For those of you who don't know, Jimmy Buffett fell off the stage at a show in Australia recently, sustaining a head injury and canceling his show in Auckland, New Zealand. However, he is "on the mend" and I felt it would be appropriate to have today's song be "Margaritaville". A pleasant weekend to you all!
One of the first emails that I got from a reader (actually, THE first) asked if I was on Twitter. My exact response was:
"As for Twitter, in an effort to keep things simple,
I have opted not to sign up - yet.
Who knows though, I may eventually cave."
So, to that reader, please know that I have caved. I signed up at the beginning of December, thus deciding to not keep things simple.
I have added a little tweet bar to the side of my blog so the casual reader can see my latest tweets and should you be on Twitter yourself, I have added a "Follow Me on Twitter" button right above it for the more social-media inclined.
So I recently purchased the new Decemberists album - The King is Dead, which is pretty good and worth a quick trot over to Amazon to check out if you're into that kind of folksy music. Quick word though; if you're going to buy it, make sure to get it from Amazon as its a few bucks cheaper than iTunes and it doesn't have the same DRM protection.
Anyway, I really enjoyed the album and thought I should share. Below is the first song which really kicks off the album.
While that is a great song, I have a college friend coming down for the weekend and while he would graciously endure this song, he would speak up at the end, almost as an interjection and say "Hey um, Pete....? I'm gonna change this."
So in his honor, and since I won a free happy hour for this evening, I give you something slightly more peppier for this more overcast weekend. Something to to go out and party to as well as remind me that spring and launch time aren't that far away...
My music video this week goes to Daft Punk's "Derezzed". I know I'm a bit late on this song but the movie was so awesome, I just can't help myself. I liked the original when I saw it but the sequel blows it away.
In case that's not really your speed, and to make up for my lack of postings in general, here is another song from a band that I really know nothing about except that I heard this song a couple days ago and really took to it; listening to it a bunch of times in a row. Enjoy!
Man! Has it really been over a month since I last posted?
December and January have been, and will continue to be, pretty crazy for me. Just busy beyond belief. I'm sure that probably goes for a good number of people during this particular season, but between trying and only completing about 25% of my novel for National Novel Writing Month, Christmas shopping, Christmas parties, New Years parties, working on a foot-high stack of files on my desk and finding the time to actually make dinner instead of ordering pizza, chinese or cracking a pack of Ramen...its been tough to find the time for blogging.
That being said, the America's Cup 34 has been announced for San Francisco in 2013!
I couldn't not blog about it.
(I see this and I can't stop myself from saying out loud "That's so fucking cool!")
San Francisco will host the America’s Cup Finals, the Challenger Series for the Louis Vuitton Cup, and something call the America’s Cup World Series event in 2012. The AC World Series will start out in 2011 on 45' catamarans (racing outside of SF Bay area) and eventually graduate up to the 72' monstrosities. This is the first time since 1995 that the AC will have been hosted in the US.
FINALLY!
The current plan, as far as I can glean from a myriad of sources, is that the Race Village will be on SF piers 27/29, media on pier 19, regatta operations on pier 23 and team bases on piers 30/32; after a ton of money has been thrown into their redevelopment and the surrounding area's infrastructure of course.
There are currently 6 teams that have their hats in the ring for this America's Cup. - BMW ORACLE RACING (US): Defender
Alinghi has opted NOT to participate this go-around but stated that it would remain interested in the America's Cup and would be following its developments.
Any other challengers still have till the end of March to enter, since the entry period is from November 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011.
As most of you sailors probably know, there are going to be quite a few changes to the format of this America's Cup. To quote a piece by SailMagazine.com writer Alanna Byrne,
"Changes for the 2013 Cup include the use of wing-sailed AC45 and AC72 catamarans, capable of nearly 40 knots; enhanced broadcasting in print, online and television, designed to enhance fan experience; new course formats meant to highlight the ability of the sailors and the speed of the boats; and a sustainability program for the world’s oceans."
Man, I can't wait till I have a chance to go out visit San Francisco for some intense America's Cup sailing.
