Year Four

March 25, 2010 | Filed Under Main | 3 Comments

As we begin the fourth year of this blog, I look like this:

183033

Hot, huh? This is the result of some overzealous yard work on Sunday. I was soooo happy to finally be working in the yard again! Somehow, I picked up a strain of poison ivy so virulent that I’m thinking of calling the CDC. I must be seriously allergic to this stuff. My arms look like something out of a zombie movie (actually very similar to what happens to infected people in Tarantino’s Planet Terror). How it got to my face, I’ll never know. But even BETTER, it helped bring about my favorite ailment of the past two years – hives. The hives are a rash; little bumps and welts that quickly cover anywhere on your body (anywhere!). For me – it comes from stress, so I used to get this every time I went back to Kuwait. If you don’t think your mind can totally screw with your body, just go watch David Cronenberg’s The Brood again. The mind can do freaky shit to you.

So, yeah… Fifty, unemployed, swollen and itchy.

good times… good times

The Ritual

March 23, 2010 | Filed Under Main | 1 Comment

Did you watch the first episodes of the new series Life this past Sunday? If not – you’re not missing anything. The filmmaking is amazing and Nature – as always – is a great subject. Unfortunately, Oprah is doing the voiceover and she kills the show. Even Chris looked over at me while we were watching and said, “I keep expecting her show to come on.” Oprah is too big. We hear her voice too damn often for her to fade into the background. You might as well have had Homer Simpson do the voiceover.

But the footage shows all the rituals of the animal kingdom (and plant and insect). How they feed, how they mate, how they protect themselves. A later episode will include humans and how they find a job in this economy. It is a ritual – sort of like courtship.

It didn’t used to be. The last time I looked for a job (almost a decade ago), it happened quickly. You set up the interview, you meet with Human Resources or whoever was doing the initial interview and, if they liked you, you would be back next week to meet the principals. A week after that – you could be hired. NOW? I had a second interview yesterday based on an initial contact in January. There may be – if I’m lucky – a third interview after April 1st. When a decision will be made is unclear. But what other options are there? In the industry itself, there are no quick decisions. No one wants to commit only to have something bad happen again – like say JP Morgan defaults or California falls into the sea.

In the meantime, this is all I have. I have not even been able to find part-time work. So the ritual – the dance, the plumage (ties), making the right noises – will have to be followed.

Alex Chilton

March 20, 2010 | Filed Under Main, Music | 1 Comment

sister
Yeah – we all know by now. I will admit to being one of those who had heard of Chilton, but really didn’t know the music until the Replacements sang about him. By that time, all Big Star and Chilton records were out of print and CDs re-releases were in their infancy. But the “need to know” and possibly a stray record review made me pick up my first Big Star album – “Third” or “Sister Lovers”. It had recently been reprinted (1985) on the old PVC label. This album nailed me right between the eyes. It was neither a pop album or a rock album or a singer/songwriter album. “Sister Lovers” was more of an open vein and a wry grin. A great sense of loss spilled out of every song on this record. For me, this album joined a small club of other personal statements of sorrow in the “rock era” – an august group that includes Lou Reed’s Berlin, Neil Young’s Tonight’s The Night and Harry Nilsson’s Pussycats. Not what you’d call party records is what I’m trying to say. But it meant a lot to me and still does.

My least favorite Chilton memory was seeing him live at the Fast Lanes in Asbury Park. This was early 90’s (92? 93? – I can’t remember). The band was solid and he played mostly covers, but occasionally an old Big Star song would make an appearance. The problem was he kept complaining. Not about the band or the audience or the sound or anything else you expect a “rock star” to bitch about. He was mad at himself. Complained about his singing; apologized for his bad guitar playing; accused himself of being a horrible songwriter! He simply refused to enjoy himself as much as we were enjoying the music! It was annoying.

And that – after all – is the story of Chilton’s life. His music is alternately sweet and annoying. He hated the trappings of stardom and was pissed that he was never a star… which he would have hated. So he dies while mowing the lawn the night before a big concert in front of a whole bunch of new fans. Strangely fitting… and sad.

Aliens

March 17, 2010 | Filed Under Music | 3 Comments

Horslips-Aliens-330597

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I thought we would talk about an Irish band no one knows about. That band would be Horslips. They never had the following of a Pogues or Waterboys or that band with the silly name – U2. And a friend from Belfast referred to them as Ireland’s Aerosmith (and not in a good way considering I asked in early 1980). But this was a good band and Aliens is my favorite record. Sure – some may argue for “Book Of Invasions” or “The Tain”. Some may. But for me, 1977’s Aliens was as good an example of celtic rock as you could find at the time. The guitar work of Johnny Fean was outstanding and Jim Lockharts flutes and pipes were always key to the mix. Aliens revolved around the theme of leaving the homeland and hoping to find the “milk and honey” of America… if it actually existed. The songs rang true and mixed traditional rhythms with ringing guitars and rock steady drums. You can’t deny songs like “Sure the Boy Was Green” and “New York Wakes” and the lovely “Exiles”. This is not an overwhelming album, but it is not insignificant either. Horslips deserves their place in Irish music, so check it out. I am also fond of their followupp “The Man Who Built America”.

This Nanny Society

March 13, 2010 | Filed Under Main | 4 Comments

What the hell is wrong with people? Or is it just politicians? No one seems to know what is important anymore. They are just getting fired up about crazy, mindless stuff. Look at New York. I mean, New York of all places. First, they ban trans-fats – effectively destroying centuries of cannoli baking. Then they try to remove salt from restaurants. Salt! Didn’t the cavemen use salt? Tribes in every underdeveloped country use salt… and strangely don’t have our health problems (they have other issues). Now people are pushing for the state to tax “sugary drinks”. Except politicians are so stupid that they don’t know that most sodas are NOT made with sugar. And all this is to protect “The Children”. They scream – “The Children! The Children! Someone protect The Children… since we as parents are too damn busy. Plus it’s really, really hard.”

Yeah… But the worst has been this whole “cigarettes in movies” horseshit. All these whiny people are out complaining about AVATAR. Are they complaining about the plot? No. Are they complaining about the extreme use of computer graphics? No. Are they complaining about the color blue? No. They are complaining about the scene in which a 61 year old actress smoked a cigarette. Why? Because it was glamorizing cigarette smoking for all The Children. Because OF COURSE children would pay more attention to the five minutes in which a SIXTY-ONE YEAR OLD woman is smoking, rather than the other TWO HOURS of the rest of the colorful, 3-D CGI extravaganza. Yeah… that sounds right.

Well, it gets worse!! These evil, whiny, PC bastards are trying to change history. Yes – HISTORY! Someone is going around excising cigarette smoking from already existing movies! Especially those from periods in our lives when most EVERYONE was smoking. Like war movies. Tonight I was watching one of my favorite WW II movies – Kelly’s Heroes – on the AMC channel. I’m watching a scene where Telly Savalas talking to his men. The camera cuts to one of the men and then back to Telly. There is smoke coming out of his mouth. Then back to the men. Then back to Telly and smoke is coming out of his mouth again. HOWEVER – you never see a cigarette. Anywhere. In the whole movie! Now I have seen this movie hundreds of times and I don’t remember Telly Savalas spontaneously combusting! Honestly, people – men smoke in a war. That is why they show that in war movies! And what Children are you protecting?? What group of twelve year olds watch old war movies? Do we now remove cigarettes from Bette Davis’ hands in all her films?!

Just knock it off! You PC people suck. NO ONE is watching old flicks on TV to learn how to smoke or get some vicarious thrill… not when porn is readily available. Get a clue and leave my movies alone.

Optimism

March 12, 2010 | Filed Under Main | No Comments

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Why I Hate CNN

March 10, 2010 | Filed Under Main | No Comments

STOP IT WITH THE GRAPHICS!!!!

The Logos! The Promos! The cut-screens! The holographics! The sound bites! Twitter screens! The Sound effects! The crawl at the bottom of screen! The endless, pompous titles over and over again. Wolf F-ing Blitzer!!!

Just stop. Shut up and tell me the NEWS, for god’s sake.

Birth

March 8, 2010 | Filed Under Main | 4 Comments

Welcome Jane Aynat Nolan – my nephew’s new baby girl born yesterday evening! This makes my brother a grandfather (and only a year older than me!). Congrats to Tommy and Nicolette!

There’s been a rash (no pun intended) of baby girls on both sides of the family. Had a visit from young Charlotte on Saturday, who is Kerry’s cousin’s daughter. She is a little over a month old. Once the baby was in her arms, Kerry immediately pledged to babysit (no going back now). She also did the same with her other cousin’s newborn Juliet, as well as Juliet’s big sister Macy. That offer is only good on Friday’s and Saturday’s.

Hmmm…

March 3, 2010 | Filed Under Main | 2 Comments

Panic is starting to set in. It has been more than two months and still no interviews. My part-time stuff is disappearing (as it was bound to). I finally have ONE interview set up for next week (based on a phone interview from January). The rest of my resumes sit in limbo – either under “Junk Emails” or forgotten bits of paper. Strangely, I see more opportunities in hedge funds or investment banking – precisely the industries that killed the economy in the first place! Such irony…

So like a lot of people out there, I just sit here with the dogs. Holding my breath. Keeping that suit and shirts ready. Living in my sweats most of the time. I probably should be going to the gym more often. Maybe I’ll go now. It beats waiting for the phone to ring or an email of tidings of great joy to arrive.

And ask me what I think of the pols in D.C. Go ahead – ask. I dare ya…