organ music

Perhaps this would've been a better choice for a 200th post than fast food critiques. I've finally recorded myself playing the organ (at St. Paul UCC). When listening to these, keep in mind:

• I haven't played the organ in nine months
  
• These were recorded with my laptop's built-in microphone
  
• The high F key on the swell manual wasn't working, at all
  
• I've never taken organ lessons, so my footwork is minimal and/or rough
  
• Several of these are from Pedal-less Wedding Music for Organ, compiled by Dorothy Wells
  
• Most of this music I learned on the piano, so I was really just experimenting with them on organ tonight for the first time
  
• The "Ode to Joy" track was likewise experimental and includes several false starts, but is OK after that
  
• As usual, the classical pieces and my arrangements are full recordings, but two of these are samples only

Bridal Chorus (Wagner) [388 KB]
Come, Christians, Join to Sing (arr. by the awesome Lloyd Larson) [300 KB]
Hornpipe (Handel) [856 KB]
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (Bach) [828 KB]
Ode to Joy (Beethoven/arr. Bird) [916 KB]
Prelude in Classic Style (Young/arr. Wells) [168 KB]
Processional from "Royal Fireworks" (Handel) [496 KB]
Trumpet Tune (Purcell) [448 KB]
Trumpet Voluntary (Purcell) [656 KB]
Wedding March (Mendelssohn) [688 KB]

200th post!!

Anniversary time. First off, this is the 200th post I've made to this blog. I first started blogging in March of 2003, but I found I really didn't have much to say. Also, Justin was pretty much the only one reading it. In May of 2004, I decided to give it another try, and although what I post here often isn't of any importance, it's still a handy way to keep in touch with friends and relatives. When I was going through cancer treatments, it was invaluable in keeping everyone informed on my progress.

Speaking of which, today, July 25th, is also the anniversary of my last radiation treatment. But it wasn't until October 25th that I felt truly relieved, as that was my first post-treatment CAT Scan, which showed freedom from progression.

I'm not sure how else to celebrate my 200th blog post, so umm... well, here's a list of foods and drinks I like:

• Grounds for Thought coffee from Bowling Green -- Other shops probably have good stuff too, but this coffee Schutze brought to the cottage was quite possibly the best I'd ever had. Really.
  
  
• Mike's Hard Crisp Apple -- A new flavor from the makers of Mike's Hard Lemonade. Tastes a little bit Jolly Rancher, a little bit cider. Nice, light flavor like Mike's Hard Lime.
  
  
• Strawberry milk. No qualification needed. I had some the other day for the first time in years.
  
  
• Fletcher's Fabulous Lemonade -- Taken from the children's book Something Queer at the Lemonade Stand (yes that's really the title) by Elizabeth Levy. This is the recipe my mom uses, and it's great. The mint leaves really do add to the flavor.
  
  
• Wendy's Roasted Turkey & Basil Pesto Frescata sandwich -- A nice change of pace from greasy fast food, yet still one-hand-while-driving edible.
  
  
• Panera Bread's Tuscan Chicken Sandwich -- I mentioned this one before, but it bears repeating. As Teen Girl Squad would say, "Soooooooo good!"
  
  
• Subway's Tuscan Chicken Sub -- Not as good as Panera, but still one of the better Subway offerings, I'd say on par with the awesome Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki. However, I was not a fan of the new Bourbon Chicken sub.
  
  
• Speaking of which, J.J. BBQ in the Midway Mall food court has really good Bourbon Chicken. I really like the sauce, and it's served with white or fried rice and a choice of side for $4.00, I think. I get the glazed orange carrots for the side, which are also tasty. Considering it's a fast-service food court option, it's a delicious deal at a low price. The only catch is that I always feel like an ethnocentric bigot because I have trouble understanding the server through her accent.

Hmm, I'm seeing a trend... Maybe "Tuscan" has become the new lime for me?

Cleveland Clinic: #13 cancer hospital in the country

U.S. News & World Report ranked the top 50 American hospitals in various categories. For cancer, the Cleveland Clinic (where I was treated) is #13. University Hospitals, which runs the Ireland Cancer Center in Elyria, was 25th. How awesome that they are both so close to home.

While we're on the subject, we have some really great medical centers in the area. Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital (also run by University) ranks fourth in the country for pediatrics. The Cleveland Clinc ranks first for heart surgery. I mean, look at these ratings. How cool is that?

old

It just hit me that, ten years ago -- one full decade -- I was learning web design for the first time. I don't recall exactly when it was, but I know it was in the summer of '96. Does that make me feel old? I suppose it does in a way, although it's more a feeling of "that was ten years ago already??"

I still remember signing off AOL one day and seeing an ad on the log-off screen saying there would be an online web design class later that day. This piqued my interest, so I checked it out. There were three 30-minute sessions, and the "classes" were conducted in a "presentation style" chat room, where the teacher could give instructions to everyone in the room, but questions from attendants were approved by a moderator. We learned the basics: how to place images and text on a page, create links, set a background image, turn an image into a link, and how to upload the files to our AOL web space.

I was hooked. How cool! I just made my own web page! I didn't have much at first; just a "Welcome to BirdMan80's Home Page" graphic with a Michael Crichton quote of some sort. Inspired by some other sites I'd seen, it soon became a critique of the three major online services I'd tried (Prodigy, America Online, and CompuServe). By the time I left for college, it became "What's Your Gripe?," where I posted amusing-but-pointless gripes that people e-mailed me. I started posting haiku freshman year of college, when I wrote a new one every day on my dry erase board. In 2000, I bought bryanbird.com, but it sat as a simple placeholder page with my resume for a long time. It wasn't until December of 2002 that I came up with the current design, and even that is growing stale I think.

The summer of '96 was also special because it was the last summer in which I didn't have a job, so I was able to spend my time doing things like... learning web design.

mini-rant on tipping

I had dinner at the Midway Market buffet at Cedar Point for the first time this past Saturday. A little card on the table says, among other quasi-humorous things, "Our servers are paid 54% of minimum wage. The rest is made up by your generous tips," or words to that effect. That means they make $2.78 an hour.

Frankly, that's crap. This is a BUFFET. Our server brought and refilled our drinks and cleared our plates. Normally, I tip a server 20%, but am I supposed to give this guy the same I would in a full service restaurant where the wait staff is doing far more work? If I don't, then he's not even making minimum wage, which is unfortunate, because this guy was friendly and funny. Yet I also feel stupid leaving a 20% tip on a $15.00 buffet when I had to dish up and carry my own food to my table.

(The other problem is that the $15 was paid upon entering the restaurant, and I used a credit card, as I normally would. In a full service restaurant, this receipt would include the opportunity to write in the tip on a separate line, but since I hadn't eaten yet, I couldn't do that. I had to leave cash for a tip, and only had twenties and two singles on me. But I guess 13% isn't too bad for a few drink refills. I suppose if I really wanted to leave $3 I could've asked him for change.)

Are all buffets run this way? Sorry, the old "you can pay them below minimum wage because they'll earn tips" law shouldn't apply to tipless or low-tip situations like this. I have a problem with the tip-wage law in this country anyway, but that's a story for another time, and the law will never change anyway.

interesting googles

In case you don't know, I can see who visits bryanbird.com and this blog. By that I mean there's ActiveMeter code embedded in the blog template that logs page visits and referrals. I don't actually know who specifically is visiting, but I can see the IP address of the computer and to whom the address is registered -- usually Comcast, SBC, Adelphia, or some other ISP. For example, I see "fl.comcast.net" or something similar in the log and know that it's a Comcast user from Florida.

What's also neat about ActiveMeter is it will show referring links. If someone just types in blog2.bryanbird.com, it'll show up as a direct hit, but if someone clicked through from Kristy's blog, it'll show kristyland.com as the referral. Often people will find this site inadvertently while searching for something completely unrelated. Some amusing recent searches:

elyria sucks -- I'm the first result on the fourth page with Google. No, I never actually said "Elyria sucks," but since the person didn't use quotes, Google found a blog page where I had used both "Elyria" and "sucks" on the same page.

Twist-n-shake eLYRIA [sic] -- because I mentioned it a few weeks ago

"flourish or expire depending on fate" -- a South Park quote

bird's alma mater -- because my last name is Bird and I mentioned my college alma mater back in February. But the popularity of this search has me baffled. The first referral was from Google, on Friday morning by someone in Tampa Bay. Seven minutes later, someone in New York (I think Syracuse) made the same query on Yahoo. Two hours later, another Google from Minnesota. The next day, there was yet another Yahoo search, possibly from Portland, Oregon. Five hours later, the same search from Bangkok, Thailand! The next one was yesterday from Harrison, Arkansas.

So, I'm intrigued. If any of you are searching for "bird's alma mater" again, would you mind letting me know what you were really looking for? I can't stand the suspense. :)

I'll post some more amusing googles as they come in. Of course, as I post them here, that only increases the chances that someone will inadvertently find this site, but oh well. Incidentally, not all the referrals are unrelated; many people search for things like "lump above collarbone" or "hodgkin's measles" and find some of my old blog posts from when I was undergoing chemo, so hopefully my archive is helpful to them.

Edited 7/7/06:
BAD HAIRCUT REPAIR STRONGSVILLE -- Uh... maybe try a wig?

I've also had a few hits from people searching for the Lorain County Relay for Life (which is tonight, July 7th). If you go here you can type in 44035 and find the listing.

Apparently I'm now an authority on shoes that match navy blue suits, because I've had quite a few hits from that too. What I've found, after my own googling and posting to a few message boards, is that either black or cordovan (burgundy) shoes are fine for navy blue suits; it mostly depends on what color shirt and tie you're wearing with it.

Edited 7/10/06:
Yahoo: "bryan breeding myspace"
Yahoo: "Search which bird uses shoes?"
Google: "Old Chuck E. Cheese"
Yahoo: "antibiotics for dog lymphoma"
Google: I am now the second result in a search for "Twist and Shake Elyria Ohio"
Yahoo: Yet another hit for "bird's alma mater" -- what's the deal with this search? This time it's from Harlingen, Texas, I think.

Edited 7/11/06:
Altavista: I'm the third result in a search for "caprice rode violin mp3"