Pecan Tree Shedding

It's the time of the year when my 100-foot plus pecan tree in the backyard starts it's annual spring shedding.

I don't really know what these things are but every year at about this time these little 'gifts' start falling and make major clutter of my patio and the rest of my yard. The picture to the left is only the beginning - if I let them be, after a couple of weeks I would have to wade between them to walk on the patio.

I'm sure that there is some form of reproduction going on. Ah spring - what a joy!

Click on the picture to see a larger view.

New: Email Delivery!

For those of you that don't have a feed reader or don't really understand what RSS is all about, now you can subscribe to either this blog or the show and get a message through you email when either is updated. Note: they are two different email lists. Don't worry it is easy to unsubsribe later if you need to. For this blog, the form is on the right sidebar. For the podcast, the form is on top of the 'Show' page.

Look Both Ways

We are in the middle of the Spring season for Talk Cinema and I haven't been updating my blog on the movies that we have gotten to see. I'd like to keep a record as well give you guys a heads up on movies that are coming out soon in the indie theaters.

This Sunday's film was "Look Both Ways", an Australian movie. The theme was death and the style of the movie was like "Magnolia" - a large ensemble of characters that are all somewhat related to each other. Each of these characters was in some type of crisis with respect to their relationship to death. One unintentionally was part of someone's suicide, one just found out that they had an advanced level of cancer, one's father just passed away, and on and on.

In the middle of it all was a love story very unlike any love story that you have ever seen.

I liked this movie - I certainly wouldn't call it a 'date' movie, but it really does make you think about life and death. I would say that it ended with a bit of optimism. Because we all know we are going to die, it makes life that much more poignant and worth savoring, enjoying, loving and sharing.

BTW - the film reviewer there (I won't spoil the impending review) says that he saw a sneak preview of "United 93" and said it was very good.

Jazz On The Lake

There is a lot going on in Dallas this weekend. In Ft. Worth, the downtown Main Street Arts Festival is ALWAYS popular and a lot of fun. In Ennis, they are having their annual Blue Bonnet festival. My friend Amy and I went to this last year and this is a great way to have fun and embark on some nice little road trails to see the glorious blue-bonnets.

Right close to my house around White Rock Lake is the 2006 White Rock Rhythms Jazz Festival. They have scheduled events/performances from Friday through Sunday with the weekend culminating in a free picnic in the park on Sunday afternoon. I love jazz and always seem to enjoy the activities at the Bath House Culture Center on the east coast of the lake. Most intriguing to me is the Saturday evening concert - from the website:

Jamal Mohamed & Beledi Ensemble. The award-winning Beledi Ensemble plays world music combining Greek, Egyptian and Baltic music. Mr. Mohamed’s unique charisma and incredibly high musical standards make each concert a life changing opportunity for all who are lucky enough to get in the door. Jamal has been playing to standing room only audiences for three decades and is in demand at festivals, in concert and on recording sessions all over the world.

Wednesday Bits

Item 1:
Podcasters Nate and Di are featured in their local 'alternative' newspaper (the Charleston City Paper) as the cover story this morning. For those in Dallas, this would be the equivalent of seeing my face on the cover of the Dallas Observer! Nate and Di are very nice people who do a clever and entertaining amateur podcast. Nate was actually fired from his job last year for doing a podcast though he never mentioned his employer by name! I highly recommend reading this article.

I interviewed Nate and Di on Today In Podcasting, (my co-hosted podcast with Gary Leland and Mike Gould) last night for Show 11 which should be out by this Friday.

Congrats Nate and Di!

Item 2
For those in Dallas, there is another home tour this weekend. This one is focused in the White Rock Lake area and features some 1950's specially architected homes. This is an era of large expansive spaces and 'modern' post-war ranch type of architecture. Some very intriguing stuff.

Item 3
So I started this new program last night wherein I alternate 5 days of gaining weight with 5 days of losing weight. The idea is to work the muscles hard during the 5 days of adding more calories/day than you need then putting the body into a state of 'shock' and reduce the calories/day, do intense aerobic style workouts and light weight resistance exercises to boost the metabolism. After 5 days, 'shock' the body again. Never let the body 'relax'. The idea is to maximize muscle gain and fat loss. I'm not quite as intense in that I don't like following cookie-cutter formulas or taking any fancy supplements. But I do believe in the principle of altering the body's expectations to get something out of it. So I'm having a go at the principle and yesterday was day 1 of the muscle-gaining phase.

Today my muscles hurt as I put myself through an intense and heavy workout. But it's a good hurt and it's kind of fun to eat every two hours....!

Item 4
This is the 'official' podcast logo from podcastlogo.com. The logo was chosen from 94 submissions and voted on by over 3000 participants internationally. The intention was to offer a picture that podcasters could put on shirts, buttons, etc.. to help promote and broadcast their love for podcasting.


Item 5
Janice recalls my experience in Singapore with Durians with some Japanese clients/friends on her blog. Durians are about the nastiest smelling fruit you will ever find.

A Quote For You

I kind of liked this one...

Forty is the old age of youth, fifty is the youth of old age.
    - Victor Hugo

Down 20

So I get on the scales this weekend and I am 20 pounds lighter than I was probably 8 months ago. I am 190 where I used to be 210 and gaining. I hadn't actually got on the scales in months and I figured I was probably at about 200. I was a bit surprised. For the most part it is good news and it's great to see the direct result of two obvious things: longer and more consistent exercising and eating healthier and less calories. That direct correlation very much appeals to the analytical 'science' type person in me: A+B leads to C. Good!

My sister who was in last week and a couple of other friends have told me very recently that I look "good but I wouldn't lose any more if I were you" which I think tells me between the lines - "um, dude, like you're starting to get kinda scrawny"... (except they don't talk in that suburban teenager accent!).

So I'm going to try to get back a few more pounds of muscle to get to a good balance. I will plan on working out as intensely and maybe adding one more 300-400 calorie meal in my day evert day and see what happens.

Yesterday my friends B. and S. (who both take very good care of themselves) told me that anybody in our age group (early 40's) that has a lot of muscle and little fat on their body is definitely juicing (steroids) and it's more widespread that you would think.

But I think we're all showing that with hard work and wise eating choices, A+B can equal C!

Easter Picnic

Happy Easter everyone!

The day where the vision of Christ rising and the easter bunny get intermingled. The origins of the easter bunny come from the 1500's and are associated with the rabbit as a symbol of fertility (springtime and the renewal of life) and apparently, the is associated with the moon. Check out Answers.com for more links and information if you are interested.

I started my day with a fun coffee date, then picked up my friend Susan and went to Eatzi's (a very nice take-out gourmet) for supplies before meeting other friends at Lee Park near downtown Dallas to picnic and enjoy the weather and the Dallas Symphony. It was a fairly hot day for April so we were lucky to get seats in the shade where it was very comfortable.

I've had a three-day weekend and it's been great just to have the time to catch a breath. However, for the next long weekend (Memorial Day) I will most likely be in Miami or Branson, MO.

What A Weekend!

This last weekend my sister Laura and niece Lizzy flew from Duluth, MN to visit me in Dallas. What a great time we had! Click on the pictures to see a larger view of them.

On Saturday, we went to Dallas Blooms to see the spring flowers of Dallas and then I hosted a BBQ for them and a few friends on Saturday night. Carol and I podcasted from the BBQ (This And That Podcast) but I, unfortunately, forgot to take pictures. My marinated chicken and sausages turned out great though the veggies were not quite so successful. We later got a proper vegetable pan for the grill but too late for that night.

On Sunday, with friends Amy and Susan, we went to a home tour featuring homes in East Dallas. Most of these homes were in the same style as mine (1920's Craftsman/Prairie) though much bigger and nicer! Again, we grilled for dinner enjoying the marvelous weather of springtime in Dallas. Martini time was also enjoyed ;-)

We did some shopping on Monday in addition to taking in the JFK Sixth Floor museum and Laura and Lizzie's first ever sushi experience. I know - sushi in Dallas?? But Blue Fish delivered the goods and they loved it!

The house is lonely now and I am reminded of Carol's words about how lucky I am to have family that are such wonderful people. At only 19, Lizzie continues to impress as a beautiful, smart and witty young woman - gracefully handling socializing with my friends of more than twice her age.

  
  

My iPod Song List

I have updated my iPod Song List. Now I am up to 2795 songs, which is 10.6 days of material and takes up 14.78 GB. For the list, go see my Song List Web Page.

Janice's Blog

My friend Janice in Singapore has a blog that I really enjoy. You can find it at Lalala. Janice was a client of mine a few years ago and I'm proud to call her a good friend.

Reading her blog has made me realize that I probably need to talk a little bit more personally in my blog. I've been toying with the idea of creating an anonymous blog that would serve this purpose as this blog (Random Thoughts) is read by my family and friends - so there is a bit of a constraint here.

I think it may be fascinating to have a log of all my innermost thoughts as time goes on and be able to look back with a better eye towards understanding it all.

Well, if I do that - you guys won't know about it. It will be anonymous. BUT for this blog I do intend to record more about my personal stuff as well.

So thanks Janice!

Who Do You Look Like?

Have you ever wondered what celebrity you look like? Now there is a website that allows you to do exactly that! Go check out myHeritage and upload some of your pictures. Their algorithm will match you with who you most look like!

I tried five pictures and took the top 5 results from each of them and got the following top results:

Leslie Cheung (3 mentions)
Gael Garcia Bernal (2 mentions)
Chad Michael Murray (2 mentions)
Many Others (1 mention each)

What do you think?


Go – give it a go. It’s fun!