ANOTHER VIDEO!

Mark Frauenfelder demonstrating his electric string instrument at RIT from Chris Tomkins-Tinch on Vimeo.

Love This...

TWITTER IS TOO BIG. AND EVIL.

At 1:00pm on Tuesday, I posted this:

"I cannot overstate my love for Quaker Chewy Granola Bars. Well...all of them except Oatmeal Raisin. (That's an abomination.)"

At 1:35pm, I received this email:

"Hi, twright76 (twright76). QuakerTalk (QuakerTalk) is now following your updates on Twitter. Check out QuakerTalk's profile here:
http://twitter.com/QuakerTalk You may follow QuakerTalk as well by clicking on the "follow" button.
Best, Twitter."

Quaker is on Twitter.

The end is near.

Update: At 1:46pm, I receive this:

"@twright76 If you love Chewy's you will LOVE the True Delights. Here's a $1 off coupon. (link)"

Dang it, I'm gonna' have to follow them now because they're pwning on Twitter. Curse you, Quaker Oat Man.

Russell Martin just kicked off a new thing over at his blog called the "Online Songwriter's Showcase" and I posted a new tune on there.

A lot of you may remember me doing an episode of "SongWrighting," where I played a couple of verses and a chorus of a new tune called Forever Faithful. Well, thankfully, I finished the tune and tracked a real simple demo of it. I'm still missing the riff that I keep hearing in my head, but I was so jazzed by Russell's idea, that I threw it up there anyway!

So far, there are three tunes on the site. I'd encourage all you worship songwriters to give it a try!

Check it...

TAPEWORM

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Well, the blessed holiday is now upon us. And in celebration of that, I figured I'd go back through my archives and post some of my old Christmas pictures. Enjoy!

www.phohohotobooth.com...

Thanks to Ross, I heard about gmail's new video chat feature a few days ago. I made a mental note to give it a try, but then got sick early in the week and didn't spend much time on the computer.

I was feeling better on Wednesday and did some work from home. Wednesday afternoon, I signed into gmail and saw a cool little green camera icon beside my buddy Tom's gmail chat status.

Well, I had to give it a try! I chatted w/ Tom right quick to see if he was all setup. He was finishing up, so I installed the chat feature as quick as I could. After about 5 or 6 minutes, I signed back into gmail and video chatted w/ Tom.

It was great! We're looking forward to using this to stay in touch with some of our family and friends. Although my experience with the video chatting feature is limited, I do think it provides easy-to-use, quality video chatting capabilities to PC users. Mac users all brag on iChat...and it is good, but now there's a fantastic video chatting option for anybody!

If you're on gmail and have a webcam, sign up...then you can all chat with me in my pajamas.

Thanks, Ross and Tom! You guys know so much cool stuff!

November is National Blog Posting Month.

It's simple enough.

You make a commitment to blog every single day in November. (Including weekends.)

Why?

I'm not sure. I just think that blogging is cool.

You can find out more here...

So, who's in? Leave me a comment and join the revolution. At least for a month.

Source: DaddyDan

You're No One If You're Not On Twitter

Source: JVo

Finally, Technology Doing Something Important...

"MoreCowbell.dj is a little Flash app that takes in any MP3, analyses it, and adds rhythmic cowbell and Chritopher Walken samples, thus vastly improving it. More Cowbell.dj (via Waxy)"

Source: BoingBoing

Cool New Company...

Saw this on Lifehacker...I think it's very cool. Might have to give it a try! I think Adrienne might have referenced the online version over at her blog, and they're even doing actual subscriptions.

MAGHOUND

Not A Real Word...

"Whenever I see 'not a real word' used to stigmatize what is (usually) a perfectly cromulent word, I wonder why the writer felt the need to hang a big sign reading 'I am not confident about my writing' on it. What do they imagine the penalty is for using an 'unreal' word? A ticket from the Dictionary Police? The revocation (as the joke goes) of your poetic license? A public shaming by William Safire? The irony is that most of these words, without the disclaimer, would pass unnoticed by the majority of readers. (In case you noticed cromulent, that was invented in the 1990s for 'The Simpsons.') Writers who hedge their use of unfamiliar, infrequent, or informal words with 'I know that's not a real word,' hoping to distance themselves from criticism, run the risk of creating doubt where perhaps none would have naturally arisen."

-Erin McKean, Boston Globe

Source: BoingBoing

Skribit Friday....

Skribit was quiet this week, but I figured I'd at least try to answer the few that came through...

1. Contributing to internet addiction:

Here's how I see it. Everybody's addicted to something. The key is minimizing both the number of addictions and the effect they have on our lives. (It should be noted that I have absolutely no training whatsoever that would entitle me to make statements like that second sentence.) Just so you know.

If your addiction is reading this blog, then I think you're gonna' be okay. There are very few side effects to showing up around here. I think the internet is awesome...I think our culture only understands and utilizes about 1% of the internet's potential. I'm sure we'll get there, eventually!

Some may disagree with me, but I love the connections I've made through this blog. While I've got some friends who are readers, I consider almost all my readers as my friends.

So, go ahead...keep taking hits off the old Todd Blog. It ain't gonna' hurt ya!

2. Warren/Obama/McCain forum:

I didn't see the forum. Heard good things about it. Heard a lot of good things about Rick Warren.

I think this election is shaping up to be one of the most interesting ones we've seen in a long, long while. Here's why...

Normally, by this point in an election, sides have been taken. Usually, the candidates have so galvanized their platforms and viewpoints by now that it's hard to find indecision regarding the vote.

But not this year...I think the indecision is a good thing. I like that people are still researching, still asking questions, still weighing important issues about each candidate. It makes for a bit of nail-biter once voting day comes, but I think it's good to have an election where people are forced to dig deeper than 60-second ads and conservative talk radio.

Okay...that's Skribit Friday! Thanks for playing and we'll see you next time...

Technorati...how cool are you?

According to Technorati, a strange and giant web machine that ranks blogs and gives them "authority" lists the following sites as the Top 10 most popular blogs in the world. Let's take a look.

1. The Huffington Post
2. TechCrunch
3. Gizmodo
4. Engadget
5. BoingBoing
6. Lifehacker
7. Ars Technica
8. icanhascheezburger
9. ReadWriteWeb
10. Mashable

So, anybody read these blogs? Are they good?

muxtape...

As long as I've known her, Rachel has always asked me for music suggestions.
While I continue to grow ever more uncool with regard to music, I do love sharing songs.

A while back, all the blogs got fired up with muxtape. I checked out a few of them, but never pursued it.
Then I see Rachel at camp and she asked me again for song suggestions and I got all inspired to utilize this site.

So...HERE IT IS.

It's mostly worship stuff, which I love listening to...although there's some other random stuff on there. I'll try to update this every now and again and keep you updated. Actually, I'll be throwing a link over on the right hand side of the blog so you can always keep up with songs I'm digging! (And you guys really should look at my sidebar...there's always something cool over there.)

Hope you like it, Rach!

Double3 delivers again...

One of my favorite "random" blogs these days has to be Double3. I found this guy through Carlos and his site is always good for some distraction.

Over the past few months, Double3's been doing a "Friday Fun" post where he links all his readers to cool online games.

Last week, he shared Ragdoll Cannon and I am addicted. I'm pretty stuck right now...can't figure exactly how to advance to the next level! But I will...and I will do Double3 proud!

Thank You, Hollywood

Now, we all know that I love the movie "Point Break." I mean, come on, it's got everything:

1. The acting of Keanu Reeves. (Always something to see...)

2. Patrick Swayze playing a West Coast surfer without doing anything to his accent. (Maybe he moved to the beach from Texas?)

3. Lori Petty, who is the hotness.

4. Bank robberies, President masks, football, surfing, gun play, sky diving and the FBI.

5. Oh, and Gary Busey.

So imagine my surprise when I read this news story from The Hollywood Reporter.

May 13, 2008

CANNES -- Seventeen years after "Point Break" washed up in movie theaters, surf's up for the sequel, "Point Break: Indo," with Jan de Bont aboard to direct.

RGM Entertainment and Essential Entertainment will exec produce this Asia-based follow-up to director Kathryn Bigelow's original, which starred de Bont's "Speed" lead Keanu Reeves as an FBI agent casing a gang of surfer bank robbers.

The new film will take place 20 years after the disappearance of one of the criminal surfers (Patrick Swayze). Both the original and sequel are written by W. Peter Iliff. Plot details and possible character reprises have not been disclosed, but the film will shoot in Singapore and Southeast Asia.

Taylor Morgan Pictures' Chris Taylor and John Morgan will produce. RGM's Devesh Chetty, Essential's Jere Hausfater and Neil Kaplan, and the Paradigm-repped de Bont will executive produce.

HT: The Hollywood Reporter

Would you go see a Point Break sequel?

Mumbly Peg...

A few days ago, my lovely wife, Kristen, says to me...

"I've got the word 'mumbly peg' in my head. Where's that from?"

This does not surprise those of you who know us. Kristen very often, and quite randomly, will recall strange words or phrases from our past and inquire as to their origin or value.

It's usually my job to remember the historical setup for such sayings. (I usually remember them quite well. Strange...I can remember that but can't seem to remember to take a couple of DVDs back to Blockbuster.)

"Mumbly peg" sounded familiar to me, too, but I couldn't place it.

Enter Google. From my limited research, I have discovered information on "Mumbly peg." It's fascinating, but I have no idea how we know those words.

"Mumbly peg" is a game. Some sites reference it as a drinking game, but I think I was able to discover it in its purest form here.

"A Summer's day, a shady nook, a close-cropped green sod, two or three boys, and a jack-knife are the things necessary for a quiet game of Mumbly Peg [or mumbley peg, mumblety peg, mumble peg, mumble-the-peg, mumbypeg, or mumble de peg].

The first player takes the knife and goes through as much of the game as he can without a blunder. The second follows in turn, doing the same. The last one to perform all of the difficult feats is beaten, and must pull a peg, two inches long, from the ground with his teeth. The winner drives the peg with the knife-handle for a hammer, being allowed, by the rules of the game, three blows with his eyes open, and three with his eyes closed.

This usually drives the peg out of sight in the sod, and in that case the boys cry: "Root! Root!" as the defeated player, using only his teeth, literally roots, until, with a dirty face and a broad grin, he lifts his head, showing the peg between his teeth. From the penalty that the loser pays comes the name of Mumbly or Mumbelty-Peg.

The Feats:

First: Hold the right fist with back to the ground and with the jack-knife, with blade pointing to the right, resting on top of the closed fingers. The hand is swung to the right, up and over, describing a semicircle, so that the knife falls point downward and sticks, or should stick, upright in the ground. If there is room to slip two fingers, one above the other, beneath the handle of the knife and if the point of the knife is hidden in the ground, it counts as a fair stick or throw.

Second: The next motion is the same as the one just described, but is performed with the left hand.

Third: Take the point of the blade between the first and second fingers of the right hand, and fillip it with a jerk so that the knife turns once around in the air and strikes the point into the ground.

Fourth: Do the same with the left hand.

Fifth: Hold the knife as in the third and fourth positions, and bring the arm across the chest so that the knife-handle touches the left ear. Take hold of the right ear with the left hand and fillip the knife so that it turns once or twice in the air and strikes on its point in the earth.

Sixth: Do the same with the left hand.

Seventh: Still holding the knife in the same manner, bring the handle up to the nose and fillip it over through the air, so that it will stick in the ground.

Eighth: Do the same with the handle at the right eye.

Ninth: Repeat, with the handle at the left eye.

Tenth: Place the point of the blade on top of the head. Hold it in place with the forefinger, and with downward push send it whirling down to the earth, where it must stick with the point of blade in the earth.

Eleventh to Fifteenth: Hold the left hand with the fingers pointing up, and, beginning with the thumb, place the point of the knife on each finger as described above, and the forefinger of the forefinger of the right hand on the end of the knife handle. By a downward motion, throw the knife revolving through the air, so that it will alight with the point of the blade in the sod.

Sixteenth to Twentieth: Repeat, with the right hand up the left hand on the knife-handle.

Twenty-first, Twenty-second: the same from each knee.

Twenty-third: Hold the point of the blade between the first and second fingers and, placing the band on the forehead, flip the knife back over the head, so that it will stick in the ground behind the player ready for the next motion.

Twenty-fourth: After twenty-three the knife is left in the ground. Then with the palm of the hand strike the knife handle a smart blow that will send it revolving over the ground for a yard, more or less, and cause it to stick in the ground where it stops. This is called 'plowing the field.'

When a miss is made the next player takes his turn, and when the first player's turn comes again he must try the feat over that he failed to perform last. A good player will sometimes go through almost all the twenty-four motions without failing to make a " two-finger," that is, a fair stick, each time; but it is very unusual for anyone to run the game out in one inning. This is the game in twenty-four motions; many boys play it with double that number. "

If you managed to read through all of that, then you discovered how truly odd this game is.

Anybody ever played this? Anybody ever even HEARD of it?

Now, THAT'S a funny shirt.

It took me a little while, but now I'm convinced. Using a reader is the only way to read blogs.

So, how many of you out there use a reader? What do you use? And, how many blogs do you follow?



How many of you still read blog the "old" way?