grocery store

The nearest grocery store is a stone's throw from my house - not even enough time to listen to a whole song on the iPod while I walk over there. The other night I make a quick trip to grab just a few things - it was about 6 or 7 pm, so I knew the place would be hectic with the after-work crowd. Officially I had 8 things on my list, a real in & out job.

Somehow I ended up with a full basket and 50 bucks of groceries, which wouldn't be so bad by itself except that I only got five of the things on the list.

On the iPod:
Stone Roses, The Stone Roses

"fra - gee - lay" ...must be italian

On the iPod:
Beatles, Revolver


If you are anywhere near my age and you dont know this guy, something is wrong with you. I imagine that one of the many aspirations of every actor is to find that one role that becomes larger than life, growing into a cultural institution that makes lives better and brings people together. Maybe that laguage os a little over the top, but if there ever was such a role and such an actor, it was Darren McGavin in "A Christmas Story." May he rest in peace...

Actor's biggest award may have been a leg lamp

Remembered for roles in `Christmas Story,' 'Mike Hammer'

GREG RISLING

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Darren McGavin was painting a movie set in 1945 when he learned of an opening for a small role in the show, climbed off his ladder and returned through Columbia's front gates to land the part.

The husky, tough-talking performer went on to become one of the busiest actors in television and film, starring in five TV series, including "Mike Hammer" in the 1950s, and endearing holiday audiences with his role as the grouchy dad in the 1983 comedy classic "A Christmas Story." In one scene, McGavin's character excitedly opens "a major award" he has won in a contest: a lamp shaped like a woman's stockinged leg.

McGavin, 83, died Saturday of natural causes at a Los Angeles-area hospital, said his son Bogart McGavin.

McGavin also had leading roles in TV's "Riverboat" and cult favorite "Kolchak: The Night Stalker." Among his memorable portrayals was Gen. George Patton in the 1979 TV biography "Ike."

Despite his busy career in television, McGavin was awarded only one Emmy: in 1990 for an appearance as Candice Bergen's opinionated father in "Murphy Brown."

He lacked the prominence in films he enjoyed in television, but he registered strongly in featured roles such as Frank Sinatra's crafty drug supplier in "The Man with the Golden Arm" (1955) and the gambler in 1984's "The Natural."

Born in Spokane, Wash., McGavin was sketchy in interviews about his childhood.

He spent a year at College of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., then landed in Los Angeles. He washed dishes and painted sets at Columbia studio. He was working on "A Song to Remember" when an agent told him of an opening for a small role.

"I climbed off a painter's ladder and washed up at a nearby gas station," McGavin said. "I returned through Columbia's front gate with the agent."

The director hired him. No one recognized him but the paint foreman, who said, "You're fired."

available at http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/13971169.htm

The smell of revolution failed...

...Is blowing through my window
When we're writing Constitutions
They're shooting up mosquitoes
Viva Sandanista now is Hola Americanos
And there isn't decent housing
We order in from Dominos

Have you ever wanted to quit your job, rent out your place, pack up all your shit and go to central america until the money runs out? My buddie did, and he did.

Dinner in San Juan del Sol
With Commandant de Zero
Some tell me he's a killer
Some tell me he's a hero
They go to make the movie
It'll star Bobby Deniro
I'm over that machismo shit
Yo soy grande maricon

On the iPod:
Son Volt, Trace
Tom Waits, Closing Time

oranges

I woke up with a bit of a fever this morning - nothing too bad, just a little fatigue etc. But enough to where I want to make sure I don't get all the way sick. I am undergoing my normal cold remedy, but without the screw drivers.

I did grab a bag of oranges at the grocery store yesterday, and man they are good. FYI - Harris Teeter has navel oranges for like a dollar each right at the front of the produce section, but they have bags of slightly smaller oranges that are 4.99 for like 10.


I was eating one this afternoon and it was super juicy & sweet. I don't generally believe in god (or God), but I was thinking as I peeled & ate this orange that it is just way too good to be a random coincidence. Same goes for grapefruits - red ones anyway (which could be man-made domesticated for all I know). It was like that same sensation you get standing on the beach, ankle deep in the surf, watching the most beautiful sunsets ever - there must be something greater.

Go get yourself a nice juicy orange - they are good. If you are feeling nostalgic, cut it into wedges and stick the peel in your mouth in front of your teeth like you did when you were a kid.

Albums (1)

I have always been an adamant supporter / proponent of listening to the whole album. Good music comes in sets of 10 or 12 songs, and the whole album should be good. None of this top 40 bullshit that has one good song & a bunch of crap. And with that I assume that the artist/producer has put together the record with the included tracks and in the order that the stuff is in, for a reason.

Accordingly, I have always hated it when people skip around on a disc, or put in something for one or two songs and then switch. But the iPod is starting to change all that. I rarely listen to a whole record. I think part of the reason is that I am listening to a bunch of stuff that had been on the shelf collecting dust. Part of the reason is also that I am getting sucked into the A.D.D. modern era of technology. But I am willing to admit that part of the reason is that I was just overzealous in my adherence to the album doctrine.

Now there are still records that should only be enjoyed in their entirety (OK Computer, Till The medicine Takes, and obviously Darkside of the Moon all come to mind).

So that brings us to today's "On the iPod":
Selections from Neil Young's Live Rust, Broken arrow, Zuma, Everybody Knows this is Nowhere, and his renditions from the Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Concert.

don't you hate it when...

... you get shaving cream all up your nose?

On the iPod (updated):
Talking Heads, Sand in the Vaseline;
Tom Petty, She's the One.

bringing people together

Finally there seems to be a political issue where big corporations are getting rich off the rest of the nation & everyone on the Hill & the Whitehouse is at least acting like they will respond. I say getting rich "off the rest of us" in this case, not to speak some socialist mumbo jumbo about the evils of capitalism, but because we own the land & oil that they are selling. If it is a national park / preserve / etc., then we each own a little bit of it. Same goes for the logging etc.

Here are exerpts - you'll have to regster for New York Times (it's free & no spam) if you want to read the whole article:

U.S. Has Royalty Plan to Give Windfall to Oil Companies

By EDMUND L. ANDREWS

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 — The federal government is on the verge of one of the biggest giveaways of oil and gas in American history, worth an estimated $7 billion over five years.

New projections, buried in the Interior Department's just-published budget plan, anticipate that the government will let companies pump about $65 billion worth of oil and natural gas from federal territory over the next five years without paying any royalties to the government.

Based on the administration figures, the government will give up more than $7 billion in payments between now and 2011. The companies are expected to get the largess, known as royalty relief, even though the administration assumes that oil prices will remain above $50 a barrel throughout that period....

Short of imposing new taxes on the industry, there may be little Congress can do to reverse its earlier giveaways. The new projections come at a moment when President Bush and Republican leaders are on the defensive about record-high energy prices, soaring profits at major oil companies and big cuts in domestic spending.

Indeed, Mr. Bush and House Republicans are trying to kill a one-year, $5 billion windfall profits tax for oil companies that the Senate passed last fall.

Moreover, the projected largess could be just the start. Last week, Kerr-McGee Exploration and Development, a major industry player, began a brash but utterly serious court challenge that could, if it succeeds, cost the government another $28 billion in royalties over the next five years....

Administration officials say the issue is out of their hands, adding that they opposed provisions in last year's energy bill that added new royalty relief for deep drilling in shallow waters....

But the Bush administration did not put up a big fight. It strongly supported the overall energy bill, and merely noted its opposition to additional royalty relief in its official statement on the bill.

By contrast, the White House bluntly promised to veto the Senate's $60 billion tax cut bill because it contained a one-year tax of $5 billion on profits of major oil companies....

=======================================

The reporter on that article has continued to track the issue:


Lawmakers Plan an Effort to Reverse Royalty Relief
... By EDMUND L. ANDREWS ...
February 15, 2006 - By EDMUND L. ANDREWS (NYT) - Washington - News

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 — Democratic lawmakers and the White House both said on Tuesday that oil and gas companies should not receive lucrative incentives when energy prices are near record highs.

Congressman Starts Inquiry of Windfall to Oil Companies
... By EDMUND L. ANDREWS ...
February 16, 2006 - By EDMUND L. ANDREWS (NYT) - News

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 — A House Republican began a broad investigation on Wednesday of an Interior Department program that is expected to give billions of dollars in benefits over the next five years to companies that pump oil and gas on federal territory.

In a letter on Wednesday to Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton, Representative Richard W. Pombo, the chairman of the House Resources Committee, demanded memos, correspondence and data on the program and on the negotiations over the law that created it in 1996.

Flatt City

My friends in Chucktown recently got the webpage for their bluegrass band up & running. It is linked at right - be sure check out the free downloads.

"Flatt City is a five piece bluegrass band from Charleston, SC (James Island). We take pride in producing our own special blend of bluegrass with driving instrumentals and strong vocal harmonies. We've developed our sound from both traditional and modern sources and strive to continue the bluegrass tradition of "taking something old and making it new again."

http://www.flattcity.com/default.asp

"Autopsy said he had one beer, man...

(on the iPod:
Bush, Deconstructed;
Pearl Jam, Vs.)
---------------------

...How many d'you have?"

I don't really care about the Cheney hunting accident & failure to report that the idiot shot his friend in the face. This administration has done many far worse things that haven't been scrutinized.

My theory is that Dick was wasted and he needed time to sober up.



"...Four"

"You're dead man. You're so dead. Look at the blood stains right there."

breathe in, breathe out (Bad Music 2)

On the iPod:
Kevin Kinney; 6/28/05 Live at the Visulite Theater, Charlotte NC (available for free download at www.archive.org)
-------------------------------------------------

Make fun of me, I don't care. These are good lyrics...

Deaf dumb and thirty
Starting to deserve this
Leaning on my consious wall
Blood is like wine
Unconscious all the time
If I had it all again
I’d change it all

I'm not even feeling like that, but they are still grabbing me with the over-reverbed guitar licks and whatnot.

Like I have said before, I consider myself lucky to be able to enjoy otherwise bad music - I can see/hear through the bad. Just make it genuine.