I’m a hard rocker at heart, but I do enjoy almost any style of music. Recently, I’ve been listening to a lot of instrumental and mellow music. At the risk of being shot by my hard rocker friends, I’ve been listening to Enya, Danny Wright, Yanni and Nobuo Uematsu. For sure though, no Barry Manilow – Ha Ha!! Anyway, I was poking around on YouTube the other day and came across another musician whose music I thoroughly enjoy. His name is Yiruma and he’s a South Korean pianist and composer. There’s not a lot about him that I can find on the Internet. From what I can tell, he’s currently serving in the Korean Navy. Military service is mandatory for all male Koreans. He has several albums on iTunes. I found one album of his that was pretty funny called “Puppy Dung”. I think it’s a soundtrack for some animation video.
Below are my three favorite songs, thus far. The links will take you to the YouTube versions of the songs. If you’re familiar with Yanni’s song, “In The Mirror”, Yiruma’s song, “River Flows In You”, is somewhat similar but the tempo is not quite as fast. A very pretty melody – good fireplace music.
River Flows In You (my favorite)
For Yiruma’s Wikipedia entry, click here.
Who is Beaners? Hopefully, I won’t be embarrassing her too much, but that is my daughter’s nickname that only I really use when we talk together. I don’t remember exactly when I started using it, but I think it morphed from how Alana pronounced her name when she was only 2-3 years old – Lanie Beanie. I imagine there are many dads that have a special name they use when talking to their daughter.
Anyway, the other day I was scanning pictures into my computer from some of our old photo albums and came across some pictures of my daughter that I hadn’t seen in years. It brought up lots of good memories and times from years past. Sometimes she was a little stinker, but when she looked at me with those big blue eyes of hers, she could melt you in a heartbeat. I remember when we first lived in Monterey, CA and almost every Saturday morning we would jump in the Z3, put the top down, pop in a tape with Ozzie Osborne’s song, “I Just Want You” and sing it as loud as we could to each other. We’d stop at a little Mom & Pop grocery store, get a roast beef sub and soda and head to the ocean. I’ll never forget those days as long as I live. I look back at all the years as she was growing up and it’s hard to remember any times when she ever really disappointed us. You hear so many stories of kids rebelling and causing all sorts of problems in their teenage years, but it never really happened to us. Was she perfect – heck no. There were learning experiences for both of us. As parents of an only child, we made a few mistakes and learned a few things along the way. All in all though, there are few things we would have done differently. She’s 24 now, finishing up her second year of medical school. To say that her dad is very proud of her would be a big understatement. But as proud as I am of her accomplishments thus far, I’m proudest of what a kind, sweet and thoughtful young lady she’s turned out to be. What else could a dad ask for? I wouldn’t trade my Beaners for anything this world could ever offer. Love you, Beaners!!!
Below are some pictures that I scanned in recently. There’s one where she was about 2 years old and wearing my flight jacket. The one with the little boy is from when she was the flower girl for my sister-in-law’s wedding. The one with me smiling and holding her was when I had just returned from Spain after a short deployment.
So, why did I write this posting, other than to tell my girl how much I love her and how proud of her that I am? Maybe you have someone, either a loved one, a friend or acquaintance that you’ve been meaning to tell how much he or she means to you. Don’t miss an opportunity because you sometimes don’t get a second chance. Just do it!
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Once upon a time, on a farm in Virginia, there was a little red hen who scratched about the barnyard until she uncovered quite a few grains of wheat.
She called all of her Democrat neighbors together and said, ‘If we plant this wheat, we shall have bread to eat. Who will help me plant it?’
‘Not I,’ said the cow.
‘Not I,’ said the duck.
‘Not I,’ said the pig.
‘Not I,’ said the goose.
‘Then I will do it by myself,’ said the little red hen, and so she did. The wheat grew very tall and ripened into golden grain.
‘Who will help me reap my wheat?’ asked the little red hen.
‘Not I,’ said the duck.
‘Out of my classification,’ said the pig.
‘I’d lose my seniority,’ said the cow.
‘I’d lose my unemployment compensation,’ said the goose.
‘Then I will do it by myself,’ said the little red hen, and so she did.
At last it came time to bake the bread.
‘Who will help me bake the bread?’ asked the little red hen.
‘That would be overtime for me,’ said the cow.
‘I’d lose my welfare benefits,’ said the duck.
‘I’m a dropout and never learned how,’ said the pig.
‘If I’m to be the only helper, that’s discrimination,’ said the goose.
‘Then I will do it by myself,’ said the little red hen. She baked five loaves and held them up for all of her neighbors to see.
They wanted some and, in fact, demanded a share.
But the little red hen said, ‘No, I shall eat all five loaves.’
‘Excess profits!’ cried the cow. (Nancy Pelosi)
‘Capitalist leech!’ screamed the duck. (Barbara Boxer)
‘I demand equal rights!’ yelled the goose. (Jesse Jackson)
The pig just grunted in disdain. (Ted Kennedy)
And they all painted ‘Unfair!’ picket signs and marched around and around the little red hen, shouting obscenities.
Then the farmer (Obama) came. He said to the little red hen, ‘You must not be so greedy.’
‘But I earned the bread,’ said the little red hen.
‘Exactly,’ said Barack the farmer. ‘That is what makes our free enterprise system so wonderful. Anyone in the barnyard can earn as much as he wants. But under our modern government regulations, the productive workers must divide the fruits of their labor with those who are lazy and idle.’
And they all lived happily ever after, including the little red hen, who smiled and clucked, ‘I am grateful, for now I truly understand.’
But her neighbors became quite disappointed in her. She never again baked bread because she joined the ‘party’ and got her bread free. And all the Democrats smiled. ‘Fairness’ had been established.
Individual initiative had died, but nobody noticed; perhaps no one cared…so long as there was free bread that ‘the rich’ were paying for.
Fresh from my shower, I stand in front of the mirror complaining to my
husband that my breasts are too small.
Instead of characteristically telling me it’s not so, he
uncharacteristically comes up with a suggestion.
‘If you want your breasts to grow, then every day take a piece of toilet
paper and rub it between them for a few seconds’.
Willing to try anything, I fetch a piece of toilet paper and stand in
front of the mirror, rubbing it between my breasts. ‘How long will this
take?’ I asked.
‘They will grow larger over a period of years,’ my husband replies.
I stopped. ‘Do you really think rubbing a piece of toilet paper between my
breasts every day will make my breasts larger over the years?’
Without missing a beat he says, ‘Worked for your butt, didn’t it?’
Sorry, folks. I couldn’t resist. It just seemed too appropriate for all of Obama’s recent cabinet picks. I hear the new stimulus package has some money in it to help them out.
I was moseying around on the iTunes store the other day and came across a musician called Nobuo Uematsu. He’s a Japanese video game composer and he’s best known for creating the musical scores for most of the Final Fantasy video games. He has some very interesting music and some of his work has been performed by some major symphony orchestras. Although I wouldn’t be too inclined to purchase the entire soundtrack album for one of these video games, there are some very nice piano and woodwind pieces worth listening to. He reminds me a lot of Danny Wright if you’re into piano solos. Below are three of my favorite songs from his collection. The links will take you to YouTube versions of the songs.
For more information on Nobuo Uematsu, click here.
1. Tifa’s Theme from Final Fantasy VII (my personal favorite)
2. To Zanarkand from Final Fantasy X
3. Aerith’s Theme from Final Fantasy VII
These are times when I truly don’t understand God’s ways. I’ll be going to a funeral this Thursday. Last Sunday my brother-in-law’s brother was electrocuted in a freak accident while working on a neon sign he was building. Just like that, and without warning, he’s no longer here. I never knew the brother very well. I met him briefly once or twice at a family gathering. He was only 39 years old. He leaves behind a wife and two small children. It just doesn’t seem right to have a life end that way. He was in the prime of his life with so many years to look forward to. He never got a last chance to say goodbye to his wife, children and loved ones. I can only imagine the feeling of sorrow that I’d have if I never got a chance to say the things that need to be said to a loved one. I know it’s not a fun thing to watch as a loved one with a terminal illness slowly dies before your eyes. However, it does at least give you the opportunity to say your goodbyes. You won’t have the feeling of regret at losing the chance to say the important things.
Sometimes, it seems like the wrong people in the world are dying. I can think of people close to me, as well as nationally known people, who died way before their time. Good people who were doing good and noble things with their lives. It’s probably mean, but I can think of many people living today whose lives I’d like to see traded with them. It’s a good thing that I’m not God because I’d do it in a heartbeat.
I don’t really expect anyone to be able to give me a satisfactory explanation for all of this. It’s one of life’s mysteries that will never be answered. I’m also not expecting God to pop up and give me a solo appearance and explain it either. It just doesn’t seem fair.
Back in 1988-1989 I began taking a vitamin C supplement. There was a scientist named Linus Pauling who had espoused the virtues of vitamin C in reducing the incidence and severity of colds. I did a little research on him at the library (there was no Internet back in 1988-1989!) and found out he was one of only two people to ever win two Nobel Prizes in different disciplines. Marie Curie was the other. I figured if this guy thought it was a good idea, what the heck. I’ve been pretty religious about taking 1000mg each day since then. I used to get the typical cold and sore throat a few times a year like most people. Since taking the vitamin C supplements for the past 20 years, I’ve never gotten a cold or sore throat. However, about a month ago, I decided to stop taking any supplements and see if they were really having any effect on me. This past week I was down in Florida visiting friends. One of them had a cold, and sure enough, I got it from her. I had even bragged beforehand that I never got colds. At the time, I had forgotten that I stopped taking the vitamin supplement. Only on my way back home later that week, did I remember that I was no longer taking them.
If you read all the recent literature on the efficacy of vitamin C in preventing and reducing the severity of colds, the conclusion is that no scientific study supports it. It’s hard to go against the overwhelming body of evidence that points in that direction. My unscientific study of one would not pass muster as being statistically valid. However, even if in my case it’s due to the placebo effect, I’m going to start taking the vitamin C again. Let’s see how long I can go without getting another cold. I’ll keep you posted on the results.
With the coronation of King Obama only a few days away, I feel compelled to say a few words for the last president to govern our country before we become a socialist country.
Thank you President Bush for keeping our country free from terrorist strikes for over seven years. I don’t think there was a single person, myself included, who thought you could keep this nation from suffering another terrorist disaster for this long.
Thank you for taking the fight to the enemy. While mistakes were made in prosecuting the war, overall it has weakened the terrorists. Many will say the cost in terms of human life and money was too great. However, what would have been the cost if we did as little as many liberals had been calling for? What if the likes of Harry Reid, who said the war was lost, had been in charge? Terrorists around the world would have been emboldened and likely caused untold loss of life and economic damage that we can only begin to imagine. Terrorists don’t respond to reason and diplomacy. While a civilized society values life, terrorism thrives on death and destruction. History has clearly shown that.
Thank you for being principled and not basing your decisions on political polls of the day. In my heart, I know you made your decisions with the best interests of the country in mind. I don’t think you ever made a decision for purely political gain.
Thank you for not folding under pressure when most of the media and political pundits were slinging mud and lies at you and being so utterly disrespectful. A lesser man would have given in and responded at their cowardly level. You stayed above the fray and truly showed class. Most honest Americans despise the likes of Pelosi, Reid, Krugman, Olbermann and Maddow. Honest debate and criticism is valued in this country. However, smears, lies and dishonest reporting are slowly killing this country.
Thank you for being a man of faith. While the secular left mocks any form of religion, especially Christianity, you weren’t afraid to pray for guidance and demonstrate your faith in God.
Above all, I wish you and your family a quiet and peaceful time in the days and months ahead. You’ve earned it. Thank you President Bush.
Hung Chow calls into work and says, ‘Hey, I no come work today, I really sick. Got headache, stomach ache and legs hurt, I no come work.’
The boss John says, ‘You know something, Hung Chow? I really need you today. When I feel sick like you do, I go to my wife and tell her to give me sex. That makes everything better and I go to work. You try that.’
Two hours later Hung Chow calls again. ‘I do what you say and I feel great. I be at work soon………You got nice house.’
