Happy Halloween! When I was a kid this one of my favorite holidays. It was the first time my parents let my brother and me out by ourselves at night. We would get together with friends and go trick or treating. We lived in a trailer park with about three hundred trailers in it so there were plenty of houses to go to. And at our age we weren't going anywhere else. But it was the first feelings of freedom, or being older and being able to do what we wanted. We would go from trailer to trailer collecting our candy and laughing and joking and just having a good time.
Tonight I have to work. But I've noticed it doesn't seem like there are that many kids out trick or treating anymore. Maybe the times has just made parents more worried about letting their children out at night collecting candy from strangers. When I was a kid you heard stories about razor blades in apples, but that was more urban legend than truth. Today such tales are more truth than urban legend.
I've started reading Stephen King's newest novel LISEY'S STORY a few days ago. Approiate for Halloween. King is one of my favorite writers. When he is good he is very good and the few times when he's not, well the wait for a new Stephen King book is never long. And his new one is very good so far. My biggest complaint I've noticed about him in his books lately is he loves his little homilies, his old home sayings, he will have his characters say them over and over....
I'm over half way done and so far there have been no monsters or vampires or supernatural demons in the book. Well, maybe there is some supernatural in it, maybe a ghost, but what it is mainly is a love story and a story about a woman who is grieving for her dead husband and trying to move on with her life.
Very good so far.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Sunday, October 29, 2006
The day at VoodooFest
It rained Friday so I was worried about it raining Saturday. But we got lucky, there was no rain. The day started off a little on the cool side, enough to require a light jacket. By noon the sun was out and the jackets were off. It never got higher than the high seventies, so the temperature couldn't have been better.
The only compalint I have is that the gates were supposed to open at nine. We were there around eight. I know, we're obessive like that, getting to these things early. It was me and Larry, my old Jazzfest partner. The gates didn't open till almost ten thirty. There was even an annoucement at nine from inside the grounds that the time was nine and the gates were opening. But they didn't. So we all stood around for an hour and a half waiting.
Still that was the only bad spot in an otherwise wonderful day. The acts we saw were:
Ellipsis
Terra Diablo
Amanda Shaw
Rockie Charles
Trombone SHorty
Broken Social Scene
Imagination Movers
Zydepunks
Shooter Jennings
Drive by Truckers
Meters
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Some of the acts we couldn't get close enough to take pictures. The Peppers were the band that everyone was there to see. It was packed, probably at least fifty/sixty thousand people there to see them. They put on a good show. The Meters were, as always, better than ever. These guys look like they are having fun on the stage, not worrying about anything. They play what they want to play, asking the auidence for suggestions, just playing anything. They have nothing to prove, these guys are four legends for their work.
Still the best act for me was the Truckers. These guys put on an awesome show. The night before Katrina hit New Orleans, that Saturday night, the Truckers were at at Tipitinas. They played to like two or three o'clock in the morning. They were the last act to play in New Orleans for some time. They did a version of Louisiana 1927 that was great.
The Peppers did a version of Arlo Gutherie's City of New Orleans. Flea didn't sing it, their guitarist did. I'm not sure who's playing guitar with them now, I know they've changed a few times. He started the song and than stopped and turned from the mike, cursing. He had forgotten the words. He came back with an apology and than sang it to the end. And he did a good job. Some kids next to us asked if we knew who had originally did that song. I guess they figured the two old guys must know that.
All in all we couldn't have asked for a better day. The layout for the fest was good and there was a lot there. This was my first year to make it, but I will be back next year.
The only compalint I have is that the gates were supposed to open at nine. We were there around eight. I know, we're obessive like that, getting to these things early. It was me and Larry, my old Jazzfest partner. The gates didn't open till almost ten thirty. There was even an annoucement at nine from inside the grounds that the time was nine and the gates were opening. But they didn't. So we all stood around for an hour and a half waiting.
Still that was the only bad spot in an otherwise wonderful day. The acts we saw were:
Ellipsis
Terra Diablo
Amanda Shaw
Rockie Charles
Trombone SHorty
Broken Social Scene
Imagination Movers
Zydepunks
Shooter Jennings
Drive by Truckers
Meters
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Some of the acts we couldn't get close enough to take pictures. The Peppers were the band that everyone was there to see. It was packed, probably at least fifty/sixty thousand people there to see them. They put on a good show. The Meters were, as always, better than ever. These guys look like they are having fun on the stage, not worrying about anything. They play what they want to play, asking the auidence for suggestions, just playing anything. They have nothing to prove, these guys are four legends for their work.
Still the best act for me was the Truckers. These guys put on an awesome show. The night before Katrina hit New Orleans, that Saturday night, the Truckers were at at Tipitinas. They played to like two or three o'clock in the morning. They were the last act to play in New Orleans for some time. They did a version of Louisiana 1927 that was great.
The Peppers did a version of Arlo Gutherie's City of New Orleans. Flea didn't sing it, their guitarist did. I'm not sure who's playing guitar with them now, I know they've changed a few times. He started the song and than stopped and turned from the mike, cursing. He had forgotten the words. He came back with an apology and than sang it to the end. And he did a good job. Some kids next to us asked if we knew who had originally did that song. I guess they figured the two old guys must know that.
All in all we couldn't have asked for a better day. The layout for the fest was good and there was a lot there. This was my first year to make it, but I will be back next year.
Amanda Shaw
Amanda Shaw is 15/16 years old. She started singing cajun songs and playing fiddle. Lately she's been moving into pop/rock territory. She does a cover of the Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" She has a new song called "Brick Wall." I think she's pretty good now and has the potential to be even better. She can play that fiddle like nobody's business.
Terra Diablo
This was a band from Scotland that I had never heard of. Wandering around the tents before any of the concerts started one of the tents suggested we check them out, they were selling their current cd for five dollars. So we did. And enjoyed them. They were really good, so of course we went back to buy their cd.
VoodooFest Pics
I know it looks pretty empty in these pics. I took them during the first half of the day, when it wasn't that busy. By one/two o'clock the place was getting crowded and within another hour it was packed. If I had taken another picture than you would have just seen crowds of people.
VoodooFest
VoodooFest has come and gone. It was one of the best concert days ever. The weather was perfect, the site was great, and the music was the best. Or to put it better: Larry and I were sitting on the grass, leaning against the fence, watching all the pretty girls go by, listening to Shooter Jennings and eating some great red beans and rice, when Larry leaned over towards me and said "It doesn't get any better than this."
And he was right.
And he was right.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
TV Show Roundup
Just some observations on some of the new shows so far:
Heroes: The first episode I wasn't thrilled with, but each episode since has gotten me more hooked on this show. The newest show continued the streak. The scene with Nathan about to get beaten up or worse, when he just zips into the sky and takes off...very cool.
Studio 60: I hate to say that I'm not sure about this one. I loved West Wing. As the West Wing was ultimately the story of Josh Lyman, I think this show will be about the friendship between Bradley Whitford and Matthew Perry. Some of it is very good, but the biggest problem is that it just doesn't seem to be about anything. I know it is, but after watching an episode it just seems to have not mattered.
30 Rock: Can't say much, I've only seen one and a half episodes, but from what I've seen it's pretty dumb. I was thinking this would be good. I like Tina Fey. But this show is so over the top with its humor it just loses me. It's like a long Saturday Night Live skit.
The Class: Started off terrible I thought. Gotten a little better, but it had no where to go but up. I still think it has some really terrible characters and writing but every now and than it made me chuckle.
Veronica Mars: Love it, still one of my favorite shows on tv. I just hope it survives, they've only ordered 13 episodes. If you're not watching this show you should be. With West Wing no longer on it is probably the best show on tv right now.
LOST: Some very interesting moments. I'm not crazy about Kate picking Sawyer, I think she should have picked Jack. The problem with this show is that it's hard to judge until you watch the entire season. I remember watching season two and not really liking it that much, but later when I watched it all on the dvd collection I found my thoughts changed. Still the first episode had a Wow scene right from the start.
Smallville: Only caught one episode so far, missed the first episode of the season. I've come to the conclusion that Lana is....well I don't' want to say what I think she is. She condemns Clark for keeping secrets but she is quick to keep her secrets and she doesn't seem to have much problems with Lex keeping secrets. Clark needs to get over her and move on. I still think that they should have killed her off instead of his father last season.
How I Met Your Mother: This series has grown on me. Of course Barney is great. But I think the writers have boxed themselves into a corner, Robin and Ted have been written to belong together like Ross and Rachel in Friends, in an episode from the first season evidently Ted tells his kids about Aunt Robin, meaning Robin isn't the Mother in the title. To me they've written these two characters to belong together. But maybe they're working that out now, with bringing them together, eventually they'll have to break them up. Maybe get rid of that feeling in the series.
Friday Night Lights: This is the show that all the non sport geeks are saying that "I don't like football, but I like this show." It's that good a show. They've kept me watching and like the geek above, I'm not really a fan of sport shows or sports.
That's about all the shows I've been watching. I haven't been able to catch all the episodes of any of these shows. NBC.com has been showing the entire shows, I managed to catch the newest Heroes since I had to work that night. I'm not sure if all the networks are doing this or not.
And finally the third season of WINGS just came out on DVD this week.
Heroes: The first episode I wasn't thrilled with, but each episode since has gotten me more hooked on this show. The newest show continued the streak. The scene with Nathan about to get beaten up or worse, when he just zips into the sky and takes off...very cool.
Studio 60: I hate to say that I'm not sure about this one. I loved West Wing. As the West Wing was ultimately the story of Josh Lyman, I think this show will be about the friendship between Bradley Whitford and Matthew Perry. Some of it is very good, but the biggest problem is that it just doesn't seem to be about anything. I know it is, but after watching an episode it just seems to have not mattered.
30 Rock: Can't say much, I've only seen one and a half episodes, but from what I've seen it's pretty dumb. I was thinking this would be good. I like Tina Fey. But this show is so over the top with its humor it just loses me. It's like a long Saturday Night Live skit.
The Class: Started off terrible I thought. Gotten a little better, but it had no where to go but up. I still think it has some really terrible characters and writing but every now and than it made me chuckle.
Veronica Mars: Love it, still one of my favorite shows on tv. I just hope it survives, they've only ordered 13 episodes. If you're not watching this show you should be. With West Wing no longer on it is probably the best show on tv right now.
LOST: Some very interesting moments. I'm not crazy about Kate picking Sawyer, I think she should have picked Jack. The problem with this show is that it's hard to judge until you watch the entire season. I remember watching season two and not really liking it that much, but later when I watched it all on the dvd collection I found my thoughts changed. Still the first episode had a Wow scene right from the start.
Smallville: Only caught one episode so far, missed the first episode of the season. I've come to the conclusion that Lana is....well I don't' want to say what I think she is. She condemns Clark for keeping secrets but she is quick to keep her secrets and she doesn't seem to have much problems with Lex keeping secrets. Clark needs to get over her and move on. I still think that they should have killed her off instead of his father last season.
How I Met Your Mother: This series has grown on me. Of course Barney is great. But I think the writers have boxed themselves into a corner, Robin and Ted have been written to belong together like Ross and Rachel in Friends, in an episode from the first season evidently Ted tells his kids about Aunt Robin, meaning Robin isn't the Mother in the title. To me they've written these two characters to belong together. But maybe they're working that out now, with bringing them together, eventually they'll have to break them up. Maybe get rid of that feeling in the series.
Friday Night Lights: This is the show that all the non sport geeks are saying that "I don't like football, but I like this show." It's that good a show. They've kept me watching and like the geek above, I'm not really a fan of sport shows or sports.
That's about all the shows I've been watching. I haven't been able to catch all the episodes of any of these shows. NBC.com has been showing the entire shows, I managed to catch the newest Heroes since I had to work that night. I'm not sure if all the networks are doing this or not.
And finally the third season of WINGS just came out on DVD this week.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Funeral
Today was Mr. Fred's funeral. They played the LSU fight song at it and if anyone knew Mr. Fred they would know it was so fitting. He would have loved it.
VoodooFest Is Coming!
This weekend is VoodooFest. Lots of good acts: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Drive By Truckers, Shooter Jennings, Amanda Shaw, Living Things, Meters, Whigs, My Chemical Romance, Irma Thomas, Wu Tang Clang, Cowboy Mouth, Kings of Leon, Duran Duran and lots more. Two days of fun and music...can't wait.
Monday, October 23, 2006
How Many WIth My Name?
| HowManyOfMe.com | ||
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Saturday, October 21, 2006
What's In A Label?
I've been going through my old posts and labeling them. I've created categories for each post, such as Music, TV, Books, Politics, etc. Is it any surprise what my biggest category is? Nope, didn't think so. Music leads the pack by far. I'm not done yet, there are a lot of old posts to go through. And some of the posts probably should belong in more than one category. I'm sure I've missed some of the categories I should have put certain posts in.
This will make it easier if for some reason you want to read more of my previous posts on a certain subject. You click on the label at the bottom of the post and it pulls up all the other posts on that category.
I know, I know, if this doesn't show how geeky I am, nothing does.
This will make it easier if for some reason you want to read more of my previous posts on a certain subject. You click on the label at the bottom of the post and it pulls up all the other posts on that category.
I know, I know, if this doesn't show how geeky I am, nothing does.
What's Up With Firefox?
I keep hearing how much better Firefox is than Internet Explorer. I've actually downloaded and use it now and than. I just tried again. I pulled up my blog and it looks terrible on Firefox. It doesn't show everything. If you've been looking at this site on Firefox you're not seeing everything. It doesn't show my header picture from Alaska. The whole sidebar looks terrible, leaving stuff out or pushing things together.
Anyone have any idea why this is happening? Is there something I can do about it?
Anyone have any idea why this is happening? Is there something I can do about it?
Mr. Fred, R.I.P.
As I've mentioned before in these posts I work in retail. One of the people that work with me as the door greeter is an older gentleman named Mr. Fred. Now this isn't just some door greeter, when you walk into our store Mr. Fred really greets you. Customers love to come in our store just to be greeted by Mr. Fred. Every kid that comes in gets a high five from him.
Mr. Fred is a huge LSU fan. And when I say huge, I mean huge. He can tell you what happened at a LSU game from twenty three years ago. He counts down the days between LSU football seasons.
About two months ago Mr. Fred had a heart attack/stroke while mowing his lawn. He went into a coma. He never woke up.
We put one of those huge greeting cards on a table at the front of the store to be signed by any customers that wanted to. We filled it completely, back and front. We put another one out and it was filled too. Not a day goes by that customers are asking about him.
Tonight I found out that he died a few days ago.
Mr. Fred is a huge LSU fan. And when I say huge, I mean huge. He can tell you what happened at a LSU game from twenty three years ago. He counts down the days between LSU football seasons.
About two months ago Mr. Fred had a heart attack/stroke while mowing his lawn. He went into a coma. He never woke up.
We put one of those huge greeting cards on a table at the front of the store to be signed by any customers that wanted to. We filled it completely, back and front. We put another one out and it was filled too. Not a day goes by that customers are asking about him.
Tonight I found out that he died a few days ago.
Crescent City Snow
Crescent City Snow
By Susan Cowsill
I feel like a kite without a string
Only my tail to guide me
Just paper and sticks and tattered sheets
Waiting on a friendly wind
Hold all our memories in one hand
So tight that you won't let them go
And in the other hand we pray
That the wind and the panic and the rain
Will all turn to a
Soft and quiet snow
A long time ago when I was young
I used to know everything
And now it's today and I am sure
That I don't know anything at all
Hold all our memories in one hand
So tight that you won't let them go
And in the other hand we pray
That the wind and the panic and the rain
Will all turn to a
Soft and quiet, gentle peaceful snow
When the Saints come marchin' in
I'll be walking to New Orleans
Eating beignets at DuMonde'
Singing Joni at the Carrollton Station
Hanging out at Jackson Square
12 o'clock I'll meet you there
Down on Frenchmen with Big Chief
Trying to find a place to eat
Tailgatin' at the Dome
Man I can't wait to go home
Our precious hearts are all shattered
Scattered across the land
But I know that I am going back
To the place where I know who I am
Holding all our memories in one hand
So tight that you can't let them go
And in the other hand we pray
That the wind and the panic and the rain
Will all turn to a
Soft and quiet, gentle peaceful, N-O-L-A,
Crescent City Snow
3 a.m. at the Circle Bar
Where the hell did we park the car
6 a.m. at the Christmas Lounge
Man we got a hell of a town
A town where you grandma tells my grandma
While they are sitting by the fire
And we all go down to the Audobon Zoo
Where they all ax (ask) for you
And they say
Who Dat
Who Dat
Who Dat say dey (they) gonna beat dem (them) Saints
Who Dat
Who Dat
Who Dat say dey (they) gonna beat dem (them) Saints
Oh when the Saints come marchin'
By Susan Cowsill
I feel like a kite without a string
Only my tail to guide me
Just paper and sticks and tattered sheets
Waiting on a friendly wind
Hold all our memories in one hand
So tight that you won't let them go
And in the other hand we pray
That the wind and the panic and the rain
Will all turn to a
Soft and quiet snow
A long time ago when I was young
I used to know everything
And now it's today and I am sure
That I don't know anything at all
Hold all our memories in one hand
So tight that you won't let them go
And in the other hand we pray
That the wind and the panic and the rain
Will all turn to a
Soft and quiet, gentle peaceful snow
When the Saints come marchin' in
I'll be walking to New Orleans
Eating beignets at DuMonde'
Singing Joni at the Carrollton Station
Hanging out at Jackson Square
12 o'clock I'll meet you there
Down on Frenchmen with Big Chief
Trying to find a place to eat
Tailgatin' at the Dome
Man I can't wait to go home
Our precious hearts are all shattered
Scattered across the land
But I know that I am going back
To the place where I know who I am
Holding all our memories in one hand
So tight that you can't let them go
And in the other hand we pray
That the wind and the panic and the rain
Will all turn to a
Soft and quiet, gentle peaceful, N-O-L-A,
Crescent City Snow
3 a.m. at the Circle Bar
Where the hell did we park the car
6 a.m. at the Christmas Lounge
Man we got a hell of a town
A town where you grandma tells my grandma
While they are sitting by the fire
And we all go down to the Audobon Zoo
Where they all ax (ask) for you
And they say
Who Dat
Who Dat
Who Dat say dey (they) gonna beat dem (them) Saints
Who Dat
Who Dat
Who Dat say dey (they) gonna beat dem (them) Saints
Oh when the Saints come marchin'
Friday, October 20, 2006
The All New All Improved Beta Version
Whenever I posted on my blog I've noticed that little note to the side that said there was a new improved Beta version aviable. Today I decided to go for it. I was a little scared. I was afraid that I would lose everything on my blog. I've spent a lot of time and a lot of hours on this thing, I sure didn't want to have to start completely over.
It updated and everything looked the same. Now I could change it from a template to a layout design, where they said it would be easier to add to the blog. Instead of using html it would use a lot of drag and drop. I tried it...to find it elminated everything on my blog except for the posts. Luckily it made a copy of my old blog that I could go back to. Somehow there has to be a way for me to add all my old stuff to the new layout style blog.
Most of this stuff you the reader will never see. It really just effects the behind the scenes of the making of this blog. One thing you can see it that I can now label each post. Like when I talk about Will Hoge I can label it music and if you click on the music label at the end of the post it will pull up all the posts I have labeled music.
The only problem is that I have to go back and label all my old posts. It lists over five hundred post I have made since I started this blog. So it may take me a little time.
It updated and everything looked the same. Now I could change it from a template to a layout design, where they said it would be easier to add to the blog. Instead of using html it would use a lot of drag and drop. I tried it...to find it elminated everything on my blog except for the posts. Luckily it made a copy of my old blog that I could go back to. Somehow there has to be a way for me to add all my old stuff to the new layout style blog.
Most of this stuff you the reader will never see. It really just effects the behind the scenes of the making of this blog. One thing you can see it that I can now label each post. Like when I talk about Will Hoge I can label it music and if you click on the music label at the end of the post it will pull up all the posts I have labeled music.
The only problem is that I have to go back and label all my old posts. It lists over five hundred post I have made since I started this blog. So it may take me a little time.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
RiverBend is Back!
On my sidebar is a blog entitled "Baghdad Burning". It's written by "Riverbend", a woman, or as she puts it, girl blogger from Iraq. The first years worth of her blog has been collected in a booked entitled Baghdad Burning. She talks about what everyday life in Baghdad is like for those that have to endure it. It's at once uplifting and heart rending what happens to the people living there. Her last blog post was August 5. I was starting to get worried. In Baghdad there is so much that could have happened to her and no one would ever know. But today she has written a new post on her blog. I'm glad to see that she is still alive and well. Or as well as can be expected living under the conditions that she has to.
I don't see how anyone could read her blog and still support the war.
Check out her blog, you won't be sorry.
I don't see how anyone could read her blog and still support the war.
Check out her blog, you won't be sorry.
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