Happy Late Saturday Night, Sweet Baby,
Another routine workday for me, with nothing extraneous to report, but at least the wind has stopped. It's been a hike-less week due to the wind, and the plumbers coming over for three straight days, but next week I hope to get started again. I hope your day was good, and that all projects are coming along well as always. I urge you in the strongest possible terms (terms that are pumping iron, haha) to continue writing music at every opportunity you have. Your music has honest feeling from within, and you are doing something different. So, explore and contemplate what you are feeling when you compose, and listen to your muse. You have your own thing happening, so compose at every opportunity (when you are not working I mean).
Or, just consider composition as part of your work, with yourself as your own client.
End of Drill Sergeant routine for now. Remember when I first became your Drill Sergeant? Back in 2012? :) "Do this!....Do that"! ("aww, c'mon Ad.....stop already").
Now I am just an occasional Drill Sergeant, but tonight I am on duty. :)
Today I went to the produce market and got my first bunch of dandelion greens. Oh Boy! - what I used to pull out of the ground as a weed, I am now buying in a professionally grown bundle, and I can't wait to try 'em! They are supposed to be really good for you with all kinds of vitamins and enzimes and stuff. I have been getting into greens in recent years, and have tried collard greens (really good) and red & green chard (yum) and kale (yeah I know, everybody hates it. Not spectacular but.....I'll eat it), and my latest favorite : Mustard Greens! And because you asked, yes, they do taste just a bit like mustard.
Man, are Mustard Greens good, and I am not even kidding you.
I was gonna get some more today, but they didn't have any. But they did have huge bunches of Dandelion Greens, so I thought "well, chalk another one up" and bought some. Still gotta try Turnip Greens, too.
Tonight's movie was called "Escape" (1940), starring ultra-handsome Robert Taylor as a man who has traveled from America to Nazi Germany to try and find his mother, an actress and German citizen who has been arrested on a trivial charge of selling her house without permission. This story is jam packed with plot and intrigue, as Taylor hits roadblock after roadblock in trying to find his mother, until he meets an expatriate American "Countess", played by the legendary Norma Shearer, who lives in luxury though imprisoned by her relationship to a German Army General played by Conrad Veidt, of "Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari" fame.
There is so much going on in this film, and it doesn't let up for a minute. It has one of the best depictions of the constant Nazi suspicion and interrogation that was ever present at the time and had to be endured by anyone who was not part of the machinery. It is interesting that "Escape" was released in 1940, a year before America was in the war, and in the film Robert Taylor as the American is able to get away with walking around freely and even becoming involved with the General's girlfriend (Shearer). Perhaps the Germans were still wary of messing with the Americans at the time, or at least it was depicted that way.
Well anyhow, a great movie, and once again a movie I had not known about. Good thing I did a Mervyn Leroy search in the Library database. He was the director of "Escape" and a whole host of assorted films in all kinds of genres, including parts of "The Wizard Of Oz" which had several directors. He was what you would call a Hollywood craftsman, a director who could work in any style, within the studio system of the time.
Well that's all for tonight! Tomorrow's anthem is a fairly easy one (though with offsetting vocal parts) called "Thou Shalt Love", based on the Two Commandments Of Christ.
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Saturday, April 29, 2017
Happy Friday + Still Windy + CIA 1989 + Ritchie's Thoughts
Happy Late Night, my Darling,
I hope you had a good day and a nice Friday night. We continued to experience the strong winds for the fifth straight day, and a beautiful bottlebrush tree in Pearl's backyard blew over. It has been there since the 1950s. It is sagging against the roof but not totally broken in the trunk, so maybe it can be propped up and saved. I sure hope so, and I hope this godawful wind condition will end soon. We've never had anything like this in April, not that I can remember, but then you never know what you are gonna get nowdays.
It was a routine day yet again because of the wind. No hike, no going to the park. But I'll be right back at it as soon as possible.
I have been reading my book called "A Terrible Mistake" about the CIA influenced death of an Army scientist named Frank Olson in the 1950s, and it is blowing my mind. The book is 750 pages, so I have to read every day to avoid not finishing by the library due date, and also to remain absorbed in the complex story line. The main thing is that people simply would be stunned to discover what their government was up to at that time (and no doubt still is) in the guise of National Security. The CIA conducted clandestine LSD experiments on unsuspecting people, and did all kinds of horrible things which are too detailed to describe here. We have talked about Trump being a monster; these people were even worse.
But what has me especially interested is a section in the book about something called Project Artichoke, which began around 1953. One of the goals of Project Artichoke was to discover or create an "amnesia drug" to be used on people who were subjected to the CIA's various experiments and psychological operations, so that any particular subject would not remember what had happened to him. The development of this amnesia-inducing drug was given a high priority, as was the use of hypnosis, for the same reason of inducing amnesia and also to implant ideas and instructions in certain persons' heads.
While I am 100% certain I am not a Manchurian Candidate or a victim of any type of severe conditioning experiment as detailed in this book, it is nevertheless a fact that I was both hypnotised and given a shot of some kind of drug in order to induce amnesia in me with regards to what happened in 1989.
That's just the straight up plain truth. And those tactics - to cause a person to have no memory of a very significant event in the person's life - are taken straight out of the Project Artichoke playbook from 1953.
So I have wondered if the CIA was involved in What Happened In Northridge. It happened in 1989, when George Bush the First was President. He was the director of the CIA in 1976 and has had lifelong intelligence connections. And it involved Bill Clinton, who has been rumored to have CIA connections since his days at Oxford, and who more importantly has close ties to the Bush family.
It's all very complex, SB, and just reading it here on a computer screen can make it seem nutty and Just One More Conspiracy Theory, though it is anything but. It is the Most Real Thing In The World, the biggest secret in America, what happened in 1989. And one day it will be known.
But for today, I was just interested and astounded to read about Project Artichoke. You'd think we were living in the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany for what these devils did to people. If you ever wonder why I do not worship at The God Of Science, this is one major reason. People split atoms, build nuclear weapons and do all kinds of horrible things in the name of science. And in the CIA, they also conduct experiments.
Sorry to subject you to such a tale, but at any rate, it is all part of my ongoing quest for the Truth.
For an interesting look into the way I think about things, you can listen to the words of Ritchie Blackmore in the video I posted this morning. In it, he talks about the importance of listening to the world around you versus always being verbose and voicing opinions on everything. Ritchie has his Mars in Pisces like me, which makes you naturally introverted, and the way he articulates his thoughts in that video are similar to what I might say when I talk about trying to "get a glimpse" of something that cannot be described. If you recall, I used to talk about that many years ago when I was reading the Oswald Spengler masterpiece "The Decline Of The West". Because we have a stream-of consciousness always moving rapidly through our minds, it is important to try and pay attention to it rather than always distracting ourselves. Of course, distraction (i.e. having fun) is a huge and important part of life too, but so is listening to that inner stream, and slowing it down so that we can make sense of the many "glimpses" it is offering us.
Well, that's all I know for tonight. And I agree with Sarah and Homer Simpson : "Yeah, man.....I've seen Ten Bands.......I must be beyond cool". Or just distracted by memes.
See you in the morn. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I hope you had a good day and a nice Friday night. We continued to experience the strong winds for the fifth straight day, and a beautiful bottlebrush tree in Pearl's backyard blew over. It has been there since the 1950s. It is sagging against the roof but not totally broken in the trunk, so maybe it can be propped up and saved. I sure hope so, and I hope this godawful wind condition will end soon. We've never had anything like this in April, not that I can remember, but then you never know what you are gonna get nowdays.
It was a routine day yet again because of the wind. No hike, no going to the park. But I'll be right back at it as soon as possible.
I have been reading my book called "A Terrible Mistake" about the CIA influenced death of an Army scientist named Frank Olson in the 1950s, and it is blowing my mind. The book is 750 pages, so I have to read every day to avoid not finishing by the library due date, and also to remain absorbed in the complex story line. The main thing is that people simply would be stunned to discover what their government was up to at that time (and no doubt still is) in the guise of National Security. The CIA conducted clandestine LSD experiments on unsuspecting people, and did all kinds of horrible things which are too detailed to describe here. We have talked about Trump being a monster; these people were even worse.
But what has me especially interested is a section in the book about something called Project Artichoke, which began around 1953. One of the goals of Project Artichoke was to discover or create an "amnesia drug" to be used on people who were subjected to the CIA's various experiments and psychological operations, so that any particular subject would not remember what had happened to him. The development of this amnesia-inducing drug was given a high priority, as was the use of hypnosis, for the same reason of inducing amnesia and also to implant ideas and instructions in certain persons' heads.
While I am 100% certain I am not a Manchurian Candidate or a victim of any type of severe conditioning experiment as detailed in this book, it is nevertheless a fact that I was both hypnotised and given a shot of some kind of drug in order to induce amnesia in me with regards to what happened in 1989.
That's just the straight up plain truth. And those tactics - to cause a person to have no memory of a very significant event in the person's life - are taken straight out of the Project Artichoke playbook from 1953.
So I have wondered if the CIA was involved in What Happened In Northridge. It happened in 1989, when George Bush the First was President. He was the director of the CIA in 1976 and has had lifelong intelligence connections. And it involved Bill Clinton, who has been rumored to have CIA connections since his days at Oxford, and who more importantly has close ties to the Bush family.
It's all very complex, SB, and just reading it here on a computer screen can make it seem nutty and Just One More Conspiracy Theory, though it is anything but. It is the Most Real Thing In The World, the biggest secret in America, what happened in 1989. And one day it will be known.
But for today, I was just interested and astounded to read about Project Artichoke. You'd think we were living in the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany for what these devils did to people. If you ever wonder why I do not worship at The God Of Science, this is one major reason. People split atoms, build nuclear weapons and do all kinds of horrible things in the name of science. And in the CIA, they also conduct experiments.
Sorry to subject you to such a tale, but at any rate, it is all part of my ongoing quest for the Truth.
For an interesting look into the way I think about things, you can listen to the words of Ritchie Blackmore in the video I posted this morning. In it, he talks about the importance of listening to the world around you versus always being verbose and voicing opinions on everything. Ritchie has his Mars in Pisces like me, which makes you naturally introverted, and the way he articulates his thoughts in that video are similar to what I might say when I talk about trying to "get a glimpse" of something that cannot be described. If you recall, I used to talk about that many years ago when I was reading the Oswald Spengler masterpiece "The Decline Of The West". Because we have a stream-of consciousness always moving rapidly through our minds, it is important to try and pay attention to it rather than always distracting ourselves. Of course, distraction (i.e. having fun) is a huge and important part of life too, but so is listening to that inner stream, and slowing it down so that we can make sense of the many "glimpses" it is offering us.
Well, that's all I know for tonight. And I agree with Sarah and Homer Simpson : "Yeah, man.....I've seen Ten Bands.......I must be beyond cool". Or just distracted by memes.
See you in the morn. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Friday, April 28, 2017
Self-Portrait + "Opening Night" + FB Memes + Gale Force Bugs Me
Happy Late Thursday Night, Sweet Baby,
I hope your day was good as always. My main activity this afternoon was getting my hair cut during Pearl's usual appointment. She cut it a bit shorter than usual, but I like it, hence the selfie I posted. I liked your selfie this morning, although in your case it should always be referred to as a Self Portrait. :) You specified the location, i.e. Absolute Middle Of Nowhere, but you did not tell what that brick building is. It's really cool, and I think of it as an icehouse for some reason, though it's probably something else. And when you say "drive to the absolute middle of nowhere", do you mean like more than a hundred miles? I ask because I have always remarked on the perceptive driving differences between SoCal folks and Midwesterners. I first noticed this when guys at the KX board would talk about driving 200 miles to see King's X or some other band, like it was no big deal. And then I would chime in and say, "to us, even driving 50 miles is a big deal", to see a band or otherwise. I think it's because of the traffic, which makes driving no fun. But when we went to see the poppy reserve two weeks ago, we took old country roads instead of the freeway. That drive was about 50 miles, and it was awesome : no cars, no buildings, just the road and the sights. It makes the miles go by quicker. Well anyhow, I like the old brick structure in your photo. :)
One of these days I've gotta do a desert drive and look for similarly cool spots.
Tonight's movie at CSUN was "Opening Night" by John Cassavetes. It is the story of a theater actress who begins to suffer a nervous breakdown (typical Cassavetes) after witnessing the death of one of her fans in a traffic accident right after a show. She is already an alcoholic to begin with (typical Cassavetes) and has issues with playing an older woman in the play she is starring in, even though she is not young herself.
This movie has a lot of great things going for it, especially the Live Theater premise, in which the movie becomes a play-within-a-movie and goes back and forth in that manner. The staging of all of that feels like you are right there watching a play, and yet you are watching a movie, and because it's Cassavetes it all feels like you are watching real life to begin with, and not a movie or play on a screen. You also get Gena Rowlands (from Madison, WI) in yet another bravura performance, as she goes through the torment of guilt feelings of the fan's death, and also internalizes her as a memory of her younger self, which is a weapon against the aging character she plays on stage. She does not like getting older and does not like being in a play about such, and so the deceased young fan becomes an inner alter-ego to fight back against it all.
It's all Extremely John Cassavetes, meaning it is full of psychological/emotional examination of human motivations. It's not as chaotic as some of his earlier films, and the theater aspect looks great onscreen.
This film would have been a classic but for one thing : it's too doggone long. 2 hours 27 minutes.
It should have been about 45 minutes shorter, or at least a half hour shorter. Then he would have had a great film. But it was still very good, and I think Gena Rowlands should be recognized as a very great actress. She is phenomenal in all of these films by her husband.
Well, that's all I know for tonight. I also saw your post about the "Ten Bands I've Seen" meme on FB, with Batman smacking Robin. Haha, I felt the same way - and you know I generally never participate in Let's All Join In type stuff on Facebook, but I did last night just because I got an idea to do it backwards; to list one band I've seen, and nine lies. So I did mine to be contrary, because it was bugging me too, lol. And so I picked one band that I figured most of my friends would never guess I had seen, The Bay City Rollers, who were a huge Teenybopper band in the 1970s. Ono remembered, though, and Mike B. would have known anyway because I went with him. But yeah, I generally agree with your post about all FB memes.
We are still having this humid and gross Monsoon weather here, with the never-ceasing Gale Force winds. I hate wind so much that I'd rather have pouring rain and even freezing cold. Wind is my worst weather condition of all; for some reason it just makes me very uncomfortable. Hopefully it will stop soon.
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I hope your day was good as always. My main activity this afternoon was getting my hair cut during Pearl's usual appointment. She cut it a bit shorter than usual, but I like it, hence the selfie I posted. I liked your selfie this morning, although in your case it should always be referred to as a Self Portrait. :) You specified the location, i.e. Absolute Middle Of Nowhere, but you did not tell what that brick building is. It's really cool, and I think of it as an icehouse for some reason, though it's probably something else. And when you say "drive to the absolute middle of nowhere", do you mean like more than a hundred miles? I ask because I have always remarked on the perceptive driving differences between SoCal folks and Midwesterners. I first noticed this when guys at the KX board would talk about driving 200 miles to see King's X or some other band, like it was no big deal. And then I would chime in and say, "to us, even driving 50 miles is a big deal", to see a band or otherwise. I think it's because of the traffic, which makes driving no fun. But when we went to see the poppy reserve two weeks ago, we took old country roads instead of the freeway. That drive was about 50 miles, and it was awesome : no cars, no buildings, just the road and the sights. It makes the miles go by quicker. Well anyhow, I like the old brick structure in your photo. :)
One of these days I've gotta do a desert drive and look for similarly cool spots.
Tonight's movie at CSUN was "Opening Night" by John Cassavetes. It is the story of a theater actress who begins to suffer a nervous breakdown (typical Cassavetes) after witnessing the death of one of her fans in a traffic accident right after a show. She is already an alcoholic to begin with (typical Cassavetes) and has issues with playing an older woman in the play she is starring in, even though she is not young herself.
This movie has a lot of great things going for it, especially the Live Theater premise, in which the movie becomes a play-within-a-movie and goes back and forth in that manner. The staging of all of that feels like you are right there watching a play, and yet you are watching a movie, and because it's Cassavetes it all feels like you are watching real life to begin with, and not a movie or play on a screen. You also get Gena Rowlands (from Madison, WI) in yet another bravura performance, as she goes through the torment of guilt feelings of the fan's death, and also internalizes her as a memory of her younger self, which is a weapon against the aging character she plays on stage. She does not like getting older and does not like being in a play about such, and so the deceased young fan becomes an inner alter-ego to fight back against it all.
It's all Extremely John Cassavetes, meaning it is full of psychological/emotional examination of human motivations. It's not as chaotic as some of his earlier films, and the theater aspect looks great onscreen.
This film would have been a classic but for one thing : it's too doggone long. 2 hours 27 minutes.
It should have been about 45 minutes shorter, or at least a half hour shorter. Then he would have had a great film. But it was still very good, and I think Gena Rowlands should be recognized as a very great actress. She is phenomenal in all of these films by her husband.
Well, that's all I know for tonight. I also saw your post about the "Ten Bands I've Seen" meme on FB, with Batman smacking Robin. Haha, I felt the same way - and you know I generally never participate in Let's All Join In type stuff on Facebook, but I did last night just because I got an idea to do it backwards; to list one band I've seen, and nine lies. So I did mine to be contrary, because it was bugging me too, lol. And so I picked one band that I figured most of my friends would never guess I had seen, The Bay City Rollers, who were a huge Teenybopper band in the 1970s. Ono remembered, though, and Mike B. would have known anyway because I went with him. But yeah, I generally agree with your post about all FB memes.
We are still having this humid and gross Monsoon weather here, with the never-ceasing Gale Force winds. I hate wind so much that I'd rather have pouring rain and even freezing cold. Wind is my worst weather condition of all; for some reason it just makes me very uncomfortable. Hopefully it will stop soon.
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Thursday, April 27, 2017
Not Much To Report + Recording Music? + Trump Is Pure Evil
Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby,
I hope you had a nice day, today and yesterday. I've been hanging around here at Pearl's for the past two afternoons, waiting for the plumber to finish fixing the pipes in the front yard, so I have nothing to report other than that. I have been able to squeeze in an hour or so at home each day, just enough time for some R&R (rest & reading), but not enough for hikes or photography. I will get back to it soon, hopefully Friday. Tomorrow I am going to the hair salon with Pearl, cause I am overdue for a haircut. :)
I've seen just a couple posts since Monday, both having to do with recording music. One was via James and Versus Me, and the other was from Drewsif Stalin. I had thought he was just a regular FB person but now I see he is a musician who is touring England. Not too shabby. :) At any rate, since you posted twice about recording music, from two different musicians, I figure you mean it for yourself - that you are recording new stuff. If so, that is fantastic, because it keeps the musical energy flowing, from the release of your album into new composition. But even if it was just regular FB "likes" for those musicians, that is great too. Versus Me, besides being your friends are a great client for you. Is Drewsif Stalin a client, too?
Well, that's basically all for today. One other thing - you know I don't like to get political in this divisive day and age, but this story with Trump today, about him wanting to decommission or declassify certain National Monuments, including several in California, makes me so mad I could spit. What kind of person could propose to tear up the incredibly beautiful and Godlike places that have been protected as National Monuments, just so the dirty rotten evil land developers can have their way?
This guy Trump is a Monster, plain and simple. He's not just a politician that sucks. He's Grade A Evil, and he has got to be stopped. God will stop him before he can tear that land up.
Well, that's all I will say. We will be rid of this jerk soon. I hate politics and I detest evil.
Keep recording music. I Love You and will see you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I hope you had a nice day, today and yesterday. I've been hanging around here at Pearl's for the past two afternoons, waiting for the plumber to finish fixing the pipes in the front yard, so I have nothing to report other than that. I have been able to squeeze in an hour or so at home each day, just enough time for some R&R (rest & reading), but not enough for hikes or photography. I will get back to it soon, hopefully Friday. Tomorrow I am going to the hair salon with Pearl, cause I am overdue for a haircut. :)
I've seen just a couple posts since Monday, both having to do with recording music. One was via James and Versus Me, and the other was from Drewsif Stalin. I had thought he was just a regular FB person but now I see he is a musician who is touring England. Not too shabby. :) At any rate, since you posted twice about recording music, from two different musicians, I figure you mean it for yourself - that you are recording new stuff. If so, that is fantastic, because it keeps the musical energy flowing, from the release of your album into new composition. But even if it was just regular FB "likes" for those musicians, that is great too. Versus Me, besides being your friends are a great client for you. Is Drewsif Stalin a client, too?
Well, that's basically all for today. One other thing - you know I don't like to get political in this divisive day and age, but this story with Trump today, about him wanting to decommission or declassify certain National Monuments, including several in California, makes me so mad I could spit. What kind of person could propose to tear up the incredibly beautiful and Godlike places that have been protected as National Monuments, just so the dirty rotten evil land developers can have their way?
This guy Trump is a Monster, plain and simple. He's not just a politician that sucks. He's Grade A Evil, and he has got to be stopped. God will stop him before he can tear that land up.
Well, that's all I will say. We will be rid of this jerk soon. I hate politics and I detest evil.
Keep recording music. I Love You and will see you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Chiaroscuro + Unique Style + Gale Force
Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby,
I hope you had a good day. I liked the photo (or video still?) you posted this morning of Anna. The shadows on her face, neck and shoulder add a bit of chiaroscuro effect. That's a word I learned from Professor Tim at the CSUN Cinematheque. It is used to describe the "light & shadow" photography most often seen in Film Noir, where shadows are used to create patterns. Normally I don't like a lot of obscure film theory language because it is often very pretentious, but "chiaroscuro" I do like because it sounds like what it is, like a visual form of onomatopoeia, another totally pretentious word, lol. But with chiaroscuro, it sounds like "charcoal", and shadow patterns can have a "charcoally" effect.
"Man, that was a long way to go to make your point, Ad".
"Yeah, I know. But I had to do it because I wanted to say 'chiaroscuro' ". :)
You had a self-portrait from a couple of years ago in which there was a lace-pattern covering your face. That one was totally chiaroscuro! Okay, now I'll stop saying it.
I also notice a slight vortex, or circular, pattern in the background of the Anna photo, and I wonder if you used a filter for that, or an app, because it's not just shallow depth-of-field. However you did it, it looks cool!
Not much to report from my end today. Pearl had a doctor's appointment in the middle of the afternoon which precluded other activity. It was just a checkup and she is doing well, blood pressure probably lower than mine, haha.
I saw a post via James, about getting ready to record, or "doing some recording" and I wondered if perhaps you meant that you were doing some too. Are you still learning your new viola? You have got something unique here, because no one else (or at least very few in your age group) is making original music for a solo instrument, and especially piano, and also just as a singular instrument.
Few people are making non-rock/pop/techno oriented music and going their own way as you are, so again you have got something unique happening. Just so you know that, which I am sure you do. :)
Gale force winds are gathering force outside as I write, and are predicted to be blowing through The Northern Ridge for the next few days. That is of course Joyous News for me, as there is nothing I love as much as a constant windstorm (oy).
But I will hope for the best and try to get a hike in by Wednesday, and maybe some photos of my own, and some Chiaroscuro as well. There, I got it in one last time!
See you in the morning, SB. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I hope you had a good day. I liked the photo (or video still?) you posted this morning of Anna. The shadows on her face, neck and shoulder add a bit of chiaroscuro effect. That's a word I learned from Professor Tim at the CSUN Cinematheque. It is used to describe the "light & shadow" photography most often seen in Film Noir, where shadows are used to create patterns. Normally I don't like a lot of obscure film theory language because it is often very pretentious, but "chiaroscuro" I do like because it sounds like what it is, like a visual form of onomatopoeia, another totally pretentious word, lol. But with chiaroscuro, it sounds like "charcoal", and shadow patterns can have a "charcoally" effect.
"Man, that was a long way to go to make your point, Ad".
"Yeah, I know. But I had to do it because I wanted to say 'chiaroscuro' ". :)
You had a self-portrait from a couple of years ago in which there was a lace-pattern covering your face. That one was totally chiaroscuro! Okay, now I'll stop saying it.
I also notice a slight vortex, or circular, pattern in the background of the Anna photo, and I wonder if you used a filter for that, or an app, because it's not just shallow depth-of-field. However you did it, it looks cool!
Not much to report from my end today. Pearl had a doctor's appointment in the middle of the afternoon which precluded other activity. It was just a checkup and she is doing well, blood pressure probably lower than mine, haha.
I saw a post via James, about getting ready to record, or "doing some recording" and I wondered if perhaps you meant that you were doing some too. Are you still learning your new viola? You have got something unique here, because no one else (or at least very few in your age group) is making original music for a solo instrument, and especially piano, and also just as a singular instrument.
Few people are making non-rock/pop/techno oriented music and going their own way as you are, so again you have got something unique happening. Just so you know that, which I am sure you do. :)
Gale force winds are gathering force outside as I write, and are predicted to be blowing through The Northern Ridge for the next few days. That is of course Joyous News for me, as there is nothing I love as much as a constant windstorm (oy).
But I will hope for the best and try to get a hike in by Wednesday, and maybe some photos of my own, and some Chiaroscuro as well. There, I got it in one last time!
See you in the morning, SB. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Monday, April 24, 2017
Happy Busy Sunday + Yardwork + Neatfreak + Era Of Gadgetry + El Indio
Happy Late Sunday Night, my Darling,
I hope you had a nice day and a good weekend. I am tired tonight cause I've been going since 8am this morning. We had a very simple anthem to sing today, called "Alleluia", in which there was only a single repeated lyric. I'm sure you can guess what it was. :) Still a beautiful song, though I prefer the more challenging material. In that regard, we had a good rehearsal of upcoming tunes, one of which - "My Song In The Night" - fits the description of "challenging" due to it's offset vocal lines and counterpoint melodies.
After church I drove out to Burbank to take my sister Sophie shopping, then after a short stop at home I was back here at Pearl's for my evening shift. Tonight I will sleep like a rock, lol.
I saw your post about your friend Jake's birthday bash concert, so I'm sure you will be going to that and shooting pix. I saw the post via Joel W., too, about getting physical exercise. Of course I couldn't agree more. I might disagree about the yardwork part though, haha. When we lived at the Rathburn Street house I was the only one who ever did any yardwork. It was all up to me, if it was gonna get done. And we had a big yard, front and back, so in the Fall I'd be raking about a dozen bags of leaves. No leaf blowers in those days,
In one respect I always hated yardwork, just because it wasn't something fun or something I wanted to do. But as I got into the routine of doing it, I would kind of get into a rhythm of putting leaves into bags, and making everything looks as neat as possible. That's the Neatfreak in me. But that's how I would get a measure of satisfaction out of a chore, by completing it to a standard of neatness that looked good to me, in a Feng Shui manner. Whenever I had any kind of chores to do, I would always do them methodically, step by step, to go through the process of doing them. My goal was always to make things look neat, a result of my Dad's "Military Style" training of me as a kid. :)
I agree with Joel's assessment of people sitting at computers for 12 hours a day, and the thing is this : Even though people think that is Normal Life nowdays, it isn't. And the reason it isn't is because it's only been happening for about 20 years. So for all of world history, before the age of computers and devices, people were not locked down to a screen. TV started moving people in that direction, and then computers and gadgets nailed them down. I was not immune myself, and when I first got onto the Internet I too was on there all day long. But my natural inclination to be physically active ultimately took over eventually. The thing is now, though, that many people don't have that inclination, because all they know is a life of gadgetry.
I tell people, however, that this era is an aberration, and it won't last. It's been going for 20 years, but in 50 more years, you will not see people staring at their phones as they walk down the street. Nor will you see drivers haphazardly and distractedly coasting down a sidestreet, proceeding verrrrry slowwwwly to the curb, then putting their emergency flashers on while they stop to read and answer a text. It's all aberrant to actual human nature, and it won't stand the test of time.
Well, that's all I know for tonight, except for Sarah's post about fixing up a frozen pizza. I was pretty good at that, too, except for me it was putting on loads of onion and garlic on top of an Oh Boy or Celeste frozen pizza, which I lived off of in my 20s, haha. I say "there's no such thing as a bad frozen pizza", because you can always fix it up, even with Pepperidge Farm Fish.
Man, I wish I could get away with eating frozen pizzas all the time, and cheeseburgers and tacos and humongous plates of spaghetti like I did in my 20s. In your 20s you can eat anything you want, haha.
I do need to go to El Indio one of these days, though. That is our local & legendary Mexican food place that looks like a roadside stand. They have the most incredible carnitas tacos there. I could eat about three of 'em right now, with a quart of salsa.
But I won't right now. But I will one of these days. :)
That's all for tonight. See you in the morning.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):) My favorite songs right now are "Stargazing", "Selva Obscura" and "The Thaw".........now you've gotta make a second album too. :)
I hope you had a nice day and a good weekend. I am tired tonight cause I've been going since 8am this morning. We had a very simple anthem to sing today, called "Alleluia", in which there was only a single repeated lyric. I'm sure you can guess what it was. :) Still a beautiful song, though I prefer the more challenging material. In that regard, we had a good rehearsal of upcoming tunes, one of which - "My Song In The Night" - fits the description of "challenging" due to it's offset vocal lines and counterpoint melodies.
After church I drove out to Burbank to take my sister Sophie shopping, then after a short stop at home I was back here at Pearl's for my evening shift. Tonight I will sleep like a rock, lol.
I saw your post about your friend Jake's birthday bash concert, so I'm sure you will be going to that and shooting pix. I saw the post via Joel W., too, about getting physical exercise. Of course I couldn't agree more. I might disagree about the yardwork part though, haha. When we lived at the Rathburn Street house I was the only one who ever did any yardwork. It was all up to me, if it was gonna get done. And we had a big yard, front and back, so in the Fall I'd be raking about a dozen bags of leaves. No leaf blowers in those days,
In one respect I always hated yardwork, just because it wasn't something fun or something I wanted to do. But as I got into the routine of doing it, I would kind of get into a rhythm of putting leaves into bags, and making everything looks as neat as possible. That's the Neatfreak in me. But that's how I would get a measure of satisfaction out of a chore, by completing it to a standard of neatness that looked good to me, in a Feng Shui manner. Whenever I had any kind of chores to do, I would always do them methodically, step by step, to go through the process of doing them. My goal was always to make things look neat, a result of my Dad's "Military Style" training of me as a kid. :)
I agree with Joel's assessment of people sitting at computers for 12 hours a day, and the thing is this : Even though people think that is Normal Life nowdays, it isn't. And the reason it isn't is because it's only been happening for about 20 years. So for all of world history, before the age of computers and devices, people were not locked down to a screen. TV started moving people in that direction, and then computers and gadgets nailed them down. I was not immune myself, and when I first got onto the Internet I too was on there all day long. But my natural inclination to be physically active ultimately took over eventually. The thing is now, though, that many people don't have that inclination, because all they know is a life of gadgetry.
I tell people, however, that this era is an aberration, and it won't last. It's been going for 20 years, but in 50 more years, you will not see people staring at their phones as they walk down the street. Nor will you see drivers haphazardly and distractedly coasting down a sidestreet, proceeding verrrrry slowwwwly to the curb, then putting their emergency flashers on while they stop to read and answer a text. It's all aberrant to actual human nature, and it won't stand the test of time.
Well, that's all I know for tonight, except for Sarah's post about fixing up a frozen pizza. I was pretty good at that, too, except for me it was putting on loads of onion and garlic on top of an Oh Boy or Celeste frozen pizza, which I lived off of in my 20s, haha. I say "there's no such thing as a bad frozen pizza", because you can always fix it up, even with Pepperidge Farm Fish.
Man, I wish I could get away with eating frozen pizzas all the time, and cheeseburgers and tacos and humongous plates of spaghetti like I did in my 20s. In your 20s you can eat anything you want, haha.
I do need to go to El Indio one of these days, though. That is our local & legendary Mexican food place that looks like a roadside stand. They have the most incredible carnitas tacos there. I could eat about three of 'em right now, with a quart of salsa.
But I won't right now. But I will one of these days. :)
That's all for tonight. See you in the morning.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):) My favorite songs right now are "Stargazing", "Selva Obscura" and "The Thaw".........now you've gotta make a second album too. :)
Saturday, April 22, 2017
Happy Friday + Your Video (Mineral Point Opera House) + "Silence"
Happy Late Friday Night, my Darling,
I hope you had a great day and a good start to your weekend. One thing I forgot to mention in talking about your album is the video for "Runaway II". That is an incredible setting, especially for a solo pianist! Just you and the Opera House. Is it the same place where you filmed Sarah's promo video for the pedalboard? Well, anyhow, however you reserved the place and however you managed the technical details of filming, it looks amazing. You must have had help, right? I mean, there is no way you went in there and filmed yourself, by yourself. ;)
The theater is just beautiful and looks just like the old theaters in our Downtown district. And the piano is a classic Steinway. The Mineral Point Opera House is the beneficiary of your video for certain. I'll bet they've never had anyone come in and do what you did, at least not in recent times.
You are working at a high level, so keep your sights high.
But also keep your Spirit first as you continue to work and create, because all you have done so far has originated in your Spirit. You already have the work ethic and the technical know-how built in. :)
You already know all of this of course. I am merely the Drill Sergeant. :)
Today I did go on a hike; nothing fancy, just a trip to Aliso Canyon, though it was a full length, 3.75 mile hike. Aliso is one of the longest canyons of all in the area, but as previously noted it's mostly flat and therefore more of a walk than a hike. But still........3.75 ain't too shabby. Gotta do my five miles per day one way or the other.
Tonight's film was "Silence" by Martin Scorcese. It just came out last Christmas. Grimsley saw it and has been badgering me to see it ever since.
After seeing it tonight, I guess it is one of the greatest films I have seen in recent years, and one of the greatest Christian films ever made. I had said to Grim last year that I was thinking that Scorcese was overrated. He made "Taxi Driver", which to me is one of the Very Great Films, Top Ten for sure. But then he also made "Raging Bull", which the critics loved but which I thought was terrible, and then he made "Goodfellas" and a bunch of over-violent crime films that were way too long. Then he branched out and made films like "The Aviator", which was okay, and some other stuff. But the point is that many critics have considered him to be The Greatest American Filmmaker Of All Time, and I was telling Grim, "he's not even close". Despite "Taxi Driver", which is only one film after all.
But with "Silence" I think he has redeemed himself. It is so strong in it's message that I think he is trying to make up for the ridiculous and blasphemous premise of "The Last Temptation Of Christ", which was so awful that it was almost amateurish. "Silence" is the epic story of two Jesuit priests from Portugal who travel to Japan in the early 1600s to search for their mentor, a priest who has disappeared and has been said to have apostatized, i.e. renounced Christ. Andrew Garfield stars as the priest who goes through trials at the hands of the Japanese Inquisitor while trying to remain faithful to both his God and to the villagers he meets who practice Christianity surrepticiously. Garfield should have gotten the Oscar for this role, and in the past year he has been the star of two of the greatest Christian movies ever made, the other being "Hacksaw Ridge", which was directed last year by Clint Eastwood.
Now, when I say something like "greatest Christian movies", you know I mean The Real Thing, and not some propaganda coming from a fundamentalist Church source. God Bless those folks, too, but these films I am talking about have come out of Hollywood, from the major directors Scorcese and Eastwood, and it is incredibly heartening to me that such men would make films like these in the cynical time in which we live, and not only that - but that their movies would have gotten major studio support.
So a humongous Hooray, all the way around. And to Andrew Garfield, who nailed both roles to a tee.
So my point was that Martin Scorcese has redeemed himself, and in my opinion he has made his greatest film since "Taxi Driver".
And that is all I know for tonight.
I will see you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I hope you had a great day and a good start to your weekend. One thing I forgot to mention in talking about your album is the video for "Runaway II". That is an incredible setting, especially for a solo pianist! Just you and the Opera House. Is it the same place where you filmed Sarah's promo video for the pedalboard? Well, anyhow, however you reserved the place and however you managed the technical details of filming, it looks amazing. You must have had help, right? I mean, there is no way you went in there and filmed yourself, by yourself. ;)
The theater is just beautiful and looks just like the old theaters in our Downtown district. And the piano is a classic Steinway. The Mineral Point Opera House is the beneficiary of your video for certain. I'll bet they've never had anyone come in and do what you did, at least not in recent times.
You are working at a high level, so keep your sights high.
But also keep your Spirit first as you continue to work and create, because all you have done so far has originated in your Spirit. You already have the work ethic and the technical know-how built in. :)
You already know all of this of course. I am merely the Drill Sergeant. :)
Today I did go on a hike; nothing fancy, just a trip to Aliso Canyon, though it was a full length, 3.75 mile hike. Aliso is one of the longest canyons of all in the area, but as previously noted it's mostly flat and therefore more of a walk than a hike. But still........3.75 ain't too shabby. Gotta do my five miles per day one way or the other.
Tonight's film was "Silence" by Martin Scorcese. It just came out last Christmas. Grimsley saw it and has been badgering me to see it ever since.
After seeing it tonight, I guess it is one of the greatest films I have seen in recent years, and one of the greatest Christian films ever made. I had said to Grim last year that I was thinking that Scorcese was overrated. He made "Taxi Driver", which to me is one of the Very Great Films, Top Ten for sure. But then he also made "Raging Bull", which the critics loved but which I thought was terrible, and then he made "Goodfellas" and a bunch of over-violent crime films that were way too long. Then he branched out and made films like "The Aviator", which was okay, and some other stuff. But the point is that many critics have considered him to be The Greatest American Filmmaker Of All Time, and I was telling Grim, "he's not even close". Despite "Taxi Driver", which is only one film after all.
But with "Silence" I think he has redeemed himself. It is so strong in it's message that I think he is trying to make up for the ridiculous and blasphemous premise of "The Last Temptation Of Christ", which was so awful that it was almost amateurish. "Silence" is the epic story of two Jesuit priests from Portugal who travel to Japan in the early 1600s to search for their mentor, a priest who has disappeared and has been said to have apostatized, i.e. renounced Christ. Andrew Garfield stars as the priest who goes through trials at the hands of the Japanese Inquisitor while trying to remain faithful to both his God and to the villagers he meets who practice Christianity surrepticiously. Garfield should have gotten the Oscar for this role, and in the past year he has been the star of two of the greatest Christian movies ever made, the other being "Hacksaw Ridge", which was directed last year by Clint Eastwood.
Now, when I say something like "greatest Christian movies", you know I mean The Real Thing, and not some propaganda coming from a fundamentalist Church source. God Bless those folks, too, but these films I am talking about have come out of Hollywood, from the major directors Scorcese and Eastwood, and it is incredibly heartening to me that such men would make films like these in the cynical time in which we live, and not only that - but that their movies would have gotten major studio support.
So a humongous Hooray, all the way around. And to Andrew Garfield, who nailed both roles to a tee.
So my point was that Martin Scorcese has redeemed himself, and in my opinion he has made his greatest film since "Taxi Driver".
And that is all I know for tonight.
I will see you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Friday, April 21, 2017
It Looks Like Good Things Are Happening + "Dark City" + "Chinese Bookie" + Thanks :):)
Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby,
I hope all is going well on the album front, and I'm sure it is. :) I see a post just now, just before I started writing this blog, via a friend named Brian, that shows pictures of a piano and another keyboard on what looks like either a soundstage or performance space of some type. The post appears to be about him, but you are tagged, so I am wondering if maybe you played tonight? If so then that is totally awesome!
Or perhaps Brian is a client and you were there taking pictures or video. That is of course awesome as well.
I saw several posts this evening, most music oriented. I see the singer for Stitched Up Heart on the cover of a music mag. They seem to be getting a lot of notice which is great for you too. I also saw the "Grilled Cheese" post by James (which you knew would get me, lol) and I figure he is angling for an endorsement from the Wisconsin Dairy Industry to become the Official Cheese Spokesman of your state. The way he is going, however, he may also end up having to create a 12-step program for recovering cheese addicts. It's a fine line he's walking, haha. But if they wanted to have an official Cheesehead, he's got it hands down.
I didn't do much today because it was a Hair Salon Thursday, but also I had to stick around and wait for a plumber because we had a leak in the sprinkler system here at Pearl's, with water coming up from underground. They got it stopped up and will come back Monday to repair it. So no hikes for the last few days, but maybe one tomorrow. Also, the Professor sent an email out this afternoon to let us know that tonight's screening of Cassavetes' "Opening Night" was cancelled. He didn't give a reason but said it would be rescheduled. So, instead I watched a great Noir at home, called "Dark City" (1950) with Lizabeth Scott and Charlton Heston in his first film role. Man, was it good. Heston starred as a guy who is part of an illegal gambling outfit that has been raided by the cops. Also part of the operation is Jack Webb, of "Dragnet" fame. He is soooo good in this. They can't run bookmaking schemes anymore because of the cops, so they resort to lower key card games, and in one game they cheat an innocent minded WW2 vet (Don Defoe) out of 5 grand. He then gets depressed and proceeds to kill himself. This is a very hard-boiled film. After the veteran's suicide, his psychotic brother comes looking for the card shark gang, and begins to take revenge on them. Heston is the one man left standing, along with his nightclub singer girlfriend Scott.....
Man, they just don't make 'em like this anymore. 100% great from start to finish. Tons of plot, stuff happening all over the place, great black & white Noir photography, including a travelogue through Downtown Las Vegas and parts of L.A., and even the Valley! Just when I think I've seen all the Film Noirs I can find, I discover one of the best yet...
And last night I did not mention that I watched another version of "Chinese Bookie" by Cassavetes. The theatrical version he released in 1976 (and which we saw last week at CSUN) was such a box office disaster that he re-cut it and made a very different movie out of it. Most re-edits just remove stuff to shorten a film, and Cassavetes did shorten it by over 30 minutes. But he totally changed the focus of the movie in the shorter version, turning it into a Noir crime film almost on par with "Taxi Driver". The Professor had told us about this recut version last week, and so I found it at The Libe. I was gonna tell him tonight that I had just watched it, but because of the cancellation I will have to tell him next week.
Well anyhow, that was all the news for today.
Except........I did see one other post, via Betty from Fall II Rise. It was in support of her boyfriend (?) - I am guessing but perhaps I have it right. The post was very heartfelt, and I thought, well, maybe if it was meant for me, then it was a very beautiful thing for you to say, and it means a lot to me. I have always known, ever since I saw your "Autre Temps" video, that you were very creative and had something special. That is the key, beyond even having talent.......to have something special or unique. So when I saw that video, I just thought "this young lady has something special happening".
And that feeling stayed with me for a couple weeks. Then I had to go in search of the video again, and finally send you an FB request.
And the rest is history! I always knew you could do everything you are doing. Part of it is because I've been around a while, and I know my music. But part of it is also because I can just feel the way things are gonna go.
Thanks for the nice words, Elizabeth.
I Love You and will see you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I hope all is going well on the album front, and I'm sure it is. :) I see a post just now, just before I started writing this blog, via a friend named Brian, that shows pictures of a piano and another keyboard on what looks like either a soundstage or performance space of some type. The post appears to be about him, but you are tagged, so I am wondering if maybe you played tonight? If so then that is totally awesome!
Or perhaps Brian is a client and you were there taking pictures or video. That is of course awesome as well.
I saw several posts this evening, most music oriented. I see the singer for Stitched Up Heart on the cover of a music mag. They seem to be getting a lot of notice which is great for you too. I also saw the "Grilled Cheese" post by James (which you knew would get me, lol) and I figure he is angling for an endorsement from the Wisconsin Dairy Industry to become the Official Cheese Spokesman of your state. The way he is going, however, he may also end up having to create a 12-step program for recovering cheese addicts. It's a fine line he's walking, haha. But if they wanted to have an official Cheesehead, he's got it hands down.
I didn't do much today because it was a Hair Salon Thursday, but also I had to stick around and wait for a plumber because we had a leak in the sprinkler system here at Pearl's, with water coming up from underground. They got it stopped up and will come back Monday to repair it. So no hikes for the last few days, but maybe one tomorrow. Also, the Professor sent an email out this afternoon to let us know that tonight's screening of Cassavetes' "Opening Night" was cancelled. He didn't give a reason but said it would be rescheduled. So, instead I watched a great Noir at home, called "Dark City" (1950) with Lizabeth Scott and Charlton Heston in his first film role. Man, was it good. Heston starred as a guy who is part of an illegal gambling outfit that has been raided by the cops. Also part of the operation is Jack Webb, of "Dragnet" fame. He is soooo good in this. They can't run bookmaking schemes anymore because of the cops, so they resort to lower key card games, and in one game they cheat an innocent minded WW2 vet (Don Defoe) out of 5 grand. He then gets depressed and proceeds to kill himself. This is a very hard-boiled film. After the veteran's suicide, his psychotic brother comes looking for the card shark gang, and begins to take revenge on them. Heston is the one man left standing, along with his nightclub singer girlfriend Scott.....
Man, they just don't make 'em like this anymore. 100% great from start to finish. Tons of plot, stuff happening all over the place, great black & white Noir photography, including a travelogue through Downtown Las Vegas and parts of L.A., and even the Valley! Just when I think I've seen all the Film Noirs I can find, I discover one of the best yet...
And last night I did not mention that I watched another version of "Chinese Bookie" by Cassavetes. The theatrical version he released in 1976 (and which we saw last week at CSUN) was such a box office disaster that he re-cut it and made a very different movie out of it. Most re-edits just remove stuff to shorten a film, and Cassavetes did shorten it by over 30 minutes. But he totally changed the focus of the movie in the shorter version, turning it into a Noir crime film almost on par with "Taxi Driver". The Professor had told us about this recut version last week, and so I found it at The Libe. I was gonna tell him tonight that I had just watched it, but because of the cancellation I will have to tell him next week.
Well anyhow, that was all the news for today.
Except........I did see one other post, via Betty from Fall II Rise. It was in support of her boyfriend (?) - I am guessing but perhaps I have it right. The post was very heartfelt, and I thought, well, maybe if it was meant for me, then it was a very beautiful thing for you to say, and it means a lot to me. I have always known, ever since I saw your "Autre Temps" video, that you were very creative and had something special. That is the key, beyond even having talent.......to have something special or unique. So when I saw that video, I just thought "this young lady has something special happening".
And that feeling stayed with me for a couple weeks. Then I had to go in search of the video again, and finally send you an FB request.
And the rest is history! I always knew you could do everything you are doing. Part of it is because I've been around a while, and I know my music. But part of it is also because I can just feel the way things are gonna go.
Thanks for the nice words, Elizabeth.
I Love You and will see you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Thursday, April 20, 2017
"Notepainting" + Classical Music Appreciation
Happy Late Night, my Darling,
I see you are getting a lot of great comments on "Notepainting", and some shares on FB, too! The word is getting around and may it keep doing so. Your album will be a surprise to many people because they haven't been exposed to solo piano music before, but it will also be a breath of fresh air because the music is beautiful. It has a flowing quality and of course that "river of tones" that we have talked about as the piano's unique sound. My favorite song for today is "The Thaw". I like the way it builds up but keeps it's rhythm all the way through.
You are introducing people to piano music. That is super cool! :)
One thing I did not know is that you have been a fan of classical since you were a kid. You mention that on your website, as well as your favorite classical radio show and your Tchaikovsky tape. I knew you liked Debussy and other impressionist composers, and modern piano composers also, but I did not know you were a classical fan since childhood. As you know, the first music I was exposed to was classical. Probably Scarlatti, Bach & Mozart. My Dad's records and the music he was able to play himself on piano. Dad was not a great player but at that point probably still a good one. He played more in his youth but by the time I was born he was occupied by work and played only in the evenings for a little bit. Eventually he got the Dupuytren's Contracture hand condition that I now have, and that is probably why he stopped playing around 1972 or so. But anyway, the first music I ever remember hearing was Piano Music.
I suppose I always loved the sounds of classical music myself because of the early exposure. But for me, after The Beatles came along and I got Hooked On Rock, I didn't really pay any attention to Classical for years. But then, something interesting happened when I turned about 24 or so. I have always had a hard time falling asleep in total silence, and so I started to turn on the radio at night to help me sleep. Now, I didn't want rock music playing, even softly, because of the beat and the generally aggressive singing. So I rediscovered Classical this way; it was the perfect music to fall asleep to, because it was so beautiful and free flowing, and had no drum beat. It seemed to come from dreams itself. I got hooked on my late night falling asleep classical radio, and I've basically had it on ever since. For me it has been KUSC for years and years, and my favorite show has always been Jim Svejda's. He is hands down the best classical DJ I know of, though everyone on KUSC is great. It is my favorite radio station, and it is the reason I now listen to classical music at least 50% of the time. But it all started with my Dad. He is The Reason For The Appreciation. :) And with Dad it was mostly about piano music because that was what he played. And he liked harpsichord too. The organ music I got into all by myself, haha.
So I am glad you had the same childhood experience, of appreciating classical music! As much as I love Rock and always will, there is a breadth of feeling in classical that cannot be brought out in the rock format. Rock is for rockin', and I love it and I have to rock; it is in my DNA. But there is something about classical that goes beneath the surface....
I will leave it at that for tonight.
See you in the morning. I Love You. :):)
May the word, and the music, continue to spread.
I see you are getting a lot of great comments on "Notepainting", and some shares on FB, too! The word is getting around and may it keep doing so. Your album will be a surprise to many people because they haven't been exposed to solo piano music before, but it will also be a breath of fresh air because the music is beautiful. It has a flowing quality and of course that "river of tones" that we have talked about as the piano's unique sound. My favorite song for today is "The Thaw". I like the way it builds up but keeps it's rhythm all the way through.
You are introducing people to piano music. That is super cool! :)
One thing I did not know is that you have been a fan of classical since you were a kid. You mention that on your website, as well as your favorite classical radio show and your Tchaikovsky tape. I knew you liked Debussy and other impressionist composers, and modern piano composers also, but I did not know you were a classical fan since childhood. As you know, the first music I was exposed to was classical. Probably Scarlatti, Bach & Mozart. My Dad's records and the music he was able to play himself on piano. Dad was not a great player but at that point probably still a good one. He played more in his youth but by the time I was born he was occupied by work and played only in the evenings for a little bit. Eventually he got the Dupuytren's Contracture hand condition that I now have, and that is probably why he stopped playing around 1972 or so. But anyway, the first music I ever remember hearing was Piano Music.
I suppose I always loved the sounds of classical music myself because of the early exposure. But for me, after The Beatles came along and I got Hooked On Rock, I didn't really pay any attention to Classical for years. But then, something interesting happened when I turned about 24 or so. I have always had a hard time falling asleep in total silence, and so I started to turn on the radio at night to help me sleep. Now, I didn't want rock music playing, even softly, because of the beat and the generally aggressive singing. So I rediscovered Classical this way; it was the perfect music to fall asleep to, because it was so beautiful and free flowing, and had no drum beat. It seemed to come from dreams itself. I got hooked on my late night falling asleep classical radio, and I've basically had it on ever since. For me it has been KUSC for years and years, and my favorite show has always been Jim Svejda's. He is hands down the best classical DJ I know of, though everyone on KUSC is great. It is my favorite radio station, and it is the reason I now listen to classical music at least 50% of the time. But it all started with my Dad. He is The Reason For The Appreciation. :) And with Dad it was mostly about piano music because that was what he played. And he liked harpsichord too. The organ music I got into all by myself, haha.
So I am glad you had the same childhood experience, of appreciating classical music! As much as I love Rock and always will, there is a breadth of feeling in classical that cannot be brought out in the rock format. Rock is for rockin', and I love it and I have to rock; it is in my DNA. But there is something about classical that goes beneath the surface....
I will leave it at that for tonight.
See you in the morning. I Love You. :):)
May the word, and the music, continue to spread.
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
Your Album Is Outstanding
Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby,
Well, what can I say except "Congratulations"! and of course "Wow"...... :)
You did it! You did it, and you should think back to many years ago, when you were still in college and thinking about making an album. I can remember it because I talked about it with you back then. You had already written some songs, including "The Hours", which was the first one that caught my ear.
Well........now it is a reality. Pretty cool how these things work, right? :)
I am listening now as I write, from the download that has just completed (FLAC). This is my second listen for the day, and so far my favorite song is "Runaway 1", exceptionally beautiful and evocative. Also, you have arranged the songs in a good order so that the transitions from one to the next sound like a natural progression, like they fit that way.
I have said this before about your music, that it reminds me of motion picture soundtrack music, and you have made a similar comment that is visually oriented, and in that way I think that you have really captured what you were seeing and feeling when you were writing these songs. You have gotten out what was inside.
"Stargazing"......another one. Really exquisite tones and phrases on that song. But more than just colors, you have composed an inner experience and set it to music. The colors are what make it visual.
On "The Hours", which was the first original song I heard by you, you have really brought out the dynamics in that song in this recording. This one in particular is a trademark sound for you, and I remember way back I said something like "this should play over the end credits of a movie" because of it's dramatic feel of finality.
You have made some excellent music here, Elizabeth, and your execution of it is well-paced and thoughtfully considered. It is fairly hypnotic in places and visual throughout, and for that reason could fit into the right scenes in high level dramatic movies. It certainly stands on it's own, like Einaudi's music, but has also the emotional ups and downs, and dreaminess, to fit into soundtracks.
I said way back when also, on Youtube I think, "please keep going", or something like that, and of course I meant keep writing. You did keep writing, and kept playing, and the results are very, very special. :)
I hope this music will be heard by many people, and I know that you made the right decision in life when you chose to become an Artist by profession, as it was your birthright already.
One thing I noticed only today that was kind of cool : this morning on FB, I got one of those "memory" notices about Facebook friendship. Mine said, "you and Elizabeth have been friends for five years". As of today. I knew it was somewhere in April 2012, but it was exactly April 18th. Pretty cool, eh? :):)
Thanks for the beautiful music, Elizabeth. And "keep going"......cause it's really neat the way these things work.
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Well, what can I say except "Congratulations"! and of course "Wow"...... :)
You did it! You did it, and you should think back to many years ago, when you were still in college and thinking about making an album. I can remember it because I talked about it with you back then. You had already written some songs, including "The Hours", which was the first one that caught my ear.
Well........now it is a reality. Pretty cool how these things work, right? :)
I am listening now as I write, from the download that has just completed (FLAC). This is my second listen for the day, and so far my favorite song is "Runaway 1", exceptionally beautiful and evocative. Also, you have arranged the songs in a good order so that the transitions from one to the next sound like a natural progression, like they fit that way.
I have said this before about your music, that it reminds me of motion picture soundtrack music, and you have made a similar comment that is visually oriented, and in that way I think that you have really captured what you were seeing and feeling when you were writing these songs. You have gotten out what was inside.
"Stargazing"......another one. Really exquisite tones and phrases on that song. But more than just colors, you have composed an inner experience and set it to music. The colors are what make it visual.
On "The Hours", which was the first original song I heard by you, you have really brought out the dynamics in that song in this recording. This one in particular is a trademark sound for you, and I remember way back I said something like "this should play over the end credits of a movie" because of it's dramatic feel of finality.
You have made some excellent music here, Elizabeth, and your execution of it is well-paced and thoughtfully considered. It is fairly hypnotic in places and visual throughout, and for that reason could fit into the right scenes in high level dramatic movies. It certainly stands on it's own, like Einaudi's music, but has also the emotional ups and downs, and dreaminess, to fit into soundtracks.
I said way back when also, on Youtube I think, "please keep going", or something like that, and of course I meant keep writing. You did keep writing, and kept playing, and the results are very, very special. :)
I hope this music will be heard by many people, and I know that you made the right decision in life when you chose to become an Artist by profession, as it was your birthright already.
One thing I noticed only today that was kind of cool : this morning on FB, I got one of those "memory" notices about Facebook friendship. Mine said, "you and Elizabeth have been friends for five years". As of today. I knew it was somewhere in April 2012, but it was exactly April 18th. Pretty cool, eh? :):)
Thanks for the beautiful music, Elizabeth. And "keep going"......cause it's really neat the way these things work.
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Sunday, April 16, 2017
Busy Day : Brunch, Hikes, Walks & "Thieves' Highway" (a classic)
goHappy Late Night, Sweet Baby,
I hope you had a great day, maybe at a National Park or in Arizona or at home in Wisconsin or wherever you might be. :) My day was busy. At Noon I went over to Pearl's, where they had a combination Easter Brunch and Birthday Party for me, both a day early because Pearl's daughter will be leaving tomorrow and I will be back at work. We had a very nice meal, my sister Vickie was there too and it was a lot of fun. I got back home at 3pm, chilled out til 5, then went to The Libe for movies. Then at 6, I went back to Aliso yet again, for the fifth day in a row. It is so magical there, especially at dusk (and you can hear the frogs croaking), and I can get four miles in, and because it's my week off I can take my time, that I just can't resist going and so this week it has been the thing to do, just cause The Vibe Has Been So Good. And, I saw the Aliso Coyoye, too, heading to the creek for a drink of water.
So, counting the walk to the library, that gave me six miles for the day.
I got home at 8pm and then met David F. for a CSUN walk, bringing the total to 8. Maybe I'm nuts, but I love being outside and I have a ton of energy, and it's my last day off til next month, so...... :)
My inspiration for my daily walk - which used to be a run from when I started at age 39 until I was 44 - was my friend Jon S. And compared to him I am sedentary, haha. He used to run 12 miles a day, every day, for years. He is the guy who hasn't missed a day of running since 1969. So actually, in comparison my activity level is no big deal, lol. I am just grateful to be so fortunate to be able to stay active at......hmmm, what am I now anyway?......oh yeah, 39. Yep, it is now officially my birthday and I am 39 just like Jack Benny.
Or 57, take your pick. And as I said to my sister and Helen today at the brunch, I still feel like The Kid of the bunch, because I was just a kid when all the older Baby Boomers were already Teenagers in the 1960s. So I was 7 or 8 in the Hippie Days and they were all 16.
Well anyhow, a good day today with Spectacular Spring Weather, and a lot of Out And About.
Tonight I watched one of the movies from the library : "Thieves' Highway" from Criterion, a Noir starring Richard Conte, Lee J. Cobb and an Italian actress named Valentina Cortese. It was different : the story of truck drivers who haul and sell fruit in California in the late-40s, and the crooked wholesalers they have to deal with, who rip them off and even have them killed. There are a lot of ethnic/immigrant sub-themes to the movie, as they do most of the fruit growing and picking, and are subject to the abuse of the wealthy buyer, played to the hilt by the great Method actor Cobb. Despite the unusual subject matter, the movie is very hard-boiled in the best Noir tradition, with A Ton Of Stuff Happening, which once again shows what you can do in 94 minutes if you have energetic writing to work from. Lots of great scenes of truck driving on old California roads, and at the fruit market in San Francisco on the wharf. All shot in black and white of course. One of the more idiosyncratic Noir efforts I've seen, directed by a Frenchman named Jules Dassin, but an absolute classic nonetheless, with an "On The Waterfront" feel.
Well, that's all for tonight. Tomorrow morning is church and Easter Service, the most important of the year. We will be singing two anthems instead of one, and many hymns as well. Tomorrow night I will be writing from Pearl's once again, and will be back on Usual Schedule.
Happy Easter!
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I hope you had a great day, maybe at a National Park or in Arizona or at home in Wisconsin or wherever you might be. :) My day was busy. At Noon I went over to Pearl's, where they had a combination Easter Brunch and Birthday Party for me, both a day early because Pearl's daughter will be leaving tomorrow and I will be back at work. We had a very nice meal, my sister Vickie was there too and it was a lot of fun. I got back home at 3pm, chilled out til 5, then went to The Libe for movies. Then at 6, I went back to Aliso yet again, for the fifth day in a row. It is so magical there, especially at dusk (and you can hear the frogs croaking), and I can get four miles in, and because it's my week off I can take my time, that I just can't resist going and so this week it has been the thing to do, just cause The Vibe Has Been So Good. And, I saw the Aliso Coyoye, too, heading to the creek for a drink of water.
So, counting the walk to the library, that gave me six miles for the day.
I got home at 8pm and then met David F. for a CSUN walk, bringing the total to 8. Maybe I'm nuts, but I love being outside and I have a ton of energy, and it's my last day off til next month, so...... :)
My inspiration for my daily walk - which used to be a run from when I started at age 39 until I was 44 - was my friend Jon S. And compared to him I am sedentary, haha. He used to run 12 miles a day, every day, for years. He is the guy who hasn't missed a day of running since 1969. So actually, in comparison my activity level is no big deal, lol. I am just grateful to be so fortunate to be able to stay active at......hmmm, what am I now anyway?......oh yeah, 39. Yep, it is now officially my birthday and I am 39 just like Jack Benny.
Or 57, take your pick. And as I said to my sister and Helen today at the brunch, I still feel like The Kid of the bunch, because I was just a kid when all the older Baby Boomers were already Teenagers in the 1960s. So I was 7 or 8 in the Hippie Days and they were all 16.
Well anyhow, a good day today with Spectacular Spring Weather, and a lot of Out And About.
Tonight I watched one of the movies from the library : "Thieves' Highway" from Criterion, a Noir starring Richard Conte, Lee J. Cobb and an Italian actress named Valentina Cortese. It was different : the story of truck drivers who haul and sell fruit in California in the late-40s, and the crooked wholesalers they have to deal with, who rip them off and even have them killed. There are a lot of ethnic/immigrant sub-themes to the movie, as they do most of the fruit growing and picking, and are subject to the abuse of the wealthy buyer, played to the hilt by the great Method actor Cobb. Despite the unusual subject matter, the movie is very hard-boiled in the best Noir tradition, with A Ton Of Stuff Happening, which once again shows what you can do in 94 minutes if you have energetic writing to work from. Lots of great scenes of truck driving on old California roads, and at the fruit market in San Francisco on the wharf. All shot in black and white of course. One of the more idiosyncratic Noir efforts I've seen, directed by a Frenchman named Jules Dassin, but an absolute classic nonetheless, with an "On The Waterfront" feel.
Well, that's all for tonight. Tomorrow morning is church and Easter Service, the most important of the year. We will be singing two anthems instead of one, and many hymns as well. Tomorrow night I will be writing from Pearl's once again, and will be back on Usual Schedule.
Happy Easter!
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Saturday, April 15, 2017
Happy Good Friday + A Spiritual Portrait + Kinkos + Aliso, CIA and Usual Stuff Like That
Happy Late Night, my Darling,
Happy Good Friday, too, and also Happy Ritchie Blackmore's Birthday, considered a holiday around these parts, or at least by Yours Truly. :) I hope your day was good and your weekend off to a good start. I saw a post that said "flying to Arizona" by a friend of yours, in his case to bring back the gorgeous slabs of wood shown in the photo, but maybe you are going back there too? Maybe if I combine that post with yesterday's National Parks post, I'll be on the right track. :)
Your portrait this morning was exceptional, and it almost has a religious or spiritual quality to it. It's almost like iconography, with her face framed in a halo of light. Most of all it's her eyes, her expression and the way her hand is placed and slightly tented. The tones are incredible and you've really outdone yourself this time with her lip color and again her eyes. Outstanding color hues! Just everything, her skin tone, eyebrows, nails.....wow. A great picture with a lot of feeling.
Today was similar to my other off-days this week, in that I slept late and got going in the afternoon. This time I finally took my own advice and did something I've been meaning to do for a while now : I went to Fed-Ex Kinkos and printed a bunch of my photos from the past year. Yay! Now I have actual prints I can put in a photo album. As I've said, and I'm sure you know, photos can look good on a computer screen, but you never know how good they look until you see them on photo paper, as prints. That's the way photographs were meant to be looked at, and you can hold 'em in your hand (only by the edges of course) and look at 'em up close. I am gonna go do more real soon. Only 29 cents per pic, for a 4x6. :)
The Fed Ex is just down the street from Aliso Canyon, so of course I went there too, for the full length walk. En route I saw the baby squirrel as posted on FB. He was all by himself and unsure on his feet, almost as if he was still learning to walk. I think he was okay, though, and he probably found his way back to the nest.
Tonight, the usual. Reading my CIA book, and I am shocked to read about the germ warfare laboratory at Fort Detrick in Maryland, and that in the 1950s they actually conducted aerosol germ experiments on U.S. citizens in San Francisco. Now, whenever I hear about an outbreak of bird flu or something of the kind, I am gonna wonder, and go "hmm"....
I worked on my drawing, too, and watched a "Rawhide" episode. I'd like to see an episode in which Trail Boss Gil Favor (Eric Fleming) and Rowdy Yates (Clint Eastwood) encounter a secret CIA lab out in the Old West. They would take the moral high ground and shut it down and then they'd shut the CIA down, way back in the 1860s, before it even existed. On "Rawhide" the good guys always win. :)
Tomorrow they are gonna have a combination birthday party for me and Easter brunch over at Pearl's. My sister Vickie and her husband Nico will be there, and it should be fun. It starts at Noon, so I can still sleep in a bit, though not til 11 as I've been doing, haha. At any rate, if you are on a road trip I hope you are having a blast. I will be around in the morning and then in the afternoon, probably around 3pm or so.
See you then! I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Happy Good Friday, too, and also Happy Ritchie Blackmore's Birthday, considered a holiday around these parts, or at least by Yours Truly. :) I hope your day was good and your weekend off to a good start. I saw a post that said "flying to Arizona" by a friend of yours, in his case to bring back the gorgeous slabs of wood shown in the photo, but maybe you are going back there too? Maybe if I combine that post with yesterday's National Parks post, I'll be on the right track. :)
Your portrait this morning was exceptional, and it almost has a religious or spiritual quality to it. It's almost like iconography, with her face framed in a halo of light. Most of all it's her eyes, her expression and the way her hand is placed and slightly tented. The tones are incredible and you've really outdone yourself this time with her lip color and again her eyes. Outstanding color hues! Just everything, her skin tone, eyebrows, nails.....wow. A great picture with a lot of feeling.
Today was similar to my other off-days this week, in that I slept late and got going in the afternoon. This time I finally took my own advice and did something I've been meaning to do for a while now : I went to Fed-Ex Kinkos and printed a bunch of my photos from the past year. Yay! Now I have actual prints I can put in a photo album. As I've said, and I'm sure you know, photos can look good on a computer screen, but you never know how good they look until you see them on photo paper, as prints. That's the way photographs were meant to be looked at, and you can hold 'em in your hand (only by the edges of course) and look at 'em up close. I am gonna go do more real soon. Only 29 cents per pic, for a 4x6. :)
The Fed Ex is just down the street from Aliso Canyon, so of course I went there too, for the full length walk. En route I saw the baby squirrel as posted on FB. He was all by himself and unsure on his feet, almost as if he was still learning to walk. I think he was okay, though, and he probably found his way back to the nest.
Tonight, the usual. Reading my CIA book, and I am shocked to read about the germ warfare laboratory at Fort Detrick in Maryland, and that in the 1950s they actually conducted aerosol germ experiments on U.S. citizens in San Francisco. Now, whenever I hear about an outbreak of bird flu or something of the kind, I am gonna wonder, and go "hmm"....
I worked on my drawing, too, and watched a "Rawhide" episode. I'd like to see an episode in which Trail Boss Gil Favor (Eric Fleming) and Rowdy Yates (Clint Eastwood) encounter a secret CIA lab out in the Old West. They would take the moral high ground and shut it down and then they'd shut the CIA down, way back in the 1860s, before it even existed. On "Rawhide" the good guys always win. :)
Tomorrow they are gonna have a combination birthday party for me and Easter brunch over at Pearl's. My sister Vickie and her husband Nico will be there, and it should be fun. It starts at Noon, so I can still sleep in a bit, though not til 11 as I've been doing, haha. At any rate, if you are on a road trip I hope you are having a blast. I will be around in the morning and then in the afternoon, probably around 3pm or so.
See you then! I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Friday, April 14, 2017
National Park? + Produce Mart + "Chinese Bookie" + Reading & Drawing
Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby,
I hope you had a nice day. I saw a post saying "National Parks here we come"!, accompanied by a pic of your friends in front of their trailer, so maybe that means you are gonna head out on a road trip? Perhaps with family? If you are, I hope you have a blast and take lots of photos.this
I had another relaxing day off, slept in til almost 11:30 lol, but that's because I was up til 3am (good grief, Ad). I hung around the Tiny Apartment til 4pm, then went to the produce market for avocados. Got some asparagus & red onions while I was there. I already have a ton of other stuff from shopping last Saturday with my sister : Kale, Red Chard, Red Cabbage, Brussel Sprouts, Ginger, Radishes, Cherry Tomatoes, Carrots. Now I have gotta make Gigantic Salads to eat it all up. The prices are so low at our local Super King that it's easy to overbuy. I am getting better at it, but I'm still at the borderline. My goal is to never have to toss out any old produce and I'm about 95% there. I'm a One Man Eating Machine. :)
After shopping I went up to Aliso once again for a full-length walk, 4 miles. This evening I went to CSUN to see "The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie" by John Cassavetes. Wow - this was his best movie yet. It's a crime film, and it comes off as somewhat of a Noir. It even has a plot, rare for a Cassavetes film. Ben Gazzara, a great actor, stars as a nightclub owner with a gambling habit. He befriends a rival club owner but winds up losing 23 Gs in a card game at the man's club. Now he is on the hook. The rival, and his hoodlums, offer Ben a way out of his debt : If he will kill a "Chinese Bookie" who lives in a heavily guarded home, his debt will be cancelled out. In reality, the Bookie is a major Chinese gangster, and the rival club hoodlums plan to kill Ben Gazzara just as soon as he eliminates the guy. This being a Cassavetes film, there is still a lot of Human Interaction, person to person, which means an examining of each person's inner character. In this case, all the non-crime action takes place in the nightclub, between Gazzara and his strippers, one of whom he is in love with. But because it's a Cassavetes movie, even this examination is not typical. Included in the nightclub act is a strange gentleman called "Mr. Sophistication", who vies for center stage with the strip girls, and generates just as much applause. Such is Cassavetes' interest in all kinds of people, not just the powerful or the beautiful. This movie really succeeds, though, as a crime film, and in that respect it his his most conventional movie to date (of the ones we've seen). There is plot, there is action, there is tension. there is even a gunfight. I left thinking, "wow, that had a 'Taxi Driver' feel to it". "Taxi Driver" came out the same year, 1976. I've seen it about 20 times, and I think it's one of the greatest movies ever made, and certainly in the top two or three scripts ever written. "Chinese Bookie" is not as conventional a movie, nor does it play out in such a linear fashion. "Taxi Driver" just goes boom-boom-boom....every scene, every line of dialogue leads to the next. Everything moves the picture forward. There is nothing that doesn't fit, no waste. It is a perfect movie.
"The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie" is like an Art Film version of that.......well, sort of because it's also got the Cassavetes psychological and cinematic aspect to it (exploring inner turmoil, many close up shots, hand held camera that goes in and out of focus).......but all in all, man is it a great movie! If he would have added just a touch more story or plot to his other films, made them a tad more conventional and just a tad less experimental, then they all would have been as great as this one. It's a straight-up classic.
That was basically all the news, except for the Mandatory Reading Of Several Books (CIA Frank Olson Murder Book, he went to UW! - Bush Crime Family Book - Schwaller "Temple Of Man" Book) and also working on my latest drawing, which is gonna be entirely black and white, just two pencils (fine point and heavier) and one black and one white pastel. I can get a lot of detail working with a mechanical "skinny lead" pencil, so it will be awesome......gonna draw this way all year. :)
I saw one other post, from Joseph Stalin, about digital file names. I don't know if that one refers to my question about a digital release/physical CD release of your album, but I will be glad to get it in whatever form it is available. :)
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I hope you had a nice day. I saw a post saying "National Parks here we come"!, accompanied by a pic of your friends in front of their trailer, so maybe that means you are gonna head out on a road trip? Perhaps with family? If you are, I hope you have a blast and take lots of photos.this
I had another relaxing day off, slept in til almost 11:30 lol, but that's because I was up til 3am (good grief, Ad). I hung around the Tiny Apartment til 4pm, then went to the produce market for avocados. Got some asparagus & red onions while I was there. I already have a ton of other stuff from shopping last Saturday with my sister : Kale, Red Chard, Red Cabbage, Brussel Sprouts, Ginger, Radishes, Cherry Tomatoes, Carrots. Now I have gotta make Gigantic Salads to eat it all up. The prices are so low at our local Super King that it's easy to overbuy. I am getting better at it, but I'm still at the borderline. My goal is to never have to toss out any old produce and I'm about 95% there. I'm a One Man Eating Machine. :)
After shopping I went up to Aliso once again for a full-length walk, 4 miles. This evening I went to CSUN to see "The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie" by John Cassavetes. Wow - this was his best movie yet. It's a crime film, and it comes off as somewhat of a Noir. It even has a plot, rare for a Cassavetes film. Ben Gazzara, a great actor, stars as a nightclub owner with a gambling habit. He befriends a rival club owner but winds up losing 23 Gs in a card game at the man's club. Now he is on the hook. The rival, and his hoodlums, offer Ben a way out of his debt : If he will kill a "Chinese Bookie" who lives in a heavily guarded home, his debt will be cancelled out. In reality, the Bookie is a major Chinese gangster, and the rival club hoodlums plan to kill Ben Gazzara just as soon as he eliminates the guy. This being a Cassavetes film, there is still a lot of Human Interaction, person to person, which means an examining of each person's inner character. In this case, all the non-crime action takes place in the nightclub, between Gazzara and his strippers, one of whom he is in love with. But because it's a Cassavetes movie, even this examination is not typical. Included in the nightclub act is a strange gentleman called "Mr. Sophistication", who vies for center stage with the strip girls, and generates just as much applause. Such is Cassavetes' interest in all kinds of people, not just the powerful or the beautiful. This movie really succeeds, though, as a crime film, and in that respect it his his most conventional movie to date (of the ones we've seen). There is plot, there is action, there is tension. there is even a gunfight. I left thinking, "wow, that had a 'Taxi Driver' feel to it". "Taxi Driver" came out the same year, 1976. I've seen it about 20 times, and I think it's one of the greatest movies ever made, and certainly in the top two or three scripts ever written. "Chinese Bookie" is not as conventional a movie, nor does it play out in such a linear fashion. "Taxi Driver" just goes boom-boom-boom....every scene, every line of dialogue leads to the next. Everything moves the picture forward. There is nothing that doesn't fit, no waste. It is a perfect movie.
"The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie" is like an Art Film version of that.......well, sort of because it's also got the Cassavetes psychological and cinematic aspect to it (exploring inner turmoil, many close up shots, hand held camera that goes in and out of focus).......but all in all, man is it a great movie! If he would have added just a touch more story or plot to his other films, made them a tad more conventional and just a tad less experimental, then they all would have been as great as this one. It's a straight-up classic.
That was basically all the news, except for the Mandatory Reading Of Several Books (CIA Frank Olson Murder Book, he went to UW! - Bush Crime Family Book - Schwaller "Temple Of Man" Book) and also working on my latest drawing, which is gonna be entirely black and white, just two pencils (fine point and heavier) and one black and one white pastel. I can get a lot of detail working with a mechanical "skinny lead" pencil, so it will be awesome......gonna draw this way all year. :)
I saw one other post, from Joseph Stalin, about digital file names. I don't know if that one refers to my question about a digital release/physical CD release of your album, but I will be glad to get it in whatever form it is available. :)
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Thursday, April 13, 2017
Great Cover + Looking Forward To April 18th! + Poppy Reserve/San Francisquito + Aliso
Happy Late Night, my Darling,
Well, right off the bat I've gotta say that is one of the greatest album covers I've seen in a long time. It's the kind of album cover where, when people see it, they will immediately think "who's that girl"? The concept of the face paint - and not just a face that is painted but a painting on a face - is so striking that it causes people to wanna know more. Man, Elizabeth - if there were still record stores, and that record was on the shelf, it would attract a lot of attention. Really a fantastic cover, and as I said before, so original too. I'm not sure I've ever seen a cover quite like it.
It will be indicative of the music inside, and I am looking forward to hearing it! It will be a birthday present. Now, you mentioned Amazon, and free streaming and other sites, but you did not specifically say anything about physical copies. If you are releasing CDs then of course I want one. If not, then I will get the download. But not being computer savvy or having access to a color printer, I would not be able to download the amazing cover. Well anyhow, I will know very soon, and I know what my album for April 18th will be. :) As far as price, you only mentioned the free streaming, but I want to pay for it - you worked hard on it and as an Artist you should get paid. So I hope you have an option for us to pay, also.
A busy day today for me. I went with Pearl and her daughter Helen out to Lancaster to see the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve, as posted on Facebook. Lancaster is a town on the edge of the Mojave desert, in the Antelope Valley which is just just north of the San Fernando Valley. Our area is full of valleys, including Simi Valley (home of Corriganville) and Santa Clarita Valley (Rice Canyon and others). But the Antelope Valley and Lancaster are a little bit further out, about 50 miles or so. Instead of taking the freeway, we took an old route (pre-freeway) which went through San Francisquito Canyon, in which was once located the St. Francis Dam. I drove up there a couple years ago, with the Kobedog riding shotgun, in search of the site but had no luck. This time, as a passenger and able to look around, I did see the old road, no longer in use, which once ran past the dam about 90 years ago. I forgot to mention that the St. Francis Dam collapsed in 1928, and killed over 400 people. To this day it is the second worst disaster in California history and the worst civil engineering failure in US history. So I have gotta get back out there and hike down to the site.
But back to the poppy preserve, it was just gorgeous. This part of Lancaster is desert boondocks, and you are out in the middle of nowhere (but still just 50 miles from the Valley). There are mountains all around, but then you come out into a flat area and you just see pastel-like swatches of orange, all across the hillsides. When you get closer it looks like an orange carpet. I had never been there before, and it doesn't happen unless we get a lot of rain, so this is probably the biggest poppy explosion in ten years at least. It was really something to see.
Later this afternoon, or early evening, I went for a full length Aliso walk, and got a pic of my buddy the squirrel, as posted on FB. The rest of the night was The Usual : a lot of reading of various books, working on my new drawing, and I also watched a classic episode of "Outer Limits" called "Demon With A Glass Hand". And I went for a CSUN walk, too, giving me a total of 7 miles for the day.
So that's all the news. I still have a few more days off. Looking forward to April 18th! :) And also, what you said in your post, encouraging other aspiring musicians and artists to go for it, was right on the money! Excellent advice you gave them.
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Well, right off the bat I've gotta say that is one of the greatest album covers I've seen in a long time. It's the kind of album cover where, when people see it, they will immediately think "who's that girl"? The concept of the face paint - and not just a face that is painted but a painting on a face - is so striking that it causes people to wanna know more. Man, Elizabeth - if there were still record stores, and that record was on the shelf, it would attract a lot of attention. Really a fantastic cover, and as I said before, so original too. I'm not sure I've ever seen a cover quite like it.
It will be indicative of the music inside, and I am looking forward to hearing it! It will be a birthday present. Now, you mentioned Amazon, and free streaming and other sites, but you did not specifically say anything about physical copies. If you are releasing CDs then of course I want one. If not, then I will get the download. But not being computer savvy or having access to a color printer, I would not be able to download the amazing cover. Well anyhow, I will know very soon, and I know what my album for April 18th will be. :) As far as price, you only mentioned the free streaming, but I want to pay for it - you worked hard on it and as an Artist you should get paid. So I hope you have an option for us to pay, also.
A busy day today for me. I went with Pearl and her daughter Helen out to Lancaster to see the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve, as posted on Facebook. Lancaster is a town on the edge of the Mojave desert, in the Antelope Valley which is just just north of the San Fernando Valley. Our area is full of valleys, including Simi Valley (home of Corriganville) and Santa Clarita Valley (Rice Canyon and others). But the Antelope Valley and Lancaster are a little bit further out, about 50 miles or so. Instead of taking the freeway, we took an old route (pre-freeway) which went through San Francisquito Canyon, in which was once located the St. Francis Dam. I drove up there a couple years ago, with the Kobedog riding shotgun, in search of the site but had no luck. This time, as a passenger and able to look around, I did see the old road, no longer in use, which once ran past the dam about 90 years ago. I forgot to mention that the St. Francis Dam collapsed in 1928, and killed over 400 people. To this day it is the second worst disaster in California history and the worst civil engineering failure in US history. So I have gotta get back out there and hike down to the site.
But back to the poppy preserve, it was just gorgeous. This part of Lancaster is desert boondocks, and you are out in the middle of nowhere (but still just 50 miles from the Valley). There are mountains all around, but then you come out into a flat area and you just see pastel-like swatches of orange, all across the hillsides. When you get closer it looks like an orange carpet. I had never been there before, and it doesn't happen unless we get a lot of rain, so this is probably the biggest poppy explosion in ten years at least. It was really something to see.
Later this afternoon, or early evening, I went for a full length Aliso walk, and got a pic of my buddy the squirrel, as posted on FB. The rest of the night was The Usual : a lot of reading of various books, working on my new drawing, and I also watched a classic episode of "Outer Limits" called "Demon With A Glass Hand". And I went for a CSUN walk, too, giving me a total of 7 miles for the day.
So that's all the news. I still have a few more days off. Looking forward to April 18th! :) And also, what you said in your post, encouraging other aspiring musicians and artists to go for it, was right on the money! Excellent advice you gave them.
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Glad All Is Well + Can't Find The Photos (darn it) + Aliso + "A Terrible MIstake"
Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby,
I saw your Eric Whitacre post this morning and the message was a good one, so I am glad to hear that all is well (as EW said), and I hope you are listening to Ella on the radio, too! :) And you know I always like Eric Whitacre posts...... :):)
This morning I did tear my closet apart (well partially, anyway) in an attempt to find more of my old rock photos from high school, but doggonnit I was unsuccessful. I wound up with the same set of boxes from which I pulled the photos I posted back in 2012 or 2013, all those oldies that ended up in my FB "From The Vault" photo album. I am looking for stuff like the picture of me with Captain Beefheart, shots from The Tubes stint at The Roxy in 1975, and a whole bunch of stuff I mounted on 11x14 matte board in the photo lab at Cleveland High. But I guess it must be in a box that is deeply buried, and the way my closet is - it looks like a fully packed storage space - it would take me half a day to pull everything out of there and search all the boxes. And putting it all back would be a hassle.
What I need is a bigger place to live, so that I won't have to keep all my stuff in a closet. But I know that will come, and all the things I am waiting for will come. One good thing I noticed in my search was that everything is in good condition. No deterioration, no smashing of photos, etc. I am hoping my Meadows tapes will be similarly preserved when I finally pull them out of there to have them restored and digitised. I am hoping somebody will be able to fully sharpen them to their original picture condition. It is irreplaceable footage. :):)
I had a really nice hike at Aliso this afternoon, and at a slightly later time - 5:30 - when I would normally be at work. The light was especially beautiful at that time of day, and I took my time to explore, even though I know the place by heart. I saw another post by you, via a friend who was hiking up high in Bali, so I figured maybe that meant you were gonna go on a hike or road trip somewhere outdoors. Well anyhow, it sure is a beautiful Springtime and a great time to be outside.
But of course being a bookworm means I have to be inside, too.....although I suppose I could take my books with me to the parks......but then I wouldn't hike.....so best to keep 'em separate I suppose. At any rate, I finished the Marilyn book (made me so mad!) and began a new one : "A Terrible Mistake: The Murder of Frank Olsen And The CIA's Cold War Experiments" by H.P. Albarelli. It was mentioned in "Mary's Mosaic", and I am trying to learn all I can about these horrible people in the CIA and elsewhere.
Also reading about Pharaonic mathematics in "The Temple Of Man" by Schwaller de Lubicz. A mind boggler for sure, and something I will have to read several times to fully understand. You would probably get it on the first go-round... :)
That's basically the news for today. I also watched a "Rawhide" episode (man what a great show) and went for a full CSUN walk too. My album for the day was Bill Nelson's "New Northern Dream", which is oh so beautiful and dreamy, with spectacular guitar colors.
See you in the morning! I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I saw your Eric Whitacre post this morning and the message was a good one, so I am glad to hear that all is well (as EW said), and I hope you are listening to Ella on the radio, too! :) And you know I always like Eric Whitacre posts...... :):)
This morning I did tear my closet apart (well partially, anyway) in an attempt to find more of my old rock photos from high school, but doggonnit I was unsuccessful. I wound up with the same set of boxes from which I pulled the photos I posted back in 2012 or 2013, all those oldies that ended up in my FB "From The Vault" photo album. I am looking for stuff like the picture of me with Captain Beefheart, shots from The Tubes stint at The Roxy in 1975, and a whole bunch of stuff I mounted on 11x14 matte board in the photo lab at Cleveland High. But I guess it must be in a box that is deeply buried, and the way my closet is - it looks like a fully packed storage space - it would take me half a day to pull everything out of there and search all the boxes. And putting it all back would be a hassle.
What I need is a bigger place to live, so that I won't have to keep all my stuff in a closet. But I know that will come, and all the things I am waiting for will come. One good thing I noticed in my search was that everything is in good condition. No deterioration, no smashing of photos, etc. I am hoping my Meadows tapes will be similarly preserved when I finally pull them out of there to have them restored and digitised. I am hoping somebody will be able to fully sharpen them to their original picture condition. It is irreplaceable footage. :):)
I had a really nice hike at Aliso this afternoon, and at a slightly later time - 5:30 - when I would normally be at work. The light was especially beautiful at that time of day, and I took my time to explore, even though I know the place by heart. I saw another post by you, via a friend who was hiking up high in Bali, so I figured maybe that meant you were gonna go on a hike or road trip somewhere outdoors. Well anyhow, it sure is a beautiful Springtime and a great time to be outside.
But of course being a bookworm means I have to be inside, too.....although I suppose I could take my books with me to the parks......but then I wouldn't hike.....so best to keep 'em separate I suppose. At any rate, I finished the Marilyn book (made me so mad!) and began a new one : "A Terrible Mistake: The Murder of Frank Olsen And The CIA's Cold War Experiments" by H.P. Albarelli. It was mentioned in "Mary's Mosaic", and I am trying to learn all I can about these horrible people in the CIA and elsewhere.
Also reading about Pharaonic mathematics in "The Temple Of Man" by Schwaller de Lubicz. A mind boggler for sure, and something I will have to read several times to fully understand. You would probably get it on the first go-round... :)
That's basically the news for today. I also watched a "Rawhide" episode (man what a great show) and went for a full CSUN walk too. My album for the day was Bill Nelson's "New Northern Dream", which is oh so beautiful and dreamy, with spectacular guitar colors.
See you in the morning! I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Night Owlism + James Should Be On TWD + Day Off : Reading, Walks, Drawing, Music, etc.
Happy Late Monday Night, my Darling,
It is the Usual Later Start for me, for writing from home, just because of the Night Owl Reversion Factor as previously described. Maybe you are still awake, being even more of a Night Owl than me, lol. That pic of James and his girlfriend was a riot! At first I had to do a double take - "Is that really Negan"? - because James is a known jokester, and because with the grown-out beard, Jeffery Dean looks a little different than he does as the horrible character on TWD. But it was certainly him in the photo, which prompts the obvious question : "How the heck did James and his girlfriend get their picture with Jeffery Dean Morgan"? Were they here in L.A. ? Was Negan in Wisconsin? Were they all in Oklahoma, where TWD shoots? Who was where?
What was even funnier was James' remark about wanting to get hit with the bat in order to make it a perfect meeting. I know you know that would get me, because I know you know that that particular episode grossed me out so bad that I wasn't sure I could continue on with the show. It was truly the most awful thing I have ever seen, on TV or in the movies. Even Jeffery Dean felt bad about it, as he said in interviews. He created one hell of a character, though, even if everybody can't wait to see Negan get what's coming to him.
Maybe he already has, I don't know. Due to work, I have been unable to keep up with all the episodes as they aired, so I will have to wait for the full-season dvd release which should be in August.
Speaking of characters, James should be on The Walking Dead. Not as a Zombie, but as a Rock Star that Sheriff Rick and the gang happen upon on the road somewhere. He would tell them about a Huge Supply Of Cheese that he has stashed and they would take him in. But ultimately, he would be captured by Negan........the storyline could be drawn out over a whole season, and they could use a song by The Milbrandt Boys on the soundtrack. :)
How's that for a pitch? :)
Well anyhow, it was my first day off and I didn't do much, as I usually don't do on my first day off because I just wanna relax, go carless, etc. I did a lot of reading, almost finished the Marilyn book. Did finish a drawing. Went for a 3 mile walk at 5pm and a 2 mile walk at 8:30. Watched an incredible episode of "The Outer Limits" called "Cold Hands, Warm Heart" starring William Shatner, about an astronaut who goes to Venus and comes back unable to get warm, and with nightmares of an an encounter with a Scary Venusian Creature. It was like a miniature movie, so classic like the best of early black and white sci-fi.
That was about all the news for today. I listened to Mike Oldfield "Return To Ommadawn" again, and though I've mentioned this before it bears repeating in a very brief tirade : It is a perfect album, one of the best I've heard by anybody in many years. Start to finish perfection.
"Global" by Todd Rundgren is near perfect, too. His best since the 80s.
Tomorrow I will try to tackle my jam-packed closet to look for old photos. Wish me luck. :)
I hope you had a great day. Post if you can.
See you in the morning! I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
It is the Usual Later Start for me, for writing from home, just because of the Night Owl Reversion Factor as previously described. Maybe you are still awake, being even more of a Night Owl than me, lol. That pic of James and his girlfriend was a riot! At first I had to do a double take - "Is that really Negan"? - because James is a known jokester, and because with the grown-out beard, Jeffery Dean looks a little different than he does as the horrible character on TWD. But it was certainly him in the photo, which prompts the obvious question : "How the heck did James and his girlfriend get their picture with Jeffery Dean Morgan"? Were they here in L.A. ? Was Negan in Wisconsin? Were they all in Oklahoma, where TWD shoots? Who was where?
What was even funnier was James' remark about wanting to get hit with the bat in order to make it a perfect meeting. I know you know that would get me, because I know you know that that particular episode grossed me out so bad that I wasn't sure I could continue on with the show. It was truly the most awful thing I have ever seen, on TV or in the movies. Even Jeffery Dean felt bad about it, as he said in interviews. He created one hell of a character, though, even if everybody can't wait to see Negan get what's coming to him.
Maybe he already has, I don't know. Due to work, I have been unable to keep up with all the episodes as they aired, so I will have to wait for the full-season dvd release which should be in August.
Speaking of characters, James should be on The Walking Dead. Not as a Zombie, but as a Rock Star that Sheriff Rick and the gang happen upon on the road somewhere. He would tell them about a Huge Supply Of Cheese that he has stashed and they would take him in. But ultimately, he would be captured by Negan........the storyline could be drawn out over a whole season, and they could use a song by The Milbrandt Boys on the soundtrack. :)
How's that for a pitch? :)
Well anyhow, it was my first day off and I didn't do much, as I usually don't do on my first day off because I just wanna relax, go carless, etc. I did a lot of reading, almost finished the Marilyn book. Did finish a drawing. Went for a 3 mile walk at 5pm and a 2 mile walk at 8:30. Watched an incredible episode of "The Outer Limits" called "Cold Hands, Warm Heart" starring William Shatner, about an astronaut who goes to Venus and comes back unable to get warm, and with nightmares of an an encounter with a Scary Venusian Creature. It was like a miniature movie, so classic like the best of early black and white sci-fi.
That was about all the news for today. I listened to Mike Oldfield "Return To Ommadawn" again, and though I've mentioned this before it bears repeating in a very brief tirade : It is a perfect album, one of the best I've heard by anybody in many years. Start to finish perfection.
"Global" by Todd Rundgren is near perfect, too. His best since the 80s.
Tomorrow I will try to tackle my jam-packed closet to look for old photos. Wish me luck. :)
I hope you had a great day. Post if you can.
See you in the morning! I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Monday, April 10, 2017
Happy Sunday Night + 90s Vocal Impersonator
Happy Sunday Night, Sweet Baby,
I am writing from home, off till Easter Sunday as reported last night. Today was busy, with getting up early for church, then lots of singing, and afterward doing some cleaning at Pearl's, and then two walks tonight. We did take time out late in the afternoon to watch the last few holes of The Masters, which turned out to be a classic shootout between Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose, one for the ages. I'm not a golf fanatic, but I played a little as a teenager, and The Masters is one tournament I always watch every year, and the course is so beautiful too.
I hope your day was good. I saw a post about using cruise control on the highway, and I don't know if there was a message in that one, but if so, I guess it either means you don't like aggressive drivers (and neither do I!), or it might be a metaphor : you are on "cruise control" yourself. You are cruisin', you have got it all under control, and everything is proceeding apace. :) There was another post about something called Property Brothers, but I have no idea what that is, lol. I've gotta get hip. :)
That's basically all the news. I watched an episode of "Rawhide" in which Clint Eastwood falls for a woman who, unbeknownst to him, is the unhappy wife of a murderous sheriff. He lands in very hot water until Eric Fleming, who stars as Trail Boss Gil Favor, bails him out of the jam he is in, and then the cattle drive continues as always.
Life is one big Western, SB. Or at least it should be......
I'm getting a lot of volume out of my voice lately, working on my 80s and 90s grunge/growler vocalist impersonations in the car, including the Stone Temple Pilots guy, Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam, Lane from Alice In Chains and Axl Rose. I follow along as their songs come on the radio, and I try and match 'em, grumble for grumble.
I'd like to try a Hootie song, because he's the All-Time 90s Baritone Growler, but they haven't played one in a while. Or maybe I'm listening to the wrong station.
At any rate, good singing.
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I am writing from home, off till Easter Sunday as reported last night. Today was busy, with getting up early for church, then lots of singing, and afterward doing some cleaning at Pearl's, and then two walks tonight. We did take time out late in the afternoon to watch the last few holes of The Masters, which turned out to be a classic shootout between Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose, one for the ages. I'm not a golf fanatic, but I played a little as a teenager, and The Masters is one tournament I always watch every year, and the course is so beautiful too.
I hope your day was good. I saw a post about using cruise control on the highway, and I don't know if there was a message in that one, but if so, I guess it either means you don't like aggressive drivers (and neither do I!), or it might be a metaphor : you are on "cruise control" yourself. You are cruisin', you have got it all under control, and everything is proceeding apace. :) There was another post about something called Property Brothers, but I have no idea what that is, lol. I've gotta get hip. :)
That's basically all the news. I watched an episode of "Rawhide" in which Clint Eastwood falls for a woman who, unbeknownst to him, is the unhappy wife of a murderous sheriff. He lands in very hot water until Eric Fleming, who stars as Trail Boss Gil Favor, bails him out of the jam he is in, and then the cattle drive continues as always.
Life is one big Western, SB. Or at least it should be......
I'm getting a lot of volume out of my voice lately, working on my 80s and 90s grunge/growler vocalist impersonations in the car, including the Stone Temple Pilots guy, Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam, Lane from Alice In Chains and Axl Rose. I follow along as their songs come on the radio, and I try and match 'em, grumble for grumble.
I'd like to try a Hootie song, because he's the All-Time 90s Baritone Growler, but they haven't played one in a while. Or maybe I'm listening to the wrong station.
At any rate, good singing.
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Sunday, April 9, 2017
Happy Saturday Night
Happy Late Saturday Night, Sweet Baby,
Just a check in to say hi, with no real news today, except that my sister Vickie came over for the first time in a couple months and we went shopping at several stores and wine tasting (oh boy!) at Total Wine. Tonight my friend David F. came over for a CSUN walk, but nothing else transpired, no hikes, no movies, etc. Tomorrow is Palm Sunday, the start of Easter week, and our anthem for church is a "belter" (meaning an easy one) called "Hosanna!". The exclamation point is part of the title. Starting tomorrow afternoon, I will be off for a whole week, until Easter Sunday, which also happens to be my birthday, and it will be fun to begin the day by singing in church on the most important day in the Christian calendar. I have no special plans for my week off except to take it easy and re-alicecooperate (gotta use that joke more than once cause it's a good one, haha). I might undertake an expedition into The Jam Packed Closet of my Tiny Apartment, in an attempt to locate and remove boxes of old photos and slides, in an effort to digitize some more rock pix from my high school days.
I need a bigger place to live so I can get to my stuff without having to tear my closet apart. Well, we shall say "That Will Happen", and it will, just because we said so. Because I need to digitize a Ton Of Stuff, including my Meadows tapes and even some Super 8 movies. And to do that, I need easy access to my belongings.
I hope your day was good. I only saw one post, the pic of your friend and client Betty, who seems to have won some type of physical fitness competition. Well, she is in good shape, to state the obvious.
I hope you had a good day and that things are going well. I hope your planned trip to Iceland is still in the works, too.
That's all for tonight. I will see you in the morning and then when I get home (and am off work) at about 3pm.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Just a check in to say hi, with no real news today, except that my sister Vickie came over for the first time in a couple months and we went shopping at several stores and wine tasting (oh boy!) at Total Wine. Tonight my friend David F. came over for a CSUN walk, but nothing else transpired, no hikes, no movies, etc. Tomorrow is Palm Sunday, the start of Easter week, and our anthem for church is a "belter" (meaning an easy one) called "Hosanna!". The exclamation point is part of the title. Starting tomorrow afternoon, I will be off for a whole week, until Easter Sunday, which also happens to be my birthday, and it will be fun to begin the day by singing in church on the most important day in the Christian calendar. I have no special plans for my week off except to take it easy and re-alicecooperate (gotta use that joke more than once cause it's a good one, haha). I might undertake an expedition into The Jam Packed Closet of my Tiny Apartment, in an attempt to locate and remove boxes of old photos and slides, in an effort to digitize some more rock pix from my high school days.
I need a bigger place to live so I can get to my stuff without having to tear my closet apart. Well, we shall say "That Will Happen", and it will, just because we said so. Because I need to digitize a Ton Of Stuff, including my Meadows tapes and even some Super 8 movies. And to do that, I need easy access to my belongings.
I hope your day was good. I only saw one post, the pic of your friend and client Betty, who seems to have won some type of physical fitness competition. Well, she is in good shape, to state the obvious.
I hope you had a good day and that things are going well. I hope your planned trip to Iceland is still in the works, too.
That's all for tonight. I will see you in the morning and then when I get home (and am off work) at about 3pm.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Saturday, April 8, 2017
Happy Friday + Whitney Canyon + "Woman On The Run" + In The Still Of The Night
Happy Late Friday Night, Sweet Baby,
I hope your weekend is off to a good start. I saw your post this morning, via your friend who went for a walk by the lake, so I figured maybe you meant that you did, too. I guess that would mean Lake Mendota? It's great that your friend did the litter pick-up. They have organised clean-ups here too, at the beaches and parks. I have never participated, just cause I have so much else to do (how's that for an excuse?).
Today I went for a nice hike at Whitney Canyon out in Newhall. You know that is one of my favorite places. I was hoping for some colorful scenery, to capture in a photo or two, but everything is still mostly green and brown. Maybe in May or June the drying out will have commenced, and all those rustic colors I like will start to emerge.
Tonight's movie was an excellent Noir called "Woman On The Run" (1951) with Ann Sheridan, who had been a big movie star in the late 30s and early 40s. In this movie, her husband, an artist, witnesses a gangland murder and goes on the run, fearing for his life. In the process he leaves her behind and she goes in search of him. There is great 1950s era location shooting all over San Francisco. A newspaper reporter, played by Dennis O'Keefe, tags along, but as time goes by he is not what he seems. And the cops are on her trail as well. The movie is only 77 minutes long, but there is a ton of stuff happening, and a lot of zip in the script, which just shows-to-go-ya once again the importance of good writing. I tried to renew this film yesterday, because I thought that would give me a few extra days to watch it, in case I was caught up in my reading tonight or got a late start or whatever. But I wasn't able to renew, because somebody else had put a hold on it. That never happens with movies this old, especially obscure ones, so I thought, "wow, it must be well-known by noir fans", and with good reason as I found out.
So that was all the news for today. I also saw your post about being a Night Owl, and like you, I have always been one too. I guess my ideal wake/sleep times would be about 10:30am and 2:30am. That's what it always reverts to on days off. But even now I am up late. When I worked at MGM in the early 80s, I loved the 12pm to 8:30pm shift, because then I could get home at 9pm and stay up till 2 or 3am, then sleep til 10, and be back to work by Noon the next day.
It's just my biorhythms, but even more than that, I love the quiet of the late night.
No cars, no hustle bustle, just stillness. And I can gather my thoughts and think, which I love to do.
Nighttime is the time to really tune in.
I know it is for you, too. Just make sure you get enough sleep. I seem to be able to get away with 6 1/2 or 7 hours these days, although I love it when I can get 8.
Well, I will take my own advice and go to sleep soon, and then I will see you in the morn.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I hope your weekend is off to a good start. I saw your post this morning, via your friend who went for a walk by the lake, so I figured maybe you meant that you did, too. I guess that would mean Lake Mendota? It's great that your friend did the litter pick-up. They have organised clean-ups here too, at the beaches and parks. I have never participated, just cause I have so much else to do (how's that for an excuse?).
Today I went for a nice hike at Whitney Canyon out in Newhall. You know that is one of my favorite places. I was hoping for some colorful scenery, to capture in a photo or two, but everything is still mostly green and brown. Maybe in May or June the drying out will have commenced, and all those rustic colors I like will start to emerge.
Tonight's movie was an excellent Noir called "Woman On The Run" (1951) with Ann Sheridan, who had been a big movie star in the late 30s and early 40s. In this movie, her husband, an artist, witnesses a gangland murder and goes on the run, fearing for his life. In the process he leaves her behind and she goes in search of him. There is great 1950s era location shooting all over San Francisco. A newspaper reporter, played by Dennis O'Keefe, tags along, but as time goes by he is not what he seems. And the cops are on her trail as well. The movie is only 77 minutes long, but there is a ton of stuff happening, and a lot of zip in the script, which just shows-to-go-ya once again the importance of good writing. I tried to renew this film yesterday, because I thought that would give me a few extra days to watch it, in case I was caught up in my reading tonight or got a late start or whatever. But I wasn't able to renew, because somebody else had put a hold on it. That never happens with movies this old, especially obscure ones, so I thought, "wow, it must be well-known by noir fans", and with good reason as I found out.
So that was all the news for today. I also saw your post about being a Night Owl, and like you, I have always been one too. I guess my ideal wake/sleep times would be about 10:30am and 2:30am. That's what it always reverts to on days off. But even now I am up late. When I worked at MGM in the early 80s, I loved the 12pm to 8:30pm shift, because then I could get home at 9pm and stay up till 2 or 3am, then sleep til 10, and be back to work by Noon the next day.
It's just my biorhythms, but even more than that, I love the quiet of the late night.
No cars, no hustle bustle, just stillness. And I can gather my thoughts and think, which I love to do.
Nighttime is the time to really tune in.
I know it is for you, too. Just make sure you get enough sleep. I seem to be able to get away with 6 1/2 or 7 hours these days, although I love it when I can get 8.
Well, I will take my own advice and go to sleep soon, and then I will see you in the morn.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Friday, April 7, 2017
That "Sideways Dog Look" + "A Woman Under The Influence"
Happy Late Night, my Darling,
I hope you had a good day. I love those pictures of the doggies! The annoyed chihuahua is classic, he's the only one in the photo who isn't having a good time. He's looking at you like : "Take the picture already"! And the Kissing Dachsund is a riot too, because he's giving James a smooch but he's also looking at you sideways with that one eye, as if to say "I hope you're getting this". :) Too funny on both counts!
Dogs are especially funny when they do that "sideways glance" look, like when they get caught stealing food or when they think they're getting away with it but look sideways to make sure. :)
No hike today, being a Hair Salon Thursday. Tonight at CSUN we saw Cassavetes most famous film, "A Woman Under The Influence", about a mentally ill woman who is on the verge of being committed to an institution by her brutal but loving husband. "Brutal but loving" is a character description that could only be applied to a Cassavetes film, and once again this is a very hard film to watch because of the violence, both verbal and physical. Blue collar worker Peter Falk does seem to love his nutty wife (a tremendous performance by Gena Rowlands), who - despite her illness - is a good mother who adores her children. But she is spiraling out of control and her not very bright hubby doesn't know what to do with her, except ultimately to smack her around. I think Grimsley walked out once again during such a scene. He had said he was gonna be there, but he wasn't there when the movie ended. Cassavetes is tough, there is confrontation in all his movies, chaos and people screaming at one another, hitting each other. It's all about dysfunctional relationships. At any rate, I had seen this one about fifteen years ago with my Mom, who was hard core and would watch anything (except, like me, Adam Sandler movies and other dumb stuff), and so I was ready for what was to occur, which is pretty depressing. However, Gena Rowlands' character is a revelation, a semi-competent mentally ill but functioning mother, who, with a less angry husband, might be able to live her life as she is. The message is that "there's nothing wrong with her" even though she's more than a tad kooky. But her husband, though he understands her better than anyone else and wants her to "be herself", doesn't have the temperament to deal with her behavior. It's an emotionally complicated movie for sure. One thing is for certain : I am getting a real education with these Cassavetes films in how far you can push an audience. Many moviegoers would rebel against this kind of filmmaking. I have stuck it out, however, and I'm glad I did. The films are by no means "easy viewing", but for some strange reason they are rewarding. Each Cassavetes movie I've seen will stick with me for life.
That was all the news for today. It was also the 43rd anniversary of the California Jam, my first concert, and they were doing a history of it on KLOS, our big FM rock station. So that was pretty cool too.
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I hope you had a good day. I love those pictures of the doggies! The annoyed chihuahua is classic, he's the only one in the photo who isn't having a good time. He's looking at you like : "Take the picture already"! And the Kissing Dachsund is a riot too, because he's giving James a smooch but he's also looking at you sideways with that one eye, as if to say "I hope you're getting this". :) Too funny on both counts!
Dogs are especially funny when they do that "sideways glance" look, like when they get caught stealing food or when they think they're getting away with it but look sideways to make sure. :)
No hike today, being a Hair Salon Thursday. Tonight at CSUN we saw Cassavetes most famous film, "A Woman Under The Influence", about a mentally ill woman who is on the verge of being committed to an institution by her brutal but loving husband. "Brutal but loving" is a character description that could only be applied to a Cassavetes film, and once again this is a very hard film to watch because of the violence, both verbal and physical. Blue collar worker Peter Falk does seem to love his nutty wife (a tremendous performance by Gena Rowlands), who - despite her illness - is a good mother who adores her children. But she is spiraling out of control and her not very bright hubby doesn't know what to do with her, except ultimately to smack her around. I think Grimsley walked out once again during such a scene. He had said he was gonna be there, but he wasn't there when the movie ended. Cassavetes is tough, there is confrontation in all his movies, chaos and people screaming at one another, hitting each other. It's all about dysfunctional relationships. At any rate, I had seen this one about fifteen years ago with my Mom, who was hard core and would watch anything (except, like me, Adam Sandler movies and other dumb stuff), and so I was ready for what was to occur, which is pretty depressing. However, Gena Rowlands' character is a revelation, a semi-competent mentally ill but functioning mother, who, with a less angry husband, might be able to live her life as she is. The message is that "there's nothing wrong with her" even though she's more than a tad kooky. But her husband, though he understands her better than anyone else and wants her to "be herself", doesn't have the temperament to deal with her behavior. It's an emotionally complicated movie for sure. One thing is for certain : I am getting a real education with these Cassavetes films in how far you can push an audience. Many moviegoers would rebel against this kind of filmmaking. I have stuck it out, however, and I'm glad I did. The films are by no means "easy viewing", but for some strange reason they are rewarding. Each Cassavetes movie I've seen will stick with me for life.
That was all the news for today. It was also the 43rd anniversary of the California Jam, my first concert, and they were doing a history of it on KLOS, our big FM rock station. So that was pretty cool too.
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Thursday, April 6, 2017
Kardashians + Awesome DeCampos Trail Hike + Marilyn + Hawks
Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby,
I saw your post a little while ago, of your friend with Khloe Kardashian, and I am glad you are back! I didn't see you on FB for the past two days, which could be an FB glitch as we have discussed, but anyhow you have returned, kourtesy of a Kardashian, so hooray. I take it your friend is a clothing designer? With Khloe and Kylie Jenner as klients? Or maybe it was Kendall Jenner. Anyway, good for him. The Kardashians are alright, if you take away all the dumb shows, and of course Kanye. I stick up for them because they are local and they seem like nice peeps. Grimsley has delivered flowers to the Kompound on several occasions and met Kris Jenner.......
I hope all is going well and hope your last couple days have been good ones. We are still dealing with the aftermath of whatever it was that afflicted Pearl. I had thought it was an allergy - simply because we had been at the park two days in a row, and there is a ton of pollen in the air now, and also we hadn't been in contact with any people for a few days - but now I think she got a cold germ somewhere and it incubated a few days and then exploded. She has had just godawful congestion, though it is much better today. The only places she could have picked it up would have been Golden Agers, five days before she got sick, or the hair salon, three days before. Don't cold germs happen quickly though? Well, it has been bad, but thank goodness she seems to be on the mend.
I had a great hike today, on the DeCampos Trail which goes to the top of Mission Point. I went farther than I have since my initial climb to the top in 2014. This time I climbed all the way to the Gas Company gate which marks the final quarter mile or so to the top, so I went about 1.75 miles and 1100 feet up in 38 minutes. Not too shabby. Next time I will go to the top. Today I ran out of time, and I also want to go slow on that last quarter mile because the trail splits off at that Gas Co. gate, and in 2014 if you recall I got lost coming down and took the wrong fork twice which ran into dead end trails on the wrong side of the mountain and scared the heck out of me. So I will Google the right way to go, and it looks easy anyway because you can see the bench at the top from the gate. Just make sure you don't take the wrong fork coming back down. :)
I tell you all of this just so the next time you are in Granada Hills and hiking on the DeCampos Trail, you will not get lost. :)
Yesterday was a more basic, ground level hike/walk at Aliso, and a beautiful day too. I began two new books, "The Murder Of Marilyn Monroe" by Jay Margolis. It's a fast read and I'm halfway through already. It's pretty clear that her psychiatrist killed her with an injection to her heart, which was witnessed by the very credible ambulance attendant. Bobby Kennedy was there and wanted her eliminated because she was hysterical and was going to tell the press about her affairs with both Bobby and JFK the President. A couple of thugs from the LAPD at first forcibly gave her shots of Nembutal to try and calm her down, but that didn't work, so they gave her more and more, and finally had the doctor kill her.
I'm sorry about what happened to the Kennedy brothers, and JFK really was a great President. He prevented a possible WW3, and an end of the world, when he led us through the Cuban Missile Crisis.
But they straight up killed Marilyn, or Bobby did, and all of these people in these books I have been reading are all so horrible.
But it's all part of my continuing education. I am also reading a book about the Bush family, called "Family Of Secrets".
That's really all the news for the past two days. Last night I watched an incredible episode of "Outer Limits" from 1964 called "Behold, Eck!" about a two-dimensional being who is trapped in our world and causing disaster. Good Lordy Moses, do I love me some sci-fi, SB. And especially if it's from the 50s or 60s.
I also watched an episode of "Rawhide" tonight, because I also love Westerns, and this show is turning out to be one of my favorites after only three episodes.
Time management allows me to get a lot of stuff done. On my hike today, when I was near the top of the mountain I saw three hawks circling around and riding the drafts. They were beautiful, and closer than usual because I was up at their height. What was neat was that they would sometimes fly in formation, just like jets! It was awesome to watch; they would go straight ahead, in a triangle, just riding the current without flapping their wings, and they looked like little Air Force jets. They all of a sudden they would break off and go different directions, also just like jets at an air show. It was super cool. :)
I hope all projects are coming along well. Post if you can.
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I saw your post a little while ago, of your friend with Khloe Kardashian, and I am glad you are back! I didn't see you on FB for the past two days, which could be an FB glitch as we have discussed, but anyhow you have returned, kourtesy of a Kardashian, so hooray. I take it your friend is a clothing designer? With Khloe and Kylie Jenner as klients? Or maybe it was Kendall Jenner. Anyway, good for him. The Kardashians are alright, if you take away all the dumb shows, and of course Kanye. I stick up for them because they are local and they seem like nice peeps. Grimsley has delivered flowers to the Kompound on several occasions and met Kris Jenner.......
I hope all is going well and hope your last couple days have been good ones. We are still dealing with the aftermath of whatever it was that afflicted Pearl. I had thought it was an allergy - simply because we had been at the park two days in a row, and there is a ton of pollen in the air now, and also we hadn't been in contact with any people for a few days - but now I think she got a cold germ somewhere and it incubated a few days and then exploded. She has had just godawful congestion, though it is much better today. The only places she could have picked it up would have been Golden Agers, five days before she got sick, or the hair salon, three days before. Don't cold germs happen quickly though? Well, it has been bad, but thank goodness she seems to be on the mend.
I had a great hike today, on the DeCampos Trail which goes to the top of Mission Point. I went farther than I have since my initial climb to the top in 2014. This time I climbed all the way to the Gas Company gate which marks the final quarter mile or so to the top, so I went about 1.75 miles and 1100 feet up in 38 minutes. Not too shabby. Next time I will go to the top. Today I ran out of time, and I also want to go slow on that last quarter mile because the trail splits off at that Gas Co. gate, and in 2014 if you recall I got lost coming down and took the wrong fork twice which ran into dead end trails on the wrong side of the mountain and scared the heck out of me. So I will Google the right way to go, and it looks easy anyway because you can see the bench at the top from the gate. Just make sure you don't take the wrong fork coming back down. :)
I tell you all of this just so the next time you are in Granada Hills and hiking on the DeCampos Trail, you will not get lost. :)
Yesterday was a more basic, ground level hike/walk at Aliso, and a beautiful day too. I began two new books, "The Murder Of Marilyn Monroe" by Jay Margolis. It's a fast read and I'm halfway through already. It's pretty clear that her psychiatrist killed her with an injection to her heart, which was witnessed by the very credible ambulance attendant. Bobby Kennedy was there and wanted her eliminated because she was hysterical and was going to tell the press about her affairs with both Bobby and JFK the President. A couple of thugs from the LAPD at first forcibly gave her shots of Nembutal to try and calm her down, but that didn't work, so they gave her more and more, and finally had the doctor kill her.
I'm sorry about what happened to the Kennedy brothers, and JFK really was a great President. He prevented a possible WW3, and an end of the world, when he led us through the Cuban Missile Crisis.
But they straight up killed Marilyn, or Bobby did, and all of these people in these books I have been reading are all so horrible.
But it's all part of my continuing education. I am also reading a book about the Bush family, called "Family Of Secrets".
That's really all the news for the past two days. Last night I watched an incredible episode of "Outer Limits" from 1964 called "Behold, Eck!" about a two-dimensional being who is trapped in our world and causing disaster. Good Lordy Moses, do I love me some sci-fi, SB. And especially if it's from the 50s or 60s.
I also watched an episode of "Rawhide" tonight, because I also love Westerns, and this show is turning out to be one of my favorites after only three episodes.
Time management allows me to get a lot of stuff done. On my hike today, when I was near the top of the mountain I saw three hawks circling around and riding the drafts. They were beautiful, and closer than usual because I was up at their height. What was neat was that they would sometimes fly in formation, just like jets! It was awesome to watch; they would go straight ahead, in a triangle, just riding the current without flapping their wings, and they looked like little Air Force jets. They all of a sudden they would break off and go different directions, also just like jets at an air show. It was super cool. :)
I hope all projects are coming along well. Post if you can.
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Monday, April 3, 2017
Allergies Suck + "Mary's Mosaic" Should Be Required Reading In All Schools
Happy Late Sunday Night, Sweet Baby,
I hope your day was good, and your weekend overall. We had a good morning in church and good singing, but since this afternoon Pearl has had an allergy attack that is a little disconcerting because it hasn't let up. I am hoping she will be able to sleep through the night and then maybe it will subside by morning. There is so much pollen in the air that it's really hard on people right now. I am fortunate because, though I had that one bad allergy a couple weeks ago, my immunity seems to have kicked back in and I have not had a problem since. Well anyway, allergies really suck.
I saw another post via Sarah, and now I see what she is doing in Tennessee : not a tour but a wedding, something I am a major proponent of. :):)
The only activity besides church today was reading. I finished "Mary's Mosaic" by Peter Janney, and it turned out to be one of the most mind-blowing and important books I have ever read. Absolutely un-putdownable. I could go on a endless tirade about it, and these Ivy League elites that perpetuate the secret government activities in this country, but I will not tonight because I am too tired. All I can say for now is that author Janney should also be awarded the Presidential Medal Of Freedom, and the CIA and FBI should be disbanded and all of the criminal elements in those agencies, and in the NSA and "Justice" Department, should all be routed out and tried for treason. With a book like this, we see what really goes on, and something should be done about it. We now have A Complete Joke for a President, except it isn't funny, and you know he couldn't have gotten where he is - idiot that he is, and having no connections - without the help of treasonous people in various agencies, both civilian and military. All of these people must be put in prison.
No movies or TV shows tonight. The book was such a stunner that I had to finish it.
I need a big time researcher, like Janney or Dr. Wendy Painting or Dr. Farrell or Phil Nelson to help me find out what happened in 1989, and one day I will have one, and then there will be another true story to blow people's minds and maybe lead to change in America, and the dissolution of secret agencies. As Peter Janney says, the truth cannot be stopped.
That's all for tonight. I'm hoping Pearl will feel better in the morning. See you then.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I hope your day was good, and your weekend overall. We had a good morning in church and good singing, but since this afternoon Pearl has had an allergy attack that is a little disconcerting because it hasn't let up. I am hoping she will be able to sleep through the night and then maybe it will subside by morning. There is so much pollen in the air that it's really hard on people right now. I am fortunate because, though I had that one bad allergy a couple weeks ago, my immunity seems to have kicked back in and I have not had a problem since. Well anyway, allergies really suck.
I saw another post via Sarah, and now I see what she is doing in Tennessee : not a tour but a wedding, something I am a major proponent of. :):)
The only activity besides church today was reading. I finished "Mary's Mosaic" by Peter Janney, and it turned out to be one of the most mind-blowing and important books I have ever read. Absolutely un-putdownable. I could go on a endless tirade about it, and these Ivy League elites that perpetuate the secret government activities in this country, but I will not tonight because I am too tired. All I can say for now is that author Janney should also be awarded the Presidential Medal Of Freedom, and the CIA and FBI should be disbanded and all of the criminal elements in those agencies, and in the NSA and "Justice" Department, should all be routed out and tried for treason. With a book like this, we see what really goes on, and something should be done about it. We now have A Complete Joke for a President, except it isn't funny, and you know he couldn't have gotten where he is - idiot that he is, and having no connections - without the help of treasonous people in various agencies, both civilian and military. All of these people must be put in prison.
No movies or TV shows tonight. The book was such a stunner that I had to finish it.
I need a big time researcher, like Janney or Dr. Wendy Painting or Dr. Farrell or Phil Nelson to help me find out what happened in 1989, and one day I will have one, and then there will be another true story to blow people's minds and maybe lead to change in America, and the dissolution of secret agencies. As Peter Janney says, the truth cannot be stopped.
That's all for tonight. I'm hoping Pearl will feel better in the morning. See you then.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Sunday, April 2, 2017
Happy Saturday Night, No April Foolin'
Happy Late Night, my Darling,
I saw your posts, with Steve & Sarah, and you can tell them that somebody does think they're funny : me. Remember? - I first mentioned that I thought so waaaaaaaay back in early 2013, when I was still writing from the Oviatt Library. You can probably remember the incident, lol. :)
If they are in Chattanooga (home of the Chattanooga Choo-Choo), they must be on tour. Perhaps you will be working with them soon?
I hope your day was good and that you didn't get too April Fooled. It was a beautiful day here, so I took Pearl and the Koberdober aka The Doberman Pinscher aka The Pinscherian Candidate to Lake Balboa at Noon. Then at 3pm I went up to Aliso for a 2.75m hike. Tonight I watched the second episode of "Rawhide", which I can see is gonna be one of the great Western series of television history. It's got it all, the writing, the scenic locations, the acting, the photography, the cattle drives. Any time you have a cattle drive onscreen, whether TV or at the movies, you have got yourself one hell of a Western. And this show is built around a cattle drive. :)
On top of that, it stars Eric Fleming, who actually Out-Machos the boyish Clint Eastwood, who is second billed. Fleming died tragically on a film shoot in 1966, or he might have gone on to be a big star himself. He certainly is great in this series, as is Clint (of course).
Well, that's all for tonight. A fairly difficult song tomorrow - "My Song In The Night", which is very legato and features many offset, call-and-response vocal sections between tenors and sopranos. Wish me well.
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I saw your posts, with Steve & Sarah, and you can tell them that somebody does think they're funny : me. Remember? - I first mentioned that I thought so waaaaaaaay back in early 2013, when I was still writing from the Oviatt Library. You can probably remember the incident, lol. :)
If they are in Chattanooga (home of the Chattanooga Choo-Choo), they must be on tour. Perhaps you will be working with them soon?
I hope your day was good and that you didn't get too April Fooled. It was a beautiful day here, so I took Pearl and the Koberdober aka The Doberman Pinscher aka The Pinscherian Candidate to Lake Balboa at Noon. Then at 3pm I went up to Aliso for a 2.75m hike. Tonight I watched the second episode of "Rawhide", which I can see is gonna be one of the great Western series of television history. It's got it all, the writing, the scenic locations, the acting, the photography, the cattle drives. Any time you have a cattle drive onscreen, whether TV or at the movies, you have got yourself one hell of a Western. And this show is built around a cattle drive. :)
On top of that, it stars Eric Fleming, who actually Out-Machos the boyish Clint Eastwood, who is second billed. Fleming died tragically on a film shoot in 1966, or he might have gone on to be a big star himself. He certainly is great in this series, as is Clint (of course).
Well, that's all for tonight. A fairly difficult song tomorrow - "My Song In The Night", which is very legato and features many offset, call-and-response vocal sections between tenors and sopranos. Wish me well.
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Happy Friday + Complicated Hunting Tirade + Les Discrets + Todd + "Rawhide"
Happy Late Night, my Darling,
Not a whole lot to report today, just a short hike out at Santa Su this afternoon. Listening to "Global" by Todd Rundgren, which came out in 2015 but which I just got a few days ago. It's really good, one of his better efforts in recent years. I also liked the new song by Les Discrets that Fursy posted this morning. It's got a bigger, more glossy sound than the first album, and a more electronic beat, making it sound somewhat slick, but it still has the dark melodic melodies and blurry French vocals that I have always liked in his work going back to Amoseurs. What I miss is the spontaneous jazziness of that band, which had some really off the wall stuff. But I like Les Discrets, love the first album, and am looking forward to the new one too.
I hope your day was good. I only saw one post, the pic by Morgin which was very well staged. However she got hold of the antlers and pelts, it is quite an anti-hunting statement (if I have the premise right), and I know you yourself have always taken a strong stance against hunting. I've stated my own take many times (probably tiresome by now, I know) which is that : #1, I could never hunt. I have never shot a gun, never want to, and could never, ever in a million years shoot an animal for any reason, for food or especially trophy, which makes me mad. If I had to hunt in order to eat, I would probably starve or die spiritually inside from having to kill. Maybe I would eat weeds and tree bark, I dunno. But as I always state, as things are, in real life I eat meat, having been raised that way, and so others have done my hunting and fishing for me through corporate means, so I cannot condemn those who hunt for food. I will probably never go full-on vegan, and I may never be full vegetarian either, just because my body "calls" for certain proteins like tuna or salmon, or eggs once in a while. I rarely eat red meat, though I ate a lot in my younger days. I guess what I am trying to say is that I understand your friend's picture and the statement behind it (if indeed I have the statement correct. I suppose it could also be a statement of "Woman As Hunted"), but in my own life I really wanted to analyse why I have taken the stance I have taken, which is more of a non-stance, I suppose.
I hate guns with a passion, never have owned one, never will. I have never hunted, never will. I have an extremely low opinion of trophy hunting and think it should be outlawed. But then there are all these tricky issues, ones that I probably don't understand very well because they don't apply to my life, such as ranchers who support the killing of wolves or wildcats, because they say those animals kill their cattle or sheep. I have no idea what "position" to take on that one, and I put the word in quotes because to simply "take a position" is not right, I don't think, unless I consider all the factors, especially when it is an issue that I am not directly involved in. I'm a person who tries to even catch a spider in my apartment, and take it outside rather than killing it, however if I have an invasion of ants, they are gonna get wiped out......
So for me, it's all very tricky, except for clear-cut issues like trophy or big-game hunting. If that is what Morgin is talking about I agree 1000%.
Anyway, sorry for the tirade. Anything with guns or hunting always gets me going.
No movie tonight, but I did watch the very first episode of "Rawhide" (1959), the TV Western that starred Eric Fleming and a young Clint Eastwood. Having seen the show for the first time during the Cassavetes "TV Week" screening at CSUN, I thought the episode he appeared in was great, and so I ordered Season One from Amazon. Every episode is 50 minutes long, and so you get a little mini-Western movie each time. I love it. A few weeks ago, I decided I needed some Western and some Sci-Fi, so I ordered both the "Rawhide" and the "Outer Limits" dvds. Now I've got my fix of both, lol.
Well that's all I know for tonight. I will see you in the morning.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Not a whole lot to report today, just a short hike out at Santa Su this afternoon. Listening to "Global" by Todd Rundgren, which came out in 2015 but which I just got a few days ago. It's really good, one of his better efforts in recent years. I also liked the new song by Les Discrets that Fursy posted this morning. It's got a bigger, more glossy sound than the first album, and a more electronic beat, making it sound somewhat slick, but it still has the dark melodic melodies and blurry French vocals that I have always liked in his work going back to Amoseurs. What I miss is the spontaneous jazziness of that band, which had some really off the wall stuff. But I like Les Discrets, love the first album, and am looking forward to the new one too.
I hope your day was good. I only saw one post, the pic by Morgin which was very well staged. However she got hold of the antlers and pelts, it is quite an anti-hunting statement (if I have the premise right), and I know you yourself have always taken a strong stance against hunting. I've stated my own take many times (probably tiresome by now, I know) which is that : #1, I could never hunt. I have never shot a gun, never want to, and could never, ever in a million years shoot an animal for any reason, for food or especially trophy, which makes me mad. If I had to hunt in order to eat, I would probably starve or die spiritually inside from having to kill. Maybe I would eat weeds and tree bark, I dunno. But as I always state, as things are, in real life I eat meat, having been raised that way, and so others have done my hunting and fishing for me through corporate means, so I cannot condemn those who hunt for food. I will probably never go full-on vegan, and I may never be full vegetarian either, just because my body "calls" for certain proteins like tuna or salmon, or eggs once in a while. I rarely eat red meat, though I ate a lot in my younger days. I guess what I am trying to say is that I understand your friend's picture and the statement behind it (if indeed I have the statement correct. I suppose it could also be a statement of "Woman As Hunted"), but in my own life I really wanted to analyse why I have taken the stance I have taken, which is more of a non-stance, I suppose.
I hate guns with a passion, never have owned one, never will. I have never hunted, never will. I have an extremely low opinion of trophy hunting and think it should be outlawed. But then there are all these tricky issues, ones that I probably don't understand very well because they don't apply to my life, such as ranchers who support the killing of wolves or wildcats, because they say those animals kill their cattle or sheep. I have no idea what "position" to take on that one, and I put the word in quotes because to simply "take a position" is not right, I don't think, unless I consider all the factors, especially when it is an issue that I am not directly involved in. I'm a person who tries to even catch a spider in my apartment, and take it outside rather than killing it, however if I have an invasion of ants, they are gonna get wiped out......
So for me, it's all very tricky, except for clear-cut issues like trophy or big-game hunting. If that is what Morgin is talking about I agree 1000%.
Anyway, sorry for the tirade. Anything with guns or hunting always gets me going.
No movie tonight, but I did watch the very first episode of "Rawhide" (1959), the TV Western that starred Eric Fleming and a young Clint Eastwood. Having seen the show for the first time during the Cassavetes "TV Week" screening at CSUN, I thought the episode he appeared in was great, and so I ordered Season One from Amazon. Every episode is 50 minutes long, and so you get a little mini-Western movie each time. I love it. A few weeks ago, I decided I needed some Western and some Sci-Fi, so I ordered both the "Rawhide" and the "Outer Limits" dvds. Now I've got my fix of both, lol.
Well that's all I know for tonight. I will see you in the morning.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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