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.

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?

Asylum Street Spankers

I saw this on Peter David's site and found it too good not to post:

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.

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'

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.

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.

Lost

The creators behind Lost say they know where it's going and how it ends. I think that is important, that there be an ending. Every eposide of Lost throws some new surprise or mystery at us. After awhile you have to wonder if they really know what they're doing or just throwing a bunch of weird stuff out there to make everyone wonder what is going on. If there is really an ending, an explanation for everything that is going on, than that will be a good thing. But therein lies another problem. Lost is on network tv. If it continues to be as popular as it has been do you really think ABC will let the creators end it when they want it to end? I've read that the creators say it's pretty much a five year plan. That everything should come to a conclusion within five years. Now if Lost continues to pull in the numbers that they have for the first two years, does anyone really believe that ABC will let them end it when they want to? They'll make it drag out for another few years, until everyone gets tired of the questions and no answers. It's almost like you want it to slowly lose auidence share each year, till in the fifth year ABC tells them it's ok to kill the show.

Coincidence or Conspiracy

The other day I was looking for something to read and I noticed a book on my shelf called "What Really Happened?" by Cifford Irving. Back in the seventies Irving had written an authorized biography of Howard Hughes. Hughes hadn't talked to the press (or just about anyone) in at least fifteen years when Irving announced that he was talking to the mysterious billionaire. His book sold for at least a million. The only problem was the he lied about the whole thing. He had never talked to Hughes. He was gambling on the fact that Hughes was so press shy and let's face it, crazy, that the man would not come forward to contradict Irving's books. But Hughes did come forward and tell the world that he had never talked to Irving. The writer ended up in jail. This book is his story of what happened, how he came to write the book and everything else that went along with it.

Now comes the weird part. I just saw that Richard Gere has a new movie coming out late this year or early next year. It's called Hoax. And guess what it's about? It's based on Clifford Irving's "What Really Happened?"

Now when I picked up the book I had no idea of the movie. And just after picking up the book I see the movie is coming out. I feel like I'm living in an Oliver Stone movie. :)

Who's Ezra and why do they think they're better than him?

Went to see Better Than Ezra last night at the House of Blues. BTE is a home town band. Heather, Nicole and Sean all came to see the show. I've never seen them before. (The band that is, I've seen my friends before.)

I was very pleasantly surprised to find Susan Cowsill was the opening act. I am a big fan of hers and would have paid to just go see her in concert. She put on a great show.

By the time BTE came on the place was packed. I will say that they have a very fanatical following. I don't know if I've ever seen the place as crowded. And most of the audience sings along to every song. They put on a good show, but I am probably the only one in the 1500 there that liked the opening act more. I like their show, they did some covers, all their hits, but there was just something lacking about it. Everyone there would disagree with me but I felt like it was lacking passion, which I thought Susan more than made up in. Like I said I enjoyed the show, just wouldn't rate it as one of my top shows.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

I have to admit with everything going on lately I almost forgot today was his birthday.  Monday at work someone mentioned that it was Columbus Day and I went oh crap!  For some reason I always associate Columbus Day with his birthday.  I realized than that it was only a few days away.  So here it is.

I'm not going to make this a long post about him, I've done that before and will probably do it again before long.  All I want to do on this one is one thing and wish my Dad a HAPPY BIRTHDAY and many more to come.

 

MY CONCERTS II

The second in an ongoing list of the different acts I've seen in concert. As senility sets in I'm trying to remember them. I'm not trying to list them all at once, I figure off and on as I go on. And it's been awhile since I made the first list. Which you can find here

http://altjirangamitjina.blogspot.com/2005/05/my-concerts.html

• Wilco


• Ryan Adams


• Will Hoge (numerous times)


• Joss Stone


• Whigs


• Hawthrone Heights


• Marah


• Bob Dylan (numerous times)


• Paul McCartney


• R.E.M.


• Cher


• Leann Rimes


• John Hiatt


• Alan Jackson


• Martina McBride


• Incubus


• Brownsville Station


• Kings of Leon


• Wallflowers


• Sum 41


• Kenny Chesney


• Uncle Cracker


• 3 Doors Down


• John Fogerty


• Gatemouth Brown


• Sonny Landreth


• Shannon McNally (numerous times)


• Wolfman Washington


• KT Tunstall


• Gretchen Wilson

This list jumps all over the place. A lot of acts I've seen in the last few years, but a few from even longer ago. But there's still a lot more to come

FORGIVENESS

They're often the butt of late night comedian's jokes.  Or they're looked on as some sort of   quaint type of cult.  But how many people would have been so forgiving?

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/15708219.htm

First Day of Chemo

Today was the first day of chemo for my Dad. I just got off the phone with him and he sounded surpisingly good. He said he felt pretty good, just tired. I know that after just one session it's too early to get my hopes up, but it's hard not to. He said it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. He was bored more than anything, he has to sit around for four or five hours while they give him the chemo in doses. He goes again tommorrow. He plans on taking a book to read while he goes this time. He goes twice a month, twice in those two weeks.

I do have to admit that tonight was a phone call I was scared to make. I was afraid what I would hear. I'm glad at least it's starting out better than expected.

A Rollercoaster of A Week

This has been a very emotional week for me. At the start I learned my Dad's cancer is back. To make a long story short, he's dying. If we're lucky the chemo will help him, if not they're not sure how long he could have. So that's been a constant throughout the week. I'll go awhile without thinking about it, but than it hits me again and it will be all I can think about. The other night I was up most of the night because I couldn't get it off my mind.

I feel guilty when I'm enjoying myself and not thinking about it. I feel like I shouldn't be having fun. I know that's not true, but it's hard to find myself having a good time and than remember what he's going through.

I've talked about the importance of music many times before and this week proved to me how important it is. The week started with Shannon McNally and Charlie Sexton and than later Grayson Capps. It ended with Theresa Anderson and Will Hoge. Listening to their music was very helpful for me.

I don't want to turn this blog into a sob fest of how terrible I feel. I consider myself lucky. I may be losing my Dad and it is going to hurt, but I have to think of the years I have had him. I think about the last ten years of his life. He and my Mother got to retire and move out to the country. With the combination of their retirments they actually have been making more money than they ever had, plus they have a lot less expenses. They have had a good life and have been enjoying themselves. I want to focus on the good, because I know the bad will be be here soon enough.

Theresa Anderson has a song called "Fine Line" that she sang Saturday. It is written by Gary Hirstius.

"Life's hard
But at least you have it"

She turned these two lines into a celebration of life that day in the sun. Listening to her I couldn't help but think about my Dad and in the sadness was joy.

Will Hoge

Theresa Anderson

Saturday and Music

Saturday was one of those days that I was going to be everywhere. It started off with me and Larry going downtown. We spent a few hours wandering the French Quarter and checking out Tower Records. The sad news is that Tower has offically decided to shut its doors. This really sucks for New Orleans. Virgin Records which had a big two story store before the hurricane never came back afterwards and it doesn't look like they plan to. Now Tower will be gone. Tower was a good place for me to go and find some of the harder to find bands and performers I like. We still have Louisiana Music Factory, but it caters to mainly local artists, which is great, but is far from solving the problem.

We ended up eating at Jimmy Buffet's Margitaville. Neither of us had ate there before and we just wanted a quick hamburger. We both agreed that the hamburgers were very good there. Not at all what we expected.

After the Quarter we drove over to the Westbank and checked out the second day of the Gretna Heritage Festival. Mainly today we were here to see Theresa Anderson. Theresa is a great local artist that is originally from Sweden. She has lived in New Orleans for about the last fifteen years. Her last ep is amazing. I have kept in my car and literally listened to it like five or six times in row. If anyone has seen "A Love Song For Bobby Long" (which I mentioned in a post about Grayson Capps) she also has music in that movie. She plays the fiddle, guitar and banjo and sings like a dream.

She gave a great show. She doesn't write a lot of her own material, but she is very smart at picking the songs she covers. She did a cover of Gillian Welch's "I Wanna Play Rock n Roll" and even a Wilco song at the end.

After that we headed back down to the Quarter where we were supposed to meet Heather (see I do mention you in here!), Nicole and Nick. Tonight we were off to see Will Hoge at One Eyes Jacks.

After meeting them we went to Fiorellas to eat. Great meat loaf dinner. And I only had to hit Nick once with my croc.

The show was late tonight so we still had plenty of time. We walked Bourbon Street. I haven't been on Bourbon in a long time, before the hurricane. It was packed. In fact the entire Quarter seemed busy and even later that night when we were leaving at like two in the morning it was still jumping. It was good to see that things are getting back to normal. Big Daddys is still on Bourbon. Sorry, this has a special meaning for me, it was the first strip club I ever went to.

Finally we got back to see the show. As always Will Hoge puts on a great show. He had a few new numbers from an upcoming cd tonight. I really enjoyed "Southern Belle". A good show, but not one of his best. He seemed distracted during the show. Normally he likes to talk and banter with the crowd. Tonight he hardly said two words. One song went into the next. He didn't even introduce the band. Seemed like something was wrong.

After the show we all headed for home and I was ready for bed. It was a long day, but an extremely fun one.

More Pics of Gretna's Heritage Festival

More New Orleans' Pics

New Orleans Pictures

Gretna Heritage Festival

This weekend is the Gretna Heritage Festival. Gretna is on the Westbank, across the river from New Orleans. The Fest is tonight, Sat and Sunday. It's nowhere near as big as the Jazz Fest. They set up four stages and block off the streets and have vendors set up crafts and foods. There are rides and games for the kids. A fun time for all as they say. The acts are ususally local acts or former big names like Grand Funk Railroad. Not that some of these big names aren't worth seeing but I'm more interested in the local acts. Tonight is Irene Sage and Benny Grunch. Tommorrow is Theresa Anderson and Sunday is Rosie Ledet and Amanda Shaw. Tommorrow I'll only be able to see Theresa and than have to leave. Will Hoge is playing downtown tommorrow night. Will is an act not to be missed.

It was strange being in Gretna tonight. I used to live on the Westbank. I lived over there for at least ten years. I haven't been to Gretna in years. I still go to the Westbank because that is where my brother lives, but I haven't had a reason to go to Gretna in a long time. I have to say, it hasn't changed. It looked pretty much exactly like I remember.

Where we were watching the concerts was over the levee next to the river. The rest of the Fest was on the other side of the levee. We had a nice crowd, but not that big. So after Irene finished Larry and I walked over the levee to be greeted by a whole lot of people. The place was packed. I had no idea that there would be this many people there.

So I took some pictures of New Orleans from across the river that I'm going to try to post on here.

Irene Sage

Irene Sage started her show at 6:30 and played till 8:00. The day ended and a full moon came up as she sang her song "Full Moon Rising". She brought Coco Robochieux out for a few songs. They did a killer version of "I Shall Be Released", one of my all time favorite songs in the world. She was great and the entire show was great.

A Perfect Spot For A Concert

This is where the concerts were tonight. Isn't it a beautiful spot? The weather was wonderful too, the humidity was almost non existent. There was a breeze blowing in off the river and it was almost chilly.

Riverboat at Dusk

I think this picture came out pretty good.

Construction Up Ahead

I've been spending the morning trying to update some of the links and other stuff on this site. Some of my links have moved and I've failed to follow up with a new link, some have disappeared, others changed and my poor little old blog has not kept up with the changing times.

So I'm trying to get everything updated. Hopefully when you click on a link it will bring you directly to that site now, not an old site with a link to go to the new site. And I've had to drop a few sites or blogs. If your site hasn't updated in months and months I've decided that you probably aren't going to update anytime soon and I've dropped you. I've also dropped a few that I find myself not visiting anymore. Nothing against the site or blog, I just stopped visiting so I figured there was no reason to keep it in the sidebar.

I've also moved a few links around. Some there were under the comic book sites are now under the blogs I read site. Now none of this will be the least interesting to anyone but me, but I figured that if you were more of a blog about comic books and other things I would move you to the blog section. The comic book sites are more news and what's going on in the world of comic books, ususally done by more than just one person. See I told you none of this is very interesting, just some weird part of my brain that I have to accept.

I'm still working, I've got some new sites to add. But I'm off to get a new stero put in my car. I've been thinking about it for awhile now but the cost was pretty high. And what really chapped my hide (ha!) was that the installtion was going to be close to $200 alone. But I went and talked with the salesman last night and we figured a way to make the installtion about $50 and the whole thing ended up costing me a lot less than I had at first thought.

Back later with more new sites and just lots more fun!

I've drank the Kool-Aid

I've succumbed to the pressure, I just couldn't take it anymore. Yes, I know have a My Space page.

Actually the My Space page is more for my comic book writing and so-called career. I know I talk about it some on here, mention comic books now and than, but I wanted a place that I can network with other writers and artists and everyone keeps telling me My Space is the place to be for that. So I've created a page just for that. And like the nice person I am I've included a link to it on my sidebar.

Now don't worry, I'm not about to leave my blog here. This blog has become fairly important to me over the last year. From the friends I've met on here, to just being able to have a place to talk about whatever I want to. I've acutally had the My Space page for awhile now, so I can do both. In fact if anything I'm more tempted to ignore that page. I've really just started to try and get it going from more than just a small page with nothing on it to something that might actually help me with my writing career.

So go visit it, let me know what you think. I'll probably still bore you on this page with some comic book related stuff, but the majority of it will be over there.

One More Reason I Don't Like Nike

Last night I watched Friday Night Lights. (Which by the way got off to an excellent start.) What I want to talk about here is a commerical I saw on the show.

It was an ad for Nike. They showed a bunch of football players in school, in class and walking through the school and than playing football. While in class the players basically sat around doing nothing and could not answer the question the teacher posed to them. They ignored the teacher and than left class to walk through the school like heroes.

To me and feel free to correct me if I got it wrong it seemed to show that playing football was more important than trying to get an education. Just the type of message we need to be sending our young people. I'm not making an attack on football here, but how many high school players make it to college? How many college players make it to the pros? How many of these players that are considered the great saviour of the team get an decent education that can help them when they don't make the team as a pro. Than what do they do? It may be a cliche to say that a lot of these players are coasting through school and not learning anything, but it's a cliche for a reason. It's true.

And here's Nike helping to tell everyone it's ok to be a big bad football hero and not learn anything. Football is all that matters.

Shame On You Mr Springsteen

You've all seen it. The new cd by Madonna or Mariah Carey comes out, only to be followed within a few months by a new updated - BETTER!- version of the same cd. What it is, is the same cd with a couple of songs added. I always thought this was a shameful process to get the real fans of these singers to shell out more money to buy the same cd again.

Still it didn't bother me all that much. I'm not a fan of most of these singers. But yesterday Bruce Springsteen did the same thing. A few months ago he came out with The Seeger Sessions. I think it's one of his best pieces of work, even if it's cover songs. This is a great cd and even better live. I won't go on about his Jazz Fest appearance doing these songs, just to say it was perhaps the best concert I have ever seen. So yesterday Springsteen released The Seeger Sessions with five new songs added.

Now I'm a big enough fan of Springsteen that I want those five new songs. Especially an offical release of "How Can A Poor Man?" My gripe is with the format. Used to be when a performer wanted to put out four or five songs they would release it as ep. Now this was back in the old days when albums actually came out on vinyl and they were different sizes and speeds. An ep was normally a size between a 45 and an actual album itself. With cds all being the same size today, the physical difference between a 45, ep and album are kind of mote, but they still use the terms and still release the format. CD singles are out there. CD eps are out there....Theresa Anderson's latest release was such and I consider it her best work yet.

So why not put these five new songs on an ep? Charge seven or eight dollars for it. Instead they put it on the same cd that his fans have already purchased and most stores that I have seen are charging more than the normal rate for a cd because of the extra songs. Most new cds go on sale for ten dollars. The lowest I've seen this cd on sale for is 14 dollars, a lot of places are asking twenty dollars for it.

Yes, I bought it. I'm that big a Springsteen fan. And that's what he's counting on. His fans are just that...fanatic about his music. So he knows that most of them will but the cd...again.

When other performers do this it doesn't get me all the worked up. With Springsteen, rightly or wrongly, there is a sort of trust between the singer and his fans. We look at him as more than just some guy getting up there singing songs for a buck. And I guess that's why this act feels almost like a sense of betrayal. No, I'm not saying he shouldn't try to make as much money as he can. But not at the expense of his fans, and that's what this feels like he's doing.

I enjoy his new music on the cd, but someone tell me why he couldn't have released them as an ep?

Grayson Capps

Grayson Capps did a show at the Music Factory yesterday after Shannon and Charlie. Grayson is a local artist. Or he was a local artist before Katrina. After the hurricane he moved to Tennessee and it looks like he might stay there. If anyone saw the movie "A Love Song For Bobby Long" it was written by Grayson's dad and a lot of the music in there was his, including the title cut. This was the first time I've seen Grayson live and he puts on a good show. He had to cut it short because they had a concert in Mobile that night at seven.

Shannon and Charlie

Shannon McNalley and Charlie Sexton did an acoustic show at the Louisiana Music Factory yesterday. This is a record store that specalizes in local artists. They did a wonderful show. Everyone knows how I feel about Shannon, I think she is one of the best artists of the last few years. Hearing her music this way was an insight. Her and Charlie have an easy banter together. Having worked together on her last album it is evident they have developed a friendship. And Charlie ain't no slouch either.

And I learned that her new album will be out in Feb produced by the legendary Memphis producer Jim Dickeson.

Walking Around New Orleans

The End Of A Perfectly Bad Day

My Mom called earlier tonight. For those who have read my blog for over a year may remember when my Father had surgery for cancer. The got it all out. Or so we thought. She told me it's back. In his liver. Spread too far to operate. Probably only a few years.

I'm not ready to not have him in my life anymore.

It's Finally Here!

Once again the new all music issue of The Oxford American is here! This is one of my favorite single issues of any magazine. Besides the great articles there is a free cd of southern music that I guarantee you will not find its like anywhere else. Where else would you find Ted Williams and Big Star on the same cd? Or Andy Griffith and Drivin' An' Cryin'? I'm telling you, it just doesn't get any better than this.

When The Saints Come Marching In (I'll Be Off In A Corner Reading A Book)

Tonight is the first home game for the New Orleans Saints back in the Superdome since Katrina. It's a big game for the team and for the city. There's almost as much press in the city for tonight's game as there is for a Superbowl. U2 and Green Day are here to sing one song apiece for the pregame show.

And while I appreciate what it means to the city and the people here I really am not that excited about the game. I'm really not a football fan. In fact I was supposed to open today, but Larry who is a big football fan and was supposed to close, asked if I would switch shifts with him. So it was no big deal for me to do so. In fact if I had been home tonight I would have been watching the season premiere of Heroes and the second episode of Studio 60.

Me sitting home by myself and watching a football game? Not going to happen. Now I have watched a football game or two in my day. I've even been to the Superdome and saw the Saints play before.

Back when I lived on the Westbank and when I lived next door to Mark we used to have a SuperBowl party every year. We did that for about four or five years. I can watch a football game with a group of friends. Then it's not just about the game, it's about the event. Our parties would start early and end late, so the game was just a part of the whole thing. Rain, shine, cold...it didn't matter. I remember one year the game was on the day we had an ice storm. That was the year I set my head on fire trying to start the grill in freezing windy weather.

So the choice between watching a football game and reading a book...really isn't that much of a choice.

An Empty Refrigerator Is A Lonley Refrigerator (And I Don't Mean What's Inside)

Proving once again that I have too much time on my hands sometimes.

The Kenneth in the noteboard is my brother who was supposed to come over one Saturday with his truck so we could go to Home Depot and I could pick up a new pantry. I live alone and I have to write notes to myself...

Leaving

I learned that two people that work with me will be quiting within the week. Now this is not something new, a lot of people that work with me quit. Sometimes I even fire a few of them. But these two people have been with me for the last seven years. They worked for me when I was a manager at Service Merchandise and followed me to my new location after that company went out of business.

They both started for me when they were in their teens. Now in their early twenties they have found it time to move on. I don't fault them. I knew they weren't going to be with me forever, but it almost feels like a child leaving home. I like to think that I've had some small part in helping them become the person they are now.

Good luck to the both of them. I'm sure they will continue to grow and become wonderful people.

My Kicks

I really do like wearing these shoes but the problem is that they hurt soooo much. There is no type of arch support, the shoe itself is thin canvas so there is no support for your foot at all. I wore them the other day for work. By the time I got home my feet were yelping in pain.

What's strange is that as a kid these were the only type of sneakers we had. I came of age before Nike and all the other high end sneaker companies. This was the way our sneakers were made than.

Maybe it's just a sign of getting old.

KT Tunstall

Boy am I feeling old. I remember the days of my youth when I could stay out all night, go to work the next day and than do it again the next night. Well after going to Marah last night, getting up for work this morning for five in the a.m. after work today I went to see KT Tunstall in concert.

This was one of those concerts I expected to go to and like, but not really get that excited about. I like her single "Black Horse and a Cherry Tree" and even her cd. But I wasn't really all that excited about her. The tickets were priced low enough that I thought it would be worth seeing her.

I'm glad I did. She put on a great show. She has so much fun up there on the stage that it just radiates out into the auidence. It was a concert I'm very glad that I decided to go to. Even though when I have to get up tommorrow to go to work I may regret it...

Marah

It's midnight and I've been up since 4:30 this morning and have to get up again at the ungodly hour of 4:30, so what am I doing sitting here typing these words and not buried under the covers and sleeping the sleep of the just or at least of the tired. Just got back from the Marah concert at the Parish at the House of Blues. The Parish is the room above the main concert room for the House of Blues. It's the room that they use for the acts that aren't as well known, that won't fill the regular room. Tonight's show fit that bill for sure. I don't think there were more than thirty people at the show. Even with those few numbers Marah came out and did a fantastic show. Marah puts on a great show, talking inbetween numbers and interacting with the auidence. At one point towards the end of the show one of the brothers came down off the stage into the auidence. He called everyone towards him and than had us all sit on the floor while he sat in the middle of us and blew his harmonica and sang. Of course none of this matters without great songs and Marah has plenty of them. For the last few years Marah has been one of my favorite, if unknown, groups. And tonight they didn't disappoint.

Another aspect of 9/11

I was reading a blog earlier and of course being today they were talking about 9/11 and it's aftermath. The blogger mentioned how it effected people, emotionally, physically, and financaly. And that made me think about something.

Back on 9/11 I was working for a retail company called Service Merchandise. I was a store manager. We sold jewelry, kitchen ware, electonics and a few other things. If you're from the North you probably never heard of us, we were a chain based in the South. We're weren't Walmart size, I think we had a few hundred stores at that time. We were in the midst of a downturn, on 9/11 we were two years into a three year bankruptcy plan. Actually we were going towards the last six months of the third year at that time.

The first two years we had exceeded the plans the bankruptcy court had laid out for us. The goals looked good for us. Word was that we were going to come out of this on the side of good.

Now a lot of stores depend on Christmas for a good majority of their profits for the year. Service had two big spikes in the year. Mother's Day was a big one for us, but Christmas was by far the big one. We did between 70 and 80 percent of our profit for the entire year in the month of December.

Does anyone remember how retail business fared after 9/11? Things went bad very quickly. I don't think anyone had a good Christmas that year as far as retail goes. Including us. Our Christmas sucked. And that January we were on a conference call with the CEO of the company when he announced that by the end of the day they were going to issue a press release that said Service Merchandise was going out of business and closing its doors for good.

I truly belive that 9/11 caused us to close our doors for good. You might think that one bad Christmas shouldn't effect us that much and we couldn't be doing that good if it did. Well in bankruptcy we couldn't afford to have one bad Christmas, yes we were doing very well up to that point, but if you're already battling to keep the beasts at bay you can't afford to slip, even a little. And with the dismal Christmas season we had we slipped. We slipped big time.

I ended up losing my job of course, a company I had worked at for over twenty years, so did thousands of others when we finally closed the door in March for good.

Now I don't want to compare this to all those that lost their lives on that day. What happened to us was nothing in comparsion. But 9/11 caused more that day, effected more lives in more ways than a lot of people think about. And this was one way.

1 + 1 = F

I can't not talk about it, even though on a day like tommorrow it should be for remembering the good that was done, the heroes that died to save others, not for bashing others or making politics of it. But that's always the problem. The Republicans use that line when it's conivent for them, don't politicize the situation as they go about doing just that. It would not be honoring the dead if we ignored what happened afterwards. Bush has been president for two of arguably the worst diasters this nation has ever seen. 9/11 and Katrina. If he was given a report card I would grade him a failing mark on both. How can any reasonably intelligent person think he did good after either diaster? Just his actions after these two events should make him go down in history as the worst president ever.

In Remembrance:

Tommorrow is the fifth aniversary of the 9/11 attacks, like I need to tell anyone that. It's hard to believe it's been five years. This is one of those days your parents used to talk about, or your grandparents...you know, I remember where I was when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. I still remember. I was off that day. I was getting ready to head across the lake into the city. It was a Tuesday, which meant it was new music and book day. I was up, getting dressed when the phone rang. It was Billy, my assistant at work. He told me to turn the tv on. I did to see the tape of the first plane hitting the tower. As I was watching the second plane hit. Somehow I had hung up the phone and was sitting down. I don't remember doing either. I sat there for about an hour watching the tv. Than I got up and left. Decided I had to get out of the house. I went across the lake. Dylan's new cd "Love and Theft" was coming out today. I remember there not being a lot of people at the stores as I shopped that day. Heading back across the lake I put Dylan's new cd in, but kept jumping back to the radio to listen to the news. I don't think I made it through three songs on that cd that day. I got home and sat back down and watched more tv. And than calling people. Friends, Family, it didn't matter who, it was just a way to connect with someone else, make sure they were ok, let them know you were ok. Those images were burned into our mind over the next days.

We talk about not forgetting but how could we ever forget?

Parents

I drove up to Tennessee this week. Part of the trip is made on the highway, the last half I end up on these small so called highways that go through all the small towns and speed traps.

Once I got off the main highway I was driving I noticed a lot of white blooming bulbs off to the side of the road. This was cotton. Nowdays they use machines to do most of the picking. But back in the day it was picked by hand. And from what I gathered it was not the most fun thing to do. My Mother when she was growing up used to pick it. After school and on weekends she went to pick cotton. She would spend all day out in the fields, getting her hands bloody picking the cotton.

My Father lived in a home filled with violence. His Father was one of those old Irish men you see in movies. You know the type, filled with booze and violence. My Father left home and joined the Navy when he was 17 after having his ribs broken by his Father.

And as I drove along that highway I thought about my childhood and how sometimes I would complain about something. How sometimes I thought life was so unfair. My parents were not perfect, no where close to it. They had their own demons to battle as a married couple and as parents. I could probably make a list a mile long of things I think they did to me or didn't do for me.

But I know I never had to pick cotton till my fingers bled or run away from home cause my ribs were broken.

The Wonder Dog Is Home!

Buffy is back home, safe and sound. I drove up to Tennessee Thursday afternoon and drove back with her Friday morning. My parents really didn't want to see her go, but she is not getting along well with others. She gets along great with my parents, but at one point she had one of my uncles backed into a corner. As she gets older she likes fewer people.

Still I am glad she is home. Now when I'm talking out loud I can at least pretend that I'm talking to her.

Help Needed

Not much more that I can say to this:

Early this morning, the Texas home of award-winning writer/artist Lea Hernandez, my friend and co-creator of the graphic novel Killer Princesses, caught fire and burned. Half her house is now gone, and the rest is smoke-damaged. In addition, she lost at least six of her family's beloved pets, two dogs and four cats. If you knew Lea, you'd know how devastating that is.

She's lost a great deal of her family's possessions, including irreplaceable art. She doesn't yet know the full accounting of what's been lost at this time.

Most know Lea as the brilliant creator of such works as Rumble Girls and Cathedral Child. She drew the Marvel Mangaverse Punisher book, and has drawn for Transmetropolitan, among many other accomplishments. She is also the co-founder and original editor for Girl-a-Matic, one of the most important venues for female-friendly comics created to date.

She's also my friend, and it's entirely possible I wouldn't have a career in comics if she hadn't asked me to write Killer Princesses for her to draw.

And finally, Lea is one of the last great firebrand hellraisers in comics.

Lea has two (wonderful, amazing) special needs children and right now they need a place to stay and some clothes to wear. More than that, they need some help, and fast, in the form of donations to her PayPal account. Lea's a proud person so I'm going to ask for her. This is important, and a great chance to do a wonderful thing for a creator who has consistently enriched this industry we all love so much. Please, take a moment and send whatever you can to Lea's PayPal account and help make this time a little bit less painful for someone who would do the same for you if the positions were reversed.

If you're a retailer, I ask that you set up a donations jar. If you're a creator, I ask you to think of how devastating this would be to your career and donate what you can. If you're a reader, I'm asking you to take a moment and hit the PayPal link. You'll be doing something heroic and you'll feel great about it, I promise.

Read what Lea had to post on a neighbor's computer while wearing her pajamas at Livejournal.com/users/divalea.

Donate (PLEASE) to her PayPal account at divalea@gmail.com.

Finally, if I understand the story correctly (as told to me by Lea's good friend and current Girl-a-matic editor), it was Lea's daughter hearing the smoke alarm that allowed the family to get out in time, so for God's sake, do everyone you love a favor and CHECK YOUR SMOKE ALARMS.

Thank you so much for helping. Really, any amount you can send will make a difference. That's all I can say.

And also, if you have a blog or a myspace account, please spread this around as best you can. Every little bit will help and every eye that sees this might be someone who donates.

Sincerely and gratefully,

Gail Simone

A Great Start to the Day

Today is my day off. And it was off to a great start. At three in the morning I had a phone call from work. We have an overnight crew so that was who was calling. I'm not going into the reasons, but they weren't very good. Let me tell you that was a great way to start my day off, getting up at 3 in the a.m. And trying to get back to sleep was not the easiest after that.

After such a bad start the day wasn't that bad. I pretty much did nothing, went to the store and picked up the issue of Walking Dead that was supposed to be out last week and the new issues of Rolling Stone and No Depression. This is not a medical journal, but a music magazine devoted to americana music. This is one of my favorite, if not favorite magazine, always jammed pack with interesting articles. So I got home and spent most of the day sitting around and reading.

Not a bad way to spend a day.

Springsteen videos

I was in Bruce mood so I pulled some videos from You Tube.

From the Jazz Fest

This is video from Bruce's appearance at Jazz Fest, which I've spoken at in length on this blog before. For my money, this concert (and I've seen a few over the years) is perhaps the best concert I have ever seen.

Bring Em Home

Perhaps not the most subtle lyrics ever, but sometimes you have to hit some people over the head with a big stick.

Born In The USA

A different version of his popular song. This version is a killer in concert. I've heard him do even other versions of this song, taking it into even more a blues style.

Happy Aniversary

Today marks the one year date of Katrina. If you live around these parts it's kind of hard not to hear some talk of it. On tv that's all they're showing. I just heard our Governor paraphase (and not that well) Pogo's "We have met the enemy and he is us."

On another channel I saw Emeril is hosting a big music bash to raise money for Katrina relief. This is the same Emeril that was too busy with his book signing to come down after the hurricane and help feed the relief workers. The same guy that let most of his people go. While the other big restaruant owners in the city were out on the street helping to feed the people. Brennans paid their staff till they re opened, including the wait staff. Emeril was too busy. But he wasn't too busy to give an interview in New York and say he thought New Orleans was too far gone to recover. You can count on one thing as far as I'm concerned, I'll never set foot in a place owned by Emeril.

Since last year I've read a few of the books that have come out about the hurricane. Some of them have made me re think some of my assumptions that I made earlier. From the showing of the Governor of this state during the hurricane and afterwards I had very little respect. I thought she looked and sounded lost. I thought she did little or nothing to help. But after reading these books I've seen she did more than she is given credit for. Far from what should have been accomplished I've come to the conclusion that she tried a lot more than I thought. And she got some things accomplished. She kept Bush from walking in and taking complete control of the situation, which would have only made a bad thing worse. And after the hurricane I had a higher respect for the city's Mayor. He seemed to be out on the street, helping, using his voice to yell for attention. Well, a lot that isn't what it seemed. He basically fled to a high floor on one of the hotels downtown and decided to stay there. He refused to go to the Superdome and try to offer comfort to all those trapped people. He was afraid. (And on a side note, the Governor did go to the Dome, she refused to let photographers or news people to go with her). And since the storm Nagin has done nothing but put his foot in his mouth more than any one person should be able to. Calling the 9/11 diaster a big hole in the ground? How dumb can one man be?

I've been at work all day so I really haven't had a lot of time to reflect on Katrina. Which is probably for the best. Of the many people that was effected by the storm, I was very lucky. My home was not destroyed, none of my family was lost. Things weren't perfect, far from it, but it could have been a lot worse for me. So if anything I guess I should feel thankful.

The last few days have been kind of deja vu with a hurricane out in the Atlantic and heading into the Gulf. They say it's supposed to hit Florida, which looking back a year or so ago, is what they said about Katrina.

Veronica Mars Rocks

What more need be said? I just finished the second season. This is one of the best shows on tv.

So How's The Week So Far?

Ok, a few posts back I was talking about high excited I was about this week with all the good stuff coming out. Well, I take that back now. Dylan has been pushed back to next week, The Walking Dead did not get distributed down south this week for some reason. Drat! I say, just dang blang drat!

But on the good side the second season of Veronica Mars did come out and I'll been up till four in the morning the last two nights watching it. I'm figuring that tonight I should finish it or die trying.

Which Disney Character Am I?

You scored as Peter Pan. Your alter ego is Peter Pan. You are a child at heart. Anything you believe is possible, and you never want to grow up.

Which Disney Character is your Alter Ego?
created with QuizFarm.com

My Ipod

I've spent the better part of this afternoon downloading songs on to my ipod. I've went this route before and than lost them all on my computer which made me lose them on my ipod. I've purchased one of those progams that is supposed to let me download my songs from my ipod if that happens again.

I've use about 5 GBs of memory so far and have about 13 GBs left. I have 1379 songs downloaded so far.

Don't worry, I'm not going to list all the songs. I just thought I'd list some of the artists that I have on it.

Alejandro Escoverdo
Allison Moorer
Ani Difranco
Bettye LeVetter
Bob Dylan
Bob Seger
Bruce Springsteen
Buddy Miller
Charlie Sexton
Dion
Dixie Chicks
Dolly Parton
Drive by Truckers
Dusty Springfield
Elvis Costello
Everclear
Joan Jett
Joe Ely
John Hiatt
Joss Stone
Julie Miller
Lennon
Little Steven
Living Things
Lone Justice
Loretta Lynn
Lori McKenna
Los Lobos
Lucinda Williams
Marah
Maria McKee
Mary Chapin Carptener
Mary Gauthier
Melissa Etheridge
Neko Case
Patti Scialfa
Patty Griffin
Peter Case
R.E.M.
Rancid
Ray Lamontagne
Richard Thompson
Rodney Crowell
Scott Miller
Shannon McNally
Shelby Lynne
Son Volt
Subdudes
Theresa Anderson
Tiff Merritt
Tom Petty
U2
Uncle Tupelo
Waifs
White Stripes
Wilco
Will Hoge

Ok, a little of everything on there. And I probably have a few thousand more songs I can download on it.

Waifs

While downloading songs into my ipod I put the Waifs live cd in it. If you haven't heard of the Waifs, and unfortunately a lot of people haven't, you should check them out. They are a folk band from Australia, two sisters and a man. The live cd "A brief history of..." is one of my favorite cds.

Right To Brag?

Ok, first I have to admit to something I don't want to upfront. I was watching the teen choice awards. Well, not really watching, I was downloading songs onto my ipod and running to the other side of my house and trying to get my cds back into some semblance of order while the teen choice awards were on. The tv was on in a room between where I was running back and forth. I would listen to it as I ran back and forth. The big finale was Kevin Ferdiline (I'm sure I misspelled his name), the husband of Britney Spears. I was actually kind of curious to see his act, I haven't heard any of his music, only how bad his cd has done. Britney came out to introduce him. If she isn't a walking ad for Ms. White Trash I don't know who is. And she's as big as a house...yeah, I know she's pregnant, but still. Well now I know why his cd sold so poorly. This man has no talent whatsoever. Except maybe the talent to marry someone rich enough to get him his own musical career. He raps if that's what you want to call it. Now in his rap he brags about how much money he has over the rest of us. I don't know, if all my money came from my wife I don't know if I'd be out bragging about it. Just kind of more than arrogant if I may say so.

ONE DAY GAS BOYCOTT

The price of gas keeps going up and the oil companies just keep on making more and more money.  We keep hearing all the excuses on why the price has to go up, but why do they keep making more profit if things are that shaky.  Something sounds fishy to me.  

There is no way that we, the American public, can boycott the gas companies.  We all need gas to fuel our cars to get where we're going.  We need to be able to get to the store, to work, to whereever.  That would never work.

But I keep having this idea.  What if everyone decided for one day that we would not buy any gas.  A one day boycott.  Would it wreck the profits of the oil companies?  I seriously doubt it.  But maybe it would make them realize that we are tried of them playing us for fools.  One day that is decided on in advance and for that day we all pass by the gas pumps.  

What does everyone think?

Good Week

This is going to be a good week coming up.

Bob Dylan's MODERN TIMES comes out.

The second season of Veronica Mars is out Tuesday.

The newest issues of Daredevil and The Walking Dead are our Wednesday.

And that's all stuff just off the top of my head, I'm sure there are more good things coming out.

(Am I a nerd or what?)

Which Friend Am I?

Take the quiz:
Which F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Cast Member are you? (pics!)

Ross
You are Mr. Smarty!!! This may come off as nerdy sometimes, but you can also be quite charming!!

Quizzes by myYearbook.com -- the World's Biggest Yearbook!


This actually is a pretty lame quiz, if you know anything about Friends the questions will tell you which Friend you will be. I've always considered myself as a cross between Ross and Chandler.

On The Other Side of the Glass

This image came to me about a week or so ago and it keeps coming up in my mind, so I decided to use it. I'm not sure if it really makes sense or not, but I'll let you all decide that.

Lately my life has felt like I'm in a car looking out the window as the scenery passes by. I watch but everything seems to be a blur as the car races onward. I can press my face against the glass, but I can't get through, I'm stuck on the wrong side, just a bystander as everything whizzes by.

It's so much easier to sit home and watch tv than go out. Friends want to do something but I find excuses on why I can't do it. Every now and than I can drag myself out to a concert or movie or something, but sometimes it seems like its too much trouble to try. I find myself, if not pushing friends away, at least ignoring them long enough that they'll leave on their own. I have some of the best friends in the world, some of them I have barely made an effort to keep in contact with. I know, we are all older, we're all moving on in life, but that's never kept me from at least keeping in contact with them before. Now it just seems to be an effort.

It's so much easier to sit here at the computer screen, zoning out and not even knowing what sites I'm visiting than to try to write. I used to fill my every spare moment with writing. I remember an old friend/editor once told me that whenever something came up I would have a script out in days. It was all I wanted to do. It was all I thought about. I still think about it. I compose entire stories in my mind, but when it comes to actually sitting down and putting those thoughts to paper I find a million excuses not to even attempt.

Even my blogging hasn't intrigued me. I've been filling it up, but with easy quick posts. A lot of YouTube. A lot of pictures. I haven't really made any substantial posts in a long time. I just feel guilty not posting, so I make sure I find something to post. I've ignored my friends I've made on my blog. I've read some of your posts, some of your thoughtful insightful, some of your troubles, and I tell myself I will make a comment....I even think out the comment, but in the end I don't.

I'm not depressed. It's just I feel disconnected from my life. It's as if my life has moved on without me. I need to catch up with it. I need to take control of it again. There's still a lot that I want to accomplish.

Archibald is Back!

Long time readers of this blog will see that my trusty old penguin Archibald is back on the sidebar. Click on him and you can play with him. Even make him go for a swim.

Memphis In The Meantime

I'm heading to Memphis to visit my parents for a few days so I won't be around. Not that I've been around a lot lately anyway. I promise when I come back to try to start blogging more serious again. Hope everyone has a good week and weekend.

Cheating on Christie

You know, I'm kind of stumped about this guy Peter Cook. What type of man cheats when your wife is Christie Brinkley?

See? I'm A Nerd!

Modern, Cool Nerd 82 % Nerd, 60% Geek, 43% Dork

For The Record: A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions. You scored better than half in Nerd and Geek, earning you the title of: Modern, Cool Nerd. Nerds didn't use to be cool, but in the 90's that all changed. It used to be that, if you were a computer expert, you had to wear plaid or a pocket protector or suspenders or something that announced to the world that you couldn't quite fit in. Not anymore. Now, the intelligent and geeky have eked out for themselves a modicum of respect at the very least, and "geek is chic." The Modern, Cool Nerd is intelligent, knowledgable and always the person to call in a crisis (needing computer advice/an arcane bit of trivia knowledge). They are the one you want as your lifeline in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (or the one up there, winning the million bucks)! Congratulations! THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

San Diego Comic Con 2006

I didn't get to go the comic con this year, in fact it's been a few years since I've been. The first one I went to years ago, the crowd was no where this big, it's grown so much it's unbelievable. This was a video I found on You Tube of this year's con, so I just thought I'd post it to give everyone an idea of what the con is like.

Buffy unaired pilot

This is the unaired pilot to Buffy the Vampire Slayer tv series. Anyone reading this blog for more than a day nows how I feel about Buffy. I've read about this pilot, the changes between this and the show that eventually aired, but figured that it must not still be around since it wasn't included on the dvd set. Why wouldn't something like this be included? Regardless, this is pretty interesting, just to see what was different.

Just Read:

A COOL PRESENT

My birthday is coming this Wednesday for anyone interested.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=019&item=290006314976&rd=1&sspagename

Happy Fourth of July

Gone but not forgotten

This is an old internet tradition, at least as old as when Mark Evanier first started it. A posting of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup means you're not going to be posting for awhile. This week I'm working overnights and my body clock is just not up to sitting around on the computer. So I thought I'd borrow this from Mark Evanier, who's blog you can read by clicking on the link at the right: POVonline. It's worth the click.

Just Purchased

Rocky and Bullwinkle

One of the best, if not the best cartoon shows ever.

Funny Commerical

Everytime I see this commerical I laugh.

Lost Girls

Anyone have any thoughts on this book? I remember reading the first few chapters years ago when they came out in TABOO and enjoying them. I haven't been as big a fan of Alan Moore's work recently as I used to be, but I'm curious about this book. I've pre-ordered it from Amazon. Everyone is gearing up for this to be the big book for controvesy due to it's "pornographic" nature. Moore himself calls this a work of pornography. When Moore is on the top of his game there is no one that can come close to him. Neil Gamian has some good things to say of the book. It hasn't been released yet, but once I get it and read it I'll post my thoughts.

John Hiatt Last Saturday Night

Forget to post, it's been on of those weeks, but last Saturday was the John Hiatt concert. His opening band and his back up band was one and the same, The North Mississsippi All Stars. As always with John Hiatt it was a great show.

Charlie Brown and Snoopy

This is the fifth volume in the ongoing collection of the complete Peanuts. Note that I said complete, up till now, one of the greatest, if not the greatest, comic strips of all time has not been given the sort of colletcion it deserves. But all this is changing now. This fifth volume brings the characters up to 1960. The first five volumes cover the first ten years of the strip, only another forty years to go. The quality on these books is excellent, but that should be expected from Fantagraphics. My only problem? It's taking too long to complete the series. They do two a year (and I'm not sure on how good they've been on their schedule, it seems they're behind), at this rate it'll take another way too long to finish. I want this completed collection on my bookshelf now. I wish they would publish at least three, if not four times a year.

Are We Supposed To Feel Sorry For Him?

Former Enron President Jeffery Skilling is talking about how life got so bad for him after the company went bankrupt and the police and D.A. started questioning him that he thought about ending his life. In the interview he makes it sound like he is the victim here. Should we feel sorry for him? He, along with others around him, made millions on the backs of a lot of people that had a lot less than he did and ended up with even less when he and his friends got finished. I'm sorry but I don't feel a lot of pity or sympathy. I hope he and Kenneth Lay spend a long time behind bars.

What A Scam!

I just bought two tickets for an upcoming concert to see Trinstan Prettyman. The tickets were $12.00, so you would think I paid $24.00, right? Wrong. With all the extras that Ticketmaster adds on the final price on the tickets was $40.00. $16.00 for service charges!!!!! For what? They're not even mailing me the tickets, I'm picking them up at will call. What a racket! It's getting so you can't even afford to go to an inexpensive concert, cause they just isn't such a thing. It's a shame.

Cash and Dylan

Hurt

Tristan Prettyman

Passings

I've been negilence lately in mentioning the passings of a few greats in the comic book world: Alex Toth, Jack "Jaxon" Jackson and Tim Hildebrandt. I'll try to post more about each in upsoming posts, but there's nothing I can say that hasn't been said already and better throughout the web about these three greats. All three were giants of the industry in terms of talent if not prestige and will all be missed.

Washed By The Water video clip

This is only part of the song, but it gives the idea.

Rock and Roll Star

A video of Will Hoge

Two of My Favorite Things

This is so cool, two of my favorite things: scenes from the West Wing and a song by Shannon McNally.

It Starts!

Alberto, the first tropical storm of the new Hurricane season is out there. It's path puts it heading for Florida.

Bruce at Jazz Fest

This was one of the most emotional songs at JazzFest. You really don't see Bruce but you can see some of the crowd. Maybe I'm just a big softy but watching this video now still hits me emotionaly. This song could have been written about New Orleans after Katrina.

Springsteen at Jazz Fest

Ok, it's not the greatest, you really don't see him except for on the big screen and it ends way before the song is over, but I still just had to post it. It gives you a small idea of his performance.

Iraq Video

If Only...

A Question

This might get me labeled as one of those peace nik liberal hippies but I have a question. I've read that we killed the second in command of al-Qaida, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. I understand we're in a war and I'm not questioning that (though if I was I would question W.'s "dead or alive" speech...maybe I grew up reading too many Captain America comics where the good guys didn't act like that), but why are we putting his battered, beaten picture all over the place? When did we get to the point where we showed the dead off like trophys?

Just a question.

Joe Lansdale

I've read these books years ago but have started reading them again. The Hap and Leonard mystery novels by Joe Lansdale. These books mix humor and drama better than just about any other series I've ever read. One minute I will be laughing so hard I'm falling off the couch, the next minute the suspense has me sitting on the edge of my seat. I've started with the first one, THE SAVAGE SEASON and am already on the second MUCHO MOJO. There is only like six or seven in the series so I figure I'll read them all in a row.

6-6-06

How many headings like that are out there today? Sorry, just couldn't resist.

A ReVisit To An Old Friend...Joey

I know Joey is a favorite topic of a show that went so wrong from a show that was so good. I am a big Friends fan, got all ten seasons on DVD. Watched most of the first year of Joey, haven't seen as much of the second. Never got crazy over it when I watched it. So why did I buy the DVD of the first season of Joey? No idea, but thought I would give it try. I've always liked the character and thought it would be interesting to watch it all within a few sittings.

I'm almost done with the first season and let me tell you, it's a lot better than I thought. No where near the level of Friends. The biggest difference is that Friends moved from eposide to eposide and you felt the characters growing and changing. Joey has a little of that, but it seems to be more of a sit com of get the jokes out, let's not worry so much about character development. I think some of the biggest problems came because Joey never developed supporting characters. The only one that I warmed up to was his nephew. Everyone raved about the chemistry between Joey and the actress that played his sister, but I never saw it. And the plot line where his neighbor Alex was secretly in love with him, but couldn't tell him. Didn't we see that on Friends and done a lot better?

So after trashing it I still find that I am enjoying the first season of Joey. It's made me laugh. And Matt LeBlanc as Joey is great. Joey is such a great character.

What I regret is now we'll never see any of the other Friends come visit Joey.

Destruction Still There

I know, everyone is probably getting tired of me talking about Katrina. Going to the Will Hoge concert the other night we had to drive through New Orleans East and part of the Ninth Ward. No progress has been made. Driving down the interstate you can look over and see an apartment building split in two, half the roof blown off. There's a sign for SAVE A LOT, broken off at the bottom of its pylon and leaning over on what used to be the store. That freaking sign has been there since the hurricane. As an indication of the destruction it's not much, but to me it's a...ahem...sign of it all. Something like that would have been taken down and fixed within no time before, now it's going on nine months and it's still there, broken and bent over. Like so many others.

Driving up Elysian Fields there are signs of life. A lot of people have come back to their houses. Past houses with big X's on the side, your eyes just go to the bottom of the X and look for the number printed in big spray paint there. Luckily all the ones I saw all had 0 on them. I really don't want to think about the bodies found in the houses.

Coming back from the concert we drove past the French Quarter. On a Friday night we didn't see more than a dozen people walking around. On a Friday night! If you've ever been in the French Quarter or New Orleans on a Friday night you would know that is a sight you don't see. There should have been dozens of people wandering the streets, looking for the next party, having a party on the streets.

You might hear that things are getting back to normal, you might think everything is going ok since you don't hear much about Katrina on the news anymore, but we are far from being where we should be. Nine months later...this country has done amazing miraculous things, but this city is barely one step above from where it was nine months ago.

I'm sorry, I'll shut up now.

Will Hoge Concert

Just finally getting around to posting this, crawled into bed this morning about four in the a.m. Last night was great. Will Hoge had two opening acts, Matt Lionnete and the Whigs. I was pleasantly surprised by both acts. Matt did an aucostic show and he was very good. The Whigs were a 60's style pop band, I could hear influences from the Beatles to the Stones to the Kinks. Their drummer was really good. It's rare that I notice a drummer that much at a show, but this one really stood out.

Of course Will put on a great show. This is around the tenth time I've seen him and I've never seen him put on a bad show. He gives his all when he comes out on that stage. He did a lot of material from his new cd, The Man Who Killed Love. He ended the show with his song that he wrote about Katrina, Washed By the Water. When he got to the chorus "been washed in the water, water can't wash us away" there were a lot of shouting. It was another of those moments that the music reached out and touched the people in the crowd. A very moving end to a great night of music.

Washed By The Water

Damned old levy,
Well I knew that it would go.
Been talking about it,
Since before my daddy's born.
Nobody listens to what a poor man has to say.

But down here we're washed by the water,
The water can't wash us away.
Down here we're washed by the water,
The water can't wash us away.

I hear people talkin,
Say I should have up and gone.
But I ain't got nothing but this place,
To call my home.
My father and his father,
Stay until their dying days

Down here we're washed by the water,
The water can't wash us away.
Down here we're washed by the water,
The water can't wash us away.

Gonna put it back together,
With our own two hands.
Ain't nobdoy gonna turn us around.
It's all a little empty,
And it all seems broken down.
Oh Lord we sure could use you now.

Now the president came down,
And said this is awful sad.
But ain't no words from that man,
Gonna bring us nothing back

And in the ghost of church bells,
I hear my momma say

Down here we're washed by the water,
The water can't wash us away.
Down here we're washed by the water,
The water can't wash us away.

Been washed in the water, water can't wash us away
Been washed by the water, water can't wash us away
Been washed by the water, water can't wash us away
Been washed in the water, water can't wash us away
Been washed in the water, water can't wash us away
Been washed in the water, water can't wash us away
Been washed in the water, water can't wash us away
Been washed in the water, water can't wash us away
Been washed in the water, water can't wash us away
Been washed in the water, water can't wash us away
No no no no no no no
Been washed in the water, water can't wash us away
Sing it like you mean it
Been washed in the water, water can't wash us away
No no no no
Been washed by the water, water can't wash us away
Been washed by the water, water can't wash us away
Been washed by the water, water can't wash us away

copyright by Will Hoge

Friday: WILL HOGE!

Tommorrow night Will Hoge plays at the Howling Wolf in New Orleans. Anyone that has been reading my blog for any length of time has heard me mention Will Hoge before. I'll have more to say of him tommorrow after his show.