The End Of The World
Posted: April 26, 2003 Filed under: Personal Updates Leave a comment »Today Ronee and I took a tour of the Neff Park house here in La Mirada. I love old houses and I’m fascinated to hear stories about families and businessmen and ranchers from the turn of the century on these tours. Sounds weird, I know. In this case the house was built by Mr. McNally (of the map making Rand McNally fame) who made his early fortunes by printing up train time tables in Chicago when the train was the only mode of transportation that could move people across the country. He’d spend his winters in Southern California at a house he had in Pasadena. He purchased over 2000 acres in Orange County…an area that would eventually become La Mirada which is where I am currently living. Of course this whole area now (an area that once was filled with orange trees, olive trees, citrus groves, cattle, etc.) is a sprawling sea of humanity. Strip malls, gas stations, subdivisions, tract houses, apartments and hundreds of taco stands are everywhere. I finished reading the U2: At The End Of The World last night. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Even if you are not a fan of the band; if you enjoy music and the behind the scenes working of one of the biggest rock bands of the last two decades it is a completely fascinating read. I then started work on the new Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, About A Boy) book “How To Be Good” which the jacket describes as “entering the heart, mind and soul of a woman who, confronted by her husband’s sudden and extreme spiritual conversion, is forced to learn ‘how to be good’ – for better or worse.” I’m already halfway done reading it and it is also excellent. I will probably finish it before the weekend is over. When I was in high school my best subjects by far were english and creative writing. I feel in a lot of ways I have neglected my gifts in this area and I’m doing my best to get back to it. Maintaining these entries is a start. I’m making it a goal to read as many books as possible from this point forward. Reading just makes you smarter. And I’d like to think that certain reading (theology, Bible, biography, etc.) if not most just makes you are better person. You put yourself into the place of other people and their thoughts. You learn about life and culture and society. And you can expand your vocabulary, which never hurts. I am happy to say that my reading renaissance (did I spell that right?) has not infringed on my movie watching. Yesterday I caught the opening day of the new thriller/horror film “Identity” with John Cusack and Ray Liotta. It was outstanding. And then last night Ronee and I rented “Red Dragon” (the latest installment in the Silence Of The Lambs trifecta). I really enjoyed that movie a lot as well. Much more than Hannibal which I thought was a disaster of a movie. Tonight we’re going to watch the other movie we rented “Ghost Ship”. This will most likely be a piece of crap but hopefully entertaining. You don’t have real high expectations of films in this type of genre. It’s really best not to. I guess that about sums it up for now. I could go on a huge rant about how I might have to move sooner than I thought to New Jersey because our landlord is threatening to sell our house and other things that have been stressing me out. But I don’t want to burden you with it. Watch a movie, read a book, get outside and walk. Don’t let life pass you by!
Knife Attack
Posted: April 24, 2003 Filed under: Personal Updates Leave a comment »Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated! : ) Last Thursday I got my staples (all 10 of them ) out. Now I have a nice 5″ or so ugly scar on my stomach. Looks like somebody attacked me with a knife. Maybe I can make up stories now about my new wound to people I’ve just met on the beach! Slow Coming Day did an in-store at Virgin on Tuesday. A ton of people showed up and they played great and the store sold about 40 copies of the CD. It was great! I am so excited to see Identity tomorrow. Ronee and I are going to an early showing. I picked up the new Madonna CD. What a piece of crap. Very dissapointing. Thankfully I also picked up “Warriors” and “One Hot Summer” (John Cusack 80′s movie) on DVD to balance it out. Easter Sunday Rono and I went to Church at the First Presbyterian Church Of Hollywood. This was the Church I grew up at. They have a different pastor now who is from Ireland and in addition to the accent is a great preacher. The pastor there when I was a kid was Lloyd Ogilvie who was Scottish and also had a deep commanding voice with a slight accent. He was an amazing preacher. He preached every sunday completely from memory (including scriptures). I have him to thank for being dissapointed with every Church I’ve been to since. Lloyd’s wife died recently and over 800 people came to the funeral. He was recently the Senate Chaplain and retired to come care for her as she died from lung disease. Very sad. I was noticing this Sunday a thing about smells and memory. You know how certain smells remind you of childhood or other times or events. It’s a cool thing. As soon as I walk in there, it’s like I’m transported back to the 70′s and being a kid going there. Weird. After Church Ronee and I had lunch at Johnny Rockets on Melrose Avenue. Not exactly Easter dinner…but it was fun. We drove around afterward in Beverly Hills looking at all the ridiculous and sometimes beautiful houses of the rich and fabulous. Anyway, it’s good to be back in the land of the semi-living. I have a ticket to go see Cursive with No Knife and Appleseed Cast tonight but I think I’ m going to try to sell it. I don’t know if I’m up to a night of rock right now. Ronee and I also went to Barnes & Noble the other night for several hours looking at books and magazines. I picked up “U2: At The End Of The World.” I’ve been reading it non-stop since I got it. It’s a biography of the band written around the time of “Achtung Baby” and “Zooropa” and it is excellent and an extremely fascinating read. It’s making me fall in love with U2 all over again. I especially liked the quote where Henry Rollins came up in conversation (Henry likes to bash U2 and especially Bono…I like Henry but we don’t see eye to eye at all on the U2 issue) and Bono said wryly “isn’t he the vegetarian?” Good times. Anyway, if you like them at all or if you like really well written and interesting biographies you should check it out. I also just finished reading (in one day) the book Jarhead which was written by a Marine who served in the Gulf War. I was in the Army for 3 years and got out within weeks of when the Gulf War started so it was interesting to me. It’s a pretty vulgar book…but very true to my military times I’d say. I’m also about half way through reading a bit at a time of “Stupid White Men” by Michael Moore. It’s an ok book. Some parts I thought were pretty ridiculous and unnecessary but other parts are good. The jury is still out on that one. Well…I have to get back to music business here kids. Thanks for stopping by and hello and Happy Week-After-Easter to you all…
Recovery Mode
Posted: April 13, 2003 Filed under: Personal Updates Leave a comment »Just been laying around all weekend in bed taking it easy and trying to recover. Not too fun. I’m pretty stir crazy actually. I’m used to going out and doing stuff pretty much every day…even if it’s just a quick run to the po box or errands or whatever. I guess there are worse lots in life huh? I have to go back and check in with the surgeon on Thursday. Hopefully it goes well. Slow Coming Day’s record comes out soon. You can check out an e-card with audio preview by clicking here. They are one of the bands I manage and are doing really well. Good guys too.
Uh Oh Appendix
Posted: April 12, 2003 Filed under: Personal Updates Leave a comment »APPENDIX FREE IN 2003!!! Well, this week did not exactly go the way I planned. Wednesday, I ended up going to the emergency room at Presbyterian Hospital about 9am in the morning. After blood test and scan (with fun enema!) they determined I was having appendicitis. Shortly thereafter…about 11:00 am…I was rushed into emergency surgery. They took out my appendix and said it was very diseased so it was good they took it out. I now have 9 or so beautiful metal staples in my gut. How punk! : ) ha I was discharged late yesterday afternoon and have been recovering now at home. My stomach is real sore still and my right hand is pretty messed up. They had a problem with the IV and my hand swelled up a lot. They switched it to my left hand. Anyway…your thoughts and prayers during my recovery time are much appreciated. More later when I’m back in the land of the living.
It's Almost Like I'm In College
Posted: April 7, 2003 Filed under: Personal Updates Leave a comment »I am joining you tonight from the Biola University library. I never went to college. But since my girlfriend is going I occasionally get the vicarious experience of attending. The nice thing is they have a T-1 connection. So I just put on the old head phones and get on the internet. Lightning fast! Ronee and I visited the Church I grew up at this morning. The First Presbyterian Church Of Hollywood. It’s right downtown in Hollywood just off of Hollywood Boulevard. I noticed today that things always seem a lot bigger when you are little than when you are little. This was the case with the Church as well. I drove there with no direction as if no years had passed even though the last time I was there was the summer of 1981. I was confirmed and baptized at this Church. My Dad and step mother were married there. Lots of memories. Anyway, the sermon was good. It was a guest speaker. The regular pastor was still there and is from Ireland I would like to go back to hear him speak. Watched the Jackass movie again along with seasons 2 and 3 on DVD. Those guys are crazy but it’s some really funny stuff. I’m listening to Enya right now. I’m so New Age. lol Just kidding folks. Speaking of New Age. I saw the huge building for the Church Of Scientology as we were getting on the freeway. Gotta love Ron L. Hubbard. He’s quite a fiction writer. I reconnected with some old friends from high school this week. I’m heading down to San Diego to visit them this coming weekend. That should be fun. Also looking forward to going to Six Flags during Ronee’s spring break at the end of this month. I love roller coasters! The new issue of Spin is out. Here’s a caption for you… “LINKIN PARK: The Biggest Band On The Planet Wants To Save Your Life (Again).” Who comes up with this crap? Ugh… Well folks…I better get to my e-mail. Have a great week!
"The Man" Is Bringing Me Down
Posted: April 4, 2003 Filed under: Personal Updates Leave a comment »Welcome to April everybody. Don’t forget to spring forward with your clock this weekend! I rearranged my office for the 3rd time today and I think I finally found that extra few feet I was looking for. What a relief! Watched the movie Moonlight Mile tonight with Ronee. Sad and poignant movie. Good though. Have I mentioned I have a panic attack sometimes when I think about death? It’s a weird thing. It started happening a few years ago out of nowhere. It doesn’t always happen. It’s just the fear of the unknown. I know as somebody who has faith that seems odd. I know I’m supposed to be all excited to check out of this hell on earth and to be truckin’ with Jesus on the streets paved with gold. But, sometimes it just freaks me out. Yeah…so… I wish everybody would get off of Michael Moore’s case. Seriously. Hey idiots…his movie was about how corrupt our government is and how we love guns and violence and war. What did you expect him to say? His latest book is called “Stupid White Men”. The central figure of the book is George W Bush. Let me also add…the media makes so many mistakes it’s unbelievable. It’s easy to see how people buy into things that are reported and not even true. I keep the CNN going low volume in the background in my office. They reported about 50 times that the POW girl had been shot several times. Finally the interviewed her Dad. And he says “I spoke with the doctors today. And while she has two broken legs and they had to work on her back she has no puncture wounds of ANY kid including gun shot wounds.” WACKY! So, if I had missed that one little broadcast I would STILL think she had been shot. I know it seems like a small thing to pick about. But they do this with everything. They also reported on another day that a massive regiment of Iraqi troops were headed south. They said it over and over and over again. By the end of the day they were saying it was a false report. Am I the only person who is frustrated by this? It’s like when I went to the bank today. I go to the same ATM’s at Albertsons near my house EVERY week and deposit checks. I’ve done it about 20 times. Today I put my card in, enter my pin, get the envelope ready and it flashes at me…”There is a problem with your transaction, please try again.”. Again I try…same message. A third time I try…same message. So, I get in line. And I wait…forever. When I finally get to the counter and explain to the lady what happens she says to me “well, your account is out of state.” I explain to her that I moved here in January and that I deposit money in this ATM EVERY WEEK and have never had a problem. She says that I probably have a problem with my card. I slide my card through a device on her counter. It works fine. She calls over her manager. The manager tells me this same line about how I opened up the account in another state and things are changing now and they can’t access my information…blah blah blah. I COME HERE EVERY WEEK ARE YOU STUPID?!?! That’s what I wanted to say. She tells me that I will probably have to close my account and open a new one. I am beside myself. How is this possible? What good is a national freaking bank that I can only use in one state?! There must be something wrong! I make the manager call the bank in Washington. She calls them. And sure as anything…there is a COMPUTER PROBLEM!!!!!! I can deposit there any time I want and it shouldn’t be a problem at all!!!!!! So, both of these ladies raised my blood pressure through the roof FOR NO REASON!!! Here’s an idea…keep your mouth shut until you know what the heck you are talking about. Don’t tell me I’m going to have to close my account. Don’t tell me I’m out of state when I’m standing in front of your dumb ass. OK thanks. I really needed to get that off my chest. CNN, BANK OF AMERICA, US GOVERNMENT…ALL OF YOU…STOP THE DISINFORMATION! Thank you, good night.
