The Curious Appeal of Curious George

/

This is George. He was a good little monkey and always very curious.

These words are emblazoned in my brain as I've read Curious George books to my kids hundreds, if not thousands, of times.

There are so many great kids books to read but something keeps bringing me back to Curious George. Many books I find painful to read after awhile, but not Curious George.

Maybe it is the predictable storyline of the books:

  • George goes out on some type of excursion, usually with the Man with the Yellow Hat.
  • The Man with the Yellow Hat leaves George to go do som
Read More

We Are Halfway Into Febewary, Febrewary or February? How Do You Pronounce It?

/

I'll admit. Out of convenience I've pretty much always pronounced February as Feb-ew-air-ee. Pretty much most people I know pronounce it that way. But technically it should be pronounced Feb-rew-air-ee.

This discrepancy between pronunciation and how the word is spelled has always bothered me, but since everyone else says Feb-ew-air-ee too like me (except for a few really anal retentive friends), I've ignored that nagging feeling.

But today is a new day. We are living and breathing February right now and I am committing to saying it correctly from this day forward, no matter how obnoxious I sound to others and how difficult it is to say.

One of the problems I think people have with pronouncing Feb-rew-air-ee is that they place a 3rd "r" in there, making it sound almost like the Scooby Doo "ruh roh" sound "Feb-ru-rare-ree" which of course is incorrect. It's actually not that hard to pronounce Feb-rew-air-ee if you make a mental note not to sound like Scooby Doo.

According to Charles Harrington Elster in his The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations. "The traditional and cultivated pronunciation, FEB-roo-ER-ee, is hard to say, and so most people say FEB-yoo-ER-ee because it is easier and because so many others do, not because it is right." and "As far as this book is concerned, however, the -yoo- variant may now be standard, but it is still beastly."

OUCH! I guess we better pronounce it right so as not be considered beastly! And the following should help us all in our quest for proper pronunciation of our favorite short month, FEBRUARY! (No, this is not me. I still screw it up.)

Awesome Christmas Story - Two Brothers Surprise Father by Restoring His 1969 Norton Commando

/

This 15 minute video is worth the watch. Priceless. This is what the holidays are all about. Two brothers "steal" their father's 1969 Norton Commando motorcycle from his basement in September 2009 and have it restored for him for Christmas.

The Sun is Back Out, at Least Temporarily! My Five Favorite Sunny Day Songs!

/

It has been raining for over a week almost non-stop here in Ventura County, but today, Christmas Eve Eve, we have a reprieve (well maybe for a couple days). The sunshing brings to mind these five sunny day songs that are tops on my list. My kids' personal favorite is Johnny Nash's original 1972 hit "I Can See Clearly Now." The Beatles are awesome but John Denver's "Sunshine on My Shoulder" gets my personal nod.

 

Love This Logo Rainbow

/

I recently argued with a friend over the value of a logo. He thinks a logo doesn't make a difference. I think a good logo leaves a digital imprint that provides a reminder of the products and services a company has to offer. In any case, this logo rainbow put together by Dan Meth I thought was quite cool looking and with his concurrence I present it here for all of you.

Speaking of logos, I should have asked Dan why he neglected to include the world famous logo of Conejo Valley Guide in this rainbow.  It would have been dead center! Maybe next time...

Halloween is Near, Black Cat Has No Fear!

/

I came across these really neat photos via a friend in Facebook. Los Angeles based digital special effects designer David Ridlen was outside his home a few weeks ago and noticed his neighbor's cat Lucy was perched on top of their chimney. And the moon floated directly above the fearless feline. Amazed at what a great image that was, David scrambled and grabbed his HD video camera and snapped these still shots.  Though the resolution of the shots is not high, it certainly turned out some really cool shots for this home stretch into Halloween! I love these pics!!

 

 

For nearly 40 things to do through Halloween weekend, CLICK HERE!