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Here is my personal “Conrad update” post that I’ll keep stickied on the top of my blog until our Cirque show opens. Click the “Read the rest of this entry” link to read current status, or the rest of the blog for tidbits on our new Cirque Du Soleil adventure in Macau, China. Sorry, no details posted about the show until after Grand Opening.

For my Cirque and Macau friends here is a link for Macau Real Time Typhoon Status:
http://www.smg.gov.mo/e_index.php

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A friend asked me for help on how I prepare music for musical theater so here’s a couple notes that may be obvious, or not. These notes are for community theater productions which in my experience usually have about three months of rehearsal time before opening.

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My cousin sent me this. Dare you to watch it and not be moved…

A son asked asked his father, ‘Dad will you take part in a marathon with me?’ The father who, despite having a heart condition, says ‘Yes’.

They went on to complete the marathon together.

Father and son went on to join other marathons, the father always saying ‘Yes’ to his son’s request of going through another race together.

One day, the son asked his father, ‘Dad, let’s join the Ironman together.’ To which, his father, as always, said ‘Yes’ too.

For those who don’t know, Ironman is the toughest triathlon ever. The race encompasses three endurance events of a 2.4 mile ocean swim, followed by a 112 mile bike ride, and ending with a 26.2 mile marathon along the coast of the Big Island .

Father and son went on to complete the race together. Watch the video to  see them both in action…

(If video is not showing on this page, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTHvTSBhl5s )

Starbucks coffee announced it will be closing 600 stores and relocating employees to existing stores.  Very sad news for all us coffee lovers. A moment of silence?

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/BUSINESS/07/01/starbucks.closings.ap/index.html 

A friend sent me this. An actual tombstone from a front lawn. “Here he lies all stiff and hard - The last darn dog that crapped in this yard.”

Hancock starts playing July 2, 2008. Starring Will Smith - The story of a super hero that has some personal issues. Looks very funny. Check out trailers and the official Hancock movie site at http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/hancock/

For locals in Macau - it will start playing at the Macau Tower on July 3, 2008.

Update - Oops - Hancock film gets a bad review:

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/07/01/review.hancock/index.html 

Random pictures of my friends and co-workers in Macau China.

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Macau (SAR) China listing of popular clubs and bars for Westerners (farangs and gwilos). Please add comments to add to the list or submit your own comments about the best clubs in Macau, Taipa and the Cotai Strip. Macau island is located off mainland China south of Hong Kong.

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“I believe the general rule of thumb in these matters is that the guy on the other side of the fence is the one  guilty of holding heretical views.”

I saw that posted today on one of my religion discussion forums. I really thought it was fantastic and caused me to stop and think about it for quite a while. I guess the paradym shift to remember on this is that while our side of the fence seems like home - there is indeed another side (several) to that fence that others see equally or stronger as home also…

The real lyrics Joe Cocker sang at Woodstock in 1969 - “With a Little Help From My Friends” translation.

Conrad Nicholson Hilton, Sr. (December 25, 1887 – January 3, 1979) was an American hotelier and founder of the Hilton Hotel chain.

Some quotes from Conrad Hilton:

• “Success seems to be connected to action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.”
• “If you are 100% occupied, you are not charging enough rent.”

Why does Conrad Hilton interest me? Indirectly because we share a first name. But indirectly he was a catalyst for me. If you have the time to read this tedious blog entry - then it just might have a nuggest of wisdom for you…

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Artists for Cirque Du Soleil’s ZAIA show got their official Cirque bathrobes yesterday. The photos on this post are not of the actual bathrobe - these are pictures a friend sent me making fun of how much I like my bathrobe. And I do love my Cirque bathrobe! It’s heavy and black with a hood and has a gigantic CDS logo in full color on the back. With the hood we all look like Obi Won Kenobi or Sylvester Stallone in Rocky.

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(Click on image for full size resolution)

June 30, 1922. Washington policeman Bill Norton measuring the distance between knee and suit at the Tidal Basin bathing beach after Col. Sherrell, Superintendent of Public Buildings and Grounds, issued an order that suits not be over six inches above the knee.” National Photo Co.

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Scientific graph showing the Chances of a Man Winning an Argument with a Woman

Have an Akai 4000s Ewi midi electronic wind controller and sometimes low midi notes play on their own and stick - usually when turning the instrument off. Anyone encounter this or know a fix?

Answer: This is normal with most electronic instruments. The fix is when shutting down start with the amp first and go backwards in the audio chain. All midi devices from time to time produce stuck notes. Must midi patchbays have a “all notes off” buttom for this reason. Sometimes it just helps to switch the sound on the synth and the stuck note stops.

Stuck notes are usually caused by switching something while a note is playing. In the MIDI protocol synths communicate by sending and receiving “note on” and “note off” and sometimes the “note off” just gets lost.

Trapped in the Drive-Thru video and song by “Weird Al” Yankovic

Statistics for this website June 2008.

Conradaskland.com users come from these countries:

• United States54.5%
• United Kingdom6.2%
• Canada4.1%
• France2.3%
• Spain2.3%
• Brazil1.6%
• Romania1.4%
• Mexico1.4%
• Argentina1.2%
• Hungary1.0%
• Poland0.8%
• Croatia0.6%
• Chile0.6%
• Other countries22.5%

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The best sunblock is a map of Seattle…

A friend sent this to me. Cardboard testimonies from Hillside Church.