In recent weeks I've developed a mild addiction to podcasts. I find them a nice change of pace from the usual listening-to-music during my workday. I have the good fortune of being able to plug my isolation pod into my ears while in the workplace. The podcast is my new distraction, a tool to help a boring day slip by a little quicker

I've tried more ( Read more... )

This is my favorite time of year in our corner of Arizona. The weather is about to get fabulous, except for this weekend. Every day is sunny until I have an outdoor date. Rain is in the forecast.

Today is the 20th annual Phoenix Blues Society Blues Blast Festival at the Mesa Amphitheatre. The BB festival marks the end of our harsh Sonoran winter. It ( Read more... )

When I first heard the Coen brothers were remaking the western classic True Grit my reaction was, "Say it ain't so. Who in hell are you going to cast in John Wayne's only Oscar winning role?" There are some characters done right the first time. And do we have to remake every damn movie? .

What it is with Hollywood these days? Do they have any new ( Read more... )

During my mid-morning break I surfed the news sites I typically use to find wall to wall coverage of the Michael Jackson funeral. MSN, CNN and Foxnews had direct links in case you wanted to watch the services live. Nothankyou I'll pass. From the front page photos it appeared a chopper was following the casket from the private cemetery services to ( Read more... )

My last post on sarcasm was a 'now for something completely different' blog post to get my mind off the issues at home. I write about what's on my mind, good or bad, with little regard to how it might make me appear. It's the naked truth. I write as if no one reads it, like a leather bound journal tucked under my pillow. It's obvious from recent ( Read more... )

Saturday night we went out with friends for dinner and a performance of 'The Merchant of Venice' by the Southwest Shakespeare Company. I can't claim a long history of theatre but I really appreciate live performances when I do attend. I love the enthusiasm of stage actors.

http://www.swshakespeare.org/

Southwest Shakespeare performs at the Mesa ( Read more... )

Today I needed a day off from my days off.

I planned a vacation day Friday to take my boys to a Dodgers spring training game. Camelback Ranch, their new training facility, is beautiful. The weather was fabulous, 80's and sunny. The Dodgers lost to the Royals 4-1. Manny had three singles.

Cheryl scored last minute free-tickets (the good kind) to Les ( Read more... )

I'm doing some organizing and found this unfinished work in my Hotmail drafts folder. I have a few half written ideas floating around. I feel the need to purge....spring cleaning for my brain. This one is as close to being finished as I'll get. Here it is, as-is. I may cross post some version of this to 40-something.

Hollywood is a guilty pleasure ( Read more... )

Sometimes a band is much better live than you expect them to be. Saturday night I attended one of those extraordinary shows. I first heard Carlos Santana when I was a little boy listening to dad's albums. My father played his Abraxas album over and over. I've always appreciated Santana's guitar (something missing in today's music) and music but ( Read more... )

Do you have interest in a form of media that is a complete departure from what you normally listen to or view?  My dad never liked my music from the 70's or 80's and I can't say there's very much out there today that I like unless it's being produced by the 'hangers on' from my hey day or contemporary blues artists. There are few exceptions to that ( Read more... )