Happy Birthday to Me!

My birthday isn't actually until April, but that's when Diana Krall is coming to Strathmore.

Until then, recordings will have to do. These are some beautiful videos. Sorry about all the ads & crap on the screen, it't the price for free content to have to click the stuff away when it pops up. :/

Beauty

Conscientiously Objecting to "Low Prices"

TMI: following the latest published evidence that WalMart is a corrupt enterprise that sustains itself by corrupting new markets, Leamur has resolved to no longer shop at WalMart.

This Frontline episode is almost 10 years old now. Nothing new here about WalMart, except I'm just done with them.


There is no such thing as a free lunch, remember that one? WalMart's "low prices" cost.

Toon Sweet Toon

Leamur has not had enough holiday yet....

Dance like it's gonna be posted on YouTube!


Party like it's Christmas morning! (the ER is open 24/7/365 after all...)


Don't forget the Peace on Earth, goodwill towards People Are Awesome!

British Cooking

Merry Christmas!

Merry Madagascar!

Leamur loves Julian! ;)



Shiitake mushrooms! No more Mr. Cute and Cuddly...


It's the holidays, y'all! Let's get some elves up in here!


Peace out!

The Nostalgia of a Seasonal Classic...

...is an essential ingredient of Holiday Spirit. Don't you think?

So 'natch, the daughter of a ballet teacher turns to The Nutcracker during the Holidays. Holla if you were a waltzing Flower as a child! ;)

Ballanchine...got creative, took liberties, however you see it, but this is nevertheless a beautiful and accessible presentation of The Nutcracker.


I can't believe it was so long ago, but checking with the Kennedy Center shows that the Kirov Nutcracker we saw with the (awesome) scary black snowflakes was back in 2003!

(If you were good, you got to be a snowflake.)


ps - yes, that is Macaulay Culkin!

Playing with Fire in the Dark

The beginning of the end of winter nights....

The shortest day of the year in 2009:


The music here is hauntingly familiar because it's from Gattaca (which IMO totally deserves its cult-fave status, btw):


Vancouver, which Philip K. Dick described as "the most beautiful city in the world":


Night in all its glory, gorgeous ASKAP telescope timelaspe:

Dubstep Christmas Lights

Not to be missed, this is the Cadger's awesome 2012 Christmas show:


Shorter, but similarly awesome, by the Delaney's:

Movement and Pose in Space and Sound and Silence...and in Competition...and at Weddings...and on TV...

"Dancing about Sculture" from the Barber Institute of Fine Arts at the University of Birmingham. (England, not Alabama)


The University fo Birmingham took 1st place at the 2011 Bhangra Showdown:


So I'm watching this and thinking "What fun! I wanna do that!" Sure enough, the Good Indian Girl is here to help:

"We've all been in that situation. You're at the wedding, the reception, and the hip hop starts giving way to some Bollywood and Bhangra and you're not quite sure how to dance to it." [ohyeah, happens all the time, I hate that! ;) ]

And if you're really good, you can get from Atlanta, Georgia, all the way to compete on Indian television. (which is as bad as American football for all the junk they paste over the screen while you're trying to watch. :/ )

More Cool Sculpture

The Evolution of Artistic Innovation

The Evolution of Energy Innovation

Note that this is a link in a chain from wind power...

Listen! Change is in the wind...

"Trust yourself, and believe."


His first TED talk:

Crack or Whack?

You be the judge. Is this woman on crack, or just whack?


This is the follow-up. I think the lesson here is that enlightenment is relative.


So next Fail (or even Epic Fail), remember Donna the Deer Lady and that it could be worse...

Happy Birthday, Angel-Pie!

The birdies are all singing it:


Dora and her friends all wish you a happy birthday, too!

Happy Birthday, Imogen Heap!

Not really videos, just fan slideshows:




"...in an instant of great white gravity..."

Who Killed The Electric Car? (Is it really dead?)

The sad life and death of the EV1, the RAV4 EV, and the Honda EV Plus:


I was told by a freind that the tax incentives make the EVs more affordable. He was going for a Leaf. I'm more interested in the Volt:

...but just don't know how to make it happen anytime soon. Here's a comparison between the Leaf and the Volt, which seems to favor the Leaf:

...And between the Prius plug-in and the Volt, which seems to favor the Volt, except maybe price-wise, and makes good points about evaluating your vehicle use when choosing:


After owning a cursed 1994 Taurus wagon, I swore I would never again in life own a Ford, but they do have an option, too:


Of course, converting the Caliber is theoretically an option, too, but I don't know if I'm up to it.

Remember, polar bears need us to figure this out:

Parenting Rocks

Ellen sympathizes:


See? Parenting rocks. And when it doesn't there's always chloroform.

From Crunchy Moms Yesterday to LA Moms Today

The video:


The making of:


Just a totally different perspective on mom-ness, right?

Munch a Bunch uh Crunch!

Don't forget the dads!


Different kind of crunchy, but too awesome to leave out:

Gratitude

Realization (this guy has an amazing story):


Dance:


Vision:

World AIDS Day

Annie Lennox at Zeitgeist UK 2012 (this past May), talking about the pandemic, especially in South Africa and as it relates to women and children:



World AIDS Day website.

WebMD's restrospective slideshow of the AIDS pandemic.

"It's really possible. It's not impossible." (eradication of pediatric aids website)