Now this is what music is all about…

A few months ago I got into a new show, at least it was to me.  It’s called “Live From Daryl’s House” starring Daryl Hall and his band.  It started as an Internet show which features artists from diverse genres and generations and they get together and play each other’s music.  Also included are food preparation segments which provide a nice break between the music.  I am watching it on the Palladia network on cable now.

The thing I like about this show the most is the pure joy that happens in this room as the artists mesh to make old songs new again.  These artists seem truly happy doing this.  To me, that’s what music is all about!

For those who don’t know about this show, here’s a sample video.  Daryl and his band are playing with a band called The Dirty Heads, and they came up with an interesting rendition of the old Hall & Oates hit “Rich Girl”.  Enjoy!

Waste Management Open in Phoenix – Not Your Regular PGA Event

This PGA Tour event is one of the more popular events on tour each year.  And also the most unique, as evidenced by the following videos.  It’s great to see these players lightening up a bit and having some fun!

Padraig Harrington kicking a football

Caddy Races

Dancing

I hope this kind of thing continues at this event for years to come.  Maybe I can make it there some day.

Super Bowl Ad Faves 2013

I decided to keep a list during the Super Bowl of my favorite ads.  Here’s this year’s list.  I think the Montana Stain from Tide was my winner this year.

Enjoy!

Oreo

My wife is a soon-to-be ex-librarian, so I thought this was a good one.

Volkswagen

I guess this had some backlash.  Calm down, mon.  The dude is from Minnesota, after all.

Taco Bell

I have this vision that this is what goes on in the retirement communities during the winter.

Tide

The magic Montana stain was a brilliant and funny concept.

Cars.com

This one reminds me of the outpost.com ad of many years ago.

Here’s the cars.com commercial:

The ads are fun, aren’t they?

Coaches, What Are We Doing?

This video is a few years ago, but the message Coach Van Gundy delivers is spot on.  Our role as youth coaches is to teach skills. Period.

This year is my first season as an assistant coach on my son’s traveling basketball team.  We are a “C” level team which means most of the kids have developing fundamentals – bringing the basketball up the court is enough of a challenge, let alone dealing with zone defenses, presses and the like.

In our first few tournaments we encountered situations where pressing and zone were allowed. Unfortunately, we ran into teams that decided that it was more important to press as long as the tournament rules allowed, then fall back into a zone trap once they had established big leads. What is the purpose of doing that? I think it’s exactly what Coach says in the video – the coaches are more interested in bragging to their buddies about their coaching prowess, rather than building skills. Even in a 40 point win, I argue by employing pressing they are not building skills either. Stealing the ball becomes their offense.

The other part that stinks, is that to attempt to avoid potential embarrassment in a tournament we have to spend over 50% of our practice time on press breaking. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could get away from that and teach the kids how to dribble, pass and shoot? I’d like to propose that at lower levels we ban everything but man-to-man defenses.

On a positive note, we did run into one tournament where pressing was banned. It was a much better experience for the kids overall. Why can’t that be the rule?

Technology Easing Our Family Crisis

Last week my father suffered a mild heart attack.  During the process of diagnosing the heart attack, a CT scan revealed a significant mass in his lung.  To make a long story short, this heart attack probably saved his life.

As we have been dealing with this crisis, we have had the need to communicate with our sister in Colorado as well as extended family members.  During this process it occurred to me how much our everyday mobile technology and social media has made that task so much easier.  Also, it has helped us cope with long waits by providing entertainment options (e.g. music, games and media) and access to the outside world.

In this photo you see what I am talking about.  My brothers and Mom are enjoying a game of Monopoly on an iPad, and my brother is using SMS on his iPhone to continuously communicate with our sister.

Andy, Charley and Mom playing Monopoly on iPad

 

Social media has also been a huge help on a few levels.  First, posting updates on Facebook has allowed me to update my broader network on what’s happening with Dad.  It has also invoked a virtual prayer chain in support of my family during this crisis.  I was able to read to Dad many names of people sending well wishes.  I got the feeling he appreciated the thought.

Coping with this whole ordeal would have been much more difficult without these tools.  Thank God we have them!

An Old Classic: The Dixon Ticonderoga Pencil

My son Jacob is starting to work long division in his Math class in 4th grade. It is a source of some painful memories as I remember how much I struggled with it. In retrospect, this is funny because I went on to get a degree in Math.

However, I rediscovered a critical tool in my studies, the Dixon Ticonderoga pencil as pictured above. This was the ultimate math tool that I used through college. It always felt good in my hand, had a amazing eraser, and it always sharpened up so nicely. Simply stated, this is just plain better than any pencil. We bought a box for use at home, and it sure is canceling out the pain of reliving long division.

My Favorite Baseball Moment

Matt and I – TwinsFest 2010

My cousin Matt and I had a shared love of baseball growing up.  I was the city boy with a backyard and a fence, and Matt lived on the farm with a huge open field with barns and dogs.  I always enjoyed visits to the farm during the summer where we could play baseball.  We often improvised games that included his dog Freckles as our center fielder.  Freckles was an outstanding fielder.  We were also big Twins fans, and would share many games with our Grandpa on TV on his porch.

As we grew older, the love of baseball never waivered.  Matt was an accomplished high school player, to be sure.  We ended up at college together at Winona State University and we shared many memories — many I am sure neither of us would want documented.

One particular memory, though, was my most cherished baseball memory.  As lifetime Twins fans we had never seen the Twins in the playoffs, never mind the World Series.  It was October 1987 — Game 7 of the World Series — and Matt and I were together at his house on Main Street in Winona.

I will never forget the last out.  A ground ball fielded by Gaetti, over to Hrbek for the final out.  We embraced and jumped around like little kids.  It was like we were back at the farm dreaming about a Twins World Series win.

 

It was great because I got to share it with Matt.  I’ll never forget it.

2001: Big Play at Carnegie Hall

My daughter Emily asked me tonight about what music meant to me in my life, so I decided to answer with a blog post.  Music has been an important part of my life since my early years.  My mother and father were both singers in high school, and my siblings and I were encouraged to pursue multiple musical endeavors.  I played in the orchestra until I was 15, sang in a choir until my second year of college, and continued in my adult life by singing in various church groups.  I even took guitar lessons for a few years a while ago.  Music was always fun to me.  It continues to provide me with an important diversion from everyday life.

Probably the biggest event in my musical journey came in 2001.  I was singing in the choir at my church, Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church in Apple Valley, Minnesota and we received an invitation in 2000 to join North Central College and another Twin Cities church to perform a concert in New York City at Carnegie Hall.  It would be both an opportunity musically, but also a fun time to see New York City with some of my friends.

Backstage at Carnegie Hall May 2001

The preparation musically was challenging.  We held extra rehearsals to work out the difficult pieces we were planning to perform.  It was much more involved than what we normally performed on Sunday mornings.  After a few months of hard work we were ready to board the plane and head to New York.

The day after we arrived, the pre-show rehearsals to fine tune the music began.  These were very focused rehearsals where the director of this mass choir nit-picked details until we sounded just the way he wanted.   In between the rehearsals, there was plenty of time to see sights around town.  Given that we were visiting before 9/11, we saw the Twin Towers and some of my choir mates actually went there.  I think I held the lead amongst my friends for the most celebrity sightings, with the highlight being Regis Philbin, who I saw just outside ABC studios.

The day of the performance was very busy.  That morning we were bussed from the hotel to Carnegie Hall for a rehearsal with the orchestra for the first time.  I remember walking out on the stage and pausing for several seconds thinking, “Wow!  I’m on the stage at Carnegie Hall!”  The rehearsal went pretty well, but I remember the concertmaster firing one of the orchestra members because we saw a replacement later at the performance.

The performance itself was a moment I will never forget.  The acoustics were amazing, and the performance went so quickly.  All the hard work paid off as we all felt that it went very well.  Probably more importantly, the sharing of this experience with some great friends was life changing.  I hope the opportunity comes around again, but if it never does, I will be more than happy remembering the trip to New York City.

Meet Sadie, Our Newest Family Member

Jacob and Sadie - January 26th, 2011

After losing our dear Margo on Monday, I think all of us were looking for something positive to break out of our funk.  So, Tuesday night we adopted a new kitty named Sadie to fill that void.  Sadie is a five-month old Calico who we adopted at the Steele County Humane Society.

Our existing cat, Lilly, is starting to accept Sadie.  Most of the first week included a lot of hissing and growling, but the cats are getting along.  The humans in the home are also getting used to a new kitten in the house.  Sadie has some new moves and a lot of energy.

My favorite part so far is how Sadie comes to greet me when I come home from work.  She really wants to be picked up and upon doing that immediately starts to purr.

All in all, Sadie’s arrival was a big bright spot in a week that started out so sadly.  Welcome home, Sadie!

Have We Inspired A Future Engineer?

1/29/2011 - Shannon Park Lego League Showcase @ RMS

Yesterday, I had the privilege of hosting the Shannon Park Lego League Showcase at Rosemount Middle School.  The event was rescheduled from last December, due to a snowstorm.  I am glad we had the opportunity to have the event, even with the long delay.  Our attendance was down a little bit, but for those who made it, a good time was had.

I have been at this for three seasons now, as you can see in my blog site.  It started from some inspiration from Dr. Dean Kamen in the spring of 2008, and today my focus changes to getting a competitive team organized next fall (assuming my son Jacob is still interested).  My thought process in 2008 was trying to build an equivalent of an in-house program, which in theory is designed to reach a broad audience to start, then move to a more focused and competition-ready program (akin to traveling sports) once the foundation is in place.

After leaving the event yesterday, I believe the foundation is there at Shannon Park Elementary.  It is now up to someone else to pick it up and move it forward.  I am ready to start phase two, as described above.

The big question, which will remain unanswered for some time, is “By starting this program, did we inspire a young engineer of the future?”  I would like to think so, but only time will tell.  In my closing remarks to the Showcase attendees yesterday, I encouraged them to never stop asking the “What If?” question.  Maybe, just maybe, this effort will yield an innovation of the future that will improve our lives.

I took my shot on making a big play here.  We’ll have to wait and see if it was indeed a big play.  On to the next one!