Month: July 2008 (Page 2 of 2)

Recently I refinanced my home for 15 years, but plan to pay it off in 10 to 12. Mapping that scenario, I began considering whether to stay in my Hollywood Bungalow living this rerun. I mean, in 10-12 years “fiddy” will be a decade in the rear view mirror.

Lately I’ve been joking that if John McCain gets elected, I’m moving to France. That’s silly of course, especially since I’ve never been there, even though Paris and Normandy have been on the “I’d like to” list for years

While no world traveler, I lived in Tucson, Arizona during college and briefly in LA after that. I’ve driven cross country several times and have been to many great American cities including the Big Apple, Chicago, Miami, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and of course, Cleveland. My international travels are pretty limited, but luckily more than many including London, Los Cabos in Mexico, and Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City in Canada.

I’ve wanted to visit Australia ever since I heard Angus Young bang a guitar chord and now have friends who live there. The France thing is still high on the list and often when mentioning it’s mainly for the art, I hear, “Go to Rome.”

So what’s stopping me?

“Happiness is only real when shared.” That’s what Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch) painfully scribbled onto the white pages of his journal toward the end of “Into the Wild,” and is the irony of the film. This engrossing work by Sean Penn is based on the Jon Krakauer novel and chronicles one young mans road trip from privilege that begins with compelling images of severed credit cards, a $24,000 life savings check sent to a charity, and a pyre of cash and a Social Security card. His destination was Alaska, and “Into the Wild,” but his journey there and the people he meets along the way become a compressed microcosm of a life lived. It’s not a perfect movie, but beautiful cinematography and great renditions by Mr. Hirsch and especially Hal Holbrook kept my interest. Mr. Holbrook plays Ron Franz, a veteran and widower whose brief time with McCandless allowed him experience a fatherhood previously denied by a drunk driver. The screenplay written by Mr. Penn also has it’s moments including, “Some people feel like they don’t deserve love. They walk away quietly into empty spaces, trying to close the gaps of the past.” Yeah. Check it out.

I’m consciously not burning cash these days, and the thought of eating squirrel and gutting moose, while a sound weigh-loss strategy, remains unappealing. The recent newsworthy deaths of Tim Russert and Tony Snow in their 50’s got my attention, and I sure don’t want to hit the final check-out line thinking, “I never saw the Louvre.” Actually, maybe creating art is a more worthy pursuit… I don’t know, but I’ve reached a point where I’m searching for that “something else.” Something that’s truly a passion and pushes me out the pod bay doors and into a beautiful, unexplored new.

“The core of mans’ spirit comes from new experiences.”
Christopher McCandless in “Into the Wild”

Yardwork
Home Stores
Writing
RobotsinLove
Brother
Megan
Martinis
Salmon
Steaks
Lobsters
Rockport
Parade
PinkAquaSunset
Cookout
Mom
and Dad
and Mackenzie
100FlightsofStairs
WorkoutMix
Leftovers
Sox
Lots of little Madison
Now…

The bands self-made video for “Believe in Me…”

Photo by Vince Alongi

The Fourth of July celebrates our declaration of independence from the former British Empire 232 years ago. It’s a good day to read the actual text and doing so, reflect on its relevance today.

While it’s true we’re independent of the government then ruled by George III, how much independence do we have today when we are spied on by the government of George II? Read the document and the charges in it. As you do, think about how many of them apply to the current King George.

“But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security.”

Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

What has the world come to when the Sox are in NY for a long holiday weekend tilt with the Yanks and the story is the Tampa Bay Devil Rays have the best record in baseball? Honestly, I haven’t been paying much attention, but here’s what I know:

• Last night with the Sox up 4-1 in the 7th, I thought, “at least the Sox will win one of these three.” Tampa then plated 6 on the way to a 7-6 sweep win.
• The Sox deep pitching should win them another Division, and take them far in the playoffs. It remains to be seen what they do before the trade deadline. They could use bullpen help, but the health of the Big Papi will determine priorities.
• The Yanks are old and tired. Even Alex Rodriguez in his prime is tired, but apparently his fatigue is from staying out late at Madonna’s place.
• Manny Ramirez threw a sixty-something Travel Secretary to the ground after the guy couldn’t score 16 tix on short notice. The fact this act of violence doesn’t get this jerk suspended is a reflection of our win at all cost society and is a disgrace.
• Letting Johnny Damon sign with the Pinstripes was a good move.
• Yankee youngsters Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano need to step up. Both are below .250.
• My pal Dave is all worked up over his Cubbies, but I think we know how that will turn out.
• The other “Boss” in NY/NJ, George Steinbrenner plans to attend the All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium. He’s always been a favorite pi?ata for Sox fans, but under his leadership, the Yanks won 6 World Championships and became the most valuable sports franchise on the planet.

Thirty three years ago tonight, I got my cheekbone broken blocking home plate. Dude was out.

50 songs to make you dance and this isn’t on the list?

Last night the audience stood and cheered Dana Carvey as his stand-up routine ended. It didn’t look like anyone was leaving, but the credits rolled over them and I wondered, “Do stand-up comics do encores?”

That got me thinking of encores in pop/rock music and how cliché they’ve become. I cannot think of a show I’ve attended without an encore. And while the requisite two or three bonus tracks may not be on the set list, my guess is most are pre-determined. Yeah, there’s the occasional audible called at the line of scrimmage, but most “encores” are textbook; maybe one deep catalog dive and a couple fan favorites. Of course Sloan’s show in Cambridge a couple weeks back included requests and audience members singing, but that’s Sloan…

Back in the seventies when I began frequenting the old Boston Garden for shows, fans really built up the noise and illuminated their desires with thousands of tiny flames, but today fans mail in their applause and fire laws prohibit any flashes of want. Lighters have become cell phones and most encores these days are expected, pre-measured formula. In the history of modern music, Elvis stands out for not doing them. When the King did the last song of a set, it was over, hence the post title.

Have you ever been to a show that didn’t have an encore?

“Earthstorm” is one of those sci-fi dregs that is so bad you can’t take your eyes off it, and I had to see if the asteroid wounded moon was going to crack in half. I had to! Sadly, good sense lurking somewhere deep in the Frontal Lobes of my cerebral cortex um, acted for me and put my ass to sleep.

The Movie Mark website succinctly summarizes the films lack of quality, “Folks, the movie’s so bad that NASA wouldn’t even let them use their name, thus, we have the American Space Institute (ASI). Houston, however, wasn’t so lucky in protecting its name.”

Anyway, I noted there was one of those Baldwin dudes brooding through the film with a ridiculous hair thing hanging down his forehead that looked like Makeup adjusted to exacting dimensions for every take. I mean, the space helmet comes off and it’s still there… Whatever. He was so bad and his dialogue delivery so monotone, I actually said out loud, “Wow, this Baldwin brother sucks.” Now, talking to myself aside, Stephen Baldwin is one awful actor.

You may be wondering, “how did you know the sucky Baldwin was Stephen?” Good question. Today I was reading the HuffPo (that’s what we left wing nuts call it), and one of the stories was, “Stephen Baldwin On Fox News: If Obama Wins, I’ll Leave The Country.” As righty host Laura Igraham tried to shut his rant down, he finished with a flourish, spouting, “Why do they keep saying that four more years of McCain is four more years of Bush? That’s the most stupidist thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”

I just knew.