Happy Birthday, Nephew Brian!

_{For What It’s Worth}

_{Today I am back in the office after a nice and relaxing three-day weekend.  I hope you all had the holiday off as we did. Today on my bicycle ride into work, I had to stop by the ATM to get some cash.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that both of my tax refunds had been deposited into my bank account!  Now I can drop a huge chunk of that into paying off part of my Visa Card bill. I should have that puppy down to a balance of zero by the year’s end hopefully.  I need to be totally debt free before I retire this coming January 2015.  This cash will definitely come in handy with this task at hand and I can get a jump on this mess that has slowly built up and accumulated during these past 3 years.  I may treat myself to some kind of gift, like a Go Pro Camera, that I have wanted for a while, to take on our road trip.  I think I’ll wait until later to purchase it because it can go on sale and I can get a better deal. I really don’t need it now, but maybe just before our road trip, then I just have to download videos or photos to our blog posts from out on the road.  Snoopy and Linus both will be happy about that. Both of them are hams whenever a camera is pointed towards them.}

_{Snoopy and I have been watching the Olympics and we really enjoy watching the snowboarders and Alpine skiing, and of course, the USA Hockey Team.  We really like the downhill & Super G ski racing and of course the ski jumping. The snowboard-cross is exciting to watch and we felt bad for Lindsay Jacobellis who was way out in front of the pack during her heat and she wiped out with just a couple of obstacles left to go.  This was her third attempt at the Olympics and she was heartbroken, even though she tried to sport a façade of a smile.  We also like the Bobsledding, luge and skeleton events.  We would like to ride on one of them at least once in my lifetime.  Maybe we’ll add that item to our bucket list?} 

_{Today is Brian’s, my oldest nephew and Godson’s, 37th birthday.  Man, where has the time gone?  It seems just like yesterday I was playing with the little guy on the floor with all his toys.  Happy birthday Brian!  I hope you have a great time today  celebrating and doing something fun!  Have one for me, buddy!  J}

^{Lately I have been keeping kind of a low profile and have been spending a lot of time at home.  I am just trying to save money so I can pay off these bills that I have let pile up.  I just been felling like a home body kinda lately, which is not a bad thing really.  I can conserve on cash and I have plenty of Olympic events to watch on TV.  I think they end on this Saturday or Sunday evening.  I bet there are a lot of horror stories to be told concerning the conditions such as the hotels, feral dog round-ups, human rights abuse, and whatever else is substandard there.  I am not sure why they decided to hold it there, so far south and near the Black Sea?  I mean, they have plenty of land where it is cold.  Maybe it is just too cold in those other locations?  I’m sure Siberia is not a place too many people want to visit, including me! J  It will be interesting to hear all of the stories when they all get back. I’m sure much of that is going on there has been suppressed by everyone involved on both sides of the equation.  Poor Bob Costas got pinkeye while there, which is extremely painful and very sensitive to light. Hang in there, Bob!}

_{1. Music Trivia}

_{Today’s musical artist is an American singer/songwriter solo act I first discovered in the late 1980s and she had a couple of hits such as “Fast Car” and “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution” off her debut, self-titled album.  Later she had another hit with, “Give Me One Reason” off her “New Beginnings” album released in 1995. Originally out of Cleveland, Ohio, she is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy winning artist. Can you name this American singer/songwriter musician?}

_{2. 3 Questions about us Answers}

_{FYI – Linus is our VW Deluxe Camper Bus/Van (yes, it’s a hippie bus)…}

_{1.      What year was my Linus “born”?  Linus is a 1978 VW Deluxe Campmobile (Camper Bus)}

_{2.            What exterior color is Linus?  Linus is currently Avocado Green, but apparently used to be Light Yellow/White upper body}

_{3.            What makes Linus kinda unique for a VW Bus, maybe just one in a hundred out on the road?  He originally came with a standard stick shift 4-gear transmission, but someone prior to my ownership changed it to an automatic transmission.}

_{3. Today’s Alternate Band Name Game}

Clue: An Oyster’s Treasure & Jelly      Answer: ???

_{Can you name three songs by this band?}

_1.

_2.

_3.

I was told I should keep the sheer number of games down to keep interest, so we have just a few for you guys to play.

Snoopy says, Bark Less and Wag More!

Until next time… Be Good!

- cb

Happy Valentines Day!

_{For What its Worth}

_{Sorry folks, but I really think it is pretty lame that we have to tolerate the nonstop lame items on Facebook such as “Please “Like” or “Share” if you… love or have the best Mom, Dad, kids, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, whatever…”  Okay, we got it!  We hope you love your Mom & kids. But, if you think you really need to send these out to verify or validate your love or appreciation for someone, please get a life already.  Try talking to them personally and telling them your feelings instead of clogging up our Newsfeed and Timelines…} 

_{I promise, if you tell me you “Like” me, I most likely “Like” you too, okay?}

_{Oh yeah, BTW… Happy Valentines Day!}

_{I read this great story on FB yesterday about some kid with some mental disabilities who was the manager of his school’s basketball team. I guess during the last game of the season, the coach decided towards the end of the game to give this kid an opportunity to play in the game. The kid tried tell the coach that he was just the manager and he shouldn’t be playing, but the coach would have none of that and sent the kid in.  Well, not only did this kid successfully pass the ball, but he sank 4 out of 5 three point shots and they won the game. So, I thought this was a wonderful thing and kudos to this kid.  Then some religious zealot commented and said something like, “God does great things!”  Well, I’m thinking to myself, “Why do religious people insist on giving the credit to their god?  Shouldn’t the credit go to this kid who must have practiced his craft and who came through in the clutch to make those shots?” Good for him, this young kid, who will always remember that his apparent practicing paid off for him, and shame on those zealots who tried to take his due credit for their own beliefs.} 

_{We have been playing around with our format these past few days, but since not many that we are aware of ever reads it, I guess it is not a big deal. I’ll try to reduce the amount of games per day.  I can always spend this blog writing time writing my novel and other writing projects I am involved in.}

_{1. Music Trivia}

_{Today’s progressive rock band I first heard about from listening to the Mark & Brian Show on the radio way back in the early 1990s I believe. This band was formed by producer/composer/keyboardist Patrick Leonard in collaboration with singer/lyricist/multi-instrumentalist Kevin Gilbert, and was backed by group of supporting musicians and guest appearances from several other musicians including Julian Lennon.  They produced their self-titled (and only) album before disbanding, and the record sales of that album were marginal at best. They had two hit singles, “Last Train Out” and “The Ballad of Jenny Ledge” that received some good airplay here in the Los Angeles area. Unfortunately the death of Gilbert in 1996 ended any chances of this band reforming. Can you name this not so well known progressive rock band from the early 90s?}

_{Yesterday’s Music Trivia Answer}

_{The answer to yesterday’s Music Trivia is the band, Tower Of Power (TOP).  Of course, Tim B again correctly identified the band, apparently just from the initials clue of T.O.P. that I provided.   I would say he is a pretty smart guy. Don’t let it go to your head, Tim!}

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_{2. Yesterday’s Alternate Band Name Game Answer}

Clue: Temperamental Sadness      Answer = The Moody Blues       

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_{3. Yesterday’s Television Trivia}

_{1. What was the lead character’s name in The Six Million Dollar Man and what actor played him?  Steve Austin was portrayed by Lee Majors}

_{2. What bionic capabilities did he receive? A new bionic eye, right arm and legs}

_{3. What editing process did they utilize to identify when he used these capabilities? (There were two things actually.) A sound was produced and the video was shown in slow motion.}

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_{4. 3 New Questions about us}

_{FYI – Linus is my VW Camper Bus/Van (yes, it’s a hippie bus)… if you did not know…}

_{1.      What year was Linus “born”?} 

_{2.            What color is Linus?}  

_{3.            What makes Linus kinda unique for a VW Bus, maybe just one in maybe fifty out on the road?}

_{3 Questions about us Answers… (from yesterday)}

_{1.  What was the year of my 10-day California tour when I had my major motorcycle accident when I totally messed up my body and also broke my back?  July 1984}

_{2.  What kind of motorcycle was I riding at the time and still own? 1982 Yamaha Maxim 750}

_{3.  Besides the accident, how else did I almost die on that trip? An allergic reaction to Poison Oak throwing me into anaphylactic shock causing my throat to swell shut and I quit breathing. A hurried trip to a hospital Emergency Room was warranted.}

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Until next time…Be Good!

- cb

Today’s music trivia is a band I discovered in the early 1990s as a grunge band out of San Diego. Their sound later morphed with influences from classic rock, bossa nova and psychedelic rock. Their fist album titled “Core” released in 1992, along with their second album, “Purple” featured the songs, “Interstate Love Song” and “Vaseline”, that received a good amount of airplay through the 90s and winning many awards such as MTV’s Best New Artist (1993), American Music Award’s Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist (1994), and a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance (1994). Unfortunately their lead singer, Scott Weiland, had well publicized drug addiction issues and was finally fired in 2013 and replaced by Chester Bennington, formerly of Linkin Park. Can you name this American rock band?

I began writing form my blog a bunch of questions to ask friends just for fun and general knowledge, and then I thought that a book with a similar intent must had been written before and after some research I located it. It is called appropriately, “The Book of Questions” and has been out there for quite some time I suspect. So, I copied the questions and started answering them for myself as honestly as possible.  Some I just did not have any response for, but I really tried to answer each and every question there is, which is well over 200.  Hypothetical questions they mostly are about what would you do in certain situations.  I find some of them enlightening and some of them are just plain strange. For example, “How many sexual partners have you had?”  How does a person answer that? I survived the Eighties during my twenties, which was mostly a blur of some kind. Do they need a precise number or can I just give them an approximation? Somewhere around fifty?  Is that close enough?  Isn’t that like asking Jimmy Page how fast can you play a guitar?  I don’t know, but some of these questions really threw me for a loop.   The amount of questions and the various amount of scenarios they throw at you is quite a lot.

Yesterday was the debut of the FB movies that were automatically produced due to some new software program Zuckerman used to grab additional info from us I suppose. Did you see mine and how Snoopy seemed to dominate most of the movie?  She can photobomb with the best of them, even if it is all automated! There must have been zillions of them produced yesterday and did anyone notice the new FB pages provided by every celebrity, dead or alive, that you can think of?  I mean, how much time does he want us all to waste on FB each and everyday? I know he has his think tank guys and gals thinking of new ways we all could spend our time on FB, wasting our lives away.  I’m getting kind of sick of it all really.

I guess I’ll close this blog post for today so I can maybe finish the list of questions so I can post them tomorrow for all of you peeps to work on over the weekend as homework.  Yes, I said homework.  That dreaded word we all hated to hear, especially on Friday afternoons. J

What does Snoopy say? That’s right… Bark Less and Wag More!

Until next time… Be Good!

- cb