Missing Winston

Sad news today as I read that Winston Rand, the soulful and poetic author of Nobody Asked, has passed away.

He was the most honest and caring and giving man I have ever known. I am so fortunate and blessed to have known Winston Rand, to have been married to him for 14 years. Winston passed away Saturday, June 28, after a 38-hour illness and 3 surgeries totaling 12 hours in an attempt to save his life. His memorial service will be Tuesday, July 1... (read the rest here)

"Born with wings and a fear of heights."*

"Worry is interest paid on trouble before it is due." Or so sayeth author and priest William Ralph Inge.

Geoff Baker has posted a new song entitled, "Not To Worry." Anything Geoff writes has my full attention. And with a title like that, well, I just trust that he's going to speak to my heart of hearts as his songs so often do. "Worry" may as well be my middle name, but I promise that I don't lose sight of the good that I have so close to me at all times. I think of my ever-loyal wife, by my side day-in and day-out, always kind and always forgiving. We're like our favorite song as covered by John Prine and Iris DeMent with the following lyric: "We're not the jet set, but ain't we got love."



Meanwhile, the kids are healthy and happy. They grow, learn, struggle here and there, and keep making me proud. I know how to be a good parent because I had good parents (five of them over the years). The kiddos know that they are loved and they know that life is easier when they do the right thing. Or at least, I do my best to remind them of that fact.



While things could be easier financially (and how!), other things are certainly more awesome than I could hope for. I'm weary, but thankful. Here's to trying to remember not to worry.



*Title taken from the song, "Not To Worry," by Geoff Baker.

Ben and Rufus sing "Careless Whisper"

When listening to the Coverville podcast last week, an episode devoted to George Michael covers, I got goosebumps while hearing Ben Folds and Rufus Wainwright sing "Careless Whisper" together. The whole podcast is really good. School of Fish sings "Father Figure" and a group I'd never heard called Room Eleven puts a slow and sultry, jazzy spin on "Faith." But the one that keeps getting me is Rufus and Ben performing "Careless Whisper" live in front of a crowd of fans who sound as if they might be feeling the same goosebumps I feel every time I replay it.

There are a couple of versions on YouTube but I recommend you play the Coverville podcast (show #478, approx. 8 minutes in) to hear it in the best audio quality.

Her name is DJ Loli.

So, Opryland has a "Vegas-style" club called Fuse. An employment ad describes it as such:

Fuse at Gaylord Opryland brings the excitement, sexiness and sophistication of Las Vegas to Music City but with the warmth and hospitality that only Nashville can bring. 

I'm skeptical, but then I'm a 38 year-old married guy with kids and not exactly the target audience for this club anyway. Still, while a Vegas-style club featuring Tammy Wynette and George Jones impersonators might have some legs in the Opryland area, it seems to me that Fuse is the kind of club that should really be located in downtown Nashville if it wants to pack in the crowds night after night. Even the Nashville Scene had some fun with it a few months back in The Fabricator, fabricating the rejected slogan, “The hottest club in the Two Rivers/Briley Parkway area!”



Whatever. I wish it well. Tonight, I wish I was there. I wish I was there because disc jockey, producer and model, DJ Loli was there. Who is DJ Loli, you might ask? Some call her one of L.A.'s hottest DJs. Some might have seen her in Maxim magazine. (And on the cover of Maxim Indonesia.) She has DJ'd with Tommy Lee and there's a nice video feature of her on Current TV that you can see here.



I didn't know any of this until this evening when I met her briefly and pretty much forgot my own name. I can only say that I was left somewhat mesmerized and verbally discombobulated. I don't follow DJs and all I really know of them is as follows:

1. Moby is a DJ who is very rich and famous.


2. I used to work with a guy named Nick who is a DJ but he's not rich or famous.

I do listen to a few podcasts by DJs but I don't have a critical ear for what I'm hearing. Be it Trance, House, or Electro, I just know that it's weird and cool and doesn't distract me too much when I run. I've just added all of DJ Loli's podcasts to my iPod. All of that Tom Waits and Karita Mattila I've been listening to so much of lately will just have to scoot over a little bit and make some room while I immerse myself however temporarily into this lovely and luminous DJ's creations. What can I say? She's beautiful, cool, and I'm under her spell.



Some links:

http://loliland.tv/

http://www.myspace.com/djloli

http://djloli.podomatic.com/

There goes one idea.

In planning ways to get to and from work other than by car, I was told by a friend that there was a bus route that stopped near my home. It doesn't run as late as I work, but I could ride it to work and just get a ride home afterward with a friend.

The bus route in question was #16. It turns out that it's one of the routes that has since been discontinued.

Oh well. I should have a bicycle at my disposal sometime next week. Whether or not I'm brave enough to ride it the six miles to work each day along Bell Road and Elm Hill Pike, I'm not sure. However, it'll be a pleasure to take it out onto the Nashville Greenways and ride the bike from Percy Priest Dam to Two Rivers Park to Shelby Bottoms Park.

In the meantime, the focus remains on getting the transmission fixed for the van. I have a buddy at work who says that his car's transmission has been doing what ours has recently started doing for a good six months now. Is it possible to extend the life of a bad transmission for a bit? Ivy told me that she kept hers going for a while by flushing it regularly. I'll have to look up exactly what that means.

Anyway, I'm just tossing around some thoughts and ideas here. Maybe Oprah will read this and simply buy us a new car. It can be just that simple, right?

Counting blessings.

Every single day this week, my daughter and I have gone to the apartment pool for an hour or so before I had to go to work. She's awesome. Life can be tough as hell in some ways, but it couldn't be better in others.

We're keeping a close eye on our energy usage here.

From NewsChannel5.com:

The trend of paying the electricity bill late has become a more widespread trend. According to Nashville Electric Service, from March to May the number of customers who were more than two months late paying their bills went up by as much as 40 percent!

The increase in Nashville was considered very significant to many in the energy business.

NES also said the number of customers who have had the electricity cut off remains steady at about 400 a day. The 400 number is typically because the electric company cannot turn off or turn back on more than that per day.

h/t: Nashvillist

From the top of the hill.

I took some time out of my day to go for a long walk Tuesday evening. To the Hermitage library and then to the foot of the dam and then up that steep hill to test my legs (not so strong as it turns out). Before heading back home, I took a few pictures, only one of which I liked much at all.

Anyway, here's a shot of Tuesday's sunset from the top of the hill. Around the time I snapped this, I received a very sweet and much appreciated text from the lovely and talented Newscoma. This sunset behind barbed wire and that text reminded me that while life can certainly be tough, it can also be "of the good."

Thanks for reading. Thanks for caring.

She's a good girl. Yes, she is.

Fox News reports what I've been saying.

Remember my recent post about how the $5 tips are now more often merely $2 tips? Here's a Fox News story that caught my eye.

As Consumers Get Squeezed, Tips Get Smaller

CINCINNATI--At the Corner Pub on Cincinnati’s west side, bartender Melissa Metz can count the cost of the economic hangover in the stack of bills she has at the end of a shift.

Those tips make up the majority of her income, but they’ve been dwindling for months amid rising gas prices and other economic woes. Right now, her weekly income from tips is down about 25%.

“Some people are coming in less and maybe not staying as long when they do come in,” Metz said. “And normal customers who would normally tip $5 are tipping about $2 now.

Read the rest of the article here.

"Take my hand / We'll make it I swear."

I just emailed a friend about our recent tight spot and smiled (a bit forced) to think of how Paige and I seem to be living a bit in the songs of our favorite singers. She, always crazy for Jon Bon Jovi, has "Livin' On A Prayer" and the Springsteen fan in me relates to a line which recurs in both "Atlantic City" and "Johnny 99." Like the struggling heroes in those songs, I've feel like I've "got debts no honest man can pay."

Hopefully, things will work out fine soon enough. I don't mind selling my car and walking to and from work, maybe even getting a part time job close to where I live, but we need to get the van's transmission fixed. There's no way around that. The beautiful wife and kids need to get to school.

I swallowed my pride a bit and even be a little tip jar in the sidebar of our blogs.

I have faith that we'll be fine. It's just a tough spot we're going through right now. Thanks for reading and putting up with what I'm writing. I hope to get back to other things as quickly as possible.

Two pics of the writer. One to show me in my current state and one to make you smile. Or smirk.



I wonder if I'd make it as a model. I think I look pretty good in a hat. ;)

Tough times: It ain't just us.

More families turn to public assistance.

h/t: Nashvillist

Yet another exercise in venting.

Anyone obscenely rich readers wanna throw us a couple of grand? The van's transmission is likely in need of replacement. We've got about five bucks.


I'm considering selling my old Honda station wagon for whatever I can get out of it and figure out getting to and from work later.

George Carlin has died.

I thank him for the laughs.

News link is here.

Football was made for analogies, right?*

I was talking with my dad today about the workplace and how the economy seems to be affecting things there. We're all feeling it, of course. I ride share as much as I can to get to and from, I bring my lunch/dinner from home (Yay, tuna fish sandwiches!), and I pretty much don't buy anything that the family doesn't need. Sadly, things just continue to get tighter. Tips aren't what they used to be.

There are always those who simply do not tip. "I'll take care of you later," they always say. They never do. But then there are the types who are always good for a five, sometimes more. They are the regular travelers who get it. I'm nice to them and help them out; they're nice to me and they extend the same courtesy in the form of a gratuity. Lately, however, these are the ones who are tipping two bucks where they used to tip five. Fives become twos and sixes become threes. They're just as nice in demeanor but they're tighter in tipping.

Midway through my shift yesterday, I decided that what I'm seeing at work is much like how the Titans tend to play ball. They move down the field, striving for that six-point TD (seven with the PAT), but they all too often settle for that 3-point field goal. I push the cart, carry the luggage, fetch the ice, but when it comes down to it, it's just more Rob Bironas. I'm gracious, I thank the guest for staying here, and I walk away pushing those two bucks down deep into my pocket, thinking, "Well, ain't that another kicker." I guess this is where the other team takes possession of the ball: gas, milk and eggs, etc., their prices just keep rising. My three to their seven. Over and over again.

But that's enough of that analogy for the day.

Thanks for reading my stuff. I always enjoy sharing with you. And speaking of stuff, the best thing I've read all day is by Neil at Citizen of the Month. He's pretty much always awesome.

Oh, and speaking of Titans football, guess who just got busted for DUI? Welcome home, Jevon Kearse.

*Or is it metaphors? Maybe football was made for both analogies and metaphors.

Another wonderful photo by Leesa

The question is not what you look at but what you see.

MobLogic on how to help a people whose government won't.

I See The Makings of a Charlie Ravioli

My all-time favorite story by Adam Gopnik is entitled, "Bumping into Mr. Ravioli." In short, it's about his young daughter and her imaginary friend, the one who's always too busy to play with her. She talks with him on her little phone and he's always hurrying off to do this or to do that, always on the run. Mr. Gopnik writes beautifully about this, about his concerns as a parent and what it says about our busy society.

The kids are watching and they are taking it all in.

Recently, I had a similar moment with my four-year-old son. Joshua was at the end of a bad day. He hadn't eaten a bite of his dinner, he had gotten in trouble for his refusal, and now he was lying in bed while we chatted about the importance of eating the food that his parents make and serve. I lectured the usual lines about how hard his mom worked to give him good food, how it was rude of him not to even try it, and how his body needed those foods to get bigger and stronger...like his big brother.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he sadly shared a concern of his. "When I'm big, I won't be able to play with my toys," he whimpered. I heard him and replied that while some adults don't play with their toys anymore, that didn't mean that he wouldn't be able to when he was a grownup. "Lots of big people still play with their toys," I assured my son.

"But I might be too busy to play with them," he replied. "Maybe I'll be a daddy and I'll always be working and I'll never have time to play."

Yikes! I get it. What do you say to that? We don't get a lot of time together but I do the best I can with the time we get. I've always assumed he missed me somewhat, but I never figured that he thought it out to that extension. Four-year-olds are apparently more profound than previously imagined. My life as a family man is far from perfect, but I've always taken consolation in two things: Working second shift isn't the greatest but a job's a job and I'm lucky to have one, and because it's a second shift job it makes things easier on us when a kid has to stay home from school allowing for neither parent to lose a whole day's pay.

My beautiful wife stays exhausted, teaching schoolkids by day and taking care of our kids by night. Add to that a phase where our kids refuse to eat anything but their respective favorite dishes (spaghetti for her and tacos for him), and she's just about done in. Either I need a job which gives me more time at home with my kids, or at least my wife needs to make some friends here in town who will either babysit or give her company while she's at home and I'm clocked in elsewhere.

Anyway, I just wish I could turn this stuff into an award-winning piece like Adam Gopnik's "Bumping into Mr. Ravioli." Alas, I'm just me, a guy who might be more of a typer than writer. I hope you like what I type. If nothing else, it feels good to share here with my family, friends, and fellow bloggers.

Allow me to close by recommending one of the best blog posts by a dad that I've read today. It's by Dad Gone Mad and is titled "Sorry About This, Honey."

"I'll tell you all my secrets, but I lie about my past."*

Ever been to Lieland? While driving home from work last night and crossing the dam, the most recent episode of This American Life played on my iPod. Entitled The Truth Will Out, its three segments shared the topic of lies and the first one quickly took hold of me and held me captive to its words. Actor Dermot Mulroney read "Lieland," a short story written by Etgar Keret.

As if following some subliminal message from the podcast, I followed orders and made a right turn into the parking lot overlooking Percy Priest Lake, pulled into the first spot, turned off the engine, and took in the moon's reflection over the water while listening attentively to Mulroney's hypnotic voice come from the darkness of the dash.

I'll give you a little spoiler. "I'm your first lie," says one character in the story to another. Imagine meeting all of your lies. I don't think I want to do that.

Here's thinking that cool folks like Newscoma will love giving "Lieland" a listen. It made my night.

*from "Tango Till They're Sore" by Tom Waits

Two wheels is all I need.

Winston from Nobody Asked wrote recently of scooters and bicycles in this age of rising gas prices. His roomie bought a bicycle and he,Winston, like me, really, really wants to buy a scooter.

With thoughts of moving to the lovely and scooter/bicycle-friendly beach town of Fernandina Beach, Florida, I've had a great time imagining myself, um, scooting around with no need for a car as I go about my daily routine, whatever it may be. However, it looks like that move won't be happening this year and so I'll remain a Nashvillian for the time being. The want for a scooter is still strong, but Nashville still feels like a bit of a challenging habitat for owning such a transportation device.

I wonder where I'd park it safely in my apartment complex, at work, or pretty much anywhere else. (I'd most assuredly use scootrak.com to keep track of it.) I wonder if I'd get a boo-boo. I wonder how I'll feel about it being my only vehicle on rainy/cold/snowy days. At least I imagine that folks are getting better about sharing the road with scooters. They're in the news and I see more and more of them out there everyday.

As for bicycles, I'd like to own on of those as well. Riding to and from work on one wouldn't be advised (six miles each way, no bike lanes, and a ride home at close to midnight each night), but I'd love to ride one on the local Greenways as often as possible. Bell Road at Percy Priest Dam to Lebanon Pike to Two Rivers Park to Shelby Bottoms Park anyone? A regular dose of that might get me back into my 32 waist pants. Or at least I wouldn't have to work so hard to button the 34s that I like so much.

Anyway, I'm just writing when I should be sleeping. The kids will have me up early in the morning and I can't stay up writing about being healthy if it'll just lead to me waking up tomorrow all sleepy and cranky.

Here's hoping your day is better than you thought possible. Thanks for reading.

You'd think my fave beer is Guinness...

...but I'm actually more of a Sam Adams man. However, I do love my Guinness hats.

I escape to the music...again.

I've spent the better part of the day trying to clean and rearrange the kids' rooms. I just gave up on that little project. They've got too much stuff and the line between trash and treasure is just too gray. A perfectly cool looking Power Ranger is treasure. A small plastic piece to a toy that we no longer have is trash. The stuff that fits neither description makes up probably 80% of what's on the floor.

Giving up (for now) and returning to the laptop turned out to be a very smart thing to do. On KCRW.com, the current and recent playlist reads as such:

• Aimee Mann "You Can Make A Killing"
• James Hunter "Strange But True"
• Ana Laan "Paradise"

Beats picking up toys.

Today, June 14, 2008 is Flag Day. Tomorrow is Father's Day.

I don't know if it's for Flag Day or if it's for Father's Day, but my beautiful wife and my elder son bought me the coolest, most wonderful present (that I opened early).

The iHome iPod Docking Station. Sweet.

My gratitude is immeasurable.

Space Shuttle Discovery Is Home Safely

Cmdr. Mark Kelly and his crew landed back on Earth this morning.



Congratulations on a great mission.

R. Kelly, saved by a mole.

I'll admit it. I assumed he was guilty. R. Kelly was acquitted of all charges yesterday.

The crux of their argument surrounded a mole that appears on Kelly's back but, they argued, does not appear on the back of the man in the video. Both Kelly and the girl in question long denied being on the tape.

What the four-year-old learned while he was on vacation.

"Dad, if you squish an ant and put it in your mouth, it tastes like chocolate."

"Ewww. Where'd you hear that?"

"Uncle Payne taught me that. Let's go find an ant."

Photographic evidence that I go places and see people.

And very cool people, at that.

Back in love with baseball, if only for two innings.

I had the pleasure yesterday of watching a baseball game on television that held my attention while reminding me of simpler times. In honor of their 60th year of baseball, the Chicago Cubs were broadcast (for the first two innings) in black and white, with limited camera angles, and hardly any graphics displayed on the screen. For the first time in a long time, I enjoyed watching a baseball game.

While others in the bar near me grew weary of not having the score and strike count on constant display, I found it refreshingly serene. It was kind of nice to not know everything all the time. With fewer cameras pointed at the field, a single camera would hold its gaze on a given athlete for what seemed like an eternity. All I could do was watch and study the player as he'd wait for the pitch to get the action started. This was immensely enjoyable.

I found myself concentrating more than usual. If I wanted to know the score, I'd have to remember back to the last time I saw it. If I missed a pitch, then the strike count might be a mystery to me. Watching this throwback game made me wish I had a switch on my remote at home that would let me watch all sporting events in black and white and with limited graphics whenever I felt like it.

Alas, after those first two innings of nostalgia, the production was back to the baseball that I left behind over five years ago. High-tech graphics splashed upon the screen once again, hiding the more quiet nuances of the game way back in the distance. Bored again, I paid my tab and made my way out of the bar and down the street. I wonder when baseball will grab my attention like that again.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the clip below. It's not from the game I watched today but it is from the same era.

Midnight Update

I'm on my fourth load of laundry, I just finished scrubbing the last of the dirty dishes, and I took out the trash for the first time in two weeks. All of this means one thing: my family is returning home from their two-week Florida vacation tomorrow.

I'm wishing them a safe journey and am smiling to think of the hugs and kisses to follow.

Censorship Wildly Underrated

Hutch, Holly and I were talking tonight about the classic blogger days of Nashville Is Talking and Hutch mentioned how he missed that one voice (Brittney Gilbert) who was always there to point out the best of the best for the rest of us to read and enjoy.

With that in mind, I'm telling Hutch and anyone else who wants to know that the below video is the coolest thing I've seen in a long time. The New Yorker's Sasha Frere-Jones posted it at his New Yorker blog under the title, Censorship Wildly Underrated.

Without further ado, I share with you The BPA, "Toe Jam" featuring David Byrne & Dizzee Rascal:


THE BPA - THE BPA 'TOE JAM' FEAT. DAVID BYRNE & DIZZEE RASCAL from Fabio Resende on Vimeo.

It's called Black Cab Sessions.

The lovely Whitney at USA Today's Pop Candy found the coolest thing.

Black Cab Sessions. In London. Acts from Jeffrey Lewis to (you just knew that these guys had to be there) Death Cab For Cutie sing a song just one take allowed while the cab drives around London. Call it the most intimate of settings, you get to watch and hear some of your fave artists as the camera also catches the beautiful and interesting London scenery through the window.

I love the Internet. Have fun.

What's a bored blogger to do?

After working too many days in a row, I am lucky to have two off in a row starting today. I should really get out of the apartment and do something, but I seem to have forgotten what it is that people do when they have spare time.

I did go to the apartment pool for a bit, but it was packed and hot and I couldn't stop worrying about my iPod in the heat. Things with hard drives like cool, dry places, right? So I walked back after less than an hour.

Weighing options...

• See a movie? Doubt it. I'm driving into town tomorrow and don't want to use the extra gas.
• Walk to the library? I do that enough as is. I need something different.
• Go to a bar? I'd just worry about getting a DUI.

I give up. Tomorrow will be my day of social activity. I'll meet up with a cool blogger or two and just go from there.

Have a great day!

Bonnaroo without the crowd and mud...unless your living room is crowded and muddy.

They say it best at Fuse.tv:

If you're dying to see Bonnaroo but have warrants out for you in Tennessee, we've got the show for you!

As far as I know, there are no warrants out for my arrest, but I can't make it to Bonnaroo anyway. The good news is that between Fuse on the television and AT&T Blue Room on the Internet, I can see some pretty good acts from that popular Manchester festival.

AT&T Blue Room (Twitter feed) will begin webcasting live on Friday at 12:30 PM.

Fuse.tv's Bonnaroo-related schedule is as follows:

• Saturday, 8:00 pm
• Sunday, 12:00 am
• Sunday, 7:00 pm
• Sunday, 11:30 pm

If they build it, we will walk.

Said former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, Enrique Penalos recently in the New York Times:

• In developing-world cities, the majority of people don’t have cars, so I will say, when you construct a good sidewalk, you are constructing democracy. A sidewalk is a symbol of equality.
• The 20th century was a horrible detour in the evolution of the human habitat. We were building much more for cars’ mobility than children’s happiness.

I was happy to see today's post at Nashvillest.com about my city's new strategic plan for building more sidewalks and bikeways. I wouldn't mind in the least biking or walking the six miles to my job on good weather days if I felt like it was a safe thing to do.

Joe Gould's Secret Blog

From the chapter about Joe Gould in the book, "Republic of Dreams : Greenwich Village: The American Bohemia, 1910-1960," Ross Wetzsteon writes, "He'd just write down virtually everything he overheard, then append pithy commentary where he felt appropriate."

He'd fit in quite nicely around here on the Internet, wouldn't he?

In her backyard.

What the hell is this and did it work? Find out here.

Georgia

A bath, a beer, and a guy talking about opera at the Met.

Yes We Can Fist Bump

Barack Obama and wife Michelle did the fist bump Tuesday night. The Washington Post called it "the fist bump heard 'round the world." Time magazine posted a story entitled, A Brief History of the Fist Bump. An excerpt:

Some claim the act of knuckle-bumping began in the 1970s with NBA players like Baltimore Bullets guard Fred Carter. Others claim the fist bump emerged off the court, citing the Wonder Twins, minor characters in the 1970s Hanna-Barbera superhero cartoon The Superfriends, who famously touched knuckles and cried "Wonder Twin powers, activate!' before morphing into animals or ice sculptures. One might also credit germaphobics for the fist bump's invention. Deal or No Deal host Howie Mandel has reportedly adopted the gesture as a friendly way to avoid his contestants' germs.

Missing my old Village.

It's nights like this that I really miss living within walking distance of Hillsboro Village. I'm home alone (my family is vacationing in Florida), I've got a rare night off from work, and I'm bored. I'd rather not drive anywhere and keep my gas tank at its present level. It's the perfect evening for a walk down to Bosco's, Fido, or Provence. Heck, it's not even too late to stop in at Brown's for a cheap beer and burger.

Hermitage is prettier than some give it credit for. The dam is awesome. The boats on the water are always beautiful to see. And the Greenway makes for the perfect escape when I need to de-stress a bit. But I'm in the mood for a short walk to a well-populated hint of a nightlife. In fact, it's The Villager bar that I'd most like to belly up to tonight. I remember many a night after work, I'd drive home, walk to The Villager, and not worry at all about getting home safely after enjoying a few beers with the rest of the barflies.

Here in Hermitage, I don't know where to hang out for that. I guess Shooters is the closest to me, but I'm not going there. Too much karaoke and too many memories of my cheating ex. [Expletive] that.

I've finished my pizza and am still contemplating a quick drive to the Food Lion for a six-pack of Sam Adams. Have a nice night and thanks for stopping by.

Staying out of the red.

I have a very important errand to run (beer run). Lucky for me, I'm going nowhere near the red lines.


(Incidentally, I'm listening to "Not Great Men" by Gang of Four on KCRW which happens to utilize the sounds of cars honking over the pulsating beat. Perfect.)

[Edit to add: Apparently, I'm even too lazy for a beer run. Pizza and apple juice it is then.]

Overheard at the Workplace: Politics

Last night, one hotel guest says to another:

"He speaks well, but I don't think America's ready for a black president."

Seriously. I cringed when I'd hear that talk even a few months ago, but I was able to understand that some folks still thought that way. But now? After he beat Clinton for the Democratic nomination nod? It doesn't even make sense that someone could say that out loud and expect to be taken seriously.

Also heard, this time by a young coworker:

"I'm not voting. The first time I ever voted, it was for Al Gore and the (expletive) thing was rigged. (Expletive) it. I'm not voting."

I understand him completely. I'm voting, but I think what my coworker said sums up way too many people's attitudes perfectly. I don't blame him one bit.

Before the Purge

In which an obscure 70s song is used in a corporate commercial...

You know that Focus song I was talking about the other day? The one in the McDonald's commercial? My friend Jag found it and shared it on Twitter this morning. The song is "Hocus Pocus" and you're watching LineRider.


Also, for your extreme viewing pleasure, below is the live in concert clip that my friend Corey found on YouTube. As crazy as that song is to listen to, watching frontman Thijs Van Leer perform it raises the bar on wild. Enjoy.

Throwing my Tweets in your Reader, Yo.

beziat @idreamahwy I'd like to buy a boat and sail forever in the Sea of Ambiguity. 2 minutes ago from web in reply to idreamahwy

I thought I was being somewhat original and clever with the whole "Sea of Ambiguity" thing. Googled the phrase and came up with 1,850 results. Happens all the time.

beziat Just read this: "Marcelo Alvarez claims his son is his inspiration to sing," It's like they don't believe him. "Claims." about 1 hour ago from web

I'm no opera snob. But I do love the hell out of it. Anyway, I'm gonna start using "claims" more when talking about what other people say. I think it makes people sound a bit suspect.

beziat First prize for Maddest At The World goes to...tonight's clerk at Mapco, corner of McGavock and Elm Hill. Can a customer get a smile? about 1 hour ago from web

Seriously. It was like a challenge to get anything out of her at all. I've vowed a couple of times to not go back to that convenience store due to sullen customer service. I keep going back. Damn the convenience of its location.

The day Fred Schneider's "Monster" died.

Newscoma pointed me toward a great clip wherein Fred Schneider of the B-52s read aloud from Scott McClellan's book on The Daily Show. It's pretty hilarious and I'm thinking that whenever I find myself reading a book that needs some extra added oomph, I'll read it as if it were lyrics in a B-52s song as well.

I'm also reminded of something that we can call a public confession if you like. Way back when, when I worked at the record store, there was a coworker we'll call Paul. He was an interesting fellow. Quirky and articulate, a bit of a dreamer, he was an all-around nice guy. Paul was a big fan of the B-52s. The rest of us could really take or leave that band, but we indulged his obsession as he'd go on and on (and on and on) about the band's history.

We indulged for only so long though. When Paul obtained a promo copy of Fred Schneider's solo release, Fred Schneider & the Shake Society, he played that tape in-store daily. Maybe he played it two or three times daily. I can't remember. After about a week or so of this repeated heavy-rotation, we, Paul's fellow employees, "lost" the tape. Or maybe it "broke." I can't recall. It was a good enough tape, but one can only listen to a man sing about a "monster in my pants," so many times. Poor Paul.

I said it in Twitter and I'll say it again here.

"Shaved head here. Feeling every breeze, draft, and answer that's blowin' in the wind."

The Princess, the Dad, and the one we call Juicebox Head.

When We Both Had Hair

It's three years later. He's in the Army. Both of our heads are now shaved. Have a nice day.
(photo from May 2005)

Even better than watching Men In Trees...

Leesa takes pictures of her surroundings that always leave me in awe.

Death Penalty Opinion

She Pants...Loudly