Mystery by Selah

I don't dance or juggle, but I DO play guitar, sing and write songs. The Elephant's Child recently took a brave step and put some of her poems on a blog. I think she's a lot like me in that it was NOT an easy thing to do (i.e. putting it all out there for people to view). I was also encouraged by an old (mid 40's, heh heh) friend to post some of my work and then there's Jason, who doesn't seem to shy about posting his work (which is also, sometimes, my work).

I'll start out with me singing a song by Selah in church a few years ago. It's not a professional recording--just my son with our video camera. But I love this song and will probably sing it at Christmas every year as long as I have a chance. In the future, I'll post some of my original recordings. There are a few bad notes here. Maybe you'll notice them.

I should also mention that the pianist is my wonderful mother-in-law.

BMG is Shutting Down

I'm a music nut. I cannot get enough and I do whatever I can to bargain shop for music the same way my wife has become an expert at getting clothes from Goodwill. One of my sources has been BMG's Music club--which is shutting down.

Back when I first signed up, I got something like 12 CD's for free (well, sort of--plus shipping). After that I had to accept or decline their monthly offers with no requirement to ever purchase a CD again. Sure, the regular price for a CD was nearly twice as much as you'd normally pay for it, but you usually had a deal where you received three or four free CDs (plus shipping) with your purchase. Shipping was outrageous, but by the time you were done you were only out around $5.00 a disc--not bad.

It was great while it lasted, but it's coming to an end very soon. So, now I need to cash out on 8 "free" CDs and be done with it. The only other issue with BMG was their selection. Usually, if it was well known, they'd have it a few months after it was released. But if you were looking for something a little more obscure (and "Obscure" is my middle name), good luck. I couldn't find anything from jazz legend Dave Brubeck or powerpop innovators Electric Light Orchestra, but I could pick up a quality CD from Sheena Easton. W'hoo!

Anyway, I'll make my last purchases today and that will be the end of it. These may be the last CDs I purchase as these days I'd rather download the mp3.

Church Surfing

I'm an iPod Touch owner--and I'm addicted to it. But while I use it for a lot of fun activities, I also use it to read the bible. At first, I started doing this because it was techy and I love techy things, but it's REALLY handy. If you have an iPod Touch or iPhone, just go to the moble version of www.biblegateway.com and you'll never go back.

I actually use this in church. One of the many great things about the iPod Touch or iPhone is that it doesn't have buttons and you can use it without bringing much (or any) attention to yourself.

So, yesterday I went to look up something in the book of "Jude" that my pastor referred to during the message. However, Apple has built in this usually handy tool to correct your spelling with popular words from the English language. So, instead of looking up "Jude" I was looking up "Nude" online...at church (even though I typed, "Jude.")

Thankfully it only looked up "Nude" as it appeared in the New American Standard Version of the bible. Thank G....I mean, thankfully.

Cake Wrecks Revisited

I'm sure that I've stated before that I'm a fan of the Cake Wrecks blog. While many of them are funny, I particularly like it when the cake decorators just don't "get it" when carrying out the wishes of the customers.

For instance, let's say that it's Jason's birthday and he means a lot to you. You call up your local cake decorator and tell him/her that you need a cake that says, "Happy Birthday, Jason" and that it's kind of a rush order. So, you tell them that there's a big tip in it for the company if it's done before 12 on the day you need it. The person who takes your message writes down something like this, "Happy Birthday Jason. Big tip if it's there before 12" and you end up with this...



That same kind of thinking gives you cakes like this...


And my personal favorite...


I've actually told my wife that I went my 40th birthday cake to say, "Happy Birthday Insert Name Here! Fireworks Explosion."

A Couple Clampett Moments

First off, I was trying to "Follow" someone's blog by subscribing to it and I accidentally subscribed to my own blog. So, now I can follow my blog for updates--how convenient.

Secondly, I had a classic Clampett moment the other day when bringing home a bunk bed set from the Goodwill store. My wife is a highly skilled Goodwill shopper and managed to find a bunk bed set the other day for the girls (for less than $40). However, it was too big for her to take home, so she made arrangements to have me pick it up later in the day.

Thankfully, my friend Carl (also known as Toni's husband and the only Bengals fan that I know--but that has nothing to do with this post) let me use his truck and I was able to get everything loaded with the help of a very friendly Goodwill associate. It was a very windy evening (I think there was a wind advisory that night) and the bed could not be taken apart easily, so I was ok with bringing it home assembled. It was a bit tall, but fit fine in the truck bed. The wind was strong enough that I elected to put my hand out the back window to hold onto the bed just in case. I drove well under the speed limit and made it home fine.

When I went to unload the bed, I noticed that there were two unattached railings (the guards that keep you from falling off of the bed) made up metal sitting on the top bed frame. THEY WERE JUST SITTING THERE--ATTACHED TO NOTHING. I cannot believe I made it all the way home, down a VERY busy street without them flying off and getting destroyed (and, perhaps, killing someone in the process).

What Do Dogs Dream About?

Apparently, this one was running in a race...or running from an attacker.



Note: I pulled this from FAILblog.org. I know that some of you are fans. Just note that some of the stuff on the site goes a bit overboard. Enjoy.

Sales Cliches - Part 2

As promised, here's another really weird sales cliche overheard at work (just seconds ago)...

"Sometimes you just got to go in there and take a bite of the $&!+ sandwich. It doesn't taste good, but..."

Honestly, I don't remember the last part (hence the ellipses), but I don't think it matters. When do you HAVE to take a bite of that sandwich? It's never come up in my job. In fact, I've never even heard of the existence of this sandwich and if I did, I'd run for the hills.

EDIT: It occurred to me that one could easily misunderstand what was said. Since this is a family blog, I'll just point out that the "$&!+" was not a substitution for a word like, "darn" or "dang" but rather a word used instead of "poop" or "crap." Ick.

First A-Rod, now Letterman

The sporting world is still dealing with the reality of steroid use--especially in professional baseball. Just a few weeks ago, Alex Rodriguez (commonly known as "A-Rod") was forced to admit that he took steroids from 2001-2003 while he played with the Texas Rangers. While I don't condone the use of performance enhancement drugs, you could understand why A-Rod would resort to something since he played for the Rangers (that was a cheap shot directed exclusively at Mr. E--the only Texas Ranger fan that I'm actually aware of).

But it gets worse. In the fallout since A-Rod's reluctant admission of guilt, Late Show talk show host David Letterman (from my home town of Indianapolis) has also come forward...