Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby,
SB, are you here in Los Angeles? I saw a post earlier today, maybe around Noon or 1pm, in which you were tagged. It was via your friend Katie and I am pretty sure the tagged location was Los Angeles. Well, if you are here, I hope you are enjoying our city! The only other post I saw was a nice pic of the mountains with beautiful white clouds above them, but that one was from Spokane, Washington. Well, anyway............if you are here, and you wanna say hi......well, you know. :)
I have said you are in the driver's seat on that score, and I don't wanna put you on the spot or put any pressure on you. I mentioned your post from a few days ago, the one I said was "food for thought" (I think that blog was just a couple days ago), and that post had some comments about one of your friends moving to L.A., so I recognised the L.A. reference.
So, yeah........wow!
Well, if you are here, have a blast. You came at the right time for heat, cause we are heading into the triple digit territory (depending on the area; the beaches and Westside can be 20 degrees cooler).
I am off through Saturday.
But no pressure, as I say. I will keep an eye on FB, though, just in case. :)
Today I went on the most mega hike I have ever been on at Santa Susana. Being off work, I was able to take my time, and so I went to the top of The Devil's Slide as I usually do, but this time I kept going to the Lilac Lane trailhead about another 1/4 mile down, and then past that to the trail that leads to the former site of Spahn Ranch, of Manson fame. All that's there now is a flat dirt plateau, but I have always wanted to hike there just to say I did it. At a certain point, though, the trail got a bit steep, and I had already done about 1000 feet of elevation gain (like climbing the stairs in the Empire State Building), so I figured "well, I will try it another time from the Lilac Lane entrance, where I can just go straight to this part of the trail".
So I turned back, and when I got back to Lilac Lane (at the top of The Slide), I noticed another trail that I'd never seen before. It led due North, over a hill - not too steep - and so I followed it, and it led down about a half mile all the way to the 118 Freeway! Holy Smokes! The 118 runs just North of Santa Susana Pass Road, which was the route to Simi Valley before the freeway was built. All of a sudden I was looking across the freeway at the trailhead for Rocky Peak, which I have hiked and photographed in years past. So on this new trail I had come all the way to the Spahn Ranch side, but ended up North of Spahn at Rocky Peak.
I kind of blew my mind on that one. :)
The mileage wasn't as far as you'd think : I'd guess about 4 to 4.25 for the round trip. But the elevation gain all told, after the final hill climb, was probably around 1100 ft, so it was One Heck Of A Hike. And, I wound up on the Spahn Side, which I've never done before. So that was Mega.
The rest of my day was The Usual : reading several books and watching shows, tonight Part One of an awesome two-part "Outer Limits" called "The Inheritors", starring the great Robert Duvall.
I hope you had a great day, wherever you may be. I imagine you are probably working on a project with Katie, too, so I trust that is going well.
Anyway..........well, you know. :)
See you in the morning. I Love You! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Thursday, June 15, 2017
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
The Great Wall (Reseda, not China) + Aliso + "The Brothers Rico"
Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby,
I hope you had a nice day, as always. Mine was busy again. My sister Vickie came over and we went to lunch with Pearl and her daughter Helen at a semi-famous Chinese restaurant in Reseda called The Great Wall. It is located just a couple doors down from the hair salon I take Pearl to every Thursday. We used to take my Dad there a lot, and this was kind of a belated Mother's Day lunch for Pearl, who also loves the place and has been going there for many years. We had a ton of food - Szechwan Beef for me, which I enjoyed with hot Chinese mustard and Sriracha chili sauce, different from their regular hot sauce and also super delicious. The Great Wall is semi-famous because there have been some TV shows shot there, and a movie from a few years ago called "Drive" w/Ryan Gosling. In the movie, Albert Brooks calls him and actually tells him : "Meet me at The Great Wall in Reseda", or something very close to that, and when they are finished eating (spoiler alert!), he kills Gosling in the parking lot, just a few rows back from where I park for Pearl on hair salon days, haha.
Well anyway, that's a bit of Reseda trivia for you. :)
After lunch, I chilled out back at home for a while and then went up to Aliso at 6pm for a full length walk : 4 miles (two each way). I don't usually get to go at that time of the evening, so it is nice to see the change in atmosphere when it is enveloped in shadow and the frogs begin to "ribbit". And the bunnies come out, too. Ribbits and Rabbits.........(aw, c'mon Ad - bad pun. But I didn't plan it in advance, really SB)
Tonight I watched an excellent Film Noir called "The Brothers Rico" (1957). Richard Conte plays the eldest brother, a former Mob accountant who has gone straight and now owns a thriving laundry business. He has a wife and they are adopting a baby, an angle you don't usually see in crime movies. But he also has two younger brothers who are still in the Mob, and who have recently pulled off a contract "hit". The brothers are On The Lam, worried about being eliminated themselves now that they've got the job done, and Conte - the "honest" brother - is caught between a rock and a hard place because his former Mob cohorts want him to track down his brothers so that they can be confronted over their unexplained absence (i.e. killed).
Once again, I must go on a Brief Tirade about the importance of the screenwriter in the creation of a film. "The Brothers Rico" runs a standard (for a Noir) 90 minutes, but so much story is packed into that time period that it feels like an epic, like a modern movie that is 2 1/2 hours. And that's because great screenwriters in the old days didn't waste time. Instead, they filled it. Every scene counted, and every word of dialogue. It also doesn't hurt when you are working off a book by Georges Simenon, the famous French mystery writer of "Maigret" fame. But this is much more Hard Boiled.
A great movie, I give it Five Stars.
The rest of the day, in between, was The Usual Reading (including Steve Jones' book "Lonely Boy". "Jonesey" was the guitarist in The Sex Pistols and now has a radio show here in L.A. Grim read his book and recommended it to me) and also The Usual CSUN walk for a total of seven miles for the day.
I saw two posts, one for The Fine Constant's tour with Marty Friedman. That is awesome for Sarah and Steve. The other post was a pair of socks (!) advertising Summerfest 50, which I imagine you will be going to.
I trust all projects are going well, and your own music too. I love this time of year, as Spring heads into Summer.......
See you in the morning!
I Love You. xoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I hope you had a nice day, as always. Mine was busy again. My sister Vickie came over and we went to lunch with Pearl and her daughter Helen at a semi-famous Chinese restaurant in Reseda called The Great Wall. It is located just a couple doors down from the hair salon I take Pearl to every Thursday. We used to take my Dad there a lot, and this was kind of a belated Mother's Day lunch for Pearl, who also loves the place and has been going there for many years. We had a ton of food - Szechwan Beef for me, which I enjoyed with hot Chinese mustard and Sriracha chili sauce, different from their regular hot sauce and also super delicious. The Great Wall is semi-famous because there have been some TV shows shot there, and a movie from a few years ago called "Drive" w/Ryan Gosling. In the movie, Albert Brooks calls him and actually tells him : "Meet me at The Great Wall in Reseda", or something very close to that, and when they are finished eating (spoiler alert!), he kills Gosling in the parking lot, just a few rows back from where I park for Pearl on hair salon days, haha.
Well anyway, that's a bit of Reseda trivia for you. :)
After lunch, I chilled out back at home for a while and then went up to Aliso at 6pm for a full length walk : 4 miles (two each way). I don't usually get to go at that time of the evening, so it is nice to see the change in atmosphere when it is enveloped in shadow and the frogs begin to "ribbit". And the bunnies come out, too. Ribbits and Rabbits.........(aw, c'mon Ad - bad pun. But I didn't plan it in advance, really SB)
Tonight I watched an excellent Film Noir called "The Brothers Rico" (1957). Richard Conte plays the eldest brother, a former Mob accountant who has gone straight and now owns a thriving laundry business. He has a wife and they are adopting a baby, an angle you don't usually see in crime movies. But he also has two younger brothers who are still in the Mob, and who have recently pulled off a contract "hit". The brothers are On The Lam, worried about being eliminated themselves now that they've got the job done, and Conte - the "honest" brother - is caught between a rock and a hard place because his former Mob cohorts want him to track down his brothers so that they can be confronted over their unexplained absence (i.e. killed).
Once again, I must go on a Brief Tirade about the importance of the screenwriter in the creation of a film. "The Brothers Rico" runs a standard (for a Noir) 90 minutes, but so much story is packed into that time period that it feels like an epic, like a modern movie that is 2 1/2 hours. And that's because great screenwriters in the old days didn't waste time. Instead, they filled it. Every scene counted, and every word of dialogue. It also doesn't hurt when you are working off a book by Georges Simenon, the famous French mystery writer of "Maigret" fame. But this is much more Hard Boiled.
A great movie, I give it Five Stars.
The rest of the day, in between, was The Usual Reading (including Steve Jones' book "Lonely Boy". "Jonesey" was the guitarist in The Sex Pistols and now has a radio show here in L.A. Grim read his book and recommended it to me) and also The Usual CSUN walk for a total of seven miles for the day.
I saw two posts, one for The Fine Constant's tour with Marty Friedman. That is awesome for Sarah and Steve. The other post was a pair of socks (!) advertising Summerfest 50, which I imagine you will be going to.
I trust all projects are going well, and your own music too. I love this time of year, as Spring heads into Summer.......
See you in the morning!
I Love You. xoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
Happy Monday + Limekiln Coyote + Only Sports + Goodboyism
Happy Late Night, my Darling,
I'm writing from home once again, hence the slightly later hour. I hope you had a nice day, and I imagine you are working on one project or another, something very creative for certain. :)
I had a good day myself. Slept in til 11:30, lol. But it felt great because I don't usually get 8 hours sleep. I took my time getting going, too, just because I could. Straightened up The Pad a bit, got it Nice & Neat. Then at 3:30 I headed up to Limekiln for a nice hike. It's actually more of a walk, like it's sister canyon Aliso, although Limekiln has some steep parts. I saw a coyote while I was there! It was beyond cool, because he was down below the trail by the creek, and he didn't see me, so I got to watch him walk all down the canyon till I couldn't see him anymore. At Limekiln, there are parts of the trail that are way above the creek, 40 or 50 feet. He was moving too fast to get a picture, and was in and out of the underbrush, but just to see him in his natural habitat was so cool. Man, those coyotes are all so skinny! When I first saw him, I thought, "wow, a fox"!.....but then I thought, "wait a minute, we don't have foxes here". But anyway - another coyote sighting! One day I will get lucky and get a photo.
That was the main event of the day, though I also did a CSUN walk this eve, during which I took the pic of the music building that I posted on FB. I liked it cause I got some nice positioning of lights, and the contrast between that and the black sections made for a decent composition.
In the earlier evening, I watched part of game 5 of the NBA Finals, just because.......well, you know.
I don't care about Golden State, just wanted to make sure they weren't gonna choke and hand the championship over to You Know Who once again. But they didn't, and so all is well even though it's only sports.
Do you know why sports are "only sports"? It's because once the game is over - or at least by the next day - you aren't sweating it anymore. At least when you are an adult. As a kid, if UCLA didn't win a basketball game it would bother me for a long time, and I cried in the car on the way home in November 1969 when they lost to USC in the annual football game. When I was a kid, a sports loss by my team would affect me for at least a week or two. But when I got to be an adult, any bad feeling was over by the next morning. So it's really weird, to get Totally Worked Up while a game is in progress, which I still do and I suppose I always will, unless it's two teams I don't care about, but then to lose all emotional interest by the next day. I suppose that's the adult realisation that it's "only sports".
Although I'd still prefer it if LeBron, Tom Brady, Serena and the Yankees never won any more championships.
I also watched a great episode of "Rawhide". Now "Rawhide" will stay with you, even past the next morning..... :)
Read my books, too, of course. I could not go a day without reading any more than without breathing.
I really liked your post, via your friend Aaron, about his doggie, who was pictured in a big field. His comment was a wonderful tribute to his dog, and of course it made me think of Kobi, who I am crazy about. He isn't even my dog, but I have been with him every day for over seven years now, and he means so much to me. He has a Ph.D in Goodboyism. I don't know if I've mentioned that before, but it's true.
Nowdays, I have to pick Kobi up a lot, to take him outside to go pee, or to put him in his bed at night, because he can't walk so great anymore and he can't see too well. But he is always so noble and he has such a calm, Good Guy demeanor. There is something so steadying about him. When he is riding next to me in the car, sitting in the passenger seat, I feel like I could go anywhere in the world. That is the influence of a Good Dog. Anyone who has one knows what I mean, and I believe all dogs are good dogs.
I have said to Pearl, sometimes when I am holding Kobi, "it's a man/dog love affair".
And it's true. So I really could relate to Aaron's picture and comments. :)
That's all I know for tonight, SB. I Love You.
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I'm writing from home once again, hence the slightly later hour. I hope you had a nice day, and I imagine you are working on one project or another, something very creative for certain. :)
I had a good day myself. Slept in til 11:30, lol. But it felt great because I don't usually get 8 hours sleep. I took my time getting going, too, just because I could. Straightened up The Pad a bit, got it Nice & Neat. Then at 3:30 I headed up to Limekiln for a nice hike. It's actually more of a walk, like it's sister canyon Aliso, although Limekiln has some steep parts. I saw a coyote while I was there! It was beyond cool, because he was down below the trail by the creek, and he didn't see me, so I got to watch him walk all down the canyon till I couldn't see him anymore. At Limekiln, there are parts of the trail that are way above the creek, 40 or 50 feet. He was moving too fast to get a picture, and was in and out of the underbrush, but just to see him in his natural habitat was so cool. Man, those coyotes are all so skinny! When I first saw him, I thought, "wow, a fox"!.....but then I thought, "wait a minute, we don't have foxes here". But anyway - another coyote sighting! One day I will get lucky and get a photo.
That was the main event of the day, though I also did a CSUN walk this eve, during which I took the pic of the music building that I posted on FB. I liked it cause I got some nice positioning of lights, and the contrast between that and the black sections made for a decent composition.
In the earlier evening, I watched part of game 5 of the NBA Finals, just because.......well, you know.
I don't care about Golden State, just wanted to make sure they weren't gonna choke and hand the championship over to You Know Who once again. But they didn't, and so all is well even though it's only sports.
Do you know why sports are "only sports"? It's because once the game is over - or at least by the next day - you aren't sweating it anymore. At least when you are an adult. As a kid, if UCLA didn't win a basketball game it would bother me for a long time, and I cried in the car on the way home in November 1969 when they lost to USC in the annual football game. When I was a kid, a sports loss by my team would affect me for at least a week or two. But when I got to be an adult, any bad feeling was over by the next morning. So it's really weird, to get Totally Worked Up while a game is in progress, which I still do and I suppose I always will, unless it's two teams I don't care about, but then to lose all emotional interest by the next day. I suppose that's the adult realisation that it's "only sports".
Although I'd still prefer it if LeBron, Tom Brady, Serena and the Yankees never won any more championships.
I also watched a great episode of "Rawhide". Now "Rawhide" will stay with you, even past the next morning..... :)
Read my books, too, of course. I could not go a day without reading any more than without breathing.
I really liked your post, via your friend Aaron, about his doggie, who was pictured in a big field. His comment was a wonderful tribute to his dog, and of course it made me think of Kobi, who I am crazy about. He isn't even my dog, but I have been with him every day for over seven years now, and he means so much to me. He has a Ph.D in Goodboyism. I don't know if I've mentioned that before, but it's true.
Nowdays, I have to pick Kobi up a lot, to take him outside to go pee, or to put him in his bed at night, because he can't walk so great anymore and he can't see too well. But he is always so noble and he has such a calm, Good Guy demeanor. There is something so steadying about him. When he is riding next to me in the car, sitting in the passenger seat, I feel like I could go anywhere in the world. That is the influence of a Good Dog. Anyone who has one knows what I mean, and I believe all dogs are good dogs.
I have said to Pearl, sometimes when I am holding Kobi, "it's a man/dog love affair".
And it's true. So I really could relate to Aaron's picture and comments. :)
That's all I know for tonight, SB. I Love You.
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Monday, June 12, 2017
Happy Sunday + Good Singin' + "Gorgo" + Food For Thought
Happy Late Sunday Night, Sweet Baby,
I am writing from home, my first night off. We had good singin' and practicing in church this morn. I got to sing an interesting harmony part on our anthem, which was a variation on the hymn "Oh How He Loves Me". A lot of my melody line was static; just singing the same note on the refrain "Oh-How-He-Loves-You, Oh-How-He-Loves-Me", but the effect was really neat when combined with the fluid melody lines for the other singers. It had a Barbershop Quartet feel, which I liked because I love vocal harmonies. I'd like to try some really complex harmonies one of these days.
I had a nice walk this evening, and then I've just been relaxing & reading my Secret Space Program book, which is weird because it seems to contain a lot of legit info, but also this fantasy stuff from Corey Goode, which is presented almost as if it is supposed to be taken as fantasy, or perhaps as an allegory for something more "real world". It is not always easy to tell in the world of disinformation, in which it can be difficult to discern truth from fiction.
But I will tell you what is easy to discern : the awesomeness of the movie I watched tonight.
"Gorgo"! (I added the exclamation point because Gorgo deserved it). "Gorgo" is the story of a Monster who is brought from the bottom of the ocean to the surface by an undersea volcano. A group on a salvage ship manage to capture him in a giant net. They then tranquilize him and transport him to London, where they make a nice profit selling him to a circus promoter, who names him "Gorgo".
Shades of "King Kong", I hear you say. And it's true. But it's done really well, and not a ripoff.
"Gorgo" is a dinosaur. Why he lives in the ocean is not clear, but anyhow, he is now in the circus and hating every moment. He is captive, held in a cement basin, and people pay to stare and laugh at him.
He has one supporter, a little Irish kid. The movie is a British MGM production.
At any rate, a local paleontologist makes a startling announcement : "Gorgo" is not a full grown behemoth but only an infant. A full grown version of the species would be 200 feet tall.
Well, sure enough, as if on cue, here comes Gorgo's Mom, all 200 feet of her, out of the ocean to rescue her boy. In the process she tramples and destroys London in what has got to be one of the greatest special effects model setups in movie history. The filmmakers made a huge model city, replete with all the landmarks like Big Ben and Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, etc.
Momma Gorgo crushes them all. This set piece lasts for the final 15 minutes of the film and is extremely impressive for 1960. The movie was shot in Technicolor, and normally I would prefer b&w for Monster Movies as you know, but in this case, the color is fantastic because of the gaudy lighting in downtown London. It's really spectacular. The movie has a sweet ending, too. Instead of killing both Gorgos (which the military has been called out to do) the writers have Momma surviving the attempt and then rescuing Baby Gorgo from the circus enclosure, and then heading back out to sea with him, as the little Irish boy looks on.
It's a pro-Monster monster movie! Man, was it great....and apparently it was a box-office smash when it was originally released.
Only a slight problem with the print quality. If I were Criterion I would restore it. Fingers crossed. :)
I saw your post via your friend who has quit his day job to make touring his priority. He says he is flying to L.A. tomorrow.
There is a lot of food for thought in that post, as it relates to the way we communicate, and I suppose some things could be interpreted by me to pertain to what we were talking about in last night's blog.
:):)
When I read a post like that, I guess I interpret it in an overall psychic way, and the key words here seem to be "L.A." and then some other very exciting things that he mentioned about visiting with friends and catching up.
But as it pertains to last night's subject, I certainly understand what you mean, SB.
And I like it and I agree. :):)
You are in the driver's seat in such a situation - which we have talked about because of the age difference - so all I will say for the moment is that I am here, and I am listening.
In the meantime, just keep Doing What You Do, because you are having an amazing year, with "Notepainting" and the "Red Gown" photographs, among other projects. So just keep doing what you are doing, and I am right here, and I am listening. That's the best way I can put it. :):)
I Love You and will see you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I am writing from home, my first night off. We had good singin' and practicing in church this morn. I got to sing an interesting harmony part on our anthem, which was a variation on the hymn "Oh How He Loves Me". A lot of my melody line was static; just singing the same note on the refrain "Oh-How-He-Loves-You, Oh-How-He-Loves-Me", but the effect was really neat when combined with the fluid melody lines for the other singers. It had a Barbershop Quartet feel, which I liked because I love vocal harmonies. I'd like to try some really complex harmonies one of these days.
I had a nice walk this evening, and then I've just been relaxing & reading my Secret Space Program book, which is weird because it seems to contain a lot of legit info, but also this fantasy stuff from Corey Goode, which is presented almost as if it is supposed to be taken as fantasy, or perhaps as an allegory for something more "real world". It is not always easy to tell in the world of disinformation, in which it can be difficult to discern truth from fiction.
But I will tell you what is easy to discern : the awesomeness of the movie I watched tonight.
"Gorgo"! (I added the exclamation point because Gorgo deserved it). "Gorgo" is the story of a Monster who is brought from the bottom of the ocean to the surface by an undersea volcano. A group on a salvage ship manage to capture him in a giant net. They then tranquilize him and transport him to London, where they make a nice profit selling him to a circus promoter, who names him "Gorgo".
Shades of "King Kong", I hear you say. And it's true. But it's done really well, and not a ripoff.
"Gorgo" is a dinosaur. Why he lives in the ocean is not clear, but anyhow, he is now in the circus and hating every moment. He is captive, held in a cement basin, and people pay to stare and laugh at him.
He has one supporter, a little Irish kid. The movie is a British MGM production.
At any rate, a local paleontologist makes a startling announcement : "Gorgo" is not a full grown behemoth but only an infant. A full grown version of the species would be 200 feet tall.
Well, sure enough, as if on cue, here comes Gorgo's Mom, all 200 feet of her, out of the ocean to rescue her boy. In the process she tramples and destroys London in what has got to be one of the greatest special effects model setups in movie history. The filmmakers made a huge model city, replete with all the landmarks like Big Ben and Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, etc.
Momma Gorgo crushes them all. This set piece lasts for the final 15 minutes of the film and is extremely impressive for 1960. The movie was shot in Technicolor, and normally I would prefer b&w for Monster Movies as you know, but in this case, the color is fantastic because of the gaudy lighting in downtown London. It's really spectacular. The movie has a sweet ending, too. Instead of killing both Gorgos (which the military has been called out to do) the writers have Momma surviving the attempt and then rescuing Baby Gorgo from the circus enclosure, and then heading back out to sea with him, as the little Irish boy looks on.
It's a pro-Monster monster movie! Man, was it great....and apparently it was a box-office smash when it was originally released.
Only a slight problem with the print quality. If I were Criterion I would restore it. Fingers crossed. :)
I saw your post via your friend who has quit his day job to make touring his priority. He says he is flying to L.A. tomorrow.
There is a lot of food for thought in that post, as it relates to the way we communicate, and I suppose some things could be interpreted by me to pertain to what we were talking about in last night's blog.
:):)
When I read a post like that, I guess I interpret it in an overall psychic way, and the key words here seem to be "L.A." and then some other very exciting things that he mentioned about visiting with friends and catching up.
But as it pertains to last night's subject, I certainly understand what you mean, SB.
And I like it and I agree. :):)
You are in the driver's seat in such a situation - which we have talked about because of the age difference - so all I will say for the moment is that I am here, and I am listening.
In the meantime, just keep Doing What You Do, because you are having an amazing year, with "Notepainting" and the "Red Gown" photographs, among other projects. So just keep doing what you are doing, and I am right here, and I am listening. That's the best way I can put it. :):)
I Love You and will see you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Sunday, June 11, 2017
Happy Saturday + Thoughts About....Well, You Know.
Happy Late Saturday Night, my Darling,
I hope you had a good day. I was busy shopping for my week off, cleaning here at Pearl's, all the stuff I usually do just before I finish a work cycle. My Dad trained me as a little kid to always leave a place looking "military style", and it got ingrained in me I suppose. Although the Tiny Apartment definitely does not look Military Style at the moment, haha. Stuff is stacked and strewn about. Drawings and books, mostly. It's not a pack rat situation or a case of me being a slob, but rather that the Apartment Is So Tiny that I don't have anywhere left to put stuff. I'm a good Organiser Of Space, however, and during my week off I will somehow square everything away.
I still managed to squeeze in a nice Aliso walk, and then went back to Pearl's and took The Crew straight to Lake Balboa, stopping at In-N-Out on the way, at the suggestion of The Pinscher. He offered to pay, and I was not about to turn down a free double cheeseburger.
This evening I watched yet another episode of "The Loner", featuring the superior writing of Uncle Rod. I am trying to jam-pack a whole bunch of shows into my off-hours, including "Rawhide", "The Prisoner", "Outer Limits", "One Step Beyond" and "The Loner", and I am also trying to watch Monster Movies in between, and also read several books. I have to Ingest Entertainment And Information, SB! I am compelled to do so...... :)
I also worked on one of my goofy drawings while listening to Mike Oldfield's "Return To Ommadawn", an absolute masterpiece.
Now, SB........I saw a post.......about a young lady who is getting married. There was a photo, with a decoration that said "Bride To Be".
That is an incredibly beautiful sentiment, and I don't know if I should be so presumptuous to think it refers in any way to me. We've had this discussion before - sort of - but if I should be so presumptuous, then it is a heart-melting message indeed.
But I could only turn the question around, if it was meant that way, and ask, "did you mean me"?
Would you want to get married, one day?
I'm just askin'. I would want to know what you want.
And of course we would have to actually begin talking to one another in real life.
But I don't mean to put you on the spot in any way. I am just responding to your post, on the chance that you meant it for me.
I have always tried, and will always try, to be a gentleman in writing to you, because of our age difference and because you deserve it, and because that's my nature anyway. That's why I don't force any issues (except for encouraging good communication), and so........as far as marriage goes.....
Let's see what happens. There is plenty of time.
But we would have to start talking at some point.... :):)
Tomorrow is an easy song in church, then back to Pearl's after choir practice until 4pm, then I will be off until June 18th.
See you in the morning!
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I hope you had a good day. I was busy shopping for my week off, cleaning here at Pearl's, all the stuff I usually do just before I finish a work cycle. My Dad trained me as a little kid to always leave a place looking "military style", and it got ingrained in me I suppose. Although the Tiny Apartment definitely does not look Military Style at the moment, haha. Stuff is stacked and strewn about. Drawings and books, mostly. It's not a pack rat situation or a case of me being a slob, but rather that the Apartment Is So Tiny that I don't have anywhere left to put stuff. I'm a good Organiser Of Space, however, and during my week off I will somehow square everything away.
I still managed to squeeze in a nice Aliso walk, and then went back to Pearl's and took The Crew straight to Lake Balboa, stopping at In-N-Out on the way, at the suggestion of The Pinscher. He offered to pay, and I was not about to turn down a free double cheeseburger.
This evening I watched yet another episode of "The Loner", featuring the superior writing of Uncle Rod. I am trying to jam-pack a whole bunch of shows into my off-hours, including "Rawhide", "The Prisoner", "Outer Limits", "One Step Beyond" and "The Loner", and I am also trying to watch Monster Movies in between, and also read several books. I have to Ingest Entertainment And Information, SB! I am compelled to do so...... :)
I also worked on one of my goofy drawings while listening to Mike Oldfield's "Return To Ommadawn", an absolute masterpiece.
Now, SB........I saw a post.......about a young lady who is getting married. There was a photo, with a decoration that said "Bride To Be".
That is an incredibly beautiful sentiment, and I don't know if I should be so presumptuous to think it refers in any way to me. We've had this discussion before - sort of - but if I should be so presumptuous, then it is a heart-melting message indeed.
But I could only turn the question around, if it was meant that way, and ask, "did you mean me"?
Would you want to get married, one day?
I'm just askin'. I would want to know what you want.
And of course we would have to actually begin talking to one another in real life.
But I don't mean to put you on the spot in any way. I am just responding to your post, on the chance that you meant it for me.
I have always tried, and will always try, to be a gentleman in writing to you, because of our age difference and because you deserve it, and because that's my nature anyway. That's why I don't force any issues (except for encouraging good communication), and so........as far as marriage goes.....
Let's see what happens. There is plenty of time.
But we would have to start talking at some point.... :):)
Tomorrow is an easy song in church, then back to Pearl's after choir practice until 4pm, then I will be off until June 18th.
See you in the morning!
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Saturday, June 10, 2017
Happy Friday + Varg & Other Black Metal Nutcases
Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby,
I hope your weekend is off to a good start. As usual, not much to report from me. I took The Doberman to the groomer. He is All Goodboyed Out as a result. :) Starting Sunday night, I will have a week off, and I am just gonna chill and relax because I am mega-tired, just from my job being the way it is nowdays. I don't get a lot of sleep. But a full week should recharge my batteries, I think. Especially if I watch some more Monster Movies.
I did not watch a movie tonight, but I did watch an episode of "The Loner", written by Rod Serling, and I listened to the new Bill Nelson album, "Luxury Wonder Moments", which I just got in the mail yesterday.
I saw a comment by you on FB, to a friend's post, about Varg Vikernes. I remember when I was really immersing myself in Black Metal (second wave Black Metal to be precise) in 2011, and I started listening to bands like Dissection and Burzum, and a whole bunch of others whose names escape me at the moment because I really don't listen to a lot of that stuff anymore. I read all about Varg in a book called "Lords Of Chaos", about the Scandinavian Black Metal scene in the 90s, with it's burning of churches and stuff. The thing with Varg - besides his "philosophy" - is that his music is, at best, okay. In my opinion anyway. I mean, Mayhem was really bad when compared with great first wave Black Metal like Venom or Celtic Frost. Burzum has some good stuff, but it did not stick with me, not when there were bands of major talent like Opeth and Alcest. Dissection was a similar story, although they were actually a very powerful band, musically more along the lines of traditional metal. But their leader, Jon Nodtveidt, was a very troubled guy, into "Satanism" (whatever that means) who wound up participating in the murder of a gay man. Later on, he killed himself.
I actually still listen to my Dissection albums once in a while, simply because the music is so powerful. But Jon was a nutcase, and a killer, and so is Varg. The guy Varg killed was no prince, either. There are lowlifes in Scandinavia, just like here at home or anywhere in the world.
Tom G. Warrior, who invented the Black Metal vocal style along with Chronos from Venom, has got it all over most of these bands. His band Tryptikon is heavier and more brutal than any "Satanic" band, and more intelligent too. He could blow those guys off the stage. And of course Celtic Frost was legendary, and took Black Metal into art rock territory.
I guess I say all of this just cause Varg is really nothing more than a very disturbed guy with a modicum of musical talent. I am sure you already know this, however.
Speaking of Alcest, I think Kodama is the heaviest record they have ever made, and those screaming vocals he does on several songs are the most powerful of that style that I have ever heard. But besides just being heavy, he is also very musical, as we know.
Well, anyhow, the music you like best will stick with you in the long run, throughout your life, and you will find yourself always coming back to it.
In Other News : LeBron James and the Cavs destroyed Golden State tonight, so now my LeBron Anxiety has been reawakened. I just know he will win the next three games to pull off the biggest comeback in NBA history. And Golden State will do an even bigger choke than they did last year. They will lose four straight games.
I mean, they won't really lose four straight......right? Or will they?
I wish I didn't care about sports, and the funny thing is : I don't.
I loved sports as a kid, and I loved it when it was "for fun" and not all about big bucks and big egos.
I hope all projects are going well, and that your duets composition is progressing also. :)
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
I hope your weekend is off to a good start. As usual, not much to report from me. I took The Doberman to the groomer. He is All Goodboyed Out as a result. :) Starting Sunday night, I will have a week off, and I am just gonna chill and relax because I am mega-tired, just from my job being the way it is nowdays. I don't get a lot of sleep. But a full week should recharge my batteries, I think. Especially if I watch some more Monster Movies.
I did not watch a movie tonight, but I did watch an episode of "The Loner", written by Rod Serling, and I listened to the new Bill Nelson album, "Luxury Wonder Moments", which I just got in the mail yesterday.
I saw a comment by you on FB, to a friend's post, about Varg Vikernes. I remember when I was really immersing myself in Black Metal (second wave Black Metal to be precise) in 2011, and I started listening to bands like Dissection and Burzum, and a whole bunch of others whose names escape me at the moment because I really don't listen to a lot of that stuff anymore. I read all about Varg in a book called "Lords Of Chaos", about the Scandinavian Black Metal scene in the 90s, with it's burning of churches and stuff. The thing with Varg - besides his "philosophy" - is that his music is, at best, okay. In my opinion anyway. I mean, Mayhem was really bad when compared with great first wave Black Metal like Venom or Celtic Frost. Burzum has some good stuff, but it did not stick with me, not when there were bands of major talent like Opeth and Alcest. Dissection was a similar story, although they were actually a very powerful band, musically more along the lines of traditional metal. But their leader, Jon Nodtveidt, was a very troubled guy, into "Satanism" (whatever that means) who wound up participating in the murder of a gay man. Later on, he killed himself.
I actually still listen to my Dissection albums once in a while, simply because the music is so powerful. But Jon was a nutcase, and a killer, and so is Varg. The guy Varg killed was no prince, either. There are lowlifes in Scandinavia, just like here at home or anywhere in the world.
Tom G. Warrior, who invented the Black Metal vocal style along with Chronos from Venom, has got it all over most of these bands. His band Tryptikon is heavier and more brutal than any "Satanic" band, and more intelligent too. He could blow those guys off the stage. And of course Celtic Frost was legendary, and took Black Metal into art rock territory.
I guess I say all of this just cause Varg is really nothing more than a very disturbed guy with a modicum of musical talent. I am sure you already know this, however.
Speaking of Alcest, I think Kodama is the heaviest record they have ever made, and those screaming vocals he does on several songs are the most powerful of that style that I have ever heard. But besides just being heavy, he is also very musical, as we know.
Well, anyhow, the music you like best will stick with you in the long run, throughout your life, and you will find yourself always coming back to it.
In Other News : LeBron James and the Cavs destroyed Golden State tonight, so now my LeBron Anxiety has been reawakened. I just know he will win the next three games to pull off the biggest comeback in NBA history. And Golden State will do an even bigger choke than they did last year. They will lose four straight games.
I mean, they won't really lose four straight......right? Or will they?
I wish I didn't care about sports, and the funny thing is : I don't.
I loved sports as a kid, and I loved it when it was "for fun" and not all about big bucks and big egos.
I hope all projects are going well, and that your duets composition is progressing also. :)
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Friday, June 9, 2017
Dreamhouse Tour? + "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms"
Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby,
I hope you had a nice day as always. I only saw one post, but it was for Dreamhouse and a tour they are gonna do in Texas next month. Are you gonna go with 'em? If so, totally awesome! And even if not, I know you will have other stuff coming up. But I hope you get to go.... :)
Nothing to report from me, just cause it was Thursday which means Hair Salon. I did do a little shopping at the Super King produce market, and bought kale, spinach, radishes, broccoli, bananas, a white onion (my favorite, even more than red), ginger, carrots, plums and nectarines. And a couple cans of tuna.
Oh Boy!
I do love my fruits & veggies, though I hate the time consuming (and boring) chore of washing 'em and chopping 'em up into the Nightly Salad (just the veggies, not the fruits, which are eaten in the afternoon). But preparing veggies is like tying shoes, something you've gotta do every day but which is total drudgery.
But watching Monster Movies is not Total Drudgery, and tonight's movie was a five-star classic : "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms". There's another "Headline Grabbing" title for ya, as seen in recent sci-fi films I've reported on. Now, I don't know the measurement of a fathom, so I have no way of proving or disproving the depth in the title, but there definitely was A Beast, and he was no mere Man In A Rubber Suit! This time, the effects were by the legendary Ray Harryhausen, who pioneered the use of stop-motion for the movement of "model" Monsters, and who also utilised miniature cities and buildings and all kinds of other effects of lighting and staging to create "realistic" sci-fi and fantasy scenarios onscreen. For my money, he's got it all over today's CGI effects, even though the CGI looks smoother and his look rickety by comparison. But what Harryhausen had was craft, he was a special effects artist, and the love for his art shows up in his work, which was stellar for the 1950s.
The movie is part "The Thing From Another World" and part "Jurassic Park". It opens in Antarctica, where scientists are conducting an atomic bomb test, blowing apart the ice cap. But holy smokes, they made a big mistake, because in blowing up the ice, they also uncovered a Humongous Angry Dinosaur that was flash frozen 100 million years ago, down at the bottom of an ocean canyon. After some fishing boats encounter him, the scientists send a diving bell to the bottom to search for him.
Then all hell breaks loose. :)
This is my kind of sci-fi, and I saw a few minutes of this movie on TCM at Pearl's a couple weeks ago, which led me to seek it out in the library system. And they had it. Now I will look for more Ray Harryhausen films, because I am on a 1950s Sci-Fi Monster Movie Kick, SB! Big time! And I need monsters, be they in Rubber Suits, or in stop-motion, or if they come from The Bottom Of The Sea or from Beyond Space.
Just as long as they are from the 1950s........or maybe up to about '62 or so. No color ones, please, just black and white. :)
Well, that's all for today. Looks like the Warriors are gonna win the NBA Championship for sure this time, so I am not undergoing the usual LeBron Anguish I face every year at this time. Of course, they could always do a Major Choke like they did last year (meaning Golden State), but this time it looks to be in the bag.
Yeah, sports......I know. :)
See you in the morn. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I hope you had a nice day as always. I only saw one post, but it was for Dreamhouse and a tour they are gonna do in Texas next month. Are you gonna go with 'em? If so, totally awesome! And even if not, I know you will have other stuff coming up. But I hope you get to go.... :)
Nothing to report from me, just cause it was Thursday which means Hair Salon. I did do a little shopping at the Super King produce market, and bought kale, spinach, radishes, broccoli, bananas, a white onion (my favorite, even more than red), ginger, carrots, plums and nectarines. And a couple cans of tuna.
Oh Boy!
I do love my fruits & veggies, though I hate the time consuming (and boring) chore of washing 'em and chopping 'em up into the Nightly Salad (just the veggies, not the fruits, which are eaten in the afternoon). But preparing veggies is like tying shoes, something you've gotta do every day but which is total drudgery.
But watching Monster Movies is not Total Drudgery, and tonight's movie was a five-star classic : "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms". There's another "Headline Grabbing" title for ya, as seen in recent sci-fi films I've reported on. Now, I don't know the measurement of a fathom, so I have no way of proving or disproving the depth in the title, but there definitely was A Beast, and he was no mere Man In A Rubber Suit! This time, the effects were by the legendary Ray Harryhausen, who pioneered the use of stop-motion for the movement of "model" Monsters, and who also utilised miniature cities and buildings and all kinds of other effects of lighting and staging to create "realistic" sci-fi and fantasy scenarios onscreen. For my money, he's got it all over today's CGI effects, even though the CGI looks smoother and his look rickety by comparison. But what Harryhausen had was craft, he was a special effects artist, and the love for his art shows up in his work, which was stellar for the 1950s.
The movie is part "The Thing From Another World" and part "Jurassic Park". It opens in Antarctica, where scientists are conducting an atomic bomb test, blowing apart the ice cap. But holy smokes, they made a big mistake, because in blowing up the ice, they also uncovered a Humongous Angry Dinosaur that was flash frozen 100 million years ago, down at the bottom of an ocean canyon. After some fishing boats encounter him, the scientists send a diving bell to the bottom to search for him.
Then all hell breaks loose. :)
This is my kind of sci-fi, and I saw a few minutes of this movie on TCM at Pearl's a couple weeks ago, which led me to seek it out in the library system. And they had it. Now I will look for more Ray Harryhausen films, because I am on a 1950s Sci-Fi Monster Movie Kick, SB! Big time! And I need monsters, be they in Rubber Suits, or in stop-motion, or if they come from The Bottom Of The Sea or from Beyond Space.
Just as long as they are from the 1950s........or maybe up to about '62 or so. No color ones, please, just black and white. :)
Well, that's all for today. Looks like the Warriors are gonna win the NBA Championship for sure this time, so I am not undergoing the usual LeBron Anguish I face every year at this time. Of course, they could always do a Major Choke like they did last year (meaning Golden State), but this time it looks to be in the bag.
Yeah, sports......I know. :)
See you in the morn. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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