At the Movies

I didn't see this film on the big screen, I rented the DVD. (I wonder if it's proper to still call it a film if you watch the DVD version?) Anyway, I watched two movies a couple of weeks ago and they both left an impression with me, but I can't seem to forget especially one of them. The movie was rated R for language and was titled, Grizzly Man,...no, it was not about the mascot of the Memphis NBA franchise, but is a documentary about a man who spent 13 summers living amony grizzly bears in Alaska,....unarmed. He documented his time there and his experiences with his handheld video cam. There was only a couple of places where he used foul language, but in one segment he was angry at the EPA and was dropping the "F- bomb" everywhere. My son got up and walked out. The guy eventually was killed by the grizzlies, or just one. They found his arm, with his watch still on it,....still ticking. John Cameron Swazzie would have a field day with that one were he alive and were he wearing a Timex. I didn't lose interest in the movie. Maybe because I knew he might be getting killed at any moment. There were no gorey, or grizzly(excuse the pun)scenes,...no footage of his death, though I think it was at least partially captured,...they discussed his final words on the recording. In the end, I thought the guy was a nut. But it is a dvd worth watching,...some even worth watching with your kids,...but limited. Choose some segments and preface them with "This guy is a lunatic,....don't EVER believe you can live with a wild animal without him chewing your arm off!"

I just thought this would be an appropriate commentary on the reality of gas prices for the most of us. But, do you know one reason why DC politicians don't care how much gas prices effect our daily lives? Because they don't have to pay for their gas to and from DC,....WE(the taxpayers)pay for it! We pay for a car service to pick them up and drop them off and take them back home. They don't feel the pinch like the common man. This is just another way they separate themselves from the realities within our country, which, then is reflected in the policies they pass to govern us. It's time that part of their gravy train was cut off!

Hey,....I tried this Texas vodka called Tito's recently and it is soooo smooooth. This guy has an interesting story too. So much so that the Discovery Channel did a piece on him. You may view it at: www.titos-vodka.com .

We are heading to England, Scotland and France for a three week trip this summer. Kind of excited about England and Scotland, but really have some anxiety about France. Heard too many bad comments about Parisians, whom we will be dealing with since we are only going to Paris. We will only be there for two nights and three days, so we should be able to handle it. Just fear the language barrier. I know we won't be the first or the last people to visit who do not speak French. I bought a French phrase book/dictionary, as if I could really decipher what someone speaking French in a normal pace would be saying. I can see me flipping through the tiny pages maniacally trying to catch a word or two and then pretending to understand them to save face. Saying "thank you" in really good French since I will have practiced that phrase over and over, and then starting the process all over again with the next kind face we think we see. This will be a good test of our intuition and our abilities to accurately read personalities by faces or very surface signs of human nature. I guess we will just have to rely on the mercy of the French we encounter and pray for a good experience. I can say,....it WILL be an experience for us,...whether good or bad.

Cooking with Rachel Ray

I have become a big Rachel Ray fan. She's on the food network and her claim to fame is 30 minute meals. I like her cooking style cause it's not pretentious, yet not ultra common either. It's for the novice chef,....definitely my catagory. I have three of her cookbooks. The earlier ones have more recipes,....the newer ones have photos of her and the dishes she cooks. I have found that I like having a photo of what the meal will look like,...it draws me in to want to cook. Speaking of dishes,.....this photo is from a pin-up layout that FHM magazine did of R.R. Very well done, yet not overdone, and quite saucy!

Bought a CD at Pier 1 called "Rainy Day",...a compilation of a variety of genres of slow music fit for a rainy day(of course). The first song on the disc was from Blue Merle, a band based in Nashville. Initially, I didn't care for the song, "Burning in the Sun",...but I was just interested in getting to a couple of chillout tunes I had been looking for,...Telepopmusick playing the song "Breathe" and Nightmares on Wax doing "Les Nuits"(both really good and highly recommended by me to lower your blood pressure at least 5 points). After I listened to "Burning" a few times, I started thinking about who the vocalist reminded me of,...it was the vocalist for Counting Crows, then I thought that he had a Coldplay sound. The band is hard to label with a particular muscial genre. They have a fiddle and a mandolin in the background, behind a good rock electric guitar,...when they give the fiddle and mandolin their spotlight on the stage, one might easily think that this is a pseudo bluegrass band, like Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, or Bruce Hornsby who sang "That's just the way it is",...but then when they feature the guitarist or the drummer,...it seems the antithesis of bluegrass. Anyway,...it's worth a listen, go to www.bluemerle.com and you can freely download a concert they gave in Birmingham, AL and burn it to CD. Worth a listen.

I'M BACK, AND HAVE MUSIC!

well,...it's been a while since i blogged. i think i just got burned out. needed a break, sabbatical. many times i thought of something interesting to write, but just couldn't get the energy. i think i was making it my job,....i just need to enjoy this as an outlet to express myself,...nothing else.

the last post was about my quandry between satellite or i pod. i chose satellite. i really have enjoyed it too! since i signed on with xm, they have added several genres to their line up. one was chill out,...which seems to be my default music choice now. can't really hear it on commercial,...only on yahoo launch radio or satellite(i can listen to xm satellite online also). my receiver is the delphi "my fi" that has a memory so you can record up to 5 hours of music. i use this during work outs and my work outs NEVER come close to running past 5 hours,.....4:30, but not 5. i have an antenna for my car and my home. i pick up the signal on an unused radio channel at home. i use the little cassette adapter to play it thru my vehicle speakers. signal is strong, tho sometimes the signal is cut off by wide overpasses,...but it is only momentary. overall,....it has been a nice experience. i have found it to be a worthy investment. i have not fully lewis and clarked all the stations yet,...so there's still intrigue about what all this little unit has to offer.

i will be writing more,....but i have another job that pays the bills. a blog nerd i am not, nor do i think i will be. life's too short. so many satellite channels to hear,....so little time.

Satellite Radio Quandry

Well, just when I thought I was on the cutting edge with an MP3 player,...satellite radio comes along. Now I am wondering whether to trade up to an Ipod or to go with a MYFI satellite receiver or the like of small hand held units that can go into your home or your car as well. It will record 5 hours of music so you can use it like an Ipod when exercising or running(otherwise you would be SOL since it needs some type of antenna facing south or you won't get anything under a roof, or so I hear). Not sure. A few months ago, Consumer Reports said that the technology would get better and they advised to wait a little longer since the hand held units pick up was spotty at times and bad at other times. Please advise some more!

IPOD-A-GO-GO

I needed some diversion for my run the other day. I saw Holden's i-pod laying there on the table, so I took it to the gym. I knew music would help time go by more quickly as I was placing myself on the implement of torture known as the treadmill. I was not ready for what I was about to hear or that it would give a whole new meaning to my idea of an implement of torture. There were no bad lyrics, and even some good ones,...some nice rythmns and beats and tunes and harmonies and bass lines,...etc. etc.,...but then there was screaming. Not the Beatles varitey of screaming in "Shake it up Baby" or even the Elvis Costello style of screaming, like in the beginning of "Man Out of Time" or even The Blind Boys of Alabama and their spiritual screaming in their early recordings from the 40's,....but this was blood curdling screaming of lyrics that had been so sweetly sung only a couple of measures previous. These formerly sane musicians had seemed to have lost the battle with their psycho evil sides and were now yelling at the tops of their lungs,....at me! It was a personal affront, I thought. I flashed back to junior high and bringing home a poor grade in algebra for my parents to sign and send back. But my parents didn't seem quite as furious as these musicians,...and my parents had every right to be that angry, but I don't even know this band,...what right do that have to be speaking to me in these tones? I really don't think my son has any right to claim that I ever yell at him,...the levels of volume and aggitation in my voice are no match for these young abusive boy musicians. Maybe this is one reason why kids have such attitudes and why it takes so much to break through their tough exoskeletons and really get to them. I think next time I am wanting to express myself to my son, I will pick up one of his guitars and grind and scream away,...and who knows? He may listen then.

P.S. Beware of Hawthorne Heights and Silverstein, two of my son's favorite screaming "teen angst" bands. If you see their LP drop on the turntable YOU run screaming from the room before they scream first!(sorry I'm listening to 70's music and went a little too retro, but you know what I mean,...before their file downloads get outa there!)

The Razor's Edge

Well, I am sporting a new fancy phone,...well, it's not new, it's used. It's in good shape, I know the previous owner,...it was my son. He had a much nicer phone than his parents, but he couldn't keep up with it. A few days ago there was a knock on the door and our house guest answered and a lady asked if anyone had lost a cell phone in our house. He said no, then thought to ask what kind of phone it was and asked to see it. The lady said it was a Motorola Razor(I know, I know, what kind of fool buys a Razor for his 13 year old,....an only child's parent, that's who), and Michael said, that's Holden's. She had found it sitting on the curb, where it had been for at least two days, possibly three. Well, I think I was more upset about it than Holden,...isn't that typical of kids today? But I guarantee, when I was a kid if it had been possible for me to lose something as valuable and cool as a cellphone, not to mention top of the line cellphone, I would have walked the streets every night all night long until I knew where it was. I would have worried myself into a record as the youngest person to have an MI. And I would have tried to cut a deal with my Mom and Dad to spare my life, if the MI didn't kill me. My son's reaction,...."Well, it only costs $30." I almost blacked out there was so much fury running thru my brain. I collected myslef and calmly explained, at the top of my lungs, how his phone on the black market in China probably costs more than $30. So, I had to do something. I had told him before that if he couldn't keep up with the phone that he would lose it either out right lose it himself somewhere or I would take it away. Well, we thought he had lost it for good, but when it turned up, I took it over, until he can prove that he can keep up with my bottom of the line, free with the plan phone. He was pretty decent about it. He told me where it was and proceeded to tell me that I shouldn't be too disappointed because the picture qualities on the phone were not that good, nor did it get good reception, nor was the sound quality very good. I told him that he should be happy because it sounded as if this wasn't a punishment nor teaching moment at all,...since he thinks he still has the superior phone(mine) because the razor was less than the cutting edge cellphone in his mind.

The Huron Carol

This is a new favorite Christmas Carol. I have heard it for years on a couple of Christmas CD's but have never paid attention to the lyrics. The composer placed the story of the birth of Jesus into their own locale, amongst the native French Canadians, Algonquin and Huron Indians(eh, you Hoser!). There's a great movie about missionaries to the Algonquin Indians of Canada, called The Black Robes. Algonquins were pretty fierce, according to that French Canadian film. Anyway, the tune is in minor key,...so it's not happy and cheerful sounding, which throws some folks off, but I think it really fits the lyrics and the area in which it was written. My attention was called to this song as an excellent choir at the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Birmingham sang it at the Christmas Eve service my brother and I attended this year. As we left on that misty evening, the bells were pealing and I couldn't help but think that the bells were ringing in celebration and proclamation of the birth of our Savior, as the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Definition:Gitchi Manitou (or Gichi-Manidoo), in traditional Algonquian First Nations culture, is the Great Spirit, the Creator of all things and the Giver of Life.

The "Huron Carol" (or "'Twas in the Moon of Wintertime") is a Christmas hymn, written in 1643 by Jean de Brébeuf, a Christian missionary at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons. Brébeuf wrote the lyrics in the native language of the Huron people; the song's original Huron title is "Jesous Ahatonhia". The song's melody is a traditional French folk song, "Une Jeune Pucelle" ("A Young Maid").
The English version of the hymn, in place of the more traditional Nativity story, uses imagery familiar to North American aboriginal cultures of the time of composition: Jesus is born in a "lodge of broken bark", and wrapped in a "robe of rabbit skin". He is surrounded by hunters instead of shepherds, and the Magi bring him "fox and beaver pelts" instead of the more familiar gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The hymn also uses a traditional Huron name, Gitchi Manitou, for God. The original lyrics are now sometimes modified to use imagery more familiar to Christians who are not part of the Huron culture.
Brébeuf was martyred in 1649. He is one of the eight Canadian Martyrs.
English lyrics were written by Jesse Edgar Middleton in 1926. The song remains a common Christmas hymn in Canadian churches of many Christian denominations. Bruce Cockburn has also recorded a rendition of the song.

'Twas in the moon of wintertime when all the birds had fled
That mighty Gitchi Manitou sent angel choirs instead;
Before their light the stars grew dim and wondering hunters heard the hymn,
Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born, in excelsis gloria.

Within a lodge of broken bark the tender babe was found;
A ragged robe of rabbit skin enwrapped his beauty round
But as the hunter braves drew nigh the angel song rang loud and high
Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born, in excelsis gloria.

The earliest moon of wintertime is not so round and fair
As was the ring of glory on the helpless infant there.
The chiefs from far before him knelt with gifts of fox and beaver pelt.
Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born, in excelsis gloria.

O children of the forest free, O seed of Manitou
The holy Child of earth and heaven is born today for you.
Come kneel before the radiant boy who brings you beauty peace and joy.
Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born, in excelsis gloria.

Link to Lyrics in the native language and an MP3 of native Canadians singing the song in their language. This is much more dissonant and stark than the version I heard Christmas Eve, but I imagine it is as close to the original composition as anything:

http://firstnationhelp.com/huron.html

Running Rural

I run. I try to run regularly. I'm only successful some of the time. I'm not a good runner. I have a huge mental block about just running. I can run without mental difficulties when there are other things to occupy my mind,....like some other guys kicking a football or dribbling a basketball or smackin a softball,...or a big junkyard dog chasing me,...but ONLY running is a big hurdle for me to get over. Music helps, or maybe thinking about political or religious issues which are passionate to me. I run best on the treadmill,...but there ain't no treadmills in rural Alabama,...none that I can use anyway. Over Christmas break I develop bad eating habits,...eating everything in sight. I have tried to counter that bad habit with a good habit,...running. Since I have no access to a treadmill,...I must take to the countryside of rural NE Alabama. My In-Laws live on a mountain, so in the winter the wind can cut you in half,...it wasn't windy,..but was pretty cold. I didn't really push myself,...maybe I should have, but I was just glad I was out there. Early morning Tuesday, December 27, there was a heavy frost. While stretching I heard Caroline Chickadees, Crows, Wrens, Cardinals, Woodpeckers, all urging me onward to my goal(they were probably just bitchin about how cold it was, like me). In the distance I heard the babbling of the creek and it grew more faint as I started my rural run. I had mapped out my route last year(I was an irregular runner then also). My brother, Richard, is a regular runner. He lives in NYC, and smells all the city smells,....bus diesel fumes, street vendors hot dogs, subways, human urine . There are country smells also. The cold stifled some of the smells,...but some are too strong to be put down by the cold. First I saw the chicken houses, then I heard them,...a cacauphony of farm noise(or maybe more like a ca"cackle"phony or ca"crow"phony),...but the smell,....whoa! The lady down the road from my in-laws raises fryers and layers for "Koch Farms". That was about 50 yards into my run. In the next quarter mile I was into a new dung smell,...cow. Not as disturbing as chicken,...but it ranks,...not quite as bad as pig, which is in the top 5,....and which I thankfully didn't run into on this route. There were other more pleasant odors,...pine,...smoke from wood burning fireplaces,...fresh air. I ran,...but I walked some too. I'm not a good runner,...but I figure I'm good enough for me. I won't be running a marathon, but maybe what little bad running I do will give me a marathon heart beat,...or the energizer heart beat that keeps going and going and going.

Morning Mississippi

This is the morning haze and frost of Fulton, MS, small town about 30 miles east of Tupelo near the Alabama state line. Frost almost looks like snow.

It's a Dog's Life

This is my aunt's dog, Sheba. Sheba is the happiest dog yet she seems to have not that much to be happy about. It's about 34 degrees in this photo and probably the eve prior it got down to the upper 20's. She's an outside dog and never is permited inside(country dogs are NOT allowed inside for any reason, some would think it like letting your cows in the house,...not my way of thinking, but it exists). Yet look how blurry her tail is. That's because it's wagging,...and she does her version of smiling too,....alot. More than I do and I know I have a much better lifestyle. Maybe I could learn a valuable lesson from Sheba and wag my tail and smile more often, even when I think I've got a dog's life. Merry Christmas Sheba!

Christmas Memories Already

This was a family photo from our Christmas in Texas prior to hittin' the road for Alabama Monday, 12/19. We were blessed to have Eleanor and Michael Walker spend some holiday moments with us. The other two are Amy and Holden. You can use your imagination to move me from behind the camera to the composition, if you wish(maybe over Michael's right shoulder would provide some balance for the photo). Merry Christmas! Attend a church on Christmas Sunday that isn't closed in honor of Jesus's birth!(my little pet peeve that I will not go in to).

Merry Christmas to you and yours! This is one of my favorite songs of the season. We have it on cd and prior to cd's we had it on tape, both renditions from the King's College Cambridge Choir,...in England. Wouldn't be Christmas without it!

The Infant King
Words: Sabine Baring-Gould
Music: Basque Carol

1. Sing lullaby!Lullaby baby, now reclining,Sing lullaby!Hush, do not wake the Infant King.Angels are watching, stars are shiningOver the place where he is lying.Sing lullaby!
2. Sing lullaby!Lullaby baby, now a-sleeping,Sing lullaby!Hush, do not wake the Infant King.Soon will come sorrow with the morning,Soon will come bitter grief and weeping:Sing lullaby!
3. Sing lullaby!Lullaby baby, now a-dozing,Sing lullaby!Hush, do not wake the Infant King.Soon comes the cross, the nails, the piercing,Then in the grave at last reposing:Sing lullaby!
4. Sing lullaby!Lullaby! is the babe a-waking?Sing lullaby!Hush, do not stir the Infant King.Dreaming of Easter, gladsome morning,Conquering Death, its bondage breaking:Sing lullaby!

New Englander

Well, I have been in New England now since Tuesday(Boston and New York). Nice place to visit(in Boston on business, in NYC visiting my brother). These are much more beautiful than the state within which I now reside. Incredible amounts of significant history,...not that Texas history is insignificant,...it's just that you can't compare the founding fathers to the Alamo crew,...and not that that was a less important or somewhat of a second class act of patriotism,...it's just that you couldn't have the second without the presidence set by the first. I had clam chowder and lobster and lobster bisque and last, but certainly not least, Boston creme pie. The first two were good, the third was too salty, and the fourth was worth the trip to Boston independent of anything else. Took the train from Boston to NYC, to visit my brother. Tons of snow this am(Friday),...but it melted off. Saw Matt, Katie and Al as I stood in the huge flakes of snow getting drenched as it kept collecting on the ledges of my coat as it draped on my body. I would occasionally dust it off,...but to no avail. It was coming down that hard. I was so soaked, I had to take the NBC studio tour and saw the SNL set and the Conan O' Brian Show set(really smaller than they appear, amazing). NYC is fun, but I will definitely have to go back to Boston. So much history, so little time. I was only able to take a couple of steps on the Freedom Trail. Still have a day and a portion(Sunday) left here. Drank a martini(or two) in the Algonquin Hotel(photo of lobby bar above) in Manhattan, where several famous patrons drank them, including author, Dorothy Parker, whose quote graces their cocktail napkins, "I love a martini - but two at the most, Three I'm under the table; Four, I'm under the host." Hope she had someone to pay for those four martini's. I think the $14 included a surcharge for atmosphere. You can't feel that atmosphere like you can feel a martini.

Racoon in the Rafters,...
Bats in the Belfry, Cats in the Cradle, Man in the Moon

Our house is a funky 1959 home with exposed beams throughout the structure. This morning at 5:50 AM as I was heading for the gym, I walked out to get the paper and my motion sensor lights came on(normal). I happened to glance back at my car,...and noticed a furry tail in the rafters above the storage area, above my car. It was black and grey striped. I moved in for a closer look. It was a racoon! He was just lounging on the beam, probably just settling in for a long winters nap(it's chilly this morning). He seemed to have the same expression, staring into the bright flood lights, that my son has when I first turn the lights on in his room on a school day morning. But he must have known the light cycle, that they would go off in 10 minutes,...cause he wasn't moving. He didn't seem afraid of me,...and for good reason. Actually for two good reasons,....1. sharp teeth and 2. sharp claws that racoons are not afraid to use, especially if they are awakened from a sound sleep by a bright light. The photo is dim due to inadequate light(which is why he chose that spot for sleeping in the day,...they are nocturnal you know). But this morning he was "lit up" with my two 150 watt flood lights, which well illuminated the subject. He looked friendly, cute and cuddly,...but I know better. I even spoke to him(first I checked to see if I had any early rising neighbors to judge me looney) . I just spoke two words,...."kill rats!",...seems we have had a dry summer and the rat population has increased("we haven't had rain in months!", cried Minnie, then with passion in her eyes she grabbed Micky by the lapels and lustily whispered, "take me now you big rat, you!"). Then I went to the gym, after my work out I picked up the kids at 7:15 to take to school. I relayed the story to them and they wanted to stop and see if he/she/it was still there(our house is on the way),..and it was still snoozing, facing away from the light. One carpooler is a 5th grade boy and a big hunter, said he could exterminate it for me. I said no thanks,...the racoon may be exterminating for me("kill rats!"). He was still out there when I returned from the school run at 8. I don't think he's moving until evening(they are nocturnal, you know). Sleep well little racoon and appreciate my peaceful and gentle hand, for surely my ancestors would have knocked you in the head with a shovel and thrown you in the oven with some taters.

Thanksgiving for One

Well,...the big experiment is over,...and I have survived being alone at Thanksgiving. Though I had multiple invitations for Thanksgiving Dinner(wouldn't want anyone to think I smell bad or don't have any friends,...I smell good and have plenty of friends, it was "dealer's choice"). I cooked breakfast and watched a little pre-parade,...then turned to Turner Classic Movies for the rest of the day. Kind of just kept that on all day. Didn't switch to football or even channel surf prior to deciding on TCM. Couldn't really tell you the movies I watched,...it was almost like background music. I kind of cleaned up the house and vacumed and washed some clothes(they're still in the dryer). I actually walked out of my house only three times: to get the newspaper, to put something in my car and to fire up the grill for hot dogs(no turkey for me yesterday, but that's okay). Thought about going to a movie, but decided no. Thought about getting some cat litter and then I decided that I would do that on my way back from work on Friday. I didn't even read the newspaper I brought in,...nor did I look at the sale flyers for the day after Thanksgiving sales. I didn't do much of anything. I baked an apple pie,...from scratch,...I even made the crust! It was okay,...nothing to write home about. I spent most of the afternoon working on the crust mostly but the pie was out of the oven by 3:45. I am glad I did it,...but the results didn't warrant the effort to do it again. Making crust from scratch is a dying art,...kind of like drinking buttermilk. That desire for a cold glass of buttermilk was handed down to my mother, but stopped on a dime right there. The stuff hasn't touched my lips in it's raw state. Waffles or biscuits couldn't be better with buttermilk,...but that's the only way I will take it. If I could have worked it into my apple pie recipe,...that would have been okay,...but then maybe not, cause that would have meant that I would have had to go further than 10 steps from my door on Thanksgiving,...and wasn't gonna happen. Thanksgiving alone. I didn't overeat,...I didn't have to listen to listen to stories I didn't want to hear, I didn't have to do anything, except what I wanted. Thanksgiving for one,...ain't so bad.

King of the Smoothies

I have been self drubbed with this title. For years our poor blender has sat in a corner, unrecognized for its abilities and therefore, underused, neglected. At one point, we needed the counter space and decided to place it in a closet or in a cabinet. Well, that's all changed. I have put it throught its paces for the past three months. I decided my fruit intake could be better, and found the blender to be an essential part of the equation to assist me in accomplishing my new, healthy and attainable goal. This morning I saw my banana purchase was a little overkill and there were some getting ripe beyond use,...so instead of making banana pudding or banana bread, I chose an easier much more healthy two-banana smoothie. I usually have a medley of both fresh and frozen fruit(the frozen fruit chills and thickens)but you can vary your blend to accomodate rapidly ripening fruit. I have found that I can drink 4 fruit servings in a smoothie in the morning. I think an ideal intake is 5 servings of fruits or vegetables in a day.

I have contemplated diversifying,...maybe in the evenings adding an adult beverage of choice. I think that would make me the daquari king. Next I may try tomatoes or carrots. Then it's a natural progression to meats and other vegetables. That reminds me of some documentary I saw about Native Americans and how the Navajo women would chew food for their babies, kind of like certain birds regurgitating for their little ones.

I might look at this as preparation for old age. I heard when you get to the nursing home or without your teeth(or both), it all goes in a blender. You will drink your breakfast, lunch and dinner through a straw. Better get a better blender or a bigger straw.