Sinatra

Pardon the interruption, but we need to take a brief time-out from Great Falls blogging in order to remember the greatest entertainer of the 20th century.

Today marks ten years since we lost the greatest singer - perhaps the greatest entertainer - of the 20th century: Francis Albert Sinatra. Ol’ Blue Eyes. The Voice. The Chairman of The Board. The Legend. Frankie. Sinatra.

May 14, 2008 | Filed Under music, david | Leave a Comment 

Happy Birthday to Me!

Well, not ME, exactly, but rather to GreaterFalls.com! Actually, the official day was on Wednesday; the very first blog entry here was on May 7, 2005, which makes GreaterFalls three years old. In dog years, that’s about 21 years old, and in blog years, that’s probably…what, 40 or 50 years old? Here’s a screenshot of the early days, courtesy of the Wayback Machine (click to see full size) (update: image link now fixed!):

the early days of greaterfalls.com!

Thanks for helping me get to the three-year mark! Seriously - having awesome folks like you around makes this fun. I would have baked a birthday cake to share with all of you, but it’s so hard to squeeze baked goods through the internets, ya know.

UPDATE: awwww…thanks, everyone, for the nice comments! And especially to Dave (the *other* one!) for the b-day dedication!

May 9, 2008 | Filed Under blogging, david | 8 Comments 

Dad Chimes In

Time once again for “Dad Chimes In,” a semi-regular feature in which my father, a retired Air Force physician in Texas, provides his commentary on a recent GreaterFalls entry. Today’s subject is coming up with a name for the adorable little bunny from Friday. Here’s what Dad had to say:

May 6, 2008 | Filed Under animals, david | 6 Comments 

Bloggers Revealed

When I began GreaterFalls.com nearly three years ago, I had no idea that it would lead to things like being interviewed by the Trib and KFBB and even occasionally being recognized around town. But since I have achieved a wee bit of local prominence (well, among the cool people, anyway), it turns out that people seem to enjoy confiding in me - sort of kinda off the record. People e-mail me, acquaintances whisper things to me, all with the simultaneous hope and fear that I might blog about their particular tidbit of information.

Now if you ask anyone who knows me really well, you’ll learn that I have a hard time keeping a secret. Heck, that’s one of the reasons that I love to blog — I enjoy being the one to share information. So it’s been pretty dang hard to keep some of these “secrets” under wraps for so long, and after quite a bit of consideration, it’s time to “break” some news here at GreaterFalls.com…you see, if I’m ever going to make any money off of this hobby and website - other than the paltry $30 or so bucks a month from Google ads and Text Link Ads - then it’s time for me to act like a true “media” outlet. So while I will try to respect my individual sources, I think it’s OK for me to spill a few things that have been reported to me by multiple sources; namely, the identities of some of Great Falls better-known “anonymous” bloggers.

First, let’s reveal the most obvious one: Electric City Weblog, which many believe is authored by a local attorney, is in fact the brainchild of none other than John Lawton. Several of you have e-mailed me over the years wondering if there was a connection, and you were spot-on. Lawton created the ECW several years ago in a well-calculated PR move designed to promote the Highwood Generating Station, with the premise that “there ain’t no such thing as bad publicity.” Now that John is officially out of office, it can be said safely.

Second, the mysterious “GF Girl” over at Cataract City has really confounded people; there’s not a week that goes by that I don’t get at least one e-mail speculating about her true identity. I won’t explicitly state her REAL name here (for Google’s sake), but I can give you a clue: she was recently elected to her position on the City Commission. Think it’s a coincidence that her Cataract City blog began sometime around the time that she announced her candidacy?

And finally we come to “GF Firefly.” She doesn’t post often, but as some of you have theorized, “Firefly” is none other than the alter-ego of Patty Rearden, the deputy director of the Parks & Recreation Department. Why do you think that so many of Firefly’s blog entries are about the skate park?

And there you have it. Some semi-secret identities now revealed, in the true spirit of “open blogging.” Hey, if “Sunshine Laws” are good for government, then they are good for blogging, too, right?

Oh, there is one more secret…

April 1, 2008 | Filed Under blogging, david | 2 Comments 

Happy Birthday!

OK, everyone, on the count of three let’s all sing “Happy Birthday” to my father. You’ll have to sing really loud, since he lives in Texas. Ready? 1…2…3: Happy Birthday To You…

bdaydad.jpg

OK, maybe singing to him won’t work, but if you’d like to wish him a happy birthday, the best way is probably to leave a comment with your favorite (ie, worst) pun or joke. Since most of Dad’s jokes are pre-war (Civil), he could probably use some fresh material (ba-dum). And as proof of his bad punnery, read what his lovely wife Jacqui (pictured above) had to say in this comment. So give it a shot - your worst pun or joke!

March 20, 2008 | Filed Under david | 4 Comments 

Intro to GreaterFalls.com

Milwaukee Station Tower in Great Falls Periodically, I like to present an “introduction” to GreaterFalls.com for folks who might be visiting for the first time. If you’re new, welcome to GreaterFalls.com! This is a “web-log” (aka blog) that I created in 2005 to feature, document, and otherwise celebrate my beloved adopted hometown of Great Falls, Montana. What is there to see here? Take a look!

March 18, 2008 | Filed Under blogging, david | 1 Comment 

Dad Chimes In

Time once again for another edition of “Dad Chimes In,” wherein my father, a retired Air Force doctor living in Texas, provides his two cents on a recent entry; today’s e-mail from dad is about the Healthy Cafe logo:

March 17, 2008 | Filed Under blogging, david | 3 Comments 

Dad Chimes In

Time for another installment of “Dad Chimes In!” This is when my father, a retired Air Force doctor living in Texas, offers up an e-mail response to one of my blog entries.

March 1, 2008 | Filed Under blogging, david | 4 Comments 

Better Living Thru Blogging

In the words of David Shuster, I am now “pimping out” my GreaterFalls.com site on behalf of my other blog, Better Living Thru Blogging, in order to show you what’s going on over there.

Roy Scheider, the man who faced down the biggest, baddest shark of the 70s, has passed away.
And speaking of the 70s, how many of you remember the time that I filled in for one of the Bee Gees?
Some gut-busting “do” and “don’t” pictures for new parents, which I originally saw via a link from fellow MT blogger Craig.
Larry King featured three celebrities on his program Friday night, and they were all excited and cheering for the Republican Presidential candidate and encouraging young people to “get out the vote” on behalf of the GOP. Oh, wait…sorry, that’s in the Bizarro world. In fact, they were all rooting for the Democrat candidates.

We now return you to regularly-scheduled Great Falls programming.

February 11, 2008 | Filed Under blogging, david | 2 Comments 

Dad Chimes In

My father, who lives in Texas, is now a subscriber to GreaterFalls.com (waves to dad)! He e-mailed me the following re: my reference to an invasion of space ants a few days ago:

David: Political Correctness forces me to state that “in addition to an invasion of ants, that you must also suffer an invasion of uncles”. And of course, ice hockey is really COOL!
Dad

Yes, my dad is a pretty punny guy.

January 16, 2008 | Filed Under humor, david | 3 Comments 

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