Nov 27, 2013
I do not carry any baggage re John Mayer,
Or, I suppose I should say, I am ambivalent/ignorant of his music. But, I really do like his introduction of Albert King in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
(I did read somewhere though, that if you tell someone on a date that you love John Mayer, it probably means you are a virgin.)
Woo-hoo! Almost Thanksgiving, and two days off for Daddy. I love you all!
xxxoooxxx
Nov 25, 2013
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
Mang, I am so not going down that rabbit hole! I have learned my lesson, and will not depress myself by digging deep in to this latest Poptempestinateacuptroversy. My sweet little pottymouth, Lily Allen, now has a controversial video out there that has many up in arms. She has gone too far this time! I will not even get in to the details because it really ain't worth it.
I have heard the song, I have seen the video, and I think they are both great. Plus, the hullabaloo is doing great business for Ms Allen, as this song and another one of hers are both currently in the UK Top Ten.
I am not going to provide the video. You are on your own. But, I will provide you with a Jazz Butcher Conspiracy video, Southern Mark Smith (Big Return), which has a line that pretty much sums up my feelings re these Pop Star Nothingburger Folderols, "Don't you know they only make pop records out of plastic?"
Mwah, ...
 |
| "Put on your lucky white socks, and go on and try it out for yourself!" |
I have heard the song, I have seen the video, and I think they are both great. Plus, the hullabaloo is doing great business for Ms Allen, as this song and another one of hers are both currently in the UK Top Ten.
I am not going to provide the video. You are on your own. But, I will provide you with a Jazz Butcher Conspiracy video, Southern Mark Smith (Big Return), which has a line that pretty much sums up my feelings re these Pop Star Nothingburger Folderols, "Don't you know they only make pop records out of plastic?"
Mwah, ...
I am very excited to see this, as well.
This film focuses on Chomsky's linguistics over his politics, which is fantastic for me because I am quite caught up, chapter and verse, with his political leanings, and do not know anything about his language studies. Maybe once and for all Gondry and Chomsky can hep me to transformational grammar!
You know, I only know one person who has prob read Chomsky's Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. Perhaps this film is a primer for that 1965 magnum opus.
Mwah, ...
Nov 24, 2013
Russian Ark and Hannah Arendt
Working on a Sunday. Which is still strange to me even though it probably shouldn't be. But, before I trudge off to work in the cold, and whilst I try and get some laundry done, I will check in here at the old fauxluxe with scattershot opinions, crazy notions, mash notes, and whathaveyous.
Very excited to be owning the film Russian Ark soon. It should arrive at my house by Tuesday. Russian Ark is a film made by Alexander Sokurov in 2002. It was shot entirely at the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, and is basically a review of three hundred years of Russian history, up until the point of the revolution. The film has a cast of about two thousand people, uses three full symphony orchestras, and is ninety-nine minutes long. Plus, it was shot in one take. With a special digital camera that copied to a disc instead of tape. I have yet to see Russian Ark, so as I mentioned before, I am very eager to check it out. I will share my thoughts with you about the film later in the week.
Sticking with film, I recently saw Hannah Arendt. I must say that I agree whole-heartedly with A.O. Scott of the NYT's assessment that the only problem with the film is that he wishes it were a mini-series instead. Two hours honestly is not enough, and the film feels rushed and a bit cramped. I seriously crave more of the Eichmann trial, which could have been two hours in itself, and was not dramatized but showed actual trial footage. The film would have been perfect for a cable channel mini-series, although I am not sure it would do so well with the Nielsen ratings. Barbara Sukowa's performance as Ms Arendt is staggeringly great, with one of my favorite acting moments in years. Sukowa is speaking on the phone with her editor at The New Yorker. The editor wants her copy about the Eichmann trial. She is taking too long for the article she was hired to write. And, in just a fraction of a second, in a scene where she is probably all by herself talking in to a dead phone, you can visualize Ms Arendt literally wrapping the editor around her little finger with her flirtatious charm. I was charmed too. The whole film is fantastic and comes extremely highly recommended by me. It is a true chick film, as well. It is a film about a great and important twentieth century woman, starring a woman (natch); directed by a woman (Margarethe von Trotta); written by two women (von Trotta again and Pam Katz); was shot by a woman (Caroline Champetier); edited by a woman; cast by a woman; produced by women, etc, ... Great stuff.
So, through watching Hannah Arendt, I have come to learn about Ms Sukowa, and am very interested in watching some of her earlier films, especially her work with Fassbinder. I am also going to catch up with Ms von Trotta's career.
Love you all,
xxxoooxxx,
Ardent
 |
| Still from Russian Ark (Русский ковчег) 2002 |
Sticking with film, I recently saw Hannah Arendt. I must say that I agree whole-heartedly with A.O. Scott of the NYT's assessment that the only problem with the film is that he wishes it were a mini-series instead. Two hours honestly is not enough, and the film feels rushed and a bit cramped. I seriously crave more of the Eichmann trial, which could have been two hours in itself, and was not dramatized but showed actual trial footage. The film would have been perfect for a cable channel mini-series, although I am not sure it would do so well with the Nielsen ratings. Barbara Sukowa's performance as Ms Arendt is staggeringly great, with one of my favorite acting moments in years. Sukowa is speaking on the phone with her editor at The New Yorker. The editor wants her copy about the Eichmann trial. She is taking too long for the article she was hired to write. And, in just a fraction of a second, in a scene where she is probably all by herself talking in to a dead phone, you can visualize Ms Arendt literally wrapping the editor around her little finger with her flirtatious charm. I was charmed too. The whole film is fantastic and comes extremely highly recommended by me. It is a true chick film, as well. It is a film about a great and important twentieth century woman, starring a woman (natch); directed by a woman (Margarethe von Trotta); written by two women (von Trotta again and Pam Katz); was shot by a woman (Caroline Champetier); edited by a woman; cast by a woman; produced by women, etc, ... Great stuff.
So, through watching Hannah Arendt, I have come to learn about Ms Sukowa, and am very interested in watching some of her earlier films, especially her work with Fassbinder. I am also going to catch up with Ms von Trotta's career.
 |
| Hannah Arendt |
Love you all,
xxxoooxxx,
Ardent
Nov 22, 2013
The Wife and I
Watched Three Shots That Changed America yesterday. (And I watched the Am Experience JFK documentary yesterday, as well.)
Three Shots was really excellent. So much to wonder at. From flippant superstitious things like if JFK had put on the cowboy hat and boots in Fort Worth that morning, maybe it would be different, ... To the broadcast of As The World Turns being interrupted, the actor and actress speaking about an offstage character, worried that the character would have to spend Thanksgiving alone ... To the insane way that so much happened so quickly ... That Oswald was so swiftly apprehended and was proclaimed to the world a suspect ... And Oswald being shuttled back and forth between rooms at the courthouse that was right across the street from the scene of the crime ... And, that during all this room switching that Oswald was able to talk to the press numerous times ... That Oswald said he was a patsy, and that he was denied a lawyer, and that he felt the law entitled him to be able to have a shower (?!) ... That one of the press guys called Oswald's Soviet wife, "petite and pretty" ... That LBJ was sworn in so quickly ... That the Dallas Police so badly bungled Oswald's transfer to County. They practically told the entire world when and how exactly they were going to transfer Oswald, and that moments before Ruby's fatal shots, the press continually harped on what a dangerous operation this transfer would be ... The armored car being switched out for an ambulance for Oswald ... That Oswald's murder happened as the funeral for JFK was happening ... That the press very quickly learned about Oswald's Communist leanings and all the FAIR Play for Cuba stuff ... That all this insane crazy stuff seemed to be wrapped up in less than forty eight hours total.
Even the Wife was riveted.
And poor Dallas. This event is one of the main reasons that Dallas is still messed up, and suffers from such an inferiority complex. Dallas, as Molly Ivins observed, is always trying just a little too hard, is always looking over its shoulder at what other cities are doing, does not seem comfortable in its own skin. It is telling that for the longest time after 11/22/63 that Dealey Plaza and the Book Depository building were the number one tourist attractions in Dallas.
Dallas is horribly racist and is already difficult enough to love, but even sometimes I think that perhaps it did not deserve its title of The City of Hate after those forty eight hours played out.
************
The big takeaway for me from the Am Experience JFK doc was what a particularly awful president Kennedy was. Just in order to achieve success as a politician, bankrolled big time from Pops, JFK took contrary positions in order to establish himself as a Maverick-y type. He could not be relied upon to vote the party line, and LBJ as Senate Majority leader hated him. JFK's first book was a wimpy apologist affair for Pops and Chamberlain. Once he was President, it was disaster after disaster. He preferred covert military actions over getting the country and congress involved. The Bay of Pigs was just his first attempt to oust Castro. He and his brother were constantly trying to cook up ways to off him. JFK and RFK did find a way to have Ngô Đình Diệm assassinated, though, just a few weeks before the Dallas trip. JFK also cynically sold the Freedom Riders out for political purpose, and only 'stood up' to Wallace a year later with some platitude about a Civil Rights Bill that JFK knew would never get out of committee.
JFK's shining moment is the Cuban Missile Crisis. Which prob would never have occurred if JFK had not kept trying to kill Castro and annex Cuba, and if he had not put those nuclear missiles in Turkey, aimed straight at the Soviet Union. The press kept the secret of the negotiation that once the missiles in Turkey were promised to be removed that Nikita Khrushchev stood down and war was averted. It is v difficult for me to give JFK much credit for averting a crisis that was of much his own doing, and that Kreushchev did not want either.
Facts is facts, JFK was one of the worst presidents this country has ever had, as far as I am concerned.
Fifty years ago today. And fifty years ago it was a Friday, too.
Ciao,
mds
Three Shots was really excellent. So much to wonder at. From flippant superstitious things like if JFK had put on the cowboy hat and boots in Fort Worth that morning, maybe it would be different, ... To the broadcast of As The World Turns being interrupted, the actor and actress speaking about an offstage character, worried that the character would have to spend Thanksgiving alone ... To the insane way that so much happened so quickly ... That Oswald was so swiftly apprehended and was proclaimed to the world a suspect ... And Oswald being shuttled back and forth between rooms at the courthouse that was right across the street from the scene of the crime ... And, that during all this room switching that Oswald was able to talk to the press numerous times ... That Oswald said he was a patsy, and that he was denied a lawyer, and that he felt the law entitled him to be able to have a shower (?!) ... That one of the press guys called Oswald's Soviet wife, "petite and pretty" ... That LBJ was sworn in so quickly ... That the Dallas Police so badly bungled Oswald's transfer to County. They practically told the entire world when and how exactly they were going to transfer Oswald, and that moments before Ruby's fatal shots, the press continually harped on what a dangerous operation this transfer would be ... The armored car being switched out for an ambulance for Oswald ... That Oswald's murder happened as the funeral for JFK was happening ... That the press very quickly learned about Oswald's Communist leanings and all the FAIR Play for Cuba stuff ... That all this insane crazy stuff seemed to be wrapped up in less than forty eight hours total.
Even the Wife was riveted.
And poor Dallas. This event is one of the main reasons that Dallas is still messed up, and suffers from such an inferiority complex. Dallas, as Molly Ivins observed, is always trying just a little too hard, is always looking over its shoulder at what other cities are doing, does not seem comfortable in its own skin. It is telling that for the longest time after 11/22/63 that Dealey Plaza and the Book Depository building were the number one tourist attractions in Dallas.
Dallas is horribly racist and is already difficult enough to love, but even sometimes I think that perhaps it did not deserve its title of The City of Hate after those forty eight hours played out.
************
The big takeaway for me from the Am Experience JFK doc was what a particularly awful president Kennedy was. Just in order to achieve success as a politician, bankrolled big time from Pops, JFK took contrary positions in order to establish himself as a Maverick-y type. He could not be relied upon to vote the party line, and LBJ as Senate Majority leader hated him. JFK's first book was a wimpy apologist affair for Pops and Chamberlain. Once he was President, it was disaster after disaster. He preferred covert military actions over getting the country and congress involved. The Bay of Pigs was just his first attempt to oust Castro. He and his brother were constantly trying to cook up ways to off him. JFK and RFK did find a way to have Ngô Đình Diệm assassinated, though, just a few weeks before the Dallas trip. JFK also cynically sold the Freedom Riders out for political purpose, and only 'stood up' to Wallace a year later with some platitude about a Civil Rights Bill that JFK knew would never get out of committee.
JFK's shining moment is the Cuban Missile Crisis. Which prob would never have occurred if JFK had not kept trying to kill Castro and annex Cuba, and if he had not put those nuclear missiles in Turkey, aimed straight at the Soviet Union. The press kept the secret of the negotiation that once the missiles in Turkey were promised to be removed that Nikita Khrushchev stood down and war was averted. It is v difficult for me to give JFK much credit for averting a crisis that was of much his own doing, and that Kreushchev did not want either.
Facts is facts, JFK was one of the worst presidents this country has ever had, as far as I am concerned.
Fifty years ago today. And fifty years ago it was a Friday, too.
Ciao,
mds
Nov 16, 2013
This one goes out to Nick C
And his History of Funk project. This is Ernie K-Doe doing Here Comes the Girls. Produced by Allen Toussant, and backed by The Meters.
Prime New Orleans funk.
mds
Nov 15, 2013
They Call Me Mr Pitiful
Alright. Here comes Mr Crab. Here comes Mr Pitiful. Here comes Mr No Fun. I have just about finished watching The Sopranos with the Wife, and after watching over fifty or sixty hours of this legendary cable series, the series that ushered in the glorious new Golden Age of Scripted Television, I can report that I do not like it. I do not like it one whit. I really can not see what all the fuss is about. I understand that it was the first. That it was the (god)father of all the great television shows that came after it (although I disagree with some critics who insist that The Wire does not happen without The Sopranos. I disagree because David Simon had already produced a groundbreaking television show on commercial teevee, Homicide: Life on the Street), and that for that alone it deserves some serious respect. But, to this reviewer, not respect enough to call The Sopranos a rich or rewarding or enjoyable or profound television experience.
Let us get down and dirty, here is why:
So. There you have it. Had to get that off my chest. Mr No Fun is done. You can go back to your normally scheduled program.
Ciao,
Ardent
Let us get down and dirty, here is why:
- None of these characters are likeable. Okay, maybe Meadow. Or, Ginny Sac. But that is it.
- These asshole mope hoods are really just a bunch of screaming baby spoiled New Jersey Housewives, "He didn't invite me to the barbecue, I'm gonna blow his head off!"
- This show also inspired a whole crappy media blitz subculture of New Jersey shows about crappy spoiled New Jersey people. Basta! I have had it up to here with New Jersey! Go away!
- My goodness, there is so much violence towards women on this show. It seems that every other episode one of these spoiled baby hoods is beating the crap out of his goomar or wife.
- The heavy handed dream sequences and heavy handed metaphors about animals. You know, the stuff with the bear and the coma dream.
- Honestly, The Sopranos has not aged well. Not in a way that The Wire has, which seems as fresh upon rewatching as anything on television now. Watch the first few seasons again of The Sopranos, and see if I am not right.
- Dr Melfi is an awful therapist. Her character is totally a stretch for me to believe. And, what is Bogdonavich doing in there? How annoying.
- That The Sopranos (and Mad Men, for that matter) owe as much to Twin Peaks as they do to the other obvious influences they have. Twin Peaks is another insanely overrated program that was art for art's sake and ultimately a waste of everybody's time. Heck, Chase, worked on The Rockford Files and Northern Exposure. Why did he not take more from those programs?
- (By the way, Chase and I share a name. Chase is the anglicized version of his real Italian name, DeCesare. My ancestor peeps from Abruzzo in Italy were named DiCesare, which got pronounced in Oklahoma as DUH-sair.)
- That there was one brief stretch of programs in the sixth season where Vito was outed and we followed his arc for three episodes or such, where the show was so good. Everything clicked. The writing was great, the setups were gorgeous and thoughtfully composed, and it really appeared as if the show had finally found a voice, and spoke about issues that I cared about. Then Vito gets whacked and the show went back to its crappy ways. Live Free or Die from season six is the only episode of The Sopranos that I can say I would ever like to watch again. The show's finest hour as far as I am concerned.
- That Chase (and Matthew Weiner, too) oftentimes seem to have contempt for their audience.
- That the show is so depressing. Everyone has cancer. Everyone ends up in the hospital or the old folks home. So much death. Ugh.
- And, finally, that what it boils down to is, I do not like mafia stories. I see no great nobility here. I am a bit disgusted in the glorification of these murdering thieving philandering wife beating criminals. Man, I am always cheering for the DA when I am watching these mafia tales.
So. There you have it. Had to get that off my chest. Mr No Fun is done. You can go back to your normally scheduled program.
Ciao,
Ardent
Man, The Big O was so dang good,
He coulda sung Mary Had a Little Lamb and woulda made it magical, ...
Oh, wait ... he did sing Mary Had a Little Lamb ...
And it is magical.
Mwah, ...
Nov 12, 2013
Stefanie Says
On her Facebook page, Lady Gaga wrote that “Artpop” would be released with an app that she described as “a musical and visual engineering system that combines music, art, fashion and technology with a new interactive worldwide community — ‘the auras.’ ” She went on, “Altering the human experience with social media, we bring art culture into pop in a reverse Warholian expedition.”
Even the Wife, a Lady Gaga fan, could not make head nor tails of that statement. That quote is from Jon Pareles' article/review of Ms Germanotta's latest multimedia/social networking/album, Artpop.
Here is the link to that.
I also happened to notice that Ms Germanotta has collaborated with choreographer/director/performance artist legend, Robert Wilson. Well, dang! I propose that Wilson and Ms Germanotta should one up Mr Wilson's the CIVIL warS: a tree is best measured when it is down and do a twenty four hour long Mega ArtPopera!
That is what the world is waiting for.
************
Meanwhile, also in the the same NYT Sunday Arts & Leisure section, there was a marvelous article by Alistair Macaulay, celebrating the twenty fifth anniversary of Mark Morris' L'Allegro. I have not had the good fortune to see the entire ballet, just pieces of it, and will make a point of seeing it the next time I get the opportunity.
Morris is a god to me, and I actually have met him before. This would be about 2001 or 2002, and he was directing an opera in the City. He came by the store and I sold him some Manchego cheese. He was staying with a friend in Walnut Creek, he told me.
He was obviously very flattered to be recognized, and he was ever so sweet.
He is not really known for bringing art culture into pop in a reverse Warholian expedition, but I love him and his work just the same.
 |
| Mark Morris |
Mwah, ...
Nov 9, 2013
Fantastic quote from the Wife
A couple of days ago.
I finally got to see my little Romcommedia Francaise, Populaire, and The Wife started talking about the predictability of such films, and I tried in vain to extol the peripheral virtues of period romantic comedies like this one. That she should indulge and treat herself to the great period music, and the score, the fabulous hair and make up, production design, costumes, etc, and then I topped it off with a statement like this, "And besides, we are only five minutes in to this film. You have not seen enough to pass any kind of judgement."
And, the Wife said, "Michael, I have already seen this film. I have been watching this same film over and over again now for twelve years."
Ah, relationships, right? I love her so much.
************
Populaire is wonderful. It is a Fleur de Sel Caramel. It is Nougat de Montélimar. It is all eye popping primary colors, and bouncy music, and as they say in Sullivan's Travels, "With a little sex in it."
The male lead, Romaine Duris, was alright, and he needs to stop smirking all the time, but the real stars were the peripheral things I spoke of earlier, and Déborah François.
Ms François is a legitimate comedic talent, and is about as fetching as is possible. I sincerely hope to see her in many more movies to come.
(Also, Populaire has the best opening titles I have seen in years. They should give out Oscars for best opening titles. My faves recently have been this one and An Education.)
************
As for tonight, I finished watching Barry Lyndon this morning, and I have already set up the dvd player for Ninotchka the minute I hit the couch, and pour myself a glass of Schramsberg Mirabelle Brut.
Everyone have a great and wonderful Saturday night. I am starting to feel better now, and I love you all.
Mwah,
Ardent
I finally got to see my little Romcommedia Francaise, Populaire, and The Wife started talking about the predictability of such films, and I tried in vain to extol the peripheral virtues of period romantic comedies like this one. That she should indulge and treat herself to the great period music, and the score, the fabulous hair and make up, production design, costumes, etc, and then I topped it off with a statement like this, "And besides, we are only five minutes in to this film. You have not seen enough to pass any kind of judgement."
And, the Wife said, "Michael, I have already seen this film. I have been watching this same film over and over again now for twelve years."
Ah, relationships, right? I love her so much.
************
Populaire is wonderful. It is a Fleur de Sel Caramel. It is Nougat de Montélimar. It is all eye popping primary colors, and bouncy music, and as they say in Sullivan's Travels, "With a little sex in it."
The male lead, Romaine Duris, was alright, and he needs to stop smirking all the time, but the real stars were the peripheral things I spoke of earlier, and Déborah François.
Ms François is a legitimate comedic talent, and is about as fetching as is possible. I sincerely hope to see her in many more movies to come.
(Also, Populaire has the best opening titles I have seen in years. They should give out Oscars for best opening titles. My faves recently have been this one and An Education.)
************
As for tonight, I finished watching Barry Lyndon this morning, and I have already set up the dvd player for Ninotchka the minute I hit the couch, and pour myself a glass of Schramsberg Mirabelle Brut.
Everyone have a great and wonderful Saturday night. I am starting to feel better now, and I love you all.
Mwah,
Ardent
 |
| She is such a door bell! |
Nov 8, 2013
Thanks, TBogg!
Seriously. I would advise to you to go down each rabbit hole and follow every link of a link of a link, etc, ... There is just so much never ending goodness all over TBogg's report yesterday.
And, as for you Patrick Howley: Nobody thinks you're a bottom. We all just think you are an arsehole.
UGH!
And, as for you Patrick Howley: Nobody thinks you're a bottom. We all just think you are an arsehole.
UGH!
Senator Rafael Cruz is such a sensitive soul.
Thanks, Charlie.
You know, as we get closer to this grim fiftieth anniversary, I am going to write something in this space about Dallas. Something about how the shadow of this "National Car Crash", as Martin Scorsese called it, still hangs over Big D. Dallas will always have an inferiority complex, and to much of the country will always be known as The City of Hate.
Mr Cruz here, as a public servant of Texas, certainly is not helping matters. Either for the reputation of his political party or the state he represents.
Sit the eff down, Tailgunner, and shut up for a minute.
mds
You know, as we get closer to this grim fiftieth anniversary, I am going to write something in this space about Dallas. Something about how the shadow of this "National Car Crash", as Martin Scorsese called it, still hangs over Big D. Dallas will always have an inferiority complex, and to much of the country will always be known as The City of Hate.
Mr Cruz here, as a public servant of Texas, certainly is not helping matters. Either for the reputation of his political party or the state he represents.
Sit the eff down, Tailgunner, and shut up for a minute.
Nov 7, 2013
Nearly ten years ago,
Back before The Wife was The Wife, and we lived on Alpine Road, behind the Long's (which became a CVS), and across the street from the EMS depot, The Wife woke up one morning to discover her future husband talking in his sleep. She engaged him (me) in conversation, asked him what he (me) was saying. Apparently I was muttering something like, "We're going to have to dance with the Baptists now," over and over again.
You see back in those days the Sooners football team was a juggernaut and was always in contention for the National Title. Which could be very nerve wracking for fans like myself, because one loss could completely derail your entire season. A quarterback injury, a fluke play, a bad call, and suddenly your national title hopes disappear. Renee and I eventually came up a couple of phrases to sum up this fussballangst: "What do you gotta do on Saturday?" "You gotta win." It did not matter how you did it back then, or how close the game was, you just had to win on Saturday.
And, what I was talking in my sleep about that morning was my worry about the Sooners playing the Baylor Bears that day. (My subconscious was very clever, I think. You see, Baylor is a Baptist University, and Baptists don't dance.)
Baylor was terrible then, and I am sure the Sooners hung a half a hundred on them, and breezed. But, such was the fear for me back then, that every game was a potential land mine.
************
So, today, the Sooners are about to kick off against the Baptists any minute now. And, the tables have turned. The Sooners are still a national power, but have not been a part of the National Title conversation for years now. Baylor is vying for the National Title this year, and today's game against Oklahoma is probably the biggest and most important game in their history to date.
As much as I would like to believe otherwise, I think it is going to be the Baptists dancing all over the Sooners tonight. I am calling it:
PS: There is another creature w/ a vested interest in tonight's game, our kitten, Nora. I have promised Nora that everytime the Sooners win a Big Game this season she will get Double Dinner, and an extra can of wet food that day. Sorry, Nora Charles. I doubt there will be Double Dinner tonight. (The Sooners are 2-1 in the previous three Big Games this year.)
Mwah,
Go Sooners!
You see back in those days the Sooners football team was a juggernaut and was always in contention for the National Title. Which could be very nerve wracking for fans like myself, because one loss could completely derail your entire season. A quarterback injury, a fluke play, a bad call, and suddenly your national title hopes disappear. Renee and I eventually came up a couple of phrases to sum up this fussballangst: "What do you gotta do on Saturday?" "You gotta win." It did not matter how you did it back then, or how close the game was, you just had to win on Saturday.
And, what I was talking in my sleep about that morning was my worry about the Sooners playing the Baylor Bears that day. (My subconscious was very clever, I think. You see, Baylor is a Baptist University, and Baptists don't dance.)
Baylor was terrible then, and I am sure the Sooners hung a half a hundred on them, and breezed. But, such was the fear for me back then, that every game was a potential land mine.
************
So, today, the Sooners are about to kick off against the Baptists any minute now. And, the tables have turned. The Sooners are still a national power, but have not been a part of the National Title conversation for years now. Baylor is vying for the National Title this year, and today's game against Oklahoma is probably the biggest and most important game in their history to date.
As much as I would like to believe otherwise, I think it is going to be the Baptists dancing all over the Sooners tonight. I am calling it:
Oklahoma 23
Baylor 48
************
PS: There is another creature w/ a vested interest in tonight's game, our kitten, Nora. I have promised Nora that everytime the Sooners win a Big Game this season she will get Double Dinner, and an extra can of wet food that day. Sorry, Nora Charles. I doubt there will be Double Dinner tonight. (The Sooners are 2-1 in the previous three Big Games this year.)
 |
| Come on Sooners, don't deprive Nora Charles of Double Dinner. |
Mwah,
Go Sooners!
Nov 6, 2013
I just discovered this the other day.
Right now Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn) by Manfred Mann is on heavy rotation with our Muzak stations, and it usually plays around six PM. I love the song, and I love their performance, but it was bugging me because the singer's voice (Mike d'Abo) sounded so familiar to me, familiar to another more recent voice that I loved.
And, I figured it out! Mike d'Abo sounds like Tjinder Singh of the English group, Cornershop! I did some research, and they are not from the same part of England. Singh is from the West Midlands (Wolverhampton) and Leicestershire. D'Abo is from Surrey (Southwest of London.) Plus, Singh is of Indian ethnicity, while d'Abo's ancestry is Dutch.
Anyhoo, I still think they are twins as far as singing. Perhaps, Singh is a big fan? What do you think?
P.S. Mike d'Abo later went on to write Build Me Up Buttercup, which was a massive hit for the Foundations.
xxxoooxxx,
Ardent
Nov 5, 2013
I am sick.
I have been sick for about a week now, and I imagine I am going to stay sick for another four to seven days. That is why I have not posted in so long and why my friendface posts have been haphazard and pretty weak lately.
During my convalescence, over the previous two days, I have been fortunate to watch two great masterpieces of the cinema. I am not going to go in to length about them right now. I do not have the energy or the sharpness of mind essential to commenting on them, but I would like everyone to know that I am okay, just sick (no flu), and that soon, when I am ready, I will give you the full lowdown on Robert Altman's Nashville, and the exquisite magical fairy tale of 1987, Babette's Feast. Both of which are films I had never seen before, even though I most certainly should have. Better late than never, I suppose.
Love you all, and I raise an imaginary glass of 1845 Clos de Vougeot to you,
mds
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| Stéphane Audran in her younger days before Babette's Feast |
During my convalescence, over the previous two days, I have been fortunate to watch two great masterpieces of the cinema. I am not going to go in to length about them right now. I do not have the energy or the sharpness of mind essential to commenting on them, but I would like everyone to know that I am okay, just sick (no flu), and that soon, when I am ready, I will give you the full lowdown on Robert Altman's Nashville, and the exquisite magical fairy tale of 1987, Babette's Feast. Both of which are films I had never seen before, even though I most certainly should have. Better late than never, I suppose.
Love you all, and I raise an imaginary glass of 1845 Clos de Vougeot to you,
mds
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