Checking In On Lost

Ok, does anyone understand what's going on?  I'm more confused every episode, even as they tell us more they leave us with more questions.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining.  I'm loving it.  Each episode now gives us those WTF moments.  I just wonder how they're going to tie all this up.  And I can't wait.

Sitting on a bench facing the Mississippi River, waiting for the music to start. Can't ask for a better day.

Tired But Feeling Great

Last year was a year sorely missing in the amount of live music I attended.  I'm not sure why, but for me there was little in the way of live music.  After spending the day at the French Quarter Fest I have to wonder why.  I have to make sure this year I get out to as much live music as I can.  There's just a feeling that comes over me when I'm listening to a musician sing live, all my troubles and problems are forgotten at least for the time being and it's the next best thing to being transported to anther world.  Saying that I have to admit that I am exhausted right now, I hopped around from stage to stage for most of the day before settling in for the long haul with Brian Stolz and Anders Osborne.  I'll post more and plan to do a lot more on Voices to hear (and pics)!  For now I'm going to bed.

Did You Get An Ipad?

I'm still on the fence about getting an Ipad.  Almost got one today, but decided to hold off.  I've heard that there are long lines and people sleeping over night to get first crack at the Ipads, but today I just happened to walk into Best Buy and there was no one even looking at them.  They told me they had a bunch of people when they first opened, but by ten it was clear.  I left and actually went back later in the day, around five and there was people looking at the Ipads.  The store itself was very busy, which probably was why I ended up not buying an Ipad, I couldn't get anyone to help me, so I looked for a bit and than left.

They look pretty cool.  I may end up buying one soon and than I might just hold off.  I'm not sure at the moment, still trying to make up my mind.  Anyone get one yet?  If you did how do you like it?

Next Monday

Next Monday I'll be a guest of Vinnie from The Big Leather Couch on his internet radio show. We'll be joined by some other great people that probably know more than me about music and we're going to talk about one of my favorite subjects, music. So stop by and listen.

Lost Tonight

I know I haven't been keeping up with what's going on this site with LOST.  But I have been watching it.  Last week's episode with Sawyer was very good.  Who would have imagined Sawyer as a cop?  The answers are coming slowly...and I do mean slowly.  But tonight's episode features Richard and promises a lot of answers.

I have one question.  Ok, the numbers refer to Jack, Sawyer and the ones chosen as candidates to replace Jacob.  There were a lot of names on that cave with names.  Did Jacob always keep a group of candidates in every era on hand in case he needed replacing?  Or did it just happen with this group?  Am I missing something here or is this another question that hasn't been answered yet.

Any thoughts if one of the chosen will end up on the island at the end.  And if so, which one?  After all Jack's arguments against the island and his fight to get off wouldn't it be something if he becomes the new defender of the island?

Still Another New Book

I had to post this one, because I know at least one other person out there that will be looking forward to it.  This is the twelfth novel in The Dresden Files series and is one of my favorites series.  If you haven't picked it up yet, do yourself a favor and give one of them a try.  There was a short lived sci fi series based on this series a year or so back.  The series, while actually got better as it went along, did not do service to how good this series is.  If you want to give the new book a try you can order it here from Amazon.  The cover price on the book is twenty five dollars, one reason I buy very little hard backs until they hid the remainder tables.  But at Amazon you can pick it up for $13.00.  And if you can find a few other things and get your total up to twenty five dollars (the irony of it) you get free shipping.  I find myself buying the more expensive books that I might not from Amazon, just because they usually offer such a good deal.  The book will be out in book stores April 6 if you want to wait and pick it up at your local book store.

Another Book

The question is, how many books can you have on one subject?  I guess I still don't know the answer to that question as I just picked up Philip Norman's bio on John Lennon.  If there is one thing that there is no shortage of around here, it's books on the Beatles.  I'm not even going to count how many I have.  But I've read good things about this book and it actually has information that has never been written about before.  I know that's hard to believe, with as much written about the Beatles.  But already, just in the first fifty pages I've read stuff no one else ever mentioned.  Mostly about John's Father and his side of the family.  Normally John's Father is given short shift and the Lennon side of the family is rarely if at all mentioned.  Plus Mr. Norman is the writer of one of my favorite books on the Beatles already, Shout.  I'll let everyone know how the book is when I finish it.

Alex Chilton Dies

I was sitting in the waiting room while my friend Larry was in the back with the doctor and I was surfing the web on my phone when I saw that Alex Chilton had died.  Alex was the singer of the The Box Tops, who had the hit "The Letter" and than later went on to form the critically acclaimed group Big Star and afterwards put out a lot of solo stuff.

Second Column

I mentioned before that I was writing a column about comic books at a local comic shop's web page.  Just wanted to mention that the second column, about kids' comics is out there, actually almost at the end of the week, I just sent in the next column which should be going up anyday.   If you want you can check it out here.

No News Is Not Always Good News

I've had a migraine all day today so I haven't updated any of the writings.  I even called in to work and anyone that knows me knows I almost never call in to work.  Last time I didn't go to work I went to the hospital.  I wanted to write about how great the Eric Clapton show was but didn't get to that either.  But for a great review, one that I agree with (except for wanting to hear "Wonderful Tonight") go check out Vinnie's review at the Couch.  As always spot on.  I'm actually feeling better now, after having spent most of the day in bed trying to not think too loud as pretty much everything caused my head to hurt.

Tomorrow night I am off to see one of those performers that are my short list of artists that I have not seen yet, but want to.  Eric Clapton comes to New Orleans tomorrow night and it should be a great show.  Roger Daltrey of the Who opens for him, which is really nice.  I've seen the Who and am a big fan, so seeing Daltrey will be fun.  I'm eagerly waiting for Bond's report on his chance to see the show tonight, so I can know what to expect.

New Series

I was unfamiliar with this series until I saw commercials for the new movie based on the book.   I saw one of the books and the name of the writer looked familiar.  Rick Riordan was also the writer of a series of mystery books that I love.  I was wondering why I haven't seen a new book in the series for awhile.  It's because he was off writing kids' books.  The series is Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

The main character is 12 year old Percy Jackson.  He discovers that his dad is none other than the Greek God Poseidon.  Of course this puts him on a quest and his fate is part of a prophecy that could foretell doom for the Gods of Olympus when he turns 16.  There's five books in the series and each book brings him closer to his 16th year, until the final book he turns 16.  The Greeks Gods are given a more modern twist, Apollo drives a sports car, etc.

I'm on the fourth of the books now.  I picked up the first one about a week ago and enjoyed it.  I've been reading them since.  Now before anyone asks, no they're not Harry Potter, but than what is?  Harry Potter was the top as far as kids books go, but these are very good and held my interest as an adult, much the way the Potter books did.

I would definitely recommend them to anyone interested in a good adventure story.

The Funeral Possession

Someone filmed the Funeral Possession passing through the town.  Ten minutes it took of cars driving.  It was amazing the amount of people that turned out for JJ's Funeral.  Watch it and just be amazed at the amount of cars in the possession.

New Column

Just to let everyone know I am now writing a column of comment about comic books for one of the local comic stores in town.  They have a webpage where they feature the upcoming comics and stuff and now where they'll feature my new column.  The column is called "Don't Try This At Home" mainly cause I couldn't think of anything else to call it.  It'll be me talking about comic books, reviews, basically anything I feel like talking about that I can connect to comic books.  You can find the page here, than just look for the logo with my name on the right side of the page and click on it.  I'm going to try and do this on a weekly basis but we'll see how that goes.

The Funeral

I've been back a couple days now from the funeral.

The funeral home quickly became filled with people coming to pay their last respects to JJ.  Jason and Claire did so well, they were holding up so good.  When I got there and greeted them I just went mute, I just didn't know what to say.  I just hugged Claire and wished I had the words to say.

The service was SRO.  So many people wanted to pay their respects to this young man.  I heard many a person say that they didn't even know the family, they just wanted to come pay their respects.  After the Chaplin gave the services he invited people that wished to speak about Jason to come forward.  JJ's brother went first and talked about his brother.  Throughout the day Parker did himself and his family proud.  He spoke wonderfully about the bond he had with JJ and what they meant to each other.  During the day I saw Parker talking to others, helping them with their grief, he showed what a fine young man he was becoming.

I made it through the service with just a little misting over.  I felt like I was cried out over JJ.  Afterwards the possession was to the cemetery.  The possession made its way through the town of Canton, passing the local shopping center, through the heart of the small town and passed the local high school.

On the way I found I still had plenty of tears for JJ.  Alongside the streets were gathered people, lots of people, all standing with flags or saluting or just standing out in the cold offering their respect.  The stores were closed so the people working could stand out front.  The high school was closed, all the students were in front.  As we drove down the street two hook an ladder trucks from the fire department were ahead of us, their ladders forming an arch we passed beneath with flags drapped from their heights.

I saw one little girl, she couldn't have been more than five or six standing next to her Mom, holding a small flag and waving it as we drove past.  I couldn't stop the tears as I drove, I kept wiping at my eyes and driving.  But I couldn't believe the amount of people on the streets.  So many people.

At the cemetery I heard the Chaplin (who was the Police Chaplin for the County) tell Claire that he was ready to start, but the people just seemed to keep coming.  He said he had never seen anything like this in his career.

I knew at the site, with the 21 gun salute and the folding of the flag I would get more emotional.  I did at my Dad's funeral when they fired the guns.  It was bitterly cold out there, but no one was in a rush to get it over with.

But finally I had to leave and head back to Louisiana.  

Leaving

I'm heading to Georgia this morning for JJ's funeral tomorrow.  Thanks to everyone that has commented and left good thoughts, it means a lot to JJ's parents.

TV News on Jason

Here's a video of the local news coverage of Jason.

For anyone wishing to leave condolences to the Family there is a page set up on Facebook here.

More on Jason

 Back when I was writing, those many years ago, one of my favorite things I created was the series "Lizards" that ran in the page of Fantagraphics Critter anthology comic.  I'm actually not too fond of the title Lizards, it was supposed to be called "Dragons" but somehow I ended up with Lizards.  Irregardless I think the stories I wrote in this series are some of the best things I've done.  For most of the kids in the series I took their names from the kids of friends.  Of course one of the kids in the series was named for Jason.  Instead of calling him JJ I called him Lil' Jason.  (I never got around to showing Big Jason in the series).  I thought I'd post one of the stories I did featuring Lil' Jason.  

Jason Estopinal

Families come in all sizes and shapes.  You don't even have to be related to be family.  That's how I think of Jason and Claire, two of my best friends in the world.  I wrote about them in this post when I was writing about what great friends I have.  I remember when their first son, Jason Junior was born.  And their second Parker.  So much of my life is made of memories of friends and the two of them share a wonderful part of it.

I don't even know how to write this.  On Monday their oldest son, JJ, was killed while serving on duty as a Marine in Afghanistan.  When I went to lunch I checked my email on my phone and saw an email forwarded from Claire and opened it.  It was a link to a newspaper article about the death of JJ.  I was stunned.  I didn't even realize I was crying until I felt the tears on my face.  


I remember when JJ was born, Claire wasn't going to let me feel awkward around the baby.  I wasn't use to babies, to me they were little people that others took care of.  Claire wasn't going to have any of that, the first time I saw them she pushed JJ at me and told me to hold on to him.  She made sure that I was comfortable with him.  One of my favorite pictures of me (and I generally hate pictures of myself) is of me holding JJ at one of the many BBQ/crawfish boils we would have.  Before I realized it I was babysitting JJ.  I can still remember when we'd all get together as a group and all the grown ups would be sitting around talking and I'd be running around the back yard with JJ.  


I don't even know why I'm writing this right now.  To be honest it hurts to just sit here and put these words down.  It hurts to remember him.  But all I can do is write.  That's all I have is words, however inadequate they are.  


Jason and Claire ended up moving to Atlanta so I didn't see them as much.  A few of us made a point of going every year to visit.  Than after awhile that stopped.  It seemed there were always too many things to do.   Than even the phone calls dwindled down.  It wasn't that we still didn't think of ourselves as the same friends. Life just has a way of making things difficult.  Last summer I talked to Claire and I had the best intentions of driving up to Atlanta and seeing them.  I would probably not be able to see JJ, he has joined the Marines and was finishing up Boot Camp that summer.   But I got sick, my Mom had surgery and again life just threw up too many roadblocks for me to make the visit.  

One of my favorite pictures.  I don't know how old JJ was, but he couldn't have been very old.

This picture was probably at Six Flags in Atlanta.  I just love that smile.

Me and JJ riding Splash Mountain. Notice how he's trying to hide behind me and let me get most of the water.

Didn't work.

Another trip to Atlanta.  This was at Stone Mountain.  That's Claire, JJ and his brother Parker and to their right my friend Sal and me kneeling in the front.

JJ and me riding away.

JJ with his brother Parker.

Jason as a Marine.

All my memories of JJ are as him as a child.  Even his name, his name is Jason, but when he was little everyone called him JJ and that's still how I think of him.  But he wasn't a child anymore, he was a man.  I wish I had been able to know him as a man.  He was 21, the same age as my niece.  I know he was a good man, he couldn't have been less.  And he would have continued to grow and become an even better man.

I left work today.  I thought I'd go back in but as I walked towards the door I knew that I wasn't going to be able to stay.  I told Krista, asking her to come outside to talk to her, and barely able to get the words out.  Saying the words made it too real.

So here I sit, trying to find words that can make some sort of sense of all of it.  I like to think of myself as a writer, but I can't find the words.  I try to think of some quote or passage, something that might make take the edge off some.  I like to think that I'm this fountain of knowledge when it comes to music and when I try to think of a song to download on this page I come up empty.

When I remember JJ I'll always remember the smiles and the laughter.

Happy Mardi Gras!

I had to work.

Rockford Again

I read somewhere that they are making a new version of The Rockford Files for TV.  I'm sorry, there will only be one Jim Rockford and that's James Garner.  Are there no new ideas out there, that the networks have to keep going back and dusting off old television shows.  I've also heard that there's a new Hawaii Five-0 in the makings too.  Why try and re-do Rockford, use all that energy into creating something new.

LOST

I know I'm running late with this week's edition of LOST.  I've come to a conclusion that I'm kind of surprised by:  I'm not that interested in Kate.  I've realized that the Kate centered shows are some of my least favorite.  Coming from the high of last week's episode this one was something of a let down.  Reactions?  Thoughts?

Five Years

This Friday will mark the fifth year that I've been blogging on this site.  Wow....five years, I'll write more about it as that day comes.

The Night of the Saint's Win

I didn't get to watch the Big Game.  I was working.  I work at a sporting goods and outdoors store.  We are a major source of Saints products: shirts, hats, pennants, etc.  Since they've won the NFC championship we've been selling a lot of Saints stuff.  If the Saints win we were going to open right after the game and start selling Superbowl championship product.  The merchandise was there, we couldn't open it until the end of the game.  If the Saints lost than it all went back.

We had the game on the radio so we could listen.  We had a store full of associates standing around waiting for the outcome.  Before the game was over, once it started to look pretty good for a Saints' win we had people start lining up outside the store.  By the time the game was over we probably had a few hundred people waiting. As the game ended we started opening boxes and putting the product out on the tables.  Every register was manned and we had people behind all the tables getting the shirts and hats out.  I was in charge, making sure everything was ready.  We had police there to help control the crowd.

The plan was to let twenty people in at a time, once the first twenty was in and moving along we would let another twenty in, and so on.  Once the tables were packed with the shirts and hats I gave the signal to the police office to start with the first twenty.  By now the line was all the way down the strip mall and around the side.  We had to have over a thousand people in line.  The parking lot was parked, all you saw on the road was headlights headed towards us.  Horns were blaring, car alarms were going off, people were screaming and all you could hear was "Who Dat!!!!"  The fire department came with an engine with lights and horns blaring, parking out front of the store.

Everything went smooth.  People poured through the store, buying shirts and hats and moving through the registers with no problems.  Everyone was cheering and yelling as they came through.  It was as close to a party you can have while still working.

43 years in the making.  There was a lot of emotion that night.  The people here love their Saints and have stood behind this team through a lot of bad years, so it was great to see all that loyalty finally being rewarded. Within three hours we were sold out of everything Superbowl related and we still have hundreds of people outside.

I have to admit I was a little nervous about having to go out there and face that crowd.  Some of those people had been standing in line for hours.  One of the firemen came in and volunteered to go inform the crowd through the fire trucks' speakers.  The police officer at the door told the people that had waited so patiently and were now at the door to be let in that sadly they were going to be turned away, we had no more product.  After thousands of hats, shirts, pennants, license plate holders, magnets we were out.

This was crucial point, even the police officers were a little worried.  What would this crowd of hundreds do after standing outside, drinking and partying, waiting for Saints product that they were now told was not here. New Orleans did me proud.  They turned away with no problem.  Of course there was some grumbling, a few people could be heard that this wasn't fair, but the majority, the vast majority of the people understand and went off cheering and chanting for their Saints.  They knew we'd have more product the next morning and even more important than to be the first to get that shirt or hat I think they just wanted to be out with fellow fans to celebrate after the win.

So for me I've been seeing the win from a slightly different perspective.  I haven't even had a chance to see the local news to see how the rest of the city has reacted.  The next day I was back again, with another big crowd, but nowhere near the size of the previous night, and lines of people with the shirts and hats we received again.

I heard from someone that when the Saints came home today from the airport that the streets were lined for miles around the airport with fans.  I'm off Tuesday so I'm looking to be able to watch some news and see what's been happening otherwise with the Saints.

Who Dat Picked the Saints?

Before the game a lot of celebrities are polled to see who they thought would win.  The majority picked the Colts, mainly due to Peyton.  Just thought I'd share two picks with everyone.  I always knew I liked Valerie and Ms. Jett is one of my favorite rockers.

VALERIE BERTINELLI Actress

New Orleans, 24-21. With those two quarterbacks, there has to be some scoring because they are both brilliant. The Saints have a deep offense and the defense is so good, they will hold them back. It will be a great game no matter what ... especially when the Saints win.

JOAN JETT Rock star

New Orleans, 45-33.

Two Scary Words - President Palin

I admit that I find the words President Palin to be just about the two scariest words I can think of.  She is saying that running is on her mind.  Fred Kaplan from Slate explains why those two words should be scary.

Let's be clear on why those words should terrify anyone with a thinking brain. Palin is someone who has clearly never seriously thought through any issue of national importance on her own. She's excellent at reciting a raucous speech, but she can't improvise a coherent sentence, which usually reflects an inability to form a coherent idea. (At Nashville, she even had to scribble her five-word legislative agenda on her palm, andglanced down at it during the Q&A.) She is deluded enough to believe (or at least to saySunday morning on Fox News) that her brief, aborted stint as Alaska's governor gave her more executive experience than President Obama has even now. She believes that the country should elect leaders, including presumably herself, who seek solutions in "divine intervention."

Saints Win!

I know I'm late, but I had to work for the Superbowl and afterwards we re-opened to sell Superbowl shirts and hats.  There literally was thousands of people in line tonight.  I'm sure I'll have more to talk about the Saints win later, but it's time for bed.

Maybe They Can't Get Enough

I know it was only a post or two ago that I talked about the bonuses of big companies, but I came across this and had to pass it on.  Go read here.  This is the type of stuff that makes me think President Obama isn't delivering on his promises.

The Queen's Meme

I got this Meme from Trav and while I commented and answered some of the questions at his blog I really wanted to do it over here, so here it is.


The Queen's Meme #22 - Come on Baby, Light My Fire


Before you get carried away and let your mind wander down a trail of romantic and erotic intrigue, stop. We're not talking about that kind of fire. Not today anyway. We're talking about intellect, entertainment and adventure. 

I'd like you to take a look at the what makes you happy and brings you joy. Pretend you are talking to a new friend. Answer the questions as enthusiastically as you can and share with your friend what lights your fire. Recommend your favorites, what you're passionate about - and tell us why. If it's too hard to choose just one, narrow it down to the best of the best. Everyone who reads your answers will not only get a better sense of who you are but we might be inspired to check it out upon your expert recommendation. I like learning something new everyday. If you open the door of my imagination, I just might step through. Tell me!


1. Which historical figure do you admire the most? Why?  I'm going to stretch this one and not pick just one person, but a group.  I am fascinated with the men and women who created this country.  You can find fault with them if you wish, but have a group of people ever created something so good and great? 


2. Name the band or artist you'd like to see live in concert before you leave the planet or tell us about a concert or album that has already rocked your world.  I've had the good fortune to see some amazing concerts: Bruce Springsteen at Jazz Fest the year after Katrina, Will Hoge at Bonnaroo, Joss Stone at the HOB, Shannon McNally, Theresa Anderson, Dylan at the Zoo, John Boutte and Paul Sanchez at French Quarter Fest....these and more are shows that thrilled me, moved me, brought me to tears.  And still there are ones I've missed and want to see: Neko Case, Tom Petty, Avett Brothers; but I'm going to cheat a little because I'm going to pick someone that I could not see today.  The top of my wish list would be to see the Beatles.  I saw Paul McCartney on his last tour and I felt like that captured some of the excitement of a Beatles show, but I know it really comes nowhere what a true Beatles show would have been.  Of any concert I could see that would be who I most want to see.


3. What's your favorite television show or series of all time? Why should I care?  This is a tough one, I have a few favorite shows, which one being my favorite probably depends on when you ask me.  On Trav's blog I agreed with his choice of The West Wing, one that definitely fights for a spot as my number one.  It's one of the few shows I've watched from start to finish at least three times.  It's one of those shows that makes you think, makes you proud of your country even as it makes you question it at the same time.  It's just that good a show.  But I think for my number one show I'm going to have to go with the show that gave a name to my dog...Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  I watched this show at least three, if not more times, from start to finish.  If you think it's only a show about vampires and horror, you've never watched this show.  This is a show about people and belonging and how we fight off loneliness and just plain about the human condition.   


4. Movies! I am so behind on the movie scene. What should I watch this weekend? Should I watch it alone or with someone?   I am really behind in my movie watching.  Once upon a time I would be seeing at least two or three movies a week, now I can't remember the last movie I saw at the theater.  Or even on DVD.  There's a lot of great movies, but one that hardly anyone remembers or even saw, that was always one of my favorites is Creator.  It came out in 1985 and stars Peter O'Toole, Mariel Hemingway, Vincent Spano and Virginia Madsen.  It didn't make much of a dent when it came out, I think it was pushed as a teen comedy and it was far from that.  It's a movie that will make you laugh and cry and think.  What more can you ask of a movie?


5. You are hopping on a plane tomorrow morning. Where did you choose to go and why?  Lots of places I'd love to go visit, never been to Japan and want to, but I think I would have to pick Alaska.  I've been there twice and I don't think there's any place more beautiful.  It's a beautiful place filled with some amazing people (ex vice presidential candidates excepted).


6. Who is your favorite author? What about their writing inspires you or simply entertains you? Recommend at least one book that you feel I must read.  I have a core group of writers that I can go back and read their work over and over.  John D. MacDonald is one, I never tire of reading his books.  The World According to Garp is a book I have to read every few years.  But the one writer that I read constantly is Harlan Ellison.  His fiction and non fiction has moved me, has made me think, has inspired me to want to write.  A month rarely passes that I don't pick up a book and read one of his stories or essays.


7. Hobbies and passions. What brings you joy in your spare time? How did you get into it?  Reading, writing and music.  I can't play or sing, but I love to listen to music.  And I love to read.  I think Travis said it best when he talks about not being able to part with his books, I understand the feeling very well. But at the rate it's going I'll have to move out and leave the place for my books.  And though it seems to be something I don't do very well I love to write.  Once upon a time I would write everyday, all the time.  I would stay home while everyone was out having a good time because I wanted to write.  Unfortunately it seems that desire has been derailed by a million and one excuses that should not matter, but writing is still a passion and one I want to make myself get back to more seriously.

That's All?

Evidently the news that the Chief Executive of Goldman Sachs only recieved $9 million dollar bonus for last year seems to have most thinking it was a small bonus.  Now where I come from that is definitely no where a small bonus.  Go read more about it here.

Glory Bound

Thanks to Aimee for sending me this cause somehow I missed it.  And me being a really BIG Theresa Andersson fan.

LOST

Ok, the first two hours just ended.  If this is the season we start getting some answers than they better get on with it, because I have more questions after tonight than ever before.  Not that I'm complaining, it was a great two hours.

Oh, just to be safe...SPOILERS AHEAD...if you haven't seen the first two episodes yet, don't read anymore.

So now there seem to be two versions of all the characters running through the series.  One making the flight back from Australia and landing in L.A.  It's interesting to see how the characters are meeting up as they land in the land of angels and you have to wonder where all this is going.  There has to be more to this than just a simple alternative reality where they don't crash on the island.  Especially since they seem to be having the characters interact.

I have to admit that I was on the edge of my seat when the show started and Jack was on the plane and he looked over to see Rose.  Than when the plane started to shake I had to think it was all going to happen again.

You know for a mysterious island there sure seems to be a lot of people on it and always new ones popping up. More Others.

Thinking that Jacob, Richard and the mysterious "Monster" that is Locke now all were part of some ship that wrecked on the island a looooong time ago.  Death doesn't seem to slow Jacob down too much.

One thing I ask, no beg if I have to, let's not visit the Jack/Kate/Sawyer triangle again.  I'm so sick of that, let's move on.  I wish Juliet had lived, but I guess her commitments to her other show precluded that.

Ok, thoughts?  Any ideas on what's going on?  I know I can't wait for next Tuesday.

LOST Returns

Tonight it comes back on.  Get ready for weekly reviews and feel free to drop in and talk about what you think is going on.  I have a lot of faith with the writers of this show, but I can't figure out how they're going to wrap this whole thing up.  But than I guess that's the fun of it.

Who Dat!

IE vs Firefox vs Chrome

Like most I started with the browser from Microsoft, the Internet Explorer.  I used if for a few years before I moved onto the Firefox browser.  Everyone kept saying how much better it was, how much faster, etc.  I'm not sure how much that was to it being really better or how much that some people really don't like Microsoft.

Still I was happy with Firefox and actually did find it better to use than my old IE.  I've been using it for the last I'm not sure how many years.  But lately I've been having problems with it.  I found I couldn't copy and paste.  Now I use that feature a lot, what with the three blogs I have and adding music to the Voices to hear one.  Without that feature it sucked.  Trying to figure out why this feature was no longer working I discovered it was a bug or something with Firefox.  And I couldn't find any simple solutions to fixing it.

So now I've moved over to Goggle's Chrome.  Even before this problem I've been reading how Chrome is going to basically push Firefox out of the picture of which browser to use and it'll be down to just IE and Chrome.  I don't know if I really believe that, but it is fast growing in popularity, which considering it has the power of Google behind it, shouldn't come as much of a surprise.

I've just started using Chrome today, but I'm liking it pretty much overall.  It does seem to load faster and it has a cleaner, more stark look to it.  It jettisons  all the tool bars and other stuff that appears at the top of the page and basically gives you one thin line of buttons.  What I don't like is it doesn't import your bookmarks completely, or at least it didn't mine and to actually get them like I want I'm pretty much having to re-do them over, but once I get them on the top I think I'll like the format better.

Only time will tell if I like Chrome better, but for now I think it will be the browser I use.  Has anyone else tried it yet?  Any thoughts?

Scott Brown and the Health Care Plan

This picture is from a different event, but for me the look on President Obama's face says it all.  With Scott Brown elected as a Senator and letting everyone and his brother know that he will vote no on the Health Plan it looks like another chance for this country to offer health care to all its people will go down the tube again.

And this from a state that offers a health care plan for all it's residents.

I don't see this completely as the voice of the people rejecting the President and his plans, there was a lot more going on in that vote.  The Democrat thought it was a lock and did very little campaigning until it was too late.  And I think the Republican machine is a  lot better at scaring people into believing that the President is not doing his job.  It's no longer a fight over right or wrong, it's become just a fight over who wins.  (And I say that for both sides, the Republicans and the Democrats.)  The GOP will say or do just about anything to convince the people they are right, even if they know they aren't.

It really worries me about the mid term elections coming up.  I would hate to see the GOP voted in for a fear factor.

And even though whenever we see an election locally the media always tries to give it a larger meaning, someone once said "all politics are local" so we should all remember that.

The above photo is from the AP.

Kids Say The Darndest Things

Not to sound like one of those old fools that are always saying kids just aren't the same as they were when I was one.... but I have to say it.  Go read this and than come back and tell me what you think.

Robert Parker Dies

Robert Parker, the writer died today.  He was 77 years old.  Apparently he died of a heart attack, at his desk working on a new book.

Parker was the creator of the private eye Spenser.  I was a big fan of Spenser for years, but have to admit that in recent years I haven't been following the character.  More recently Parker created Jesse Stone and Sunny Randall as series characters. 

Parker was a very influential writer in the mystery field and is credited with helping bring back the tough guy private eye when he debuted Spenser.  Reading that he died was a shock to me, even though I haven't been reading his books lately, I still admired him and always figured I'd go back to reading the books eventually.

The Best Albums of 2009

Over at my music site, Voices to hear I've made a list of what I consider the top ten albums of 2009.  Now since that site is about talent deserving more recognition I have omitted any of the more established, bigger acts.  So you won't find Green Day or U2, but you will find what I think are ten albums that were very good this past year.

Up At The Crack of Dawn...eh, never went to bed....

Just got home from work.  Today was inventory, so it was pretty much an all nighter.  It actually went very well, last year we didn't leave the store until after seven in the morning, so we're doing better.  And I'm still not tired yet....

New TV Show

I'm not a fan of all the CSI shows on TV.  The few times I've tried to watch them I never make it through an episode.  But whenever I go to visit my Mom, one of the shows we have to watch every Monday night is NCIS.  And if there's nothing else on she can always find a re run of the show somewhere on cable.  So slowly it's been burrowing under my skin.  The problem was that I saw the shows out of order and it didn't make sense.  This was Navy...so why was everyone in civilian clothes.  A little research and I discovered that NCIS is civilian. 

But slowly, oh so slowly, this show was growing on me.  Until now I'm a fan.  I've bought the first two seasons on DVD and am on my way through the second season now.  The first season was great.  There's an episode in the second season about a Medal of Honour winner that will hit you in the heart and hard.  It's an amazing piece of televsion. 

And my favorite character.  Why Abby of course!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

It's like 21 degrees outside right now.  There's a reason I live in the South and it's so I don't have to put up with temperatures like this.

Gumby's Creator Dies

The creator of Gumby, Art Clokey, died today at the age of 88.  Gumby always fascinated me.

Vic Chesnut

On Christmas Day Vic Chesnut died. Vic was a singer/songwriter from Athens Georgia. At the age of 18 he was paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. He had very little use of his hands, but managed to play guitar. Michael Stipe from R.E.M. was an early fan of his work. Vic went on to record well over a dozen albums. Chesnut's death was a suicide. He was in debt from hospital bills he couldn't pay and faced a lifetime of continued hospital bills he had no way of paying.

And the Republicans still can fight a health plan....(and please don't say that they just oppose the current one, they've made no effort to pass one on their own.)

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untitled post (because I couldn't think of what to title it)

I was in the car today with my brother and we were looking for some place to eat. (Didn't figure on as many places being closed today as there was.) I'm not even sure what he said, but when he said it and than tugged on the brim of his baseball cap I "saw/heard" my Dad. He sounded so much like him in the phrasing of his words as much as the sound and than the tug was just something I had forgotten my Dad did until that moment. You couldn't really call it deja vu, but I actually had to not say anything for a moment, the feeling of my Dad was so strong at that moment.

Complete Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone has always been one of my favorite magazines. It was one of the first mags I ever bought a subscription to and I probably had a closet full of issues from the seventies and eighties until I realized that storing a bunch of paper in big stacks wasn't the greatest thing in the world. Now I have some issues with the direction of the Stone over the last few years, but when it finds its groove there's no one better.

This digital collection has the complete run of the Stone from the first issue in 1969 to 2007. That's a lot of issues, especially when you figure that the magazine was published every two weeks. I just picked this up at Barnes & Noble today for less than twenty five dollars. You can find it on Amazon for even less. I've been looking through briefly and it looks amazing. It reproduces the entire issue, ads and all. I have a feeling I'm going to be spending some serious time reading this.

Merry Christmas

My best wishes to everyone on this day and hopefully everyone will have a great day.

I'm kinda bittersweet about today. My mom and brother and sister are up in Tennessee and I'm stuck down here. There was no way I could get off to drive up there and get back for work tomorrow at six a.m. This is the first Christmas I have never been able to be with my Mom (and Dad while he was still alive), so I'm a little sad to be honest.

I've spent the day reading and cooked a ham and did some laundry and cleaning that I've neglected because of the extra hours I've been working. I've actually got to make a schedule for work and than a little more reading and probably to bed.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas.

Dancing Spiderman

This one's for Trav, a different type of Dancing with the Stars.

The Bail-Out

As regular readers of this blog know I am a big supporter of President Obama. When he was elected he promised change in the government. I think on the economic bailout he needs to go for more change than what has happened so far. We all were told that the CEOs of all these companies that were getting money from us the taxpayers would not be able to walk away with big paydays and bonuses for basically running their companies into the ground, but lately there's been a lot of news about these same CEOs ending their year ends with some big payouts. What's happened? For two looks at this go and read some news from Mother Jones and another article from Rolling Stone.

The Big Bang Theory

For my money this is probably the funniest show on TV right now. But what makes it great is that it's more than just the jokes, the characters on this show are so true. This bit was from last year's Christmas episode but it still is great.

Heroes

The dictionary defines hero as:

1.	a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.

2.	a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal: He was a local hero when he saved the drowning child.

3.	the principal male character in a story, play, film, etc.

4.	Classical Mythology a. a being of godlike prowess and beneficence who often came to be honored as a divinity. b. (in the Homeric period) a warrior-chieftain of special strength, courage, or ability. c. (in later antiquity) an immortal being; demigod.

In our lifetime we come across many types of heroes. Some are heroes that put their life on the line everyday to protect us. Police officers, fire men, men and women in the military; all are heroes the are willing to risk their lives for others. For some of us we are lucky enough to have our parents be our heroes. Now when I was younger I would never have admitted such a thing, but as we get older we see things in a different light. More than anyone else I would consider my Mom and Dad my greatest heroes, helping me see what right and wrong is and shaping my life more than any other person.

Still as we grow up we find heroes in other places. Some find them in sports. Growing up I was never the kid that was that enamoured of the baseball player or the football player. My Dad and brother were both sports fanatics, watching the games and rooting on their teams, but I never had a team or a player. I just never got into it, never looked at the players and wanted to be them.

Instead I found my heroes in other spots. One of my first was in the pages of comic books. I didn't learn right or wrong from comics, but reading the four color adventures of the Marvel Comic heroes helped me to see how such concepts operated in the "real" world. The man putting the words in the character's mouths was Stan Lee. These heroes were not dark, they were not going to kill or maim another. They would give up their own life before they allowed harm to come to another. For a kid this was powerful stuff.

Two other men that helped me see things in a different light were also writers. Isaac Asimov and Harlan Ellison were two writers that were more than just writers to me. Between their stories and their words inbetween the stories I saw life in more than just black and white, but that even with shades of grey you could still do what was right and maintain your ethical compass. From these writers I formed the desire to be a writer myself. I really don't remember wanting to be anything else but a writer since I first started reading their books.

And than there is one final man that I consider a personal hero. Twenty nine years ago today he was murdered in New York City. Of course that man was John Lennon. From his music to his life I am in admiration. Was he perfect? No, of course not. None of these men were or are, they just tried to live as best as they could and they tried to live their life as they thought it should be. John was more than just his music, he tried to save the world. He was willing to be thought of as a fool if he thought it might do some good. And of course there is the music. No matter how I'm feeling if I hear a Beatle song my heart skips a little and even if I'm depressed or upset I'm going to feel somewhat better. Even today their music matters and is listened to. For the last decade, the decade of 2000-2010 the Beatles had the number one album in sales. This is thirty to forty years after they stopped recording, their music is still selling. In this decade they sold over thirty million albums.

There's a saying that you should never meet your heroes because they'll only let you down. And that might be true. Heroes are only human after all and no one is perfect. But I think we need our heroes, we all have our own, for each of us our heroes may seem strange to another, but for us they touched us or moved us or made us want to strive to be a better person and that should be enough.

John Lennon lived only forty years, I've lived longer than he did, as strange as that seems to me. But in those four decades he lived as well as he could, sometimes not always the hero, but trying to live his life as well as he could, and creating some of the greatest music ever. Can we ask for more?

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