Some Things I've Been Enjoying Lately

I've just had a two week "vacation" loosely speaking. Lisa had to have knee surgery so I took time off to help. I caught a bad case of the flu and turns out about all I helped her with was keeping her company in misery. We both laid around in pain the first week, although we were able to make it to a movie. We saw Fool's Gold. It was a cute, funny movie. The following week picked up some, saw a few more movies and watched a lot of videos.

My hit list right now consists of 3:10 to Yuma. A trend I'm glad to see coming back is the western. Lisa and I loved The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford from earlier this year. 3:10 is just a good old solid western, nothing fancy but pretty suspenseful. Russell Crowe and Christian Bale are awesome. The supporting actors are wonderfully colorful, especially Ben Foster and Peter Fonda. The end was a little far fetched but didn't ruin anything.

I also got to watch Mad Max again. I used to watch this movie once a week on the old VHS copy. It's even better with Mel Gibson's Australian accent. It was originally dubbed for the US. This is the GREATEST MOVIE from Australia EVER! Perhaps the greatest movie period!

I'm also reading The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane by Robert E. Howard. Man they don't write action adventure like this anymore, partly due to the insane racism. If you over-look that though it's just a good time. Pirates, hidden cities in Africa, an honest to God ju ju witch doctor and a musket packing Puritan with a bowl haircut, what the hell more can you ask?

Finally, I've got Train Kept A Rollin' by the Yardbirds and Joe Satriani, Rooster by Alice In Chains, Melissa from the Allman Brothers and Like a Stone by Audioslave in the heavy rotation category on the iPod. And how's this for eclectic tastes, Son of a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfeild and Mother by Danzig? I love my iPod, especially the shuffle feature.

The Kings of Yoo-Hoovius

I walked into Borders the other day and saw Creem: America's Only Rock and Roll Magazine by Robert Matheu in the new book section. It's been a while since I picked up an over sized hardcover book and bought it on the spot but I had to have this one. Creem was a life changing epiphany. Like the first time I heard Areosmith's Walk This Way on the radio. It was 31 years ago but as clear as yesterday. I was in the family Mercury station wagon at the end of a Cul De Sac in Martinsville Indiana waiting for my Dad. He was visiting a friend and for some reason (which I don't remember) I was in the car listening to the local FM station from Bloomington. All of a sudden the only rock and roll riff (with the exception of You Shook Me All Night Long) came blasting out of those tinny 4" speakers. I had no idea what "You ain't seen nothin' til your down on a muffin" meant. I just knew it was dirty and I loved it. My little innocent 12 year old mind had never been so scared and so alive. I'll always remember that as the day I discovered rock and roll. The day I lost my innocence as it were. Sure there was Maggie May and David Bowie's Fame before that but my innocence at that time was so complete that I didn't realize the concept of Rod Stewart's MILF until years later. What followed was a long spiral downhill into the wonderful, rebellious world of Rock and Roll. So after discovering the joys of Ted Nugent's Cat Scratch Fever and Prince's I Want To Be Your Lover (I know he's R&B, but his heart is R&R) I tripped across "Creem". I don't remember what initially drew me to it possibly a cover of David Lee Roth with his shirt down over his shoulder, nipple exposed, staring defiantly at the camera and the promise of a J. Geils story inside. Whatever it was, I was hooked. Lester Bangs was dead by this time but there was something compelling about his mythos that I instantly connected with. I was hooked immediately. Everything about the mag was exactly what an adolescent boy was looking for. From the "Creem Rock Shot" of Dale Bozzio to the "Creem's Profiles" spoof of the Dewars ads, the illicit thrill derived from the fact that my parents might discover what I was reading was enough of an adrenaline rush to keep me awake all night.

The hardest part of growing old is all of the first times I'll never get to experience again. I'll never hear That Smell again for the first time, I'll never see Star Wars again for the first time and I'll never get caught making out with Misty on her Mom's couch by her Mom again. I've said it before on the blog but it still holds true, I've never been happier than I am now in my life but I've also never appreciated what's gone before so much either. Boy Howdy!

Just An Observation

I just happened to catch this coincidence the other day. Two movie posters based on Richard Matheson books. More than just a passing similarity. Two very good movies by the way. And since we're on the subject, I found the differences in the I am Legend book cover and the movie poster interesting. Why remove the dog and the M-16? The book is much more violent than the movie. What's with the political correctness? I have one quick little review. The dog in the movie is great and Will Smith is great, he sure can act.

In Your FACE(book)!!!

In my quest to be an aging curmudgeon I do my best to avoid the latest trends (blogging not withstanding) but one hip(?) new trend I've been sucked into is Facebook. I hear it's the latest usurper to the social networking culture. From what I understand it is surpassing My Space.com in that arena. About all I know about My Space.com is that it helped launch a thousand crappy Emo bands and it's a hunting ground for perverts and pedophiles. Not necessarily my kind of place. I got drawn into the Facebook thing from my friend Jodii Wheler. I've mentioned her before. She's a pen pal I met online way back in the last century. Well anyway...I digress. I signed up and my account languished for months, a victim to my fear of the new and unfamiliar. Than I started getting emails from my 14 and 16 year old nieces. Already suffering from an overwhelming conviction that due to my absence during their growing up I was a crappy Uncle, I thought this would let me keep in touch in a way they would appreciate. And it would let my keep an eye on any of those perverts that made the jump from My Space. It was a flawless plan until I actually got on there and have to endure being notified that my fourteen year old niece just added the "Sexy Friends" application to her homepage. What sounds good in theory doesn't hold up under the harsh cold light of reality. Although it has been fun being able to write a quick little message to the girls on the "SUPER WALL!!!". As far as I can tell there are about three different walls, the regular old Wall, the Advanced Wall and the aforementioned Superwall. For all I know they are all the exact same wall.

One of my big beefs with the site is the encouragement to pass on spam. I got one that told of a girl with lung cancer who was also beat by her mother. The Make a Wish foundation would give seven cents toward her treatment every time the message was forwarded (I admire the seven cent thing, a good believable number). In closing the little girl thanked all of those people forwarding the email. For those cruel callus bastards unwilling to hit the forward button she offered this ominous warning "What goes around, comes around!" It was almost like a bad Japanese horror movie. Would she reach out from the grave and smite us. That's right, I said us. No one threatens me and gets away with it. No seven cents from Big B!

As unimaginably horrifying as it is to see that my niece is taking the "places to make out" quiz, it is reassuring to know what is going on in her life. I know from talking to the two of them, that they have a good head on their shoulders and I think they trust me and talk to me about some of this stuff. Not all of it though. Everyone should have their secrets, besides, my heart couldn't take too much information.

Get Your Daily Recommended Allowance...

...of adorable!

Cooper

Sigh

Man, how long has it been. I use to pride myself on the fact that I had a post for every month I've been doing the blog. That's blown to hell. There are all kinds of things going on lately that are keeping me busy. I'm interviewing for a new job, which I don't want to talk about. I've been working on Quantico MCB as site manager for a month or so, which I don't want to talk about. Mostly what kept me away was being laid off for three months (more or less). You would think all that spare time would lend itself to a writing flurry. I was too busy spending time with Lisa. Turns out I'm a prime candidate for one of those goofy "I love my wife" bumper stickers. Lisa won't let me get one though, God bless her cute little heart, she thinks they're stupid. I'm just corny enough to think they're a good idea. All the time we spent together has really made it hard to go back on the road, hence the change of jobs. I love the company I work for now but the road has taken it's toll. I'm feeling like Bob Seeger more and more every day.

I'll try to get posting again more often (something besides You Tube clips) if you care. For now though sit back and enjoy my newest feature, the Daily Puppy. How awesome is that?

NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL MUSIC!!!

My brother Brent sent me this link. I had a whole old fogey thing in mind about why music today sucks, but I don't really believe that. It doesn't suck but it sure as hell doesn't get any better than this.

Happy "Get Drunk And Celebrate A Little Battle" Day

Otherwise known as Cinco de Mayo.