From one of the greatest albums of the 20th century

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Hello!

Miscellaneous

I haven't posted anything for nearly two weeks, but that is partly because I've been too busy, and partly because I've been too lazy to write anything during those brief moments of reprieve. I have a lot of school loose-ends to take care of, and I'm anxious to begin drawing with my oil paints. Tonight I'm going to drive to a street here in Vegas and snap a picture of it. It's one of these streets that's imbued with an odd mixture of desolation and an elusive attractiveness that is difficult to put into words. I hope to make a decent drawing of this lovely avenue.

On Saturday I had to rush my dad to the ER. He's doing better now, but he's fighting an infection that should hopefully abate with the antibiotics he was prescribed. As a result, I was unable to make my volunteer shift at my local hospital. To make matters more complicated, I was unable to reach the voice-mail of the volunteer coordinator to inform her that I wasn't showing up. Her phone number was in my old cellphone (which you can observe nn the previous post), and as you can see, in such deplorable condition that the display no longer functioned. I had to leave a message on a different voice-mail that doesn't get checked very often. When I go snap my photo tonight, I may make the long drive to her office and slip a note under her door.

Take Me to Prague

I've been stricken with a fascination with Prague. For the longest time I've been wanting to make a trip there, but just recently those hopes have intensified. I've seen pictures of this magnificent city and I can say that I love the many churches, the narrow streets, the snow (in the winter), the historicity, all those things about this place (how did this place ever manage to fall to the grips of the communists with such a pronounced Catholic presence?). My brother, who has visited Europe many times before, and just about every major city in the world at least once, has been to Prague. I've failed to pick his brain about the experiences he had there, nor have I seen any of the pictures he snapped on one of his visits. I must put that on my to-do list.

Here's a brief video of Prague. There are better ones than this, but I prefer this one because of the way it presents the Catholic Churches. Notice how the music becomes choral (at 3:04) when the video reaches the segment showing the churches.

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Thanks for stopping by and please keep my dad in your prayers. God bless you.

I Didn't Have to

...but I did anyway.

I went ahead and purchased the new i-Phone 4. This is a pic of it, inside a protective case, leaning against my acrylic mediums. It really is an amazing apparatus, despite the justified criticism it has received over a design flaw in the antenna. The antenna in this thingamajig can be found throughout the border of the i-Phone, the same place most people smother when they talk on the phone. When the i-Phone is gripped in a certain way, calls have a tendency to fail because the phone can no longer receive any transmissions. A protective case (now being issued for free) diminishes the frequency of the dropped calls.

Or maybe I did have to...

The above pic is of my old cellphone. As you can see, it's in a decrepit condition. I'm trying to start a rumor on blogosphere that this was the same phone Mel Gibson used in his very publicized tirade against Oksana.

Conclusion

Here lies Mel Gibson's career. On the ascend for a number of years, it recently suffered major collisions with the media and various groups who took offense to comments he made that were less than complementary. The final punch came on July 9th when his former girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, released a taped conversation in which Gibson is allegedly heard going on a tirade, and even admitting to domestic violence. Also laid to rest today is this blogger's hope that Mel Gibson - a once popular actor with a history of "Catholic involvement" - would tout the many positives of the Catholic Church to those unfamiliar with the Catholic faith.

Corny

A long time ago Terry posted what I would have to describe as one of the corniest Youtube videos around (there's another video of an older couple teaching how to dance to disco music that is equally maladroit). Anyhoo, listen to the music (I know, it's hard!) and pay close attention to the dancing, especially to the dance moves of the male lead singer.

Terry, hope it makes you laugh like it did last time!

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Did you know...

that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on the 4th of July? Gives me goose bumps when I think about the probability of two American figures of great historical significance dying on the same day, and, of all the days in the year, the fourth of July.

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Happy 4th of July weekend!