Last Night

We ate dinner at Dupar's. It was quite delicious and radical. I got a Reuben.

Rambleland

Between the ramble and a trip to Disneyland, this has been quite the eventful evening. The ramble was quite fun. We had an amazing assortment of cool musical peoples, fun-filled singalongs, and an awkward late-night moment of me busting through a wall and yelling at Andy to stop playing the drums (followed by Andy playing the drums louder).

Yesterday was nice. We cleaned-up a bit. Jack napped; I went to LA Live! to catch a movie. Missed the movie, came home, made Jack lunch and drove to Disneyland to give Robyn some time to study for the GRE. Disneyland was fun (I'm trying to go with Jack some before my luck runs out with the pass).

Today we will keep it mellow. I need to clean-up under the house and write some.

Live Blogging: The Postman

8:48. A girl narrates. Kevin Costner is wearing Oakleys. They look like they have coral growing on them.

He is yelling at his horse and testing the water. It is purple. He says to his horse, "You ain't picky Bill. That's what I like about you."

8:50. Kevin Costner hallucinates. He thinks he sees sorority girls in a a convertible.

8:51. Still talking to his horse. He has found a broken TV. He is pretending that it works. He wants Bill to watch.

A deer scares him. Bill is a mule actually.

8:53. This is just like The Road right?

Still talking to the mule.

Now Kevin Costner is Macbeth. He is sword fighting his mule. The mule has a sword in his mouth. Somehow the future is filled with the cast of Newsies.

8:57. Kevin Costner just told someone named Larry, "Bite me."

Bad men have just shown up. General Bethlehem! He is smelling his new soldiers to see if they are acceptable or not. He just turned away a "Mongloyd." The Mongloyd was unacceptable.

9:05. Giovanni Ribisi! (playing his character from The Other Sister).

All of the soldiers are kind of wearing Oakleys.

9:08. Ribisi is giving Kevin something to sip from a tin cup. It's nice to see that everything to survive the veiled nebulous apocalypse is tin and from the 1860s.

9:09. It's weird that the future apocalypse looks like City of Industry. Maybe the future is now?

9:10. Dinner time. Suprise! They are eating Kevin's mule Bill. Bill in food form looks like a leftover from the Hook food fight scene.

Maybe this is just how Giovanni Ribisi is?

9:12. General Thinly Veiled Christ Metaphor is treating the soldiers to a screening of a Dolf Lundgren film.

9:14. Mercy is for the weak. Terror will defeat reason!

9:17. Some just accused Kevin Costner as having some (derogatory term for an African American) in him.

9:18. General (sort of) Jesus sold copy machines before the nebulous war!

General J.C. has my hairline.

9:22. This is getting better. Kevin Costner is now known as Shakespeare.

9:23. Rope Bridge!!!!!!! Running!!!! To kill a lion!!!!

9:30. The lion just ate a racist.

9:34. Kevin is cold and rainy wet.

Ryan Patterson is going to come by and we're going to do this live now.

Morning.

My morning routine:

-wake up. begin downloading podcasts, press start on the already prepped coffee maker, turn on the shower, brush teeth, shower, walk to the living room, on clothes in the living room, take out the ipod, pour the coffee in the stanley, kiss robyn adios, leave.

-drive up the 2->134->210 listening to a podcast. exit hill. make my way to allen. park. unlock the gate. unlock the room. pour coffee. check email. make powerpoints. change the date on the board. clean my desk. the end. every day.

JSF

Jonathan Safran Foer came to my school this morning. He was punctual, very cool, and very nice. He even bought a student a copy of his own book. I was quite impressed with his coolness.

Charlie Poppins!

After going for a walk around the lake with Jack this morning, I put on Mary Poppins. As we were watching, I got this cool idea to model the Charlie Patton movie after Mary Poppins. One could easily see Harry Smith in the Bert role, narrating in some sort of psychedelic haze with Charlie popping in and out of rural African American art made from found objects like broken glass and barbed wire. Robert Johnson and Son House could be the kids. His dad could be the banker dad. Charlie could even come floating in on a cloud playing his guitar and drinking bourbon.

Time to go play drums in the garage. Jonathan Safran Foer is coming to my school tomorrow, so I may watch Everything is Illuminated before I go to bed.

Dick Justice's, "Cocaine" (as a cartoon for children)

Ramble. Friday night. My house.

New Thang

I'm going to start writing on some thing about Charlie Patton. Hopefully rad other info to follow (this rad info having to do with one R. Crumb possibly, hopefully).

Check this link for cool Patton info and some free music too: 14 songs from Patton and 60 songs about boll weevils. That's some serious boll weevil homage my friends. Serious.

When movie characters say the titles of the movies they are in.

We had a fun family time weekend in Big Bear. Kids were running around. They were a little sick and they were coughing some. It was very nice though. I'd do it again tomorrow if I could.

I went to a screening of the new Terry Gilliam movie tonight. He was speaking after and I was excited. 330 people were more excited, though and I wasn't able to get in. Tim and Brandon were there too though, so it was nice catching up.

When I got home, Robyn suggested I go see a movie anyway. I chose A Serious Man. It was really good. Neighbor Jim came too. The ending was one of the best I think I may have ever seen maybe.

Cool. Halloween photos to follow some time.

Listening to some Blind Joe Death via Drew's post made me quite cognizant of my own sensory deficiencies. I'm really a loud pop or a bright burst from being both blind and deaf. I believe my mom (before laser eye magik) was legally blind without her glasses, and the loud rock and sax that I blast seem to be evening my ears out in a very not good way. If I do go blind and deaf I will make a promise to myself to sit in one place and touch interesting things as much as possible.

A few things on the life agenda:

Ramble on November 13.

I spent many hours trying to unclog a pipe only to finally pull out an old rag and a chunk of concrete. I am quite confused as to where the concrete came from... same with the rag.

Tonight we will practice some rock and roll.

It is cold. I think it's throwing Jack off a bit. We went to Disneyland on Sunday. It was a gas. I fell asleep like a hobo on a bench for an hour. Jack and Maya had a fun time in Bug's Life land.

Today we have electives at school. I've my Writers' Workshop next. We're listening to Reunion and talking us some sensory language. I may have them go outside and smell weird things and describe them.

the sopranos is so good. watching it for the first time i can't help but think of the time darren made a funny at the mirmax party and an early sopranos gandolfini leaned over from the next stall over and laughed at him.

i also went and saw where the wild things are... boooooring. at least it looked cool. i still fell asleep. i should have seen Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion at the new beverly instead.

we also have a weird clog.

Since I am no longer a baseball fan, I have decided to pour the extra hours in to other endeavors. These endeavors include: sitting, hanging out, and not worrying about the baseball team for whom I used to enjoy rooting.

Cool things as of late: more good jazz music (Coleman Hawkins, Milt Jackson, Wes Montgomery, Anatomy of a Murder, Several good Gillespie, Jack Teagarden and Pee Wee Russel, some more Bunk Johnson), and I booked (with the help of Vroman's) Jonathan Safran Foer to come speak at my school on November 9th (let me know if you want to come, there might be some room), it will be rad as he'll be at the Skirball, Vroman's, and my school.

I am also going to eat something with shrimp in a little while.

Good Time Weekend

I had a good time this weekend. Thursday, Robyn went up to Big Bear to study for the GRE with Amber. Jack went up to Ventura with my mom, so I had the night to myself. I ended up going to Long Beach to watch two short movies. I also ate some fish and chips.

Friday I rode the train to Ventura. It tool a lot longer than it should have because I missed the train. I ended up eating at Fuddruckers to kill time.

Saturday, I hung out with the folks and Jack. We played some at the beach and I worked out a little. We played in the pool at Poppo's and then went to dinner. I ate a tr-tip sandwich; Jack had noodles.

Sunday I took Jack to Disneyland for a father-son outing. It was fun; he liked the Tiki-Room. When we got home, I went for a jog. All-in-all, I succeeded in having a good time.

i'm watching falling down. it rules the roost. i took jack to chuck e cheese's tonight in eagle rock. he wasn't able to get out much because of the rain. i then went to the weird asain market and bought a bunch of noodles to make some time.

i am also planning on going to the world series.

i bought a bunch of really good jazz records the other day too: sonn rollins' the bridge, charlie parker's best of the complete savoy & dial studio recordings, dexter gordon's go, oscar peterson- night train (hymn to freedom be my fave), lester young with the oscar peterson trio, side by side- johnny hodges and duke ellington.

they all make me smile. that is all. how are you doing?

Whole Foods

I never really knew that there was a Whole Foods in Glendale. Now I do and I am happy. It's not as expensive as I thought and their meats are way cheaper than Trader Joe's. They also have my favorite Spaten Optimator for two dollars and fifty cents a belt. Most everything there is fantasic, thought they lack the name brand snacks and sugary cereals that I enjoy so much. It is a fun place to be though. It is a fun place to exist in.

Octoberfest in Ventura this Saturday. It shall be fun squared.

My new job is going well. My kids write like gangbusters. I'm about to edit a twenty page short story written by a very overachieving seventh grader. Here are the first few lines...

The room was dark and dull- a monotonous gray plastered the walls. Even the curtains- the ones his back faced each time he sat at his desk- were drawn together. Robert liked it though. He seemed to enjoy anything that was gray.

Good times.

i bought a pizza and some cheese puffs when filling up gas today. a homeless lady asked me for some food. i said no, then felt bad, and gave her my cheese puffs. as i was pulling out, i saw her throw them away. boo.

school is happening. other things are happening. we had back 2 skool night tonight. tomorrow i will teach more things. i ate a carne asada tonight. bla bla bla.

We had a nice weekend. The band recorded Saturday. We finished eight songs. It would be fun to finish a few more. I like everything. I made my way to Ventura yesterday. We stayed today as well. I'm about to go to bed. School starts tomorrow. I may try jogging in the morning. We'll see how it goes.

watching curious george. getting ready to go to work to get some stuff done. recording this weekend. school starts tueday.

here is my top ten list for the last year or two. it is comprised of the artists i have listened to the most.

harry nilsson. randy newman. the band. bill evans. leon russell. george gershwin. debussy. maurice ravel. steve goodman. ricky nelson. bob dylan. the beach boys. the band. neil young.

when i make songs i generally copy these people the most. mostly harry nilsson, randy newman, and leon russell.

i'm working from home today. school prep. we can't go in because of the fires. had a good weekend in ventura. hung some. went running. held baby micah. ate sushi. swam in a pool with jack. went to a birthday party late last night.

we'll probably go to disneyland in a few hours. it should be rad.

good times. busy times. back from africa. went to a bachelor party. hung out with robyn's parents monday and tuesday. ate mrs. knott's fried chicken. belts had a baby. wedding for mr. and mrs. sycz. anne and trevor had a baby. we're up in ventura for the day. school stuff starts tomorrow. kids in two weeks.

back home. going to a bachelor party today.

africa. we leave tomorrow morning. we will miss our son.

please, unless you are my parents, don't call me while i'm there as i will be charged a lot of money.

thank you for your prayers and support.

i think i will be pretty busy today. i need to take care of business. jack got up around six, so i've been able to get most of my goofing off out of the way. happy almost birthday to robyn. the talking dog show is over. it is 8:30, but i think jack wants to go back to bed. time for the last waltz. we've been watching it a lot. then i'll take jack to the garage for some "drum". that is all. for now.

i'm sorry. i'm confused. is send in the clowns the best song ever or the worst?

do you have kids? i have one. i sometimes watch public television shows with him. i went on wikipedia to learn more about sid the science kid. andy b was telling me some about the production. it sounded interesting. i enjoyed reading about the characters on the show. especially this character:

via Wikipedia.

May: May is Sid's glasses-clad friend, often marked by her striped stockings. She is 5 years old, making her the oldest of the quartet, though not the most mature. She is more shy than any other character on the show. May was adopted when she was 8 months old from a Chines refugee camp after recovering from battery and sexual assault at the hands of a child pornographer. She is by far the most courteous of characters on the show, speaks fluent English and often performs at peak excellence in school.

hm. i guess it takes all kinds.

movies bring be joy. movies bring me happiness. so do family and rock and roll. and friends. this week i went to san diego with my family. we had a sort of hawaii trip. the kingsleys and jeremiah made it down. and liz and emily and my family and trevor and anne and the new babies almost. it was so fun. we went in the water so much. and read and man i wish i was back. but not as much as if i were in hawaii. but now i'm listening to the hollies. earlier i watched some hard day's night with jack. this was after we ate good food and played on the drum. in a few minutes i will watch a day at the races. this will make me hap-hap-happi.

one thing that is cool is this... justin upton threw jack a baseball at the game in colorado. i believe i've officially hit the point where i can ask baseball players for autographs again... pretending to get them for jack. and i can buy baseball cards again. whole sets. whole sets of 1988 tops.

and now i will go watch a day at the races and laugh so much. i also just ate good pulled pork from oinkster. it was a sinsation.

colorado is fun. we've been chilling mostly. i've been working on some moviestuffs. robyn has been reading. jack has been playing. we went to a park yesterday. it twas the bombddotcom. last night i gots some shots for the africa trip and we had a date to go see the hangover. it was way funny, but my mother would not like it. here is our itinerary for the remainder: we will workout later, go shopping, bbq tonight, bbq tomorrow, buy loads of bottle rockets and shoot them, go for some more jogs, eat at five guys, eat at cracker barrel, buy old timey candy, visit a national park of sorts, watch fireworks, go to a rockies game, go to colorado springs, eat at michelle's, buy hot fudge, visit garden of the gods, maybe eat spaghetti, come back to fort collins, go to the new belguim brewery, eat us some good meats at night, return to california.

we're watching snow white in colorado. good times. robyn is coming down with a little cold. i chased jack around the yard. we had a fun ramble over the weekend. i believe there might be footage over at the rio bravo site. we boogied until the wee hours.

the rest of the trip should be good. a little reading. a lot of writing. some prep for next year. some movie watching. some africa prep. we're busy busy.

and we're playing another show. it is free. silver lake lounge july 27.

keep on truckin'.

finished cleaning out my room this morning. i was given some wine as a parting gift. then i came home, ate a banana, put everything from class under the house, went for a jog around the lake, showered, wrote, ate cereal, and now i'm doing this. summer is already booked pretty much, but it should be fun. i will have been married for four years on thursday. my wife is the best. so is our baby. we will probably go see a play and eat a sandwich at jerry's deli. i'm reading herzog (and i've been watching some w. herzog). this afternoon i will go to see the angels play the rockies with the brother in law. anything else? working on some movies, reading books that i will teach next year, getting ready for the ramblebecue and the hamiltons. i will also be working on a tan. i am officially unemployed for a couple months starting june 30, but i'll be making some extra money at a training the rest of this week. ok. now i need to call someone will who give me a yellow fever shot.

the kids are gone. time to close the book on lausd. summer is here. should be fun. any questions? i will be working at a charter school in altadena in the fall. i will be teaching 9-11. english and media arts. i may also have a creative writing workshop. i'm looking forward to it. time to relax (sort of) and get ready for a summer of busy. colorado. san diego. africa. a ramble. a bachelor party. friends food family fun. i will also be writing some movies. it's all happening.

really? his name is kim riddlebarger? not ken?

buy this. it will make you good and better.

last night i saw a screening of how green was my valley. randy newman presented it because his uncle did the score. it was really cool. the theater was small and the print was nice and new. i got to ask randy if there were any songs/ film scores he'd wished he had written. he mentioned something about gershwin... then started talking about billy joel, abba, and carol king. but mostly abba.

things.

my union is lame. i will not be picketing tomorrow. i was also going to be a scab, but a judge said we couldn't strike. oh well.

i had an interview with greendot. hopefully all goes well and i get hired.

roger ebert wrote a nice bit about up! im am excited. here is the lynk. here

i'm sick.

out dog.

the smiths, bryants, and gosssses have babies. danny gans dies. wild. zany. stuff.

babies are a poppin'. things things:

finishing credential.
writing cool things with friends.
itching to make a rock album.
running again.
open housing.
helping the simmons family move soon.
some other things too.

i had an eye appointment yesterday. i got contacts. my insurance lets me get contacts and frames, or frames and lenses. contacts and frames really makes no sense... or so i thought... turns out, the nice person at lenscrafters let me get sweet rayban aviators and contacts-- substituting the sweet sunshades for regular lenses. me 1- life 0.

this makes me excited. i am going. you should too.

everybody laughed at me when i picked the blue jays and the dodgers on draft night. i don't see any laughing now. all i see is crying. tears. regret. booyah.

baby sitting a belt tonight... jen and maya are having a girls night-- HO!

going to nowhere tomorrow. tonight i will get my amp fixed and finish watching paris texas. then i will watch husbands and wives and go to sleep.

did you know that the hollywood bowl is open for picnics, hiking, and such on off concert days? it is designated as a public park. i would like to take some snacks and eat in the seats when nobody is there.

in other news of the day... my mom and jack came to work today. it was bring your child to work day, so he came and danced on the tables. he also said ball and did some sign language. then my mom showed pictures of me when i was young.

robyn thinks randy newman lives up the street from us. she thinks she's seen him a couple of times at a house we jog by. i wanted to walk up to his house and pretend i'm doing a survey on lausd or something to see if it is him. she thought i was being creepy. maybe later on.

so sleepy. we made some fun music last night. time for third period. the dodgers are playing well.

thursday. got up earlier, so i'm finished with getting ready for the day (i usually write these posts from my classroom). ate italian with folks in highland park last night. watched the dodgers squeak one out on the television. clayton kershaw was on it like a comet. i will call him the comet. i am drinking coffee from the stanley. not much else. just watching the door until class starts. making sure kids don't sneak in and steal my cool set of graphic novels. i should probably move the shelf from the door at some point, but it would ruin the flow.

i've also put up a blog for the trip to kenya. check it out. i will be going this year with the wife. we will be going in august. i'm not looking forward to leaving the boy behind. it looks like we will be getting back on the 13th, so though it will be a bit rough on the sleep/ missing baby side, i may be able to swing le bachelor party after all. we'll see though.

i am watching the tudors. good game today. gary and sara(h) came over for dinner. they are nice and it was fun.

here is more of jack being cool.






and sad times in baseball land.

we had a fun time last night at the show. good people. good friends. good rock. we will be going to the zoo today. it should be fun. i also bought this last night off woot:



it is unopened from 1978. i am excited.

show tonight. sadie is asleep at my feet. played ball with jack for a while. saw i love you man last night. it was funny and all right. a good netflix movie i suppose. i did some fantasy baseball stuff. i will probably brush my teeth and shower soon. when robyn gets home i will go on a job i suppose. i also might go meet andy in ojai and watch him record music with tim.

early dodger game today. playing a benefit tomorrow. hanging out in ventura with the family. jack is walking around with rain boots on. i just ate an egg sandwich. i am drinking coffee. i will get new contacts today. peace out.

i will probably write more about the trip on the hobosoul blog, but here is the run-down:

arrived. hung out with paul wignall and dr. d.
fly-fished. ate sardines around a fire. made a bomb with oil and blew it up in the fire. slept in the backseat of a volvo. woke. fished again. ate french toast. prospected for gold and shot rifles at cans. drove home. stopped and ate good cheese at a weird cheese place. met a cool neighbor and made future plans to go to the red lion. came home.

In our sun-down perambulations, of late, through the outer parts of Brooklyn, we have observed several parties of youngsters playing "base", a certain game of ball...Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our close rooms...the game of ball is glorious.

Walt Whitman, July 23, 1846 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

i just finished watching Pierrot le fou. it was good; it was cool. now i'm watching flying down to rio on tcm. singing and dancing. jack is shaking his booty and kind of moon walking. yesterday we hung out in the morning, went to bible study, ate my taco, and (i) fell asleep watching casino royale. i could finish it now, but i kind of like flying down to rio. friday we went to the long beach aquarium with the belts. then we ate in-n-out at their house. keith and karen joined us. it was nice. i will put up pictures of the aquarium visit sometime soon.

tomorrow i will go on a short road trip with vern.

my parents came down last night and hung out through dinner. it was fun. my mom made good enchiladas and people ate them. matt o'brien and mike sycz made surprise appearances. they were going to see bp billy harnist and his magic band. we had practice and it was fun. break starts today. we're going to an aquarium.

went and saw annie b last night. she ruled the roost. fun stuff. i also ate salmon and mashed potatoes. they were also very good.

check out www.theriobravo.com for things about folk music we make.

abortion doping?

snopes.

the pools came by last night. we ate pasta and chatted. it was nice. i might be going on a road trip with vern next week. should be cool. i tried messing with my rio bravo blog last night to make it look like a real website, but i messed it up. there are real websites on the internet and i would like mine to look like a real website, but i don't know how.



and...

this guy rules:

i hung out with vern last night. it was fun. the school stopped protesting after school meetings. i do not agree with this decision. the baseball season starts soon. i wrote some baseball songs. i might post them over at theriobravo.com. my wife and baby are the best. i ate mcdonald's yesterday as a quick after school snack; it was delicious.

i had a fun jack and me day yesterday. robyn was in bakersfield. we played games. walked to the store. and ate good food. it was very fun. jack was in top form. right now he is wearing my dodger hat. we just finished watching sesame street. it, too, is still in top form: except for when the puppets rap (although that might be the best part). sesame street is usually followed by thomas the tank engine: a boring british show that should not still be on the air.

today, we have our first official meeting for the africa trip. it should be good.

i've also started updating hobosoul and the rio bravo blogs. check them out if you like.

oh wait... thomas is not on. it's actually a creepy rainforest show. i think it's called animania. yes. it is. it is a green show i think. about animals and mystical ways to save the planet. this episode is called "the mist of time." yes, i believe i will watch.

and... if you are in ventura on the 10th... come to this show...

i had a tommy's cheeseburger and chili dog last night. they were very enjoyable. i'm watching the tudors. it is pretty good. jack is drinking baby gatorade. jack is saying ut-oh a lot. in other news...

fantasy baseball should be fun.

i'm having a day with jack as robyn is going to bakersfield. we might go ride the train in griffith park. he is sick though so maybe not.

spring break is in a week. we are playing a benefit in ventura to kick it off on friday the 10th.

i've got to take an online test in about an hour or so.

that is all.

i went to the movies last night and saw knowing by myself. it was cool. i loved it. when i got home i went to bed. then i woke up at 11:00 or so and traded off jack duty with robyn. he cried uncontrollably for about four hours. he's been sick. i am a little sleepy now. it reminded me of what the first seven months of his life were like.

i've been a little sick lately. so has jack. we watched lost last night. it is fun again. we are listening to tennessee ernie ford in class. students are coming in. i should get going soon.

a student just tried to sell me a key chain. i said no.

i love roger ebert. i really do. he's probably influenced me more than any other film related individual. his reviews are fantastic, honest, well-written... i've even had the privilege of meeting him a couple times: once at the oscars and once in the kilborn green room. we talked about the royal tenenbaums i think. i say all this because i just went to his rogerebert.com and saw that he gave knowing four stars. knowing. really? i guess i ought read the review.

baseball today. i watched snsyefeuifsuybaf, new york last night. i thought it was amazing, but i wouldn't recommend it to anyone. when it was over i went in the garage and wrote a rock song. then i ate a bowl of cereal and watched disc one of ken burns' baseball. out fool.

i had a free screening of i love you man but it was sold out so i went and saw watchmen instead. it was cool.

rad pujols article.

so... i got me some pink slip.

Kirk Douglas

I saw Kirk Douglas do a performance about his life. I'd seen a Danny Kaye thing a while back and this reminded me of it some, except it starred the real Kirk Douglas.

Saturday we had an immensely fun Ramble. Many fun people came out and played many fun instruments.

super fun weekend...

started today when i rode a train to ventura.

ramble saturday.

sunday i am going to see kirk douglas perform. i assume for the last time. i need go watch paths of glory tonight for to get all pumped up and whatnot.

striking.

duke minus toupee.

ramble numero dos

ramble 2. special guests: aaron ballard (and friends) and pedal/ lap steel, vibe, and mandolin phenom charlie peterson... others maybe... you if you are a friend and you know where my house is.

i had jury duty yesterday. it was cool. amber watched jack today and robyn and i went on a date. it was fun. we had my taco and walked around pasadena and had cheese cake. i had some borrego tacos that were muy awesomes. today in class one of my students did an interpretive song and dance routine to the velvet underground's pale blue eyes. it was rad. i was like mr. keating without the academic rigor.

i just spent five minutes too long looking at the kahana sunset website. it may take a week to recover.

For LA folks, we're playing the Key Club on February 21 with Jayson and the Big Tweed.

I was able to get my 2009 Disneyland employee sticker put on my pass yesterday. For obvious reasons, I didn't get it put on last year. For not so obvious reasons, I was able to get it put on again this year. I assume my boyish charm played a part. We didn't stay too long because it started raining.

When we got back we relaxed some and ate food. I waited at the Kogi Korean BBQ taco truck for about half an hour. It was windy and cold. Foodie types were all around. Someone behind me kept talking about duck fat and how he wanted to cook everything in duck fat. Aside from the lame foodie types, it was worth it. I got three short rib and three spicy chicken. I'd go with all short rib in the future.

Today I will relax with my baby and wife. We are watching Elmo's World. He just rapped. The rap ended with him saying, "Yea' Boi'." No joke. It ruled. Jayson once said that Elmo is like crack for little kids. I say Elmo is to babies as duck fat and Obama are to hipsters.

Now I will try and think of something to write. A short funny thing. Maybe about a guy who loses his job (topical) and tries to make a public access TV show in his living room. Maybe. It's missing something though. Like a point. Zing.

Happy V.Day.

who wins in a fight of awesome?

don draper. mcnulty. swearengen. anthony bourdain. eckstein.

this is my 500th post. i am watching the new baseball network. i am eatinga whole pack of prosciutto and drinking a frosty beverage. a show about the dodgers from the mid-90s is on. it is a little dumb, but cool. i went to find a dead dot com and read this thing about janet leigh. then i remembered i met her at an awards show. nobody was talking to her and her daughter introduced me to her and my mind was blown. it was at a party for a bunch of older stars who weren't invited to the awards shows any more. gregory peck was there. weird al too.

Good thing I didn't go listen to John Updike speak at UCLA a couple months ago.

That decision's now up there with the 2001 World Series.

i was going to put this up as a joke. i like jokes and i thought this would be one... turns out, it happened to be one of the most beautiful things i've seen and heard in a long time.

good times.

we're watching obama today at school. it kind of messes up my pacing plan, but whatever. we had a fun weekend. the first ever ramble featured a rad special guest in the form of former bob dylan drummer mickey jones. he told us many fun stories and was a true awesome man (his wife was nice too). we played him a cover of memphis. he's played it both with johnny rivers (whose band he was in for a time) and chuck berry. it was surreal. it was also surreal when he made a comment about andy and matt playing well together, to which i responded by asking what it was like to play with rick danko.

the next one will be taking place march 14. between now and then, we should be shooting two short films (one with mickey as a whaler) and one with singing and dancing.

in other news, i had a lot of fun with my wife and baby in ventura yesterday. it was sunny. we saw wyatt and his wife. we played in the sand.

i've too many things to grade. that is all.

School is about to start. I went to the YMCA both last night and this morning. I am proud of myself, though I find it hard to finish a workout with the nice whirlpool and steam room waiting for me after. I'm trying to pump iron. We'll see how long it lasts.

In other news, Jack turned one. He had a fun birthday and a fun Christmas. We went to Colorado and participated in a fun wedding. He wins the universe award for awesome and best. Robyn comes in second.

We've a ramble this Saturday. Come out, if you like and if you are a friend. It's at the house. The show will start at 7:00 and will feature us, assorted members of the Romany Rye, a possible rad special guest, and some Chuck Berry tunes. Sleeping babies and such will move the after-party to Cha Cha, but we'd love to see you for the show if you are a friend and not a creep. It will take place in our garage.

I'm also shooting a movie with Vern at the end of the month. It will be about a whaler and it will star Rick Steve. We could use help if you are talented at things that are hard and usually time consuming and expensive.

Happy Burf Day!

Pictures of the now one-year-old Jackson Duke! He will be celebrated.

And Rafael Furcal is back. He will play with grace. He will be honorable.

Break starts this weekend. Super.

The Gentleman's Jam. 1st official. Will be January 19th. Special guests. For real.

I had to scrape ice off my car this morning. First time in LA.

UPDATE:
McNulty is in the version of A Christmas Carol we're watching in class. I keep waiting for him to end up under the London Bridge having a taste with Cratchit, for Tiny Tim to find his older brother's gun, and for Scrooge and the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come to have the following exchange:

Scrooge: I see you favor a .45.
Spirit: At night I do. And I keeps one in the chamber in case you ponderin'.

I haven't posted on here in a while. I think it has something to do with a certain someone freaking me out about my sentence structure. Maybe it was something else, I'm not sure.

We're living in a new house and Jack is starting to walk. He's just taking a few steps and he smiles and laughs when he does it. I like him. He is cool.

We're not really playing much music, but we should start again sometime soon.

I haven't been watching too many movies. I watched The Long Goodbye. I really liked it. I want to go driving up the coast, I think. I'm listening to Leonard Cohen in my classroom and it is raining. I think it's making me want to play hooky. I think it is making me want to play hooky from life in general. I am reading The Naked and the Dead . It is very nice. We're going to have a concert in my garage soon. Jack turns one on Thursday. Things are happening. Things are moving. Things are just chugging right along.

Obama

It would be stupid for Obama to give up a 20 year smoking habit on the eve of becoming the president.

Garage Sale!

We're having a garage sale. 2738 Locksley Place. We'll probably start around 8:00.

Cool.

This weekend was fun for several reasons. On Friday, I went with Jayson, Am-en, and some other guy to the Ben Folds concert. When the concert was over I went back to Jayson's work and had a free beer. On Saturday, I cleaned up around the house (the new house that we are now living in) and then in the evening, I took Jack to the super-rad Salon thing in Long Beach. While in Long Beach, I saw many friends and Jack saw many girls who he made become his girlfriends. He works much faster than I ever did in my prime. We didn't stay until the end because he was quite spent, but it was very fun nonetheless.

Today, we finished our weekend of fun by going to church, making delicious combination of pureed meat, fruit, and vegetable (for the boy), and eating Korean BBQ with Kevin and Tisa. The place we ate at featured many parts of the cow and pig. I liked the pig parts the best.

Nebraska's "safe haven" law is the lead story on CNN.com right now. The whole thing is pretty sad on a number of different levels. Because of the urgency of the article, I was under the assumption that hundreds (or even thousands) of children were being dropped off and legally abandoned. It turns out, however, that only 34 minors have been affected.

In 2005 (the most recent data found on a quick search), 3220 abortions were performed in Nebraska. To put it in perspective (based on the approximately 26,000 children born in the state), nearly ten percent of the children conceived (that doesn't sound right; that can't be right, right?) were aborted. If these people were at least responsible enough to get their abortions in nearby Kansas, their dead fetuses could have been receiving the sacraments from this horrible man.

The lesson of the day is that it is better to murder than is it to abandon. I guess.

We've moved into our new place officially. It's a little strange, but I'm excited. There are way too many things to take care of, mostly relating to things in need of purge. It'll all get finished soon enough, though.

I don't really have anything else to add. John Updike is at UCLA tonight. I'd kill to go see him, but we need to finish up stuff around the house. The argument might be made that the house will be there tomorrow and John Updike will not, but like historic World Series games prior, it is really better to be responsible in the present. Not.

Echoing Darren's recent thoughts, I can't fathom, on any level really, how irrelevant abortion has become in regard to reasons to vote for a candidate.


link

via one of Darren's friends:

Remembering Collective Shame

By Uwe Siemon-Netto

This column requires a caveat: I am not an American citizen and therefore neither a Republican nor a Democrat. But as a German residing permanently in the United States I believe that I have a duty to opine on at least one aspect of the upcoming elections – the question whether years from now Americans will have to wrestle with collective shame, just as I have had to deal with collective shame over what has happened in Germany in my childhood for my entire life.

It was West Germany’s first postwar president, Theodor Heuss, who coined the phrase, “collective shame” contrasting it with the notion of collective guilt, which he rejected. No, I cannot be expected to feel guilty for crimes the Nazis committed while I was still in elementary school. But as a bearer of a German passport I have never ceased feeling ashamed because three years before I was born German voters elected leaders planning the annihilation of millions of innocent people.

I am certain that in 1933 most Germans did not find the Nazis’ anti-Semitic rhetoric particularly attractive. What made them choose Hitler, then? It was the economy, stupid, and presumably injured national pride, and similar issues. This came to mind as I read the latest Faith in Life poll of issues Americans in general and white evangelicals in particular consider “very important” in this year’s elections.

Guess what? For both groups, the economy ranked first, while abortion was way down the list. Among Americans in general abortion took ninth and among white evangelicals seventh place, well below gas prices and health care. Now, it’s true that most evangelicals still believe that abortion should be illegal, which is where they differ from the general public and, astonishingly, from Roman Catholics even though their own church continues to fight valiantly against the ongoing mass destruction of unborn life. Still, 54 percent of Catholics and 60 percent of young Catholics have declared themselves “pro choice,” according to the Faith in Life researchers.

What I am going to say next is going to make me many enemies, of this I am sure: Yes, there is a parallel between what has happened in Germany in 1933 and what is happening in America now. The legalized murder of 40 million fetuses since Roe v. Wade in 1973 will one day cause collective shame of huge proportions. So what if this wasn’t a “holocaust?” This term should remain reserved for another horror in history. But a genocide has been happening in the last 35 years, even if no liberators have shocked the world with photographs they snapped of the victims as the Allies did in Germany in 1945. And it has the open support of politicians running for office next month.

If most Americans, and shockingly even a majority of Catholics, think physicians should have the “right” to suck babies’ brains out so that their skulls will collapse making it easy for these abortionists to drag their tiny bodies through the birth canal; if even most white evangelicals think that economic woes are a more important concern (78 percent) than legalized mass murder (57 percent), then surely a moral lobotomy has been performed on this society.

I agree it would be unscholarly to claim that what is happening in America and much of the Western world every day is “another holocaust.” No two historical events are exactly identical. So let’s leave the word “holocaust” where it belongs – next to Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen and Mauthausen. Still there are compelling parallels between today’s genocide and the Nazi crimes, for example:

1. Man presumes to decide which lives are worthy of living and which are not. “Lebensunwertes Leben” (life unworthy of living) was a Nazi “excuse” for killing mentally handicapped children and adults, a crime that preceded the holocaust committed against the Jews. Notice that today fetuses diagnosed with Downs Syndrome are often aborted as a matter of course in America and Europe.

2. In German-occupied territories, Jews and Gypsies were gassed for no other reason than that some people considered it inconvenient to have them around. Today, unborn children are often slaughtered because it is inconvenient for their mothers to bring their pregnancies to term.

3. Murder I is legally defined as killing another human being with malice and aforethought. The Nazis killed Jewish and Gypsies with deliberation – and maliciously. But what are we to think of babies being killed deliberately simply because they would be a nuisance if they were allowed to live? No malice here?

4. Ordinary Germans of the Nazi era were rightly chastised for not having come to their Jewish neighbors’ rescue when they were rounded up and sent to extermination camps. Ordinary Americans and Western Europeans might find the fad to kill babies disagreeable, but as we see from the Faith in Life poll, most have more pressing concerns.

Some future day Americans and Western Europeans will be asked why they allowed their children to be slaughtered. They would even have less of an excuse than Germans of my grandparents’ and parents’ generation. In Germany, you risked your life if you dared to come to the Jews’ rescue. In today’s democracies the worst that can happen to you is being ridiculed for being “a Christian.”

As a foreigner I have no right to tell Americans whom to elect on Nov. 4. Recently, though, a friend asked me: “If you worked in an office and a colleague asked you at the voter cooler, whom he should vote for what would you tell him?” Well, I would say: “I am not here to make up your mind for you. But personally I could never give my vote to so-called pro-choice candidates.”

This would doubtless lead to a heated postmodern dialogue. Perhaps the colleague is not a Christian; he might chastise me for mixing politics and religion. “If you as a Christian oppose abortion,” he could say, “then by all means don’t get involved in an abortion, just don’t impose your religious views on the rest of us.” How would I answer that? An evangelical might yank out his Bible and quote passages pertaining to this issue. But to a non-Christian the Bible is meaningless; I am not sure a political debate around the water cooler is a great venue to start individual evangelization.

My Lutheran approach would be different. I would argue natural law, the law God has written upon the hearts of all human beings, including non-believers. Unless they really have undergone a moral lobotomy they should be open to this story: Down in Wichita, Kansas, there is a physician by the name of George Tiller. On his website he boasts that he has already performed 60,000 abortions, mostly late-term, and week after week he is killing 100 more unborn babies.

Dr. Tiller does not think of these fetuses as clusters of cancerous cells. He knows they are human because he baptizes some of them before he incinerates them in his own crematorium. You don’t baptize non-humans. Dr. Tiller knows that. He is a practicing Lutheran. His former congregation, Holy Cross of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, excommunicated him as an unrepentant sinner. But the Lutheran Church of the Reformation, which belongs to the ELCA, communes him. Did I mention that he kills 100 human beings every week and has already done away with 60.000? Sixty thousand! In Nuremberg they hanged some fiends for murdering less than 60 -- zero point one percent of Tiller’s toll.

Perhaps this little tale will give even non-believers pause if they have not discarded their conscience, known to Christians as the law God has written upon every man’s heart. One day, of this I am certain, this will indeed result in collective shame – and God knows what other horrible consequences.

We had a nice weekend in Big Bear. We sat inside and watched babies crawl around on the floor. At night we talked some and made jokes. It was good.

I am listening to "Ballad in Plain D"; it is such a beautiful song. The bell rang; lunch is now over. Students are coming into my class; they will be finishing their narratives. A student just rang my bell; its sharp ting hurt my ear.

New York.

My wife, Robyn, sat on the end of the bed and complained that our son, Jack, would have trouble getting to sleep. We were in New York with my parents. A friend from college was getting married. We had eaten bowls of fettuccine and marinara. It was Paul Newman’s marinara. His face on the jar was rugged and his hair was gray. He looked good.
“Jack’s going to have trouble getting to sleep,” said Robyn. She was sitting on the bed reading a People Magazine. Jack had made his way under the hide-a-bed.
“Maybe we should put him in the bathroom,” I said.
“Really?” asked Robyn sardonically. “You really think it would be a good idea to put him in the one place people are going to be going in and out of through out the night?”
“Or we could put him in the elevator with a do not disturb sign on the crib,” I said covering some from the bathroom suggestion I’d thought made sense. Robyn shook her head some. My jokes weren’t amusing her.
“What time do you want to leave for Brent’s?”
“I’m not sure, I’ve got to call him.”
“Maybe you should do that now,” she said.
“I’ll call in a little bit,” I said.
“You guys should take a cab,” said my mom from the kitchen. She was washing dishes.
“The subways are safe, mom,” I said.
“We don’t want you getting mugged,” said my mom.
“Where’s it at?” asked my dad. He was looking at a plastic tourist map we’d bought from a drugstore earlier in the day.
“They live on Riverside Drive,” I said. My dad squinted at the map. He had trouble seeing in the dim light. Jack pulled at something on the floor and put it in his mouth. I think it was a string of carpet. “You guys get to go right through Harlem,” said my dad.
“Really?” asked my mom. I think she was hoping he was pulling her leg. “Yeah,” he said.
“We love Jackson, but we don’t want to raise him,” she said half-joking.
“I’d love to raise Jackson,” said my dad.
“Jeez mom,” I said.
“You know what I mean.”
“We’ll be fine,” I said.
“Gosh, Debby,” said my dad. We all laughed.
“You know what I meant,” she said.
“Do you have money in your wallet?” asked Robyn.
“I’ve that money we took out earlier.”
“That’s right,” she said.

I fixed my dark gray beanie in the elevator mirror on the way down. The floor ticked away electronic and red. The song Seal sang for one of the Batman movies played soft. It was quiet and intense. Very melodramatic. It sounded like it could’ve been in a high school production of Phantom. That’s how you talked about musical theater. Les Mis, Phantom… one word was all you really needed. It was a New York thing. New York tourist vernacular. Like Urkle or Tim the Tool Man.
“Which way do we go?” asked Robyn as we stepped into the cold night. It reminded me of walking into the produce section at Costco.
“59th street,” I said. “The Columbus Circle.”
“Do you know what that is?”
“No.”
* * *

pumpkin patch and octoberfest!

we went to the pumpkin patch with the pools, parents, poppo, and sister. we also watched the great pumpkin and ate meat at a german restaurant. i also had a reunion. andy smith and the pools crashed it. fun. fun. robyn is sick. pray for her to become not sick.

the dodgers lost. i'm still busy. i'm not sure what else. i'm resting after the half-marathon. i will rest for about a week and start running again, i guess. not much else.

i was in class for the game tonight. andy was sending me text messages. they were mostly lewd remarks about larry bowa. not much else. the classes are time consuming, but i should be completely finished by april--except for btsa--a fun beginning teacher support program full of busy busy work. lame.

i'm also getting ready to apply for grad school in the fall. the program will allow me to keep working. it looks to be rad. we'll see.

we'll also be in new york in a couple weeks for the wedding. should be super rad.

we also may (hopefully) be living in the new place next week. my uncle is giving us a player piano with a bunch of old rolls. i am excited. i think i'll put the piano from here in the garage for awesome future gentleman's jams.

robyn and jack are still alive. this is a blessing. jack claps, plays kazoo, piano, changes his own diaper, says dada, and opens bottles with his gums. he also recently said the phrase "waz up boi?!" in sort of a new yorkish asian jew type beastie boy voice. it was weird.

i also ordered an all-in-one remote from woot. i have not received it yet. i imagine woot is run from the back of some guy's car in norwalk--that same guy who tried to sell me sweet speakers one time.

i am very excited the dodgers are in a position to be awesome. i was at the clinching game with greg and it blew my mind wide and long.

as far as the games go, i plan on listening to them on the radio--or radio with the tv on and the volume down. this might very well be vin scully's last (potential) world series... really, honestly, the stupid people who run tv world need to let him broadcast the games. he is such a beautiful man.

i met him once. it makes me cry to think of it sometimes. i was supposed to pick darren up from the airport. it was raining and i didn't want to go. i ended up waiting in baggage claim for a while... after a bit, several hard-bodied men began walking toward the rotating metal luggage thing. one looked like gary sheffield. another, like kevin brown... after a few moments of awesome, i realized these greek godesque gentlemens to be the dodgers. i chatted a little with then pitching coach jim colbourn as i had gone to high school with his son and met vin. i was a bit frightened, but felt my life would be a little less awesome if i didn't say thank you... so i did... and shook his hand... and i haven't washed that hand since...

i went to the game last night with greg. it straight blew my mind.

it is early. i have a student helping me sweep up a bit. he came earlier than me. i showed him how to make a blog.

the dodgers are winning games. i am gong with greg on saturday. mike was going to come, but he is a little bummed.

i am listening to bix.

i really don't have any time right now for anything. a lot of school. three classes with a ton of work, my regular grading/ planning/ etc., and i'm in charge of the accelerated reader program--which means i've been spening ever spare minute here at school entering in each of the few thousand students into the system. since the classes are still moving some, there's a good chance i'll have to fix many of them after the fact.

i'm also working toward running a half marathon. i ran ten miles the day before yesterday. today four, tomorrow, two, sunday maybe ten again, rest... i can't afford the race right now, though, so i just plan on running the 13 miles next sunday on my own time. oh well.


i'm also getting stuff together for grad school. there's a program i'm applying to that i can take while teaching next year. it should be rad.