It's been eight years since the horrible attacks in New York, D.C. and Pennsylvania but it doesn't seem like it's been that long. I still get a horrible feeling in my gut whenever I think about it. Today we all are thinking about those who lost their lives and the families who forever lost their loves ones.
In memory, I'm including the video Angie cut shortly after it happened. Thanks Ang for a beautiful tribute.
September 11, 2009
September 10, 2009
Literal Music Video Genius
It just dawned on my why Mtv no longer shows videos - because for every good video, there are hundreds of bad. Some are way over the top with sets and costumes, some are so far out there no one has any idea what's going on and some should just be locked in a vault never to be seen again. And if a music video is supposed to support, oh, I dunno, the MUSIC, why do so many videos have nothing to do with the song itself?
That's why someone (I wish it was me!) came up with the idea to take a music video and re-do the lyrics to match what's happening in the video. It's a brilliant idea and the example below is the best I've found. It's genius. It's well-executed. And it had me rolling on the floor laughing!
Enjoy :-)
That's why someone (I wish it was me!) came up with the idea to take a music video and re-do the lyrics to match what's happening in the video. It's a brilliant idea and the example below is the best I've found. It's genius. It's well-executed. And it had me rolling on the floor laughing!
Enjoy :-)
September 9, 2009
12/21/2012
I didn't know the significance of the year 2012 until chatting with a friend recently about the fate of the world and it's slow demise, during which she asked what I thought of "2012." She went on to explain that an entire section of Barnes & Noble is now devoted to books about 2012. When I explained I had no idea what 2012 was, she said that the Mayan calendar ends on December 21, 2012 and there are numerous theories as to what it means, many of them centering around world destruction.
We as a society are obsessed with the end of the world! Is the world slowly dying? Yes. You can continue to live your life in your little bubble and refuse to see what is happening around you and to the world as a whole but the fact is that resources are dwindling, temperatures are rising, lands and waters are contaminated - we've been destroying the earth for centuries. It's scientifically proven. If you say you don't care, then you don't deserve to live here. Period.
But I don't understand our obsession with armageddon, and I'm not talking about it in a religious sense. Numerous movies have come out about asteroids, aliens, natural disasters, computer glitches and other ways that life as we know it will end. The whole idea is grossly romanticized by Hollywood. Bloodshed from wars, weapons of mass destruction and lives lost from natural disasters in the past decade have increased and elevated our awareness that maybe something has been put into motion. But the end of the world in one day? I don't know...
Back to the Mayans... The Mayan civilization has long been studied for their knowledge of mathematics and astronomy long before these concepts were understood in the Eastern world. Their calendar is highly intricate and some believe the Mayan Calendar is a prophetic calendar that may help us understand the past and foresee the future. Therefore, the fact that the calendar ends on December, 21, 2012 could be significant. Either the end of the world or a period of profound change, the Mayans must have known something we don't.
Or maybe they just didn't feel like going that far into the future! Think about it - the Mayan civilization began around the 1800 B.C. and their calendar begins around August 11, 3114 B.C. It should also be noted that their calendar does not follow the 365 days-a-year that our calendar follows. So maybe they ran out of time before the calendar got to 2012. What if the guy in charge decided he was fed up with his calendar duties and gave up just before their civilization collapsed? Maybe they couldn't foresee that far into the future. Who does?? I don't know about you, but I'm not sitting around wondering what's going to happen in April of 7003.
So, while I do believe the earth is heading in the wrong direction and the quality of life on this planet is significantly dwindling, I think 12/21/12 is going to come and go and we'll be no better or worse off than we are right now.
We as a society are obsessed with the end of the world! Is the world slowly dying? Yes. You can continue to live your life in your little bubble and refuse to see what is happening around you and to the world as a whole but the fact is that resources are dwindling, temperatures are rising, lands and waters are contaminated - we've been destroying the earth for centuries. It's scientifically proven. If you say you don't care, then you don't deserve to live here. Period.
But I don't understand our obsession with armageddon, and I'm not talking about it in a religious sense. Numerous movies have come out about asteroids, aliens, natural disasters, computer glitches and other ways that life as we know it will end. The whole idea is grossly romanticized by Hollywood. Bloodshed from wars, weapons of mass destruction and lives lost from natural disasters in the past decade have increased and elevated our awareness that maybe something has been put into motion. But the end of the world in one day? I don't know...
Back to the Mayans... The Mayan civilization has long been studied for their knowledge of mathematics and astronomy long before these concepts were understood in the Eastern world. Their calendar is highly intricate and some believe the Mayan Calendar is a prophetic calendar that may help us understand the past and foresee the future. Therefore, the fact that the calendar ends on December, 21, 2012 could be significant. Either the end of the world or a period of profound change, the Mayans must have known something we don't.
Or maybe they just didn't feel like going that far into the future! Think about it - the Mayan civilization began around the 1800 B.C. and their calendar begins around August 11, 3114 B.C. It should also be noted that their calendar does not follow the 365 days-a-year that our calendar follows. So maybe they ran out of time before the calendar got to 2012. What if the guy in charge decided he was fed up with his calendar duties and gave up just before their civilization collapsed? Maybe they couldn't foresee that far into the future. Who does?? I don't know about you, but I'm not sitting around wondering what's going to happen in April of 7003.
So, while I do believe the earth is heading in the wrong direction and the quality of life on this planet is significantly dwindling, I think 12/21/12 is going to come and go and we'll be no better or worse off than we are right now.
September 8, 2009
Jeopardy Then and Now
Jeopardy, one of the most successful shows in game show history, started it's 25-year trek with Trebek on September 10, 1984. Currently on break between the 25th and 26th seasons, NBC aired this first 1984 episode last night and I'm happy to say I have taped! Wow, have things changed... Trebeck walks out looking so young and dapper in his charcoal gray suit, crisp light peach shirt and handkerchief in his pocket. A full head of dark hair and a nicely trimmed handlebar mustache, the young Trebeck was a lot less tanned and cocky than he is now.
The contestants are introduced - Greg, Lois, and Frank - two copywriters and an "energy demonstrator". The clue board looks homemade like someone took some cardboard, red garland and a magic marker and whipped it together in their garage the night before. Dollar amounts are minuscule, ranging from just $100 to $500, whereas now they start at $200 up to $1000 for the first round.
The very first clue in the category "Animals" was so elementary, a fourth grader could have responded correctly. The pace of the game is painfully slow despite the fact that during the first season contestants were allowed to buzz in before Alex was finished reading the clue. (They later changed that to allow contestants more time to ponder their responses and to make it more enjoyable for those of us playing at home.) Contributing to the slow pace is the applause after every question and the dramatic gasps of horror after an incorrect response - most of which were aimed at poor Lois who didn't ring in for the first 9 clues then answered her first three tries incorrectly until she hit her stride with the stereotypically female category of "Foreign Cuisine".
She was rewarded with a mere $200 at the end of the first round and a hearty "good girl!" from Alex.
The final round is an exciting one. The clue in the category "Holidays" was"The 3rd Monday in January starting in 1986." All three contestants responded correctly (as did those of us playing at home) and the winner took home a little over $8,000 - the average for the first season. The average take home winnings this past season? $23,000.
Other interesting Jeopardy factoids:
Before 2003, champions were limited to five wins on the show with a winnings cap of $200,000. After that was abandoned, the most famous Jeopardy champion, Ken Jennings, competed in 74 consecutive games with winnings exceeding 2.5 million dollars.
The first Jeopardy episode ever was in 1964. Created by Merv Griffin and hosted by Art Fleming, it ran during the day time but was never syndicated.
The smallest amount of winnings ever was $1.00 and has only happened once.
Only once have all three contestants tied for the championship and all appeared against each other again in the next game.
After the first season, if a contestant attempts to ring in before Alex has finished reading the clue, they are locked out of ringing in for two tenths of a second.
Second place contestants currently receive $2,000 and third place $1,000 for being on the show.
From 1997 to 2002, in addition to their cash winnings, champions also received a car.
In 1999, Jeopardy's first blind contestant, Eddie Timanus, appeared on the show. The only special assistance given to him during his games was a card on which the category names were printed in Braille (which he only received at the very start of the round), and a computer keyboard to type out his response for Final Jeopardy. There were also no video-based clues during his appearances. Timanus won five consecutive games and, according to the rules in effect at that time, then retired undefeated. His winnings totalled $69,700 plus two new cars. He also went on to win $50,000 on Who Wants to be a Millionaire in 2004.
Jeopardy will begin it's 26th season next week with a brand new set! Can't wait!
The contestants are introduced - Greg, Lois, and Frank - two copywriters and an "energy demonstrator". The clue board looks homemade like someone took some cardboard, red garland and a magic marker and whipped it together in their garage the night before. Dollar amounts are minuscule, ranging from just $100 to $500, whereas now they start at $200 up to $1000 for the first round.
The very first clue in the category "Animals" was so elementary, a fourth grader could have responded correctly. The pace of the game is painfully slow despite the fact that during the first season contestants were allowed to buzz in before Alex was finished reading the clue. (They later changed that to allow contestants more time to ponder their responses and to make it more enjoyable for those of us playing at home.) Contributing to the slow pace is the applause after every question and the dramatic gasps of horror after an incorrect response - most of which were aimed at poor Lois who didn't ring in for the first 9 clues then answered her first three tries incorrectly until she hit her stride with the stereotypically female category of "Foreign Cuisine".
She was rewarded with a mere $200 at the end of the first round and a hearty "good girl!" from Alex.
The final round is an exciting one. The clue in the category "Holidays" was"The 3rd Monday in January starting in 1986." All three contestants responded correctly (as did those of us playing at home) and the winner took home a little over $8,000 - the average for the first season. The average take home winnings this past season? $23,000.
Other interesting Jeopardy factoids:
Before 2003, champions were limited to five wins on the show with a winnings cap of $200,000. After that was abandoned, the most famous Jeopardy champion, Ken Jennings, competed in 74 consecutive games with winnings exceeding 2.5 million dollars.
The first Jeopardy episode ever was in 1964. Created by Merv Griffin and hosted by Art Fleming, it ran during the day time but was never syndicated.
The smallest amount of winnings ever was $1.00 and has only happened once.
Only once have all three contestants tied for the championship and all appeared against each other again in the next game.
After the first season, if a contestant attempts to ring in before Alex has finished reading the clue, they are locked out of ringing in for two tenths of a second.
Second place contestants currently receive $2,000 and third place $1,000 for being on the show.
From 1997 to 2002, in addition to their cash winnings, champions also received a car.
In 1999, Jeopardy's first blind contestant, Eddie Timanus, appeared on the show. The only special assistance given to him during his games was a card on which the category names were printed in Braille (which he only received at the very start of the round), and a computer keyboard to type out his response for Final Jeopardy. There were also no video-based clues during his appearances. Timanus won five consecutive games and, according to the rules in effect at that time, then retired undefeated. His winnings totalled $69,700 plus two new cars. He also went on to win $50,000 on Who Wants to be a Millionaire in 2004.
Jeopardy will begin it's 26th season next week with a brand new set! Can't wait!
September 7, 2009
Hanging Rock State Park
Today we went hiking at Hanging Rock State Park, located about 100 miles from Durham, just north of Winston-Salem. The park is nestled among the Sauratown Mountains with peaks ranging from 1,700 feet to more than 2,500 feet. Named for the Saura Indians, the Sauratown Mountains were once much larger, but have eroded significantly over the years. Still, coming from the hills of the midwest, they were definitely mountains to us!
The park has over 18 miles of trails, so we left bright and early and arrived at the park just before 10am. We mapped out our 8-mile route to cover a couple of waterfalls, the signature Hanging Rock, and a long wooded trail leading to several other vistas. A cloudy morning, the sun hadn't yet burned off the haze as we headed out on Indian Creek Trail to see Hidden Falls and Window Falls. Only a half mile into the trail and accessible by families, they were nice little falls, but I suspect they are more impressive in the spring.
After the falls, we retraced our steps back to the parking and to the Hanging Rock trailhead. The trail starts out as a wide paved path and turns to gravel after about 1/4 mile. After about a half mile, the trails gets steep and we're climbing over roots, boards and boulders. We climb for a half mile straight up, panting and sweating to the top of Hanging Rock, but the view was well worth it.
We did our best to take photos that didn't reflect how massively busy the trail and the vista was. That's what we get for hiking on a holiday! Kids were running everywhere with their parents yelling after them. Peaceful it was not, so we'll definitely be going back.
After hanging rock, we scrambled down the trail and connected with the Wolf Rock Trail, a longer less accessible and therefore more peaceful trail. Another rocky hilly trail, our ankles and hips were beginning to get sore from walking on uneven ground. The only wildlife we encountered were tiny lizards and the biggest, grossest centipede thing we've ever seen. Once we reached Wolf Rock, we stopped for lunch.
Huge black ravens soared past us and we could just make out the skyline of Winston-Salem on the horizon, nearly 25 miles away. After lunch we continued down the trail another mile or so, still clambering over rocks and roots until we got to another nice vista, but by this time our feet were beginning to fail us so we turned around and headed back. All in all we hiked somewhere around 6.5 miles and left room for another visit this fall when the leaves are changing and the trails are less crowded.
The park has over 18 miles of trails, so we left bright and early and arrived at the park just before 10am. We mapped out our 8-mile route to cover a couple of waterfalls, the signature Hanging Rock, and a long wooded trail leading to several other vistas. A cloudy morning, the sun hadn't yet burned off the haze as we headed out on Indian Creek Trail to see Hidden Falls and Window Falls. Only a half mile into the trail and accessible by families, they were nice little falls, but I suspect they are more impressive in the spring.
After the falls, we retraced our steps back to the parking and to the Hanging Rock trailhead. The trail starts out as a wide paved path and turns to gravel after about 1/4 mile. After about a half mile, the trails gets steep and we're climbing over roots, boards and boulders. We climb for a half mile straight up, panting and sweating to the top of Hanging Rock, but the view was well worth it.
We did our best to take photos that didn't reflect how massively busy the trail and the vista was. That's what we get for hiking on a holiday! Kids were running everywhere with their parents yelling after them. Peaceful it was not, so we'll definitely be going back.
After hanging rock, we scrambled down the trail and connected with the Wolf Rock Trail, a longer less accessible and therefore more peaceful trail. Another rocky hilly trail, our ankles and hips were beginning to get sore from walking on uneven ground. The only wildlife we encountered were tiny lizards and the biggest, grossest centipede thing we've ever seen. Once we reached Wolf Rock, we stopped for lunch.
Huge black ravens soared past us and we could just make out the skyline of Winston-Salem on the horizon, nearly 25 miles away. After lunch we continued down the trail another mile or so, still clambering over rocks and roots until we got to another nice vista, but by this time our feet were beginning to fail us so we turned around and headed back. All in all we hiked somewhere around 6.5 miles and left room for another visit this fall when the leaves are changing and the trails are less crowded.
September 6, 2009
Labor Day
It's Labor Day weekend! But what does that mean? It signals the end of summer and the beginning of another school year. It means BBQs and three-day weekends and back-to-school shopping. But do we really know what we are celebrating? It dawned on me that I never really understood what Labor Day was and why it was a federal holiday. Are we honoring labor with a day off? Seems a bit hypocritical. What if we celebrated Independence Day by becoming more dependent? Or if we celebrated Thanksgiving by by fasting?
Labor Day does in fact have its roots buried in the labor movement. Apparently the first labor day parade was held in New York City in September of 1882. Thousands of workers and their families took a hiatus from work and marched through the streets in honor of American workers. A year later, the Central Labor Union held their own celebration and selected the first Monday of September as Labor Day in 1884. Several states recognized the day, but it wasn't until 1894 that it became a federal holiday - and this is where politics comes into play.
On May 11, 1894, workers at Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago went on strike to protest cut wages and the firing of union representatives. Union leaders soon got involved and the protest reached across America. The American Railway Union called a boycott of all Pullman cars and the work of 50,000 rail workers screeched to a halt and things got ugly in Chicago. On July 4th (ironically) President Grover Cleveland dispatched troops to combat the rising upheaval. After several riots and a lot of bloodshed, the crowds were dispersed and the strike came to a close. The event brought workers' and union rights into the homes of every American and congress decided that something needed to be done to appease the masses and recognize the struggles of the working man. It was within days of the end of the Pullman strike that congress declared the first Monday of September, Labor Day, a federal holiday.
This is pretty significant stuff! It makes me wonder why I never learned this in school. Why didn't we have Labor Day pageants that depicted the 12 hour days and horrible conditions American workers used to face? Why aren't more speeches made about the labor movement and what it meant to America?
I don't have the answers to those questions but we all know how ironic a Labor Day celebration is in the face of the country's worst every unemployment rates so maybe it makes sense that instead of orating speeches on the sacrifices made during the labor movement we don our bathing suits, grab a beer and put a few burgers on the grill. And if you actually have a job right now, enjoying your day off.
Labor Day does in fact have its roots buried in the labor movement. Apparently the first labor day parade was held in New York City in September of 1882. Thousands of workers and their families took a hiatus from work and marched through the streets in honor of American workers. A year later, the Central Labor Union held their own celebration and selected the first Monday of September as Labor Day in 1884. Several states recognized the day, but it wasn't until 1894 that it became a federal holiday - and this is where politics comes into play.
On May 11, 1894, workers at Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago went on strike to protest cut wages and the firing of union representatives. Union leaders soon got involved and the protest reached across America. The American Railway Union called a boycott of all Pullman cars and the work of 50,000 rail workers screeched to a halt and things got ugly in Chicago. On July 4th (ironically) President Grover Cleveland dispatched troops to combat the rising upheaval. After several riots and a lot of bloodshed, the crowds were dispersed and the strike came to a close. The event brought workers' and union rights into the homes of every American and congress decided that something needed to be done to appease the masses and recognize the struggles of the working man. It was within days of the end of the Pullman strike that congress declared the first Monday of September, Labor Day, a federal holiday.
This is pretty significant stuff! It makes me wonder why I never learned this in school. Why didn't we have Labor Day pageants that depicted the 12 hour days and horrible conditions American workers used to face? Why aren't more speeches made about the labor movement and what it meant to America?
I don't have the answers to those questions but we all know how ironic a Labor Day celebration is in the face of the country's worst every unemployment rates so maybe it makes sense that instead of orating speeches on the sacrifices made during the labor movement we don our bathing suits, grab a beer and put a few burgers on the grill. And if you actually have a job right now, enjoying your day off.
September 5, 2009
Bull City Not a Black Sheep
To many, Durham is the black sheep (or bull) of the triangle. Not as metropolitan or cosmopolitan as Raleigh and not as pretentious and yuppie as Chapel Hill, Durham is a little more blue collar and a little more rough around the edges. But there's a lot more to Durham that most people realize. Tobacco town is bursting with character with mouth-watering restaurants, a minor league baseball stadium, a farmer's market and community dedicated to local food, the American Tobacco trail for biking and running, an old reconditioned movie theater, revamped tobacco warehouses that now house lofts, restaurants, offices and shops, a new multi-million dollar performing arts center and of course, a little university you might have heard of. I love this town. It's just big enough to offer all of the cultural events I'm looking for, yet small enough to feel like a community.
And they take their Bull City name seriously! Here are just a few shots of the Bulls about town:
There's an energy and a friendliness here that I've never experienced. Durham is a growing town proud of its heritage and welcomes YA'LL to be a part of it. I'm sold.
And they take their Bull City name seriously! Here are just a few shots of the Bulls about town:
There's an energy and a friendliness here that I've never experienced. Durham is a growing town proud of its heritage and welcomes YA'LL to be a part of it. I'm sold.
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