Less than ten days to go…
“Mexico” – Cake
It was about a week before we left for the Dominican Republic in February 2015 that I stumbled upon the news that Ringo Starr was performing at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, not far from the resort we’d be at.
After some quick discussion, I ended up buying tickets for my parents, Shea and I while the kids would stay behind with Shea’s parents.
It was a highlight of my life.
Because of that, I now make a habit of checking concert listings for any place we’re visiting just in case there’s something cool happening.
Although he’s no Ringo Starr ;-), I’m a fan of Dave Matthews so it was cool to see he’s doing a series of concerts on the beach at the Barcelo Maya Resort with frequent collaborator, Tim Reynolds, while we’re in Mexico.
Not as cool, it appears these concerts are limited to guests at one of five select resorts so we couldn’t get tickets even if we wanted to. (Plus they’re already sold out anyhow.)
Oh well.
Anyhow, here’s a clip of Dave & Tim playing one of my favourite songs…
This is pretty funny, especially the one for “L” as that’s a word that our 3-year old has made up for herself as well!
Because the Internet – everything from YouTube to Instagram, TripAdvisor to Twitter, mommy bloggers to travel bloggers and much much more – allows you to get a sense of travel destinations before you go, I sometimes think the anticipation of a trip is (almost) as good as the trip itself.
Okay, maybe not… 😉
(Oh, and if you find yourself on a Russian version of YouTube hoping to find one more vlog of the resort you’re visiting, you might be getting a bit too obsessive!)
I have so many “mini-interests” in my life and comedy is one things I’ve long loved (I remember going into the Luther College library in undergrad intending to do a paper that was due the next day, stumbling upon a book on the “philosophy of comedy” or some such thing and then ending up doing an all-nighter to do my paper because I didn’t do any real work that day. This interest continues to this day – I spent a lot of time during the past weekend watching Mike Myers videos on YouTube having recently read his “Canada” memoir which talked about his improv/comedy beginnings and how that led to global superstardom.)
Here are a couple great clips peeling back the curtain on comedy…
The Rockin’ 1000 bills themselves as “the biggest rock band on earth” and it’s true in volume if not sales or awareness.
Started in Italy as a stunt to get the Foo Fighters to play a certain city, the band is made up of 1000 members playing various rock instruments simultaneously.
Pretty impressive sight!
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” – Rockin’ 1000

It might not be as simple as people consciously choosing which philosophies they prefer to follow – whether we’re liberal or conservative might be part of our deeper psychology.
According to the experts who study political leanings, liberals and conservatives do not just see things differently. They are different—in their personalities and even their unconscious reactions to the world around them.
How deeply hidden yet obvious are the differences? If you answer these 27 questions which have nothing to do with politics, this site can fairly accurate rate whether you’re a liberal or a conservative. (via MetaFilter)