Happy Late Night, my Darling,
I hope your day was good. I went on my first hike since the election, to Aliso Canyon, and it felt great to be back in one of my favorite places. You inspired me with your photo yesterday, and then I inspired myself too by writing about it. :)
I am a Cold Wimp (big time), and I do not adjust quickly to what passes for inclement weather out here, but I also do not let it stop me. This afternoon wasn't too bad, actually, except for the wind. I had to chuckle a little bit because I was remembering your picture, and in it you are wearing shorts and a short sleeve top. The pic was taken just a couple days ago, and perhaps the weather was mild, but - and this is why I must chuckle at myself - mild, for you guys, is "put on a sweatshirt and maybe a jacket, too" for us.
Today actually wasn't bad - although I did wear a sweatshirt! - and my hike was great, even though the trail was entirely in shade and unsuitable for photography. The quality of light is also very flat at this time of year, with the exception of a brief period in the early afternoon when there is an orange and amber quality, but down in Aliso, it gets dark by 3pm. So, no pics, but an excellent hike. I will keep going on as many as possible, just so long as it's not too cold (remember that my preference is the other extreme : 100+ degrees), but the best thing about winter out here is that - even as wimpy as it is compared to what you guys experience - it's pretty much over by February 1st. And then I will resume my climbs up to the top of Mission Point and other favorites.
I saw one of your posts about a huge rock festival in Ohio next year. Metallica, Soundgarden and a ton of other bands. Are you gonna go? I know that's pretty far away, probably quite a bit farther than you would usually travel for a show. But maybe if you have a band of yours on the schedule, you will be going? Just a guess on my part, but I am sure you will have many shows and festivals lined up regardless.
For me the next concert will be Eric Johnson in January, which I probably already mentioned. It will be an acoustic show, with EJ playing only acoustic guitar and piano. And then Alcest will be next, in February.
That's all I know for tonight.
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Celebrating The Larger Reality
Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby,
I loved your photo this morning. I think it is so awesome - and essential - not just to recognize your inner child but to be it - to do the things you did as a child when you first experienced the sense of fascination about things, the sense of belief and of wonder.
Here's what is just as awesome about building a Fairy House at 24..........still believing in it.
Or even more awesome : knowing it.
Knowing that Fairies exist, and all kinds of woodland creatures.
It could be any kind of Spiritual Creature, even in physical form.
SB, that is part of what "glimpses" are all about, the kinds of glimpses - out of the corners of your eyes - that we have talked about for so many years now.
When I go to Aliso Canyon, very often I am alone there, and because certain sections of the park look ancient in a Lord Of The Rings way, I always......without fail......try to tune in to that feeling. With no other humans around, when it's just Aliso and me, I can feel that it's trying to show me something. Something I have to glimpse. And so I try to, and it results in my photos of tree roots and spider webs and shadows and such.
All of this is to say that I hope you are building those Fairy Houses for real Fairies! (for real, no joke).
It is so important to have constant contact with those on the Other Side, be they Spirits or Fantastical Creatures, because all are real. All you have to do is tune into them.
And when you do, you have many helpers in your life, because Life Is Huge and we need Helpers. Life extends far beyond the everyday material world, as we have talked about so many times.
The whole point is to integrate your day-to-day life - i.e. your waking life, material life, career, everyday practical activities and thoughts - into the Much Larger (and arguably more important) Spiritual and Fantastical Life that you can feel you are surrounded by.
You can feel it, and you know it's there.
You are talking to the ultimate Inner Child here, SB. :)
I'm kind of an authority on this stuff, lol.
Seriously though, I think it is beautiful to always be connected to what you really feel, and if you think about it, when you were a child there was nothing to get in the way of those feelings. No peer pressure, no cultural "modification" (becoming entirely homogenized into the material world), no fear of what people would think.
Children are born into the World - think about that for a minute - and because they are coming from somewhere, they retain, for a little while (months or maybe a couple years) a residue of that reality. Which is why children know about fairies, and ghosts, and imaginary friends and all the things they forget as they become more and more attuned to the material world.
But those of us who never lose those early feelings......we should not only encourage them within ourselves but build on them, tune them in more and more.
Notice things.
Communicate with things. Not just people, but with things, with ideas, with thoughts. Communicate with all those things. And especially with Things You Perceive, because your perception is your most accurate guide in life.
Communicate with things you perceive.
You already know all of this, but I just reinforce it. What a great photo. :)
I will see you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I loved your photo this morning. I think it is so awesome - and essential - not just to recognize your inner child but to be it - to do the things you did as a child when you first experienced the sense of fascination about things, the sense of belief and of wonder.
Here's what is just as awesome about building a Fairy House at 24..........still believing in it.
Or even more awesome : knowing it.
Knowing that Fairies exist, and all kinds of woodland creatures.
It could be any kind of Spiritual Creature, even in physical form.
SB, that is part of what "glimpses" are all about, the kinds of glimpses - out of the corners of your eyes - that we have talked about for so many years now.
When I go to Aliso Canyon, very often I am alone there, and because certain sections of the park look ancient in a Lord Of The Rings way, I always......without fail......try to tune in to that feeling. With no other humans around, when it's just Aliso and me, I can feel that it's trying to show me something. Something I have to glimpse. And so I try to, and it results in my photos of tree roots and spider webs and shadows and such.
All of this is to say that I hope you are building those Fairy Houses for real Fairies! (for real, no joke).
It is so important to have constant contact with those on the Other Side, be they Spirits or Fantastical Creatures, because all are real. All you have to do is tune into them.
And when you do, you have many helpers in your life, because Life Is Huge and we need Helpers. Life extends far beyond the everyday material world, as we have talked about so many times.
The whole point is to integrate your day-to-day life - i.e. your waking life, material life, career, everyday practical activities and thoughts - into the Much Larger (and arguably more important) Spiritual and Fantastical Life that you can feel you are surrounded by.
You can feel it, and you know it's there.
You are talking to the ultimate Inner Child here, SB. :)
I'm kind of an authority on this stuff, lol.
Seriously though, I think it is beautiful to always be connected to what you really feel, and if you think about it, when you were a child there was nothing to get in the way of those feelings. No peer pressure, no cultural "modification" (becoming entirely homogenized into the material world), no fear of what people would think.
Children are born into the World - think about that for a minute - and because they are coming from somewhere, they retain, for a little while (months or maybe a couple years) a residue of that reality. Which is why children know about fairies, and ghosts, and imaginary friends and all the things they forget as they become more and more attuned to the material world.
But those of us who never lose those early feelings......we should not only encourage them within ourselves but build on them, tune them in more and more.
Notice things.
Communicate with things. Not just people, but with things, with ideas, with thoughts. Communicate with all those things. And especially with Things You Perceive, because your perception is your most accurate guide in life.
Communicate with things you perceive.
You already know all of this, but I just reinforce it. What a great photo. :)
I will see you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Monday, November 28, 2016
Happy Birthday Once Again + Regular Sunday News + Doggie Alarm Clock
Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby,
And Happy Birthday once again. I hope you had a great day and a lot of fun, maybe with friends, family or both. It was a good day for me, too, with good singing in church and at choir practice. One of these days I will get another hike in. I haven't even been up to Aliso Canyon in.....what?.......maybe three weeks? Probably since the election. That really threw me off balance, and then I had all those concerts and then the Thanksgiving holiday. But I will get back out there, and take some pictures too. It has been pretty chilly the last two days with the sudden arrival of the L.A. Cold (oh man it's awful!), and the wind is blowing......
But once it dies down, and the temp goes up a degree or two, I'll take a hike, lol.
No movie tonight, though I did just finish watching the latest episode of "The Walking Dead" here at Pearl's. This season hasn't been as good as past seasons, thus far anyway. I think they have been branching out too much with their storylines, and perhaps have too many cast members to cover. It's hard to keep up with them all.
That's all the news for today, although The Kobedog should wander out here any minute, expecting his Late Night Chips. Sigh.......I shouldn't have started that tradition. I didn't realize his dedication to chips, and beyond that, I had no idea that he has a precise clock in his dogbody, and that he can be sound asleep - even at One In The Morning - but if that Chip Alarm is tripped, he will come out to the kitchen, where I write, and believe me, SB - he will have his chips. That's even become a kind of slogan for me, because I know he will come out at a certain time, no matter what, even if he is sound asleep : "Sigh......'He will have his chips' ".
And he will! :)
That's all for tonight, except for one more Happy Birthday wish, and lots of love!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
See you in the morning, Sweet Baby. I Love You.
And Happy Birthday once again. I hope you had a great day and a lot of fun, maybe with friends, family or both. It was a good day for me, too, with good singing in church and at choir practice. One of these days I will get another hike in. I haven't even been up to Aliso Canyon in.....what?.......maybe three weeks? Probably since the election. That really threw me off balance, and then I had all those concerts and then the Thanksgiving holiday. But I will get back out there, and take some pictures too. It has been pretty chilly the last two days with the sudden arrival of the L.A. Cold (oh man it's awful!), and the wind is blowing......
But once it dies down, and the temp goes up a degree or two, I'll take a hike, lol.
No movie tonight, though I did just finish watching the latest episode of "The Walking Dead" here at Pearl's. This season hasn't been as good as past seasons, thus far anyway. I think they have been branching out too much with their storylines, and perhaps have too many cast members to cover. It's hard to keep up with them all.
That's all the news for today, although The Kobedog should wander out here any minute, expecting his Late Night Chips. Sigh.......I shouldn't have started that tradition. I didn't realize his dedication to chips, and beyond that, I had no idea that he has a precise clock in his dogbody, and that he can be sound asleep - even at One In The Morning - but if that Chip Alarm is tripped, he will come out to the kitchen, where I write, and believe me, SB - he will have his chips. That's even become a kind of slogan for me, because I know he will come out at a certain time, no matter what, even if he is sound asleep : "Sigh......'He will have his chips' ".
And he will! :)
That's all for tonight, except for one more Happy Birthday wish, and lots of love!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
See you in the morning, Sweet Baby. I Love You.
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Happy Birthday! + Fashion Photo (keep shooting 'em) + High C + Rainy Powwow
Happy Late Night, my Darling,
And also Happy Birthday! Wow.........24 already. I have known you since you were 19. It's all pretty amazing, Elizabeth, and I'll bet you are loving your 20s. If I remember correctly, haha (cause it's a while back), there is kind of a special feeling for each year of your 20s, as you grow more and more into The Real You. I mean, you're You even when you're a teenager and even as a child, but as you go through each year of your 20s, your You-ness emerges more and more, and strengthens.
Or something like that. Just remember that I'm a little nutty and then it'll make perfect sense!
I hope you have a great day tomorrow, in whatever way you celebrate your birthday. I am betting you will have a blast. :)
Your fashion photo this morning was outstanding in every respect, right down to all the folds and shadowing that are created on your model's dress as she holds it up. You have great skin tones as usual, and the black of her top stands out against the backdrop and also contrasts more gently against her hair. You are always great with your color and tone schemes. I don't know where you got the backdrop but it looks great. Perhaps it's a wedding photography backdrop.......
Keep doing your fashion photography as much as you can, in addition to everything else.
You can call me Captain Obvious on that one, but seriously......keep it up.
Tomorrow morning we have a high-pitched, but fairly easy song to sing : "Gift Of Love". The real test will come during rehearsal, when I see if all my singing in the car is paying off. I think it is. I have a good voice, and it's fairly strong in the mid-tenor range. And I can hit high C and all that. But I have had to work to strengthen that "transition muscle" or whatever it is that transfers your voice from chest to head so that you can hit high notes - not isolated during practice - but as an actual part of a written melody in any given song.
I never sang a lot before I joined the choir, even though I always knew I could sing. And I've never had problems with any of the songs we've done for two years now, until the John Rutter. But tomorrow in rehearsal, I will nail it.
That's all I know for tonight, Sweet Baby! I went to the CSUN Powwow this afternoon, and got to see a couple tribal dances, but then it began to rain pretty hard. I hung out as long as I could but finally had to leave as I was getting soaked. Didn't bring an umbrella.....
And tonight the dreaded L.A. Cold is finally setting in. Keep me in your prayers, SB...... :)
And have an awesome Birthday!
I Love You and will see you in the morn, and then again after church at about 1pm.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
And also Happy Birthday! Wow.........24 already. I have known you since you were 19. It's all pretty amazing, Elizabeth, and I'll bet you are loving your 20s. If I remember correctly, haha (cause it's a while back), there is kind of a special feeling for each year of your 20s, as you grow more and more into The Real You. I mean, you're You even when you're a teenager and even as a child, but as you go through each year of your 20s, your You-ness emerges more and more, and strengthens.
Or something like that. Just remember that I'm a little nutty and then it'll make perfect sense!
I hope you have a great day tomorrow, in whatever way you celebrate your birthday. I am betting you will have a blast. :)
Your fashion photo this morning was outstanding in every respect, right down to all the folds and shadowing that are created on your model's dress as she holds it up. You have great skin tones as usual, and the black of her top stands out against the backdrop and also contrasts more gently against her hair. You are always great with your color and tone schemes. I don't know where you got the backdrop but it looks great. Perhaps it's a wedding photography backdrop.......
Keep doing your fashion photography as much as you can, in addition to everything else.
You can call me Captain Obvious on that one, but seriously......keep it up.
Tomorrow morning we have a high-pitched, but fairly easy song to sing : "Gift Of Love". The real test will come during rehearsal, when I see if all my singing in the car is paying off. I think it is. I have a good voice, and it's fairly strong in the mid-tenor range. And I can hit high C and all that. But I have had to work to strengthen that "transition muscle" or whatever it is that transfers your voice from chest to head so that you can hit high notes - not isolated during practice - but as an actual part of a written melody in any given song.
I never sang a lot before I joined the choir, even though I always knew I could sing. And I've never had problems with any of the songs we've done for two years now, until the John Rutter. But tomorrow in rehearsal, I will nail it.
That's all I know for tonight, Sweet Baby! I went to the CSUN Powwow this afternoon, and got to see a couple tribal dances, but then it began to rain pretty hard. I hung out as long as I could but finally had to leave as I was getting soaked. Didn't bring an umbrella.....
And tonight the dreaded L.A. Cold is finally setting in. Keep me in your prayers, SB...... :)
And have an awesome Birthday!
I Love You and will see you in the morn, and then again after church at about 1pm.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Saturday, November 26, 2016
A Quiet Day + Horror In The Morn + "The Devil, Probably" + Whitacre
Happy Late Night, my Darling,
I hope you had a nice, relaxing post-Thanksgiving day. I always avoid the Black Friday craziness and I'm guessing you do too. I am not immune to sale prices, lol, it's just that there aren't that many things I want to buy, and if I did I would probably do it online. :)
Well anyway, I had a nice day myself. Pretty quiet, slept in till 10am then read my Charles Grant book. I've gotta have my Horror Stories upon awakening, Sweet Baby. I just can't start the day without 'em. :)
I jest, because it's only my latest fad, begun when I started rereading Stephen King's "It" last Summer. I would read ten pages or so upon awakening, and it started this latest trend. So when I finished that incredible book I had to keep going, and I figured I'd try some Grant, whom I had not read since the 90s, and he is working out very nicely for me, thank you very much. :)
So for now, for the Time Being, it's Horror In The Morning.......just ten pages or so, don't worry......
Later in the afternoon I took a walk down to the duck pond. CSUN is always deserted on Thanksgiving weekend, so I had the place to myself, and we have had gorgeous weather the past two days.
Tonight's movie was Bresson's penultimate film : "The Devil, Probably". We will be seeing it next Thursday at the CSUN Cinematheque, but my friend who attends the screenings made me a dvd of the film, so I figured I'd watch it ahead of schedule, because Bresson's films require more than a single viewing anyway.
It is certainly a great film, the more I think about it.
But man, it sure was depressing. The story centers around a French teenager who is part of a group of students who are rebelling politically against The Establishment, which in France has always been just as conservative as in any other major world power. But this particular teen doesn't want to rebel. He sees it as pointless, and would rather do nothing. And his "philosophy" goes downhill from there.
After watching the uplifting adventure films I've seen this week, and also "Prince Valiant" which was a blast, I wish I'd had something less bleak to watch. Bresson is not usually this forlorn. But because it was a Bresson film, it was extremely well done, and I am still thinking about it as I write.
But during my next week off, for the Christmas holiday, it's gonna be nothing but Frank Capra, Judy Garland and Santa Claus. And maybe some Scrooge, too. At least his story has a happy ending!
So, that was about the extent of my day, and starting tomorrow morn I will be back at work. What a week, though, with the movies I've seen and the beyond-incredible ARW concert a few days ago.....
I saw your Eric Whitacre post this morning, which made me happy all by itself, but I also watched the video and listened to the music, and....wow. That is singing on par with the Roger Wagner Chorale, one of the greatest vocal ensembles of all time. A stunning composition as well, and because I am learning to sing, I noticed a couple things that to me were very impressive because they seem so hard. One thing was a section near the midway point, where a drone note was carried by a single male voice (or maybe a few) for a substantial amount of time. We have parts in some of our church songs - obviously nowhere near the difficulty of the Whitacre material - where we have to do "vowel" singing, usually "oooohs" extending over a long section of music, as backup to the lead melody of the sopranos. I find those parts extremely hard, and single extended drone notes are even harder, because of the vocal sustain required. So to hear those singers was very impressive. The other thing I was majorly impressed by was the pianissimo singing near the end. You have sung choir, SB, and you know how difficult it is to do that. It is probably a little easier if you have a full choir with a lot of singers, but even so, just to maintain tone and diaphragm pull at that low volume and soft dynamic is very difficult. That's why I wanna keep getting better, haha.
Well, that's all I know for tonight. I will see you in the morn, back on regular schedule.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I hope you had a nice, relaxing post-Thanksgiving day. I always avoid the Black Friday craziness and I'm guessing you do too. I am not immune to sale prices, lol, it's just that there aren't that many things I want to buy, and if I did I would probably do it online. :)
Well anyway, I had a nice day myself. Pretty quiet, slept in till 10am then read my Charles Grant book. I've gotta have my Horror Stories upon awakening, Sweet Baby. I just can't start the day without 'em. :)
I jest, because it's only my latest fad, begun when I started rereading Stephen King's "It" last Summer. I would read ten pages or so upon awakening, and it started this latest trend. So when I finished that incredible book I had to keep going, and I figured I'd try some Grant, whom I had not read since the 90s, and he is working out very nicely for me, thank you very much. :)
So for now, for the Time Being, it's Horror In The Morning.......just ten pages or so, don't worry......
Later in the afternoon I took a walk down to the duck pond. CSUN is always deserted on Thanksgiving weekend, so I had the place to myself, and we have had gorgeous weather the past two days.
Tonight's movie was Bresson's penultimate film : "The Devil, Probably". We will be seeing it next Thursday at the CSUN Cinematheque, but my friend who attends the screenings made me a dvd of the film, so I figured I'd watch it ahead of schedule, because Bresson's films require more than a single viewing anyway.
It is certainly a great film, the more I think about it.
But man, it sure was depressing. The story centers around a French teenager who is part of a group of students who are rebelling politically against The Establishment, which in France has always been just as conservative as in any other major world power. But this particular teen doesn't want to rebel. He sees it as pointless, and would rather do nothing. And his "philosophy" goes downhill from there.
After watching the uplifting adventure films I've seen this week, and also "Prince Valiant" which was a blast, I wish I'd had something less bleak to watch. Bresson is not usually this forlorn. But because it was a Bresson film, it was extremely well done, and I am still thinking about it as I write.
But during my next week off, for the Christmas holiday, it's gonna be nothing but Frank Capra, Judy Garland and Santa Claus. And maybe some Scrooge, too. At least his story has a happy ending!
So, that was about the extent of my day, and starting tomorrow morn I will be back at work. What a week, though, with the movies I've seen and the beyond-incredible ARW concert a few days ago.....
I saw your Eric Whitacre post this morning, which made me happy all by itself, but I also watched the video and listened to the music, and....wow. That is singing on par with the Roger Wagner Chorale, one of the greatest vocal ensembles of all time. A stunning composition as well, and because I am learning to sing, I noticed a couple things that to me were very impressive because they seem so hard. One thing was a section near the midway point, where a drone note was carried by a single male voice (or maybe a few) for a substantial amount of time. We have parts in some of our church songs - obviously nowhere near the difficulty of the Whitacre material - where we have to do "vowel" singing, usually "oooohs" extending over a long section of music, as backup to the lead melody of the sopranos. I find those parts extremely hard, and single extended drone notes are even harder, because of the vocal sustain required. So to hear those singers was very impressive. The other thing I was majorly impressed by was the pianissimo singing near the end. You have sung choir, SB, and you know how difficult it is to do that. It is probably a little easier if you have a full choir with a lot of singers, but even so, just to maintain tone and diaphragm pull at that low volume and soft dynamic is very difficult. That's why I wanna keep getting better, haha.
Well, that's all I know for tonight. I will see you in the morn, back on regular schedule.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Friday, November 25, 2016
A Nice Thanksgiving + "Prince Valiant" + Thankful :):)
Happy Thanksgiving Late Night, Sweet Baby,
I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving Day with your family, whether spent at home or with relatives. Before I left for Pearl's, I saw your post about "being thankful for chips" (and all things having to do with chips) and I thought that was funny because I had already bought a big bag of Mission Tortilla Chips to bring along, because my sister always makes a bowl of salsa and me and her husband Nico always pound chips and salsa as an appetizer. :) Apparently, you have some variation on the same theme.
We had, as always, an excellent meal at Pearl's, courtesy of her daughter Helen. We started early, at 1pm, had lots of good food & conversation, and wine.....and conversation.......Trump was a big topic. And recounts. We've gotta recount three states, SB, including yours. Hillary is creaming Trump by over 2 million votes in the popular vote, and if they recount it, she will win those three states and the Electoral College too. And The Presidency.
Of course, the chances of all that happening are extremely slim, because The Powers That Be don't wanna upset the Apple Cart.
But you never know. And even just to challenge the results - when we all know she beat Trump - is reason enough to do it. Just to prove it.
But back to Thanksgiving......after all the wine and conversation, it was time to watch some football, for the men at least. This time it was just me and Nico. Son Andrew (my nephew) fell asleep, and Other Son Ali was not in attendance due to overpartying in Las Vegas on his recent 21st birthday. He didn't feel good today, and is learning the hard way as all us older folk have done in that regard, haha. But he is a great kid and will be back next year, I am sure.
After football it was time for dessert (meaning pies, which are right up there with chips on the list of Things To Be Thankful For) & coffee.
As for The Kobester, he did not swipe a Turkey Bone - being as he is now a very old guy - but he did enjoy a small portion of leftovers, as well as his Usual Dog Dinner, which he pounded. Then he crashed out at our feet during the football watching session.
So that was our Thanksgiving. :)
Later this evening I watched a movie : "Prince Valiant" from 1954. You know how yesterday I was keeping with the Seafaring Motif by watching "In The Heart Of The Sea"? Well, tonight I went back to the King Arthur Motif, begun a week ago when we watched "Lancelot Du Lac" at CSUN. Then when I saw Anderson Rabin and Wakeman on Monday, Rick Wakeman came onstage wearing his King Arthur Cape, which has been his standard stage attire for a while now. So I figured I needed more King Arthur and The Knights Of The Round Table, and I Googled such movies a few days ago, then ordered a couple from The Libe, and "Prince Valiant" arrived yesterday.
Man, what a great movie!
It's shot in Cinemascope, ultra widescreen, with countryside locations in England, including a castle. The movie is 1000% Hollywood, with an American accent from the star, Prince Valiant himself (Robert Wagner), but it doesn't matter because he is so good in all other ways in his role. He wears a black "Page Boy" wig throughout, and it's funny because it looks like a really goofy hairdo now, but a few years later, in the mid 60s, there were plenty of famous rock bands, like The Byrds and many more, who sported the Prince Valiant look for a while. But back to the movie, in a short summing-up, I loved it. Directed by the great Henry Hathaway, shot in Cinemascope and in Technicolor, with Huge Hollywood Sets, what I will call "stagey" acting, where every actor invests him or herself in the role in a non-realistic way, but very theatrical yet without hamming it up. If you had seen enough Big Hollywood Productions from the 1950s, then you would see what I mean. "Prince Valiant" is a perfect example of how it was done right, and I thought it was great on all counts. Now I will look for more movies from the King Arthur Motif......but only classic ones. You've gotta have a great cast & production, a great director......man, SB, I am in danger of going off on a Motion Picture Tirade here, haha.
I won't though.
But man.............Motion Pictures.
You've gotta Do 'Em Right.
And In Hollywood, there was a certain Era when they did them right. And that was The Golden Era, which was from the early 1930s to the late 1950s. I would boil it down myself, just a little bit, to the late 30s to late 50s, about a twenty year period, and including select films from the early 30s.
But that was Studio Hollywood at it's peak. Hundreds and hundreds of great movies, in all genres.
Today was a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.
I also saw your Eric Whitacre post. That started my day and set the tone for the whole day. :):)
I am so thankful for you, Elizabeth.
I Love You and will see you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving Day with your family, whether spent at home or with relatives. Before I left for Pearl's, I saw your post about "being thankful for chips" (and all things having to do with chips) and I thought that was funny because I had already bought a big bag of Mission Tortilla Chips to bring along, because my sister always makes a bowl of salsa and me and her husband Nico always pound chips and salsa as an appetizer. :) Apparently, you have some variation on the same theme.
We had, as always, an excellent meal at Pearl's, courtesy of her daughter Helen. We started early, at 1pm, had lots of good food & conversation, and wine.....and conversation.......Trump was a big topic. And recounts. We've gotta recount three states, SB, including yours. Hillary is creaming Trump by over 2 million votes in the popular vote, and if they recount it, she will win those three states and the Electoral College too. And The Presidency.
Of course, the chances of all that happening are extremely slim, because The Powers That Be don't wanna upset the Apple Cart.
But you never know. And even just to challenge the results - when we all know she beat Trump - is reason enough to do it. Just to prove it.
But back to Thanksgiving......after all the wine and conversation, it was time to watch some football, for the men at least. This time it was just me and Nico. Son Andrew (my nephew) fell asleep, and Other Son Ali was not in attendance due to overpartying in Las Vegas on his recent 21st birthday. He didn't feel good today, and is learning the hard way as all us older folk have done in that regard, haha. But he is a great kid and will be back next year, I am sure.
After football it was time for dessert (meaning pies, which are right up there with chips on the list of Things To Be Thankful For) & coffee.
As for The Kobester, he did not swipe a Turkey Bone - being as he is now a very old guy - but he did enjoy a small portion of leftovers, as well as his Usual Dog Dinner, which he pounded. Then he crashed out at our feet during the football watching session.
So that was our Thanksgiving. :)
Later this evening I watched a movie : "Prince Valiant" from 1954. You know how yesterday I was keeping with the Seafaring Motif by watching "In The Heart Of The Sea"? Well, tonight I went back to the King Arthur Motif, begun a week ago when we watched "Lancelot Du Lac" at CSUN. Then when I saw Anderson Rabin and Wakeman on Monday, Rick Wakeman came onstage wearing his King Arthur Cape, which has been his standard stage attire for a while now. So I figured I needed more King Arthur and The Knights Of The Round Table, and I Googled such movies a few days ago, then ordered a couple from The Libe, and "Prince Valiant" arrived yesterday.
Man, what a great movie!
It's shot in Cinemascope, ultra widescreen, with countryside locations in England, including a castle. The movie is 1000% Hollywood, with an American accent from the star, Prince Valiant himself (Robert Wagner), but it doesn't matter because he is so good in all other ways in his role. He wears a black "Page Boy" wig throughout, and it's funny because it looks like a really goofy hairdo now, but a few years later, in the mid 60s, there were plenty of famous rock bands, like The Byrds and many more, who sported the Prince Valiant look for a while. But back to the movie, in a short summing-up, I loved it. Directed by the great Henry Hathaway, shot in Cinemascope and in Technicolor, with Huge Hollywood Sets, what I will call "stagey" acting, where every actor invests him or herself in the role in a non-realistic way, but very theatrical yet without hamming it up. If you had seen enough Big Hollywood Productions from the 1950s, then you would see what I mean. "Prince Valiant" is a perfect example of how it was done right, and I thought it was great on all counts. Now I will look for more movies from the King Arthur Motif......but only classic ones. You've gotta have a great cast & production, a great director......man, SB, I am in danger of going off on a Motion Picture Tirade here, haha.
I won't though.
But man.............Motion Pictures.
You've gotta Do 'Em Right.
And In Hollywood, there was a certain Era when they did them right. And that was The Golden Era, which was from the early 1930s to the late 1950s. I would boil it down myself, just a little bit, to the late 30s to late 50s, about a twenty year period, and including select films from the early 30s.
But that was Studio Hollywood at it's peak. Hundreds and hundreds of great movies, in all genres.
Today was a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.
I also saw your Eric Whitacre post. That started my day and set the tone for the whole day. :):)
I am so thankful for you, Elizabeth.
I Love You and will see you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Happy Thanksgiving + "In The Heart Of The Sea" + Magic Castle
Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby,
Happy Thanksgiving also, to you and your family. I hope you had a nice day, whether at home or traveling to spend the holiday with relatives. I will be at Pearl's, in keeping with our family tradition that goes back to the early 80s, and maybe even before that. In those early days it was just my folks and my sister Vickie who attended. I may have mentioned that in my early 20s I used to do my own Thanksgiving dinners where I would cook and have a bunch of friends over. But anyhow, I've been sharing the holiday at Pearl's since 2004, and now I've been working for her since 2010 anyway, so there you have it. :)
We will probably have me, Vickie, her husband and two sons, and Pearl and her daughter. Seven of us, and of course The Kobedog, who will be expected to steal a turkey legbone out of the kitchen garbage can at some point during the meal. And then he will sneak away....real slowwww.....("here I go, I'm the dog and nobody can see me") even though he will walk right past us. That's his Thanksgiving Tradition and I hope he keeps it!
That dog is so much The Man. I just straight-up love the guy. :)
Today I didn't do much. Still blowing my mind on the ARW concert, which came out of a Higher Dimension. I slept in, then read my book ("The Orchard" by Charles Grant). In the afternoon I went for two walks; first to Northridge Libe for movies, then later to the Delicious Bakery for a spice cake for tomorrow. This eve I watched one of the movies : "In The Heart Of The Sea", directed by Ron Howard and starring Chris Hemsworth, who often plays a Big Handsome Lug but can also be pretty good when he wants to. He was really good in this, the true story of the real life whaling disaster behind the story of "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville. The story takes a little while to develop, and when they first harpooned a whale I found it a bit depressing because as we know they are magnificent creatures and in danger today. But back then they were one of society's first sources of oil, to light the cities of America. That was something I did not know.
The story then develops and we see what happens when greed takes over the captain and crew, who then run into the legendary Great White Whale, 100 feet long. I did not know that "Moby Dick" was based on a true story, and a harrowing story it is. I chose this dvd because besides being directed by the always reliable Ron Howard, I had just watched "The Finest Hours", which was tremendous, and I wanted to keep the Seafaring Motif going. This film was not quite as all around excellent as that one, but it was close, and once the confrontations with the whale begin, it really takes off. What a story of survival.
So that was my evening. And I went on my regular walk after the movie.
I saw your post of your friend Katie at the Magic Castle. That is pretty cool because I think you have to have an invitation to get in there. It's not a place where you can just make reservations, like a restaurant. It's located, I believe off of Franklin Avenue (near where my brother lives), and believe it or not, I was there once, when I was real small, maybe five or six. And I once had a book - and I may still have it - from a magician who did shows at the Castle. His name was The Great Slydini. My Dad, because he was part of Hollywood show biz in the 60s, got invited to the Castle a few times, and one time he brought me back this autographed book from The Great Slydini. I will have to check my jam-packed closet to see if I still have it.
Your friend seems to be doing well with her career, and I take it that she does live here in L.A., which I have asked before. You too will see our city one day, SB. It's a lot of fun, and also really just a "regular old, normal place".
Well, that's all for tonight. Again, have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I will talk to you tomorrow evening!
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Happy Thanksgiving also, to you and your family. I hope you had a nice day, whether at home or traveling to spend the holiday with relatives. I will be at Pearl's, in keeping with our family tradition that goes back to the early 80s, and maybe even before that. In those early days it was just my folks and my sister Vickie who attended. I may have mentioned that in my early 20s I used to do my own Thanksgiving dinners where I would cook and have a bunch of friends over. But anyhow, I've been sharing the holiday at Pearl's since 2004, and now I've been working for her since 2010 anyway, so there you have it. :)
We will probably have me, Vickie, her husband and two sons, and Pearl and her daughter. Seven of us, and of course The Kobedog, who will be expected to steal a turkey legbone out of the kitchen garbage can at some point during the meal. And then he will sneak away....real slowwww.....("here I go, I'm the dog and nobody can see me") even though he will walk right past us. That's his Thanksgiving Tradition and I hope he keeps it!
That dog is so much The Man. I just straight-up love the guy. :)
Today I didn't do much. Still blowing my mind on the ARW concert, which came out of a Higher Dimension. I slept in, then read my book ("The Orchard" by Charles Grant). In the afternoon I went for two walks; first to Northridge Libe for movies, then later to the Delicious Bakery for a spice cake for tomorrow. This eve I watched one of the movies : "In The Heart Of The Sea", directed by Ron Howard and starring Chris Hemsworth, who often plays a Big Handsome Lug but can also be pretty good when he wants to. He was really good in this, the true story of the real life whaling disaster behind the story of "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville. The story takes a little while to develop, and when they first harpooned a whale I found it a bit depressing because as we know they are magnificent creatures and in danger today. But back then they were one of society's first sources of oil, to light the cities of America. That was something I did not know.
The story then develops and we see what happens when greed takes over the captain and crew, who then run into the legendary Great White Whale, 100 feet long. I did not know that "Moby Dick" was based on a true story, and a harrowing story it is. I chose this dvd because besides being directed by the always reliable Ron Howard, I had just watched "The Finest Hours", which was tremendous, and I wanted to keep the Seafaring Motif going. This film was not quite as all around excellent as that one, but it was close, and once the confrontations with the whale begin, it really takes off. What a story of survival.
So that was my evening. And I went on my regular walk after the movie.
I saw your post of your friend Katie at the Magic Castle. That is pretty cool because I think you have to have an invitation to get in there. It's not a place where you can just make reservations, like a restaurant. It's located, I believe off of Franklin Avenue (near where my brother lives), and believe it or not, I was there once, when I was real small, maybe five or six. And I once had a book - and I may still have it - from a magician who did shows at the Castle. His name was The Great Slydini. My Dad, because he was part of Hollywood show biz in the 60s, got invited to the Castle a few times, and one time he brought me back this autographed book from The Great Slydini. I will have to check my jam-packed closet to see if I still have it.
Your friend seems to be doing well with her career, and I take it that she does live here in L.A., which I have asked before. You too will see our city one day, SB. It's a lot of fun, and also really just a "regular old, normal place".
Well, that's all for tonight. Again, have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I will talk to you tomorrow evening!
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Anderson Rabin & Wakeman : The Unreviewable Anti-Matter Concert
Happy Late Night, my Darling,
I got back from the concert a while ago. Grimsley gave me a ride home, which saved me a lot of time from taking the subway and then the Orange Line bus back across the Valley. I don't know if you saw my post on FB about an hour ago, but if you did, that was my *facetious* review of the concert, haha. I thought, "hmmm, well I've already used the "I'm speechless" gag a few times, and most recently with Steven Wilson (which I symbolised on FB by posting ".................".) But I was more than even speechless after tonight's show, so I thought, "hmmm, well how can I depict being Beyond Speechless"? And I thought about turning into an anti-matter version of myself or something along those lines, but then I thought maybe that was too complicated, so I figured that positing to Delete My FB Account would be a good representation of being Beyond Speechless. I guess the reasoning is that if I didn't have an FB account, I couldn't possibly review the concert to begin with, which would then count as being Beyond Speechless.......
I've mentioned before that I'm aware I'm a bit nutty, so you don't have to wonder, lol. :)
But these concerts, Sweet Baby..........my goodness, these concerts.....
And then this concert tonight. I finally got my chance to see Jon Anderson, the lead singer of Yes, who is not only one of my favorite singers ever but a true musical genius. You may or may not know much Yes music, and you may or may not like what you hear, but for a lot of progressive rock fans, Yes may have been the greatest of them all. One thing is for certain : no band has ever sounded remotely like them, and vice-versa.
I was also getting the chance to see Rick Freakin' Wakeman, who is perhaps The King Of Prog, having been in The Strawbs and Yes, and on top of that he released his solo record "The Six Wives Of Henry VIII" which went on to become legendary, and he also played keys on albums by David Bowie, Cat Stevens and Black Sabbath. I first saw Rick Wakeman in September 1974, at the Hollywood Bowl, during his tour for the album "Journey To The Center Of The Earth". It was the only other time I've seen him, and it was my third-ever concert - 42 years ago!
That alone is a major-league mindblower.
I had also never seen guitarist Trevor Rabin, who was in the "commercial" version of Yes. The band went through some changes in the 1980s, Rabin replaced the legendary Steve Howe and the music became more radio-friendly, while retaining it's basic prog elements.
Tonight, the set was a mixture of both versions of Yes music, the original and the more commercial, but everything about the concert was sooooo far off the charts that all I can do is just say.....
Well, I can't say anything. Not even that I'm speechless.
I guess the only thing I can say is that the playing was the greatest I've seen by a band since Emerson Lake & Palmer back in 1974. Jon Anderson's voice was flawless. He just turned 72!, and yet he sounds just as he did when the songs were recorded. I am so glad I finally got to see him!
Ditto with Rick Wakeman, who shredded across seven different keyboards tonight, including two Mini-Moogs, which have always been a big part of his signature sound.
But I think the biggest surprise for me was how good a guitarist Trevor Rabin is. State of the art, 21st Century. He gives the band an energetic punch that pushes the sonics of the live show to their absolute limit.
I'm blown away.
It was an appropriate way to end the amazing run of concerts of 2016.
When they play again I may have to become the anti-matter version of myself to review it. :)
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I got back from the concert a while ago. Grimsley gave me a ride home, which saved me a lot of time from taking the subway and then the Orange Line bus back across the Valley. I don't know if you saw my post on FB about an hour ago, but if you did, that was my *facetious* review of the concert, haha. I thought, "hmmm, well I've already used the "I'm speechless" gag a few times, and most recently with Steven Wilson (which I symbolised on FB by posting ".................".) But I was more than even speechless after tonight's show, so I thought, "hmmm, well how can I depict being Beyond Speechless"? And I thought about turning into an anti-matter version of myself or something along those lines, but then I thought maybe that was too complicated, so I figured that positing to Delete My FB Account would be a good representation of being Beyond Speechless. I guess the reasoning is that if I didn't have an FB account, I couldn't possibly review the concert to begin with, which would then count as being Beyond Speechless.......
I've mentioned before that I'm aware I'm a bit nutty, so you don't have to wonder, lol. :)
But these concerts, Sweet Baby..........my goodness, these concerts.....
And then this concert tonight. I finally got my chance to see Jon Anderson, the lead singer of Yes, who is not only one of my favorite singers ever but a true musical genius. You may or may not know much Yes music, and you may or may not like what you hear, but for a lot of progressive rock fans, Yes may have been the greatest of them all. One thing is for certain : no band has ever sounded remotely like them, and vice-versa.
I was also getting the chance to see Rick Freakin' Wakeman, who is perhaps The King Of Prog, having been in The Strawbs and Yes, and on top of that he released his solo record "The Six Wives Of Henry VIII" which went on to become legendary, and he also played keys on albums by David Bowie, Cat Stevens and Black Sabbath. I first saw Rick Wakeman in September 1974, at the Hollywood Bowl, during his tour for the album "Journey To The Center Of The Earth". It was the only other time I've seen him, and it was my third-ever concert - 42 years ago!
That alone is a major-league mindblower.
I had also never seen guitarist Trevor Rabin, who was in the "commercial" version of Yes. The band went through some changes in the 1980s, Rabin replaced the legendary Steve Howe and the music became more radio-friendly, while retaining it's basic prog elements.
Tonight, the set was a mixture of both versions of Yes music, the original and the more commercial, but everything about the concert was sooooo far off the charts that all I can do is just say.....
Well, I can't say anything. Not even that I'm speechless.
I guess the only thing I can say is that the playing was the greatest I've seen by a band since Emerson Lake & Palmer back in 1974. Jon Anderson's voice was flawless. He just turned 72!, and yet he sounds just as he did when the songs were recorded. I am so glad I finally got to see him!
Ditto with Rick Wakeman, who shredded across seven different keyboards tonight, including two Mini-Moogs, which have always been a big part of his signature sound.
But I think the biggest surprise for me was how good a guitarist Trevor Rabin is. State of the art, 21st Century. He gives the band an energetic punch that pushes the sonics of the live show to their absolute limit.
I'm blown away.
It was an appropriate way to end the amazing run of concerts of 2016.
When they play again I may have to become the anti-matter version of myself to review it. :)
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Hangin' At Home + KUSC + "Arrival"
Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby,
I hope your day was a good one, that your week is off to a good start and that you are gearing up for Thanksgiving and also for your birthday weekend. I say "yes" to all of that, that all of those things are answered affirmative! :) I will also bet that you are working on one project or another..... :)
As for me.......I slept in this morning. Big time, SB. I don't always realise how tired I get by the end of a work cycle until I have a day off and that first sleep-in. Then I know, haha.
So I slept until 11:30 (!), then read my latest Charles Grant book, "The Orchard" (poetic & scary). Then I just puttered about The Tiny Apartment, straightening up a bit and listening to KUSC. I have that station literally playing 24/7 in my apartment, usually softly and never loud, but it is playing even when I am not home, to keep that vibe going at all times. Classical music is a source and a force of great positivity, and on KUSC you not only get the music, without commercials, but also the erudition and individual personalities of the esteemed hosts (I hesitate to call them DJs, lol). I started listening to the station when I was about 25, and in the last 15 years it's been a constant with me.
In the early evening, I walked out to the Northridge Mall, about a mile and a half away, to see "Arrival". Grimsley had been pestering me to see it in the theater, so I figured I'd better go while it was still playing, before all the holiday movies open.
I have read several reviews by some of my FB friends, and Grim raved about it. My review is mixed. I thought that the overall production was fantastic, the photography and sound are as good as it gets. I also liked the spare coloring of the film, pale colors instead of lurid. That lessening of the visual stimulation added to the focus on the emotional aspect. This was more of an artsy alien picture than a full-blown Mega Sci-Fi UFO Spectactular. The focus was on the human aspect, and even the "humanity" of the creatures, who also possess emotions. The story is all about how the humans and aliens communicate with each other, and the sci-fi is all stripped down. The spaceship only consists of a rough black material and nothing more.
I hope I'm not giving any spoilers, and I'll say no more about the plot or story. The cast is perfect, the leads (Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner) couldn't have been better chosen to convey the theme of human vulnerability and ingenuity. So all of that is the Good Stuff, and in all of those ways it's an excellent movie, and an interesting one too.
Where it breaks down a bit, I'm afraid, as always, is in the script. "When in doubt, blame the screenwriter". :) That's my Movie Maxim, and it usually holds up. In "Arrival", to many plot points are set up and then quickly passed over and forgotten. Difficult if not impossible feats of Alien Communication Translation are just sped past and glossed over, and all of this is to set up a final half hour on the nature of time, as it relates to a lead character, that is extremely confusing as it is presented on screen. Very obtuse writing in that final section and not nearly as good as it could have been.
This movie could have knocked it out of the park on all counts and could have been one of the great sci-fi movies of all time, artsy or not. But the script keeps it from reaching those heights unfortunately.
Still, and this is a big "still"......Still, it's a really, really good movie just as an overall production, and thus is very much recommended despite it's faults. Many have loved it and called it a classic. I simply call it very good. See it, if you haven't already, whether in the theater or on dvd.
That's all I know for tonight. Tomorrow night I will be going to The Orpheum Theater in Downtown Los Angeles to see Anderson, Rabin and Wakeman, three main guys from Yes, and I couldn't be more stoked. This will be the final concert for me this year, as well as the last one in the incredible run of shows I've been fortunate to see in the past 13 weeks or so. I should be home around the Usual Time, I would guess around Midnight, and I'll be here all day until I leave for Downtown as well.
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I hope your day was a good one, that your week is off to a good start and that you are gearing up for Thanksgiving and also for your birthday weekend. I say "yes" to all of that, that all of those things are answered affirmative! :) I will also bet that you are working on one project or another..... :)
As for me.......I slept in this morning. Big time, SB. I don't always realise how tired I get by the end of a work cycle until I have a day off and that first sleep-in. Then I know, haha.
So I slept until 11:30 (!), then read my latest Charles Grant book, "The Orchard" (poetic & scary). Then I just puttered about The Tiny Apartment, straightening up a bit and listening to KUSC. I have that station literally playing 24/7 in my apartment, usually softly and never loud, but it is playing even when I am not home, to keep that vibe going at all times. Classical music is a source and a force of great positivity, and on KUSC you not only get the music, without commercials, but also the erudition and individual personalities of the esteemed hosts (I hesitate to call them DJs, lol). I started listening to the station when I was about 25, and in the last 15 years it's been a constant with me.
In the early evening, I walked out to the Northridge Mall, about a mile and a half away, to see "Arrival". Grimsley had been pestering me to see it in the theater, so I figured I'd better go while it was still playing, before all the holiday movies open.
I have read several reviews by some of my FB friends, and Grim raved about it. My review is mixed. I thought that the overall production was fantastic, the photography and sound are as good as it gets. I also liked the spare coloring of the film, pale colors instead of lurid. That lessening of the visual stimulation added to the focus on the emotional aspect. This was more of an artsy alien picture than a full-blown Mega Sci-Fi UFO Spectactular. The focus was on the human aspect, and even the "humanity" of the creatures, who also possess emotions. The story is all about how the humans and aliens communicate with each other, and the sci-fi is all stripped down. The spaceship only consists of a rough black material and nothing more.
I hope I'm not giving any spoilers, and I'll say no more about the plot or story. The cast is perfect, the leads (Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner) couldn't have been better chosen to convey the theme of human vulnerability and ingenuity. So all of that is the Good Stuff, and in all of those ways it's an excellent movie, and an interesting one too.
Where it breaks down a bit, I'm afraid, as always, is in the script. "When in doubt, blame the screenwriter". :) That's my Movie Maxim, and it usually holds up. In "Arrival", to many plot points are set up and then quickly passed over and forgotten. Difficult if not impossible feats of Alien Communication Translation are just sped past and glossed over, and all of this is to set up a final half hour on the nature of time, as it relates to a lead character, that is extremely confusing as it is presented on screen. Very obtuse writing in that final section and not nearly as good as it could have been.
This movie could have knocked it out of the park on all counts and could have been one of the great sci-fi movies of all time, artsy or not. But the script keeps it from reaching those heights unfortunately.
Still, and this is a big "still"......Still, it's a really, really good movie just as an overall production, and thus is very much recommended despite it's faults. Many have loved it and called it a classic. I simply call it very good. See it, if you haven't already, whether in the theater or on dvd.
That's all I know for tonight. Tomorrow night I will be going to The Orpheum Theater in Downtown Los Angeles to see Anderson, Rabin and Wakeman, three main guys from Yes, and I couldn't be more stoked. This will be the final concert for me this year, as well as the last one in the incredible run of shows I've been fortunate to see in the past 13 weeks or so. I should be home around the Usual Time, I would guess around Midnight, and I'll be here all day until I leave for Downtown as well.
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Monday, November 21, 2016
On Doing It Your Way, Which Is The Only Way + "The Finest Hours"
Happy Late Night, my Darling,
I am writing from home, and will be doing so until next Saturday night. It is raining pretty steady outside, but I was able to still get my walk in at 7pm, with umbrella in hand. My usually noisy apartment complex is quiet tonight - a huge blessing - and I am hoping the quiet will last for all of Thanksgiving week, with noisy students possibly at home for the holiday, though I believe they still have classes through Wednesday. Well, fingers are crossed anyway. There's no substitute for silence when you live in an apartment, lol. :)
I hope your day was good. I see a motif in a couple of your recent posts - "The Touring Van". Your friend Steve, who has been posting a lot during his & Sarah's tour, reflects on being trapped in a van (the price paid by all rockers from Time Immemorial), while your friends from Stitched Up Heart have just acquired a spiffy new bus. They must be making some fairly decent money on tour, even if they are just renting it. But in all - I say Good On All Of Those Guys and Gals. It is beyond cool to see everybody doing their thing and having success, and as we have seen, Sweet Baby, and as we have said and as we have shown.....
That is exactly how you Do It.
Just by simply Doing It.
Of course, we know about all the years of preparation that go into becoming a professional musician, or a professional in any creative endeavor. But in the end, it comes down to doing it or not doing it, and we know that a lot of people do not end up Doing It, even though they prepared to, just because they opted instead for the so-called Secure Life of The American Person (whatever that is). And we are not knocking those creative types who fall away, not at all. God Bless 'Em. What we are doing instead is celebrating the ones who opt to Keep Going, and in this case we see young bands out on the road, having that Road Experience, and all the live concert experiences, and I'll bet they are having a blast, even when they are trapped in vans. :)
You can trust me, as a guy a few (ahem, cough cough) years older, and in my case a guy who did not go forward in a band but who stuck to my guns in other ways, when I say that these guys and gals are gonna look back at this time in their lives and relish every moment of the remembered experience. They will also be very glad they chose the route they did in life.
Which brings me to you, SB.
I saw another post of yours this afternoon, from a friend who has designed clothing that now is being worn by famous people like Kylie Jenner. The gist of his post was that he always hung in there, even though he was the Artistic Kid in what he called a Vanilla Town (though your town certainly is not Vanilla). But you and I both know what he means by feeling like the artistic young person who has to really hang in there and believe in him or herself while all around him, his peers are becoming Part Of Society.
But what people like us know is that we are part of society as well, just in a different way. And we can only be ourselves. We can only do what we do. Your friend did it, and his clothing is now being worn by the Stars.
He also mentioned the support from his Mom, and I have said before and want to say again that, while I obviously don't know your Mom, it sure seems to me like she is a great ally of yours, and I think that is 100% Awesome. :)
You too are going to look back on this time with great fondness and nostalgia (though let the "looking back" wait a couple of decades or so, lol) and you are gonna be so glad that you followed your heart in life, and in your career. You are gonna be glad you followed your instincts, and your Nature.
Remember, You Know Yourself. That's the whole deal, end of story.
And what you have accomplished since college and art school is amazing. But the most important part of all is in the day-to-day experience and the creation of memories.
Even if you are trapped in a van, haha.
Well, that's all I know for tonight. We had good singing in church and a good rehearsal, too. I am still trying for those Ave Maria's on the John Rutter piece, but I will hit them when the time comes, guaranteed. :)
I also watched a movie this evening : "The Finest Hours", a true life adventure story about a heroic Coast Guard rescue of the crew of a sinking oil tanker off the coast of Massachusetts in 1952. Man, what a great movie. It is a Hollywood movie, made by Disney, but in this case that is exactly the right choice of a company to produce such a film. Not every movie has to be art-house, and you know I love Hollywood movies (when they are good), and this one has so much feeling and honor and resolve that you just wanna stand up and cheer at the end......except the feeling is more reserved than that, because of what the sailors have been through.
A "10" on all counts, I loved this movie.
I will see you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I am writing from home, and will be doing so until next Saturday night. It is raining pretty steady outside, but I was able to still get my walk in at 7pm, with umbrella in hand. My usually noisy apartment complex is quiet tonight - a huge blessing - and I am hoping the quiet will last for all of Thanksgiving week, with noisy students possibly at home for the holiday, though I believe they still have classes through Wednesday. Well, fingers are crossed anyway. There's no substitute for silence when you live in an apartment, lol. :)
I hope your day was good. I see a motif in a couple of your recent posts - "The Touring Van". Your friend Steve, who has been posting a lot during his & Sarah's tour, reflects on being trapped in a van (the price paid by all rockers from Time Immemorial), while your friends from Stitched Up Heart have just acquired a spiffy new bus. They must be making some fairly decent money on tour, even if they are just renting it. But in all - I say Good On All Of Those Guys and Gals. It is beyond cool to see everybody doing their thing and having success, and as we have seen, Sweet Baby, and as we have said and as we have shown.....
That is exactly how you Do It.
Just by simply Doing It.
Of course, we know about all the years of preparation that go into becoming a professional musician, or a professional in any creative endeavor. But in the end, it comes down to doing it or not doing it, and we know that a lot of people do not end up Doing It, even though they prepared to, just because they opted instead for the so-called Secure Life of The American Person (whatever that is). And we are not knocking those creative types who fall away, not at all. God Bless 'Em. What we are doing instead is celebrating the ones who opt to Keep Going, and in this case we see young bands out on the road, having that Road Experience, and all the live concert experiences, and I'll bet they are having a blast, even when they are trapped in vans. :)
You can trust me, as a guy a few (ahem, cough cough) years older, and in my case a guy who did not go forward in a band but who stuck to my guns in other ways, when I say that these guys and gals are gonna look back at this time in their lives and relish every moment of the remembered experience. They will also be very glad they chose the route they did in life.
Which brings me to you, SB.
I saw another post of yours this afternoon, from a friend who has designed clothing that now is being worn by famous people like Kylie Jenner. The gist of his post was that he always hung in there, even though he was the Artistic Kid in what he called a Vanilla Town (though your town certainly is not Vanilla). But you and I both know what he means by feeling like the artistic young person who has to really hang in there and believe in him or herself while all around him, his peers are becoming Part Of Society.
But what people like us know is that we are part of society as well, just in a different way. And we can only be ourselves. We can only do what we do. Your friend did it, and his clothing is now being worn by the Stars.
He also mentioned the support from his Mom, and I have said before and want to say again that, while I obviously don't know your Mom, it sure seems to me like she is a great ally of yours, and I think that is 100% Awesome. :)
You too are going to look back on this time with great fondness and nostalgia (though let the "looking back" wait a couple of decades or so, lol) and you are gonna be so glad that you followed your heart in life, and in your career. You are gonna be glad you followed your instincts, and your Nature.
Remember, You Know Yourself. That's the whole deal, end of story.
And what you have accomplished since college and art school is amazing. But the most important part of all is in the day-to-day experience and the creation of memories.
Even if you are trapped in a van, haha.
Well, that's all I know for tonight. We had good singing in church and a good rehearsal, too. I am still trying for those Ave Maria's on the John Rutter piece, but I will hit them when the time comes, guaranteed. :)
I also watched a movie this evening : "The Finest Hours", a true life adventure story about a heroic Coast Guard rescue of the crew of a sinking oil tanker off the coast of Massachusetts in 1952. Man, what a great movie. It is a Hollywood movie, made by Disney, but in this case that is exactly the right choice of a company to produce such a film. Not every movie has to be art-house, and you know I love Hollywood movies (when they are good), and this one has so much feeling and honor and resolve that you just wanna stand up and cheer at the end......except the feeling is more reserved than that, because of what the sailors have been through.
A "10" on all counts, I loved this movie.
I will see you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Saturday, November 19, 2016
Late Night Love + Eat Your Greens + Mom + "Something Wicked"
Happy Late Night, my Darling,
I hope you had a great day and that your weekend is off to a good start. There is not much to report on my end, just a bit of shopping this afternoon at the produce market. I bought turnip greens this time instead of kale. I love me some turnip greens, and collard greens too. You might be thinkin' "gross" (or you might not), but I know when I was younger it was strictly romaine lettuce for me. Other weirder greens were to bitter tasting. But I was always a plant eater, and I always ate my greens, even as a kid, and eventually I grew to like any vegetable or green at all. Once you get used to 'em, there really aren't any that are awful, and actually I think they all taste pretty good. And, they are good for you. So turnip greens it is this time. :)
Today would have been my Mom's 93rd birthday. I sure do miss her every day, though I was fortunate to have her in my life until I was 45. Thank You Lord, for my Mom. :)
Tonight's movie was "Something Wicked This Way Comes" (1983), the Disney production of Ray Bradbury's famous story that starred Jason Robards and Jonathan Pryce. I saw this movie in the theater when it came out, and though I was a little disappointed at first - because I didn't know the story and had been expecting a full-blown horror film - there were qualities of the movie that stuck with me all these years, and upon watching it a second time, thirty three years later!, I think it was those qualities that made me realise, this time, that it is a great movie after all. A minor classic at least.
The qualities are mainly the presentation of evil as a quiet, invasive force, in this case as a carnival headed up by Mr. Dark, as played by Pryce. The setting also plays a part. They chose a classic small town location in Vermont, that just exudes Americana, and finally there is a fantasy aspect to what Mr. Dark offers the people of the town a chance to regain their youth. Two young boys (the stars of the film) see through his facade, and he hunts them down, ultimately through Robards as one boy's worn-out elderly father, and this sets up a confrontation that is a centerpiece of the film. The scene in the library between Jason Robards and the Shakepearean Jonathan Pryce is reason alone to watch this film. Two fantastic actors at the top of their game, and I think it is this quality most of all, the quality of the acting and the story, that stuck with me through the years. The director was Jack Clayton, who made one of the top ten Horror Films of all time with "The Innocents" from 1961. There are a few special effects which "date" the film in the 80s, before CGI (which will also look dated eventually), but all in all, even though the film is Hollywoodised and made by Disney, there is still a creepiness in the story that brings out the dread. And the art direction and look of the Carnival itself is awesome. A definite thumbs up from me. :)
Well, that's all I know for tonight. I saw one post by you, about a guy who has lost weight and is trying to work out and get healthy, but because it was a "first time" like, by you of an FB friend I have never seen you post before, I am guessing you meant it more for yourself? Maybe as a response to the subject of hiking (and dangling feet?) I don't know, only a guess, because you have never need to lose weight, but maybe the talk of hiking and getting in shape all go together.......or maybe your friend on FB is a client in a band.
At any rate, it's all good. I will see you in the morning.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I hope you had a great day and that your weekend is off to a good start. There is not much to report on my end, just a bit of shopping this afternoon at the produce market. I bought turnip greens this time instead of kale. I love me some turnip greens, and collard greens too. You might be thinkin' "gross" (or you might not), but I know when I was younger it was strictly romaine lettuce for me. Other weirder greens were to bitter tasting. But I was always a plant eater, and I always ate my greens, even as a kid, and eventually I grew to like any vegetable or green at all. Once you get used to 'em, there really aren't any that are awful, and actually I think they all taste pretty good. And, they are good for you. So turnip greens it is this time. :)
Today would have been my Mom's 93rd birthday. I sure do miss her every day, though I was fortunate to have her in my life until I was 45. Thank You Lord, for my Mom. :)
Tonight's movie was "Something Wicked This Way Comes" (1983), the Disney production of Ray Bradbury's famous story that starred Jason Robards and Jonathan Pryce. I saw this movie in the theater when it came out, and though I was a little disappointed at first - because I didn't know the story and had been expecting a full-blown horror film - there were qualities of the movie that stuck with me all these years, and upon watching it a second time, thirty three years later!, I think it was those qualities that made me realise, this time, that it is a great movie after all. A minor classic at least.
The qualities are mainly the presentation of evil as a quiet, invasive force, in this case as a carnival headed up by Mr. Dark, as played by Pryce. The setting also plays a part. They chose a classic small town location in Vermont, that just exudes Americana, and finally there is a fantasy aspect to what Mr. Dark offers the people of the town a chance to regain their youth. Two young boys (the stars of the film) see through his facade, and he hunts them down, ultimately through Robards as one boy's worn-out elderly father, and this sets up a confrontation that is a centerpiece of the film. The scene in the library between Jason Robards and the Shakepearean Jonathan Pryce is reason alone to watch this film. Two fantastic actors at the top of their game, and I think it is this quality most of all, the quality of the acting and the story, that stuck with me through the years. The director was Jack Clayton, who made one of the top ten Horror Films of all time with "The Innocents" from 1961. There are a few special effects which "date" the film in the 80s, before CGI (which will also look dated eventually), but all in all, even though the film is Hollywoodised and made by Disney, there is still a creepiness in the story that brings out the dread. And the art direction and look of the Carnival itself is awesome. A definite thumbs up from me. :)
Well, that's all I know for tonight. I saw one post by you, about a guy who has lost weight and is trying to work out and get healthy, but because it was a "first time" like, by you of an FB friend I have never seen you post before, I am guessing you meant it more for yourself? Maybe as a response to the subject of hiking (and dangling feet?) I don't know, only a guess, because you have never need to lose weight, but maybe the talk of hiking and getting in shape all go together.......or maybe your friend on FB is a client in a band.
At any rate, it's all good. I will see you in the morning.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Friday, November 18, 2016
Great Photo Yet Again + Dangling Feet + Bresson Mini-Tirade (why he is the greatest)
Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby,
That was quite a picture this morning! Wow - there was a lot going on in that one, most strikingly The SB sitting on a cliff, lol. I imagine it's a lot more secure than it looks, but still......you won't get me up there, haha. :)
The maximum for me is about three feet from an edge, and I'd prefer at least five, but sometimes I'll get a little closer for my own photographic purposes. But no sitting down with feet dangling!
It just comes down to how comfortable you are with heights, and I am not comfortable with them, although I am a whole lot less nervous then I was when I began hiking. In 2014, when I started, I would always stay on the inside of a trail, close to the mountain and away from a cliff. Now, I am not as tenuous about it. But I still won't go all the way to a cliff edge. You must have no fear of heights. :)
Besides all of that, it's a great photo in many ways. There is so much happening : the ripples on the water below, the sunlight on the treetop, the trees reflected in your sunglasses, and the human aspect of your hand and feet, wearing sneakers. It looks like you could be reclining at home, with your notebook, but instead you're on a cliff. So it's a great photo all around, and nice grey scale range too. I hope you had a good brainstorming session as well as a nice hike, and though you didn't mention the location, I am pretty sure I've seen that park in your pictures before. :)
Tonight's movie at CSUN was Bresson's "Lancelot Du Lac". I've seen it a few times on dvd, but never before on a movie screen, and now I have a whole new appreciation for it. After the screening, I went home and looked it up on IMDB, and I saw that there are wildly varying opinions of this film. Some people, even many who claim to be big Bresson fans, think it's his worst film, or an outright turkey.
I felt like issuing a four word response, applicable to any of those "one star" reviews : "You are an idiot". Which I did not do, of course.
But I wanted to because Bresson's "Lancelot" is an amazing work, one of the most Bressonian of all his films. Everything he's worked on throughout his career is being perfected here, especially the camera framing and editing, the sound design, and most of all the stripping down of story. This is Knights Of The Round Table in real life, with no mythology and little grandeur or romance. If that were all it was, just an anti-Arthurian film, as opposed to all the ultra mythic Hollywood takes on the story, then it would have been as bad as the IMDB critics say. But because it is made with the epitome of Bresson's style of precision filmmaking, perhaps his best technical film, it actually takes the King Arthur story to a whole new level.
At least I think so. I love this movie, this is the fourth time I've seen it, and conversely I also equally love the ultimate Hollywood romanticised version of the tale, "Knights Of The Round Table" from 1953, starring Robert Taylor and Ava Gardner. Bresson himself would have hated this version, but I equally love it with his film. Nothing wrong with Hollywood movies (especially in the old days), and there is certainly nothing wrong with artistic films. Just gimme the best of both worlds.
As far as Robert Bresson goes, I am afraid I will have to go on a mini-tirade here and declare him The Greatest Filmmaker Of All Time. I know I have essentially said the same thing a few times before, but tonight I've gotta make it official. Yeah, I know you've got your Ozu and your Tarkovsky. You've got your Antonioni. Some might say Bergman. I myself might put Satyajit Ray up there, or Orson Welles. David Lynch.
But Bresson created a super-precision cinematic style and a way of telling stories, ultilising non-traditional acting, that has an artistic effect that I think is unsurpassed. Remember how we think of the concept of Art as creating something that cannot be described....
That is the effect Bresson leaves you with, in all of his films. Something beyond description.
He is #1 for me, and all of his films are a Ten.
Lastly, I should mention that I have seen a few of your posts in the last couple days, including the Mannequin Challenge and the recent photos of Steve, including the one of him standing mountaintop in Colorado. He emphasised the motif we have spoken of : "It's good to be back out West". :)
I also saw an Eric Whitacre post yesterday (which I always love) but then it disappeared from the search later on. That is what I mean by FB's algorithm for returning a search of your posts. So maybe on some days you are posting new stuff and FB just doesn't show it. I don't know, but I do know everything is good.
As of Sunday, I will be off all of Thanksgiving week.
That's all for tonight.
I Love You! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
That was quite a picture this morning! Wow - there was a lot going on in that one, most strikingly The SB sitting on a cliff, lol. I imagine it's a lot more secure than it looks, but still......you won't get me up there, haha. :)
The maximum for me is about three feet from an edge, and I'd prefer at least five, but sometimes I'll get a little closer for my own photographic purposes. But no sitting down with feet dangling!
It just comes down to how comfortable you are with heights, and I am not comfortable with them, although I am a whole lot less nervous then I was when I began hiking. In 2014, when I started, I would always stay on the inside of a trail, close to the mountain and away from a cliff. Now, I am not as tenuous about it. But I still won't go all the way to a cliff edge. You must have no fear of heights. :)
Besides all of that, it's a great photo in many ways. There is so much happening : the ripples on the water below, the sunlight on the treetop, the trees reflected in your sunglasses, and the human aspect of your hand and feet, wearing sneakers. It looks like you could be reclining at home, with your notebook, but instead you're on a cliff. So it's a great photo all around, and nice grey scale range too. I hope you had a good brainstorming session as well as a nice hike, and though you didn't mention the location, I am pretty sure I've seen that park in your pictures before. :)
Tonight's movie at CSUN was Bresson's "Lancelot Du Lac". I've seen it a few times on dvd, but never before on a movie screen, and now I have a whole new appreciation for it. After the screening, I went home and looked it up on IMDB, and I saw that there are wildly varying opinions of this film. Some people, even many who claim to be big Bresson fans, think it's his worst film, or an outright turkey.
I felt like issuing a four word response, applicable to any of those "one star" reviews : "You are an idiot". Which I did not do, of course.
But I wanted to because Bresson's "Lancelot" is an amazing work, one of the most Bressonian of all his films. Everything he's worked on throughout his career is being perfected here, especially the camera framing and editing, the sound design, and most of all the stripping down of story. This is Knights Of The Round Table in real life, with no mythology and little grandeur or romance. If that were all it was, just an anti-Arthurian film, as opposed to all the ultra mythic Hollywood takes on the story, then it would have been as bad as the IMDB critics say. But because it is made with the epitome of Bresson's style of precision filmmaking, perhaps his best technical film, it actually takes the King Arthur story to a whole new level.
At least I think so. I love this movie, this is the fourth time I've seen it, and conversely I also equally love the ultimate Hollywood romanticised version of the tale, "Knights Of The Round Table" from 1953, starring Robert Taylor and Ava Gardner. Bresson himself would have hated this version, but I equally love it with his film. Nothing wrong with Hollywood movies (especially in the old days), and there is certainly nothing wrong with artistic films. Just gimme the best of both worlds.
As far as Robert Bresson goes, I am afraid I will have to go on a mini-tirade here and declare him The Greatest Filmmaker Of All Time. I know I have essentially said the same thing a few times before, but tonight I've gotta make it official. Yeah, I know you've got your Ozu and your Tarkovsky. You've got your Antonioni. Some might say Bergman. I myself might put Satyajit Ray up there, or Orson Welles. David Lynch.
But Bresson created a super-precision cinematic style and a way of telling stories, ultilising non-traditional acting, that has an artistic effect that I think is unsurpassed. Remember how we think of the concept of Art as creating something that cannot be described....
That is the effect Bresson leaves you with, in all of his films. Something beyond description.
He is #1 for me, and all of his films are a Ten.
Lastly, I should mention that I have seen a few of your posts in the last couple days, including the Mannequin Challenge and the recent photos of Steve, including the one of him standing mountaintop in Colorado. He emphasised the motif we have spoken of : "It's good to be back out West". :)
I also saw an Eric Whitacre post yesterday (which I always love) but then it disappeared from the search later on. That is what I mean by FB's algorithm for returning a search of your posts. So maybe on some days you are posting new stuff and FB just doesn't show it. I don't know, but I do know everything is good.
As of Sunday, I will be off all of Thanksgiving week.
That's all for tonight.
I Love You! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Beautiful Photo + Windy City + A Movie And A Book + Artist
Happy Late Night, my Darling,
I hope you had a nice day and a good hike this morning. :) That was a beautiful photograph you posted, just a lovely scene with the tree - which looks like a Christmas tree - standing with most of it's leaves intact amidst other bare trees. The color of the leaves stands out against the blue sky and white snow on the ground. It's a gorgeous scene, and what a great place to go for a hike! I am guessing it must have been cold before the weather warmed up enough for you to go jacketless as you reported, because of the snow. Cold enough to snow, then warmer. In fact, I am gonna check Weather.com right now........back in a sec.
Okay, I just checked the weather for your town : 51 degrees right now. That's warmer than we are! (more on that in a minute). And tomorrow you are gonna have a nice 70 degree day. Friday will be 65, but then it drops down to 41 by Saturday. But still, you have a couple of jacketless days left.
It's funny that just yesterday I was talking about still wearing t-shirts on my nightly walks, and I think I must have jinxed myself because tonight it was a whole different story. The day was nice here, mid 70s, but then by nightfall it got chilly, and then the wind started kicking up. Big time Santa Anas, which we get at this time of year. I should note here that of all adverse weather conditions, I dislike wind the most. A breeze is lovely, but Santa Ana winds are anything but, and by the time I went for my walk at 8:30, it was in-your-find face "gale force" wind (which means not technically gale force, but I say so anyway because it was still ultra strong and I hate it). So we'll call it Gale Force (and it's probably not too far off, lol) and it was also really cold by then, probably mid-40s with wind chill factor. So it was colder here than at your place!
My goodness, SB. It wasn't the dreaded L.A. Cold, not yet........but it was doggone chilly, so I finally had to put on a sweatshirt. I probably should have worn a jacket too. Two big thumbs down on the wind.
Tonight's movie was another one from Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki, who made "The Match Factory Girl" which we saw at CSUN a couple weeks ago. I mentioned that I had found another of his films in the library system, and tonight I watched it : "The Man Without A Past". It was about a man who suffers total amnesia after getting robbed and beaten by thugs, only it's a comedy, done in a quiet, deadpan style, similar to the style in "Match Factory Girl", and that actress stars in this one, too. In fact, she won an award at Cannes in 2003 for her performance. It's a very funny movie, but as low key as is possible. Maybe it's a "Finnish thing", I dunno. But I like this director and I will be looking for more of his films.
Nothing else to report today, except that I finished (or should I say "Finnished"?) "The Black Carousel" by Charles L. Grant, and I must say that it was one of the weirdest and most unnerving horror novels I've ever read. Entirely different from Stephen King. Grant wrote in a poetic, stream-of consciousness style in which the plot is kind of left up to the reader to connect the dots.......but as far as just pure writing, sentence after sentence to create a mood and a world, Grant was a s good at it gets. He died a while back, but I will be looking for more of his books.......
I have gotta say, Elizabeth, that I am so happy that you are doing what you do. You were born to be an Artist, as I have been saying for many years now. I said it right off the bat, because I could see the real You. I know that could sound pretentious.......if it was anybody but me saying it.......but I really could see, and when I think about it now, and the way things have worked out, it just makes me so happy that you are living that reality, or Living The Dream, as they say. But for you, it is reality, and you are gonna live your life that way from here on out.
As you know, the money is important in a business sense, to maintain stability and forward motion. And I trust you are doing okay in that respect, and more will come in the future. Count on it!
But even more important is what I will call the self-influencing or self-fulfilling mindset, which you put forth into the world and with which you declare yourself, with quiet confidence, to be who you are.
Thought and feeling is everything.
It is Everything. Thinking thoughts to God, about who you are. You know who you are.
You know what you like to do, and so you make it your profession, even though "profession" is an inadequate word to describe the life of an Artist. The Artist lives much of the time in thought.
The money earned is a function, and an important one to be sure.
But the thought process, the contemplation is all-encompassing and constant.
It is what drives the confidence forward.
When you are In The Mindset, nothing can stop you because You Are Being Who You Are.
Everything follows from that.
You are your Mindset as an Artist.
You Rule, and I am super happy.
I Love Lou. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I hope you had a nice day and a good hike this morning. :) That was a beautiful photograph you posted, just a lovely scene with the tree - which looks like a Christmas tree - standing with most of it's leaves intact amidst other bare trees. The color of the leaves stands out against the blue sky and white snow on the ground. It's a gorgeous scene, and what a great place to go for a hike! I am guessing it must have been cold before the weather warmed up enough for you to go jacketless as you reported, because of the snow. Cold enough to snow, then warmer. In fact, I am gonna check Weather.com right now........back in a sec.
Okay, I just checked the weather for your town : 51 degrees right now. That's warmer than we are! (more on that in a minute). And tomorrow you are gonna have a nice 70 degree day. Friday will be 65, but then it drops down to 41 by Saturday. But still, you have a couple of jacketless days left.
It's funny that just yesterday I was talking about still wearing t-shirts on my nightly walks, and I think I must have jinxed myself because tonight it was a whole different story. The day was nice here, mid 70s, but then by nightfall it got chilly, and then the wind started kicking up. Big time Santa Anas, which we get at this time of year. I should note here that of all adverse weather conditions, I dislike wind the most. A breeze is lovely, but Santa Ana winds are anything but, and by the time I went for my walk at 8:30, it was in-your-find face "gale force" wind (which means not technically gale force, but I say so anyway because it was still ultra strong and I hate it). So we'll call it Gale Force (and it's probably not too far off, lol) and it was also really cold by then, probably mid-40s with wind chill factor. So it was colder here than at your place!
My goodness, SB. It wasn't the dreaded L.A. Cold, not yet........but it was doggone chilly, so I finally had to put on a sweatshirt. I probably should have worn a jacket too. Two big thumbs down on the wind.
Tonight's movie was another one from Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki, who made "The Match Factory Girl" which we saw at CSUN a couple weeks ago. I mentioned that I had found another of his films in the library system, and tonight I watched it : "The Man Without A Past". It was about a man who suffers total amnesia after getting robbed and beaten by thugs, only it's a comedy, done in a quiet, deadpan style, similar to the style in "Match Factory Girl", and that actress stars in this one, too. In fact, she won an award at Cannes in 2003 for her performance. It's a very funny movie, but as low key as is possible. Maybe it's a "Finnish thing", I dunno. But I like this director and I will be looking for more of his films.
Nothing else to report today, except that I finished (or should I say "Finnished"?) "The Black Carousel" by Charles L. Grant, and I must say that it was one of the weirdest and most unnerving horror novels I've ever read. Entirely different from Stephen King. Grant wrote in a poetic, stream-of consciousness style in which the plot is kind of left up to the reader to connect the dots.......but as far as just pure writing, sentence after sentence to create a mood and a world, Grant was a s good at it gets. He died a while back, but I will be looking for more of his books.......
I have gotta say, Elizabeth, that I am so happy that you are doing what you do. You were born to be an Artist, as I have been saying for many years now. I said it right off the bat, because I could see the real You. I know that could sound pretentious.......if it was anybody but me saying it.......but I really could see, and when I think about it now, and the way things have worked out, it just makes me so happy that you are living that reality, or Living The Dream, as they say. But for you, it is reality, and you are gonna live your life that way from here on out.
As you know, the money is important in a business sense, to maintain stability and forward motion. And I trust you are doing okay in that respect, and more will come in the future. Count on it!
But even more important is what I will call the self-influencing or self-fulfilling mindset, which you put forth into the world and with which you declare yourself, with quiet confidence, to be who you are.
Thought and feeling is everything.
It is Everything. Thinking thoughts to God, about who you are. You know who you are.
You know what you like to do, and so you make it your profession, even though "profession" is an inadequate word to describe the life of an Artist. The Artist lives much of the time in thought.
The money earned is a function, and an important one to be sure.
But the thought process, the contemplation is all-encompassing and constant.
It is what drives the confidence forward.
When you are In The Mindset, nothing can stop you because You Are Being Who You Are.
Everything follows from that.
You are your Mindset as an Artist.
You Rule, and I am super happy.
I Love Lou. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
She Is Right About The Sunsets + L.A. Is Cool + "Ida" (tonight's movie)
Happy Late Night, my Darling,
I wasn't planning on writing tonight, just because I didn't see you on FB today, and Tuesdays are usually for me just basic workdays, nothing special to write about. But just now I did see a post by you. Maybe you just made it, or maybe earlier this eve. I can never tell with the doggone FB logarithm, which tends to post the same "likes" over and over for weeks at a time, though usually new ones also get posted into the mix.
Anyhow, the post was for your friend Katie and it says "nothing like a West Coast sunset". Well, I've never seen sunsets from any other perspective, but our's are pretty good I must say. So does she live out here, or does she just travel a lot? It would be great if she (and you) got to shoot a film out here. :)
You might like Los Angeles. Some love it, some hate it, but one thing is for sure, it's quite an experience.
Except for me, and others like me who have lived here our whole lives. To us, it's just home, and no big deal except for the traffic.
It's a cool place, and I hope you get the chance to see it one day.
I will start posting my nightly songs again and getting back on track.
I got thrown for a loop by.........you know.
But that situation is gonna come undone. I actually can't wait for the Trump Era to get started so it can fall apart, which is guaranteed to happen. America is not a joke, and it cannot be allowed to become a joke, especially an unfunny, hateful joke. It is just important, SB - very very important in fact - for young people of your generation to understand exactly why this guy is so rotten, and why the Office of The Presidency must never be sullied by such a person. The United States Of America has it's faults for certain, but it is the country that holds the world together. That's why we can't have a Trump running the show.
Man, that was a great concert last night, though.
Chris Cornell, I think, is one of the greatest singers ever.
We are still doing 80 degrees out here, one of the longest Indian Summers I can remember. I was able to do my walk tonight in a T-Shirt...........but just barely. The nights are getting chillier. Remember : in Los Angeles, anything below 60 is downright cold, and anything below 50 is........L.A. Cold.
And man, that's freezing. But we haven't gotten to that point yet, thank goodness.
Tonight I watched a film from Poland that I found at Northridge Libe. It is called "Ida", and it is the story of a young Nun in 1962 who is about to take her vows, but just before she does, she is told about an aunt of hers. The Nun was an orphan who was raised in the Convent, and has only just now found out about her aunt. So she goes to meet the aunt, who tells her she is Jewish, and her parents were victims of the Holocaust.
It's not a Holocaust movie per se because it's very sparse in plot and in the number of actors in the film. It's more of a human drama, and it was very good, though not quite great because it is rather thinly written. The characters don't have a lot of depth. However, the style of the film is quite interesting, and the black and white photography is exceptional.
That was about all the major news for today.
I hope your day was good, and I'm glad you posted cause I love writing to you.
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I wasn't planning on writing tonight, just because I didn't see you on FB today, and Tuesdays are usually for me just basic workdays, nothing special to write about. But just now I did see a post by you. Maybe you just made it, or maybe earlier this eve. I can never tell with the doggone FB logarithm, which tends to post the same "likes" over and over for weeks at a time, though usually new ones also get posted into the mix.
Anyhow, the post was for your friend Katie and it says "nothing like a West Coast sunset". Well, I've never seen sunsets from any other perspective, but our's are pretty good I must say. So does she live out here, or does she just travel a lot? It would be great if she (and you) got to shoot a film out here. :)
You might like Los Angeles. Some love it, some hate it, but one thing is for sure, it's quite an experience.
Except for me, and others like me who have lived here our whole lives. To us, it's just home, and no big deal except for the traffic.
It's a cool place, and I hope you get the chance to see it one day.
I will start posting my nightly songs again and getting back on track.
I got thrown for a loop by.........you know.
But that situation is gonna come undone. I actually can't wait for the Trump Era to get started so it can fall apart, which is guaranteed to happen. America is not a joke, and it cannot be allowed to become a joke, especially an unfunny, hateful joke. It is just important, SB - very very important in fact - for young people of your generation to understand exactly why this guy is so rotten, and why the Office of The Presidency must never be sullied by such a person. The United States Of America has it's faults for certain, but it is the country that holds the world together. That's why we can't have a Trump running the show.
Man, that was a great concert last night, though.
Chris Cornell, I think, is one of the greatest singers ever.
We are still doing 80 degrees out here, one of the longest Indian Summers I can remember. I was able to do my walk tonight in a T-Shirt...........but just barely. The nights are getting chillier. Remember : in Los Angeles, anything below 60 is downright cold, and anything below 50 is........L.A. Cold.
And man, that's freezing. But we haven't gotten to that point yet, thank goodness.
Tonight I watched a film from Poland that I found at Northridge Libe. It is called "Ida", and it is the story of a young Nun in 1962 who is about to take her vows, but just before she does, she is told about an aunt of hers. The Nun was an orphan who was raised in the Convent, and has only just now found out about her aunt. So she goes to meet the aunt, who tells her she is Jewish, and her parents were victims of the Holocaust.
It's not a Holocaust movie per se because it's very sparse in plot and in the number of actors in the film. It's more of a human drama, and it was very good, though not quite great because it is rather thinly written. The characters don't have a lot of depth. However, the style of the film is quite interesting, and the black and white photography is exceptional.
That was about all the major news for today.
I hope your day was good, and I'm glad you posted cause I love writing to you.
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Temple Of The Dog
Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby,
I am just getting back from the Temple Of The Dog concert at The Forum. I wasn't originally planning to go because it sold out really fast when tickets first went on sale, and then scalpers of course wanted ridiculous prices for their tickets, which I won't pay for any band. But anyway, Grimsley suggested I check Stubhub yesterday. I told him I'd checked it for a friend a couple weeks ago (my friend Jon from the KX board), and the tix were still up around the $70 range for nosebleed seats. But lo and behold, I did check, and all of a sudden, a day before the concert, there were a ton of seats available for 14 to 17 bucks! Unreal - much cheaper than even face value. I figured the scalpers must have bought too many and couldn't sell them, and now had to dump them at bargain basement prices to avoid eating them. So I scored two seats for me & Grim for 24 bucks apiece (17 + a $7 Stubhub fee). Beyond cheap, SB! :)
So now suddenly I was gonna go to Temple Of The Dog. They are made up of 2/5ths Soundgarden (Chris Cornell & Matt Cameron) and 3/5ths Pearl Jam (Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament & Mike McReady), and they made the album before Pearl Jam was even formed, and before Soundgarden was famous. It came out of the demise of a band called Mother Love Bone, whose founder Andrew Wood died. The Pearl Jam guys had been in that band (before PJ) and........anyway, it's a long story. But the Temple album was really the first Grunge album, and it came out in 1991, just before the PJ debut album. The song "Hunger Strike" became a radio hit, and thus the album caught on too. And the resulting bands, Pearl Jam and Soungarden, became huge. So everybody kind of forgot about Temple Of The Dog, because they only put out the one album.
But Holy Smokes did they ever crush it tonight. All those guys have become world class players in the meantime, and then you have Cornell on vocals, one of the greatest singers in rock history. Man what a powerhouse band. The guys in Pearl Jam, McCready especially, get to play much heavier in Temple - I mean a TON heavier - and they get to absolutely shred as well. They played 2 hours 15 minutes, and because Temple only had one album, besides playing the whole thing, they filled out the set with a few Mother Love Bone songs and some killer covers of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, David Bowie, Free, Jimi Hendrix and Harry Nilsson of all people.
It was a killer show. Getting down there was another story.
It absolutely sucked. The Forum is only about 35 miles from Pearl's. But it took us 2 1/2 hours to get from there to the Forum parking lot. "Horrific" doesn't even begin to cover the traffic jam. The city of Inglewood is too cheap to hire traffic officers to direct the flow of traffic, and so cars are backed up at red lights for miles. It was awful. And then on top of that, The Forum charges 25 dollars for parking.
So, to recap : The city of Inglewood cheapness and The Forum parking Sucks Beyond Measure. The Forum as a venue is quite good, with excellent sight lines and sound. And Temple Of The Dog played an awesome show.
But it will take a lot to get me to go to The Forum again, because of the nightmare traffic and parking.
But I'm still glad I went tonight! //////
I hope your day was good. I only saw one post, a Cheesehead reference by a musician friend of yours. :)
I take it nobody up there is allergic to dairy. :)
In fact, I am guessing it would be against the law.
There is probably a required Quotient Of Cheese Consumption per person, per annum.
I still say that we in California should be nominated or declared Cheesehead Vice Presidents, or some kind of Honorary Cheeseheads because we are second in cheese and in overall dairy production, as mentioned before.
We make a mean Quesadilla out here, too.
So please consider us for some type of Cheesehead classification. Thanks. :)
In other news, SB, Trump Still Sucks, and his administration is toast before it even gets off the ground.
We've gotta stay on him, because now he's appointing guys like Steve Bannon, a White Supremicist.
But enough of Trump for tonight. He is cooking his own goose, which we knew he would do, and so that will make it easier for us in the long run.
I will see you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I am just getting back from the Temple Of The Dog concert at The Forum. I wasn't originally planning to go because it sold out really fast when tickets first went on sale, and then scalpers of course wanted ridiculous prices for their tickets, which I won't pay for any band. But anyway, Grimsley suggested I check Stubhub yesterday. I told him I'd checked it for a friend a couple weeks ago (my friend Jon from the KX board), and the tix were still up around the $70 range for nosebleed seats. But lo and behold, I did check, and all of a sudden, a day before the concert, there were a ton of seats available for 14 to 17 bucks! Unreal - much cheaper than even face value. I figured the scalpers must have bought too many and couldn't sell them, and now had to dump them at bargain basement prices to avoid eating them. So I scored two seats for me & Grim for 24 bucks apiece (17 + a $7 Stubhub fee). Beyond cheap, SB! :)
So now suddenly I was gonna go to Temple Of The Dog. They are made up of 2/5ths Soundgarden (Chris Cornell & Matt Cameron) and 3/5ths Pearl Jam (Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament & Mike McReady), and they made the album before Pearl Jam was even formed, and before Soundgarden was famous. It came out of the demise of a band called Mother Love Bone, whose founder Andrew Wood died. The Pearl Jam guys had been in that band (before PJ) and........anyway, it's a long story. But the Temple album was really the first Grunge album, and it came out in 1991, just before the PJ debut album. The song "Hunger Strike" became a radio hit, and thus the album caught on too. And the resulting bands, Pearl Jam and Soungarden, became huge. So everybody kind of forgot about Temple Of The Dog, because they only put out the one album.
But Holy Smokes did they ever crush it tonight. All those guys have become world class players in the meantime, and then you have Cornell on vocals, one of the greatest singers in rock history. Man what a powerhouse band. The guys in Pearl Jam, McCready especially, get to play much heavier in Temple - I mean a TON heavier - and they get to absolutely shred as well. They played 2 hours 15 minutes, and because Temple only had one album, besides playing the whole thing, they filled out the set with a few Mother Love Bone songs and some killer covers of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, David Bowie, Free, Jimi Hendrix and Harry Nilsson of all people.
It was a killer show. Getting down there was another story.
It absolutely sucked. The Forum is only about 35 miles from Pearl's. But it took us 2 1/2 hours to get from there to the Forum parking lot. "Horrific" doesn't even begin to cover the traffic jam. The city of Inglewood is too cheap to hire traffic officers to direct the flow of traffic, and so cars are backed up at red lights for miles. It was awful. And then on top of that, The Forum charges 25 dollars for parking.
So, to recap : The city of Inglewood cheapness and The Forum parking Sucks Beyond Measure. The Forum as a venue is quite good, with excellent sight lines and sound. And Temple Of The Dog played an awesome show.
But it will take a lot to get me to go to The Forum again, because of the nightmare traffic and parking.
But I'm still glad I went tonight! //////
I hope your day was good. I only saw one post, a Cheesehead reference by a musician friend of yours. :)
I take it nobody up there is allergic to dairy. :)
In fact, I am guessing it would be against the law.
There is probably a required Quotient Of Cheese Consumption per person, per annum.
I still say that we in California should be nominated or declared Cheesehead Vice Presidents, or some kind of Honorary Cheeseheads because we are second in cheese and in overall dairy production, as mentioned before.
We make a mean Quesadilla out here, too.
So please consider us for some type of Cheesehead classification. Thanks. :)
In other news, SB, Trump Still Sucks, and his administration is toast before it even gets off the ground.
We've gotta stay on him, because now he's appointing guys like Steve Bannon, a White Supremicist.
But enough of Trump for tonight. He is cooking his own goose, which we knew he would do, and so that will make it easier for us in the long run.
I will see you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Monday, November 14, 2016
John Rutter Is Hard To Sing + "Dome" & "Dead" + More Corps Than Ever
Happy Late Night, my Darling,
I hope you had a nice Sunday. We had a good performance of our song this morning in church, and then an hour long rehearsal afterward to work on our upcoming Christmas songs. The John Rutter "Christmas Lullaby" is hard, SB. I think it's the hardest thing I've sung so far, because of the high register but also because of the legato style. You have to sing high, but you also have to temper the volume while still maintaining the intensity. There is a refrain in which the lyric "Ave Maria" is sung, and the notes jump up and down, and man it's hard to hit that line in the correct way. When I'm in the car and I can sing as loud as I want, lol, I can hit all the notes and sing it reasonably smoothly. But at practice, when I have to lower the volume to blend with the other voices, it's really hard to do it without my voice cracking.
So, this week I am gonna practice it and practice it until I get better on the Ave Marias. And by Christmas week I am gonna have it down. And then I will be able to say I can really sing tenor.
You have been in a choir, so you probably know about "head voice" (singing from throat) versus "chest voice" (singing from diaphragm). And the hard part is the dividing line, the switching over from chest voice, which is lower register, to head voice, which is the high stuff. The middle ranges are easy, a piece of cake, but to develop the high range is like developing a muscle. You've gotta work out!
Luckily I am in the car a lot, so I have a practice room, haha.
Not much else to report except that I watched the final episode of "Under The Dome" tonight, and I am sad to see it end. I loved this series! I guess I started watching about last August? Not sure, but anyway it was so much fun. So many great characters, and you never knew what was gonna happen next.
A little while ago I watched tonight's episode of "The Walking Dead". That's probably not your kind of show, so you likely don't know who Negan is, but I must say I'm getting a little sick of him. He's pretty obnoxious, even worse than Trump, and.......well, I won't go off on any tangents or tirades tonight.
Trump Is Toast. That's my motto and it still stands.
I'm more Marine Corps than ever, SB. I just can't tolerate bad guys. My life has made me that way.
I saw your post of the doggie picture, though, and it made me happy. :)
You are awesome and I love you. And I am looking forward to all of your upcoming work. :)
I will see you in the morning after some much needed sleep. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I hope you had a nice Sunday. We had a good performance of our song this morning in church, and then an hour long rehearsal afterward to work on our upcoming Christmas songs. The John Rutter "Christmas Lullaby" is hard, SB. I think it's the hardest thing I've sung so far, because of the high register but also because of the legato style. You have to sing high, but you also have to temper the volume while still maintaining the intensity. There is a refrain in which the lyric "Ave Maria" is sung, and the notes jump up and down, and man it's hard to hit that line in the correct way. When I'm in the car and I can sing as loud as I want, lol, I can hit all the notes and sing it reasonably smoothly. But at practice, when I have to lower the volume to blend with the other voices, it's really hard to do it without my voice cracking.
So, this week I am gonna practice it and practice it until I get better on the Ave Marias. And by Christmas week I am gonna have it down. And then I will be able to say I can really sing tenor.
You have been in a choir, so you probably know about "head voice" (singing from throat) versus "chest voice" (singing from diaphragm). And the hard part is the dividing line, the switching over from chest voice, which is lower register, to head voice, which is the high stuff. The middle ranges are easy, a piece of cake, but to develop the high range is like developing a muscle. You've gotta work out!
Luckily I am in the car a lot, so I have a practice room, haha.
Not much else to report except that I watched the final episode of "Under The Dome" tonight, and I am sad to see it end. I loved this series! I guess I started watching about last August? Not sure, but anyway it was so much fun. So many great characters, and you never knew what was gonna happen next.
A little while ago I watched tonight's episode of "The Walking Dead". That's probably not your kind of show, so you likely don't know who Negan is, but I must say I'm getting a little sick of him. He's pretty obnoxious, even worse than Trump, and.......well, I won't go off on any tangents or tirades tonight.
Trump Is Toast. That's my motto and it still stands.
I'm more Marine Corps than ever, SB. I just can't tolerate bad guys. My life has made me that way.
I saw your post of the doggie picture, though, and it made me happy. :)
You are awesome and I love you. And I am looking forward to all of your upcoming work. :)
I will see you in the morning after some much needed sleep. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Sunday, November 13, 2016
Thoughts On The Protests
Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby,
I hope your day was good. I saw a post by you, via James, that said he was gonna be filming something tonight, so maybe it's you who is doing the filming! I am betting Yes on that one. And if I am correct, then congrats again. It must be nice to be back home, and to see friends and family. Both parts are nice, and that's what is great about taking a trip - the trip itself, the adventure, and then the return to the comforts and familiarity of home. So I hope all is well and that work continues to come in, and that you happy with how things have worked out professionally thus far. From what I can see, it looks like things are going great.
I haven't done much but observe since the election, and I must say I'm amazed at the amount of protests in so many cities, and also the size of the protests. Right off the bat I must add that I denounce any and all acts of violence and destruction, and I hope those folks get arrested because it's not only against the law what they're doing, but more importantly it's wrong. I just wanted to emphasize that.
But as for the protests themselves, I'm all for them. We had 100,000 people marching today in Los Angeles, and there were thousands of others in many cities. Trump is toast, and this sentiment is in the national consciousness now. He might well become President - even though Hillary is almost a million ahead in the popular vote (yay!) - but his administration may never get off the ground. We are in uncharted waters now, with these protests. It feels like the 1960s, with the mass protests against the Vietnam war, which I saw as a kid. There was massive unrest then; off the charts. In the 1960s, horrible things were happening, truly horrendous. They killed two Kennedy brothers, one of whom was the President, the other who would have become President. I was eight years old when Bobby was killed. They killed Martin Luther King just a few weeks - just a few weeks! - before they killed Bobby Kennedy.
And these men who were killed - murdered, assassinated - were all Democrats, men of peace. Republicans? They don't seem to suffer such fates, and I do not wish them to. God forbid. But they have pushed their hate and fear mongering agenda for so long, and they aim it at the mass amount of dumbells who don't have the capacity for critical thinking, and so here we are almost 50 years later still fighting the same battles.
Republican powermongers count on uneducated people to keep them in power so that their industries - oil mainly, and the military-industrial complex - will also dominate. They don't care about pollution, protecting the planet.
And what's worst of all, they know that all they have to do is trot out an arrogant, macho loudmouth (white of course) who can talk the Stupid People's language, and then they can win the White House.
That's their formula for keeping America from moving forward.
We give them guys like John F. Kennedy, Bill & Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama.......and they give us George W. Bush and Donald Trump. Let's do an IQ comparison on those two sets, what do you say? :)
Well anyhow, SB, I am exhausted. It's been one of the toughest weeks of my life, and it came as such an unbelievable shock. Here I was going to all those incredible concerts, enjoying Halloween......
And then I got the stuffing knocked out of me. We all did, and it feels like a scam, "fair and square" election or not.
Here's hoping the protests will continue to grow.
Tomorrow morning is church and choir. We are singing a spiritual called "Amen, So Be It".
I think I'm gonna ask if we can change the title of that one, haha.
So Be It? I think not!
But it's a great song anyway. I've sung it before and I love singing it.
See you in the morning and then at 1pm as usual.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I hope your day was good. I saw a post by you, via James, that said he was gonna be filming something tonight, so maybe it's you who is doing the filming! I am betting Yes on that one. And if I am correct, then congrats again. It must be nice to be back home, and to see friends and family. Both parts are nice, and that's what is great about taking a trip - the trip itself, the adventure, and then the return to the comforts and familiarity of home. So I hope all is well and that work continues to come in, and that you happy with how things have worked out professionally thus far. From what I can see, it looks like things are going great.
I haven't done much but observe since the election, and I must say I'm amazed at the amount of protests in so many cities, and also the size of the protests. Right off the bat I must add that I denounce any and all acts of violence and destruction, and I hope those folks get arrested because it's not only against the law what they're doing, but more importantly it's wrong. I just wanted to emphasize that.
But as for the protests themselves, I'm all for them. We had 100,000 people marching today in Los Angeles, and there were thousands of others in many cities. Trump is toast, and this sentiment is in the national consciousness now. He might well become President - even though Hillary is almost a million ahead in the popular vote (yay!) - but his administration may never get off the ground. We are in uncharted waters now, with these protests. It feels like the 1960s, with the mass protests against the Vietnam war, which I saw as a kid. There was massive unrest then; off the charts. In the 1960s, horrible things were happening, truly horrendous. They killed two Kennedy brothers, one of whom was the President, the other who would have become President. I was eight years old when Bobby was killed. They killed Martin Luther King just a few weeks - just a few weeks! - before they killed Bobby Kennedy.
And these men who were killed - murdered, assassinated - were all Democrats, men of peace. Republicans? They don't seem to suffer such fates, and I do not wish them to. God forbid. But they have pushed their hate and fear mongering agenda for so long, and they aim it at the mass amount of dumbells who don't have the capacity for critical thinking, and so here we are almost 50 years later still fighting the same battles.
Republican powermongers count on uneducated people to keep them in power so that their industries - oil mainly, and the military-industrial complex - will also dominate. They don't care about pollution, protecting the planet.
And what's worst of all, they know that all they have to do is trot out an arrogant, macho loudmouth (white of course) who can talk the Stupid People's language, and then they can win the White House.
That's their formula for keeping America from moving forward.
We give them guys like John F. Kennedy, Bill & Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama.......and they give us George W. Bush and Donald Trump. Let's do an IQ comparison on those two sets, what do you say? :)
Well anyhow, SB, I am exhausted. It's been one of the toughest weeks of my life, and it came as such an unbelievable shock. Here I was going to all those incredible concerts, enjoying Halloween......
And then I got the stuffing knocked out of me. We all did, and it feels like a scam, "fair and square" election or not.
Here's hoping the protests will continue to grow.
Tomorrow morning is church and choir. We are singing a spiritual called "Amen, So Be It".
I think I'm gonna ask if we can change the title of that one, haha.
So Be It? I think not!
But it's a great song anyway. I've sung it before and I love singing it.
See you in the morning and then at 1pm as usual.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Saturday, November 12, 2016
Great Photo + Trump Must Be Stopped And We Cannot Lose Focus
Happy Late Night, my Darling,
That was a great photo you posted this morning from the Phoenix airport. You have everything lined up perfectly, and it looks extra cool because the frames in the window section things off, like the two crosses on the right middle, which in turn are spaced so that they show depth. It's an awesome pic, and it also has one little detail that "makes" the picture for me. You know how I love Little Details in photographs. :)
Can you guess what it is?
It is the man's arm, who is sitting in the chair, and the drink he is holding out. The arm, drink and straw are in near silhouette and are backlit, so very small details stand out. You can even see clearly the outline of the plastic top on the drink. And the way his arm is bent at the elbow creates a perfect "v" shape that goes with, and also contrasts, the geometry of the overall picture. Great work, Elizabeth. I hope you had a great time in Arizona, and as always I will look forward to seeing the result of the work you did there.
As for me, I am hanging in there, as is the half of America who are not pleased with our new "President". I am hanging in there, but I feel like I got nuked. I have been posting a lot of anti-Trump stuff, and I know it does not fit in with my normal focus on art and generally more pleasant things, but I feel it is extremely important to stand up to him now, and not to wait. I do not feel that he should be allowed to actually become President, because he has shown us all who he is. And I know that it will be incredibly difficult to impede him, because of the long standing and seemingly impenetrable procedures in place that create a new President. However, we have to try (and without violence), because people seem to think that this nation can never fall. Hey!, we're America! Or 'Murica if you prefer. We've got hundreds of millions of badass uneducated Rednecks with guns, who don't take no shit from nobody!
We can never be conquered.
But as somebody once said, maybe Abe Lincoln, if America is ever taken over, it will happen from within. That's what 9/11 was all about, and now they are trying it again, only in a different way.
No tirade tonight, except to say that Trump must be stopped. This is the worst political travesty I have seen in my lifetime, and it is frightening. People did not vote for Trump in spite of his racism and misogyny, but because of it. And even then, he is conning them, the Stupid People Of America, the Bumpkins, the Rednecks. They are being played and conned, so he can gain power, though he really is a racist and all those other things we know him to be. What he really is, is a Megalomaniac. And thus he must be stopped.
People in other countries could tell you.
Germany could tell you "we should have stopped Hitler".
Italy could tell you "we should have stopped Mussolini".
Japan could have told you "we should have stopped Tojo and Hirohito".
And on and on.
But we are America! We chant "U.S.A! U.S.A! U.S.A!", and we think we are immune to coups, to takeovers. We've got badass MFers, with guns, and we don't need no education.
That's why those of us who do see what is going on are so worried, and so pissed off, and why I hope we won't let up and won't let this Truly Rotten Trump off the hook, just because he is playing nice all of a sudden.
I don't like being angry about things; it's not my nature. It's the opposite of my nature, and the opposite of a lot of people's nature, and that's what they count on, that we won't say anything. Even though Trump steamrolled his way into the Presidency, through bullying and intimidation, and appealing to the worst nature in the mass of Stupid Angry Bumpkins that populate this country.
Obviously, just being pissed and posting anti-Trump stuff on FB doesn't do much but release some steam and make me (and millions of others) feel less likely to explode. I will do it less as the days pass, just because my real easygoing nature will take over, but I hope my focus will not abate : that Trump has got to go. That he cannot be allowed to be our President. I hope the millions of us who see him for exactly what he is will not lose focus as our energy wanes and our anger abates. Anger takes energy, and is depleting. It is a natural reaction to an outrage, though it cannot be sustained forever.
Focus can be sustained, however. And I hope we will all keep our focus on getting rid of this guy.
He is not welcome in the White House, home to Washington, Lincoln, FDR and JFK.
In 2000, we went through a similar scenario, in which the Presidency was stolen from Al Gore, even though he won the popular vote against GWB, and in reality he won the electoral college also, though Bush stole it in Florida through a series of dirty tricks.
That felt horrible, like a massive sucker punch late at night, a big switcheroo after the networks had already called the election for Gore. It felt horrible, a Republican ripoff, and the feeling took weeks to go away. And then we were stuck with George Dubya Bush for eight years, and besides starting two wars, he almost ran the country into the ground.
That was horrible, SB.........but this is much, much worse.
Just watching Trump over the last 16 months tells you all you need to know. But what makes it ever scarier is Redneck America's approval of him, not in spite of all he said and did, but because of it.
That's why he's got to be stopped, and why we should NOT just "give him a chance" and make nice.
I hope we won't lose our focus in stopping him, even as our anger abates.
That's all I know for tonight. See you in the morning.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
That was a great photo you posted this morning from the Phoenix airport. You have everything lined up perfectly, and it looks extra cool because the frames in the window section things off, like the two crosses on the right middle, which in turn are spaced so that they show depth. It's an awesome pic, and it also has one little detail that "makes" the picture for me. You know how I love Little Details in photographs. :)
Can you guess what it is?
It is the man's arm, who is sitting in the chair, and the drink he is holding out. The arm, drink and straw are in near silhouette and are backlit, so very small details stand out. You can even see clearly the outline of the plastic top on the drink. And the way his arm is bent at the elbow creates a perfect "v" shape that goes with, and also contrasts, the geometry of the overall picture. Great work, Elizabeth. I hope you had a great time in Arizona, and as always I will look forward to seeing the result of the work you did there.
As for me, I am hanging in there, as is the half of America who are not pleased with our new "President". I am hanging in there, but I feel like I got nuked. I have been posting a lot of anti-Trump stuff, and I know it does not fit in with my normal focus on art and generally more pleasant things, but I feel it is extremely important to stand up to him now, and not to wait. I do not feel that he should be allowed to actually become President, because he has shown us all who he is. And I know that it will be incredibly difficult to impede him, because of the long standing and seemingly impenetrable procedures in place that create a new President. However, we have to try (and without violence), because people seem to think that this nation can never fall. Hey!, we're America! Or 'Murica if you prefer. We've got hundreds of millions of badass uneducated Rednecks with guns, who don't take no shit from nobody!
We can never be conquered.
But as somebody once said, maybe Abe Lincoln, if America is ever taken over, it will happen from within. That's what 9/11 was all about, and now they are trying it again, only in a different way.
No tirade tonight, except to say that Trump must be stopped. This is the worst political travesty I have seen in my lifetime, and it is frightening. People did not vote for Trump in spite of his racism and misogyny, but because of it. And even then, he is conning them, the Stupid People Of America, the Bumpkins, the Rednecks. They are being played and conned, so he can gain power, though he really is a racist and all those other things we know him to be. What he really is, is a Megalomaniac. And thus he must be stopped.
People in other countries could tell you.
Germany could tell you "we should have stopped Hitler".
Italy could tell you "we should have stopped Mussolini".
Japan could have told you "we should have stopped Tojo and Hirohito".
And on and on.
But we are America! We chant "U.S.A! U.S.A! U.S.A!", and we think we are immune to coups, to takeovers. We've got badass MFers, with guns, and we don't need no education.
That's why those of us who do see what is going on are so worried, and so pissed off, and why I hope we won't let up and won't let this Truly Rotten Trump off the hook, just because he is playing nice all of a sudden.
I don't like being angry about things; it's not my nature. It's the opposite of my nature, and the opposite of a lot of people's nature, and that's what they count on, that we won't say anything. Even though Trump steamrolled his way into the Presidency, through bullying and intimidation, and appealing to the worst nature in the mass of Stupid Angry Bumpkins that populate this country.
Obviously, just being pissed and posting anti-Trump stuff on FB doesn't do much but release some steam and make me (and millions of others) feel less likely to explode. I will do it less as the days pass, just because my real easygoing nature will take over, but I hope my focus will not abate : that Trump has got to go. That he cannot be allowed to be our President. I hope the millions of us who see him for exactly what he is will not lose focus as our energy wanes and our anger abates. Anger takes energy, and is depleting. It is a natural reaction to an outrage, though it cannot be sustained forever.
Focus can be sustained, however. And I hope we will all keep our focus on getting rid of this guy.
He is not welcome in the White House, home to Washington, Lincoln, FDR and JFK.
In 2000, we went through a similar scenario, in which the Presidency was stolen from Al Gore, even though he won the popular vote against GWB, and in reality he won the electoral college also, though Bush stole it in Florida through a series of dirty tricks.
That felt horrible, like a massive sucker punch late at night, a big switcheroo after the networks had already called the election for Gore. It felt horrible, a Republican ripoff, and the feeling took weeks to go away. And then we were stuck with George Dubya Bush for eight years, and besides starting two wars, he almost ran the country into the ground.
That was horrible, SB.........but this is much, much worse.
Just watching Trump over the last 16 months tells you all you need to know. But what makes it ever scarier is Redneck America's approval of him, not in spite of all he said and did, but because of it.
That's why he's got to be stopped, and why we should NOT just "give him a chance" and make nice.
I hope we won't lose our focus in stopping him, even as our anger abates.
That's all I know for tonight. See you in the morning.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Friday, November 11, 2016
Just To Say Hi
Hi Elizabeth,
I hope all is well. I don't know if you are in AZ or back home. Everything is crazy since the election. People are super pissed off out here in California; the Professor even mentioned it to a theater full of cinephiles this evening at CSUN, and he has never once editorialised on anything in the seven years of the Cinematheque. People are not gonna accept this out here, and the protests will continue. Trump has no idea what he is in for.
He is gonna find out the hard way what he has created with his rhetoric.
Well anyway, I don't see you much on FB anymore, but I just wanted to say hi.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I hope all is well. I don't know if you are in AZ or back home. Everything is crazy since the election. People are super pissed off out here in California; the Professor even mentioned it to a theater full of cinephiles this evening at CSUN, and he has never once editorialised on anything in the seven years of the Cinematheque. People are not gonna accept this out here, and the protests will continue. Trump has no idea what he is in for.
He is gonna find out the hard way what he has created with his rhetoric.
Well anyway, I don't see you much on FB anymore, but I just wanted to say hi.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Thursday, November 10, 2016
Trump Must Be Stopped
Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby,
I am hanging in there, and I hope you are too. I don't know if you supported Hillary or not, but I know for sure you didn't support the abominable Trump, and so we both are affected. Half of America is, really (and it's nice to see that Hillary won the popular vote), so it's no surprise that mass protests broke out tonight all over the country. Oh what?, now just because Trump made a "conciliatory" acceptance speech, we're all just supposed to reconcile and welcome him into the Presidency?
No Way, Jose. Not after all the many, many hateful and ugly things he said, all through his campaign, that hurt and offended so many people. He is pure scum, a very bad man. He is not welcome in the White House, home to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abe Lincoln, Franklin D. Rooseveldt and other giants of American Statesmanship. Trump is a no good bum, and we will not forget what he said and did to get himself "elected".
Sorry to be so upset, SB, but this is important. It is important because people think America is infallable. We think, "oh, takeovers and coups only happen in other countries. We could never have Fascism, we could never have a dictator".
Oh yeah? Was anybody listening to what this monster actually said and did during the last 16 months?
He encouraged bigotry. He cheered on violence at his rallies. He is on tape admitting to assaulting women. And all those folks who voted for him Do Not Care About Any Of It.
SB, that's how Adolph Hitler got started, by rabble rousing and encouraging the same things Trump has. And Hitler got "elected" because he had a lot of support too. Hitler and Trump made it okay for bigots and other hateful people to come out of the closet. In a civilised society, which we have under most Presidents, hateful people keep their thoughts to themselves, lest they "stand out" amongst all the good people of this country. But under Trump, now they have a President who has openly voiced his support and agreement for all their prejudices. Sweet Baby, that is exactly how Hitler started.
This guy has got to be stopped, and I predict he will be. He will not make it through his four year term. I don't mean that he will be stopped by violence, because I don't wish for that, but he will be stopped by protest upon protest, and finally, someone in the Establishment - because he has pissed off both Republicans as well as Democrats - is gonna dig up some dirt on his business dealings, or his behavior with women. It's just a matter of time, and he has generated such enmity toward so many that it is bound to happen.
And it must happen. Trump must be stopped, and he must not be allowed to proceed unimpeded with his agenda, which includes scrapping environmental regulations, to allow corporations to pollute at will.
He is an American Monster, our Hitler, and he's just playing nice today with his phony concilliatory sppech because he knows he has to say those things. But once he gets in office, he will do exactly as he has wanted, and with Mafioso East Coast thugs and criminals like Rudolph Giuliani and Chris Christie to help him.
I don't usually get riled up about politics, but this time I feel it is important to say these things. Had Jeb Bush or one of the other legitimate candidates won, I would have said, "oh well, we tried".
But this guy is not legit. I don't care how many rednecks voted for him. They would have voted for the Duck Dynasty guy had he been running.
So Trump must be stopped, and he will be. His Presidency will be toast from the start, and he will not finish his term.
That's the end of my rant for tonight.
I don't know if you are still in Arizona or back home, but I loved the picture of the Eagles in the tree. I know how much you love those birds, too, and that makes me happy. :)
See you in the morning. Post if you can.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I am hanging in there, and I hope you are too. I don't know if you supported Hillary or not, but I know for sure you didn't support the abominable Trump, and so we both are affected. Half of America is, really (and it's nice to see that Hillary won the popular vote), so it's no surprise that mass protests broke out tonight all over the country. Oh what?, now just because Trump made a "conciliatory" acceptance speech, we're all just supposed to reconcile and welcome him into the Presidency?
No Way, Jose. Not after all the many, many hateful and ugly things he said, all through his campaign, that hurt and offended so many people. He is pure scum, a very bad man. He is not welcome in the White House, home to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abe Lincoln, Franklin D. Rooseveldt and other giants of American Statesmanship. Trump is a no good bum, and we will not forget what he said and did to get himself "elected".
Sorry to be so upset, SB, but this is important. It is important because people think America is infallable. We think, "oh, takeovers and coups only happen in other countries. We could never have Fascism, we could never have a dictator".
Oh yeah? Was anybody listening to what this monster actually said and did during the last 16 months?
He encouraged bigotry. He cheered on violence at his rallies. He is on tape admitting to assaulting women. And all those folks who voted for him Do Not Care About Any Of It.
SB, that's how Adolph Hitler got started, by rabble rousing and encouraging the same things Trump has. And Hitler got "elected" because he had a lot of support too. Hitler and Trump made it okay for bigots and other hateful people to come out of the closet. In a civilised society, which we have under most Presidents, hateful people keep their thoughts to themselves, lest they "stand out" amongst all the good people of this country. But under Trump, now they have a President who has openly voiced his support and agreement for all their prejudices. Sweet Baby, that is exactly how Hitler started.
This guy has got to be stopped, and I predict he will be. He will not make it through his four year term. I don't mean that he will be stopped by violence, because I don't wish for that, but he will be stopped by protest upon protest, and finally, someone in the Establishment - because he has pissed off both Republicans as well as Democrats - is gonna dig up some dirt on his business dealings, or his behavior with women. It's just a matter of time, and he has generated such enmity toward so many that it is bound to happen.
And it must happen. Trump must be stopped, and he must not be allowed to proceed unimpeded with his agenda, which includes scrapping environmental regulations, to allow corporations to pollute at will.
He is an American Monster, our Hitler, and he's just playing nice today with his phony concilliatory sppech because he knows he has to say those things. But once he gets in office, he will do exactly as he has wanted, and with Mafioso East Coast thugs and criminals like Rudolph Giuliani and Chris Christie to help him.
I don't usually get riled up about politics, but this time I feel it is important to say these things. Had Jeb Bush or one of the other legitimate candidates won, I would have said, "oh well, we tried".
But this guy is not legit. I don't care how many rednecks voted for him. They would have voted for the Duck Dynasty guy had he been running.
So Trump must be stopped, and he will be. His Presidency will be toast from the start, and he will not finish his term.
That's the end of my rant for tonight.
I don't know if you are still in Arizona or back home, but I loved the picture of the Eagles in the tree. I know how much you love those birds, too, and that makes me happy. :)
See you in the morning. Post if you can.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Stoic (we will get through)
Happy Late Night, my Darling,
Yes, I wish you a happy night even though the night itself isn't a happy one. Not much can be said about the unexpected outcome except that we are all in shock. We thought we had it in the bag. I myself am truly stunned, and I would almost say heartbroken except that I am too stoic to be heartbroken by an election result, having been through the wringer in 2000 when George W. Bush stole the Presidency from Al Gore. I also went through eight years of Ronald Reagan (who would actually be a Godsend now compared to the thoroughly rotten Trump). So I'm too stoic to be heartbroken, but I'm close to that condition. Call me "extremely disappointed and disheartened" in addition to being stunned to my core.
Also, because I am as big a fan of the Clintons as you will find, I am most of all disappointed for Hillary. If I am heartbroken, it is for her. She fought her heart out - not once but twice (2008) and we all thought she was gonna win going away this time, because Donald Trump is so repulsive, a genuinely mean-spirited and ugly person. Who would vote for him, right?
Tonight's result says a lot of unfortunate things about America, and it may seem very scary right now. People - millions of them - voted for this person despite all the disparaging things he said about so many groups of people. Tonight, America voted for a bully, and not only that, but a guy who will have no idea how to be the President. He has no experience, and as we saw during his campaign, he has no plan, except to put a wall up along the Mexican border. Good luck with that.........
So this is a guy who, now that he has gotten his wish, won't even be able to play with the toy (the Presidency) he has just pulled out of the box. He doesn't have the ability to be President, a fact his rabid and angry followers were all too eager to overlook.
All of these angry, angry people.
I would like to ask them, "what are you so angry about"?
You live in America, not Syria or Sudan. You have cars and houses.
I can understand a Republican vote and I have nothing against Republicans. I could have understood a Mitt Romney Presidency or a Jeb Bush Presidency.
But I'd like to ask the Republicans, "what was it about Donald Trump that caused you all to vote for him in such overwhelming numbers"?, because lets face it, he creamed Hillary Clinton. We thought it was gonna be the other way around.
I think I know all the answers to why they voted for Trump in such numbers, and it was basically because he allowed them, with all his prejudices and anger, to come out of the woodwork. Now they had a candidate who didn't hide his feelings; about non-Whites, about women, even disabled people.
Even disabled people!!
What a colossal a-hole.
So all of that, all those reasons, is why I am hurting for America tonight. I am not terrified because we made it through eight years of both Reagan and GWB, and we survived. But I do have trepidation because Trump is by far an All Time Low. He is what I will call Hitler Lite.
Lucky for us he's not as bright - nor even as angry - as Hitler, nor are his followers. Thank God.
We will make it through Trump, and I would bet we won't have to wait eight years. He is a disaster waiting to happen. The world is not Reality TV. The Presidency is the hardest job in the world, and he is not up to it. He will go down the tubes, just watch.
We, on the other hand, still have a lot going for us. We have each other, most importantly. You and I, and all of us. We have each other, and we are not going anywhere. We are not giving up or giving in, to ignorance and anger. Remember Dad's famous saying : "Everyone is not entitled to their own opinion"! And that is true because, despite the right to vote no matter your IQ level, it's just a fact of life that Stupid People aren't good at running things, and especially running the World.
Anger and prejudice will only get you so far, all you American Trump voters.
What we have, on the other hand, is intelligence and values, real Christian values (even for those of us who aren't Christian), meaning that we don't operate out of anger and hatred, or racism and mysoginy, but out of love and inclusion.
We are also stoic. We don't throw tantrums. We just endure. We don't go away.
I always call myself "Marine Corps" because that is my value system.
Semper Fi. Always loyal, don't leave anyone behind.
So, Sweet Baby, even though tonight is a tremendous disappointment, take heart in what we do have, besides the aforementioned things.
We still have art, and music - how great is music?! - and we have beautiful places to live, and good friends. We have Faith, because we know that in the long run the Good Guys always win. If you need proof of that, the truth is that the world would have ended long ago if the Bad Guys won.
Hitler ultimately lost, so did Stalin and communism. They always lose, even when they win.
We, on the other hand, never lose (even when it seems like we did).
We lost the Presidency tonight, because America has a lesson to learn. We already know the answer to that lesson, because we are ahead of the game. We are the stronger, and far more intelligent ones.
We just have to wait until the others catch up. Trump will help that process along by being an utter failure as President.
In the meantime, be Stoic. We will get through this just as we have several times before.
See you in the morning. God Bless America.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Yes, I wish you a happy night even though the night itself isn't a happy one. Not much can be said about the unexpected outcome except that we are all in shock. We thought we had it in the bag. I myself am truly stunned, and I would almost say heartbroken except that I am too stoic to be heartbroken by an election result, having been through the wringer in 2000 when George W. Bush stole the Presidency from Al Gore. I also went through eight years of Ronald Reagan (who would actually be a Godsend now compared to the thoroughly rotten Trump). So I'm too stoic to be heartbroken, but I'm close to that condition. Call me "extremely disappointed and disheartened" in addition to being stunned to my core.
Also, because I am as big a fan of the Clintons as you will find, I am most of all disappointed for Hillary. If I am heartbroken, it is for her. She fought her heart out - not once but twice (2008) and we all thought she was gonna win going away this time, because Donald Trump is so repulsive, a genuinely mean-spirited and ugly person. Who would vote for him, right?
Tonight's result says a lot of unfortunate things about America, and it may seem very scary right now. People - millions of them - voted for this person despite all the disparaging things he said about so many groups of people. Tonight, America voted for a bully, and not only that, but a guy who will have no idea how to be the President. He has no experience, and as we saw during his campaign, he has no plan, except to put a wall up along the Mexican border. Good luck with that.........
So this is a guy who, now that he has gotten his wish, won't even be able to play with the toy (the Presidency) he has just pulled out of the box. He doesn't have the ability to be President, a fact his rabid and angry followers were all too eager to overlook.
All of these angry, angry people.
I would like to ask them, "what are you so angry about"?
You live in America, not Syria or Sudan. You have cars and houses.
I can understand a Republican vote and I have nothing against Republicans. I could have understood a Mitt Romney Presidency or a Jeb Bush Presidency.
But I'd like to ask the Republicans, "what was it about Donald Trump that caused you all to vote for him in such overwhelming numbers"?, because lets face it, he creamed Hillary Clinton. We thought it was gonna be the other way around.
I think I know all the answers to why they voted for Trump in such numbers, and it was basically because he allowed them, with all his prejudices and anger, to come out of the woodwork. Now they had a candidate who didn't hide his feelings; about non-Whites, about women, even disabled people.
Even disabled people!!
What a colossal a-hole.
So all of that, all those reasons, is why I am hurting for America tonight. I am not terrified because we made it through eight years of both Reagan and GWB, and we survived. But I do have trepidation because Trump is by far an All Time Low. He is what I will call Hitler Lite.
Lucky for us he's not as bright - nor even as angry - as Hitler, nor are his followers. Thank God.
We will make it through Trump, and I would bet we won't have to wait eight years. He is a disaster waiting to happen. The world is not Reality TV. The Presidency is the hardest job in the world, and he is not up to it. He will go down the tubes, just watch.
We, on the other hand, still have a lot going for us. We have each other, most importantly. You and I, and all of us. We have each other, and we are not going anywhere. We are not giving up or giving in, to ignorance and anger. Remember Dad's famous saying : "Everyone is not entitled to their own opinion"! And that is true because, despite the right to vote no matter your IQ level, it's just a fact of life that Stupid People aren't good at running things, and especially running the World.
Anger and prejudice will only get you so far, all you American Trump voters.
What we have, on the other hand, is intelligence and values, real Christian values (even for those of us who aren't Christian), meaning that we don't operate out of anger and hatred, or racism and mysoginy, but out of love and inclusion.
We are also stoic. We don't throw tantrums. We just endure. We don't go away.
I always call myself "Marine Corps" because that is my value system.
Semper Fi. Always loyal, don't leave anyone behind.
So, Sweet Baby, even though tonight is a tremendous disappointment, take heart in what we do have, besides the aforementioned things.
We still have art, and music - how great is music?! - and we have beautiful places to live, and good friends. We have Faith, because we know that in the long run the Good Guys always win. If you need proof of that, the truth is that the world would have ended long ago if the Bad Guys won.
Hitler ultimately lost, so did Stalin and communism. They always lose, even when they win.
We, on the other hand, never lose (even when it seems like we did).
We lost the Presidency tonight, because America has a lesson to learn. We already know the answer to that lesson, because we are ahead of the game. We are the stronger, and far more intelligent ones.
We just have to wait until the others catch up. Trump will help that process along by being an utter failure as President.
In the meantime, be Stoic. We will get through this just as we have several times before.
See you in the morning. God Bless America.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Tomorrow Will Be A Great Day On All Counts
Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby,
How's everything going in Arizona? I hope your film is coming along well, and that you are enjoying the desert. I also see that you have a video about to be released tomorrow. That is awesome and I will look forward to seeing it! I remember the band name Ash Aria from a while back, maybe earlier this year, but I did not specifically remember that you were doing a video with them. But it will look great, no doubt. :)
Tomorrow is the big day. Having worked the phones at Hillary's L.A. headquarters for her 2008 campaign, and being a big Clinton fan in general, I am super excited. And now a victory is certain and no more nervousness is felt. Trump is toast and at this time tomorrow we will have, for the very first time in America, a woman as President-elect. I (and many others) have been saying for years that that's exactly what we have needed, and of course Hillary Clinton was always gonna be the first choice to break that barrier.
It will be an exciting day tomorrow all the way around. :)
That's all I know for today. Post if you can and if you want to........ :)
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
How's everything going in Arizona? I hope your film is coming along well, and that you are enjoying the desert. I also see that you have a video about to be released tomorrow. That is awesome and I will look forward to seeing it! I remember the band name Ash Aria from a while back, maybe earlier this year, but I did not specifically remember that you were doing a video with them. But it will look great, no doubt. :)
Tomorrow is the big day. Having worked the phones at Hillary's L.A. headquarters for her 2008 campaign, and being a big Clinton fan in general, I am super excited. And now a victory is certain and no more nervousness is felt. Trump is toast and at this time tomorrow we will have, for the very first time in America, a woman as President-elect. I (and many others) have been saying for years that that's exactly what we have needed, and of course Hillary Clinton was always gonna be the first choice to break that barrier.
It will be an exciting day tomorrow all the way around. :)
That's all I know for today. Post if you can and if you want to........ :)
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Monday, November 7, 2016
Sunday Stuff, i.e. Arizona, John Rutter, Trump Is Toast, Beatles
Happy Late Sunday Night, my Darling,
I hope things are going well in Arizona. It will be great to see how the film turns out when it's all done. Will you still be there on Tuesday for the election? If so then you probably voted early back home. It is looking like Arizona might go Blue, i.e. democratic, this time around, which would be astounding but also amazing. Trump is gonna lose big time, and it's now less than 48 hours away (hooray!).
Today was busy for me : a ton of singing in church, we are rehearsing all our Christmas songs including John Rutter's "Christmas Lullaby", a famous modern choral piece that was one of the first things I ever sang when I joined the choir in November 2014, but back then I barely knew what I was doing. Then last year we sang it again, and I did good on the tenor verses but barely hung in there on the "Ave Maria"s.
But this year I am gonna nail it. I can read music better and memorise parts better, and I am already practicing the very high "Ave Maria"s in the car, where no one can hear my mistakes except me, haha. But this time I am gonna nail it down and ace the song.
The other songs are much easier - nine in all for the coming weeks - but now that we have begun singing high level stuff I am really enjoying it. :)
After choir practice I drove to Burbank to take my sister Sophie shopping. Then this evening at 6:45 I went over to Our Lady Of Lourdes (across the street from my apt) to watch Ticket To Ride for about 40 minutes. They are the local Beatles tribute band as mentioned at least a dozen times, and they play at the church carnival every Fall. After that I met my friend David F. and his daughter nearby and we went for a CSUN walk down to the Orange Grove duck pond and back.
Later on, I watched "The Walking Dead", and here I am now! Not walking, but not dead either!
Just tired.........
Still thinking about that concert last night, and the powerful emotion it generated.
See you in the morning. I Love You.
Continued best wishes in AZ on your film. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I hope things are going well in Arizona. It will be great to see how the film turns out when it's all done. Will you still be there on Tuesday for the election? If so then you probably voted early back home. It is looking like Arizona might go Blue, i.e. democratic, this time around, which would be astounding but also amazing. Trump is gonna lose big time, and it's now less than 48 hours away (hooray!).
Today was busy for me : a ton of singing in church, we are rehearsing all our Christmas songs including John Rutter's "Christmas Lullaby", a famous modern choral piece that was one of the first things I ever sang when I joined the choir in November 2014, but back then I barely knew what I was doing. Then last year we sang it again, and I did good on the tenor verses but barely hung in there on the "Ave Maria"s.
But this year I am gonna nail it. I can read music better and memorise parts better, and I am already practicing the very high "Ave Maria"s in the car, where no one can hear my mistakes except me, haha. But this time I am gonna nail it down and ace the song.
The other songs are much easier - nine in all for the coming weeks - but now that we have begun singing high level stuff I am really enjoying it. :)
After choir practice I drove to Burbank to take my sister Sophie shopping. Then this evening at 6:45 I went over to Our Lady Of Lourdes (across the street from my apt) to watch Ticket To Ride for about 40 minutes. They are the local Beatles tribute band as mentioned at least a dozen times, and they play at the church carnival every Fall. After that I met my friend David F. and his daughter nearby and we went for a CSUN walk down to the Orange Grove duck pond and back.
Later on, I watched "The Walking Dead", and here I am now! Not walking, but not dead either!
Just tired.........
Still thinking about that concert last night, and the powerful emotion it generated.
See you in the morning. I Love You.
Continued best wishes in AZ on your film. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Sunday, November 6, 2016
Arizona + Steven Wilson Was Phenomenal
Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby,
I see that you went to Phoenix rather than Sedona, but you are still surrounded by the beautiful desert as you know. I also saw this morning that you did fly there, so my guess was wrong, and I'm sure it was a heck of a lot easier to fly for three hours than it would have been to drive for three days, and the best part is that you are there already. I hope you had a good flight and a great day. :)
You must be either working on the film you and your friend began earlier in the year, or maybe it's a new film or project? I guess I will find out when the results come in. I liked your photo at the airport, and again there is a small detail that gives the picture something extra. This time it's more of a medium-sized detail and I'm sure you can guess what it is : the tail of the plane sticking up in the middle of the picture. I also like the black and white, of course! :)
Well, I am back from the Steven Wilson concert, and I think that it was as good as a concert can get. I mean, I know I always say that (and I always say that, too, haha) but the thing with artists like Opeth and Wilson is that they are carrying on the progressive rock tradition from the 1970s and doing so at an equal level with the greatest bands from that era, which is not an easy task.
Steven Wilson's show tonight was just Off The Charts. Three hours (including 20 minute intermission between two sets), Quadrophonic sound, exceptional lighting effects and film projections and a band of incredible musicians. But it wouldn't mean a thing without the music, and the deal with SW is that he can go from playing very melancholy songs that are achingly beautiful and put a tear in your eye, to ripping into musical excursions of densely layered, complex progressive rock. His music is very technical but the basis is in the emotion, which is brought forth as much from his lyrics and vocals as it is from the powerful musical sections. My goodness, he is a talented songwriter.
If you remember I had misgivings about The Belasco Theater where I saw Opeth two weeks ago. Well tonight I love it! And that's because tonight I had a clear view from the railing on the balcony, rather than a cramped side view as it was for Opeth. Tonight my spot was awesome and I got to watch the show unobstructed. Steven Wilson is also a noted producer and a Soundmeister, and so there were speakers placed around the back of the theater to produce the surround-sound effect (quadrophonic), and it was really intense. You could hear every instrument with great clarity and separation.
It was simply a phenomenal show, and I don't know what else to say.
There is a feeling and power in his music that is extremely special.
I feel incredibly grateful for tonight's show and for the run of shows I've seen recently. There is an organic feeling I sometimes get, about the way these concerts fit into The Scheme Of Things, that I can't put into words. I know that a lot of skill and practice goes into these shows, but there is another element present. It's as if the experience of such concerts was created out of Whole Cloth, as if they pre-existed, and it feels that way because of the three or four dimensional experience of sight, sound and personality of the artist. Remember, SB, that one of the great mysteries of the Universe is that no one knows what music is , nor where it comes from......
But when it is this great, in concert as an entire show, with lighting and theatrical effects, it seems to come fully formed from some place besides just a rehearsal hall.......
Well, that's all for tonight. Tomorrow is church and choir. I will see you in the early morn and then again after about 1:30.
I Love You. Have a blast on your trip! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I see that you went to Phoenix rather than Sedona, but you are still surrounded by the beautiful desert as you know. I also saw this morning that you did fly there, so my guess was wrong, and I'm sure it was a heck of a lot easier to fly for three hours than it would have been to drive for three days, and the best part is that you are there already. I hope you had a good flight and a great day. :)
You must be either working on the film you and your friend began earlier in the year, or maybe it's a new film or project? I guess I will find out when the results come in. I liked your photo at the airport, and again there is a small detail that gives the picture something extra. This time it's more of a medium-sized detail and I'm sure you can guess what it is : the tail of the plane sticking up in the middle of the picture. I also like the black and white, of course! :)
Well, I am back from the Steven Wilson concert, and I think that it was as good as a concert can get. I mean, I know I always say that (and I always say that, too, haha) but the thing with artists like Opeth and Wilson is that they are carrying on the progressive rock tradition from the 1970s and doing so at an equal level with the greatest bands from that era, which is not an easy task.
Steven Wilson's show tonight was just Off The Charts. Three hours (including 20 minute intermission between two sets), Quadrophonic sound, exceptional lighting effects and film projections and a band of incredible musicians. But it wouldn't mean a thing without the music, and the deal with SW is that he can go from playing very melancholy songs that are achingly beautiful and put a tear in your eye, to ripping into musical excursions of densely layered, complex progressive rock. His music is very technical but the basis is in the emotion, which is brought forth as much from his lyrics and vocals as it is from the powerful musical sections. My goodness, he is a talented songwriter.
If you remember I had misgivings about The Belasco Theater where I saw Opeth two weeks ago. Well tonight I love it! And that's because tonight I had a clear view from the railing on the balcony, rather than a cramped side view as it was for Opeth. Tonight my spot was awesome and I got to watch the show unobstructed. Steven Wilson is also a noted producer and a Soundmeister, and so there were speakers placed around the back of the theater to produce the surround-sound effect (quadrophonic), and it was really intense. You could hear every instrument with great clarity and separation.
It was simply a phenomenal show, and I don't know what else to say.
There is a feeling and power in his music that is extremely special.
I feel incredibly grateful for tonight's show and for the run of shows I've seen recently. There is an organic feeling I sometimes get, about the way these concerts fit into The Scheme Of Things, that I can't put into words. I know that a lot of skill and practice goes into these shows, but there is another element present. It's as if the experience of such concerts was created out of Whole Cloth, as if they pre-existed, and it feels that way because of the three or four dimensional experience of sight, sound and personality of the artist. Remember, SB, that one of the great mysteries of the Universe is that no one knows what music is , nor where it comes from......
But when it is this great, in concert as an entire show, with lighting and theatrical effects, it seems to come fully formed from some place besides just a rehearsal hall.......
Well, that's all for tonight. Tomorrow is church and choir. I will see you in the early morn and then again after about 1:30.
I Love You. Have a blast on your trip! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Saturday, November 5, 2016
Arizona + Steven Wilson + Take Pics As You Travel
Happy Late Night, my Darling,
Late depending on time zone. So, you are heading back to Sedona? That is awesome! I don't know if you are flying or driving (I would guess the latter), and if so it's gotta be a minimum 2-day trip. I just Google Mapped it, and it's 1600 miles. Maybe a three day trip. If you took the I-40 (as per Google), you might have stopped in Kansas City, and then tomorrow in Oklahoma or New Mexico. All just guesses of course.
I think it's great that you are getting to go back, and the Sedona desert should be absolutely gorgeous in the November light. It will make for some dramatic photographs!
Here in the Valley we are still doing Summer. I had to wear a sweatshirt for one night, I think it was November 1st, but other than that it's been 80+ degrees and t-shirts and mild nights, so it might be nice in AZ, too (although since it's a desert environment it could be cold, too).
Today for me was just a regular day, though tomorrow night I will be going to see Steven Wilson at The Belasco in Downtown L.A. It's another general admission show in a sardine can venue (same one where I saw Opeth), so my legs and feet won't thank me, but it should be a mild-mannered audience and maybe I can squeeze my way up close. This past few months has been a remarkable run of shows, and after Wilson I will be down to the last one : Anderson Rabin & Wakeman on 11/22. But it should be noted that in all my decades of conertgoing, there have been very few runs like this one. And I got my Alcest ticket this morning, so that will be my first concert of 2017. :) I'll bet you got your ticket to Reggie's, too.
Well, that's all I know for tonight. I don't know if you can post while you are on the road or in AZ, but if you can and if you wanna, please do. I would love to see what you are working on. Take pics on the road, too! Remember that's it's a form of journalism, just to "capture the moment" (and capture your travels in America), and so take some pics as you go......
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Late depending on time zone. So, you are heading back to Sedona? That is awesome! I don't know if you are flying or driving (I would guess the latter), and if so it's gotta be a minimum 2-day trip. I just Google Mapped it, and it's 1600 miles. Maybe a three day trip. If you took the I-40 (as per Google), you might have stopped in Kansas City, and then tomorrow in Oklahoma or New Mexico. All just guesses of course.
I think it's great that you are getting to go back, and the Sedona desert should be absolutely gorgeous in the November light. It will make for some dramatic photographs!
Here in the Valley we are still doing Summer. I had to wear a sweatshirt for one night, I think it was November 1st, but other than that it's been 80+ degrees and t-shirts and mild nights, so it might be nice in AZ, too (although since it's a desert environment it could be cold, too).
Today for me was just a regular day, though tomorrow night I will be going to see Steven Wilson at The Belasco in Downtown L.A. It's another general admission show in a sardine can venue (same one where I saw Opeth), so my legs and feet won't thank me, but it should be a mild-mannered audience and maybe I can squeeze my way up close. This past few months has been a remarkable run of shows, and after Wilson I will be down to the last one : Anderson Rabin & Wakeman on 11/22. But it should be noted that in all my decades of conertgoing, there have been very few runs like this one. And I got my Alcest ticket this morning, so that will be my first concert of 2017. :) I'll bet you got your ticket to Reggie's, too.
Well, that's all I know for tonight. I don't know if you can post while you are on the road or in AZ, but if you can and if you wanna, please do. I would love to see what you are working on. Take pics on the road, too! Remember that's it's a form of journalism, just to "capture the moment" (and capture your travels in America), and so take some pics as you go......
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Friday, November 4, 2016
Beautiful Photo + Gram Rabbit + Movie + Communication Question
Hi Elizabeth,
Happy Late Night. I hope you had a nice day, and for the last couple days as well. That was a beautiful photo you posted this morning, of the trees and winding river. You didn't specify where it was taken, but you did mention living in an area of natural beauty, so maybe the photo was taken close to home? You know I like small details in photographs, and in this one I like the bridge, and then waaaay back in the background you can see some structures. I can't tell what they are, but that's the kind of small detail that I love in pictures, something that grabs your eye and adds wonder to the scene. That particular place is spectacular.
Last night I went with Grimsley to see Gram Rabbit play at a place called The Bootleg Theater near Downtown L.A. We used to go see them all the time until about 2011 or so, but then they broke up and your fellow Wisconsinite JVR went solo. Right now, though, they are back together for a mini-tour of a few shows out here, so it was a blast to see the full band once again.
Tonight was movie night at CSUN, only we didn't see the originally scheduled Bresson film ("Un Femme Douce") because they had a problem getting a suitable copy of the film to screen. It's never had a proper dvd release, and available copies in any medium (VHS, etc) are hard to come by. So, instead The Professor showed us a "Bressonian"-type film called "The Match Factory Girl", made in 1990 by a Finnish filmmaker named Aki Kaurismaki. It definitely had the Bresson style, and a great, nearly expressionless performance from the lead actress who played the girl with a dreary job in the match factory, the rest of her life is equally boring, depressing and unchanging.
The film has a darkly comedic element that appears at the end that is perfect as it relates to the persona of the Girl. What she does just seems like something she would do. It's a great performance by an actress known only in Scandinavia. I had never heard of the film, but thought it was great. In fact, I looked up the director on the Library website, and ordered another one of his films. :)
Well, that's all the news for the last couple days. You haven't been on FB much at all recently, which is why I skip days. I don't know to what degree you want to keep communicating, or if you have the time to do so, but all I can do is respond to when you do post. Not much new that I can write on my own about my regular workday life.
So, if you wanna keep communicating, please post, and if you can't or don't have the time, I will understand.
I Love You. See you in the morn. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Happy Late Night. I hope you had a nice day, and for the last couple days as well. That was a beautiful photo you posted this morning, of the trees and winding river. You didn't specify where it was taken, but you did mention living in an area of natural beauty, so maybe the photo was taken close to home? You know I like small details in photographs, and in this one I like the bridge, and then waaaay back in the background you can see some structures. I can't tell what they are, but that's the kind of small detail that I love in pictures, something that grabs your eye and adds wonder to the scene. That particular place is spectacular.
Last night I went with Grimsley to see Gram Rabbit play at a place called The Bootleg Theater near Downtown L.A. We used to go see them all the time until about 2011 or so, but then they broke up and your fellow Wisconsinite JVR went solo. Right now, though, they are back together for a mini-tour of a few shows out here, so it was a blast to see the full band once again.
Tonight was movie night at CSUN, only we didn't see the originally scheduled Bresson film ("Un Femme Douce") because they had a problem getting a suitable copy of the film to screen. It's never had a proper dvd release, and available copies in any medium (VHS, etc) are hard to come by. So, instead The Professor showed us a "Bressonian"-type film called "The Match Factory Girl", made in 1990 by a Finnish filmmaker named Aki Kaurismaki. It definitely had the Bresson style, and a great, nearly expressionless performance from the lead actress who played the girl with a dreary job in the match factory, the rest of her life is equally boring, depressing and unchanging.
The film has a darkly comedic element that appears at the end that is perfect as it relates to the persona of the Girl. What she does just seems like something she would do. It's a great performance by an actress known only in Scandinavia. I had never heard of the film, but thought it was great. In fact, I looked up the director on the Library website, and ordered another one of his films. :)
Well, that's all the news for the last couple days. You haven't been on FB much at all recently, which is why I skip days. I don't know to what degree you want to keep communicating, or if you have the time to do so, but all I can do is respond to when you do post. Not much new that I can write on my own about my regular workday life.
So, if you wanna keep communicating, please post, and if you can't or don't have the time, I will understand.
I Love You. See you in the morn. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Happy Halloween + Cave Of Munits + Pumpkins + Alcest + Halloween Rules :):)
Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby,
Happy Halloween, too! I hope you had a fun day. Mine was pretty busy. In addition to shopping and running other errands, I managed to squeeze in a hike from 3-4pm out at El Escorpion Park, where I went out to the Cave Of Munits as planned. There was nobody in the park but me. I didn't go inside the Cave because as I've said before it's kind of a precarious entry to the inside and not something I'd wanna do without a hiking partner, but since I don't have one of those, I like to just walk up to the front of the cave and simply feel the vibe. There is a silence there that leaves you with only the visual : you look at The Cave and The Cave looks at you, much like the proverbial abyss. But because of the way it is situated, far from any streets and in a semi-enclosed part of the canyon, it really is silent. And so, since you don't hear anything, you simply see it (which is impressive), and feel it. And it's pretty awesome.
When I got back to Pearl's I carved two pumpkins, which is a tradition with me. Pumpkin carving is one of the things that Halloween is all about, and I've always loved doing it. In the past I've always tried to make 'em as scary as possible, but this time I did one scary one and one scared one, just to give the other point of view, haha. I got the idea seeing other pumpkins around that had big round eyes instead of sharp slanted ones, and I added a couple of downswept eyebrows, for that worried look.
"Man, I am one spooked Jack-O-Lantern. And it's all your fault for putting me next to this scary lookin' guy". That was the idea behind One Spooked, One Scary. And they came out pretty good!
We got a fair amount of Trick-Or-Treaters, though not as many as the last couple years. I chalked it up to a Monday night, a weird night for Halloween. We still had fun, though, with Christopher Lee movies on TCM, the Kobedog wearing his pumpkin vest and bow-tie collar, and The Black Kitty hangin' out by the gate, the perfect Halloween Host.
I stayed here at Pearl's til 8:45, then headed back home for my usual Halloween walk to check out all the cool houses in my 'hood.
And of course I watched "The Great Pumpkin". You knew I would..... :)
Alice Cooper was on the Jimmy Kimmel show when I got back to Pearl's, a perfect way to cap off the night.
And I'm sure you are as excited as I am to hear the news this morning of the coming Alcest tour! Your show at Reggie's in Chicago will be a couple weeks before mine here at The Roxy, which I think has been the pattern the last couple tours, with you seeing them first. It'll probably be the first rock concert of 2017 for me (and maybe for you too), a great way to start the year. :):)
That's all I know for tonight, SB. Another great Halloween in the books, and we can't wait for the next one!
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Happy Halloween, too! I hope you had a fun day. Mine was pretty busy. In addition to shopping and running other errands, I managed to squeeze in a hike from 3-4pm out at El Escorpion Park, where I went out to the Cave Of Munits as planned. There was nobody in the park but me. I didn't go inside the Cave because as I've said before it's kind of a precarious entry to the inside and not something I'd wanna do without a hiking partner, but since I don't have one of those, I like to just walk up to the front of the cave and simply feel the vibe. There is a silence there that leaves you with only the visual : you look at The Cave and The Cave looks at you, much like the proverbial abyss. But because of the way it is situated, far from any streets and in a semi-enclosed part of the canyon, it really is silent. And so, since you don't hear anything, you simply see it (which is impressive), and feel it. And it's pretty awesome.
When I got back to Pearl's I carved two pumpkins, which is a tradition with me. Pumpkin carving is one of the things that Halloween is all about, and I've always loved doing it. In the past I've always tried to make 'em as scary as possible, but this time I did one scary one and one scared one, just to give the other point of view, haha. I got the idea seeing other pumpkins around that had big round eyes instead of sharp slanted ones, and I added a couple of downswept eyebrows, for that worried look.
"Man, I am one spooked Jack-O-Lantern. And it's all your fault for putting me next to this scary lookin' guy". That was the idea behind One Spooked, One Scary. And they came out pretty good!
We got a fair amount of Trick-Or-Treaters, though not as many as the last couple years. I chalked it up to a Monday night, a weird night for Halloween. We still had fun, though, with Christopher Lee movies on TCM, the Kobedog wearing his pumpkin vest and bow-tie collar, and The Black Kitty hangin' out by the gate, the perfect Halloween Host.
I stayed here at Pearl's til 8:45, then headed back home for my usual Halloween walk to check out all the cool houses in my 'hood.
And of course I watched "The Great Pumpkin". You knew I would..... :)
Alice Cooper was on the Jimmy Kimmel show when I got back to Pearl's, a perfect way to cap off the night.
And I'm sure you are as excited as I am to hear the news this morning of the coming Alcest tour! Your show at Reggie's in Chicago will be a couple weeks before mine here at The Roxy, which I think has been the pattern the last couple tours, with you seeing them first. It'll probably be the first rock concert of 2017 for me (and maybe for you too), a great way to start the year. :):)
That's all I know for tonight, SB. Another great Halloween in the books, and we can't wait for the next one!
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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