The new "Blogger" format is interesting and I may start posting again to my blog. Currently I an focused on several home projects, but once they are completed (target date Oct 31 I will revisit my blog.

New Blogger Design

i've changed the look of my blog; after five years of postings it was time for a fresh look. i will need to become familiar with some new procedures effecting updates for my site. To be continued....

Duck Soup!

These guys dropped in on us today. I guess they mistook our pool for the lake that is a couple of blocks away. They didn't stay long, but I did manage to get a few pics from our kitchen window. Quite a site!

Hitch Has Departed

Hitch died on Thursday. No more, "To Be". He'll be missed. Fortunately, there is a lot of footage available to view him in action... you know - like when you're in the mood for a reality check. Below is a good clip to get a feel for how he expressed what he believed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k1Jr0fp0dE

Imagine?

Is it just me, or what? Dolly's version of "Imagine" just doesn't have the same effect as when I listen to John sing the lyrics to his powerful song, It's too much of a stretch for me to imagine Dolly ever embracing a world with no countries, no religion and no possessions - especially the no religion part.

Lennon met his death on Dec 8, 1980, so I felt it was appropriate today to acknowledge his contribution to music and the arts. Parton has also made a significant contribution to music, as well, and some of her songs really do resonate - but for me ~ not when she tries to interpret John Lennon. You decide:

Dolly's version of ,"Imagine":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwSkXj0PWB8

John Lennon singing, "Imagine":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxLnIRVVwIM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Nice Thing About Retirement

After my college days, I rarely found the time to enjoy the many experiences I had while attending a university. Now, in my retirement years, I have the time to revisit "Hamlet", without the concern for test questions and essays regarding my thoughts. Of course, my understanding of the words are much different than they were during my youth. The words have much more meaning today. Truly, "Thus conscience does make cowards of us all".

Hamlet- Act 3 - Scene 1 - Soliloquy (two versions)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JD6gOrARk4


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdp6dpiK8Ko&NR=1


Hamlet:To be, or not to be, that is the question:Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to sufferThe slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,Or to take arms against a sea of troublesAnd by opposing end them. To die—to sleep,No more; and by a sleep to say we endThe heart-ache and the thousand natural shocksThat flesh is heir to: 'tis a consummationDevoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there's the rub:For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,Must give us pause—there's the respectThat makes calamity of so long life.For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,Th'oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,The pangs of dispriz'd love, the law's delay,The insolence of office, and the spurnsThat patient merit of th'unworthy takes,When he himself might his quietus makeWith a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,To grunt and sweat under a weary life,But that the dread of something after death,The undiscovere'd country, from whose bournNo traveller returns, puzzles the will,And makes us rather bear those ills we haveThan fly to others that we know not of?Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,And thus the native hue of resolutionIs sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,And enterprises of great pitch and momentWith this regard their currents turn awryAnd lose the name of action.

Jumpin" Jack Flash

They just get better with age! Check out these videos to see what I mean -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eD5rxVHfAlo&feature=related


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULitGKV3pJ8