Sing a Song for Safety

Woh! This is very surreal and yet so very practical:

I just started using TextMarks. This is a service that I’ve known about for some time, but just didn’t really know how I might use it. Actually, for musicians and others that promote new content from time to time, this is an excellent idea.

I learned of this from Dave Jackson at the Musicians Cooler podcast. He recently mentioned it again on a recent episode, so I thought I’d give it a go.

Here are three of the keywords that I’ve started using:
richpalmer: Yes, this one seems obvious. But the easiest way for me to use this is to have it serve as my virtual business card. If I’m in conversation with someone and find that I’ve forgotten my actual business cards, I can suggest that they text ‘richpalmer’ to 41411 and they will get an SMS message with my contact details.
richdesoto: This is the keyword for people that would like to know when I’m playing again in the Second Life environment. I’ve also placed this widget on my Rich Desoto blog page.
safesongs: Right now it simply points people to my music page for information about the Sing a Song for Safety CD. But I might start using it as a prompt for new information, newsletter updates, etc. Would be a great way to connect with people while on the go.

Here are the three widgets:

On November 4, 2008, give liberty a chance. This election doesn’t have to be between the lesser of two evils. Americans need a choice, and Liberty needs a voice.

A few days I ago I watched a video by Brett Bumeter on Utterz about his bassett hound. He was trying to teach it how to swim. I was intrigued by the activity and decided to do another parody song about his dogs. I had previously recorded “Fly Like a Beagle” so it made sense to do one for the bassett. I chose Tom Petty’s “Learning to Fly” and turned it into “Learning to Swim.”

Brett was inspired by the tune, so he took his original video, compiled a few more clips and turned this song into a music video. He said that it might be a first in Utterz collaborations.

Enjoy!

Don’t forget to listen to “Fly Like a Beagle,” too!

Universal Studios fire

Apparently a fire broke out in the back lot of the Universal Studios properties in Los Angeles yesterday morning. I was out of touch with much of mainstream media throughout the day, so I happened upon the reports this morning.

Some movie sets burned

The Associated Press reports show that the fire destroyed a set from “Back to the Future,” the King Kong exhibit and a video vault containing more than 40,000 videos and reels. Fortunately copies of the movie and television materials are held in other locations, as well.

Rough interview

I feel bad for Los Angeles Fire Department PIO Darryl Jacobs. The MSNBC reporter that was interviewing him during the fire sounded like she had no idea where to go with her questions. She would restate the obvious or rework phrases just to have something to ask. Or, so it seemed.
Here’s a copy of the interview:

A challenging fire to fight

The blaze was believed to be one of the longest-running commercial fires in Los Angeles County history. Fire Captain Mike Brown of the LA County FD has been reported to say, “It is one of the longest fires to extinguish because of its complexity and size.”