http://193.108.42.79/ikea-us/anna/bot.html
You said: What is your name?
Anna said: I am Anna, the IKEA USA Online Assistant.
You said: How old are you?
Anna said: (wincing) I prefer not to discuss my age; let’s talk about IKEA.
You said: what color are your eyes?
Anna said: For which product would you like to know which colors it is available in?
You said: you have a nice mouth for an avatar!
Anna said: All of IKEA’s products are made to the highest standards.
’nuff said.
Heard on NPR about a gun club boycotting Jewel for donating money for Chicago’s gun buyback program.
What is this guy smoking? The aims are orthogonal. He wants to train new responsible gun owners. The police dept wants to get them away from owners who suspect they might NOT be responsible, and that might just need a push to get rid of them.
I can think of a lot of reasons to boycott Jewel — their stores are lousy, for example – why didn’t we get a Dominick’s in Woodstock instead of Wal-Mart? — but their support of the gun buyback program is not one of them.
Fun play starring our ex-neighbor Steven Rausch and a cast of 47 kids for the Woodstock Summer Youth Theater. Daniel was in it too. Wonderful story, great play. At the Woodstock Opera House.
Great show. Sarah used to like them and I inherited Remember and another. Hot. Cool venue — small, lots of bathrooms and beer sales. Overlooking a small lake and neat rocks lit up behind the band. Part of the “Music in the Zoo” series — what a great idea!
Rule 1. Bring earplugs. Even in an outdoor venue I was glad I had them, Etymotics. We bought sets of $2 earplugs for the poor guys in our group up front.
Opener was Zox, good reggae beat. I bought 2/$10 CDs.
Sam ran in the Minneapolis Lifetime Fitness Triathlon. So hot. The elite athletes ran the full course, but the amateurs had 3 miles from bike course and 3 miles from running course removed due to weather. Still lots of fun.
Ever go into a washroom, and towels are stacked on the counter? I cannot think of a more inefficient way of distribution. They all get wet, you get several at a time. Use a dispenser, one at each station.
Heard NPR story on Congo. What separates the US from places like Congo? The rebel groups are fighting each other, dying everywhere, no food, military out of control.
We don’t (in general) have to hunt for our next meal. That helps. But the big difference is hope. I think the current US administration is a bunch of war criminals, but in 2008, King George II will be history and we can pick up the pieces. In places like Darfur and Congo, they have been fighting since independence with others and each other. Hard to see anything positive. So why not fight and try to get a piece of the action?
Chris used to live near us — we have known him a while. He wrote “In a Smile” for Sarah. Someday we’ll get a copy. Nice song.
This kid can play.
- Beethoven - Sonata #1
- Purcell - Sound the Trumpet (duet w/Steven Rausch)
- Michael Head - A Summer Idyll
- Chopin - Nocturne in E Minor
- David Gray - This Year’s Love
- Stephano Donaudy - O del mio amato ben
- Ernesto Lecuona -Malaguena from Spanish Suite “Andalucia”
- DeSylva & Henderson - Lucky Day
- C Rausch - More Than Friends
- C Rausch - In A Smile (for Sarah)
- Joplin - Maple Leaf Rag
- Ben Folds - Brick
- Rachmaninoff - Prelude in G Minor
- Norman/Simon - lily’s Eyes from “The Secret Garden” Duet w/Paul Rausch
- Debussy - First Arabesque
- Jason Robert Brown - Movin too Fast from “The Last 5 Years”
For Hazel’s 90th, we had lunch at the Prairie Rock Brewery and then took her birthday stake over to Grand Victoria Casino to blow it. She has more sense than I, and spent some, but saved some to take to the Iowa casinos — better machines, I guess.
