Most of you who follow me on the various social networking sites probably know that I’m a fan of Jonathan Coulton. You probably also know that I’m a Heroes fan. So what better than to combine 2 of my favorites in one cool video? 
Tags: Heroes, Humor, Jonathan Coulton, music, videos, youtube
I came across this interesting post on TechRepublic.com.
Matching music to tedious IT tasks is a popular way to lighten the load. Here are 10 songs that groove well into IT’s underbelly.
#1: You’re trying to solve a problem that you don’t think is solvable
Song: “The Middle”
Artist: Jimmy Eat World#2: You’re overworked and managing way too many tasks
Song: “Living Dead Girl”
Artist: Rob Zombie#3: You’ve completed a big project and feel really good about things (for now)
Song: “I’m Like a Bird”
Artist: Nelly Furtado#4: You’ve taken a new job and look forward to shaking off the technical shackles of your previous job
Song: “Broken”
Artist: Amy Lee and Seether#5: You’re doing a repetitive task for the 100th time and think you’re going crazy
Song: “Turnover”
Artist: Fugazi
Read the complete article here.
If you’ve read my previous post, you’ll know that I’m planning to sign up for the 3-day online trial for Sirius Internet Radio. All this so that I can catch the special appearance of Dan Klass on Father Dave Dwyer’s Busted Halo Show on Sirius 159 (The Catholic Channel), as well as listen to Greg and Jennifer’s The Catholic’s Next Door on the same channel. Yes, I’ve done it. I’ve signed up, and started listening. And yes, the secret is already out, so I can finally mention the host and the name of the “mystery” show which Dan was scheduled to appear on. (more on my comments of show at the end of this post )
Let me first say that ever since I discovered podcasts, I’ve practically stopped listening to radio altogether, except when my MP3 player runs out of juice/podcasts. I rarely listen to internet radio anyway, because most of the time, the sound quality is not as good, and the audio can get choppy at times. Besides, I was starting to find the radio content available rather boring. However, Sirius has turned out to be quite the “ear-opener”. Sirius has a wide selection of content. From various genres of pure, commercial-free music, to comedy. From sports to talkshows. From politics to religion. What I loved the most was being able to get religious, and particularly Catholic, content 24 hours a day, everyday! This isn’t something I can get with my local radio stations. I had a blast switching between The Catholic Channel and EWTN and the various music channels. I was so engrossed with the great content I’m getting, that I listened all the way into the wee hours of the night. I think if it wasn’t for all the backlog of podcasts I have to listen, and the 12-hour time difference, I really would consider paying the US$12.95/month subscription fee.
My first taste of Sirius last night was Greg and Jennifer’s The Catholic’s Next Door. They were talking about what to wear and what not wear for mass. Great show! Very much like an extension of their Rosary Army Podcast. I’ve got another 2 days left on the trial to listen to this, and I’m sure I’ll miss the show after that. Hmm.. maybe I should try to extend my trial.. somehow.
And now about Busted Halo Show. I’ve been actively reminding folks on Plurk to listen to the show on 23rd Sep 2008 at 8:20pm EST to catch Dan’s special appearance. Of course, Murphy had to have his way. I wasn’t able to get to the computer the whole morning (Singapore is 12 hours ahead of US eastern time), and when I finally had the sense to check my email on my mobile phone, I saw that Dan had emailed me at around 5:20am my time (5:20pm EST) to inform me that his appearance has been brought forward to 7:20pm EST so that Father Dave’s producer Robyn could be around when he was on. Great, I missed the show AND I didn’t update the rest of the world in time. Doh!
Luckily, I realized there’s a rerun of the show at 3am EST (3pm Singapore). BUT I have a meeting scheduled at 3pm, which mean I’ll probably miss the first hour or so of the show, thus missing Dan’s appearance AGAIN! Bummer! Thanks to some picky customer with what they claimed was a program bug, my product leader excused me from the meeting so I could look into the problem. I was happily desk-bound again, and all ready to tune into Sirius on the office computer.
The show was fantastic! Apparently, all the hush-hush was because Dan was suppose to be a surprise guest on Father Dave’s show. Father has absolutely no idea who Robyn has invited onto the show, except that he’s someone from his past. In attempt to fish information from Robyn and the rest, Father Dave prepares a list of hilarious questions about the mystery guest’s identity. Obviously, Father was pleasantly surprised to hear Dan’s voice over the phone. It was quite a “radio moment“.
Like I mentioned previously, Dan and Father Dave were ex-classmates. What I didn’t know was that they co-hosted a morning show on WJPZ called Crazy Morning Crew, back in the days when they were both studying in Syracuse University. Father Dave was then known as “Happy Dave” and Dan Klass was known as “Danny the K“. They recalled the good old days of college radio, school plays, skipping classes *gasp*, and where their friends are now. It was fun-filled show, and I was grateful for being able to catch the rerun ultimately. If you visit TheBitterestPill.com, you’ll see an old photo of the Crazy Morning Crew.
Tags: Humor, music, Podcasts, radio, rant, Reviews, sirius, technology
There are plenty of podcasts devoted to Catholic music, prayers, devotions and worship. I’ll like to highlight a few here that I listen to on a regular basis.
The Catholic Music Express is a podcast is hosted by Jim O’Meara. It is a 1-hour radio show featuring the best contemporary Catholic music, Catholic news and upcoming events, and moments of inspiration. It also carries GrapeVine News Minute, a 10-15 minute podcast with the latest weekly news from the world of Catholic music, produced by GrapeVine Online and hosted by Susan Bailey.
Both Catholic Music Express and GrapeVine News Minute are featured on CatholicJukebox.com, an online hub for contemporary Catholic music, providing musicians with a presence on the web. The creator of CatholicJukebox.com, George Leite, also produces Catholic Rockers, featuring interviews with the best Catholic rock, hard rock, modern, alternative, rap and jam bands and solo artists today and their music, as well as Catholic Praise Cast, a podcast devoted to praising our Lord in song. Both Catholic Rockers and Catholic Praise Cast are part of the Star Quest Production Network (SQPN).
The ChantCast is produced by Father Jay A. Finelli from the Diocese of Providence. This podcast presents Latin Mass parts and other simple Gregorian chants. Fr. Jay also produces the iPadre Catholic podcast, iPadre Catholic videocast, as well as the Voice of Mary podcast.
Another podcast from Providence is Christus Vincit ANYWHERE!, produced by Brian Michael Page, Organist and Music Director at Holy Ghost Church in Tiverton, Rhode Island. “Christus Vincit” is Latin for “Christ Wins” and is also the name of a hymn. Christus Vincit ANYWHERE! combines liturgy, music and fun, which you can take anywhere. Also checkout the Christus Vincit blog as well as the Christus Vincit Network!
If prayer is your cup of tea, you’ll surely enjoy the pray-as-you-go podcast. This is a daily prayer session, designed for use on portable MP3 players, to help you pray while you’re on the go, hence the name “pray-as-you-go”. A new prayer session is produced everyday, each lasting between 10-13 minutes. Each session combines music, scripture and some questions for reflection. Pray-as-you-go is produced by Jesuit Media Initiatives, with material written by a number of British Jesuits and other experts in the spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola. If you prefer praying in front of your computer, check out Sacred Space, produced by the Jesuit Communication Centre. While you’re at your computer, do take a look at:
Another podcast dedicated to bringing prayer to your player is the Praystation Portable, a member of SQPN. Praystation Portable aims to inject a bit of spirituality into your busy day-to-day life. When you subscribe, you’ll have a set of morning and evening prayers for every day of the week automatically downloaded to your aggregator.
SQPN also carries Verbum Domini, a podcast produced by Brian Noe. “Verbum Domini” is Latin for “Word of God”. The Verbum Domini podcast brings you the daily scripture readings, read by different lectors (or groups of lectors) every week.
If you happen to be really into praying the Liturgy of the Hours, you’ll probably also enjoy Liturgy of the Hours podcast series by Catholic Classes. The series is divided into 3 parts to be downloaded separately:
Catholic Classes also produces the Catechumenate podcast series, which corresponds with the Catechumenate program for this liturgical year derived from St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Holladay, Utah, as well as the PACE podcast series. PACE is Italian for “peace”, and in this case it’s also the acronym for Parish Adult Continuing Education, in which parishioners register for and receive print material focused on each module. The dialogue presented intends to stimulate real world behavior towards the peace of the Lord.
The Rosary is a popular form of Catholic prayer and devotion. If you find that you have trouble praying at alone, or if you just prefer being able to listen to the Rosary being read aloud, along with announcement of the Mysteries, the Rosary Cast – The Gospel as a Meditation podcast may be just what you need. the Rosary Cast is produced by Greg and Jennifer Willits from the Rosary Army, a non-profit organization dedicated to spreading devotion to the Rosary by making them, praying them and giving them away. Greg and Jennifer are also the COO and CFO of SQPN respectively, and they’ve produced other popular podcasts such as the Rosary Army Catholic podcast, Rosary Army Catholic Video podcast, Total Consecration podcast and That Catholic Show. The wiki link provided also contains many links to many other websites devoted to praying and spreading the Rosary.
Another popular form of Catholic prayer and devotion is praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. This devotion is based on the visions of St. Faustina Kowalska, also known as the “Apostle of Mercy”. In her vision, Christ tells St. Faustina to encourage souls to say the Chaplet, and promises that “whoever will recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death”. When the Chaplet is said in the presence of the dying, He will intercede with the Father for the dying person. Christ also promises that “even if there were a sinner most hardened, if he were to recite this Chaplet only once, he would receive grace” from His infinite mercy. The Chaplet can be prayed on ordinary Rosary beads as a counter. The Divine Mercy podcast, produced by Greg Keuter, is dedicated to spreading the devotion to the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Greg also produces the Divine Mercy Novena podcast, which is a Novena to be prayed preceding the Feast of the Divine Mercy, beginning on Good Friday. Christ gave St Faustina an intention to pray on each day of the Novena, saving for the last day the most difficult intention of all, the lukewarm and indifferent of whom He said: “These souls cause Me more suffering than any others; it was from such souls that My soul felt the most revulsion in the Garden of Olives. It was on their account that I said: ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass Me by.’ The last hope of salvation for them is to flee to My Mercy.”
These are just some of the podcasts and resources which I have personally come across in the course of my faith journey. There are still many out there waiting to be discovered. I hope the information shared here will be useful to all of whom are trying to discover the beauty of the Catholic church and its music, prayers, devotions and worship, as well as those who are trying to enhance their faith experience.
Tags: Catholic, devotions, divine mercy, gregorian chants, music, Podcasts, prayers, Reviews, rosary
fought some fires..
fixed some bugs..
slayed some dragons..
killed PLENTY of brain cells..
lost another fine day to the mundane chore, otherwise known as life
Omelette Rice With Tomato Sauce @ Provence Bakery and Cafe (Lorong Liput)
Good old classic Japanese style omu-rice.The rice is fried with luncheon meat and onions cut up in cubes, with just enough tomato sauce to give it a nice flamingo hue.Unlike the traditional omelette found in most omu-rice that’s thin and smooth like a newborn infant’s skin, the omelette here gave a more “home cooked” feel. Something my mom might make, when she’s in the mood.The cappuccino that came it was not fantastic, but I obviously wasn’t expecting Italian coffee in a Japanese bakery, especially when it only costs an extra dollar.The omelette rice costs S$8.50 on its own, and you can choose between tomato sauce and chilli sauce. Top up a dollar to include drinks, and add an extra dollar if you want cheese.
Via Foodspotting
there are some who lie their way into a job..
there are some who lie their way out of a job..
there are some who lie their way around a job..
and then there are some who are all of the above
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