Rediscovering the Cranberries

Posted on by Jeremy Felt

I rediscovered the Cranberries 6 years ago. They had been a presence in high school—Zombie was a constant on the airwaves—but other than liking the song like other grunge songs, I don't remember having a full appreciation for the band.

It was in 2011 that I remember really listening to Zombie and coming closer to understanding it for the first time. My personal connection with Ireland had become much stronger after falling in love with the country over 5 different trips and I had a better grasp of the song's substance. I set off to explore the rest of the Cranberries' albums, became a fan, and added them to my regular catalog.

If I could go back to my 1992-1996 self, I would tell him to obsess over any Cranberries show available. Every time I listen to their albums I get so amped and start dancing around. So good!

Me, on Facebook – December 24, 2014

It's very sad to hear of Dolores O'Riordan's passing at 46. So young and so talented. I'm happy for the music she shared with us while she was here and I'll continue enjoying it for years.

Thank you, Dolores.

Featured image, The Cranberries en Barcelona, licensed CC By 2.0 by Alterna2 on Flickr.

Me and Pedro José Rada y Gamio

Posted on by Jeremy Felt

Google's mobile version of their Arts & Culture product has a fun feature where you can take a selfie and it matches you with a work of art.

I'm a 47% match with a portrait of Pedro José Rada y Gamio, the mayor of Lima from 1922 to 1925 and prime minister of Peru from 1926 to 1929.

I took a few selfies to try and see how many different pairings I could come up with, but this was frequently the match. I'll have to do a repeat after I shave the next time and see if it's taking facial hair into account.

One of the most inspiring things I’ve heard from Barack Obama

Posted on by Jeremy Felt

We watched President Obama's interview on David Letterman's new Netflix show last night. There were several great moments throughout—listening to Obama is always enjoyable—but this quote from his explanation of the Obama Foundation's focus struck me more than anything:

We were talking earlier about the whole issue of racism and the silence that some people, who probably knew better, felt, and so, they just let things continue as they were.

The interesting thing is the reverse happens.

'Cause we're social animals, and if we see others who are volunteering… we'll think, "Well, maybe we'll volunteer."

If they see others voting… "Maybe I'll vote."

If they feel as if there's a community around them that says this is the norm, for us to feel like we have a say in our lives and we can connect with people, even if they don't look exactly like we do, or worship in the exact same way, or have the same sexual orientation, but we have these common interests involved, and that's the habits of the heart that we've developed… you know, it works that way, too.

So, that's what the Foundation is going to try to promote in a systematic way.

Barack Obama

I'm very excited to see what the foundation is able to accomplish over the coming years.