Yesterday Amazon put up an option to donate to the South Asia Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster Relief Efforts via their One-Click ordering system. As of 1:46 PM EST today they had 36,243 donations totalling over $2,020,202. It's been noted that France has donated $170,000 so far, and Germany $2,000,000. In a couple of more hours it's likely Amazon will pass them both combined.
We donated and I'm glad we could do our (small) part.
Amazon.com: Welcome
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Little Green Squeegee Men?
What's happening to the Rover on Mars? Are there little green men cleaning the Rover's panels each night?
Follow the link, and click on the "Mars Double Take" box on the right hand side for really good information on the Rovers. They are about 5 feet long and 3 feet wide, and the camera on top rises to about 5 feet above the ground.
Follow the link, and click on the "Mars Double Take" box on the right hand side for really good information on the Rovers. They are about 5 feet long and 3 feet wide, and the camera on top rises to about 5 feet above the ground.
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Monday, December 27, 2004
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Sunday, December 19, 2004
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
Schedule
Christmas Eve
5:30 Dinner
7:00 - 8:15 Christmas Eve service at PCOL
dessert
adults open presents
Christmas Day
Kids and Santa gifts
pancake breakfast
mid afternoon dinner
5:30 Dinner
7:00 - 8:15 Christmas Eve service at PCOL
dessert
adults open presents
Christmas Day
Kids and Santa gifts
pancake breakfast
mid afternoon dinner
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Willie Finds a Home
David got a surprise call on Friday. Willie the Black Lab had surprisingly failed out of the Search and Rescue program. It turns out that his being locked up in a crate 23 hours a day for the first 18 months of his life had permanently damaged him. FLRRoF called and asked us to help out with an emergency foster. Since it was our buddy Willie we said yes.
Saturday brought great news. We brought Willie to the Petco adoption days near Millenia Mall on Saturday. While we were there a nice man came by and Willie introduced himself. David got to talking with him. Don and his wife Louise had to put down their beloved 13 year old black lab at the end of August. They are from St. Cloud and had come up to Christmas shop. While Louise was shopping, Don was out walking and passed by the Petco. He saw Willie, said hello, and Willie gave him a big kiss with that big ole tongue of his. Don seemed to really like Willie and we talked for about half an hour about why it would be o.k. to get another black lab, and that now was the time. Don said he would go talk to Louise and went away.
We figured that Don would regain his sanity, and that would be that. Instead, both of them came back and Louise just wouldn't stop petting and hugging Willie. They are a super lab family. They have a lovely home in St. Cloud on a huge fenced corner yard that rears onto a golf course. They have a pool, which Willie of course loves, and they tiled their house a few years back to keep the dust down for their dog. When their last dog became sick, they did everything they could for her, including running up really high vet bills and surgeries. When she passed, they spread her ashes on her favorite mountaintop in Massachusetts and buried her favorite toy there as well. Rest assured, we couldn't have found Willie a better home if we spent years looking.
We are so sorry that he couldn't continue in the SAR program, and angry at the way his original owners mistreated him. But now he is in an ideal situation for a family pet. Don and Louise are going to take him for walks, go boating, play lots of fetch and give him lots of love.
We were thrilled that Willie found them, Louise called it Kismet.
Saturday brought great news. We brought Willie to the Petco adoption days near Millenia Mall on Saturday. While we were there a nice man came by and Willie introduced himself. David got to talking with him. Don and his wife Louise had to put down their beloved 13 year old black lab at the end of August. They are from St. Cloud and had come up to Christmas shop. While Louise was shopping, Don was out walking and passed by the Petco. He saw Willie, said hello, and Willie gave him a big kiss with that big ole tongue of his. Don seemed to really like Willie and we talked for about half an hour about why it would be o.k. to get another black lab, and that now was the time. Don said he would go talk to Louise and went away.
We figured that Don would regain his sanity, and that would be that. Instead, both of them came back and Louise just wouldn't stop petting and hugging Willie. They are a super lab family. They have a lovely home in St. Cloud on a huge fenced corner yard that rears onto a golf course. They have a pool, which Willie of course loves, and they tiled their house a few years back to keep the dust down for their dog. When their last dog became sick, they did everything they could for her, including running up really high vet bills and surgeries. When she passed, they spread her ashes on her favorite mountaintop in Massachusetts and buried her favorite toy there as well. Rest assured, we couldn't have found Willie a better home if we spent years looking.
We are so sorry that he couldn't continue in the SAR program, and angry at the way his original owners mistreated him. But now he is in an ideal situation for a family pet. Don and Louise are going to take him for walks, go boating, play lots of fetch and give him lots of love.
We were thrilled that Willie found them, Louise called it Kismet.
Friday, December 10, 2004
RSS Feed Buttons
I have turned on RSS Feeds for our four blogs. Using Firefox, when you see an orange 'RSS' box in the lower right hand corner you can click on it to subscribe to the feed. By saving the feed to the Firefox toolbar, you can easily look up each of the current postings and go right to the permalink of a particular posting.
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Monday, November 29, 2004
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Lundeen Christmas Blog
See the right hand margin. I finally created a "Christmas Blog" that we can post stuff to for ideas for Christmas. And I added 3 items I've been thinking about getting...
Thursday, November 11, 2004
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Thursday, November 04, 2004
Monday, November 01, 2004
Saturday, October 30, 2004
Today's Joke
One sunny day in 2005, an old man approached the White House from across Pennsylvania Avenue, where he'd been sitting on a park bench. He spoke to the Marine standing guard and said, 'I would like to go in and meet with President Kerry.'
The Marine replied, 'Sir, Mr. Kerry is not President and doesn't reside here.'
The old man said, 'Okay,' and walked away.
The following day, the same man approached the White House and said to the same Marine, 'I would like to go in and meet with President Kerry'
The Marine again told the man, 'Sir, as I said yesterday, Mr. Kerry is
not President and doesn't reside here.'
The man thanked him and again walked away.
The third day, the same man approached the White House and spoke to
the very same Marine, saying 'I would like to go in and meet with President Kerry.'
The Marine, understandably agitated at this point, looked at the man
and said, 'Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here asking to
speak to Mr. Kerry. I've told you already that Mr. Kerry is not the
President and doesn't reside here. Don't you understand?'
The old man answered, 'Oh, I understand. I just love hearing it!'
The Marine snapped to attention, saluted, and said, 'See you tomorrow.'"
The Marine replied, 'Sir, Mr. Kerry is not President and doesn't reside here.'
The old man said, 'Okay,' and walked away.
The following day, the same man approached the White House and said to the same Marine, 'I would like to go in and meet with President Kerry'
The Marine again told the man, 'Sir, as I said yesterday, Mr. Kerry is
not President and doesn't reside here.'
The man thanked him and again walked away.
The third day, the same man approached the White House and spoke to
the very same Marine, saying 'I would like to go in and meet with President Kerry.'
The Marine, understandably agitated at this point, looked at the man
and said, 'Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here asking to
speak to Mr. Kerry. I've told you already that Mr. Kerry is not the
President and doesn't reside here. Don't you understand?'
The old man answered, 'Oh, I understand. I just love hearing it!'
The Marine snapped to attention, saluted, and said, 'See you tomorrow.'"
Saturday, October 23, 2004
Brian Wilson in Tampa
Eric (10 years old) is the big Beach Boys fan in the family. Not sure how this is, but it's true and has been for the last three or four years. I'm sure I'm to blame because I do own about 1,800 records which should include some of the greatest ever made. Anyway, about three years ago I put together a collection of CDs for Eric and Betsy to listen to when they were driving from Florida to Connecticutt to see her parents. So the got a dose of Beatles, Simpsons, and who knows what else, as well as "Endless Summer" by the Beach Boys.
Eric came home from the trip having memorized the lyrics of all twenty Beach Boys hits from that album. And who can blame him, They really were great. But that was long ago. Right?
Over time, because of Eric, I've purchased a few more Beach Boys collections, including their excellent box set "Good Vibrations: 30 years of the Beach Boys." Great stuff. Brian Wilson really deserves to stand on the same plateau as Bob Dylan, the Beatles & the Stones.
Anyway, unbeknownst to me, Brian Wilson recovered from the most severe aspects of his depression/insanity/mental illness and has been touring with a great band since 1999. Who knew! About three weeks ago I read about a concert of his on powerlineblog.com It turns out that Brian had stepped back in time 37 years and completed an album called SMiLE that was at the time going to blow away Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. And he apparently succeeded, according to the guy at PowerLineBlog.
O.K. The internet and Google are great. I google Brian Wilson, find his web site, and discover that he will be in Tampa on October 21. Drop almost $300 on tickets for the three of us. (Yes, Eric was there and I hope 80 years from now when he is a doddering 90 year old he's telling his great grandchildren that he saw SMiLe performed live.)
Concert Review (short version): Wow.
Further explanatory notes: You always fear, when seeing an icon from 30 or 40 years prior that you will see something more than a false nostalgia and a rote, uninspired, hack job through the old catalog. THIS DID NOT HAPPEN. Brian is a bit kooky and a bit fragile, but he is backed by a 10 piece group of the utmost caliber that clearly loves him and loves his music.
They must have played at least a dozen of the most famous top twenty Beach Boys tunes. Then they broke for twenty minutes before playing SMiLE in ints entirety. I'm not a talented enough writer to properly convey how great it felt to sit and watch the whole piece be performed. Go buy the album and listen to it two or three times a day like I have. And then think about seeing it live. All I can add it that the 19 band members on stage worked really hard throughout the 45 minute performance. And they were perfect. Is there something better than perfect? Can we give them extra credit as well? It was that good.
At 62 years old, more than 35 years after he mattered to the pop world, Brian Wilson has delivered the best pop album ever recorded. And we saw it live. To quote Homer Simpson "WhooHooo!"
Eric came home from the trip having memorized the lyrics of all twenty Beach Boys hits from that album. And who can blame him, They really were great. But that was long ago. Right?
Over time, because of Eric, I've purchased a few more Beach Boys collections, including their excellent box set "Good Vibrations: 30 years of the Beach Boys." Great stuff. Brian Wilson really deserves to stand on the same plateau as Bob Dylan, the Beatles & the Stones.
Anyway, unbeknownst to me, Brian Wilson recovered from the most severe aspects of his depression/insanity/mental illness and has been touring with a great band since 1999. Who knew! About three weeks ago I read about a concert of his on powerlineblog.com It turns out that Brian had stepped back in time 37 years and completed an album called SMiLE that was at the time going to blow away Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. And he apparently succeeded, according to the guy at PowerLineBlog.
O.K. The internet and Google are great. I google Brian Wilson, find his web site, and discover that he will be in Tampa on October 21. Drop almost $300 on tickets for the three of us. (Yes, Eric was there and I hope 80 years from now when he is a doddering 90 year old he's telling his great grandchildren that he saw SMiLe performed live.)
Concert Review (short version): Wow.
Further explanatory notes: You always fear, when seeing an icon from 30 or 40 years prior that you will see something more than a false nostalgia and a rote, uninspired, hack job through the old catalog. THIS DID NOT HAPPEN. Brian is a bit kooky and a bit fragile, but he is backed by a 10 piece group of the utmost caliber that clearly loves him and loves his music.
They must have played at least a dozen of the most famous top twenty Beach Boys tunes. Then they broke for twenty minutes before playing SMiLE in ints entirety. I'm not a talented enough writer to properly convey how great it felt to sit and watch the whole piece be performed. Go buy the album and listen to it two or three times a day like I have. And then think about seeing it live. All I can add it that the 19 band members on stage worked really hard throughout the 45 minute performance. And they were perfect. Is there something better than perfect? Can we give them extra credit as well? It was that good.
At 62 years old, more than 35 years after he mattered to the pop world, Brian Wilson has delivered the best pop album ever recorded. And we saw it live. To quote Homer Simpson "WhooHooo!"
LILEKS (James) The Bleat
One more for the daily blog roll. James Lileks is a columnist, locally for the Mineapolis Star-Tribune, and also has a national syndicated column. He also posts to the web daily. His Bleat (blog) spends about a third of the time doting on his pre-school daughter who he loving refers to as Gnat. Another third is photo essays of the best kind. And the rest is dedicated to spot-on screeds about the state of the world. Mark him down as one of those who was deeply affected by the events of September 11, 2001.
LILEKS (James) The Bleat
LILEKS (James) The Bleat
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