Monday, March 31, 2008

what once was good


Opening Day. It always reminds me of my youth. The blossoming of Spring and the optimism that my Cincinnati Reds will do wonderful things.

We rarely attended games in Cincy, so I can remember each one. I thought, as an Innocent, that it would always be sweet. After one game where a young Don Gullett out-pitched legendary Bob Gibson of St Louis, as we were walking back to our car along the sidewalk amid the lit up glowing buildings sprouting high into the clear night, and dizzy with excitement from catching a wayward foul ball as though it were a falling star of night and strangers in the smoke-filled bleachers cheered for my miraculous catch, I promised myself when I was 'growed up,' I would move to the Big City, get an apartment close to the Riverfront, and walk to the games after work.

It never happened, but I still get somewhat of a chill, more diluted now, yet strangely drawn back to the game thinking about those years - in the days before grotesque salaries and performance enhancers.


Sunday, March 30, 2008

mix tape

A couple songs for you, Dear Reader, that I included on My Life Soundtrack...

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

a little culture


But not too much. This does not mean I'm giving up the fine art of belching, so don't get any ideas. But in private. If I did attend a dinner theatre sitting up front eating my peas with a butter knife and looking up, I would hold back til the curtain fell for intermission.

I just thought of a better name for a dinner theatre instead of the local Beef and Boards: Peas and Planks. Real culture!

Anyways....

...this is the extraordinary Cecilia Bartoli singing Bellini..



Tuesday, March 18, 2008

my life soundtrack

I stole swiped borrowed this survey by a fellow-Renaissance man, Iremonger, from his
A Sort Of Homecoming Blog.

This one was just too much fun to pass by.

opening credits:
Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding - Elton John

waking up / happy driving to school scene:
Linus and Lucy - Vince Guaraldi

dancing around house in underwear scene:
Start Me Up - Rolling Stones

first date scene:
This Can't Be Love - Nat King Cole

driving at night with crush scene:
Sweet Jane - Cowboy Junkies

post fight with friend scene:
Too Long In Exile - Van Morrison

youthful flashback scene:
Just My Imagination - Cranberries

running around falling in love scene (day):
You Make Me Feel So Young - Frank Sinatra

midnight rooftop dancing scene:
Li'l Darlin' - Count Basie

dream scene:
Fields Of Gold - Sting

playing at the park in day scene:
In The Mood - Glenn Miller and His Orchestra

quiet driving with friends at night scene:
South City Midnight Lady - Doobie Brothers

looking cool scene:
Mack The Knife - Louis Armstrong

falling in love scene (night) / sweet make out scene:
Love and Affection - Joan Armatrading

hanging out with friends scene:
Roadhouse Blues - The Doors

hectic searching beat-the-clock scene:
Lieutenant Kijé: Symphonic Suite, Op. 60; IV. Troika

dance party scene:
Jump In The Line! - Harry Belafonte

sexy make out scene:
I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby - Barry White

tripping on drugs scene:
The Good, The bad, and The Ugly - Blues Traveler

lying down after intense scene:
Catch The Wind - Donovan

driving alone at night scene:
When my Baby Calls My Name - Stephen Fearing

love scene:
No Conversation - View From The Hill

early morning tranquil scene:
Here's That Rainy Day - Stan Getz

heartbreak scene:
That's That - Michael Johnson

walking alone reflecting scene:
Piano Concerto No 2 (Brief Encounter) - Sergei Rachmaninov

summer day scene:
Summer Of My Dreams - David Mallett

regretful flashback scene:
Souvenirs - John Prine

driving with best friend scene:
Key To The Highway - Eric Clapton

funeral scene:
Nobody Knows My Name - Ricki Lee Jones

nostalgic scene:
Wasn't It You? - Pat Kirtley

crying scene:
We're All Alone - Rita Coolidge

mental breakdown scene:
Help Me Make It Through The Night - Kris Kristofferson

bitter, angry scene:
Sunshine (Go Away Today) - Jonathan Edwards

declaring independence scene:
Everybody's Talkin' - Harry Nilsson

far from home Scene:
New York's Not My Home - Jim Croce

driving at sunrise scene:
Sunrise - Eric Carmen

space travel scene:
Prelude and Outer Space - Bernard Herrmann

closing credits:
I'll Always Remember You - Natalie MacMaster

Sunday, March 16, 2008

a single man goes to market


Now, you would never guess that I wanted my own cooking show. As a kid, after school, I would race up hill 20 yards from the bus stop, drop my books(we had no book bags in those old days), fix two slices of peanut butter toast and watch the last 15 minutes of Galloping Gourmet(It preceded my favorite show with the masked-man and grunting Indian). I would be a little nervous that he'd look into the camera and choose me to taste his creation. But I couldn't because one of the ingredients always seemed to be wine. I guess that's where the Galloping came from...I don't know.

But I can't cook. Not a lick. So if it's prepackaged and shipped overseas from Mesoslovokistan, it's in my dark-caverned freezer waiting to become edible after the full eleven minutes on my revolving micro turntable. It's not so bad. The revolving turntable ensures that the steak from somewheres called Salisbury (a Steak Farm perhaps!?) will be fully cooked and look just as tasty as the picture on the box. If I squint.

Once in a while at the market I will venture off the path and peer down into the freezers for bagged vegetables. But there's no micro instructions listed and I must look thoroughly serious and perplexed. Or morose - like looking down into a coffin at a funeral. Gosh he really looks good. But couldn't they've made that smirk on his face more of a smile? And, he looks so good for having lived alone and survived to the ripe old age of 49 on frozen fake dinners!

The gray-haired pony-tailed checkout lady with missing teeth skimmed the frozen dinners over the price scanner with the same hardened concentration of an assembly line worker at a ball bearing plant. Her eyes widened with astonishment as time stopped and she held the clear plastic bag of eggplant at eye level like a new born baby and that first slap.

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Brett & Bart

So long, and thanks for the thrills.

I've been lucky in my lifetime to have 2 heroes play for the Packers. As a kid...it was Bart Starr, working the precise strategy of Lombardi with combination short laser passes and breakaway bombs, plus one final surge on a frozen field that a certain little boy played out in his winter backyard again and again with his big brothers.

As an adult (posing as a kid)...it was Favre, with his gunslinging arm, all those fourth quarter comebacks, and that patented little-boy enthusiasm right up to the last.

I am grateful for both thrills.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

wasn't it you?

following bad love with good
you were right there all the time
as the long night of anger lifted
into a lemon yellow morning
wasn't it you, after all?

wasn't it you
balancing life backwards
like Ginger
graceful as a slow
sleigh ride down
a snow covered pasture lane?
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