Thursday

October 28, 2009 | Filed Under Main | 2 Comments

Dark and cloudy in the Q today. And muggy despite the wind. Listening to Steve Hackett on the drive in. This weather started yesterday. In the normal world, you would expect a big storm. The sky seems to be trying to rain but has forgotten how. A light misting yesterday afternoon. A few drops on the windshield this morning. But nothing with authority. It hasn’t rained here since May or April. We wait and watch. If the skies open – this place will flood in minutes.

I’ll be flying out to Qatar for our big, executive meeting. There we will be told how fabulous the company is doing and, as long as we maintain our “cost cutting” measures, all will be well. So nearly twenty people will be flown first class to Qatar and be put up in the Four Seasons for three nights on the company dime. Hey – I don’t mind…. not anymore. And I’m sure someone will buy me a beer or two…

Eight Weeks

October 25, 2009 | Filed Under Main | 2 Comments

Damn – I thought it was eight weeks two weeks ago. Who keeps adding weeks to the calendar??

Well, that’s how long I have left in Kuwait. I’ve been looking around the apartment and basically I don’t have any more to bring back than what I brought in (except the Tang). The linens and appliances will stay with the apartment. They’ve served me and I’m done with them and that’s that. I DO however have an amazing collection of…. cassette tapes! Haven’t looked at them in well over a year. And it is easily the most eclectic collection of cassettes in the whole Middle East. I brought them to work in hopes that someone may have an interest in the likes of Pearl Jam, Tori Amos and the Kronos Quartet. There must be someone – right?

Boiled In Lead

October 22, 2009 | Filed Under Music | 4 Comments


While we’re talking about music and not my desert existence, let’s do one of my world-famous “blue light” specials!

Many years back, my sister Terry was a DJ for the radio station at the University of Connecticut – WHUS. She did an alternative show there for a while (before switching to Irish music) and sent a tape of one of her shows. There was a ton of great music there and bands I had never heard before. Boiled In Lead was one such band. So when I ran across one of their CDs later, I quickly scarffed it up… from hearing ONE song. Well, From the Ladle to The Grave has remained one of my favorite discs for nearly twenty years now.

And all that time I thought Boiled In Lead was an Irish band! But they actually hail from another music Capital – Minneapolis. It’s an easy mistake, as this record is awash in Celtic rhythms and instrumentation. The tin flute, the fiddle, the bodhran and the pipes are all in full force here – as are re-imagined traditional tunes like “Mad Man Blues”, “Cherish The Ladies” and “Step It Out Mary”. But the album rocks. They are also considered a “world music” band and you can hear the Turkish and Eastern European influences on the instrumentals “Cuz Mapfumo” and “Shopetzki Kopanitsa”. But the album rocks. They also throw in a cover of the Hollies tune “Stop! Stop! Stop!”. But – have I said? – the album rocks. Often bands put out albums that try to be all things to all people. Ladle to The Grave actually succeeds.

The crowning achievement for me from this 1989 record was the song “The Microorganism”. A bouncy, dark little sing-a-long Irish reel… about the fear of the HIV virus.
Caffeine, sugar and THC
Is all the doctor is gonna find in me
When they do the autopsy
The Microorganism won’t get me.
Catchy, huh? And pretty brave and succinct. It ends with the admonition – “don’t kiss anyone you like”.

If you are trolling the cut-out bins, keep your eyes peeled for this record. Boiled In Lead are still around and playing locally. Check out their website: www.boiledinlead.com.

Listen Here:


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Added to iPod

October 20, 2009 | Filed Under Music | 2 Comments

Amazing! Three excellent rock records came out in the past month. Who’da thunk it?

Pearl Jam – “Backspacer” I really liked their last record – more than any that came after Vitalogy. But this new one is a different animal. What you’ve got here is eleven short, fast, tight, fun pop songs. I don’t mean pop in a derogatory sense – ‘cause I love guitar based pop. I just mean these songs are bright and shiny and will sound good coming out of your radio on a summer afternoon. Even the ballad “Just Breathe” hits that mark. It is a totally unstressed album and I, for one, appreciate it.
Built To Spill – “There Is No Enemy” It seems BTS fans fall into two categories: those who revere Keep It Like A Secret (short songs) and those that worship Perfect From Now On (long songs). I consider myself part of the latter camp. The new album tries to have it both ways and pretty much succeeds. The short songs are okay, particularly “Hindsight”. But the long tunes are golden. “Done” and “Tomorrow” help the album end on a really high mark. Also liked “Planting Seeds” with it’s tip-o-the-hat to Bill Hicks.
Mission Of Burma – “The Sound, The Speed, The Light” Yes! My favorite band has a new album! The new one isn’t as blistering as The Obliterati. There is a bit of laying back here, but anyone who knows MOB knows that those tunes are great. Here you’ve got “After The Rain”, “Feed” and “Slow Faucet”, which will be great in concert. There are some slack tunes. The record didn’t kick in for me until “Forget Yourself”, but from there on it was an excellent addition to the canon.

Leaving Kuwait – Part 2

October 16, 2009 | Filed Under Main | 3 Comments

The weeks before handing in my notice were pretty fraught with terror. Ask Kerry – I called her nearly every day to re-explain my reasons for doing this. My voice must have grated with desperation. I frantically sent out resumes and called anyone who seemed remotely interested. I gave myself to October 1. And when nothing appeared to happen then, I stretched it to the next week. Each night, I prayed that someone would offer me a job before I agreed to leave this one. Makes sense, right? This economy is still shaky to say the least. And I have not been without a job except for maybe a month or two back in the early 80s (and before that – high school). I am a freak when it comes to security (even though I cannot save money to save my life).

So why am I so relaxed now? I gave notice and I still don’t have a job. Turns out it was a different kind of terror. I was afraid of having to stay.

This has never been an ideal living situation. I’m not suffering materialistically, as most of the population around me are. Kuwait just offers nothing past the work. From the lack of scenery to the bad drivers to the lack of the Arts to the smell and the dust. It’s a joyless place that borders perilously close to human trafficking. Kuwait is the epitome of anti-social, though – like at work – a lot of that stems from the caste system that is not only the rich/poor strata, but each expat culture’s built-in levels of non-integration. In New York, does a cab driver differ to you because he is only a cab driver? No. Do women in an office differ to the men in the office just because they’re women? No (this is big among the Indians). But here that is always switched on. And it is solid as a rock. You walk into a room and you are already in your place. There is only shopping – the universal experience. And the sadness and depression has spread to my work, as the economy of our industry continues to dive and we continue to pretend it doesn’t.

Then there is the loneliness. I was trying to remember when the last time was I lived alone. The answer was never. I have always lived with someone: brothers & sister, roommates, housemates or wife and son. Always. Living alone has allowed me to watch whatever movie I want whenever I feel like it. That thrill wore off a long time ago. I live like a monk… who can’t cook. That fear – that desperation – was the thought of having to continue this existence.

Glad it’s over.

Leaving Kuwait

October 13, 2009 | Filed Under Main | 8 Comments

I handed in my notice on Sunday. Right now, I’m going to be coming home for Christmas. Don’t have a job yet, but I have hope. I’ve had some nibbles and it may just be easier if I am there and able to interview. And Kerry is working now. Started her gig as morning-drive news anchor for WQXR, the NY Times radio station. So she does the news breaks in between lovely, classical music. Unfortunately, it also means she has to drive into the city each morning at 4AM. But a job is a job…

..Unless you’re in Kuwait. I feel pretty much done with Kuwait. And my job. If I turn the corner into next year, it will just be torture.

More to come, of course. This is just to put you all on notice…

Tang

October 9, 2009 | Filed Under Main | 5 Comments

Remember TANG- the orange drink mix? Remember the “drink of the astronauts” (back when we had astronauts)? Maybe NASA still uses it, but I can’t recall seeing it since I was ten. Seems to be a reason. It doesn’t do much business in the States anymore – at least not in northern states.

Look for it in your local grocery.
Go ahead. I’ll wait…..

See? Didn’t find it, did you? Or maybe there was one or two stray jars of the orange that look like they haven’t moved in years. I’ve looked on the web. Turns out the market in the US has all but dried up except for some Southern states.

Well, out here it is HUGE! Every store sells it and there are flavors. Lots of them! In fact, they sell it at the airport! You see Pakistani or Sri Lankan men filling their bags with the stuff. And at the airport, two large cans come in a nice orange ‘TANG’ carrying case to bring on the plane. So I brought a couple of jars home on my last trip back – for fun.

And it’s a hit! Well, the Tropical Punch flavor is. The Apple didn’t go over so well.

So this is what I am stocking up on – TANG. I have more Tropical Punch, Mango, Lemon and Berry Essence (a special new flavor). And of course orange. Because they don’t sell it in the States. Who knew?

Jon & Kate – A Prayer

October 6, 2009 | Filed Under Main | 4 Comments

Oh Jon & Kate – Please go away
Now
We don’t want to hear about you ever again
I do not want to see your faces on my TV screen
I do not want to read about you in a newspaper, magazine or trade publication
I do not want to glance at you when my Yahoo homepage opens in the morning
I do not even want to see your names on the bumper-banner-advertisements
That appear all over the CNN website (because they are short of cash)

Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Get it?

The only time I will hear of you again is fifteen years from now
When your sad brood appear on Oprah or Larry King (God willing…)
To tell us what douchebags you were and how you ruined their little lives
Jon will be there with his fourth wife, a former porn-star/actress
And Kate will be there with her much older Russian millionaire boyfriend
Who thinks her haircut looks ‘sessy’.
The kids will have all left their foster homes at the age of eighteen
And – of course – have formed an Ashram in the woods of Oregon
There they sell ‘Gosselin Honey’ from their own beehives
And perform in a rock band collective that tours with Phish.

Jon & Kate – This is my vision of the future. My children’s future.
Please respect that….

And go.

Added to iPod

October 3, 2009 | Filed Under Music | 7 Comments

Since I’m quickly approaching 14,000 and have less than six gigs left… it appears I have added a few things. Much of it is a raid on my home collection, but I’ll break it down anyway. Of course, I have continued to add my Songlines CDs of new world music – adding the likes of Staff Benda Bilili from the Congo, Goran Bregovic from the Balkans and a new one from Khaled – the King of Rai music. Also picked up a U.K. magazine titled (appropriately) ‘Classic Rock Magazine’ which added twelve tunes of guitar pyrotechnics from Jeff Healy, Megadeath and Robin Trower.

Now to move from the compilations:
Kings Of Leon – “Only By the Night”
Assemblies of Dust – “Some Assembly Required” Great roots music (but don’t call them a jam band). Grace Potter guest-stars on one cut.
U.K. – The first album. Prog rock rules!
Stew – “Passing Strange” Original Broadway cast album for his Tony winning musical that is now a movie by Spike Lee.
The R.E.G. Project – “Harem” First record by my favorite Arabic DJs.
Hüsker Dü – “New Day Rising”
Joss Stone – “Mind, Body & Soul” The first album… before she had a stylist.
The Waterboys – “Dream Harder” Underrated record from Mike Scott.
Ofra Haza – “Kirya” The late Israeli superstar had one album released on Madonna’s Maverick label. This one. Need to check out older, more traditional stuff.
Gogol Bordello – “Gypsy Punks:Underdog World Strike” Forgot we had this. Chris picked it up at the Warped Tour.

Finally, I was looking at my woeful classical selections and I noticed something odd. I had very few symphonies. I have a lot of concertos and sonatas and modern classical works – but few of the major symphonies. So I added Hebert von Karajan conducting Mozart’s 40th and 41st symphony and Beethoven’s 9th; Leornard Bernstein conducting Schubert’s 8th and 9th symphony, as well as Milhaud’s “La Creation du Monde”; Andrew Davis conducting Holst’s The Planets; and Pierre Boulez conducting Debussy’s “La Mer” and “Nocturnes”. I also through in Eroica Trio’s “Baroque” album for some beautiful Chopin pieces. ‘Cause ya gots to have some class.