Sunday, July 15, 2007

Sasha Frere-Jones on R. Kelly's latest

The rest of the album is typical R. Kelly, as frustrating, perverse, and pleasurable as his best recordings. Kelly seems to have no superego; he is willing to say anything that occurs to him, no matter how strange he sounds or how self-incriminating it might seem. Many people facing serious criminal charges related to sexual conduct would not include a song called “Sex Planet” on their CD, or, if they did, would probably omit the line about a “trip to planet Uranus.”

Kelly’s unpredictability may be his defining trait. ...more>>

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Silly Fun with Rhyming Dictionary. Sorry.

Her name is Ari.
She drives a Ferrari.
She's loves a safari.

She eats calamari,
while wearing a sari,
and boating on the African river, Shari.

She don't play Atari.
She can't speak Bihari.
Nor does she speak the Finnish language of Mari.

I sing her a lullaby when the sky is starry.
I'm a lucky daddy and she's my Ari.

"Most nights were crystal clear but tonight it's like it's stuck between stations."

She takes my order. "Scattered, covered, chunked and topped." I've heard from her that she's been bruised by her man at home. She called the cops and threw him out at that. But times are tough, two paychecks go farther than one, and her man is her man, and so, he's back in.

It's four kids they're raising and they're living in that stereotypical trailer park and the bills are always coming in.

I study people and she intrigues me. And I get her wrong.

I figure her for a country music fan as I admire her long red hair pulled back in that cute ponytail. Wrong. It's metal she likes. I once asked her if she was going to an upcoming Metallica concert. "Naah," she shrugged. "They ain't hard enough for me." She later revealed to me a few of her tattoos. No cute butterfly on the ankle for her. That dragon just about covered her entire lower back.

I'm a regular. I'm polite and I tip well. I add some Tabasco sauce to my order and read a few pages from my book. I then head home, silently and peacefully. There's drudgery to my days, but thanks to that midnight serving, I'll get a bit of color in my dreams.

I cross the dam and the moon is high. I know how good I've got it.

Title Quote: "Stuck Between Stations" by The Hold Steady

Friday, July 13, 2007

My Sacroiliac and Me

Doc says I should get some PT and take some Ibuprofen.

As the days become months and the months become years, this could become The Blog of Mike's Aches and Pains.

Wheeeee!

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Solace by the water.






The Hold Steady never sounded so good.

Bills and concerns, and yearning and fearing.

It's all quiet now and the peace comes with

a reference to Sal Paradise via my iPod.

The boaters boat, the skiers ski,

and one man ceases to stress,

if only for an hour or so.

"If music be the food of love, play on." -- From Twelfth Night

Fernandina, I Close My Eyes And I Am With You

Monday, July 09, 2007

Glum, then comfy.



...a few more are at my flickr.

Goodbye Fernandina Beach. We'll see you next time.

We're home from Florida. I go back to work today and I suppose I missed it a little bit; I'm weird like that. Give me a few days off and I get restless for the structure of the work environment. I guess that's what prisoners mean when they say that they've been institutionalized.

I never sleep well in Florida. I don't know if it's something in the air or what. I just lie in bed for hours while the rest of the house sleeps.

It was nice to see all of the in-laws and I look forward to moving down there in a year or so. I figure I'll sell my two Hondas and buy a scooter as my main means of transportation on the island. The island is 14 miles long and 5 miles wide and scooters are everywhere. My wife would keep the van for hauling the kids around and I'd use it on rainy days. If the job I'm waiting for somehow doesn't come to fruition, I could be a bellman at the Ritz-Carlton. I bet those guys do pretty well, and they get to wear shorts, too!

My only real disappointment this time was that I didn't make time to wander about with my camera. I got some cute shots of the family at the beach and at Joshua's birthday party, but that's about it. There's always next time.

Anyway, it's good to be home. How've you guys been?

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Overall, it was a good trip.


You know it's been an exhausting day of road travel with kids when even the New Age music you play when you get home sounds too aggressive.

Silence, instead. Nice.

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Messages from a beach town

Someone I love was drunk-texting me last night. It started out fun and cute but quickly spiraled into something reading like a dying and lost explorer's last few journal entries.
"I'm drunk. U?"

"Way drunk now. Wish you were here."

"Really wish you were here!"

"Can barely sefe [sic] to text. LOL"

"Whole body numb."

"No more 4 me!"

"Brain gone."

"Good nite. Love u."

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Tennesseans get communal

Today's Tennessean has a story about communal living which includes a quote by my step-mom.

What the hell. Break the law. Prez has your back.


Scooter.
Giving President Bush a 100% approval rating. Slimy bastards.

Monday, July 02, 2007

High Class in Hermitage, TN

Cheese and wine for some, Cheez-its and white zin for me. Classical music plays in the background, but I'm about to find last week's I Like Songs radio show on the WRVU archives.

Big, cool news from The Eyeball Kid: Another mp3 from Healing The Divide has been released. It's Tom Waits performing "Way Down In The Hole" live with Kronos Quartet. It sounds fantastic. One of my favorite covers of Tom Waits' material is bluesman John Campbell's rendition of that song. He's since passed away and his True Believer is long since out of print, but put it on your list and pick it up cheap if you can find it used. It's stark, chilling, and mean and serious as hell.

New to the iPod:
  • Area Code 615 - Area Code 615 & Trip In The Country (My step-dad played banjo on these two masterpieces by Nashville's top-notch studio musicians.)
  • The God Star Social - A Queer Summer Sultry EP (My way talented brother played guitar and bass on this.)
  • Miles Davis - Nefertiti (I don't know anyone who played on this.)