Debate '04
I'm looking forward to seeing the presidential debate next Thursday night. Will there be anything of substance? I thought it was interesting to read that the American Indians of the area are paying the bill for the first debate at Miami U. Is this a first, that a tribe has sponsored the government?
  posted by John : 7:01 AM

 
The song-circle thing is working out well. I'm enjoying it anyway. Just added a link under the Listening Room window that will take you to a blog for discussion. An entry will automatically post there after you upload a new track. At least that's how its supposed to work. Thought it would be best to keep these posts in one place.

  posted by John : 6:21 AM

 

photo

Victor has not been feeling well at all the last couple of days. He's been drinking water, but not keeping it down for long. He seems to be doing better today than last night. Hopefully he'll come around after a long rest at Grandma's doggy recovery ward.

  posted by John : 1:30 PM

 

photo gallery

Working backwards in posting pictures from my weekend trip to NYC - these are a couple of the pop-culture icons that I saw there on Sunday.

  posted by John : 1:22 PM

 
MP3s with images
...Soundblox player doesn't like these. I have a fix in mind that I'll put in place, someday. Thanks for adding to the mix. Why not invite a friend to take a turn?
  posted by John : 12:33 PM

 

photo

Beautiful weather between hurricanes here in New York. Had a really nice day walking for hours in lower Manhattan. Saw a documentary "A Letter to True", by fashion photographer Bruce Weber (also did the film "Let's Get Lost" on Chet Baker). Really nice - based on a letter he writes to his dog. And as it dealt a good bit with 9/11 and loss, it was fitting to see it here.

After the film I scanned the village scene for a place to eat. But after walking around the streets of cafe's and clubs I instead headed toward Washington Square. There was a few very talented guys playing well known 60's and 70's songs. A regular NYU hootenany. The crowd grew larger and everyone joined in chorus. The scene was great. Behind me was the blue beams of the memorial. And ahead, through the arch was the lit spire of the Empire State bldg. People would step up to lead the singing, and the crowd really got into it when they played 80s tunes (even "Africa" sounded terriffic).

I caught a glimpse there of how this city has shared in healing after losses over the years, as crowds of strangers gathered and sang Beatles songs in the fall of 1980, and no doubt to sing them again in the fall of 2001. A fitting end to a fine day of exploring.

  posted by John : 11:13 AM

 
Flew in to New York tonight and had an incredible view alongside Manhattan, coming in from the south on a very clear night. The two blue lightbeams in the place of the WTC towers shot up higher than I could see from the plane. Most unfortunately, the camera I borrowed for the weekend wasn't with me on the plane so I couldn't take a picture. Such an incredibly jam packed little island. Just here for two days of walking and looking around.

And Sharon's in Paris. I guess our timing is a little off; we'll have to come back to both places together sometime. I saw the statue of liberty from the air tonight, and remembered that it came from Paris. It was built there and must have been quite a tourist attraction itself around 1873. Part of the purpose of Sharon's trip is to visit the place where her mother's father was from, before he came to the US around 1874. He often told his daughters of seeing the Statue of Liberty, presumably as he arrived at NY by ship. But either he actually arrived later when the statue arrived in NY, or he saw it on a trip to Paris.

Planning to take lots of pictures to share.
  posted by John : 7:22 PM

 
Got MP3s?
The online song-circle I've been thinking about building is now ready for its trial run.

Under the Listening Room there is a new music mix for Labour Day. Click on the Upload link to add an mp3 of your own to the playlist. Remember the old days of cassettes: sitting around drinking a few beers, shuffling through the album collection and taking turns to make a compilation tape? Well this is pretty much the same. Only you may be alone, and in another part of the world. But you can still have the beer.

After you upload, you can fill in a form with any missing tag information. For now, please identify yourself in the Comments field, so we know who's who. Also - please use compression bitrate of 128kbps. The player works best at 128 or less. Though it starts to sound pretty grainy way down at 64kbps.

Try it out. Let me know what you think. I'll be adding code to generate playlists for the uploaded songs real soon.

Take care,

- John

  posted by John : 12:10 AM

 
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  posted by John : 7:56 AM

 
Saw a great big yellow moon over the lake tonight. Heard someone say it was a harvest moon. Maybe. Because its yellow like wheat? Not sure if it is past 'full' or getting there, but it wasn't far from full either way.

Sharon is mid-way into her travels in France. Got a short email from her today...

SO glad to hear from you! We have not found a place to send email since last Fri zhen we wrote. (letters of a,w,m are in different places and period is upper case.) Thqnk you for sending the code. I have been doing qll the driving qnd its so fun in a little car on these tiny roads. Tears about Dans news about Moll. She was a good dog.
...
We went to aé goat farm, a bee museum, crossed the bridge in Normandy today from LaHave. I have never seen such a bridge! Entretat and now Honfleur (on the coast) are beautiful. The rain is gone and sunny skies: Saw an American war mueseum at Somme in the country and got to speak to an American wife of the director zho had lived in France for 5 years;
Drinking wine and food is beyond belief. Have to go noz: <,y ti,e is up. Hard to use this keyboqrd. Love; love to you: Think hqppy thoughts; my love. Write again. I love it. < i zill try to call again but it hasnt been zorking. This is so funny to reqd:

I guess they have different keyboards in France.

Since Sharon's in Normandy, she might well have been looking out over the water tonight too. I wonder what they call the English Channel in France?

Came home and put together this rather meloncholy music-mix for the occassion of what might be the harvest moon.

  posted by John : 9:25 PM