Monday, February 27, 2012

A small man in a big job that occasionally just.....overcomes him.

It's been a long night.

A suicide bomber killed nine people outside a US Base in Afghanistan last night.  A deluded sixteen year old took a gun to school this morning and killed one of his classmates; we may never really know why.  And our politicians not only are not contrite about the burning of a Holy Book, but are stating that they fear our freedom...when what they probably fear is something else entirely.

I hate what this thing that I do has done to my view of the world.

I wish I could enjoy an awards show.

Or a NASCAR race.

Instead, I think I'll go out and find a niece or a nephew to hug; and if I can, I'll tell them that it's going to be all right.

Because.....if I have to feel this badly, you can be DAMN sure I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that it IS all right in my part of the universe.

Love to you all.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Elementary, my dear House.

I have been a faithful follower of this program since the pilot.

It's faded a little in the last season or so, and that's the nature of television.  In fact, in one season premiere not too long ago, Doctor House builds a sophisticated Hot Wheels track around the clinic room he's in, and the climax is a jump over a tiny shark tank.

Jumping the Shark.

Well, I thought the series was strong up until last season, when they finally put paid to the debt they owed the audience, and put House and Cuddy together.  And of course, there should be nobody surprised that it ended with a bang (and a crash) and not a whimper.

Which left them no place to go this season.  So, it's sufferering a bit.  I DO hope they give it a good send-off at series end in May.

But as far as Shark Jumping, I think this little ditty comes close.  It's a great little number, no denying, and somewhat reminiscent of the last ten minutes of a great film called ALL THAT JAZZ.

The best moment, the most telling moment of the piece is a little whince that House gives at about the :39 second mark.

Friday, February 17, 2012

You remind me of a babe....a babe with a power.....

This movie never really got the shot it deserved; but it did not kill Jennifer Connelly's career, and Bowie is pretty much untouchable. 

There are times in your life that you know what you were doing at any precise moment.  Some people, like me, are specific to music, to the point where you can tell people about the first time you heard Runnin' On Empty by Jackson Browne, and where you were and what you were doing.  Some people have films, some television shows.....

This movie was on the VCR on one of those nights......and even though I was about fifteen minutes away from a full scale come-apart, I still danced to this tune.

It's in my "rare soundtrack" collection; along with the original soundtrack to the musical Working, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and the western Silverado.  Alas, my soundtracks to The Untouchables and Hoosiers were lost in the flood of '99.

Dance Magic Dance...Jump Magic Jump


*The was originally titled: Untitled Coked-Up Rock Legend Clip, but I got better.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

I remember.

Dear Mom:

I STILL can't get the chocolate chip cookies right.  But I'll keep trying.

And I'll see you when I get there.

Love,
Your middle son; the mercurial one.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

It begins again, y'all.

A friendly FedEx guy appeared on my front porch this morning, with an envelope in his hand and a need for my signature on his electronic pad.

Within the large envelope were three small pieces of printed cardboard.

March 8.
Tampa Bay Rays vs. Detroit Tigers.

Spring baseball, Baby!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Laughing out loud.

I have been watching the DVD collection of NEWSRADIO lately.

For those of you who don't know it, it was a sitcom set in a NYC radio station; it starred Stephen Root, Andy Dick, Maura Tierney, Dave Foley and Phil Hartman.  It bounced around the schedule from 1995 until 1999, and it was, in my opinion, one of the best written ensemble pieces I've ever watched; up there with CHEERS and FRASIER and THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW.

It got me thinking about Phil Hartman; and I wonder why nobody has written a biography about him.

We've  gotten various biographies over the years of the lives of some of the SNL alumni whose lives ended far too soon:  Belushi, Radner, Farley......and yet, not a word written about Hartman.

He was called, "the glue" in his tenure at NBC; he was the one that held the show together.  By all accounts, there wasn't a person who didn't like him, or didn't enjoy working with him, or who didn't cry when they heard of his murder.

I was saddened by the loss of such a talent; more sorry for the way in which the end came.  Certainly, there is a special sense of tragedy, being murdered by a loved one...even a loved one who was fighting demons of her own.

Perhaps nobody writes about him because the only truly salacious thing that ever happened to him were in the last moments of his life.  And he was asleep at the time.

No booze; no drugs; no spousal abuse.  Just oodles and oodles of talent; a vast collection of television character studies; and accolades from everybody he ever worked with.

My favorite was always Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer.

But I really liked NEWSRADIO.

Thanks, Phil.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

I believe.....

I believe that there is nothing that cannot be overcome by positive thinking and a croquet mallet.

I believe that the words, "chocolate flavored" should be replaced by "no fucking chocolate."

I believe that the Republican Party can make this country what it once was:  A frozen wasteland covered with ice.

I believe that there are good movies released BEFORE the first of August.  Academy opinion notwithstanding.

I believe that you can love some people forever, and not like them all of the time.

I believe that STUDIO SIXTY ON THE SUNSET STRIP got hosed.

I believe that THE PLAYBOY CLUB did not.

I believe that if ten thousand people a stupid thing, it is STILL a stupid thing.

I believe that TWILIGHT is a stupid thing.

I believe, against all logic, that the addition of air into chocolate makes it tastier.

I believe that Cadbury FLAKE is the best chocolate bar I've ever tasted.

I believe I'm finished.