The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century

And here we are: Friday, April 22nd, 2011, my last official day at Microsoft and also the last day of my week of tributes featuring videos of various versions of Europe’s big ‘80’s hair-metal hit, The Final Countdown.

For this last installment, how could I go with anything other than an accordion version? I would’ve loved to have recorded my own, but I’m a little too short time – the next fortnight promises to be a busy one rife with king-sized changes galore – so I’m leaving it to the UK’s Jimmy Blair Accordion Orchestra to give us the final Final Countdown. You will believe that this song was meant for accordion.

This article also appears in Global Nerdy.

The time has come to reveal where I’m working next. I’ve been cast as the 12th incarnation of Doctor Who (he’s like a time-travelling Dalai Lama!), in which the show takes on a more urban ethnic feel to better reflect the demographics of modern-day Britain:

Oh, I kid. Here’s a better hint at what I’m doing next. I’ll be in Minneapolis from May 6th through 8th to help out with Minnebar, the Minnesota BarCamp event:

More later.

This article also appears in Global Nerdy.

John Bristowe took this pic at the lobby of the Cosmopolitan Hotel.

If you ever pass through that hotel, do make a point of stopping by Chandelier, one of bars at the Cosmopolitan. Ask your server for the Verbena Lemon Bud, which doesn’t appear on the drinks list. You’ll get a translucent white liquid in a cocktail tumbler, and floating atop the liquid will be small flower bud with tiny yellow petals. Take the flower, pop it in your mouth, chew it and lets the bits spread all over your tongue. You’ll feel a tingling sensation, after which you’ll black out, wake up in a tub full of ice with a note telling you that they’ve taken one of your kidneys. It now takes me twice as long to pee!

No, not really. What you will feel is a tingly sensation all over your tongue; it’s like eating a packet of microscopic Pop Rocks. Then drink the drink: the flavour is something like lemonade and tequila, and coupled with the sensation from the flower, it’ll seem as if you’re drinking delicious lemon electric current.

Officially, my last day as a Microsoft employee is tomorrow, Friday, April 22nd, 2011. However, that’s Good Friday, which means that today is effectively my last day on the job. After that, well…I’ll tell that story later.

I’m headed over to the Meadowvale office later this afternoon to meet with my fellow evangelist and Master of all Hardware Damir and drop off my Microsoft-assigned equipment, and wow, is there a lot of it! I’ll make sure to get a photo of it all and post it here for you to see.

I’ve been posting videos of various versions of Europe’s The Final Countdown all week in honour of my departure. Today’s version features a solo performer on the kazookeylele, a Frankenstein instrument that combines a toy piano, ukelele and kazoo. Enjoy!

This article also appears in Global Nerdy.

It’s “Hump Day” in my final week at Microsoft, and in honour of these last days, I’m posting a different version of Europe’s classic ‘80s hair-rock hit, The Final Countdown, on each day. Hump Day calls for a hump-tastic cover of the song, and there isn’t a more hump-tastic one than this classic version by Deep Sunshine. You will not be able to un-hear it once heard.

This article also appears in Global Nerdy.

This one goes out to all my Jewish pals. Click on the card above to send it to a friend!

This is my final week in my biggest, most influential, broadest-reaching job to date, and in its honour, I’m marking my last days with a different version of Europe’s classic ‘80s hair-rock hit, The Final Countdown. Today’s rendition: an orchestral version led by three cellos performed by an orchestra from Liepaja, Latvia, still with the head-bangin’.

This article also appears in Global Nerdy.