Merry Christmas!!

Sorry this is a day belated.  Also, I think I've shared this message before.  On the other hand, I love how it captures the kind of true worship so often missing from the Christmas season these days.



MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Holiday Newsflash: Michael Bublé is Mel Tormé

Yep, folks, this revelation hit me like a ton of bricks.  While I blissfully thought (for years) that Michael Bublé was simply a chip off the much, much older Harry Connick Jr.'s block (Jr.'s 44, Bublé's 36), a one-time glimpse and whisper of another jazz singer on Pandora, today, unearthed the truth that ¡Bublé's actually a wax reproduction of The Velvet Frog, Mel Tormé!  Behold.  (I will divulge the nitty-gritty details, later.)

Bublé and Tormé: 

Too Close for Comfort

And for you skeptics, you so-called "intellectuals," who think even seeing is insufficient for believing, sink your teeth into this nugget of solid gold FACT:  Both guys sing jazz and have French-sounding last names that end in "é."  Faaaaact.  Are you kidding me?  What are the chances?  My exceptional training in the statistical law of large numbers tells me the p-value (random chance or mere coincidence) in this French connection is too striking to ignore or simply dismiss, offhand.  (For all you egg heads, all I'm trying to say is the connection's "statistically significant," all right?  Now that I've mouthed the magic academic words, can we please move on?  Thank you.)

And for all you stingy audiophiles who unrelentingly insist that the proof is in the production, listen to this:

Click the image for Tormé's rendition of Too Close for Comfort

Setting aside the corniness of the razor joke, how can anyone who has ever seriously listened to Bublé tell me anything other than he kidnapped The Velvet Frog, locked him up in his, The Frog's, own seven-lock trunk, regularly cut off locks of his hair, and drank polyjuice potion on the hour, every hour, until he finally assumed Tormé's appearance and vocal structure?  How do you like 'dem kippers!?!

Polyjuice potion is, of course, banned among jazz singers, and no doubt the F-Word (master of conspiracy theories and illicit mixtures) will want to investigate these claims.  In the meantime, Bublé's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his avarice on a dude with a less awkward nickname (seriously, The Velvet Frog?).

Disclaimer:  Yes, I realize having a two song comparison of the same song (Too Close for Comfort) would have been much cooler than expecting readers to actually use their imagination and comparative sound skills.  On the other hand, some guy whose last name ends with é apparently felt that would have been too close for comfort . . .  Oh, and this is NOT a legal advertisement.  Please consult a licensed abogado for that sort of thing.

Yesterday's Spiritual Message: The Coat - A Story of Charity

While I think you might be amused with the (unintentional?) humor from this cartoon, I think you'll also feel warmed by its message.

 

Today's Spiritual Message: Acting as Bible Characters

I enjoyed this interview with a handful of actors from the new Bible videos I posted about, last Sunday.

I principally love the message they share that God lives and loves us.

(P.S. for you Apple lovers, you might want to check out the free Bible Videos iPad app.)

Today's Spiritual Message: Ringing in the Christmas Season with Free Bible Videos

Tonight, the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gave a Christmas devotional.  In it, President Henry B. Eyring announced the Church is making available a number of free Bible videos, online.

I'm unsure how to (or if I even can) embed a video, yet, so you'll need to visit the site, to see them.

These videos can be accessed at BibleVideos.lds.org.

“It is our hope that these New Testament videos will help people to visualize what they have only been able to imagine, and to more deeply feel the truths of the New Testament as they witness the Savior’s life and not just as they read about it,” said Elder Lynn G. Robbins, executive director of the Media Services Department. “Hopefully, there will be entirely new insights into the Savior’s character that will help viewers feel of His love and inspire them to want to be more like Him.”

I hope you enjoy the new site and videos!

How to get the new Google bar (early)

Cross-posted from my Google+ account.

For everyone who shares my Google nerdery. (Note: Deleting my cache and cookies was insufficient for me; I had to enter the proffered code.)

The trick is to enter some code into your browser's JavaScript's console, as described on Google Operating System.

Thanks to Alex Chitu for the screenshot and instructions.

What are your initial reactions? I like the streamlining. The menu rollover's more time consuming for me than I hoped. I think I agree with many comments I've seen about Google bar's size . . . maybe it will go on a diet, soon. Finally, I assumed the top-right section of the bar would dangle more Google+ bait for the non-initiated:  Maybe Google's content with the Sign in button, coupled with +You being the first option on the new (and automatically displayed on google.com) rollover/drop-down menu.

I was expecting to see + baiting like, "Ready for some real sharing?  Try Google+!"  Maybe Google's trying a less-aggressive approach.  Maybe the aggression lies in a Google bar that's about three times bigger than the black bar.

For comparison:  The now-old black bar, before taking size-enlarging steroids.