...All these Years Later, It's Still Moving...

Satie is one of my favorite classical composers if you can call him that.

 

He had a futuristic thing I can’t put my finger on but he managed to sound traditional and like nothing you ever heard at the same time.

Gymnopedies is one of my favorite suites and I have never heard this version of Gymnopedie No 1 before in my life but it just goes to show how a well written piece of music will always remain beautiful.

Recorded in 1974 here is Hubert Laws – Gymnopedie No 1 (written in 1888 by Erik Satie)

...I'm Locked and Loaded, People ...

Remember this great scene from the movie Lean On Me?

Rage and Anger are like crack. Some people seem to really love it though it’s a slow, horrible way to die.

You must give up your addiction to being a miserable old biddy if you wish to live a full happy life, or you might as well go ahead and jump off of something and get it over with.

Wherever you are and however bad it is, you are not alone. You don’t get to be a nasty individual just because you think your bad day was worse than the next person. We don’t leave the house in the morning receiving telegrams that say:

Surprise!

Today is Your Day to be a Big, Obnoxious, B--- to Everyone You Encounter today! Congratulations!

Now go out and take your misguided anger out on innocent bystanders.

...This Was Good Timing...

I haven't watched the Tonight Show in years.

Even if I happen to be up late enough to catch it, either the TV's not on or if it is, it's probably on the Weather Channel so I can plan for the next day.

But I was up late this night, on the phone entirely too long having a stupid argument with someone I don't much care for anyway.

When I finally hung up I sat for a minute trying regain a sense of calm so I could try and get some sleep.  Then I did the last thing I would ever do to be "calm" and flipped on the TV just as this segment was starting.

This couple pleasantly surprised us all not only with their talent but their obviously compatibility.

They were so good, they were invited to sing with the band for the evening.

(Pumpcast News - Will & Monifa)

... This Makes You Beautiful...

When I was in junior high there was this girl that I’ll call Maureen.


Maureen was a nice girl if you knew her but not very friendly if you didn’t. I thought she was pretty because she was my friend and I liked her but I would venture to say that other people probably found her at least stereotypically pretty: light skin, light eyes, long hair that was super thick and kind of wavy and just the color brown I always wanted for my own hair (I hated having jet black hair back then.) She wore it in one long braid every single day. Until one day she came to school with a halfway cute bob.

And a black eye.

And a few other cuts and bruises.

...If The Price is Right...

In honor of the NRA convention this weekend and all those bought and bossed cheap whores, I mean, senators that voted against background checks for gun buyers, I thought I’d share this dancing puppet video.

Go ‘head puppet, get your strings pulled! Shake it!

I should clarify that I am not suggesting that these individuals are dancing puppets. And I shouldn't call them cheap since I don't know how much they were paid.

Plus, it's just not nice to talk about people. Especially people who might have guns, likely haven’t had their backgrounds checked,  and are allegedly dealing with unaddressed mental health issues.

I would like to conclude by sharing this classic gun safety presentation

…”It keeps a moment from running away”…

I keep telling friends that I need to get a dashboard cam.

 

Every day on the way to work I pass a house with live peacocks strolling around the front yard and no one believes me.

 

On the way home there’s a tree with a man cut into it. I could never properly describe this to you; it truly has to be seen to be believed.

 

But I’m not dexterous or foolish enough to try and take the photo while I handle my car so for now, these things remain a myth I made up until I provide photographic evidence otherwise.

 

Almost everyone has a camera these days, and they’re not afraid to use it, sometimes for good and sometimes for bad.

 

Odd life photos, pictures from space, surgical cameras, friends and family members show us a slice of life we might never be able to experience firsthand. We learn how big and small our world is. We can truly share a smile.

 

Yet, there have always been questionable moments. From smiling faces giving the thumbs up with lynched and burned bodies hanging in the background to morons taping and posting fights or other illegal behavior on to controversial even if informative photos from R. Umar Abbasi, Frank Fournier, Kevin Carter, and Robert Wiles.

 

... I Was Under a Rock...

This is how horrendously busy I've been.

Earlier this month, right around the 4th, I just knew there was something I was forgetting.

But what?

I have 16 aunts and uncles and something like a billion cousins, there had to be a birthday or something that wasn't coming to me.

I asked my mom if she could think of any significance to the date, and if you can believe it she remembered Jay-Z and Beyoncé's wedding anniversary.

But that wasn't it.

Days and weeks went by before... ding! The big 4-0, at that.

And I have the nerve to call myself a fan.

I trust it was a good one, and wish him many more.

Because it never gets old--that would be the song, the video, or Pharrell--  Frontin

And because it was slightly more entertaining than I thought it would be, Frontin… in reverse

... You Gotta Know When To Fold 'Em...

Know when to hold ‘em…Know when to walk away…Know when to run…

I had so much fun singing this song when I was a kid, but I don’t know that I understood how fully it could apply to so many things.

One of the many messages my dad tried to impress upon me as a kid was “picking your battles.”

One of my earliest memory of this lesson came in the sixth grade when my teacher called me a “rabble rouser” and kicked me out of class for inciting a riot with a short story I wrote for a contest.

Somehow my teacher lost my story and didn’t find it until after the entry deadline had passed. I accused her of having done it on purpose. She denied it and told me the story wasn’t any good anyway.

Someone else suggested that she read the story. Soon kids were demanding it.

The story was about a dog owner who favored one dog over the others for no particular reason. In the end he was savagely attacked and ripped to shreds by the other dogs.  I was sure my teacher had correctly recognized herself as the pet owner in this story.

I remember my principal sending someone to the teacher to retrieve the story and then I sat there all huffed up and teary -eyed while she read it. She sent me home with the story and a note to give to my parents.  Later my dad opened it, read the note and laughed hysterically. (Never did find out what the note said) Then he read the story.

Then we had a talk.

... I Want to Hug this Man...

Carlos Arredondo, or "the man in the cowboy hat" is such an inspiration.

After surviving the loss of two sons and a suicide attempt, he became a peace activist. And now he's a hero.

When you hear him speak, he seems so hurt that he could only help one person, but to that one, Jeff Bauman and to his family, it was more than enough.

Mr Arredondo shares his story

His shirt says Tough Ruck, a team of soldiers who completed the marathon then helped at the scene.

... We See ...

Some weeks back, I took a friend of mine out for people watching.


I told him that I have been people watching as a hobby for years and as time went by I started observing more and more behavior and activity that was somewhere between slightly depressing and downright horrifying.

It used to be funny.

Phone users loudly sharing things they probably would rather not if they were more conscious of the moment. Toddlers concentrating on every step only to be (hopefully gently) knocked down by their own distracted mom who promptly responds with, “Be careful! Watch where you’re going!”

People, especially girls doing things because they hope someone is watching. And other people, especially men doing things because they assume no one is watching. You know, lots of scratching or digging in dark places, although to be fair, ladies pull at their undies a lot but mostly if they’re wearing a dress.

These days it’s bad parents, bad kids, people being mean to each other.

Rudeness, posturing, aggressiveness.

Attitudes and behavior that border on violence, both physical and spiritual.

I tell you, people are sometimes incredibly cruel and indifferent and they pull it all off with a nastiness that says, “I’m justified in this.”

It’s essentially all the bull-doody you see and hear about in the media, except it’s up close and magnified.

An hour not quite two went by before he gave me a resigned look and said, “More doing, less watching would resolve this.”

... There Are No Words...

Huffington Post has offered this listing of ways you can help our friends and family in Boston.

• The Red Cross says the best way to help right now is to get in touch with loved ones through its Safe And Well Listings. The organization is not asking for blood donations at this time.

• The Salvation Army is offering food, beverages and crisis counseling to survivors and first responders. Find out how you can get involved here.

• Some marathon runners are stranded in Boston and in need of places to stay. Find out how you can offer housing here.

• Anyone with info about the incident can call 1-800-494-TIPS.

They recommend you keep checking this website as more information becomes available and the story develops.

Additional sources to find loved ones and get help locally at ABC News.

...He Can't Go ...

I fear that  Jimmy Fallon moving to the Tonight Show means he’ll get sucked in to the lameness that permeates over there.  Consider Conan O’Brien before during and after. 

And I saw Jay Leno hosting some special on the Discovery channel and he was surprisingly engaging and informed.

 

The Tonight Show? I'm pretty sure it’s a crap trap.

Will Jimmy still be doing the same great stuff? Will the Roots go with him?

Black Simon and Garfunkel – Thrift Shop

The Ragtime Gals – Sexy Back

...My Eyebrows Wiggled...

Let’s start with well wishes to Jonathan Knight.


He apparently walked off the stage in the middle of an NKOTB performance “without explanation.”

Here is your explanation.



I never ever forgot this interview and thought he was so incredibly brave. It was obvious he wanted to hit the deck, or at crawl under the chair but he made it through and managed to shed a little light on an issue that only gets attention from the drug pushing pharmaceutical companies that want to sell you a pill for it.

I’ve had issues with anxiety and I have had panic attacks at least twice before that I could identify. In both cases I ended up outside on my hands and knees trying to catch my breath, too upset to cry but needing to desperately.

Not a pleasant feeling at all and if you can’t relate from personal experience or you can’t empathize then at least don’t be a jerk about it.

A lot of comments around this story came down to, “Hey, those fans paid money and there’s no excuse for him leaving the stage.”

..."(It) Stings a Little, Don't It?" ...

Since I mentioned the movie in my last post I figured it was only fair to share one of the meanest, prettiest, baddest, low down mofo fight finales around this town. (Sho’nuff!)

You are the Last Dragon… you possess the power of the Glow

...It Was Good Clean Fun...

The last movie to keep me up past my bedtime was The Flowers of War.


Not long after that it was Pariah with a performance from Kim Wayans that made you completely forget she started out in comedy.

And now that honor goes to The Sessions. A dramatized account of the late poet Mark O’Brien’s experience with a sex surrogate. I found the story to be surprisingly sweet and captivating.

John Hawkes and Helen Hunt got tons of well- deserved nominations for this movie, and a couple of wins and William H Macy was understated perfection as usual.

I also watched The Last Dragon again. For the umpteenth time in forever. I’ve heard that younger people don’t like this movie, but what do they know about it?

As an adult I can appreciate the good clean fun of this film, the incredible soundtrack that included Willie Hutch, and the blink and you’ll miss it W.H. Macy appearance.

But back then, this movie had everything a pre-teen girl could want: a role model in Vanity (because we were young and all we saw was a pretty face and a girl who personally knew Prince); a gorgeous lead male in Taimak (even though I’ve heard repeatedly that he’s kind of a dirt bag off screen); and an itty bitty clip of a Debarge video.

Growing up our room was covered in posters of Prince, Michael Jackson, New Edition, and DeBarge so that smidgen of El that shows up in the movie was enough to make my day back then.

It made me wonder what kids like now. Who are all the posters on the wall these days?