Friday, December 02, 2011

Shuggie Otis

A few months ago, I was listening to WTUL and heard Shuggie Otis's song Strawberry Letter 23 for the first time in 30 years.

I heard the song again today and was planning on researching all the songs that sampled it.

Then I came across this video, which did all the work for me...




If you want to see for yourself, here is The Brothers Johnson cover version of the song...




Outkast's Ms. Jackson that samples the song...




And Beyonce's Be With You that samples the song and lyrics...



Paris Trip - The Details I

Carlos, Jason, Brandon and I spent seven days (plus a few travel days) in Paris, returning late night on Saturday, November 26.

If you want the 2:52 Short Attention Span Version of our Trip, click the video below.




If you want the details...

We left Friday morning, November 18 to catch a flight around noon. After a layover in Houston, we arrived in Paris around 8 am Saturday (November 19) morning. On the Paris flight over, I think I slept the most - and I slept only about 90 minutes.

Between finding an ATM, navigating the Metro, getting food and locating our hotel, we arrived around 11 am, tired and ready for some sleep. After checking into our hotel, we napped for about an hour and then went exploring....

Through a market a few blocks from our hotel...



Past the Bastille (now a traffic circle roundabout)...

To Notre Dame, where we spent a few hours, including eating freshly-made crepes and hanging out in the park behind Notre Dame ...



Through the outside of the Louvre and the surrounding area...





And that was Saturday (Day 2 of 9).

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Sunday (November 20) we spent at the Louvre. The last time I was in Paris, I went to the Louvre, but in the six hours I was there, I was only able to see the Denon wing. This time - in our kind-of-rushed-eight-hour journey - we made it all the way through the Denon wing, through all of the Richelieu wing (including the Medieval Louvre, which I find fascinating) and through the majority of the Sully wing. I feel there is still so much that we didn't see that I could go back again. Next time.

Here are some pictures to help convey how large the museum is...






After 9+ hours at the Louvre, we decided to tackle walking down the entire distance of the Champs-Élysées...




(stopping in shops along the way) to the Arc de Triomphe - and then walking up these steps to the top!

The view made it worth the trip (and the leg cramps)...


And that was Sunday (Day 3 of 9).

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I'll fill in more details, day by day, as I have time in the coming weeks.

Have you been to Paris? We're going back in 2013. Let me know your recommendations for places to go.