Rock On!

Ever since Zeke was born I have rocked him to sleep to the soothing tones of rock music - bands like CCR, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, The Eagles etc. I sing to him, and play air guitar on his belly, and he laughs, snuggles, and falls asleep. For the last couple months I haven't done this very much.

A couple nights ago Zeke was fussing in his crib, fighting sleep like the crazy man he is. I went to check on him, and decided it was time to rock out with the lad. So I sat in the rocking chair in his nursery and cranked the tunes. First song: Dream On by Aerosmith. The moment the first note played, he looked up at me and smiled as if to say "Oh yeah, this is the good stuff now. We're gonna have a good time tonight!"

Yes, its true. My 7 month old son is already nostalgic for good ol' Rock and Roll. I am definitely doing something right.

To my wife: Happy First Mothers Day!

Normally I don't buy into Hallmark holidays, but this year is different, for this year is the first time my darling wife gets to sit in the hot seat on Mothers Day.

I know my wife is a wonderful friend, creative, beautiful, kind, loving, and an all round wonderful wife. I also knew she'd make a good mother. It turns out she is an absolutely fantastic mommy. Her skills as a mother never cease to amaze me. It gives me a whole new area of life for me to love her for :)

My dearest wife, both Zeke and I are amazingly blessed to have you in our lives. If Zeke could talk I am sure he would say the same thing: I love you!

Happy Mothers Day.

What motivates people?

Interesting PBS piece on what motivates people. :

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/jan-june10/makingsense_04-15.html

Rebooting The Franchise

It has been a year since I have posted anything to this site, and 2 years since I posted anything of substance. I am going to take another crack at maintaining a regular blog, so consider this the reboot of the Only Googlebot Reads This Blog franchise.

So lets start by playing catch up. These are the significant events in my life since the last real post to these pages:

• I have moved from Ontario Canada to western North Carolina. Despite my new surroundings, I still spell colour with a 'u', and pronounce 'z' zed. Poutine is what I crave and Tim Hortons is still my bestest friend (you'd think it would be my wife, but she doesn't make Ice Caps).
  
  
• I am still working for Google, but have been promoted and switched groups. My main job now is [classified] (which is OK because the awesomeness of it would blow your mind). Some would say the best thing about being a Googler is working with some of the best technology available, but really the best thing is the unlimited supply of M&Ms in the micro-kitchen.
  
  
• I have taken up the hobby of geocaching. So far I have >130 finds in 3 countries and 10 states. I enjoy the exploration and exercise the hobby brings. Not to mention I get to play with billion dollar military satellites to find tupperware in the woods :)
  
  
• I have taken up biking to work whenever the weather is agreeable. I could say it is to be "green", get exercise, and is fun, but really I do it to annoy the people in cars that have to share my roads.
  
  
• Speaking of "being green" I should mention that I don't buy into the religion of "global warming", or "climate change" or whatever the catch phrase of the week is. I do think we should invest in green energy, but only because its cool, and not because of some pseudo-science hokum. We should be investing heavily in science and exploration, expanding our knowledge and pushing our boundaries because that is what humans are meant to do.
  
  
• I have two dogs, a Brittany Spaniel mix named Bailey, and a Cocker Spaniel mix named Snoopy. Both are pound puppies. Bailey is one of the best dogs ever, second only to The Littlest Hobo (if you don't know who that is, you clearly didn't grow up in early 1980 Canada and are probably feeling a little left out - get used to that feeling - if you didn't grow up in Canada, you did miss out - don't worry tho, there is still some hope for you). Snoopy is new so hasn't attained awesome status yet, but he's getting there.
  
  
• Last but not least I have reproduced! I now have a 6 month old son named Zeke, who is fat and happy (as babies should be).

So that should catch us up. Stay tuned to this space for more episodes and exciting adventures in the world of Dave.

The Other Way

It's gone.
Innocence.
It's gone.

Creation fell.
Its sad to say.
It only happened yesterday.
Heaven broke, and fell away.

Do you remember when we danced with angels?
When paradise was our backyard?
When we didn't need a Saviour
Because we could touch the face of God?

We walked in heaven, but turned away.
How is that the better way?
The world is going straight to hell.
I am going the other way.

Creation fell.
Its sad to say.
It only happened yesterday.
This world is marching straight to hell.
So I am going the other way.

Aliens Cause Global Warming

A very interesting speech by Michael Crichton about the negative side effects of politics mixing with science.

http://www.crichton-official.com/speech-alienscauseglobalwarming.html

Lets Play Catch-up... Brad Paisley vs. Aerosmith

So I haven't blogged since I got married. Let me tell ya, things are going great. Deborah Lynn is the best thing that has ever happened to me! I've been so busy enjoying living my life with her I didn't have time to blog... but now its time to get back to it!

Why the sudden return to blogging? Well, its because I am in Chicago on a business trip, and I was forced to leave Debbie at home. So I blog to kill time...

So whats the topic de jour? Well, not surprisingly its music. recently I had the privilege to attend two amazing concerts. The headliners? Brad Paisley and Aerosmith.

Brad Paisley

I originally agreed to go to Brad Paisley because he is one of Debbies favourite country stars. Happy wife is a happy Dave, so I bought tickets, and took my wife. I expected the show to be boring... I was in for a surprise...

First of all, the opening acts (Taylor Swift & Rodney Aikens) were entertaining. They both put on a great show, was entertaining and funny, and played solid music that sounded great. They set a high bar for Brad... which Brad leaped over with 6 feet to spare.

Brad is an amazingly talented guitarist, and he used it to rock out for the entire show. He played several guitar solos, including a marathon 10+ minute blister-fest that contained some of the best sounding guitar I have ever witnessed live.

Brads stage decoration was a large stack of monitors that constantly shown graphics and animations appropriate for each song he played. It was an impressive show. Brad definitely won a fan out of me.

Which leads me to...

Aerosmith

A week and a half later I dragged Debbie out to see Aerosmith. This is the third time I've seen Aerosmith live, and they blew the socks off their other performances. They played some 90s hits, and a couple songs from their recent blues album, Honkin On Bobo. Then they played a solid lineup of their oldies - solid rockin blues rock. Joe Perry went on several improv solos that were simply amazing. He played his guitar behind his back. He played it by having the drummer drum on the strings, and he played it with Steve Tyler fingering the chords from behind his back - absolutely amazing.

The energy was cranked to 1000% for the entire concert. It was nothing but pure excitement. Steven Tyler gets more crazy, and Aerosmith gets louder every time they go out on tour. The older they get, the better they get. They are truely the gods of rock, and there is none higher. If your a rock fan and have not seen Aerosmith live, you are cheating yourself out of an experience you will never forget.