I've loved Sheryl Crow since the first time I heard the call "This ain't no disco
It ain't no country club either - This is LA!" But I was no fan of her 2005 album "Wildflower" - and the album prior to that - "C'Mon C'Mon" was sometimes fun with a couple pop hits like "Steve McQueen" and "Soak up the Sun" - but just didn't stand out as anything great to me. So I had low expectations for this latest album, "Detours" - but I love it!
"Detours" reminded me of why I loved Sheryl Crow's music originally - then I learned why - its produced by Bill Bottrell who also produced "Tuesday Night Music Club" - no wonder. The 2nd track - "Shine Over Babylon" sounds like it is right from Tuesday Night (except the theme is much darker and intense). "Make it Go Away" is an emotional song clearly dealing with her battle with cancer and facing a deadly disease. Her vocals crying out yo "make it go away" and mixed in an nightmarish intensity make you feel like you are experiencing what she felt.
Apparently, the sales for this album was Sheryl Crow's worst opening ever - which is too bad, because it is likely her best album ever.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Getty Images to be sold for 2.4B
Today, a Monday, just like any other Monday at work at Getty Images - except for this little not so small announcement. We are being sold to the private equity firm Hellman & Friedman LLC for 2.4 billion dollars which is $34/share. Good times.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
How Agile Software Development Adds Value to the Business Quickly
Nice little 3 minute video that shows why delivering smaller increments of software early will compound the actual business value delivered over time. Great business intro for the non-software crowd.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Obama: One Million People donation campaign.
The Obama campaign is getting close to its 1,000,000 campaign donors goal - currently at 913,997! This time around, the people are not only speaking, but acting - all over the country. "Yes We Can"
From the campaign:
Jeff --
We learned something extraordinary since I wrote to you last night.
We've crunched all the numbers and discovered that we are within striking distance of something historic: one million people donating to this campaign.
Think about that ... nearly one million people taking ownership of this movement, five dollars or twenty-five dollars at a time.
We're already more than 900,000 strong, including over half-a-million donating so far this year. This unprecedented foundation of support has built a campaign that has shaken the status quo and proven that ordinary people can compete in a political process too often dominated by special interests.
Unlike Senator Clinton or Senator McCain, we haven't taken a dime from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACs. Our campaign is responsible to no one but the people.
One million donors would be a remarkable feat -- something that's never been done before in a presidential primary and something no one ever thought would be possible for us. And you still have the opportunity to be a part of it.
If you make a donation right now, one of those 900,000 donors has promised to give again in order to match your first gift. You can double the impact of your first donation -- and you can even choose to exchange a note about why you are part of this movement.
Be one of the million who will own a piece of this campaign before the potentially decisive March 4th contests:
https://donate.barackobama.com/match
We started this improbable journey a little over a year ago in Springfield, Illinois.
And because you've joined together to make your voices heard, this journey isn't looking as improbable anymore.
Since our victory on February 5th, we've won ten straight contests.
But on March 4th, we face a huge challenge in Texas and Ohio, who will vote along with Rhode Island and Vermont. We are behind in the big states and need as many people involved as possible if we're going to win.
If we can reach our goal of one million donors by March 4th, we can send a powerful message that the Washington establishment and big-money interests cannot ignore.
As one million people with one voice, we can tell them that their days of dominating Washington are coming to an end -- the old politics are crumbling and a new voice is breaking through. Our voice.
Will you make a matching donation now to make it happen?
https://donate.barackobama.com/match
I learned the power of ordinary people coming together as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago.
I worked side-by-side with people who had been laid off from steel plants that were moved overseas. These were people who needed new jobs to rebuild their lives, and their political leaders were ignoring them.
But even though the odds were stacked against them, they discovered that by coming together with one voice, they could no longer be ignored.
When we launched this campaign, we knew we were up against similar odds. We knew we'd be running against a massive political machine with deep ties to the Washington establishment.
We knew it wouldn't be easy.
But if we can do this, we're not just going to win an election. We're going to change our country.
Thank you so much,
Barack
From the campaign:
Jeff --
We learned something extraordinary since I wrote to you last night.
We've crunched all the numbers and discovered that we are within striking distance of something historic: one million people donating to this campaign.
Think about that ... nearly one million people taking ownership of this movement, five dollars or twenty-five dollars at a time.
We're already more than 900,000 strong, including over half-a-million donating so far this year. This unprecedented foundation of support has built a campaign that has shaken the status quo and proven that ordinary people can compete in a political process too often dominated by special interests.
Unlike Senator Clinton or Senator McCain, we haven't taken a dime from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACs. Our campaign is responsible to no one but the people.
One million donors would be a remarkable feat -- something that's never been done before in a presidential primary and something no one ever thought would be possible for us. And you still have the opportunity to be a part of it.
If you make a donation right now, one of those 900,000 donors has promised to give again in order to match your first gift. You can double the impact of your first donation -- and you can even choose to exchange a note about why you are part of this movement.
Be one of the million who will own a piece of this campaign before the potentially decisive March 4th contests:
https://donate.barackobama.com/match
We started this improbable journey a little over a year ago in Springfield, Illinois.
And because you've joined together to make your voices heard, this journey isn't looking as improbable anymore.
Since our victory on February 5th, we've won ten straight contests.
But on March 4th, we face a huge challenge in Texas and Ohio, who will vote along with Rhode Island and Vermont. We are behind in the big states and need as many people involved as possible if we're going to win.
If we can reach our goal of one million donors by March 4th, we can send a powerful message that the Washington establishment and big-money interests cannot ignore.
As one million people with one voice, we can tell them that their days of dominating Washington are coming to an end -- the old politics are crumbling and a new voice is breaking through. Our voice.
Will you make a matching donation now to make it happen?
https://donate.barackobama.com/match
I learned the power of ordinary people coming together as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago.
I worked side-by-side with people who had been laid off from steel plants that were moved overseas. These were people who needed new jobs to rebuild their lives, and their political leaders were ignoring them.
But even though the odds were stacked against them, they discovered that by coming together with one voice, they could no longer be ignored.
When we launched this campaign, we knew we were up against similar odds. We knew we'd be running against a massive political machine with deep ties to the Washington establishment.
We knew it wouldn't be easy.
But if we can do this, we're not just going to win an election. We're going to change our country.
Thank you so much,
Barack
Monday, February 11, 2008
New Music: 2008 Finally gets rolling in music
After noting earlier my fears about 2008 with the headlining CD releases being Barry Manilow and the Spice Girls, I finally have some hope. Leave it to the Drive By Truckers to kick some life into the year with their release of "Brighter Than Creations Dark". I'm still learning about these guys, and have access to all of their albums via Rhapsody - even so, this new album blew me away from the first song "Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife" all the way through to song number 19 "Monument Valley". How can you go wrong with "daddy needs a drink to deal with all the beauty, to deal with all the madness, to keep from blowin' up. Daddy needs a drink to calm down his badness to execute his gladness on the fullness of his cup"...followed by a chorus: " Daddy needs a drink so mama fix one quick, pour it nice and strong with the cleanin' outfit on" - sung with the purest of sincerity.
This last week was a stellar release week with the release of "Detours" by Sheryl Crow, "Sleep Through the Static" by Jack Johnson, and "Its Time for a Love Revolution" by Lenny Kravitz. I haven't had enough time to absorb each of these, but can say that from what I've listened to so far, these are top notch releases from each of them. I have no doubt "Its Time for a Love Revolution" will be in my top 10 this year if not top 1.
This last week was a stellar release week with the release of "Detours" by Sheryl Crow, "Sleep Through the Static" by Jack Johnson, and "Its Time for a Love Revolution" by Lenny Kravitz. I haven't had enough time to absorb each of these, but can say that from what I've listened to so far, these are top notch releases from each of them. I have no doubt "Its Time for a Love Revolution" will be in my top 10 this year if not top 1.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Check out Google's Twitter Map of Super Tuesday
Wow, this could be a real timesuck. Watch this world map flutter with localized popup messages from people twittering around the country regarding the election and how they are participating. Its Google's one-stop shop for keeping an eye on Super Tuesday today.
Monday, February 4, 2008
World Vision: My journey
I mentioned that I'd be chronicling my journey of sponsoring a World Vision child here in my blog. I don't know anyone in my personal life who has sponsored a child through WV, so its all brand new to me. I'm blogging about it so others can read about this experience and decide if it may be right for them or not.
About a week after I registered I received a packet in the mail from World Vision. It had info on my sponsored child, his current health, his family, and a brief intro into his life situation in Kenya. His name is Weldon Kipkurui Koech. He was born on my son's calendar birthday and my daughters year. Its overwhelming making this initial selection - how do you pick one child from the millions across the world who need help? How do you choose a country? Gender? Age? So I went with Kenya - a country where AIDS is in a crisis condition. I chose the age of my daughter so I could relate closely with his age and stage in life. I chose the birthday as just an added personal selection. The packet came with a DVD that gave a lot of great info on the how to's of child sponsorship - where your donations go and how it can directly help an individual child and his family. It also came with pictures, and mailing instructions on how to write to your child. It was all very organized with lots of info to help you start working towards developing a relationship with your child. It was all very well done.
This weekend I received a hand written letter from Weldon - written by a community development facilitator in Kenya for Weldon (as he is only 4). Weldon added a personal touch by scribbling his own touch on the letter. I've posted a copy of the letter. The facilitator describes Weldon's life - He is in nursery school, has 2 brothers and 2 sisters, enjoys playing football with the other children, eats ugali, and helps his parents herding.
I've written my first letter back with info about me and my family and have included pictures of my world with my family in Seattle.
About a week after I registered I received a packet in the mail from World Vision. It had info on my sponsored child, his current health, his family, and a brief intro into his life situation in Kenya. His name is Weldon Kipkurui Koech. He was born on my son's calendar birthday and my daughters year. Its overwhelming making this initial selection - how do you pick one child from the millions across the world who need help? How do you choose a country? Gender? Age? So I went with Kenya - a country where AIDS is in a crisis condition. I chose the age of my daughter so I could relate closely with his age and stage in life. I chose the birthday as just an added personal selection. The packet came with a DVD that gave a lot of great info on the how to's of child sponsorship - where your donations go and how it can directly help an individual child and his family. It also came with pictures, and mailing instructions on how to write to your child. It was all very organized with lots of info to help you start working towards developing a relationship with your child. It was all very well done.
This weekend I received a hand written letter from Weldon - written by a community development facilitator in Kenya for Weldon (as he is only 4). Weldon added a personal touch by scribbling his own touch on the letter. I've posted a copy of the letter. The facilitator describes Weldon's life - He is in nursery school, has 2 brothers and 2 sisters, enjoys playing football with the other children, eats ugali, and helps his parents herding.I've written my first letter back with info about me and my family and have included pictures of my world with my family in Seattle.
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