I'm listening to Matt Nathanson right now, his CD Beneath These Fireworks. Have you ever sat back and listened to his hit Bent? I mean listen to the lyrics.

Now here is something interesting. I put on Napster and listened to Bent on the Beneath These Fireworks CD and the song is different than the version on Pop 4! OMG. I've been listening to a much poppier version than this album's version. Good thing I didn't purchase this earlier from amazon.com, expecting to get a legal copy of Bent. I mean, I would have Bent, but I wouldn't have the copy I expected.

Ugg. What a bad entry.

I'll make it up with this: I'm working on a list of the top 22 albums of all time, as voted on by the DLMDT committee, a clandestine organization made up of several members, each of whom think with the same mind and who go by the name David Tumbarello. Good thing no one in that organization is going to disagree with me. I sure hope there are a few Emm Gryner CD's in the top 22.

Ever look into Aboriginal T-shirts? I haven't.

I like this one too.

Finally, I ran two miles today for the first time all year. Maybe I'll run tomorrow if I get home in time.

Cheers.

Found this technology which explains one of the mysteries on Lost.

One more insight about teaching a child to ride a bike: the parent actually does teach. This experience might be the closest thing our culture has to hunter-gatherers teaching their children survival skills during pre-historic times.

I just sent a link to Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel to a friend of mine & though it might be a helpful utility to post here.

I've never used his Clipomatic, but that looks like a better tool than the one I use for this purpose.

Here is a new rule: if you are having a problem with your significant other, play some soccer, then go out for a few drinks. Seems to be a good temporary cure for what ails ya.

Taught my son how to ride a two-wheeler yesterday. He was able to ride solo for at least 15 seconds and during that particular ride, while I was running beside his bike, I came up with the jingle "You know how to balance", which is sung in a playful tempo. Something important occurs when teaching a kid to ride a bike. When I would let go of his jacket and run beside him, he would let out a happy fearful noise. Like a breathy giggle mixed with a quiet scream. Reflecting back, what I saw going on was somewhat equivalent to the maturing a teenager gets when they learn to drive. He had that I-can-do-it-and-I'm-a-bigger-boy-now attitude. It also felt great to run beside him in the street and occasionally let him fall on the ground. Falling is part of learning what not to do, and probably a big part in learning what balance is.

My wife had purchased the protective gloves and knee pads and elbow pads as part of a kit that comes with one of his helmets. I think all that, at least with this kid, would have given him more fear than necessary. He wore his Tonka helmet, of course.

The wife and I watched Lost last night, tivo-ed from last Thursday. What a bunch of bunk. There are the "others"; then there are those in some underground facility trying to steal the baby. Then there is the French woman. Then there is the balloonist and his wife. Then there are the survivors from the airplane crash, from whom we get our perspective on the island. Then there is the foggy thing that takes the shape of a foggy thing with intelligence. Then there is the thing that makes weird noises. Then there is the plane that went down with the virgin mary's--but no survivors. Then there is a pirate boat, with an engine, fuel, and everything that goes into the maintenance of a said vehicle. And electricity, but no above ground wires, not to mention a power station which we haven't seen which runs turbines powered from the tides (I'm not sure about this one, but something along these lines must be happening). Oh, not to mention a computer network which might be CAT5 or phone lines with modem or some kind of wireless network that can traverse miles of rough terrain.

Now thrown into all this mix of things I just don't get, are a few things that make a little bit of sense in a twisted way: the numbers, the guns, then preservatives in Dharma Cereal and the other items with an indefinite shelf life. This last list I can actually play with. I can allow my suspension of disbelief to take over. But the list in the previous paragraph--I'm sorry--it's just a bunch of bunk.

Can't wait to see the next episode, though!

Did I mention an article I saw posted at the Drudge Report? Brain Cells Fused with Computer Chip. Just wonderful. Now the human race is doomed. We got to get Arnold back from the future to take out this company!

I'll see you all after the great cyberwars.

Here is a new thought: I remember when I was about 14 years old my brother invited some of his friends over to play pool downstairs and have a few beers. I'm not really sure about the beers, but that seems like the thing that might have gone on back in '81. I was even invited to be on their softball team, even though I was about 4 years younger than his clan, but I still did not feel privileged. I went to one or two practices and felt social distance--and social dissonance--from this older crowd. I was mostly interested in running great distances. Being on the road, for me, was where I thrived.

So I was sitting on the lazy-boy, minding my own business, when a respectable stoner tried to engage me in friendly banter. I felt aware of his camaraderie, but I must have been depressed or introverted or scared or just plain tired. So while he spins the basketball in his hands, I sit on the recliner and I had just turned my face back to the TV when he pops the ball in my direction--after all, we had eye contact just half a second earlier. His attempt to engage me with the ball failed. The ball smacked me in the face, at a minimal velocity, yet with enough punctuation to define the scene on the terms of the victim, instead of the aggressor. He came over and apologized and repeated he thought I was looking, and I sat there pissed and mindful of my ... strategy.

What do you make of this story?

Time for a beer?

So have you been having a hankering for learning prison language? Try this site and start your education today!

Here is a link to a beautiful image.

Here is a serious light saber fight. It is long, but worth the wait.

And here is George Lucas' plans for the next Star Wars series.

Here is another brain teaser.

I recently received one of the great CD's in rock and roll history. Problem is that the performance is by the London Symphony Orchestra. I remember first hearing music from this CD while I waited for a Shakespeare performance, back in 1998. Thank god for progressive Shakespeare directors.

Sipping on some St. Julian's Solera Cream Sherry, and thinking it is a good time to share with my friends one of the gems of the sweet wine genre. Once more, I hate to admit it, but I am ahead of the curve with this find. Now if only you can get up to speed.

Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if I made a different choice yesterday, or last week, or last year or sixteen years ago. A stupid fantasy, but a fantasy nonetheless. The problem with the insane person is he or she can enter that fantasy and make it too real, too intimate.

The wife and kids and I went to a Parent/Teacher Conference at her school. As a second grader, she is doing great. Then I wondered why do we go to these conferences anyway? I get more understanding of her progress by sitting down beside her bed, pulling a throw blanket over our toes, and reading Pony Pal books at 8:05 in the evening.

There was a time when I thought I could be something great. Really great. And I think that is why I broke my toe two Saturday's ago during an indoor soccer game.

Have I posted the creepy World Sunlight Map?

I had a crepe yesterday at Cafe Zola. I don't know the cost of the crepe, but I know I wouldn't have complained if it was $10, $20, or even $30 dollars. Ok, that might be a bit extreme. Let's just say that I never had a crepe in my life, made with orange zest butter and not much else. It also helps that I was finishing a Brandy at the same time and flirting with a waitress whose voice transcended the most incredible voices in the world. Ok, I wasn't doing most of the flirting--I was listening for the most part, but I did get the chance to tell her to stick with her radio work--oh, did I mention that my initial guess was that she was in broadcasting. Lucky guess, because she mentioned she is putting together a segment for a local radio station. So great crepe, good brandy, amazing atmosphere, and great company.

Try the Blind Spot optical illusion, the first one listed at this guy's page: http://www.jimloy.com/puzz/illusion.htm.

Try the Save The Goldfish game, then try and play until you got four or five hot ones bouncing around!

Things here are pretty quiet. No one sick, no one injured. Oh yea, I might have a broken toe. Stupid soccer. Soccer is like a bad habit. I get hurt and then I keep going back for more. I am not a natural kicker, but I can dribble sometimes alright and I can play defense most of the time. Now defense is way underrated in most sports, so if I were a coach, I'd preach defense more than offense--at least as a fundamental part of the game.

From a few months ago, here is a photo I've aptly called "Tower of Quiche". Now that would be an interesting multi-player internet siege game! If you have a good quiche recipe, please send it my way. We're always willing to try something new.

I don't want to steal bandwidth, so here are some links to photos I've come across lately (remember to middle click with Firefox):

http://www.pbase.com/sdommin/image/11679874

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/9932/s0266li.jpg

http://grandbattle.com/x089.png

http://myspace-252.vo.llnwd.net/00513/25/24/513444252_l.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/roquentin/68468811/

Busted my toe again, yesterday in soccer. Broken? Might be. It has been hurting all day today.

The wife has her women's group over today for a meeting. So me & the kids are going to the neighbor's for some homemade baked macaroni and cheese. Yummm.

Went to the mall yesterday with the kids to get a fruit smoothie or two. The kids got strawberry-banana and I got something with coconut. Mmm.

Left the play area and headed across the mall to the other end where I hoped to find the Eddie Bauer store. Got to the corner but it was boarded up and a sign said, "Find us in temporary location 152." My god!? Where was location 152, I stammered in my head. Without losing my head, I did my best to figure out the mystery on the spot. I looked down the corridor heading South. Not next to the Country Cobbler. Not by Radio Shack. Wait a minute! It was next to Radio Shack, just down a few stores. Eureka, I was saved.

I entered Eddie Bauer for the first time in 6 years to actually buy something. My mission had a green light. Upon being approached in the too narrow new temporary location, I told the clerk I was looking for socks, "I still use the pairs I bought 6 years ago and they are the best socks in the world." After showing me the socks, she explained that there is a 25% discount if I buy 3 pairs. The conditions were perfect for me to execute and complete my mission. I chose 3 of the same black style sock and proceeded to the checkout counter where I received the 25% off and came away with a steal--$16.86 for 3 pairs of black socks. With confidence I took advantage of Eddie Bauer, and with flight of foot, the kids and I maneuvered our way out of the store and knew the mission was completed with great success.

At Brookstone, I saw an air purifier for my with list and a Roomba that I got plans to get the wife for Mother's Day or Christmas. Don't tell her! I told my daughter on the way to the car that for the price of the air purifier and the Roomba, we could pretty much buy a horse.

Here, you can make your own kaleidoscope.

Here are some that I made earlier:

http://www.lionreviews.com/blogphotos/ututututu.jpg
http://www.lionreviews.com/blogphotos/SoftSoft.jpg
http://www.lionreviews.com/blogphotos/NotPenises.jpg

Quantum Physics and the Double Slit Experiment. Ironic that I came across this today (ironic??) because just last night I saw the movie What the Bleep Do We Know!?. Then again, after watching the movie, I gets to thinking that there never is anything as a coincidence--just our minds allowing all possibilities into existence.

On the topic of our existence, I now give you a web page that offers dozens of Views From Satellites.