Happy New Year, Courtesy of George Harrison

He's a Pinball Wizard, there has to be a twist

Brought to us by that French lighting company that paints buildings in light. This time, they've created a virtual pinball machine that works, and is played on the side of a building. People are actually working the flippers.

New Year's Traditional Dinner! Pork and Sauerkraut

Two Years of my life in Pictures

The Holidays

The holdays were good to us, here in Springfield. Joel and I exchanged gifts (A gave him a framed Van Gogh print from our trip to Amsterdam 2 summers ago, he got me a lovely new computer monitor) and we had a big turkey. With a lot of leftovers. We took in Tron Legacy, which we both enjoyed. It is a huge homage to a batch of other classic films, and I loved seeing the "Black Hole" poster.

On Christmas Day, we had made plans to visit my family the next Sunday. Then the weather forecasts began to get increasingly nasty, and at 5 I called my Mother and said "We're coming, now..." I loaded Joel and the gift bags into the car and took off down the PA Turnpike at a relatively illegal rate of speed. We had an excellant visit with Mom, two of my Aunts, my neice and her boyfriend and one of my cousins. The gifts were largely ceremonial and non-serious, but the Charlie Brown Shirt was my favorite by a wide berth. There were also a huge amount of cookies to be had, even if only for a few hours. Oh yes, my Aunt Deb gave me the Keith Richards book, which I can't wait to dig into!
 
The warned of storm did arrive Sunday as forecast. I was supposed to be at work on Sunday at 11:30 PM and was concerned as to how this was going to occur. My final decision was to get some overtime and leave before the worst of the snow was to arrive. When I checked the Company Hotline at 6pm, the message was that all shifts would still be working. The drive was made very deliberately, and when I at last pulled into the parking lot, my cell phone rang. It was my supervisor, calling to let me know that shifts were cancelled.

Little Blue Mercury was turned around and back home I came. In the morning, there was about 8 inches of snow in the yard, which took me about 90 minutes to dispatch with blower and shovel. The wind is extreme right now, so getting to work will likely again be a painstaking episode. However, this minor weather issue did not keep me and Joel from having a good Christmas. I hope everyone else enjoyed themselves, as well.

Holiday Shadows

Took these tonight. Our neighbors spotlight a decorative fence and the light casts an unusual shadow on our house. Click the pictures for more shots.

Happy Easter!

(Or Passover if you're in the midsts of that holiday.)

Holiday Sweetness

It's a couple days after Christmas, but I still had to share this.

Garrison Keillor is a Two Faced Jerk

Many years ago, I had to work an event to which Garrison Keillor was the entertainmant. He was a thoroughly unpleasant, self centered, smug pile of self-righteousness, and this was in the early days of Prairie Home Companion. I have never been able to hear him since without thinking of the smug prick who treated the food staff like his personal minions and was condescending to them at every opportunity.

The only persons who were worse in the Jeckyll/Hyde personality department that I'd ever dealt with were John Denver and Dick Clark, with Harry Chapin coming in 4th. But whenever I would tell folks what an utter fraud Keillor is, no-one believed me. Judging frm this recent Chicago Tribune editorial, it seems he hasn't changed much since the 80's.

"This is spiritual piracy and cultural elitism and we Christians have stood for it long enough. And all those lousy holiday songs by Jewish guys that trash up the malls every year, Rudolph and the chestnuts and the rest of that dreck. Did one of our guys write "Grab your loafers, come along if you wanna, and we'll blow that shofar for Rosh Hashanah"? No, we didn't. Christmas is a Christian holiday -- if you're not in the club, then buzz off. Celebrate Yule instead or dance around in druid robes for the solstice. Go light a big log, go wassailing and falalaing until you fall down, eat figgy pudding until you puke, but don't mess with the Messiah."

 Link to article.

Holiday Picture Time

Thanksgiving

Thanskgiving with my family is always a loving time. My Mom's side of the family gathers, usually 30 or more strong, at one of the family member's homes. Since they are scattered all around the country, it becomes a major logistics issue. But everyone flies in, we coordinate hotels and rate-shop, and then gather for food, gift exchange games and catching up.

This year was my Aunt Jane in Detroit's turn. As you can see by the PHOTO GALLERY, there were lots of smiles and laughter, as well as big meals. We took in a movie, "The Men Who Stare At Goats," (pretty average) and some went Black Friday shopping. But it is always a wonderful weekend, no matter where we are. I am a lucky man to have such a beautiful and thoughtful family.