I love to listen to music in my car and a couple of my favorite "roll down the windows and blast the music 'cause it feels like cruisin' time" songs are "Valerie" by Steve Winwood and "Endless Summer Nights" by Richard Marx. These songs seem like they were made for playing loud...below I have uploaded the original versions of both songs and then a different version for each song. I hope you enjoy all four...
Monday, April 29, 2013
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Zuma's Revenge
After nearly a year at playing the Heroic Frog mode on my Zuma's Revenge, it is finally finished! Finally and finally...
 |
| The final level. |
 |
| After beating the ''final" level...another "final" level. |
 |
| Beating the entire mode. |
 |
| Credits screen because I won!!!!!!! |
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Friday, April 26, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
The Harlem Shake
"Harlem Shake," the relatively new, stupid (my opinion) dance meme that went viral really fast this past February gets a thumbs down from me. The 30-45 second videos that depict a bunch of people shaking like idiots (my opinion) are really, well...just idiotic (my opinion).
The real "Harlem Shake" was a dance move created more than 30 years ago in New York City. During halftime at streetball games held in Rucker Park, a skinny man known in the neighborhood as Al. B. would entertain the crowd with his own brand of moves, a dance that around Harlem became known as “The Al. B.” He created his own style in the park and "The Al. B." eventually became "The Harlem Shake." Many give credit to one four-man dance crew, Crazy Boyz, for taking Al. B.’s moves to the next level, popularizing them enough for the mainstream and inspiring the now popular albeit, ridiculous onslaught of YouTube "Harlem Shake" videos.
The audio track used in the videos was created by an artist named Harry Bauer Rodrigues (better known by his stage name, Baauer). Baauer used a mechanical bassline, synth riffs, a dance music drop and samples of a growling lion and the song "Miller Time" (Plastic Little) and more specifically, the vocal "then do the Harlem Shake." The track also uses another sample in the opening and throughout the song by a Puerto Rican reggaeton artist named Héctor Delgado. The sample used is the three word Spanish phrase "Con Los Terroristas" which literally translated means ''with the terrorists." In a statement to the Daily Beast, Baauer said, “I just had the idea of taking a Dutch house squeaky-high synth and putting it over a hip-hop track. And then I tried to just make it the most stand-out, flashy track that would get anyone’s attention, so I put as many sounds and weird shit in there as I could. The dude in the beginning I got somewhere off the Internet, I don’t even know where, and the lion roar just makes no sense. There’s the sound of flames in there, too, it’s just really low.”
I guess it doesn't much matter the content or the meaning of the content as long as it sounds good and gets enough attention and attention it did get, even mine, unfortunately.
The real "Harlem Shake" was a dance move created more than 30 years ago in New York City. During halftime at streetball games held in Rucker Park, a skinny man known in the neighborhood as Al. B. would entertain the crowd with his own brand of moves, a dance that around Harlem became known as “The Al. B.” He created his own style in the park and "The Al. B." eventually became "The Harlem Shake." Many give credit to one four-man dance crew, Crazy Boyz, for taking Al. B.’s moves to the next level, popularizing them enough for the mainstream and inspiring the now popular albeit, ridiculous onslaught of YouTube "Harlem Shake" videos.
The audio track used in the videos was created by an artist named Harry Bauer Rodrigues (better known by his stage name, Baauer). Baauer used a mechanical bassline, synth riffs, a dance music drop and samples of a growling lion and the song "Miller Time" (Plastic Little) and more specifically, the vocal "then do the Harlem Shake." The track also uses another sample in the opening and throughout the song by a Puerto Rican reggaeton artist named Héctor Delgado. The sample used is the three word Spanish phrase "Con Los Terroristas" which literally translated means ''with the terrorists." In a statement to the Daily Beast, Baauer said, “I just had the idea of taking a Dutch house squeaky-high synth and putting it over a hip-hop track. And then I tried to just make it the most stand-out, flashy track that would get anyone’s attention, so I put as many sounds and weird shit in there as I could. The dude in the beginning I got somewhere off the Internet, I don’t even know where, and the lion roar just makes no sense. There’s the sound of flames in there, too, it’s just really low.”
I guess it doesn't much matter the content or the meaning of the content as long as it sounds good and gets enough attention and attention it did get, even mine, unfortunately.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
This Day Starts with Retirement
Today is the first day of Mr. Chapa's retirement. Elation would be the word that comes to mind when I think about what it would be like to be in his shoes. I believe that not having a set routine that must be followed might be a little dismaying at times, but how wonderful the feeling of knowing that your day could be exactly what you want it to be...no time constraints and no rules to follow but your own. He has earned this day and the days that follow and although I am envious as hell, I am so happy that he can start this next phase of his life healthy and happy. Congratulations on a job well done...thank God it's over!
Monday, April 22, 2013
Earth Day...Poems For The Earth
Earth Day
I am the Earth
And the Earth is me.
Each blade of grass,
Each honey tree,
Each bit of mud,
And stick and stone
Is blood and muscle,
Skin and bone.
And just as I
Need every bit
Of me to make
My body fit,
So Earth needs
Grass and stone and tree
And things that grow here
Naturally.
That’s why we
Celebrate this day.
That’s why across
The world we say:
As long as life,
As dear, as free,
I am the Earth
And the Earth is me.
-Jane Yolen
Healing
"Healing, not saving," for healing
indicates corrective, reclaiming
restoring the earth to its bounty,
to right placement and meaning--
Forward thinking, making things new
or better or, at least, bringing back
from the edge. The way
bulbs are nestled in earth,
starting to heal again--
the way a wound heals.
Keep warm. Sun following
rain; rain following drought.
Perhaps we have come far enough
along in this world to start
healing, protecting from harm,
from our disjunctive lives.
The way the skin repairs with a scab,
injury mediated by mindfulness.
The bark of the "tree of blood"
heals wounds we cannot see.
Deliver us from the time of trial
and save us from ourselves.
"Healing, not saving," for healing
indicates corrective, reclaiming
restoring the earth to its bounty,
to right placement and meaning--
Forward thinking, making things new
or better or, at least, bringing back
from the edge. The way
bulbs are nestled in earth,
starting to heal again--
the way a wound heals.
Keep warm. Sun following
rain; rain following drought.
Perhaps we have come far enough
along in this world to start
healing, protecting from harm,
from our disjunctive lives.
The way the skin repairs with a scab,
injury mediated by mindfulness.
The bark of the "tree of blood"
heals wounds we cannot see.
Deliver us from the time of trial
and save us from ourselves.
-Scott Edward Anderson
"Healing, not saving." ~ Gary Snyder
"Healing, not saving." ~ Gary Snyder
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Paula Massey
I went with my stepfather to a memorial service for Paula Massey, another one of his stepdaughters from a previous marriage. I didn't remember her very well since I was only a kid when I met her. She was 6 years older than me and a teenager when we did meet. We attended the same church and I had even been to her house once, but the age difference made it impossible for us to really connect. The service was held in a huge tent at the Toledo Botanical Gardens. It was really very cold (about 42 degrees with a stout breeze) and the tent was packed with people, but that didn't seem to make it much warmer. All of that aside, it was a beautiful service with singing and meditations and readings and a slide show presentation of pictures of Paula from early childhood to now and a memorial read by her husband. All of these things accurately summed up what Paula was like and what was important to her and after the service was over, I felt like I had known Paula like a friend. She was a well-respected, generous soul who touched the lives of many in so many positive ways. One reading in particular, given by the minister, struck a chord with me. She told us before she actually read it that it was a quote from Endora from the Bewitched series. It made us all laugh to hear that, but just as the minister said, it was very appropriate:
"We are quicksilver, a fleeting shadow, a distant sound... our home has no boundaries beyond which we cannot pass. We live in music, in a flash of color... we live on the wind and in the sparkle of a star!"
Paula Massey (1961-2013)
Paula Massey, who was known for being a caring and warm-hearted volunteer, died on Mar. 30 in Toledo. She was 51.
Mrs. Massey died from complications from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, said friend and business partner, Bonnie Hunter. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2007.
She was known for founding the Toledo-Lucas County Furniture Bank in 2006, which provided free furniture and household items to impoverished families and for those who had left domestic-violence situations. The organization helped more than 1,400 local families for two and a half years, Ms. Hunter said.
She said Mrs. Massey was generous and taught others to give back when they had the chance.
"She talked about paying it forward. She taught me a lot about giving and supporting charities, and the Furniture Bank was probably one of the best projects we ever worked on," she said. "She wanted to make sure they [clients of the furniture bank] had something to go home to."
The organization received recognition from the national Furniture Bank Association, and it was used as a business model for establishing a similar program in New Orleans. Mrs. Massey also served as a volunteer for 20 years, at Nature's Nursery Center for Wildlife Rehabilitation.
Martha Vetter, CEO of R/P Marketing Public Relations and founder of Chicks for Charity, agreed that Mrs. Massey relentlessly gave to others. Chicks for Charity, an organization that chooses a charity every two years and raises money by sponsoring events, selected the Toledo-Lucas County Furniture Bank as its first charity in 2006, Ms. Vetter said.
"I really think of her as someone who just so much gave back to the community, whether it was with Nature's Nursery or Chicks for Charity. ... She was always giving back," Ms. Vetter said.
Born Dec. 19, 1961, in Toledo, Mrs. Massey graduated from Sylvania's Northview High School in 1979 and received a bachelor's degree from the University of Toledo in 1989. In 2008, she received a master's of organizational leadership degree from the then-Lourdes College.
She worked as a managing editor and founder of several print publications in the Toledo area, including The Herald newspapers and Toledo Women Today Magazine, the latter of which she formed with Ms. Hunter.
Although the magazine no longer exists, Ms. Hunter said the two created something that was ahead of its time. "We tried to feature a lot of the women who were in politics, because at the time we did it, there wasn't a lot of talk about that."
Mrs. Massey is survived by her husband, Stan; son, Seth Book; stepdaughter, Tara Armatas; stepson, Kyle Massey; sister, Brenda Renneker, and a grandson.
Mrs. Massey died from complications from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, said friend and business partner, Bonnie Hunter. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2007.
She was known for founding the Toledo-Lucas County Furniture Bank in 2006, which provided free furniture and household items to impoverished families and for those who had left domestic-violence situations. The organization helped more than 1,400 local families for two and a half years, Ms. Hunter said.
She said Mrs. Massey was generous and taught others to give back when they had the chance.
"She talked about paying it forward. She taught me a lot about giving and supporting charities, and the Furniture Bank was probably one of the best projects we ever worked on," she said. "She wanted to make sure they [clients of the furniture bank] had something to go home to."
The organization received recognition from the national Furniture Bank Association, and it was used as a business model for establishing a similar program in New Orleans. Mrs. Massey also served as a volunteer for 20 years, at Nature's Nursery Center for Wildlife Rehabilitation.
Martha Vetter, CEO of R/P Marketing Public Relations and founder of Chicks for Charity, agreed that Mrs. Massey relentlessly gave to others. Chicks for Charity, an organization that chooses a charity every two years and raises money by sponsoring events, selected the Toledo-Lucas County Furniture Bank as its first charity in 2006, Ms. Vetter said.
"I really think of her as someone who just so much gave back to the community, whether it was with Nature's Nursery or Chicks for Charity. ... She was always giving back," Ms. Vetter said.
Born Dec. 19, 1961, in Toledo, Mrs. Massey graduated from Sylvania's Northview High School in 1979 and received a bachelor's degree from the University of Toledo in 1989. In 2008, she received a master's of organizational leadership degree from the then-Lourdes College.
She worked as a managing editor and founder of several print publications in the Toledo area, including The Herald newspapers and Toledo Women Today Magazine, the latter of which she formed with Ms. Hunter.
Although the magazine no longer exists, Ms. Hunter said the two created something that was ahead of its time. "We tried to feature a lot of the women who were in politics, because at the time we did it, there wasn't a lot of talk about that."
Mrs. Massey is survived by her husband, Stan; son, Seth Book; stepdaughter, Tara Armatas; stepson, Kyle Massey; sister, Brenda Renneker, and a grandson.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Dance Like Nobody's Watching...
I came across this video today. It made me smile. I hope it makes you smile.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
So It's Finally Getting Warm...
Yesterday got sorta hot outside...I hesitate using the word 'hot' because it's been too damn cold here for too damn long and it's really nice to finally have some warmth. Turns out it was about 76 degrees when I left work at 3 pm. So I guess it wasn't really 'hot,' but it was warm enough that I thought I should turn the air conditioner on in my car to get rid of the stuffy 'hot' from sitting in the sun. I think it's sort of ridiculous to go from heat to air condtioning from one day to the next, but I am a creature of comfort. Turns out I didn't get any cooling effect from the air conditioner because...it doesn't freaking work!!! Really?! The last time I had the air condtioner on in the car it worked. I can never understand how something can work one day and then not the next (well not really next in this case, but you know what I mean). So, my car is currently being looked at so I can get a quote on getting it fixed. I suppose the quote really doesn't much matter because it will get fixed no matter what. Did I mention that I am a creature of comfort?
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Somebody To Lean On Mashup
Mixing:
Leona Lewis – Happy
Bill Withers – Lean On Me
Israel Kamakawiwo’ole – Somewhere Over The Rainbow
John Lennon – Imagine
Selig – Ohne Dich (faked Acapella)
Matisyahu – One Day
Counting Crows – Mr. Jones
K’naan – Wavin’ Flag
Alphaville – Forever Young
Blink 182 – All The Small Things
John Lennon – Interview (Samples)
Leona Lewis – Happy
Bill Withers – Lean On Me
Israel Kamakawiwo’ole – Somewhere Over The Rainbow
John Lennon – Imagine
Selig – Ohne Dich (faked Acapella)
Matisyahu – One Day
Counting Crows – Mr. Jones
K’naan – Wavin’ Flag
Alphaville – Forever Young
Blink 182 – All The Small Things
John Lennon – Interview (Samples)
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)