brykmantra.com

Okay, okay, shut up …

Check this out: Jack Black’s Acceptable.TV project on VH1. So far, a lot of the user-submitted videos look a lot like standard teenage YouTube fodder, but the concept is admirable, and some of the show-produced videos are great, especially “Homeless James Bond”, complete with Homeless Q, and a monologuing Homeless Supervillain:

Clovis, New Mexico, a small city about an hour from my hometown (where my mom still lives) was hit by 13 tornados on Friday, one of which tore up a five-mile-long path of destruction. Fortunately there were no deaths, and injuries were few; still, the people at home were a bit uncomfortable.

Speaking of wind damgage, an indication of the intensity of my recent blog-slacking is the fact that I still haven’t said anything about the fact that we lost about 20 square feet of shingles off our roof a few weeks ago.

It wasn’t so long ago that I would have had a complete play-by-play, including pictures, of the entire process, from discovery to repair to finished roof.

That just shows me how much I’m NOT missing these days …

I had this long elaborate dream about work last night.

I dreamed that our office was a place of chaoes, mistrust and secrecy, with closed-door meetings and sneaky, unilateral decisions.

Thank God it was just a dream.

I mostly missed all the fun last year, since I was only a week out of surgery, so this year I went wild with all the trinkets and other trappings. I’ve posted my Irish Festival schwag to Flickr, but I only took pictures of my older stuff this week, so I’ll post that today.

Keep checking back, and I’ll be posting more here …

Okay, time to post more, I guess:

I’ve uploaded more Irish festival pictures to Flickr, including a lot of my festival loot this time, plus more of the doggies that were visiting or up for adoption, so if you haven’t checked it out in a couple of days, there’s more there now.

And keep checking back this week, because I’m planning on posting pictures of some of my Irish books, and well as more cheap plastic green party favors …

Six day’s to St. Paddy’s Day! Check out that link for all sorts of cool things about the day, and about all sorts of Irish stuff …

And for a more serious historical look, check out the Celtic Folklore page …

And now that I’ve done my obligatory educational pointings-out, let’s go back to more phony, Madison Avenue Irishization, with the new Irish Spring promotional site, GetIrishNow.com.

Okay, sure, it’s as fake as Tang Breakfast Drink, but hey, it’s green and has shamrocks, and has all sorts of Irish references and pictures and a sweepstakes to win an Irish vacation, plus the guy in it is funny, plus it’s interesting to see how they’re suddenly targeting Irish Spring to the Maxim magazine crowd, by making a body wash for the first time, and populating their TV commercials with hot young lasses, and implying that said lasses can be theirs if only this product is used.

Pretty much the same as the Axe and Tag commercials. It’s sad to see it come to that …

Anyway, Happy St. Patrick’s Week! I might even actually blog this week for a change!

Yay! I’ve finally got most of my Irish Festival pictures uploaded (Click here to view).

And a little later in the week I’ll try to post a few comments about last weekend’s event …

Well, it’s been a long year since my odyssey began, but we’ve made it through: It’s been exactly one year today than I had my surgery, the surgery that removed half of my right lung, along with a cancerous 5-centimeter neuroendocrine tumor that had slowly growing in me since before I was born.

The hospital stay was seven days, the in-home recovery was two months, and the short days at work lasted four more months, due to severe rib and back pain, due to my ribs having to be spread for five hours, since my pneumonia made the surgery so difficult.

But the positive adjustment on my attitude will last a lifetime.

For one thing, that tumor had made me susceptible to bronchitis and pneumonia all my life, since my lung wouldn’t drain, and now I don’t have to worry about that any more. Bonus points: I could never figure out why I always got sick so easy, and now I don’t get sick!

More importantly, though, this experience has given me a huge dose of perspective. Everything’s been so crazy and chaotic at work lately, and everyone’s so stressed out … except me!

Why?

Because I had cancer! And now I don’t!

I’ve stared Death in the face, baby, and Death blinked!

Corporate bungling and micromanagement don’t phase me now.

I’ve also come to appreciate what a great life I’ve got — great wife included — and I’ve begun to realize how finite life is. I’m finally making myself do the things I’ve always wanted to do with music, video, photography and animation, and, slowly but surely, I’m getting things done.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: That cancer — and getting rid of it — is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.

And it’s only been a year.

Anyway, you can see my photos of my hospital stay here, and, from a year ago yesterday, read my last post as a tumor-host.

Today on All Things Considered on NPR they had a story about RPM (Record Production Month), an annual challenge for anyone to produce 35 minutes of original music in just one month. The month (February) is over now, and the entries are pouring in, and a lot of them are pretty good. The listening party isn’t until the end of this month, but you can check ‘em out right now.

For one thing, the challenge helps prove that personal electronics are making music accessible to average citizens like you and me, taking part of the entertainment monopoly out of the hands of the big labels and, most importantly, the evil money-grubbing RIAA.

Here’s one that NPR played today, and it’s already got a music video: It’s “Rocket Man” (no relation to the old Elton John song) by a couple of elementary school brothers who record under the name Poo Poo Platter. Check it out:

(Click here if you can’t see the video above.)

And now go back to the RPM site and listen to some of the other entries.

I may just participate next year …