Homemade Headline
Spotted today at New York and 14th on my way to the bus stop heading home from work. What else can you say?
Instrumental Two
This one came from my daughter Katie, it’s a fun little game that requires you to brave your iTunes library as you use it essentially as a Magic 8-Ball and allow it to answer a series of questions. Most answers will come out as nonsense, some are surprising and will test your ability to live up to Rule #3. After one false start, I took another try at it and came out with the below results. Song title links lead to SongMeanings.net or other lyrics sites for those that want to pursue further psycho-analysis.
RULES:
- Put your iTunes, windows media player etc on Shuffle
- For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
- YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS
- Put any comments in brackets or parentheses after the song name
If someone says “is this okay?” you say:
Room With No Number – Elvis Costello
(‘While the sign outside says there’s no vacancy’ – probably means I’ll respond ‘huh’ and they’ll need to ask me again)
How would you describe yourself?
Beyond the Sea – Bobby Darin
(‘I know beyond a doubt my heart will lead me there soon’ – confident and positive about the future)
What do you like in a guy/girl?
Cheat – The Clash
(‘Want excitement, don’t get none, I go wild’ – I dunno, hard to say I like lying and cheating in anyone, but maybe I just wouldn’t know?)
How do you feel today?
Birthday – The Beatles
(‘We’re gonna have a good time’ – Nice, every day is my birthday š
What is your life’s purpose?
St. Thomas (Don’t You Know How I Feel) – Peter Frampton
(‘I’m gonna win ya’ – I’ve got nothing for this one)
What is your motto?
Tango Atlantico – Joe Jackson
(again, nothing)
What do your friends think of you?
Barefootin’ on the Wicket Picket – Black Randy and the Metrosquad
(Many of my friends would indeed associate me with Black Randy)
What do you think of your parents?
From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come) – Bruce Springsteen
(‘Well from small things, mama Big things one day come’ – maybe more like what my parents hope for me, than what I think of them)
What do you think about very often?
‘A’ Bomb in Wardour Street (Live) – The Jam
(‘A Phillistine nation, of degredation, And hate and war.’ – Sad, but true)
What is 2 + 2?
Just Like Paradise – David Lee Roth
(‘Make it out to cash, We’ll spend it later’ – some math even I can do in my head)
What do you think of your best friend?
Museum of Love – Daniel Johnston
(an unfamiliar tune from my own library)
What do you think of the person you like?
Aubrey – Bread
(‘And I’d go a thousand times around the world just to be closer to her than to me’ – yeah, so I have some ‘Bread’ in my iTunes, what of it?)
What is your life story?
My Daughter’s First Date – David Cross
(ah, some comedy, we’ll see if it’s funny when I’m actually faced with my daughter’s first date)
What do you want to be when you grow up?
People Are Strange – The Doors
(‘No one remembers your name when you’re strange’ – sounds like me)
What do you think of when you see the person you like?
Kosmos – Paul Weller
(‘But its to the kosmos – men dare – to look for something’ – um, my friends are spacey?)
What’s your wedding going to be like?
If She Knew What She Wants – The Bangles
(‘If she knew what she wants (He’d be giving it to her)’ – I’ve been doing my best š
What will they play at your funeral?
Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word – Elton John
(‘What do I do when lightning strikes me, And I wake to find that you’re not there’ – I always knew it would be a lightning strike to get me)
What is your hobby/interest?
A Bullet For Everyone (Live) – Paul Weller
(‘When it comes to the gun there’s a bullet for everyone’ – sorry, no gun hobby/interest here)
What is your biggest fear?
A Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy – The Kinks
(‘He just spends his life, living in a rock ānā roll fantasy’ – strike two, seems more like a dream than a fear)
What is your biggest secret?
I’m Only Thinking of Him – Man of La Mancha Soundtrack
(‘I’m only thinking of him’ – strike three, I’m not being ‘outed’ by my broadway show tunes!
What do you think of your friends?
The Hungry Wolf – X
(‘i roam ready to tear up the world’ – yeah, sounds like us)
What will you post this as?
Instrumental Two – Paul Weller
(A suitable ending, nothing but music š
Thanks Katie for the laugh, that was fun. Who will be tagged to carry on the iTunes 8-ball fun?
Rats from a Sinking Ship
Rove… Gonzalez… Bush’s brain… Bush’s lawyer
Who’s next? There are sooo many good choices… Dick, Condi… hell, how long will Barney stick around? My choice, every last one of them… 511 more days.
Damn, Roberts and Alito will be hanging around much longer than that š
Wrigley Anniversary!
So our actual 20th Wedding Anniversary is this Wednesday the 22nd. But we took a quick jaunt to Chicago last weekend so I could share this anniversary message with Jennifer a few days early.
And the 1st place Cubs even won the game! Perfect šBeer and Bears Don’t Mix!
Bears eat man at beer festival
CNN.com, 8/20/07
7 Lives Left
But the cat came back, the very next day, oh the cat came back, you know they thought he was a goner, but the cat came back, he just wouldn’t stay away…..
a song I learned at camp in sixth grade
We got some bad news while on our recent family trip to New York City. Our neighbor called and let us know that a dead cat, fitting the description of our orange cat Spaz, had been found alongside a nearby road in our neighborhood. Spaz is about four years old, he’s the kitten we kept when Kitty gave us that gift, and it wouldn’t be the first time Spaz has been hit by a car. I was just glad it happened while I was with the whole family in New York, giving me a solid alibi (I’m not known as the family cat lover).
My wife and I decided not to tell the kids, no point in ruining out trip. It would wait until the next day, on our way home. So we kept the sad secret. We were all the way back to Virginia when we stopped for a last meal of the trip, knowing our kitchen at home was pretty bare. And when we finished eating, we broke the news to the kids, knowing their would be grieving neighbors waiting at home and we couldn’t keep them in the dark any longer. As you might expect, there were tears and long faces, and it was a pretty quiet drive home, as the song ‘Bad Day’ played on the radio.
So it was with some surprise, as we pulled into our driveway, that my wife said, “Hey, there’s Spaz”, and sure enough, there as Spaz coming off the front porch just as we would have expected had nothing else every come up.
We confirmed it wasn’t Spaz’s ghost, and there’s no nearby Pet Sematary that we’re aware of. We thanked the neighbor who had gone to the trouble of taking ‘someones’ dead cat to the shelter to be cremated, and there was much relief and rejoicing. Welcome back to the family Spaz, we’re glad you’re still with us.
Catching Up…
I guess you can call it a summer lull, or I’ve just been very busy with travels of late, and as a result things have been pretty darn quiet here in the Casey blog. Sosumi.
Let me try and offer some quick catching up, and some random thoughts on my mind…
Company Retreat – For the third summer in a row, I’ve spent a weekend at a company retreat in Vermont, and as before, it was a blast. Bonfires, backhoes, and corporate bonding… good times. We suffered a six-hour delay on our return flight, but hey, shit happens.
Fat B-Roll –
There was a news story recently about obesity being contagious (which is of course old news and was reported in The Onion years ago, right here). What struck me about this story and others like it is the b-roll video that is always used, showing fat people from the neck down, minding their own business walking down the street, eating a couple hot dogs, or sitting on a bench. Who are the cameramen who gather this stuff? I’m on the lookout. Beware any camera that won’t look you in the face. And I better start doing some sit-ups, or I’ll be starring in an fat-story sometime soon.
Tech Turmoil – It seems like when my technology fails me, it all happens at once. My iPod has been freezing up periodically freezing up, and now it seems to be completely dead. This is the second iPod photo of mine that has died after little more than a year, and the Apple Care coverage I bought the second time around will do me no good, as it expired in February. And the month-old Phillips Plasma TV I bought for the basement manspace suddenly has nothing more to offer than a little blue light, no picture, sound, or anything else. It’s under warranty, but finding a Philips rep who will make the promised house call is proving challenging.
Chicago – I recently visited Chicago to attend the 2nd Yearly Kos Convention. It was a good time and notably larger than last years first one in Vegas. Once again I came back with an armload of signed books, and a head full of energy for heading into 2008 Election battles. It was very impressive to see almost every Presidential campaign (except Biden) show up to participate. I went to Bill Richardson’s breakout session and he did much to re-inforce my feelings that he ought to be among the top tier candidates. When his staffer tried to cut off his Q&A with the audience, he replied, “I’m at 13%, I can answer a few more questions!”.
I read Mike Royko’s biography of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, Boss, while on the trip. It’s an eye-opening education in machine politics of the 50s & 60s. And it wouldn’t be a trip to Chicago without a visit with my Great Aunt Margaret, a Cubs game at Wrigley Field, and some Casey Family grave hunting.
OK, so while that still leaves me far from caught up, it’s a least a little slice of summer offered here in the Casey blog. More to come…
Greetings from the Wrigley Bleachers!
Look for us on ESPN tonight. We’re directly below the scoreboard, first row of the upper section.
Update: Damn, the Cubs lost. So we’re still a game back, and I owe Lou a few lunches. Not to mention the grief I’ll get from Nick. Damn.
Greetings from The Cubby Bear
We still have a few hours to kill before tonight’s game between the Cubs and the Mets, but time is easy to kill here at The Cubby Bear!
Friday the 13th Birthday
July 13th – Happy Birthday to Me! One unavoidable consequence of having a birthday on the 13th of any month is, from time to time your birthday falls on Friday the 13th. For me, this is my sixth such birthday (1973 – age 8, 1979 – 14, 1984 – 19, 1990 – 25, 2001 – 36, 2007 – 42), but I don’t buy into such superstitious nonsense. Every birthday, every day, they’re all as lucky as you make them. My next Friday the 13th birthday will come in five more years, the year 2012, when I’ll turn 47.
UPDATE: News from a fellow July 13th Birthday, facing Friday the 13th Down Under, and still more about Friday the 13th birthdays.