Chapter 13 Miles of Hell

When I moved from Philadelphia to Southern California 11 years ago, one of the many reasons why I chose not to move within the Los Angeles city limits is because of the friggin' traffic. I like driving. I hate traffic. Saturday afternoon, I'm driving down the 101 and the 5 freeways to get to Anaheim to meet up with my friend, Glenn, who was in town on business for a few days. Clear sailing, for the most part, until I got to the downtown area of L.A. on the 5. It took me almost an hour to drive a 13 mile stretch of highway.

This isn't Monday morning drive time, nor is it Friday evening rush hour. I'm talking about a Saturday afternoon. While stuck on the highway (with my bladder about to burst), I'm flippin' through radio station after radio station, trying to get a traffic report. After 20 minutes of near fruitless searching, I finally get a traffic report on KNX... and... nothing! Not one word about any problems on the 5. Which means one of two things: either something just happened down the road and there's no report yet (not likely), or I'm just stuck in something that's considered normal for the 5 at this time of day on a Saturday afternoon. Great! Just great!

Now, I know that the main reason for this frustrating madness is because of the antiquated highway system in that part of L.A. We're talking about the 5 freeway which (up to that point) is a breezy 10 (and even sometimes 12) lane highway suddenly narrowed down to six lanes and, in many spots, even down to a paltry four lanes (two in each direction). Ancient and unfathomably thick concrete overpass monstrosities prevent any remote possibility of expanding the freeway to a more reasonable number of lanes through this section of town. It just ain't happening. But once I got past Fullerton it's back to a more sanely 10 lanes, and I'm finally about to reach Anaheim by 5:00 PM. My bladder is thankful.

So I meet up with Glenn at the Disneyland Hotel. Yes... Disneyland. Never been there before. Never really had an inkling for it. It's not that I harbor any dislike of things Disney... not at all... it's just... well... it's hard to explain. My sisters, on the other hand, are total Disney freakazoids. Well, anyway... since I was only going to be there for a few hours, it didn't make sense to cough up a ton of cash to ride a bunch of rides. Instead, Glenn and I walked through what is basically a very large open-air mall. We also ate a fine dinner at the Napa Rose restaurant (excellent grilled salmon). We had reservations, so we were sitting in the foyer waiting for our table to be ready.

And then it happened. Something that happens every second of every day in Disneyland and Disneyworld. A pleasant young staff woman walks up to us and, as though a little switch was flipped deep inside her brain, her facial expression changed into this forced smile, flashing her pearly whites, from which emanated that sing-songy voice asking us if we're enjoying our visit?... would you like to order a drink while you're waiting for your table?... no?... well okay then... bye-bye... and off she went to the next party waiting to be seated.

Her movements even became mechanical in the process. Extending her arm out in a stiff jousting motion with the drinks menu in hand, and the sharp retraction of her arm when we decline to order a drink. The proper erect stance, the cocked head with the gracious "Thank you", the swift and flawless turn on her heels as she walks away (a kind of pirouette which would make the average ballet dancer blush with envy).

I guess that's what bugs me about the whole Disney experience. That whole forced pleasantries thing. It must be drilled into the staff so hard from the get-go that all genuineness is lost from the ear-to-ear grin and the batting eye lashes. I don't know about you, but give me Bugs Bunny & Daffy Duck any day of the week over Mickey & Donald.

I know it sounds like I'm being harsh. I'm really not. It's just not my cup of tea, I guess. Maybe if I was in a better mood after having been stuck in traffic for an hour to get there. Oh well. Maybe next time I'll like it... a decade from now... with a couple kids in tow, begging me to ride the Flying Dumbos just one more time.

Comments are now open for everybody!

FYI: I've opened the "Comments" field for everybody (including those who do not have their own Blogger account... didn't know I could do that until just now... duh!).

Note: I will delete comments that are obvious spam or contain profane material.

Chapter 12 O’Clock Phone Call

Well… it looks like I won’t be going to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art this coming Saturday (postponing that until the 27th). Yesterday, at noon, I got a call from one of my old friends, Glenn. Glenn is a piece of work. How to describe Glenn… hmmmmm… this could be difficult... okay… I think I’ve got it… do you remember the character of Rick on the old TV show “Magnum P.I.”? That’s Glenn!

Glenn can be intense. Glenn can also be hilariously sarcastic. Glenn’s favorite band is Genesis, and Phil Collins can do no wrong (and don’t you forget about it!). Glenn is an enigma. Glenn was also the soundman for the bands I used to work with back in the 80s and early 90s. We also had another soundman by the name of Tom. Glenn was not happy about this.

Now, it begs to be stated - no, infallibly proclaimed - that there exist only two types of soundmen in the music industry: (1) short, dumpy, cheesy mustache, intense personality, and highly particular about their equipment (in more ways than one), or (2) tall, lanky, frizzy or stringy hair, and extremely aloof (as though they have one foot in some other alternate reality, whether naturally or chemically induced). Glenn (by the way) fits into Category 1. Tom was in Category 2.

I dare you to disprove this theory. It cannot be done. I’ve tried and failed. So have many others. Every touring musician I’ve ever mentioned this observation to has nodded their head in discouraging agreement. Walk into any bar or club that has live music, especially rock bands. Look for the soundman. It never fails. It’s one of those mysteries of the universe that can never be fully explained.

Glenn has mellowed over the years. He’s also no longer a soundman (though he still has all of his equipment, just in case). He’s flying into Anaheim for a conference and figured, since he was in the area, why don’t we get together and catch up on things, reminisce about old times (oh, stories from the good ole days… heh-heh-heh). So, this Saturday I’ll be driving down to Anaheim. Glenn, I should also mention, also has a thing for all things Disney (it’s an odd image combo that I still can’t quite reconcile in my brain), so I have this funny feeling I may be making my first visit to Disneyland that day as well.

Way back in 1984, a whole bunch of us college friends, musicians, and neighborhood buddies pooled our money together and rented a house down the Jersey shore for the summer. Most of the stories from that summer will never ever be told to anyone outside of those who experienced them firsthand (even if names were changed to protect the guilty). Labor Day weekend was the big summer-ending block party/beer bash. We went through over a dozen full sized kegs before nightfall. The party was so successful that the cops going off-shift would stop by in their civvies once they went off-duty to join in on the festivities.

That was also the weekend that we hung a life-sized image of Glenn in effigy, complete with his Resorts Casino shirt, an empty pizza box, and a strategically placed hotdog. It was all in good fun, but he deserved it. (Heck, when any of us guys got our chops busted we pretty much deserved it as well.) My good friend Paul and I also knew that Glenn’s old girlfriend was going to be coming to the party, so we being good songwriters (but definitely not good singers) decided to re-write one of Glenn’s favorite song by Phil Collins (“Theme from Against All Odds”), complete with lyrics referring to Glenn’s pizza delivery service, and some good times with his old girlfriend in his Chevy Vega.

The gig is going well. Everyone is well lubed and feelin’ fine. Glenn’s there... and, oh… who’s that there?... is that?... could that be?... Holly?... Glenn’s old ex-flame?... well whaddayahknow! Out comes the cassette tape from my back pocket. Plopped it into the sound system, and...

The look on Glenn’s face was priceless! Most of the people in the street were completely clueless, wondering why the great music suddenly changed to two guys singing way off key about pizza slices and something about “the backseat of (my) Vega’s not the same anymore”. The guys in the house, though, knew exactly what was going on. Glenn turned a shade of red I didn’t think was possible in nature. He also promptly corrected us that it was the front seat of his Vega, not the back. Holly, though, had a sheepish grin on her face and took it all in good fun.

Yes… it was a very good block party. And we were only on our fifth keg at the time! Everything else that ever happened in that fateful house that summer will remain hermetically sealed in the fried brains of the participants. It’s surprising that any of us can even recollect any of the events anyway.

So, Saturday I’ll be meeting up with Glenn. Should be very interesting.

Chapter 11: Synchromy – Color as Music

One of my favorite artworks is a 1919 painting by Stanton MacDonald Wright:

(link here)

SMW was way ahead of his time, and never quite got the notoriety he deserved for breaking new ground in the arts.

Having lived in California for most of his life, before his passing in 1973, he was strongly influenced by the early Cubism movement as well as Asian art. SMW (along with Morgan Russell) developed a new color theory in the early 1900s, believing that color had sound equivalents… and that if they painted in color scales as music is composed in scales, their paintings would evoke musical sensations. They called this new movement “synchromism” or “synchromy”.

Just as music is composed of particular notes (A through G, with sharps and flats), certain chord combinations, and key signatures (major and minor) - each of which can evoke a different mood - SMW had arranging the full color spectrum as “notes” on a palette. And by using different color combinations into various “color chords” and “color key signatures” he would then paint with a certain palette of colors to evoke or enhance a particular mood he was trying to convey. The results are paintings rich in complex color harmonies and lyrical melodies.

The painting in question (titled “Synchromy in Purple”) is on permanent display at LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) on Wilshire Boulevard. In the summer of 2001, I was lucky enough to seen a full exhibit of well over 60 of his paintings which were on display as part of a traveling exhibit that also went to North Carolina. His theory is fascinating. And whenever I visit the LACMA I always try to find that painting and spend some time just contemplating it… absorbing it’s mood… listening to it’s harmonies.

It’s been at least two years since I was last at the LACMA, and I think I need to go back down there again sometime later this month. The popular King Tut exhibit is going on right now, and it’s going to be a madhouse (especially on the weekends). So, rather than waiting for hours in line to be briefly herded through that exhibit, I think I’ll check out the rest of what the museum has to offer… and take another long look at this favorite painting of mine.

Chapter X: Make A Wish Upon A Shooting Star Tonight!

Short and sweet!

The annual Perseid Meteor Shower returns with it's best viewability late tonight and tomorrow night (Thursday & Friday, Aug 11/12). For those of you on the west coast (Pacific Daylight Time), the best time to catch a glimpse (if the sky is clear and dark... meaning, away from city lights) is after Midnight. Thursday night at around 1:00-1:30 AM will have a nice cluster. Dress warm... look straight up and slightly north & east... scan the sky with your eyes... and wait... be patient. You just may see the occasional shooting star streak across the sky.

Make a wish!

Dare to dream!

Chapter 9 Lives Ain’t Just For Felines

No, I’m not talkin’ about reincarnation. This is a one-&-done kind of existence in this universe. We do our best to try and do the right things in this life. Sometimes we’re successful… other times we make mistakes... we occasionally fall down... we get back up... and we move forward with a valuable learning experience tucked in our back pocket.

Sometimes we look back on our lives along the way. We contemplate choices we made. What if I went to this college instead of that university? What if I married (or didn’t marry) my childhood sweetheart? What if I made that career choice instead of this one? But these types of reflections don’t do you much good. The past is past. You can’t make any changes to what’s already happened. Yes, you can learn from your mistakes, gain wisdom from the aftereffects of decisions you’ve made along the way. But, these “woulda, coulda, shoulda’s” aren’t gonna get you where you need to go in life.

Now, when we look forward to the future… that’s where the potential lies. That’s where a myriad of choices take us down a multitude of directions. Possibilities are endless. We take stock of who we are and where we are, and we begin to formulate the various roadmaps of the rest of your life... you take in as much knowledge and information and advice as possible, and then ultimately choose the one map that’s right for you. And, it’s no guarantee that things will turn out perfectly or exactly as you hope or plan (they rarely do). But it’s the road you choose, and it’s the path you’re on.

Sometimes, if we’re lucky, we catch a glimmer - a tiny sliver of our potential future – which can be experienced almost as powerfully as any real life event. It happened to me a few months ago, when I least expected it. About three years prior, I lost my mom after a long illness. Being with my Dad and my siblings as we tended to her during the last weeks of her life was itself a profound and unforgettable experience. It was not only painful to witness, both mentally taxing and emotionally wringing… it was also spiritually powerful and moving. It’s something that will stay with each of us until our own last breaths.

Now, my mom is buried on the east coast. So I don’t get that much opportunity to not only visit family and friends, I also don’t get many opportunities to visit her grave site. So I made a decision that whenever Mother’s Day rolls along, if I’m not back in Philly at the time, I’ll instead visit a local cemetery wherever I was at. I buy a bouquet of flowers, and I begin to walk through a section of the cemetery, looking for any grave stone or marker which has the word “Mother” or “Mom” written on it. And if there aren’t any flowers there, I take one from my bouquet and I leave it there. And I continue doing this until I eventually run out of flowers. Then I say a prayer, walk to my car, and drive away.

This past Mother’s Day, I followed my self-imposed routine. I got back in my car, turned over the engine, and just sat there in silence… staring out in space, with the sun flickering through the trees. And suddenly, in my mind’s eye, I was witnessing myself doing this ritual some ten years into the future… walking through some unknown cemetery, placing a flower here and there. And then this little girl comes up to me and asks me, “Can I do this, too, Daddy?”

“Sure,” I say to her as I hand her one of the flowers.

And she takes the flower, and begins to walk around looking at various markers. Suddenly she stops. And she just stares at one marker, deep in thought… as though she were trying to make an important decision.

I walk up to her and ask her what the matter is.

“It doesn’t say ‘Mom’ or ‘Mother’ on this gravestone. And I was thinking… maybe she was a mom, but it’s just not written on the stone. Or, maybe she didn’t have children of her own, but she was like a second mom to everyone else’s kids… like your Aunt Carmela that you always tell me about,” she says.

And I say, “If you want to leave a flower here for this woman, you can do it. It’s okay.”

And she gives this expression on her face that she’s made up her mind. And she bends down to place the flower on the grave site. She blesses herself. And I do, too. And we continue to walk past the row of gravestones.


And then, suddenly… there I was, back in my car… in the present… the engine still running… the sun still shining through the trees… and moisture welling up in my eyes… blurring a glimmer of some distant possible future. And I wonder how the rest of my life will turn out. Will I remain single, like a number of my uncles had been? Will I one day marry, but soon after become widowed without ever having children of my own (like my Aunt Carmela)? Or will I be blessed to find that soul mate (something we all search for, whether consciously nor not), and one day… ten years from now… be walking hand-in-hand with my daughter. I don’t know. I don’t know what God has in store for me. Yet I try to make peace with whatever He has planned me.

And I have no idea why I just told this personal story to a bunch of strangers in cyberspace. I just had to, I guess.


I’m reminded of something one of my brothers once told me. He said that every time he hires a new employee he always tells them the same story, and he always asks them the same question.

“Have you ever heard the story of the three frogs?” he’d ask the newbie.

“Uhhh… no,” they say with an inquisitive look on their face.

“There are three frogs sitting on a log on a pond. One frog decides to jump in the pond. How many frogs are now on the log?” he inquires of the employee.

“Ummm… two!” they will always respond.

“No,” my brother would correct. “There are three frogs on the log. Just because you decide to do something doesn’t necessarily mean that you actually did it.”

The moral of the story: at some point, you have to take action.


I think I need to go skinny dipping in a pond! (HAH!)



Next up… Chapter 10.

Chapter 8mm Silent Film Projection

When I was a kid (long before there was such a thing as camcorders, VCRs and DVDs) I remember my Dad would whip out his handheld 8mm-film silent movie camera whenever there was a special occasion ripe for the family archives - birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, vacations, whatever. Usually, he’d have to attach what I called the “landing strip” of spotlights on top of the camera in order to blind everybody - I mean, in order to illuminate the scenery. Snapshots being liberally taken as well, we were a camera crazy family - documenting everything.

After the movie film was developed, Dad would load it into the clanking film projector. Then he’d set up the portable movie screen (about five feet square, which you would set up like a tripod, and then pull up the screen like an upside down window shade). Mom, my older brothers and sisters, and I would set up the dining room chairs like a row of theater seats. Off went the lights, on went the projector, and there in our living room on our mini silver screen flickered a replay of our lives. Birthday candles being blown out... Christmas gifts being ripped open... processions being passed by... various delectable desserts being consumed. Smiles and laughter and tears and surprises... and conversations. Lots and lots of conversations conflicting in a chaotic cacophony. But all occurring in silence.

Sometimes, while watching our lives pass before our eyes, we’d try to recreate the conversations from that recorded event. Re-singing the “Happy Birthday” part was easy. But the other conversations were lost in memory, so we’d make up the things the people on the screen were saying… putting different words in people’s mouths… projecting imaginary thoughts onto the screen just like the moving images from the roll of film. It was all in good fun. And it was a long time ago.

How often do we, in our daily lives project our inner thoughts - imaginary conversations, or false assumptions – onto others in our daily lives?

Case in point: The other day I was driving to work, minding my own business. I’m driving along the highway, up a long, steep hill. My windshield was dirty. Smart thing to do when your windshield is dirty? Turn on the wipers and spray some windshield cleaning fluid. Ahhhh... now I can see.

Next thing I know, this guy in a silver sports car zooms pass me on my right, then cuts in front of me. No big deal. This is typical fare on California highways. He then beings to clean his own windshield. I happen to get some of his cleaning fluid on my windshield. Great! (I think) I can continue cleaning my own windshield with his own fluid. But this guy continues to spray his windshield fluid… for a long time… and looooooong time. Then the passenger of the vehicle rolls down his window, sticks his arm out, and flips me the bird.

What the f***?

So, here’s this guy who happened to be behind me when I was innocently cleaning my windshield. He apparently got pissed off because he thought that I was purposely spraying his car in the process. He then goes out of his way to speed past me, and proceeds to “return the favor”. And then he promptly has his colleague request in that all-to-familiar hand gesture that I attempt to have sexual intercourse with myself (something I don’t think is anatomically possible). Talk about getting up on the wrong side of the bed. Talk about... projection.

And we all do this, in some form or fashion. We make assumptions. I can hear my high school physics teacher now: “Never assume! Because when you ‘assume’ you make an ASS out of U and ME.” (Ugh... the things that your remember from your school days.)

Someone does or says something. We get bent all out of shape. We go home. We toss and turn in bed replaying the event over and over again. We construct and deconstruct and reconstruct conversations, arguments to rectify the situation. We get up the next day. We meet up with the offender to set him straight... and... we find out it was all an innocent misunderstanding. You were so far off base on your assumptions.

Or we make an assumption about someone’s personality without really knowing the person. Another case in point: A couple weeks ago I happened across a neighbor of a friend of mine. I’d met her casually a few times in the past. Seemed like a nice enough person. Somewhat attractive. Successful career. Appeared intelligent. She was sitting in her car outside a Laundromat, reading a book while her laundry was in the dryer. I say hello. I ask what she’s reading. She proceeds to tell me about all these crazy conspiracy theories about the current political administration. Apparently, this book paints Bush, Cheney, Rove, etc… as the devil’s spawn. She believes this stuff. I mean literally believes this stuff.

Okay. Bad enough she drinks what I call the “Michael Moore Kool-Aid.” She then apologies for her stuffed up sinuses because her allergies have kicked into overdrive, and she doesn’t want to take any allergy medication because she’s pregnant and she doesn’t want to harm her baby in any way. Seemed smart, right? The very next sentence out of her mouth was how “awesome” her most recent batch of “special brownies” was. She made “special cookies” too.

Did I tell you that she’s an RN?... a Registered Nurse?... I mean...

WHAT THE F***???

I made the wrong assumption about this woman. The guy in the sports car made the wrong assumption about me. All without any of us ever really knowing each other. We projected what we thought onto the screen of our lives, rather than first allowing ourselves to really get to know each other.

In looking back over the previous posts in this blog, I think it’s safe to say that that woman I sent several messages to probably made a number of assumptions about me without ever really wanting to get to know me. And I (I’m sure) made a number of assumptions about her from what little information I could glean from the small amount of text on her page and her few pictures.

And you (whoever you are), who at this very moment is reading this blog, have made various assumptions about me through the course of chewing through these posts. Some of it may be accurate. But some of it may not be. We’d all be wise to remember the words of my high school physics teacher.

Where am I going with all of this? I have no idea. A seed of an idea was in the back of my brain. I let it grow a bit. It bore some fruit. Then I served it on the page. Just some food for thought, I guess.


Next up... Chapter 9 Lives Ain’t Just For Felines

The Silent Treatment In 7 Easy Steps (Step 1: The Simple Hello)

I remember when my friends and I were in our 20s and we were active in the weekend ritual know as the “meet market” (or as I would call it, the “meat market”) – scouring some bar or night club of choice for the evening. The guys would be in desperate straits trying to figure out the next way – the best way – to come up with an opening line to meet & greet a woman. For the most part, I just stayed in the background and observe from afar as each friend would – one by one – get shot down like soldiers in a bloody battlefield. It was quite entertaining to watch, really.

I hated the meat market scene. Always did, even though I attended that ritual on a fairly regular basis. But, it was mainly for two reasons: either (a) I was working with one of the bands doing lighting or stage managing, or (b) I was hanging out with some great friends. But to just go out for the sole purpose of trying to “hook up” was so absurd to me. All that anxiety compressed into smoke-filled rooms loaded with phony pretenses, mixed with bad cologne/perfume, and outrageously expensive glasses of some libation of choice. Poor lighting along with dulled senses due to the consumption of some form or legal (or illegal) substance added to the surreal atmosphere.

I was a designated drivers before there was the term “designated driver” – not so much to not let my friends drive drunk (although that was certainly a factor), but more so because I and quite a few other guys were sick and tired of having to wait until well after closing time to get back home because one guy (usually one of my best friends, Phil) had this bad habit of thinking that he could finally hook up or at least get a phone number from the dregs that remained in the club at 2:30 in the morning. It was not a pretty sight (poor Phil). What was even more sad was the sight of Phil, some time afterwards, shuffling down some dark street with his socks barely on his feet, his shoes in hand, thinking that he’s whispering (when in fact he wasn’t) some old girlfriend’s name, trying to find her house at 3 o’clock in the morning, looking for what would today be termed a “booty call”. Sad… very sad. Hilarious, too, because he was rarely successful.

I remember back in the 80s, there was some study done which asked women what was the best or most successful “pickup line” for them to hear from a guy. The question was absurd in and of itself, but the answer the women gave was even more priceless. The consensus answer was………… (drum roll please)………… “Hello.”

At the risk of sounding snarky in my response to this answer, I said to myself: “No sh*t, Sherlock!” It’s what the guy needs to say AFTER he says “hello” that we’re looking for, fer cryin’ out loud. This kinda summed up all the reasons why most people eventually just throw up the arms in frustration and say “the heck with it.”

Well, after I got out of the local music scene (which was in Philly at then time), and as I got older, this “scene” got even more tiring. By the time I turned 30 and moved to California that was it for me. I’d on a rare occasion go to a club or bar, or check out a band somewhere. But before too long I was done with it all. If that’s the only place where the ladies were, well they weren’t going to find me there. I’ve got better things to do with my time… and money… and sanity.

Time passes.

A LOT of time passes.

Fast-forward to my previous blog post titled “Prologue” (8/1/05)

After pretty much minding my own business, I come across MySpace, and after some time I then come across a picture of someone who just knocks me out. She was looking for someone… anyone… that’s “real”. Hmmmm…. So, after over a week of just twiddling my thumbs I decided “oh, what the heck”… and I risked sending her a message. The simplest, shortest message a guy could ever send. One that women say is the best way to strike up a conversation, right??? I mean, what could go wrong?

I sent her the dreaded one word message: “Hello.”

And I waited...

and waited…

and waited…

Seven days go by. She’s read the message. But no response. Either way.

Okay.

Just as I thought when I was younger, the simple “hello” obvious doesn’t work (despite that comprehensive scientific study… maybe they didn’t finish tabulating all the data).

Hmmmmm…

20 CDs YOU ABSOLUTELY CANNOT BE WITHOUT

(Updated)


20 CDs YOU ABSOLUTELY CANNOT BE WITHOUT

(well, at least ones that I can’t be without)

Caveat --- My music collection is a lot larger than this, and a lot more varied. My tastes change with my moods; one day I’ll need to blow out my ears with in-your-face rock, the next day I’ll want to zone out with some Gregorian Chant. So, this is certainly not a definitive list. And although I cover a wide enough range of years and styles, the bulk of CDs come within the mid-70s-to-mid-90s timeframe. You will recognize many of the artists, yet these are not quite your typical selections. Anyway, here’s the list. It’s subject to change at any moment. But (for the time being) this list (such as it is) is mine, so… whatever.

The 20 CDs you should not be without (in no particular order):



1. Jude Cole ~ A View From 3rd Street (A troubadour’s troubadour, he’s put out five CDs… this one being his second release. It’s his best because it’s so raw compared to his later works. I had this on cassette for years and worn the darn thing out. “Baby, It’s Tonight” was his one big hit, but it’s preceded by a better song entitled “Hallowed Ground,” and I still get chills when listening to “This Time It’s Us”.

2. Crowded House ~ Recurring Dream (Okay, I’m cheating a bit with this one. But I couldn’t choose from their four releases, nor from Neil Finn’s solo works. I’ve seen these guys in concert four times. These guys are tunesmiths. Period. So, get this “best of” collection. And make sure it has the extra “Live” CD. It has the best live performance of my favorite song, “When You Come”!!! Sad side note: In case you weren’t aware, a couple months ago the happy-go-lucky former drummer, Paul Hester, ended his long battle with severe depression by committing suicide.)

3. The Rembrandts ~ Untitled (Most people know these guys as the duo who wrote and sang the theme song to the TV show “Friends”. This second release of theirs has their hit “Johnny, Have You Seen Her” on it. These guys just write great little tunes. Nothing pretentious, just well-crafted material through and through.)

4. Sass Jordan ~ Rats (This tiny little Canadian femme just plain kicks ass on this CD! Stevie Salas on guitars. A George Clinton cameo. Her two best releases are “Racine” and this CD. “Rats” is the strongest of them all. It will knock you out just how good this really is. She puts Melissa Etheridge to shame.)

5. k.d. lang ~ Ingénue (A complete opposite to Ms. Jordan, k.d. lang has a voice like no other. This is probably her most popular CD with “Constant Craving” as the big hit. Forget her lifestyle and her politics, just listen to that wonderful voice.)

6. dada ~ Puzzle (Their debut CD – unfortunately - being their best, this power trio from Santa Monica are able to fill out a sound like few trios can. Clever lyrics are interlaced with rockin’ musicianship.)

7. Paul Carrack ~ Blue Views (The “Voice”. You know him as the lead singer from the classic 70s hit “How Long” by the band Ace. He also sang Squeeze’s biggest hit “Tempted” as well as Mike The Mechanics “Living Years” and “Silent Running”. This solo CD from the mid-90s is pure Carrack at his vocal best. It includes a remake of “How Long” as well as his rendition of the Eagles hit “Love Will Keep Us Alive” – which he wrote, by the way.)

8. Henry Lee Summer ~ Debut (I just like this guy. It’s his best CD, and it includes another of my favorite songs with haunting lyrics - “Just Another Day”.)

9. Farmdogs ~ Last Stand In Open Country (I’m a big Elton John fan… well, actually I was. His best years were from 1969 to 1976. His second best period was from 1980 to 1989. Unfortunately, his stuff after he went sober [post-1990] just plain sucks, in my opinion. I really couldn’t choose from his early period. And I’ve overdosed on listening to his stuff over the years. So I choose something from his close associate – his main writing partner, Bernie Taupin. The lyricist extraordinaire. Bernie is not only the co-songwriter of this band, he’s also the lead singer! The Farmdogs only released two CDs in the 90s; this being the first and the best. Songs like “Shameless”, “Color Bar”, “Barstool”, “Bone Of Contention”, “In Paradise” and of course the title track will keep you gripped to the fine story-telling in a folky/countryish style.)

10. The Doobie Brothers ~ Living On The Fault Line (Yeah, you know the Doobie Brothers. But this jazzy album is filled to the brim with great songs: “Little Darlin’”, “Nothing But A Heartache”, Echoes Of Love”, “You Belong To Me”, You’re Made That Way” and of course the title track. Just great, great stuff.)

11. Journey ~ Evolution (This band is both overrated and underrated. But I love ‘em. Steve Perry’s vocals are beyond compare. Add to it the incredible musicianship of Neal Schon, Steve Smith, Ross Valory and Greg Rolie. This being the last album with this lineup of band mates, it’s probably their best work. The soaring guitar work and piercing vocals in the opening track “Majestic/Too Late” sets the tone. I love it. You don’t? Tough!)

12. Toto ~ Mindfields (These guys are consummate musicians. There resumes as individuals will boggle your mind. Severely underrated. Rather than choosing from their early work, I choose “Mindfields” because it’s recent [1999] and it has their original lead vocalist, Bobby Kimball, back at center stage. Almost all the tunes are well-crafted. Give it a listen and be surprised at what you’ve missed.)

13. The Manhattans ~ Greatest Hits (You’ve got to have some R&B, right? But not Motown, or Atlantic/Stax. Instead, I’ve chosen The Manhattans. They just have that sound, you know what I mean? That “it” sound. Songs like “Shining Star” and “Kiss, And Say Goodbye”. Classic stuff that never grows old.)

14. Tony Bennett ~ Jazz (It’s a CBS Records Double LP Collection. It’s filled with atypical fare as compared to the usual Tony Bennett material: “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore”, “Solitude”, “Give Me The Simple Life”, and one of my favorites… his rendition of “Close Your Eyes”… awesome! You should compare his rendition of “Sweet Lorraine” to that of Nat King Cole. Two greats who deliver that song in different ways and they both sound great.)

15. David Sanborn & Bob James ~ Double Vision (This album is an extremely sensual piece of work. Al Jarreau sings incredibly on "Since I Fell For You", with the remaining CD being all instrumental. It's nearly 20 years old, and it still holds up pretty well. And Sanborn's sax has a warmer tone than on much of his other CDs. "Moontune" is very enticing.)

16. Grover Washington, Jr. ~ Winelight (This is classic GWJr! Very smooth and soulful contemporary jazz saxophone. And he's from my home town of Philadelphia. This one is definitely his best work. Just like the Sanborn selection, this CD is all instrumental except for the hit song "Just The Two Of Us" with Bill Withers on vocals. Released 25 years ago. It could've been released today.)

17. Big Tent Revival ~ Amplifier (From my Contemporary Christian Music [CCM] collection, these guys [with Steve Wiggins at the helm] are top-notch. It rocks! It’s got clever lyrics set to great music. “Lovely Mausoleum” is hauntingly effective. And there are several “hidden” tracks at the end of the CD. The best is a great rocker called “Rivalry”. I love this CD!)

18. Out Of The Grey ~ Remember This (Another selection from the CCM genre. Female vocalist with pop sensibilities. Well-crafted songs that don’t preach, yet still get the message across very effectively. I can listen to “All I Need” over and over again and again.)

19. Al Stewart ~ Modern Times (Early Stewart, here. This is the album right before his breakout hit “Year of the Cat”. I remember listening to my brother’s old LP when I was much younger. This guy is a storyteller like no other. I’ve always come back to this album. It’s always been my favorite of his. Not a bad song in the lot. It’s all great. The title track is just… just... wow.)

20. Jim Croce ~ The Definitive Collection (With this collection you get all but two songs from his three major label releases, before his untimely demise in ’73 from a plane crash. You also get a good selection of earlier material; both solo works and duets with his wife, Ingrid. He’s an Italian Philly troubadour who graduated from Villanova University [my alma mater]. And one of my high school teachers used to play keyboards with him back in the 60’s. This guy is much greater than the “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” song he’s known for. His songs will make you laugh and cry and nod your head and dream and smile.)

Honorable Mention: Sky ~ Sky2 (Double-LP) (Okay… I don’t have this on CD, only on vinyl, and my record player died quite a few years ago. So I only have a well-worn tape copy of my vinyl LP (their second release). Relatively unknown, these classically trained musicians are: classical guitarist John Williams, keyboardist Francis Monkman, drummer Tristan Fry, guitarist Kevin Peek, bassist Herbie Flowers. It merges classical, jazz and rock music unlike anything that you’ve ever quite heard before. If I ever found this on CD I’d buy it in a split second just to get the piece titled “Sahara”. I’ve never heard an instrumental piece become so vividly visual in my mind’s eye. That tune is a work of art.)


That’s it. For now. As of this moment. Stuff I’d highly recommend. Music I love, groove to, zone out, jam and jiggle to, mellow into, dance romantically, sing completely off key at full blare while driving down the highway with the windows wide open, with the steering wheel as my drum set, keyboard, guitar and bass. It makes yah feel good. That’s all that matters, right?!


So… GO! Now! Buy! Listen! Argue! Make up your own Top-20! Post your comments and suggestions below.

EC:WC FCA Review – Beyond The Sea

A West Coast Critic review:

A 100% vanity project for Kevin Spacey, this film is a loosely-based fictionalized biopic about crooner Bobby Darin. Spacey is known for his strong affection to Bobby Darin’s music, and Kevin now had the reputation, influence, and money to get this project from dream to script to screen (he’s listed as lead actor, director, co-writer and co-producer).

Watching it gives the impression of a Gene Kelly musical within a musical. And the story is told within a story from the POV of Darin both as an adult and as a young boy. I give Spacey credit for the unique style and story delivery, but there’s something lacking. Even though he takes a dig at himself early in the film when a character questions whether “Darin” is too old to play himself in a biopic, it still becomes obvious that Spacey is still too old to play Darin.

What really makes it so obvious is that he doesn’t have Greta Scacchi play Sandra Dee (she’s obviously too old for that role), he has her playing Sandra’s mother. But Spacey was too emotionally attached to this project to see that about himself.

Spacey is also singing all of the Darin tunes throughout the film. He does an admirable job, but he’s no Bobby Darin. There’s question as to whether he’s actually singing one tune - the song “Beyond The Sea” (the hit song on which the film is titled) - or whether it’s a Darin overdub. It doesn’t matter, since Spacey is overdubbing himself throughout the film. This is standard for musicals, as it’s very difficult to record live singing on film.

And this gets to the point about Spacey not being right for this role. Spacey mentions in the DVD extras that he didn’t want to use Darin’s vocals so as not to get locked into specific arrangements. But since he’s dubbing/lip-syncing to his own vocal tracks, it would’ve made better sense to get someone who could better match Darin’s vocal style. But to do that would make it even more glaringly obvious that Spacey is TOO OLD for this role.

One other weakness of the film is it’s central focus - the main character. Is the life story of Bobby Darin enough to carry a movie? That question is up for debate. Kevin Spacey certainly seemed to think so. He probably wrung out of the project as much as anyone could have from the brief history of the famous singer who died too young yet lived far longer than he should’ve.

I’ve always liked much of Spacey’s work, going all the way back to his stunningly powerful role as Mel Proffit in the first season of the TV series “Wiseguy”. He does a good performance in “Beyond The Sea”, but it’s not Oscar nomination worthy. Overall, it’s an interesting film with some fine music and some good performances in a style that harkens back to the 50s/60s. I’ll give it 3 wine bottles out of 5. Afterwards, pick up a CD of some Bobby Darin music (but not the movie soundtrack). Maybe that’s all that Kevin really wanted to accomplish with this film. If that’s the case, he may have succeeded.

EC:WC FCA Review - The Life Aquatic

A West Coast Critic Review:

I never thought I would ever say this next sentence. This Bill Murray movie is completely unfunny.

I just spent the last 118 minutes watching film stock that left me emotionally unmoved in any way. It doesn't even deserve to be called a bad movie because a really bad movie would make you chuckle at the lameness of it all. There wasn't even a moment that was unintentionally funny. There was nothing to make me cry one sappy tear. Not one piece of action to make me even wince slightly in awe. What's so mindboggling is that it's so weak even with a cast that includes Angelica Huston, Cate Blanchett, Owen Wilson, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum and Michael Gambon. This movie is so vacuous that MST3K couldn't even successfully parody the poor thing. It's THAT bad.

This isn't even worth one of my usual five wine bottles. This vapid, mind numbing, brain cell reducing DVD is barely worth 1 corroded cork. (Oh no, Mr. Bill!)

.... bad.... just.... just.... that bad.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Just Desserts, indeed!!! link here

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California man, angry over a U.S. Supreme Court decision expanding government power to take private property, says he will try to use the ruling to seize the New Hampshire home of Justice
David Souter and convert it into a hotel to be named the Lost Liberty Hotel.

Souter voted with the 5-4 majority last week when the Supreme Court ruled a Connecticut city could use its powers of eminent domain to take private homes to make way for a riverfront hotel, health club and offices.

The justices said the project served a public purpose of revitalizing a depressed local economy, but critics have called the ruling an unprecedented expansion of the powers of government to seize private property in America.

"This is a serious project and if we get enough money from investors we will proceed with it," said Logan Darrow Clements, who runs a California video production company called Freestar Media that he said is dedicated to exposing abuses of power.

"It's solely for the purpose of showing (Souter) that his decision was unjust," he said. "We hope to make a profit as well but I don't agree with eminent domain so the irony is that we are going to use eminent domain against him."

Clements said he had contacted officials in Weare, New Hampshire, for an application to build a hotel on the property where the Supreme Court justice's home now stands, arguing that a hotel would increase tax revenue and provide an economic boost.

He said the hotel would be called the Lost Liberty Hotel and would include a restaurant called the Just Desserts Cafe and a museum with a permanent exhibit on the loss of freedom in America.

He said instead of a Gideon's Bible, each room would include a copy of Ayn Rand's novel "Atlas Shrugged," which many people embrace as a treatise on liberty and self-determination.

"This is not a prank," he said. "The town of Weare has five people on the Board of Selectmen. If three of them vote to use the power of eminent domain to take this land (from Justice Souter) we can begin our hotel development."

The Supreme Court had no comment on Clements' plan and the Weare Board of Selectmen could not immediately be reached for comment.

In light of Congress' recent vote on a Constitutional Amendment to ban flag burning...

I've chosen to re-post something I wrote eleven months ago (July 15, 2004, to be exact):

Here are some serious Constitutional Amendment ideas to chew on:


How about a Balanced Budget Amendment (like 40+ of the States have in their own Constitutions)? One that includes:

1) A requirement that Spending increases by no more than the increase in the rate of inflation plus the increase in population, on a year-by-year basis,

2) A two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress in order to increase Spending above that rate, good for only one year,

3) A two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress in order to increase Taxes, good for only one year,

4) One half of all yearly surpluses automatically goes toward Nation Debt relief, the other half being returned to Taxpayers. Any annual shortfalls automatically trigger an across-the-board spending reduction if Congress does not act within a timely manner to implement tailored budget cuts,

5) A Presidential Line-Item-Veto (as 40+ States already have in their own Constitutions for their Governors), with a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress in order to override the veto.

6) A Ban on all non-germane, rider amendments to Congressional legislative bills.


Speaking of Taxes... How about a Constitutional Amendment to Repeal the 16th Amendment, thereby ending the Income Tax and the I.R.S. in one fell swoop. We can then go back to collecting Federal revenues the way our Founding Fathers intended: No Capitation, or other direct tax shall be laid unless in proportion to the census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken (U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 9, Paragraph 4). The 16th Amendment overwrote this clause, thereby obliterating the Founding Fathers' intent on limited government.


How about a Constitutional Amendment to Limit Terms for both offices of Congress (just as there already is an Amendment [#22] to limit the terms for President - Two Terms. 8 years, 10 years maximum):

1) Two Terms for U.S. Senate (12 years. 15 years maximum due to vacancy appointments),

2) Six Terms for U.S. House of Representatives (12 years. 13 years maximum due to vacancy appointments).


How about a Constitutional Amendment to put appropriate Checks & Balances on the Federal Courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court to limit Judicial Activism and instill Judicial Restraint when the Courts overstep their bounds into legislative and executive realms:

1) This could include instituting Judicial Term Limits to 20 years or a Mandatory Retirement Age of 75 (whichever comes first).


Just a little food for thought.

EC:WC FCA Review – Lucia y el Sexo (Sex and Lucia)

A West Coast Critic Review:

Released in 2001, this foreign film from Madrid, Spain, draws you into it’s masterfully intricate universe until you fall into its hole and you come back out again in the middle. I should state upfront that this is not child fare. Were it not for it being a foreign film, this movie would get an R rating for its strong sexual content… possibly even an NC-17. But don’t let this detract you. There’s something much deeper to this story than its initial carnal yet tastefully done exploits.

Told through a series of flashbacks, we peer into the lives of Lorenzo (a struggling novelist) and Lucia (his lover). The movie starts with the deterioration of their relationship, culminating in a horrible accident that takes Lorenzo away from Lucia. We’re then brought back to the beginning of their relationship six years prior, and we soon become absorbed into their lives and their thought processes along the way.

Lorenzo’s past haunts him until he’s forced to exorcise his demons by turning it into his latest novel. But his past ends up controlling him instead. Real people merge into fictional characters. And lives get intertwined into intricate patterns. Along the way we meet Elena, a proprietor of an isolated island beach hotel, who’s own life is inexplicably tied to Lorenzo.

The script is extremely well written. The color palette is perfect for the mood of the film. And the acting is impeccable. There were moments when I laughed out loud, and there were moments when I was brought to tears (even after the third viewing). You become a part of the lives of these people as you try to sort through their histories, which fold and link in extraordinary ways.

Paz Vega (who later played in her first English-speaking role in “Spanglish” with Adam Sandler and Tea Leoni) plays Lucia. Lorenzo is played by Tristan Ulloa (who previously played opposite Penelope Cruz in “Open Your Eyes,” the Spanish film on which Tom Cruise’s “Vanilla Sky” was based). Several additional characters are introduced throughout the film, and the entire cast is worthy of accolades.

This has become one of my all-time favorite foreign films (along with “Cinema Paradiso”). I give it 4 wine bottles out of 5… and maybe a couple corks as well. If you get confused after the first viewing, watch it again… and become fascinated at how well it all fits together.

EC:WC FCA Review - Primer

A West Coast Critic review:

A small budget (a very, very small budget) independent film by first-time film director/writer/actor Shane Carruth. Less than 80 minutes long and shot on 16mm film, this is one plot-twisting conundrum of a movie about two guys who accidently create a time travel machine and then struggle with the moral consequences of the choices they then make.

There are NO special effects (except for one 5-second scene), yet Carruth makes this story believable. It's confusing at first because you become an eavesdropper; a fly on the wall in these guys lives, if you will. (heh... these guys lives... heh-heh-heh)

If you enjoy films like Pi and Cube or Memento, then Primer is right up your alley. If you don't like those types of movies, you'll end up ejecting the DVD before the film is finished. It's an acquired taste. And it definitely requires more than one viewing. The two commentaries on the DVD also help out tremendously with the plot. And if you really get sucked into the whole experience, you can lose your mind at the official website and forum here

Winner of the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Award in 2004, I gave this flick 3-1/2 wine bottles out of 5 a week before watching it, and I wrote this review 8 days from now.

EC:WC FCA Review - National Treasure

A West Coast Critic review:

A national disappointment. I like Nick Cage. Most of the time his performances are strong, and the roles/films are of decent to very good quality. This movie, sorry to say, just doesn't work. Even before 9/11, the plausibility of the twisting plot would be hard to swallow. Post-9/11? It's a joke. You find yourself rolling your eyes constantly.

It's a shame because the basic premise of the secretive treasure hunt is intriguing and could have been fun to follow. There were a few moments here and there that make you cheer or blink in amazement, but it just lacks the moral import that you'd get from the thrilling Indiana Jones flicks, or the geewhiz/ohmygosh quirky fun of The Mummy series. And Cage's performance is just dialed in as though he isn't even trying.

I had high hopes when word came out that it was hitting the theaters last year. It bombed, and now I know why. The art direction & sets are cool, but it's missing essential ingredients to make it all work. Some of the acting performances are embarrassing. Basically, the script needed a lot a re-writing... or maybe it was just rewritten to death. It shows on the screen.

This is a 2 wine bottles out of 5 movie. I'm being generous. Worth a night's rental to go with your microwave popcorn, but that's about it.

The good news? Word was that National Treasure had very strong parallels with The DaVinci Code novel (which will soon become a movie in it's own right). If that's the case, I'm beaming with joy that that flick may flop as well (and deservedly so).

EC:WC FCA Review - Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy

This is a West Coast Critic review:

A very quirky and tongue-in-cheek space comedy in the vein of Monty Python. I've read the books by Douglas Adams, and this flick keeps the spirit of the novels (and the BBC radio series they were based on). It doesn't always work, with a few jokes and a couple scenes falling flat. But, for the most part, it's a fun ride. I laughed my a** off on a number of occasions.

If you're not familiar with Adams' work, then you may not quite "get it". And if you're an Adams worshipper, you may feel a little let down. But if you go into the theater with the proper mindset, you'll walk out of the theater giving it 3 wine bottles out of 5.

The special fx are cool, there's enough laughs to split your sides, and it's pure oddball escapism. I'd much rather watch this than yet another Star Wars "pre-quel" (and, no, I have not seen Stars Wars Part I, nor Part II, and I have absolutely no compulsion to see Part III... I'm Sith and tired of George Lucas).

Supreme Court rejects ban on out-of-state wine sales

Fresh from the presses (via MSNBC):

WASHINGTON - Raising the bar on states wanting to restrict online commerce, the Supreme Court ruled Monday that wine lovers may buy directly from out-of-state wineries, striking down laws banning a practice that has flourished because of the Internet and growing popularity of winery tours.

While the ruling only involves wine sales, industry groups expect that it will soon apply to beer and other alcoholic beverages currently regulated through state-licensed wholesalers and retailers.

Lawyers involved in the case say the ruling will also make it harder for states to restrict Internet commerce on other regulated items — from contact lenses to car insurance.

The 5-4 decision strikes down laws in New York and Michigan that make it a crime to buy wine directly from vineyards in another state. In all, 24 states have laws that bar interstate shipments.

The state bans are discriminatory and anti-competitive, the court said.

“States have broad power to regulate liquor,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority. “This power, however, does not allow states to ban, or severely limit, the direct shipment of out-of-state wine while simultaneously authorizing direct shipment by in-state producers.”

If a state chooses to allow direct shipments of wine, it must do so on evenhanded terms,” he wrote.

Kennedy was joined in his opinion by Justices Antonin Scalia, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer.

Read the rest of the article here.

This is a GOOD thing (especially for us vino lovers). I find it to be very odd the way that the voting broke down. Scalia with Ginsburg & Breyer in the affirmative while Thomas, Renquist and Stevens were in opposition.

EC:WC FCA Review – Hotel Rwanda

A West Coast Film Critic Review

One powerfully effective retelling of the African genocidal massacres of the mid-90s, shown through the eyes of a courageous hotel administrator. Don Cheadle plays the roll of Paul Rusesabagina, the assistant manager of the Hotel des Milles Collines (a Belgian-owned resort in Kigali, Rwanda). Rwanda had been run by the Belgian-chosen Tutsi clan - the taller, lighter-skinned, thinner-nosed citizenry. But when Belgium pulls out of the country, the French-backed rival Hutu clan seeks revenge for their years of oppression.

But not all Rwandans have this intense hatred of their fellow countrymen, many of whom have intermarried over the years (including Rusesabagina). His family and friends are forced to take refuge at his hotel, where he soon has to protect hundreds more of his fellow Rwandans facing persecution. Known for his style and smooth talk, Paul begins to cash in the chips he's collected over the years through the various friendships and relationships he’d built over the years as hotel manager.

For two hours, you are experiencing the escalation of this calamity through the eyes of Rusesabagina. It’s not only fine storytelling, it’s downright affecting. There are a few brief moments when the film director chooses to awkwardly preach to his audience. I felt that it wasn’t needed since the rest of the film does such a fine job of explaining things without beating you over the head.

There are quite a few harrowing moments in the film, including an absolutely haunting scene in which Paul and a fellow hotel employee need to drive through a dense morning fog and encounter what can only be described as an ethereal nightmare. Cheadle's performance here as well as in the scene immediately following is acting excellence.

The western world does not get off easy in this re-telling of the genocidal atrocities in Rwanda. Fingers are sharply pointed at the U.N., with particular emphasis on the lack of compassion and intervention from France, Belgium and the U.S. under the Clinton administration.

There are several extras on the DVD that are also well worth the viewing: a commentary by Don Cheadle on several key scenes, and two documentaries – “A Message of Peace: The Making of Hotel Rwanda” and “Return to Rwanda”. These extras help to explain the historical events which are the basis of the film, as well as the process of making the movie. I highly recommend taking the time to watch these extras immediately after the movie ends.

Hotel Rwanda is definitely a 4 wine bottles out of 5 film! With fine performances by Don Cheadle and Sophie Okonedo (who plays his Tutsi wife, Tatiana), it places recent history right in your lap. And it forces you to ask why this world is letting similar situations continue in Sudan and the Congo.

Soon to come... reviews of "I Am David" and "Hotel Rwanda"

Will have these DVD reviews within the next few days.

Welcome, Pope Benedetto XVI

I'm pleased! In lieu of my own ramblings, check out the links to the right (Mark Shea, Jimmy Akin, Curt Jester, Catholic News Geek, and Insight Scoop) for some great reading!!!

The passing of Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II (whom I'm sure will one day soon be referred to as "Pope Saint John Paul the Great") has taken his final earthly breath, and is now firmly embraced by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in heaven.

I was a sophmore in high school when JPII became supreme pontiff, and one year later I had the opportunity to be an usher at his visit to my home town of Philadelphia in 1979. Just this past weekend, while I was back east for a week to visit family for the Easter holy days, I was going through some of my belongs which I had left behind when I moved to California 10 years earlier. I came across the yellow usher hat that I was privileged to have worn during that spiritually exciting visitation of the Holy Father. I almost thought of throwing that hat away. Something (the Holy Spirit?) prompted me to do otherwise. I placed it back inside the plastic container in my parent's garage.

I was also prompted very early this morning (12:30-1:30 AM) to go to my local church for Eucharistic Adoration. I brought the specially-handmade rosary I had given to my Mom when I left for California in '94 (my Dad had given it back to me when she died three years ago), and I prayed two of the four Mysteries for the ailing pontiff: The Luminous Mysteries (in honor of JPII who added these mysteries several years ago), and the Sorrowful Mysteries (in honor of his sharing in the sufferings of Christ in these his final moments).

Words cannot express what I and many, many others are feeling right now. The passing of Johannes Paulus II is a great loss for the Church and for the World, but a great gain for the Heavenly Hosts. The shoes of this fisherman will be difficult to fill, indeed.

Long-reigning Champion Chess Grandmaster Kasparov Retires... for Politics

I saw this article in my local paper this morning. I'm always fascinated by the game of chess. I'm familiar with the pieces and the rules of engagement, though I could never fully grasp the all-important mid-game strategy (planning three, four, six, eight moves ahead). It makes my head hurt to think that far ahead. Though I always enjoyed following the "big matches," and Kasparov has been the best for a very, very long time.

I wish him luck in his political future in Russia. He certainly has the mind for it. And it appears that he has the passion, as well. Putin may have met his match (pun intended):


MOSCOW - Garry Kasparov, the brilliant and aggressive tactician regarded by many as the greatest chess player of all time, announced his retirement from professional play. He said he plans to write books and become more active in the politics of Russia, a country that's "headed down the wrong path."

The 41-year-old Kasparov has been ranked No. 1 in the world since 1984, dominating chess for two decades with formidable energy, discipline and intellect. His announcement came shortly after he won the 14-match Linares tournament in Spain.

Kasparov's mastery of chess seemed sometimes to be superhuman, and perhaps his most famous loss was a 1997 match against IBM supercomputer Deep Blue.

Shay Bushinsky, a programmer behind another chess computer, told The Associated Press that as a chess player Kasparov was "the closest thing to a computer that I know as a man. Sometimes I think he has silicon running in his veins."

But Kasparov also became famous for his colorful and vibrant personality. He was seen as an especially vital and well-rounded person in a pursuit where top players often have the image of not having interests besides chess.

"He isn't just a pawn; and he isn't just a database, either, an inflated cerebellum, a throbbing maniac in the closed system of 64 squares," novelist Martin Amis wrote of him in a 1993 essay.

Among Kasparov's interests is politics. A Russian citizen, Kasparov has emerged as an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin and is playing a leading role in the Committee 2008: Free Choice, a group formed by liberal opposition leaders.

But he was increasingly exasperated with the politics of the chess world, which has been bitterly divided since 1993 into two rival federations with rival champions. In his retirement announcement Thursday, he reiterated that he was disappointed with a failed campaign to reunify the title.

He also said part of the reason he was retiring was that he saw no real goals in professional chess.

"As a chess player, I did everything I could, even more. Now I want to use my intellect and strategic thinking in Russian politics," Kasparov said Friday in a statement cited by the Interfax news agency.

"I believe that at the moment the country is moving in the wrong direction, therefore it is necessary to help Russia, to help Russian citizens to make the country comfortable, just and free," he said in the statement.

"I will do everything in my power to resist Putin's dictatorship," he said. "It is very difficult to play for a country whose authorities are anti-democratic."

Kasparov said he would continue to play chess, write books about it and take part in tournaments, such as events in which he plays many opponents at once, or in speed-chess games.

Alexander Roshal, chief editor of a popular Russian chess magazine called 64, said Kasparov had no peers in the chess world.

"There's no one else of his caliber. No one comes close. He saw that, and said 'you go on without me,'" he said.

Kasparov evidently was thinking about retiring for a long time after it became clear the reunification title match would not happen soon, Roshal said.

"He won more than 40 super-tournaments and in a month he'll be 42," Roshal said. "For chess, that's not young, and he has no reason to waste time preparing for another tournament. He's not going to be greater than he was or is."

Born in Baku in the then-Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, Kasparov is thought by many to be the best chess player in history. His defeat by Deep Blue was seen as a watershed moment in technological advancement, but in 2003 he averted a similar defeat when he agreed to a draw in the last game of his series against Deep Junior, which could process 3 million chess moves per second.

"Kasparov has the most incredible look-ahead and memory capabilities I have ever seen," said Bushinsky, one of two Israelis who helped design Deep Junior.

Kasparov's chess talent was apparent at an early age. At 12 he became the youngest player ever to win the USSR Junior Championship. Four years later, he won the World Junior Championship, and achieved the title of grandmaster on his 17th birthday.

His first title match, from September 1984 to February 1985 against Anatoly Karpov, was the longest in chess history. After 48 games, the psychological and physical strain on Karpov, who was leading but appeared likely to lose, caused chess authorities to end the match inconclusively amid controversy.

Kasparov won a rematch six months later, becoming the youngest world champion ever. He defended his title against Karpov in 1986, 1987 and 1990.

Is 3-D TV on the horizon?

Since holography (as a field of study) was my first love, (although this isn't technically "holographic" television), I wanted to post this recent article:

New 3D Screen Requires No Special Goggles

HANOVER, Germany (Reuters) - A German research institute has developed a screen that requires no special glasses to display three-dimensional images and can be viewed even from the side.

The display is meant to help architects and engineers visualize their designs or to make flight simulators more realistic. Doctors at the German University of Tuebingen have used it to train for minimally invasive surgery.

The screen, developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications and displayed at the annual CeBIT technology fair in the German city of Hannover on Thursday, generates two slightly different images to make objects appear three-dimensional.

A lens in front of the display directs one beam of light toward the left eye of the viewer and a second beam toward the right, making 3D goggles unnecessary.

If the viewer moves to the side, a camera at the top of the display registers the movement and adjusts the lens.

The Berlin-based Fraunhofer Institute also shows a "3D kiosk" that uses the display, intended for high-tech showrooms.

The screen is mounted on a table that has cameras and infrared sensors hidden below the surface, which pick up on gestures, allowing the viewer to skip through images or rotate a three-dimensional object by pointing and moving the hand.

Consumer electronics companies Philips from the Netherlands and Sharp from Japan are also developing 3D displays that do not require special glasses. But because they do not yet track the viewer's movements, they require a viewer to choose the best position and remain there.

More articles and websites can be found here, here, here and here.

Laser co-inventor wins religion award

As someone who initially studied physics in college before turning to the arts (after hitting a brick wall named calculus), I found this article not only intriguing but also heartening. My passion in physics at the time was in the fields of holography, lasers and optics.


Laser co-inventor wins religion award
(AP - March 9, 2005)

NEW YORK - Charles Townes, co-inventor of the laser and a Nobel Prize winner in physics, was named Wednesday as the recipient of a religion award billed as the world’s richest annual prize.

Townes, 89, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, won the Templeton Prize for Progress Toward Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities. The award is worth 795,000 British pounds — more than $1.5 million — and Townes was honored for talks and writings about the importance of relating science and religion.

He first addressed that topic in 1964, the same year he shared the Nobel with two Russians for research on principles underlying the laser (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) and maser (microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation).

Townes said in remarks prepared for the announcement that his first talk about religion, to the men’s Bible class of New York City’s Riverside Church, was later published in IBM’s Think magazine and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni magazine.

After the second article, a prominent alumnus threatened to cease all involvement with MIT if anything like it were ever published again, Townes said. He also recalled that, years before, his doctoral adviser at California Institute of Technology “jumped on me for being religiously oriented.”

“Many people don’t realize that science basically involves assumptions and faith. But nothing is absolutely proved,” Townes said. “Wonderful things in both science and religion come from our efforts based on observations, thoughtful assumptions, faith and logic.”

He has compared his flash 1951 discovery of maser principles, while sitting on park bench in Washington, D.C., with the revelations depicted in the Bible.

Townes said that, with findings of modern physics, it “seems extremely unlikely” that the existence of life and humanity are “just accidental,” which inevitably raises religious questions about whether the universe was planned.

A native of Greenville, S.C., Townes graduated from local Furman University before earning graduate degrees at Duke University and Caltech. He was a Bell Labs radar researcher during World War II and taught at Columbia University and MIT.

In 1961, Townes began another long-running interest, using optical searches for intelligent life elsewhere in the universe.

Townes receives the prize May 4 in a private ceremony at London’s Buckingham Palace.

He plans to donate a major portion of the money to Furman University, the Pacific School of Religion, the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, the Berkeley Ecumenical Chaplaincy to the Homeless and Berkeley’s First Congregational Church.

The Templeton Foundation of West Conshohocken, Pa., which sponsors various projects on science and religion, was founded by mutual funds entrepreneur Sir John M. Templeton.

Until 2002, its annual award was known as the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. The first went to Mother Teresa in 1973.

EC:WC FCA - The Notebook

a West Coast Critic review

I had the pleasure of renting and watching the DVD release of "The Notebook" - a touching love story set in '40s flashback. Don't let the fact that Nick Cassavetes is the director of this film dissuade you. Although he's better known for such harsh films as The Wraith, Blind Fury, Face/Off and Blow, he divested himself of his previous directorial incarnations and has handled this wonderful story with proper care.

This is the third movie to be made based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks (the others being Message In A Bottle and A Walk To Remember). Sparks' success came out of nowhere fast, having bolted out of the blocks running with his first novel (The Notebook) - a manuscript that caused Warner Books to offer him one million dollars to publish (a fledgling writer's dream come true). Ten years later, his success continues to gain momentum.

I have not read any of his novels, so I cannot compare the book to the film. But The Notebook is a tender story about summer love between two wild-eyed teens from opposite ends of the economic spectrum. Noah is the humble yet daring lumber mill worker who becomes smitten with Allie, a bright and spritely girl who's family comes from old southern money.

It's your typical boy-wants-girl, boy-gets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-tries-to-get-girl-back kind of story that has been well-worn in story after story. But there's a certain freshness to this retelling. In part, it's due to the wonderful performance by the young lead actors: Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. But what really helps give this story fresh legs is the "present day" performances by James Garner and Gena Rowlands. Garner plays the character of Duke, who reads to the bewildered Rowlands character who is suffering through the end stage of dementia - a debilitating mental disease similar to Alzheimers. The tender love and care and eagerness that Duke displays as he takes his time reading to Rowlands, attempting with unshakeable hope to reawaken her lost memories, is a testament to the kind of love and sacrifice that is all too often missing in today's culture (certainly in today's movies).

There are some weaknesses to the movie. One being a certain amount of predictability to the story. A second being Cassavetes' attempt to throw up some half-hearted red herrings to keep you guessing who the older characters really are. You pretty much know from the get-go who is who, and the film at a certain point actually pretty much tells you straight out. So the red herrings weren't really necessary.

Also, the way Cassavetes attempts to end the film felt a bit clumsy, as though you were brought to what you thought was the end... then it continues a bit further... and when you thought it had then reached it's denouement... it went just a little bit more. The ending itself is not bad. It's actually very poignant. It just wasn't as well executed as I would have expected given the wonderful pace of the rest of the film.

I'll be generous and forgiving, and give this warmhearted yet forgotten film 4 out of 5 wine bottles. Keep a box of Kleenex handy.

And the Oscar goes to...

Well, yet again, the Academy displayed their annual mutual admiration society awards for all to see. And, once again, they didn't disappoint in revealing their mastery of cluelessness, self-absorption, arrogance, and vacuousness.

Let me be upfront here. I've studied film & theater in both the undergraduate and graduate level. I've studied acting at a small, regional but well-respected theater group, and I attended a few screenwriting workshops at an Ivy League institution. I did screenwriting for several years, and I was involved in the music industry for over a decade. I'm someone who was (and in someways, still is) immersed in the arts, and who for awhile dreamed of winning one or more of the "Big 4" awards.

I document this not to toot my own horn, nor as a precursor of picked sour grapes. Instead, I disclose this to show that I have I lot of knowledge, love and respect for the arts. But, I am also able to distance myself (and it gets easier with age) from the hype and hoopla that comes with the territory.

Separate for a moment the arguments on whether one film or acting role is "better" or "more deserving" than another. That's beside the point. Rather, take a look at the types of role and the types of film that get honored (in both the nomination and the winning phases).

I've stated in previous posts that, by far, the best film for 2004 was "The Passion of the Christ." It was bold, it was controversial, it was cinematically breathtaking, it was emotionally wringing, it was truthful, it was successful (despite all that was against it), and it stepped beyond the bounds of typical movie magic and became for most viewers an unforgettable and moving experience.

But, while "The Passion" was practically ignored in the nomination process (only having been nominated in Cinematography, Makeup, and Original Score), and was shut out for even those well-deserved awards, what were the films and roles that "The Academy" chose to honor and admire?

Vera Drake - which glorifies abortion

Million Dollar Baby - which justifies euthanasia

Closer - which takes sexual perversion to an even lower level

Kinsey - which honors a demented pervert

Sideways - (a film that, for the most part, I enjoyed) to a certain extent mocks the institution of marriage

Maria Full Of Grace - which turns the holy and prayerful phrase "Hail Mary Full of Grace" into a film title about a drug "mule"


These are the types of films and roles that Hollywood holds up for honor and adulation??? They seem to go out of their way to praise films and roles that either tear apart or mock the family, the faithful, the middle class, the military, the American ideal, the honorable, the virtuous, the religious, the good.

It's a damning testimony, and it's nothing new (American Beauty was "best" picture for 1999???... oh, please).

And they still just don't get it.

The 10 Underreported Stories of 2004

WND posted their annual list of the Top 10 Most Underreported News Stories for 2004. It's an intriguing list, including:

* Sandy Berger's stuffing of classified FBI files in his pants.

* The U.S. border issues.

* The U.N. Oil-for-Fraud... ummm, Food program.

* And the full extent of the on-going Darfur tragedy (a Rwanda redux).

It's definitely worth the read, and there are related links.


Also, in 2003, their #4 underreported story was one that should be in the Top 10 every year:

4. Persecution of Christians worldwide, especially those in countries seen as "friends" of the U.S.

Once again, one of the establishment press' great unreported stories this year has been the extent and brutality of persecution of Christians around the world – even in nations America considers friendly, moderate, "partners" in the war on terror.

As it has in previous years, WorldNetDaily reported during 2003 on the widespread persecution of Christians around the world, in "unfriendly" places, such as:

* The sad story of the Palestinian Christian who was slaughtered by Islamic extremists and his body returned to his Palestinian wife and two small children – in four pieces; and

* The Christian pastor in Sudan who was burned to death, along with his family, by military forces led by that nations' militant Islamist regime. In all, this particular massacre resulted in the deaths of 59 unarmed villagers.

But increasingly on our radar were stories of the persecution, imprisonment and murder of Christians in so-called "friendly" nations. A few examples:

* A 15-year-old Pakistani Christian boy named Zeeshan Gill was kidnapped and taken to a strict Islamic religious school where he was beaten until he converted to Islam. His captors warned if he tried to flee or return to Christianity, they would kill him.

* A Chinese Christian man named Zhang Yi-nan was severely beaten after arriving at a "re-education through labor" camp. Another Chinese Christian, Xiao Bi-guang, charged with "subverting" the Chinese government and "socialist system" was released from prison after publicity from his case elicited the prayers and protests of Christians worldwide. In fact, Xiao attributed his release to reports on the Internet, saying a policeman asked him: "How did you get your story on the Internet?"

* A court in Egypt acquitted nearly all 96 suspects charged with killing atrocities that resulted in the deaths of 21 Christians.

* And in Pakistan, America's "partner" in the terror war, a Pakistani court issued a sentence of life imprisonment to an illiterate Christian man charged with writing defamatory words about Islam's prophet Muhammad. Aslam Masih, a shepherd from the village of Mammun Kanjun in Pakistan's Faisalabad district, had been sentenced under the country's notorious blasphemy law. The 46-year-old Masih was accused of writing blasphemous words about Islam's founder on an amulet tied around the neck of a dog to help it win a dogfight. Ultimately, the court dismissed the life sentence.

Number two for 2003 was:

2. NASA's use of a green-friendly but inferior material on heat shields that broke up prior to the shuttle disaster

One day after last February's tragic re-entry explosion of the Columbia space shuttle, WorldNetDaily revealed in an exclusive report that the irreparable launch-time damage to the external tank's foam insulation, which broke free and slammed into the leading edge of the left wing, was likely due to environmental correctness.

With the help of internal NASA documents, WND showed that for the past six years America's federal space agency has used a more "environmentally friendly" – and inferior – material for foam insulation.

"In other words," WND founder Joseph Farah wrote in July, "human lives and millions of dollars in technology were put at risk because of the environmental fad."

Back in 1997, wrote Farah, during the 87th space shuttle mission, similar tile damage to the Columbia's was experienced during launch when the external tank foam crashed into some tiles during the stress of takeoff. Although the damage in that case was not catastrophic, investigators then noted the damage followed changes in the methods of "foaming" the external tank – changes mandated by concerns about being "environmentally friendly."

Here's what that NASA report said: "During the ... mission, there was a change made on the external tank. Because of NASA's goal to use environmentally friendly products, a new method of 'foaming' the external tank had been used for this mission and the (previous) mission. It is suspected that large amounts of foam separated from the external tank and impacted the orbiter. This caused significant damage to the protective tiles of the orbiter."

Ultimately, NASA's more environmentally friendly "foaming" methods ended in one of the great tragedies of 2003.


In 2002 (following the "environmental" note):

Congressional hearing proves questionable environmental science contributed to World Trade Center towers' early collapse.

WorldNetDaily's Whistleblower magazine reported that the original design for the twin towers stipulated asbestos covering for the steel support beams.

Environmentalists, however, objected to the use of the fire retardant material and New York City enacted a ban on its use during the time of the towers' construction in 1971, as pointed out during a June 2002 congressional hearing. Had it not been for the poorly installed insulation and the lack of asbestos in the upper floors of the towers, scientists testifying before Congress agreed, the towers would have stayed standing longer, undoubtedly saving many lives as occupants would have had time to escape.

"Asbestos was an early victim of junk science and enviro-fear propaganda," said Arthur Robinson, who is also a founder of the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine. Environmental activists "were joined by opportunistic lawyers and businessmen who reaped large profits from the anti-asbestos program. There was not a shred of evidence that insulating buildings with asbestos was harmful to human health," he added.


Those last two "environmental" stories go under the phrase: "Something I did not know."

Yes... it's been awhile.

Sorry for the long drought of posts. Real life has a tendancy to sneak up on you. I've just been busy with my 9-to-5 job, plus.... other things.

I haven't seen any new movies since "Sideways," so there hasn't been anything for me to review.

The weather here in Southern California has just been plain nasty. For awhile there I was seriously considering building an Ark (if only I knew what a "cubit" was).

I came very close - verrrrrrry close - to posting at length on one of the hot button social issues in today's culture. I was promtped by a recent episode of "ER" (a TV show I only watch because of Maura Tierney, I might add). After a few days had passed, I decided to hold off on making my post. I just felt that I wasn't quite ready yet to take that serious commentary leap. Although, I may do so in the future.

It's basically centered around the false ideal in today's society that some individuals would rather reject love for acceptance... and not acceptance of themselves as persons, but acceptance of their lifestyle - as if that was the sole defining characteristic of themselves as human beings. They'll even go so far as to quote Jesus in the bible, but they always cherry pick their quotes, taking passages out of context. And they always leave out the last few words of Jesus in John 8:11.

But, that detailed and heartfelt commentary will be saved for another day.

Until next time... hang in there. Winter's almost over.

And I promise to push myself to post here more often.

EC:WC FCA - Sideways

Hello, this is Trubador here as the West Coast member of the "East Coast:West Coast Film Critics Association." As some of you may already know, this esteemed association consists of two people - myself and my brother (known as "Vic" the East Coast critic). We occasionally view a film and then verbalize our opinions. Take it as you see fit. Though don't be surprised if you find our reviews a bit more reliable than Mr. Ebert's.


“Sideways” is as mysterious and temperamental as both Miles, the main character of this film, and his favorite wine grape – Pinot Noir. It’s a rich little film that takes you on a tour through California’s Central Coast wine country, while at the same time guiding you through a tour of the lives of two middle-aged men who’ve been friends since college.

Miles, a long-struggling novelist, is an uptight yet depressed wine snob (in the best sense of the words). Divorced two years prior, Miles wants to give his best friend Jack a proper pre-nuptial send-off. This would entail lots of wine tasting throughout the gorgeous coastal wineries and vineyards, sumptuous meals, and a few rounds of golf.

Jack is a happy-go-luck failing actor who just wants to sow his wild oats (again) one last time (or two) before tying the knot. So off they go for a week whereupon Miles gets an opportunity to see Maya, a waitress at his favorite haunt who’s putting herself through graduate school. He’s been attracted to her for some time, but hasn’t the nerve to do anything about it. Jack, on the other hand, meets Maya’s friend Stephanie during a wine tasting tour. One taste of her, and Jack wants to drink even more of her charm and warmth. Basically, feckless Jack just wants to get laid, and he wants his best man to get some noogy too. It’s an automobile accident just waiting to happen (in more ways than one).

It’s a witty and well-written movie that explores the bonds of friendship, the wounds of broken marriages, and the complexities of the human heart. There is some foul language and a couple scenes of sexual conduct (in quite side-splitting circumstances, I might add). There is also a scene near the end that on the surface makes you wonder if there is a certain mocking of the institution of marriage. But as you savor and reflect on the film (as you would a glass of fine wine) you come away with a better understanding of all that’s been involved to make these rich characters come to life.

There has been a lot of critical praise for this film, which has already started winning several awards. Talk is that it’s the sleeper that may snirch a few Oscars. I don’t know about that. It’s a great little film: finely written, well acted, funny, rich and heart-warming. But any Academy voter worth his or her wine cellar knows that “The Passion of the Christ,” it’s director Mel Gibson, and actors Jim Caviezel (Jesus) and Maia Morgenstern (Jesus’ Mother, Mary) are far more deserving. I’ll be surprised, though, if that happens.

As far as “Sideways” is concerned, it’s definitely in the Top-10 for 2004, and I give this film 4-and-1/2 wine bottles out of 5 (Pinot Noir, of course).

Oh… and the important question is… when is the perfect time and what is the perfect meal to go with your preciously saved bottle of ’61 vino?

Where the frell have I been all this time???

I know... I know...

It's been quite awhile. Real life kinda sneaks up on yah, yah know what I mean? Between all the holiday rushes, to an unusually busy last quarter at work, through some minor but annoying medical issues, plus the general need for some serious political decompression after the election. I haven't even been reading other people's blogs as often as I used to, though I have touched base with a few of my favorites from time to time.

But, I promise that the new year (a mere few hours away, if you can believe it) will bring my return to these pages on a more regular basis. I want to open the spectrum of topics. There will be some political commentary from time-to-time, but you can expect a much more varied array of issues brought forward. Some will be serious while others will be light-hearted; some will be personal, while others will be more universal in nature. I'm hoping to use this blog in 2005 as a chance to exercise my fledgling literary muscles. Expect it to get quite philosophical and theological in nature.

In the meantime... have an emotion optional annual recycling of arbitrary calender dates.




In other politically incorrect words, HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!