Ewok Gospel

Check this out, it includes the Real Billy D. Williams as a preacher....

Everybody now ....EEEEEwoks whoa EEEwoks

:)



-Cliff

Staycation Atlanta - Part 4: Zoo Atlanta and the Georgia Aquarium

As we wound down the Staycation, we focused on animals

On Thursday we went to Zoo Atlanta

Here is Hannah making a monkey of herself :)




Giraffes!!!!!





Emily made friends with the pigs in the petting zoo (she also scolded them for being "not nice" to each other).




Happy Sisters





On Friday we took some friends to the Georgia Aquarium:

Here are the girls with some of the fish



Where do we need to go next????




In closing, the Staycation was a great experiment, and it was great to fly by the seat of our pant for a week with no real agenda, except what we came up with the night before. I guess the lesson is that you do not have to go somewhere far away (even thought that is fun) to have a great week. What matters is who you are with. I have had so many people say to me "I have lived here in Atlanta for years, andI have not done half of this stuff." Remember to always take a look around and find the fun around you, no matter where you are.

-Cliff

Staycation Atlanta - Part 3: Aquatic Center and Food For the Week

On Wednesday, we had a lazy morning, and then went to the Gwinette Aquatic Center for the afternoon. This is a place that just opened up this summer. It has instructional pools, lap pools, and a great outdoor facility with two big water slides, a lazy river, and a kids place with smaller slides and water pouring out everywhere.

Only one pic for this one - I am taking the girls through the lazy river:




Another part of this week has been the food. I try very hard not to be a "Let's just grab something from the snack bar" guy. To me, the food is a part of the experience. To that end we have had some great food this week. I can recommend several places to visit if you are in town:

• Mary Mac's Tea Room: The BEST restaurant southern food ever. I cannot say enough good about this place
  
• The Varsity: It's the Varsity. If you don't know about it, throw a rock and you will find someone who does.
• Fresh Air Bar-B-Que: This joint is in Athens, GA, and is a great Bar-B-Que place. Good pork and ribs as well as great Brunswick Stew. If you are Athens, check it out.
• Steamhouse Lounge: I have a long and storied history with this place. Back in 1997, I came down to Atlanta from OH for the Peach Bowl. We ate seafood at the Steamhouse, and I discovered their Lobster Bisque (I call it Liquid Gold). At the time, it was in Buckhead. Over the years, I came back to Atlanta on business several times, and would visit the Steamhouse every opportunity that I got. Therefore, when we actually moved to Atlanta, I was pumped that I was finally close to the restaurant. When we drove past it the first time, I discovered that it was a crater, LITERALLY. The place, and everything around it had been torn down. I heard that they gave the Bisque recipie to Fontaine's Oyster House in the Virgina Highlands area of Atlanta. I visited Fontaine's and found that the Bisque was in fact the same. This morning, I decided that I wanted to take the familly to Fontaine's for lunch. In the process of looking for it online, i discovered that the STEAMHOUSE LOUNGE HAS REOPENED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now it is in Midtown. So that is where we went for lunch. One cup of Lobster Bisque, a Lobster Roll, and a Stella Artois later, I was a happy guy. The Steamhouse lives...balance is restored to the universe.

I will have more memories from the Staycation over the next few days.

-Cliff

Staycation Atlanta - Part 2: Mayfield and Stone Mountain

On Tuesday we continued our adventure with trips to the Mayfield Dairy (ok so it sounds really boring, but was quite interesting.)

They did not allow pictures inside, but we did have Ice Cream at the end of the tour, so here are a couple of pics:

Daddy and the Girls:




Mommy and the girls:






Later that afternoon, we went to Stone Mountain.

OOOOO AHHHHHHHH....



Emily hung out at the Blacksmith shop:





At the top of Stone Mountain, Hannah acted like she was on the moon:






I took the opportunity to act like Charlton Heston...

YOU BLEW IT UP!!!!!!!!!!! WHY???????????? NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!



We braved some rain and thunder, but survived, and got to see the laser show. All in all, it was a great day!!




Back with more later today.


-Cliff

Staycation Atlanta - Part 1: World of Coke

As most of you know, we did not go away on vacation, but are doing the Staycation in Atlanta. It all started on Sunday with a visit to the world of Coke.





Here are Mary and Emily on the Season 4 American Idol Couch




Daddy and the Girls in the Theater




Here I am with Max Headroom...r-r-r-remember h-h-him?



I'll be back with more later.

-Cliff

Sweep The Leg!!

I am officially on vacation, so expect some updates this week. I am sure that I do not do more than most people, but I have just been a little burnt out lately. I love what I do, but I need to unplug and think about nothing for a while.

Thus the video below.

No Mercy... :)



-Cliff

Complete - Part 2 - The Power of the Internet

Please scroll down and read part one first if you have not...

So we have established that Complete is the worst band ever, and that it is really funny to watch their videos from 10 years ago. Then it gets to weird to be fake...

As Complete's popularity circulates around message boards and e-mail inboxes, people begin to track the members of the band down. Suddenly there are blogs, and myspace pages dedicated to a band who last played together 10 years ago.

Many people tried to track down members of the band, and were unable to do so. It seemed as if Dave's Video from 10 year ago, would be all of the Complete that we would ever see.

But the a breakthrough occurred....the Internet would not let Complete die.

It all started on this myspace page...

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=301250986

The Lead singer Curt Low (formerly Curtis Brumbalow) has a step son who set up this page, and published some of the music that Curt and other members of complete hand been making over the past 10 years. This included a brand new version of "Hoogie Boogie Land".

FINALLY...we had new life from complete. He followed it up with a new 4 part series of interviews with our hero Curt.

Part 1
Interview With Curt From Complete



Part 2
Interview With Curt From Complete part 2


Part 3
Interview With Curt From Complete part 3


Part 4
Interview With Curt From Complete part 4



For the followers of Complete (all 10 or so of us) this was AWESOME!!! Finally we footage that proved that Curtis was still around, and still living the dream.

This kind of follow up is nearly unheard of in the world of Internet phenomenons

But it did not end there...

On June 1st, 2008 Complete returned. In a little bar in Ft. Worth, TX. Things came full circle, because in attendance was Dave. Yes THAT Dave. Dave brought his video camera.

After 12 years, the original three people in the photo lab incident were all together in the same place.




Then Compelte took the stage again, and for the first time in 12 years played "Hoogie Boogie Land".


Complete-Hoogie Boogie Land from Dave on Vimeo.


So there you have it. 12 year ago, there is a chance meeting in a photo lab, that leads to the recording of a terrible one-time cable access performance. 10 years later it is posted to the Internet, and becomes popular. From that springs a chain of events that leads to a reunion concert. The story is Complete (pun intended.

There may not be a big lesson here, but there is an excellent illustration of the power of the Internet to affect our lives, and to connect people no matter the time or distance between them.

If this has left you with a morbid curiosity to follow the ongoing story of Complete, you can check out updates on Dave's Complete Blog.

Have a great weekend.

-Cliff

Complete - The Worst Band You've Never Heard of - Part One

I have been waiting to have the time to do this piece the right way for quite some time. This is not just a blog about the band Complete (whom you will know and love by the end of this), but it is also a testament to the power of the Internet, or web 2.0 as it is called.

About a year ago, a friend of mine introduced me to the band Complete through a series of Youtube videos. These are the worst musicians you have ever heard of. I am going to guide you through their story, as well as what let to their eventual reunion on June 1, 2008. This was over 10 years after their last show.

The story of Complete starts back in 1996 in Ft. Worth, TX with a guy named Dave who worked in a drug store processing film into pictures. I'll let Dave tell you in his own words. You only need to watch the first 4 min and 25 sec of this video.



In case you are wondering how bad they can be, here is their signature song Hoogie Boogie Land...take it in and soak up just how bad this is.




Here is a second song, I give you ...Beautiful Sunrises. Be sure to check out the cowboy chick dancing by herself at the bar...classy.



Ok, do you get the pictures...these guys are TERRIBLE!! Not only that but they are not the brightest bulbs in the lamp either.

Check out the Complete Interview. They discuss the origin of the band name, and why they only do their original music.



It would be funny enough if it ended here, but it does not. Once these videos were posted on the Internet, the power of the Internet took over. Complete became popular, and eventually someone tracked them down.

To be continued in part two...

-Cliff

July 4th- Patriotic Music (Weird Interpretation)

Happy Independence Day everyone!!!

We are at my folks today for the 4th. We got here in time for lunch and will be going to fireworks in a little bit. Just thought I would check in with some entertainment.

Now, without further ado, we have a little patriotic music, courtesy of the Muppets:



Eat too much, watch some fireworks, and remember if you still have all 10 fingers, you are not celebrating hard enough.

-Cliff

Cliff Mansfield... Pop Culture Prophet???

Ok Ok OK...the headline may be a little over the top.

The name of this blog is "Pop Culture is Eating Itself". Being lazy, I will directly quote the previous entomology of the phrase that I have posted on Myspace:

You see, I grew up in the 70s 90s, and that is what shaped my existence. So now I watch TV and all I see are shows that are reminiscing about the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Many of the new movies are sequels or remakes. We spend so much time watching, thinking, and talking about previous stuff that there is very little good new stuff out there.



Given that, what will we see 20 years from now? Will VH1 be showing "I Love I Love the 80s?" A program where the "Mo Roccas" of tomorrow talk about the "Mo Roccas" of today? If you follow that though out, we are basically talking about the stuff from yesterday instead of making good stuff for today. Therefore, we will eventually end up with a Popular Culture that only references previous Popular Culture. With no new things to reference, we will run out of source material.


Therefore, Pop Culture is Eating Itself.

Well they have finally done it, yes Pop Culture has finally truly begun eating itself. The initial harbinger of this sad state has been launched on VH1. Yes, the most significant example of Pop Culture Eating Itself has arrived...

Folks I give you a clip from VH1's "I LOVE THE NEW MILLENNIUM" ...

• VH1 TV Shows
• Music Videos
• Celebrity Photos
• News & Gossip

WAIT???? WHAT??????? The iPod??? We are already reminiscing about the ipod??? Is this necessary??? The iPod is still a hot product, it is still "in". You CAN'T reminisce about something that is still in style!!! That is not fun, nor pithy, nor smart. It is in the simplest terms...stupid.

It is the equivalent of walking up to someone and saying "Remember how great yesterday was?? Wow, those were the days." That person would justifiable look at you like you have a purple cow sitting on your back (I should know, I get that look a lot).

So, it would seem that the creative well, has run dry enough that we have created shows for every year up to the current year. That means VH1 and their ilk are out of opportunities for new content for at least the next six months. Maybe in January they can produce I Love the New Millennium: 2008. Maybe it can come out on January 2nd, in case we do not remember what happened 2 DAYS AGO!!! Wow!!!

A little over two years ago, I came up with the whole concept of "Pop Culture is Eating Itself" and in all honesty, I thought we would come to our senses before it came to pass. However, VH1 did not come to their senses, and the result is above. And... I called it two years ago.

Cliff Mansfield...Pop Culture Prophet??? Maybe not, but I should at least get credit for being astute. Even if it is meaningless. :)

Have a great rest of the week.

-Cliff

More New Guns N' Roses

Here is some more new Guns N' Roses. This track leaked at the same time as the last one (which I have fixed the link for). This song is very uncharacteristic, and is called "If the World".

Courage, Grace,and Confidence

I was on the phone with someone today, and was discussing a project at work. I am the lead on this project and, at this point in time, it is going very well, and is near completion. This person said "You are doing a great job with this." Now this was not someone who I report to, or am necessarily responsible to, (those people kinda have a responsibility to give feedback). It was just someone who, in her own right, has contributed a lot to this particular integration (of a purchased company) and that I just work with. She just was transparent enough to offer her real thoughts to me in a completely unselfish way. Being my own worst critic, I did not really know how to respond, but (after telling her that the success up to this point was due to the efforts of a lot of people), I finally just shut up and thanked her for the kind words. She is right, we are moving mountains in a short amount of time, and the responsibility lays squarely on my back. If it were to fail, so would I. So if (when) it succeeds, so will I. I guess the lesson here is three-fold:

-Be courageous enough to compliment people when you have nothing to gain
-Be gracious enough to accept a compliment, without arrogance
-Have confidence that if you are doing what you are supposed to do, you deserve it

Things that make you go hmmmm.....