My Friend Gareth
said this about love today
"For me, love means doing something terrifying and not being terrified at all."
Check out his adventures - and send a check if you can - here
Monday, April 21, 2008
A word on Love from my friend Gareth
My Friend Gareth
said this about love today
"For me, love means doing something terrifying and not being terrified at all."
Check out his adventures - and send a check if you can - here
Sunday, April 20, 2008
The Dalai Lama is in town
... so I thought that I'd try out Buddhist 'hair' for the event
Whaddya think?
Whaddya think?
More Idol Nonsense
So I missed Idol for a week and it seems that they booted the Castrated Hutchence wannabe Michael Johns. Shame - the benchmark seems to have been - "Well I have to last longer than Kristie Cook" and of course he didn't.
This week's guest coach was Mariah Carey - who came across as a slutty Oompah-Lumpah, only a tad more orange. She loved everyone, they loved her, the show was duller David Cook's eyes (and they're DEAD)
What did people do, I hear you shrug half heartedly.
Well Cut Priced Whitney (I like to think that she'll be a Crystal Meth Gal married to a backing singer) Syesha coasted through that well known shoulda been a B side "Vanishing" and promptly vanished from memory.
The Bruiser kept the bat wing wobble in check as she attacked "Without You" and I mean attacked. The song later reported the assault to the police and is recovering from the severe bruising she gave it. All credit to the girl though - she did attempt a full 'power squat' at one point.
David Cook did his angsty thing on "Without you" and just failed to recognize that it could be the most awesome stalker song of all time done right. He was getting there but as ever the bigger picture evaded him as he tried for a vibe that's Radio Friendly.
The Mormon's magic pants were working as he did something soppy to immediately forgettable effect
Jason Castro on the other hand is turning into a poor man's Sanjaya. "I don't wanna cry" was sung with such tender virginity that you could hear hymen in the audience tearing. Either that or he missed a couple of notes horribly.
Two left - Kristy Lee Cook did an adenoidal version of "Forever" (which FINALLY sent her home) and Brooke White piled in the vanilla with her anodyne version of "Hero"
It's all toe curlingly wondreful
Saturday, April 19, 2008
It's getting hot in here
In fact as I look up at the temperature gauge I see that right at the desk it's 88f... no wonder I'm sweating. I'd take my shirt off but if Jude gets back to see me sitting near naked at the computer she'll be checking the History folder faster than you can say 'spyware'
Dalai Lama in town tomorrow. Lots of parents in for graduation today. So the bars are full. The outdoor tables coveted and the locals slightly snarky.
Me? I'm just taking pictures, walking the dog and trying not to eat
Dalai Lama in town tomorrow. Lots of parents in for graduation today. So the bars are full. The outdoor tables coveted and the locals slightly snarky.
Me? I'm just taking pictures, walking the dog and trying not to eat
Friday, April 18, 2008
That time of year again...
Well Michigan certainly seems to switch weather gears fast. Last Sunday we were sitting inside watching the snow whoosh horizontal past the windows. Today it's 24c, there's the smell of summer in the air and the window boxes are being moved outside.
The dog, predictably, loves it. Yesterday we took her to The Arb' (a kind of wild flora and fauna refuge in the middle of town) and she sniffed, scurried and bounded her way around with an abandon that some would have called gay (were they over 70)
Tonight we're off to see Natalia Zuckerman who is described thusly by the venue "(She has a) voice that could send an orchid into bloom, while her guitar playing can open a beer bottle with its teeth."
I'll test that theory later.
The dog, predictably, loves it. Yesterday we took her to The Arb' (a kind of wild flora and fauna refuge in the middle of town) and she sniffed, scurried and bounded her way around with an abandon that some would have called gay (were they over 70)
Tonight we're off to see Natalia Zuckerman who is described thusly by the venue "(She has a) voice that could send an orchid into bloom, while her guitar playing can open a beer bottle with its teeth."
I'll test that theory later.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Bad repair
Well after Jude's first attempt to fill the suicidal bird's scrape on the hood of the car I had her redo it - and maybe I was wrong.
Never mind will have dent taken car of at 10,000 miles and may use the scratch repair as a justification for getting the stripes that Jude's wanted forever.
Mad at work today - wanting to prove that one of the reasons that people got into SUVs were that they were high - and when people feel threatened (say post 9-11 or by the number of huge cars on the road) they tend to look for safety by trying to get above imminent danger (they used to climb a tree). There are other reasons of course - but it's odd that in a culture of engagement we have an automotive culture of disengagement. Or so I'm hypothosizing.
Steve
Never mind will have dent taken car of at 10,000 miles and may use the scratch repair as a justification for getting the stripes that Jude's wanted forever.
Mad at work today - wanting to prove that one of the reasons that people got into SUVs were that they were high - and when people feel threatened (say post 9-11 or by the number of huge cars on the road) they tend to look for safety by trying to get above imminent danger (they used to climb a tree). There are other reasons of course - but it's odd that in a culture of engagement we have an automotive culture of disengagement. Or so I'm hypothosizing.
Steve
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
In the wars again
On my way to work this morning I had a suicidal bird swoop down and hot the hood of the car. Result - small dent that ruins the lines, big scratch that we've just tried (and failed) to disguise.
Will hit the dealer on Saturday about the dent but it seems as though hard objects are drawn to this car - at speed.
Will hit the dealer on Saturday about the dent but it seems as though hard objects are drawn to this car - at speed.
Long drive for a home run
This morning I was invited to join a hundred people on a trip up to Toronto to see a baseball game. Sounds like a riot, but all are driving up there in their own cars and it's about four and a half hours.
Of course part of me says "screw it, head on up" while the other says "work, long drive, overnight stay" and of course "you don't like baseball" - which side will win I have no idea.
Last night we went to a gallery opening. Photographs of Alabama taken over 40 years by a guy whose technique didn't seem to improve. Most of the people there seemed to be asking the same question "This guy is famous because....????"
It's one of the great statements of the upload age. People used to say "I could do better than that" ---> now they say "I HAVE DONE better than that" and in many cases they have.
I was reading an interview with Sir (!) John Hegarty where he was talking about being the chair of an art committee. He said that he can easily search for "picture of woman holding a baby" and the search engines and stock photo sites will give him 10,000 options. The only problem is that they'll all be rubbish. And what he wants is one GOOD pic of a woman holding a baby. Alas "Good pic of woman holding a baby" isn't a search engine friendly term.
As he said if you search the art world for the same pic you may not find the exact image and angle that you want but you're much more likely to stumble upon something that shows you something new or that invites you to think about the subject in a new way - and that's more valuable.
Also last night 38 Drinks with the very lovely Rebecca, who looked amazing swathed in the diffused glow of my favorite bar in Ann Arbor. I may have had more thatn I thought though -as this morning I'm feeling weirdly weak and out of sorts. Blaming the allergy patches for that though.
Of course part of me says "screw it, head on up" while the other says "work, long drive, overnight stay" and of course "you don't like baseball" - which side will win I have no idea.
Last night we went to a gallery opening. Photographs of Alabama taken over 40 years by a guy whose technique didn't seem to improve. Most of the people there seemed to be asking the same question "This guy is famous because....????"
It's one of the great statements of the upload age. People used to say "I could do better than that" ---> now they say "I HAVE DONE better than that" and in many cases they have.
I was reading an interview with Sir (!) John Hegarty where he was talking about being the chair of an art committee. He said that he can easily search for "picture of woman holding a baby" and the search engines and stock photo sites will give him 10,000 options. The only problem is that they'll all be rubbish. And what he wants is one GOOD pic of a woman holding a baby. Alas "Good pic of woman holding a baby" isn't a search engine friendly term.
As he said if you search the art world for the same pic you may not find the exact image and angle that you want but you're much more likely to stumble upon something that shows you something new or that invites you to think about the subject in a new way - and that's more valuable.
Also last night 38 Drinks with the very lovely Rebecca, who looked amazing swathed in the diffused glow of my favorite bar in Ann Arbor. I may have had more thatn I thought though -as this morning I'm feeling weirdly weak and out of sorts. Blaming the allergy patches for that though.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
What a feeling
I went in for the second of my allergy tests this morning.
The guys took a bunch of panels, attached them to my back, bandaged me up and said "see you Thursday". Before they said that though they said "You're probably going to itch like hell. Don't scratch. Even if it becomes unbearable"
Now maybe it's just me but there has to be a better way of doing this. A blood test perhaps. Or stem cells. Or cloning. Just all seems a tad old fashioned to me.
Also got a call from the New York hospital... I'm due scans for cancer again. It's weird that every 8 weeks or so I have to start planning a New York scan trip. It kinda throws you off balance and I know that it's too much of a reminder for a lot of people around me - having my mortality questioned with such regularity.
Still it's a trip to New York - a place I adore, so (for once) I won't be complaining - unless of course it's about the itch that seems to be coming from directly under the bleach tab on my back
The guys took a bunch of panels, attached them to my back, bandaged me up and said "see you Thursday". Before they said that though they said "You're probably going to itch like hell. Don't scratch. Even if it becomes unbearable"
Now maybe it's just me but there has to be a better way of doing this. A blood test perhaps. Or stem cells. Or cloning. Just all seems a tad old fashioned to me.
Also got a call from the New York hospital... I'm due scans for cancer again. It's weird that every 8 weeks or so I have to start planning a New York scan trip. It kinda throws you off balance and I know that it's too much of a reminder for a lot of people around me - having my mortality questioned with such regularity.
Still it's a trip to New York - a place I adore, so (for once) I won't be complaining - unless of course it's about the itch that seems to be coming from directly under the bleach tab on my back
Monday, April 14, 2008
Stupidly Busy
I'm ridiculously busy today, which means that this will be shorter than Obama's "Mission Accomplished" list.
I have to say that my interest in the Hillary / Obama thing has been dampened by the descent into politics as usual. Hillary claiming that she'd been under sniper fire, Obama attending the church of somebody that some people don't like - each claiming that they're not about smearing the other and then having proxies apply liquid manure.
It's a shame really - this was an election that I wanted to care about. But I do have a weird feeling that McCain is going to drop dead before November... he's just SO old. And it's a real strain. And he's not looking good at all. Weird that he's leading in the polls too. Though with his age and health being what it is his choice of running mate is going to be critical - as we're all imagining the President being upable to fulfil his duties at some point over the next 4 years.
Scary
I have to say that my interest in the Hillary / Obama thing has been dampened by the descent into politics as usual. Hillary claiming that she'd been under sniper fire, Obama attending the church of somebody that some people don't like - each claiming that they're not about smearing the other and then having proxies apply liquid manure.
It's a shame really - this was an election that I wanted to care about. But I do have a weird feeling that McCain is going to drop dead before November... he's just SO old. And it's a real strain. And he's not looking good at all. Weird that he's leading in the polls too. Though with his age and health being what it is his choice of running mate is going to be critical - as we're all imagining the President being upable to fulfil his duties at some point over the next 4 years.
Scary
Saturday, April 12, 2008
I always feel like
somebody's watching me... and I get no privacy.
Back from Vegas and back into the swing of a warmer but very wet Ann arbor. The dog has been walked, there's a gallery show opening downstairs, we have a new BBQ (yesterday was 21c, we got giddy) and of course I got my camera back... so Jude's 365 days pic series is back on track.
Jude has dinner tonight and is out running right now and so Im home alone and trying to work my way into writing my book (it's about falling into the vast crevice between who you are and the person that you project to the world) rather than heading downstairs, opening a beer and watching Top Gear.
It's good to be writing again. Something that I promised myself - and that I can be good at - given the discipline. This blog is a testament to my indiscipline ---> but honestly I can turn a sentence once in a while.
The pic btw was taken in the Bellagio Glass Flowers and Butterfly garden. The butterflies are real - though I told the tourists that they were animatronics and many believed me. The gullible should not be let out unchaperoned in Vegas.
Back from Vegas and back into the swing of a warmer but very wet Ann arbor. The dog has been walked, there's a gallery show opening downstairs, we have a new BBQ (yesterday was 21c, we got giddy) and of course I got my camera back... so Jude's 365 days pic series is back on track.
Jude has dinner tonight and is out running right now and so Im home alone and trying to work my way into writing my book (it's about falling into the vast crevice between who you are and the person that you project to the world) rather than heading downstairs, opening a beer and watching Top Gear.
It's good to be writing again. Something that I promised myself - and that I can be good at - given the discipline. This blog is a testament to my indiscipline ---> but honestly I can turn a sentence once in a while.
The pic btw was taken in the Bellagio Glass Flowers and Butterfly garden. The butterflies are real - though I told the tourists that they were animatronics and many believed me. The gullible should not be let out unchaperoned in Vegas.
Friday, April 11, 2008
A Vegas Miracle
10 minutes before I checked out yesterday I got a call.
"I've done a little investigation work and don't ask me how I did it but I think I have your camera"
I went downstairs and lo! behold! My camera.
And most of the pics were still on it too.
Flight was a nightmare, much delayed... but at least it was business.
In at 1am, up at 6am... now at work and slightly dazed
Proper post (and pics!) asap
"I've done a little investigation work and don't ask me how I did it but I think I have your camera"
I went downstairs and lo! behold! My camera.
And most of the pics were still on it too.
Flight was a nightmare, much delayed... but at least it was business.
In at 1am, up at 6am... now at work and slightly dazed
Proper post (and pics!) asap
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Lesbian Las Vegas
So last night we finished up the show and headed for the Private Members bar at the top of the Mandalay Bay hotel. The views were gorgeous, the bar staff still had their 'penthouse' looks and figures and the place was an oasis of calm, quiet and the scent of Asian spice.
Yesterday's massage was good. I arrived early and headed toward the individual hot tubs, then on to the sauna, the plunge pool and the steam room, then massage, more steam and a fantastically lit shower. A zen like experience spoiled only by the naked wandering of what seemed be the result of splicing the genes of an amphibian, a bear and a Russian.
Today I walked the strip wishing I had my camera and rueing the day that I didn't use the safe. But coming out from behind the lens does interesting things. I started noticing things again. Having ideas. Theories. Plans for how I could test my hypotheses... and sell the results. More on that later.
And finally there were the lesbians. Some older, leather faced and sinewy as the marched the strip. Other in bigger groups all blonde hair and Abercromie T-shirts, happy with life - out in the sunshine in gangs of belonging. I must have passed a dozen or so groups like this.
Not the Hogs and Heifers experience (above) by any means... but a cool morning. Check out in a half hour and head for A2.
Yesterday's massage was good. I arrived early and headed toward the individual hot tubs, then on to the sauna, the plunge pool and the steam room, then massage, more steam and a fantastically lit shower. A zen like experience spoiled only by the naked wandering of what seemed be the result of splicing the genes of an amphibian, a bear and a Russian.
Today I walked the strip wishing I had my camera and rueing the day that I didn't use the safe. But coming out from behind the lens does interesting things. I started noticing things again. Having ideas. Theories. Plans for how I could test my hypotheses... and sell the results. More on that later.
And finally there were the lesbians. Some older, leather faced and sinewy as the marched the strip. Other in bigger groups all blonde hair and Abercromie T-shirts, happy with life - out in the sunshine in gangs of belonging. I must have passed a dozen or so groups like this.
Not the Hogs and Heifers experience (above) by any means... but a cool morning. Check out in a half hour and head for A2.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Camera hunter
So today I wandered off into Vegas in search of a new ultra zoom camera. I figured - what they hell, why not and other questions of a similar 'excuse to buy' ilk.
Instead I came back with a freshly steamed John Varartos shirt, a blister on my heel and the knowledge that the Sony ultra zoom is so complicated with its flickr wheels and scroll menus that you'd never be able to shoot a living thing. It's a still life only cam'
Knackered here so about to have a spa treatment that costs $1 every 20 seconds. I hope that for that kind of outlay I get oral sex from a unicorn.
Nap time
Instead I came back with a freshly steamed John Varartos shirt, a blister on my heel and the knowledge that the Sony ultra zoom is so complicated with its flickr wheels and scroll menus that you'd never be able to shoot a living thing. It's a still life only cam'
Knackered here so about to have a spa treatment that costs $1 every 20 seconds. I hope that for that kind of outlay I get oral sex from a unicorn.
Nap time
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
sad
so yesterday I was happy
the show was going well
I'd taken some amazing pictures
Life was a blast
And then....
I got up this morning and found that my camera was gone.
I was viewing pics last night
Went to work
Then on to jet
And my camera went 'poof'
It's not the money
It's two things
1. The pics
2. The idea that someone else is using my camera
I feel sick to the stomach
And sad
Have searched the room a dozen times
Retraced steps to places that I knew I had no camera
And called Lost and Found to the point of their distraction
But it's gone
And I'm a loser
Sigh
the show was going well
I'd taken some amazing pictures
Life was a blast
And then....
I got up this morning and found that my camera was gone.
I was viewing pics last night
Went to work
Then on to jet
And my camera went 'poof'
It's not the money
It's two things
1. The pics
2. The idea that someone else is using my camera
I feel sick to the stomach
And sad
Have searched the room a dozen times
Retraced steps to places that I knew I had no camera
And called Lost and Found to the point of their distraction
But it's gone
And I'm a loser
Sigh
3am
3am and home alone, drunk but not embarrassingly so, in Vegas
met up with some guys who had tables at Jet and the persona to pull off the VIP room
Spent abput $5k on booze and 'union girls' but happy here. despite inabilty to type
\
Up in 4 hrs to repeat.
Wow
(to quote Kylie)
met up with some guys who had tables at Jet and the persona to pull off the VIP room
Spent abput $5k on booze and 'union girls' but happy here. despite inabilty to type
\
Up in 4 hrs to repeat.
Wow
(to quote Kylie)
Monday, April 07, 2008
Excess
Vegas is all about excess.
Just a few minutes ago I passed a bunch of people gawping and whispering "oh----my------God" at "the world's tallest chocolate fountain"
I was too full from my 8pm fish n chips to comment.
The flight here was hell. Delayed. Too hot. And ripe with the scent of the obese in too thick sweaters. Many of the assembled looked more reptilian than they did human. Which should have stopped me eating. And it will. I swear.
The thing I'm here for looks mightily impressive. If unfinished. People will be working throughout the night - but things are looking good. I have faith in the product. All we need to do now is build marketing into the product too. The way that Apple do (thinnest, touch screen etc.) Then we have it made
Just a few minutes ago I passed a bunch of people gawping and whispering "oh----my------God" at "the world's tallest chocolate fountain"
I was too full from my 8pm fish n chips to comment.
The flight here was hell. Delayed. Too hot. And ripe with the scent of the obese in too thick sweaters. Many of the assembled looked more reptilian than they did human. Which should have stopped me eating. And it will. I swear.
The thing I'm here for looks mightily impressive. If unfinished. People will be working throughout the night - but things are looking good. I have faith in the product. All we need to do now is build marketing into the product too. The way that Apple do (thinnest, touch screen etc.) Then we have it made
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Is it just me or is this plane a little too close?
Revving up this morning for my trip to Vegas.
Jude is sewing and pressing the suit pants that I bought on the last trip.
I'm emptying trash and sorting recyclables ahead of a 4 day absence
The cats are merrily shedding
Velcro is hiding out in the hope that she might manage a stealth grab on a stray sock from my packing
And all is good with the world.
Jude is sewing and pressing the suit pants that I bought on the last trip.
I'm emptying trash and sorting recyclables ahead of a 4 day absence
The cats are merrily shedding
Velcro is hiding out in the hope that she might manage a stealth grab on a stray sock from my packing
And all is good with the world.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
"Nice tits missus, now where do you want these blinds"
Jude woke up this morning determined to get her 365 days of Jude shot in early. I noticed that if I stood at this angle the shadows from the blinds gave me the abs that two glasses of wine a day have been denying me.
That said I did go to pilates this morning and a long walk with the dog is slated for half an hour from now - so perhaps I'm not the slob that I seem to be in my mind's eye.
I know that when you ask women to judge themselves against other women they tend to place themselves against people a full dress size bigger - I'm hoping that's my issue. Body dismorphia. Not chocolate, guinness and an ability to dodge the gym like my brother does salads.
That said I did go to pilates this morning and a long walk with the dog is slated for half an hour from now - so perhaps I'm not the slob that I seem to be in my mind's eye.
I know that when you ask women to judge themselves against other women they tend to place themselves against people a full dress size bigger - I'm hoping that's my issue. Body dismorphia. Not chocolate, guinness and an ability to dodge the gym like my brother does salads.
Friday, April 04, 2008
Friday
It's Friday. Or as people of a certain age would say "Thank Crunchie" or maybe "TGIF"... amazing isn't it how consumption based advertising creeps into real life.
You can imagine the Crunchie strategy meeting.
"People love Crunchie. But they don't ever choose it. They get one in a selection box and think to themselves that they like this, that they should buy it but the next time they're in the shop they just don't. It's just not high enough in their daily repertoire."
"What it needs is an occasion Bob"
"Exactly Bob. A trigger. Something that just says - it's time for a Crunchie"
"How about Easter Bob?"
"Creme Eggs Bob. Same company. Cannibalization of brand and Creme Eggs make more money per unit... but good thinking"
"After dinner?"
"Too thick. Wafer thins own post dinner"
"Friday Bob!"
"Friday?"
"Yes Bob. People are in a good mood. They're gearing up for the weekend. They're lookiing for treats - for something celebratory"
"But what's my reason to believe Bob?"
"Champagne. The honeycomb in a Crunchie pops in your mouth like Champagne. And when do people drink champagne Bob?"
"FRIDAY!"
"FRIDAY Bob"
"Right that's settled then, 3 martini lunch anyone?"
You can imagine the Crunchie strategy meeting.
"People love Crunchie. But they don't ever choose it. They get one in a selection box and think to themselves that they like this, that they should buy it but the next time they're in the shop they just don't. It's just not high enough in their daily repertoire."
"What it needs is an occasion Bob"
"Exactly Bob. A trigger. Something that just says - it's time for a Crunchie"
"How about Easter Bob?"
"Creme Eggs Bob. Same company. Cannibalization of brand and Creme Eggs make more money per unit... but good thinking"
"After dinner?"
"Too thick. Wafer thins own post dinner"
"Friday Bob!"
"Friday?"
"Yes Bob. People are in a good mood. They're gearing up for the weekend. They're lookiing for treats - for something celebratory"
"But what's my reason to believe Bob?"
"Champagne. The honeycomb in a Crunchie pops in your mouth like Champagne. And when do people drink champagne Bob?"
"FRIDAY!"
"FRIDAY Bob"
"Right that's settled then, 3 martini lunch anyone?"
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Bye bye bobblehead
>Say goodbye, Bobblehead.
Having shouted her way through Dolly Parton's "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind" on Tuesday night's show the Filipino would be lounge singer was answered by an indifferent America. "No you don't" they said, or rather didn't - as they failed to vote for her by the million.
Who was shocked? Nobody.
Also in the bottom three - Ms. Lobotomy Brooke White and 'horseless' Kristy Lee Cook.
Better still - i-tunes cover mechant David Cook had heart palpitations and needed treatment for high blood pressure near the end of Tuesday's show. The 25 year old obviously has the constitution of a grandpa and had to be treated at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
His story? "I have high blood pressure, and it spiked."
Very rock 'n' roll
I expect elasticated leisure pants from him next week
Having shouted her way through Dolly Parton's "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind" on Tuesday night's show the Filipino would be lounge singer was answered by an indifferent America. "No you don't" they said, or rather didn't - as they failed to vote for her by the million.
Who was shocked? Nobody.
Also in the bottom three - Ms. Lobotomy Brooke White and 'horseless' Kristy Lee Cook.
Better still - i-tunes cover mechant David Cook had heart palpitations and needed treatment for high blood pressure near the end of Tuesday's show. The 25 year old obviously has the constitution of a grandpa and had to be treated at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
His story? "I have high blood pressure, and it spiked."
Very rock 'n' roll
I expect elasticated leisure pants from him next week
Another day in paradise
there's the possibility that we might be extending our stay here in A2. Just a possibility. Which ain't a bad thing. But as friends start to contact me with tales of offers further afield, in more exotic locations and with better titles I can't help but wonder whether I've blown the career a little.
Of course there's a reason for this trajectory. Dr Jude is now a Doctor. And her desire to have that prefix far outweighed my desire to be Director of Creative Turpitude at Bangle Bongle Stronglemeijer.
And there are upsides. Cool apt, cool car, happy animals, job I like here, money in the bank and some cool vacations. I guess I'm just questioning my willingness to stay in one place for more than 2 years. I equate it with immobility rather than content I guess. Which is weird - 'cause I like it here.
Therapy here I come
Of course there's a reason for this trajectory. Dr Jude is now a Doctor. And her desire to have that prefix far outweighed my desire to be Director of Creative Turpitude at Bangle Bongle Stronglemeijer.
And there are upsides. Cool apt, cool car, happy animals, job I like here, money in the bank and some cool vacations. I guess I'm just questioning my willingness to stay in one place for more than 2 years. I equate it with immobility rather than content I guess. Which is weird - 'cause I like it here.
Therapy here I come
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Dollywood
It was Dolly Parton night in Idol last night and the results were all rather predictable.
Brook White sang Jolene as though it was the sunniest and most carefree song in the world. Then smiled vacantly as Simon raised the issue that she's rather missed the point and that her violin player was offputtingly ugly. I can't work out whether this girl is deeply cynical or whether they're about to reveal her lobotomy any day now - but I'm done with her.
The batwinged bruiser belted out something or other without missing a note or making any real impact. Someone ought to check with the INS and make sure she's not here on an exceptional talent visa as it would be in danger of being revoked
The Magic Mormon did a ballad that reminded him of home and did a nice job on it. The problem is that he really does only connect on overly earnest ballads and he comes across more as grandmother's choice than he does American Idol. He could open for Niel Sedaka. Really.
David Cook searched I-Tunes for someone to rip off, failed to find anyone and faded into the background.
Jason Castro still has dreads and those eyes - so the performance was irrelevant. Just as well really.
Kristy Lee Cook chose nice jewelry and a simple "Coat of many colors" - her last hurrah (she's safe this week but she has to go soon) wasn't really a bang, but hey she might get a gig with the ice-capades that allow her to buy back her bloody horse
Michael Johns did his Australian Rocker schick again and it worked. He's genuinely happy to be there - realizing that this is his last shot at the industry and that kind of appreciation and humility goes a long way - even if he does look like a marketing manager at a kareoke.
Ramiele Malubay is still a bobble headed midget. I can't remember anything about her last night. Maybe TiVo cut her off. Maybe she just disappeared.
And finally cut priced Whitney Syesha Mercado did - you guessed it "I will always love you" minus Dolly's sincerity or Whitney's range.
So a bit of a flat night - where competence reigned and nobody really managed to stand out. That makes it a popularity contest (bar country girl, who;s safe on home turf)... expect Ramiele, Syesha and Carly Bruiser to be tonight's bottom three
Brook White sang Jolene as though it was the sunniest and most carefree song in the world. Then smiled vacantly as Simon raised the issue that she's rather missed the point and that her violin player was offputtingly ugly. I can't work out whether this girl is deeply cynical or whether they're about to reveal her lobotomy any day now - but I'm done with her.
The batwinged bruiser belted out something or other without missing a note or making any real impact. Someone ought to check with the INS and make sure she's not here on an exceptional talent visa as it would be in danger of being revoked
The Magic Mormon did a ballad that reminded him of home and did a nice job on it. The problem is that he really does only connect on overly earnest ballads and he comes across more as grandmother's choice than he does American Idol. He could open for Niel Sedaka. Really.
David Cook searched I-Tunes for someone to rip off, failed to find anyone and faded into the background.
Jason Castro still has dreads and those eyes - so the performance was irrelevant. Just as well really.
Kristy Lee Cook chose nice jewelry and a simple "Coat of many colors" - her last hurrah (she's safe this week but she has to go soon) wasn't really a bang, but hey she might get a gig with the ice-capades that allow her to buy back her bloody horse
Michael Johns did his Australian Rocker schick again and it worked. He's genuinely happy to be there - realizing that this is his last shot at the industry and that kind of appreciation and humility goes a long way - even if he does look like a marketing manager at a kareoke.
Ramiele Malubay is still a bobble headed midget. I can't remember anything about her last night. Maybe TiVo cut her off. Maybe she just disappeared.
And finally cut priced Whitney Syesha Mercado did - you guessed it "I will always love you" minus Dolly's sincerity or Whitney's range.
So a bit of a flat night - where competence reigned and nobody really managed to stand out. That makes it a popularity contest (bar country girl, who;s safe on home turf)... expect Ramiele, Syesha and Carly Bruiser to be tonight's bottom three
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Fabulously Nasty
As a Brit I'm kind of rejoicing in the weather at the moment. It's gray and wet. It's as windy as hell. The temperatures are shifting between minus and plau 15c daily. It's unpredictably damp, then wet, then icy. This may be a sign of the apocolypse. It may be a sign of spring. I have no idea. I really ought to look at Weather Channel viewing figures in the area. They skyrocket when the weather gets unusual. They thrive on 'extreme weather'... as of course do I.
Into this weather was born the new baseball season. Detroit lost 5-4 in the last inning (or something) and there are all manner of stats now showing how / why and where it fits comparatively to the rest of the league and previous seasons - none of which I understand. Perhaps I ought to try harder. It can't be that hard a game.
Into this weather was born the new baseball season. Detroit lost 5-4 in the last inning (or something) and there are all manner of stats now showing how / why and where it fits comparatively to the rest of the league and previous seasons - none of which I understand. Perhaps I ought to try harder. It can't be that hard a game.
Monday, March 31, 2008
VEGAS BABY!
Yup - it's back to Vegas this weekend. And this time the temperatures will be in the high 20s. Centigrade. Which will be nice ahead of Cyprus in May.
Of course none of the Cyprus villa people are answering calls - which is a worry.
And I'm not confirmed in the Vegas hotel. Which might also be a worry come Friday.
But I have a flight. I have a plan. And I'm looking forward to some sunshine.
Of course none of the Cyprus villa people are answering calls - which is a worry.
And I'm not confirmed in the Vegas hotel. Which might also be a worry come Friday.
But I have a flight. I have a plan. And I'm looking forward to some sunshine.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Hair
Jude went out yesterday and got herself new hair. It's lighter, toned down a little and, for the moment, it's dead straight.
Inky is still losing his hair and as I write is sitting on my lap smothered in unction and wearing an unfetching collar
I of course have no hair - but do have an infection of the hair follicles (I know how unfair is that?) which is requiring some hardcore treatment. Basically I'm taking medication for other scalp / hair diseases and turning up the dosage to nuclear.
I have lice treatment, I have scabies medication, I have steroidal creams - all being taken at around 6 times the dosage for the disease that they're meant to treat (6 pills at a time) in a bid to kill off what's lurking on my post chemo head.
Weird thing is it seems to be working - even i the people at the pharmacy now start to scratch at the sight of me
Inky is still losing his hair and as I write is sitting on my lap smothered in unction and wearing an unfetching collar
I of course have no hair - but do have an infection of the hair follicles (I know how unfair is that?) which is requiring some hardcore treatment. Basically I'm taking medication for other scalp / hair diseases and turning up the dosage to nuclear.
I have lice treatment, I have scabies medication, I have steroidal creams - all being taken at around 6 times the dosage for the disease that they're meant to treat (6 pills at a time) in a bid to kill off what's lurking on my post chemo head.
Weird thing is it seems to be working - even i the people at the pharmacy now start to scratch at the sight of me
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Safari
I joined some Flickr folks on a wee A2 safari today. Nothing spectacular - just a walk around Ann Arbor with some cameras and various pics. Got a few that I like - though my fondness for high contrast images may be getting a little out of hand
Friday, March 28, 2008
An invitation
I've just been invited to attend a cooking class. By the people at Gourmet magazine. And while I know that the invitation is business rather than personal (they know that I have money to spend and products to promote) I'd like to think that at least a little of the invitation was based on my being interesting.
So French Bistro cooking here we come.
So French Bistro cooking here we come.
A joke from my dad
After numerous rounds of "We don't even know if Osama is still alive",
Osama himself decided to send George Bush a letter in his own
handwriting to let him know he was still in the game.
Bush opened the letter and it contained a single line of coded message:
370H-SSV-0773H
Bush was baffled, so he e-mailed it to Condoleezza Rice. Condi and her
aides hadn't a clue either, so they sent it to the FBI.
No one could solve it at the FBI so it went to the CIA, and then to MI6.
Eventually they asked the Mossad for help.
Almost immediately the Mossad emailed the White House with this reply:
"Tell the President he's holding the message upside down."
Osama himself decided to send George Bush a letter in his own
handwriting to let him know he was still in the game.
Bush opened the letter and it contained a single line of coded message:
370H-SSV-0773H
Bush was baffled, so he e-mailed it to Condoleezza Rice. Condi and her
aides hadn't a clue either, so they sent it to the FBI.
No one could solve it at the FBI so it went to the CIA, and then to MI6.
Eventually they asked the Mossad for help.
Almost immediately the Mossad emailed the White House with this reply:
"Tell the President he's holding the message upside down."
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Faux'd to Gray
... there was a time when I reacted to everything as though it and I were magnets. I was either irresistably attracted or equally violently repelled. Life was love - hate - love and shades of gray were seen as compromise.
Of course life is made up of shades of gray - but then embracing that fact would mean embracing a gray life, wouldn't it? You see only a couple of sentences in and already this seems circular and self indulgent.
What I've learned of course is that you can be black and white some of the time. That it's all about choice. When to get annoyed, when to hit back, when to hit first, when to track down their ISP and report them to their boss and when to simply think "what a tosser" and move on to something more deserving of time (like mayonaisse)
There's been a lot of mayo contemplating recently.
On a more concrete side I am officially allergic to everything other than dogs. Dust, trees, grass, mites, people with beards. Did an allergy test today - in a bid to find out what turns me into a Geisha Panda on occasion - and was amazed to find out that there's nothing that I don't react violently to (well I react only mildly to cats). This is not a good thing. And there's very little that anyone can do - other than advise me to live in a sterile environment with a dog. Which wouldn't be so terrible - Connecticut here we come
Of course life is made up of shades of gray - but then embracing that fact would mean embracing a gray life, wouldn't it? You see only a couple of sentences in and already this seems circular and self indulgent.
What I've learned of course is that you can be black and white some of the time. That it's all about choice. When to get annoyed, when to hit back, when to hit first, when to track down their ISP and report them to their boss and when to simply think "what a tosser" and move on to something more deserving of time (like mayonaisse)
There's been a lot of mayo contemplating recently.
On a more concrete side I am officially allergic to everything other than dogs. Dust, trees, grass, mites, people with beards. Did an allergy test today - in a bid to find out what turns me into a Geisha Panda on occasion - and was amazed to find out that there's nothing that I don't react violently to (well I react only mildly to cats). This is not a good thing. And there's very little that anyone can do - other than advise me to live in a sterile environment with a dog. Which wouldn't be so terrible - Connecticut here we come
What possesses
people to take pictures of people on American Idol and then upload them to Flickr is quite beyond me. But I'm rather glad that they do. This is Carly Bruiser and her fighting lizard husband. Can America bring itself to vote for flesh desecrators I wonder?
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
American Idol
I realised today that I've been almost entirely silent on the subject of this season's American Idol - which is most unlike me as it's a bit of a corker.
Let me start by bringing you up to speed with the contestants
Brook White is the toothy Carly Simon type. She's never seen an R rated movie, is relentlessly positive and likes to play the piano in a way that reminds me of a chaste Tori Amos (her knees are resolutely never splayed). She's harmless enough but alas she's about 40 years too late to have a career - and 40 years ago we had tapestry and carole king anyway.
Carly Smithson is an Irish bruiser who this week admitted that she'd murdered Total Eclipse of the Heart in part because her slimming girdle had been too tight. Married to what appears to be a fighting lizard she's the kind of girl you'd like to have a pint with - and she can belt out a song but in the age of HD and widescreen the bingo wings are a killer.
David Archuleta is a singing mormon foetus who seems too earnest for his own good but really connects on songs with a pseudo refligious content. He makes the girls scream but only because girls are evil and they see how it makes him squirm. Tellingly he's almost never acknowledged by another contestant. He'll go far, but never far enough
David Cook is a doughy Daughtrey. He's done a couple of good covers that have turned out to be accurate enough rip offs but he does at least sound current in an emo rocker sort of way. I'd like him more if he didn't look like a Cornish Pastie.
Jason Castro is the young, blue eyes, dreadlocked bedroom strummer with the hippie attitude and the ability to turn 12 year old girls into puddles of jello. He's crap but that doesn't really matter - it's all about the eyes.
Kristy Lee Cook has played every Idol card she can. She sings with a country twang. She has a "I sold my horse" story and after WEEKS in the bottom three she this week made the most cynical and brilliant choice of songs in the history of the show "God Bless the USA" - Americans bought shovels to help them gobble that shit up faster and she's moving on.
Michael Johns is from Australia and has a Queen fetish. This makes people compare him to Michael Hutchence. Maybe a castrated Hutchence. He's already in a hotel room - somebody hand him a noose and save us from more weeks of self indulgent vocal noodling.
Ramilele Malubay wouldn't be out of place belting out slightly mis-pronounced covers in the Mandarin Oriental, Manilla. When she does end up there be sure to ask for a room as far from the 'cabaret lounge' as possible.
Syesha Mercado is another cut priced Whitney. She has nice hair. And she's making the most of good dentistry. But really girl - you need to get your own schtick 'cause this has been done and been done so much better.
And that's it. Nobody as excruciating as 'beat boxer' Blake Lewis, as deformed but brilliant as Doolittle or even as deranged as last year's winner - a hairy pre-pubescent giantess . But it's been a blast so far.
Expect weekly updates hence.
Let me start by bringing you up to speed with the contestants
Brook White is the toothy Carly Simon type. She's never seen an R rated movie, is relentlessly positive and likes to play the piano in a way that reminds me of a chaste Tori Amos (her knees are resolutely never splayed). She's harmless enough but alas she's about 40 years too late to have a career - and 40 years ago we had tapestry and carole king anyway.
Carly Smithson is an Irish bruiser who this week admitted that she'd murdered Total Eclipse of the Heart in part because her slimming girdle had been too tight. Married to what appears to be a fighting lizard she's the kind of girl you'd like to have a pint with - and she can belt out a song but in the age of HD and widescreen the bingo wings are a killer.
David Archuleta is a singing mormon foetus who seems too earnest for his own good but really connects on songs with a pseudo refligious content. He makes the girls scream but only because girls are evil and they see how it makes him squirm. Tellingly he's almost never acknowledged by another contestant. He'll go far, but never far enough
David Cook is a doughy Daughtrey. He's done a couple of good covers that have turned out to be accurate enough rip offs but he does at least sound current in an emo rocker sort of way. I'd like him more if he didn't look like a Cornish Pastie.
Jason Castro is the young, blue eyes, dreadlocked bedroom strummer with the hippie attitude and the ability to turn 12 year old girls into puddles of jello. He's crap but that doesn't really matter - it's all about the eyes.
Kristy Lee Cook has played every Idol card she can. She sings with a country twang. She has a "I sold my horse" story and after WEEKS in the bottom three she this week made the most cynical and brilliant choice of songs in the history of the show "God Bless the USA" - Americans bought shovels to help them gobble that shit up faster and she's moving on.
Michael Johns is from Australia and has a Queen fetish. This makes people compare him to Michael Hutchence. Maybe a castrated Hutchence. He's already in a hotel room - somebody hand him a noose and save us from more weeks of self indulgent vocal noodling.
Ramilele Malubay wouldn't be out of place belting out slightly mis-pronounced covers in the Mandarin Oriental, Manilla. When she does end up there be sure to ask for a room as far from the 'cabaret lounge' as possible.
Syesha Mercado is another cut priced Whitney. She has nice hair. And she's making the most of good dentistry. But really girl - you need to get your own schtick 'cause this has been done and been done so much better.
And that's it. Nobody as excruciating as 'beat boxer' Blake Lewis, as deformed but brilliant as Doolittle or even as deranged as last year's winner - a hairy pre-pubescent giantess . But it's been a blast so far.
Expect weekly updates hence.
Like the real thing - but not quite
Not much happening today... which isn't really the way to start any blog entry. No the way to start a blog entry is thus
"So there I was wrist deep in a post op-tranny"
The reason that's the way to start a blog entry is simple. At any given moment there are a huge number of men looking online for any mention of "Post op trannies"
Perhaps some are surgeons - looking for a new, neater stitch. Or nurses hoping to find a favorite ex-patient. But the majority are guys on the slow slide into fetishism. Pushing boundaries further and further in a bid to find the thrills that once came so easily. That's the problem with infinite options - they dull the senses. Things that are easy to find - and shared by many are somehow less thrilling - and so we search for the unusual.
Families try to "get there before McDondalds" when travelling. Businessmen stay in 'boutique' hotels owned and run by mass chains. Teenage girls search second hand stores in search of vintage. And a million boys sit in bedrooms trying to create the ultimate mash-up - the modern mix-tape without the awkward connotations.
We're all looking for the unique. Defining ourselves by the increasingly small number of things that we do that are different. For the things that make up the 2% of our lives that we believe is ultimately 'us'.
We're becoming nomads. Constantly moving in the search not for stimulation but for uniqueness. We want to drink from the fountain of interesting... to experience what others haven't and as a result become what others aren't. Choice does that. It allows us to indulge fantasy.
Maybe that's why I get so many hits looking for post-op trannies. Or maybe it's just that guys are predictably in search of cheap titillation.
Whaddya think?
"So there I was wrist deep in a post op-tranny"
The reason that's the way to start a blog entry is simple. At any given moment there are a huge number of men looking online for any mention of "Post op trannies"
Perhaps some are surgeons - looking for a new, neater stitch. Or nurses hoping to find a favorite ex-patient. But the majority are guys on the slow slide into fetishism. Pushing boundaries further and further in a bid to find the thrills that once came so easily. That's the problem with infinite options - they dull the senses. Things that are easy to find - and shared by many are somehow less thrilling - and so we search for the unusual.
Families try to "get there before McDondalds" when travelling. Businessmen stay in 'boutique' hotels owned and run by mass chains. Teenage girls search second hand stores in search of vintage. And a million boys sit in bedrooms trying to create the ultimate mash-up - the modern mix-tape without the awkward connotations.
We're all looking for the unique. Defining ourselves by the increasingly small number of things that we do that are different. For the things that make up the 2% of our lives that we believe is ultimately 'us'.
We're becoming nomads. Constantly moving in the search not for stimulation but for uniqueness. We want to drink from the fountain of interesting... to experience what others haven't and as a result become what others aren't. Choice does that. It allows us to indulge fantasy.
Maybe that's why I get so many hits looking for post-op trannies. Or maybe it's just that guys are predictably in search of cheap titillation.
Whaddya think?
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
A marble gray day
it's one of those heavy gray days here today - the skies look marble and the earth feels as cold. Everywhere you look there's evidence that this has been a brutal winter - from the pallid complexions of the faces you see here through to the dirty grey chunks of decomposed road mixed with week old slush that are thrown up by the trucks. Cars are glazed with crusted salt, concrete structures act as a black holes - overpasses sucking what weak light there is available into their very bases - like monsterously selfish plants. Clothes that started black and tight are now faded and slack, as are the bodies below them - the winter adding inches of marbled flesh to bodies programmed to expect famine.
Yup today is marble gray
Yup today is marble gray
Monday, March 24, 2008
Home alone
I'm home alone today.
Judith is at work but I have the day off to celebrate the rising of The Lord (aka R. Savior) in the traditional fashion (Quorn, chocolate, a trip to the vet, a walk with the dog, an hour in the gym and some thinking about an event I'm organizing)
The sun is shining, the sky is blue, the snow is melting despite it still being -1c and somehow it feels like spring.
A month ago I'd have filled the day with searches for Hillary and Obama - but I have Primary fatigue and besides there are too many other things to find online to be worried about THAT particular black man - older white woman pairing.
Right now I'm going book myself tickets to Vegas, Miami, Cyprus and maybe LA. Now that's what I call spending,
Judith is at work but I have the day off to celebrate the rising of The Lord (aka R. Savior) in the traditional fashion (Quorn, chocolate, a trip to the vet, a walk with the dog, an hour in the gym and some thinking about an event I'm organizing)
The sun is shining, the sky is blue, the snow is melting despite it still being -1c and somehow it feels like spring.
A month ago I'd have filled the day with searches for Hillary and Obama - but I have Primary fatigue and besides there are too many other things to find online to be worried about THAT particular black man - older white woman pairing.
Right now I'm going book myself tickets to Vegas, Miami, Cyprus and maybe LA. Now that's what I call spending,
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Molecular Gastronomy
I've always thought that Molecular Gastronomy was more about theatre than food. Well when I say always I mean during my years as someone poncy enough to be thinking about Molecular Gastronomy rather than whether to have the fish sticks or the chicken sticks.
Anyway last night we headed down to our landlord's pub and then on to his restaurant. It's about a 60 mile drive each way and the town of Clarkston is a two stoplight town so we weren't quite sure what to expect. Other than it would be good. But was that good for such a small town, good for Michigan or good for America?
As it turned out it was gorgeous, the food was good (my Ahi Wellington- seared blue tuna wrapped in rice paper with shitake duxelle, wasabi white bean puree and ponzu demi-glace was great), the decor was great and our landlord was generous with his time , his attention and his cash (he comp'd our entire meal - wine and all)
Best of all though was the ice-cream. Wheeled out on a trolley with a bowl lit blue from below by a light box the ice-cream was an exercise in molecular theatre. Yup they took the ice cream mix and added liquid nitrogen, right there tableside. They then did the same to both citrus fruit and chocolate. The result was spectacular tableside theatre and an icecream that tasted like none I've ever tried before. The flavors were fresh. The ice-cream smooth. And the citrus just zing'd.
We'll be back - and next time we'll be paying
Anyway last night we headed down to our landlord's pub and then on to his restaurant. It's about a 60 mile drive each way and the town of Clarkston is a two stoplight town so we weren't quite sure what to expect. Other than it would be good. But was that good for such a small town, good for Michigan or good for America?
As it turned out it was gorgeous, the food was good (my Ahi Wellington- seared blue tuna wrapped in rice paper with shitake duxelle, wasabi white bean puree and ponzu demi-glace was great), the decor was great and our landlord was generous with his time , his attention and his cash (he comp'd our entire meal - wine and all)
Best of all though was the ice-cream. Wheeled out on a trolley with a bowl lit blue from below by a light box the ice-cream was an exercise in molecular theatre. Yup they took the ice cream mix and added liquid nitrogen, right there tableside. They then did the same to both citrus fruit and chocolate. The result was spectacular tableside theatre and an icecream that tasted like none I've ever tried before. The flavors were fresh. The ice-cream smooth. And the citrus just zing'd.
We'll be back - and next time we'll be paying
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Another 10 inches
When we were in New York I'd have expected a blog post named "Another Ten Inches" to be some kind of review of a show tune review or perhaps a write up of a micro penised organ playing sextet.
Here it means one thing. Snow. And lots of it. So much snow that if you open the door of your car and put the key in the ignition - accidentally triggering the windshield wipers; you end up with about 9 inches of snow under the electric seat of your car. I know, I tried it. I'm an idiot.
Went to see Bank Job yesterday and besides the ridiculous dialogue "Granted I've been known to get up to some skullduggery in the past..." it was actually all rather entertaining. In a 'here to enjoy the accents' kind of way.
Today saw us trawling the outlet markets for cheap designery things. And tonight we're driving up to Clarkston (home of Kid Rock and that woman who replaced Kirtsie Alley on the Jenny Craig ads for just long enough to allow the agency to find another fat celeb' that they could slim). Our landlord has a couple of restaurants there - so we thought that we should give them a go and try to get him to cash our checks (cheques you UK people)
Looking forward to it.
Here it means one thing. Snow. And lots of it. So much snow that if you open the door of your car and put the key in the ignition - accidentally triggering the windshield wipers; you end up with about 9 inches of snow under the electric seat of your car. I know, I tried it. I'm an idiot.
Went to see Bank Job yesterday and besides the ridiculous dialogue "Granted I've been known to get up to some skullduggery in the past..." it was actually all rather entertaining. In a 'here to enjoy the accents' kind of way.
Today saw us trawling the outlet markets for cheap designery things. And tonight we're driving up to Clarkston (home of Kid Rock and that woman who replaced Kirtsie Alley on the Jenny Craig ads for just long enough to allow the agency to find another fat celeb' that they could slim). Our landlord has a couple of restaurants there - so we thought that we should give them a go and try to get him to cash our checks (cheques you UK people)
Looking forward to it.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Back in the saddle
So my unexpected day off (we don't really DO Easter as a holiday in the US) turned into a surprise day in when I got a call last night asking me to attend an ad hoc meeting looking at final plans on my 'big project'
Sure, I said..
And as I'll be out of here way before lunch I really don't care at all. It's not as though I really had any plans for the day anyway besides walking the dog for a while and heading for the gym (note to self, charge i-pod)
Happy times yesterday. Got out while it was still light and went in search of something to eat... every restaurant full and buzzing. We eventually ended up having bad burgers (Tempeh for me) at a brew-pub before going on for Margheritas at a wee Cuban place where the lights are low enough and the music Latin enough to make even the customers look hot. Much fun.
Sure, I said..
And as I'll be out of here way before lunch I really don't care at all. It's not as though I really had any plans for the day anyway besides walking the dog for a while and heading for the gym (note to self, charge i-pod)
Happy times yesterday. Got out while it was still light and went in search of something to eat... every restaurant full and buzzing. We eventually ended up having bad burgers (Tempeh for me) at a brew-pub before going on for Margheritas at a wee Cuban place where the lights are low enough and the music Latin enough to make even the customers look hot. Much fun.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Relaxed
I'm bizarrely relaxed today. I have no idea why. The temperatures are still sub zero. I was still woken by the squealing of cats. The drive in to work was as long as ever (actually I enjoy the drive every day)... I still have a mountain of work to get through and I'm no nearer doing my first Sketchy's show - but for whatever reason the shoulders have dropped, the breathing is deeper and I can feel oxygen in my blood again.
It might be Pilates. It might be the fact that despite the cold signs of spring abound or it might just be the return of decent TV. I'm not sure what the cause may be but it's a good feeling.
And it's good to have a good feeling once in a while. Yesterday I was browsing cool things to do and realized that 7 of the 10 things that appealed to me were happening in Williamsburg, NY - our old neighborhood. I got this deep yearning to be back there. To be connected. To be within arm's reach of a scene that excited me. And then I got horribly maudlin. I miss New York. The buzz. The options. The walking. The subway. The photo opportunities.
But increasingly I like it here. The job is better. The apartment is great. I like having a car. The weather is improving to the point when you can actually go outside and this thaw is allowing culture to creep in and take root (there's an amazing looking film festival next week for example)... so chilled and expectant. That's good, right?
It might be Pilates. It might be the fact that despite the cold signs of spring abound or it might just be the return of decent TV. I'm not sure what the cause may be but it's a good feeling.
And it's good to have a good feeling once in a while. Yesterday I was browsing cool things to do and realized that 7 of the 10 things that appealed to me were happening in Williamsburg, NY - our old neighborhood. I got this deep yearning to be back there. To be connected. To be within arm's reach of a scene that excited me. And then I got horribly maudlin. I miss New York. The buzz. The options. The walking. The subway. The photo opportunities.
But increasingly I like it here. The job is better. The apartment is great. I like having a car. The weather is improving to the point when you can actually go outside and this thaw is allowing culture to creep in and take root (there's an amazing looking film festival next week for example)... so chilled and expectant. That's good, right?
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
The glam' world of advertising
I'm sitting in a pre-production meeting talking about who would be the best people to put together animatics before we hire people to produce spots.
Animatics are a bizarre thing. You put together a piece of a cartoon that you whizz the camera over and then ask people to imagine what it would be like as a complete spot.
Of course people always think that you're suggesting an animated spot and reject whatever you've done based on the 'fact' that beer (or whatever) shouldn't be advertised in a style that is primarily suited to children.
It skews everything - but as the bias is built in to every spot then the baseline is set and you can get a bit of a read on how things work.
The cartoon boards and production time costs a fortune... but then shooting something with CGI and a real director costs a fortune, a kidney and a first born.
Somehow today feels less glam' than I'd imagined it would. But we're getting there.
Animatics are a bizarre thing. You put together a piece of a cartoon that you whizz the camera over and then ask people to imagine what it would be like as a complete spot.
Of course people always think that you're suggesting an animated spot and reject whatever you've done based on the 'fact' that beer (or whatever) shouldn't be advertised in a style that is primarily suited to children.
It skews everything - but as the bias is built in to every spot then the baseline is set and you can get a bit of a read on how things work.
The cartoon boards and production time costs a fortune... but then shooting something with CGI and a real director costs a fortune, a kidney and a first born.
Somehow today feels less glam' than I'd imagined it would. But we're getting there.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Back from the ad school
Spent yesterday at the Miami ad school. The weather was good, the work was good, the students were young, alive, alert and glowing with hope. Naiivety was in the air. As was talent. And fresh thinking. And the scent of frangipani. All in, quite an aphrodisiac.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
All too exciting
It seems that at every event we attend recently there's this shot to be taken. A kid, sitting apart, video game in hand, looking cold, disinterested and as though they're counting down the hours until they get back into World of Warcraft. Weirdly I don't blame them.
Despite the fact that it's a good 15c warmer here today than it was two weeks ago and despite the fact that the sun is out and the skies are blue (or blue-ish)... it's still freezing here as the runners in the St. Patrick's Day 10k go streaming by and the crowds stomp their feet as much to keep circulation going as to encourage their friends and realatives on.
Me - well I'm off to Miami tomorrow. So I care not a jot about the cold. Home alone tonight though (Jude eating with Professorial types) so it's crap TV and perhaps a glass of whisky or two.
Excellent
Despite the fact that it's a good 15c warmer here today than it was two weeks ago and despite the fact that the sun is out and the skies are blue (or blue-ish)... it's still freezing here as the runners in the St. Patrick's Day 10k go streaming by and the crowds stomp their feet as much to keep circulation going as to encourage their friends and realatives on.
Me - well I'm off to Miami tomorrow. So I care not a jot about the cold. Home alone tonight though (Jude eating with Professorial types) so it's crap TV and perhaps a glass of whisky or two.
Excellent
Saturday, March 15, 2008
one last piece
of fuckwittery....
I received a final bonus from my old company yesterday.
Very nice, very handy.
But for some reason they deducted only 4% tax.
Instead of 30%
So when I headed in to complete my tax return today I had to fill out a new form - costing me about $40 per line (tax accountants aren't cheap) bumping up the cost of filing taxes to $530 and wiping out my refund in the process.
I now owe the IRS $3700. I'd have paid it anyway, but it would have been a lot less of a hassle had it not been for one last, post grave piece of absolute fuckwittery.
I received a final bonus from my old company yesterday.
Very nice, very handy.
But for some reason they deducted only 4% tax.
Instead of 30%
So when I headed in to complete my tax return today I had to fill out a new form - costing me about $40 per line (tax accountants aren't cheap) bumping up the cost of filing taxes to $530 and wiping out my refund in the process.
I now owe the IRS $3700. I'd have paid it anyway, but it would have been a lot less of a hassle had it not been for one last, post grave piece of absolute fuckwittery.
Friday, March 14, 2008
5C - at night!!!
Last night I drove home in daylight. Yes, daylight. And Sunshine. And without the need for a heater in the car. It felt as though I was living another person's life. I felt lighter (actually I am lighter, 5lbs lighter in the last 2 weeks), more alive, more connected to the world.
Mind the world smelled of skunk. The first sign of spring is bringing the skunk out onto the roads in huge numbers... and the smell of skunk in the headlights lingers.
We also drove in to Detroit for an Ice Hockey game. The redwings beat an evil Dallas side (dressed all in black for effect) 5-3... all very loud and very thrilling. Actually the seats were good, the pizza was fresh and the crowd insane enough to make things entertaining even though the players threw barely a dozen punches between them.
Weekend keeps extending. Food with a Dutch Columbian tonight, detroit casino dancing tomorrow and then down to Miami and the ad' school on Monday for a spot of 'show us what you've got'... we gave them a 'live brief' 6 weeks ago and they're going to present the work back Monday. Should be good. And maybe I'll finally set up a date to teach down there. I love teaching. And advertising. And Miami. So that would be a GOOD THING.
Okay back to work with me
Mind the world smelled of skunk. The first sign of spring is bringing the skunk out onto the roads in huge numbers... and the smell of skunk in the headlights lingers.
We also drove in to Detroit for an Ice Hockey game. The redwings beat an evil Dallas side (dressed all in black for effect) 5-3... all very loud and very thrilling. Actually the seats were good, the pizza was fresh and the crowd insane enough to make things entertaining even though the players threw barely a dozen punches between them.
Weekend keeps extending. Food with a Dutch Columbian tonight, detroit casino dancing tomorrow and then down to Miami and the ad' school on Monday for a spot of 'show us what you've got'... we gave them a 'live brief' 6 weeks ago and they're going to present the work back Monday. Should be good. And maybe I'll finally set up a date to teach down there. I love teaching. And advertising. And Miami. So that would be a GOOD THING.
Okay back to work with me
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Jude enjoys The Venetian
So here we are, back in a slightly less frozen Michigan (only -1c when I left today) and getting ready for a bit of an extended weekend. We have Ice Hockey in Detroit tonight, a invitation for dinner tomorrow and drinks plus clubbing in a Detroit casino with our neighbors on Saturday.
Not sure quite where we'll find the energy actually. The Vegas thing was a killer in terms of flights and the clocks going forward when we were there. We've been dazed ever since. Or at least I have. I haven't seen too much of Jude due to the amount of time I've been putting in at work recently. All good stuff actually - getting close to launch on my first campaign here and the work is getting better and better just at the point when it usually stalls.
Anyway talking of work, I have to dash.
More tomorrow
Not sure quite where we'll find the energy actually. The Vegas thing was a killer in terms of flights and the clocks going forward when we were there. We've been dazed ever since. Or at least I have. I haven't seen too much of Jude due to the amount of time I've been putting in at work recently. All good stuff actually - getting close to launch on my first campaign here and the work is getting better and better just at the point when it usually stalls.
Anyway talking of work, I have to dash.
More tomorrow
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Not Dead
So we're back from Vegas - which was fun. And sunny. And had great shopping. In very weird malls. A real mixture of art and tat that felt more Australian than American.... well Australia with a budget.
The Venetian really is quite spectacular, The Bellagio has ridiculous lines for its buffet and Caesar's Place - well it's just as over the top and tacky as you could ever wish for.
Jude and I did some competitive shopping. She opened with Jimmy Choo slingbacks, I countered with a Christian LaCroix (Sweetie) suit. The bags drew lots of attention, to which I became addicted. So as Jude was whisked into the back and shown lots of size zero dresses in Donna Karan I was showered with champagne, chocolate covered strawberries and stories of who had had what done (butt implants on the girl in LaCroix my favorite). Throw in a very Michael jackson jacket for Jude (it got lots of favorable attention later) and you have a shopping trip.
We also did The Grand Canyon (the real one, not some shopping mall facsimilie) by 6 person plane, helicopter, boat and terrifyingly close to the edge walk. Loved it, other than I went in to photograph mode and spent most of the time looking at things through one eye, through glass and alone rather than sharing it with Jude. It's a bad habit of mine (I did the same at the Spice Girls) and one that I'm looking to break - Jude suggested a backpack for the camera, that way I can put it away; a very good suggestion.
Shows? Well the much maligned Zumanity - which was part low budget circus, part high rent burlesque and impressive non-the-less.
Gambling? Not really. Too much noise, too much smoke, too high a minimum on the tables and too many hen parties.
Next time we go we use The Wine Angel (pick your bottle by computerized tablet and she's hoisted into the air, flies across to your bottle and lands delicately tableside - though I bet that harness chafes)
Back in April and not a moment too soon
The Venetian really is quite spectacular, The Bellagio has ridiculous lines for its buffet and Caesar's Place - well it's just as over the top and tacky as you could ever wish for.
Jude and I did some competitive shopping. She opened with Jimmy Choo slingbacks, I countered with a Christian LaCroix (Sweetie) suit. The bags drew lots of attention, to which I became addicted. So as Jude was whisked into the back and shown lots of size zero dresses in Donna Karan I was showered with champagne, chocolate covered strawberries and stories of who had had what done (butt implants on the girl in LaCroix my favorite). Throw in a very Michael jackson jacket for Jude (it got lots of favorable attention later) and you have a shopping trip.
We also did The Grand Canyon (the real one, not some shopping mall facsimilie) by 6 person plane, helicopter, boat and terrifyingly close to the edge walk. Loved it, other than I went in to photograph mode and spent most of the time looking at things through one eye, through glass and alone rather than sharing it with Jude. It's a bad habit of mine (I did the same at the Spice Girls) and one that I'm looking to break - Jude suggested a backpack for the camera, that way I can put it away; a very good suggestion.
Shows? Well the much maligned Zumanity - which was part low budget circus, part high rent burlesque and impressive non-the-less.
Gambling? Not really. Too much noise, too much smoke, too high a minimum on the tables and too many hen parties.
Next time we go we use The Wine Angel (pick your bottle by computerized tablet and she's hoisted into the air, flies across to your bottle and lands delicately tableside - though I bet that harness chafes)
Back in April and not a moment too soon
Friday, March 07, 2008
Off to Vegas
Home of gambling, hookers, strippers, lapdancers, replicas, wedding chapels, Elvis look-a-likes and Michael Jackson.
All pretty cool. My vow though is to see the world through both eyes, not just the viewfinder of a camera. We'll see whether or not that happens.
A friend yesterday had a much better way to sully the McCain presidential bid. He refers to the ex-prisoner of war only as "Ex Prisoner John McCain"
His logic? That if you call him an "ex-prisoner" often enough people will start to wonder just what it was that he did wrong and whether we should elect an ex-con.
An elegant distortion of truth that involves no lies. Brilliant.
All pretty cool. My vow though is to see the world through both eyes, not just the viewfinder of a camera. We'll see whether or not that happens.
A friend yesterday had a much better way to sully the McCain presidential bid. He refers to the ex-prisoner of war only as "Ex Prisoner John McCain"
His logic? That if you call him an "ex-prisoner" often enough people will start to wonder just what it was that he did wrong and whether we should elect an ex-con.
An elegant distortion of truth that involves no lies. Brilliant.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Dirty Politics
I've decided that the US political system is only interesting when there are some dirty politics going on.
For example - during the last election the Democrats nominated a genuine war hero who'd also managed to speak out against pointless violence. This they thought would help them. John Kerry could be by both stronger and more manly than the war dodging army deserter Bush (remember that Bush has gone missing for months from his cushy, never go to war post, off whoring and drinking) but could also talk about ending war.
Good plan - until the Repubicans smeared Kerry with their Swiftboat campaign, painting him as a war cowerd who somehow weasled his medals out of the American army whilst singing "I hate America" and drowning babies born on the Fourth of July.
Kerry sank.
So it's time to throw some mud people. Time to put these candidates on the back foot and see how they respond. I have a few suggestions.
Bill Clinton DIDN'T have sexual relations with "that woman" - Hillary did. Hillary then 'harvested' Bills sperm and put it on Lewinsky's dress herself - in a bid to have him impeached and allow her to take over the Whitehouse in a coup de wronged wife. The truth was hidden from the world as Bill decided to take the fall rather than allow Hillary to take her communist agenda any further.
John McCain of course has a worse secret. he makes ice replicas of his genitals (using a mould he had made in Vietnam where he spent years setting up Nike sweatshops) and then feeds them to his dogs whilst 'pleasuring himself'
And of course Barack Hussein Obama - is a radical Muslim sent to destroy us all.
Get out of those without moving, candidates
For example - during the last election the Democrats nominated a genuine war hero who'd also managed to speak out against pointless violence. This they thought would help them. John Kerry could be by both stronger and more manly than the war dodging army deserter Bush (remember that Bush has gone missing for months from his cushy, never go to war post, off whoring and drinking) but could also talk about ending war.
Good plan - until the Repubicans smeared Kerry with their Swiftboat campaign, painting him as a war cowerd who somehow weasled his medals out of the American army whilst singing "I hate America" and drowning babies born on the Fourth of July.
Kerry sank.
So it's time to throw some mud people. Time to put these candidates on the back foot and see how they respond. I have a few suggestions.
Bill Clinton DIDN'T have sexual relations with "that woman" - Hillary did. Hillary then 'harvested' Bills sperm and put it on Lewinsky's dress herself - in a bid to have him impeached and allow her to take over the Whitehouse in a coup de wronged wife. The truth was hidden from the world as Bill decided to take the fall rather than allow Hillary to take her communist agenda any further.
John McCain of course has a worse secret. he makes ice replicas of his genitals (using a mould he had made in Vietnam where he spent years setting up Nike sweatshops) and then feeds them to his dogs whilst 'pleasuring himself'
And of course Barack Hussein Obama - is a radical Muslim sent to destroy us all.
Get out of those without moving, candidates
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
What a day
So in a race tighter than Jordan's reconstructed vagina we saw Hillary fight back in Texas and Ohio - winning the states that she needed to stay in the race and bringing the delegate count almost back to level.
Most interesting was that (like Jordan) it was a last minute surge that put her over the top. In Ohio she beat out Obama in both people who had decided on their vote in the last 24 hrs and the last 3 days - showing that she has momentum.
She was hot with the grannies and with 'white folks'. Hot for people who see the economy or health as the most important issue and amongst registered Democrats.
Texas told the same story.
One other fact - women made up 59% of the Ohio vote (she grabbed 57% of their votes to Obamas 41%) and they mode up 57% of the Texan vote (where she carried them 55 to 44)
The Republicans had more men voting in both primaries.
More importantly Idol News. It seems that the lispy queen who appears to be auditioning for Project Runway rather than Idol isn't the only closet case they have. They also have a guy who until very recently was a stripper in a gay club. That doesn't make him a gay stripper of course but expect twisted hands and clanging rosaries from Paula.
Then there's the rock and roll nurse who sings like a tone deaf Bonnie Tyler and has a habit of wrapping her cars around trees. Seems that the second habit may be connected to her liking the odd drink whilst behind the wheel. Booo - bad Idol. Expect children in their millions to emulate her.
And expect Frenchie Davies - the woman kicked off an early season for having posed for 'racy internet shots' to turn up and go postal. She may have been a net ho - but she wasn't a drunk driving, crotch grinding, homo ho!
And on that message of hate I leave you
Most interesting was that (like Jordan) it was a last minute surge that put her over the top. In Ohio she beat out Obama in both people who had decided on their vote in the last 24 hrs and the last 3 days - showing that she has momentum.
She was hot with the grannies and with 'white folks'. Hot for people who see the economy or health as the most important issue and amongst registered Democrats.
Texas told the same story.
One other fact - women made up 59% of the Ohio vote (she grabbed 57% of their votes to Obamas 41%) and they mode up 57% of the Texan vote (where she carried them 55 to 44)
The Republicans had more men voting in both primaries.
More importantly Idol News. It seems that the lispy queen who appears to be auditioning for Project Runway rather than Idol isn't the only closet case they have. They also have a guy who until very recently was a stripper in a gay club. That doesn't make him a gay stripper of course but expect twisted hands and clanging rosaries from Paula.
Then there's the rock and roll nurse who sings like a tone deaf Bonnie Tyler and has a habit of wrapping her cars around trees. Seems that the second habit may be connected to her liking the odd drink whilst behind the wheel. Booo - bad Idol. Expect children in their millions to emulate her.
And expect Frenchie Davies - the woman kicked off an early season for having posed for 'racy internet shots' to turn up and go postal. She may have been a net ho - but she wasn't a drunk driving, crotch grinding, homo ho!
And on that message of hate I leave you
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
So here I am in Atlanta
sitting in a dark back room, staring through one way glass with the strangely metallic taste of old M&Ms sticking to my teeth and my chest feeling more like breasts than pecs.
It's an odd feeling being here, made odder by the general sense of fatigue that the 8am flight (6.15am departure from home) seems to have engendered.
Reading Sharp Teeth at the moment, a lychonthropic pulp novel written in free verse by a guy that I work with and like a lot. It's great. The verse seems like a gimmick (this isn't poetry) at first, but then you realize just how spare the language is, how quickly the story moves and just how muscular everything seems.
Check it out - it's well worth an evening
It's an odd feeling being here, made odder by the general sense of fatigue that the 8am flight (6.15am departure from home) seems to have engendered.
Reading Sharp Teeth at the moment, a lychonthropic pulp novel written in free verse by a guy that I work with and like a lot. It's great. The verse seems like a gimmick (this isn't poetry) at first, but then you realize just how spare the language is, how quickly the story moves and just how muscular everything seems.
Check it out - it's well worth an evening
Monday, March 03, 2008
Atlanta
So tomorrow I'm off to atlanta. Home of Coca Cola, the Falcons, the Braves, the Hawks, the Thrashers and of course Atlanta Dream - the women's NBA team down there.
Previous trips have seen me hurtling through the airport in a bid to make a connection between flights from mexico city and detroit. I never missed one but I've never been in Atlanta and not been in a hurry. Whereas I've never met anyone in Atlanta who is in a hurry. It's not just the accents that are thick with molasses, it's every aspect of the place. Atlanta moves as though a thick fog of humidity has engulfed the population, draining them of energy and making them fit only for a fitful siesta. Or at least the airport does, but I suspect that the melancholy malaise is universal. We shall see
Previous trips have seen me hurtling through the airport in a bid to make a connection between flights from mexico city and detroit. I never missed one but I've never been in Atlanta and not been in a hurry. Whereas I've never met anyone in Atlanta who is in a hurry. It's not just the accents that are thick with molasses, it's every aspect of the place. Atlanta moves as though a thick fog of humidity has engulfed the population, draining them of energy and making them fit only for a fitful siesta. Or at least the airport does, but I suspect that the melancholy malaise is universal. We shall see
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Crazy busy
Both Judith and I were up at 7am this Sunday - awakened by the plaintive cries of the cats but kept awake by the sheer volume of stuff that we have to get through this week.
She's knee deep in data, graphs, charts, a swirl of numbers and hypotheses. I'm groin deep in discussion guides, research specs, product definitions and art directional techniques.
It's 8.53 here and we have three computers open; all manner of e-mails to answer and text messages popping by the dozen. In many ways it's hell - but then I look around at the apartment, the well groomed animals, the ease with which we write cheques, our travel plans and the fact that neither of us pauses before throwing another thing into the basket or filling the car with gas and I have to say that things aren't so bad.
I'm also going to try my hand at a bit of script writing today. I have this theory that somewhere between the mundane ordinary and the trying too hard extraordinary lies happiness. I've been playing with the concept of Unordinary for a while now - and whilst it's not immediately relevant for the stuff I should be doing today it's always worth writing these half thoughts up a little and seeing what they turn into.
The pic, btw, is from yesterday's Eastern Market trip
She's knee deep in data, graphs, charts, a swirl of numbers and hypotheses. I'm groin deep in discussion guides, research specs, product definitions and art directional techniques.
It's 8.53 here and we have three computers open; all manner of e-mails to answer and text messages popping by the dozen. In many ways it's hell - but then I look around at the apartment, the well groomed animals, the ease with which we write cheques, our travel plans and the fact that neither of us pauses before throwing another thing into the basket or filling the car with gas and I have to say that things aren't so bad.
I'm also going to try my hand at a bit of script writing today. I have this theory that somewhere between the mundane ordinary and the trying too hard extraordinary lies happiness. I've been playing with the concept of Unordinary for a while now - and whilst it's not immediately relevant for the stuff I should be doing today it's always worth writing these half thoughts up a little and seeing what they turn into.
The pic, btw, is from yesterday's Eastern Market trip
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