Is this thing on?

Image from fineartamerica.com by steven-digman

The effort of writing on a little seen blog when it seems the world is going to hell in a very large hand basket is often too much; this is obvious from my infrequent postings. What can be said about cops seeming to have a license to kill African-Americans, billionaires blatantly buying power, racist assholes provoking terrorist assholes to attack, or right wingers fantasizing a military takeover by Obama of Texas? You can't compete with such insane reality.

Nevertheless, I am still here, and I hope to start more frequent missives in this space. Maybe Bernie Sanders running for President has lifted my spirits (which it has), but the springtime weather also is bucking up my psyche. There is hope in this world, and to not see it is to surrender to the forces that would drag us down.

More to come.

Still here . . . . .

It's been over a month since my last post, and I've GOT to put something up to get that ugly picture of Dick Cheney (I realize that "ugly" and "Dick Cheney" are redundancies) off the front page.

"What are you lookin' at?"

I just have not been feeling moved to post anything. The news sucks, the weather is weird, people seem crazier all the time, and none of that seems worthy of writing about to me. There are tons of blogs bemoaning the state of the world, and being part of that bunch is not particularly attractive right now.

Personally, things are going well. I have started getting Social Security (like the good Socialist that I am), my wife retired from her job, and I had a damn good holiday season. All of that is cause for gratitude, and I am choosing to focus there for now.

Perhaps now that I've broken the writing block I'll have more to say, but for now, that seems like enough.

Roger E.

With all that is being written in praise of Roger Ebert upon his passing---what a great film critic he was (NOT movie reviewer, a HUGE difference), his vocal support of progressive politics, and so on. For me, he most moved me with this piece from his blog in August of 2009: My Name is Roger and I'm an Alcoholic. It had a huge response (almost 1400 comments and still counting) both positive and negative, and is still to me one of the most honest and courageous writings on the subject of recovery from alcoholism I've ever read.

The first sentences of the post set the tone:

In August 1979, I took my last drink. It was about four o'clock on a Saturday afternoon, the hot sun streaming through the windows of my little carriage house on Dickens. I put a glass of scotch and soda down on the living room table, went to bed, and pulled the blankets over my head. I couldn't take it any more.

If you haven't been there, then this passage probably means little to you. If you have, then you can remember the desperation and terror of not being able to stop drinking, and yet knowing you can't continue. He went on further in the post to preemptively answer the charges of violation of the tradition of anonymity thus:

An A.A. meeting usually begins with a recovering alcoholic telling his "drunkalog," the story of his drinking days and how he eventually hit bottom. This blog entry will not be my drunkalog. What's said in the room, stays in the room. You may be wondering, in fact, why I'm violating the A.A. policy of anonymity and outing myself. A.A. is anonymous not because of shame but because of prudence; people who go public with their newly-found sobriety have an alarming tendency to relapse. Case studies: those pathetic celebrities who check into rehab and hold a press conference.

In my case, I haven't taken a drink for 30 years, and this is God's truth: Since the first A.A. meeting I attended, I have never wanted to. Since surgery in July of 2006 I have literally not been able to drink at all. Unless I go insane and start pouring booze into my g-tube, I believe I'm reasonably safe. So consider this blog entry what A.A. calls a "12th step," which means sharing the program with others. There's a chance somebody will read this and take the steps toward sobriety.

Still, the comments are rife with those who take him to task for outing himself in a public forum, but I believe he knew he was closer to the end of his life than the beginning, and he wanted to offer his experience, strength, and hope to those who might be helped. His chance of relapse was certainly small, and at one point he even commented to a criticism of his public statements "Did you miss the part about how I am now physically unable to drink?"

But all that is really beside the point. This was a vital and beautiful bit of "Twelfth Step" work; reaching out to the still suffering alkies, most of whom he would never meet. What a wonderful man! Thanks again for everything, Roger. You are a true hero.

Yep!

Where are the posts?

Yes, my infrequent posts are a symptom of aligning myself with my new status as a working stiff. It was so long I had no employment that the chunk of time I now devote to a job is almost unbelievably different. I have worked much more during my life than I have been out of work, but it was very easy to grow accustomed to having most of my time to myself.

Anyway, posts will still be coming. I'm trying to figure out a way to change the format a bit and get a little more personal (now that's scary!!!) We'll see where this all winds up.

Hello, hello . . . is there anyone out there? Is anyone receiving this?

(Photo Via Flickr)

The interesting thing about my blogging is that sometimes I post several times a day, and sometimes, I don't post for a week or so. And sometimes that's because I'm busy with other stuff (yeah, life happens), and sometimes it's because I'm down (who wants to listen to a blogger whine [not me!], and sometimes, it's because I just don't feel like friggin' posting!

Anyway, I'm still here, alive and pretty well, actually.

Oh that's right . . . I have a blog, don't I?

Blogging about why I haven't been blogging

The last refuge of a blogger who hasn't blogged in a while is to blog about why they haven't been blogging. I am there!

I have been extremely busy lately, job hunting, doing dribs and drabs of work here and there, taking my voice over classes, working on sound design for a local play . . . BUSY! Still, I will try to blog as I can.

I haven't been paying attention:

It totally eluded me that the last post I did was number 900 for the birdhaus! Wow, if only I got paid by the post . . . .

HNY 2009 (and get the fuck out 2008)

I want to wish ANYBODY who stumbles across this blog a very 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! 

2009 is going to be a much better year than 2008, but of course, that is setting the bar very low . . . .

Blah blah blah blog

I think I have posted less posts during December 2008 than any month since I started this little blog a few years back. Heck, I didn't even do the semi-mandatory "Season's Greetings" post. (I hope you had a nice one, by the way.) I spent a few days visiting the step daughter and grand daughter over Christmas, but otherwise, I have been around mostly. I did book my first voice over gig, which was an incredible experience, and I have been doing a little work for the local food bank.

I am not one of these bloggers who is going to let this thing eat my life. I post as I can, and as I feel moved. That being said, I am still here, still ranting or raving occasionally, and I will keep trudging along.

Another roadside attraction

Over at Houseplant Picture Studio, my friend Kurt Benbenek not only makes some fine music, posts albums he discovers in thrift shops, and records funky old muffler shops for posterity, but he takes long walks on which he discovers playing cards, strange shoes, and pastries. I live in a more rural area of the great state of California, but Kurt has inspired me to record something I found on the side of the road on a recent trip. I had pulled over to relieve myself, and saw this:

It was an animal's organs, apparently removed by a hunter and left very close to the road. I am not a hunter myself, so it is only a wild guess to say that it was most likely a deer's stomach, intestines, heart, and lungs.

Most hunters I know of are more courteous than this, stashing the effluvium of their adventures off the beaten path a little more than this, but this person was in a hurry, I guess.


Anyway, I dedicate this grisly posting to Kurt Benbenek, master of photo blogging.

Oh, and two days later, when I stopped at the same place, these items were entirely gone. Nature does take care of the messes man leaves, at least in this case.

Here I am . . .

I know my posting has been rather spotty lately. This is due to a combination of my life being busy and a bit of a mood swing to the darker side. I've been working for some while to change my livlihood, and recently things have seemed rather bogged down. This, combined with a fear of the lack of an income for the last year have put me in a less that loquatious state of mind.

When a person moves to live their dreams, as I am doing, there are a lot of uncertainties that one must confront. This is a part of the cost of standing up and saying "this is who I will be." After a lifetime of selling my time to others, I am taking the action of making myself the arbiter of what I will earn and how I will make my living. In doing this, I am basically betting I have the talents and abilities to be of value to others, and that is both exhilerating and scary.

Anyway, due to the ups and downs of this moment, I haven't been putting much up here. But I will put up more as I can.

Out of town, not out to lunch . . . .

I've been visiting my grand daughter and step daughter for the last five days, with a couple more days to go yet. I don't get to see them often enough, so I am very focused on them during my time here. Plus my grand daughter, who is five, always wants to play on the computer with me if I have it out, so blog posting is at a low priority right now.

She and I made a visit to worship at the Church of Chuck E. Cheese here locally, and I got the pictures here posted. She is an utter joy to be with, and I am quite happy, though also very tired. It's good to be the grandpa!

Still here, a bit frazzled . . .

I've been dealing with a labor dispute lately, so posting has been sparse. I'll be back at it soon. One thing I'm learning, there are no friends when it comes to the workplace . . . . See you on the other side!

"Listening to Paint Dry"

Mr. Kurt Benbenek, proprietor of the Houseplant Picture Studio web site, has a new CD recently out, enigmatically named "Listening to Paint Dry", which he was kind enough to send me a FREE copy of, just because I asked. Such generosity surely should be rewarded, and as such, here's my glowing review:

"Listening to Paint Dry" is a misnomer, as it implies a boring experience, whereas the actual listening reaction I had suggests that a truer title would be "Listening to Paint Being Applied". At every auditory twist and turn, this CD covers new ground, or at least traverses old ground in some new ways. Musically, it surpasses Benbenek's previous releases (which is no small task, I might add), and either delights or ambushes your ears with sounds both strange and pleasing. I found it a great accompaniment to my workout, with a beat that got my heart rate and breathing really soaring! Lyrically, Benbenek uses words like cotton hammers, gently pummeling your brain with concepts that suggest a man who is both thoughtful and humorous, with a trace of disgust thrown in to season the verbal stew.

Highlights of "LTPD" include:

"Me and Jesus Got a Good Thing going," wherein the narrator (likely Mr. Benbenek himself) praises Jesus (no not that one, but his buddy Hay-Sues Lopez), observing the miracles inherent in everyday occurrences, such as potato sacks falling and planes crashing and yet missing him completely.

"I Lost My Car So Fuck It," about acceptance and grand theft auto, with some really nice semi-psychedelic harmonies and a generous amount of the f-bomb being thrown about.

A cover of the Rolling Stones tribute to footwear and drugs, "Can't You Hear Me Knocking," streamlined and compressed into a concentrated package of lovingly sloppy musical conciseness.

"On My Cross Country Trip," which should be covered by some country singer and make Kurt a shitload of money in royalties so he can realize his dreams of world domination and coast-to-coast flea markets.

"People Calibrate and They Buy Stuff," which confused me until the verse about the record show.

"From the Desk of Mr. Koutaba," a wonderful musical recycling of those asinine spam email con jobs.

"Funky Green Shit," which is either a cautionary environmental warning or not.

"Your Love Keeps Me Going," a shockingly sweet love song—who'd a thunk it?

"A Beachcombing Breadmaker Sure Shells Out the Dough" closes the CD with a wailin' blues riff behind rampant puns and a quote from Al Kooper via Three Dog Night.

This CD is the contemporary equivalent of the Beatles' White Album, if the White Album were shorter and made more sense. It fit very nicely on my iPod, and I suggest you will not only enjoy it, but that it will change your life, or at least the number of CDs in your music collection (by one).

If such words of praise intrigue you, contact Kurt at houseplantpicturestudio@charter.net, and ask him how you can get your very own copy. And browse his web site while your at it. It won't do ya no harm!!!

Off the Wall-E; Pixar does it again!

We went and saw Wall-E tonight, and I'm gonna take a huge leap here and say it deserves to be a monster hit. It was hilarious, sentimental, incredibly beautiful visually, and wonderfully well written. Pixar is on a real roll, and with pictures like Finding Nemo, Cars, Ratatouille, and the Toy Story franchise, it seems to be unbeatable. Now comes this film, which blows them all away.

It is a fun and fascinating ride, but it also is one of the best cautionary sci-fi tales in a long time. It has already pissed off the wing nut blogosphere, and that makes it all the more wonderful in my estimation. It is a happily subversive tale. Wall-E has both brains and heart, and it really appeals to any age. The theater we were in this afternoon, during a matinee (filled with toddlers, teens, and adults), was utterly quiet for the most part, except for shouts of joy and laughter. For over a half an hour at the beginning there is no dialog, but the story is told with whimsical and detailed visuals that are perfectly suited to its theme. And even the smallest children in the audience were held rapt in this movie's charms.

This is a film which doesn't need my praise to succeed (as if the few folks who read this blog might follow my advice anyway), but I will say: GO SEE IT! It's the only movie I have ever seen that can make a cockroach into a sympathetic character, and where the robots teach the humans what it is like to be . . . well, human!

It is also a film that gives nods to its predecessors such as 2001 and Day the Earth Stood Still. And at its center is the title character, who loves Hello, Dolly! and yearns for companionship. How he finds it and the epic journey he makes to hold onto it is what Wall-E is all about. In the end, it is a story of hope, love, and redemption, and that is a story worth hearing right now.

Yes, I loved it. Check it out, and let me know when the DVD comes out!

Well fuck me!

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I'm still here!

My posts have been very sporadic (some might say spastic) lately, as life has been extremely busy. I an doing some work for a local film festival (having bee laid off from the local music festival), as well as web design for an art auction and ad sales for the local theater company. I gotta tell you, I am tired of working for non-profits! The name of the type of business they are ALONE is enough to tell you the problem, but underlying the facade of being a business (which is, after all, what non-profits are), there is an attitude of entitlement that extends to the people who are employed there that you should be willing to work like a slave even if you are paid a pittance.

I have said in the past that I'm taking training to change my career, and it seems to finally be bearing fruit. I am signing with an agent to be represented in the field of voice over work, and that is the next step into a new adventure for me. I am so grateful and amazed that after three years of classes and practice, I am going to be given the shot at this. It has been a dream of mine for a lot of my life, and to stand on the threshold of this change is exciting, scary, and awesome!

I am also experimenting with a new blog engine (WordPress). I'm not sure what advantages it has over blogger, but I'm checking it out. I may migrate at least some of my posting there in the near future, but for now whatever posting I do will be here.

Swweeettt . . . .

Thanks to tbogg for reminding me of this one. It's a favorite of mine from the early 1990s. Doesn't seem so long ago, but . . .