Robin Williams…

Having suffered from both depression and addiction issues for many years myself, I’ve been having a very hard time trying to think objectively about the death of this wonderful man. In the end I’ve decided that I just can’t. So I’ve decided instead to just say what I’ve seen in him since I first saw him on Happy Days, before Mork & Mindy, back in the 70s. It was in his eyes…

One Extraordinary Little Boy!

I saw this video on PBS last month, not long after I published my 28 Years Ago Today… post in remembrance of the Challenger disaster. I meant to go searching for it to post but somehow managed to forget. 😳 I am so grateful to George Takei for bringing it back to my attention by posting the Upworthy.com link containing it on his Facebook page! 😀

Shirley Temple Black – R.I.P.

Shirley Temple is one of the enduring icons of my early childhood. I can’t express what a shock it was to learn that the cute little curly haired girl I spent so much time watching on TV was actually a full grown women with kids of her own as I watched. That was my first lesson on the “snapshot in time” nature of film…

Santana!

You know, sometimes I envy the bloggers who’re able to pick a certain area of coverage and then stick to that area. I, on the other hand, have so many things I want to blog about that “I Want Ice Water!” is anything but a “focused” blog. The problem with having such an “unfocused” mind is that there are just so many topics that, despite their importance, I just never seem to get around to covering as well as I’d have liked to. An example of that is music. Yeah I know, you look at the long list of artists on my Music On This Blog page and it seems like I’ve done a pretty fair job of covering the music I like. But then something like the recent Kennedy Center Honors comes along and I’m reminded, once again, of just how short that list is in comparison to what it should be!

Nelson Mandela – Never Forget…

As I’m sure you all know by now, Nelson Mandela died on Thursday at the age of 95 after a long struggle that included multiple hospitalizations for treatment of a recurring lung infection. I doubt there are many in this world who don’t recognize his name and who don’t know at least a little of what made him such a significant historical figure.

For my own part however, I must admit that many of the details behind his story, as revealed in the following report from last night’s The Rachel Maddow Show, were new to me. And I can’t help but wonder how many of those who are younger than I am know even less than I did…

2nd Star To The Right, And Straight On Til Morning!

As one old enough to have watched the original Star Trek series on TV when they were new back in the 60s, not to mention every one of the spinoffs and movies except for Star Trek Into Darkness, I absolutely refuse to apologize for tearing up whenever I see this closing sequence from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country…

The Math Of Khan!

The amazing Salman Khan is the founder of the Khan Academy, a non-profit educational website he created in 2006 with the stated mission to provide “a free world-class education for anyone anywhere.” And even better yet, Khan Academy teaches a lot more than just math!

Sunday Inspiration From Alan Watts

I Don’t think I’d ever heard of Alan Watts before a few months ago. Since that time, I’ve listened to quite a few of these videos and have come to think of him as one of the most inspirational speakers I’ve ever listened too. Here are three of my favorites: