2009
Song Saturday: Last Name
“I had no clue what I was getting into. So, I’ll blame it on the Cuervo. Oh, where did my manners go?”
Returning to my Samsung playlist, submitted for your approval on this first Saturday of the new year…I present Last Name by Carrie Underwood. Released in April 2008, it was written by Underwood, Luke Laird and Hillary Lindsey. It is the eighth track from the album Carnival Ride and the third release. It peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart on June 21, 2008, was #1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, made it to #3 on the Canada Country Billboard chart and #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
I remember when she wowed the whole world on the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. It’s hard to believe that it has been over 15 years since she stormed the music world. I never watched the show but, she was all over the media. When I heard Before He Cheats on the radio, I knew she was gonna be an incredible star and, as far as I’m concerned, she could sing the phone book to me. I don’t own any of her albums/CDs as, after the 90s, everything went digital.
♦ The music video portrays the song as a prequel to her Before He Cheats song, even going so far as to hire the same actor to play the man in question.
♦ [This song] became Underwood’s fastest single to hit number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart after only 13 weeks of its official release […]. It stayed there for one week.
♦ 2009 Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance.
Other Awards
Carrie Underwood Official (Official Website)
Snapshots Sunday: Pooh Bear
Stumpy-tailed Manx
05-14-2008
Pooh was not originally my cat. When the Marine and I moved to Texas, Pooh (the owners called him Oliver) lived three doors away. He was very friendly and walked the sidewalks like a person. The story we got from the owner was, he was purchased as a kitten for her son. Her son developed allergies to the cat so, she put him outside. He could get in and out of the garage and, had a sleeping pad on a bench on the front porch.
01-01-2008
He didn’t visit our house too much because we had Buddy. When we lost Buddy, he got closer and closer to the front door, unsure because he wasn’t allowed in his own home. One day, we opened the door and he walked in. We fed him some tuna and…he stayed. We taught him how to use the cat doors we already had and he returned to us every day. His previous owner, at this point, had re-married, had two more kids (plus the husband’s kid) and three dogs. I’m not sure they ever noticed.
01-24-2011
He didn’t look like an Oliver to us. My Marine made the remark that he looked like a little bear walking up the sidewalk. I immediately went to my childhood days and thought “Pooh!” He got a new name with his new home.
Pooh liked to watch TV.
02-25-2009
Poor Pooh had spine problems related to his stumpy tail. The entire time he was with us, he had spells…twice a day. Something in his spine would move or catch and he would howl in pain. Then, he would chase the pain…until he was dizzy. It was something bizarre to watch and you couldn’t miss the sound. Think Looney Tunes’ Tasmanian Devil. When he regained his faculties, he would begin to groom as if nothing had happened. Unfortunately for me, some of those spells occurred in my lap. I still have scars…bless his heart.
He was our baby for three and a half years. He developed pancreatic cancer and had to be put down February 17, 2011. He was a character. When he wanted your attention and you weren’t fast enough, he made this sound of frustration that always reminded me of Number 5/Johnny Five from Short Circuit.
06-20-2009
Chris Thomas: No More Papering Over The Cracks
A Blog Post From: The Chris Thomas Files
Have you ever been faced with the job of re-decorating a room? You know what it’s like…you strip off the old wallpaper only to find that the plaster is full of cracks. This means either filling in the cracks or re-plastering with all the mess that entails. Well, this is what has been happening for the past months (or years) to everybody, either on a personal level, a government level or nationally.
These are the real symptoms of change. In order to become new, to find out who we truly are, we first have to demolish the old. This process of change we are undergoing requires that everything of the past is cleared out so that we can see the cracks that have been underlying our lives for some time. We cannot become what our potential demands as long as the world, and ourselves, are still layered over with the old paper, old ways of being, which covered up everything.
Through 2007, and particularly 2008, we have seen the removal of many layers of old paper, which have served to blinker our view of reality. As we entered 2009, the blinkers really began to come off and we started to realise that we, as individuals, have to take responsibility for our own lives. We can no longer rely on anyone or any institution to save us. Those who have turned to the ‘quick fix’ for their problems realised, at long last, that there cannot be a quick solution. We cannot just add another layer of wallpaper. We have to face the consequences of re-building from the foundations up.
Taking Positive Action
You know the kinds of conversations we have all had, where you come up with the answer:
“I know I should be doing (whatever it is) but,…”
Well, the result of all of this self-work is that the answer needs to be changed to:
“I know I should be doing (whatever it is) so, I am going to start doing it now.”
This is what the last couple of years have been about…removing the wallpaper and seeing the cracks underneath, to help us to realise that we can no longer paper over these cracks. We have to take positive action and positive action, now. We cannot wait until 2011 or even 2012. If we wait beyond 2009 to take action, we will not be able to make it as far as the end of 2011. This is what the energies for change truly mean. We need to put our own house in order, clear out old emotions, and ways of dealing with the people with whom we share our lives, before we can reach our higher levels of being. And, nobody is going to do it for us.
It’s a nice thought that there are legions of ‘angels’, ET’s or even well meaning ‘orbs’ out there who are going to step in and do all of the work for us. But, the reality is that, while they may be happy to show us what we need to do, it is we, ourselves, who need to do it. [In] that sense, we are on our own. This is our planet and it is our mess we need to clear up. There are those beings ‘out there’ who would love to come and help but, they cannot come and help until we have shown that we are capable of resolving our own problems by making our leap into full consciousness. Until we have made that leap, we are on our own. The two featured books (visible in the blog post as The Universal Soul and The Human Soul) can help you understand where you are in this process of change and how to move forwards.
Consciousness Reintegration
This full consciousness state is that which many have come to call ‘Ascension’ but, we need to remember that we are not actually ‘ascending’ anywhere. We are staying firmly rooted on the planet. What we are supposed to be doing is bringing the ‘Higher Self’ into the physical body. In so doing, we ‘ascend’ to higher levels of consciousness and understanding. Once we have achieved that, we will be greeted by every ‘angel, and ET in the Universe to congratulate us on a job well done. According to the Akashic, there are currently about two million people who have already achieved this full consciousness reintegration world-wide. The majority of these people live in tribal cultures in remote regions of the planet. They have achieved what we all set out to achieve on this amazing Earth. So, during 2009, the rest of us, in the ‘western world’, need to be taking the necessary steps to catch up with them. This can only be achieved by each individual taking responsibility for themselves and not putting off, ’til tomorrow, what they can do today.
© Chris Thomas 2009
[We are LONG overdue to clean up our own houses and evolve. ~Vic]
The Blog Post (Cygnus Review Blog…with the wrong author credited)
Download The PDF & Share
Movie Monday: 17 Again 2009
Ten years ago, today, the #1 movie at the box office was 17 Again, a comedy starring Zac Efron, Matthew Perry, Leslie Mann, Thomas Lennon, Michelle Trachtenberg, Jim Gaffigan, Margaret Cho & Melora Hardin. Released April 17, it was directed by Burr Steers (Gore Vidal‘s nephew).
At 17 Mike O’Donnell is on top of the world: he’s the star of his high school basketball team, is a shoo-in for a college scholarship, and is dating his soul-mate, Scarlet. But, at what’s supposed to be his big game where a college scout is checking him out, Scarlet reveals that she’s pregnant. Mike decides to leave the game and asks Scarlet to marry him, which she does. During their marriage, Mike can only whine about the life he lost because he married her so, she throws him out. When he also loses his job, he returns to the only place he’s happy at, his old high school. While looking at his high school photo, a janitor asks him if he wishes he could be 17 again and he says yes. One night while driving he sees the janitor on a bridge ready to jump and goes after him. When he returns to his friend Ned’s house, where he has been staying, he sees that he is 17 again. He decides to take this opportunity to get the life he lost.
Trivia Bits:
♦ Visual effects were not used when Zac Efron does the basketball tricks during the cafeteria scene. He really did accomplish them on his own.
♦ This is a remake of the 1986 Disney TV movie “Young Again” starring a very young Keanu Reeves in one of his earliest roles.
♦ In one scene, Mike wakes up and begins describing his “dream” of being in high school again only to find his daughter, Maggie, caring for him. This is an homage to the counterpart scene in Back to the Future (1985), in which Marty McFly wakes up and finds his teen-aged mother caring for him.
Shutterbug Saturday: Tribute Pictures 5.0
1st Street Bridge
Town Lake (Colorado River)
Photo Credit: Carlos Delgado on Unsplash
It appears that I have more Patton pictures than I realized. Some of them are of him, not by him. Nevertheless, this is looking like a seven part series, now.
♦ Part I
♦ Part II
♦ Part III
♦ Part IV
06-04-2008
08-27-2008
02-24-2009
05-08-2008
More to come… ~Vic
Foto Friday: Tribute Pictures 4.0
This is part four of a five, possibly, six part series showcasing my former supervisor W. H. Patton’s photography. The first post is here. The second post is here. The third post is here.
Round four…
10-09-2008
10-09-2008
02-21-2008
02-27-2008
03-07-2009
03-07-2009
05-18-2008
05-18-2008
Shutterbug Saturday: Tribute Pictures 3.0
This is Part Three of the five-part series showcasing my former supervisor W. H. Patton’s photography. The original post is here. Last Saturday’s post is here.
The above picture (on a phone) or the picture to the left (on a PC) is from the Texas Lone Star Wind Farm just outside of Abilene (northeast) and Clyde (northwest). On one of my visits to his ranch in Clyde, he took me out to this wind farm installation. Those wind turbines make the weirdest noises.
I wish I had remembered MY camera.
Round Three below.
Wild turkey in his backyard, 04-07-2008
