Mike Ferris Video and Audio Archive

I was trying to find a way to describe Mike Ferris‘ voice and guitar work. Then I found Mike’s website has an abundance of video and audio. I picked up his two solo albums by placing a call to a hometown music store that I am hoping will buck the trend and stay in business. Horizon Records (in Greenville, South Carolina) also has a nifty little email newsletter that is very informative on new independent music and they are happy to do orders by mail as fast as Amazon.

About that description of Ferris’ unique style, I think Buddy Miller has said it best:

“Mike Farris has enough heart, soul, and power to light up a city. He mixes up the elements and turns them into something new, beautiful, and uniquely his own.”

Check it out.

Amazing Coincidence

Notice anything odd on the front page of this Idaho newspaper?

If you give up, click here.

[Via Bojack]

50th Anniversary of Seminal Silicon Valley Firm

A lawyer I work with is the daughter of one of the Fairchild 8, so named because they were the eight men (most under 30) who founded Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957 and laid the foundation for Silicon Valley. The company was named for its principal investor (and Howard Hughes-like entrepreneur) Sherman Mills Fairchild.

(Click here for a larger version of the photo, with names.)

The San Jose Mercury News recently ran a series on Fairchild’s 50th anniversary, writing:

Many consider the men … to be the founding fathers of Silicon Valley. To be sure, other electronics companies had earlier starts, and others would prove even more successful than Fairchild, but much of what one associates with Silicon Valley – the innovations, glorious rises and spectacular flameouts, young employees going off on their own to pursue ideas their bosses ignore, savvy venture capitalists helping transform these ideas into viable companies, the creation of vast wealth – can be traced to Fairchild Semiconductor.

The articles include Fairchild at 50, Fairchild’s Birthday Celebrated and a PDF of the companies and innovations these men were responsible for. Co-founder Robert Noyce, for example, invented the integrated circuit (microchip) at Fairchild; Gordon Moore wrote Moore’s Law and, with Noyce, co-founded Intel in 1968.

 

Outstanding Obituary

My brother from New Orleans sent me this over the top obituary of an overworked lawyer in the Big Easy, written by his widow after he suffered a heart attack visiting her in the hospital. Here is a link to his profile at the law firm where he worked. Here is an article published about his death in the paper from his prior home in Pennsylvania, where people describe him as “arrogant” and “noticeably lacking in accepted social graces”, but also as “an outstanding lawyer and smarter than anyone he dealt with”. Lastly, the funeral home’s online guest registry.

The Subprime Implosion Explained

If you’re feeling a bit confused by the subprime market implosion and the resulting global credit crunch, here is a short video from British TV’s ‘The Last Laugh’ that explains it all in a very clear, yet humorous way.

“Right On” Award

Last night at my employer’s annual Christmas bash, I was given the First Annual “Right On” Award for working with the litigators and responding to every new challenge and assignment with that attitude (and often with that phrase). I hope the award is soon accompanied by a raise in pay.