That lovely blogspot

Free online golf game

2007-09-22T14:07:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since my last post (went offline for quite a while). Here's a promotional video of a very good online golf game that's completely free to play. It's called Albatross18 and I encourage everyone to check it out.

- www.albatross18.com -

Holiday wishes in different languages

2006-12-21T14:08:00.000-08:00

This year I sent some Christmas cards abroad and decided to write the wishes in the reader's language. For now I had to limit myself to simple 'Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year', maybe next time I will be able write something more. It's always good to use opportunities like this to learn something new. Here are the translations I used:

Dutch - Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig Nieuwjaar
Polish - Wesołych Świąt i Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku
Portuguese - Feliz Natal e Próspero Ano Novo

And here you can find many more (some of them with audio clips if you want to learn how to pronounce them), as well as translation of other phrases, like 'Happy Birthday' and ' This gentleman/lady will pay for everything' (wonder how often that comes in handy).

- omniglot -

Sarah McLachlan - The First Noel remixes

2006-12-12T18:32:00.000-08:00

Finding good Christmas songs on the net isn't going easy. While browsing the net in that purpose, I found out there was a remix contest that just finished few days ago. All the separated audio tracks for the song 'The First Noel / Mary Mary' by Sarah McLachlan where free to download and remix. Those who created the best remixes are able to have their product released, win a video iPod, or get some vinyl records. This is a really nice idea. You can check the uploaded remixes here, though there's so many of them, it's difficult to choose one. They're still checking all of the submissions to pick the winners. I'm sure it's not an easy job. Frankly, I wouldn't want to be in their shoes right now, but still, the idea was really nice. I checked a few of the submissions, if you don't feel like browsing through them all, here's a quick link to one that's not so bad:

MarcSoul deepest remix

I'm sure you've heard some songs by Sarah already, if not, make sure to try 'I Love You' and 'Do What You Have To Do'. Unfortunately I can't help You with that, since I didn't find any free downloads. That's a shame.

- remix contest - Sarah's website -

Take a trip without leaving your chair

2006-12-11T17:08:00.000-08:00

Okay, that's not exactly possible yet, though I'm sure guys at Google are working on it. What You can do is take a look at those amazing high resolution images of such places as Owens Valley, Norway Fjords, Zion National Park, and even a part of Boston (try to spot some ghosts crossing the street in daytime). The site xRez takes advantage of the Google Maps API and allows us to zoom in really close on many photos there. Really worth checking out.

- xRez -

Chilly Christmas tunes

2006-12-10T06:38:00.000-08:00

I'm looking around the web for some free Christmas music, but it's not easy, as I'm very picky. This one is nice, though I don't know if it's under the Creative Commons license, so you'll have to follow the link to music.download.com. For my taste that site is way too overbloated, and definitely not Linux browser friendly, but the tune is very good, so give it a try:

Mahalia Jackson - Silent Night Remix (King Kooba Mix)

Here's one not Christmas themed, but good all year around:

Lovespirals - Our Nights

It's under the CC license so it's free to share and distribute (like everything that you will find here). Make sure to visit Lovespirals website, they've got some really sweet music. You can listen to it on site, and even download a few titles from different places. If the above one sounds nice to you, I also recommend to check 'Hand in Hand'.

- Silent Night Remix - Our Nights - Lovespirals -

Winter theme pictures

2006-12-09T13:15:00.000-08:00

A set of great photos to get you in the Christmas mood. Click any of them to see the full version on flickr and leave a comment for that photo's author. You can also download there higher resolution version for a nice Christmas wallpaper.

Christmas cards

2006-12-08T11:57:00.000-08:00

Christmas is coming, and it's time to start sending those cards to all of your loved ones. You can go the easy way and buy some cards with generic wishes already there. It's definitely better to write some more personal wishes by yourself. I always had trouble with that, so I prefer to look through the web for some short meaningful poems. Here are the ones I think are really good. Second one is very romantic, ideal to send to the other half of yours, for Christmas or any other day.

A Christmas Gift

It isn't the flowing ribbons,
draped and curled with extra care,
or the fine and fancy bows
tied with ornamental flair.

It isn't the label on the box,
the sum of money spent,
or anything that shows the length
to which you obviously went.

The beauty of a Christmas gift
cannot be seen at all.
For the precious gift of giving
is a response to heaven's call.

It's the genuine offer of love,
the yearning to make a connection,
a show of honest gratitude,
a display of sincere affection.

© 1999 Terri McPherson Buckley
(visit Terri's website here)

-

Waiting There For You

If all the stars fall from your sky,
And you don't know what to do;
Just reach down deep inside your heart,
I'll be waiting there for you.

I'm as close as your next heartbeat,
And within your heart I'll stay;
I will be there when you need me,
I will never walk away.

If your burdens become heavy,
And they seem too much to bear;
You know that I will share your load,
I will always be right there.

Always in the background,
And it is there I'll stay;
Until the day you call my name,
I won't be far away.

I will be there in the sunshine,
As it shines upon your face;
When you feel its warmth, remember me,
I'll be waiting in my place.

I will be there in the soft breeze,
As it dances 'cross your skin;
So quietly I'll be there,
Like a whisper in the wind.

So if the stars fall from your sky,
And you don't know what to do;
Just look for me inside your heart,
I'll be waiting there for you.

Allison Chambers Coxsey © 1996
(visit Allison's website here)

Make sure to visit the websites of the respective authors of those poems.

- Terri McPherson Buckley - Allison Chambers Coxsey -

So what's in here?

2006-12-07T11:11:00.000-08:00

Everything that can be described as good, pretty, cute, fine, sweet, beautiful, excellent, amazing, moving, inspiring, delicious, creative, enchanting and cool. Whether it's life-altering or just plain nice, it might find it's way in here. It might be a picture, short video or a movie, music album or a specific song, book, poem, website, idea... Actually, just about anything. There is only one catch. It's my blog, so it's all according to my taste (insert cute-but-evil-grin in here).