I scored my first 100% on Beatles Rock Band this weekend. It Was on "For The Benefit of Mr. Kite." Admittedly, it was on the "easy" setting, but nonetheless I felt like I accomplished something grand. The geniuses behind Beatles Rock Band ought to get a prize-- (in fact they picked up the 2009 VGA for best music game.) To be able to take your average schmo who can't play an instrument, who has no musical talent whatsoever, and create an experience that feels like playing music is a stroke of pure brilliance.
And the game play does feel like I'm really making music, even if I'm only using three of the five available buttons. Oh, I know I'm never going to burn up the leaderboards, but Mr. Pinky does not work and play well with others and the jump from "Easy" to "Medium" throws in a requirement for manual dexterity that is simply beyond my abilities.
This month cousin Shelly is coming for a visit and is eagerly anticipating her first turn at the game. She is as big a Beatle's fan as I am and I'm looking forward to her reaction when she lays her eyes on the amazing graphics of this game. This is one of the few games I've seen that is as much fun to watch as it is to play. With a full compliment of instruments however, none of the kinfolks will have to sit out of the fun.
Check out this video of the gameplay from the "Abbey Road" album:
Doesn't that look like fun?
My brother Mark and I interviewed Anthony Pomes the day before the big 9-9-09 release of Beatles Rockband as well as the new re-mastered box sets. Anthony is a PR guy who arranged for me to interview Elliot Tiber, the man behind the movie "Taking Woodstock." But Anthony lays claim to some solid Beatles credentials himself. He is the John Lennon of "Mostly Moptop" a Beatles tribute band out of Stonybrook New York.
Check out our interview:
Remember when they used to put warning labels on gas pumps to let you know they were dispensing potentially engine damaging Ethanol?
Have you seen the labels lately? Now our gas is "enriched" with Ethanol? Did Obama appoint some sort of Euphemism Czar to come up with that spin? I can just imagine the directives coming out of that office!
In the interest of creating a more positive Life-Space for all sentients, the description, "tastes like crap," will now be replaced with the phrase, "Robust Flavor." A "painful skin irritation" will now be known as an "Invigorating tingling sensation"
Have you noticed how much the new Ethanol label looks similar to the Obama logo? Has America been "enriched" with Barrack Obama?
Dear family and friends,
I have given in to the call of the sea and run away to become a pirate. I am headed to the hearty Caribbean to seek my fame and fortune, maties. I've got almost everything I need to complete my pirate kit. I've got a hat, a sword and a black flag with a skull on it. All I need now is to find someplace to get a used parrot on the cheap. I'm even prepared for emergencies since it seems pirates are susceptible to on the job injuries. I've got my eye patch (just in case) and a peg for my leg (just in case) and a hook (just in case).
Is it me or do Pirates have even worse health care than the rest of us?
I can see handing the pharmacist your AAAARGHFLAK card:
Cap'n Tehuti: "What's this? The prescription says I need eye drops."
Pill Slinger Bill: "Drops aren't covered. This is an eye patch."
Cap'n Tehuti: "What if I needed a splint for a broken finger?"
Pill Slinger Bill: "Not covered. We would have to fit you with a hook."
Cap'n Tehuti: "Corrective shoes?"
Pill Slinger Bill: "Peg leg."
Cap'n Tehuti: "I see. Asthma?"
Pill Slinger Bill: "Eye patch."
Cap'n Tehuti: "Makes perfect sense. Rash?"
Pill Slinger Bill: "Look, on your coverage all you can get is an eye patch, hook or peg."
Cap'n Tehuti: "So if I bring you a prescription for monkey knuckle ointment you are going fit me with a hook instead?"
Pill Slinger Bill: "Didn't you read the information in your pirate's handbook before you signed up for it? Patch, hook or peg-- Those are your only options."
Cap'n Tehuti: "What do I get if I come in with a prescription for... Viagra?
Can you believe that The Twilight Zone is celebrating its 50th anniversary? I had a chance to talk to Stewart Stanyard, the world's foremost Twilight Zone expert about what made the show so great.
I talked to Stewart on the morning of Friday the 13th. As some of you know, the afternoon of the 13th turned out to be... interesting. But now, without further delay, here's my conversation with Stewart.
Be sure to check out the very cool TZ Archive.
Here's one of the super TZ collectibles you can pick up from Stewart's site. I've got to get me one of these. I think it would look smashing on my desk.
You can also pick up Stewart's behind-the-scenes look at the iconic sci-fi anthology here.
First, we're happy to announce that the team has identified and fixed the issue with the YouTube conduit; you can now find and add videos from YouTube to your library and posts. As always, thanks for your patience!
The other news we have today is about a new addition to the Six Apart family: TypePad Micro, a new free level of TypePad that is streamlined for microblogging. We see a new form of blogging emerging that lives between the quick status updates of Twitter and Facebook and the long-form posts of "classic" blogging; TypePad Micro is designed to meet that need. You can read more about TypePad Micro in Chris Alden's post on the Everything TypePad blog.
A lot of the new capabilities we've added to TypePad this year were actually inspired by some of the best things about Vox: favoriting, member profiles, a dashboard to follow other bloggers, and easy ways to post content from other social media sites. But the things that make Vox different from TypePad are still there: Vox has always been -- and still is -- the best place for "friends and family" blogging, where you're in control over who sees what. TypePad, on the other hand, is built for the blogger who wants, no, craves, attention.
Do you have a passion or interest you want to share with people beyond your Vox neighborhood? If so, we'd love it if you tried out TypePad Micro. Maybe you've always wanted to start that obsessive blog that's just about waffle restaurants. Or want a place to share videos of your favorite band (Jonas Brothers, anyone? Anyone? ...). TypePad Micro's great for those topic-specific blogs. Take it for a spin and let us know what you think.
On the Vox front, our designers are working on some cool new themes (coming soon!). We'd also love to hear your thoughts about where we should take Vox in the coming year. What are the key things you'd like to see for Vox? If you've had a chance to use TypePad this year, what are the features there that we should bring over to Vox? And, if you're thinking big thoughts, how could we connect the Vox and TypePad communities in order to bring together bloggers and their shared passions? Your feedback is really important to us, so please leave a comment here, or shoot me a message.
And again, thanks for your patience as we found and fixed the YouTube bug!
~ daisy
As many of you have noticed, the YouTube Conduit is not working. I am so sorry about this; I know how frustrating it is.
The team is looking into how to get this fixed and I will update you as soon as I hear something. In the meantime, not all is lost... There is a work-around for posting videos.
When you're in the Compose Screen, just click on "embed." Ignore the fact that it says "Widget" before everything because you can definitely use this to embed videos as well. You'll just need to input the embed code from the video, enter a title (if you want) and hit OK.
It might not show up perfectly in your compose screen, but when you hit "Save," your video should appear just the way you wanted it to.
Hopefully this will allow you to keep posting videos while we figure out what's happening on our end.
As always, thanks for your patience.
I sat in with my brother on his afternoon show for Friday the 13 th. I knew that we were going to interview world renowned skeptic Joe Nickell with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and that later I would blog about it. I wanted the perfect picture for my blog entry and not being particularly superstitious I sat up the above knee-slapper. It was sort of a Paraskevidekatriadelphia Experiment, if you will. The result? I blew a head gasket in my truck not ten minutes after taking this photo. True story.
"Thou shalt not tempt thy fates for they shall persecute thee." Jude 2:38
Hal Graham, the original Bell Aerospace rocketbelt pilot passed away October 23, 2009. I had the privilege of interviewing him twice.
The Rocketeer
Originally Posted
10/19/2006
Some days the old day job is the greatest job in the world. Yesterday
was just such a day. I had the rare treat of interviewing Hal Graham,
the world's first rocketbelt pilot, and one heck of a ukulele player.
Hal told us all about those heady days in the early sixties when Bell Aerospace sent him all around the country demonstrating the whiz-bang technology of the rocketbelt. He flew for dignitaries, high ranking Pentagon officials, even President Kennedy. While the rocketbelt never realized its promise of personal transport for the atomic soldier on the battlefield of tomorrow, it went down in history as the coolest accessory a spaceman or spy could ever have. From Commando Cody to James Bond, to the Rocketeer, the idea of strapping a rocket on your back and taking off into the wild blue yonder fires the imagination (and probably the seat of your pants.)
Check out Hal in action from his Pentagon Demo. (I added the Shatner vocals. I hope Hal doesn't mind-- it just seemed natural.)
Hal was recently one of the guests of honor at the Rocketbelt Convention held at Niagara Falls. He told us about that too, and treated us to a verse of his song, "My Rocketbelt Daze." You can check out the full performance of his song at the convention over on Tie-dyed Tehuti at VOX.
He also disabused me of a couple of erroneous notions. I was under the impression that several of the guys at the convention came to show off their DIY rocketbelts, but Hal set me straight right away. "These guys aren't knocking these things together in the garage," he said. Oh well, so much for the Diet-Coke and Mentos powered rocketbelt I've been cobbling together!
Listen to the full interview with Hal, as I sit in with Jesse and Sam on the afternoon radio show.
Now, this is not the first time I've had a rocket-jockey on the radio. When my brother and I had our afternoon classic rock show, "The Drive," we did a series of traffic report skits, one of which featured a rocketbelt stunt man. The joke was that our town is so small that the idea of an afternoon traffic report is ludicrous. The running gag through all the skits was that no matter what method we used-- helicopter, hot air balloon, ice cream truck or rocketbelt, something always went wrong and we could never get our traffic report. Mercury Theater Of The Air we weren't, but presented now for your entertainment is "Flash," our doomed rocketbelt traffic reporter. Enjoy!
Are you comfortable? Want some popcorn?
Be sure to check out Hal's rocketbelt page.
My Pal Hal
Originally Posted
8/9/2007
This is a guy I'm proud to say I know. You don't meet many
characters like Hal Graham these days. The real deal with the right
stuff, Hal is the original rocketeer. As the first pilot of the Bell
Aerospace rocketbelt Hal demonstrated his mad rocketbelt skillz for the
top brass at the Pentagon and flew for J.F.K. I caught up with Hal as
he prepared to attend the Rocketbelt Convention this weekend in New York. He graciously agreed to an interview on our radio show this morning.
I stumbled upon a sad bit of news today. I just happened to peek into my junk mail folder to see what was there before I hit the 'Empty Folder" button. There were all the usual suspects, hair loss cures, male enhancement snake oil, get rich quick schemes, phishing scams from "banks" where I have no account, and of course, a dozen notifications that I'm the world's newest millionaire courtesy of some recently deceased Nigerian official. Tucked in among them was an email from October 24, the subject, Hal Graham.
I opened the message from Dr. Nino Amarena which informed me that Hal Graham passed away on October 23rd. For those of you who don't remember, Hal was a true aviation pioneer and the original Bell Aerospace rocketbelt pilot.
Here's video of Hal in action.
But Hal wasn't just an experienced pilot, aerospace enginneer and rocketbelt jockey, he was an accomplished ukulele player as well.
As I began to explore my options for getting the posts about Hal over to my VOX blog, or removing the password from my Typepad blog and tucking away some older, more sensitive assets for safe keeping, I stumbled across a post from April of '06 when the radio stations had just changed hands, my salary had been cut in half by the outgoing regime and we had no idea what to expect from the new owners. It was a tense, depressing time, but one event buoyed my spirits-- the event described in a post from April 5, 2006 titled, "Songs And Darkness."
The radio stations have been sold and new owners take possession on the 11th. It is a subject I've been silent on out of an intense desire for self-preservation, although I could tell some stories that would make you shake your head in disbelief (and have the audio tapes to prove them.)
The transition has been painful to say the least, although I have been assured that I will keep my job. "The Drive" will most likely go away with the arrival of the new owners and a new format. It has been suggested that I may become a producer for one of the talk radio shows, or perhaps some other form of low-level management minion with hit points of 0 and charisma of -1.
Each day as I pull into the parking lot my chest seizes with the uncomfortable tightness that comes from not knowing what office drama will be unfolding when I hit the door. Yet, I persevere. Today I was able to duck and cover so as to not get any of it on me, although there was plenty to go around.
But when I got to the studio I was informed that even though the transmitter was down I should do my show as usual because it might come back up. So for over an hour I played music and yakked into the microphone as if I were on the air... As if anyone was listening... As if it mattered. The rest of my night consisted of cutting the overnight weather, checking the fax machine a couple of times and pretty much watching the walls until time to go home. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to show up.
When at last the time came, I put the radio stations to bed, gathered my things and headed toward the door. Just then the phone rang. Who calls a radio station at straight-up Midnight? I figured it was one of the out-going regime making sure I hadn't left 30 seconds early. That really put a wrinkle in my jockeys. I was anxious to get home and put the finishing touches on my tribute to Star Trek fan films and didn't have time to play these silly games.
"Hey, I just wanted you to know that I think you guys are the greatest," said the unsteady voice on the other end of the phone. The impediment sounded natural, with perhaps only the slightest help from something medicinal.
Great, one of those.
I put on my perky voice. "What can I do for you?" I asked, hoping I could rush him off the phone after a quick request.
"I can't remember the name of the song or who it's by," He said.
I sighed to myself. These guys always take forever. The sad part is that even if he remembered the title and artist, I couldn't play it anyway since what we were broadcasting at the moment was a satellite feed from God only knows where. But the dutiful DJ response is, "I'll see if I can find it," or "I'll pass your request along to the air-staff."
Then he said, "My name is Frank and I work at Wal-Mart. I listen to you all the time and I think you guys are wonderful." He went on, "I'm fifty-five years old and I lost my son about four years ago when he was fourteen. You play some wonderful music that helps me feel better. Sometimes I come out to the lake at night and listen to you on my little headset and watch the water. I'm sitting here looking at the lake right now." I could hear the station playing softly in the background.
I tried to offer a kind word, but I was a little choked up. I could hear the loneliness in his voice. I could hear the gratitude he felt toward us for being there-- a friendly voice in the darkness, playing songs from better days. It seems odd that someone could feel such a personal connection to people who hadn't a clue he even existed, but perhaps that voice in the darkness was the closest thing he had to a friend. I wonder how many Franks there are, alone in the night, tuning in to the voice like a beacon of human contact. Perhaps it is not an exaggeration to imagine for some it is the only thing connecting them with the rest of humanity.
Maybe in a way the music that we play is somehow a shared experience, as if they feel we are choosing each song just for them; saying to them, "Hey Frank, remember when you brought your kid to the lake and he caught his first fish? This song was on the radio then too." I wished that he could remember the title of the song he had wanted to hear. I wished that I could play it for him. I stumbled through the perfunctory promise to look for it in the music library. I thanked him for his call and wished him well. He expressed his thanks again and we hung up. I came home to write this. Frank returned to the voice, the darkness, the waves, and songs from better days.
Call it coincidence, fate or the mysterious hand of God, but I needed to hear Frank's voice tonight as much as he needed to hear mine. I hope that by some quirk of luck the satellite DJ will play the song Frank was hoping to hear. I hope he feels that he made the connection he reached out to make. I know I won't soon forget him. I know why I'm going to work tomorrow.
When I read this over again tonight it kind of reached out and grabbed me by the throat. It has not a thing in the world to do with Hal Graham, other than perhaps to remind us that even in the briefest encounters with our fellow humans we make an impression. We never know when or how a simple off hand remark might build up-- or tear down-- another individual. Hal, with his good nature, gentle humor and mad ukulele skills impressed me as a man to look up to and emulate. I know he was a friend and mentor to many in the rocketbelt field. I know Dr. Amarena would agree.
A little later I will sort out all this blogging nonsense so that Dr. Amarena can put together his memorial. I'm honored that he would like to use my interviews. I'm proud to be a small part of the tribute to Harold "Hal" Graham, Rocketbelt Pilot, ukulele player and all around mensch.
Thank you all for your indulgence in my little digression into Songs and Darkness. I don't know why, but I just felt a need to share it again.
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