This is a proud papa posting the work of his son, the youngest member of the Match Vineyards family, who has released his first full length album.  Alec, aka DJ Speck, and his friend DK have been writing and recording music as The Acronyms for a few years.  The genre is hip-hop and a few of the lyrics are R Rated, but DK, who writes the rap, avoids the misogynistic, narcissistic, and violent themes of some in the genre and writes about his life and times in a thoughtful way.  DJ Speck writes or mixes, and records the music.

You can listen to their album on BandCamp.  It is also available as a name-your-price download.  Click Here.

Some of Alec’s other stuff can also be heard on SoundCloud.

A gallery: Space Shuttle Endeavour

We were watching TV, following progress of the Endeavour as it did a goodbye flight over the Bay Area before retiring to a museum in LA.  We heard a roar and it flew over our backyard.
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Interesting and entertaining backstory of the band that happened to include George Harrison, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne.

World tennis #1 Novak Djokovic practices at the La Quinta Resort, Indian Wells, CA during the BNP Paribas Open.  He closes his practice session with some fun and games with his coach and hitting partner.  The next day, Djokovic would be defeated by 6’9″ American John Isner.  Notice when practicing returns of overhead slams, his coach climbs a ladder.

Finally! That big drawback of classic books — reading — can be a thing of the past.

Good grief…

A few friends might have seen this when I attempted to post it on Facebook, but it’s worth a repost — at least in my shallow mind.  I rarely shoot video of toilets — okay, i never shoot video of toilets — but this public toilet in Picton, New Zealand must be shared with the geeks among us.  WARNING: THIS VIDEO IS CLEAN AND NOT GROSS.

They understand that a daily cup of joe is necessary for a well balanced diet. Or is that 10 cups?

I finally got the iPhone to post to the blog from overseas. This pic was taken yesterday in Picton, New Zealand, the port at the northern tip of the South Island.

Whatever you do, whatever you believe, whomever you’re with… have a safe, healthy, wonderful, happy, peaceful holiday season.