It’s the first of June, which means that once again, we’re in Accordion Awareness Month! I strongly urge everyone to celebrate it by playing the accordion, enjoyign accordion music and even sending Accordion Awareness Month greeting cards.
I plan to celebrate by playing some accordion karaoke with friends tonight at Clinton’s. If you’re in the neighbourhood, please drop by!
(Big thanks to Nicole, who reminded me that I should post something today.)
Update — Sunday June 3, 2007: Now I know who created this LOLCat image — see below the image for details!
Tired: Schrodinger’s Cat. Wired: Schrodinger’s LOLCAT!
Click to see the image on its original Flickr page. Photo courtesy of Miss Fipi Lele.
(Wondering what a LOLcat is? Start here, then go here.)
Three people are behind this image:
Over at at my tech blog Global Nerdy, I’ve got a new essay titled Do the Stupidest Thing that Could Possibly Work, which you might find interesting if you’re wondering about the future of tech and software development.
Me singing some accordion-enhanced karaoke.
Unlike here in North America, even the toughest bar in the Philippines — even the ones with real-life pirates — are likely to have karaoke. That’s how hardcore we are about it. In my immediate family alone, we collectively own 4 karaoke machines (6 if you count my PlayStation 2 and XBox with their karaoke-based games).
And believe me, that’s nothing. Here’s a story from ABS-CBN news…
Man slain for singing off-key in videoke bar
For singing out of tune, a jobless man was shot dead by a security guard of a videoke bar at the height of an argument in San Mateo, Rizal Tuesday night.
The victim, Romy Baligula, 29, was shot in the chest and was pronounced dead on arrival in a local hospital.
Senior Superintendent Felipe Rojas, acting Rizal police director, said the suspect, Robilito Ortega, 43, was arrested by responding policemen and yielded a caliber .38 revolver with five live bullets.
Rojas said Baligula and his companions were having a drinking spree at the Jullives KTV bar where Ortega worked as a security guard.
Prior to the incident, Ortega approached the table of Baligula’s group and shook hands with each of them, apparently in a show of friendship.
When Baligula started to sing, Ortega even danced to the tune. But when the song progressed, the suspect reportedly commented that the victim was out of tune, triggering a verbal tussle.
At the height of the argument, Ortega pulled out his service firearm and opened fire at Baligula before fleeing.
Rojas said policemen patrolling the area heard the gunshots and responded to the scene and eventually arrested Ortega.
Dave, who sent me the link to this story, wrote “I will never do karaoke in the Philippines,” to which I responded “Lightweight.” They should try to incorporate firearms-assisted judging into American Idol.
Here’s a clever space-saving idea: a staircase with drawers embedded in the steps:
Photo courtesy of Miss Fipi Lele.
Of course, the drawers can pose a safety hazard: you’d better be the type of person who closes drawers — if not, you’d be setting yourself up for a nasty spill one night when you go downstairs, half-awake at o-dark-thirty.
In case you missed them, here are the latest articles from the tech blog I do with my buddy George, Global Nerdy:
Click the photo to see the original at full size.
The photo above, titled The Difference of Love is getting a lot of discussion on Reddit.
My own feelings on the matter are best summed up by this musical number from the television series American Dad: