.
Very top of the Pine Mountain as viewed from the south looking north at the beginning of the decent.
Pine Mountain now features a marked and maintained trail system.
View looking south from the central rampart which forms the joint in  the L-shaped ridge line atop the mountain.
Another view looking south from the central rampart of the mountain. Note the main drag of town and Chalk Mountain.
View looking southeastward from the central rampart. Note the monstrous brown terror at right know as Tequila.
The most dramatic remaining evidence to be found atop the mountain of the wildfire here in August, 1997, is this blackened stump.
Tequila angling for a kiss beneath the mistletoe.
Remember the South Slide Bowl? Any respectable Atascadero childhood involved sliding down this drainage's steepest part at least once... preferably following a rain or hail storm but I did it dry-assed one time. Remember that Jon Marsh?
View from the easternmost rampart overlooking my old neighborhood. Note the sewage treatment plant ponds, the railroad tracks and the X formed by the tracks and Curbaril Ave.
Vulcan Mesa horse farm has been largely replaced with a vineyard.
The main trail leading down into the bowl or to the trailhead directly depending on the route taken.
All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Breaking Bad Look Back

I do believe that I have somehow neglected to share with you my utter addiction to the legendary television series Breaking Bad which ended last year on AMC. I was late to the game when my friend/neighbor/landlord/nemesis Mark Wiberg convinced me to watch this show I had seen advertisements for since it first aired and utterly hated based upon the basic premise of the show. How wrong I was and how fortunately I am to have crammed through the series in a matter of several weeks just in time for the series finale last Fall. I now own the series on DVD and still think about it. In another posting here later I will share with you why I feel the show is so wonderful and indeed, important.

For those of you who lurk or prowl (or rampage if you're like me) on Facebook you have surely noticed by now these new "look back" videos which using various algorithms automatedly determine one's most important posts and pictures and such and fabricate said videos which are about a minute long. In a tongue-in-cheek ode to Breaking Bad the following video was put together by Faceook to celebrate its 10th annversary. For more on this read HERE. Enjoy!

Sylmar Quake Anniversary!

Forty-three years ago this morning the Sylmar Quake a.k.a., the San Fernando Earthquake, rocked Southern California. For those of you who remember it or who weren't born yet and missed it you are invited to watch this contemporary documentary about it created by the then-President's Office of Emergency Preparedness and the Civil Defense Preparedness Agency.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

A Salacious Greek Yogurt Spill

Even if you don't have any knowledge of the 1980's into 1990's hit television series Full House you can still appreciate the most basic level of humor in this television commercial which requires no explanation. This ad features the most handsome of the trio of males who starred in the show, to wit, John Stamos, who is flirtatiously eating yogurt with an unknown hot-looking woman. The second level of humor is his interaction with the other two male leads of the program who scoldingly and maternally "cock-block" his efforts to score with the woman.

Friday, February 7, 2014

My Favorite Russian

I immediately noticed Russian tennis phenom Maria Sharapova when she first caught the world's attention at Wimbledon in 2004 when she was the ripe age of sweet 17 and I was immediately besotted by her. She carried herself in a fashion that clearly demonstrated courage (she faced two-time defending champion Serena Williams) and maturity (beyond her years)  and strength (all types) and intelligence (outsmarted Serena) and class (which contrasted her with her opponent) and a certain sexual purity and power (she's avoided controversy and notoriety and she certainly is rather easy on the eyes isn't she?). The only thing she managed to accomplish at that time was upset the heavily-favored American juggernaut Serena Williams (whom I've always disliked ~ she's a low-class diva) in the final that year and take the Wimbledon women's crown. She's been a beast ever since (when she's healthy). I understand and respect her patriotism to her motherland, but given its identification with Vladimir Putin, whom I utterly abhor, it places me in a somewhat conflicted place... therefore, I'll stop thinking about it and just ogle her some more in this image above and say a prayer to God of thanks for creating beautiful young women.  Note: some people are simply photogenic and others are not and it has nothing to do with physical beauty or homeliness. In Sharapova's case she's both beautiful and photogenic as the above image of her at last night's Sochi Winter Olympics opening ceremony effectively demonstrates as she looks like a mythical Valkyrie. Image courtesy of AFP/Getty Images (all rights reserved).

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Musik To Invade Moskau By

I have loved the song "Moskau" by the German industrial metal band Rammstein since first I heard it. True, I do not understand most German and Russian which are both heard in this song as Rammstein frontman Till Lindemann is the male voice heard singing in German and Viktoria Fersh is the backup female  vocals heard singing in Russian.

Note: Lindemann has the most bad-ass voice ever to sing in German (or any language for that matter). Language barriers notwithstanding, the sound of the song is certainly stirring to the point of being the perfect music to invade Russia by.

Note: Rammstein also created the perfect song to invade Poland by HERE. The official music video for this song can be viewed HERE. I certainly find it interesting from a historic standpoint and it intellectually stimulates me. However, emotionally-speaking for some reason(s) I love listening to this song while watching this sequence of clips from the electronic game "Hellgate: London".

The Quake I Missed

This M4.1 earthquake (represented by the large, red box above) struck off the coast of San Luis Obispo County shortly before noon today about 9 miles south-southwest of San Simeon. It was felt by many throughout the area including here in the North County, but not by me nursing my flu while safely situated within my house here in Paso Robes, CA.  I find earthquakes fascinating and enjoy feeling them and feel deprived when I miss feeling one like this. I suppose I should be careful of what I wish for, eh? I extend my thanks for my older sister by another mother, Linsis, who acquired this image from a screenshot for me until I can figure out how to do that myself.

Otherworldy Subterranean Dreamscape

This morning I first became aware of a series of amazing images. surrealistically H.R. Giger-esque, captured by an intrepid young Russian photographer in an abandoned salt mine complex several hundred feet under the city of Yekaterinburg, Russia. The mineral responsible for staining these salt deposits is one that before today I do not ever recall seeing or hearing ought of, to wit, Carnallite. For further details and additional photographs for this set visit HERE.
All photographs by Mikhail Mishainik (all rights reserved).

Scripture of the Day - The Stand

Earlier tonight I finished watching, for the very first time, the second half of the made-for-television movie "The Stand" adapted from Stephen King's novel by the same name. The relevance of this factoid here is that the very title (an apt title for the work I might add) caught my attention. It brought to my mind the fact that in Ephesians in Ch.6:10-18 (glibly known by some in Christian circles as the  "varsity wrestling" passage) Paul the Apostle uses the word "stand" three times and "withstand" once. Metaphorically-speaking I have not been "standing" enough lately and this spiritual malaise and complacency is reflected in the dearth of postings in this blog that relate to my spiritual life. This is ending tonight!
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the complete armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the tactics of the Enemy. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against wicked authorities, against evil power structures, against the rules of the darkness of this world, against supernatural wickedness in the spiritual realm. Therefore, put on the complete armor of God so that you may be able to endure in the evil day and having done all you can, make your stand. Stand therefore, wearing your belt and the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparedness of the Good News of peace; foremost of all, taking hold of the shield of faith with which you shall be able to turn back the fiery projectiles of the Enemy. And use the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is a word FROM God. Praying in the Spirit constantly and diligently making supplication for all the brethren:"
~ Ephesians 6:10-18 (Kimicus ad Absurdum translation)

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Jeremiah's Lamentation ~ My Lamentation - Pt. 2

Last November in this blog I posted PART ONE of this two-part series. Tonight I will cover the second part of the passage in question, to wit, Lamentations 3:22-47. By way of review I repeat my previous preface.

Back in the time of my wandering in the wilderness (biblically, metaphorically-speaking) during my 20's and much of my 30's I was lost inside my own head and lost from the world as I suffered under the heavy burden and dark oppression of mental illness and spiritual desolation. This was the direct result of  both spiritual as well as social things in my environment such as my father's untimely death when I was 15 and then losing Grandpa McGee when I was 18 just three years later which makes this time of year difficult. All the while I was dealing with the social drama on both sides of my family (and within it my immediate family) along with all the crap that comes with coming of age at that time. The real topper on this story was my having God actively in my life yet wanting little to do with Him. This placed me in direct conflict with the Him which is never a great idea.

There were multiple levels of environmental causation for this as well as spiritual causation from my losing my dad and not having any males in the family step in and be my mentor and father figure to my being under God's reproof for my pride, stubbornness, idleness, selfishness, and unthankfulness. My mental illness took the form of major depressive disorder, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder that I know of and perhaps others I don't yet realize.

I have turned back to God and I am doing ever better on all fronts, spiritual, mental-emotional-psychological, physical, social, academic, etc. This is not to say I don't experience up and downs and plateaus and an occasional two-steps-backward-to-get-three-steps-forward any different than anybody else. However, at least I am in a consistently healthy place yet with room to improve in some areas that continue to bedevil me and yet I am still ever growing and evolving.

On a morning a month ago at church I found myself reading my Bible in the cafe and opened to this passage and was blown away by it as it caused me to recall that dark place I know so well but have not been in for some time now. I am dividing this up into two parts for the sake of functionality on this blog and ease of perusal for you, the reader. The FIRST PART offered an insight into the place I was during those dark years, a place which I realize others have been in although in a different context and for a different purpose. This sequel offers the upshot resolution to my ongoing story, to wit, what I had to do to get back on track with God.
"It is of God's manifold mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassion fails not.

They are renewed every morning: how great is your faithfulness.

The Lord is my portion, I say to myself; therefore will I hope in Him.

The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him.

It advantages a person to both hope in and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.

It is beneficial that a person bear their yokes in the time of their youth.

They sit in silent solitude, because He hath laid this yoke upon them.

They put their face in the dirt, if yet there may be hope.

They offer their cheek to them that smite it: they are fully reproached.

For the Lord will not cast us away forever: but though He inflicts grief upon us, yet will He show compassion according to his manifold mercies.

For He does not enthusiastically cause harm to people.

Crushing underfoot those in bondage in the Earth, depriving people of justice before God, and defrauding people in their endeavors, the Lord does not approve.

Who says anything at all and it happens when God has not commanded it thus?

Out of God's mouth proceeds not things both bad and good?

Why do the living complain about the punishment of their sins?

Let us examine ourselves and  judge our ways and turn back to God.

May we offer upward our hearts to God in the heavens.

We have transgressed and rebelled and you have not pardoned us.

You have enveloped us in your anger and persecuted us: you have killed us seemingly without pity.

You have obscured yourself from us as if with a cloud so that our prayer should not reach you.

You have relegated us to the status of scum and garbage in the eyes of other people.

All of our enemies have criticized us.

Fear and hazard has come upon us, desolation and destruction."

~Lamentations 3:22-47 (Kimicus ad Absurdum translation)

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Model Leadership Tried By Fire

I was sent a link to this via email earlier today and was immediately and throughout struck by the effective calm demeanor and leadership of Boise, Idaho, Fire Chief Dennis Doan. Going by the unit designator "Battalion Two" his command SUV contained a Go-Pro camera behind the windshield and pointed forward which we are watching for most of this video. At the 12:07 mark the video switches to a different Go-Pro camera view of the same events from a camera mounted on a fire captain's helmet located on the "Charlie" side of the house (rear of the house).

I realize that in certain situations people need a leader than forcefully yells and gesticulates and physically imposes himself or herself into a situation. Probably this is most often true in situations where those being led are not performing up to their potential or things are not going their way and they need helping focusing and remaining motivated.

However, in this situation these firefighters were professionals and doing their jobs as they were trained and everything was going according to plan. Even when something went wrong somebody as a result of their training and vigilance anticipated it and sounded the alarm within a minute of disaster and narrowly avoided a tragedy for that fire department and community.

I really enjoy listening to this guy calmly trust his people to do their jobs while not micromanaging the situation and upstaging those fire officers below him. He simply sits back and does his job which is to let his people do their jobs while he essentially functions as the dignified maestro of this professional ensemble of firefighters.

The Best Cop Stop Ever

The youthful, candy-assed, know-it-all, know-nothing polyannas (Shane, Blake, & Warren) who hoped to be the stars of this recording ended up being thoroughly owned by this most gracious and professional police officer whom they had hoped to provoke into a viral video incident.

Kudos to Albany, Oregon, Police Officer Jim Estes who displayed not only class and intelligence but dare I say a great bit of leadership as well?

Additional assessments of this video can be found HERE and HERE.

Monday, February 3, 2014

My Top 12 Favorite 2014 Super Bowl Ads

This year's Super Bowl XLVIII advertisements in the aggregate were a bit off in comparison to a year ago. However, there were some real gems again and here is my Top Ten list which is actually a bit more than that.

Check out my Top Ten List from Super Bowl XLVII HERE.and Super Bowl LXIX Here.



Audi "Doberhuahua"


Radio Shack "In With The New"


Kia "Matix"


Toyota "Muppets"



GoDaddy "BodyBuilder"


Doritos "Finger Cleaner"


Coca~Cola "Going All The Way"


Axe "Make Love, Not War"


Seinfeld "Reunion"



Jaguar "British Villains 'Rendezvous'"


Volkswagon "Angels Wings"


Chrysler "Bob Dylan"

Sunday, February 2, 2014

A Rather Haunting Sintel

I came across this animated short film "Sintel" tonight quite by accident. I was checking out a Tiesto music video made by a fan and it featured what I thought was a video game at first until I saw it named in the associated peanut gallery. I love how it was written and animated alike. This is a rather haunting story that will make you think a little bit more than you'd expect from something in this medium.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

I'm So Gay.... For Myself!

I saw this posted on The Dish blog this afternoon and was charmed by it.... TRUTH!

I Miss You... Who I Haven't Yet Met

Once again I find myself compelled to share with you a Schiller gem of a song ("I Miss You" with Maya Saban from their 2003 album Leben) and accompanying music video which features a lot of images from California. Not only are the images wondrous and magical to the point of mystical and the vocals by Maya Saban being most soulful but the lyrics to this really speak to my soul  at this point in my life. The speaker or thinker of this poem set to sound is suggesting they miss a great love whom they have yet to encounter... and so it is with me I dare say.



I miss you - where are you now
I miss you - where have you gone
I miss you - waiting my hole life for you
I miss you - but I never met you yet

I miss you - I believe in dreams
I miss you - I believe in you
I miss you - wouldn't even recognize
I miss you - but I never met you yet

I miss you - I believe in dreams
I miss you - I believe in you
I miss you - wouldn't even recognize
I miss you - but I never met you yet


Lyrics courtesy of LyricsFreak.