Monthly Archives: January 2007

George Oscar Bluth (aka Gob) is the illusionist from the now cancelled TV series Arrested Development. “It is not a trick, it is an illusion.” “But where did the lighter fluid come from . . .” “Come on!”

Anyways, here are a few clips of Gob in action:

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There was a time back in the early 80s when I practiced the subtle arts of break dancing and beat boxing (what my father affectionately described as “my son spitting in his hand”). Other than those early days of Kurtis Blow, Whodini, and Run DMC, I have never been much of a Hip-Hop fanatic. Nevertheless, in the past year or so, I have become a fan of The Roots, Mos Def, and a few other musicians. Here are some videos of my favorites:

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Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non addictive, gender neutral celebration of the holiday season, practiced with the most enjoyable traditions of religious persuasion or secular practices of your choice with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2007, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make our country great (not to imply that one nation is necessarily greater than any other country) and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms:

This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

Disclaimer: No animals or trees were harmed in the sending of this message; however, a significant number of electrons were slightly inconvenienced.

At the risk of getting my family’s hopes up for nothing, I must admit that there really is no place like home. Life is always easier at home. I enjoy living in Spain and in Europe and all that it has to offer. As a matter of fact, when I have the time to sort through my thoughts, I will write about my impressions on how the US is starting to lag behind Europe in many things and is becoming some what antiquated (yet not completely, Europe still has a lot to learn from the US). But, there is something about the climate, the vegetation, and the food of home, where ever that “home” may be, that makes being there special. This was the first trip home since moving to Spain six years ago that I felt that I was not ready to get back to Madrid.

As mentioned in one of my earliest posts, the aesthetics of home are what I dream of in my times of stress. I love the size and shape of the sky, the trees either bare or lush depending on the season. And unlike in Madrid, on the East Coast of the US, there is water everywhere, be it the ocean or rivers, streams, creeks, and ponds. I am content to just drive around taking everything in. Like my brother’s dog, Dixon, I can sit at the window for hours on end and watch the world as if it were squirrels to prey upon. But now I am back to Madrid and back to my life here, at least until my next trip home.