One Froggy Evening

Kimberly was playing a Trivia game online this morning, and had a question which related to the one and only Michigan J. Frog from the classic Warner Brothers cartoon "One Froggy Evening".

Kimberly, strangely enough, had never seen it before, so we visited Youtube and watched the 6 minute classic. I was rolling, and she was slightly amused (typical of our respective responses to cartoons of any sort).

In the midst of the classic comedy, I was struck with a deeper meaning in the story line though. . .

In brief, the story is the tale of a construction worker who finds a frog that sings and dances classic ragtime standards and showtunes, but strangely enough, whenever he tries to show this miraculous wonder to the rest of the world (fully expecting their amazement--and his resulting fame and fortune), Circumstances delay the unveiling until the end of the Frog's song, when he subesquently reverts to a normal, mundane frog. The rest of the world thinks the man is mad, and he ultimately falls into ruin until he returns the frog, in it's original box, back to where he found it.

How true is this for so many of us as people? How many of us find, within ourselves, a wonderous, even miraculous, thing that we want to share with the world. . .fully expecting them to be as amazed and enraptured as we are? Then, much to our utter dismay, the rest of the world just doesn't "get it".

The lesson that I learn (and have learned) is to learn to appreciate the frog. Rather than waiting for fame, fortune, and recognition from a world that is too busy, too preoccupied, too stupid, or too out of sync in order to truly appreciate the wonder that we have found within ourselves, we do well to simply learn to love, embrace, and appreciate this magic ourselves. . .

Then, if we are lucky and blessed, we might be able to bring people into our lives which can see these things as well, and learn to appreciate them, but if we fail in that respect, we still have the opportunity to understand and recognize the beauty and wonder that is within.

Product Endorsements

Ok,

I guess this is sort of a follow up to a post of a couple of monts ago entitled "Worth the Money?", in which I identified a number of things that I feel are a great value. This post will be a little different, as I am going to name a coupel of products that I think are just EXCEPTIONAL quality.

The first of these, are the products produced and marketed by a company called Melaleuca. Melaleuca is one of these mail order, word of mouth, come to my party kind of things. (Think Pampered Chef or Tupperware), but these are all ecologically sound, organically grown, environmentally safe household products. The base ingredient of all of their products is Melaleuca Oil (Tea Tree Oil), and they specialize in cleaning products. We have subsequently switched all of our main household cleaning products, including laundry detergent, disinfectant, spot remover, bathroom cleaner, floor cleaner, and wood polish. I have even begun using their "Tough and Tender" cleaner to polish my guitars. I like the melaleuca products for a number of reasons--first of all, the smell of the tea tree oil is MUCH better than any of your normal pine or lemon household disinfectants. Secondly, the nature of the cleansers make them residue free--they clean and polish without leaving any kind of sticky buildup, or tacky, waxy residue. They are also as good of a value as anything that you can buy at the wholesale clubs, and since they are more potent and concentrated, they take less room to buy in bulk. Lastly, since they are environmentally safe, they are non-toxic, which means no worries for the kids or pets--the disinfectant is a little strong, but it is more of a spicy strong (think LOTS of Thyme--which is the primary ingredient.) For me, a guy who is pretty skeptical of these sorts of things, I am in LOVE with this product. We have even switched to the hygeiene items, including toothpaste, deodorant, soap, and especially the body lotion, which is hands down a hundred times better than Eucerine or something similar.

My next wonderful new product, is my birthday present for this year: My Dyson DC15 Animal. Now, for about the past year, I have been hearing ALOT of hype about the Dyson company, and about how they are the most incredible vaccum cleaners available. Even for me, a guy that sometimes vaccums 2-3 times a day, it would have to be pretty impressive to match the hefty ($300-$600) pricetag. I won't say what we paid for ours (a significant deal), or where we got it, but apparently it is the top of the line model. This thing is amazing. . .the carpets look like they have been steam cleaned. it is engineered to go all the way to the wall,
swerve around objects, and the end even swivels to get under the beds, etc. There are fantastic attachments, a hepa filter, and a clear, removable canister. Worth every penny of what we are paying for it. I keep our carpets clean (like I say, sometimes vaccuming 2-3 times a day, but this thing sucked enough stuff out of our carpets the first time thru the house to nearly fill the canister. it is amazing to me that we can even breathe. I will be interested to see, after a few weeks, if things like Olivia's Eczema, Drew's Asthma, and even my snoring might be better with the reduction in dust, etc.

My last endorsement may actually only appeal to the musicians out there, as it is for the Behringer V-Amp Pro. The V-Amp Pro is a rack mounted amplifier simulator unit for guitar. Basically, this little box (roughly the size of a box of cereal) has a variety of amplifier simulators to make a guitar sound as if it is being played through a variety of guitar amps. I literally have THOUSANDS of dollars worth of sounds in this little box that can be purchased for $100-$200. It is easy to use, cost effective, sounds great, and can be used with headphones, which is a HUGE bonus when the bulk of my recording time occurs when most of the rest of the house is sleeping. I borrowed and used a similar unit (a line 6 POD 2.0) for the recording of "The Spirit Tree", and was very pleased, but the Behringer unit is far superior, and at about half the price.

So, these are my thumbs up for those of you out there who care. . .as for me, I am playing guitar in a super clean house, and couldn't be happier!

Crikey.

Crikey. That is all I can say. I am so heartbroken at the untimely death of the great Steve Irwin.

For me, a guy who remains inhereintly skeptical of all sorts of hollywood fluff, I have been so enormously enthralled with the great Croc Hunter over the past couple of years. I mean, here is a guy who is doing exactly what he wants to do with the people he wants to do it with. He is making a living, and seems to be 100% genuine while doing it. I have joked before about how nuts he was, and maybe I was right, but he was REAL. . .something very rare in a celebrity these days.

His work towards conservation and education eill be heralded by many, and I will echo the thought, but the thing that struck me is that he was a devoted and loving father, who demonstrated respect and affection for his children.

Although he was criticized by many regarding the "Bob Incident", it was apparent by watching the show how much respect and love he had for his kids, and that they took FIRST priority in his life. My heart goes out to them, and to Terri, as they experience this tragic loss.

May whatever God there is in heaven that looks after Crazy Croc Hunters, be watching out for him in an afterlife full of wild, splashy, slithery, creepy, crawly critters. May that same God touch the lives of Terri, Bindi, Bob, and all of the Australia Zoo staff with comfort and healing at this time of grief.

Okay okay okay. . .

One moment for excuses. . .

August was a REALLY busy month. ..with School starting--one boy starting High School, and another starting Pre-K, it has resulted with the entirety of our routine and world being juggled and shifted. it has all been fine, we have adjusted sufficiently, but with that, a teething baby, kimberly getting ready for a shift to a new job, etc, it has all been a bit too hectic to worry about minor things like blogging.

Most of my computer time has been spent on the new album. . .all 10 songs are written (lyrics near completion on the last two of those) basic tracks are recorded, and we are moving into the meatier part of the project--guitars and vocals. ..then (oh God help me, MIXING)

The Album will be titled "Ubuntu" and should be done sometime this fall. I will post a track list sometime soon.

Olivia's big thing is tigers (she is one right now). Sam is doing well in school and has finally gotten adjusted to the routine, Drew is enjoying school and is participating in some extracurriculars (FINALLY) most notably his JROTC, which he is liking alot. Sofia is standing supported and is as jolly as ever. I will try to get some pics posted soon!

So sorry for the absence, my deepest apologies to both of you who read my blog! hugs to all!