Re-tweet with Comments Made Easier

I have recently jumped into the world of Twitter and was surprised to find that from the Twitter web page that if you want to re-tweet a post from one of the people you are following to the people that follow you, there is no way to add a comment to the re-tweet without doing a manual copy/paste to a new tweet.


I'm sure there are a number of applications that allow for this functionality, but that defeats the purpose of using the web page to some degree.  For those of us that want to continue to use a browser to tweet (and re-tweet) and use the Google Chrome browser there is a very simple solution, Chromed Bird.

Chromed Bird is a Chrome extension for Twitter that extends the web page functionality to a browser extension with a number of features:

Upload images from inside the extension
Change extension's locale from inside the options page
Expand the original tweet replies are referring to
Follow / Unfollow users by using the inline user actions menu
Browse tweets from a specific user directly inside the extension
Add and remove timeline tabs "on the fly" using the new right-click context menu
Create custom search queries that will update automatically
Preview image links by hovering them
See all your tweets in an unified timeline
Follow your timelines (including @mentions, lists, DMs and favorites) and navigate through your tweets
Compose, reply, RT, share, favorite and delete tweets
Create short URLs within the extension
Preview shortened URLs before clicking them
Track read / unread tweets
Notify user whenever new tweets arrive
The Chromed Bird extension can be installed from the Chromed Bird page linked above.  The first time the extension is run, it will confirm access to your twitter account and then it should be setup and ready to go.  Once installed, you will see a small Twitter bird icon that opens the extension and indicates when new tweets are available.

Any Chrome users that want to interact with Twitter directly from the browser with the functionality above should try Chromed Bird as an alternative to the Twitter web page or other stand-alone clients.

Add a comment with the Twitter tools you use.

Springsteen/Morello Play 'The Ghost of Tom Joad'

October 29th and 30th, 2009, rock ‘n’ roll royalty held court at Madison Square Garden for what have been called ‘the best concerts ever,’ and ‘where rock ‘n’ roll history was made.’  The concerts featured a who's who of rock 'n' roll from the '50s to the '90s and included artists performing together in unprecedented combinations that will most likely never be witnessed again.'


The 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Anniversary Concerts' included sets by Crosby, Stills & Nash; Stevie Wonder; Paul Simon; Simon & Garfunkel; Aretha Franklin; Metallica; U2; Jeff Beck and Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band. Joining this iconic line up on stage were special guests including: Jerry Lee Lewis, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Smokey Robinson, B.B. King, Annie Lennox, Lou Reed, John Fogerty, Mick Jagger, Fergie and others.


I recently came across the video below of Bruce Springsteen and Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine/Audioslave/The Nightwatchman) performing "The Ghost of Tom Joad" from Springsteen's 1995 release The Ghost of Tom Joad at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Concerts.  Although it did not receive critical acclaim, The Ghost of Tom Joad is one of my favorite Springsteen albums and songs.  The title track is by far the most recognizable cut from the album, but  Straight Time, Across the Border and My Best Was Never Good Enough are also well worth the listen.

The album version of this song is pretty subdued compared to the R&RHOF version, but the second Tom Morello guitar solo (6:12) is well worth the listen even if you aren't a fan of The Boss.





I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  Post a comment with your favorite rock & roll moment.  

Film Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is a 2009 Swedish film adaptation of the novel of the same name by the late Swedish author/journalist Stieg Larsson, the first book in his Millennium Trilogy, directed by Niels Arden Oplev.  The film was released in the United States on March 19, 2010 by Music Box Films, which is also planning to release the second and third films in the trilogy, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, later in 2010.

The Plot:  Forty years prior, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan.  Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder and that the killer is a member of his own tightly knit but dysfunctional family. He employs disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the tattooed, ruthless computer hacker Lisbeth Salander to investigate.  When the pair link Harriet's disappearance to a number of grotesque murders from almost forty years ago, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history.

I have not read the book so I can’t comment on the differences between the book and movie but the story is well told in the film with very few unnecessary segments or plotlines.  The storytelling is concise and engaging and the acting is superb, especially Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander.  Rapace’s performance alone make the film worth watching and extremely difficult to take your eyes off the screen.

The film is 152 minutes long with English sub-titles, however the acting and cinematography hold your attention to the story and the plot is never boring.  The film is Reated R in the United States for disturbing violent content including rape, grisly images, sexual material, nudity and language which it certainly has, however it never seems gratuitous and does not take away from the story as is often the case.

This is the most interesting and enjoyable film I've seen in quite some time.  If you have any interest at all in the story, don’t wait for the English adaptation to release in 2011, see this film.

2010 Courage Classic Preview

It's that time of the year again!  The 19th annual Courage Classic Bicycle Tour will be held on August 7-9, 2010.  The Courage Classic is a three-day bicycling adventure where riders pedal to help stop the cycle of child abuse and neglect in the local community by supporting Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital and the Children’s Trust Foundation.

The challenging ride traverses Washington State’s majestic mountain passes and scenic countryside of western and eastern Washington.

The Ride

Day 1 - Snoqualmie to Cle Elum

Head out through North Bend to your first rest stop at Olallie State Park with the Parkland/ Spanaway Rotary.

Then make the climb up Snoqualmie Pass (elevation 3,022) through Denny Creek to a waiting lunch with the Gig Harbor Rotary. Due to construction on I-90, we will shuttle riders and your bikes from the lunch stop to the next rest stop at Lake Easton State Park with the Sunrise Rotary. We are adding an optional route through Roslyn and Ronald with a turnaround point near Salmon Le Sac to gain back some of the lost mileage. From there, head on to the finish in Cle Elum at Suncadia Resort.

 

Day 2 - Cle Elum to Leavenworth

Day two starts with a leisurely pedal along the Teanaway River, past golden wheat fields and rustic farmhouses and barns. Rest your legs and get a bite to eat with the Tacoma North Rotary at Mineral Springs Resort, then make the final climb to the top of Blewett Pass (elevation 4,102) where you will enjoy a tasty meal with the Sumner and South Hill Rotaries.

After lunch, enjoy the exhilarating descent to the rest stop at Ingall's Creek with the Fife Rotary. You're almost there! After a few miles rolling along the back roads through apple orchards you soon arrive at the finish in Leavenworth.

Day 3 - Leavenworth to Skykomish

Start your final day of the Courage Classic with a ride through scenic Chumstick Canyon on your way to Plain. Next, prepare yourself for the festive stop at Nason Creek rest area hosted by Clover Park, Lakewood and Tacoma South Rotaries.

The climb steadily begins, but there is one more opportunity to fuel up for the summit climb with the Sumner Rotary. From here, it is four miles to the Stevens Pass Ski Resort (elevation 4,061)and lunch with the Tacoma Narrows Rotary. After lunch, enjoy the downhill to the Old Cascade Highway.

Bring your camera to capture nature's beauty along this stretch of pavement. The finish line is just ahead with lots of goodies waiting for you at the end of the ride. The finish line returns to Skykomish school after three years of cleanup required to mitigate contaminants in the soil and groundwater from a former railroad maintenance facility.

The Cause

The Child Abuse Intervention Department (CAID) at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital serves as a vital resource for children in Pierce County who have been physically or sexually abused.  This program helps over 1,000 children a year begin the important process of healing, both physically and emotionally.

How You Can Help

If you would like to participate in the ride or donate to the cause, please visit my fundraising page at http://www.firstgiving.com/brianhadfield or the Courage Classic web site at http://www.courageclassic.org/.

Book Review: Three Cups of Tea

In Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time , Greg Mortenson, and journalist David Oliver Relin, recount the journey that led Mortenson from a failed 1993 attempt to climb Pakistan’s K2, the world’s second highest mountain, to successfully establish schools in some of the most remote regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

By replacing guns with pencils, rhetoric with reading, Mortenson combines his unique background with his intimate knowledge of the third-world to promote peace with books, not bombs, and successfully bring education and hope to remote communities in central Asia.Three Cups of Tea is at once an unforgettable adventure and the inspiring true story of how one man really is changing the world—one school at a time.

In 1993 Mortenson was descending from his failed attempt to reach the peak of K2. Exhausted and disoriented, he wandered away from his group into the most desolate reaches of northern Pakistan. Alone, without food, water, or shelter he stumbled into an impoverished Pakistani village where he was nursed back to health.

While not a fantastic piece of literature for its writing, it is easy to get lost in the determination and force of will that Greg Mortenson brings to his mission.  Through the book, Mortenson teaches us that the only limitations on accomplishment are our own determination and willingness to achieve our goals.  Additionally, he gives a fresh and unique outlook on a political approach to solving difficult issues and bringing different cultures closer together.

Overall, an inspiring read that has something to teach us all.  More information about the book and the CAI can be found at the Three Cups of Tea website.

The Origin of the Blog Title and Tagline

 Life of Brian is a Monty Python movie released in 1979.  The main character of the movie  Brian Cohen (Graham Chapman) is born in a stable a few doors down from the one in which Jesus is born, a fact which initially confuses the three wise men who come to praise the baby Jesus, as they must put up with Brian's boorish mother Mandy until they realize their mistake.

Brian grows up to be an idealistic young man who resents the continuing Roman occupation of Judea, even after learning his father was a Roman Centurion - Naughtius Maximus. While attending Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, he becomes attracted to a young female rebel, Judith. His desire for Judith and hatred for the Romans lead him to join the People's Front of Judea, one of many factious and bickering separatist movements, who spend more time fighting each other than the Romans.

The group's cynical leader Reg gives Brian his first assignment as a rebel: an attempt at scrawling some graffiti ("Romanes eunt domus", poorly translated Latin for "Romans Go Home") on the wall of the governor's palace. He is soon confronted by a passing Centurion who, in disgust at Brian's faulty Latin grammar, forces him to write out the grammatically correct message ("Romani ite domum") one hundred times. The walls of the fortress are literally covered in text by dawn.

When the Roman guards change shifts at daybreak, the new guards immediately try to arrest Brian. After a series of misadventures, the fugitive winds up in a motley group of mystics and prophets who harangue the passing crowd in a plaza. Forced to come up with something plausible in order to blend in, he babbles pseudo-religious nonsense which quickly attracts a small but intrigued audience. Once the Roman guards have left, Brian tries to put the episode behind him, but has unintentionally inspired a movement; and a crowd begins to follow him around, with even the slightest unusual occurrence being hailed as a "miracle." After slipping away from the mob (who are busy persecuting a "heretic") and spending the night with Judith, he discovers that an enormous crowd proclaiming him the Messiah has formed outside his Mother's house. Appalled, Brian is helpless to change the people's minds, as his every word and action are immediately seized as a point of doctrine.

The Romans finally catch the hapless Brian and he is scheduled to be crucified. Pontius Pilate asks the crowd whom he should pardon, but is fed various "fake" names intended to highlight his strong lisp, much to the their amusement. Pilate eventually orders Brian's release, but in a moment parodying the climax of the film Spartacus, the various crucified people all claim to be "Brian of Nazareth", and the wrong man is released. Abandoned by anyone who might be able to help him, the actual Brian remains hanging in the hot sun, and is told by his fellow sufferers, in song, to "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life".

The blog tagline ,  “No, no.  Please, please please listen.  I’ve got one or two things to say” comes from a scene where Brian is trying to convince a group of followers that he is not the messiah and they need to start thinking for themselves.

The transcript from that scene in the movie…

Brian: No, no. Please, please please listen. I've got one or two things to say.
The Crowd: Tell us! Tell us both of them!
Brian: Look, you've got it all wrong. You don't need to follow me. You don't need to follow anybody! You've got to think for yourselves! You're all individuals!
The Crowd: Yes! We're all individuals!
Brian: You're all different!
The Crowd: Yes! We're all different!
Man in crowd: I'm not...
Man in crowd: Shhh!
Brian: You've all got to work it out for yourselves.
The Crowd: Yes! We've got to work it out for ourselves!
Brian: Exactly!
The Crowd: Tell us more!
Brian: No! That's the point! Don't let anyone tell you what to do! Otherwise…

You Tube video of the scene…

Film Review: Visual Acoustics

I recently had the chance to view a fascinating documentary (if you enjoy modernist architecture or architectural photography) entitled Visual Acoustics The Modernism of Julius Schulman.  The subject of the film was the life and career of Julius Schulman (1910 – 2009) a man whom many consider one of the greatest, if not the greatest, architectural photographer of the 20th century.

Schulman captured the work of nearly every modern architect since the 1930’s including Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, John Lautner, Gregory Ain, R.M Schindler and Frank Gehry.  Many of the  images captured by Schulman will be the only exposure most of us ever have to these fantastic buildings.

The film, directed by Eric Bricker contains a number of interviews with Schulman and his daughter as well as the children and friends of a number of the architects that Schulman worked with and current residents of some of the homes.  For a number of the home restorations, the only remaining references of the original structures were in Schulman’s archives.

Schulman is fascinating to listen to and is amazingly energetic for a man in his mid 90’s.  He was a Photographer of architecture, naturalist, educator, and commentator on urban form.  Shulman’s images played a major role in crafting the image of the Los Angeles and “Southern California lifestyle” to the rest of the nation and world during the 1950s and 1960s. A prolific author, consultant, lecturer, exhibitor, and editor of his own vast archive, Shulman remained active up until his passing away in July of 2009.

Much of the information for this review was found on the web site for the film which can be found here along with a link to purchase the film.  The film is also available from Netflix for those that have a subscription.

I found this to be an extremely enjoyable film about a fascinating and talented man and welcome comments from anyone that has seen the film or is familiar with Schulman’s work.