How Twitter is changing the way we live...

This is a very good article from Time magazine that describes how Twitter will change our lives.

http://bit.ly/kuC0P

And don't forget to visit our very own Twitter site at:

http://twitter.com/troybear07

I thank you and Munchy thanks you!

A Nice New Travel Blog from USA Today...

USA Today has a relatively new (three months old) website-blog-online community called Hotel Check-In. This is said to be "A Road Warrior's Guide to the Lodging Landscape" and is hosted by business travel reporter Barbara De Lollis. The site includes news, interviews with lodging CEO's - sometimes inviting questions from actual road warriors like you and me - news on frequent traveler and loyalty programs, advice and just interesting tidbits.

Here's a sample De Lollis post from April 13, 2009 (first seen in PC Today):

Hotel Guests: Where's my newspaper?

Some of you have already complained to me and my colleagues about how it's getting less common to find a USA Today or other newspaper outside your room in the morning. Hotels have recently started buying fewer papers, and in some cases, placing them near elevators instead of in front of doors for the earliest risers. And now, Marriott International said it's going to end automatic paper delivery to its rooms, citing a drop in guest demand.

It's not all bad news for newspaper junkies who stay at Marriotts. Guests at full-service hotels such as Marriott and J.W. Marriott (have) a choice between USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, a local paper or no paper. Starting April 20, guests at Marriott's less-expensive chains such as Fairfield Inn and Courtyard will be able to grab free papers in lobbies. And Marriott's loyalty club members [members of Marriott Rewards] can still receive their preferred paper automatically by updating their online profiles.

Commenting on my Twitter call for reaction, travel analyst Henry Harteveldt of Forrester Research says he likes the idea of having more papers to choose from. "This won't get Marriott any new market share," he tweeted, "but it should help improve customer satisfaction."

http://hotelcheckin.usatoday.com

And don't forget to travel to our Twitter site:

http://twitter.com/troybear07

A word from Billie Joe Armstrong himself...

On the success of the band Green Day: "If we're one of the biggest bands, it's not because we got lucky or are the most talented. The hard work is what I'm most proud of. Nothing comes easy for us."

Speaking of which, this is the 400th post on Troy Bear and nothing comes easy for us, either. Peace, out, until posting number 401.

And Here's Another...

Here's another Starbucks Bearista, which reminds us to remind you... Don't forget to visit us at our Twitter site:

http://twitter.com/troybear07

A bold coffee for everyone, on the house!


Photo: flickr (Jepster)

Next: Bob Dylan warms our lives.

Yes - There Really Are Bearistas at Starbucks!

This is a Starbucks Bearista imported from Portland, Oregon... far, far, far away. Let's hope he's ready to brew up a pot of bold coffee! Ethiopian, Sumatra, French Roast?

How to Search This Blog... (or any blogspot site)

Friends have asked me how to search for particular articles - such as book or music reviews - within this blog. I had no idea until about a week ago when a fellow blogger explained it to me.

In the upper left corner of this sample blog page, you'll see a blank white rectangular box. This is where you can enter a search term phrase or keywords such as: bob dylan, dave mason, small faces, jenny dalton, green day, great central government, munchy, peet's, starbucks, bold coffee or some other topic and then click on Search Blog (earlier Search This Blog). The multiple results for these topics will then appear as one long web page. Pretty cool.

I feel like I should keep writing except there is nothing more to say, it's as simple as this.

Now that we have a Twitter account...

We thought we should show you what the twitter bird looks like... And don't forget to visit: http://twitter.com/troybear07

Troy Bear is now on Twitter!

http://twitter.com/troybear07 Unfortunately, I have no idea what I am doing - or twittering about - at this point; but with enough time I may learn...

Photo: flickr (photo of and by Nathan)

We are experiencing some technical difficulties...

The Blogger network, which hosts this site and other Blogspot sites, had an outage last night at 11:00 PDT, 2:00 a.m on the east coast. Some Blogspot sites have experienced problems since the service was resumed. A number of sites, like this one, can only be accessed using the full Universal Resource Locator (URL) address; this means you have to type in the "www" part in your browser.

Based on what I'm reading, some bloggers cannot currently put up new posts - so these sites may appear to be inactive - and a few others cannot add photographs, so those posts will be plainer than usual.

Fortunately, I can still post photos so here's a nice black & white one of the moon over San Francisco's Coit Tower. Let's hope that things soon get back to normal at Blogger so that we can all return to business as usual. Until then, in the words of a Small Faces song, we're all "waiting here in Patience."

Photo: flickr (km6xo); click on the photo to see a slightly larger version.