Making posts out of nothing at all.

I got a couple of great new CDs: Once (Soundtrack) and Mike Doughty's Golden Delicious. I am revelling in fantastic new music. I miss buying music all the time. I've decided to go back to buying more music, even though it is costly. I will pile them on the floor and roll around in amazing noise!

------

I had a date on Friday, with that tricky young man and the long and short of it is that he is a wily bastard and if I am not carefully I will find myself disoriented in Vegas with a ring on my finger.
You see, I had a plan. A plan to make him not like me. It failed.
Miserably.
I wanted to bring up ex's, marriage, politics, religion, my family, and in spite of the fact that looked at my phone 4 times, he was not discouraged.
At the end of the date, nestled in a crowd of people waiting for tables, he asked if he could take me out again. I notified him that that is a violation of the rules; and then I said sure, because people were looking at me like, 'you are a bitch'.
So I guess now I have to dodge his phone calls for the next week until I'm in the clear. If he doesn't leave a voicemail I won't call him back. If he does I'll wait 4 days and then be too busy to hang out with him.
If this doesn't work, I will registering for a Kitchen Aid stand mixer and new baking dishes from Crate & Barrel- so cross your fingers. Or it'll cost ya.

-------------

Saturday Paul & I checked out the AMC Best Picture movie marathon in Kent. Starting at 11 am:

Michael Clayton- which I had thought I would have no interest in, but it was incredible and certainly the best narrative film. My favorite of the bunch. I loved the conditional morality and it reminded me in some ways of Wall Street. American capitalism gone mad. 5 out of 5 monkeys.

There Will Be Blood- was very well made. It was a character or maybe mood piece and the acting was amazing, but at the end I was left with a meh sort of 'well that was a movie wherein nothing happened'. I guess there was no standard story structure and it bugged me. 4 out of 5 monkeys for being diverting and having such great acting.

Atonement- I read (see skimmed) the book, so I cheated. The movie was quite good. The costuming and cinematography were excellent. Paul and I were impressed by the casting. 5 out of 5 monkeys.

Juno- I am a killjoy, and while I laughed, I felt like it was overworked, with Juno's every sentence crammed tight with flippant talk and music likings that were pretentious and a bit out of character. So intentionally aiming for that youthful indie audience. Bleh. I still liked it- but I could never love it. 4 out of 5 monkeys.

No Country for Old Men- I also read this (although I didn't spend a lot of brain on it). It was a better movie than a book. It was done very well, but it also did not have a standard narrative format. There was a collective groan and boo when the movie ended. It was very good through. 5 out of 5 monkeys.

Dear The Eagles,

Let me just cut to the heart of the matter- are you stalking me? Because one of these nights I was listening to KZOK and they started playing Hotel California, and to be honest, I've been wanting space for a while, so I turned it to The Mountain, and there you were, enjoying another tequilla sunrise.

You guys are cool, and I know that we were tight back in the day, but I am just feeling a bit smothered. I wish I could believe that you will just take it easy, but you're got those lyin' eyes.

Maybe I listen to classic rock stations too frequently, so you aren't entirely to blame, but after I turned from The Mountain, 97.3 was playing the Boys of Summer and I think I have just had enough of you, Don Henley. You've really taken me to the limit of my tolerance for hearing your songs over and over again.

It has been a long time since we have shared an actual peaceful easy feeling and call me a witchy woman, but I think I need a new kid in town.

I know you may be feeling like a victim of love, but one of these nights, you'll realize that you simply weren't ready for life in the fast lane. I'm sorry if you're feeling a little heartache tonight, but hell will freeze over if this isn't the last worthless evening that I have to spend with you. I'm so sorry to air all of this dirty laundry on the internet, but I belong to the city, but you belong more along the rocky mountain way. What I'm trying to say is that all I want to do is dance, and I just can't dance to desperado.

I guess this is simply the end of innocence. Don't come looking for me, as I'm already gone.

Best of my love,

q.

Sweet Sweet Nelson Fan Club News Action

New band finds representation:

SCRAP METAL, a who’s who of multi-platinum lead singers and front men, include Kelly Keagy of NIGHT RANGER whose number one rock hits include “Sister Christian”, “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me”, and “You Can Still Rock In America”; Eric Martin of MR. BIG whose number one hits include “To Be With You” and “Just Take My Heart”; Gunnar Nelson and Matthew Nelson the twin sons of Rock’n’Roll Legend Ricky Nelson, of rock group NELSON whose pop/rock number one hits include “(Can’t Live Without Your) Love and Affection”, “After the Rain”, and “More Than Ever”; and Mark Slaughter of SLAUGHTER whose penned number one hits include “Up All Night Sleep All Day” and “Fly to the Angels”.

Don't judge me.

Thought of the Day: Aligator Lizards in the Air Edition

Lately I've been wondering if I am a complete idiot. For the last month or so I have been completely forgetting to take my birth control and not even noticing. I promise that I am usually a very smart (and more pertinently extremely paranoid) person. Is my subconscious mind attempting to get me knocked up, or merely cranky and bloated?

Excellent theme song for next week's Cali trip (to be detailed shortly): Ventura Highway. I swear to you, America is a FANTASTIC band. Sadly I shall not be toting America with my as my ever-sucky iPod is broken, again. And Apple has the WORST customer service ever. Instead of 'Genius Bar' it should be called 'Smug Bastard Who Can't Actually Fix Apple Products With Anymore Skill Than Quiana Bar' although I understand that that is somewhat verbose. Anyone have an MP3 player that isn't part of the Apple conspiracy to sell an attractive but crummy product? (Incidentally, this description of Apple products also aptly describes every guy I dated in college.)

My birthday is stretching to an endless (and baseless) celebration of my awesomeness. Parties (Friday & today), cocktails (Tuesday), lunches (Tuesday & 2 weeks from now), dinners (previous Tuesday and tonight) with presents and mail pouring in from God knows where since last week. If this continues I am likely to get very stuck on me. Yet, I can't help but ponder why I'm getting all this good treatment, is this karmic make-up for my crappy past few weeks?

I've started watching the show Men in Trees and I really (ashamedly) like it a lot. On the surface it is a romantic comedy- under the surface it is a romantic comedy too. But it has fascinating things to say about human nature and gender. Leave it to a Bryn Mawr Girl to obsess of the portrayal of gender in a second string prime-time comedy.
But let me explain the plot! She is a dating coach who writes books about finding love, only to find out that her perfect life isn't what she thought it was. On a business trip to Alaska she finds out that her fiance is cheating on her and suddenly realizes that everything that she taught about dating and gender was probably completely wrong. After years of trying to teach women how to analyze and manipulate men, she finds she knows nothing about them- or about herself. A romance about learning to love yourself and about learning to love and understand instead of manipulate; this show is the anti-Sex in the City.

Last night I watched Mostly Martha, a German film (now remade by Catherine Zeta-Jones) about a chef whose life is dramatically changed by the presence of her orphaned niece. Now I know you are going to say that this has been done- but never so charmingly. I love movies about second chances and change. It had a tone for me like Dear Frankie or Schultze Gets the Blues. Watch it.
5 Monkeys. It was either tear inducingly awesome, OR I am being influenced by my out of control improperly pill-regulated lady hormones.

Catty Parting Shots

From the end of the NY Times review of Pirates 3.

“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). It has scary battles, scary monsters and even scarier rock musicians.

I was going to disagree, but on the NY Times website I took the following screen capture:

If that wasn't intentional I'll eat my fictitious hat.

Don't let your brain get all musty.

Look! Lectures! Yay words!

The Future of Health: Dean Kamen

Friday, February 9, 7:30 PM Town Hall pleased to announce a new series, “The Future of Health,” and to kick it off with well-known entrepreneur and inventor Dean Kamen. Perhaps most famous for the invention of the Segway, Kamen has turned his attention to the world’s water supply. An estimated 1.1 billion people in the world don't have access to clean drinking water and 1.6 billion don't have electricity. To solve the problem, Kamen has invented two devices, each about the size of a washing machine, which can provide much-needed clean water and power in the third world. These are technologies that can be distributed by local village entrepreneurs. Town Hall's “Future of Health” series will explore a wide-range of emerging health issues—from global policy to personal health to alternative practices—and continues on February 28 with James McManus talking about stem cell research. $5 Tickets & info
Tickets are $5 at the door only. Town Hall members receive priority seating.

Eric Klinenberg: ‘Fighting for Air’

Monday, February 5, 7:30 PM For the residents of Minot, North Dakota, the demise of truly local media spelled disaster. In the wake of a train derailment that sent a cloud of poisonous gas drifting toward the town, Minot’s fire and rescue department attempted to reach Clear Channel, the owner/operator of all six local commercial radio stations to warn residents of the approaching threat—but there was no one in the studio to take the call. The result was one death and more than a thousand injuries. Opening with the story of the Minot tragedy, Eric Klinenberg’s new book, Fighting for Air, examines how corporate ownership and control of local media has remade American political and cultural life. Klinenberg is interviewed by Michael Fancher, editor at large of the Seattle Times. Also the author of the highly acclaimed Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster In Chicago, Klinenberg is a sociology professor at New York University. Presented by the Town Hall Center for Civic Life with Elliott Bay Book Company and The Seattle Times. Downstairs at Town Hall, enter on Seneca Street. $5 Tickets & info
Tickets are $5 at the door only. Town Hall members receive priority seating.

Look! Music! YAY Music!

Saturday Family Concerts: Math & Physics Club

Saturday, February 17, 11:00 AM ; Saturday, February 17, 1:30 PM The Seattle indie favorites, Math and Physics Club, charm kids and kids-at-heart with their gentle brand of pop. Their acclaimed EPs, “Weekends Away” and “Movie Ending Romance” have received heavy play on KEXP. The Math and Physics Club has appeared at Sasquatch and Bumbershoot and has spent much of 2006 writing and recording its first full-length album. Presented with KEXP and Parent Map. $5 Tickets & info
Free for kids 12 and under/$5 for adults. Tickets required for all attendees. Adults not admitted without children. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Tickets available at www.brownpapertickets.com or 800/838-3006.

Alexi Murdoch

Crocodile Cafe, Seattle, WA
Sat, Feb 24, 2007 09:30 PM

So far you guys suck.

So far nobody at Poker Night or at Family Dinner Sunday has ever heard of Dominick the Christmas Donkey. You all suck.

Now it pains me to admit that I had to compromise my morals to get a copy of the song. I had to download Rachel Ray's Christmas CD. Yes, my nemesis.

She makes crappy food, crappy faces, and has an abysmal accent- but boy doesn't she looooove donkeys. And once I saw her make punch. I think you know where I am going with this....

And now for your reading pleasure:

Hatred of Rachael Ray can be a powerful uniting force
By Rob Walker | November 26, 2006

Consumer culture and indeed popular culture revolve in large part around shared admiration, shared likes: Fandom, in a word, is a thing that can bring us together.

But what about shared dislikes? Can a community form around that? What is the opposite of a fan club? The answer is the Rachael Ray Sucks Community.

Gathering by way of the blogging and social-networking site LiveJournal, this group has more than 1,000 members, who are quite active in posting their latest thoughts and observations about the various shortcomings, flaws, and disagreeable traits of Rachael Ray, the television food personality.

"This community," the official explanation reads, "was created for people that hate the untalented twit known as Rachael Ray." The most important rule for those who wish to join: "You must be anti-Rachael!"

As with any community, the key to attracting members is not just a clear core idea but one that can be fulfilled in a variety of ways. Members of the Rachael Ray Sucks Community certainly do this, criticizing her cooking skills, her over-reliance on chicken stock, her kitchen hygiene, her smile, her voice, her physical mannerisms, her clothes, her penchant for saying "Yum-o," and so on.

The founder of this enterprise is Misty Lane, 32, of Lansing, Mich., who turns out to be not an angry sociopath but an upbeat-sounding woman who punctuates every other sentence with a friendly laugh.

In the context of anti-Rachael Rayism, Lane was an early adopter: She founded the group three years ago, when Ray's "30 Minute Meals" was just another show on the Food Network. A cooking enthusiast who enjoyed picking up tips and inspiration from "true chefs," Lane complained that Ray trafficked in culinary "common knowledge." And that she kept waving her arms.

"She just used to drive me crazy," Lane says, laughing.

Sounds like a good reason to change the channel, but instead Lane started her community and alerted the 40 or so people on her LiveJournal friends list. Only a few joined, and the community remained small until it was mentioned last year (in a pro-Ray essay) in the online magazine Slate.

By then, Ray, a Cape Cod native, was on her way to becoming the pop culture juggernaut she is today, with a couple of Food Network shows, a syndicated talk show, a magazine started a year ago that is expected to top a million in circulation, plans for a restaurant, and even CDs of her favorite songs for kids and the holidays. Meanwhile, Ray-bashing has flourished, too.

Which raises a curious point: While the community is now mentioned in practically every article about Ray, and new members keep chiming in, it seems to have had no impact on Ray's rise.

Ed Keller, chief executive of the research and consulting firm Keller Fay Group, says that while some brand managers live in fear of negative chatter, what really matters in gauging "talk share" is whether positive talk dominates.

"If you've got a fan base," he says, "you can weather negative word of mouth." (And the anti-Ray sentiment may be a special case, given that many of her fans are almost certainly motivated by an anti-sentiment of their own, against complicated cooking and "foodie" culture.)

Lane has wondered why her particular community has received so much attention. "Most celebrities have anti-sites on the Internet," she points out, and so do plenty of prominent brands, such as Starbucks and Dell. Perhaps the real lesson of communities of disregard is that they're a sign of brand health: Nobody bothers to get together to hate an irrelevant entity. Where would the fun be in that?

And while the tone of the anti-Rachael movement sometimes seems a little unbalanced, fun is basically the point, Lane maintains, of her "silly hobby." She spends an hour a day or so on the site, doing basic maintenance, commenting on new posts, and, most of all, being entertained.

The anti-Ray community is funnier -- and far more active -- than any Ray fan site she has seen.

"It's nice to find like-minded people," Lane says. "You think for the longest time that you're all by yourself, and you're the crazy one for not liking something. Then you meet other people who dislike the same things you do.

"It's like a family reunion!" Lane concludes. And then she laughs, quite cheerily.

I can't believe you haven't heard of Dominick The Italian Christmas Donkey

It is only the best Christmas Carol ever! It's Lou Monte and he's singing about a donkey! Who dances and understands Italian. You can keep your Away in a Manger.

Hey! Chingedy ching,
(hee-haw, hee-haw)
It's Dominick the donkey.
Chingedy ching,
(hee-haw, hee-haw)
The Italian Christmas donkey.
(la la la-la la-la la la la la)
(la la la-la la-la la-ee-oh-da)

Santa's got a little friend,
His name is Dominick.
The cutest little donkey,
You never see him kick.
When Santa visits his paisons,
With Dominick he'll be.
Because the reindeer cannot,
Climb the hills of Italy.

Hey! Chingedy ching,
(hee-haw, hee-haw)
It's Dominick the donkey.
Chingedy ching,
(hee-haw, hee-haw)
The Italian Christmas donkey.
(la la la-la la-la la la la la)
(la la la-la la-la la-ee-oh-da)

Jingle bells around his feet,
And presents on the sled.
Hey! Look at the mayor's derby,
On top of Dominick's head.
A pair of shoes for Louie,
And a dress for Josephine.
The labels on the inside says,
They're made in Brooklyn.

Hey! Chingedy ching,
(hee-haw, hee-haw)
It's Dominick the donkey.
Chingedy ching,
(hee-haw, hee-haw)
The Italian Christmas donkey.
(la la la-la la-la la la la la)
(la la la-la la-la la-ee-oh-da)

Children sing, and clap their hands,
And Dominick starts to dance.
They talk Italian to him,
And he even understands.

Cumpare sing,
Cumpare su,
And dance 'sta tarantel.
When jusamagora comes to town,
And brings du ciuccianello.

Hey! Chingedy ching,
(hee-haw, hee-haw)
It's Dominick the donkey.
Chingedy ching,
(hee-haw, hee-haw)
The Italian Christmas donkey.
(la la la-la la-la la la la la)
(la la la-la la-la la-ee-oh-da)

Hey! Dominick! Buon Natale!
(hee-haw, hee-haw)
(hee-haw, hee-haw)
(hee-haw, hee-haw)
(hee-haw, hee-haw)
(hee-haw, hee-haw)
(hee-haw, hee-haw)

The things that you learn when your pride dies.

Michael Franti and Spearhead play a song called "Never too Late" and I have been meditating on it. The Live at KEXP version has a little story at the beginning about a man trying to turn his life around after having a stroke.
My own grandfather was a hard man. An alcoholic. Late in his life he had a stroke and began to reach out to his children. My mother never accepted his apology before he died. I think a lot about that.
We all make mistakes in life. Sometimes life rides us hard and makes us sour. I think it is an amazing thing for anyone to apologise, to try to move on. I really don't think it's ever too late. I know you can't undue your wrongs, but sometimes all it takes is an apology to move the wronged from a place of wounded bitterness, to acceptance.

Michael Franti and Spearhead are in concert in Seattle at the Paramount on the 13th of October, in case you'd care to join me.

Anyway, I put the lyrics below.
*********************************************

Don't fear your best friends,
because a best friend would never try to do you wrong.
And don't fear your worst friends,
because a worst friend is just a best friend whose done you wrong.
And don't fear the night time,
because the monsters know that you're divine.
And don't fear the sunshine,
because everything is better in the summertime. (summertime)

And it's never too late to start the day over,
it's never too late, pick up the phone.
(pick up the phone and call me)
never too late to lay your head down on my shoulders,
never too late to come on home.
(come on home)

Don't fear the water,
because you can swim, inside you, within your skin.
don't fear your father,
because a father's just a boy without a friend.
And don't fear to walk slow,
don't be a horse race, be a marathon.
And don't fear the long road,
because on the long road you got a long time to sing a simple song.
(sing along, come on)

And it's never too late
to start the day over,
it's never too late,
pick up the phone.
(pick up the phone and call me)
never too late to lay your head down on my shoulders,
never too late to come on home.
(come on home)

Don't fear your teachers,
because if you listen you can hear music in a school bell.
And don't fear your preacher,
if you can't find heaven in a prison cell.
don't fear your own self,
paying money to justify your worth.
And don't fear your family,
because you chose them a long time before your birth.
(yes you did, come on)

And it's never too late to start the day over,
it's never too late, pick up the phone.
(pick up the phone and call me)
it's never too late to lay your head down on my shoulders,
never too late to come on home.

Hold to your children, hold to your children, hold to your children, let them know.