And They Vote, Too!

Jimmy Kimmel Live did their "Man On the Street" interviews this week, asking who people felt won the second Presidential Debate. But, there's a catch:  they were asking "who won last night's debate" FOUR HOURS prior to the debate taking place!

Is it the camera and microphone? On camera, no one wants to look uninformed, so they ad lib? I don't know, but it is scary to think that these folks may be helping to select our next President in just a couple weeks.

Beer City USA

I'm far from being a brewing aficionado, but I do enjoy an occasional beer. Grand Rapids was named Beer City USA for 2012—a title shared with Asheville, NC since voting finished in a statistical tie. Craft beers have surged in popularity all over the country and Grand Rapids has it's own fair share of breweries.

This video features 16 local breweries. Watch and enjoy these Grand Rapidians having lots of fun, while also realizing why G.R. was not named the city with the most talented singing bar patrons!!!

Trip the Light

I love music, most all types of music. It seems to me that music is one of those things that is loved the world over. It doesn't matter your country, your economic status, whether you're a lousy dancer (like me) or even if you're confined to a wheelchair...music can lift one's soul.

This video, shot in every corner of this big world of ours, seems to confirm what I'm saying. It brought a smile to my face and I'll bet it will to yours as well. It also reminded me of these little suggestions for enjoying life to the fullest:

“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth.”

                                  ― William W. Purkey


with thanks to my good buddy, Art, who shared the video with me.

Very Little Stars

I find time-lapse photography fascinating. In this piece, creator Ben Wiggins mixes wilderness with city shots to make things even more interesting. Just when I found myself starting to relax, wham!, in came the hustle-bustle city shots, just to shake things up a bit. Still, it's all good.

From the speeding train to the busy city street corner, there's never a dull moment in this one. Watching in full-screen mode is highly encouraged.


Very Little Stars from Timelapse, Inc. on Vimeo.

A tip o' the hat to the Bad Astronomy blog for bringing this video to my attention.

Where Were the Other Guys and Gals?

It has been nearly a month since my last post—gasp!—and for that I apologize to those few that check in here from time to time. I'll do better in the future...really I will.

Today, however, something is weighing on my mind:  where were the others last night?

Mitt and Barack went at it on national TV, radio, the web and everywhere imaginable, but where was, oh, say Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party (capital "L") candidate? Or Buddy Roehmer, an independent candidate and former Governor of Louisiana?

Why are "outsiders" forbidden from participating in these debates? Is that fair? Is that what we should want? "Well, these people don't stand a chance of winning" you say? No wonder; they can't get the publicity needed to become viable candidates.

It's just not right, my friends.  Who knows, with these other "non-mainstream" folks, these debates could really become interesting. They could even help to right some wrongs in how we do political business.

The Repubs and the Demos control the rules and those rules forbid others from getting into the game. That's not right and not what's best for the U.S. of A.

With the limited field we were presented with, however, Mitt kicked butt...big time. What in the world qualified Mr. Obama to be President of these United States anyway??? He looked like a whipped schoolboy who had just claimed he'd lost his homework. Just sayin'...

New Blogging Tool

Next week I'm doing a bit of traveling and will only have my iPad with me. It occurred to me, "what if I want to post a new blog entry?" Lo and behold I just read an article touting Blogsy as the best blogging app available for the iPad! A quick trip to the Apple App Store, a short download, and Voila! I'm creating this post on my iPad. Very cool.

Now, I can easily post photos from the iPad's own photo roll, as well as photos from my Picassa account.

Pretty slick.

Now the important test: can I upload and publish this entry? If you're reading this...success!

Posted with Blogsy

More Canning Baby Steps

With an overabundance of tomatoes in the garden, especially a Roma variety, we decided to try our hand at canning some for a nice sauce. Wow, I had no idea it take so many 'maters to can a decent amount of them! Of course, exactly what constitutes a "decent amount"? Good question.

At any rate, after skinning and cooking the tomatoes down, adding some onions, mild Cubanelle peppers and celery, we only wound up with two and a half quarts. Still, it feels good to have a couple quarts in storage for a cold winter's day. 

Look pretty nice, don't you think?