The better question is, they still let Chevy Chase on TV?
Another Thanksgiving came and went. I don't feel too bad, despite eating two plates of food and half a coconut creme pie. Mom also made cremed cauliflower so I was content. Friday had lunch with dad, Laurie, and Jeff at a Thai food place in Belleville. It was not too bad, not bad at all considering it was Belleville.
Saw "Walk The Line" this weekend. I thought it was good but did not live up to much of the hype I heard. I guess where my problems with the movie lied was it did not do a good job of telling the story of how June and Johnny got together. It just seemed to be a series of disjointed scenes that were snapshots into their growing relationship. And what little I know about it (I read Johnny's biography this past summer) it was up to the viewer to piece some of it together. ie, it was mentioned that Johnny was banned from the Ryman, yet not only was that not in the movie, but the fact that Johnny wrecked June's car afterwards and her at the time husband was the investigating officer. I agree with the Cash daughter that came out against the movie that Vivian was unfairly portrayed. Unfortunately there was a lot of ground to cover and I think that's why the movie is so disjointed. My Grandmother also saw it and was disappointed that it ended in 68. I agree though he had some lean years in the 70's and 80's.
Of course, this means there'll be a director's cut that will probably make the movie flow better.
I'm generally not the one for lists but this one got me thinking. I've not fully thought it out though, at some point I'll probably stick up a dedicated page with this stuff. At one point I planned to put up a list of my favorite songs ala my not completed Top 25 albums page. The question was, what songs have had a profound effect on you. ie, what song turned a page or made you rethink music? There is no way I could pinpoint one song that changed everything, however, these are a few that thru the years had an effect.
Early Years (pre-school thru ~6th grade)
Rolling Stones: Jumping Jack Flash, Sympathy For the Devil
Beatles: Goodmorning, Maxwell's Silver Hammer, When I'm 64, She So Heavy
Johnny Cash: Orange Blossom Special
Waylon Jennings: Lucille, Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line
Eddy Grant: Electric Avenue
Madness: Our House
Talking Heads: Burning Down the House
Run DMC: My Addidas, Walk This Way, You Be Illin'
Jr. High
Salt N Pepa: Push It
Guns N Roses: It's So Easy, Mr. Brownstone
(I'll have to think about a few more of these, Fat Boys Wipeout should probably be on this list).
High School
Naughty by Nature: OPP
REM: Stand
INXS: Need You Tonight
Rush: Working Man
Led Zeppelin: Traveling Riverside Blues
Maynard Ferguson: Blue Birdland
College to ~present
Jayhawks: Trouble
Beastie Boys: Sabotage
Old 97's: Barrier Reef
Beck: Hotwax, Devil's Haircut
Eels: All In A Days Work, Dirty Girl, Agony
Johnny Cash: Southern Accents
Like I said, I need to think about this more. These are definately some songs that have had an effect and have always been with me at various points later in life.
Made up Band Name of the Day: Collie Flower and the Seller Resticks
Things you don't want to hear in a bathroom.
I forgot to mention but Ali contributed the previous post's made up bandname. Be sure to check out the upcoming album, "Ten Minute Speech".
Rick and I spent last Friday watching three documentaries that were all pretty whack in their own right. The first was in Britton South Dakota (by Vanessa Renwick, google did not offer up any stellar writeup)in which an owner of a movie house would film children on the street (c. 1938) in an attempt to bring people in to his theater. The footage was spooky and humerous. It also made you wonder what became of the people in that film.
That movie was followed by "Waldo Point", a movie about hippies living in Sausalito's houseboat community. It redefined dirty hippie after two of them started frolicing in mud and sludge. A member of the Weather Underground made an appearance in the movie though most of us had no idea until it was pointed out later.
Finally, the main feature of the evening which caught the attention of my inner train geek (dare I use the word "foamer"?) was "Who Is Bozo Texino". Good writeups available here and here. I was really impressed with the interviews and footage. At one point the director interviewed a hobo who said he caught the last train out of El Paso on the Rock Island. He said the crew stopped the train and made him ride up front because he was afraid there would be a derailment due to track conditions. Given what I've read about the Rock the hobo's story was legit. And the line out of El Paso was not the only Rock line in shambles. Herby was neat to meet via film, he was from STL. Without giving it away the wait to meet Bozo Texino was worth it. The director did a nice job of capturing the hobo life, the artwork (won't give away what the movie discovered), and what changes have occured as a result of the decline of the boxcar. He also did a good job of capturing what it takes to ride the rails in that manner. A $5 admission that included beer I'm hard pressed to recall another Friday where that little bought me so much.
I finally finished reading "A Confederacy of Dunces". It's a suggested read from the offices of RIMBoy.com. I've not read much fiction in the past couple of years and I'm glad I picked this one. My review cannot do justice to the many that have been written on this book. In many ways the interconnection of the various people in the story remind me of life here in Nashville. Invariably you'll know someone that knows someone but it takes the right circumstances for those connections to be made.
Today's band name was suggested by Rick and his cohorts.
A profound statement made by Rick the other day.
Check it. According to the weather thingie at my work website it says it's 82 degrees outside. It's freaking nice out, though the trees are finally figuring out it's supposed to be fall. I mean, I had hopes of waterskiing this past weekend, if only I could have hit the road sooner. Waterskiing talk in November? I promise I'm not (too) crazy. I logged some good miles in the car with the top down this past weekend. Enough for Ali to ask if I got some sun.
Weather is sooo good I decided to skip my swim tonight to get in another day of running. Just when I thought I was going to be running circles and swimming laps from here until next spring. Silly me.
Halloween was a blast with the usual assortment of parties and get togethers of years past. Naked Dave's cave was out of service so the party moved to PM where a good time was had by all. It's definately been a Halloween to remember.
Made up Band Name of the Day: Arbitrary Monologue
