thepodger

Google has done it again with a surprising new Les Paul Doodle.
It allows you to play and record your own little piece of music.
I was fortunate enough to see the man himself play at both Fat Tuesdays (now closed) and the Iridium.
He had a presence and was a true gentleman to anyone who came; signing just about anything you would put in front of him.
He would even sign Fender guitars for you. The man was a true legend. Google has been made a habit of introducing new "doodles" over the years. Here is a link to some interesting doodles from years past.

From ThePodger

I was walking to the train after work on the upper east side when a black VW making a right onto 85th came straight at me through the crosswalk, plowing into the store on the corner. I jumped out of the way just in time as it zipped by. I was so angry at their dangerous driving that I slammed my hand on the hood of the car before it jumped the curb and went into the store on the corner with a huge crash. When I got around to the driver side, the driver was still holding the wheel like he was still driving! The car struck the building hard enough for the airbags to deploy, and it took a few minutes for the guys in the car to realize where they were. The police were there in minutes and the 2 guys in the car were so drunk that the could hardly stand up. This made for interesting viewing as they tried to walk/stumble away. It was pretty intense. Here is a news link about it.

From ThePodger

I was back in the neighborhood today and snapped a few shots of the aftermath. The chirping Chicken was very lucky. If that car was a not dead center on the column in the front of the building, the cops would have been pulling the car out from inside the store. It was very fortunate that no one was seriously hurt. Click on any of the pictures to enlarge.

From ThePodger

From ThePodger

If you look very closely, you can see the Pipers in who came into the bar for a few rounds and a few tunes. It was a great night out.

                                                                                                                                                                           
I was in Ireland last month to attend the funeral of an Uncle we spent much time with as kids.
While I was there, I snapped this photo. It is amazing how beautiful this country is.
I hope to be back there again on a happier occasion soon. I was staying in the midlands where the weather is mild. People were shocked to hear I had to scrape 4 inches of snow and ice off the car and dig it out to get to the airport. They rarely get that kind of weather. Dublin is on the same parallel as Moscow, but the trade winds keep it very temperate. You would hardly know you were that far north if it were not for the incredibly long summer evenings. Man, I love this country.

It does not look like this weekend is going to look anything like this. In fact it is meant to be raining all weekend long. Ah well. We enjoyed the weather while we had it so.

Hope you are all having a nice weekend.

It was beautiful this morning in the way into work.
This is the first time in a while that it has felt like spring is on the way.
With daytime temps in the 40s all week, I don't much care if it rains or not.
I think we will all be ready for Spring this year.

Conan's last show is tonight. The shows have been bitter-sweet and very funny. I can not wait to see how Conan tops his hilarious "aren't so much funny as they are crazy expensive." bit. My guess is that the price tag will be around 10 million, if that is possible.

Not sure if you have seen Charlie Rose lately, his brain series was very interesting.
Last night, however, he had on Al-Waleed bin Talal the successful Saudi Prince and investor. It is possibly one of the stranger Charlie Rose interviews I have seen in a long time. He has an impressive story, but I found his mannerisms most distracting. He is called the Arabian Warren Buffett, and seems to be as original a character as his namesake.

Just finished a few road trips and the holidays. Just one more trip out of town this week and I can hang up these traveling boots for a while. Should be few more posts after that.
Peace Yall.