Thursday
I don’t know who pissed of Mother Nature, but she decided to take her revenge by subjecting Salt Lake City to a 30° temperature drop. Thirty degrees. There is new snow on the Wasatch Mountains. Did I mention that it’s the middle of June? And there’s new snow? Unglaublich!

Otherwise, today has been a good day. It was Kris’ birthday. I sent her cards (I got an email from her this morning saying that she got them), but I didn’t get an answer when I tried to call her. I caught Mom on chat a little later in the afternoon; she said that Kris had been at home (Mom’s) for most of the day. *sigh* I’ll have to catch her tomorrow.

On the way home, we stopped to visit Jess’ uncle, Scott. We also saw Shannon (his daughter) and Kylie (Shannon’s daughter, the pic is from our 2001 Disneyland trip). It had been a long time since we’ve seen them; one could say “too long,” considering that we live just a few miles from each other. We had only planned on staying a few minutes… I think that we were there for nearly two hours. It was nice to see and spend time with them. And Scott’s thinking of joining Gold’s Gym… which means that I’ll have someone else to torture workout with.

NPR and Other News
Ray Charles died today. (1, 2, 3) He was 73 years old and succumbed to liver disease. Esquire interviewed Ray Charles last July for their August “What I’ve Learned” column; the reprint of his answers is here.

My father was a fan of his. I seem to remember first hearing Ray Charles’ music because of him. Over time, I grew to appreciate his music. Among my favorite songs are his renditions of:

  • America the Beautiful
  • Georgia on My Mind
  • What’d I Say
  • I Can’t Stop Loving You
  • Hit the Road Jack
  • Let the Good Times Roll (from Quincy Jones’ Q’s Jook Joint)
  • Shake A Tail Feather (from The Blues Brothers)

Who am I trying to kid? You could put on anything with Ray Charles performing and I would be happy.

Ray Charles Robinson (who changed his name to avoid confusion with boxer “Sugar Ray” Robinson) overcame many challenges in his life and became a beloved figure in the world of music. He also received many awards over the course of his career. He was honored by then-President Ronald Reagan as a recipient of a Kennedy Center Award in 1986; he had also played America at President Reagan’s inauguration ball.

“I ain’t going to live forever,” he said during the recording studio interview. “I got enough sense to know that. I also know it’s not a question of how long I live, but it’s a question of how well I live.”

As he said in the Pepsi ad campaigns: “You got the right one, baby.”

So did you.
And we thank you for sharing it with us.

Talk of the City: Bob Edwards (former host of NPR’s Morning Edition, now a “Senior Correspondent”) was in town to help commemorate the new KCPW studio and to promote his new book, Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism. Part of the interview dealt with questions about his “demotion;” he answered them with a good deal of straight-forward candor and wit. He commented that he was removed from the host position in order to bring a younger voice/feel to the show. (Something in the way that he talked about it seemed to parallel a storyline in the Superman books: Clark Kent has been moved from featured reporter to the police beat to make way for a reporter who has more of a feel for the paper’s younger audience. Life imitates art which imitates life…)

Morning Edition: Peru Negro: African Music of the Andes
Talk of the Nation: Friends with Benefits
All Things Considered: Study: Power Plant Air Controls Could Save Lives
The World: Alfonso Cuaron interview and Peregoyo Y Su Combo Vacana

Stray Toasters

  • I visited and at work this afternoon. I finally saw the legendary Skeletor. At one point, Hildo Ramboner came through the office. said that I should check out her FUPA when she came back; agreed. I thought about it and decided not to. Then I reconsidered:

    Two women are telling me to check out another woman’s crotch…
    Why am I saying “No?!”

    When I shared this thought with them, we all got a good laugh at it.

  • Valve announces Half-Life 2 code theft arrests
  • By way of Slashdot: How Liberty was lost on the Internet
  • For : So, I bought the new “Sword of Truth” book…
  • I just read a five-page preview of X-Men #158 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) by Chuck Austen. I haven’t collected comics in a while; nor have I read much of Austen’s work in some time. But, if the writing in this preview is any indication, it looks like the book is in good hands.
  • There’s just something “fun” about the cover of Fantastic Four #514.
  • Websites of the alternative newspapers from places I’ve lived:

    City Free News Weekly
    Baltimore City Paper
    Greensboro Rhinoceros Times
    Salt Lake City City Weekly

Quote of the Day
I came home to find the following message from waiting on AIM:

[21:26] : SAM KEITH DOES BATMAN!!!!

I also noted that she had made a post with this as an item.

[21:53] : omigodxboxhueg <<-- "huge" ? [21:53] : deliberately misspelled. 🙂
[21:53] : pretend I’m a really excited 12 year old gamer. 🙂
[21:53] : Oh.
[21:53] : *shrug*
[21:55] : smile and nod. 🙂
[21:55] : It’s not that.
[21:56] : The Maxx…. good.
[21:56] : Batman… good.
[21:56] : *shrug*
[21:56] : <nod, nod>
[21:56] : Not really my big thing.
[21:56] : I like Batman, but this isn’t “HOLY COW” for me.
[21:57] : Well…imagine if you got to see Tyra Banks and Iman making out….
[21:57] : 😀
[21:57] : That wouldn’t do it.
[21:58] : That would just be… wrong.
[21:58] : Really?
[21:58] : No.
[21:58] : two hot chicks?
[21:58] : *shrug*
[21:58] : Depends on the chicks.
[21:58] : Tyra or Iman.
[21:58] : Yes.
[21:59] : Together…. does not compute.
[21:59] : 🙂
[21:59] : Uhm…Okay…Lego and Ikea merge and make the world’s coolest build it yourself furniture. 🙂
[21:59] : Much better example.

And with that, I bid you goodnight.

To bed or to the gym…?
I’m torn.
It’s after 2:30.
Maybe I’m not as torn about this as I had originally thought.

Namaste.