Sunday, December 23, 2007

Not for the kiddies, just a little fun

Here's a little ditty from a few years back that I found online and stuck together on a webpage.

The music midi will work if you open it in IE,
might not in FF if that's the browser you use.



  here's one for the kiddies
not for kids, this time

Friday, December 21, 2007

Bah Humbug Day

Blogging for Well Cats, missed this one...


Dec 15 Cat Herders' Day. If you can say that your job, or even your life, is like trying to herd cats, then this day is for you, with our sympathy.

That would have been fun. But we're just in time for ...

Dec 21 Humbug Day -- Allows everyone preparing for Christmas to vent their frustrations. Twelve humbugs allowed.
Wonderful fun stuff there,




Wacky but uplifting ways

to celebrate human nature & life.

Want to contribute your version of “how to celebrate?” Pick a holiday, jot down your own thoughts about it and send your comments to us at info@wellcat.com. We’ll be glad to read what you send and might even (with your permission) publish your contribution to our Wellcat Holidays After all, it’s merely a state of mind, my dear.


"Wellcat Holidays" is a trademark of Thomas and Ruth Roy. These holidays are copyrighted by Thomas and Ruth Roy. All Rights Reserved.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Ladies Sing the Blues too

Part Dieux: The Girls

Koko Taylor
I'm a Woman
Wang Dang Doodle
let me love you


Susan Tedeschi
Rock Me Right
Hurt so Bad
Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean
Feeling Music brings
Can't sleep at night
Angel from Montgomery
Dereks Trucks Band and Susan Tedeschi - The Weight
Evidence

Mangoes, Coconuts, Avocados, oh my....

I just wrote this post for Jim in Mex, in response to his article I saw in OpEd News, The Most Popular Fruit In The World. Reminded me of some favorite fruits, and sea stories...


Discovering Mangoes


While being stationed around the world with the US Navy, I discovered mangoes in Hawaii where a neighbor across the street had a huge tree in his front yard. Every morning he would leave us a dozen or so on our door step. Way to many for my roomies and I to eat, but I'd take them to work on base to share with my fellow co-workers. Once I was picking someone up at the airport and the screener saw with the x-ray the paring knife I used to peel them with in my backpack and confiscated it. I forgot it was there, it was just normal kit.


Then a few years later I was stationed in Gtmo (this was back when the base was used as a fleet training/sea trials center) and we had many mango trees in the base housing areas. Filipinos sailors from the navy ships that cycled thru for training and sea quals would come out and collect as many as they could to 'pickle' so they could bring them back to the states and not be confiscated by Customs upon their entry. You know their familes back in Norfolk certainly appreciated what was likely their variation on chutney.

I wonder if anyone ever thinks to give them to the prisoners there?


Pest Control: Also in Gtmo is a critter indigenous to Cuba called the Banana Rat. (The gal from the zoo in LA had one on the Johnny Carson show many moons ago.) The first time I ever saw one was roadkill and at first I thought it was a groundhog (like Punxsatawny Phil--that big) until I noticed the long ratlike tail. These creatures like mangoes too, so my neighbor would surround the trunk of his trees with aluminum which they couldn't get a grip on to climb.


Fast forward to my next stop, Naval Station Roosey Roads, Puerto Rico which has been abandoned by the USN--turned over to the locals. While running our mile and a half PT and running out of conversation, a co-worker and I started watching for mango trees along the course we took daily. When we spotted mangoes ready for picking, later in the day we'd concoct a reason to get back to that area with the navy-issue pickup truck, park it under the tree, climb on top of the truck roof to reach the ripened fruit, and fill up the bed with however many we thought we could consume or give away.


Also in Puerto Rico were the magnificent coconut palms which were abundent in housing. A big fear was that these coconuts would drop the 30'-40'+ and hit some kid playing in the yards under them. This problem was solved by locals who would climb up, knock them down into dump trucks and haul them away. Perhaps to be sold at the roadside fruit stands where vendors would chill them, knock the tops off with a machete, stick a straw in, and walla...


Coco Frio!


God love the locals and the fruit.


Friday, December 14, 2007

Lovin' The Blues

Gotta love the Blues! So, a friend of mine went to all the trouble to embed YouTube links to these numbers, I thought it'd be a real easy post to copy/paste them here so you can enjoy them too.

THE BLUES

SRV on a 12 string
Gary Moore's Still Got the Blues live
Damn Right I've Got the Blues
a young Buddy w/ Mama Thornton's original Hound Dog
with Junior Wells & the bluesbreakers
with an 8 yr old who's really great
Mary had a little lamb
Jimmy V's SRV Shuffle
Sweet Home Chicago
VooDoo Chile
Hendrix live
M.Serri-F.Chapellier-Bill Perry Band
Gary Moore - Wembley Arena 04
G3 Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Eric Johnson
Uli Jon Roth
Yngwie Malmsteen
Corey Heuvel
Melvin Taylor
Vernon Reid
Five Ten
the Adjourments
Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush
some bar band

"Dust My Broom" is a blues standard originally recorded by Robert Johnson, the legendary Mississippi Delta blues singer and guitarist, on November 23, 1936 in San Antonio, Texas. It was released on the ARC Records label under the title of "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom.[1] The song was later recorded and released on the Trumpet Records label by blues singer and guitarist Elmore James and became a surprise rhythm and blues hit in 1952. James version of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.[2]
1973 ELMORE JAMES
Howlin' Wolf
JJ Lightin' Blues Duo
RL Burnside
Charlie Pickett
Dr. Feelgood
Mick Jagger
Kenny Wayne Shepard
Gary Moore
Scott H. Biram
Sherman Robertson & The BluesMove
Walter Trout
ZZ Top

Johnny Winters

Messin' with the kid
Talk to your daughter
Mississippi Blues
Johnny B Goode
Rock n' Roll Hoochie Koo
Rock & Roll
Highway 61
Hideaway
Walkin' by myself

Leo Kottke
Vaseline Machine Gun
doin' Little martha, old Allmans tune
Last Steam Engine
Pamela Brown
Rings
Air Proofing

Savory Brown:
Train to Nowhere
Tell mama
Poor Girl
Hellbound Train
Take it Easy

And just a few more...

Magic Dick's Whammer Jammer
Robin Trower Bridge of Sighs
Warren Haynes, Joe Bonamassa, and Pat Travers

Thanks Steve!

Here's my favorite, Jimmy Vaughn telling us how The Tribute to SRV came about... "the greatest thing a brother could do".

And the Listen Only version (best sound):

Add Video to QuickList
"Alpine Valley in the middle of the night
Six strings down on the heavenbound flight..."

Thursday, December 13, 2007

World's Biggest Cat Toy

Misty, 2002

Have to agree with you there, Chris. Love the vid!



http://youtube.com/watch?v=Sw-apc3XKvI

Monday, December 3, 2007

B E L Í S S I M O

WARNING: This is a Spoiler

Here are the last three minutes from one of the greatest movies ever made. If you've never seen it before, it won't particularly mean much, but the expressions on the grownup Toto's face tells it all.

Toto slowly recognizes the 'missing links'...


YouTube - cinema paradiso

last shot of cinema paradiso. ... Cinema Paradiso (the movie ...
Watch video - 3 min 15 sec - Rated 4.9 out of 5.0
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEFugVbzsSo



You really have to see the whole film to appreciate what this ending means. Toto's expression when it dawns on him at about 2:18, and how he chokes up with the joy of appreciation simply takes my breath away. Bellisimo. Alfredo cheated (the church) and preserved Love as it was meant to be.

Cinema Paradiso

B E L Í S S I M O . A L F R E D O !