8-Track

Question of the Day:

What was your favorite album on 8-track tape?

Mine was Led Zeppelin III.

That's about all I remember having on 8-track.

kona's saturday night austin tour, but first : Quirky Question of the Day

I know all of you have some weird quirks or you wouldn't be coming anywhere near this blog. So I have a question for you:

What common thing or occurrence can you simply not stand?

This can't be something like fingernails on a chalk board because that bothers a lot of people; it has to be something rather unique to yourself that hardly anyone else would understand the aversion.

For me, I can't stand hearing an audience on an audio recording. It almost completely ruins a recorded event for me if the performer does any type of interaction with the crowd during a recording, and the louder the response from the crowd, whether they are laughing or cheering, the more I cringe up in a knot.

I've never been much of a fan of live musical recordings either. During my youth I accidentally purchased a few by accident, not realizing they were live recordings. Once in a while, a band would sneak one song in on me on a studio album.

Back in the 80s when I lived in London, I purchased a cassette tape of a comedy routine recorded by Dudley Moore and Peter Cook, and while I enjoyed it the first time around, I never had any interest in listening to it again, because I don't really like being spoken to, or read to, in an audio recording. NO TALKING BOOKS IN MY HOUSE! (But if you are into that kind of thing, and don't mind off-color vile humor, get it! It's great!)

But I have absolutely no problem with live video recordings of anything and can watching them over and over. Maybe with any spoken word, or audience involvement, I need to see faces and facial expressions, whereas music recorded in a studio transcends the person(s) involved.

txrad likes Prairie Home Companion on NPR. Needless to say, I detest it. But DJs talking don't bother me, as long as they keep it relevant, nor do on-air radio interviews disturb me in the least. Maybe it's because I don't feel like I'm being spoken to, but rather that I'm eavesdropping.

There's a fine line in there somewhere.

I now return you to our regularly scheduled Saturday night programming.

Let's go to P3:

Childhood Without Inhibitions

I'm not sure why this crossed my mind today but it certainly makes for another interesting Question of the Day until I can get my shit together for a real post.

When I was in the first grade, I remember sitting behind a girl in glass. Her name was Becky and her mother owned a clothing store in my hometown.

Becky had beautiful silky black hair, just shy of shoulder-length, and I'd reach up and pull my fingers through her hair. It felt so good. Apparently she didn't mind because I certainly don't ever recall an incident in which I was told to "STOP it, you freak!" It was just one of those innocent 7-year-old moments of exploration I guess.

A year or two later I remember another girl spontaneously deciding to stick her tongue in my ear. I think her name was Carol. Last name: Russell. (That just came to me as I was typing this post.) It was an "ewwwwww" moment for me.

And then, in the same classroom and the same year, there was a boy who would come to the back of the classroom where there was a shelf of books, and while I was flipping through a book, he would unzip my pants and stick his hand in there. And this was while the classroom was full and the teacher was in the room. (Sorry, I don't remember his name. Honestly.)

I'm just curious. Do the rest of you have stories like this, or was it just me?

Cat Commands

I've decided to do a Question of the Day which can carry on through Thursday since I expect to be busy and may not get a Thursday post up.

What is the most common command you make to your cat?

If you are a dog owner, you may substitute. Ditto for parakeets (although I'm not sure that parakeets take commands very well. Joe? Tracy? Care to weigh in?)

If you have no pets, substitute children. Or whatever.

I rarely make commands of Sissy because she's generally well-behaved and not a nuisance in any way whatsoever. The same cannot be said of the Tot, so I have two most-common commands to offer up:

1. Get out of the way, boy!

2. Boy, get out of my shoes!

Question of the Day

Have you ever referred to your spouse/partner as "honey bunny?"

If so, don't answer this question because I don't want to know about it. Too freaky.

I can't think of any pet names I've had for txrad other than to occasionally refer to him as "my boy."

And to those of you who would be brazen enough to ask me if this is the best post I can do on a Monday, I can only think of one thing to say:

Any of you fucking pricks move.. and I'll execute every last motherfucking one of you!

Yes, Monday took a toll on me emotionally. LOL!

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Back when txrad and I first moved into our first apartment together in Los Angeles, I was working and he wasn't. (Gee, kind of like now!) Our apartment manager must have had some connections to the film industry because she got him involved as an extra in an Ice-T music video shoot. He ended up on the cutting room floor.

In the late 1980s when Mike Nichols was shooting Biloxi Blues in Fort Smith, Arkansas I went to a casting call for extras and got selected. I was living in Little Rock at the time so it was a long haul over to the site of the shoot. I may have stayed at a Motel 6 for a day or two. I can't even remember.

My biggest moment in the film was during the theater scene. I was running late that day. When I showed up, all the other extras had already been transported by bus to the site where filming was taking place at Fort Chaffee, a military training facility just outside Ft. Smith.

I was kicking myself for lack of punctuality and thinking I'd really blown it. But I did have full unrestricted access to the snack table of various fruits and other goodies, and I suspect that was for the principals, not the extras.

Soon I was escorted to a room to have my hair buzzed again. This happened a week or two earlier when I was selected to be an extra in the film, but apparently my hair had grown enough to require re-militarization. There were only three other people in the room besides me: my groomer, and another groomer who was working on the actor seated behind me, and that actor happened to be Matthew Broderick. I was about to shit myself. He was having fake five o'clock shadow applied to his face.

After this we were both transported to the room where the theater scene was being shot. As we arrived, all the other extras were present and seated. It was a big room filled with extras. I expected, being late, that I'd be in a back row. Instead I was escorted down to an empty seat near the front about 2 or 3 rows behind where Broderick was placed. I've always wondered how the hell that happened.

In the film, I am clearly visible for several seconds as the camera pans back and forth in the theater scene. I am munching on popcorn.

Anyway, what brought all this up was that I just asked txrad about his experience as an extra. He thought the Ice-T video was low-budget and not very well coordinated. They didn't give them any detailed instructions on what to wear or anything. And I said, "Oh, you should have been an extra in a decent budget film like I was."

Upon selection as extras, we were taken to a big old army barracks building where we had to dig through boxes of military attire -- and I'm specifically referring to garments that would not even be seen on camera. Like....underwear. Yes, I had to pick out an army green wife-beater to wear under the shirt I was given to wear. Can't remember the socks but I'm sure those were in character as well. Crazy.

It's kind of weird knowing that you are out there, and a few million people have probably seen you, and will continue (in decreasing numbers) long after you are gone. When I'm watching any film, I tend to notice extras because of my experience, and wonder why they got involved, how they got involved, whether they did anything else film-related, or just went on with their lives?

Which leads me to a Question of the Day. Who saw Biloxi Blues and did you have any idea you were having a konagod moment? :-)

I probably would have been given a speaking part in the film, if only I'd been fluent in Italian Spanish. (Yeah, Litbrit, I studied both, but you'd never know, would you?)

Various & Sundry

I'm having one of those days. Maybe 3 weeks of broken facial bone issues and liquid diets is hitting my limit of tolerance. Maybe it's the healing process that's getting on my nerves. Itching in places I cannot comfortably scratch wears on my nerves.

Blogs that have to put a [Trigger Warning] on a post which links to an article about a 90-year-old man killing his 89-year-old wife in a nursing home are getting on my nerves. A [Trigger Warning] for THAT? For Christ's sake, it goes on in every damn city in the country every goddamn day! It's sad, but...triggering? How do some people even face the day? If that's all it took to trigger me I think I'd just shut everything down and play solitaire all day.

What not just rename the blog "[Trigger Warning]" and be fucking done with it? That would have all the posts covered.

Work got on my nerves today. Systems and procedures and processes. The whole shebang.

I went to the Department of State website today to check out passport applications, just to see how complicated they have become since 9/11/01. I haven't applied for one since the late 80s. Not big changes but there was a question in there regarding where you plan to travel and what dates.

That irritated the hell out of me. Do I need to have plans before I apply for a passport? I just can't have one and be spontaneous? The damn thing is valid for 10 years. And there's only room there to list one trip and one date. Stupid pointless annoying question.

Stop me because I could go on and on.

Let's switch gears before I have to [trigger warning] cut something.

Question: iPhone or Droid or other?

What do you like/dislike about your phone?

I know a couple of people who have gotten a Droid recently. They seem to like it.

I may be stuck with AT&T and their products for awhile. I have my mother on my Family plan with AT&T with a RAZR which is about 10 times the phone she really needs, but it was one of the most basic I could have gotten at the time.

Now with all the QWERTY keypads and shit, I can't even think about upgrading her phone. There is no point. She just needs to be able to dial or pick up and answer. Period.

The Droid is a cool phone but Verizon doesn't seem to offer a basic phone like that (the RAZR), even for "free." So I guess I'm stuck keeping her on AT&T as well as me and txrad. When I decide to upgrade or when I need to, guess it'll be an iPhone. Or not. No biggie and no rush either.

Gonna go wash my nappy hair, shave my face and see if that doesn't elevate me to a better frame of mind. Then I can go sit and watch TV and see what Rush or Glenn said today to throw me right back into a tizzy.

Is it Friday yet?

Glenn Beck's Quiz Results Finally!

After my Friday Glenn Beck post, and the follow-up on Saturday regarding the Nolan Chart quiz server crash, I decided to give it one final shot today.

I got in! I took the quiz. Based on the multiple choice options presented in the quiz I'm really not surprised by the results. But I am going to dismiss the entire theme of Glenn Beck's Friday show, centered around this quiz, as being an exercise in determining who you are and where you fit in the chart.

Sure, I do have some Libertarian leanings. I even called myself a Libertarian for awhile. I suspect I fell into this quadrant in the Nolan quiz because so many of the questions were conservative hot-button topics, one of which was on the issue of gay marriage. I said it was none of the government's business being involved in marriages and they should get out.

I would really like to know how I'd score if that question hadn't been in there. But as I've said, the questions were limiting in the sense that I had to pick from four possible answers, and sometimes the best of the four still doesn't quite describe my viewpoints. It's complicated sometimes.

(Not sure what the flowers have to do with the chart, but...)

Whatever. I'll gladly take the northwest corner of that box over the south and east side.

Weird Quirks, Anyone?

I love quirky people and people who do strange things fascinate me. I feel like I'm relatively normal when I read the paper or venture out into south Austin, but I also have some quirks.

A few months ago I had a voice mail from one of my television station ad sales reps. I have worked with her for years and her voice is one of those which is immediately memorable. I would love to meet her someday to put a face to the voice which, by the way, I'm not saying is pleasant. It reminded me of Jezebel, my old cat who died a few years ago, when she was ready to be fed. Definitely memorable.

Anyway, I saved her voice mail message because I suppose I had a hunch I would someday lose touch. Not long after that, in November 2009 I believe, I got one of those emails that her last day was effective immediately. Now, I can replay her message anytime I'm ready for a flashback.

I also like to hang my shirts in the closet grouped by color: reds, blues, greens, yellows, browns, and then blacks.

So, question of the day: What are your quirks? C'mon, everyone has at least one.

Moving On

I seriously need to do some cleaning around here. Lots of books need to be donated, particularly the books on film production and screenplay writing.

Back when I was in my 20s and even into my mid-30s, I harbored notions of writing a screenplay and making a film. I certainly had a wealth of material and experiences to use. But it kept turning into one of those "I'll get around to it eventually" scenarios. And the books were always on the shelf as a constant nagging reminder.

At some point in life, I suppose we have all dismissed an ambition. I'm not sure why that happens. It's not age per se but I think age plays into it. I am certainly not too old; I simply lost my will over time. Getting into a long-term relationship and being happily involved in a career certainly played a big part. By the time I was 37 and making the move from Los Angeles to Austin, I believe I had already accepted the fact that it was never going to happen.

Twelve years after that, the books no longer taunt me or even intrigue me; they simply take up space and collect dust.

Question of the Day:

What lofty ambitions have you had in life which you have discharged?

Unfriending Family

I received a very interesting email from a friend today and she had this to share:

My sister and I have a difficult relationship. She has always looked for some level of approval from me that I cannot ever seem to produce. So, everything I say or do is suspect to being an insult or lack of regard for her. Last Monday, I sent her a bouquet of Spring flowers and a big mylar balloon for her birthday (she loves to get these type of things!). However, she didn't like the bouquet (it wasn't big enough and in her words "looked like a $5.99 bouquet from Krogers) and was insulted with only one balloon and a card that wasn't hand written. I had spent $60!! (I had sent the bouquet through 1-800-FLOWERS...usually a very reliable company).

So, I had another bouquet sent to her. But, too late. She had already unfriended me from Facebook.

She suggested this would be a good question of the day, and I agree:

Have you ever unfriended (or been unfriended) on Facebook by a family member? If you aren't on Facebook, you can just substitute an unfriending experience in the real world.

My brother used to tease me when I was a child. I finally decided I didn't want anything to do with him so I quit speaking to him. I was maybe 5 or 6. This went on for months, and then as I got older, he moved away. He would have been about 20 at that time. It got to a point, by the time I was in my teens, that it was very awkward to be around him because how do you not speak to a family member?

I was in my mid- to late-teens before I started making an effort, and it was only when I absolutely had to. It was just so difficult to start communicating with someone again after that long lapse dating back to childhood.

The internet and email have certainly facilitated communication again.. now that I'm 49! Strange.

Pertaining to Facebook, it's hard to know when someone unfriends you if it was intentional on their part or a Facebook glitch. I've seen both happen (unless the people who unfriended me weren't being honest about it). I don't have any family on Facebook anyway. As close as it gets are two guys who are cousins to my cousin. I've known them since we were children so they are like family in a way.

I noticed one of them disappeared from my friend list. He also happens to be the one who is rather hardcore into his Christianity. I guess my status updates got to be a bit too much for him. But if I make someone uncomfortable for whatever reason, or someone is ashamed and afraid some of their friends will see a status and be offended, then I don't care if they leave.

But if you are family, and I send you flowers, or even if you are just a friend, you'd better not complain that the bouquet wasn't large enough. It'll be the last thing you get from me!

Meat: It's What's For Dinner

Well, not literally, since we're both vegetarians and have been for about 18 years. But we just walked out on the patio and scared away a rather large opossum. Txrad said, "those things scare me." I replied, "Not me; they're tasty."

Yes, I have eaten opossum as well as armadillo and a few other critters. I despised deer meat. It's way to gamey for my taste. And as for turkey, I could only handle the white meat. I hated the dark meat. But if my recollection is true, I thought opossum and armadillo made great BBQ meat.

So, Question of the Day: What's the most exotic meat you've ever eaten, and did you like it?

The guy who prepared the armadillo and opossum was the dad of my cousin's cousins in small-town southeast Arkansas. He'd do this big BBQ every July 4th and I was probably 11 or 12 when I tasted those delicacies. He also offered up some rattlesnake, but I politely declined.

Question of the Day

What genre of music can you just not listen to?

I can't think of one personally although some of that late 50s and early 60s shit takes a toll on my nerves.

I was just discussing with txrad about a radio station in Little Rock back around 1980 which was known as KQ94 and they played a lot of new stuff, like Dire Straits, Joe Jackson, and the like. He doesn't like that. Nor does he like Steely Dan. So I said I was going to post a song of theirs I really like, just to see if he could tolerate it, or be appalled by it. He can comment with his verdict.

I think he doesn't like any kind of rock/jazz fusion. But...come on for the Mystery Tour.

UPDATED 11/12: This is the YouTube clip I meant to post. Same song but someone put it to interesting video...

Question of the Day

This is for the ladies out there.

Would you have given birth to any of Ike Turner's children, and if so, why?

Chicago Or Rio?

Question of the Day

Which city would you like to see host the 2016 Summer Olympics? The contenders are Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Madrid, and Tokyo. I'm reducing this to two choices but you can vote for any.

I love Chicago and would love to see it host the Olympics. However, I love to pull for the underdogs, and the fact that no South American city has even hosted the Olympics doesn't seem fair. So I'd have to pull for Rio, under the circumstances.

“It would be overwhelming for our city, for our citizens and for Brazil as a whole,” said Carlos Osorio, the secretary general of Rio’s Olympic bid committee.

While three other finalists — Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo — have also mounted strong bids, Rio has drawn support outside of Brazil’s borders. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, who has been negotiating military deals with Brazil, said he supported Rio’s bid “100 percent.” King Juan Carlos of Spain has said he will throw his support behind Rio if Madrid is eliminated in the first round of voting.

And some International Olympic Committee members have been reported to be enamored of the idea of correcting the Games’ historic neglect of South America.

And since the publication of that article which mentioned that Michelle Obama was going to make the pitch to the IOC, Barack has changed his mind and will attend to make the pitch for Chicago.

Frankly, I'd rather he stay here and continue to pitch for health care reform, but whatever.

Previously, Mr. Obama had said that the pressing issue of health care reform would prevent him from making the trip to Copenhagen. Advisers had also said that they were worried that he could be embarrassed internationally if he traveled to Copenhagen and the committee did not vote for Chicago.

Actually it will be more embarrassing if he fails to get health care reform pushed through than whether or not he can secure the 2016 Olympics for Chicago. And probably more costly in 2012 which should be a bigger concern than 2016.

Are You Brothers?

I suggested to txrad that he blog about this but since he doesn't have a blog, I'll volunteer.

We get this question rather frequently at various restaurants. And it's bugging the hell out of txrad to the point that he said tonight, "I want to slap the shit out of the next person who asks that."

Hmmm.

I take it a different way. We've lived together 19 years and during that time, couples start to merge. We both have long hair. (Yeah, mine is curly and his is straight.) And we both wear glasses. And we both exude a certain.. queerness maybe.

He was so taken aback by the question at a Petco awhile back that he responded, "NO, we're a couple." To which the sales clerk responded, and I'm paraphrasing, "Oh, cool."

I just don't think these people mean any wrong. Maybe they aren't projecting all possibilities, but that doesn't mean they harbor ill will.

Personally, I think it's interesting that they have enough perception to pick up on anything.

txrad countered that they probably don't ask heterosexuals that question, and I'll grant him that one.

What do you all think?

Are these people just not exposed enough to gay couples that they cannot fathom that scenario as a possibility on the front-end?

Casual Friday

Question of the Day.

Define success in terms of what it means to you.

We had lunch at Chipotle today and I had a rare sighting there of a guy in a dark blue business suit. It got me thinking about how happy I am that I never had to get into that kind of career move, simply because it's sooooo not me. It would be torture for me.

And he might be raking in tons more cash than I am (or not, you never know), but cash isn't king.

Here's my 10-point definition of success as it pertains to me.

1. I wear what I want to work.

2. I love my work and am passionate about it. Lack of "professional attire" has no impact whatsoever on my professionalism.

3. I do not own a suit or a necktie.

4. I can pay my mortgage and pretty much buy what I want, short of a yacht, a 2nd home in the Hamptons, a Maserati, and the like.

5. I work at home.

6. With any luck (and it might require a lot of luck in this day and age), I might never need to prepare a resume again.

7. There is nothing for sale in the supermarket that I cannot afford to buy, and yet I still prefer to grow my own.

8. If #6 holds true, I will have my house paid for within 3 years and will lose that interest deduction, and therefore will forfeit my income tax refund. And I don't care. I'll be better off without it.

9. My car is over 6 years old and has less than 40,000 miles on the odometer and I love it as much as the day I bought it. And it's paid for. And I plan to drive it another decade or so. Maybe longer.

10. I'm real. I'm who I am. I'm honest. I have managed to maintain a moral structure in the absence of organized religion. I don't need a membership in the Country Club to prove I have "arrived." And I'm thankful I managed to get this far without sacrificing too much of who I am. In fact, I think I have received back anything I ever did give up in an effort to fit a mold created by someone else.

That might be more than 10. Fine me.

Where Would You Live?

If you could live in any other country in the world and be granted immediate citizenship assuming you would want that, where would you live? And if you are of the persuasion that you would never leave the USA, let's rephrase the question: if you HAD to leave the USA, where would you live?

This is a question I have grappled with for decades. There are so many people, places, and cultures in which I want to wallow.

I love the mountains of Switzerland, the serenity of Finland, the fjords of Norway, the warmth of the Spanish people, the west coast vibe of Australia, the nearness of Canada, which feels like a 51st state, and yet so different, and the rustic beauty of Mexico (aside from the drug-related massacres). The high altitudes of Bolivia and women in black bowler hats!

Aside from personal aesthetics, I think I'd have to go with a country where I feel I am treated as an equal. My sexual orientation isn't a factor. And that basically limits my choices, which in and of itself is fucking infuriating.

Then I have to further limit my decision based on which countries I think might be underwater within my lifetime due to global warming. That might take care of the Netherlands which would otherwise be my first choice, probably. I just like the vibe there.

I guess I'd go with Spain.

But if I had to move cats, I'd go with Canada.

Make sense?

Left-Wing Douchebags

There's a new Facebook application called "Right-Wing Douchebags" where you select one or more to send to your friends. The list includes such notables as Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Ben Stein, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Boss Limbaugh, Dick Cheney, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachman (whose name is misspelled with two Ls on the app and various sites throughout the web), Michelle Malkin (who does use two Ls), and of course, the granddaddy douchebag of them all, George W. Bush.

There are others, all certifiable douchebags, but who are the left-wing douchebags? There's gotta be a few, right? I can't think of one off the top of my head, so help me out here. There are some centrist douchebags and the right-wing douchebags would like you to believe they are left-wing douchebags but that's not the case, IMHO. The right-wing douchebags are so far to the right that being centrist looks lefty Socialist to them, and that's more evidence of their own douchebaggery.

And furthermore, if I could name a left-wing douchebag, the criteria which would earn them douchebag status would probably disqualify them as being truly left-wing.

Douchebags seem to have one or two things in common: they like to wear their religion on the sleeves, their car bumpers and anyplace else they can get it in the public eye, and they like to use it to stir shit up. And they like to incite an already unstable segment of the electorate prone to lusting after Confederate flags and assault rifles and going on tirades about how Obama is going to strip the 2nd amendment from the Constitution. They continue to predict the complete and total collapse of western civilization if queers tie the knot, and they swear their kids are being prevented from praying in schools.

Please, Obama isn't even enforcing the existing rule of law in the country concerning torture, much less going after the 2nd amendment with a machete. Obama is being about as cautiously conservative as it gets, which is a far cry from many of the scenarios we heard about during the campaign. But I digress.

OK, name me some left-wing douchebags... 'cause I can't think of one.

A Cold Day Calls For Hot Jazz

Damn it was cold today. We topped out at 34° and are now under 30.

I got one thing on my mind and that's a plate of collard greens and .... summer.

And of course I always have something else on my mind since we are trying to warm things up.

Question of the Day:

What is your favorite foreplay activity that does not involve genitalia?

I love being touched all over, but nothing quite pleases me as much as when txrad licks his index finger and runs it up my leg. Oh yeah.