Thursday, February 28, 2008

Music Video Thursday: "Irelande Douze Pointe"

Just when I was beginning to lack inspiration for music videos, along comes Eurovision Song Contest 2008! Previous years have seen musical monstrosities, fake celebrities, cross-dressers, and vampires, but I think Ireland has them all beat - they're entering Dustin the Turkey. A puppet. A freakin' puppet. I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry:



Bonus footage: Sky News interviews Dustin just before the Irish finals.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Revenge of Saskatoon

You'd think we'd learn not to go to Saskatoon. Went to town yesterday, unexpectedly ended up having the front brakes on the van replaced - and apparently Kia parts aren't cheap. At least I got some exercise walking from the brake shop to the mall (where I had dropped off the family to go have lunch, see a movie) and back again - I can't wait for things to warm up enough that I can get back to regular walks and using my bike again. I'm very tired of winter.

Isn't this interesting - now that I've decided not to regularly update my blog, I find myself updating it more often. Go figure - must be something freeing about not feeling obligated to update it or something like that. Will this continue? Who knows? Stay tuned, faithful viewers!

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Wh-Eee-ee!

No video for tonight, just a little nerd-bragging. I'm making this entry on an Asus Eee PC, a very cool (or very cute, depending on who you ask) "ultraportable" computer - one of my client's is considering using them for a mobile sales team, and so I'm evaluating one for them. So far, I like it - the keyboard is actually fairly easy to use (although the tiny right-shift key is a bit of a pain), the screen is nice and bright (although a lot of sites need scrolling at 800 x 480). I think this could be what my client is looking for - I'll be whipping up a small database app for them that will allow them to take (parts of) the customer database with them on sales calls, and to synchronize the data when they have a chance to go online.

My biggest concern so far is battery life - may have to recommend the extended battery for them - but other than that, it's a sweet little machine.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Music Video Thursday: "Where've You Been"

"Where've you been?" is a question you could be asking me. I haven't posted anything to the blog so far in 2008... and quite frankly, I've been seriously considering quitting. According to Google Analytics, I'm getting maybe a half dozen vistors per day, and half of them are looking for Quick Logger Plus (which, I'm sorry to say, is pretty much abandonware at this point, but that's a topic for another post). I don't feel like I've got much of an audience for Music Video Thursday (aside from my youngest daughter who is completely nuts for Queen), which makes it kinda hard to keep the motivation up for it. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to can it, but chances are that we've seen the end of regular posts here for the time being.

Having said all that, I've got some motivation for posting today. It's Valentine's Day, and I've been thinking back to the past - about 14 years ago, I was dating a girl who I was crazy about, and when Valentine's Day came around, I wanted to get her something special. I was at university at the time, in the middle of my comp. sci. degree, didn't have much spare cash, and didn't have much self-confidence. I agonized over what to get her, and finally ended up buying a cheap little "bouquet" of plastic flowers (with a little mylar balloon and, if memory serves me correctly, a small teddy bear) in a little basket or pot from a seller who had set up a table in the tunnel between Arts and Place Riel (at the U of S). Within minutes of buying it, I began to suffer from an acute case of "buyer's remorse" - I began to worry about how it looked, if it looked cheap, and most of all, if my girlfriend would like it or not. By the time I got home and got ready to go out, my stomach was churning, and I had convinced myself that my relationship with her was as good as over - what kind of stupid lunk buys something like this for someone special?

I don't remember much about that evening with her, except this: I gave it to her, I think I nearly broke down crying over how nervous I was feeling, she loved it (not because it was fancy or classy or anything like that, but because I gave it to her), and suddenly all my fears dissolved into thin air. Not too long after this, I proposed, she said "yes", we were married, and the rest (as they say) is history.

So, tonight's music video goes out to Kristen, who has been there for me, helped me believe in myself, tolerated my neuroses, calmed my fears, and loved me. This is one of her favorite songs, "Where've You Been" by Kathy Mattea. I'm not normally a country fan (as you may have noticed by the selection of music that's been posted here), but this is for her:



Happy Valentine's Day, Kristen. I love you very much. I may not have many other visitors to my blog, but you're the one visitor who truly matters to me. And I'm just not myself when you're away.

And now to see if I can keep it together long enough to surprise you with this. Hopefully I can make it through supper without you wondering why I'm so nervous. Some things never change. :-)

UPDATE: Found it!