I've been looking at cars, everything from the Scion xB, the Honda Element, the Mazda Speed3 (mmm, 264 horsepower) and even the family mover Mazda CX-7 or 9.  While doing research (aka "buying time") I came across this funny and actually very useful video on YouTube about buying a new car.  It's my current featured video so check it out.  While it's mostly common sense it helps to a have reminder considering how easy it is to get caught up in the sales person schtik.

Another great thing about that night was that four of my cousin-in-laws were up on stage Irish step-dancing while African Wind performed "Queen of the Dance Hall Girls".  Normally the sound of the girls dancing is pre-recorded or simulated with an instrument but nothing can replace four amazing Irish step-dancers in their hard shoes doing high kicks and coming crashing down on the wooden stage floor in perfect time to the song.

Lastly everyone was treated to an amazing performance when Madam Andrews came up on stage as a special guest and performed with the band, sharing her gospel-style of singing and blending it perfectly with the blues of African Wind.

Live music has a tradition of each performance being unique and memorable.  Sadly in these days of huge concerts and highly commercialized music it's harder and harder to find those experiences, it seems each show is a carbon copy of the last with your city's name filled into a blank.  One place that tradition can still be found is Swallow Hill, where you can still see a show and still say, "you should have been there, it was amazing!"

The second thing is that I was a little bit scared.  Not really scared of the surgery since I was just a kid and I had no idea that "surgery" actually meant cutting you open and poking at your pink stuff.  No, I was scared of the huge hospital, of all the tension I could feel in my parents, in the way everyone talked softly, in the funky smell of the halls.  I was scared right up to the point I walked into the Children's Ward.  As soon as I walked through that door I was in a kid wonderland.  Bright toys, huge stuffed animals, coloring books, a set of bunk beds, plenty of room to run around in and the encouragement to do so.

That bit of distraction, letting me run around while my parents talked with the doctor about my surgery, is probably the biggest reason I didn't develop a fear of hospitals.  That's why when I came across the Child's Play Charity I was instantly struck with how great an idea it is.  I'll let their site tell the full story but basically it's a charity where hospitals each have a wish list of child-specific items and you get to buy them for the hospital.

NOTE: This doesn't actually exist yet, but wouldn't it be cool?