I don't buy what people are saying about the divisiveness in the Democratic Party. There's been so much talk about Clinton supporters who won't vote for Obama if he gets the nomination. Some even say that they'll vote for McCain if they can't vote for Hillary. Whatever.
After the 2000 and 2004 losses, I heard many folks talk disgustedly about moving to Canada. Didn't happen. There's a lot of emotion in statements like these, but I don't worry about a bunch of fellow Democrats getting all Canuck on me. Surely I can't imagine, after some time has passed between the upcoming Democratic nomination and the general election, that most Democrats who currently support Hillary won't be casting their vote for Obama. (Or Obama supporters voting for Hillary, for that matter.)
After a few weeks of grumbling, and letting it sink in that the losing campaign is actively endorsing the victor, the bad feelings will pass and the party will be united again. That's my take on it anyway.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Ducks in the pool!
My daughter isn't quite sure what to make of this. On one hand, it's cool to see ducks in the pool. On the other hand, she'd rather not share her pool with animals.
Two ducks happily relaxing, resting assured that no pesky turtles will be biting at their duck feet in this watering hole.
Doin' the duck flap.
Waiting for the starting gun.
Duck #1: Would you stop with the bubble noises?
Duck #2: Sorry.
Pool break over. Time to get back to the pond.
Two ducks happily relaxing, resting assured that no pesky turtles will be biting at their duck feet in this watering hole.
Doin' the duck flap.
Waiting for the starting gun.
Duck #1: Would you stop with the bubble noises?
Duck #2: Sorry.
Pool break over. Time to get back to the pond.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Celinda Pink, Victimized
In 1993, at the record store, my coworkers and I fell in love with the music of a local blues singer by the name of Celinda Pink. A year or so went by and her career never really took off the way we felt she deserved. There was talk of too much drinking on her part, but I don't know if we ever really knew for sure why the big local buzz about her didn't seem to go beyond just buzz. We sure did sell a lot of her Victimized CD just by playing it in the store and she made the Billboard charts in both Blues and Country, but there was just one quiet followup CD a couple of years later and that was the last we heard from her.
Fast forward to tonight. I hadn't thought of Celinda Pink in a decade or more but my weird little brain that can't recall where I put the car keys five minutes ago all of a sudden brought her name front and center. I'm not sure what sparked my memory of her. One minute I was looking at John Hiatt and Little Village videos on YouTube, and then I found myself looking for the Web presence of one Celinda Pink.
Sadly, there's not much out there. I did, however, find a story on her in a Jacksonville, Florida paper. Alcohol, it turns out, was the major problem when she was best positioned for big fame. She lost her studio and management deal and pretty much gave it up. Now (well, the story dates back to April '07), she's waitressing in Jacksonville and playing when and where she can.
I hope she's doing well.. If we make the move to Florida this summer, I'll do my best to catch a live performance by Miss Celinda Pink. If you ever see her CD in a used record shop or find her name on the door of a club somewhere, please do yourself a favor and hear what she's got to share. I'm glad I remembered her name tonight.
Fast forward to tonight. I hadn't thought of Celinda Pink in a decade or more but my weird little brain that can't recall where I put the car keys five minutes ago all of a sudden brought her name front and center. I'm not sure what sparked my memory of her. One minute I was looking at John Hiatt and Little Village videos on YouTube, and then I found myself looking for the Web presence of one Celinda Pink.
Sadly, there's not much out there. I did, however, find a story on her in a Jacksonville, Florida paper. Alcohol, it turns out, was the major problem when she was best positioned for big fame. She lost her studio and management deal and pretty much gave it up. Now (well, the story dates back to April '07), she's waitressing in Jacksonville and playing when and where she can.
I hope she's doing well.. If we make the move to Florida this summer, I'll do my best to catch a live performance by Miss Celinda Pink. If you ever see her CD in a used record shop or find her name on the door of a club somewhere, please do yourself a favor and hear what she's got to share. I'm glad I remembered her name tonight.
Monday, May 05, 2008
M.I.A. plays Nashville tonight at City Hall.
I just can't justify the $31 to make tonight's show. Go if you can. M.I.A.'s Kala is the most infectiously interesting CD I own. Hard to say how the music on disc translates to music on stage, but I might have to spend money better spent on groceries just to see for myself.
Anyone going? Anyone got a free (or cheap) ticket?
Anyone going? Anyone got a free (or cheap) ticket?
Music news! Music news! What a great day for fans of music!
- The aforementioned Tom Waits tour. (Already wondering who I know in Knoxville who would let me crash on a couch should I be able to make that road trip.)
- A new Nine Inch Nails album release today. It's called The Slip. It's a free download. It's here.
- Prince is writing a book entitled 21 Nights. The guarantee of its worth is in the accompanying CD of live performances.
Brilliant Beyond Belief
It's called the Glitter and Doom tour.
Tom Waits, announcing his upcoming tour, raises the bar on how to announce upcoming tours.
Look to the night sky, see the "PEHDTSCKJMBA" and follow the stars. Knoxville's Civic Theatre is in there. Do you see it? The saving for tickets starts now.
Visit TomWaits.com for all that you need. List of stops here.
Tom Waits, announcing his upcoming tour, raises the bar on how to announce upcoming tours.
Look to the night sky, see the "PEHDTSCKJMBA" and follow the stars. Knoxville's Civic Theatre is in there. Do you see it? The saving for tickets starts now.
Visit TomWaits.com for all that you need. List of stops here.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Status Report: Good Times Here
It's Saturday morning, the sun is up, and the ducks walk on our porch as we play Caitlin Rose on the stereo.
Friday, May 02, 2008
On elevators.
It's funny to me how some articles seem to really grab people's attention. I was thumbing through a copy of The New Yorker recently when I came across a piece entitled Up and Then Down: The Lives of Elevators by Nick Paumgarten. Only because I work in a hotel (always going up and then down) did I think it might be of minor interest to me.
The piece opens and closes with the story of a man who found himself trapped in an elevator for forty-one hours. While that is quite the attention grabber, most of the article is about the history and technology of elevators. Not necessarily fascinating stuff, but in the week or so since the issue came out, I've seen many bloggers writing about it. (It really is a fascinating read.) Of course, the very-dedicated-to-all-things The New Yorker, Emdashes, wrote about it, but people who rarely if ever write about the magazine are writing about that story. Maybe elevators captivate us more than I suspect. (Just, hopefully, not for forty-one hours at a time.)
Anyway, if you haven't read it yet, please do. It really is pretty amazing. What's really making the rounds on the Internet is the time-elapsed video of Nicholas White, the man who was trapped for the better part of two days in the elevator. I'm transfixed watching it. Four frames: three empty elevators and his, documenting his every move. Click here to watch the video.
Of course, the Web being the Web, there is now a very funny parody video of the above.
The piece opens and closes with the story of a man who found himself trapped in an elevator for forty-one hours. While that is quite the attention grabber, most of the article is about the history and technology of elevators. Not necessarily fascinating stuff, but in the week or so since the issue came out, I've seen many bloggers writing about it. (It really is a fascinating read.) Of course, the very-dedicated-to-all-things The New Yorker, Emdashes, wrote about it, but people who rarely if ever write about the magazine are writing about that story. Maybe elevators captivate us more than I suspect. (Just, hopefully, not for forty-one hours at a time.)
Anyway, if you haven't read it yet, please do. It really is pretty amazing. What's really making the rounds on the Internet is the time-elapsed video of Nicholas White, the man who was trapped for the better part of two days in the elevator. I'm transfixed watching it. Four frames: three empty elevators and his, documenting his every move. Click here to watch the video.
Of course, the Web being the Web, there is now a very funny parody video of the above.
How high are your socks?
In a recent edition of his wonderful column, USA Today's Craig Wilson said the following: "I've followed my mother's advice: Always have younger friends. They'll look after you later on."I thought of that the other night while I was at work. I'm not the oldest employee at the hotel but at the relatively advanced age of thirty-eight I'm far from the youngest. One of the young whippersnappers (only 23!) was standing next to me that night and remarked on the poor fashion sense of a man who was heading outside for a quick jog. I answered her words with silence as I was perplexed at the phantom faux-pas.
Finally I asked her what the supposed offense was. "Look at his socks," she replied.
"His socks? What's wrong with his socks?"
"They're tube socks," she said. Apparently, it should have been obvious. She might as well have said, "Duh!"
Well, I'm guilty. When I run, I wear my tube socks. I'm wearing some right now. That's what we wore in gym class way back in the 80s and if they were good enough then, they must be good enough now. Right?
I guess not.
There was denial for a bit. Maybe my friend was mistaken or just speaking for a small segment of today's youth. Surely I could quiz a few passersby and find my way of doing things to be validated.
One coworker, then another and still another heard my query and aged me more with each answer. I found no one who would run in anything taller than ankle socks. Some were even sure that I was just joking about my tube socks. "Who wears those anymore?," one friend laughed.
Am I that old-school? At least I don't have little green stripes at the top of them.
Fine. The kids win. I guess the cool people of 2008 wear ankle socks. Now it's decision time for me. Do I change my aging ways and buy a new pack of socks or do I just stubbornly stick with what I know and pull those tube socks as close to my knees as they will stretch?
When it comes to working along with my younger friends, the ones who will "look after" me, I think I'll go for the comedic mileage of sticking with my tall, tall socks when I run.
Stimulus
The stimulus check is here. Finally I get to limp the car to the nearest car care professionals to see what its deal is. What I'd really like to do is forget about that old 1992 station wagon with over 180,000 miles on it and just get a scooter. Up to 90 m.p.g. sounds quite nice given today's climate of gas prices.
Of course, today's pouring rain reminds me that it's nice to have a roof when driving sometimes, too.
Of course, today's pouring rain reminds me that it's nice to have a roof when driving sometimes, too.
My heart often resides at the Hotel Chelsea.
I'm reading a pretty good book right now. It's Legends of the Chelsea Hotel by Ed Hamilton. One day I'll find that letter to my dad from then Hotel Chelsea manager Stanley Bard that is in storage somewhere and I'll post it here. It was simply a letter confirming a reservation for our visit, nothing more special than that. In this day of extreme automation and confirmation numbers, however, it reads like a warm and thoughtful handshake, so personal and so interested in the human connection. He even mentioned me in the letter, typing something to the effect of, "I hope you and your son have a nice stay here."
Meanwhile, today's drama at the Hotel Chelsea continues. In short, Stanley Bard was forced out by the board in June, 2007. BD Management replaced him much to the protest of residents and loyalists. Just this week, BD was fired for "willful misconduct." What's next will undoubtedly be documented at Ed Hamilton's fantastic blog, Living with Legends: Hotel Chelsea Blog.
Meanwhile, today's drama at the Hotel Chelsea continues. In short, Stanley Bard was forced out by the board in June, 2007. BD Management replaced him much to the protest of residents and loyalists. Just this week, BD was fired for "willful misconduct." What's next will undoubtedly be documented at Ed Hamilton's fantastic blog, Living with Legends: Hotel Chelsea Blog.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Partner Monica?
From the South Manchester Reporter:
"With the pitter-patter of tiny dancing feet soon to be heard at Chez Bez, he and partner Monica are so content with life in suburbia that they recently agreed to appear on television’s reincarnated celebration of cosy 1970’s matrimony, Mr & Mrs."
"With the pitter-patter of tiny dancing feet soon to be heard at Chez Bez, he and partner Monica are so content with life in suburbia that they recently agreed to appear on television’s reincarnated celebration of cosy 1970’s matrimony, Mr & Mrs."
Blogging about my wife's mistake when I should be doing the dishes.*
Great news! My wife threw my underpants in the trash, but thankfully I pulled them out and plan on using them soon.
No, not my underpants. My Underpants. As in, my ticket to see Steve Martin's adaptation of an old play entitled The Underpants. As I lifted the garbage sack up and was about to tie it and take it out to the dumpster the other night, I glanced downward and saw the envelope addressed to me pressed against the thinly stretched white plastic. My wife told me later that when she looked at it, she thought it was just a mailer soliciting a subscription or something. Nope. It's the ticket I was expecting for the play I like by the writer I love. Thank goodness I noticed it.
*Then again, maybe she threw it away on purpose because I'm the kind of guy who sits here and publicly blogs about her when I should be doing the dishes?
No, not my underpants. My Underpants. As in, my ticket to see Steve Martin's adaptation of an old play entitled The Underpants. As I lifted the garbage sack up and was about to tie it and take it out to the dumpster the other night, I glanced downward and saw the envelope addressed to me pressed against the thinly stretched white plastic. My wife told me later that when she looked at it, she thought it was just a mailer soliciting a subscription or something. Nope. It's the ticket I was expecting for the play I like by the writer I love. Thank goodness I noticed it.
*Then again, maybe she threw it away on purpose because I'm the kind of guy who sits here and publicly blogs about her when I should be doing the dishes?
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