It's Wicked...Vote For Your Local Library!!

Great American theater started in a library.

Gregory Maguire is a born storyteller. He hails from a family of journalists, poets and professional writers. So it’s no surprise his parents sent him to a magical place where stories come to life every day: the local library.

There, he found the inspiration for his life’s work: writing fantasy, fairy tales and science fiction.
His 1995 bestseller, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West forms the basis of the award-winning Broadway musical, Wicked. His career started in the library.


Public libraries continue to help people of all ages discover their calling. The investment you make in your local library helps them develop their talents and realize their dreams. It also brings in additional tax dollars, raises property values and creates new jobs. In fact, studies have shown that: for every $1 spent on the library, a community sees an average of $4 in return.

Who knows what Wicked success story is at your library, right now?
(http://www.oclc.org/advocacy/pdfs/maguirewicked.pdf)

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD...VOTE FOR LIBRARIES!

On the Political Trail

Although I'm pretty happy about the Obama/Biden ticket, is there anyone wittier than Jon Stewart (Stewart/Colbert 2008!).

Check this out:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/33504/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-fri-sep-5-2008?c=385:492

You really have to see this Daily Show clip from last week, after John McCain's acceptance speech. Jon Stewart absolutely destroys McCain's attempt to claim that he'd bring change, and lines him up with Bush better than anyone else has done so far. Hilarious. Watch it, and then pass it along to all your friends. Thanks to Moveon.org!

Good Bye Dallas...

From the Peep on the Street

(I was searching online for something and read this. Thought it was hilarious. Two thumbs up to Andy wherever you are...)

THE END OF THE WORLD IS NEAR... but first I needed to get some Flip Flops and clean underwear. Mom always says "Don't get caught in the Apocalypse with dirty underwear." So I hit my neighborhood Target.

You know Target has really come along way since I was a kid. I remember when it was un-cool to go to Target, we called it" La Tarshea`" (misspelled) so that it would sound fancy and okay that we shopped there because it was funny. But now you can hold your head high as you walk past the guy begging for money and say "Not today lad, ever since George Bush has been in office I can barely afford my Flip Flops and clean underwear."As I made my way past the concession stand that sells Icee's, Super Pretzels and what has to be some of the best Pop-Corn ever made.

I noticed the Easter section, now I don't have kids and I'm Catholic so I'm not religious, but I do know a little about what Easter is all about. As I stood there looking at all the candy, stuffed animals and other crap. I wondered when did NASCAR have anything to do with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, I actually picked up this huge can full of all kinds of goodies and toys. On the side of this tin-can was a picture from number 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. giving a big thumbs up, didn't his father get killed racing. I never hear about him rising from the dead three days later. I can understand hiding the eggs, getting all dressed up and eating a great meal; it makes up for sitting in church for two hours and having your Catholic guilt rejuvenated.... I'm kidding... I don't go to church. I'm kidding, no I'm not.... Yes I am. But really, Jesus didn't die on the cross so that we would buy commercialized junk with "High School Musical" on it.

So I picked up the Bible and found that I was wrong and from the Book of Hershey's I found this passage:

And Jesus looked down from the cross and saw his mother the Virgin Mary holding a brightly colored basket, "Mother come forth and give me a Peep? Mary reached into the basket and pushed aside the plastic green grass and pulled out a chocolate rabbit, "Forgive me son for I have eaten the last Peep, it's been a bad day and you know I'm a nervous eater, but I give upon you my last chocolate covered peanut butter bunny. Jesus then twitched his nose and said "Look again mother, look into the basket and tell me what you have found." In the "Bratz" themed basket, Mary found not one Peep, but many Peeps. "TA-DA!" Jesus went on to say. "On this day I say unto you, do not eat all the Peeps in one sitting for they will surly make your stomach hurt." "Okay." Mary said; but Jesus could not understand her for her mouth was full of the yellow sugar covered marshmallow treat. Amen!

Now you know why Catholics' use Peeps in the Communion ceremony.

I guess it just rubbed me the wrong way; I won't go as far as to boycott Target because it's still pretty close to the house and they do have some pretty good sales on Flip Flops and clean underwear.

Happy Easter.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/target-store-dallas (Thanks Andy v.funny)

Larger Than Life

I'm not sure many of you have the June 2007 issue of Art & Antiques magazine sitting around but I was fortunate enough to have had several magazines donated to the project I'm working on and there it was...

on the cover...
a GIANT
ORANGE
BADMINTON
SHUTTLECOCK!

Art or craziness?

Have you ever seen the giant button in Philadelphia on Penn's campus? The same two artists. Meet artists Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Brugon and they are the team behind badminton and the button. By the way, you can see the shuttlecock at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri or online at http://oldenburgvanbruggen.com/shuttlecocks.htm.

Check out the Bat Column (pictured) in Chicago.

They have some other amazing pieces as well. Be sure to visit their site at http://www.oldenburgvanbruggen.com/lsp.htm. The pieces are larger than life!

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

(by Max Ehrmann)

Voluntourism Trips

From Daily Candy, very cool.


You got a heart of gold — and a second helping of wanderlust. Do good with your good time when you take a vacation that lets you raise money, raise awareness, and even raise walls. Don’t worry: You’ll still have fun.

Hands Up Holidays takes you to Peru to teach English or Spanish (eres genial!) and repair buildings, and to Kenya for bird monitoring and tree planting. DailyCandy’s favorite trip is the Yucatan Explorer: You assist the elderly, but the biking, snorkeling, and kayaking sound more like fun than work. We love the site because it lets you search for trips by comfort level — meaning your benevolent bones won’t have to make do with a tent.

Forgo the jungle for the sea on an Earthwatch expedition. Voluntourists do scientific field research or conservation work in one of 40 countries. Help preserve dolphins while living in a teensy Greek village; travel to the Bering Sea to study declining seal, sea lion, and otter populations; or band too-cute penguins in South Africa.

Trek Amfar’s physically challenging fund-raisers generate money for the group’s research programs and global initiatives. In order to go you must raise at least $10,000. (Dad? Can you do me a favor?) Past excursions have gone to China, Vietnam, and Namibia. This year, it’s a twelve-day hike over Northern Thailand’s Old Elephant Trail through breathtaking countryside.

Who says giving back can’t be glam? The Ritz-Carlton Give Back Getaways let you be do-gooder by day, pampered guest by night. Guard turtles in Cancun, build homes in Jakarta, help save the wetlands in Marina del Rey. Afterward? A well-deserved sleep at the Ritz (if you wish).
And a satisfaction that money can’t buy.

For more voluntour opportunities all over the world, go to voluntourism.org.

A Bit of Wisdom

Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
Look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
Think only of the best, work only for the best, and expect only the best.
Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
Give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
Live in the faith that the whole world is on your side as long as you are true to the best that it is in you!
--Christian D. Larson

Countdown!

August 2, 2008

Something More

Monday, hard to wake up
Fill my coffee cup, I'm out the door
The freeway's standing still today
It's gonna make me late, and that's for sure
I'm running out of gas and out of time
Never gonna make it there by nine

There's gotta be something more
Gotta be more than this
I need a little less hard time
I need a little more bliss
I'm gonna take my chances
Taking a chance I might
Find what I'm looking for
There's gotta be something more

Five years and there's no doubt
That I'm burnt out, I've had enough
So now boss man, here's my two weeks
I'll make it short and sweet, so listen up
I could work my life away, but why?
I got things to do before die

There's gotta be something more
Gotta be more than this
I need a little less hard time
I need a little more bliss
I'm gonna take my chances
Taking a chance I might
Find what I'm looking for
There's gotta be something more

Some believe in destiny, and some believe in fate
I believe that happiness is something we create
You best believe that I'm not gonna wait
'Cause there's gotta be something more

I get home 7:30 the house is dirty, but it can wait
Cause right now I need some downtime
To drink some red wine and celebrate
Armageddon could be knocking at my door
But I ain't gonna answer that's for sure.

There's gotta be something more
Gotta be more than this
I need a little less hard time
I need a little more bliss
I'm gonna take my chances
Taking a chance I might
Find what I'm looking for
There's gotta be something more

There's gotta be something...Gotta be something more

Lyrics by Sugarland

ALASKA!

Spells & Magic...words

Highly Recommended...

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

Two gifted sisters draw on their talents to belatedly forge a bond and find their ways in life in Allen's easygoing debut novel. Thirty-four-year-old Claire Waverley manifests her talent in cooking; using edible flowers, Claire creates dishes that affect the eater in curious ways. But not all Waverley women embrace their gifts; some, including Claire's mother, escape the family's eccentric reputation by running away. She abandoned Claire and her sister when they were young. Consequently, Claire has remained close to home, unwilling to open up to new people or experiences. Claire's younger sister, Sydney, however, followed in their mother's footsteps 10 years ago and left for New York, and after a string of abusive, roustabout boyfriends, returns to Bascom, N.C., with her five-year-old daughter, Bay. As Sydney reacquaints herself with old friends and rivals, she discovers her own Waverley magic. Claire, in turn, begins to open up to her sister and in the process learns how to welcome other possibilities.

(© Reed Business Information)

From Booklist

Take a pinch of marigold to stimulate affection, add a dash of snapdragon to repel evil influences, finish with a generous helping of rose petals to encourage love, then stand back and let nature take its course. It may be the recipe for Claire Waverley's successful catering business, but when it comes to working its magic on her own love life, she seems to be immune to the charms found only in the plants that have always grown behind the Waverley mansion. Like generations of Waverley women before her, Claire has accepted her family's mysterious gifts, while her estranged sister, Sydney, could not run away from them fast enough. Knowing it's just a matter of time before her abusive boyfriend finally kills her, however, Sydney escapes with her young daughter back home to the only place she knows she'll be safe. Spellbindingly charming, Allen's impressively accomplished debut novel will bewitch fans of Alice Hoffman and Laura Esquivel, as her entrancing brand of magic realism nimbly blends the evanescent desires of hopeless romantics with the inherent wariness of those who have been hurt once too often.

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

Practical Magic starts out as a tale of Gillian and Sally Owens, two orphaned girls whose aunts are witches--of a mild sort. For the past two centuries, Owens women have been blamed for all that has gone wrong in their Massachusetts town, ever since their ancestor arrived, rich, independent, and soon accused of theft: "And then one day, a farmer winged a crow in his cornfield, a creature who'd been stealing from him shamelessly for months. When Maria Owens appeared the very next morning with her arm in a sling and her white hand wound up in a white bandage, people felt certain they knew the reason why." The aunts are daily ostracized by the same upstanding citizens who sneak to their house at night for magical love cures. To the sisters they are for the most part benevolently absent, though their bell, book, and candle routine makes life a torment for Gillian, beautiful and blonde and lazy, and Sally, who's all too responsible. But when one of the aunts' cures works too well, ending as a curse, the dangers of real love become all too clear. In Hoffman's world being bewitched, bothered, and bewildered is no mere metaphor--and neither is desire. The elbows of one enamored man pucker a linoleum counter, another walks around with singed cuffs. It's difficult to catch the author's power in brief quotes. She needs space and increment to build her exquisite variations of vision and reality, her matter-of-fact announcements of the preternatural. Practical Magic again and again makes one recall the thrill of hearing at bedtime, "Now will I a tale unfold..." (Kerry Fried)

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Publishers WeeklyHer 11th novel is Hoffman's best since Illumination Night. Again a scrim of magic lies gently over her fictional world, in which lilacs bloom riotously in July, a lovesick boy's elbows sizzle on a diner countertop and a toad expectorates a silver ring. The real and the magical worlds are almost seamlessly mixed here, the humor is sharper than in previous books, the characters' eccentricities grow credibly out of their past experiences and the poignant lessons they learn reverberate against the reader's heartstrings, stroked by Hoffman's lyrical prose. The Owens women have been witches for several generations. Orphaned Sally and Gillian Owens, raised by their spinster aunts in a spooky old house, grow up observing desperate women buying love potions in the kitchen and vow never to commit their hearts to passion. Fate, of course, intervenes. Steady, conscientious Sally marries, has two daughters and is widowed early. Impulsive, seductive Gillian goes through three divorces before she arrives at Sally's house with a dead body in her car. Meanwhile, Sally's daughters, replicas of their mother and their aunt, experience their own sexual awakenings. The inevitability of love and the torment and bliss of men and women gripped by desire is Hoffman's theme here...The dialogue is always on target, particularly the squabbling between siblings, and, as usual, weather plays a portentous role. Readers will relish this magical tale. (PW)

How READ Posters Get Made

From: http://www.ilovelibraries.org/news/topstories/readposters.cfm

In addition to the hundreds of celebrity suggestions from librarians, teachers, readers and fans, ALA Graphics staff seeks out celebrities from a wide range of occupations: movie and TV stars, comedians, athletes, musicians, innovators, heroic figures and the like. We try to find highly recognizable–and therefore popular–celebrities. We also consider a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds to reach the diverse populations libraries serve.

We track all suggestions to monitor their popularity among library staff, students, and patrons, and if demand for a celebrity emerges, we add the name to the list. We discuss possible celebrities with an informal group of librarians. With all of this information at hand, we select iconic celebrities who we feel will best encourage reading, literacy, and life-long learning among children, teens, and adults alike.

The second part of the process can be considerably more difficult–contacting representatives for each celebrity and getting them to sign on. It may surprise you to know that not all the personalities we contact want to participate, as many are contacted so frequently for celebrity appearances. We often receive suggestions for celebrities that we have contacted on numerous occasions, but can’t persuade to participate.

A celebrity who signs on for the READ campaign can choose to hold any book of his or her choice. Some choose a recent read, others a childhood favorite, or something that has inspired them in their life. The professional photoshoots most often happen in Los Angeles or New York, where the celebrities and their photographers tend to be. None of our celebrity subjects are compensated for lending their image to the campaign.

To suggest your favorite celebrity, send an e-mail to graphicsmarketing@ala.org with “READ Poster Suggestion” in the subject line. We’re also getting a LISTEN campaign underway. Who would you like to see featured on a LISTEN poster?

And, did you know that you can make your own READ posters using the ALA’s READ CDs? Ask your librarian or teacher to invest in this fun idea! It's available at the ALA Store.
Here is a list of every celebrity who has posed for a READ (or LISTEN) poster so far:

1985 Bette Midler;Bill Cosby;Mikhail Baryshnikov;Sting

1986 George Burns;Goldie Hawn

1987 David Bowie;Diahann Carrol;Paul Newman

1988 Michael J. Fox;Oprah;Phil Collins;Ruben Blades

1989 Isiah Thomas;Steve Martin;William Hurt

1990 Bo Jackson;Glenn Close;Kirk Cameron

1991 Denzel Washington;Harrison Ford;REM

1992 Alec Baldwin;Jimmy Smits;Michael Chang;Michael Keaton;Whoopi Goldberg

1993 Graham Greene;Jackie Joyner-Kersee;Kristi Yamaguchi;Roseanne Arnold;Sean Connery

1994 Edward James Olmos;Elvis;Marlee Matlin;Michael Bolton;Spike Lee

1995 Branford Marsalis;Geena Davis;Little Women;Matt Dillon;Shaquille O'Neil
1996 Antonio Banderas;Barbara Walters;Courtney Cox;Danny Glover;Dr. Quinn Cast;Lawrence Bros.;Mel Gibson;Michelle Pfeiffer;Morgan Freeman;Tim Allen

1997 Bill Gates;Bill Nye;Brandy (Norwood);Cindy Crawford;Fabio;Hercules;Jay Leno;LL Cool J;Nicolas Cage;Oprah;Power Rangers;Rob Schneider;Rosie O'Donnell;Xena (Lucy Lawless)

1998 Emeril Lagasse;Grant Hill;Kim Basinger;Muammad Ali;Olsen Twins

1999Ani DiFrancoMelissa EtheridgeMichelle KwanMonicaRebecca Lobo

2000 Christina RicciEnrique IglesiasRegis PhilbinStephen HawkingTara Dakides

2001 Britney Spears;Chamique Holdsclaw;Coolio;Dr. Ruth;Elijah Wood/Lord of the Rings;Ian McKellen/Lord of the Rings;Kristine Lilly;Liv Tyler/Lord of the Rings;Marion Jones;Mike Mussina;Susan Sarandon;Tim Robbins;Weird Al;Yo-Yo Ma

2002 Firefighte;rIndigo Girls;LeVar Burton;Salma Hayek;Serena Williams;Tony Hawk

2003 Bernie Mac;Jason Kidd;Julia Stiles;Landon Donovan;Matt Kenseth;Missy Elliott

2004 Jeff Corwin;Orlando Bloom;Renée Fleming;Rick Bayless;Trace Adkins

2005 Aishwarya Rai;Anthony Hopkins;Colin Farrell;Ethan Hawke;George Lopez;Ice Cube;Jamie Kennedy;Johnny Damon;Keira Knightly;Margaret Cho;Mat Hoffman

2006 Alan Rickman;Ben Roethlisberger;Cedric the Entertainer;Dakota Fanning;Danica PatrickJohn Leguizamo;Kelly Ripa;New York Rangers;Sasha Cohen

2007 Cesar Millan;Corbin Bleu;Ewan McGregor;Hilary Swank;Los Lonely Boys;Sendhil Ramamurthy;William H. Macy

2008 Abigail Breslin;Common;Eva Mendes;Kareem Abdul-Jabbar;Rachael Ray;Steve Carell/Get Smart;The Wayans;Tim Gunn

The 10 Brainiest Places to Retire

http://finance.yahoo.com/retirement/article/105195/The-10-Brainiest-Places-to-Retire
What makes the difference? A city with a large local university might offer a colorful slate of arts or educational events nearly every evening. Some suburbs have found a way to create unique learning opportunities for residents, who still have an easy route into the neighboring metropolis.

The brainiest places to retire:
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Berkeley, Calif.
Boulder, Colo.
Brookline, Mass.
Chapel Hill, N.C.
Hoboken, N.J.
Lake Oswego, Ore.
Reston, Va.
Upper St. Clair, Pa.
West Lafayette, Ind.

Congratulations Detroit Red Wings!

Welcome to Hockeytown!!

Sleeper Films

Looking for something to watch. Here's a few sleeper films you might want to check out...

200 Cigarettes
A Map of the World
Akeelah and the Bee
Beautiful Girls
Bee Season
Bend it Like Beckham
Big Night
Casa de los Babys
Chariots of Fire
Clueless
Cookie’s Fortune
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Dead Again
Everyone Says I Love You
Garden State
High Fidelity
Hi-Life
How to make an American quilt
I Love You, I Love you not
In America
Junebug
Kissing Jessica Stein
Life as a House
Little Manhattan
Little Voice
Lovely & Amazing
Mean Girls
Millions
Monsoon Wedding
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
Murphy’s Romance
Music from another Room
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Napoleon Dynamite
October Sky
Party Girl
Pieces of April
Polish Wedding
Saved!
Saving Grace
Shine
Shopgirl
Short Cuts
Sideways
Simon Birch
Singles
Sleep with Me
The Anniversary Party
The Good Girl
The Good Mother
The Ice Storm
The Matchmaker
The Namesake
The Secret of Roan Inish
The Waterdance
The Witches
To Gillian on her 37th Birthday
Waking Ned Devine

What if Firefighters Ran the World?

I just have to say that this is my new favorite commerical: "What if Firefighters Ran the World?" I'm not sure if it is so funny because it's so real?
Having worked in government and also as a voter, I think this is the best.
Take a few minutes and watch this. Maybe if more people do, our meetings will be shorter!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO6DORwBzuA

Keaton Simons

This is a great new artist: http://www.keatonsimons.com

When considering the roll call of rock’s most influential icons, those rare artists that pose a triple threat are the ones that consistently stand out, musicians that seize the spotlight through their singing, songwriting and instrumental prowess. That hallowed breed of musician has become increasingly less common in popular music, so it’s especially worth noting that Keaton Simons also qualifies as a triple threat, given that his multifaceted talents have garnered him a presence on radio, television, film and the concert circuit. It’s an especially auspicious distinction for an artist who is only now on the cusp of releasing his debut album, the prophetically titled tour de force, Can You Hear Me, on CBS Records.The many career accomplishments he’s racked up in such a relatively short time attest to both his aptitude and his attitude.

In fact, music seemed to be in his genes. He was singing from the time he started talking… even before his first birthday! By the time he was two, he was entertaining his classmates in daycare. At age twelve he was already adept on guitar, and by fourteen he had decided to make music his career. That obsession carried over to college, earning him a degree in Ethnomusicology – the study of World Music – at The Evergreen State College in Washington State. Absorbing a varied array of classic influences – Hendrix, Dylan, The Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, B.B. King and Robert Johnson among them – he immersed himself in all forms of music, from Rock to Jazz, Blues to Bluegrass and melded them into a mix that’s timely and timeless. Keaton played in various bands before college but his studies at Evergreen taught him about theory and technique.

“I was always afraid that if I learned a real regimen, I would lose my soul and spontaneity,” he recalls. “But when I actually started to study music and composition I began to realize that learning the discipline would actually enhance my ability.”Meanwhile, Keaton was also learning some real life lessons. A family friend, bassist Gordon Edwards of the famous funk band Stuff, invited him to come to New York and sit in on some sessions. Eventually, Keaton met Tre “Slimkid” Hardson of the alternative L.A. rap group The Pharcyde. He signed on as their musical director, while contributing guitar, songwriting and arranging to Hardson’s subsequent solo album. From there he expanded his musical apprenticeship and began working with other notable hip-hop acts, including the Black Eyed Peas, Medusa and Snoop Dogg, with whom he performed on The Tonight Show. Despite extensive roadwork and a growing professional pedigree, Keaton started getting restless and chose to focus on ways to move his own career forward.

Indeed, Can You Hear Me lives up to all expectations. Produced by Dave Bianco, the album mines the classic singer/songwriter traditions spawned by greats like Van Morrison, Rod Stewart, John Hiatt and other artists known for their soulful sway. Keaton’s tasteful fretwork, masterful songwriting and searing vocals bring an honesty and integrity that’s instantly embracing, a warm emotional center core that reaches from the tangled vulnerability of opening track “Without Your Skin” and the lean, sensual drift of “To Me” to the spry suggestion of the title track and the playful intrigue of “Misfits.” “Nobody Knows” proves instantly infectious, its sinewy rhythms wrapping around an irresistible refrain, while “Masterpiece” lives up to its title through a suggestive sway certain to put its listeners in a romantic mood. “I wanted to get back to honest, straight-forward expression; a purity and dynamic that relied on the strength of the songs and not the added embellishment of the arrangements,” Keaton insists. “I think this album represents who I am as an artist and captures the sound of my live performances authentically.” As he views his prospects going forward, Keaton maintains his main ambition is to continue to focus on his live performances, and draw more and more fans to his shows. “I’ve been doing this awhile, but I believe there’s so much left for me to accomplish,” he reflects.
(info from his website)

All About the T's

I love t-shirts, and I love music.
A couple years back, I was going through boxes at my parents house and found a box of t-shirts, mostly from concerts. I wiped a nostalgic tear from my eye as I saw my personal music history in cotton...Eric Clapton--I think it was the second time a blues tour in LA, Depeche Mode in Philadephia, Madonna with Lone Justice, The Eagles with Melissa Etheridge at Tiger Stadium (and Bob Seger made a surprise guest appearance), & REM at the Palace when my sister and I got to meet the band! My other sister took my David Bowie shirt from my '87 Europe trip and made it into a costume for Halloween. There were plenty of "new wave" shirts: Siouxsie and the Banshees, Erasure, Duran Duran, and INXS. Plenty of others: Sting, Jimmy Buffett, Phish, Rolling Stones, The Smithereens, Elvis Costello, Van Morrison, Barenaked Ladies, Elton John, Yes, Chicago, the Grateful Dead's last show at Soldier Field, Dave Matthews Band too many times to count, and even, yes believe it, Barry Manilow. So when Daily Candy's email came today, I thought this was great news. Here's what DC said...

"Check out Rotter and Friends at rotterandfriends.com.
Rotter, a New York-based artist and music obsessive, started the company to showcase musicians underrepresented in the T-shirt world. The current collection features her trippy, hand-drawn tributes to Linda Ronstadt, Roky Erickson, Willie Nelson, and (honorary Shakespearean rock star) Falstaff — the latter done by guest artist Ron Paolillo, a.k.a. Welcome Back, Kotter’s Horshack.

For fall, Rotter will pay homage to Link Wray, Judee Sill, and Bob Seger. If the shirts whet your appetite for the musically obscure, check out the Fun section of the site, where buddy Zach Cowie (Turquoise Wisdom, Small Town Talk) handpicks mixes for your listening pleasure.
All of which should have your spirits — and your wardrobe — rising from the ashes."

I'd also like to plug Threadless at http://www.threadless.com/product/917/I_Listen_To_Bands. Yes, I was that person...in my late teens into the new wave scene. My old boss used to call them "wear black, act bored." Ask my siblings about the dancing guy at the wedding in "So I Married An Axe Murderer." Although my music taste really spanned all genres, when it came to going dancing, I wanted the new wave songs. I thought my music made me too cool for school. So when I saw this t-shirt, it seemed to say it all.

Concert ticket for your favorite band: $75
Concert t-shirt you'll never wear: $25
Memories of all those concerts: Priceless

6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon

I can't remember when I first heard of "6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon."
I know we talked about it around the time I was in college/post college.
I heard that it was created as a drinking game at Cornell during a snowstorm--which is close but it was actually Albright College in PA--and yes, created as a drinking game by 3 college friends during a snowstorm.

In a Premiere interview for the film "The River Wild," Kevin Bacon commented that he's worked with everybody in Hollywood or someone who's worked with them. About the same time, there was a newsgroup thread entitled "Kevin Bacon is the Center of the Universe" followed by "the game." The game "6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon" was created by three students at Albright College, who were snowed in and watching "Footloose" followed by "Quicksilver" when they began to discuss how many movies Bacon had been in and how many people they could connect to him. They wrote Jon Stewart with their theory of "Kevin Bacon was the center of the entertainment universe" and explaining the game, and the world took it from there!

While Bacon didn't like it at first, he embraced it and eventually wrote the introduction to the book, approved of the game and even played it up on a VISA commerical and on TV's "Will and Grace." In 2007, Bacon started a charitable organization named SixDegrees.org.

For some flashback fun, check out the Oracle of Bacon: http://oracleofbacon.org/how.html
Every couple of weeks the Oracle downloads several database files from one of the Internet Movie Database's FTP sites containing around 1,250,000 actors and actresses, around 850,000 movies and TV shows, and around 150,000 nicknames.

The Oracle builds a big map of actors and movies and stores it in a 115 MB database.
The server handles three different types of requests:
Find the link from Actor A to Actor B.
How good a "center" is a given actor?
Who are all the people with an Actor A number of N?

There are several CGI programs -- one for each of the above types of queries -- that run on the UVA Computer Science department web server, which all connect to the database server using TCP.
The database server uses a breadth-first search to find the shortest path between pairs of actors.

SO...if you want to connect Jackie Chan to Kevin Bacon, which was one of the more difficult ones way back when (and I remember having to use "The Cannonball Run") but now it seems pretty easy...
The Oracle says: kevin bacon has a Chan, Jackie (I) number of 2.
Kevin Bacon was in Big Picture, The (1989) with John Cleese
John Cleese was in Around the World in 80 Days (2004) with Jackie Chan (I)

Want to waste even more time?
Check out these links...

http://www-distance.syr.edu/bacon.html
http://www.thekevinbacongame.com/
http://www.geocities.com/theeac/bacon.html