"Murphy was an optimist!"
Ebooks for Halloween October 27, 2006 7:59 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Book / Magazine, Of Interest, Publishing, Touchy SubjectsOh, I’m sorry. You call that Harvest Festival now don’t you. The thought of encouraging your children to partake of a Pagan celebration is a little a scary I suppose. Wait. Isn’t Halloween supposed to be scary?
The holiday was a day of religious festivities in various northern European Pagan traditions, until Pope Gregory III moved the old Christian feast of All Saints Day to November 1 to give Halloween a Christian interpretation. [Source]
Wasn’t another holiday rooted in Pagan tradition?
…winter festivals that are believed by some to have influenced Christmas include the pre-Christian festivals of Yule [1] and Saturnalia, and many of the traditions associated with the holiday have origins in these pagan winter celebrations. [Source]
Regardless, even if you are trying hard to use non-scary costumes and take your children only to the funny haunted houses, this is a time of year for scary stories. Google has made several available as ebooks. Enjoy!
2commentsDarkness falls across the land
The midnight hour is close at hand
Creatures crawl in search of blood
To terrorize y’awl’s neighborhood
And whosoever shall be found
Without the soul for getting down
Must stand and face the hounds of hell
And rot inside a corpse’s shell
The foulest stench is in the air
The funk of forty thousand years
And grizzly ghouls from every tomb
Are closing in to seal your doom
And though you fight to stay alive
Your body starts to shiver
For no mere mortal can resist
The evil of the thriller
[audio:http://blog.siliconholler.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/vprice.wav]
[Source][Vincent Price] had a choice between taking a percentage of the album sales or $20.000. Price was well along in his career, so he took the $20,000. He was good-natured about it when Carson told him he could have made millions off of the royalties due to the vast number of copies sold even at that time. Price laughed heartily and said: "How well I know!"
[Source]
Unfortunate Job Assignment October 26, 2006 3:01 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Humor, PhilosophyThis looks real. {image source]
Apparently he is a local report in LA.
add a comment…thats marc brown he does the local news in HD here in LA. poor guy – he’s actually likeable… [Source]
From the mouths of babes October 26, 2006 1:05 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Amy, Daily Life, Family, From the mouths of babesAmy: "Dad, when you went to school did you tell everyone your name was Dad?"
2commentsAdventures with Amy October 26, 2006 10:30 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Amy, Daily Life, Family, Of Being Dad
Of Grasshoppers October 26, 2006 8:34 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Of Grasshoppers, PhilosophyStudent: I keep oversleeping. What does it mean?
Master: It means Sunday, October 29th you’re screwed.
Personally, Daylight Saving Time (not day light savings time) has always confused me. I never really took time to understand when it was beginning or ending. For the record, at 2am Sunday October 29, Daylight Saving Time ends and we enter Standard Time.
add a commentCrisp October 25, 2006 7:56 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily LifeIt feels and smells so good outside! I love this time of year.
add a commentFrom the mouths of babes October 25, 2006 7:45 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Family, From the mouths of babes, NoahDad: "Noah. I want you to close the bathroom door all the way [so that Evan can’t get in] then brush your teeth."
Noah: proceeds to start brushing his teeth.
Dad: "Noah, what did I say?"
Noah: "Close the door then brush my teeth."
Noah: Proceeds to start to brush teeth.
Dad: "What are you doing?!"
Noah: "Oh! Close the door."
Noah: Pushes door almost shut.
Dad: Pushes door open with finger.
Dad:"All the way!"
I live with the Marx Brothers.
add a commentYou know you are getting old… October 25, 2006 10:39 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life…when you turn down your birthday present for sleep.
1 comment so farFrom the mouths of babes October 25, 2006 10:34 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, From the mouths of babes, NoahEveryone overslept this morning. The elementary school bell rings at 7:45.
Dad: "Noah! Wake up! It’s 7:35."
Noah, 10, bolting upright, very staccato: "Holy crap!"
Dad, wide eyed and thinking to himself: I’ll let that one slide on this occasion.
It was very surprising because Noah watches his tongue well around adults.
12commentsReturning to normalcy? October 24, 2006 2:47 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Of Being DadOk. Normalcy and "our life" typically are not used in the same sentence. What has returned to our life is the daily in and out of getting people to and fro. That’s right! Fall break is over and the kids are back in school and in karate and in therapy and in student council and in art club and in scouts and in this and in that. And mom and dad are in the taxi service.
7commentsOct 24 is Take Back Your Time Day October 24, 2006 11:44 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Announcements, Of Interest, Touchy SubjectsTAKE BACK YOUR TIME is a major U.S./Canadian initiative to challenge the epidemic of overwork, over-scheduling and time famine that now threatens our health, our families and relationships, our communities and our environment. [Source]
I have always envisioned building a better work place for my staff. I’ve dreamed of staffing a business and ironing out the kinks such as the wasted time at the water cooler or the hours blown away playing solitaire when the boss isn’t looking. Don’t get me wrong. Downtime is important and I admire companies that require a block of time toward personal improvement along the lines of “this time is to be spent at the office working on your own project.” The concept is that you get your mind off your project enough to refresh, while doing something that interests you, and betters your skillset. This is not time to play Doom. I believe many of the Google Labs projects originated with this method of management.
Google engineers can spend up to 20 percent of their time on a project of their choice. [Source]
Ok. So the projects are for Google and still have to be approved.
I think through commited staff that a company can survive on a 4 day work week. I think there will be times the staff has to work 5, 6 or 7 days and overtime but for the most part, I think we easily waste away 8 hours a week on non-essentials and that if we moved all of that to Friday, the staff wouldn’t even have to come in. Ah! I also think that same company can do most of its work from the employees homes and not require more than a few days a month at the office. Maybe Monday of each week is required at the office with regular video conferencing on other days and some meetings throughout the month scheduled in the office but not necessarily for the whole day.
Naturally, this model will not fit all business models. But one day, I will demonstrate just such a company! Something has to change. Look at the Time Poverty Fact Sheet to understand why.
1 comment so farSlow down there cowboy! October 24, 2006 8:00 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Humor, Sex, Touchy SubjectsRemember that old joke "if you smoke after sex, you’re going too fast." Apparently, if you go way too fast, your penis will vaporize.
add a commentAction! October 20, 2006 3:12 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily LifeHosting is in good shape so the websites are up, email is working, and our microphones (cells) should not have any technical difficulties until late Monday.
add a commentCamera! October 20, 2006 2:59 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily LifeLooks like we should have an Internet connection through the weekend. At 12:01am Monday or 12:01am Tuesday it might spudder out again unless I feed the monster more lettuce.
add a commentLights! October 20, 2006 2:36 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily LifeOk. Looks like the power is not going to get cut off! Now trying to save phone and Internet – my lifeblood.
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