Category: The Best of the Web

Everything Old is New Again- Music

The local news had me stop in my tracks this morning- not for a shocking headline but for the sound of a new song. The music chosen to play into the commercial break was fabulous! I opened Spotify on my phone, and identified these fabulous musicians: Mariachi El Bronx. Not new, but new to me.

Here is Sleepwalking by Mariachi El Bronx

Their sound was so familiar but I couldn’t place why. An online search delivered a mix of options that finally made sense after I read an article from 2009 by The Guardian: “The Bronx- How Punk Rock Went Mariachi.” In a nutshell, if you grow up next door to David Hildago of Los Lobos and two of his kids are your best friends, fabulous music just may happen and multiple bands can be formed.

Here’s Mariachi El Bronx performing live for Seattle’s KXEP radio station-

It’s too bad that I missed them playing at The Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach this May. But, guess who is playing the San Diego Fair tonight? One of my all time favorites: Los Lobos.

Now and Then, We Can Use a Reminder…

I’m betting on the human race.

Why?

Because there are more kind people in the world like the ones that moved this pizza delivery guy to tears than there are despicable ones bringing us to tears by their plum-loco inhumanity.

http://aplus.com/a/pizza-delivery-driver-gets-huge-tip

Call me an optimist.

 

 

Favorite WordPress Blogs

 

I found a blogger who is new to me, but has been around here on WordPress for a while- Brad Young Art…A few of his posts that I liked in particular: 8/23/15 Space Needle, 7/26/15 Blondes and Tennessee, 4/19/15 Chicago Skyline, and 4/5/15 I Thirst.

I particularly enjoyed the different cities featured in his designs- many are only blocks from where I lived (our apartment up the street from Seattle’s Space Needle), or at least the same general yet beloved area (the Midwest rocked my world). Go check out his great art and sweet commentary!

It’s worth mentioning that the only way I came across Brad Young Art (and many other great blogs) is because he simply clicked that “LIKE” button on one of my posts, so I went and looked at his work… go discover some new blogs and encourage the love of great subjects today, everyone. And don’t forget to give that positive feedback.

While I’m at it- I’d really like to give a shout out to a few other fabulous writers I have come across over the course of this year while playing around on WordPress:

Cool San Diego Sights!– great pics and fun insights into what’s happening in the San Diego area

Cycling in the South Bay– about as introspective and funny as a cyclist can get, with life choices, hobbies, and family offered up on the Altar of the Blogosphere

Story Shucker– short, well crafted stories from a talented writer. I’m always looking for his works to show up in my favorites feed.

Finding Jeffrey– a family friend who can produce more thoughtful and humorous writings in two minutes with only an elbow on the space bar than an infinite number of me on an infinite number of keyboards could ever hope to pound out. Get cranking on that book, Jeff, we’re waiting.

Cooking with a Wallflower– I had to narrow down from a couple dozen food bloggers I’m following on WordPress, and Andrea’s blog has a fabulous compilation of really good recipes, wonderful photography, and culinary world finds that she came across on the Big Ol’ Web.

Foodie Websites- the Ridiculous and the Inspirational

I spent some time clicking through to some entertaining and motivational websites today… fascinating what we have available on The Web, isn’t it? Amusement, education and debauchery, all in one spot. Mind blowing, no? You Tube’s “Minimum Trip” is a channel that features miniature food preparation. The channel was featured on a morning news show, recently, and I bookmarked it to come back to eventually. I finally did, going through several of their videos… kind of left me speechless (not an easy feat). My first thought as I watched teeny-tiny shrimp get turned into tempura was “OH MY GOSH, KIDS, COME SEE, IT LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE IS FRYING SEA MONKEYS!!”

There is no music, only the sound of food prep and cooking and a whole lot of closeups of miniature food, little bitty cooking stations and doll house furniture.
What a trip! Interesting, to say the least. The boy and I decided that we liked it, though, and that he now wants to show his friends.

On a completely different scale is NeverSeconds. This is a fabulously interesting site featuring the observations of a young school-aged girl (nine years old at the start), blogging with her father to show what we are offering our children in the lunchrooms of the western world and beyond. Since beginning the blog in 2012, the family has gone on to publish a book on the whole experience (“Never Seconds- The Incredible Story of Martha Payne”), as well as spur on an impressive amount of fundraising for schools in Malawi with Mary’s Meals– these posts from March 2013, “Meeting Malawi’s Madame President,” and from May of 2012 are a great overview.
Click on through these underlined links for an international lesson about school lunches and what can happen when a family’s experiment collides with the blogsphere, social media, and local and international media. I’m pretty sure I’ll be buying Martha’s book.

Here’s to Web Exploration!

What do Dirty Foreheads, Chocolate, Facebook and Diet Coke have in common?

Simply put, faith. And check out the ash-happy job my priest did last year in that photo… impressive, huh? He said I needed extra ashes.
And come this April 5th, look out- don’t get between me and any corn dogs or chicken wings. You have been warned.

CatholicMemes.com for your hip humor needs.
CatholicMemes.com for your hip humor needs.

But I digress… all of the above are some common ways people sometimes remind themselves of what their faith means to them, and how they arrived at their beliefs. During Lent you, some of your friends, and acquaintances may be giving up chocolate, Diet Coke or Facebook; on Wednesday; February 18th you might see a lot of smudgy, dirty foreheads.

Why?
BustedHalo.com sum it up nicely in about two very jazzy minutes:

In choosing to avoid or give up something that is usually part of my every day life, I have the opportunity to remind myself, multiple times each day, of what my faith means to me. This year, it’s gonna be MEAT. Yow. This will be a toughie. Many times each day I will be reminded to stop and offer a prayer, give thanks, and contemplate my faith.

I’ve never given up coffee… I love my family too much to inflict a cranky, grumpy me on them.