i've added a new microblog to living the dream. it's called 'song of the day'. basically gives me a chance to share simple day to day stuff underscored by whatever music i happen to be listening to. it has the same flash player as this blog does. the cool thing is that on 'song of the day', it will aggregate all the songs and play them as one long playlist if you leave the window open. the latest posts will show up on this blog just to the right there -->. here's the info:

link: http://blog.daveaxelgard.com/song_of_the_day/

rss feed: http://blog.daveaxelgard.com/song_of_the_day/rss.xml

hope you enjoy it. -d

so i stopped blogging for a while there. then i started again. in getting back into things, i've been tweaking the site a bit -- adding some things, fixing others, just basically trying to make my need for attention more appealing and accessible to you. pretty much all of it is in the right column there -->. here's a quick run down:

• that thing at the top under "i am..." is my twitter feed. which i update way more than my blog. and am only slightly more embarassed about.
• under the 'seeking' heading there is one new tool and one improved tool. the first field allows you to search the blog for anything you want. (thanks to google for indexing my site. and for lunch last week.) the other is a subscription form, where you can sign up to get a funny email with a moose on it every time i post something new. no way that will ever clog up your inbox.
• the next 3 sections are quick blurbs on the music (listening), movies (watching) and books (reading) that i'm currently into. they also get updated way more than the rest of the blog.
• lastly, that little rounded grey rectangle with the white triangle on it in the bottom left hand corner of the screen is the new living the dream media player.  basically whatever music i've posted in the last 10 posts will appear in a playlist that you can then control. click on it. go ahead, click it, it's fun.

that's all. just wanted to make sure my efforts weren't going unappreciated. -d

the always magical teej introduced me to the sneeze, a blog which is often funny, occasionally offensive, and even brilliant from time to time. the latter is the case with 'the mystery of the face on the buttocks'. i really hope things like this are par for the parenting course. if so, i'm gonna totally kill as a dad. -d

today i'd like to take the opportunity to draw your attention to two pretty serious social issues that were brought to the forefront of my consciousness thanks to two insightful blogs.  i present them to you now.

the family:
liberal america, in their continuing crusade against the family, consistently uses its firm stronghold on the arts to embarrass and humiliate our hallowed institution.  in this case, they use their political sway with amateur and department store photographers in an effort to take that once-sacred genealogical artifact - the family photo - and turn it into something shameful.  this has been taking place under the radar for years now.  but fortunately, the intrepid spirits at AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com have been quietly cataloging these offenses over what appear to be multiple decades, and are finally bringing their findings into the light of day.  i present a few examples, in hopes that it will be sufficient to inspire action on all our parts.  (i don't think a letter to a senator is out of the question).

wind power
in their efforts to convince the nation of the "negative environmental effects" of "dirty coal" and "fossil fuels", the left wing media is constantly shoving new forms "green energy" down our throats.  touting their "small carbon footprints" and alleged lack of a "downside", they consistently gloss over the harsh realities of these hazardous -- and even deadly -- new sources of power.  to wit, conservative animal meat activists The Goatmasters ("All God's creatures deserve a chance to be digested") have posted on their blog a stunning new exposé on the negative -- and even deadly -- effects of Taiwanese wind turbines on the sleeping patterns of local goats:  goatkillers: the true cost of green energy.  you may want to spend your entire memorial day weekend sleeping in protest.  i know i will. -d    

of course my little sister was the first one to cruise in with the answers to yesterday's Use Your Toboggan (UYT - which answers btw were monkey business, hit the road, smarty pants, puppy love, and hold your horses).  of course she was.  why wouldn't she?  she is the best.  well done HNN.  today's was lame, but here's one from a few days ago that was entertaining:

also you know when you're looking to make a big change (like say, moving, for example) and it's pretty much a done deal but you're still always looking for little signs to confirm that it's all gonna work out perfectly?  little signs like the person you hope to move in with posting (and raving about) your favorite movie trailer since 'i heart huckabees' on their blog, without the two of you ever even discussing it?  oh yeah.  it's all coming together.

in light of the very serious-sounding complaintblog that sat here untouched and unheeded for the last 2 months, this probably seems pretty lame.  a new blog design to kick off a new life plan -- i know, it's pretty gray.  but hear me out.  first, shut up, it's my journey.  second, in feeling out the employment market over the past few months, it became clear that i would need an online addendum to my resume.  someplace to show examples of my writing, a reel of my on-screen "talent", graphic samples, cv's and mooses.  so i decided to spruce up my website, and pimp out the blog to match.  so 3 months and 6 versions later, this is the new dream.  no, none of the links at the top actually go anywhere useful yet (except for the one that brings you right back here, and the one that links to the oft-requested RSS feed for my blog.  sorry it took so long).  so technically it's not getting me any closer to my dream job yet, but geez, lay off, people.  can't we just sit back and enjoy the shiny newness together for a moment, before damning realities like questionable employment and apartmentlessness come home and find that not only is the family room not clean and the socks aren't folded, but now the kitchen is filthy and there's a new hole in wall that no one is claiming?  there will be plenty of time for anxiety and spackle in the months to come...  -d

ps. about the mooses -- i'll write about them soon, but till then here's a hint.  any guesses?

UPDATE: sorry, the page is a bit slow loading.  i'll optimize it as soon as i figure out how.

at this point in my life, i have lots of reasons to love boston.  [c,c,c]  not the least of which is a spectacular photo blog from the boston globe called 'the big picture'.  and it's nothing more than just great hi-res photos of stuff in the news.  it's always cool, but the latest entry, entitled 'martian skies', is completely radical.

as a space camp alum and former astronaut aspiree, the gallery of 17 shots of atmospheric phenomena taken by the 6 probes currents in and around mars, made me remember the way i felt when i saw my first space shuttle launch.  it was 3rd grade.  my teacher, mrs. cordell, was decked out head to toe in a nasa flight suit.  and after teaching us about o-rings and srb's, and letting us play with some moon rocks, she let us watch the live broadcast of the launch of the space shuttle discovery.  20 years later i'm still totally fascinated.  -d

ps.  if you like your space pictures to really move, check out the documentary "in the shadow of the moon".  s'wonderful.

since 'pushing daisies' isn't set to start back up till fall, the lakers game wasn't till sunday, and everything else on the network sucks, none of you should have been watching ABC on saturday night.  but if your social calendar and good taste were both lacking enough for such to occur, then you were probably rewarded (albeit undeservingly - come on, network tv?  on a saturday?  dire.) with this 4 minute sneak peak at the new pixar movie 'wall-e'.  i just watched it 5 minutes ago.  and if i hadn't already pre-ordered screening passes, the dvd, the plush toy, the video game, and tickets to the "wall-e: robots in space and also on ice" figure skating spectacular, i would do so now.  enjoy. -d (from JOBLO)

a bad pun and a very great movie, made by my friend michael joel fox, and starring the very great young emu that his dad hatched from an emu egg. -d

remember these guys?  (RIAA = the combat arm of the 4 major record companies that hunts down children, grandmothers and gerbils for illegally downloading music.)  i know it's been a while, but earlier this week an RIAA training video got leaked onto the web, and gizmodo posted a clip of it today.  it is most choice.  check it out here.  a few highlights:

• music piracy "has links to terrorist organizations"
• most music pirates "have [previously] spent time incarcerated...for robbery, homicide, etc"
• in the illegal music world, when you buy a cd, you often hear "Would you like it with or without? — the 'with' is enclosing a piece of crack.  Or whatever the case may be."
• in the homes of people who download music illegally, RIAA officials "continually find...everything from handguns to large quantities of narcotics...to counterfeit money."

golden.  and as is always the case on gizmodo, the best stuff comes from the comments:

• JOHNNY CHIMPO:  'show me somebody who listens to music who doesn't hit the crack rock!"
• RAY WERT: 'drugs in the jewel cases...that's the solution to the music industry's woes!'
• BENNY GOLDMAN:  'i think i actually saw john mccain give this speech last night.'
• DURDEN000021:  'what's a CD?'
• IRISMR:  'damn! I'll have to hide my weapons of mass destruction.  Sigh. Back to Iraq with you, my pretties.'
• ADKITCHEN:  'i killed for my NSYNC tunes.'

didn't we all.  -d