Katy Perry

Wide Awake

Firework

Hot N Cold

I Kissed a Girl

11 August 2012

Vertical Horizon - Everything You Want

Vertical Horizon - Everything You Want

11 August 2012

World Cat Day

A colleague just informed me that it is World Cat Day (aka International Cat Day).  I'm glad that he told me because our kittens would have no doubt been put out without some sort of acknowledgement!  The kittens are Finnegan and Honor.  Just prior to this shot, Honor had been using her brother's rump as a pillow... for about two hours!

Awesome Cat Commercials



8 August 2012

Kid Rock - All Summer Long

Kid Rock - All Summer Long



6 August 2012

Romney's Tax Plan Problem

Brian Beutler at TPM wrote a great piece not only about the problems with Mit Romney's tax plan, but with his political problem surrounding the plan.  If his "attack the messenger" response doesn't work, he has no politically positive moves to make.  And it is his own fault.

The article is short and worth the read.

2 August 2012

Herbert & Dorothy Vogel: Art Collectors Supreme

Watching Sunday Morning this weekend, I was reintroduced to art collectors Herb and Dorothy Vogel.  The televised piece was originally aired on 60 Minutes in 1995 and I assume was replayed because Mr. Vogel passed away last month.  The Vogels were not people of means, yet they built what became an internationally-famous collection of modern art.  And while their collection became worth untold millions, they didn't retire wealthy, never selling a piece.  They were both government workers, he a postal clerk and she a librarian.  And because of this background, they donated most of their collection to the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC.  More recently, in late 2008, they launched The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States along with the National Gallery of Art, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The program donated 2,500 works to 50 institutions across 50 states and was accompanied by a book with the same name.  (Source Wikipedia)  They collected what the loved and loved what they collected.  We should all be so lucky to have such passion and to pursue it with such gusto.

The NY Times featured a nice obituary for Mr. Vogel.  I also found what appears to be a PBS film on the couple, I believe from 2008, although I have not yet watched it.  CBS featured this report on his death.



The 60 Minutes video is below.



1 August 2012

Why I Still Love America

The DNC announced the keynote speaker for the 2012 Democratic National Convention.  It is Julian Castro, mayor of San Antonio.  Eric Lach wrote a piece for TPM on the pick.  Lach provides a bit of background on Castro:

Castro, 37, has served as mayor of San Antonio since 2009. He was born and raised in San Antonio, the son of Rosie Castro, a leader of La Raza Unida, a Mexican-American civil rights group, and a woman The New York Times Magazine described, in a 2010 profile of Julián Castro, as “a well-known ’70s firebrand.” Julián and his twin brother Joaquín Castro — who serves in the Texas House of Representatives and is running for Congress — grew up around politics.

He goes on to note that in spite of his heritage, Castro doesn't speak Spanish, a fact noted by NY Times Magazine reporter Zev Chafets in a 2010 profile.  One exerpt from that article represents why, for all of its warts, I still love America.

Early in his administration, Castro assigned his chief of staff, Robbie Greenblum — a Jewish lawyer from the border town of Laredo whose own Spanish is impeccable — to discreetly find him a tutor. Rosie Castro’s son is now being taught Spanish by a woman named Marta Bronstein. Greenblum met her in shul.

  Only in America!

1 August 2012