I discover YouTube

I haven't done much blogging lately, mainly because most of this month has been consumed with our move to new digs about a mile from where we used to live. We still aren't finished, and my wife and daughter left yesterday for Utah, where they will remain until August 8, so I will have to do much of the remaining work myself. In connection with the move, we have been going through a major downsizing, getting rid of stuff we should have gotten rid of at least 10 years ago, when we left Ohio. But that's another story.

Yesterday we got high-speed Internet for the first time. Up until now, we had been using our 56K phone modem, which was state-of-the-art technology a few short years ago but is today of little more use than a rotary-dial telephone. With this new setup and some extra time on my hands, I spent much of the evening making my first real visit to YouTube. I have the impression that YouTube, like Flickr, contains much that is either pornographic, uninteresting, or of amateurish quality, but that it likewise features much that is informative and pleasing to the eye and the spirit, if one is willing to make the effort to find it.

I enjoyed this little introductory journey, which lasted until I went to bed sometime around 1 a.m. During that time, I marked 17 videos as favorites, and the choices might say something about me, although I don't know what. They include the following: the national anthems of the Soviet Union and the Islamic Republic of Iran; several renditions of "O mio babbino caro" from Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi," probably my favorite song of all time; a tribute to fallen troops, set to the accompaniment of a song called "Dante's Prayer;" a performance by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey of "When You Believe," from "The Prince of Egypt;" portions of Ronald Reagan's funeral, including the tribute by Margaret Thatcher and "Mansions of the Lord;" a montage of kissing scenes, apparently taken from various TV programs and accompanied by a beautiful waltz tune from the "Pearl Harbor" soundtrack; several of my favorite oldies, including "Be My Baby," "Duke of Earl," and "This Magic Moment;" the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performing "Come, Come Ye Saints" (I sent a link to this one to two friends in Iran); and Ronald Reagan challenging Mr. Gorbachev to "tear down this wall."