6.24.2006

i'm taking advantage of the free wireless my local bar has to offer, drinking a cold beverage, and listening to the traveling wilburys. my wife has some people over. i'm pretty scattered and bored today. does anyone out there know a tv show i can write for? i'm going to start a blog called hireme.blogspot.com. i'll just post ideas for different tv shows and beg people to hire me. actually... hmmm...

cold pbr. cold and delicious. i just got the dos passos usa trillogy, still laboring through saul bellow. he likes the sound of his words too much for me sometimes. i'm also reading catch-22. everyone seems to get around to it sometime. it's not very funny. i wasn't really expecting much to be honest. the dialouge is to the book as the rake in the face gag is to wiley coyote. mildly amusing the first time around, then trying, then pointless. i like the book, i'm just not a fan of the 'comedy.'

we've got a show on saturday. man i need to make some money. seriously, if you own or operate a business, give me a call.

i went to the os mutantes, theivery corporation, flamming lips show last night. i really only cared about os mutantes, but the flamming lips blew my mind. such a good show. though theivery corporation were pretty terrible. we also took the train. which was cool on the way there, what with our nice conversation and hangout with the bethancourts; but man oh man did it suck on the way home. i'm glad we don't have better public transportation, because public transportation, even good public transportation, is still public transportation, and public transportation is boring and dirty.

montana was cool. i rode horses and floated, saw animals and had some libations. i missed my wife miserably and made many a joke about those furry little critters that live in creeks with the flat tails. my battery is about to die.

7.19.2006

i am home finally. i will write about montana maybe later.

7.11.2006

syd barrett died the other day.

7.10.2006

i'm watching david wright talk about himself during the home run derby. he looks like an adult malcolm in the middle. maybe he is. i also think pudge has adult braces, can someone confirm this?

now paul lo duca is pitching to malcolm in the middle. paul loduca likes skanky women who aren't his wife.

7.9.2006

listening to jim o'rourke. next on random, bix. next on random more bix. next on random, mary poppins. next on random, smashing punikins; roy smeck, t.rex, django, everly brothers with cathy's clown, comin' in at 3:00 pm... carry that weight, baby driver, harry nil, dylan, beatles' worstest song, bobby darrin, the band live, nirvana on a plain, she's goin' bald, funny... nirvana, on a plain unplugged, more of the band live, dancing at the lesbian bar, cry! cry! cry!, james taylor, muddy waters, me, muddy and wulf, lucina, iron and wyne, lips, beach boys pretty song, lip service, old 97s fun song, bob wills song i covered one time, brasil band i will see soon, sufjan with another of his stupid long titles, all you fascists, gillian, oasis on fire rocking the world, dreamer in my dreamz, jay-zzz, more frigging oasis being the best with war ballads for fighting, wilco, leo cohen and his jaw harp, JUNIOR!, j. cale, t. waits, cream, red foley, hawaiian wedding song sung by elvis and tribal natives, that song on bb and wilco sung by that black guy, jimi, everlys, ben folds being sincerely ironic, paul simon never being ironic, led z., g. dead, roy rodgers singing home on the range with his sons of the pioneers and i'm done for now as i should be writing my movie that will make me a zillion dollars none of which i will donate to charity because i will make a swimming pool of coins and soiled used dollar bills that i will pay my friends to jump in and hurt themselves and i will laugh behind my sunglasses ominous and cool and distant and most likely packing heat with my shirt off ready to shoot down insurgents like the remaining members of the clash who are assulting my ears with the right profile. nobody ever gives a thought to jimi h. and his flying quitar any longer. i will, i will buy large rugs that sport his embroidered mane and stoned far off gaze, i will listen to his music and think of out casts and doors fans and zeppelin and grateful dead t-shirt wearing high school juniors and realize that they're the only ones who really get the picture man. next song. get back. sign me up for a beatles rug too. a kinks rug would be cool, too. we had a willie nelson face at a house once. he's playing a standard now. i believe it was first written by george and ira. america's elvis costello is rocking. prissy belle and sebastian singing that stupid space boy dream song. good band but what a piece of crap song! oh!!! old kentucky home by satchmoses, i love this frigging somg so much. stephen foster, mintrel nonsense aside, wrote nice songs for to tap one's feet. man oh man. we will sing one song of our old kentucky home... by and by hard times will knock at the door... my old k home far away... he scats along... silent smoke and a bass solo, what's he doing? in the room many years ago... only the bass. now bass and piano, but no busted lip horn blowing, maybe a slug of gin, now everyone sing!! we will sing one song of our old kentucky home far away. the horn now... lyrical and driving... muted because he can... low... now... here it comes... soaring... driving along smokestack light saber... connecting through the stars and moon on the mississippi knee deep in the mud kids and crawfish and their little legs kicking in the boiling pot like fingers on the golden brass horn... and we're finished. buck owens died and i saw him like a corpse sing steady and drunk on my first date in bakersfield. i think they dug a hole and buried him in the sewer.

7.8.2006

saw a pirate movie and ate poke yesterday. and sushi. what to do today? run and surf. yes, i will run and surf.

7.7.2006

arrrrrrgh
Originally uploaded by jessegloyd.

mother-in-law's birthday, and my mom's dad's as well.

i will see a pirate movie.

for my birthday i got: a book, new baby blue sperry's, a hat, shorts, and new new ballance running shoes.

i am quite excited to see the said pirate movie. maximum camp must abound. i am reading a book about funny fat people in new orleans that darren wrote in the 1960s. his name was john kennendy back then.

one day, upon coming home from work, the weight of the world became too much for darren. he promptly gassed himself with a garden hose in his car in his garage and died peacefully.

then his mildly crazy mom found this book he had written about fat crazy funny people in new orleans. she thought it was a masterpiece, and it may have been, so she took it to walker percy. after bugging the hell out of him, he decided to read the now brittle manuscript.

the rest is history. john kennedy was reincarnated the same year his book came out. as a baby, farting along in his own little world (just like ignatius), he won the pulitzer in 1981.

7.6.2006

i celebrate my birthday by giving you this... kelvim escobar's myspace.

7.5.2006

fourth of fun
Originally uploaded by jessegloyd.

happy almost me day.

my sister and trevor left yesterday. i opened some presents. after complaining about soccer, i actually became mildly (read mildly) interested in the battle of the axis powers yesterday.

i got new shorts from the gecko store from my wife. i also got a new gecko hawaii wallet.

7.4.2006

happy fourth of july.

i read night yesterday. nice, light, summer reading.

i want to house swap with someone in europe.

people are watching world cup and i could care less. soccer is boring as hell. soccer is like bad metal or jam music. everyone craps their pants over how "exciting" and "skillful" and "unexpected" it can be. to me, it reads like a lot of nothing on it's way to nowhere. i feel sorry for how boring it is. and stupid.

"but baseball is boring," you say. suck on a rotten old dagger. i don't give a rip. "you just don't understand it." i say, exactly! "you're closed minded!" so? "but it's fuuutboool! it is the world's sport!!" so is starvation.

7.3.2006

listening to james p. johnson.

7.1.2006

happy my almost birthday. the dodgers are puddy in the angels' hands today. it's alright. i've got leonard cohen to confort me. i may go and surf the waves today.

i followed an eel around yesterday for a while. maybe i'll build a sandcastle or some form of sand fort.

6.30.2006

some good friends and their space shuttle cafe are to be featured on huel howser's california gold august 15 (with a repeat on august 25). the episode will also feature my parents and poppo. watch it and be cool!

6.29.2006

listening to mose allison, getting out of the sun for a bit, drinking coffee, etc.

i switched back to firefox again. being one who at times suffers mildly at the hands of ocd, i took an hour and a half to reorganize my favorite bookmarks and whatnot. i enjoy order, but i'm also lazy. i usually just sit around worrying about order without doing anything about it.

almost finished with the beautiful and damned. it was a bit slow going; needlessly wordy at times, but i am really enjoying the last 2/3rds of it.

pg. 178

"Work!" she scoffed."Oh, you sad bird! You bluffer! Work-- that means a great arranging of the desk and the lights, a great sharpening of pencils, and 'Gloria, don't sing!' and 'Let me read you my opening sentence,' and 'I won't be through for a long time, Gloria, so don't stay up for me,' and a tremendous consumption of tea or coffee. And that's all. In just an hour I hear the old pencil stop scratching and look over. You've got out a book and you're 'looking up' something. Then you're reading. Then yawns-- then bed and a great tossing about because you're all full of caffeine and can't sleep. Two weeks later the whole performance over again."

6.28.2006

aleister crowley, skull and bones, and judge reinhold were all prominetly featured in my dream last night. judge reinhold has been in my dreams the last two nights. all have been freaky.

i am going for a run.

6.27.2006

it's been a lazy day. too lazy in fact. too many chips, not enough mangos. we watched the pilot episode for magnum last night. so-so. i kept falling asleep. harry nilsson is on the ipod.

i went running twice yesterday, so i'm making up for it today.

friday we will have maximum fun. we went to charlie's (a bar/ restaurant frequented by the red headed stranger hisself on occasion). turns out a band called the planetary bandits are playing.

6.26.2006

had a nice anniversary yesterday. we ate sushi on the grass where we got engaged. drank some nice drinks on the roof at a new restaurant on front street. mai tai for me, lava flow for her. tropical places are where it's at.

poke is my new favorite food. i consumed a pound and a half of it with my dad yesterday.

we went on a sailboat today and are about to eat fish tacos and my homemade poke i just put together.

6.20.2006

we leave for hawaii on friday. i am quite looking forward to it. then it's off to montana. then it's off to find work for the summer. i passed one of two csets. i will be missing os mutantes, but a trip to montana beacons and sounds like more fun. my wife will be in africa helping babies live better and learn to be cool. i'll be chillin' with my homies and puppy dog. i've got a rock band that'll rock some this summer. and i will work on many stories. some funny ones and some weird ones and maybe a funny one that is supposed to make you cry (while farting). love jesse.

6.13.2006

by Jesse Gloyd

He was sleeping beside her breathing heavy. The sweet smell of wine hung in the air close to his face. They had been drunk for a time at dinner. Him more than her. Ten dollar martinis and a bottle of something red, she couldn't remember, that he'd ordered with the lamb had done the job. When she got drunk, she would get fuzzy in her lower jaw and a slight pressure would build in her temples. She had been spinning when she fell asleep and was glad to have turned down the fancy ice wine that he had ordered with the fried banana desert and its lines of criss-crossing chocolate syrup.
A breeze moved the blinds and cooled the room. She wasn't drunk anymore. They had fallen asleep talking about Arizona; about the red rocks of Monument Valley and how they reminded her of giant petrified sand castles. It had made him laugh and she now wondered what had put that image in her head. She felt the pang of embarrassment for a moment but it passed quickly after tasting the rotten alcohol and cigarettes that had settled on her tongue and the roof of her mouth. He was much worse than her, she thought. He would be thinking more about water and brushing his teeth when he woke up.

She sat on the balcony in the dark and shook a cigarette out of a soft pack of Camel Lights. She remembered how he had gone on and on that first night with his mind clear and his half naked body covered with the cool bottom sheet of the bed. “James Taylor has the most perfect pitch,” she remembered him saying with the room a filtered cloud that smelled green like she believed marijuana was supposed to smell. “His chord phrasing effervescent, his fingers dance with my bow like gulls over the sea.” She never wondered about love or the validity of the situation; it didn't really even excite her much.

They were to have one more show with her to the side of the stage. The free cocktail shrimp and the asparagus wrapped in prosciutto never got old. She would bite into the pink flesh that smelled faintly of the ocean where it once would hump alive through the kelp, suspended between rays of light- green, dark blue, and black- like his arm as it flicked and beat with the urgency of the moment across the strings of his instrument. In his black suit, solitary and cold, he played like a statue with the brass and wood of the orchestra behind him. Nobody in the audience knew that he wore the same shirt every night; that the sweat that beaded off his forehead collected always in the stained yellow armpits, whose smell never went away.

Smoking, she knew that it would end after the next show. The stars in the Denver night were bold and crisp in their whiteness, as snow flakes falling on old snow. He would be back in his New York condo soon, she imagined. With the movie view of the green trees of the park; of Woody Allen and his daughter walking hand in hand, wearing glasses, and balding perpetually with their dog... him inside, high above, drinking chamomile tea and watching the Knicks dance across Madison Square Garden.
She wouldn't think much of him. No. A story to a friend maybe. Nothing of the sex… of course it would be implied. Just the curiosity that hung with the smoke of the cigarettes that she held between stained fingers and the needless wondering on whether he minded being called Yo-Yo, or just Yo when they were making love.

6.12.2006

i'm listening to baseball prospectus' podcast. i wish they would focus more on current baseball as opposed to random shows on specific themed topics. i just had a bowl of frosted minis and have finished getting the crockpot full of split peas and pig's feet for dinner.

to do:

unload dishwasher, fold clothes, clean bathrooms, write satchel more, get a job, wash car, jog, watch movie with wife and eat said split peas and pig's feet.

now i will do the things listed.

6.10.2006

so my sister's getting married tomorrow and i'm watching the commentary on "yankee doodle dandy." it is the last film from afi's arbitrary top 100 list. it's really quite good. michael curtiz directed james cagney, who is a fantastic dancer. good stuff...

i'm looking forward to "prairie home companion." i've heard a few interviews lately with altman and garrison k. altman is like the updike of film. both are very influential, both have made some of the most fantastic works of the last forty years, both became hip in the late 60s, and both have a lot of crap wedged between greatness. i ought to read rabbit is rich someday.

i just finished for whom the bell tolls. done with hemingway for a time. moving on to let us now praise famous men.


books i'm taking to hawaii: beautiful and the damned, confederacy of dunces, augie march...

any recommendations?

Photobucket

This is a test post from Photobucket.com

i'm in outerspace man

like for real.

the beach

i will be going to the beach today. i went there yesterday as well. anyhow. that. is. all.

crazy like a fox

who also happens to be crazy.bob dylan has a radio show

a break in the action

i remember when i "got" pet sounds. i was listening to it on repeat while writing something stupid for school (college school). with my head phones blasting mono personified (as brian wilson intended) into my right ear, everything clicked as the tympani thud midway through "i'm waiting for the day" shot the song into the ozone. repeat. repeat. repeat. good. everything came into view.

anyhow, i finished "a farewell to arms" today during sixth period and had a similar experience. it is perfect. i've read most everything else noteworthy he'd written and generally dug it all. but man. serious. like a tympani thumping the beat of a dying woman sucking down ether while delivering a still born to a ungrateful deaf genius with his feet in the sand and his hands on the keys, vocals slurred, from grappa, brandy, and phil spector's voodoo curse; my mind was blown.

Da Vinci's Women Part II

"Santiago is a bore," he said to her with the afternoon sun at its still point. It was a calm day. She wanted to take his hand.

"Who is Santiago?"

"He is of the church, but he is also of the illuminated."

"How can he be both?"

"He is."

"And you?"

He let his answer hang in the air with her breath and she did not press the issue. They walked along in silence. A sparrow flew above them. They watched as it darted through the sky. A hawk caught in a draft, was watching it too. Its long wings stretched wide and held it seemingly motionless among the wisps of white clouds spreading thin in the distance.

"You never talk about your work to me."

"I've no need."

"I like to know what you're working on."

"It is not your business."

"Do you love me?"

"Of course I do, yes."

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

They sat in a courtyard and ate ham and bread with their hands. The meat was soft and pink, and the skin was warm and brown. He tore at it with his molars and let the crisper flecks fall to the ground where birds and dogs would find it later. A man came and filled their chalices with wine. It was rich and the alcohol was muted and dry.

"We should drink to get drunk tonight," she said.

"Maybe," he said. He caught her looking at him with far away eyes. "You are what's hidden behind her smile."

She smiled a lie of flattery that she had smiled many times before and watched a line of ants move by her feet. "We will make love when we return," he said. "At dusk and then I must work."

"Do you still believe in the divinity of the Christ?" she asked. He was silent. "I spoke with the priest this morning. I spoke with him and told him of my sin."

"What sin?"

She began to cry. The owner of the tavern walked outside and took their plates. Leonardo finished his wine and got up from the table. She watched him walk away and felt the line of ants cross the middle of her foot.

"Leonardo!" she said. Getting up and holding her dress, she ran to him.

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

She was about a third of his size. A fragile creature, she laid on his bare stomach. His chest was strong like his father's was, but his stomach was no longer flat. The wine from lunch hung sweet in the air; their love making had been quick. "I love you," she said when they finished. "But you love another."

"I love my work and that is all."

She had been satisfied with his answer and had fallen asleep with the rise and fall of his belly. After a while, he rolled her off and contemplated killing her. He let the thought pass and dipped the brush. Naked, he helped the paint become the woman's hair in the night; thinking about nothing but colors, and motion, and the pressing nature of his calling.

Da Vinci's Women Part I

She leaned over his shoulder and looked at his drawing. The clack of the cart selling meats and wine in casks was the only sound. The veins in his forearm, shades of blue and red, pulsated under the thick hair of his arm. She ran her fingers through the greasy locks of his grey hair and began massaging his shoulders.

"Thank you," he said. The gravel in his voice and the sweet smell of pipe and ale from the night before came with his breath. They had eaten a hen with onions and wine after the sun had set. The candle had dripped slow and burned out while they made love. "Why don't you sleep?" she said. "I will sleep when I'm ready."

"You will go to hell," she said.

"There is no hell."

"You don't know that."

"Foolish woman," he said. "Go back to sleep." He put the pen back in the quill with the black ink rippling and got up. Lifting his robe he urinated into the pot in the corner. "Come to bed," she said. "I will for a moment." The sun had risen and had lit up her belly.

"Come to bed."

He let his robe drop and walked to her. They made love and he fell asleep on his back. She covered him with a sheet and sat on the edge of the bed. Looking at his work she said a prayer to her mother and to God. She prayed for forgiveness and laid back next to him to sleep away the morning.

askjdnkjbnsadfg

good times had at the goss going away party. good times to be had at the ball game today. i liked capote. i will make an egg sandwich and write a novel now.

5.20.2006

i take the cset today and i hope i do alright. that is all.

hank jr is a paraody living in the shell of a man

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ne6FBXa8R6I&search=hank%20williams

cool

fred astaire took up skateboarding late in life.

still not counter culture

still not counter culture
Originally uploaded by jessegloyd.

you might think it would be cool to like this... but it's not. unt uh.

winner of best!

winner of best
Originally uploaded by jessegloyd.

i am now into loving things because i have seen the cool things that i have been missing.

something else that sucks will be coming up soon!

but i love this...

HairyMonaLisa
Originally uploaded by jessegloyd.

this is awesome and counter culter at the same time.

i hate this...

mona_lisa
Originally uploaded by jessegloyd.

yeah, this is something else that sucks.

in response to drew...

here's something controversial, i think. i'm really tired and bored with the following bands that everyone craps their pants over: pavement, pavement, pavement, and pavement. i'm sick of pavement, of malkmus' boring drone apathy drenched vocals, of the uninspired rhythym section, the monotonous guitar licks that go knowhere. pavement = the grungies diaper clad crap baby little girl diaper poops. i don't understand why people like them at all. maybe it's because mojo, spin, and stereogum told them it was a good thing to do ten years after they finished sucking.

moving up on my hate list

my second favorite thing to hate? everything da vinci code. everything. hate it almost as much as family guy.

this dude on this one blog also hates family guy

he wrote a good article. here it is. here is a link to his awesome blog. awesome, because he hates family guy.
this is his blog below.

http://zvbxrpl.blogspot.com/2004/09/why-i-hate-family-guy.html



Why I Hate FAMILY GUY

Someone suggested to me that if I took the time to explain why I think Family Guy is a bad show, I might stand a chance of getting some angry replies from some of that show's many online fans. Since the main reason to do a blog is the hope of getting angry replies and/or denunciations on other blogs, I've decided to give it a shot.

Here are ten reasons why I think Family Guy is a bad show:

10. Stewie, the most popular character, is a double ripoff. His world-domination ambitions and dictatorial rhetoric are ripped off from the Brain of Pinky and the Brain. And his design and personality are ripped off from Jimmy Corrigan, a comic-strip character created by Chris Ware. A Jimmy Corrigan strip from 1996 can be found here.

9. It constantly recycles its own meagre store of gags. It's got about three basic gags -- a cutaway to something that references a work of '70s or '80s pop culture; one of those "stretching out something so long that it's funny" routines (they do this one about five times an episode), and sexual-innuendo jokes that are sort of The Golden Girls for frat-boys. I don't mind that they sometimes use jokes from other shows -- recycling jokes is inevitable in comedy -- but they managed to get through 50 episodes without coming up with a new kind of joke, and that wears thin.

8. The characters are so boring, such a dull collection of sitcom stereotypes from the creator's youthful TV-watching binges, that there is virtually no humor to be gotten from the characters. Good comedy writing gets laughs from the characters; the writers on this show write around the characters. By the last few episodes, Stewie was so tapped-out as a character that he was written out of character in almost every episode (that is, almost every gag featured him taking on a personality other than his own), a sign that the character had nothing to him in the first place except the stuff that was taken from superior characters (like the Brain). About the only actual character on the show is Brian the dog, and even he doesn't have that much to his character.

7. It uses references as a substitute for humor. Talk to the average young Family Guy fan and you'll usually hear that what they like best about the show is that it refers to things they saw when they were growing up, and they're just tickled to find that someone else remembers it -- like the "kid in me/adult in me" commercial. Well, I remember that stuff too, but that's lazy comedy writing: there's no perspective on the stuff Family Guy is referencing, no actual joke beyond the reference itself. A golden rule of bad comedy is that if people recognize the reference, they'll laugh even if the joke's not funny. Family Guy goes beyond that; it doesn't even try to have a joke half the time -- it just assumes that making a pop culture reference is inherently funny. Another Family Guy hater makes a similar point here.

6. Seth MacFarlane's voice acting is quite poor: uninflected, monotonous, recycling the same few vocal tricks over and over the way the show recycles a few gag concepts. Mike Judge, Trey Parker, Matt Stone and others have developed into good vocal actors, but Seth MacFarlane is the best argument against creators voicing their own creations.

5. It's one of those things that presents itself as "cutting-edge" but is actually gutless. Its "offensive" jokes are neatly calculated to make sure they don't actually risk offending their fanbase; instead they make jokes that would be offensive to the kinds of people who don't watch the show -- sexual prudes, for example. Any genuinely cutting-edge comedy will risk offending people who watch it; but how is a penis joke supposed to offend the average college student? The answer is, it's not supposed to offend anybody who watches the show; it's supposed to give college kids a smug sense of superiority in believing that someone else might theoretically be offended by that penis joke. (An animated sitcom that actually dared to be tasteless and offensive was Duckman, which took on actual social and political issues; another animated sitcom that actually dares to challenge its audience is South Park, which takes the things that its youngish viewers have been told on other TV shows -- say, saving the rainforest is good -- and tells them the opposite.)

4. The style of the show, which its fans consider such an innovation, was pretty much familiar to anyone who had been following the Saturday morning and weekday cartoons of the early to mid '90s. Sitcom-style stories that went off into weird directions; a look and feel that parodied sitcoms of the '50s to the '80s; constant jokes about '80s pop culture: this was all characteristic of the funny kids' cartoons of the '90s. Essentially, if you watched enough episodes of the early Johnny Bravo (which Seth MacFarlane worked on) or some episodes of Tiny Toons or various other kids' shows of that era, then Family Guy looks like what it is: a kids' show, with all the things that characterized the kids' shows of the '90s: attempts to be hip, suspicion of big heartfelt moments, and lots of references to the shows the kids watched when they were very little. In other words, Family Guy isn't a sophisticated take on the sitcom; it's a kiddie show with some PG-13 references for older kids.

3. The animation was probably the worst of any animated sitcom ever, maybe neck-and-neck with the animated sitcom version of Dilbert. One veteran artist, who described Family Guy as the worst show he'd ever worked on -- and he'd worked for Hanna-Barbera in the '70s, so he wasn't saying that lightly -- summed it up this way:

When I'd suggest some sort of minor gag... [the director] just looked at me and, deadpan, asked "why"? The designs of the characters were murder to draw, so bland and expressionless, but I was somehow expected to get more "acting" out of them. Believe me, Peter's model sheet poses for "happy" and "depressed" looked practically identical! I was told not to add eyebrows, not to distort eye-shapes, not to draw "cartoony" poses...but still, somehow, creating "acting". Yeah, right.


The animation on "The Simpsons" or "King of the Hill" may not be classic-level, but every character acts with his or her face and body to a certain extent; they have, let's say, at least two expressions. "Family Guy" has the most inexpressive characters I've ever seen, and the only distinctive movement on the whole show is a gag that the supervising director (Peter Shin) invented to make characters fall down really fast... a gag that was then repeated to death for the rest of the series.

2. The scripts are bad. I mean apart from the shoddy recycled gags and characters, most of the scripts are just frankly terrible in terms of story construction, coherent satire, etc. The satire is, again, gutless and timid (taking on such never-before-seen satirical targets as tobacco companies and feminists); the dialogue is sub-According to Jim; the stories tend to feature one plot point per act surrounded by many minutes of filler. I guess you can say that what I call "filler" is really the point of the show. Even if the gags were funny (which they are not), I wouldn't buy this. The show is in the form of a sitcom and it should have good story construction and all the other stuff one expects of a sitcom. Otherwise all you're left with is a big overlong comedy sketch with the same characters every week, not unlike a really bad year of Saturday Night Live.

1. Plenty of other animated shows that went off the air didn't get anywhere near the same kind of following, and certainly didn't get revived. Futurama, of course, was far better; but so was Pinky and the Brain when it was in primetime; so was Duckman, which was the offensive, shocking show that Family Guy never had the guts to be (and Duckman's "Road To" episode was a million times better than Family Guy's). Even The Critic, which had some of the same problems as FG (bad animation, unmemorable characters, over-reliance on pop-culture references as opposed to genuine satire or parody), displayed a higher level of craftsmanship. Essentially Family Guy is a story of poor craftsmanship rewarded. I can't help but resent that.

Now, what do I think of the fact that this show has become so popular among younger viewers, popular enough to make it a huge DVD hit and guarantee a sizeable 18-35 demographic for the new episodes? First of all, I think that the Family Guy cult will look really embarrassing a few decades from now, because the '80s references will no longer be comprehensible, and so the episodes will consist largely of dead spots (since there are no jokes, just the references, which are supposed to be funny just because you "get" them). Second, I think it proves that people of my generation don't have better taste in TV than people of my parents' generation; in other words, how can I make fun of some elderly relative for enjoying some badly-written, badly-made CBS show, when I have younger relatives who enjoy the worse-written, worse-made Family Guy? In other words, I think "geezer TV" has been replaced by a new category... call it "whippersnapper TV": bad TV that succeeds because it appeals to the sensibilities of a particular age-based segment of the audience. All of which is a long way of saying that lots of bad shows become hits. This is another one of them.

Now, to add some fairness and balance: I actually did think that the last season of Family Guy showed some improvement, in the sense that there was some attempt to write coherent stories and give the characters something resembling a personality. It wasn't good, but it was better, and I suppose it's theoretically possible that the new episodes could be better still. There was one episode from the last season that I thought was just plain good: "Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows," where Brian the dog meets a reclusive old lady who used to be an opera singer. That episode featured an original song that was quite a good attempt at a pastiche Broadway song, certainly better than anything Joss Whedon came up for for his Buffy musical, so I've got to give Seth MacFarlane credit for that, as well as for proving to college kids that musicals aren't for dorks. (I read that the upcoming Family Guy CD includes a song from Take Me Along by Bob Merrill, so he gets more points for that.)

Also, despite the life-ain't-fair tone of # 1, I'd say that in general, most animated sitcoms have gotten a fair shake; King of the Hill is still on, as is South Park; Futurama and Duckman got 70 episodes apiece; the animated sitcoms that outright bombed are mostly the ones that deserved to. So Family Guy's success doesn't actually take anything away from more deserving shows. It's just another mediocre-to-poor show on the air. The TV universe will survive that.

5.11.2006

my list of things i hate.

5. margaret cho
4. entertainment tonight
3. murderers
2. taxes
1. friggin' family guy. i used to say i liked it, and kind of did, sort of- but it just hit me... it is the dumbest, least interesting, most unfunny, nonsatirical satire ever (that was actually popular). the jokes are obvious and lame. it's so, so, so awful. usually when everyone likes something and i don't, i figure the problem's with me, but you know something? this time, i am so completely sure of myself. i hate it. i hate everything about it. and if you like it (read: everyone in the damn world), then you might want to take a long hard look at yourself in the mirror.

cartoons that are funny and good include: the simpsons, beavis and butthead, king of the hill, the flinstones, fractured fairy tales, south park, darkwing duck, garfield and friends, peanuts, mr. magoo.

5.3.2006

We're playing a show tomorrow at the Hotel Cafe. I assume the several people who read this already know, but in case you didn't, and you want to hear some good ramble tamble...

Hotel Cafe
10:00
$5

5.2.2006

things to do today...

band practice. run. get a job.

i'm a provisional intern with lausd as of yesterday. today i'm trying to get a job. i would like to work at a middle school. any suggestions?

5.1.2006

the longshoes are playing this thursday at the hotel cafe. it should be good, unless i self-destruct on stage (in which case it will be awesome). show starts at ten and it costs a measly $5.

4.27.2006

three cool things happened last night.

1. we enjoyed margaritas and free nachos with some friends.

2. we bought os mutantes/ flaming lips tickets.

3. we saw hurley from "lost" walk his dog into his house down the street from our place, after we'd just finished discussing our disappointment that "lost" was a rerun.

4.25.2006

like darren's list.

FOOD AND DRINK
Best Burger – Fuddruckers in Burbank

Best coffee shop-ish / bakery-ish place: Coffee Table
Runners up: the place by my house, starbucks, am/pm, the teacher's lounge at east whittier

Best Place to eat a weasel – Chuck’s coffeeshop (LBC)

Best bar – Cha Cha
Runners up: Red Lion, my kitchen, my living room, Chasers

Best German Bar That Is Not The Red Lion – NA

Best selection of beer – Rite Aid
Runners up: Ralphs

Best Afternoon Bar – Cha Cha

Best Restaurant - Flora Moreno/ Ikea meatballs (seriously)
Runners up: that lowery's place in loz feliz where walt disney hung out, the pig, Philippe’s, Canter’s, Gumbo Pot (Most of Farmer’s Market actually), Fred 62, Pink’s, the thai food place by my house, the mexican place on hyperion down from trader joes a bit that's not burrito king (but i like burrito king), Rick's, KFC, Arby's,

Best Buffet - Grand China

Best Breakfast - Backdoor
Runners up - the Pantry, Mani's, McDonald's

Best service – Flora Moreno

Best Fast Food: In n Out, El Pollo Loco
Runners up: Rick's

ENTERTAINMENT

Best place to see a movie – at my house with Netflix
Runners up: Universal backlot, New Beverly

Best movie theater for under $10 – New Beverly Cinema
Runners up: Los Feliz 3, Academy 6.

Best movie theater for over $10 – Cinerama Dome

Best show – the Longshoes
Runners up: jon brion, free things at silver lake lounge and spaceland, sweet metal shows Ryan has yet to take me to

Best place to listen to music: Hollywood Bowl
Runners up: at my house from my ipod, El Rey, Largo, Henry Fonda, Hotel Café, Troubadour, Tangier, Silverlake Lounge, Spaceland, Greek, Echo

Best Radio Station: my ipod
Runners up: 790, 103.1, 570, 101.1, 640

Best TV Station - AMC, comedy central, oprah (seriously inspiring), TMC, TV Land


STUFF
Best Store – Amoeba
Runners Up: Amazon, ebay, farmer's market, ralphs

Best Bookstore – Amazon
Runner’s up – little old bookstore

Best Freeway – 2

Worst Freeway – everything else
Runners up: hell

Best road – franklin
Runners up: colorado (with the cool bridge), olivera

Worst Road – santa monica blvd
Runners up: sunset in hollywood

Best park – griffith
Runners up: neff

Best river – LA River

Best Beach Community – Ventura

Best Place to Live – Sweet Silver Lake with our beautiful lake, tasty restaurants, good bars, and fancy music joints.
Runners up: Jewish places

Best Non-LA city – Altadena
Runners up: la canada,

Worst school to sub at – everywhere ever
Runner up: NA

Worst thing on this list – talk radio

Best place in LA – anywhere with my wife and good music and good people and good food and drink.

4.25.2006

i jogged. i played with dog. i played music. i wrote on blog.

4.22.2006

from jonatham lethem's website. i liked this.

The Drew Barrymore Stories

1. I was riding in an elevator in London hotel with Alfred Hitchcock and Drew Barrymore. Alfred Hitchcock said, "Do you think he's opened the box of poisoned chocolates yet?" Though I knew it was only one of Alfred Hitchcock's deadpan jokes, I grew nervous. Drew Barrymore smiled and laughed, so infectiously that I couldn't help laughing myself. She said: "I took the poisoned chocolates out and replaced them with chocolates filled with sympathy and affection." Even Alfred Hitchcock began laughing now.

2. John Coltrane and Miles Davis and Drew Barrymore and I were backstage at a nightclub in Chicago. Miles Davis was berating John Coltrane for playing a twenty-minute solo. I was trying not be noticed. Drew Barrymore was picking through a box of chocolates an admirer had sent backstage, biting into several of them to examine the filling. John Coltrane said: "I don't know how to stop playing." Miles Davis said: "Just take the damn horn out of your mouth." Drew Barrymore said: "Or if you wanted to you could just begin playing very softly, until you were so quiet that the others could play over you." Miles Davis said: "That would be fine too, yes."

3. Ernest Hemingway and Howard Hawks and John Coltrane and Drew Barrymore and I were in a fishing boat on the Snake River in Colorado. John Coltrane and Drew Barrymore were baiting fishhooks with whiskey-filled chocolates an admirer had sent to Hemingway. I was trying to make coffee on a bunsen burner. Howard Hawks said to Ernest Hemingway: "I bet you I can make a good movie out of your worst book." Ernest Hemingway said: "What book is that?" Howard Hawks said: "That piece of shit known as 'To Have And Have Not'." Drew Barrymore said: "Look over there!" We all turned, and Drew Barrymore pushed Howard Hawks out of the boat.

4. Gertrude Stein and Jack London and F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jack Kerouac and Truman Capote and Drew Barrymore and I were in a large outdoor hot tub in Sausalito, playing a drinking game called "What's Your Secret?" Gertrude Stein said: "Small audiences." Truman Capote said: "It's not your turn, Gertrude, it's Scott's." F. Scott Fitzgerald said: "There are no second acts in American lives." I started to ask him whether he meant that American lives skipped straight to the third act, but the others ignored me. Jack London said: "If you put some eggshells in with the coffee grounds it leaches the acid out of the coffee and it tastes a lot better." Jack Kerouac mumbled something nobody could make out, and Truman Capote said: "That's not writing, Kerouac, that's typing." Drew Barrymore got out of the hot tub and put on her robe and said: "Does anyone want hot chocolate instead of coffee? I don't have any eggshells, but I do have marshmallows."

5. I was running in the New York Marathon with Lawrence Olivier and Dustin Hoffman and John Coltrane and Drew Barrymore, only Lawrence Olivier was riding a banana-yellow moped. Drew Barrymore was accepting orange-slices and dixie cups of chocolate milk from the crowds at the police barriers and laughing infectiously but Dustin Hoffman and John Coltrane and I were too out of breath to join in. By the time we crossed the Koskiosko Bridge into Long Island City Dustin Hoffman looked terrible and I was concerned he wouldn't be able to finish the race. Lawrence Olivier said: "What's the matter?" Dustin Hoffman said: "I was up all night last night because I wanted this scene to look realistic." Lawrence Olivier said: "Why don't you try acting, my boy?" We all looked at Lawrence Olivier like he was an asshole. Drew Barrymore said: "I know a shortcut." Dustin Hoffman said: "To acting?" Drew Barrymore said: "No, a shortcut," and she pointed past the police barriers at our left. We all turned our heads and when we looked back she was gone.

Another, 2005

4.21.2006

very tired. new song on myspace. nothing else.

4.20.2006

things i've done lately...

two dodger games. both good, both won in late innings. hung out with andy. making music tomorrow. got some gigs- hotel cafe may 4, knitting factory july 30, and maybe a few more, maybe. have been busy. need time to sit and write and not do anything. but we do things every frigging night. which is fun. but probably irresponsible. justified because i'm going into teaching- but i will never have the opportunity to not teach if i am not writing. i teach- substitute and regular soon- so that i may someday not teach. i hate it. but it gives me time off and i believe i'd hate crappy desk jobs more. i like substitute teaching, but would like to make more money. people diss subbing, often, but i believe it's much more a rewarding job than people think. i'd rather sub and make more money in a day than most people sitting behind a desk kissing someone's posterior from 10-6. at least if i teach, i'm my own boss, sort of. and i can write and travel on breaks and in the afternoon. and i can work anywhere. and affect kids sort of. so all you sub dissers-- when i'm getting home at 2:30, and when i'm making as much money as you-- well, most of you, remember to not diss. eat it. i'm in a rock band and i write movies. these are two things that rule stupids.

4.17.2006

boo to work. boo to not easter break.

4.16.2006

happy easter! we're eating ham.

4.13.2006

hello readers.

i am in ventura. soaking up the sun. watching the dodgers in the morning. writing a movie. planning on taking in the beach. ate amazing mexican food last night in santa b. planning on brushing my teeth. and jogging. jogging is the new black.

4.11.2006

i am everything that bothers me about los angeles. sitting at the coffee table, wearing a wilco shirt, and writing a movie. if they only knew i hated kcrw (save for elvis mitchell). if they only knew i hated all of them. except for taye diggs. i only don't hate taye diggs because of his cool name. i'm not even going to go to imdb to correct myself on the spelling of his name. it may in fact be spelled correct.

i'm taking the cset.

i'm listening to some field recordings.

i miss the rolling golden hills of montana and the smell of campfire soaked clothes the morning after a long day off. the calm whip of the line. letting the dry fly bob in the ripples. letting the little son of a bitch float down stream past the fallen tree stumps rotting and giving home to my prey. prey that i will catch and release, being sure to wet my hands before the touch. i catch and release not out of moral conviction.

the fiddle and the smell of damp wood make me think of the south. missouri. i never did fly fish much in missouri. there was the bass in the pond that hadn't been fished for a decade. where stories of six foot long catfish fell to the bottom with the sediment. warm tobacco. the mixing smell of cigarettes and pipe, distinguished by the age of the men that sat on the back steps of the menonite church with their asses on the pavement and their feet in the gravel. gravel that used to be mud. mud that held the hollowed out faces of the men kissing bullets with blood on their lips. the men who knew jesse james and cole younger too well and fought for the wrong side. to see bull run and die at the hood of a car.

my grandpa's drunk father had his body cut in three by the steel of a train at the mercy of the jug. that's the truth. that's why i hate los angeles. not the city, rather the people and the places you have to be if you know what's good for you. long beach and ventura are not excempt. same fog. same rain and oil slicked streets.

4.7.2006

i saw bob dylan on wed. here is the set list. robyn got me tickets.

it ruled.

1. Maggie's Farm (Bob on keyboard)
2. She Belongs To Me (Bob on keyboard and harp)
3. Lonesome Day Blues (Bob on keyboard)
4. Queen Jane Approximately (Bob on keyboard and harp)
5. 'Til I Fell In Love With You (Bob on keyboard)
6. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
(Bob on keyboard, Donnie on violin, Tony on standup bass)
7. Shooting Star (Bob on keyboard and harp)
8. Highway 61 Revisited (Bob on keyboard)
9. Tears Of Rage (Bob on keyboard and harp)
10. Honest With Me (Bob on keyboard)
11. Girl Of The North Country (Bob on keyboard and harp)
12. High Water (For Charley Patton) (Bob on keyboard, Donnie on banjo)
13. Just Like A Woman (Bob on keyboard)
14. Summer Days (Bob on keyboard)

(encore)
15. Like A Rolling Stone (Bob on keyboard)
16. All Along The Watchtower (Bob on keyboard)

4.3.2006

i just finished watching "hoop dreams." it had been a bit of a marathon seeing as it was a three hour film and seeing as i had been watching it on my lunch break. it was really quite fantastic, though. quite.

I'm Doing This Tomorrow...

’Hurst aid
BENEFIT SHOW

FEATURING THE ROCK ‘N ROLL
MUSICAL STYLINGS OF…

• THE RED WEST

• Jesse Gloyd and the Longshoes


Saturday, April 1st
6:30 PM
Elmhurst Elementary School Cafeteria
5080 Elmhurst st, Ventura, ca

$10 admission
$5 admission for VUSD students (with ID)


BAKE SALE • POPCORN • CHOCOLATE MILK • GUITARS


ALL PROCEEDS BENEFIT THE ELMHURST 5TH GRADE
OUTDOOR EDUCATION PROGRAM FOR 2006


For additional info call (562) 652-3644 or visit www.foerecords.com

3.26.2006

watching "nine lives." it's cool. i spend too much time wasting time.

3.22.2006

i'm watching the fantastic john sayles film "men with guns." it is very good. i've had half a pot of coffee and it's not even ten in the morning. my only job for the day is driving robyn to school. i'm also planning on writing and planting strawberries.

i've got a new sweet lime tree on our balcony. it's pretty cool. um... people should go see "american gun." a friend of mine wrote it and it's coming out this weekend in limited release. i've not much else. reading: the last great season. writing: kinetivision, my name is earle spec, according to jim spec. outlining: untitled bounty hunter project with goss. singing: songs for the benefit concert. watching: men with guns, glengary glen ross.

that's all.

'HURST AID AGAIN!

’HURST AID
BENEFIT SHOW

FEATURING THE ROCK ‘N ROLL
MUSICAL STYLINGS OF…

• The Red West (and or members of)

• Jesse Gloyd and the Longshoes


Saturday, April 1st
6:30 PM
Elmhurst Elementary School Cafeteria
5080 Elmhurst st, Ventura, ca

$10 admission
$5 admission for VUSD students (with ID)


BAKE SALE • POPCORN • CHOCOLATE MILK • GUITARS


ALL PROCEEDS BENEFIT THE ELMHURST 5TH GRADE
OUTDOOR EDUCATION PROGRAM FOR 2006


For additional info call (562) 652-3644 or visit www.foerecords.com

3.12.2006

watching the wbc usa v. japan. it's fun to watch baseball. i'll be going to the game tonight and i figure i'll be rooting for s. korea, seeing as they feature three dodgers. i can't think of much else.

3.10.2006

today is the day of the great fantasy baseball draft. i will most likely win again but there are reasons the games are played. i am watching ken burns' baseball to warm my soul as i pay bills and clean the house. it should be good fun with good people. i am about to start reading "the last good season," a book about the dodgers 1956 season. it comes with high recommendations from mr. bethancourt. i am quite excited.

3.9.2006

no work today and no work tomorrow. i must tcb today, though. i must. i am about to make robyn a bagel and eggs to start her day. me, i will have a bagel and toast. and tea, seeing as i'm out of coffee. it's been a nice change. coffee to tea. i now will take the dog to poop, finish updike, grocery shop, write, wash clothes, tidy up some, finish house of games, mail amazon books, meet robyn's sister and brother in law at disneyland, come home, and go to bed.

3.6.2006

i am watching coppola's commentary on "the conversation." it is my favorite film of his and just plain one of my favorites in general. my belly is full of cooked spinach, asparagus, garlic bread, flank steak and wine and i'm feeling good. funny thing is, i would venture to guess that coppola's belly is full of similar items. as is his big brown beard.

i really like the way he talks. like a contemplative chef or a neighbor of ours. he's a very thoughtful guy who might expound in similar honorable fashion on a myriad of topics. a few topics that i might like hearing ff coppola wax poetic on include: street musicians in sf, time travel, naval oranges, ron howard, a flat sales tax, white shadow, and monk (the jazz musician and television show).

i am becoming more and more ocd. everything in it's place. my life must have order. i have note cards now telling me when i should do things and how i should do these things throughout the week. it helps me cope. with what? i'm not sure. i get scatterbrained and have trouble focusing. maybe sentence structuring. when i focus, everything seems to fall apart. the pieces blow away like trash in a parking lot. i have made quotas for myself.

my album should be coming out soon. i have no clue how it will sound. no clue at all.

if you live in silver lake, you should eat at flora moreno. it is a very good joint.

3.2.2006

i am posting...

you are reading...

2.28.2006

we were accidentally locked out of our house for a little while today. while we were waiting to get inside, i slipped and hurt my shoulder. robyn laughed at me.

my mom and robyn met up at ikea today for something. they were nice enough to bring me back a plate of sweedish meatballs. i love their sweedish meatballs almost as much as sushi.

i listened to some my morning jacket today and remembered how much they rule. i might go see richard swift tonight. i need to do some writing, though. out for now.

2.26.2006

i got my computer back. it's working and they cleaned the keyboard. it feels like a new machine.

anyhow, i was in ventura for poppo's birthday. we had some sushi last night and i participated in an espn live fantasy draft. i really am pleased with how it turned out- seeing as it's for money. i won fifty bucks a couple years ago and nothing last year- i figure i'm due. i had first pick and went with a-rod. it was a toss between him and pujols, but it would be easier finding a great 1b than 3b, thus the pick.

twelve person league...

c- joe mauer
1b- giambi
2b- utley
ss- felipe lopez
3b- arod
of- giles
of- gomes
of- luis gonzales
of- hermidia
2b/ss- mark ellis
1b/3b- nick johnson
util- nick swisher

p- harden
p- halladay
p- sheets
p- peavy
p- matt cain
p- brett meyers
p- doug davis
p- clemens
p- daniel cabrera
p- king felix

i am also listening to traffic and they rule.

2.23.2006

as i write this, i'm waiting for my wife to come home with some beer to go with the fajitas i made. i'm a big fan of fajitas and cooking in general.

i'm watching malcom x. good, but a bit long. i really like spike lee, but this is just bla. though the early scenes of his younger life were interesting, this films like an excerpt from a high school history book. biopic 101.

the fajitas are getting cold and i can't think of anything important. drew, i'll email you back shortly as this is not my computer and i'm running short on time. um... i'm reading rabbit at rest. that rascally rabbit is still not nice. i'm listening to jazz on random so i'm getting a healthy dose of bix, benny, ray, miles, ornette, thelonious, mingus, satch, dave, etc.

i like dave brubeck, though he's probably the biggest dork in jazz. just look at the list above- what name doesn't fit? dave. yes, dave brubeck is a dork. but one of his frequent collaborators is a gloyd. seriously. out.

food time.

2.21.2006

i'm paying for my internet at the coffee shop. you might say i'm paying double- seeing that i am indeed paying double. the computer is in the shop. hopefully things don't get erased. i'm not optimistic, but i am thirsty.

2.19.2006

i'm watching the chasing amy commentary, still mildly sick.

i like fantasy baseball. it is a comfort to me in this upside down world of avian flu's and ww3's.

my first team was autodrafted last night. i was most pleased.

c- ramon hernandez
1b- chase utley
2b- felipe lopez
ss- rafael furcal
3b- eric chavez
of- bobby abreau
of- miguel cabrera
of- brian giles
ut/ bench- jd drew, geoff jenkins, prince fielder, jeremy hermidia

sp- roy halladay
sp- carlos zambrano
rp- mike gonzales
rp- jose valverde
p- dan haren
p- brett meyers
p- daniel cabrera
bench- roger clemens, greg maddux

yes, i am sick. yes, i have revealed my inner dork. do i care? no. no i don't.

2.14.2006

happy v-day. i'm out of the house while the wife makes me dinner. neato.

2.12.2006

so, i'm going to a bbq today. we're seeing one cousin off to war and the other off to prision.

i'm listening to willie's family bible album. softly and tenderly is on. it is very beautiful.

watch murderball. new favorite of 2006.

2.11.2006

i'm watching a biography episode on steve martin. quite a brilliant, brilliant man.

my sister just got engagaed, so congrats to her and trevor.

i ate a lot of pizza and fell asleep at nine last night. the pizza lulled me to sleep.

2.9.2006

i'm playing fetch with my dog and making chicken noodle soup from scratch. i've been in to soup lately. chicken noodle, lentil, and split pea have been my initial experiments. i put a lot of onions in this batch, telling myself "one can never have too many onions." however, i might be wrong on this one.

i'm going to watch cold war kids tonight (though i wish they were the cold war kidz).

um, that is all.

2.8.2006

fiddle
Originally uploaded by jessegloyd.

so, i got this from my mom. it's a violin that was made in germany. it is a family heirloom. there is an inscription inside that reads "antonius stradiuarius." someone wants me to start a bluegrass band, i think.

my hound is smiling at me.

if you live in silver lake, you should try flora moreno. i got a plate of the best chicken fried chicken i'd had since i stumbled upon the mickey mantle minor league program (purchased for $12.50) in springfield, missouri.

the boogie woogie is in.

so is walking dogs and drinking mint julips.

i thought "junebug" would be in, but it was boring.

playing fetch is in.

the kinks' "something else" is in.

my dog farting is not in.

chad and jeremy are in.

sports books from the 1960s are in.

letting yourself go is in.

did i say mint julips are in, because they are.

songs about dance crazes are in.

cell phone reception in silver lake is not.

but spring is. spring is in and winter is out.

winter does not shuck and jive. warmness does.

people cutting cement at 5:00 am next to the wine store are not in. they are very definately not in.

subbing is not in.

the boogie woogie is in again double cool.

as are dragons.

2.7.2006

my wife bought me nerds and i am watching a great movie. the nerds are of the grape/ strawberry variety and the movie is of the david gordon green variety. green is, maybe as of this viewing of "undertow," my favorite young director going. george washington, all the real girls and undertow. beautiful films.

just as mr. hamilton experienced mild distaste for the " faux-indie-wacky-ironic-awkward-is-chic commercials" of the super bowl, i am beginning to wane a bit on the "faux-indie-wacky-ironic-awkward-is-chic films" of recent days. nothing against the likes of kaufman, gondry, spike jonze, wes anderson (and their minions), but it's getting a little tired.

i've also had the same feeling about music. the idea of forced experimentation seems to have taken precedence over the song. steve goodman, billy joe shaver, and hoagy.

yes. i am watching oprah and i respect her greatly. show is a strong woman. a strong, beautiful woman.

2.6.2006

hi. i'm going to bed soon. watched some lost.

2.4.2006

my day is good. first, i watched an episode of deadwood on my laptop while drinking instant coffee that was made in the hotel bathroom. it was the last episode of the disk (seeing that i'd watched the other two last night after a little rendevous in the spa with the wife).

upon finishing the episode, i put on clothes, greeted the wife (and her new hairdo), mailed off the said netflix gem, and offed myself to el pollo loco for lunch.

while driving down the block for chicken, i listened to queen very loud and came to the conclusion that queen is the best band. the very best.

upon returning from the loco, i realized that they'd stiffed me three pieces of chicken breast. this almost soured my day. thusly, i drove back (with queen lighting the way) and asked for my chicken. did they give me the chicken? yes. did they give me five pieces to make up for their blunder? double yes.

now i am eating chicken and drinking champagne in my coffee cup.

i would like to live out of a hotel.

2.1.2006

happy V-month!

the academy awards just came out. out of the films that i'm allegedly supposed to see, the four that have resonated the most with me this year are: brokeback, broken flowers, walk the line, and kong.

i know most folk i'm around weren't as blown away by kong as i, but it really was quite spellbinding in it's scope. kind of in the sense that physical graffiti need not be a double album, but we eat up the extra helpings by the fistful and revel in the use of bow and guitar. brilliant excess is king kong.

broken flowers was, aside from the crappy theater, quite nice, simple and beautiful. cliche to be sure, but it really is the continuation of the lost in translation character. had this movie been made in a separate time and space apart from my preconceived notions of passive-murray, it may have been my favorite.

i think i enjoyed brokeback and walk the line the most this year. brokeback mountain was beautifully shot and unbelievably sad in a good narrative sense. most were disappointed by walk the line. i was not.

this wrap-up of my paltry 2005 film going will or will not be updated when netflix gets in the following movies: junebug, munich, murderball, bee season, syriana, capote, a history of violence, good night and good luck, and several other forgotten mentionables.

arrested, lost, and deadwood have taken up a good portion of my viewing entertainment as well and all do rule. deadwood, though, may not be for everyone.

1.30.2006

so, i didn't win any money the other night. such is life and such is my poker playing skills. it was fun, though, and i ate many a peanut m&m.

most people like peanut best. not i, for the m&m that gives me reason to cheer is peanut butter.

i'm sick, so i'm staying home from school. so far today, i've rested, ate grapenuts with strawberries and yogurt with blue berries and an orange. i also had a healthy fizzy tablet of goodness.

i'll be putting the finishing touches on a script today. for that, i may celebrate by resting and watching a movie. i have yet to shower.

i watched me, you, and everyone we know. if i could rate it on the netflix scale, i would give it a three out of five. better than not.

1.27.2005

i'm playing poker tonight with matthew lillard. any messages for him?

1.26.2006

i just got back from a good long walk around the lake with sadie. we had a bit of a fight last night and needed to mend some things. this walk was preceded by a precious beer that was purchased by darren harbaugh.

i'm enjoying deadwood these days. it is quite the captivating western television show. matt wilson worked as an extra on it in season two. i am watching season one, thus no matt wilson.

is there anything else a going on? i put paul simon's something so right on my month mix, which reminds me that i need to finalize january. paul simon's something so right, i guess, is the first song for february. it's a good song. walking in jerusalem, just like john is fantastic as well. i may cover it at some future show.

1.25.2006

i am watching the pale horse of glorious celluloid that is kill bill vol. 1. the simplicity of the orient with the bitter casual dust, dirt, and guitar strums to the beat of sergio leone's heart.

we are now watching the making of the film.

I listened to a fantastic podcast interview with harold ramis this afternoon and one with james manigold last night and one with paul haggis. i liked crash, but not as much as the rest of the universe. i feel the same way about uma's beauty.

people should give a good listen to marty robbins.

1.17.2006

ate dinner with wife. went to alan and xio's last night. almost done. done.

1.16.2006

I went to the Gene Autry Museum today. It is chock full of cool things having to do with all aspects of the American West. This is the last week of the Sergio Leone exibit, so everybody who is anybody should go check it out.

I'm drinking coffee.

1.14.2006

a poem

i done dreamed
of you
as ranch dressing
and me
as a plump
ripe
cherry

we danced in the sespool
and our
arms fell off

like so many fallen
before us

the
battle of bull run is mine!

1.13.2005

i might go to grad school. i just ate chips, chicken, and cheese. i might go see a movie. i might watch the sopranos. i might drink caffine. i read about the good things coffee has to offer on wikipedia today. everyone should. my wife is watching oprah. i really respect her. oprah. not my wife. i respect her too. but i was talking about oprah. i wish i didn't substitute teach. it is boring. i am short on cash these days. so i will stay home and watch the sopranos. actually i may write. i'm straight burnt out on everything in the world. the flying saucer will come for me soon. she will take me home. upon swirling tripping night. flooding my whopper under a dollar.

i want a whopper. under a dollar. ADOING!

time to take care of the business at hand.

1.9.2005

i'm entering in money on quicken. robyn is wrapping books that we are selling online. workin' hard sun up to sun down is we.

1.6.2006

hey internet friends. i'm working on music with andy. i subbed today. pre-school disabled children. my banditos have a couple shows coming up. i'm chillin' with greg tomorrow. with my wife tonight. i will be watching a movie and wrapping books that i've sold online. such is.

12.28.2005

Today I have to clean the hard wood floor in our house. This is a job that I hate.

12.25.2005

I got this for Christmas. It is also my six month wedding anniversary.

12.24.2005

Merry Christmas,

From our family, to yours.

Jesse

also

I enjoy the new Wilco compact disk my wife got me.

12.22.2005

Okay, I want to rock again. Practice makes the rock a roll. I'm writing this in my car on a wifi fromsome unknown source while Robyn gets her hair cut. "Spiders (Kidsmoke)" is on, now "Long Tall Sally," now "Uncloudy Day." I would like to play music like Wilco, Willie Nelson, and Little Richard. The following bands are influences (meaning i ripped off things from them heavily) of the Longsound of the Longshoes: (the aformentioned three), Buddy Holly, Steve Goodman, the Band, 1970s Bob, Red Foley, Carter Family, Oasis, the White Stripes' latest, Patsy Cline, Rick Nelson, Supergrass, Creedence, both Elvis', Mutations...

Time to go.

12.20.2005

I think I might just quit as a musician. I played a show last night and it sucked, so I think I'm done. Maybe I'll do it like Harry Nilsson and do only in studio stuff. Playing live is horrible.

12.18.2005

I like Hee Seop better than Nomar. I also like the song I'm working on, Christmas, and Sten Kenton. I also like jogging around the lake, Robyn, and my band.

To Drewmanji:

Dear Andrew,

As you know, all the cool kids in Silverlake are conservative as opposed to you neoconhippierascistliberals in Ida-HO!

Enough of that. I can only check blogs from home (the school blocks them now), thus messing up my routine. Anyhow, I've got a band now. It's too bad you aren't around or you could probably join. I've just finished my first cup of coffee and it's quite dark, staining the inside of my cup.

I've had some trouble brewing a satisfyingly dark cup of Cajun Coffee as Poppo calls it. He also calls my coffee a WMD. Being poorish these days; however, I've been trying to save on coffee consumption by making lighter pots. Such is life, or "asi es la vide" as they say south of the border.

I've been into swanky, dirty, country rock these days. Stuff that has the smell of Dylan's mid-seventies Rolling Thunder Revue. I'm also finishing up "The Glory of Their Times" and it's beautiful. I'm not sure why I'd never read it. They took a lot of the quotes from it for Ken Burns' movie and it's all about the early part of the century, so it's the good stuff. I'm not sure what to read next, so I'll take your recommendation.

I've got a dog and she is adorable. Today, however, she has diarrhea. Doggie diarrhea isn't a cool thing. We're really looking forward to seeing you guys this winter. It should be a blast. Anyhow, let's keep this up.

Sincerely,

James

12.15.2005

The Longshoes are having their first practice today. Alan's getting his stomach removed and my dog has the skitters. "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" is rockin' and rollin' on my radio and I've got a strong pot of coffee and a guitar.

Christmas is almost upon us. I'm very excited. I'm as excited as a kid at Christmas. That's all.

12.10.2005

I'm watching a Norm McDonald show on comedy central. He's not that funny anymore. He used to be my favorite funny man, but his time in the sun is long past. Most comedians have a season of funny before they either move on to more serious fare, or comedy central.

I also watched three episodes of "Reno 911" this morning. It is still funny funny funny.

12.9.2005

Ricky Gervais has a podcast. I am looking forward to downloading it. Drew, I tried calling you back today, but your phone broke on me. I've been running around the lake and I like it. I might get my credential and I might not. "The Bear Necessities" came on random the other day and it inspired me to return to a life of chillin' out hard core. Then I went and spent too much money (see: got gipped) at the Red Lion and lost my check card. Now, Robyn is yelling at me to get dressed for din-din.

12.8.2005

I haven't posted on here in a while. I haven't really been checking blogs nor my email consistently really. The last couple weeks, I've been coming home, working on music or writing, making dinner, eating it with Robyn, working some more, and going to sleep between 8:00 and 9:30. Part of my early bed time is out of nursing a cold, part is out of boredom.

I hate subbing. I hate driving to Whittier everyday because I hate Whittier. When I work too much I get depressed because I think I'm neglecting my wife and friends. When I don't work enough I get depressed because I feel like a loser who is destined to substitute teach for the rest of my life.

I hate being cathartic on blogs.

12.1.2005

Las Vegas was fun. Robyn won sixty, I lost twenty, and seeing as we only ate out once, we came home even steven. I'm a roving sub today- three different classes. I've been writing and editing songs for a new EP this week. I like what I'm doing so far. Listening to a lot of Kinks, Red Foley, early Elvis Sun stuff, a little Carter Family, Rolling Thunder Revue/ "Desire" Dylan, and some "Mutations". I wish I knew a fiddle player.

My band is the Long Shoes, or the Longshoes. Not sure what looks better. Jesse Gloyd & the Longshoes, Jesse Gloyd & the Long Shoes, or the Long Shoes, or just Longshoes. Alan coined the term. Anyhow, time to go over a paragraph of corrections with the chilluns.