Who do you think would win in a caged death match? The Snuggle Bear or the Pillsbury Dough Boy.

Both have that annoying giggle so the distracting advantage that would normally be kind of cancels out.

One thing I miss is my Dad’s signature Celebrity & Persons of Note Death Report & Tally. I would call or he would call and one of the first things said would always be: “I’ve got some sad news…”

I became conditioned into not being worried, as most people automatically would with that as the start of a sentence because, eventually, I learned that this was how the regular Celebrity & Persons of Note Death Report & Tally started.

“Guess who died,” he would say.
I would already know the answer because the Innanet tells me news like 2 minutes after it happens but I would always play along and pretend I didn’t know. “Who?”
“You remember that movie with so-and-so?” he would ask.
“Yeah, that guy died?”
“No. The woman who played the mother.”
“Oh, well OK,” and then we would move on.

But Pat Morita, Innanet! Pat Morita’s death would have been a H-U-G-E thing for my Dad to report and he missed it. You don’t get it. H A A A A A A A A A - U U U U G E.

Why Pat Morita? Because Pat Morita is only Mr. Miyagi and Mr. Miyagi is, well, I don’t need to explain, do I? For the kids out there, Mr. Miyagi is only the best part about one of Dad’s favorite movies of all time ever in the history of ever and forever.

Dads have a way of latching on to some of the stupidest movies that they’ll watch over and over when they pop up at random times on cable. Two of my Dad’s clear favorites: The Karate Kid and Die Hard. Me being a Dad for over two years now, my taste in movies should slowly be starting to dull, no? What ever happened to that Police Academy series of movies anyway? That franchise still has some life left in it.

So Dad would have probably made a special phone call, even have left a message on my machine, just to tell me that Pat Morita died. That’s how huge a scoop that would have been.

But oh no, Dad passes first, leaving Mr. Miyagi’s death only to remind me that, not only is Dad gone, but so too is the weekly Celebrity & Persons of Note Death Report & Tally that I never cared much for before but now kind of miss.

Hamachi is nice software that allows you to set up private peer to peer connections over the Internet - through firewalls, private local IP ranges, etc. It just works.

Hamachi is currently for Windows and Linux systems with a Mac version on the way. You set up a network, password protect it so only the people you want can ever join it, and then share a folder or folders on your machine. The other Hamachi users who join your network will be able to browse the contents of the directories you shared just as if they were part of a local workgroup with you.

You are directly connected to the other Hamachi users in your network after an initial handshake routes you to them via Hamachi. It isn’t just 1-t0-1 either. Your private network can have as many people as you want in it. All sharing files and connected to each other directly and securely.

Traffic is encrypted over the connection and you can then run other traffic over your Hamachi connection if you want. VNC on a machine that uses dial-up or that is behind a firewall? No problem.

There’s my endorsement. Use it.

Minorthird’s Copycat Monday Quarter-In-The-Jukebox

Daryl Hall - Dreamtime

Soul Coughing - Misinformed

The Del Vikings - Come Go With Me

Oak Ridge Boys - Elvira

Brendan Benson - Alternative To Love

Right click and save as. Knock yourself out for a limited time only.

I’ve been away for a smidge.

My dad passed away quite suddenly on November 11th, Veteran’s Day, after a lengthy illness. He was 60. The autopsy of his brain will most likely prove he had Multiple System Atrophy (otherwise known as Shy-Drager Syndrome) and not Parkinson’s as his doctor believed. Several years and several professional opinions fluctuated between the two diagnoses.

This run down of Multiple System Atrophy about sums up everything. The name provides the quick definition: Lots of stuff goes lots of wrong. My dad had every symptom in that list.

Nevertheless, his passing was not expected. In the end, I think the dangerously low blood pressure was the immediate cause. My dad had a tendency to not do as he was told and sit in his recliner unless he absolutely needed to get up. I just read that sentence again and it just highlights the absurdity of his condition. Sitting in a recliner all day and not moving is not something a 60-year-old man is supposed to do. My dad’s independence and mental clarity were indirectly responsible for his death. I hate that he ever felt trapped by his own body. I am glad that he never surrendered himself to his worsening condition. If someone with Multiple System Atrophy can die with a blaze of glory, I suppose my dad did just that by getting himself up, using the computer, and shuffling about the place with his walker. He wasn’t supposed to do any of that. He was supposed to just sit there and just watch TV or sleep or watch TV or talk on the cordless phone or eat the lunch and snacks my mom prepared for him every day and placed next to his chair.

Of course, there’s the inevitable caregiver’s hollow that comes out in my mom. I suppose you adjust little parts of your life here and there and then, when you don’t have to make those adjustments anymore, you look back and realize just how much you were doing in your day to help.

My daughter and I got to see my Dad twice in October. The last time with Alisa & Co. Considering that my parents live 6 hours away, it seems odd and strangely destined to have made two trips.

It’s strange to be involved in all of the arrangements for a thing like that. I’ve wondered before how I would ever react to one of my parents passing. Now I know.

I know I shouldn’t feel like a schmuck for not being home on my birthday when he called and left me a message. Why he couldn’t have called me on my cell phone is beyond me. I guess that’s another Dad thing I’ll strangely miss: His confusion over the fact that cell phones can be used for more than just emergencies. Now, I’m afraid to clear my answering machine because it still holds his voice. Maybe I’ll record his message so I can feel better about doing so.

Anyway, my Dad liked to sometimes hop on the computer and e-mail people he knew. I put together a computer for him to use a couple of years ago and he really came a long way on it from having zero experience at the start. He liked the various forwards and attachments he received. I’ll put a few up every now and then when I think of it. His favorites included pictures of animals doing silly things. So, here you go:

Minorthird’s Copycat Monday Quarter-In-The-Jukebox

Climax Blues Band - I Love You

KC & The Sunshine Band - Please Don’t Go

The Hollies - The Air That I Breathe

The Zombies - Time Of The Season

Prokofiev - Symphony No.1 in D, Op.25 - Classical Symphony - 1. Allegro

Right click and save as. Knock yourself out for a limited time only.

Her: Daddy, you get gas?
Me: Yes. What did you do while I was getting gas?
Her: I chewed on my mitten!

The girlfriend whisked me away for my 30th birthday to Mystic, CT for fun-filled days and nights. She’s super fantastic like that. I haven’t had a moment to write about that or put up a picture or two but I’ll do that within the next few days. All that immediately needs to be noted is that I had the best birthday ever thanks to my Alisa.

Minorthird’s Copycat Monday Quarter-In-The-Jukebox

Texas - Guitar Song

Gap Band - You Dropped A Bomb On Me

Onyx - Slam

Tom Tom Club - She’s Dangerous [Feat. Sergio Rotman & Toots Hibbert]

Brendan Benson - Cold Hands (Warm Heart)
I just noticed the other day that Ford is using the music from this song in some of their commercials.

Right click and save as. Knock yourself out for a limited time only.

I find the number of intentionally placed satellites that circle the Earth to be an amazing thing. Fortunately, NASA has put together a widget that will allow you to see where the 500+ of them are located. Make sure you zoom and rotate to get the full perspective of the traffic jam.