Back from Chicago

So much for blogging during the trip. We're back now and after a long & rainy drive yesterday, I'm safe in the confines of my house. We're still one cat short (at the vet, we have to basically put him in solitary confinement for the next several months -- long story but the other option is putting him to sleep which is so not an option.)

Those expecting a trip report will have to wait though. I work tonight and then again at 7AM tomorrow, 8AM on Wednesday, and then we're off to Kansas City for a couple days. Nothing like doing all your summer vacationing all at once before summer even starts.

Oh and then there's Madonna in *gasp* 26 days!!

And I was going to post a picture of Anna and me in our matching Sue the T. rex shirts, but Blogger is being dunderheaded and not letting me. So probably later.

Heading for the Windy City

I'm off for a week long trip to Chicago tomorrow (after a one night stop over at my father-in-law's which is on the way.) Heidi's going to the Chicago North RWA Spring Fling Writers' Conference next weekend, and we decided, what the heck, let's make a week out of it since we didn't make it to Europe like we'd originally wanted to this year. I'm excited to go even though it's one hell of a long drive from here. I'm most excited to take my daughter to all the museums because she's old enough now to appreciate them. We're also going to go to the John Hancock observatory -- I asked Anna if she wanted to go to the top of a tall building and she said "But Daddy, I don't want to climb that building like King Kong!!" Kids.

I'm also excited because we're going to go see Jennifer Crusie at the book signing for Don't Look Down on Thursday night. I can't wait to tell her how great her book is.

I'll probably blog some from Chicago this week as the hotel has free wireless, so I might as well take advantage of it.

Nuclear nightmares

No, I'm not having dreams of nuclear war again, but I found an absolutely amazing set of photos via Metafilter. It's called Nuclear Nightmares: 20 Years Since Chernobyl and words can't really describe how the photos made me feel. They are incredible photos, but they are also disturbing photos. Chernoby occurred during a time that I wasn't really conscious of a lot of the news going on in the world (I was an early teenager and just wasn't paying attention.) But this makes you sit up and take notice.

Dolly and her leg

I know, laziest blog post ever. But does Dolly even have control of that leg of hers?

Worst. Winter. Ever.

For being sick, that is. I'm on the tail end of yet another plague of unknown origin -- and I can't even pin this one on my daughter! It all started on Saturday morning when I woke up and was sneezing and coughing. I figured it was my allergies because we were in Washington and when you go just that much farther south, there's just that much more in blood vs. here in Ames. So I resigned myself to a little bit of misery until we went back home that night. Trouble was, I didn't get any better by the time we got back. And what was worse, it had been raining all evening, which usually takes all the pollen out of the air so I started to wonder.

Sunday we ended up going down to Petsmart in Ankeny, and I tell ya, that about wiped me out. And by the time the afternoon got here, I had all the classic flu signs -- coughing, low grade temp, myalgias, shivers. It really wasn't fair because I've already done the flu once this winter and I really didn't think I needed a second helping. I started watching Jarhead later that night, but had to go to bed when there was only half an hour left because I was just feeling that crappy.

So I had Monday off because I'd taken a vacation day, but it was the worst sick I've been in a long time. When I first woke up, I thought I was feeling better -- so much so that I got up and took Anna to preschool, but after that, I came back and crashed. Watched the last little bit of Jarhead and then watch War of the Worlds. Seriously, sitting on the couch was all I could do. I was alternately cold and hot, my eyes burned, I was seriously uncomfortable. Midafternoon I took my temperature and it was almost 103! I can't tell you the last time I ran a fever like that. I knew even then that there was no way I'd be able to work today.

And sure enough, I woke up this morning around 5 AM and called in because all the myalgias and coughing and crap were still there. But as of now, I'm starting to feel a little better, but I'm still trying to take it easy. We're off to Chicago next week, and like I want to be sick for that!!

But after all this, you'd think I'd be immune to avian flu. Oh and mumps too. Definitely don't want that either.

Tornado Flickr photo set

I've uploaded my photos that I took of the tornado destruction in Iowa City. They're certainly not as good as the ones that you can get from the media outlets here in Iowa, but let's just say it was something to be in it.

Dan's Flickr Photo Set of the tornado.

More tornado pictures

Heidi and I went up to Iowa City this afternoon -- mostly because we'd been planning on it, but also, admittedly, to gawk.

My brother-in-law has put up some tornado stuff. Click here to access it. In the meantime, here's some pictures of storm damage and other storm related stuff (none of it, unfortunately, was taken by me, I gakked it from around the web, especially the Iowa City Press-Citizen, KCRG and University of Iowa's web site.)

Egads!

This is the sight over Iowa City last night. And apparently, the downtown looks like a war zone. We were traveling from Ames to Washington last night and had to go by Iowa City to get there, and it's a good thing we left late or we'd have driven right into that.

More stuff here.

Las Vegas, here were come

Well, we booked our flight to Las Vegas to see the Confessions Tour last night. Despite what many people at work told me, I could find neither outrageously inexpensive airfare to Las Vegas nor a direct flight from Des Moines. So we ended up paying about $300 a piece for airfare. We're leaving Des Moines at 7:22 AM on Saturday morning, May 27th with a connecting flight in Chicago. We'll get to Vegas around noon on Saturday. The concert isn't until 8PM, so we'll have plenty of time to take in the Vegas strip, and since the MGM Grand is on the strip, we'll be right there so no worries. And rather than book a hotel, Jeff and I will be hopping a 12:40 AM flight from Las Vegas to Dallas-Ft. Worth early Sunday morning -- getting back to Des Moines around 8:30AM on Sunday. So we'll spend a grand total of 12 hours or so in Vegas, but I'm not really a gambler so who really cares. We're going to see the concert, not gamble.

I'm not sure how my nearly 34 year old body will take that kind of abuse, but I think it's better than spending the night in a hotel -- certainly cheaper and plus as I've looked around for hotels, there really aren't any available that weekend that are anywhere remotely close to the strip. Plus, with it being a holiday weekend, price gouging is definitely the rule -- although I was surprised to find that on non-holiday weekdays, the MGM Grand is actually reasonably priced! However, for Memorial Day weekend, it's 400+ dollars a night, and there aren't any rooms anyhow, so there ya go.

Only six weeks away! And I figured it out, if Madonna performs for 2 hours, we'll be paying roughly $4.50 a minute for the privilege of seeing her live. While I have mixed feelings about that -- I mean, does she really need the money at this point in her career? (and if she does, shame on her for not investing more wisely) -- I'm mostly just happy to be going. I know there's not one single artist besides her that I'd shell out that kind of cash to see, and consequently, I shook off the nearly immediate buyer's remorse that hit me yesterday.

Oh well, it's not like someone held a gun to my head and made me buy the tickets. I guess she charges that much for tickets because she can. Although Jeff and I were laughing last night because $265 seats at Drowned World Tour probably would have been front row seats!

Fours

I stumbled across this quick and easy Enneagram test online, and I'm posting it because I'm a four through and through, and whenever I refer to my inner four, this is what I'm referring to, for those readers (the few that I actually have) that may not know.

ENNEAGRAM TYPE 4

How to Get Along with Me

• Give me plenty of compliments. They mean a lot to me.
  

• Be a supportive friend or partner. Help me to learn to love and value myself.


• Respect me for my special gifts of intuition and vision.


• Though I don't always want to be cheered up when I'm feeling melancholy,
  I sometimes like to have someone lighten me up a little.


• Don't tell me I'm too sensitive or that I'm overreacting!

What I Like About Being a Four

• my ability to find meaning in life and to experience feeling at a deep level


• my ability to establish warm connections with people


• admiring what is noble, truthful, and beautiful in life


• my creativity, intuition, and sense of humor


• being unique and being seen as unique by others


• having aesthetic sensibilities


• being able to easily pick up the feelings of people around me

What's Hard About Being a Four

• experiencing dark moods of emptiness and despair


• feelings of self-hatred and shame; believing I don't deserve to be loved
  


• feeling guilty when I disappoint people


• feeling hurt or attacked when someone misundertands me


• expecting too much from myself and life


• fearing being abandoned


• obsessing over resentments


• longing for what I don't have

Fours as Children Often

• have active imaginations: play creatively alone or organize playmates in original games


• are very sensitive


• feel that they don't fit in


• believe they are missing something that other people have


• attach themselves to idealized teachers, heroes, artists, etc.


• become antiauthoritarian or rebellious when criticized or not understood
  


• feel lonely or abandoned (perhaps as a result of a death or their parents' divorce)

Fours as Parents

• help their children become who they really are


• support their children's creativity and originality


• are good at helping their children get in touch with their feelings


• are sometimes overly critical or overly protective


• are usually very good with children if not too self-absorbed

We're going!!!

Oh. My. God. I can't believe it. I actually got tickets to Madonna's Confessions Tour in Las Vegas for Memorial Day weekend. They were ungodly expensive -- 265 dollars a seat, but you know what? I don't do anything else -- I don't go out for beers every other night with the guys, we don't have cable, we own one car, I walk to work. I deserve it -- most definitely. And I have a back up plan if Memorial Day weekend ends up being my weekend to work, so there!

Now it's time to find airfare and hotel. Jeff's going to pay the airfare -- will likely be comparable to the ticket price. And then trying to find a hotel.

I'm so excited!!! The seats aren't spectacular -- better than our Drowned World Tour seats (nothing above us but ceiling) and not quite as good as our Re-Invention Tour seats, but we're in the arena!!

Confessions Tour

It's that time again. Madonna's hitting the road and even though I told myself that I probably wouldn't be able to go, I got one look at the rumoured set list and now I want to go like nothing else. Ticket prices are, as expected, astronomical. And any hope I had of going to see her in Phoenix and stay at my brother's is history as it doesn't work for Jeff and I can't get the day off work anyway. Chicago, the closest she's coming around here is out as well as I can't get the day off work and, truth be told, I wasn't that crazy about the United Center anyway.

So I talked to Jeff tonight and we're thinking about trying to get tickets to her show in Las Vegas on Memorial Day weekend. However, I looked for flights and hotel combos and they're all rather pricey, which doesn't surprise me too much because all those hotels on the Vegas strip are going to be expensive. It stinks because I don't want to stay so far out that I have to rely on a cab to get back after the show (we learned our lesson at the DWT when my very pregnant wife came and picked us up in a cab she got from the hotel as there wasn't a cab to be found after the show was over.) However, I also don't want to spend a fortune because tickets are probably going to be around 200 bucks by the time it's all said and done. Besides, Memorial Day may end up being my weekend to work -- a baby has to be born a bit early for it to happen, but theoretically it could happen.

I've been looking into the Philadephia show which is July 12th. Airfare isn't too bad and the hotels are a little more reasonable. Only trouble is I don't know Philadelphia at all so I don't know where a good place to stay is -- as in, I don't want to stay in the ghetto (cue Dolly's back up singers -- sorry, inside joke) or have to risk life and limb to get to the concert. Sorry Madonna, you're not worth that.

In the end, I have to say that I'm a bit torked that she thinks she has to charge so dang much money for her concerts. But that's another post entirely.

But in talking to Jeff tonight, we're both on the same page. We've seen her twice, which is more than a lot of my Madonna fan friends I know have seen her, and if we have to wait for the DVD on this one, well, I guess it'll have to be that way. Truth be told, I wish the tour started in Europe and finished in the States as August is a much better month for me to get time off work!!

Oh well, if it's meant to be, it'll happen. Never in a million years would I have dreamt that we would be going to Washington, D.C. to see the Re-Invention Tour a couple years ago. Time will tell.

Is it too late to hope for a last minute add of the Wells Fargo Arena? :)

Get the point? Good, now wash.

This was taken in the men's room of a family restaurant that we were at last weekend for my grandparents' 65th wedding anniversary. (whoa! 65 years!) If I hadn't already been planning to wash my hands after using the bathroom, I don't think I could have withstood the guilt I would have felt thanks to that sign.

I guess in a few years it'll say "Dirty hands spread H5N1. WASH HANDS!"

Death

I've been (rather inadvertantly) reading quite a few books about death these days. I finished Stephen King's Cell a while back (his take on the zombie genre) and quite unwittingly followed it up with Terry Pratchett's Reaper Man -- although actually it's the fact that Reaper Man is a de facto zombie book as well, but more about that later. And finally, as if on cue, I run across Christopher Moore's latest novel A Dirty Job at Borders this weekend when we were out looking for the new Jennifer Crusie novel Don't Look Down (hits stores April 4th but Heidi's been hearing that it's been available early in some places.)

In A Dirty Job, a nice Beta-male finds out that he's basically, well, Death. With a capital D.

I've only read one of Moore's novels -- and that was The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror. I mean, how could I refuse it? It was Christmas AND zombies!!! And it was a really good book, even though it got off to a slow start, it ended up being well worth the read. I've never gotten around to reading Lamb, but it's on my to-be-read pile.

The unfortunate thing is that I'm having to resort to the library in order to read A Dirty Job, which means there are 7 people in front of me waiting to read it. I guess as soon as I'm done with Reaper Man (and what a hoot it is!) I'm going to read that James Frey's A Million Little Pieces just to see what all the commotion is about. Someone at work loaned it to me so it's not like I went out and bought it or anything.

Radioactive dreams

Another in my recent slew of intensely vivid dreams occurred the other night. I'm not sure what brought it about, but I dreamt that there was a nuclear war. The plot of my dream played very closely to that of the 1980s TV movie The Day After -- which I remember watching as a kid and being alternately petrified of and fascinated by (something that I think pretty much sums up a key component of my personality.) Anyway, I remember that we were at Heidi's grandparents' house and I distinctly remember the mushroom clouds -- they looked just like they did in The Day After. Windows broke, the blast wave came across the town and then it was over. After that, the sun was shining and cars were driving and it looked just fine, but I knew that the radiation level was too high -- it was all a ruse.

I looked up what it meant to dream of a nuclear bomb and according to the dream interpretations site that I frequently go to in cases like this. This is what it said:

• To dream of a nuclear bomb, suggests feelings of helplessness, being threatened and loss of control. You may be experiencing great hostility and rage to the point of being destructive.
• Alternatively, you may be expressing a desire to wipe out some aspect of yourself.
• It may also be an indication that something crucial and precious to you has ended and important changes are about to occur.

I'm not sure what to make of that -- I'd like to chalk it up to my deeply embedded fear of nuclear war. It's one I don't consciously think of much anymore, but the thought of nuclear war just petrified me as a kid. During the 80s, before the Cold War started to thaw a little bit, I lived in fear that I'd wake up in the middle of the night with the air raid sirens going off, ICBMs inbound from the Soviet Union. Saying that makes it sound like I thought of nothing else, which isn't true, of course, but it was a very real fear that I had. I remember being in college and waking up in the middle of the night to the sounds of the civil defense sirens and all that same 10 year old boy fear welled right back up, even though by then, the Berlin Wall had fallen and the Cold War was pretty much over. I didn't even think of tornadoes, which would be a really common reason for civil defense sirens to be going off in Iowa, I thought of nuclear annihalation.

When I was in the 8th grade, I did a research paper on the effects of an atomic blast. There was a book that I got from the library from which I did a lot of my research called Nuclear War in the 1980s? Of course, completely dated now, but how I'd like to get my hands on a copy of that book for my late 20th century history library that I've managed to accrue.

(image courtesy Wikipedia)

An evening with Anne Murray

Well, I got back from the Anne Murray concert about an hour ago, and it was a really fun show! It was at C.Y. Stephens Auditorium here in Ames which is the mid-sized venue at the Iowa State Center. It's where a lot of the touring Broadway musicals end up playing, Anna has her dance recital there. It probably seats around 2500 people, so it's not like a big arena where major draws are going to play. Consequently, it's really a fun place to see concerts because there isn't a bad seat in the house. The performers don't look like tiny bugs running around on a stage and it's a pretty intimate setting.

Anne was pretty much sold out -- there were only isolated seats empty. As I suspected, she played a lot of her late 70s-early 80s crossover hits. "Shadows In The Moonlight," "I Just Fall In Love Again," "You Needed Me," & "Could I Have This Dance" (complete with audience sing-a-long) were all featured rather prominently. She also played a lot of standards as that's apparently what she's been recording these days. Her latest album is all songs written before 1940 and she sang a lot of those songs.

She pretty much knew that she was a nostalgia act, and played it for all it was worth. Her self-depracating humor was great -- that's one of the things I love about going to these shows where the artists are a little bit past their prime. They aren't afraid to make fun of themselves because they have absolutely nothing to lose. She's not exactly a spring chicken anymore (she's 60 years old) so there were a lot of age jokes. She talked about how she had glasses in every room in her house and still can't find a pair when she needs one. And she looked pretty good for being my mom's age. I mean, she reminded me a lot of Katherine Chancellor from "The Young & The Restless" only without all the bangles and baubles. But that frosted hair! What was that all about?

The crowd was very much a geriatric crowd. I'd say that the average age was probably 55 or so, putting me well in the tail end of the bell curve. But having said that, it seemed appropriate that I was seeing her perform, and in Ames, the place where I walked around the Iowa State campus listening to her music on my Walkman 16 years ago.

And for those of you who may not have ever heard Anne Murray, here's an MP3, available for a limited time. It's her cover of the Monkees' "Daydream Believer."

Anne Murray -- Daydream Believer

Buy Anne Murray CDs.

Guiltiest of guilty

Pleasures, that is. Tonight I'm going to see Anne Murray here in Ames with my folks. And that's no April Fools joke either. My wife wasn't interested and my daughter's just a little bit too young to take to something like that, although I have no doubt that she'd like the music. I have no idea what Anne Murray is going to sing in concert -- whether it'll be a collection of her hits from the 70s and 80s or if it'll be all standards or what. Hopefully, she'll do just like Olivia Newton-John did at her concert that we saw last fall -- know she's a nostalgia act and play it for every penny it's worth.

I have a rather odd history with Anne Murray. It all started when we were on vacation one summer and my mom and dad played Anne Murray's Greatest Hits in the van over and over again. I remember liking the song "Broken Hearted Me' -- most likely because it was a bit on the dramatic side and appealed to the four in me. So anyway, I was away at college, my freshman year at Iowa State right here in Ames, and I venture to say that I was the only 18 year old male on the campus listening to Anne Murray on my Walkman. I would dare anyone to out-geek that. I do remember how my friend Kelly always used to ask me if "A Little Good News" was on that tape, which sadly, it was not.

I'll be sure to write a full report of the concert here later tonight.

Now I'm off to see if any of Madonna's tour dates are leaking this weekend -- they're set to be announced on Monday!!

The Sun Is Burning

I'm really into the latest project Casey Stratton has put out on his web site -- a collection of traditional folk songs called The Sun Is Burning. He released it last week on St. Patrick's Day -- which is fitting because the bulk of it is Irish folk songs (although there is a French one thrown in for good measure.)

Funny thing is I wouldn't have suspected that I would like it as much as I do, traditional Irish folk music is not something that I normally listen to. It helps a lot that Casey does a fantastic job interpreting these songs -- the production isn't fancy at all, but that actually helps a lot. These are folk songs after all, they don't really fit fancy arrangements or state-of-the-art production.

I had to laugh when I started listening to the song "The Ash Grove" because I swore that I knew the tune from somewhere, but just couldn't place it. As it turns out, it's the tune to the old Lutheran hymn "Sent Forth By God's Blessing" -- the lyrics of which you can't find anywhere on the web because apparently us Lutherans are sticklers for copyright. But it's a great interpretation of the song. It's been fun investigating the origins of these songs that I previously hadn't been exposed to.

And on the other end of the Casey spectrum, I found his techno-ambient cover of New Order's "Regret" on iTunes. Yay--because I was about to spring for the whole Blue Order: A Tribute To New Order CD just to get that one track. Glad I didn't have to. "Regret" is probably my favorite New Order track, and I just love Casey's version of it.

Buy: The Sun Is Burning by Casey Stratton
Buy: "Regret" by Casey Stratton from Blue Order: A Tribute To New Order

Finally kicked the ... skunk?

Well, I think I've finally coughed up the last of the crud that infected all of us last week. I still have this dry, hacky cough, but I feel so much better. There's nothing like being sick to remind you of how good you feel the rest of the time! Anna's on day 8 of her antibiotic for her ear infection, and I asked her if her ear still hurt, to which she replied, "it's still kind of loud" which I assume means that it's full of fluid, but she says it doesn't hurt anymore.

In completely unrelated news, the other night I dreamt that I was walking down the street with Anna and someone we were about to meet was walking a skunk on a leash. Now, I figured this had to mean something, and sure enough it does. And sure enough, it's something bad. To see a skunk in your dream means either 1) you're driving people away or turning people off or 2) all is calm with the situation an you don't particularly like it or agree with it. Not sure what to make of that, but obviously hope it's not the former!

I've never actually seen a wild skunk, which is something else because they're not exactly uncommon in Iowa. However, I've sure smelled them while driving at night in the country. But I guess they are nocturnal, and plus, who really wants to meet up with a skunk? It's one of the animals that the CDC automatically considers rabid in the case of a bite and therefore you get to have the series of not entirely fun (but not as bad as popular urban folklore would have you believe) rabies shots. And besides, they stink anyway.

Down with the sickness

Ugh...we've got plague at our house. And Anna was definitely Patient Zero in this infestation. She ran almost frighteningly high fevers on Thursday and Friday -- so much so that we ended up taking her into the clinic just to make sure there wasn't something worse going on than what we could see. Then Friday afternoon, I came home from work with all-over body aches and by the time I went to bed at 9pm, I was so achy and chilled that I pretty much would rather have been dead (dramatic, I know!) And then last night, it hit Heidi just about the same way.

Anna's pretty much recovered, although she still hacks a lot ("Daddy, I don't wanna cough forever!") I have lovely junk in my lungs and my chest hurts from coughing. And what's better is my sister moved back to my parents' house this weekend, but not before being infected with whatever this is. And then add into the picture the fact that my brother and his wife are here from Arizona and will likely get infected as well. Happy spring break!

But I haven't been able to get that Richard Cheese version of "Down With The Sickness" out of my head since this all started -- you know the one that was in the remake of Dawn of the Dead a couple years back. Something about "you fucker get up, come on get down with the sickness" done in a lounge lizard version just tickles my funny bone.

Obligatory Oscar post

So I stayed up and watched the Oscars last night like we've done every year since whatever year it was that Braveheart won Best Picture and I can't help but feel like someone pulled the rug out from underneath me while I wasn't looking. I have to say that I was stunned when Brokeback Mountain didn't win Best Picture. Wait -- that's not entirely true. I did watch Crash last week because I knew it had a chance of sneaking in and taking Best Picture, so it didn't come as a complete shock when Jack Nicholson read that film's name at the end of the Oscar telecast last night. It's a good film -- and after I got done watching it, I said to myself, "Now, if that wins Best Picture instead of Brokeback, I won't feel too bad." And truthfully, it was a good film. Not the best movie I've ever seen in my life, but still very capable.

But for some reason, I still can't get over Brokeback Mountain not winning. A lot of the blogs this morning and screaming "homophobia!" which I'm not sure I entirely agree with. While the case could be made that even members of the generally liberal AMPAS were turned off by the subject matter of Brokeback, I'm more inclined to think that Brokeback Mountain suffered from the split-the-difference factor that seems to have become more common in recent Oscar years. What I think happened is that a lot of Academy members decided to vote for Brokeback by voting for Ang Lee's direction, and then to recognize Crash's Paul Haggis by voting for Crash for Best Picture. At least that's what I'd like to believe anyway, and for the most part, I don't think there was some conspiracy to cheat Brokeback out of the Best Picture Oscar. There's certainly plenty of precedence for splitting the Best Director/Best Picture Oscar.

But a part of me just can't get the bad taste out of my mouth. Perhaps it's because Brokeback affected me much more deeply than Crash did and on that alone, I feel it was the best film of the year. I know that Heidi will disagree with me, and Jeff will too. It's silly to admit, but every time I heard that Brokeback theme "The Wings" during the Oscars, I just started to tear up a little bit. I'm not sure why, but I just did. I'm very glad that the score won the Oscar, because it is by far the most original score I've heard in a while and it fit the movie just perfectly. And besides, even though John Williams has lost 40 Oscars, he's won five which is probably more than this guy will ever win in his lifetime.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment of the night for me was reserved for the usually uneventfuly Best Original Song. I so wanted Dolly Parton to win and it seemed like she was poised to win, but then that utterly ridiculous rap song from Hustle & Flow beat her out in the end. To her credit, Dolly seemed genuinely happy for them, but I couldn't help but think about the relatively few opportunities Dolly Parton is going to have to win an Oscar. Not that it matters to her, I'm sure. She has a closet full of awards I'm sure, but I just felt like an Oscar would be a good way to reward her 40+ year career of songwriting. But I suppose that's not what the Oscars are about, really. And as Heidi pointed out, how many more chances are the guys who won going to get at Oscar? Valid point.

So overall, it was kind of a disappointing Oscar year because the one big upset was half-predicted and then everything else fell right into the place where all the Oscar prognositcators said. And in the end, it's just the fucking Oscars.

Skewed statistics

Well, my Lastfm.com statistics are going to be completely wonky when they go to compile them next Sunday. It seems I left iTunes playing all night long while I was at work (11 hours) and not only that, I left it playing on my Casey Stratton/Tori Amos playlist. So they are the only two artists who have played for the last 11 hours.

Not that this is altogether a bad thing. I've been trying to get my iTunes play counts up since my complete computer re-do in January. That's one way to do it.

Happenstance

It's been a while since I've blogged and I really have no good reason for not having blogged. I've been at the computer and have had ample time to blog, but I guess I just haven't had much to say these days. I'm getting ready for a stint of overnights at work which always messes with my internal clock more than I care to think about, but it'll be fine.

The other day, I pulled the 1987 Dolly Parton CD Rainbow off the shelf and imported it into iTunes. This CD has the distinction of being the most expensive single CD I've ever purchased. This all-pop album, which bombed bigger than life for Dolly nearly 20 years ago (egads! where has the time gone?) and has been out of print for just about as long. And since 1987 was toward the beginning of the CD age, the CD version is especially difficult to come by. The Iowa City Public Library had a copy of it that I checked out numerous times while I lived in Iowa City. Just as music was starting to make the jump from CDs to mp3s and other digital files, I decided that I wanted to get a copy of this CD, so I went to eBay to see what I could find. I found a few copies there, so I went ahead and bid on one, only to lose it in the last minute of the auction (imagine that--like that ever happens on eBay!)

My next auction I was a little more fortunate, except for the fact that I got in a bidding war with someone toward the end of the auction. I think I ended up spending somewhere between 50 and 60 dollars for the CD -- insane, I know! -- but I'd procured a copy of the CD. If I had only waited 6 more months, by then I was fully into Napster and the mp3 revolution, and all I would have had to do was check out the CD from the Iowa City Public Library and voila -- I'd have a copy. Still, I don't have all that many regrets about spending the money. Even though I buy a majority of my music through iTunes these days, there's still something about having the CD to hold in your hand along with all the accompanying artwork that goes along with it (and believe me, the artwork in this one is cheesy with a capital C.)

Rainbow is Dolly at her cheesiest. I almost wrote that it was the nadir of her career, but I don't think that's entirely true either. The trouble with the CD is that it has a very "phoned-in" feel to it -- almost as if Dolly laid down the vocals and the instrumentation was completely changed from what it originally was. Almost every song has this "lost in a wind tunnel" quality to it, with Dolly's vocals relegated to the background and crappy 80s synths layered to hell over the top of it. It contains her single most embarrassing song "Dump The Dude" in which Dolly opines "Girl, I know you think this is none of my business/But the fact that we're friends makes it my business/I care about you, and I ain't preachin'/But I think you shoud dump the dude." At least she didn't write it.

I talk rather harshly about a CD that I coughed up 60 bucks for, but I love the cheesiness of it. I love the cheesball song "Savin' It For You" which she sang on her TV show from right around the same time. But perhaps what I love most about it is it reminds me of my first semester at Iowa -- just like Madonna's Erotica CD does -- and the memories that it evokes more than make up for the bad songwriting and dated production. And the funny thing is, that when the album was released in 1987, I could have easily bought it then. I mean, I liked Dolly even back then, but for reasons I don't know, I never purchased it. And think if I'd bought it back then, I'd have a whole different set of memories associated with it. It was just happenstance that I didn't discover it until I was 20 rather than when I was 15.

Anyway, enough of my mindless babbling about Dolly. Here, enjoy this video from You Tube, which prompted me to import the Rainbow CD to iTunes in the first place. "Savin' It For You" performed live on the Dolly show in 1987. (As is standard operating procedure for most You Tube videos, this can be a bit slow to load, so be patient.)

Valentine's Day

This is proof positive that I have the best wife ever. (The February 14th post) And it has nothing to do with the fact that I get off easy on Valentine's Day. It goes so much deeper than that.

Hands off, guys, I'm keeping her.

Sorry for the shortness of the post, but life's been busy. Back probably tomorrow with something more substantial.

Angstroms

I found myself thinking about angstroms today. I'm not entirely sure why I was but I didn't question it. Nonetheless, it was still an odd thing to find myself thinking about. An angstrom, as everyone knows, is one hundred-millionth of a centimeter (OK, I admit it, I had to look up precisely what it was, but I did remember the scientific notation for an angstrom, just couldn't remember how to express it.) Anyway, it reminds me a girl named Sarah that I knew in college -- she was the roommate of a friend of my roommate's. I really liked her - she was a little bit of a case, but it just heightened her appeal. I think I did awkwardly ask her out once, to our class formal, but she had other plans (i.e. she wasn't interested in me that way) but that was really ok. In an event, she was obsessed with angstroms. We thought that angstroms should really be the unit of measure for teenage angst, because really, when you think about it, that's probably how big teenage angst really is compared to what most teenagers (my teenage self included) make it out to be.

Surreality bites

The other night I dreamt that I was a vampire. And it was the strangest thing. I had had a couple glasses of wine before bed that night, and in the middle of the night, I remember stirring slightly and noting that I didn't feel very good. In the dream, this sick feeling got translated into my transformation into a vampire -- not dissimilar from the process described in Interview With The Vampire. I found myself noting that I didn't need to breathe and that my heart was no longer beating. And suddenly, I was back in college and a lot of my friends from that period of my life were there, sitting in a lecture hall. I sat down in a seat near the top of the lecture hall on an aisle, hoping that no one would notice my transformation into one of the undead. And just as quickly as I was in the lecture hall, I was suddenly sitting at a table with several friends, both past and present, while Heidi desperately tried to explain to them that just because I was a vampire didn't make me a bad person. After all, the only other vampires she'd known had been Angel and Spike, and they both had souls and eventually worked for good in the world. As she was talking, I found myself still feeling that "sick" feeling and realized that it must be because I needed blood -- I hadn't fed at all. So I began to ask people if they'd mind so much if I bit their necks and drank some blood -- not enough to kill them, but enough to make me feel better. Not surprisingly, no one obliged. Then Heidi came up with a great idea. She had me drink that fake vampire blood you get in tubes at Halloween. I remember it being gross, but it did make me feel better.

Strange, eh? I looked up what dreaming you're a vampire means and here's what I found: To dream that you are a vampire, signifies that you are sucking in the life energy of others for your own selfish benefit.

Funny, I don't feel like that fits -- I'm more likely to chalk it up to the wine.

Two new books

I got a couple new books this week -- one was a gift and one was a rare hardcover book purchase (I almost always wait for them to come out in paperback.) The first book is Norah Vincent's Self-Made Man, which Kevin sent to me. The book is about a woman who dressed up as a man to experience what it was like to be a man in today's society. She did this on a dare from a friend of hers and what she finds out (according to the reviews) will come as no surprise to a lot men in society. While men have a certain amount of freedom that may not necessarily come to women by virtue of gender roles, they come at a bit of a cost. According to the book jacket, the book is much in the vein of Black Like Me and Nickeled & Dimed (I've only read the latter) I'm eager to start reading it, and it's only appropriate that Kevin gave it to me considering we met on a listserv discussing men's issues.

The other book was one that I actually bought, and to say I bought it sight unseen would be lying, even though I probably would have. It's Stephen King's new book Cell, the first two chapters of which were published a couple weeks back in Entertainment Weekly. The premise, basically is that on a sunny day in October, The Pulse is sent out over everybody's cell phone, and anyone who happened to be on their cell phone at the time is turned into a crazed, flesh-eating zombie. Now as I've outlined here ad infinitum, I will pretty much watch or read anything that has to do with zombies as they are without a doubt my favorite of all movie monsters. So I have high hopes for the novel. Not that I haven't been disappointed by King before -- the climax of It, the entirety of The Tommyknockers, but he is also capable of brilliance -- 'Salem's Lot, which I read at the age of 25 and was still scared to death and the short story collection Night Shift. Many dismiss King for being a hack, but as Heidi mentions, he really cares about the craft of writing and if nothing else, he sure knows how to tell a story. Let's just hope they don't turn Cell into a movie because the movies based on his books almost always disappoint.

Please don't say you're sorry

I managed to get a copy of the Pet Shop Boys' remix of Madonna's next single "Sorry" and all I can say is that it exhibits everything that I love most about remixes. The structure of the song is not altered all that much, and it's still very heavy on Madonna's vocals. But they've beefed up the instrumentation plus added their own vocals to parts of it (Neil Tennant's very sorrowful "sorry, so sorry.." is just what the song needed.)

Overall, "Sorry" is one of my favorite songs on Confessions On A Dance Floor, and I think it has the potential to be a Madonna classic in the vein of "Vogue" and "Into The Groove." That's the trouble with evaluating Madonna's latter-day music -- it always seems to suffer a little bit in comparison to her early hits. (i.e., pretty much everything on The Immaculate Collection.) And admittedly, there's a lot of it that isn't as strong as those early, effortless hits. While Erotica is probably still my favorite Madonna album, it's not nearly as accessible pop-wise as say True Blue is. And perhaps that's why radio hasn't really latched onto any Madonna single since the early 90s ("Take A Bow" and "Music" notwithstanding) as they did instantly to anything she released during the 80s.

I think what I love most about "Sorry" is how dramatic it is. Actually, it's probably more melodramatic than dramatic, but that's good pop music for you. From the initial voiceovers of "I'm sorry" in several different languages, to the minor key of the whole dang thing, it's just so damn dramatic, it really appeals to my inner 4.

Puzz3D -- kicking my ass

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SUCCESS!

After relatively little wailing and gnashing of teeth, my computer is back up and running again. I was correct in predicting that it definitely didn't follow the path of least resistance, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Actually, it was amazingly good for me to do that with Dad because I really learned a lot. The next time I have a major computer repair, I won't be nearly as afraid to attempt it myself -- which can be good and bad. You just have to know when you're in over your head and to call in the experts.

So tomorrow we're heading down to Ankeny for a much delayed Christmas get together with Mary. It'll be a good time. We're just meeting at Village Inn for lunch and then we're going to be on our merry ways. We also have to stop at Petsmart to see if we can find some more of those Comfort Zone plug ins for the cats so that Blair can stop peeing in inappropriate places -- and stop peeing blood, no less. He's not infected, just stressed out beyond words according the vet. So stressed that his bladder is inflamed and he's got blood in his urine. Poor guy.

I sure am glad to have my computer back. It feels good.

Close to my computer

My dad's coming over today to help me put my computer back together. I'm getting a new motherboard (faster), a whole gigabyte of memory, and new power supply (for fun, I guess, since that didn't seem to be the problem.) I'm half expecting it to not be up and running by the end of the day as assembling computers never follows the path of least resistance. In fact, if all went smoothly, I'd wonder what the trade-off was.

I'll be really glad to have my computer back -- it's been a long few weeks. It's not like there's a shortage of computers in the house (Anna's got one on her little table and Heidi has a laptop which I'm currently working on) but it'll be nice to have all my settings back. I'll be mostly glad to have my 10,000 song strong iTunes library back. There's nothing like not having access to it to wish you had something that is miraculously not on your iPod. And thank heavens for my iPod. Had it not been for that, I'd have been in a world of hurt as far as music listening goes.

So we'll see how it goes. I'm listening to the Evita soundtrack right now, which pretty much guarantees that I'll have the songs stuck in my head for the rest of the day. I'm betting I'll be putting the computer together and have "This has really been your year Ms. Duarte/Tell us where you'll go from here, Ms. Duarte" looping endlessly in my head.

Finally saw Brokeback Mountain

Heidi and I secured child care last night and went out to the Varsity here in Ames to see Brokeback Mountain. All I can say is that I hope this movie sweeps the Oscars, because it deserves to. I will stand by my original assessment of the story that while it is a "gay" story, referring to it as "the gay cowboy movie" is not only doing the movie a great disservice but also grossly understating its potential impact. Scenes like the one where Ennis breaks down and cries because he has no way of telling Jack how he feels as they leave Brokeback Mountain for the first time speak not only to a gay audience, but should also speak to a male audience in general.

Heidi hates sad stories -- part of the reason she writes and reads romance (you can always be assured of a happy ending in romance.) And while I enjoy the catharsis of a sad story, this story just rips my heart out of my chest and throws it on the floor. And while it's a period piece of sorts and you couldn't reasonably expect a "happily ever after" ending, it makes me mad that we're living in a world right now where hate is an ok thing to feel for a group of people. It makes me all that much more committed to being a gay rights advocate in my everyday life.

Everyone needs to see this movie -- especially the bigots that are disavowing it. Of course, they won't see it, but they should. Kudos to everyone involved in the movie for making something so effective. If you see it and don't just feel for everyone in the movie, check yourself for a pulse.

In the meantime, here's hoping that this is the necessary first visit in order to get to the happily ever afters.

Odd iPod segue

OK, by now I've accepted the fact that I've just got some bizarre combinations when it comes to taste in music. But the other day as I was walking to work, listening to my iPod, minding my own business, I was witness to what was perhaps the most bizarre music segue courtesy of "Shuffle Songs" on my iPod. I was listening to "Just Lose It" by Eminem (which I still think is a bit on the lazy side for Eminem) when suddenly, I found myself listening to "Daddy's Moonshine Still" by Dolly Parton. So I went from Eminem making the crazy Pee-Wee Herman noise to Dolly singing about washing mason jars and hiding them from the cops when they came around, and even after all that, Daddy's moonshine still was good for nothing but to break momma's heart and to tear our home apart and make our lives a living hell.

Gotta love it. I think I was grinning ear to ear all the way to work.

Saving the world in his pajamas

Heidi and I just got done watching the Doctor Who: The Christmas Invasion episode thanks to our friends from Canada who were to have taped it, but for reasons I don't quite understand didn't, so they got the AVI file and made a videotape of it. And dang, was it something or what? Heidi was worried about how easily David Tennant would fill Christopher Eccleston's shoes, but in my opinion, he's a damn good Doctor. That's not to say he's necessarily better than Christopher Eccleston (OK, maybe I'd say that) but he's definitely different, and that's a good thing.

I never watched Doctor Who growing up, even though it was on PBS every Saturday night. It just seemed too weird to me. Which is why, when Heidi announced that she had the new Doctor Who episodes on tape copied from a Region 2 DVD, my response was a bit on the underwhelming side. Well, that and the fact that the dubbing was so poor that you practically had to have the volume turned up as loud as the TV would go in order to have a prayer of understanding what they were saying. Consequently, the TV was always louder than hell and I just wanted to go down to the basement while they were on. But she kept on me and talked me into letting her order the Region 2 discs from Amazon.uk and buying codes off of eBay that would turn our Region 1 player into a region-free player. Once we got those, I was pretty much hooked.

It reminds me so much in so many ways of Buffy The Vampire Slayer -- scary monsters and weird stuff going on every week, but the people are so genuine and real you just feel like you know them. And after seeing the preview for Season 2, or rather Series 2 after the Christmas Invasion episode, I can hardly wait for the new season, despite the fact that we really have no way to watch it as it's not on BBC America and well, even if it were, we don't have cable so that's kind of a moot point anyway. Suffice to say, I can't wait till those Region 2 DVDs of Series 2 come out. I have a feeling I'm going to like this next set of episodes even better than the first set.

2005 in a nutshell

Well, I can barely believe that 2005 is so much history. It seems like just yesterday I was spending New Year's Day 2005 sicker than a dog (not for that reason!!) and the year was an endless sea of possibilities spread out before me. And now it's gone.

It's been a good year for the most part. This was the first full calendar year I spent at my current job, coming up on 2 years in April. It's a good job and I enjoy it. There are days that I miss the relative simplicity of my previous job, but I realize that the cost of staying there were too high in other areas of my life. I've taken on more responsibilities at work, which is a good thing, but also a bit nerve-wracking because I don't always think that I'm the best person to do some of the things that I'm doing. But I'm learning. It's been a lesson for me so far -- I'm far too much of a people-pleaser (something I got from my mom) and part of some of my new responsibilities require me to jettison some of that and just do the job. So that'll be good for me to learn.

Anna's growing up so fast -- I can hardly believe it. It's funny to think back to June when she wouldn't stay at a play group while Heidi went just down the hall without screaming and crying at being left alone. Now, as I drop her off at preschool, she hardly even notices that I leave. While this is good and an essential part of her development, I can't help but miss the baby she was. However, the little girl she's become is so fantastic. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that my daughter would be singing along to Cher, Kylie and Madonna. I probably should have known though, because she was getting 50% of her genes from me. It's fun watching her pretend-play with her Barbies and Playmobil unicorn set. Sometimes I'm amazed at the fact that I've raised this little girl. While I realize that the job is far from done, it's reassuring to know that so far, so good.

I feel like I've grown a lot in the last year. Isn't that weird -- to be 33 years old and feel like you're growing? Although, on the other hand, I suppose if you stop growing you've probably stopped living. So it's been a good one.

As for changes for the New Year? Well, wouldn't mind losing a little bit of weight (not that I feel I'm overweight, but I'm certainly not getting any younger.) I also want to keep on working on the spiritual aspect of my life -- getting centered in my life and feeling comfortable with myself. That's kind of an ongoing process, I guess. I'm also mulling switching from Blogger to Typepad because, dang, they just have some of the coolest features. Anyone reading this with input, I'm all ears. And if I do switch, I'll just have to make sure I blog more because I'll be paying for the privilege.

So here's to 2006. Happy New Year to anyone who may read these words -- but especially to all the friends that I know will read these words.

It's gonna be light

Blogging, that is. Expect some light blogging for the next week or so. My computer's on the blink -- I think it's the motherboard -- and so I'm currently writing on my 4 year old's computer sitting on her little chair at her little table. So don't expect much. But fear not, I shall return soon.

Ailing Christmas tree

Well, thanks to our cats, our Christmas tree has had a stroke. The above picture isn't the greatest (click to see a bigger view -- it's hard to get a picture of Christmas lights no matter how hard you try) but the entire upper right hand side has no lights any longer. And I sure can't figure out what the hell happened. A part of me doesn't even want to fix it -- exceptional amount of work for only one more week till Christmas -- but I suppose I probably will.

Brokeback backlash begins

I kinda figured it wouldn't take long for the right-wing in this country to come out swinging against Brokeback Mountain now that it's racked up some impressive critics' awards and is all but assured a bevy of nominations at this year's Academy Awards. I had read somewhere that conservative groups were deliberately not fanning the flames of controversy as to not draw too much attention to the story's gay plotline. But once awards started getting heaped upon it, they had no other choice.

I wonder how many of the people speaking out against it have actually seen the movie. I've read the short story upon which the movie is based and let me tell you, while the story is definitely about two gay ranch hands, there's so much more to it than that. It's about relationships, it's about the inevitable heartbreak that comes from trying to be something that you're not. It's about how even had Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist had the words to express their feelings for each other, the societal mores of the time would have squashed them like a bug. But ultimately, to me, the story is about missed opportunity, and how much it can hurt when the opportunity you missed was true love.

I'm lucky -- I get to spend every day with the woman that I love more than anyone in the world (with the possible exception of my daughter, who I love in a completely different way.) But I think that for so many people in this world, gay or straight or somewhere in between, true love misses them, whether by a mile or an inch. In the short story, the ache just emanates off the page. I couldn't help but feel pain and heartbreak for Ennis and Jack. I won't let Heidi read the story before we see the movie because I think that the movie experience might be diluted for her if she knows specific plot points.

I really wish there was more tolerance in this country. I mean, I'm by no means the most tolerant person in the world -- my feelings toward the extreme right-wing and "religious" right in this country would mark me as a liar were I to make that claim. But I just hope that someday people will realize that love is love, and the validity and importance of that love is not cheapened or less valuable by who they choose to love.

Blogging 2005

This image has been making the rounds in the blogosphere, but it doesn't make it any less funny. My personal favorite -- I'M THIRTEEN AND EVERYTHING SUCKS!!

How many copies do I really need to own?

Madonna, how much of my money are you eventually going to get from your Confessions on a Dance Floor project? I bought the regular CD the day it was released because I wanted the continuous mix, but I also wanted instant gratification that morning so I bought the unmixed version of the CD on iTunes for $9.99. Overall, that only cost me $20.00 because the CD was on sale at Target for 10 bucks.

I vowed that I wouldn't purchased the limited edition that's coming out tomorrow. Even though it has a bonus track "Fighting Spirit." And a year long membership to her official fan club ICON which would gain me access to yet another bonus track called "Super Pop." And I'm not one to join fan clubs because they're mostly just ways to suck money out of fans. Additionally, I'd get the 40 page book with more photos from the photo shoot.

*sigh* I guess she'll probably get more of my money. But I'll wait to see if someone buys it for me for Christmas first as I told Heidi that's a good thing to tell people to get me if they're having trouble. That way, Madonna would get someone else's money for a change!

Christmas time is here

We got all our Christmas stuff up last weekend and it's nice to actually have snow this year. Anna has no concept of the fact that Christmas is still two weeks away so she continually asks "Is it Christmas yet?" She loves the ornaments and Heidi and I love getting them out every year because it's like a trip down memory lane each year. Rather than being all anal and having deliberate themes for our tree every year (I remember one year my mom didn't have anything but Santa ornaments on her tree), we enjoy having the mishmash of ornaments that we have. It really represents us--a mishmash of all our life histories.

I don't really want much for Christmas and have had tons of fun shopping for people this year. Anna's so easy to shop for and everyone just showers stuff on her as she's the only grandchild in either of our families. I asked her to pose by the tree for me when we put it up, so here she is in Santa hat and everything.

Into Thin Air

I finished reading Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air last week. It was an amazingly fast read--truly one of those books that I couldn't put down, staying up way too late because I just had to read to the end of the chapter. I'm not sure what got me to pick up this book in the first place--I'm not really all that much of a fan of stories with guys climbing mountains acting all macho, not really being a macho mountain-climbing type of guy myself. Perhaps it was the $1.00 price tag at 1/2 Price Books in Minneapolis--that combined with the fact that I had really enjoyed Krakauer's book on Mormon fundamentalism, Under The Banner of Heaven. Whatever the reason, I read it and sure am glad that I did.

The story takes place in 1996, with Krakauer joining a guided expedition to the top of Mt. Everest. However, during that season, a freak storm came upon their expedition on their way down the mountain, resulting in the deadliest season on the mountain since it was first summitted in 1953. Krakuer, being a seasoned climber, goes into great detail about the specifics of the climb and you meet a colorful cast of characters (mostly the macho, mountain-climbing type guys.) Although there are a lot of characters, I never really found myself wondering "OK, now who is that again?" as is common in a lot of books such as this. And although there is a lot of techincal mountain climbing jargon, I never found it difficult to understand what Krakauer was talking about.

Krakauer (obviously) survived his encounter with Everest, but many people that he considered friends didn't make it. Krakauer's "survivor's remorse" was heartbreaking. But then again, I'm always impressed with men that aren't afraid of their emotions. And even though Krakauer strikes me as the macho, mountain-climbing type, there were also some very touching parts of the book as well.

It will never pass for high art, but Into Thin Air is an amazingly great read and I highly recommend it. After finishing it, I Netflixed the TV movie version of it. I wasn't expecting much (heck, it was 90 minutes and the book is 300 pages!) and on it's own merits, it wasn't bad, but as most movie adaptations of books go, it just can't compare.

2005 Song

As usual, I don't usually go for these online quiz things, but this one's clever.

Your 2005 Song Is

Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani "This shit is bananas B-A-N-A-N-A-S)" For you, 2005 was the Best Year Ever.

What Hit Song of 2005 Are You?

It's funny, I didn't even like "Hollaback Girl" the first few times I heard it. But like any good pop song, it drove its way into my brain and didn't leave for a good chunk of the summer.

World AIDS Day

This is the Obelisk of Buenos Aires, Argentina--and look what they've done to it for World AIDS Day (which was actually yesterday.)

It really is too bad that AIDS has dropped off the radar for a lot of people. It's still killing people, it's still spreading. Bottom line--the drug cocktail didn't put an end to it.

The book that really made the AIDS epidemic real to me was Randy Shilts' And The Band Played On. While not the most unbiased piece of journalism ever written, it is a riveting read and definitely worth the time it takes to read it. I remember how negligent our government was at the time, in large part because the disease was killing the undesirable components of society. And don't even get me started on the criminal negligence of the nation's blood industry. How many hemophiliacs died needlessly because of them? Read it. It's a great book.

In the meantime, head here and light a candle. For every candle lit, they donate a dollar to AIDS research.

Blog name change

So I've changed the name of the blog -- the URL is still the same, but I felt like I wanted something different, something not so lame and boring. Maybe what I've titled it is just as lame and boring, but at least it's something different.

I'm tired and worn out right now, which isn't good for a Sunday night before a full work week, but I'm sure I'll make it through. Feeling very listless and adrift these days--not sure what that's all about. Time, I'm sure, will tell.

Diana Krall -- Christmas Songs

Well, it's that time of year again, and I've purchased my first Christmas CD of the season. It's Diana Krall's Christmas Songs. I've kind of been itching for Diana to do a full length Christmas CD--the teasers from the Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas EP a few years back were good enough. And besides, it was only a matter of time until someone of her vocal caliber recorded the Christmas standards.

This CD is a pretty decent one -- all the usual suspects are here. "Let It Snow!", "I'll Be Home For Christmas," "Sleigh Ride," and "Jingle Bells" (two versions of "Jingle Bells" on the iTunes version.) She also pulls out some unexpected ones, like "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep" and "Christmastime Is Here" from A Charlie Brown Christmas. The arrangements, unfortunately, are a little bit more in the vein of The Look Of Love, that is to say, snoozy and orchestral, although she does cut loose one several of the tracks and gives us some good upbeat jazzy Christmas music. But Christmas music is, by definition a little bit on the snoozy side, so the arrangements actually work out all right.

Probably my biggest disappointment is that "Christmastime Is Here" appears to be exactly the same version that was previously on the Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas EP. That being said, I'm not really sure what else she'd do with it other than what she's done, but it does smack a bit of laziness--kind of like Whitney Houston recycling Christmas songs from The Preacher's Wife soundtrack for her Christmas CD a couple years ago.

So it'll get a lot of play this year, although it'll be neck in neck to see what gets more play, Diana or Casey Stratton's Winter Fields.

And speaking of zombies...

This real life shot (gakked from planetdan) could possibly pass as a shot of zombies out of control.


After looking at that picture, I think I'm glad that I'll be working tomorrow and not out at the mall or any other place like Target or, heaven help us, Wal-Mart. Although I wouldn't mind getting my hands on a copy of Meet The Fockers for 5 bucks at Best Buy. We'll see how that works out.

Land of the Dead

The (relatively few) people that read me regularly (when I'm blogging at all) know that I adore zombie movies. It's really really hard to screw up a zombie movie in my estimation, and I recently Netflixed the latest in Romero's Dead series, Land of the Dead. I missed it in theaters last summer, mostly because I was lazy and didn't get myself out to the dollar theater when it was there ever so briefly, but I don't think I missed out on much watching it on DVD.

The thing that's cool about Romero's Dead series is that even though they are kind of their own stories, they are related to each other. And this is a perfect progression for the zombies. The zombies in Land of the Dead are starting to organize, communicate and are forming the beginnings of an undead society, so to speak. Which is not to say there isn't a great deal of flesh-eating going on in the meantime.

Perhaps the best part of the whole movie comes early on in the movie. While Dawn of the Dead may have had the zombie pie fight (never seen in any zombie movie since), Land of the Dead had the zombie brass band, and I only wish I had a picture of it to post (believe me, I tried to find it--too bad I sent the movie back to Netflix or I'd screen capture it.) Apart from that, we have the story of a Donald Trumpish guy that has boarded up an unnamed American city from the marauding undead hordes, saving the inside of a ritzy skyscraper for the best of society, leaving the rest of the city to get by on its own. Well, you know from the outset that the zombies are going to find a way in and even though you know it's bound to happen, it's still fun watching how it plays out.

It was good to see some classic slow-moving and intestines-chomping zombies after being treated to 28 Days Later (oh, sorry, not zombies, just infected) and the remake of Dawn of the Dead. Both movies were very capable and I own both of them, but there's something about Romero's zombies that you can't compare. And believe me, there was plenty of guts being eaten in this movie. It got to even me at times.

Another plus for the movie--the use of digital effects and blue screen was apparently prevalent according to some of the special features on the DVD, but these effects were not apparent during the movie. It's always good when the effects don't draw attention to themselves and announce their presence as if they're wearing a "look at me! I'm a digital effect!" sign around their neck.

Even though Ryan saw it and wondered what happened to Romero, I still thought it was a capable entry into the series, probably on par or slightly inferior to Dawn of the Dead and definitely superior to Day of the Dead. *sigh* If only they'd called it Dusk of the Dead.

Now's about the time that Heidi would be saying "just how many ...of the Dead movies does the world actually need?" To that, I say (in the immortal words of our ridiculous leader,) bring 'em on.

Turkey Day 2005

I feel as if I'm about to slip into a diabetic coma from all the food I ate today, but oddly enough, I really don't feel as if I've overeaten. I just totally OD'd on sweets, as per usual. God help me, but I just can't get enough of the sweet potatoes! They're definitely my favorite.

It wasn't an overdone holiday this year, just the three of us + Wendy and my mom and dad, but it was fun. Ryan called in the middle of the afternoon and talked to everyone so that was pretty fun. We all settled in after the big meal (and the even bigger clean up which was performed by none other than yours truly) with a viewing of X2: X-Men United which I haven't seen in forever.

So now it's 6:30 and I'm pooped out + I have to work tomorrow and Saturday (but not Sunday.) That's not so bad, I guess. I can't expect to have a 4 day Thanksgiving weekend every year.

Truth be told, I have a lot to be thankful for this year. Our house in Washington is sold (finally), we're probably going to be taking a trip to Europe this spring, and things are mostly on an even keel.

Oh, and it's been the best fall ever for music. But that's another entry altogether.

I'm still here...

...just not blogging. Haven't felt much like blogging, even though there sure has been a lot to blog about. I guess I'm just not feeling the best right now. Never fear, I'll try to write more later.

Fall is in the air

Not just in the air, I guess. It's pretty much everywhere. The maple tree on the side of the house, which is always the last to turn and lose its leaves did so seemingly overnight. The leaves are coming down in droves now. It's a gorgeous bright yellow. One day I'd love to get one of those maples that turn red. Maybe when we cut down the dying ash in our backyard. Whenever that might happen.

I swear, fall would be my favorite time of the year if it weren't for SAD. It makes it so I barely even notice fall anymore. That and the fact that "fall weather" is such a non-descript term. I mean, it's November 1st here in Iowa, and it's going to be 70 degrees before it's all said and done. Craziness. The day Anna was born (mid-November) it was 80+ degrees! So who knows. To be honest though, fall probably is my favorite time of the year though, in spite of SAD.

But like I've been saying, it's been the best fall ever for music, so in that respect, it's been great. And then I find out that Casey Stratton is going to be releasing 100+ songs for digital download on his web site! How great is that? All those CDs of his that go for astronomical prices on eBay are now available to regular Joes like me who don't have unlimited funds. It's really exciting. I just hope he tours close to here when he goes out on the road again. It was so fun seeing him at the M-shop last April. I'd love another shot at seeing him live. So new Casey, plus his latest CD Divide is shipping next week as well. I'm in heaven.

Well, it's getting close to time to go to work. I'm a bit on the sick side today, so we'll see how it goes. I'm sure I'll make it through.

The Amityville Horror

In addition to taking Anna trick-or-treating, Wendy and I watched the 2005 remake of The Amityville Horror. The Amityville Horror was one of the first grown-up books I remember reading. I read it in the 3rd grade--I begged my mom to let me check it out from the library even though I knew it would probably scare me. It goes a long way toward explaining my obsession with things scary. She caved, and sure enough the first night I was too scared to sleep. My friend Kelly remembers me reading it very vividly--she says it's one of her first memories of me--me reading that book and all the flies on it.

While the story was billed as a "true story" at the time, it's pretty much common knowledge that the whole thing was a hoax, a money making scheme by George & Kathy Lutz, the owners of the house for those 28 days. As near as I can tell, the only thing that's true is that Ronald DeFeo, Jr. did kill his family in the house. Everything beyond that, pure fiction. Well, that fiction still scared the hell out of me as a kid. It was made into a movie in 1979 with James Brolin (a/k/a Mr. Barbra Streisand) and Margot Kidder. It wasn't very good, and, to be honest neither is this one, but it was still freaky and had more than a few good scares.

To say that this remake is based on a true story is akin to saying that the movie was based on my life. Even if you take the novel as gospel truth, this film takes a lot of liberties with its source material. First thing, it demonizes George Lutz much more than the house. In the novel, the house is the evil thing. And while it affects all the members of the family, at no point does George go as far over the deep end as he does in this movie. Another disappointment, NO RED ROOM!! Yeah, there's other stuff, but I was really wanting to see the red room again. And it left out all the black gunk in the toilets, the marching band in the living room, the hooded figure that tried to keep them from escaping that final night.

For all the liberties it took with the story, I was shocked to see how well-shot the movie was. It was atmospheric and very "horror-movie-ish" so that worked in it's favor. We enjoyed it enough--not enough for us to wish we had our hour and 29 minutes back, but I'm not sure I ever need to watch it again.

I'll stick to the book. In the meantime, I wonder if Jim and Babs watched the original on Halloween, or if they dug out his other horror flick--The Car.

Another Halloween behind us

So last night was Halloween and I took Anna out trick or treating--actually I did the first part and Heidi did the second part. After much discussion and changing of minds about what she was going to dress as this year (first it was Cher, then it was Wonder Woman) she finally settled on Sleeping Beauty. Although the wig is very Sandy from Grease. Maybe we'll keep the wig around and let her go as that some year. *hehe*

She had a lot of fun--we're lucky because we live in a neighborhood where you can still go door-to-door without fear. People in the neighborhood know each other so it's a real fun time for both kids and parents. Anna was still scared of a lot of the scary costumes, which doesn't surprise me. She's still pretty nervous around scary things--at least things that are scary to her. The most tense moment came when we went to a house where the guy giving out candy was wearing one of those headless costumes. That really freaked her out. So to Anna, guys wearing a headless costume are scary, alien chestburster not so much. She's even named my plush chestburster Durtle and refers to it as her sister. Crazy stuff.

So she got the expected haul of candy and now we'll have enough chocolate in the house to kill a small horse for weeks to come. I'm already sugar overloaded--I think it's pretty much an inevitability come Halloween. I remember so many Halloweens as kids where I ate so much candy that I was sick, but not as bad as the Easters where I ate so much candy prior to the 6AM church service I wanted to be sick. That's put me off Easter candy to this day (except for jellybeans which are still yummy.)

One more picture--here's Anna with her loot. She's looking a little more disheveled here and was about 15 minutes from unconsciousness.