“Lindsey Bird” is a piece I wrote for my friend Lindsey Bowen. When I am back home between gigs, we spend many hours by the fire at night talking about art, theater, dreams and life. This song is an expression of what it feels like to me during those talks, as if I were watching our conversations from above.
Los Dorkos – Americano Pharaoh (The Donald Trump Song)
Los Dorkos perform Americano Pharaoh (The Donald Trump Song). I wrote the song and produced it for them and it was so much fun to work on. I’m interested to see reaction to the song. It’s a novelty song and like with musical theater, you never quite know how it’s going to land until you put it in front of an audience. Humor is a fine line between what is funny to one and not another. So here it is, just released today – let’s find out what happens…
Continue reading “Los Dorkos – Americano Pharaoh (The Donald Trump Song)”
Ableton Live – Out of Memory and Unable to Load Set
Are you working in Ableton Live and trying to unsuccessfully load a set that crashes with “Out of Memory” warnings? A very simple workaround (as seen in the graphic above) is to turn off “Use Audio Units”. This will load the set without plugins so you can get the set up and running in order to cut it down and resave.
Continue reading “Ableton Live – Out of Memory and Unable to Load Set”
Rock of Ages band NCL Breakaway 2014
Here’s the Rock of Ages band for the NCL Breakaway run from March through September 2014 out of New York. We just finished several weeks of rehearsals down by Tampa, Florida and we’re getting ready to install the show on the ship.
The Clown (Le Queloune)
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG8wsae-6tU
Everybody’s afraid of zombies… But try to imagine your self waking up from the dead… How would you feel?
ASKLAND Viking Warriors from the Old Country
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLnavmbQtwc
ASKLAND Viking warriors from the Old Country. Watch the Askland elflings, hobbits and Vikings battle evil – like the furry evil werewolf creature. And Askland Vikings listen to heavy metal music, bet you didn’t learn that in school did you?
I know, it doesn’t make any sense, I just happened to find it on YouTube. Maybe people from the Askland family tree will enjoy it. Are these my relatives?
Tony Robbins: Why we do what we do, and how we can do it better
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cpc-t-Uwv1I
Tony Robbins discusses the “invisible forces” that motivate everyone’s actions — and high-fives Al Gore in the front row.
The first time I went through the Tony Robbins tape series was 20 years ago. I still find him very inspiring.
Survivors Remember Kristallnacht: Rabbi Gerd Jacob (Zwienicki) Wiener
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Clmpqf2aB5c
In this interview with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust survivor Rabbi Gerd Jacob (Zwienicki) Wiener shares his memories of Kristallnacht, the November 1938 pogroms.
The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgbNymZ7vqY
Penn and Teller: World Peace
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ID_8syE4Pc
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AQN6FCOJXI
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed4t8yC6uR0
Penn & Teller talk about how the only way they feel world peace is to be achieved. From the Penn and Teller show “Bullshit”.
Penn and Teller Money Trick
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8lsSPshxJ4
Oh man. I had to watch this a couple times to see what was happening. I got duped too! Penn and Teller showing a classic money changing con trick.
Penn and Teller BULLSHIT: The Vatican
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e3XXB9LmrI
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NTqU6-OUlw
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYhVMkXcoEI&NR=1
Penn and Teller BULLSHIT: The Vatican
JP Patches and the Simon Says Scam
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXYZLGKErNg
Somebody gets a little ticked when JP hands out suckers instead of $100 bills. Or better yet, what happens when JP Patches promises $100 to the winner of Simon Says and doesn’t pay out?
Note to the little kid who got pissed: You were right on. You should NOT have backed down. JP owes you $100 my friend. And a note to Mr. JP: You know most of us loved your show as a kid. You and Gertrude were the bomb. But come on now – this skit wasn’t funny. Pony up and pay the kid. I have spoken. Make it so….
Check it out at 3:30 when the kid yells “Liar”. JP says “he’s going to be an attorney” and asks for an apology. Kid – You’re my hero, your parents raised you right.
Tattoo Ideas
Tattoo designs and ideas. Japanese tattoo artist Tetsuo is visiting Macau to do tattoo’s for Cirque artists. I like the fun Chinese dragons on the upper arms and also the lady’s face in the circle. I’ve wanted a dragon tattoo for quite a while.
Things They Didn’t Teach Me About Luther in Sunday School
I have been doing a lot of reading on Martin Luther lately. The book HERE I STAND is a classic biography and THE WIT OF MARTIN LUTHER gives insight to his lighter and naughtier side. But the two shocking discoveries were his encouragement to use violence against peasants in the early 16th century as well as his vehement and bold anti-semiticism. I have spent many hours grappling with these events; trying to reconcile that this is the great Luther of the Reformation. The hero. The changer and uplifter of society and religion.
As of yet I have not been able to personally reconcile these events. It is a painful chasm in once again realizing the world that history is perhaps not the same as we were brought up to believe. Here are the thoughts of Nadine E. Ridley on the same issues. This is a sermon she gave on November 20, 2005 at The King Lutheran Church in Vestal NY called “Things They Didn’t Teach Me About Luther In Sunday Schoolâ€.
She tidies up the end with a happy ending which I think can work well for a Sunday sermon. But the truth may be that in reality the end is not so tidy after all….
I was also raised Lutheran, and went to Lutheran Confirmation, attended Pacific Lutheran University and a summer at St. Olaf; was even an acolyte in the Order of St. John in my youth. And yet this side of Luther is nothing that I remember ever discussed. Thank God for the internet.
Continue reading “Things They Didn’t Teach Me About Luther in Sunday School”
Maria Zarrt von edler art-Arnolt Schlick 1512-part I
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbjeR0Yk3N4
German Renaissance composer Arnolt Schlick
Continue reading “Maria Zarrt von edler art-Arnolt Schlick 1512-part I”
Why So Much Poverty in 16th Century Germany?
In many parts of Europe the increase in population began to outstrip improvements in agriculture from about 1500 onwards and this process continued in many parts till well into 1540s. Different parts of Europe were affected at slightly different times within the period c. 1500-1550 and in many areas there were peasant uprisings which were usually suppressed with appalling savagery (with very cruel and unusual punishments for some of the leaders, for example). These uprisings sometimes became interwoven with the religious upheavals of the period.
Continue reading “Why So Much Poverty in 16th Century Germany?”
Charlie the Unicorn – Part Two
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFCSXr6qnv4
Thank you to the tech that let me know the part two of “Charlie the Unicorn” had been released. The purpose of this video? To waste 6 minutes of your life that you will never have back…
Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch (Oct. 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008) gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving presentation, “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals.
At the time of this lecture in September 2007, Randy had been given six months to live. He died in July 2008. The “last lecture” is a type of presentation professors give from a viewpoint as if it is the last lecture they could ever give. What would they say? what would you say?
I had heard about this lecture, it’s very famous now for inspiring people. My Mother made me promise to watch it. So here it is along with a list of the quotes I liked best from the lecture.
Incidentally, in Randy’s famous lecture here he refers to Cirque Du Soleil. Is this lecture a big deal? Well, it has almost 8 million views on YouTube…
Continue reading “Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”
The Flying Dutchman
Somehow I ended up searching the web about the Flying Dutchman. The information here is not verified, but it does make for entertaining reading. We all love a good story and a good myth.
The most famous of the phantom vessels, supposedly seem in stormy weather off the Cape of Good Hope but now and then reported in other latitudes. The term ‘Flying Dutchman’ actually refers to the captain, not his ship.