No Guru, No Method, No Teacher

hello out there

2008-07-10T10:08:00.000-07:00

Gosh, it's been over a year since I lasted posted here. I've gotten married, bought and moved into a new house, and have settled into my new life pretty nicely. I'm continuing to pursue acting, here is a link to one of my commercials http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR8bLmbDQnc .
That's about it for now, hopefully I'll check back in before another year goes by...

the news from here

2007-05-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

Well, the big news around here is that I'm getting hitched. Yep, I'm getting married in August. I met her when she directed my in Anne of Green Gables and we're going to travel to her home town of Tulsa Oklahoma for the big event. Which we're trying to keep as low key as is humanly possible.
And I'm in the process of buying a house and moving to Quincy. Which for me is also big news.
Haven't gotten any acting gigs in a few months, but will be starting to rehearse for a ten minute play for the marathon at the BCA on June 20th.
Right now there's a guy working on my shower, getting the tile grouting in shape. A 'caravan' of Realtors is dropping by around noon, and I have my first scheduled showing at 2:00. And I'm still trying to arrange financing for my new place...I have an appointment at 2:30. I can't wait until all the crap is over with and I can return to my dull and uneventful life.

I am not dead

2007-02-22T12:59:00.000-08:00

Just lazy. And dumb. Therefore I have not been updating my blog. More to come. Possibly.

a blur

2006-11-11T08:28:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in quite a while because my life has been an ongoing blur for these past weeks. My new schedule is up at 6:30, fight call at 8:45, perform at 10:00 and finish by Noon. Sounds pretty mellow doesn't it. And yet, I'm wandering about in a permanent state of exhaustion. Sleep doesn't help. Of course add stressful evenings of auditions and call backs into the mix, leavened with subsequent rejection, and you begin to get the picture. Plus I'm rehearsing for the next thing...which is wonderful but perhaps a little more than I can handle at the moment. Not that I'm complaining. I'm continually having these small moments of realizing now very very very much ALIVE I am. Life is good...but I do prefer sleeping in.

opening night

2006-10-20T13:36:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks have been a blur of rehearsals, memorizing lines, dealing with neurotic co-performers, giving rides home to actresses who like to sing along to the radio with the window open, and some general lounging about. It's been fun, but finally tonight I get to perform one of my plays in front of a real live audience. I'm ready, in fact I'm I can't wait to get it over with and move onto the next thing.

Spoiled Rotten

2006-10-09T11:57:00.000-07:00

I guess I have to admit my current lifestyle has left me spoiled rotten, when I curse the Columbus day holiday because my usual spot by the window is taken at Starbucks when I drop by for my afternoon grande non-fat latte. Yes, I unabashedly patronize Starbucks when there is a cooler, independent coffee house right across the street. And I say "grande" instead of "medium." To the world I wish to belong to, I can only apologize as I go about my business.

Stage Fight

2006-10-09T10:13:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we rehearsed Caeser's assassination for the first time, and it will incorporate a stage fight. Basically I get to beat up four guys (one twice) before I get killed. It will probably take less than a minute in stage time but it's pretty intricate and I'm getting all messed up with my footwork. I've never done anything like this before. Stage fighting is now taught in any decent Theatre Arts program, but wasn't in my day. We have a special fight director for this, he taught us the moves and we ran through it in slow motion a couple of times, then broke it down to each individual sequence (me practicing one series of moves on one guy, then moving on to the next) and wrapped up by running through the entire sequence in slow motion several times again. It exhausted me and I'm still sore today! Next Saturday they will be learning another fight sequence for the battle at the end of the play, mercifully I won't be in that one.

Stupid girls

2006-10-05T14:14:00.000-07:00

I was planning on joining a gym I've seen in Porter Square. It's on a second floor with big windows overlooking the intersection. I see the people working on the stair climbers (or whatever the hell they are) lined up all along the windows. How pleasant, I thought, I be able to workout and have an interesting view of the passing humanity. Alas, I found out this gym is for women only. Gadfrey Daniel! I suppose women might feel more comfortable in an environment where they won't be ogled at, or feel the need to assert their attractiveness, or just be able to avoid sexual politics altogether...but it makes it awfully inconvenient for me. What am I to be stuck with...a dank, windowless room with muscle bound men admiring themselves in the mirrors? Stupid girls.

Dear Diary

2006-10-03T13:02:00.000-07:00

They recently opened a Dunkin Donuts on Mass. Ave. right near where I live. So on these last warm (hot actually) Fall days it's been my pleasure to walk over and get my last ice coffee's of the season. The last four days I had absolutely nothing to do, although I did use them to memorize my Shakespeare lines. Most of them anyhow. I got to a certain point and my brain refused to work anymore. So I stopped the grueling process of drilling words into my head and then repeating them from memory over and over and over again. In fact I think I may have over burned the circuits a little bit because the very thought of running my lines feels painful and distasteful now, but it'll pay off I think...it's easier to re-memorize things. (I'm really freakin' out about lines.)
Today I had a rehearsal in the morning for Hans Brinker...we learned the Dutch dance, nothing too intricate but I still didn't pick it up as easily as the girls. Then tonight another rehearsal for Anne, tomorrow Caeser, then Hans and Anne again. Five rehearsals in three days...it feels good to be busy again. I'm dreading December when I'll have nothing to work on, I hope something comes up between now and then.
Sorry, I have nothing clever to say...just a rambling diary-like entry. I thought perhaps once I had free time and started working at being creative again I would have all sorts of witty things to say. But...um...no.

Great Caesar's Ghost

2006-09-26T09:38:00.000-07:00

I had my first rehearsal for Julius Caeser last night, and the rehearsal space is if anything even spookier than an old haunted Opera house. It's located above the State Police headquarters on Soldiers Field Road. It's an entire second floor of abandoned offices and wharehouse space...it's decripit. Old furniture and books piled up everywhere, long ago screens fallen off windows and left to rot in place, the dust of many years lying undisturbed, the ceiling falling down, just general crap piled up here and there. I wandered along the dark hallways listening vainly for the sound of human activity, beginning to think I must be in the wrong place. Finally I heard a tittering chatter, and came to a large space with the cast and crew gathered around a long table sitting in odd, musty upholstered chairs.
Other than that, it all felt very professional, if not quite as immediately chummy as my community theatre production. It's a talented cast, Brutus in particular came off very impressively in our first reading. The director, who had seemed a bit dismissive and intimidating during callbacks, was all smiles and charm. Everyone seemed to know someone else so I was odd man out starting off, but that will change after a few rehearsals. I was a little overwhelmed by it all but managed to do ok. We were shown the set and costume design (key word: colorful). The costume designer is a friend of someone I used to work with who is a budding playwright, so I am beginning to make connections.
All in all, a good start.

Three Eerie Things

2006-09-25T08:29:00.000-07:00

1.) Our theatre is haunted. It's an old Opera house that has been gutted twice by fire, and on one of those occasions a performer died. She has been spotted from time to time ever since. They call her Esmerelda. A purple chair is reserved for her for all the performances, and it must have fresh flowers placed upon it or bad things happen. The last time they forgot the flowers a giant hanging fish came crashing down on a crowded stage, though no one was injured.

2.) The other day I decided to stop off and get a sub for lunch. For some reason I had a yen for something I hardly ever order, a small Italian with the works. So, I go into the sub shop and the woman has just finished making a really good looking sub and is about to wrap it up. She asks what I want, I tell her...and she hands me the sub she just made. Eerie.

3.) The Patriots lost, thus discouraging my vision of an undefeated season and undermining the veracity of my intuition. Truly the eeriest thing of all.

Garlic

2006-09-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

I had a great night out last night, heard some great music with some of my favorite people in the whole wide world. Today I was supposed to go over to a friend's house for dinner, but they had to cancel at the last minute as the host was not feeling well. So, since it's kind of a gloomy day I decided to make some chili to warm up the innards. Went shopping for some last minute supplies, not at my normal store. And, can you believe this...they were out of garlic. How the hell can a store run out of garlic? It's not like it spoils rapidly...christ it keeps for weeks. And it's not the sort of thing that stores have runs on..."Please give me 120 cloves of garlic...and all your lupines." Stupid store. I had to buy some minced garlic in a jar...hardly sufficient.
Oh well, the pot is simmering on the stove...and it smells good enough. One makes due. City grocery stores suck though.

Progress

2006-09-21T08:40:00.000-07:00

A cold morning, it was nice to sleep in. I've finally progressed to the point where I am staying up to 1:00 and getting up around 9:00 . I've been enjoying these first weeks of idleness, but managing to keep busy enough with rehearsals, classes, bike rides, walks about town, and various chores (I spent one entire afternoon buying a pipe to be used as a prop). Next week I start rehearsing two more plays and so will begin to be very busy indeed. Plus, performances start to loom and lines will need to be memorized...so that means real work and various anxiety's will start to intrude on my pleasant existance.
I must say I don't miss work one single bit. It's like a big cramp has dissapeared from my brain and all is relaxed and whole again. Though I do miss the people I worked with, some more than others.
This new play I've picked up is a children's play (Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates) geared towards the K-4 crowd. It's being directed by the same person I'm doing Anne of Green Gables with. It's to be toured whenever anybody buys a date at schools and libraries over the next year. I'm told we can expect 1 or 2 shows per month. We get paid per performance...yay!
I took a class a few Saturday's ago with one of the top casting agents in town (there are only 3 or 4 of them so I guess they're all tops in their field) about how to make it as an actor in Boston. It was mostly geared to commercials, industrials, and film. Her only comment on theatre work was "It's good for developing your craft, but you can't make money at it." I've been really lucky so far.
Okay, now I have to get back to doing the Crossword and Sudoku.

2-0

2006-09-17T17:46:00.000-07:00

The Patriots remain undefeated, thus continuing to validate my sneaking suspicion that they would go UNDEFEATED this year. Of course, I had a sneaking suspicion the Red Sox would win the world series every year since 1968.

Sleeping In

2006-09-12T12:11:00.000-07:00

In mind and spirit I have adjusted quite nicely to quiet days of retirement. My body, however, has been trained too long in working day routines...I continue to wake each morning at 6:00 ready for strife and turmoil. I can see it's going to take some serious training in the other direction to break that habit. It doesn't help that I'm still going to bed relatively early...though I can feel the vestiges of my youthful night life existance stirring.
By 7:30 the noisy boy upstairs is off to school, and by 8:00 or so the entire family has dismbarked for the morning. I have no choice, under the circumstances, but to enjoy my quiet respite reclining under my comfy sheets. I'm getting so much damn sleep I'm working on some kind of premanent headache. All part of the adjustment process I guess.

9/11

2006-09-11T15:57:00.000-07:00

I can't tell five years from ten years from 6 months anymore. It's well and good that this anniversary be marked and commented upon...but after much deliberation I've come to the conclusion that really have nothing worthwhile to add.
I did spend hours radically re-designing my blog. Okay, I spent seconds choosing someone else's template...but those are seconds I'll never get back.
Finally...have the Patriots come up with the appropriate song to celebrate losing productive players who want to be payed as such? I'm still predicting an un-defeated season.

Pats

2006-09-10T19:12:00.000-07:00

Much bad food and many beers later, we won. A typically semi-satisfying win...can't say we were overpowering but winning on a safety is cool enough.
I think the major problem was that Belichick was dressed way too neatly on the sidelines...he looked like a regular human being. Maybe he's saving the grungy gym rat clothes for when it's important. I think it's going to be a fun season.
A big anniversary coming up, I'm watching a special on CBS about a film crew who were following a station house before, during, and after 9/11. It brings back a lot of memories. I guess it's time to dredge it all back up again.

That was the week that was

2006-09-10T07:19:00.000-07:00

The only lick of work I did last week was two rehearsals, just blocking for the most part. Go here, stand for a while, then go there. I have a great part for me...a lot of presence, not a lot of lines. So I spend a lot of time looking on. Very boring, technical rehearsals.
It's strange going through a week with so little turmoil and angst. The weather was as perfect as I anticipated it. Long bike rides, lying in the Autumn sun listening to the birds and insects, plenty of time to do my favorite thing: nothing.
And today, finally, FOOTBALL! I've larded up with junk food and beer. I'm predicting another Super Bowl season for my beloved Patriots. These are the golden years for a Pats fan.
Next week things will start picking up as I start classes, acting on Wednesday and improv on Sunday (Sunday at 4...god it's going to cut into my football viewing addiction).

Don't Quit the Day Job

2006-09-05T11:12:00.000-07:00

I quit the day job. My last day was Friday, today begins the first day of my official retirement. Now I am a full time actor. I've been cast in two shows this fall and tonight is my first rehearsal. I'm feeling good. One would think the moumental proportions of what I've just done would be paramount in my mind, but one day just follows the next. So it goes. Yep, just another day...slept in to nine, read the paper to ten. Shopped, took a nap...what day of the week is it again?

Emporium PA

2006-08-12T17:57:00.000-07:00

Some things I learned on my recent visit to my home town:

1.) If you're going to re-unite with your far flung family to bring your father's ashes back to the family plot, make sure you remember to bring them. Do not remember them half way to Albany and then have to go back for them.

2.) When you get to the cemetery and start looking for the family plot, try looking for it right beside where you parked the car. Do not immediately scatter to the far ends of the yard and spend an hour fruitlessly wandering about.

3.) When traveling through small towns, never order anything fancy at restaurants with names like "Capt. Morgans Fish Fry," and "Pizza...PLUS!" Eschew the fettuccine alfredo for strip steaks and hamburgers...and never ever order the fish.

4.) When passing a perfect stranger in a small town, expect to make eye contact, smile, and say "Hello!" To fellow Bostonians this may sound insane, but trust me on this one.

5.) When wandering about your old home town in a nostalgic glaze, remember the sun block. Nothing interferes with happy memories like the persistent burning of pink flesh on one side of your body.

6.) Spending time with beloved family members is always to be treasured...even if you have to grit your teeth doing it from time to time.

7.) Repeat after me: "You can't go home again."

45 minutes of shame

2006-07-28T18:02:00.000-07:00

God, I can be obnoxious. That was confirmed today when the one HR person at my table told me so to my face during my performance. They hated me, it was beautiful. I ended up with a table of almost all women. My first 'behavior' was to complain about a female CFO client I was working with who "runs her company like her personal checkbook, she has to figure out which coupons to clip before she goes to the store to buy some groceries." You can imagine how that went over, and it was all downhill from there. By the end I was reminding them in no uncertain terms that I was the money-maker at the table and that the diversity project they were working on, while important, had better show a payoff on the bottom line.
I definitely had some rough spots and made mistakes but all in all it's amazing how gratifying it can be to have a whole table full of intelligent, friendly, nice women hate my guts.

There's no business...

2006-07-27T18:24:00.000-07:00

...like show business. So I've taken three days off of my regular job to take my very first paying show business gig. It's pretty weird. I've been hired to play one of the roles in a pilot program to teach diversity awareness at a large financial institution (I signed a waiver so if I get any more specific than that they have the right to kill me.) There's a bunch of actors who've been hired to play workers who are getting reviewed (by unsuspecting real employees who think the whole thing is real) and of course they all have various issues; we have 3 three angry black women, 3 hard working but too demure to be noticed Asian women, and three superstar but secretly gay men. After the interviews everyone breaks for lunch...which is where I (and 2 other guys playing my part) come in. I'm the arrogant, total jerk boss. I grab a couple of groups (three of my fellow actor "employees," an HR plant to monitor and six real employees) and take them down the hall to lunch. And then proceed to be rude to people, bring up politics, ask inappropriate questions and just basically try to make things as uncomfortable as possible, but realistically...which is harder than it might sound...especially for someone such as myself; sensitive, quiet, and always the soul of tact.
Anyway it's been fun to meet all sorts of interesting people, some of whom make their living doing various low level show business type things (commercials, industrial films, etc.) . And if this pilot program flies it has the potential to turn into a steady job for a period of time.
To be honest at this point I hate it. I'm a nervous wreck and I keep forgetting the various lines and behaviors I'm supposed to introduce...not to mention the various acronyms and business-speak unique to this firm. I come home each night exhausted.
We've been learning, cramming, and rehearsing for the last two days. Tomorrow I'm "on" for my big 45 minute lunchtime performance. I'll let ya know how it went.

Mitt, Mitt, Mitt

2006-07-18T06:28:00.000-07:00

Am I the only one who upon seeing our Governor’s picture on the front page of the Globe this morning, immediately began formulating obscene captions? He has such a look of Mormon earnestness on his face as he exuberantly demonstrates the correct way in which to plunge a sturdy steel shaft into a well drilled hole. And this before my Cheerios!

Happy Independence Day!

2006-07-04T18:05:00.000-07:00

I got so enthusiastic about Canada Day that I bought a six pack of Molsen Canadian. One side of the bottle has the normal label, the other side has one that says "Certified Love Technician." It's possible I'm not their target audience. I'm going back to Bud Lite. Yay America!

Happy Canada Day!

2006-07-03T07:31:00.000-07:00

Let's here it for the old red, white and...oh um...just the old red and white! Two years ago on this very day I was driving from Nova Scotia to P.E.I. listening to the CBC as the various hosts and guests waxed poetic about their national holiday. I love the CBC, it actually sounds like real normal people talking rather than the slickly defined persona's one has become used to here. Anyway, people kept mentioning Canada Day Cake. As best as I could determine this was a cake with red and white frosting. Driving along on my solitary jaunt it sure sounded good, in fact it sounded like the best thing ever. I began to formulate strategies and fantasies of how I could acquire a slice of this exotically patriotic pastiche. Alas, I never did. Just another one of those pleasures denied that remain an ever fresh temptation. This year I did buy some cupcakes with red, white, and blue sprinkles. A worthy compensation, but no match I am sure...for Canada Day Cake on July 3rd on a quiet sunny day half way between here and there.

You heard it here first

2006-06-23T17:16:00.000-07:00

The U.S.A. Soccer team is the new Red Sox. Why? Because they are abject failures, but they are us.

a slight diatribe

2006-06-21T07:06:00.000-07:00

For the past few mornings as I await the subway I've been noticing this ad for a new bank. If you open a new account you get free checking and a 22 piece barbecue tool kit. Now, here's the thing...how can there possibly be 22 different barbecue tools? I mean, one of the allures of barbecue is it's very simplicity...isn't it? Cooking meat over fire. Period. You could do it with a sharpened stick if you wanted. Tongs, spatula, a fork maybe. I don't even want to know what other barbecue tools could possibly exist. Can't we just keep it simple? Thank you.

The Herald goes for the Gusto

2006-06-09T08:40:00.000-07:00

The Herald was not content to simply blow up a full size picture of Al-Zarqawi's gruesome death and plaster it on the front page under the tag-line "Gotcha." No, they also had the brilliant idea to add a word balloon with the phrase "Warm up the virgins," coming out of his mouth. One is uncertain whether to laugh or to cringe.

you scream

2006-06-07T07:14:00.000-07:00

I went to the Doctor recently and he was concerned that I'm losing weight. So now I'm on the all ice cream sunday diet. God, the things I go through for good health.

tisket a tasket

2006-05-16T07:44:00.000-07:00

I bought some coffee yesterday at Starbucks:
"What do you want it ground for?"
"Paper cup."
"Paper cone?"
"No, cup"
"Flat on the bottom?"
"Yes."
I forgot the proper response is "paper basket." I'll just never get it right. And how can Grande mean Medium? I mean...grande...it sounds huge...like the Grand Canyon, which is no medium canyon let me tell you.

Wrap up

2006-05-09T09:10:00.000-07:00

It's amazing when you look back how the bad things are forgotten and the good things magnified. What a wonderful week I just had! Out of 8 performances I had 3 that I felt were about as good as I can do and only 2 that were fairly disastrous. I was physically exhausted by the Sunday matinee, the assistant stage manager was late and the audience had to wait 25 minutes before the show could begin. They were not in a good mood. My monologue just kind of laid there, it was ok. But my other scene suddenly came to life that day. For the very first time everything clicked and I really felt as if I was listening and reacting with the other actor instead of just feeding cues. About midway through I could just feel we had the audience in the palm of our hands. The last few lines brought audible gasps, and the applause was natural, buoyant, the real thing. It was our best performance by far and as an added bonus the playwright had chosen that day to attend. He was very pleased, to say the least. He was profuse in his praise. And he sent us all an e-mail yesterday thanking us again and telling us he was inspired to create even better work now that he knew "he could get it into the hands of pros like you." Heh, how lucky he didn't see it Saturday night when we went up on lines and confusedly groped our way through the entire affair.
So, now I start my new acting class tomorrow. I met one of the top improv guys in Boston during this time and am planning on taking some classes from him as soon as I have the time. Now, if I can just figure out how to get by without the day job...

The Green Room

2006-05-04T08:03:00.000-07:00

Our little dressing/waiting area, the green room, is a long narrow room adjacent to the stage area. It's actually painted green, and is generally speaking filthy. Fourteen of us are crammed in there, climbing over each other to get back and forth. My propensity for pacing is quite inhibited. The racks for costumes are at the far end, right next to the only window in the room...which is a full window and looks out on the courtyard of this condo/mixed use facility (an old Piano factory which was famous in it's day). If you don't want to get undressed in front of the window, you can move to the center of the room where everyone is lounging around. It's wonderful...we are all bonding in a very silly way. Everyone kept telling me what fun I was going to be having, and I thought I'd be mostly terrified. Which I am. But I did forget about all the fun, the instant camaraderie, the constant jokes, and ready laughter. It can lead to extreme cases of giddiness and did last night, among the younger cast members...and even those of us of a certain age.
It's so strange to re-enter a world you left years and years ago and to re-remember it. Oh well...whatever...I suppose I should start getting over myself at this point.

Go with what you got

2006-05-04T07:52:00.000-07:00

I got overly excited by my good rehearsal and decided to add in a lot of stuff. Here we are, last rehearsal before performance and on my own I'm re-working things by the seat of my pants, somehow thinking I can inspiredly pull it all off. I must have given my poor director a heart attack, she sat after me down for a long and very heartfelt, impassioned lecture...sermon...heart to heart on the very nature of acting and performance. I always feel the most abashed when it only slowly dawns on me when I am alone at last at how far from reality my perceptions have deviated. Oh well, live and learn. And then learn again.

Day 2

2006-05-03T08:12:00.000-07:00

It's no longer hell week, I had a great rehearsal...great being a relative term. I didn't blank out in either scene, basically. Performed my lengthy monologue in front of an audience for the first time (of fellow actors) and heard crickets chirping for extended periods of time. It was obvious I don't exactly have a hit on my hands...but at this point I don't care, as long as I can get through the damn thing with my psyche left generally intact. The other scene garnered a similar tactful lack of comment. One more night of knowing all my lines, successfully navigating from beginning to end with all of the in between parts connected and I'll be ready to, yes, actually have some fun.

Hell week: Night 1

2006-05-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

I'm performing this week, which always brings to mind this interesting question: What in God's name have I gotten myself into?
The first tech rehearsal did not go well. I found myself out on stage in my first piece without even the preparation to get nervous about it first. My mind went blank. I had to call out for lines twice, and in general inspired so little confidence that the director tread cautiously as she gave notes afterwards. Then for my solo piece, which I had been prepping nervously for all day they decided since it was a "lengthy" piece to dispense with it and just set the sound cue's. My director insisted on at least running some scenes, much to everyone's annoyance, and I bounced around from here to there yelling my lines at a fevered pitch.
Tonight is the second tech...no calling out for lines, if I go blank it's ad lib time. Once this is all over I'm sure I'll remember how fun it all is. I keep telling myself that.
I did get a chance to watch some of the other efforts, some good stuff. It should be a fun show altogether.

Police Action on the Orange Line

2006-04-26T07:29:00.000-07:00

I'm on my way to rehearsal the other night when the train suddenly stays stopped at Back Bay. There's loud voices and a lot of rubbernecking. The conductor, a nice motherly sort under normal circumstances it would seem, is out leading cops back and forth, "I saw him throw it like a football the length of the car..." I hear her say at one point. It doesn't help that there's an insistent pan handler dressed in only a short leather coat on board. Finally we begin to move and she comes over the intercom, "Sorry about that, we had a police action...they threw a strawberry shake in the last car...sorry." I like that she took the trouble to let us know the flavor of the shake. I hear a cop outside "Isolate that car when it gets to the Hills!" Apparently they had trouble nabbing the strawberry shake hurler.

Lamest Office Birthday Celebration ever?

2006-04-22T08:41:00.000-07:00

Apparently it got tacked on to the end of a meeting because when I showed up in this fairly small conference room dominated by a huge table, everyone was sitting around still sort of staring at the tiniest writing I've even seen projected on a screen. I was welcomed heartily and grabbed the requisite slice of cake. The organizer of the fun event was yelling out people's names and ascertaining if she had their birth dates, presumably in preparation for future festive events. Having determined she had everyone listed, she promptly left. Uncomfortable silence ensued. Eventually it was determined whose birthday we were actually celebrating. Uncomfortable small talk ensued. People left en masse. The meeting people continued to look dazed at this unwelcome invasion. Good times!

Filet-O-Fish-less

2006-04-06T12:46:00.000-07:00

I had a hankering for one the other day, one of my favorite disgusting foods. To my chagrin I discovered the MacDonalds that was in the Children's Museum has closed! Where the hell am I supposed to get my greasy fish fix now?

The Partisans are coming!

2006-03-30T08:24:00.000-08:00

That controversial statuary of painfully thin men riding painfully thin horses, recently removed from Boston Common virtually under the cover of night, is turning up right under my nose. The T has decided to display this gift to the city of Boston from a Polish American sculptor, meant to symbolize the struggle for freedom, at it's Silver Line World Trade Center stop. This is an elevated platform that I have clear view of from my office window. I never liked the damn thing stuck in its dank little corner of the Common...but I think it might look just right as a distant adornment to my view of vast parking lots and ugly buildings. I am officially thrilled.

Firefly or Lightning Bug?

2006-03-20T16:30:00.000-08:00

I took a second acting class over the last few months. Our last class was Wednesday and family and friends were invited as we performed the various things we'd been working on. It was the tiniest of shows and yet the usual nerves attended. It was exciting and fun. In one scene I played a Catholic priest suspected of child abuse, and in another Felix Unger.
I also tried out for the Firefly Festival, a series of short original plays held in May, and got a part in a ten minute play.
So, I'm starting on readings, rehearsals, call-backs and all the bric a brac of small theatre existence. So far I'm not freaking out, will keep you posted.

Brant

2006-03-20T16:17:00.000-08:00

In my lunchtime walks by the ocean I've noticed a different flock of birds supplanting the Canada Gooose that normally lurk behind the Moakley Courthouse. They're a little smaller than the Canada's and have a black neck with just a little mark of white. My field guide identifies them as Brants. Not Brant Geese or Goose...just Brant. On their way back to the coastal arctic for the summer no doubt. They seem to have found a nice little resting spot in this rather forlorn park; a little grass to eat, hardly a human visitor to bother with, the Intitute for Contemporary Art going up next door. I wish I has a tiny little camera I could attach so I could see all the sights they're about to take in on their travels north.

An Achievement

2006-02-19T14:18:00.000-08:00

I recently achieved a goal I didn't even know I had; I have now acquired enough kitchen gadgets to cause the drawer I keep them in to jam every time I open and close it. The latest addition, a garlic press, only added to the unholy jumble. It dawned on me that growing up we always had a drawer exactly like this, always getting stuck with that small plastic spatula, or the careworn wooden stirring spoon, perhaps the potato masher which has led a long idle existence. You can never have enough of these types of things. I'm feel a certain nostalgic twinge now every time the damn drawer jams at some critical moment.

more snow

2006-02-13T12:14:00.000-08:00

I can only imgine the real snow we just got totally ruined the effect of that fake snow they so laboriously hosed (what's the word? plastered?) on Boston Common. Before the The Great Blizzard happened though, the Globe was there...ran a picture and everything. Still no idea why they did it. (Note to Globe..."Why?" is an important part of the story.)

Snow job

2006-02-10T08:23:00.000-08:00

I decided to walk to the Charles St. T stop last night, a nice half hour walk from work. As I came upon the Frog Pond in the Common I saw what looked like ground hugging smoke beyond. It turned out that there were a number of snow making machines set up around the parade grounds throwing gobs of snow up in the air and covering the ground. It was a very pretty sight to see. I wondered if perhaps some movie would be filming there. Otherwise I couldn't imagine why they were doing it. At that time of night it is a popular spot for people to walk their dogs and the dogs were enjoying themselves immensely.

The two Jakes

2006-01-23T09:05:00.000-08:00

It was a bad day for quarterbacks named Jake. It is just an unfortunate coincidence that the name rhymes with 'mistake.' I wasn't sure who to root for in the AFC Championship game but mid-way through my expert football analytical mind realized that Denver has really lousy uniforms. What's with that red stripe that starts underneath the armpits and travels down the entire side of the players' body? This was a modern looking concept sometime back there in the last century. And so I slowly started rooting for Pittsburgh. Or maybe it was the huge, insurmountable lead that made me lean that way. In the other game, I was rooting for Carolina...until they began to look really pitiful...which was pretty quick. One football game left...sweet lord. Ok...someone bring me up to speed...who the hell is Cocoa Crisp?

Nervous breakdowns are a team effort

2006-01-16T13:53:00.000-08:00

Sunday was a day of grieving the end of the football season as far as Patriots Nation is concerned. Although it was nice to watch some games dispassionately for a change. Today I normally go out and take a walk around Walden Pond as my personal observation of Martin Luther King day (King read and was influenced by "On Civil Disobedience" by Thoreau.) Instead I went to see "Walk the Line," and now I am dressing only in black for the rest of my life.

Blast from the Past

2006-01-12T18:57:00.000-08:00

I went rumbling around an old My Documents archive looking for something else and found this bit of business I must have come up with after my last cross country drive, what was that...10 years ago? This was my last journal entry which never made the journal. It would all really make sense if you were me and maybe a little high. Anyway it's a bit of a rant about Canada of all things:

My Canadian Experience. All I remember is scraggly ass trees for thousands of miles on a two lane highway playing tag with logging trucks. And I had no Canadian money and was at first too shy and then too stubborn to stop at any restaurant try to use my American. So I was hungry and in a daze anyway from all that driving in the mountains, stopped by snow, and this June. I guess I went in with an attitude, but my greeting couldn't have been any friendlier. The border person was this really stunning looking African Canadian (I wonder how that would be up there, maybe its just Canadian, or maybe African American as in NORTH American, as if there would be even that degree of fellowship, of Continental brotherhood within even that ancient race (as Faulkner might have said), because with the Anglo side of the equation feelings seem middling to cool. (And they do seem to produce the best comics. Its all that repressed anger. Ha Ha a little joke by me) Anyway she was quite pleasant in every which way, very polite, very professional but suspicious of me. She made me take off my sunglasses (my clip on sunglasses which makes it a much less dazzling move) and wanted to know if I was carrying a gun. I smiled (winningly I hoped) and said no. She was probably ticking me off a list; hunter, salesman, tourist, something nefarious, strange but obviously harmless guy...once she got there she stopped and I was in. It started of so well and immediately it all turned rather bleak. The weather was misty and gray, I came upon a paper mill, smelling foul, the stink in my car for hours (well, ok I'm exaggerating for effect, there were trees and pretty parts right here even in this part of Canada even in June, driving through Great Lake gray) and the only motels I saw were really old fashioned ranch style types, to me they looked musty inside but that may be because if it looked like that in America, specifically in a place called Emporium, Pennsylvania more specifically at The Buttonwood Motel there, it would smell really musty and still have vibrator beds. I was too American, too spoiled. I drove on and on hoping against hope for a Super8. Finally found a Marriott in Marathon.

And there it mysteriously ends.

Since then

2006-01-01T17:36:00.000-08:00

I didn't throw up on anyone's shoes. Alas.

Cookie

2005-12-13T12:56:00.000-08:00

I stroll around the office looking for Christmas goodies. Yesterday I snagged a snickerdoodle cookie. I've never heard of a snickerdoodle cookie before. It was okay. With a name like snickerdoodle I felt it should have been better. Still, it did afford me the opportunity to say snickerdoodle a lot.
Tomorrow is the office party. The choice to me is clear: get really drunk and throw up on some Vice Presidents shoes...or be bored. Decisions, decisions...

Lucky's

2005-12-08T18:28:00.000-08:00

Yasuko was back in town so some of us went to Lucky's after work. It was nice to see Yasuko, who seemed in fine form (no Pedro hair). I had a few whiskey's. It was the usual mish mash of conversations that I was barely part of. One thing about Lucky's, they play music but the only thing you can hear is the bass line. If you are interested in listening to the bass line of any song that's ever been played, this is the place for you.

Another losing effort

2005-12-04T11:05:00.000-08:00

"Concealed behind the tomfoolery there is a serious and ideologically based disapproval of the rampant culture industry and the globalization of gossip-column journalism. In other words, what is under fire is the triumph of superficiality..."

Joakim Garff on Kierkegaard's Writing Samples (circa 1845)

Yes, it does not make sense

2005-12-03T07:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I show up at work and find they are doing some kind of filming in the conference room right off the lobby. The quandry of needing absolute silence while situated in the noisest place in the office is solved by putting up a huge sign saying "QUIET!" Well, my office is right there and I was having a nice conversation with Jonelle, the world's most overqualified receptionist slash editorial assistant, when out of the conference room pops the director, a smaller version of Martin Scorsese if you can imagine, who proceeds to yell at me "We are FILMING can you please be QUIET," which actually sounds reasonable enough in print, but it was the pretentious way he said that set my teeth on edge a little. The upshot was I gave him the long "fuck you" stare and we all went about our business. Later I went out for a few drinks with some people from work and learned a new word from some of the young women: titty-riffic. So, um, that made up for it.

Losers

2005-12-02T07:25:00.000-08:00

For some reason I found myself watching 'The Biggest Loser' season finale the other night. There's something about watching fat people work out that's compelling. I mean, anyone else you see pumping iron and grimacing in pain you take kind of seriously, but a fat person? No respect. This is why I like fat people, they are such outcasts.

still not fascinating

2005-11-28T11:22:00.000-08:00

I think my blog died. It turns out I'm not a very interesting person. (Years ago a girl on a quasi- first date got the final word on me by observing that I was "interesting," but not "fascinating." I really hate it when people decide to share their deep insights.)

The Bernard Shakey Story

2005-11-19T14:10:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I celebrated my friend Sansone's 50th birthday at a party at his house. Sans is a big music fan, has seen innumerable live shows in Boston (and elsewhere...I have a very drunken memory of him and I heckling the Dead Kennedy's mercilessly in San Francisco many years ago) and once worked at the Strawberry's on Washington Street. This was back in the day when Strawberry's was the biggest coolest record store (yes, actual "records") in town. He made many lasting friendships there...and in fact several showed up at the party in his honor (all bearing gifts of Dylan music). As in all such occasions the old stories came out, my favorite being the Bernard Shakey story.
It started at a Neil Young concert at Great Woods (now the Tweeter Center? God, I can't keep up with corporate branding). Sans decided to leave during the encore to avoid the inevitable traffic jam exiting the parking lot. He was making his way out slowly when he suddenly found himself directly behind the tour bus. Finding himself in such a position he did the only thing a self respecting record-store-working-music-nerd could possibly do, which was to follow the tour bus wherever it led. Which turned out to be a hotel in Providence R.I. Our man slowly circled the parking lot watching Neil disembark from the bus and head to his nights lodging. Extremely excited now, our man headed back to where his friends were congregating to regale them with the story of this coup.
They were, of course, suitably impressed to say the least. It was decided that the only thing to do, since they knew where he was staying, was to give old Neil a call on the phone.
"But," says Sans with telephone in hand, "no way he signed in as Neil Young, who am I going to ask for?"
"Bernard Shakey," replies one of his pals with authority.
So he calls.
"Hello, can I speak to Bernard Shakey please?"
"One moment..."
Ring...Ring
Bear in mind it is now 3:00 in the morning. A quacking, cracking falsetto,
"hello?"
pause of disbelief
"Neil?"
That distinctive Neil Young voice, now made even more tremulous by the hour and circumstance,
"yes?"
"Uh...I'm a big fan and I just wanted to say how much your music has meant to me and thank you and I'm a big fan etc."
"ok."

And that was it, the big brush with fame. It turns out Bernard Shakey was Neil's alias in his very first film "Journey Through The Past," such arcane knowedge being the very life blood of record store employees everywhere to this very day. As Sansone tells the story this many years later, he had the distinct urge to light up a cigarette after this little exchange, a satisfied young man.

Candy on the honor system

2005-10-31T21:13:00.000-08:00

I bustled home rather busily tonight and when I finally got a chance to get the mail I was greeted on the front porch by a table with a big bowl of candy on it, as well as a rather large and what seemed to me quite grown woman helping herself to it. "Are you having a nice Halloween?" She asked. We exchanged rather awkward pleasantries as I, for the most part, tried to fathom this novel approach to the candy distribution system. The nice people on the third floor must have thought it up. To borrow the tagline to those Guiness commercials...BRILLIANT! Living on the first floor I've been answering the door the last few years and handing out the candy. Who knew candy on the honor system would work? I added the candy I'd accumulated in preparation for the occasion (the Kit Kat bars went fast) to the dish and thus thoroughly discharged my duty to the night. Part of me felt it was a bit of a gyp not answering the door to the familiar "Trick or Treat!" though, now that I think about, that little tradition seems to have gone the way of the Long Playing Record - kids nowadays just stand there, gape mouthed, waiting for the loot. It was nice to sit in the comfort of my chair and listen to the excited discoveries of our chocolaty treasure trove, watching TV, doing the crossword, and otherwise enjoying a night of guilt free relaxation. Genius!

First snow

2005-10-29T17:37:00.000-07:00

How pretty it was to watch the large flakes of snow fall. Twilight tonight brings a fine picture of heavy snow on bending branches, the leaves looking somewhat chagrined to have overstayed their welcome, and a fine glop of snow/slush on the pavement. Time to dig out the winter boots and enjoy this first taste of the season.

Heat

2005-10-22T13:10:00.000-07:00

This morning I finally broke down and turned the heat on. I always wait until it gets unbearably cold before adjusting the thermostat...I am that reluctant to give up on the warmth which we of late took so for granted. The first warm air that works its way through the system always has a strange smell to it, I imagine the furnace flames burning all the dust that's settled through the season of its inactivity...a Viking funeral for summer's ephemera. I enjoy that smell for reasons I can't explain. Maybe it's just the thrill of change. One small luxury I enjoy is a heating vent in my bathroom right next to the toilet. Though I have rather modest accommodations I do enjoy through the cold months a toasty warm toilet seat. It's the small pleasures you know.

Oh Dad Poor Dad Momma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm So Sad

2005-10-13T08:37:00.000-07:00

I just found out Nora Jones is Ravi Shankar's daughter. I saw Ravi Shankar in concert years ago, he opened for George Harrison. This was a hot ticket at the time, we lined up the night before the tickets were to go on sale at the old Boston Garden. At some point they decided to just let us in and we spent the night roaming around the joint, which was an unforgettable experience. God it was a dump, but a lovable dump. We finally got great seats right up front. On the night of the concert Ravi opened...bear in mind he is considered a genius in his field although Sitar playing is not exactly a widely appreciated art in these precincts. Sadly he was roundly booed and variously harrassed by an impatient dunken Garden crowd. I believe George came out at one point to admonish the great unwashed, which caused only a stir of druggy confusion and anger. It was sad. So he's Nora Jones dad? I thought she was just some normal person from nowheresville who made the scene based upon her own native talent. Oh well, whatever.

E = MC something

2005-10-07T22:14:00.000-07:00

So, I was watching Curb Your Enthusiasm on DVD when who should make an appearance but Super Dave, the guy with the stunt man schtick who used to appear on Letterman. I always loved him, he was the master of the deadpan delivery. Plus he's Albert Brooks brother. But I'd never seen him without his hat on...he looked weird. Was that really him? The credits rolled and, yes, I recognized the last name; Einstein. Bob Einstein. I knew that because one of my favorite lesser known facts is that Albert Brooks' real name is Albert Einstein. Can you believe it?

Blah Sox

2005-10-07T22:05:00.000-07:00

Frankly I'm just glad it's over. Any team that executes a perfect sacrifice bunt in the top of the ninth for the insurance run...well that's just good baseball and they deserve to win.

The Stand Up

2005-10-06T11:34:00.000-07:00

We had entertainment of a sort on the Red Line this morning. A guy got on at Central and started talking to himself real loud. It sounded at first like a potential stand up comedy routine, "What has ever come out of Texas besides cattle and crooked politicians? Just wondering." This was followed by philosophical/political musings "Hamilton was right, the masses are idiots. And it kills me to say that." A girl sitting in front of me doing the crossword found it all amusing and caught his eye. Soon, however, he was turning on his audience "We're all slaves to the pharaoh. Shut up slave and dance like you're supposed to." I guess that's what the slaves in ancient Egypt did in between building the pyramids. The crossword girl and I did start cracking up at the absudity of it all. It seems we were all idiots, we don't question things, we just do what Bush tells us to do. "You stay up at night wondering 'why do they call us ugly Americans...'" "All you care about is reality TV and the Red Sox." It's not as if I found anything he said offensive, but he kept insisting it was satire. Satire, sadly, requires wit...which is why not everyone is good at it. He was just ranting, but it was among the more entertaining rants I've heard on the subway. He finally de-trained with the line "Have a bourgeois day." Hey, you have a bourgeois day too.

Black Sox

2005-10-06T00:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, I can see Tony Graf letting the ball dribble underneath his glove...but what was with the little mime-move toss to second? Excuse me but, there's no miming in baseball.

October 2

2005-10-02T18:22:00.000-07:00

Today dawned bright and beautiful. Not a cloud in sight, warm as a mid-summer day yet retaining that invigorating crispness of early autumn. A perfect day to stay inside and watch football? Jeez, what a mistake.

October 1

2005-10-01T13:45:00.000-07:00

I ended up going out to the Joshua Tree to watch the end of the game. After the Red Sox lost every conversation went something like this" "So if Cleveland wins tomorrow...", "But if the Red Sox win...""Look, he's crying, " referring to Joe Torre. "But if we win and Cleveland wins...or if they lose..." I have no idea what the fuck. The goddamn mathematicians are in charge now. But Joe Torre is cool, that much I know. (Blogger spellcheck wants to replace "Torre" with "torah. " Ok, he's cool enough but not that cool.)

October

2005-10-01T11:55:00.000-07:00

Another week for the books. Stuff happened I guess, can't remember (I'll pretend). Today is a perfect Fall day, waiting for the cable guy.
I started off with the new Sonny Rollins CD, the 9/11 concert (recorded in Boston - yay). It was actually bootlegged by some guy with microphones sewn in his shirt, they decided to use it to fulfill Sonny's contract obligations. Sonny lived near ground zero and so was quite affected by 9/11. He was photographed being evactuated carrying his saxaphone. The concert is comfort music, returning to his favorite old time songs. Sonny is notoriously inconsistant (So I've read, I've never actually been a big fan...his genius rarely surfaces in the recording studio and I've never seen him live) but he seems to be in fine form here.
Now I'm on to Van Morrison. Can't miss.
I have plenty of cold beer and the Red Sox game coming up. Red Sox - Yankees...for all the marbles, classic.

The New Boss

2005-09-24T11:20:00.000-07:00

They've done some "restructuring" here at work and I have a new boss. My boss used to be in Cincinnati and I'd talk to him, oh maybe once a year at most. The new guy is in Albany and he is definitely a man with a plan. I met with him Friday here in Boston along with my new Boston boss. They spent a lot of time talking about how my job may be outsourced, a lot of time talking about what a brilliant career he's led, and some of it laying down the law as to how things will proceed from here on out. I spent most of my time trying not too look too pained by it all and mostly not succeeding. At the very end I was asked for my two cents and mentioned that I'm not that happy with the direction the company is taking in general; becoming more corporate by the hour, paying more for less benefits, no real raises, and the expectation that more work will be done by less people. This brought enthusiastic and unanimous agreement. The new boss had meticulously calculated his cost of the new health plan (taking inflation into account) as a 12% pay cut.
All the hard fought for gains the average worker has accumulated over the years seem to be in the process of being systematically dismantled everywhere you look, and everyone just seems to take it lying down. Why is that? As a society we seem intent on going backward...from teaching "Intelligent Design" in the classroom (wasn't that decided by the Scope's trial something like 70 years ago?) to overturning Roe v Wade in the Supreme Court (hopefully won't happen but that is the political intent) and of course the plight of the average shmo and shmoette, working harder for less money and less benefits.
Of course all that money being saved goes somewhere...shareholders. The, from my point of view as a humble worker, downward trend with my corporation began when they went public. And along with being a disaffected working stiff I've also been heavily invested in the stock market for years and have done well by it. I wouldn't have been able to buy my condo without that investment paying off. I'm about to inherit some money from my father also mostly accrued through investment in the stock market which will give me a degree of financial flexibly.
So there you have it. The whole system is skewed to whoever has a little money they can invest. Acutally it's skewed to people who have a LOT of money to invest. Personally I think I'd rather be treated like a human being at work every day and make a little less money on the stock market.

Back to normal

2005-09-20T11:08:00.000-07:00

One of my personal hells is having to live among panicky Red Sox fans...all that whiney misspent angst. Among other things they absolutely ruin Sports radio, which isn't saying much as it's a pretty iffy experience under the best of circumstances (question: when did Dale Arnold become an angry bitter man?) . I want to hear some good football talk dammit! (Oh yeah, they lost too...) One the other hand, there is a certain reassuring return to normalcy to see the Red Sox crash and burn in September.

Rilke again

2005-09-14T12:51:00.000-07:00

One has to be fairly soused to quote Rilke. I don't know who the hell Rilke is actually, everyone I knew who ever talked about him was a totally pretentious shit. Nonetheless that's a kick ass quote, it's taken from the current New Yorker from an article by John Lahr (son of the actor who played the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz) on Harold Arlen, the great songwriter (who among other things composed all the music for The Wizard of Oz). Here's a great quote from Harold Arlen: "Don't waste your energy on the ugly. Save it for the beautiful."

Toad's

2005-09-14T12:44:00.000-07:00

I finally went to this bar someone told me about. I figured I'd have a quick beer and head on out, I'm not big on drinking alone. But then the music started and, well, it was good. So I had another beer. End of story.

Rilke

2005-09-14T12:28:00.000-07:00

"Works of art are of an intimate loneliness. Only love can grip and fairly judge them. Consider yourself and your feelings right every time."

Acting class

2005-09-14T07:52:00.000-07:00

It was good! The couple who run it are very nice and normal. There are 11 of us, 7 guys and 4 girls. There's a wide age range and it's a good mix of various types of people, mostly professionals but a few more working class types. Only one really untalented strange guy, but he makes up for it with totally off beat perceptions. Some exuberant good energy people and a few hang back types, but everyone participated admirably for the first class. My fears of encountering fears of a bunch of neurotic weirdo's was unfounded, in fact I may end up being one of the weirdest ones there...most of them seem pretty normal.
It was fun and just participating in it really got my juices flowing for a bit. Most of them have never done anything like this before so I had the advantage of experience...not that it helps all that much in term of being good but at least it wasn't all strange to me. We did some typical warm-ups and some improvisation...at which we were mostly terrible. My goal of achieving a sort of workman-like mediocrity seems within reach.

Blank slate

2005-09-10T15:05:00.000-07:00

A week without any emotional turmoil, thank god. About mid-week I awoke from some troubling dreams and realized I've been living with some weird knot of pain in my brain for a while. So, in my state of semi-slumber, I decided to just dissolve it. And I did. My poor old brain doesn't feel tired anymore. Just blank. Pleasantly blank, but still...blank is blank. It's probably not a good sign when feeling blank is considered an improvement, but you take what you can get in this good life...that's what I say.
I signed up for some acting classes, that should be a lot of fun. One always meets, how shall I say this, interesting personalities at these sorts of things. And football is back. So, things are looking up. I may actually be able to resurrect myself to some state of semi-normalcy before the next disaster strikes. God, life is good!

New Yorker cartoon

2005-09-07T18:39:00.000-07:00

Two dogs talking. One dog says to the other dog, "I had my own blog for a while, but I decided to go back to just pointless, incessant barking."

Thanks pal

2005-09-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

I had a long conversation with the guy at the liquor store today;

"How ya doin' pal."
"Good, how're you"
"Great! Is that it?"
"Yeah"
"Nine twenty. Outta Ten? Eighty cents your change. Thanks pal."
"Thank you."
"Have a nice night pal."
"You too."

I don't know, it's not gay (not that there's anything wrong with that) but...I think we could have a man crush here.

PS
I would like to thank my two friends for their kind comments and advice regarding whiskey in response to an earlier somewhat pathos laden post. I do intend t follow up on your very good recommendations at some point in the very near future. The whiskey part I mean.

somewhere Bruce Schwegler is smiling

2005-09-05T17:30:00.000-07:00

What a fuckingingly great incredible weather weekend! Jay-zus, good for ails ya.
The Kirk music was as spotty as I figured it would be. One ten minute track was listed as "mostly silence with some conversation at the end." Uh...thanks Roland...probably seemed like a good idea at the time.
I saw the movie "Me and You and Everyone We Know." It's gotten good reviews and I figured it would be a wonderfully whimsical way to end the weekend. And it was ok, not that strong in the love story department, but it definitely had its moments. And yes I do feel adequatley whimsified (whimsicallish?). I mean I am attempting to make up words, so it shows...right?

Rahsaan Rahsaan

2005-09-04T12:39:00.000-07:00

I went to buy some music, couldn't believe the long lines at the T. At the store I picked up three Rahsaan Roland Kirk CD's, and as the clerk rang them up shook his head and said "We've been selling a lot of Kirk this week." Huh? When did he get hip again?
Then going back home, more mob scenes at the T. Finally as I walked down the Davis Square bike path I saw some distinguished looking gentleman with a camera slung around his neck looking very parentally concerned. Oh yeah, I realized...the students are back in town. And some of them seem to have excellent taste in music. I can feel the just-waiting-to-get-out-of-control energy pulsing through the city. Yay!

Take me out

2005-08-30T06:43:00.000-07:00

The company outing was great. We got to the ballpark just in time to see two home runs hit very near our seats and then the rains came. We managed to get fairly trashed waiting inside the stands and finally I got dragged off to Bill's Bar, where I felt sick as a dog for some unexplained reason. But I recovered enough for a pleasant journey home and that's all she wrote.

Monday morning

2005-08-29T07:26:00.000-07:00

Okay I guess I was a little overly proud of my corporate-speak prowess...turns out everyone who works here has mastered it far beyond my capabilities. I didn't even mention "stakeholders" for instance. I hate that word, I'm not sure what the hell it really means. Who comes up with this crap?
What happened this weekend? A bike ride, a Kurasowa film (Dersu Izala...a joint Russian production...visually sumptious), and um...the usual shopping for food, washing of clothes, and cleaning of home (I love the Swiffer). Tonight we have the annual company Red Sox game thing. I always imaging it's going to be an uprorious good time, the kind people are constantly having in commercials, but it always ends up with me just sitting there watching the game while people just clam up and get weird around me. But then again, maybe this year will be a non-stop funfest...you never know.

Pride

2005-08-26T07:49:00.000-07:00

I had to draft my "development plan" for my "performance management" something that they make us do (so we can get raises). I pondered this for a long time and finally came up with the following:

Innovate solutions to exceed service levels.

In one sentence I have brilliantly said absolutely nothing. But in a perfectly acceptable, one might even say commendable way. By corporate standards. I'm so proud of myself...let the innovating begin!

Rust never sleeps

2005-08-25T07:53:00.000-07:00

Last night the rug rat upstairs starts pounding on the floor above me. Like with a hammer or something. Pounding, pounding...on and on. It's not enough that his feet are made of lead and every time he moves it's like a bowling ball hitting the floor. After a long truce with my crazy upstairs neighbors I finally snapped again and screamed "What the fuck are you doing up there????" Then I started playing music real loud...I went with Neil Young's 'Hey Hey My My' from the 'Rust Never Sleeps' album (not the acoustic version...the one where the guitar is ramped up to the "just making noise" level). They are, no doubt, pissed off and things are tense again. I vow NEVER will I live on a lower floor again...EVER. You never know what kind of idiot is going to end up above you. I could also get off on a discourse of overly indulgent parents (Oh he's banging on the floor...isn't that cute), but whatever.

Staring into the abyss

2005-08-24T07:07:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling giddy for no good reason lately, and in such instances I have glass box in my house which states "In Case of Unexplained and Therefore Unsustainable Giddiness....Break Glass." Inside is a Bergman film. Last night it was "Winter Light." Excellent in every way of course, if 1 hour and 20 minutes of staring into the abyss is your bailiwick. Everyone's life was blunted, wretched, and meaningless. The whole time I was watching it I was thinking "Why am I watching this?" And today I'm still thinking about it. And I'm grounded again.

Animal Rights Lady Update

2005-08-23T07:33:00.000-07:00

A reliable source spied the Animal Rights Lady at South station last week...and she has a new act. Gone are the tortured kitty pictures and the "SIGN...PETITION" wail...instead she was stopping everyone in sight and claiming that she had lost her purse and needed to "make up 7 dollars, can you help?" What next, a fake limp?

Friday

2005-08-19T06:56:00.000-07:00

I went out drinking with my co-workers the other night, an activity always fraught with peril...but I don't think I did anything outrageous or offended anyone too much. And still had a good time. Well, it's Friday...I wonder what Yasuko is doing on her first day back home. (Inside joke.) (Along the line of The Aristocrats.) HAR!

Smile

2005-08-16T15:55:00.000-07:00

I grew up sharing a room with my brother who was a huge Beach Boy fan. I did not share his enthusiasm at the time (I have since) but I certainly did become an expert on every album, song, and corny message to their fan club ("If you happen to be listening to this record right now...") that they ever released. Thus it was that I found myself with said brother over the weekend at the Brian Wilson Smile tour in Saratoga Springs NY. It was an awesome show. They did a total of 25 songs along with the whole Smile album. The band and the sound were great. They seemed to be having a lot of fun and Brian even seemed to get into it...at times (between odd body jerkings and beaming smiles he tends to sit on a stool with all the presence of a sack of potatoes). My brother's wife, through some machinations, obtained "meet and great" status for us and so after the show we were ushered around back, past the tour busses and into the great man's presence. He looked like a man who was politely waiting for this excrutiating bit of torture to end. He signed a few items we thrust before him and I thanked him for "a great show," which brought a wry smile from his face and the comment "Thanks, BYE BYE." It was said with all the insistence of one who has learned the hard way how to say no. It was a thrill.

Rain, rain

2005-08-16T15:18:00.000-07:00

Visiting my brother and his family over the weekend was fun. We spent Sunday crammed on his tiny front porch watching the rain. For hours. This is the sort of thing that a lot of people SAY they would enjoy doing, but after ten minutes they would be engaged in some other frenetic activity. It reminded me of my small town roots, where you squeezed as much enjoyment as you could out of every mundane activity. In such a world a bolt of lightening is a major event and requires quite a lot of conversation to fully absorb, not to mention material for all sorts of attempts at humor. God...I'm such a hick!

Dog Days

2005-08-04T16:14:00.000-07:00

This time of year is always the same to me. It's sun, it's haze, and it's hazy memories. In fact I don't have any strong memories associated with these dog days of summer. Nothing much good has ever happened to me, and nothing much bad. End of Summer, transition time. The crisp cool days of Fall and all the movement of youth suggested by that season await us. But until then there's this last gritty nub of heat, washed out skies, and sticky skin to grind through. Okay, sounds good to me.

Balance

2005-07-31T15:17:00.000-07:00

I was in the mood for a really depressing movie today and as luck would have it a new Bergman movie (Saraband) was playing at the Kendall. I love how in Bergman's films people talk to each other about their innermost feelings in such a straightforward manner. There's never a hint of self-consciousness, nervous laughter, confusion, or even resorting to humor. People just fearlessly bare their souls and await the consequences. Are people in Sweden really like this? At any rate the movie was suitably bleak to suit my mood...certainly an antidote to the dumbed down fare Hollywood has been giving us lately. There was one cheery touch (to my eyes at least); one of the characters wore New Balance sneakers.

Skimming the Drowning Pool

2005-07-28T07:38:00.000-07:00

I saw the free Hamlet on Boston Common on Tuesday. It was very imaginatively staged and the acting wasn't half bad. An overall enjoyable experience even though I was sitting on the ground and my entire body was on the verge of cramping up throughout. I went with some people from work including a certain Harvard educated Shakespearean scholar (everyone I work with is smarter, younger, and better looking than I am...why they put up with me is a mystery). I had seen a little blurb on channel 2 the night before about the play and, ever eager to display inside knowledge, I was pointing out where Orphelia would be drowning when she said "We know, they were skimming the drowning pool earlier." Ah yes, skimming the old drowning pool...an evening at the theatre is barely complete without it.

The "No Ads" Lady

2005-07-26T12:55:00.000-07:00

I went to the movies over the weekend and ran into a new crazy lady. I happened to walk in just as an ad started and she was yelling "No ads!" over and over. Actually she wasn't yelling it, just saying it like it was a normal thing to do and made all sorts of sense. People got up and moved away from her. Perhaps she was just an old 60's protestor revisiting the spirit of her youth. I mean, I can't disagree with her sentiment...who wants to pay to see an advertisement after all. Maybe we should all take up this practice and start yelling in mighty unison "No Ads!" when they befoul the screen in front of us. Or maybe we should just avoid crazy people, mind our own business, and pray for the lights to go down. It's up to you.

Man in the Green Shirt

2005-07-24T07:25:00.000-07:00

I was walking home from the Davis Square T stop one day recently when a panhandler commented that I was wearing "one ugly shirt." It was very thoughtful of him to take valuble time away from his busy schedule of begging for money to favor me with this fashion advice. The small kindnesses of man never cease to amaze.

Why didn't I think of that

2005-07-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

Man invents machine whose sole purpose is to turn itself off after a human turns it on.

http://www.kugelbahn.ch/sesam_e.htm

Animal Rights Lady Update

2005-07-19T06:07:00.000-07:00

Location: Davis Square T stop.
Attitude: Angrier than ever.
The Pitch: "Animal a-BUSE...SIGN!!!"

On a personal note I would like to thank the wise stewards of our underground transportation system for shutting off the air conditioning of every car I've entered the last few days. Future generations will thank you for your conservation efforts.

I make me worried

2005-07-17T13:45:00.000-07:00

I rented a Kurasowa film over the weekend. It was a Chinese DVD with the subtitles apparently translated to Chinese and then to English. It was not exactly the Criterion Collection. I was left to ponder such lines as:

"Get drunk to be me, poor."

"I won't tease you being sick."

"I make me worried."

"This shows you chick, I am not afraid of you."

"Women look good in a drunk eye."

Well, everyone looks better in a drunk eye...can't disagree with that one.

Pal

2005-07-16T12:56:00.000-07:00

I'm in good with the guys at the liquor store now. They call me "pal." "Is that it pal?" "Have a nice night pal." Oh yes, I make friends easily.

"Sign....Petition..."

2005-07-15T08:03:00.000-07:00

The animal rights lady was spotted back at South Station one day this past week. For those not in the know she was a fixture there a few years back...a bedraggled lady with a huge picture of some sad looking kitten imperiously intoning "Sign...Petition..." She fit right in to the South Station scene then as it was a hell hole of a construction site masquerading as a subway stop. She was finally rousted one day by some guy who started demanding where the donations went and, oddly, strangers from the crowd started joining in the attack. The general consensus was she was pocketing the donations and didn't really care if you signed the petition or not (egad!). Perhaps people were just sick of her act...no one wants to see mangled kittens shoved in your face day after day. After that brouhaha she disappeared. I saw her months later one day at my stop Davis Square...and after that she was spotted in NYC by one of my subway riding cohorts who happened to be visiting. In each case she was immediately recognizable by her distinctive oratorical wail...."Sign...Petition..."

stupid blog

2005-07-11T13:42:00.000-07:00

So now I'm a blogger.