"fat hawaiian singer"

Google is so good.

For some reason, that "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" song popped into my head.  I knew that an overbese Hawai’ian guy remade it over 10 years ago, but I had no clue as to his real name (which I have since learned was Israel Kamakawiwo’ole).  So, I fired up Google and typed in "fat hawaiian singer", and BAM!  Fourth link on the page:

Incidentally, actually hearing the song left me with an instant, overwhelming sense of melancholy because it reminded me of Kelly’s late Aunt Lynn’s funeral.  Lynn was a huge Wizard of Oz fan, and as part of her celebration of life, someone sang the original version of this song.

Strange how music can evoke vivid recollections of the past, isn’t it?

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Stolen shamelessly from Becky's MySpace page.  Thanks, Becky!

My BIL, Chuck, and his girlfriend, Becky, were among the lucky few who witnessed Barry's record-setting 756th home run in person.

Says Chuck:

Easily one of the Top 3 Moments of my life. 

Chuck, Chuck, Chuck…  So young, so naive.  Just wait until you get a dog, and he's sound asleep on the floor in front of you, and he farts really loudly, and it jolts him awake, and it scares him so badly that he runs out of the room and hides under the office desk.  That will easily occupy Moments 1-7.

Baby Eoff in the house

Congratulations, Danny and Greta!  Their baby girl, as yet unnamed, was born this morning to two very proud parents.  The full details are in a text message on my cell phone, which is dead at the moment, so the best I can do is wish them a hearty congratulations!

Fort Bragg / Mendocino: 7/8/2007

Warning: inane content ahead.  It is a journal of what we did while on vacation.  It is not particularly well-written, and should you decide to read it, you will likely experience an overwhelming sense of boredom similar to watching someone else’s home videos.  Proceed with caution.

Time to go home.  After packing up, we headed off to breakfast at the Home Style Café.  Man, are those good eats.  I had Linguica, eggs, potatoes, and biscuits.  Oh man, it’s good stuff.  For you Woodlanders out there, I’d say it’s as good as, if not better than, breakfast at the Ranch Kitchen.

http://www.homestylecafe.com/

After breakfast and a quick Starbucks break, we headed north out of Fort Bragg to see the redwoods.  There is some beautiful coast line up there, and the redwoods are spectacular.

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We paid the $5 to drive through the “Chandelier Drive-Thru Tree,” one of the most underwhelming experiences of my life.  We drove out the other side, looked at each other and said, “yay.”  Yes.  A lowercase yay.

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We made it all the way up to Garberville before turning around and heading for home.  Benbow looks like a nice area, but it’s a bit remote.  Hopefully someday we’ll get back up there again.  It’s pretty nice country.

T-man was great throughout the whole trip.  He spent a lot of time in his car seat, but he didn’t complain a bit.  He was a little fussy at night, but we think that it was because he was out of his element.  Hopefully things will return to normal this week.

If you’ve made it this far, I commend you.  Also, you are a masochist, but, hey, if it was worth it, who am I to judge?