blog a hog

and jpeg and pig.

late again

Here I am again. Awake at a ridiculous hour, and I haven't gone to sleep yet.

I tried, but I realized that I was feeling more awake than usual. It didn't take me long to realize that I'd had caffeine for the first time in a while today.

So, I've decided sit down here and write for a little while.

RAVES

I've done this once before. Here are some things I'm excited about right now.


1. CLUE dvd

I've seen this movie so many freaking times I can't ever hope to know the number.

"Clue" is an incredibly entertaining and, yes, confoundingly watchable comedic mystery based on the classic board game. For whatever reasons, it didn't take off at the box office when it was first out, and it was also panned by most critics.

But it has long since been christened a comedy classic, apparently mostly by my generation. While the film is inherently a bit gimmicky [it IS based on a board game] and overtly moodish [it's a mystery as well], it's wit, ingenuity, intelligence, and theatricality cannot be denied. I actually can't think many movies at all in its league of unabashed fun and easy, repeated viewability. "Ferris Bueller's Day off" and "Airplane!" are the only ones that come to mind at the moment.

My brother, Nick, gave me the DVD for Christmas. It's playing right now in the background on my computer here. I got a lot of other DVDs, and I didn't plan on keeping "Clue" in the player for so long, but, alas, I've been playing it for about a week and a half.

I first saw the movie with my Dad, who rented it, and my older brother, Matt, when I was 7 or 8, and I even remember a really cool theatrical display before then at the old Creve Couer 3-screen theatre right down the street from here.

An outstanding cast, led by the truly graceful and engaging Tim Curry. Absolutely everyone else is great, including the late, great Madaleine Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Eileen Brennan, and Michael McKean.

For those that know little or nothing about this, this movie was released with three different endings. Have I piqued your interest?Check it out! Or, watch it again! It's a pretty remarkable thing, this film.

2. Howard Stern [not his radio show]

I'm not a fan of his show, but every time I've seen him on TV, I've found him to be very interesting. Granted, his die-hard fans seem to also have a penchant for strippers, lesbians, and various other asundry colorful characters, but while I've never been a fan of the show, I find myself identifying with Stern's own staunch advocacy of his own sensibilities and his right to express them. I think I've only tuned into his radio show twice [and now, of course, I'd have to pay $13 a month to have that option], and once I was very impressed when he took a call from some random guy with nothing intelligent to say. He just wanted to tell Howard how much he sucked. And, he just let him, very patiently and even somewhat self-effacingly. I was very impressed with that, and, apparently, he feels negative calls are as necessary as the rest of his approach to honesty on the air...even if it includes crackwhores, porn stars, and personal transparency about even the most private of topics [all of which, of course, just so happen to be part of his show. What are the odds?]

3. My 2nd CD

It's a ways off, and there's still a lot of writing to do, but my 'sophomore release' is just beginning to take shape, much sooner than expected.

I'm even starting to think it can be ready for Spring 2007, which is a LOT sooner than I might even really want. But maybe a release a year for the next 3 or 4 years is actually in the cards. I really wouldn't have thought so. I mean, "A Piano Saga" took a few years to finally be made, and when it was made, it was by accident!

There's definitely much more work before it starts becoming a reality, but I seem to be coming up with viable ideas almost everyday. Right now, there are about 10 pieces [most of which aren't finished] which all rise to the standard of an album inclusion for me [not an easy-to-meet standard].'

4. My Next Trip

For my next trip, I'll be venturing to the far-off region of......


Sleep. Maybe I'll see you there.

The worst news can be made even worse if it's thought to be good news first.

Never in my life have I been more shell-shocked by television news than I was last night.

After three hours of uninterrupted 'miracle' news coverage, I had just sit down and was getting ready to change the channel when someone ran up to CNN's Anderson Cooper on the scene and said, live on the air, that only one minor had survived a mine blast in West Virginia that had trapped 13...as opposed to the originally reported 12 survivors.

So, this is where my little axiom up top comes from.

Incredible. In the worst way.