Too much to do...

And so the blog and my Internet presence are going to likely suffer until after The holidays.

I wanted to take the time to thank John Madden for putting a Romney Ad on my myspace page. I've been debating whether to delete it or follow suit with an Obama ad out of spite... but honestly, I can't even jokingly come to terms with putting one of the presidential ads anywhere, especially out of this lot. Giuliani is a poor campaigner, he should have run as an independent, I bet he would have been more successful. McCain... well he's been shaky at best, although he seems to be regaining some composure as of late. Hillary is the best Democratic candidate... and we all know how I feel about Hillary. Obama is all pizazz.... Edwards revolts me, Huckabee is a little "out there". Thompson is like some old geezer that tells you about how they had to walk through ten miles of slush bare foot. Romney = Kerry. Ron Paul is borderline mad, and Kucinich is a squeaky nuisance. Hunter and Richardson are largely forgettable.

Anyway, enough rambling... I have to go work on my project, and do other Holiday related crap. Sorry.... I mean, I have to get back to the "Joy of the Season".

A Songwriter Passes away...

Despite the juicy news (McCain endorsements galore!) I thought I would take a break from the politics.

Today has been so gloomy with the nor'easter pounding on my window panes. It is days like these that cause one to reflect on the past, and how fleeting the present is. I had a great weekend. It wasn't particularly eventful. My mother and Aunt came down to Massachusetts to visit on Saturday. Saturday night and Sunday I spent time with Kate and we reminisced of the Christmases gone past. We exchanged presents to some classic Christmas music. I found myself unable to sing along with Bing, or Mr. Como. It wasn't because of rusty singing chops, but because I was so overflowing with the feeling of time passage and nostalgia, that my voice cracked when I tried.

This evening I discovered that Dan Fogelberg passed away of prostate cancer at the young age of 56. Folgelberg had one or two songs that had radio play in the 70s and 80s. They still can be heard occasionally on easy listening stations. They are the types of songs that many people like, but unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, depending on his perspective) I think name recognition would be fuzzy at best. A couple of them tell stories, reflections of the past. "Leader of the Band" is probably one of the better known songs.



"Longer" is, cheesy... but that is why it is so good. It is simple, elegant, and comes off like a reassuring lullaby. This video is a youtube user's interpretation with nature scenes. I was looking for another live performance or official Fogelberg video, however this was the best of my findings. Fogelberg had the high tenor's octave that was perfect for the material. The video has a rather literal interpretation of the lyrics, which is a bit corny but whoever put it together did choose some nice photographs.



Lastly Fogelberg performed a melancholy Christmas song (Same Old Lang Syne) about a past love, which is very sad, yet beautiful. His lyrics are real, and in this song in particular they capture the unpredictable nature of the world and the amazing speed at which life flows by. The songs seem so simple, and yet it seems so difficult for many to match this type of writing that the listener really connects with. I especially like the ending of the song:

"As I turned to make my way back home, the snow turned into rain" followed by the sax crying out the familiar notes of Auld Lang Syne.

The following is a video someone supplied for this song. This video kind of bites, but the song is great... so close your eyes, picture what you may.

White House Press Secretary

What a revolutionary idea!

Make the White House Press Secretary an attractive young woman.

Since Tony Snow had to step down due to a relapse in his colon cancer, Dana Perino has stepped up to fill his shoes. Perino makes me stop and listen to C-Span as I'm flipping through the channels. Typically there had to be some big news or a scandal to get me to sit there and veg out to hear reporters ask questions. Nothing particularly interesting today, although I did laugh when a reporter asked her whether the administration thought Syria was involved in the recent Lebanon terrorist attack. Her response was something along the line of "I don't want to speculate.." Then she went on to say "but Syria has been involved in the past". I guess she didn't say "I won't speculate".

Honestly I was surprised to find out she was only 35, although Scott McClellan was only 38 at the end of his reign in the position. Perhaps it is her stuffy politician suits that make her appear older.

Huckabee dissing Mormonism now, then apologizing to Romney. I'm telling you... this guy's a piece of work.

Huckabee apologizes for comments on Mormons

I guess he does want the Utah vote... probably AIDS patients wouldn't vote for Huckabee anyway, so he probably figures why bother with that one.