The Descendants

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

My Week With Marilyn

Movie Season Begins!!

Young Adult

80's dance revival

Chromeo "Night By Night" Video from GreenLabelSound on Vimeo.

This video puts Flashdance to shame. Check it out. Looks like David Macklovitch may have taken some ballroom dance classes.

Good Quote

"It may be that the gods forbad vengeance to man because they reserved for themselves so intoxicating a drink. But the cup should not be drained to the bottom. The dregs are often filthy tasting."

-Winston Churchill (after seeing the English brutally kill the Dervishes in Sudan to avenge the murder of General Gordon.)

I went to Mclean Bible last week and Lon gave an excellent sermon on revenge and God's inevitable justice (4/17/2011). I highly recommend it.

BOOK!

Hey it's been a long time since I've posted something. This video is funny--he is promoting "BOOK" like it's the latest hot tech poduct. His presentation is similar to the style of Steve Jobs when he presents a new product to an auditorium of people. If you understand the Spanish, don't get thrown off by they subtitles--they are in Portuguese.

The Daily Show

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Crisis in Dairyland - Odor in the Capitol Building
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook

Click on full episode at the bottom. For some reason I can't embed the entire episode.

La Preuve par 4 (showcase - Juste Debout 2010)

My Twinkling Star

On my birthday I gave Bea her first lesson on how to hold a violin and bow. Her face lit up when she saw it. She was very eager to try...


She used my very first violin, which, if I remember correctly is a 1/16 size. It desperately needs to be re-stringed, but did the job for the time being. At first she wanted to hold it directly in front of her and clutched the neck rather like she was wringing the life out of a chicken. So we did a few exercises.Here she is doing an exercise to practice the body mechanics--tilt your head to the side, put your left arm down, and hold the violin up with your chin.

She also wanted to hold her arm over the neck of the instrument (with her elbow up and her hand facing down). So we worked on putting her elbow down and relaxing her hand to mold it ently around the neck. Here she is as I try and shape her hand.

Then I had to show her how to hold the bow and move the bow without grinding and scratching the strings.

Lastly, I had to keep reminding her to move the bow between the bridge and the finger board. (Not on the fingerboard or behind the bridge.) Here she is watching where on the instrument she should move the bow.

She eventually played a few open strings doing all of these things and showed her mama. She looked beautiful. Pretty freakin' good!

Then I played Twinkle Twinkle on a tiny tiny violin and she sang along. Teaching a little one the basics reminded me of the joy in music, something that is so easy to forget when you get to a highly competitive level.

I thought teaching a little one would be hard because they are not as far in their development but she was easy to teach and I really enjoyed it. It all felt and went very naturally (that might be because she is family). She was my little star!!

Sorry if this was boring for you to read about, but I had such a good time with it that I wanted to share the process and what I did.

If you want, please take a look at all the pictures!

29 Years Old

Bea and I shared a princess cake for my birthday. It made me feel young considering that I have one more year until I'm old. I'm kidding, but I might have to start buying wrinkle cream soon.

With dogs, baby Charlotte, PrincessBea , beloved family, and good conversation, I had a wonderful time at "my happy birthday."

Check out some pictures.(Please note, Charlotte looks especially charming and cute in these.)

Snow Days

This was my reaction when I found out that we don't have school on Friday.

More Pictures From Chrismas...

...and the week after. Bea stayed at Granma's and Granpa's because Jo and Charlotte had to visit Jo's mom after a hip surgery. We were on our ski trip so my parents had their hands full with our dogs and a toddler. It took a little while for Bea to warm up to the dogs. They just had to sniff her and get a feel for her and then they were the best of buddies for the week. She kept the dogs so busy when they came home to us they did little else but sleep for 2 days. They are not used to the energy of a 3-year-old.

I think Fro made Bea just a little bit happy. Look at that grin. Absolutely priceless.



And...the other pictures.

Aphex Twin - Iz Us - Come to daddy

I was never a big Aphex Twin fan but I liked this album.

boards of canada-in a beautiful place in the country

Me? I say turn this song up, lie down, relax, and close your eyes. Ahhhh. Feel better? Yeah, I thought so. These weirdos are from Scotland and their music is like a genre unto itself. (PS-The official video was blocked so you may as well just listen to it.)

Dj Heather @ Coachella 04-28-07

I was going to post something from her 1999 album Tangerine but not all of her stuff is that downtempo. I met her a few times which I thought was so rad because "Chicago house is like the absolute best." Haha. But she is so focused when she spins and her head bobs relentlessly. This funky chick's got rhythm.

Plaid - New Family (2006 Version)

Missing your college years? I'm not, really, but I thought I'd share some of the music I thought was the greatest at the time. More to come.

A very Human-like Birthday Party

Daniel found this on one of his websites, listed as one of the most viewed pictures of the year. His expression is oddly human.

Skiing at Wisp

Happy New Year!

Daniel and I had a wonderful Christmas vacation together. I got a cold on Monday that has varied in severity each day since and still hasn't completely gone. Nonetheless, we excitedly packed a giant suitcase of winter clothes on Monday and drove 3 hours (well, 2 1/2 if you drive at 80 miles/hour) to Wisp Ski Resort in Garrett County in Western Maryland. Unfortunately, the masseuses at the spa were completely booked, so Daniel had to endure a day of skiing without the comfort of knowing that someone would ease him through his post-ski muscle pain. Rest assured, however, that I did not let him lumber around tenuously for too long afterwards. Soon after we returned I found a spa nearby where he could get a massage and the Christmas pampering was able to continue. He skied like a true champ--for over 6 hours for the first time in many years and on very little sleep at that. The resort was bustling with unmanaged teenagers up to no good, Shaun White snowboarder types, and families with toddlers taking ski lessons . It provided for a fun atmosphere and I enjoyed hanging out it the lodge and the pool. Needless to say, I subsisted on carbs and unhealthy fare for most of the week, but that will soon come to an end.


My champ all geared up.

Here are some pictures from Christmas dinner at mom and dad's and some others I took with my phone at the resort.

With Charlotte, who I don't get to see nearly enough.


Here are Daniel's photos from Wisp . He got some good shots of the mountain while he was skiing.