It's been a fun year this past year. Nate went from almost zero verbal communication to full blown sentences. His speech therapy has been amazing to watch and I praise all the great folks who have worked with him so dilligently.

Nate's also turned into quite the computer guru. He can turn on the computer by himself, log in, open a browser and he knows which link will take him to "games." And if he's feeling in the mood for a little Disney Toontown action, he asks Mommy or Daddy to "type it" - referring to the password needed to get in (he hasn't figured out how to do that yet).

As you'll see by the pics (click on it to see larger versions), he's still into Curious George, even moreso lately, which is great. We love him, too, and it's not Barney, so you know, we got that going for us...which is nice!

Nate followed in his sister's footsteps, getting a bike for his birthday, as well as a TON of fun things from everyone. We had a fairly small gathering of mostly family and a few friends to celebrate this weekend. He also got a call from Godfather Jeaux, which he really enjoyed.

Nater, I hope we get a chance to ride that bike soon. I know sissy is ready to show you how it's done, since she's now pretty proficient with her wheels.

I hope you had a great day. I know I had fun hanging out with you and just chillin'.

I love ya, buddy!
-Dad-

Now, granted, she told me what she wanted:

• Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - We are both huge Depp fans (obviously she more than I for, again, obvious reasons), and have been looking forward to this for a while. I still wish we could have seen it in the theatres, but ah well. The big screen TV will have to do.
• "If you are going to get me flowers, I want roses: red, orange and yellow." - Well, this blew part of my plan, as I had already placed an order last weekend for her usual favorite: purple irises. Thankfully I was able to call and cancel it since they hadn't left yet. But, she knew, somehow...and here's the kicker. She wanted the roses from Safeway or King Soopers. WHAT?!?! I thought she was crazy. But I forgot that one little thing: my wife is smart!
• "I've got dinner covered." - Again, ruining part of my plan. I had secretly talked to Cathy to make sure she could babysit, then I was going to pick up dinner from one of the places close, so that Delphine didn't have to cook (or Cathy, who is kind enough to watch the kiddos), and so that we could go out. But she already had the big chicken pot pie pulled out and ready to drop in the oven tomorrow afternoon.

I had wanted to surprise her with a lot of nice things to add some serenity to the day. You see, she's got a State Audit this afternoon. She compared it to a big board meeting with the President and Vice President of a company, so it's a big deal. I know she will do great (she's really good at her job), but I know it's also nerve wracking, so I am just trying to do anything to help.

Anyway, since I couldn't surprise her in any way thus far, I decided to go big on the flowers. Instead of grabbing a single dozen of mixed red, orange and yellow roses, I decided that she needed 3 dozen: one of each color. I gotta say, I'm very happy I did it. They are absolutely gorgeous...and yes, they came from Safeway, if you can believe it. The pic to the right is an actual photo I took just a few minutes ago (a mere 3 minutes after midnight on April 2).

Also, the kids wanted to get her the Bee Movie, so I got that movie, as well, but truth be known, I think the kids tricked me into that one.

We are going to head over to Bonefish Grill tonight for dinner after everyone is settled here at home. We can have a nice dinner, talk about our hectic days, and enjoy the time together like best friends should on a birthday.

I hope you have a WONDERFUL day, my love, and here's to many more birthdays where I won't be able to surprise you at all!

-m-

Today, the European Commission gave their blessing for Google to complete it's purchase of DoubleClick for $3.1 B.

From the press release:

The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of the online advertising technology company DoubleClick by Google, both of the US. The Commission’s in-depth investigation, opened in November 2007, concluded that the transaction would be unlikely to have harmful effects on consumers, either in ad serving or in intermediation in online advertising markets. The Commission has therefore concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition within the European Economic Area (EEA) or a significant part of it.

Google operates an Internet search engine that offers search capabilities for end users free of charge and provides online advertising space on its own websites. It also provides intermediation services to publishers and advertisers for the sale of online advertising space on partner websites through its network "AdSense".

DoubleClick mainly sells ad serving, management and reporting technology worldwide to website publishers and to advertisers and agencies. Such technology allows internet publishers and advertisers to ensure that advertisements are posted on the relevant websites and to report on the performance of such advertisements.

The Commission's in-depth market investigation found that Google and DoubleClick were not exerting major competitive constraints on each other's activities and could, therefore, not be considered as competitors at the moment. Even if DoubleClick could become an effective competitor in online intermediation services, it is likely that other competitors would continue to exert sufficient competitive pressure after the merger. The Commission therefore concluded that the elimination of DoubleClick as a potential competitor would not have an adverse impact on competition in the online intermediation advertising services market.

The Commission also analysed the potential effects of non-horizontal relationships between Google and DoubleClick following concerns raised by third parties in the course of the market investigation. These relationships concern DoubleClick's market position in ad serving, where Google, by controlling DoubleClick's tools, could allegedly raise the cost of ad serving for rival intermediaries, and Google's market position in search advertising and/or online ad intermediation services, where Google could allegedly have required purchasers of search ad space or intermediation to also purchase DoubleClick's tools.

The Commission found that the merged entity would not have the ability to engage in strategies aimed at marginalising Google's competitors, mainly because of the presence of credible ad serving alternatives to which customers (publishers/advertisers/ad networks) can switch, in particular vertically integrated companies such as Microsoft, Yahoo! and AOL. The market investigation also found that the merged entity would not have the incentive to close off access for competitors in the ad serving market, mainly because such strategies would be unlikely to be profitable.

The Commission's decision to clear the proposed merger is based exclusively on its appraisal under the EU Merger Regulation. It is without prejudice to the merged entity's obligations under EU legislation in relation to the protection of individuals and the protection of privacy with regard to the processing of personal data and the Member States' implementing legislation.

I'm a proud geek today!
-Myles-

As more and more artists are getting fed up with the way that the RIAA is treating it's customers, and even worse, it's clientele, a few of the more savvy ones are doing something about it.

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails released his new musical project last night. It's called Ghosts. Check out the site at http://ghosts.nin.com/. Reznor simply calls it "...a new collection of instrumental music...Almost two hours of music recorded over an intense ten week period last fall."

Right now, there are four "albums" (not sure if that's the right phrase yet, so don't hold me to it). Ghosts I - IV. Reznor made Ghosts I available for download for free via quite a few avenues. The main one, the NIN site, received so much traffic today that they had to bring it down and beef up the servers before they can bring it back online. However, the free portion of the project is still available for download via BitTorrent (on PirateBay FTW!), or if you want the digital, DRM-free version, you can purchase the entire set of four albums at Amazon for $5 just like you could via the NIN site (if it were up right now). You can also still order the Deluxe or the Uber super-duper extra deluxe edition at the Artist In Residence site, which actually gives you visuals of what you will get. I gotta say, even at $75 and $300 respectively, I think you're getting a killer package.

Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention one of the more cooler aspects of this project: Ghosts I-IV is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license. What does that mean for you, me, and the rest of the world? It means that while you may not use it for commercial work, you can use it in most other non-commercial work as long as you give credit where credit is due. WHAT?!?! Crazy, isn't it? But WONDERFUL!!!

I'm so happy to see artists like NIN and Radiohead take a stand for the music, which is really the most important thing. Yes, I understand that there are a lot of people that help support an artist, but hearing some of the horror stories over the past few decades has sufficiently jaded me enough to help swing that pendulum to the other side for a while. Radiohead got my support with their downloadable album (and then the CD that followed),Barenaked Ladies got my support with their USB stick album, and NIN will get my support, as well. In fact, I may do both the $5 digital download and the $10 Double CD, just to say I did my part.

Is this the future of music? I don't know. But what I do know is that I will be much more willing to support those artists that embrace technology and take a stand for the music.

Nice work, Trent! You have been, are, and seemingly always will continue to be one of my favorites because of things like this. You push the boundaries, you make people think (and not just about the music), and you're helping to lead the way into what is hopefully a better musical future.

Cheers!
-m-

p.s. I had to put this in here...it's a quote from the NIN site after they shut it down for maintenance...

"We quietly released this album last night without any warning, and without any press. Because we know how devoted our fans are, we planned for an overwhelming response, and expected heavy traffic. To our surprise, the traffic was more than three times what we anticipated, and has only been getting heavier throughout the day. The response has been absolutely phenomenal, and we couldn't be happier..."

...and another one from the main NIN site...

"We thought we brought enough beer, but too many of you showed up to the party."

So, let's get it out of the way first: yes, we got our butts beat badly by those loathed Detroit Red Wings. Apparently, we were a bit too focused on re-kindling the rivalry and forgot to score some goals, so the Red Wings beat us 4-0.

During the game, Ian Laperrier checked Nicklas Lidstrom into the boards (he may or may not have come up a little high on Lidstrom, but either way, he did not get a penalty), and Niklas may be out for a while with a sprained knee.

Late in the first, Wings forward Aaron Downey instigated a fight with Laperriere. For his efforts, Downey earned 17-minutes for fighting, instigating and a 10-minute misconduct.

Here's what Downey had to say after the game...

"Sure, it'd be good to go out there and 'goon' the guy, but what...what's...that's not hockey. Let's play good, hard, passionate hockey like they did in the Roman times, and uh...you know, I'm not gonna go [hurt] their guys, just to prove a point. But you know what, I'll go out there and I'll get him back. Fair justice is fair justice. That's the way the game should be played."

I know that overall, hockey players aren't rocket scientists, but come on...hockey in Roman Times? Does Downey even have a TINY amount of historical knowledge about the sport that pays him $500,000 a year (give or take a few bucks)?

[sigh]

Can't wait for the playoffs...should be interesting.

Thanks for being patient with me during my own personal writer's strike!
-m-

Anyway...on with the show!

Delphine and I had a chance to be in New York City this past weekend and, being the theatre buffs we are, we HAD to take in a Broadway show. We were a bit nervous because of the Stage Hands strike that was going on, but we had already narrowed down our choices to a small handful, and the one we chose was not affected by the strike since the theater was not covered under the contract that the Stage Hands were striking.

Our choice? Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein!" playing at the Hilton Theater on 42nd Street near Times Square.

Overview and The Cast
Being HUGE fans of the original movie, and of Mel Brooks in general, we were really hoping for a great show. Plus, they had an amazing and well-known cast of stars:

• Roger Bart as Frederick Frankenstein - Bart was most recently seen on Desperate Housewives as the creepy pharmacist who stalked Bree. He's a theatre vet and had a nice long run in "The Producers", another great Mel Brooks show, and was a great choice for Frankenstein. He really made the part his own and had fun with the range of emotions, yelling in a high pitched voice when excited, and his soft singing voice was almost haunting.
• Andrea Martin as Frau Blücher [in the distance, a horse whinnies] - Andrea Martin is one of my favorite comedic actresses. She's done a TON of stuff, but most notably, she was on SCTV, the Canadien equivalent of Saturday Night Live, she was Aunt Voula in "By Big, Fat, Greek Wedding," she was in the stage and motion picture version of Mel Brooks' "The Producers," and while she's done a ton of other stuff, I really enjoy her work on Sesame Street. She was PERFECT as Frau Blücher [cue the horse], and hysterical as ever.
• Megan Mullally as Elizabeth, a.k.a. the Bride of Frankenstein - You most likely know Mullally from the television series "Will and Grace" where she played the wonderfully eccentric Karen Walker. She's been on a ton of other television shows, and a few theatrical shows, as well. She, also, was a wonderful fit as Elizabeth, and her singing was fantastic and funny.

Now, while the three stars above were wonderful, I feel it would be an extreme disservice to the show if I didn't mention the other major players:

• Christopher Fitzgerald as Igor - Apologies to the stars (not really), but Fitzgerald knocked the ball out of the ballpark with his outstanding performance as Igor. Being a HUGE fan of Marty Feldman, I really didn't go to the show thinking that Igor would blow me away, but he really encompassed everything I loved about Feldman, while adding his own layer of quirkiness to the part. Fitzgerald was easily my favorite part of the entire production, and that’s saying a lot, since there was a lot to love.
• Sutton Foster as Inga – From the moment we see Inga, I knew she was going to be a lot of fun to watch throughout the play. Her naïveté (or is it?) was laced in sexual overtones, without being completely "in your face." Her voice was beautiful, and she played off the others very nicely. It has to be difficult with so many stars in the cast, but she definitely holds her own and does a great job at portraying Inga.
• The Monster – The only slight disappointment of the night came when we found out that Shuler Hensley would not be portraying the Monster for our performance. I had read and seen a lot about him and was really looking forward to seeing the HUGE 6'3" man with 6 inch lifts dance to "Puttin' on the Ritz." However, it turned out that we were in very good hands with Justin Patterson. As monotonic (is that even a word?) as he was when just "the monster," Patterson shined once Frederick gave the Monster the gift of speech and good brain amplification. His singing voice was amazing and pure, and really showed the differences of the character between the Abby Normal brain and the brain on steroids. Not a disappointment at all.

The Set
Apart from the star power and the attraction of great talent, having the name Mel Brooks attached to the show also meant an amazing set. Everything from the front scrim where they projected the ominous mountain and castle, to the elaborate two- to three-story tall laboratory, complete with a variety of machines, electrical sparks, lightning effects, smoke, and a platform in the middle that raised all the way up into the ceiling. The scene changes were really nice, and the skewed perspective of the movable pieces kept the shtick in place, while not being too cheesy.

The Comparisons
With any show that is taken from either a book, movie, television series, or whatever, you will always have comparisons to the original. In the case of "Young Frankenstein" they were put behind the eight ball before Mel wrote a single note of any new song for the Broadway version.

The movie is a masterpiece in and of itself, and has been a fan favorite ever since its release back in 1974. The stars of the original will forever be remembered as some of the best in the biz. The untimely deaths of Madeline Kahn and Peter Boyle are still felt today. It is simply one of the best comedies ever produced and hard to forget.

The NICE thing is, is that the musical understands this, and wants to give the fans as much of the movie as it can, while augmenting it with fun, and funny, songs to make it its own "monster," if you will.

All the great lines are still in place: "It’s pronounced FRAHNkenstein", "Walk this way...", "What Knockers!" "Sank you, doctor!", "Put ze candle back!", etc., are here.

Then, layered between (and sometimes based on) those great lines comes the songs that really builds the production out nicely. Songs like "Roll in the Hay" (based on Inga's comments during the ride to the castle), "He Vas My Boyfriend" sung by Frau Blücher [cue the horse again] in an homage to the late Victor Frankenstein, and "Deep Love", Elizabeth's tounge-in-cheek yet heartfelt pleas to the Monster, all do a great job of expanding the story.

The Grade
I read and watched a lot of reviews while I was in NY, and most of them were not flattering. I guess I'm at a loss as to understand why. They say Brooks is trying too hard and that it doesn't meet the standards of his "Producers" show, or that the story isn't developed enough. But I must strongly disagree.

Now, I'd be silly to think that this show is for everyone. However, if you enjoy Mel Brooks' humor, even a little, or are a fan of the movie, then this is a MUST SEE. If you like comedic musical theatre, it's also for you. If you like more dramatic, less schtick theatre, then yeah, you may not "get it" like those of that who love Mel do.

My final grade for the show is an A-, and the only reason I gave the minus was that there was a scene or two that seemed to be either a bad fit for the show, or weren't delivered as well as they could have (the one that really comes to mind is the scene where Frankenstein visits the blind hermit -- I really enjoyed that scene in the movie, but in the show, it was just o.k.). But overall, it was a wonderfully funny show that does the movie justice in its own way.

Thanks for listening, and I'd love to hear your comments.

Support your local theatre groups!
-Myles-

Jen was one of the kindest spirits that you ever came across. How can you NOT be when one of your favorite creatures is Elmo! I must admit that I am still in shock and am not sure how I will react at the memorial service later today.

Jen turned 30 earlier this year. It was FAR too soon for her to leave us, but I know she will not be forgotten. Wherever you are, Princess Songbird, I hope you are well.

Rest In Peace - Jen Larwa

I love you, friend...and I miss you...
-m-

[Edit]
I wanted to share just a little more about Jen than what I had originally in my post. I was obviously still a bit in shock and didn't really write much.

Below are some of the snippets of thoughts that I've put down on a couple of comment boards for Jen...

"Jen, you will be missed dearly. Your fantastic attitude (and sarcastic sense of humor), your infectious smile, and your willingness to always be there for anyone, regardless of what else was going on in your life. You were one of the good ones!"

"I think the thing I will remember most about Jen was her fantastic cooking. She would always bring in a sample of her latest concoction, whether it be a cake for my birthday, beef stew, or (my favorite) her awesome green chili. She liked to send food my way because I loved to give her a grade and a detailed breakdown of what I liked and what I thought might make it even better. She would always strive to get that "A." I hope St. Peter can handle that green chili...be gentle on him, Jen..."

It's so hard to say goodbye sometimes, isn't it? I know there are reasons behind that, but it doesn't make it any easier. Heck, it's been 13 years since my dad passed away and I still think about him often. I hope we can all find some sort of peace in this situation and that something good will come from it.

Thanks for listening...
-m-

It was a really great day for me, personally. I know that seems selfish, because it's Allie that's going to school and Allie that is going to be making new friends and experiencing it all.

However...when Allie stood in line by the door to Miss Kekkonen's (sorry if I got that wrong) classroom door, I reflected back to my Elementary School days. Now I don't remember my first day of Kindergarten, but I have to think it was very similar to Allie's. I met new friends and started on my journey. I got to eat lunch there at school that wasn't made by mommy, daddy or a restaurant. I got to make things. I got to play on the playground.

The other part of this is that I've been talking a lot with my best friend from Elementary School lately, Matt Ulery. Throughout our discussions (you should see this e-mail thread...it's MONSTROUS!), we both came to the realization that we had a GREAT school in Peiffer Elementary. We had access to computers at a time where the school-friendly Apple ][e wasn't even born yet. We got to do stop-motion animation and create out own films. We MADE books...we put on an olde-tyme radio show with sound effects and all. Looking back with hindsight, we had a GREAT experience, and were probably very lucky to have had that experience.

Strolling the halls of Westview Elementary School (I really need to talk to them about their website), I do get a sense that it is a good school, and I've had several parents and teachers tell me that it is one of the best places for kids to be and one of the best places to teach. That says a lot.

More than anything, though, is that I am VERY excited for her to really get that brain going. She is such an intelligent girl and I want her to reach that potential that I know she has in her.

Congratulations, Allie! I am SO proud of you and I am so happy that you are enjoying yourself at your new school. I hope that you have many, many years of fun in school to come!

I love you!
-Dad-

After many moons, the seventh and final book in the acclaimed Harry Potter series is out.

I decided to stay up and get mine as quickly as I could and maybe even start in on it, so as to avoid hearing any news about it. And at exactly 1:57 a.m. on Saturday, July 21, 2007, I purchased my book, standing in line with all the other HP fans.

I'm hoping I can get a good jump on it this weekend and have most of it read by the middle of next week, if not finish it entirely. I finished re-reading book 6, The Half Blood Prince, this past week and it took me about 6 days. I wanted to prepare as much as I could. I saw Order of the Phoenix twice in the theatres in the last week, as well, figuring that I would have 2 stories worth of background ready for when this one came out.

I must say that this is bittersweet to the extreme. On one side, I'm very excited to read this story, as we all know that Harry and Voldermort will most likely face off against each other. Will Harry find all the Horcruxes? Is Dumbledore REALLY dead? Did Snape really kill him? Will Harry let his friends help him, or will he go this final road alone? These are all the great makings of a killer story, and I know J.K. Rowling will not disappoint.

On the other side, there is to be no more Harry Potter. When you spend 10 years with someone, and enjoy that time, you really get emotionally attached. And that's what has happened with a good majority of the world. And now there will be no more books. I guess the saving grace is that we have 2 more movies to look forward to, but at the same time, that's just not good enough.

Rowling has done an excellent job at bringing us all a great story, and while all great stories must come to an end, I hope that someone can find a way to keep it fresh for a long time to come. I know my kids will be the next generation of Potter readers. I wish they had been old enough to read through it with me, but I also look forward to being able to read them the books as they get older and have them discover the series in their own way.

My parting thought is this...I'm VERY thankful for this series. It's been a long time since one set of characters, one set of books, has brought reading to the forefront. I mean seriously...when was the last time you went to the bookstore at midnight to purchase a book on it's launch date? When was the last time that a bookstore stayed OPEN till midnight to sell said book? You let me know if you find something like that.

Thank you, J.K. Rowling, for telling us about Harry. I'm sure this last book was even more difficult for you. Somewhat like watching a child go off to college. I hope you are proud of what you have accomplished with this series. I know I am grateful and generations of kids, and kids at heart, to come will thank you, too.

Now, it's off to London to see how the story unfolds. Wish me luck and pray that my eyes can hold out for a while tonight so I can get a good jump start!

Cheers,
-Myles-

Instead of watching old Lost reruns, or playing catch-up with your CSI flavor of choice, may I suggest a better alternative? Maybe TWO alternatives?

1. The World Series of Pop Culture - I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed this last Summer, when El Chupacabra took the championship. I am a huge fan of trivia, and especially Pop Culture Trivia, and it was a blast trying to keep up with the questions, and stand in awe of those that knew the ones that I had no clue on. They just started this week (Sunday, actually, even though the official season premiere was listed as Monday - maybe they just wanted to give us hardcore fans a head start), so you haven't missed too much, AND, as an added bonus, YOU CAN WATCH THE EPISODES FOR FREE ONLINE!!! I was especially sad because TiVo didn't change the channel correctly tonight, and as much as I love the Goodnight Show on Sprout, I was really jonesing for my Pop Culture. So, tomorrow morning, I'll be able to check in and catch up...WHEW!

Seriously, though, if you are even a tiny fan of Pop Culture trivia, or just want to see what it's all about, check out VH1 when you get a chance. Or head to the site and watch an episode. Lots of fun!

Next up is another one of my all time favorite shows...

2. Last Comic Standing - Again, for those of you that know me, you know that comedy is a huge part of my life. When Last Comic Standing first started a few years back, I thought it was a great idea. Comics who have been working their butts off for years can finally get national attention. Even if you don't do great, you get exposure, which is paramount in a career.

But it became so much more than that. The first year was a trial year. Comics didn't know what to expect and many veterans stayed away to see what would happen. Season 2 exploded with talent. Not to take away from Season 1, I promise, but that's really when this thing took off. The stakes were raised, the competition was much tougher, and the laughs flowed heavier.

This year, they have gone off the charts. They have opened it up as an International competition, and I think we're in for a wild ride. They finished up the tour and have nailed down the 32 semi-finalists.

And who, of all people, should I happen to see on tonight's episode? But Denver's own Chuck Roy, one of my favorite local comics. Now, I know we don't own Chuck, since he's originally from New Hampshire ("Live Free Or DIE"), but he lives here now and really supports this city, so dangit, he's ours!

I have raved about him since I first saw him open for John Heffron (an LCS alum) at Comedy Works, and have loved him as MC for the Film on the Rocks each year that Red Rocks hosts. I have seen him a bunch of times in several of the comedy clubs around the metro area, and I am STOKED that he got picked to be a semi-finalist.

Chuck, I wish you the very best of luck in the competition, and I cannot wait to see more footage. You are truly a hilarious man and you really deserve this chance. Now loosen up (you looked a bit nervous out there) and do your thing. You will win the audience over, I know!

That's all I've got for now, my friends, but please be sure to check those shows out. I know you won't be disappointed!

Cheers!
-Myles-

Now you can look forward to going to Kindergarten, more sleep-overs, and LOTS more of being a great big sister!

I have posted pics from the Princess Pool Party (the P3) on the gallery site. Click here to check them out. They were all taken with my camera phone because we had a VERY hectic morning with Nate and just simply forgot the camera. I think most of the pics turned out pretty good, despite it being a camera phone.

I hope you had a great week-long celebration of your birthday, Peanut, and I look forward to celebrating many, many more birthdays with you.

I love you!
-Dad-

So the long and short of this post is that because of MySpace, I was able to connect with a long, misplaced friend. He didn't misplace himself...that was my fault.

This is a guy that was my best bud in Elementary School. We had a lot of fun together as kids, and even when he moved to Arizona later, we still stayed a bit in touch. Again, I was the main culprit for not keeping up with that.

Anyway, over the past few years (maybe 6-8 years), I've been thinking a lot about him, what he's been up to, etc. I started with my Google skills, which, for those of you that know me, you know that they are mad skills! I came up with a few folks with his name, one of which is a bass player. I know that he loved/loves music, so this was a great lead, until I saw a picture and realized it couldn't be the same person. Drats!

Next up was all the social networking places. Nada...

Finally, about 6 months ago, I decided that it would definitely be worth using one of the pay sites and seeing where it went. I had a few friends who had good success with the ones I was looking at, so I did a preliminary search. There were a bunch of folks that met the criteria, but I wasn't 100% sure where he was now, so I stalled on doing that.

Thankfully, a week or so ago, I get a message on my e-mail saying that a new message has arrived from Matt. Well, I know a few "Matt"s, so I logged in and checked it out.

Lo and behold it was my friend that I was looking for. He had reluctantly set up a profile on MySpace and started digging around looking for High School and College friends. Then he decided to dig deeper...and thankfully he found me.

I had to share, because over the past week, he and I have had a great time writing what he described as Tolstoy-esque letters back and forth getting caught up with each other's life.

Thanks for finding me, Matt! I cannot wait to catch up some more!
-m-

For those of you that weren't able to make it to the memorial service for Delphine's dad, Dean Glandt, it was very beautiful. The folks from Wiederspahn-Radomsky Chapel of the Chimes did a great job of making sure everything was taken care of, instructions were given when needed, and everything went so smoothly.

After the memorial service and the graveside service, we all came back to the church for an early dinner. During dinner, Dean's children and grandchildren presented a PowerPoint presentation that we had collectively put together. We had all gathered pictures and stories from the past, and put it together with music chosen by Perriann and Delphine. We got a really nice response from a lot of folks and afterwards a few people asked if I could put it on CD or DVD.

After doing some research and trying a few programs out, I finally decided on Camtasia, a screen capture software package that allows you to record audio and motion from your computer for sharing in several different formats.

Right now, I have available a web-based version. It requires Adobe Macromedia Flash Player, so if you don't have that, you won't be able to see the presentation. You can get it by clicking here.

Click here to launch the video in a separate window. If you have any pop-up blockers, be sure to allow my site to launch pop-ups. Also, depending on your Internet connection, it may take a little bit to load enough to start playing, but it will show you the loading progress when you launch the presentation.

I'll be working on getting this on DVD for those in the Glandt family that aren't on the Internet on a consistent basis, or for those that would just simply like a copy of the tribute.

Enjoy!
-Myles-

CONGRATULATIONS!

Alex graduated from Riverton High School over Memorial Day weekend and the Beckers were able to make the trip up. We picked up Mom Glandt in Cheyenne, then headed up to Riverton, which is near the middle of the state by the Wind River Indian Reservation.

For those of you that don't know, Alex is our nephew and is the son of Perriann Stanley who also lives in Riverton. Perriann works at the St. Stephens school on the Wind River Indian Reservation, and congrats are needed for her, as well. Their basketball team took state this last season!

Congrats, all!
-m-

Here's the list...

Monday, June 18: PULP FICTION
Band: The Beloved Invaders

Tuesday, June 26: SIXTEEN CANDLES
Band: Mr. Pacman

Tuesday, July 3: DAZED AND CONFUSED
Band: Coors New Sound Throwdown and Ash Ganley

Monday, July 9: THE BIG LEBOWSKI
Band: Zebra Junction with Comedian Josh Blue (winner of last year's Last Comic Standing show)

Tuesday, July 17: BACK TO THE FUTURE
Band: Born in the Flood

Monday, July 23: THE SHINING
Band: Douglas Cameron

August Show: "A FAREWELL TO SUMMER SURPRISE SCREENING"
Film Title and Date To Be Announced in July
Band: U2 Tribute

From the site:
Film on the Rocks has become synonymous with the names of hot Colorado bands and the 2007 season will bring premier acts to the Red Rocks stage once again. The world's most renowned outdoor concert venue will welcome the instrumental surf sounds of the Beloved Invaders, Mr. Pacman's outrageous "Atari- rock," local comedian - and winner of NBC's "Last Comic Standing" - Josh Blue, who will share the stage with the eclectic, homespun tunes of Zebra Junction, one of Denver's hottest indie rock bands, Born in the Flood and Douglas Cameron's Americana stylings.

Film on the Rocks will also feature two very special treats for audiences this year: the winner of a battle-of- the-bands competition, the Coors New Sound Throwdown, will earn the opportunity to open for singer-songwriter Ash Ganley, while Under a Blood Red Sky - the celebrated U2 tribute band - will recreate U2's legendary 1983 "Live at Red Rocks" concert.

Back by popular demand: Nationally touring headline comedian Chuck Roy will host the series courtesy of Comedy Works.

Can't wait to see some of these! Still wish that my buddy Jason and his band, Buckner Funken Jazz, had been able to secure a spot this year, but maybe next year.

Get out there and see a movie at the best concert venue around!

Enjoy!
-m-