My Olympic Sized Weekend

Alright, I just want to declare that this weekend was one of the best weekends ever!

Friday Night: Dancing. Always hits the spot. Followed by ice cream and slurpees with good company.

Saturday Night: Karaoke. Nothing beats a little Queen, Smashing Pumpkins, Spice Girls and Green Day sung by yours truly.

Sunday Night: Reigned in the Olympic torch that came only two blocks away from my front door, went to the festivities in town and danced the night away with friends!
Yep, you guessed it. The flame comes out of that big ice cream come! Amazing!

Coke made a cameo appearance.

President Obama came too!

Coke paid each one of us $500 for this high profile shot.

The flame goes night night.

What's with all these shootings?

Washington

Kansas

Florida

Newfoundland

New York

North Carolina

Ohio

Illinois

And this is all within the past week.

Which one?

My insatiable appetite to dance has lead me to be a little creative in finding ways to dance especially since I moved up here to Canada. This past summer I hosted a few dance parties. I just put together a playlist of songs that would blow the mind of crowd and press play. And now after those dance parties, couples are asking me to "DJ" their weddings. I'm upfront with them, I'm not a DJ, but I can put together a playlist that would rock their socks. The only thing now is I need legit legal music and good speakers.

So I need my small handful of blog-followers help.

I've already decided on these Yamaha StagePas 500 speakers (Unless of course someone knows better, let me know). But I don't know which package would be the best economically or the most bang for my buck.

Big package with all the accessories I need, no need to shop more.

Same package minus the covers for the speakers.

Small package with just the stands

Cheapest deal, but no stands at all and I have to pay for shipping. The others I don't.

Today in class a student raised her hand and said...

"I have a suggestion that you should shave the caterpillar on your lip

and right there (as she points to her chin)."

My students are giving me a complex.

When Apple hits home

I don't consider myself to be a very brand-loyal person, but if there was only one product that I'm brand loyal to (other than H&M, Häagen-Dazs, Mead Top-Bound Spiral Notebooks, Starbucks, Ed Norton, this Church, Southwest Airlines, Muppets, or this animal) then it's gotta be Apple. Yes I have multiple Apple computers and iPods and I eagerly await their long anticipated tablet.

But this is the first time I feel burned by Apple. I didn't think their highly frustrating and controversial App Store approval process was that big of a deal, unlike some others, until it finally hit home. Last July I went to the Piano Technicians Guild Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan and met with the developers from Tune-lab. It was there that I first saw a new app for the iPod Touch for tuning pianos! I no longer need to use my rickety old HP to tune pianos, just my Touch! They said it would be due out this fall; waiting and waiting I finally e-mail them asking when it comes out.

On Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:35:54 -0500, Sam Yam wrote:

I'm just wondering when Tunelab comes out for iPhone. I eagerly await its
arrival.

We are also eagerly waiting. It was submitted to Apply on October 12th, and its status is still "In Review".

Robert Scott
Real-Time Specialties

Damn you Apple. Hurry up.

Love,

SamYam

Invictus

This sounds super lame even to me, but I feel a special affinity to Africa mainly because I have two friends who have spent a lengthy amount of time studying and serving there. Plus the fact that I want to go to Africa really really bad and hike Kili. So when I see a sweet movie preview from one of my favorite directors starring two of my favorite actors about South Africa, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

In all seriousness, this preview really touched me.

This is cool and I want one

Gone Private

I did it. I've finally decided to go private on my blog. But don't you fret, cause it's a different blog just for this purpose. Just click here to see it. Can't? Well then just shoot me an e-mail and maybe, just maybe you can.

Renewal

I uploaded a few videos of Utah's Ultimate Trombone Ensemble performance last May, 2008 in which I was proud to be a part of. Watching all these videos have inspired me to get back in shape...playing trombone. So yesterday I practiced for the first time in months. Shame on me. But I also went running for the first time in months as well. Shame on me again. I showered yesterday for the first time in a day. I have some good habits. Here's one video. Enjoy.

P.S. - Thanks Josh for recording this. UUTE is ever so grateful.

Seven more lives

I almost died today. And unlike the incident earlier this year, this one really rattled me. I'm still reeling over it. On the way to work this morning, I got stuck behind a fleet of vehicles transporting a double wide mobile home down the two lane highway. Being the speedy driver that I am, I take the risk of passing the double wide in the other lane of oncoming traffic. I thought there was no oncoming traffic, until they came up from the coulee. I couldn't merge right because of the long double wide, so I had to slam on my brakes and veer left into the ditch. Thankfully they didn't veer the same direction as well.

I was surprisingly calm. It wasn't until I pulled into town and heard the repetitive thud of my tires because the rubber was gone from slamming on my brakes that I realized I could be dead right now. Dead because of my foolishness.

So this new "lease" on life has really made me think today. I'm living as if it's my last. Although I'm genuinely not afraid of death, I realize I would live slightly differently if it were just around the corner. Life is too short; I'm glad I have another chance to really reflect on what matters and live life to its fullest all over again.