Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Yet another reason I love Google

Today I discovered another reason I love Google (besides being a great search engine, a fairly good free email service, and of course the parent company of Blogger).

I signed up for AdSense for one of my websites. When I logged in to my account to agree to the ToS, there at the top of the page was a box that said:

Updated - We have made revisions to this agreement in the following sections: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15.

HALLELUJAH! Why can't all companies make things this simple and actually point out WHICH sections have changed? That way I might actually read those sections instead of just skipping the whole thing and blindly clicking "accept".

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Whatever happened to soap commercials?

Yesterday in the shower, it dawned on me that it's been years since I remember seeing a soap commercial on prime-time TV. What happened to them all? Are they still shown during daytime tv, or have the companies simply given up on TV advertising? Come to think of it, how many of these soaps even exist anymore?

Here are a few of the ads I remember. Feel free to add any others!

Zest - You're not fully clean unless you're zestfully clean

Safeguard - The smallest soap in the house

Coast - The eye opener

Irish Spring - Fresh and *cat call* clean as a whistle

Dial - Aren't you glad you used Dial? Don't you wish everyone did?

Ivory - So pure, it floats!

Apparently all these soaps do still exist, so what happened to the commercials?

Friday, February 17, 2006

Friday Funnies - Cheney's got a gun

Thanks to my wife for sending me this Cheney's Got a Gun parody! (mp3 format) I've seen better lyrics, but this is the only recording I've found.

If you have the time and want a good laugh, check out the first 10 minutes from Monday's Daily Show. (Sorry, it won't let me link directly to the video clip.)

The biggest tragedy in all of this is that Cheney wasn't hunting with George W. A man can dream....

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Where did the week go?

Wow... I haven't made an entry since last Monday. Where did the week go? Well, last week I was busy making plans for LM's birthday party, now that my parents are back from Spain.... but then my attention shifted to the weather forecast. And we ended up with a foot of snow, which meant my mom's two sisters and their families couldn't come down from Philly, and only one couple out of the 13 people we invited for the "friends party" actually showed up. My parents came down and brought my grandfather along, but he ended up in the hospital Saturday with a urinary tract infection and dehydration.

Then yesterday I had a root canal, and this morning I finally got to the dermatologist to have him look at a mole or sunspot or whatever you want to call it on my arm, which of course he decided should be removed and sent for a biopsy. Suddenly I feel quite old.

Monday, February 06, 2006

Music Monday

OK, fine, so it's Tuesday already... well I'll just fudge the date and you'll never know. :)

Last week I talked about an unsigned singer/songwriter Harry Francis that I've been a fan of for 12 years. Today I want to share another band that I have a personal connection to, although this band is in a VERY differeng genre!

While I was at Penn State, I took an electronic music class as part of my Integrative Arts (aka "the build-your-own-major major") curriculum. The class covered all sorts of electronic music topics but focused mostly on MIDI synthesizers and computer-based sequencing software. Also in my class was a guy named Chris Sevanik. Chris was already an electronic music composer in his own right, and had some techno/electronica songs that he had composed and sequenced on his Ensoniq ESQ-1 that he wanted to record to tape. Since my area of interest was recording, we teamed up for our final project and I helped him mix and record his songs.

Anyway... in addition to his techno stuff, Chris was also in an industrial band with his brother, Jason. The band was called Mindless Faith, and they'd occasionally get airplay on the weekend "local music" show or on the late-night hard rock show. Well believe it or not, 10 years later Mindless Faith is still performing and recording new albums! In fact much many of their songs have been featured on MTV's "Road Rules", and they have appeared on at least 16 international compilation albums!

In addition to their own music, Mindless Faith has also gotten into remixing other artists' songs. Specifically, they recently won a Nine Inch Nails remix contest with their remix of 'Only'. Now THAT's impressive!

Anyway, it's been years since I've seen Chris but I'm thrilled to see that Mindless Faith has enjoyed so much success, both with their original music and with their remixes. Hopefully I will get to see them the next time they are in DC!

We've created a monster!

Little Miss had her one year exam last Wednesday (1 year and 10 days old). Here are her vital stats:
Height: 30.5" (90%)
Weight: 23 lbs 5 oz (80%)
Head: 17.75" (55%)

In addition to being so tall, I think she's always looked older than her age because her head is so small in proportion to her body, which makes her look less like a big-headed baby and more like a "little person".

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Fives Meme

Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so.
1) Overread
2) BrightStar
3) dr four eyes
4) Mystery Mommy
5) MusicLover Marc

Next select five people to tag:
1) ParkHopper
2) MommyGoth
3) My wife. Yes, she has a blog. But I won't link to her because she links to her homepage, which would blow my anonymity. :)
4) Um... I don't read any other blogs on a regular basis! So anyone else who would like to, feel free to tag yourself!

What were you doing 10 years ago?
February 1996: Let's see... I was working at Penn State full-time, subletting an apartment while my girlfriend (later to become my wife) was an hour away at Penn State - Altoona.

What were you doing 1 year ago?
A year ago? My daughter was 10 days old, so it's kind of a blur.

Five snacks you enjoy:
1) Doritos used to be my #1 until they changed the flavor again. Now it's gotta be Tostitos.
2) Popcorn
3) Lightly-salted dry roasted peanuts
4) Homemade chex mix (we call it "nuts and bolts")
5) Oreos

Five songs to which you know all the lyrics:
1) I Know a Chicken (and most other songs from Jack's Big Music Show)
2) Just about every Billy Joel song
3) The Star Spangled Banner (unlike most people)
4) Moondance (which I sang to my wife once)
5) See #2

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
A million doesn't go far, so let's assume lottery-type winnings.
1) Buy a huge house somewhere outside of the DC metro area (otherwise there wouldn't be anything left!), probably somewhere warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.
2) Open a recording studio (or buy one).
3) Take a two-week trip to Hawaii (flying first class, of course!)
4) FINALLY get a Corvette
5) Stop collecting 1/18 scale pace cars and start collecting the real thing!

Five bad habits:
1) Biting my fingernails
2) Procrastinating
3) Messiness
4) My short temper/blaming my wife for everything
5) Watching too much tv

Five things you like doing:
1) Watching tv
2) Sunbathing, swimming, sailing, scuba diving... basically any activity that takes place in the tropics
3) Is this a family show? :)
4) "Driving around with the car top down and the radio on"
5) Going to concerts

Five things you would never wear again:
That's a tough one... I'm a guy, so there's not much I've worn that I would be embarrassed by. So I guess I'll say...
1) My Members Only jacket (not like I actually have it anymore)
2) My high school band jacket (which I DO still own)
3) The light-up sun visor that I bought at Disney World
4) Any sort of sun visor, for that matter
5) Long hair (although if I HAD hair, I might consider it)

Five favorite toys:
1) My GPS
2) My telescope
3) My Mustang convertible
4) My HDTV and DVR
5) Card games