OK Go: This Too Shall Pass

By Gary Burge | Published: March 3, 2010

OK Go, the band made famous with their treadmill music video, has scored again with an innovative piece that gives me goosebumps.

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Tornado vs. Train – Tornado Wins

By Gary Burge | Published: July 9, 2009

On January 7, 2008, a fierce tornado producing up to 160 mile-per-hour winds blew across two northern Illinois counties. The twister was unusual for two reasons: First, the temperature and weather conditions were more typical of a midwestern spring than mid-winter. And second, the storm blew 12 railroad cars off the tracks.

The truely scary part of this video is when you realize that the big thing sliding along the tracks toward the train engine, past the blown off cars, is a huge tank car that is throwing up a shower of sparks! What’s in the tank? Hopefully not gasoline!

More about this storm at the NOAA weather bureau website.

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Art is the “Right Livelihood”

By Gary Burge | Published: June 26, 2009

As a full-time web developer, with a long eye on becoming a full-time artist, a post on the CreativeLedge blog by an acquaintance, Bob Barancik, made me stop and think a moment.

In the post, “The Right Livelihood, Right Now!“, Bob and his co-authors say that the creative professions are better suited to withstand recession than most people who earn a salary at an office or manufacturer.

“Presently, millions of American white collar and blue collar workers have lost their jobs or have been forced to accept shortened work weeks.

“Millions of gainfully employed citizens count themselves among ‘The Working Worried.’ They live with the very real possibility of being sacked at a moment’s notice.”

So “where does this leave the creative person?”, the blog asks.

“Actually, it leaves us surprisingly well off compared to most wage earners.

“Money was never the key motivator in our lives. We set up small businesses and took day jobs so we could paint, make films, strut on stage, write, perform, and compose music, create on the computer, write plays and screenplays, design all and sundry sorts of things and experiences…

“We need practical visionaries to create new and resilient American Dreams — the old ones are falling of their own accord into the dustbin of history.”

A tip of the hat to my wife, Judi Jetson, for sending me a link to Bob’s post.

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Man Accused of “Mermaid Harassment”

By Gary Burge | Published: June 26, 2009
Weeki Wachee Mermaid Shannon

Weeki Wachee Mermaid Shannon

Sexual harassment is a serious subject, one to never be made light of. But…

I could not help but grin at the headline “Weeki Wachee manager fired, accused of harassing mermaid” that appeared this morning on our Tampa ABC affiliate’s website.

From the post: “The state’s investigation began in March after a banquet coordinator, Nancy Flowers, was fired. She filed a grievance, accusing [Weeki Wachee Park Directory Tommy] Ervin of behaving inappropriately toward her and her co-workers.

“She also claimed Ervin harrassed (sic) her daughter, Heather Flowers, who is a mermaid at the park.

“According to an 88-page report released by the state, Heather was in an office making copies when “Tommy came in there and he said… ‘oh, you must be bubble butt’ and I’m like, ‘excuse me?’ and he’s like, ‘Bubble butt?’, and I said, ‘no, I’m Heather.’ And he was like, ‘oh, well I’m Tommy, it’s nice to meet you,’” Heather stated.”

For those who don’t know, Weeki Wachee Springs was a tourist attraction founded in 1946 at a natural, 72-degree spring-fed pool located in the small town of Weeki Wachee about 60 miles north of Tampa and 12 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. It features young women dressed in mermaid costumes who perform daily underwater shows while breathing through air hoses. The attraction was taken over last year as a state park by the State of Florida.

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“Buzz Aldrin is So Gangsta”

By Gary Burge | Published: June 26, 2009

Buzz Aldrin on moon

Buzz Aldrin on moon

“I have two passions: space exploration and hip hop“, says Buzz Aldrin, the pilot of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module on NASA’s first mission to the moon and on July 20, 1969, became the second human to stand on the moon (Neil Armstrong was the first).

This video shows Buzz recording “Rocket Experience” with Snoop Dogg and Talib Kweli. Quincy Jones and Soulja Boy also appear.

The best part is Snoop Dogg’s impromptu rap followed by his coaching of Buzz, who is now 70 years old. Nice, and all in good fun.

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Neda: “The innocent look in her eyes”

By Gary Burge | Published: June 25, 2009

A moving — and chilling BBC interview with Arash Hejazi, the doctor who tried to save Neda Soltan’s life. He is the younger man shown kneeling at her side in the videos of her death on the streets of Tehran.

Dr. Hajazi, who said he did not know Neda and was walking from his nearby office through groups of people who were themselves watching a demonstration, is now in Great Britain. He says that although he fears for his safety and will not return to Iran for some time, he felt compelled to speak about the death of a 26-year-old woman whose bloody image has become an icon of Iranian protest.

“”They (the Iranian clergy) are going to denounce what I am saying. They are going to put so many things on me. I have never been in politics. I am jeopardising my situation because of the innocent look in her (Neda’s) eyes.”

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  • About Gary Burge

    I am an experieced web programmer, techno-activist, romantic idealist, who never quite left the sixties, even though I became quite successful in the Internet space.

    My business philosphy is different now than when I toiled in the bigco world. About a decade ago I experienced a life-altering epiphany: I was sacrificing my personal life and health to feed a corporate monster.

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