Emerging back into the light

I'm starting to re-emerge into life again, now that I've got some discretionary income. I've started to attend some events that cost money. I'm not paying huge amounts, but I've bought some tickets to some local concerts ($20 total for 2 tickets to outdoor music events), went to see another performer play a couple of times at a local club, and today I went to see a simulcast of one of the last Monty Python performances.

Small things, yet, but after 4 years of avoiding most entertainment and recreational activities that cost money or required tickets, I've experienced more entertainment in the last month than I have in a long while.

It feels good to get out and be around people again, even though I am an introvert and a homebody by nature. There's a line between being a homebody and hermit and I have flirted dangerously in hermit territory for too much of the last 4 years.

I still have some short term financial goals I want to meet, like building up an emergency fund and starting to save for a car. But I think I am also going to dedicate some money in the budget for entertainment, especially now, while it's summer and the weather is decent.

Gifts from the family

The family has returned from their holiday festivities and my pet-sitting duties have ended. I've turned over the leashes and am now left alone in my apartment. I think I'm going to miss the cuddly company.

Perhaps I read too much into it, but it was almost as if the critters knew our time was short today. The cats kept close to me today, taking turns napping on my lap or next to me on the couch. Or maybe they were just cold and taking advantage of my body heat. I choose to think they were sensing something unseen, like the way animals are reported to sense earthquakes before they are felt by people.

That's the wonderful thing about pets. Humans imbue them with emotions and characteristics that we hope they are displaying. I'm going to miss my furry friends until out next visit, no matter how long or short it may be.

It was also good to see my daughter today too, and hear about some of the things happening in her life. The details of boys, school, family and the events of Thanksgiving I missed out on.

I also got a bit of "payment" for my pet sitting. My daughter's mom and her partner gave me an extra TV they had that they don't really use anymore, so now I have access again to television, just in time for NFL football on Sunday! So, I may not have warm furry bodies to cuddle up with, but at least I have a new electronic companion for company.

The gift of time with my family's pets, my family and the generosity of the family leaves me feeling very warm on a chilly night. The calendar may have said Thursday was Thanksgiving. But for me, today I have even more reasons to be thankful.

Wrapped in a comforter and still uncomfortable

Spending the weekend home alone and sick, without even a television for company makes me realize how much I rely on the television as a surrogate for socialization.

I didn't get to hang out with my regular Sunday friends like Terry, Howie and Jimmy and Bob, Cris, Al and John, not to mention Faith. And the day has not been complete since I didn't get to cap it by spending quality time with my Brothers & Sisters.

Today, my closest companions have been a glass of orange juice, a box of cold medicine and the comforter on my bed.

Cold comfort, that.

Is there life without television?

As my friend Gene pointed out in his comment on my previous post, being down with a cold is a great time for feeling sorry for yourself. I am doing my best to elevate that to a high art today -- in between naps.

I didn't have the most restful sleep last night, as my coughing and stuffy nose woke me up several times through the night, but I did manage to spend about 12 straight hours in bed. When I did finally get out of bed, I still wasn't feeling hungry even though I had skipped dinner last night. So I settled in on the couch for a long day curled up under a blanket and watching college football. But when I hit the button on the remote to fire up the boob tube, I was only greeted by a mocking silence. The TV is dead.

It's the second TV to die on me in the last year. The little second-hand TV I had in the bedroom died some month back. Now the one in the living room gave up the ghost too. As if being sick was not enough reason to feel sorry for myself, the prospect of enduring days of illness at home with no television left me completely depressed. With a congested head, I can't think clearly, but I'm not sure what to do about this latest development. Buying a new TV is decidedly not in the budget right now. So rather than spending money I don't have on a new television I may just cancel my cable service and try living without any TV at all for a while. I could certainly do with one less bill a month. But I am afraid that with no TV at home I will end up spending more money outside the house.

So I'm not sure what to do. I am hoping that once this fog that's enveloped my head lifts, a course will become clearer. But in the meantime, I spent the day today listening to about 8 hours of radio including the pre- and post-game shows from my beloved Oregon State Beavers football game. I would have much rather watched the game, but as it was, it gave me the opportunity to stay up on the game and sleep off and on throughout the afternoon. Fortunately, the Beavers won in spectacular fashion, or the day would have been pretty much a complete loss.

If anyone has an extra television they are willing to sell cheap, let me know. Otherwise, I may be getting quite well acquainted with staring out the window for the next several months.

Not wooed by Oscar

So, did you watch the Oscars last night? I have to admit, I didn't see a single minute of it. Perhaps the fact that I only went to one movie in the last years affected my interest in this year's show.

"Brokeback Mountain" was the only movie I've seen in a theater in more than a year. But I do intend to see Reese Witherspoon's Oscar winning performance in "Walk the Line" now that that movie is available on DVD. The only other movie of the year I really wanted to see and didn't was "Good Night and Good Luck."

We'll see if I can get back onto the cinema bandwagon in 2006.

Movies
Oscars
Academy Awards

iTunes exploration continues

In my last post, I mentioned that I downloaded the new NBC TV show, "Conviction" that debuts next week. I ended up watching the show on my iPod later, and was pleasantly surprised with both the picture quality and the show itself.

I could really see some value to downloading TV shows or movies to the iPod when traveling, although watching the video burns through battery power faster than listening to music only.

As for the show, if you are a fan of the show "Law & Order," you will recognize some of the same production qualities in "Conviction" as well, as they are from the same producer, Dick Wolf.

The show features an ensemble cast, and the pilot episode does a pretty good job of introducing you to the characters and some of the demons they may have to wrestle with in future episodes while telling multiple storylines.

I won't intentionally try to keep my Friday nights free so I can watch this show or "Las Vegas," which is also moving to Fridays. But if I'm home, I know I can at least hang out with these two ensemble cast for a couple of hours and pretend I have a life.

I spent some time exploring my iTunes software and the iTunes music store in a little more depth. I found some interesting features, like the fact that I could create my own mix of music on my iTunes, perhaps to convey a certain mood, and share it with others. For example, you could check out my mix, and if you like it, or even some of the song on it, you could buy the tunes for yourself. It's like sharing music across the miles in a fun, and legal, way. Very interesting.

I'm not sure if I will post any of my playlists or not, but who knows. I also like the Essentials feature, where you can look at recommendation on music from various artists, years or genres decide if you want that music for yourself. And if you do, you can buy the music one song at a time or the whole compilation.

I also plan to check out a couple of podcasts, one on the blues music scene in Portland and one on the Portland music scene in general. I like blues music, so that may be a great add. I'm not sure if the other one will fit my tastes or not, but I'm curious to know more about the music scene in this part of the country.

Maybe I'll listen to some of the podcasts this afternoon while enjoying some of the Willamette Valley scene on a little drive.

TV
Conviction
iTunes
Portland, Ore.
Music

Coming to the really small screen

For many years I used to work a swing shift, so prime time episodic televisions was just not my things. Whatever the hot shows were in the early part of this century, I couldn't tell you because I didn't see them because I wasn't home.

Fortunately, that meant I never became part of the whole "Survivor" craze or any of the other plethora of reality TV shows that have become part of our country's pop culture identity. That doesn't mean I haven't seen an episode or two along the way, but I've never seen a whole season.

Thanks to cable and some innovative syndication deals I did become a fan of some shows like "NYPD Blue," "Law & Order" and "West Wing" because they were available at non-prime times on cable networks like A&E and Bravo. I could watch whole batches of seasons in a matter of weeks or months. Of course sometimes I was a season, or two or three behind the curve, but it was all new to me.

Now, I'm working a shift that allows me to be home for prime time viewing, but I my TV viewing habits have not really changed. I still tend to favor cable networks or premium movie channels over broadcast networks. There are some exceptions. I'm still a fan of "West Wing," now in its final season. "Desperate Housewives" has become a favorite. And "Boston Legal" and "Grey's Anatomy" are shows I try not to miss. But I certainly don't plan my week or my life around what's on TV on which days.

So why did I spend part of my evening tonight downloading a TV show to my iPod? I still haven't quite figured that out. When I bought my new iPod just a few short weeks ago I figured I would never use the video feature on the thing. I asked "Why would anyone want to watch a TV show or video on such a tiny screen?" And now here I am downloading a TV show.

But the price was right. It was free. I was tempted to download a few episodes of the classic Saturday morning public service announcements "Schoolhouse Rock." Remember that series? "Conjunction Junction, what's your function? Hooking up words and phrases and clauses." Or "I'm just a bill, yes I'm only a bill and I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill." But they wanted money for those and I didn't want to see them badly enough again to pay for them.

But NBC is doing something really interesting. They are releasing the pilot for their new series "Conviction" before the show even premieres on TV. You can download the episode for free through iTunes now and show doesn't broadcast until next Friday.

So, it remains to be seen if I will actually watch the episode on the really small screen of my iPod before the show debuts, or even if I will watch the show on the somewhat bigger screen of my television. But but the price was right. And my Friday nights are pretty dull these days. So, you never can tell.

iPod
iTunes
Television
Podcasts

Award-winning ticket

I have to admit, I really wasn't aware that the Golden Globe Awards were taking place until yesterday. But if the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association are good judges of quality cinema, it looks like I have spent my movie ticket dollars wisely so far this year.

OK, so as I mentioned in my last post the only movie I've seen at a theater in more than a years has been "Brokeback Mountain," which won four awards last night. I ended up watching part of the awards show last night, for whatever reason, and it further reiterated that I wish I had seen several of the movies that were up this year.

Among the movies that I wish I would have seen are "Walk The Line," "Capote," "Good Night, And Good Luck," and "Transamerica".

Oh well, eventually they will make it on to HBO, Cinemax or Encore, right?

But I've taken the plunge again, getting past whatever demons have possessed me of late that have kept me from venturing out as a single person to go solo to a movie theater again. Yea, the experience isn't as rich as it is to go to a movie with someone who you can talk about the performances with afterward. But then again, sitting home on the couch isn't real culturally or socially enriching either.

Movies
Golden Globe Awards

Just how do you masturbate with a magazine?

It said thank u 4 a funky time
Call me up whenever u want 2 grind
"Darling Nikki" by Prince off the album and movie soundtrack Purple Rain.

When I was in high school and my early days of college I was a headbanger. My record collection (yes, this was before the days of compact disks or MP3 players) was filled with bands like AC/DC, Van Halen, Cinderella, Ratt, etc.

I had heard Prince songs on the radio and at dances, but wasn't a fan by any stretch. Us headbangers made fun of Prince, long before he changed his name to a symbol and back again, which provided plenty of fodder for fun-poking. And I certainly didn't buy any of his music. My money went to things I found much more important, like Bo Derek posters, Old Milwaukee beer and Swisher Sweet cigars.

Somehow, in the summer of 1984, the endless summer that ended far too soon after graduating from high school, I got talked into going to see the movie "Purple Rain," against my will. I was with my best friend, a fellow headbanger, and, if memory serves, his family. Although the more I think about it, I may be hazy on all the facts, but I'm pretty sure his stepsisters where in on this humiliation. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Anyway, the girls outnumbered and outvoted us. They wanted to see the Purple One in all his tight outfitted splendor. I'm sure we pouted all the way into the theater. Well, maybe we could sit way in the back so no one would see us walking in to see that particular movie.

But no, that didn't work, because the place was packed. We had to walk past all those filled seats. Fortunately we had perfected the disinterested teen slink in the preceding years, so as to make it obvious to everyone there that we were far too cool to see this movie (despite the fact that we were not cool enough to avoid being pussy whipped into seeing "Purple Rain.") The only seats we could find to fit our throng were right in the front row.

There's nothing like having to lay down to watch a movie, but that's what it took to see the screen from about 6 feet away. Trying to follow the action on screen was like trying to watch a tennis match played on the ceiling, rolling our heads back and forth. Of course, from that distance, Apollonia's tits were HUGE. And I was a goner from that moment on in the movie. I was 18 for fuck's sake! I got a hard-on when the wind blew! Seeing tits? Oh my God, I'm surprised I didn't make a huge wet spot in my Levi's 501s. Between scenes featuring Apollonia's bare breasts or gratuitous cleavage shots, I was spellbound. Well, that and the not so subtle lesbian vibe from Revolution musicians Wendy and Lisa.

Lisa: "Wendy?"
Wendy: "Yes, Lisa."
Lisa: "Is the water warm enough?"
Wendy: "Yes, Lisa."
Lisa: "Shall we begin?"
Wendy: "Yes, Lisa."
From "Computer Blue" off the Purple Rain soundtrack

Hell yes! Begin already. We want to watch! OK, I want to watch.

But it wasn't Apollonia or Wendy&Lisa that led to the moment that forever changed me during that movie. Prince rode a motorcycle, and I rode a motorcycle, so maybe the little fucker wasn't such a pussy after all. But that wasn't it either. It was the music that got me. I ended up buying the soundtrack, and one song in particular blew me away.

The song was "Darling Nikki." I had never heard a song like that before. Prince actually wrote about and sang about masturbation in that song. It was the most blatantly sexual song I had ever heard. I recorded the album onto a cassette tape so I could listen to it at high volume in my car. I couldn't listen to it in my parents' house, but the car, now that was freedom.

And a song about sex and masturbation? I mean, OK, I knew about masturbation. Been there, done that. But I never ever talked about masturbation. Not my masturbation anyway. Never confessed to doing THAT! OK, there were the cruel jokes and taunts about other guys pounding their pud, but I never admitted I would do what is probably the most natural act for a teenage boy to do besides breathing! And here Prince was singing about it.

Over the years, the Purple Rain album collected dust in a record crate that became useless with the advent of CDs and the death of my turntable. And the song faded from memory.

Until one day I had the radio on and I heard it. "Darling Nikki." ON THE FUCKING RADIO! But it was different somehow. Good, but different. I later learned it was the Foo Fighters' cover of the song, and 20 years after it was first recorded, the frank sexuality of "Darling Nikki" was passe enough for broadcast radio.

Times certainly have changed. And I suppose I have too. But spotting a girl in a hotel lobby masturbating with a magazine would still get my attention. I might even pop wood like a teenager all over again.

Yea, I know even the Foo Fighters' version was all over the airwaves a year ago or more, and this is old news. But I got to thinking about this song and the movie the other day. I heard a radio show dedicated to cover songs on the radio, and they played the Foo Fighters' version of "Darling Nikki" and told the story of the song and why the band recorded it (they also played Foo's cover of "Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty).

So, I got to thinking about the song, and the summer of '84 and the people I spent it with. And the fact that one of my old best friend's "evil" stepsisters and I had dinner Saturday night also had me in a nostalgic frame of mind. The song and the friend all took me back to a wonderful time when Purple Reigned and music could still shock and surprised without saying a single dirty word.

Music
Masturbation
1984

Star gazing in the desert

It was a star-studded day, and evening, here in the desert. My friend, B, and I were on a mission today to do a little celebrity spotting at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. Neither of us are big golf fans, but we wanted to go out to the tournament and check it out, just because we could.

We ventured to PGA West in La Quinta to hobnob with the elite set. OK, mostly we went to people watch, including the characters in the gallery as well as the pros, amateurs and celebrities on the Arnold Palmer Private Course at PGA West.

Most of our time was spent along the 16th, 17th and 18th holes. Among the celebs gawked at were: Comedian George Lopez, actor Kurt Russell, former football player turned broadcaster Ahmad Rashad, current KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer, actor Joe Pesci, Houston Astros pitcher Roger Clemens and TV talk show host Carson Daly.

Afterward, B and I ran a few errands and sat around his apartment BSing before realizing we were both hungry. So we decided to have dinner. At B's suggestion we dined at a Mexican restaurant called El Mirasol on the edge of downtown Palm Springs. The food and conversation were good (and the margarita wasn't bad either), but the restaurant was crowded and loud. A sign of the popularity of the place, belying the somewhat ramshackle appearance of the place from the outside. It's really just a dive place serving good food at a good price. Can't go wrong with that.

We had thought our celebrity sightings were over for the day, but as we were walking through the outdoor patio on our way to the car, a familiar face was spotted at one of the outdoor tables. The face was familiar, because it belonged to former Bette Midler piano player, turned jingle-writer, turned soft-rock crooner Barry Manilow.

OK, yes, I was a Barry Manilow fan back in the day. My junior high cassette collection was dominated by make-up metal band KISS, and Barry Manilow. So, there is some irony to seeing a member of the band KISS and Manilow in the same day in my community (even if I didn't know Thayer was the name of KISS' guitarist. Ace Frehley I know. Thayer? Saw him in concert last year, but didn't know him from Joe Pesci's caddy).

B had to call his mom as we were walking to the car to tell her we had an encounter with Barry Manilow. The pressing question on B's mom's mind: What was Manilow eating? Sorry mom, that's intelligence we did not gather. We'll remember to check next time.

Excuse me Barry, is that the carne asada? And would you hum a few bars of "Mandy"? "Copa Cabana"? "Weekend in New England"? I used to be a big fan, well, way back before I, you know, grew some hair on my nuts. Enjoy your dinner. See ya around neighbor!

Celebrities
Entertainment
Palm Springs
Golf

Drummed up illness?

Is high a euphemism for sick in professional music?

Last week the band Los Lonely Boys canceled their concert in the Coachella Valley. Actually they canceled it and rescheduled it once, and then turned right around and canceled it outright. Shows in San Francisco and L.A. were also canceled.

According to the news reports in The Desert Sun, the shows were canceled due to the "illness" of the band's drummer, Ringo Garza. The band was supposed to play Monday, Jan. 3, 2005, at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert. The theater learned of the cancellation 2 days before the show, and theater officials said they would try to reschedule.

But by Monday, Jan. 3, the show was canceled again, and ticket holders were told to return there tickets for a refund, as new tickets would be issued if the show was able to be rescheduled.
Later in the week, on Thursday, Jan. 6 to be exact, the same "sick" drummer of the Texas trio, Ringo Garza, was arrested in his hometown in Texas.

According to an Associated Press report, Garza and his wife Lenora were arrested in their San Angelo, Texas, home after a search by police turned up pot in the house. Police went to the house after two women filed a complaint, allegedly after they had been drinking at the home. (Read the story on the San Angelo newspaper's Web site)

See, Ringo, if you had kept up your concert obligations, maybe you wouldn't be in that jackpot. Well, expect this is the second time he's been popped for pot. So, maybe it was only a matter of time.

Like the song says:
"Save me from this prison
Lord, help me get away
'Cause only you can save me now
From this misery..."

From the song "Heaven," performed by Los Lonely Boys, from their self-titled album