Shelbylock Holmes

I highly reco reading my last post "Stop and hear the music" if you haven't already.

However I did want to give you an update on Shelby. We are so proud of her, she has changed careers once again and is now a member of the Scotland Yard. She is using her keen sense of smell to solve crimes.


(BTW this is some of my best work since the Four Seasons of Shelby)

Stop and Hear the Music!

Have you heard the cliche "stop and smell the roses?" I was never one to smell many flowers, having allergies and all. But I have stumbled upon a great story that will coin the phrase "stop and hear the music!"

Are we all too busy and self-involved? What are we running around for, aren't we busily passing the wonders of the world around us? I think these were the questions the Washington Post was trying to answer.

What happens when you take:
1) A world famous violinist who makes $1,000 per minute when performing
2) Put him in a busy subway dressed as a street performer
3) Have him play 43 minutes of the word's most amazing classical music on his $3.5 million dollar violin.

When 1,070 people will pass this performance what do you think will happen? Will crowds gather? Will they delay their commutes for a once in a life time treat? How much money will the musician make?

The sad answers are $32.17 and very few people seemed to care (only 7 people stopped for more than 1 minute).

The whole experiment was video taped and there is an excerpt in the article. While the article is long I recommend it, it's a great read especially to hear how the world famous musician Joshua Bell felt when a song would end and no one applauded. I guess people had something more important to do that hour with their lives (sarcasm). You could of course make an arguemnt about people not recognizing the "opportunity" presented to them (shout out to Kenny) but really isn't that the point, we are moving too fast to recognize all the potential around us. I know one fellow blogger who might have been on her blackberry the whole time :)

On many occasions while out for a walk, Shelby and I stop and watch the squirrels. It's a start!

Stop and hear the music!

It's painful to watch.

Here is the full article
Pearls Before Breakfast: Can one of the nation's great musicians cut through the fog of a D.C. rush hour?

Also here is a link to the entire performance in the subway (audio only)
At the 14th minute there is a great version of Ave Maria

Guitar Champion II

By popular demand, here is the Guitar Hero update... I DID IT! I beat Guitar Hero II. The Guitar Hero CDs in my car must have helped! What I love about this game is that you start with very little talent and you can see progress as you get better and better, and just when you think you couldn't possibly get any further, you can still improve and soon your fingers are moving faster than your brain.

I remember looking at the last few songs on Expert level and thinking "There is no way" and in fact I've seen people post their Expert Songs on Youtube because it is so hard. And now I hope Guitar Hero III is even harder!

Game update:
Easy - 28 / 28 Song Completed
Medium - 40 / 40 Songs Completed
Hard - 40 / 40 Songs Completed
Expert - 40 / 40 Songs Completed

I've also beat every song on the Easy level without missing a note. And beat every song on Medium with 5 stars. I am now going to try and get 5 stars on every Hard song. 5 stars on every Expert song doesn't seem possible, so maybe I'll get there at some point.

NOTE: I also bought Guitar Hero I, I like some of the songs on there, but overall the game is a lot easier and I walked through the Expert level before I ever beat Guitar Hero II. I also bought my own guitars finally, I recommend the wired "SG" guitars versus the wireless guitars, I like the "action" from the buttons better for the hard levels.

Awesome Game! It has become quite popular now, many "adults"' at work are playing their kids Guitar Hero game and love it! I plan to tudor others to help them beat Guitar Hero, like Matt :)

Special Delivery from Fenway!

My Dad was lucky enough to get tickets to Daisuke Matsuzaka (Dice-K)'s first start with the Red Sox at home! Here are some pictures of me with all of the souvenirs my parents sent me from the game!



This last picture was my attenpt to demonstrate Dice-K's Gyro-Ball and how it uses some Kung-Fu powers to strike batters out. I think Gyro means "Greek Sub" in Japanese :)

Thanks Mom & Dad!

Who Moved My Tax Dollars?

In case you are curious about taxes like me, here is a great article on the breakdown of your tax dollars by Yahoo! Finance

Shelby Blog

Bark bark bark
woof woof
(wag wag wag)
lick lick
ruff ruff
*sniff *sniff *sniff
whine whine whine whiiiiiiiiiiine

(wag wag wag)

- Shelby

Shelby at the Frog Pond

Shelby dedicates this performance to her family in Costa Rica who couldn't be around to see her in her finest.