Cayman '07 Post 4

"Seven steps and to the ocean" "Set, hut, HUT"...Ahh, Peyton Manning himself has probably never called a play that brought him more excitement than this one brought me. I promised I'd snap a photo of the magic football (if you're in the dark, then get with the program and read back a few posts, would ya!?!?), so here 'tis. Um, yeah...that's the Caribbean Sea in the background...and, yeah, that's the world's most perfect football in the foreground. I wouldn't trade this ball for a Manning autographed official Roger Goodell N.F.L. pigskin, 10 of 'em, in fact. Yep, today had us out on the sandy gridiron once again, and yep, it was a blast. But, I'm gettin' ahead of myself, so let me get back to keeping with the chronology.

We got up this morning, and after a healthy breakfast that I'm sure included Oreo's and Skittles (among other, more nutritious things...though I can't recall their names right now) we headed out and played shuffleboard. Oh, my...if you think it's a sport reserved for old farts on cruises, you've got another thing comin'! It takes some serious skill and athleticism to push the two-pronged three mile long stick into the edge of the hockey puck on steroids apparatus across a scalding hot, green concrete rectangle with painted triangles of nonsensical number combinations and not mess up previously struck apparatuses. I had to surf the www just to find the rules for the fool game, but once I did and taught it to my boys, they saw it as just another sports challenge, and well, let's just say the apples haven't fallen far from the tree with these two. You should see the pics I snapped of them playing the game. You'd think they WERE Peyton Manning leading a closing-minutes-of-the-Super-Bowl-drive with his team down by 5...just...gotta...score...one...more...time. Yeah, it was fun, even for me...but the best part was watchin' them get so involved. Nothing makes me as a dad any prouder than seeing them give 110%, whether it's the basketball court (hang on, I'll get to THAT in a bit), the baseball diamond, the soccer pitch, and now, the shuffleboard ?, whatever it's called.

After that we hit the room for a snack or three and then headed out to play some big time football by the sea side once again. It was quite hot by this time so the game only lasted about 20 minutes, then it was time for the pools.

While we were at the pool some dude shook down a coconut and used his machete (yeah, I'm certain he shaves with it) to cut it open for some folks across the way. They must've saw the skin and bones on me and my yahoo's b/c they sent over a nice young lady ;) and she offered us a few bites. I was not impressed with the coconut.

It's been windy as all get out around here this week. I mean, Kansas tornado windy. We spent most of the day in the pools, and the cool thing is you almost don't even need a towel when you get out. I mean you're almost dry by the time you get from the water's edge to your towel, so the towel is just a formality (seriously, how totally UNCOOL would you be going to the pool without a towel? c'mon, now). Anyway, we swam, they swam more, and I read and listened to music all day (mainly Rascal Flatts...they're unbelievable).

Until about sunset, that is. I gathered up my fellers and volunteered them for a walk down the beach at sunset. I told them that it was one of my most favorite things in all the world to do, and they were totally wearing a look of "yeah, whatever dad, uh-huh, that's nice" on their faces. Somewhere about paragraph three of my beautifully poetic discourse on how pleasant it is to walk on that part of the beach where footprints disappear in the surf, it happened. With no less excitement than a pig in poop (thanks, Michael Pollan), my boys saw a basketball goal. About 100 feet from the water is a fenced-in turfed area with a hoop! "Can we go see it, daddy, please please please?" "Are you kiddin' me, we're Hoosiers for crying out loud, of COURSE we can go see it. If you're nice and quiet and reverent, perhaps you can even touch it...go ahead, it's okay..." Yeah, we walked up to it, and yeah, we found ourselves in a little 3 on 3 in just a matter of seconds. At this point I need to mention that my team went 3 and 0. Never lost a game. Nope, not one. I even played barefoot (with a cut on my left big toe to bring home and brag about like a war wound), and we still won. My outside shot was non-existant (because of the wind, of course), but my drive to the bucket and lay-in was on, big time. 3 & 0...woo-hoo! Okay, those of you who know me are wondering what's up, since I'm not really this bragadocious about anything. You're right, you saw right through me. What I failed to mention is that the court on which we were playing was the sea-side end of the infamous tennis court where I suffered two of the most crushing tennis defeats of my life the last time I was here. Three years ago I got to talkin' to some high school kids from Chicago, they found out I played in High School, and one thing led to another. I bet a kid named Jimmy a drink that I could beat him, and well, just to rub it in he beat me twice. I think I won 4 games in the two matches (I really do know how you feel, Jabel), so the hurt has been with me for these three years. I lost a piece of my pride then, but tonight, I got it back. B-A-C-K! So what if it was a basketball game against 1) my brother (skills? well, Kobe he's not, but a worthy adversary nonetheless) 2) my oldest son (skills? yeah, but he's almost 2 feet shorter) & Tim (skills? definitely, but he's 13). It still felt good to win on that court, for once. But as I walked off the court I could've sworn a Jimmy in apparition form whispered: "loser". Perhaps it was just the wind.

So went our day...tomorrow is pirates, pirates, pirates and Thursday is stingrays, so we'll be away from the athletics for a while and learn that there is more to life than sports. But when all that other stuff is out of the way, I'm sure one of us will pick up a ball and suggest to the others it's time to get back to bidness!

Cayman '07 Post 3

Our first order of bidness today was another fantastic football game on the beach (I'll try to snap a photo of the magic ball in the sand and post it tomorrow). After gettin' all sweaty and covered in sand and scrapes it was off for a brief repast in the hammock, just to chill. Then we journeyed over the "the pool with the island" where we spent the next few hours, loungin' and goofin' off. The pools are not so full of people this week because the water is frigid in all of them. We've noticed that if you dive in and get soaked all at once it's not so bad, but if you try the "dip your toes in first" method, you'll freeze to death somewhere around mid-thigh. If this sounds like a complaint, trust me, it's forced. The cool water is a perfect contrast to the burning sunshine, and offers a pleasant refuge from the heat. A lot of music and reading for me, interspersed with splashing and dunking games aplenty with my yahoo's was my course for the day...ah, the simple things are best, for sure.

The evening was supposed to be festive at the resort with a fire-eater and limbo party, but the wind and forecast for rain forced a postponement. After petting the iguana, and feeding it flowers, we headed back to Rum Point for the sunset. The pic above is of us on the deserted Rum Point beach where we goofed off and laid low before heading back to the our place. On the way back we ate at Over The Edge Cafe, an interesting, pirate-y atmosphere of an eatery that is, quite literally, built over the edge of the shoreline and looks out on the Caribbean.

Overall we've had another spectacular day, a lack of extracurricular activities notwithstanding. I mean, seriously, we're on a beautiful island in perfect weather...what more do we need? I've got my boys, my cell phone is turned off, and I feel at once attached and detached at the same time. Everything else in life is put on hold for a few days, and my fellas get all of my attention. I'm not quite sure they know it, but I can't imagine anything I'd rather be doing in all the world than having them close to me. If I'm dreaming, don't wake me just yet...

Cayman '07 Post 2

Just another day in paradise... It's been quite busy and relaxing today. Oxymoronic? Nope, not when you're in a place like this, where it seems the busier I am the more relaxed I feel. Which just goes to show it may not be the busy-ness of the rat race back home that saps my energy, but rather the surroundings...perhaps I really should check into employment on the island...

Anyway, my two yahoo's and I took a quick trip out to Rum Point first thing this morning and checked out the scene up there. This 2nd picture is of me and Brit somewhere 'tween here and there at a spot close to the ocean. The panorama at this site was quite spectacular, and the boys just had to stop so they could snap some shots of it on their cameras. I, quite unreluctantly, obliged them and we had a grand time just looking around and taking it all in. The drive along the coastal highway (which is like a two-lane, country highway back home in Indiana, except the shoulder of the road is the Caribbean...just a small difference, right?) with the windows down and the music blaring was perfect. It was one of those times I have with my kids from time to time where I just don't want it to end. I wanted the road to go on and on and on, but that's just a dad's wishful thinking, I presume, and quite impossible. It was perfect while it lasted, and I predict the memory will last a lifetime. At the Point we meandered through the island shops, eateries and walkways and wound up out on a long pier (at which I snapped the 1st pic above, of Boston) surrounded by the turquoise sea. It's beautiful in pictures, but seeing the color of the clear water in person was breathtaking. After some time we wound up back at one of the drinking holes and enjoyed some smoothies by the sea side, and watched the people parade past on a myriad of unknown adventures. It was a spectacular morning.

Upon returning to the resort we played shuffleboard (what's the point, anyone? I haven't a clue about that game...) and then headed to the pool for a spell. They swam, I read, and all was grand in my own little world once again. I'm still convinced reading is fantastic anywhere, but in the sun it is a pleasant revelry unknown to most, otherwise there'd be more books in the hands of the sun-worshippers. Try it once, you'll be hooked...

One of the things we've been anticipating for months is playing football in the sand. We have been privileged to own the world's most perfect football (bought, of all places, at Old Navy for $2.99 about three years ago), and I'd almost swear it's magical. I plan on putting it on display someday when my boys outgrow it, and I may even charge admission for folks to see the enchanted thing! Anyway, we brought it and sure enough, it's magic works here just like it does at home. With the ocean as one sideline and the edge of the beach volleyball court the other, we trudged through the sand and played a magnificent game. ESPN wasn't filming, but if they had just an inkling of an idea how great it was they'd be upset they missed it. Covered in sand and having to wash it off in the warm sea water was another euphoric hour we shared today.

After all of this activity, little tummies were growling again so I got the champs back to the room and let them shower and change while I fixed them something to eat: a bowl of cereal for Brit and some Oreo's and milk for Bos (it's a guy trip, you should've seen our shopping cart at the grocery yesterday!). While they settled in and relaxed over some Disney channel (thanks to Neil Gabler, I'll look at all things Disney with much respect and admiration), I made my way out to the hammock with my mp3 player and the much referenced Walt Disney biography. I decided to plug in Kenny Chesney's No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems, for who better to serenade here than the island boy himself? With the strong sea-breeze blowing, and the hammock holding me suspended twixt heaven and earth, Kenny's songs took me away to a season of bliss rare and wonderful. Every song on the album is terrific, but I had to pause and do some soul searching when I heard A Lot Of Thing's Different. I recalled a conversation I had with a gal pal earlier in the week in which she talked about how she wishes sometimes she'd have "let go" a little more on a Spring Break from years ago. In the hammock I thought of many times in my life I'd also have let go, and a helluva lot of times I'd have held back...yeah, I'd have done a lot of things different too, Kenny. The daylight was nearly gone and the stars were beginning to creep out, and the palm trees holding up my resting spot were swaying seemingly in time to the gentle rythms of the music when I got my next lyrical jolt from this album. Never Gonna Feel Like That Again hit me in the gut. Check this out:

It was my life and it was fun

Another season of my life is done

Another race I'm glad I got to run

Another chapter of my life is over

No I'm never gonna feel like that again

Time's rushin by me like the wind

Never be as young as I was then

No I'm never gonna feel like that again

How true, how perfectly said. I have a lot of memories of feelings I'll never recapture, but thank God we're designed to be able to hold on to the remembrances in our minds. I felt connected once again. Connected to my past, attached to every person and every event I've encountered, and eternally linked to every moment of my life by a string of memories. Yeah, life is grand.

A sudden island squall nearly upended me out of my hammock, so with the wind to my back and the rain pelting me horizontally I mosied back to the room and watched it within the safety of the structure. I've lived another day in my dream world, and I'll pillow my head tonight with recollections of it preparing me for my return to the real world in less than a week. Yes, I'm not oblivious to the fact my reverie will end soon enough, but I'm trying to grasp as much of it as I can to take home with me...

Cayman '07 Post 1

My first night and day in the islands with my boys is in the bag, and Paradise finds us in a sense of wonder and awe at how splendid life is here. As I write this I'm sitting on our beachside back porch, looking out over the Caribbean and enjoying the brisk but pleasant ocean breeze. It's a perfect 83 degrees and the outlook is for a remarkable week.

The trip didn't have such an auspicious beginning, though. Upon landing in Ft. Lauderdale, FL to connect to our Cayman Air flight we were told that the airline no longer hosted flights to Grand Cayman. Nice of them to tell us, I thought. No, we couldn't fly out of Ft. Lauderdale but they'd be happy to let us fly from Miami a little later in the evening, they said. Great, I continued thinking to myself, we'll just hitchhike down I-95 and hop a jet outta Miami, then, no problem. Besides, it's smack dab in the middle of rush hour, getting the 30+ miles down the road should be no problem at all. Whatever! Well, long story short, a hefty-priced cab ride and a whole lotta testing of my peacable, quiet, patient manner later had us in Miami, and we caught our flight...just three hours later to the island than expected. I thought it was all better once we got on board, and was making my plans on picking up the rental car at the airport and driving the 45 minutes to our resort. Wishful thinking that, I would soon find out. After disemabarking, hustling (surprisingly!) through Imigration & Customs, and venturing out into the beautiful Grand Cayman night I strolled over the the rental car counter. Yep, they were closed...and had been for 2 hours. What!?! Luckily, one of the guys at the competitors counter had come back into the office, bedecked in a t-shirt with the sleeves ripped out lookin' more like he was ready to ride his bike across town than rent me a car, and kindly hooked me up. The drive was magnificent, and I thought to myself at least 63 times about how much I really want to live here, no Wal-mart notwithstanding. We arrived at Morritt's around 11 p.m., and alas, the pearly gates had been opened.

So here we are. The pic above is of me and my yahoo's, Boston (10) & Britain (8), at one of the resort's 3 pools catchin' some rays and ready to get wet. I'm kind of a camera hog most of the time, so it's rare I make it into any pics, so I was sure to get my brother Cory to snap this one before I got completely outta control with the digi-cam. The boys are havin' a terrific time, and I'm finding the relaxed pace is giving me plenty of time to catch up with them.

It's been 3 years and 1 devastating hurricane since I've been here, but I was thrilled to look out the back window and see that the hammock I spent so much time in back then is still around. It may be a different bit of material, and perhaps even different trees (for all I know), but the location is close if not exactly the same. I've spent time there again already, and there'll be a "jeremy" print in it before the week's out, I'm sure. I brought 3 books: John Grisham's latest (and first non-fiction legal thriller) The Innocent Man, the Gabler biography Walt Disney previously mentioned in another post, and then, of course, my current Harvard Classic volume. Boston told me earlier today: "C'mon, dad, quit readin' and get back in the pool...you're on vacation, don't ya know!" I replied: "Son, reading IS a vacation for me...", and then got in the pool with him because there's nothing I'd rather do than hang out with him and his brother.

So, there you have it. Day 1 & 2 has supplied me with a cargo ship full of reflections, and I've narrowed it down to the realization that I relish most the simple things in life; relationships, reading & roamin' close to the sea. I may just have to do some job-hunting while I'm here...

Hooters...Modified

Sometimes you read the news, and an article just gets right up in your face and won't move. Yeah, well, I read one of those yesterday. It's this piece I read about the opening of a Hooters restaurant in Israel. Something about that just cracks me up. Perhaps it's my inability to think of Isreael in any other frame of mind than Sunday school, and therefore an article like this makes me think thoughts like "God is really gonna be pissed about this".

If you've never been to a Hooters restaurant, just know that it's not an owlery. No, birds are nowhere to be found there, and you'll not be viewing any Blue-footed booby's (though the ones with white tennis shoes you'll see aplenty). Anyhow, the point of the post today is how hilarious the line in the article that said the owner expected there'd be "some minor modifications to meet Israeli tastes".

Hooters...modified.

What will they change? Boobs are boobs are boobs are boobs. Will they be wearing shirts that aren't as tight? Will their shorts be a shade longer? Is there really any point? I don't plan on going to a place like Hooters to see waitresses dressed like they're at Applebee's...I mean, that's the whole point, right? Oh, I almost forgot...we all go to Hooter's for the hot wings. My bad.

Now according to Holy Writ, this is not uncommon in Isreal. In David's time they must've had a similar establishment, at which place a sultry server named Bathsheba was employed. It all makes sense now...the king of Israel was just hungry for hot wings when he inadvertently stepped into the dressing room of the local Teats (thank you, King James). Bathsheba was new, mistook the job description that told her she was supposed to give service, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Teats was the place for the deer-hunter, though, as Solomon so wisely pointed out when he told one of the servers:

Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins.

I could go on and on, but I think it's best I stop for now. Just make sure somebody remembers that I predict the rise of the Antichrist very soon, now that the Holy Land is hoe'ing it up BIG time.

Association of Former Pentecostals

Once again, Jabel has put me on to a worthwhile resource. I've added a link to my Surfin' the Pond section to the website of the Association of Former Pentecostals. My family has had a connection to the Pentecostal Holiness Church, an independent group of pentecostal Christians, for many years. I have a few memories from my childhood of experiences in pentecostal churches, and a large portion of my life from my mid-teens to late twenties was spent involved not just in membership, but in leadership in various capacities with them. For a number of reasons I have completely severed myself from any and all personal linkage with pentecostalism. I do have a number of friends & family, though, who are currently or formerly involved with them, so discussion about the group is quite frequent. I'm well aware of the lasting effects Pentecostalism leaves on those who choose to depart, and the tenor of this website offering "support" is not an exaggeration-that's exactly what many need.

Hollywood's Hottest Blonde

According to In Touch Weekly Christina Aguilera has been voted #1 on the Hollywood's Hottest Blondes list. I guess they haven't been reading my blog (shocker!) or else they would've realized that as the Hottest Woman On The Planet (HWOTP) she is number one regardless of her present choice of hair color. Now, since I'm sounding like a gossip mag I may as well continue the vein with a couple more comments about the bombshell blonde and say that apparantly her hair color is a reflection of her life-mood at the time. A while back when she sported black hair (hot!), evidently she was in a "sad" stage of her life. But, of course, all that changed when she met and wed her sweetheart (and all the girls say: "awwwww"), so she decided to lighten up her hair to reflect the lightening of her heavy heart.

Anyway, now that I've completely emasculated myself and joined the sissyish ranks of the gossip crew I'll sign off with an admission. My fascination with CA is strictly due to my man-ness...she's gorgeous!

Oh, by the way, in case you're wondering here's the top ten hot blondes list:

1. Christina Aguilera

2. Reese Witherspoon

3. Kate Hudson

4. Hayden Panettiere

5. Pamela Anderson

6. Gwyneth Paltrow

7. Scarlett Johansson

8. Paris Hilton

9. Heidi Klum

10.Gwen Stefani

The Thigh Of An Aroused Nymph

Though not an attempt to author a provocative post not dissimilar to a harlequin romance, this section of my blog is indeed very sexual in nature. I read today Michael Pollan's article Into The Rose Garden and now am very aware that sexual imagery long preceded the advent of television, dvd's and skin mags. The flower pictured in this post is called Maiden's Blush, a sweet and innocent sounding name that conjures up images of a giggly 12 or 13 year old girl playfully skipping through the meadow, much like Laura Ingalls Wilder. The name, though, is much racier. Consider the French name, Cuisse de Nymphe Emue, which English translation I've chosen as the title of the post: "the thigh of an aroused nymph". Pollan, in his inimitable style, paints quite an arousing picture of the procuring, planting and cultivation of roses in general, referencing this particular alba on a few occasions. As I read through this piece I recalled how even Dan Brown pointed out the likeness of a rose to female anatomy in his wildly popular The Da Vinci Code. He was, of course, deep into describing "the sacred feminine" and therefore all too eager to point out anything that promoted looking at the fairer sex with a profound admiration, mixed with a slight blushing. As a self-described lover of the female form, appreciative of the most splendid artistic beauty the Creator has placed in front of us, I'm overjoyed (shall I even say enthralled?) by the description Pollan makes of a rose bed. This place now sounds arousing and lustful, if not a little mystical. Perhaps I'll have to focus more intently on the blossoming of the rose in the coming months, and allow the age-old fascination of feminine beauty to transport me beyond just the sights and smells of a flower.

Walt Disney

My latest dive into the pool of highly recommended literature has landed me in the depths of Neil Gabler's Walt Disney: The Triumph Of The American Imagination. Some time back, before my much loved subscription ran out, I read an article in Forbes by the always interesting Rich Karlgaard in his Digital Rules segment, called "Seven Lessons Of Walt Disney". What stood out to me about his review was this pithy quote: "Walt Disney is the best business book I've read in years." Karlgaard is one of my fav's when it comes to biz advice columns, so if he says a biography about a cartoonist is the best there is concerning business books in recent years, then I couldn't be anything but all over it. I'm only about 10% of the way through, but already the reading is fireside-with-a-cup-of-java good, and is living up to the hype concerning practical business ideas. Sometimes the reminders of the old-fashioned, tried-and-true methods of an intense focus and solid work ethic, alongside a passion to succeed, serve to inspire me in a get-rich-quick fascinated society. The life of Walt Disney seems to project just these qualities, and I'm intrigued as well as motivated to continue putting my shoulder to the wheel in my attempt to accomplish my goals and fulfill my dreams.

I hadn't read anything by Gabler before that I recall, but his journalistic skills come highly lauded, and his abilities can probably be understood as almost magical seeing that he "is the first writer to gain complete access to the Disney archives". Seeing that Walt Disney died a shade over forty years ago, this seems a remarkable feat.

Perhaps this bit from the Amazon.com page will wet your whistle just a bit:

You Don't Know Disney: 10 Things That May Surprise You

1. He is not frozen. His body was cremated, and his ashes are interred at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California, near his studio.
2. Mickey Mouse's original name allegedly was Mortimer but Disney's wife Lillian objected because she thought it too "sissified."
3. Some of the names originally considered for the dwarfs in Snow White were: Deafy, Dirty, Awful, Blabby, Burpy, Gabby, Puffy, Stuffy, Nifty, Tubby, Biggo Ego, Flabby, Jaunty, Baldy, Lazy, Dizzy, Cranky and Chesty.
4. Walt Disney suffered a nervous breakdown in 1931 and descended into depression after the war, concentrating his attention on model trains rather than on motion pictures.
5. Fantasia was the result of a chance meeting between Walt Disney and symphony conductor Leopold Stokowski at Chasen's restaurant.
6. During World War II the Disney studio became a war factory with well over 90% of its production in the service of government training, education and propaganda films.
7. The studio stopped production for six months on Pinocchio because Walt felt the title character wasn't likable enough. During this time he devised the idea of introducing Jiminy Cricket as Pinocchio's conscience.
8. Walt Disney received more Academy Awards than any other individual--32.
9. Disney modeled Mickey Mouse on Charlie Chaplin and that Chaplin later assisted the Disneys by loaning them his financial books so they could determine what kind of proceeds they should be getting from their distributor on Snow White.
10. MGM head Louis B. Mayer once rejected the opportunity to distribute Mickey Mouse cartoons shortly after Walt had invented the character because Mayer said that pregnant women would be frightened by a giant mouse on screen.

After reading the book I think I may launch into a plan to watch all of the Disney films with a renewed sense of wonder, and a little more knowledge as to both where they came from, and the work involved in making them possible. Plus, with 2 kids it ought to be a blast just being with them through the magical journey...

*****UPDATE 5-9-07*****
I finished the book (finally!) tonight, and I must say it has been a thrilling and enlightening read. Walt Disney was an important icon while he was alive, and is no less a legend today better than 40 years after his death. From his humble beginnings and the years & years of struggles in getting his company off the ground, to the explosive growth that took place in his later years with the advent of television, the construction of Disneyland, and the massive land-grab in Florida for EPCOT & Disney World, this work chronicles every magical moment. I give it a 9.5/10.

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History Of Four Meals

Like a Sunday afternoon drive in late Spring with windows down, radio on, and absolutely no place to be. That's how I felt after finishing the remarkable book The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, last night at 10:32 p.m. Here is an absolutely pleasant, entertaining read. That I would post about it wasn't even an issue, but now that the time has come I'm perplexed about what to say. My purpose is not to review the book, per se, for that's done admirably by a host of other more talented writers. As a matter of fact, it was a line by Pamela Kaufman, editor of Food & Wine Magazine, that proved to be the final motivator in getting me to get out and pick up a copy. Her spiel is the first under the heading "Editorial Reviews" at the book's Amazon.com page, and after deftly offering a bird's-eye-view of the book she makes this simple statement: "This may sound earnest, but Pollan isn't preachy...". Pollan's research, tactics & involvement with his subject matter and sources are earnest, intense even, but after wrapping up I would have to echo the sentiment of his ability to write without seeming "preachy". As a matter of fact, thinking back on the last two weeks of poring over the pages, I don't recall a single time feeling like he was even remotely telling me what to do with my food. No, he just masterfully has taught me to consider more deeply what exactly it is I'm eating, and where it comes from. As Jabel so wisely quoted in his review of the NYT article written by Pollan "Unhappy Meals", the author suggests that we "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Michael Pollan is a skilled researcher, a talented writer, & seems to be as humorous as he is erudite. I'm definitely adding his works to my "must read" category.

The Library In Leaves

I read today Michael Pollan's article in the New York Times from 16 1/2 years ago entitled Autumn, It's No Garden Party. As the title suggests it is a treatise concerning the transformations of the Fall season, both of the natural state of plants and the work required to gather the current harvest and plan for the season to come a few months down the road. I found especially enlightening the following quote concerning the evolutionary flirting of plants with animals:

"Autumn color in the woods signals the abdication of chlorophyll; in the garden, among the annuals, it means something else. With their ripe, tinted fruits the plants aim to flag down passing animals, offering them food in exchange for giving their seeds a lift out of here. By late September the plants are concentrating all their energies on this process—on writing down their secrets on tiny seed tablets and then encouraging someone, anyone, to take them out into the world. Recipes, instruction manuals, last testaments: by making seeds the plant condenses itself, or at least everything it knows, into a form compact and durable enough to survive winter, a tightly sealed bottle of genetic memory dropped onto the ocean of the future."

I was also inspired by his illustration drawn from a historical study in describing how earth is not a closed system in which we are to be fearful of using up all its resources:

"The first person to verify that indeed this (natures incredible ROI) is a miracle was a 17th-century scientist by the name of Van Helmont. He planted a willow sapling in a container that held 200 pounds of soil and, for five years, gave it nothing but water. At the end of that time, the tree was found to weigh 169 pounds, and the soil 199 pounds, 14 ounces—from just two ounces of soil had come 169 pounds of tree. Rich increase, indeed."

Perhaps the best was saved for the proverbial last, though, when he quoted from Thoreau's Autumnal Tints concerning how the crunch of fallen leaves instructs us how to die gracefully, sweetly and with honor:

"How beautifully they go to their graves! how gently lay themselves down and turn to mould!...They teach us how to die. One wonders if the time will ever come when men, with their boasted faith in immortality, will lie down as gracefully and as ripe,—with such an Indian-summer serenity will shed their bodies, as they do their hair and nails."

Candyman

The new Christina Aguilera video for Candyman is now available, and is as hot as all get-out. The above link is for the MTV site, while this one is for the youtube post and is larger but at a lower resolution. The throw-back sound she's created her most recent album in really shines in this tune, and the video matches up alarmingly well. Fire-alarmingly, that is, if that's even an allowable phrase. To say it's hot seems like such an understatement, but I'll not ramble, so just go watch it already. Then, if you're interested, check this out for a live performance of the song from this years NBA All-Star game halftime show. Finally, the lyrics can be found behind the damn in the next sentence. DAMN!

***UPDATE 3/1/07***
Click here for the Musicbox version of the video.

A Handful Of Seeds & A Bunch Of Impatiens

Okay, I'm starting to get obsessed, I think. Michael Pollan is a terrific writer, and though few will pick up on the following statement, I'm gonna make it anyway. I'm thinking Pollan is to the man-earth connection what Boreham was to the man-God companionship. I'm still reading his The Omnivore's Dilemma and am just as fascinated as the hour I started, and I'm working my way through the articles on his website. Concerning these last pieces, here's a tidbit of the ones I've read, with a link to each in case you're in the mood for what you get from the snippit...

Gardening Means War
A hilarious account of the author's battle with critters who would destroy his garden. Here's a bit written after he tried to burn a woodchuck out of his hole nearby: "MY BRUSH WITH CONFLAGRATION among the vegetables shocked me out of my Vietnam approach to garden pests before I had a chance to defoliate the neighborhood. I also began to think that there might be more going on here than a cartoonish war between me and a woodchuck."

Why Mow? The Case Against Lawns
A pleasant read concerning all things yard. It'll be time to mow 'em before long, so maybe this one'll help us get through the season with a few laughs. Check out this quote about what happened when the neighborhood attempted to get the author's dad to mow a much-too-tall lawn: "My father's reply could not have been more eloquent. Without a word he strode out to the garage and cranked up the rusty old Toro for the first time since fall; it's a miracle the thing started. He pushed it out to the curb and then started back across the lawn to the house, but not in a straight line: he swerved right, then left, then right again. He had cut an ''S'' in the high grass. Then he made an ''M,'' and finally a ''P.'' These are his initials, and as soon as he finished writing them he wheeled the lawn mower back to the garage, never to start it up again."

Weeds Are Us
I really enjoyed this one, and mentioned it actually in a previous post. This article is a terrific picture of what happens when you let weeds get away. Here's an interesting quote: "If I seem to have wandered far afield of my topic, consider what weeding is: the process by which we make informed choices in nature, discriminate between good and bad, apply our intelligence and sweat to the earth. To weed is to apply culture to nature—which is why we say, when we are weeding, that we are cultivating the soil. Weeding, in this sense, is not a nuisance that follows from gardening, but its very essence."

Putting Down Roots
Read this if you feel like it should be Arbor Day every day, or if you just like hugging trees, or if you've ever considered venturing out to pick up a tree and plant one just for the hell of it. Witness the deep psychology involved with deciding where, exactly, to plant that next tree: "It's a sobering responsibility, picking the site for a big tree; get it wrong, plant it too close to the house or a power line, and you will someday force a terrible decision on someone. I spent half a day walking around the property, straining mentally to add something the size of a brownstone to the empty scene before me. I traced one 50-foot circle after another in the grass, trying to picture the eventual footprint of shade. Shadows you can see are elusive enough; to plan for shadows decades hence is to deal in the shadows of shadows."

The Dilbert Blog

I probably owe this discovery to Jabel as well, though I really can't recall. Over on my Frogroll I've just added a link to The Dilbert Blog. Although I've had an average liking of the Dilbert cartoon strip, I've loved the blog from my first encounter with it just last August. Someone, again it was probably Jabel, sent me a link to a hilarious post about the author's familymoon and the trouble he ran into during the trip with his, er, stuff. It's a man's post, for sure, but even the gals may get a little enjoyment, if not a lot of explanation, out of the post. It's called Undergarment Dysfunction, and you can read it here.

Christina On Musicbox

I found a great site that shows Christina's videos in a much higher resolution than the youtube postings. Click the pic of the adorable one above for the link.

Pollan's Link To Emerson

As I've recently revealed I've been reading Michael Pollan's fascinating book The Omnivore's Dilemma. It is my first real experience of reading a contemporary writer on the subject of nature, as up to this point my focus has been on what I've come across in the Harvard Classics, therefore only up to the early 20th century. One of my favorite sources has been a few of the essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Specifically his essays on Nature and Land got me to think how pleasant it would be to have a well-cultivated piece of ground, replete with flowers, plants, trees and grasses of the rarest beauty and usefulness.

Last night I was reading some more of this thrilling book by Pollan when I came across the following Emerson quote: "You have just dined, and, however scrupulously the slaughter-house is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity..." Pollan was talking, of course, about his dinner of chicken and how that most of us never look back to all that was involved in getting the bird to the table. The quote is from Emerson's essay entitled Fate, and was a poignant reminder of how important it is to consider from whence our meals come.

Okay, this is a bit of a jumbled-post, but I'm just ecstatic over the connection, albeit a small one, between Pollan & Emerson.

***UPDATE***
In reading through Pollan's articles on his website, I came across the following piece that further shows he's an avid reader of Emerson. Click here for a wonderful essay on weeds in which one very small, interesting bit of information concerns Tumbleweed, that icon of the west, and that it wasn't even introduced to America until 1870. He also suggests that when it comes to weeds, "to do nothing, is tantamount to letting (others) plant (our) gardens".

Michael Pollan

I have added a new link to my "Surfin' The Pond?" section in the right hand column, a simple passageway to all things Michael Pollan. Pollan is a brilliant writer who covers a wide range of topics related to the human-earth connection, and also teaches journalism at UC-Berkeley. I have just recently discovered his body of work via a recommendation by my good friend Jabel, who posted to his blog on February 1 a little snippet about one of Pollans articles in the New York Times entitled Unhappy Meals. After reading the article I reserved and picked up a copy of his latest book, "The Omnivore's Dilemma". As of this post I'm nearly halfway through, and have already recommended it to several people because I'm fascinated beyond expectation. I'll reserve commenting on the actual book itself until I finish reading it, though I've already come across many quotable, practical, eye-opening and poetic lines that I'd love to commit to memory. The link I've created is to Pollan's website, and behind it is a series of articles and bits of information that I definitely intend to browse in the coming weeks & months. Jabel may inspire me to an agrarian focus after all...

Michael Crichton: Next

I finished the latest novel by Michael Crichton yesterday (which I quoted in a previous post), and must say that I'm impressed. The book description is as follows:

"Is a loved one missing some body parts? Are blondes becoming extinct? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? Humans and chimpanzees differ in only 400 genes; is that why a chimp fetus resembles a human being? And should that worry us? There's a new genetic cure for drug addiction--is it worse than the disease?
We live in a time of momentous scientific leaps, a time when it's possible to sell our eggs and sperm online for thousands of dollars and to test our spouses for genetic maladies.
We live in a time when one fifth of all our genes are owned by someone else, and an unsuspecting person and his family can be pursued cross-country because they happen to have certain valuable genes within their chromosomes...
Devilishly clever, Next blends fact and fiction into a breathless tale of a new world where nothing is what it seems and a set of new possibilities can open at every turn.
Next challenges our sense of reality and notions of morality. Balancing the comic and the bizarre with the genuinely frightening and disturbing, Next shatters our assumptions and reveals shocking new choices where we least expect.
The future is closer than you think."

I read that the science here is "a lot less far-fetched than creating dinosaurs from DNA" (referring, of course, to his works in the Jurassic Park series), and if that is the case then this is certainly a troubling read, or at least I should say unnerving.

I've made it a point to read all of Crichton's books in order of release, so I am always on the look-out for the publication dates of his next thriller. I had to wait a few weeks for this one since a few people were ahead of me on the libraries list, but it was worth the wait. I still think Jurassic Park & The Lost World are my favs, but this one is certainly a deserving thief of the readers hours. Give it a part of your soul and see what you think...

My Fav Chappelle's Show Clip (Wayne Brady)

Click the pic at left and watch the clip of the episode of Chappelle's show featuring a hilarious Wayne Brady skit. Wayne Brady is often ridiculed by fellow black folks as being too "white" b/c of his choice of television roles and his good standing in society, being accepted by whites more than any other black entertainer in America, it seems. Well, this skit is intended to silence the critics of Wayne Brady by showing he really does have street cred. When I watched this a few months ago I was in an uproar...ch-check it out, bitches!

Which Is Stranger: Truth Or Fiction?

Interesting clip from Psychology News entitled Adults Don't Grow Up Anymore: British Researcher Blames Formal Education; Professors, Scientists "Strikingly Immature"...

"If you believe the adults around you are acting like children, you're probably right. In technical terms, it is called "psychological neotony", the persistance of childhood behavior into adulthood. And it's on the rise.

According to Dr. Bruce Charlton, evolutionary psychiatrist at Newcastle upon Tyne, human beings now take longer to reach mental maturity-and many never do at all.

Charlton believes this is an accidental by-product of formal education that lasts well into the twenties. 'Formal education requires a child-like stance of receptivity', which 'counteracts the attainment of psychological maturity' that would normally occur in the late teens or early twenties.

He notes that 'academics, teachers, scientists and many other professionals are often strikingly immature.' He calls them unpredictable, unbalanced in priorities, and tending to overreact.'

Earlier human societies, such as hunter-gatherers, were more stable and thus adulthood was attained in the teen years..."

Alright, this is not in fact, well, fact. It is a page from Micheal Crichton's fascinating new novel titled Next. Perhaps I'll post more on the book later (I picked it up yesterday and am halfway through as I take a break to publish this post), but when I read this I instantly thought of Lisa Nowak, the diapered astronaut who drove hundreds of miles to confront a rival for the love and affection of her man. I heard one brush-off this week that simply stated she need not be punished too harshly for what was obviously "a crime of passion", as if that makes it all justifiable. Hmmm, perhaps her legal team can call the intelligent Crichton as an expert and suggest she just hasn't grown up, therefore she need only be grounded...no pun intended.

My Fav Wonder Showzen Clip

Be forewarned, if you can't take sacrilegious humor then this clip is not for you. Otherwise, it is quite funny... Just click the picture to view the short video from the hit MTV "muppets on crack" adult cartoon Wonder Showzen.

The Voice Within

Christina Aguilera has successfully pulled off a myriad of incredible looks in her career, all of which are fascinating in their own right. I had forgotten about the raven hair she wore in her The Voice Within video. It's a very stripped down, voice and lyrics driven song that did well on the charts, and is one of her big hits. I remember being fascinated by the video itself a couple of years ago, especially the simple-sexy getup she donned for the production. I've been a sucker for a chick with a nose jewel for quite some time, and hers is clearly visible in the video (and the single-cover photo above). Beatiful song, terrific video, gorgeous girl...what more could we ask for? Lyrics here.

Gentlemen, Quarterly Is Not Enough...

...time reserved to see Miss Aguilera...it needs to be daily.

QG ran Christina on the cover in June of last year and I ran across the article today. Behind the link is an area to read a well written piece, AND catch a slide show of the pics, AND even watch a short video of the photo shoot by Michael Thompson. Damn!



The cover shot above is quite classy and adorable, while the sultry shot to the right is downright sexy. Damn sexy, I must say.

I'm enthralled by the many shots available of xtina with those luscious red lips, and I noticed in this shoot she abandoned the bright red nails. Of course, it looks like she's abandoned nearly everything else, too...though I'm not complaining.

I guess I'm a sucker for girlie-girls, as I've mentioned before, but apparently this is a type of shoot she really enjoys doing. In the short video of the photo shoot there are a few lines of an interview she gave in which she comments about how a woman needs to be able to feel comfortable in her own skin, and to be able to show that sexy side of womanhood. I'm simply transfixed by the beauty of the female form as art, but I'm very picky, and am no longer interested in seeing skin for the sake of seeing skin (hell, I'm not 13 anymore!). The old-fashioned glam vibe Christina has going on right now is spectacular. Mwuahhh...

Harvard Classics: 36 To 37

I finished Volume 36 of the Harvard Classics last night. My closest friends know full-well my obsession with this set of books, as I've been reading them for better than a decade now. A slow pace, I admit, but I am trying to read and comprehend as I go, and since there are no timetables I'm attempting to keep I am able to immerse myself in this my true bit of "pleasure reading". The works are fascinating to me and I've often called this collection the best book investment I've ever made.

Anyway, Volume 36 consists of The Chronicles of Froissart (a nice read for the history lover, especially the section on "Wat Tyler's Rebellion"), The Holy Grail by Sir Thomas Malory (one of the most respected accounts of all things King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table), and A Description of Elizabethan England (written for Holinshed's Chronicles) by William Harrison. In this last section a great picture of the way things used to be is painted masterfully. I've read where Shakespeare drew a lot of his imagery from this particular work, and it is quite an enjoable read for the fireside and coffee. The one thing that stood out to me in the Description, though, is that "the more things change, the more they stay the same".

Now I'm off to dive into Volume 37 and see what I can glean from the likes of Machiavelli, More and Martin Luther...

Me And Xtina At My Grandma's

Here's a pic I snapped recently of Christina while we were over at my Grandma's checking out some old records. I told her she shouldn't lay on the floor, but she insisted. I took this pic of her lookin' so darn cute because I couldn't resist. Of course, I'm full of it...this pic is from her Back to Basics album cover, and I thought I'd post it just 'cuz I like it.

The Departed

Jack Nicholson plays a mob boss smashingly in this Martin Scorsese flic. He has the perfect mug for the job, as in his older age he's looking (somehow) more sinister and vile than in times past. He plays a ruthless, totally self-confident ring leader of a crime family, and masters the role from start to gruesome finish.

I read earlier this week that Leonardo DiCaprio almost hung up his acting career after he made Titanic because he hated being portrayed as a sex-symbol. (Read a brief overview here.) As if Gangs of New York & Aviator (both Scorsese movies) didn't do it, he's for sure moved on to bigger and better things with The Departed. I was watching for a soft spot, just a hint of weakness, maybe even a smidgeon of "pretty-boy" gentleness, but no such luck. This is hard to say (especially since Titanic was on TV allllllll weekend long as Fate seemingly meant to thrust Leo front and center in my life), but he played the bad-ass roll amazingly. Even his sex scene was a bit "rough"...at least rougher than his romp with Rose on the soon-to-sink ship.

Matt Damon did slimy without a hitch as Colin Sullivan, a corrupt state cop, and worked outstandily alongside Jack & Leo in the picture. Since his best film to date was Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron , it was a seeming impossibility for him to get any better. (Um, I'm just kidding, by the way...he did much better in films where he wasn't a cartoon horse). I like him a lot in The Departed, becuase he carries his character from start to finish without it ever seeming forced.

Wow, time fails me to tell of the roles played by Mark Wahlberg , Martin Sheen , & Alec Baldwin , when especially Wahlberg deserved more. The token chick in a 87.3% man's movie was Vera Farmiga , and since I have a lot of friends of the fairer sex I'll give her a spot here in the review by saying she did a good job. Not the hottest gal on the big screen today, but I'll say of her role like the guy on the Taco Bell commercial says of Carmen Electra's dress: "it'll do." (FYI, this commercial is NOT currently online, or at least I couldn't find it, so I have no link to it. Feel free to remedy that if you find it.)

Leave Grossman Alone Already

Are you kiddin' me? ESPN is in absolute Rex hater mode, and it's startin' to really piss me off. Granted I may be a bit biased since, as I've already mentioned in a previous post, he's a local hero here in Bloomington. But even at that, don't you think the guy needs a break? Seriously, every time he threw a pass that was within 25 yards of a defender during the Saints game, the announcers were harping about how "lucky he was it wasn't picked off". C'mon, now...it's the N.F.L. Nearly every pass is "almost intercepted", just like every time a team punts, the defense "nearly blocked it". (Don't believe me, pay attention the next game you watch and see how many times this comment is made.) Anyway, I'm just sayin' it's time to cut 'ol Rexy some slack. He's a dynamic player, and in case you haven't noticed, his team has the best record in football and is representing their conference in Super Bowl 41. He's obviously gifted, so let's get some sportscasters and writers to get a little creative and start showing clips of his best passes and make remarks about what he's doing right. Why is this so important? One reason: if the Bears (and I hope not!) win the Super Bowl, these naysayers will be the first ones writing about how awesome this young kid who's going to Disney World really is. Hypocrites! Pshaw, I'm gonna put my two-cents in now...he's a deserving starter and a terrific player, mistakes notwithstanding...

My Favorite Family Guy Clip

Click the image above to see the best 22 seconds of Family Guy ever...

Colors

Race is still a volatile subject in this America in which we live. Much is being said about the fact that for the first time in history a Super Bowl team is being coached by a black man. Actually, both teams are. As I was watching the games last weekend it seemed like every few minutes that fact was being made known, and I couldn't help but wish under my breath that they'd just drop it already. Maybe I'm overreacting, but it just seems unfortunate to me to make an issue of someone's race when the color of their skin played absolutely no part in their success. The coaches in the Super Bowl are there solely because they are outstanding leaders who've learned how to direct a set of talented teams to the next level. Anyway, I've said more than I intended, I just wanted to post a couple of links to articles I've read recently concerning race. One from Esquire, and one from ESPN. Check 'em out...

HWOTP Goes Back In A Sexy Way!

Damn, girl! My life was blessed this past Christmas by my best friend/ gal-pal Amy who bought us tix to an upcoming show of Christina Aguilera's Back To Basics tour. I'm soooooo stoked about it, and can hardly wait. Taking a leisurely stroll today on the www I came across a bit of information that has (believe it or not), stoked my fever even more. Evidently there is a video backdrop during a part of the show where X-tina shows clips of a photo shoot she did in preparation for the 2005 tour that was cancelled (if my memory serves me right, she was touring then with Chingy, I think). Anyway, I found both a link to the video AND a site that has a list of still pics, one of which is included in this post. I am a believer that as far as dress and presentation of oneself goes, the decision should be in what makes that person happy. That being said, MY personal preference is for girls to look like girls, the look I affectionately refer to as "girlie-girls". The vid and pics here leave a stunning impression of feminine beauty, in my most humble opinion. I've noticed that a lot of pin-ups from the 30's and 40's dressed quite provocatively, and the look is just as hot today on present day starlets. The HWOTP has produced a smashing display of gorgeousness in these presentations, and I'm so looking forward to the concert. I believe the tour lineup also includes The Pussycat Dolls. Bloody hell...thanks AJ!

If I Were A Country Singer...

...I'd probably be Jason Aldean. Here's a video clip to Hicktown, and below is the set of lyrics that go with it. I've never owned a cowboy hat or a pair of boots, but perhaps I should start lookin'. Yee-haw!

You like the way that sounds?

Little Jimmy Jackson is jackin’ up his Bronco

He’s gonna lay a little rubber later on at the truck pull

All the girls are getting’ pretty sprayin’ on the White Rain

Yeah they’re gonna get a rowdy tonight down at the football game Yeah

(Ch.) We let it rip when we got the money Let it roll if we got the gas

It gets wild yeah but that’s the way we get down In a Hicktown

Well you can see the neighbors butt crack nailing on his shingles

And his woman’s’ smokin’ Pall Mall’s watchin’ Laura Ingles

And Granny’s getting’ lit she’s headin’ out to bingo

Yeah my buddies and me are goin’ muddin’ down on Blue Hole Road

You know You know

(Br.) We hear folks in the city party in Martini Bars

And they like to show off in their fancy foreign cars

Out here in the boondocks we buy beer at Amoco

And crank our Kraco speakers with that country radio

Yeah in a Hicktown Oh we aint finished yet

We got you’re country boys and you’re redneck girls

It’s the party heard round the world Right here in Hicktown Yeah In Hicktown

The whole town’s gettin’ down

Home State 76 Or Hometown 1

That's the debate around here...who to root for in the Super Bowl? With yesterday's impressive come-from-behind thriller, Indiana's beloved Colts have finally exorcised the "can't beat the Patriots-can't advance to the big stage"
demons that have been nagging them for years. Peyton Manning is nearly a god around here, and that's saying a lot for a basketball obsessed state! The hype in recent years has been paralleled only by the the disappointment at repeatedly having a fabulous season with a flop of a post-season. All that is past now, and it's time to take a deep breath and get ready to don the royal blue and white on February 4th. Or is it?

Here in Bloomington there is a bit of a dilemma. The quarterback for the opposition in the Super Bowl, the Chicago Bears, is none other than hometown legend Rex Grossman. A stand-out in high school for Bloomington South, Rex's following has intensified each year of his stellar rise from local hero to college phenom at Florida to N.F.L. darling and now Super Bowl dynamo. I strolled down Kirkwood Ave. recently and saw a sign promoting calling early to the bar/eatery to snag seats to watch the big Bears game! What? We're less than an hour from the RCA dome. A short drive from the haunts of Peyton and Marvin and Tony, last names not needed around here. I admit I'm proud of Rex and his accomplishments, but I would feel like a traitor to root against the Colts now! Besides, no one ever posts placards about rooting for the Chiefs, and Trent Green played QB right here at I.U.! That is a classic double standard if you ask me;)

My latest check showed 76 players on the Colts roster. I'm sure the Super Bowl will be awesome, and I wouldn't miss it for the world, even if I'll be watching it in the only town in America where 1 is greater than 76.

Mad As Hell

I connected today with the song "Not Ready To Make Nice" by the Dixie Chicks. Above is a still pic from the video, next is the lyrics, here is a link to the youtube page for the video itself.

Forgive, sounds good. Forget, I'm not sure I could.

They say time heals everything, But I'm still waiting

I'm through, with doubt, There's nothing left for me to figure out,

I've paid a price, and i'll keep paying

I'm not ready to make nice, I'm not ready to back down,

I'm still mad as hell And I don't have time To go round and round and round

It's too late to make it right I probably wouldn't if I could

Cause I'm mad as hell Can't bring myself to do what it is You think I should

I know you said Why can't you just get over it,

It turned my whole world around and i kind of like it

I made by bed, and I sleep like a baby,

With no regrets and I don't mind saying, It's a sad sad story

That a mother will teach her daughter that she ought to hate a perfect stranger.

And how in the world Can the words that I said Send somebody so over the edge

That they'd write me a letter Saying that I better shut up and sing Or my life will be over

It's not been often that I've felt this way, but in a few of the biggest turmoils I've experienced in my life a lot of what's said here is what I would express to the ones who were involved. "With no regrets"...frog

The Beauty With Bucks

Well, as if I needed another excuse to add to my Christina worshipping, I just read that she is number 19 in Forbes magazines list of the 20 Richest Women In Entertainment. The list, released on the website yesterday, is accompanied by an interesting article and even a slide show of pictures! Ch-check it out...

Aich-What?-P

In making good on my promise to allow space for a Christina shrine on my blog, here is a pic that will definitely be a poster in my entertainment room someday. I first saw this in the wall-art collection of my cousin who is a damn good photographer herself. Rolling Stone has produced some awesome covers over the years, but this one ranks as one of the most recognized issues ever, and is wildly popular, as well it should. The original release was November 14, 2002, so the world has had a shade over 4 years to bask in the ethereal beauty of the HWOTP...

"Deeply Strange, Almost Impossibly Beautiful"

I got an email from my mom today, who got it from my bonus dad, who got it from a friend, who got...well, that sufficiently makes the point that it was a forward, those infamous cluttery creatures who typically confound the mind, waste time and bandwith, and break the concenatration. This one, however, is a complete rarity...it inspired my mind, was worth the minutes and space spent, and brings not just the moment but perhaps even life itself into focus. Check out the link to the top ten photos from the Hubble in it's first 16 years, as voted by astronomers. I like what Michael Hanlon of the Daily Mail said in his article: "...(these photos)illustrate that our universe is not only deeply strange, but also almost impossibly beautiful." What a terrific description, not unlike a few women I've met...

V's Fabulous First Impression

A while back I posted about V For Vendetta, one of my favorite movies of all time. Since then I've discovered the glorious world that is youtube, and on that site found the video clip of a portion of the dialogue. Click here to be amused.

HWOTP

My fascination with Christina Aguilara has to find an out somewhere, so here's to it... It all began with the Christmas cd she released in 2000, and has yet to peter out. It's the vocals, yeah, that's it...the powerful singing voice. Oh, hell, who am I kidding! I have called her the "hottest woman on the planet" (which I've shortened to HWOTP) for so long now that my closest friends know without asking who I most admire. I did just get the Back To Basics album this past week, and I have to admit it is phenomenal...visually AND melodically, that is. The cover is a masterpiece of amazing pics of the Beautiful one. The 2 discs are simply fascinating productions of groovin' beats and smashing lyrics. In her honor I've chosen the pic above to be the initial shot as I introduce a part of my blog as an X-tina shrine...

Futuresex/Lovesounds

Um, yeah....it's past midnight and I gotta go to work in just a bit but I'm caught up jammin' to JT's newest album. This is a dancin' project (slow or fast, there's plenty of material for both), and groovin' and swervin' is a fav activity of mine. Fascination with females explodes on song after song, and yet it's not rough, crass or tainted with the nervous arrogance that makes so much of pop music almost a nuisance. I hear JT sayin' "girls...I love 'em, I respect 'em, I want 'em in a grown and sexy way..." Girls are so much funner to hang out with than guys...and that's a fact!

Rocked! In The CIty Of Evil

I recently purchased this grand album and am thrilled that I did. I first heard these guys at Ozzfest a few months ago, and have been plotting my acquisition since then. The first song, The Beast & The Harlot is a terrific opening for a hard-rock project. It deals with Revelation 18...read the account, then listen to the song. The Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas tribute, Bat Country, comes across fourth and is equally as forceful and riveting. I'm late to the party in this genre, though I did get into some of the popular bands when I was growing up. I'm finding this work in particular to be entertaining, aggressive and a good way to "out" some frustration. Better them screaming than me, I guess...

Finally, A Soft Drink That Won't Kill Me...

My drink of choice of late...unless and until I get proof that it's bad for me as well.

V For Vendetta

I picked up the film V For Vendetta this week, and I feel I must do my part to spread the word...this is an awesome film. Click here for the IMDb page. Finally, a movie with outstanding dialogue, plenty of action and very interesting story line! To whet the appetite, here are some cool quotes from the flick:

*After V rescues Evey, she makes the required inquiry into the identification of her hero...
Evey: Who are you?
V: Who? Who is but the form following the function of "what", and what I am is a man in a mask.
Evey: Well I can see that.
V: Of course you can. I'm not questioning your powers of observation, I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is.
Evey: Oh...right.
V: But on this most auspicious of nights, permit me then, in lieu of the more commonplace soubriquet, to suggest the character of this dramatis persona.

*Then, as V furthers his introduction to Evey)...
"Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose vis-a-vis an introduction, so let me simply add that it's my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V."

*After Creedy threatens V...
Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr. Creedy, and ideas are bulletproof.

*Of course, the brilliant poetic piece of the film...
Remember, RememberThe fifth of November,
The gunpowder treason and plot.
I know of no reason
Why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

*From the explosive final confrontation with the evil Creedy...
Creedy: Defiant until the end, huh? You won't cry like him, will you? You're not afraid of death. You're like me.
V: The only thing you and I have in common, Mr. Creedy, is that we are both about to die.
Creedy: How do you imagine that'll happen?
V: With my hands around your neck.
Creedy: Bollocks. We've swept this whole place. You've got nothing. Nothing but your bloody knives and your fancy karate gimmicks. We have guns.
V: No. What you have are bullets and the hope that when your guns are empty I'm no longer standing, because if I am, you'll all be dead before you've reloaded.
Creedy: That's impossible. Kill him!
(At this point Creedy's men open up a barrage of bullets upon V, who though hit many times remains standing, then offers...)
V: My turn.

Awesome to say the least...I will watch again and spread the revolution!

Items Of Recent Interest

A couple of weekends ago I went to OzzFest with my brother Cory. Ozzy wasn't at the Indianapolis show, but the headliner was System Of A Down, which I've referenced before in a previous post. I've liked SOAD for a while now, but after hearing them in concert and seeing firsthand how awesome they are, my fascination has reached a new level. Other bands of interest I heard were Disturbed and Avenged Sevenfold who were also quite fascinating, to say the least. I'll be back, though next time I'll be sure not to go looking like a surfer...I didn't quite fit in with all of the black, and am quite thankful I made it out of there alive...

I've also made it a point to let myself get rawked by Junk a couple times in the last month. If you're hankering for a place to cool off, wind down, get crazy or let your hair down, find a venue where they're jammin' and have at it...

I picked up the new album by The Fray titled "How To Save A Life"...it's a good mellow listen, the great-for-background-music-while-you're-working-type, in my opinion...

I've been reading the Rule #1 book by Phil Town. If I get rich, I'll jazz up my blog and hopefully have the spare time to post more frequently than once a month! Then again, that may not be what the world needs right now...

Football season is upon us, and I was pumped to watch a bit of the Hall Of Fame game this past weekend, even if it was just the Eagles and Raiders. My unapologetic predictions are as follows: in the N.F.L., the Colts will FINALLY do it this year and win the Super Bowl; in N.C.A.A. Div. 1, Notre Dame will recapture some of their glory from ages past, making an all-Indiana set of champs for the year. Seriously, it will happen, just mark it down and congratulate me next February...

I now have cable internet and the ability to use my wi-fi functions of my laptop at the house now. Newsworthy? No, not really. I'm just wondering how in the world I have lived without it for so long...adios.