Major to Minor

Chase Holfelder takes happy songs in a major key and converts them to sad songs in a minor key.  He's done several songs on his YouTube channel, but this cover of Cyndi Lauper's  "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is interesting, beautiful and different.

The Art of Tongue Curling

85% of people can curl their tongue.

We've had several posts about tongues in this blog, but here's another about something more unusual done with a tongue:

How to Gleek

Viva Las Vegas

One of the webcams I have bookmarked is the one of the iconic Welcome to Las Vegas sign.  During daylight hours, there's almost always a fair-sized crowd waiting to have their pictures taken with the sign in the background.  (and I've actually seen people taking photos of the sign at midnight or later, not as silly as it sounds considering how well-lit the sign and surroundings are.)

Here's a screen shot from just a few minutes ago and I caught the subject in mid-jump. (it's a little fuzzy b/c of the motion, much like I expect the actual photo will be)

I've never been to Vegas, but every time I view the webcam, I always think of the Elvis Presley musical Viva Las Vegas. I remember seeing it at the theater shortly after it came out - I must have been about ten years old and I must have also been on the cusp of puberty because Elvis didn't impress me, nor did the race scenes and cars, but because I was quite impressed by Ann-Margret. (Actually, she STILL impresses me.)  She's not in the video below, but here's the title song from the movie:


I like that, but ZZ Top also did a great cover of the tune.

Here's a video of Ann-Margret in the movie. I believe it was the beginning of my life-long admiration of women's legs, especially when they're in tights or leotards.

Welcome to Las Vegas Webcam

Spam Takes Its Toll

Here's a new - and novel, I must say - kind of spam that's hitting my junk mail folder fairly often these days.  Of course I haven't clicked on any links in the mailing, but it certainly looks official, even using my real name. (redacted to preserve whatever privacy I might have left - it makes me wonder just where they got it and I expect it's from some legitimate newsletter or something like a free sample I sent off for once.  If the site is selling my personal information, I wish nothing but the worst for them)

The funny thing is I haven't driven on a toll road in years and years, the last time being in the late 70's as I took a "shortcut" through DFW Airport in order to get to Texas Stadium to watch a Cowboys game.  Even funnier is that I went on the same toll road on the way back, but had got lost and entered it the same way as going to the stadium and it wasn't until I saw Texas Stadium again after driving for nearly an hour that I realized my mistake.

Anyway....here's their address in hopes that if/when other spammers software spiders index this blog, they'll pick up on it and maybe THEY'LL get spammed.

support@hksreklam.com.tr

The Cowboys Are Making Me Angry!

Well, not the team, but the Dallas Cowboy website. (I don't get angry at how the 'Boys play; I used to get furious but these days I don't let it bother me, at least not for long. That's why there's a switch or button to turn the channel or station to something else or just turn the game off.)

Here's the reason I'm annoyed; I have a couple of add-ons on my Firefox browser: AdBlock Edge and Disconnect. The AdBlock Edge lets me block most ads on sites I visit and the Disconnect does just that, disconnects from social media and other things.

I had to "cut" the following graphic in half, then "stitch" back together in order to fit it in this post. It takes up the entire top part of the screen when I visit the DC website. (click any image for larger view)

The thing is, I DO have my adblocker turned off:

And, as you can see, I've also "whitelisted" the site on the Disconnect add-on:

Now, I know many websites rely upon advertising revenue in order to stay online and to remain free to the viewer. However, I doubt the Cowboys are relying on the revenue stream in order to keep the website up. -snicker-

I wouldn't have any ethical problems blocking the ads but I can't view any of the videos onsite unless I DO disable my add-ons; there's always an advertisement at the first of each and every video and if they're blocked, the video won't load. I don't watch all the videos there, but I do like to watch The Break and Talkin' Cowboys. For a while, I was just downloading the audio portion and listening to it later, but there are times when I want to watch and listen to the show live. I've never called in, but I might want to or send an email in hopes they'll read and answer it during the show.

So, what really annoys me is that they detect I have adblocking add-ons and chastise me for it....even if I have them disabled!  I used to have another add-on that would do away with those "nags" but it quit working several browser updates ago.  I COULD block the nag with my adblocker, but I'd be right back to not being able to view the videos.  It's a Catch-22 situation.

Catch-22, not this 22, Emmitt Smith.  He was hard to catch.

New Category: Reviews

I've been thinking for the longest time that I'd do more and regular movie & TV reviews and finally decided I'd start. I'm not sure about "regular" posts, but I AM going to do them. (now 'n then would probably be a more apt description of the frequency of the reviews)

(I haven't been reading nearly as many books as I used to do, but if I read a good one, I'll try to review it, too.)

I'm going to link to IMDb for the movies and TV series so folks can get other information if they're interested - no need for me to repeat something that's available in a thousand other places.  I'm not going to make any pretense that I'm some sort of critic; I'm just going to write how I liked - or didn't like - the movie/TV show. Sometimes it's difficult to describe a movie or show without revealing spoilers, so the descriptions might be a little sparse.

I've given a lot of thought about how I will grade them, too.  I didn't want to go strictly thumbs up or down;  that is too "either/or" for me and I also don't want to go on a 5-star or 10 point grading system because that's too limiting.  I have trouble at times rating something on IMDb because 1-10 stars sometimes doesn't let me "nuance" my grade.  For example, I might really like something, but 7 stars isn't enough and 8 would be too many, esp. compared to something else I rated 8 stars and liked a little better.  So, I have decided to go on a 0-100 scoring system, just like number grades in school. (and letter grades also wouldn't let me be as precise with scoring, but they would be closer than a 5 or 10 star system)

I hope I will be fair to the movie or TV show, but I also think I will be stingy with my grades on the top end, generous on the lower ones.  In MY system, a "60" would be passing, just as it is in many schools, but it's certainly not a glowing recommendation.  I don't remember ever giving a movie or TV series a "10" on IMDb and I expect a "95" will be around the upper range of my scoring.  OTOH, anything "40" or under will probably be in the "Not Worth Watching" category.  If I give something a grade of 40 or less, I probably couldn't get past the first fifteen minutes of it.  I won't waste my time if the thing is that bad, but I also wouldn't want to dissuade someone else from giving it a look-see.  Different strokes, etc.

I may include YouTube videos in my reviews, particularly educational and documentary vids I've watched.  I'll probably factor in resolution and quality into those, though.  If possible, and I think the movie or TV series is worthy of the space, I'll embed a video of the trailer or a certain scene. (if I can find one)

Hope you'll read my reviews and comment on them...all six of my regular readers!