Kalikoolin's Pipe

Saint Charles, Illinois (60174) Conditions & Forecast : Weather Underground

2010-03-02T07:59:00.000-06:00

Saint Charles, Illinois (60174) Conditions & Forecast : Weather Underground

Tina Fey vs. Sarah Palin

2008-09-08T14:40:00.002-05:00

I was talking to my friend Jhoni yesterday. She is always a good source for the latest conspiracy theory.

"GE told NBC to push 30 Rock back to late October, so Tina Fey would not have time to write jokes about McCain and Palin. All of their other shows are returning this month or early next month."

You know, I would probably not have considered that to be likely, until I saw today's news about Keith Olbermann.

"Sarah Palin broke up her husband's friend's marriage."

With five kids, when did she have time? Next.

"Sarah Palin referred to Obama as 'Sambo.' "

Where did you hear that one?

"I don't remember, I probably clicked through to the story some place."

What else?

"The McCain people will be donating money to the Obama campaign every time they play 'Barracuda.' "

I think that one is actually true. Anything on the other side?

"Hillary is going to campaign for Obama, but she is going to ask for a high level position in return, like Supreme Court Justice, or Secretary of State."

I doubt that one. She still wants to be president, so why would she settle for less?

"I just pass the stories along. Stay tuned."

Kiva

2007-12-22T15:56:00.001-06:00

Hi!

I just made a loan to someone in the developing world using a revolutionary new website called Kiva.

You can go to Kiva's website and lend to someone in the developing world who needs a loan for their business - like raising goats, selling vegetables at market or making bricks. Each loan has a picture of the entrepreneur, a description of their business and how they plan to use the loan so you know exactly how your money is being spent - and you get updates letting you know how the business is going. The best part is, when the entrepreneur pays back their loan you get your money back - and Kiva's loans are managed by microfinance institutions on the ground who have a lot of experience doing this, so you can trust that your money is being handled responsibly.

I just made a loan to an entrepreneur named Dziodzom Nyassogbo in Togo. They still need another $375.00 to complete their loan request of $1,000.00 (you can loan as little as $25.00!). Help me get this business off the ground by clicking on the link below to make a loan to Dziodzom Nyassogbo too:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=28624&_isc=

It's finally easy to actually do something about poverty - using Kiva I know exactly who my money is loaned to and what they're using it for. And most of all, I know that I'm helping them build a sustainable business that will provide income to feed, clothe, house and educate their family long after my loan is paid back.

Join me in changing the world - one loan at a time.

Thanks!

---------------------------------------------------------
What others are saying about www.Kiva.org:

'Revolutionising how donors and lenders in the US are connecting with small entrepreneurs in developing countries.'
-- BBC

'If you've got 25 bucks, a PC and a PayPal account, you've now got the wherewithal to be an international financier.'
-- CNN Money

'Smaller investors can make loans of as little as $25 to specific individual entrepreneurs through a service launched last fall by Kiva.org.'
-- The Wall Street Journal

'An inexpensive feel-good investment opportunity...All loaned funds go directly to the applicants, and most loans are repaid in full.'
-- Entrepreneur Magazine

Friday Five

2007-12-21T10:55:00.000-06:00

I got an e-mail from my friend Will Briarwood today.

“Yo K –

This week’s Friday Five is a list of reasons why I haven’t had a Friday Five for a few weeks.

Too many holiday cookies, which means too much sugar crashing.

It’s the holidays. I still have piles of shopping to do.

A couple of minor adventures with the cats – The Queen is still crying at night, and the Little Guy has a little scrape on his belly. We took them both to the vet, and he suggested something called Feliway for The Queen, and Panalog for the Little Guy.

I left work early a few Fridays ago, and Mary and I took my mother to the annual holiday bazaar at the Animal Care League.

Can I repeat #1? I really wish I had stayed out of the sweets. I had my annual physical last week, and I’m sure that my numbers (cholesterol, triglycerides, weight, etc.) would have been a lot better before Thanksgiving.

Et vous?”

Thanks, Will. Five somewhat feeble reasons I have not blogged lately.

General procrastination.

The holidays, of course – I really wish I had started shopping a bit sooner.

Fairly busy at work this time of year.

A couple trips to the dentist, a couple of office parties.

Rampaging ennui.

Friday Five -- GoogleJerking

2007-11-21T10:07:00.000-06:00

I got an e-mail from my friend Will Briarwood this morning.

“Yo K –

I’ll be working around the house this holiday weekend, so I thought I would do the Friday Five a couple days early.

You’ve seen plenty of articles or columns where the writer uses Google to make a point. Like writing about the prices at Starbucks, and pointing out that if you google “starbucks overpriced”, you get about 286,000 results. I don’t know if there is a name for this, so I will call it ‘googlejerking.’ At least until we think of a better word.

Here are my five examples of googlejerking:

(I was thinking about Dave Marsh and his biographies of Bruce Springsteen…) Marsh springsteen hagiography gives about 223 results

”Ann Coulter” skank gives about 49,600 results

Reagan senile has about 133,000 results

(This morning in the car, I was listening to a live recording of the Arcade Fire from 2005…) “Arcade fire” “joyful noise” has about 1,610 results

(And then I was listening to Nick Drake on the computer at work…) “Nick drake” tragic has about 55,800 results

Et vous?”

Thanks, Will. This is fun.

“deer hunter” small penis about 34,300 results

tofurky delicious about 545,000 results

"chicago cubs" "wait till next year" about 12,300 results

mtv crap about 1,820,000 results

”battlestar galactica" emmy about 1,390,000 results

Friday Five -- Shuffle

2007-11-16T13:25:00.000-06:00

I got another e-mail from my friend Will Briarwood a little while ago.

“Yo K –

Sorry, not much in the way of interesting ideas for the Friday Five this week. So I just did an iPod shuffle, and added some comments, like the rock stars do in interviews:

Tangerine Dream / “Improvisation 1” / Live! Improvised!

A live recording that I downloaded from dime recently. Reims Cathedral – in France, I think? – from 1974. The artwork says Oh Boy on the spine, so this would appear to be a liberated bootleg.

Pink Floyd / “A Spanish Piece” / More soundtrack

I was a big Pink Floyd fan in high school, and in college – I remember playing “Echoes” at two in the morning, many times. But I didn’t get into some of their earlier stuff until later. This is a brief instrumental.

Pink Floyd / ? / Syncopated Pandemonium

Something else that I got from dime. I don’t think I know the source of this track – it’s a weird voiceover, with what I assume is Pink Floyd’s music.

Guru Guru / “Stone In” / UFO

More krautrock. I bought this cd, and many others, per the recommendations of Julian Cope in his great book Krautrocksampler.

Merle Haggard / “You Take Me For Granted” / Down Every Road 1962-1994

From the big four disc box set, which I probably got pretty cheap from BMG. My brother got a kitten recently and named him Merle.

Et vous?

WB”

I do not have an iPod, so I just hit the random option on the Windows Media Player on the computer.

Romeo Void / “Nothing For Me” / It’s a Condition / Strange Language

Recent, and long overdue, reissue of the first Romeo Void album, along with Debora’s solo record. I was a big fan back in the new wave days, and this was my favorite of their records. And this was near the top of my wanted list of lp’s that were not on cd.

Loretta Lynn / “The Other Woman” / Honky Tonk Girl: The Collection

People think that Merle is a rightwinger because of “Okie From Muskogee,” but I do not think that he is – Loretta is long-time Republican and Bush supporter. Saw her live in 2000, and she made sure to include a “vote for Bush” speech during her show.

Waterboys / “Carolan’s Welcome” / Fisherman’s Blues

This is from the second disc of the recent deluxe edition. One of my favorite – maybe my number one – records of the 1980’s.

Kim Richey / “Drift” / Chinese Boxes

I think I might have discovered Kim through the p2 mailing list, or maybe it was hearing her on Mountain Stage or E-Town. Her new disc is really good – wish I had bought it sooner.

Emmylou Harris and Mark Knopfler / “All the Roadrunning” / All the Roadrunning

This was one of my favorite discs of last year, and I think covivant said it was her favorite. I have been an Emmylou fan since Wrecking Ball and I was a big Dire Straits fan for their first few albums. I went out and bought some old Dire Straits cd’s after hearing this, and downloaded some of his solo stuff.

Sinead O'Connor, Symphony Center

2007-11-15T13:33:00.000-06:00

I got an e-mail from my friend Will Briarwood earlier today. He sent me a concert review...

I keep meaning to tell you about some of the shows I’ve seen recently – I’ll try to send my reviews when I get around to writing them…

Who / When / Where: Sinead O’Connor / Sunday, September 23, 2007 / I think it’s called Symphony Center, at Orchestra Hall

Notes: They had problems with their sound all evening – I don’t know if it was their equipment, or the sound guys, or what.

Good show. Good mix of old songs and new songs (see setlist below). A bunch of songs from her second record.

Her first husband still plays drums with her, after all these years.

She still has most of that amazing voice. I am concerned that if she keeps smoking as much as I’ve heard she does, that she’s going to end up like Joni Mitchell.

Went by myself – Mary wasn’t interested in going.

Highlights: “In This Heart” was great. So was “Black Boys On Mopeds.”

I Wish She Had Played: “Jackie.”

Moron Factor: There was this young couple next to me, who showed up right as Sinead’s set started, and talked on and off all through it. It sounded like he had an accent, maybe Russian – I don’t generally confront talkers during a show, especially if they might be Russian drug dealers… Other than that, the crowd was pretty well behaved.

Opening Act: Damien Dempsey. Sort of a Damien Rice on steroids. He was quite good, and I saw that he was selling a lot of cd’s in the lobby after his set.

Reviews: Daily Herald, Concert Live Wire.

Setlist / Recording:

At dime. Downloaded it, have not burned to cd and listened yet. Setlist, per the taper:

1 EMPERORS NEW CLOTHES
2 STRETCHED ON YOUR GRAVE
3 THIEF OF YOUR HEART
4 THE LAMBS BOOK OF LIFE
5 NEVER GET OLD
6 SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL
7 VINEYARD
8 THREE BABIES
9 WHAT DOESN'T BELONG TO ME

1 NOTHING COMPARES TO YOU
2 THANK YOU FOR HEARING ME
3 IN THIS HEART
4 LAST DAY OF OUR ACQUAINTANCE
5 ENCORE APPLAUSE
6 BLACK BOYS ON MOPEDS
7 RIVERS OF BABYLON
8 SONG FROM THE WATER HORSE
9 BAND INTRO AND OUTRO

WB

Friday Five -- TV On Strike

2007-11-09T09:56:00.000-06:00

I got an e-mail from my friend Will Briarwood this morning.

“Yo K –

Let’s bring back the Friday Five. I’ll start – which five tv shows will you miss the most if the writers strike lasts a while? My five would be:

Battlestar Galactica
Heroes
Torchwood
Ugly Betty
30 Rock

Et vous?”

I would agree with a couple of Will’s choices, but I will list five different shows:

Bionic Woman
Lost
Reaper
Supernatural
Jericho (but I did read that CBS’ seven episode mini-season will probably not be affected by the strike)

And my list would assume that shows that are not due back till next summer (Mad Men, The 4400, Eureka) would not be affected.

And Then There Were Two...

2007-11-08T14:47:00.000-06:00

I was talking to my friend Will Briarwood earlier today. I had not talked to him for a few weeks.

“Sorry I haven’t been in touch. It’s been a tough few months.”

I know. How are the cats doing?

“OK, I think. It’s just the queen and the little guy, now – it’s been about nine years since we only had two cats. They get along pretty well, but she is twice as old as he is, and doesn’t have much patience for him sometimes. And some nights she will start walking around the house, crying – we’re not sure if she’s just getting old, or if she misses the other cats, or if she’s hungry, or all of the above. She passed her most recent exam, so I think we’ll just keep an eye on her for now.”

You and Mary doing ok?

“Aside from feeling terrible about the old girl and the big guy, I guess so. You know, a lot has happened this year, and I suppose at some time I have to start thinking about other things.”

In good time.

“I mean, Al Gore won a Nobel. The Cubs were in the playoffs for a few days, the White Sox were terrible, and it doesn’t look like the Bears are going back to the Super Bowl any time soon. The tv writers are on strike. There’s all kinds of problems with the economy – and Mary’s daughter’s fiancé just got laid off.”

Hillary Clinton could be the next president. Or Mitt Romney, or Rudy Giuliani.

“Assuming the country survives twelve more months of Shrub and Cheney.”

I was looking at my 401k a week ago, and it looked great. And then the stock markets starting dropping.

“We’re not retiring for what, fourteen years? Keep saving, and don’t mess with what you have.”

I will keep that in mind.

“And we’ll talk further about concerts, and tv and stuff.”

Ten four.

Farewell, Big Guy

2007-10-18T13:37:00.000-05:00

I was talking to my friend Will Briarwood last night. Unfortunately, he again had bad news about his cat…

“We had to put the big guy to sleep on Monday.”

I am sorry, Will.

“Thanks. He was doing ok last week, but then one of his tumors started bleeding on Sunday – the vet counted a total of six little tumors when we were in there last week -- and we noticed the big guy was breathing a bit harder, and I don’t think he was eating as much – Mary said she did not want him to suffer, that was his time to go.”

You had said his quality of life was pretty good last week, all things considered – it went downhill, then.

“Yeah. We knew his life was not going to get any better.”

You guys doing ok?

“Not really. I mean, we’ll be ok, but this is just as hard on us as when the old girl died back in August. In some ways, this was even harder – the old girl was ready to go at the end, but the big guy still had some energy left. And the old girl was almost fifteen years old, but the big guy was only nine. The worst part was when he would look at me like he did not understand what was going on, and like he did not want to go…”

I am sure you made your decision out of compassion for him.

“I know we did. But that does not stop me from feeling guilty, and does not stop me from missing him.”

How are the other cats doing?

“OK, I think. The old girl sometimes starts meowing in the middle of the night, but she’s been doing that for a while, it’s just part of her getting older. And the little guy, sometimes I see him looking around the house, like maybe he’s looking for the big guy. I think they both know that things have changed, again.”

You should not feel guilty – you and Mary gave him a good life.

“We tried our best. And I did try to come up with a list of ten things to be thankful for, like I did when the old girl died.”

Proceed.

“Well, there are some of the same things I had last time – like us going fifteen years since any of our pets died. And being very thankful for everything our vet did for us. But let’s start with this – the big guy survived over a year after his first cancer surgery, and he did pretty well on three legs.”

That was last October, right?

“Yeah. And although he had to go the vet one last time, his final moments were peaceful, Mary and I were both with him. And he did not suffer too much in his final days, like the old girl did.”

As I said, compassion.

“And it was Sunday when we noticed he was bleeding, so we got to spend his last day with him. And Mary said he slept next to her all that last night. And that leads me to the most important thing – it was Mary and her love for him that gave him a good life. He was a wild young cat, and I think his bond with her really calmed him down as he got older.”

I think that is about six things.

“And I got to spend a lot of time with him the last few weeks – we would sit together on the chair on the porch during the evening. And we took a bunch of great pictures of him during his last day.”

I think I know your last two things.

“Our other two cats. Without the queen and the little guy, our lives would just be too empty. They are there for us, and we will be giving them a lot of attention in the coming weeks.”

You and Mary take care.

“Thanks. Say hi to covivant for us.”

Hang In There, Big Guy

2007-10-10T14:24:00.000-05:00

I was talking to my friend Will Briarwood last night. He gave me an update about his cat, who has cancer.

“Well, the good news is that the big guy is still acting like his old self. His appetite is good, and he doesn’t seem to be in pain.”

And…

“The bad news is that he has a couple more bumps on his side, and they are ugly and red – I don’t know if they broke through his skin, or if he licked the fur off them – I’m hoping that they’re something other than more cancer, but I’m not optimistic. He goes to the vet Thursday morning.”

You said that he also has cancer in his lungs – is he breathing ok?

“Well, he breathes fast sometimes, but he’s not panting or gasping. He does seem to lie down more than he used to – I mean, he used to sit around, now he seems to lie around.”

How are you and Mary doing with all this?

“Some days we’re ok, some days we’re not. I was really worried about the big guy last week, but today, I don’t feel quite so bad, I don’t know if I’m denial or if I’m accepting the inevitable. I mean, the vet gave us a four-month supply of prednisone, and then I bought a big bag of cat food, which should last us a couple months. But Mary is worried that he’s not going to last till her vacation at the end of the month.”

Her vacation? Not yours and hers?

“She’s going to see a friend of hers in Arizona. I’ll stay home and catsit. Just like I did when she want to San Francisco on business last month.”

The cats do ok when she is gone?

“Pretty much. I try to take at least one day off work when she’s out of town, so the cats don’t feel like we’re both gone.”

Good luck at the vet tomorrow, and good luck to you and Mary with all this.

“Thanks. Hey, we have to talk about the fall tv shows some time, and I need to tell you about Sinead, and Anoushka, and Christine Kane…”

Will do. Talk to you later, Will.

It Is the Evening of the Day

2007-09-24T16:46:00.000-05:00

I talked to my friend Will Briarwood earlier today. Unfortunately, he had more bad news about his cat.

“The big guy’s x-rays showed some shading in both of his lungs, which is probably cancer. And he has two lumps that we know are cancer, and we just noticed two more lumps which we figure are probably cancer. Surgery is not really the answer for him, so we are just giving him anti-inflammatory pills and hoping he can hang on for a while.”

We seem to be having this conversation too often, Will. I am sorry.

“Thanks. The good news is that he does still have his appetite. And although he does not seem to have as much energy, he does still get around ok. I’m just worried that his lungs will stop working enough, like what happened to the old girl. His quality of life is pretty good now, but I’m afraid I don’t know how long it will last.”

Did the vet have any suggestions or ideas?

“The vet says that the big guy’s cancer is very unusual – he doesn’t think he’s ever seen a case where a cat had so many tumors of this type. He said he has seen cats live for up to a year with lung cancer – but they did not have the external tumors that the big guy has.”

I am sure you and Mary will give him the best care possible.

“We try. I mean, he has survived almost a year since losing his leg to cancer. Hey, on the other hand, Mary’s daughter and her fiancé got a new kitten, and so did my brother and his girlfriend. So life goes on, and all that.”

I know that you and Mary will have many more cats in the years to come.

“Well, the big guy would not be happy with any changes to his environment at this time, so we won’t be bringing home any new cats any time soon. And Mary has talked about fostering kittens instead of getting any new cats for ourselves.”

And I am sure that Mary would never keep any kittens for herself…

“No, never. Hey, I have to get back to work, but let me tell you a quick story.”

Proceed.

“I was sitting out on our porch the other evening. Reading my vampire novel, and the big guy was curled up in the chair next to me. I look out the window, and watch the wind in the trees, and I start thinking that it’s evening, and it’s fall, so it’s getting late in more ways than one. And this book – it’s called The Historian – there’s just this sense of dread in the story, and I’m looking down at the big guy, and thinking that it’s getting late for him, and, well, it was like Melancholy was a capital M.”

As tears go by…

“Yeah. I gotta go -- remind me to tell you about the Sinead O’Connor show last night.”

And do not forget that Heroes is back tonight.

“That’s right. Talk to you later.”

Take care, Will.

I'm All Lost

2007-09-07T14:12:00.000-05:00

I was walking around the mall during lunch yesterday, and I heard “Lost In the Supermarket” by The Clash, over the music system.

“Im all lost in the supermarket
I can no longer shop happily
I came in here for that special offer
A guaranteed personality”

Get Well, Big Guy – Again

2007-09-05T11:49:00.000-05:00

My friend Will Briarwood called me earlier today. Unfortunately, he and his wife just got more bad news about one of their cats.

“I think I mentioned that the big guy had some sort of shadow on his lung on an x-ray last month.”

I think you did.

“A week ago, I noticed a little bump on his chest. We took him to the vet on Friday, and the vet found a second little bump. Well, today the lab results came back, and he has cancer again, for the third time.”

I am sorry, Will.

“Thanks. The vet said they’re fibro sarcomas, like he had the last two times. He also said this is very unusual, that there is some unknown factor with the big guy, maybe it’s something environmental – but none of the other cats had anything like this – or maybe it’s something genetic.”

So does this mean another surgery for him?

“Don’t know yet. He goes in for to get his chest x-rays again this Saturday. The vet said if his lung looks better, then we could remove the sarcomas. But if his lung looks worse…”

Is he still coughing?

“No, the good news is that we haven’t heard him cough for a week or two. But the bad news is that he’s been throwing up his breakfast every other day.”

Is this all related? The cancer, the coughing, and the vomiting?

“Not that we know of. I mean, if he has cancer in his lung, then it could be caused by whatever causes the sarcomas. But we think it might be the antibiotics he's been taking for several weeks, or maybe he has some sort of food allergy, that is making him throw up.”

Do you know what he might be allergic to?

“We thought it was turkey. But the dry food he eats all the time has turkey as its main ingredient. He was eating the same moist food as the queen, but that food has been out of stock everywhere for the last few weeks. So we’re trying to find foods that the queen will eat, but won’t make the big guy throw up.”

It has been a tough year for you and the cats.

“Tell me about it. I try to keep positive, for the cats’ sake, and for Mary’s sake.”

For your sake too, you know.

“Yeah, I know. Did you read the latest issue of MOJO?”

Umm – as in the music magazine? I think so.

“The article about Def Leppard?”

I did read that. But I do not recall that it mentioned anything about cats…

“You know, I’m not a fan. I mean, I think I still have their first album on vinyl somewhere, and I did actually see them many years ago, they were opening for Ted Nugent.”

Is there a segue here somewhere?

“Rick Allen, the drummer, talked about the accident where he lost his arm. I wish I had the exact quote here – but he said that, looking back over everything that happened to him, that it’s important to try to stay in a place of gratitude.”

Ahh. You are referring to you and your cats.

“I read that, and it made sense to me, but then I thought, well, I am grateful that we had healthy cats for many years, so why do I still feel so bad about the old girl’s death, and about the big guy having cancer again. And I realized that I am not in a place of gratitude – you know, I think that’s the phrase he used – that my first thought about the old girl is how much I miss her, and how bad it felt when she was sick and dying. I try to remind myself of all the happy times we had together, and make that my place of gratitude. Hey, sorry to get all long-winded on you.”

Not a problem. I hope everything works out.

“We’ll know more on Saturday. I’ll keep you posted.”

Can We Live Through August?

2007-08-28T15:18:00.000-05:00

I was talking with my friend TS Elmwood the other day. She called to make sure we were ok after last week’s storms.

“I was reading Tom Skilling’s weather blog. Looks like things were pretty bad in some places.”

We actually spent about twenty minutes down on the first floor of our office building that afternoon, because there was a tornado warning for the city.

“Everything ok?”

The building is fine. A street about half mile north is closed, and there are some trees down. I walked around by the river today, and there is some flooding on the bikepaths, and the small bridges are closed. And there is some more serious flooding on the Fox River, farther north.

“And your house is ok?”

Much to our relief, it is. We just had a bit of water in the basement. The tree out back lost a bunch of small branches. One of the houses across the street lost a huge old tree.

“When I was kid growing up out that way in the suburbs, the power would always go out during storms.”

It does go out more than I thought it would out here. Ours was out most of the day Friday – I figure ComEd may have shut things down while they were picking up power lines.

“Was there a lot of damage in your area?”

Not right around our house, but it turns out that a tornado touched down a couple miles north of us. Lots of trees down, power lines down – I drove home that way on Thursday, so I must have gone through there only about an hour after the tornado did.

“I’m glad you’re all ok. I saw some scary looking pictures in the news.”

We’re all ok. I was home most of Friday -- with the power out, I spent several hours sitting by the window, catching on my reading, and catching up on petting cats.

“Awww. Hey, how is Will’s cat doing?”

Unfortunately, she died a few weeks ago.

“Oh no, that’s too bad. How are he and Mary doing?”

OK, I think, but I know Will is pretty down. They had that cat for like fourteen years. And one of their other cats had cancer last year, and now they are afraid that his cancer is back.

“That’s so sad.”

I know. Driving home from work last Thursday, during the storms, I kept worrying about our cats, because I knew they would be scared of the thunder of lightning. And they would have been really scared if the tree in our backyard had ended up in our kitchen.

“You know, it is even worse with kids. Worries, I mean.”

I know.

“Take care of yourself, K. And take care of covivant, and take care of those cats.”

Thanks. You take care of your family as well.

Farewell, Old Girl

2007-08-15T12:39:00.000-05:00

I talked to my friend Will Briarwood last night – he called to pass along the sad news that one of their cats had died.

“The old girl died a week and a half ago.”

I am sorry, Will.

“Thanks.”

How is everyone doing?

“Well, Mary and I miss her terribly. Everything we do at home feels different, and the house feels empty, and every time I hear mention of a cat somewhere, I think of her... anyway, I try to not be too down about it -- so I came up with ten things that I’m thankful for.”

Proceed.

“It’s been fifteen years since any of our pets died. We’re thankful for that.”

Considering all the health problems you and your cats have dealt with over the years, that is pretty amazing.

“As hard as it is for us to deal with her death, it would have been very hard for her if Mary and I had died first.”

That is true – covivant and I should really come up with some sort of plans for our animals in case something happens to us.

“And the old girl was very close to the queen –- for many years, it was just the two of them -- the queen has seemed a bit depressed the past couple weeks, but I think it would have been really hard on the old girl if the queen had died first.”

What else?

“The old girl was in pretty good health for most of her almost fifteen-year life, and I think we did the right thing, letting go of her at the right time.”

I am sure that you and Mary made the right decisions, and you made them out of compassion.

“And I called in sick to work for a couple days, so I was at home during the old girl’s last day. And she did die at home, without having to go to the vet one last time.”

I am sure that she appreciated you being with her, Will.

“And we were once again thankful for having a great veterinarian – everyone there was very kind to us.”

I think you are up to about seven in your lists of things to be thankful for.

“Well, of course, the last three things are the most important – Mary and I could not get through any of this without having three more cats at home, who need us.”

You mentioned that the queen might be a little depressed – how are the guys?

“I think they can tell that something is different, and they probably react to Mary and I being down. And, unfortunately, the big guy is having more health problems.”

Again, I am sorry, Will. Not more cancer, I hope.

“We don’t know yet. He has been coughing a bit, and the vet did a chest x-ray and found a shadow on his lung. It could be a tumor, it could be some sort of abscess or infection, or something benign – we’re giving him antibiotics and hoping it clears up.”

Can they do more tests to figure out what it is?

“Well, that’s what the one vet suggested, that we should take him in for a ct scan and a needle biopsy. But Mary talked to the other vet, and we decided that would be adding too much unnecessary stress to the big guy’s life – and it’s not like we could do anything for him if his cancer is back.”

I guess they cannot do lung cancer surgery on a cat.

“No, I don’t think so. But anyway, I’m trying to think about those things I’m thankful for, and hoping I don’t have to go through all this again with the big guy any time soon.”

Good luck, Will.

“Thanks. I’ll keep you posted…”

Further On Up the Road

2007-07-31T16:48:00.000-05:00

I was talking to my friend TS Elmwood earlier today. I was telling her about Will’s cat being very ill.

“That’s so sad. I feel so bad for him and Mary – you’ve told me how much they love their animals.”

He said that they are worried that their old girl is near the end.

“Our dog died last year. During her last weeks, I found myself trying to come up with ways to express what I was feeling. Metaphors, analogies, whatever, for the experience.”

For instance?

“I would think about walking with her, along a path near a cliff, and being scared to death that she was going to fall off the cliff. I realized that wasn’t quite right – she was old and sick, she wasn’t going to fall off a cliff. Then I would think about fog.”

Fog?

“I would think about walking through a thick fog with her, and she would be by my side, then she would walk a little farther away from me, and it would be harder to see her in the fog, and again, I was scared that she would walk away from me, and disappear into the fog, and she would be gone.”

Will was telling me that one night he saw their cat sitting in the doorway to their bedroom, and then the cat walked away and disappeared around the corner.

“Poor Will. That does come close to describing how I felt about our dog. So along with cliffs and fog, I also thought about different paths – that is, paths or roads, with forks or branches.”

Explain.

“When I realized that our dog did not have long to live, I realized that we were on the path to her death. Day by day, I would think about the path ahead, and my impressions of how long or short the path might be – when she had a good couple of days, I would think that the path had changed, and we still might have a ways to go. But then her symptoms would get worse, and I would feel that we had taken a different path, one that would be shorter.”

Will was saying that he hopes to get her to her next birthday in a month.

“And we had hoped to get our dog through the holidays. She made it, and then we had to let her go.”

This is probably a stupid question, but do you believe any of that rainbow bridge stuff?

“I don’t know. Have you heard the story about the man, his dog, and the path to heaven?”

Not that I recall.

“Let me try to adapt it to a man with cats. Ummm…“

So a man is out walking. He feels as if he is just waking from a dream, and he is just becoming aware of his surroundings. He looks around, and he sees that a number of cats are walking with him.

He remembers that these cats were his, through various times in his life, and that they all died before he did. And he realizes that he too, had died.

He and the cats walk for a ways, and they come to a big, fancy gate. There is a man sitting on a chair in front of the gate – he sees the man, and smiles, and the gate opens.

“Come in,” says the man at the gate. “We’ve been expecting you.”

The man with the cats looks through the gate, and sees a beautiful village, with many beautiful buildings and beautiful people. He asks the man at the gate, “What is this place?”

“This is Heaven,” is the answer. “Come in and join us.”

The man with the cats starts to walk through the gate. But the other man stops him, and says, “Wait,” and points to the cats, “they’re not allowed here.”

The man with the cats looks at the beautiful village behind the gate. He looks at his cats, and they look at him. He turns to the man at the gate, and says, “No thanks.”

So the man and the cats walk a ways further. They come to another gate – this is a simple wooden gate. Behind the gate he can see what looks like another village. An ordinary-looking village, with ordinary people. And the people are walking with dogs, and cats, and horses, and lots of other animals.

There is an old couple standing at the gate, next to an old pump. They smile at the man with the cats, and they put out several bowls of water, from which the cats drink eagerly.

“What is this place?” asks the man with the cats.

“This is Heaven,” says the old man.

“Come in, we’ve been expecting you,” says the old woman, and she motions to the cats – “all of you.” And the gate opens.

As the man and the cats all walk through the gate, the man turns to the old couple and says, “You know, there’s another place up the road, and they say that they’re Heaven.”

The old man nods. “They would say that, wouldn’t they.”

“Doesn’t that bother you?” asks the man with the cats.

“Nope,” says the old woman. “The people who really want to get to here – they always find their way here.”

The Old Girl's Story

2007-07-31T12:05:00.000-05:00

I had not heard from my friend Will Briarwood for a while, so I sent him an e-mail and asked him how the cats were doing. He called me back.

“It looks like we’re getting near the end for the old girl.”

I am sorry to hear that, Will.

“Yeah. We took her to the vet yesterday – she was already scheduled to get her blood work rechecked, but then she suddenly stopped eating a couple days ago, and she’s been really weak and lethargic. The vet took a chest x-ray, and said her lungs are in worse shape than we thought.”

Is she still coughing?

“No, actually, she was coughing a lot a week ago, then she stopped. And she was eating ok, so we thought she was doing pretty well. But now…”

We can talk about this some other time, if you prefer…

“Well, let me give you the situation, and let me tell you a quick story. We were at the vet for like ninety minutes yesterday, and I’m trying to process everything he’s telling us. And not only am I trying to understand the old girl’s health – Mary compared it to when her grandmother died, after having pneumonia several times, her lungs were just worn out – not only that, but Mary was also asking the vet about putting her to sleep, and I’m trying to take this all one step at a time…”

You and Mary will know what step to take when, Will.

“I know. Mary already talked to a vet who does house calls, so when the time comes, we can let the old girl go without having to stress her out with one final trip to the vet…”

Can we do anything for you?

“No, I think we’re ok. If only the old girl would get her appetite back, then maybe we would have a bit more time – I really wanted to get her to her birthday in a month.”

How old will she be?

“She would be – will be – could be… she was born on September 2, 1992, so her fifteenth birthday is coming up.”

If I remember correctly, that would make her about seventy-five in human years.

“Seventy-six on the chart we use. Let me tell you a quick story, then I gotta go.”

OK.

“True story, unless I was dreaming. I’ve mentioned that all of the cats sleep in our bed with us.”

You have.

“And they come and go during the night – sometimes I wake up, and they’re all there, sometimes it’s a couple of them, sometimes they’re all somewhere else.”

Go on.

“Week or two back, I woke up early one morning. Mary was asleep, and all four cats were in the bed with us. After a few minutes, the old girl gets up, climbs out of bed, and walks to the bedroom doorway. She sits there for a moment, and, half awake, I call her name. She looks over her shoulder for a few seconds, then she walks out into the hallway, turns the corner, and she’s gone. And I’m lying there, completely… what’s the word I want…”

Spooked?

“No, that would imply something scary, or evil. Unsettled, maybe? Lying there in bed, me and Mary, with only three cats. And the image of the old girl, sitting in the doorway, on her way to… somewhere…”

That would be unsettling.

“And you know how it is, when we’re stressed by things like this, sometimes we try to read too much into a normal occurrence.”

Like this was a premonition?

“Or a message from the old girl, that she wanted me to know that she would be leaving soon…”

Are you sure there is nothing that covivant and I can do for you?

“We’ll be ok. One way or another. I’ll let you know how things go.”

Stuart and Dave, Peter and Abby

2007-07-18T15:24:00.000-05:00

I was talking to my friend Will Briarwood earlier today.

“Do you know who Peter Walsh is?”

The name sounds familiar…

“He’s a professional organizer, he used to be on Clean Sweep.”

I remember – covivant and I watched that show for a while.

“We saw him on Oprah recently, talking about his new book, and getting all philosophical.”

They did not get into that Secret stuff, did they?

“No, not that kind of philosophy. Peter helps people get rid of the clutter in their lives, and he said that people generally have two kinds of clutter.”

Which are…

“Stuff that they associate with memories, and stuff that they think they might need one day. So half of their stuff is from the past, and half is for the future, so they’re not living for today. Or something like that.”

That makes sense. I know I have lots of stuff in each of those categories.

“Well, as usual, it got me thinking about other stuff, and people.”

Is this about stuff that you are saving, that has memories of family, or people you knew?

“Not physical stuff, no.”

Umm – what are we talking about here, Will?

“Let me tell you whom I was thinking about – Stuart Adamson, and the Hoodoo Gurus, and my friend Abby from college.”

OK.

“Stuart Adamson was the singer / guitarist / songwriter for Big Country. I bought their first couple records, and then kind of lost interest in them. I bought their last record after he died, and found myself feeling guilty that I had not followed his career.”

Guilty?

“Not the right word, maybe. But I felt like I should have stayed with them longer, that I had missed out on something.”

Same for the Hoodoo Gurus?

“Yeah. Except that Dave Faulkner – the singer / guitarist / songwriter – is still alive. I bought their first few records, and again, lost interest.”

Ummm – you do know that, as a fan, you are not really obligated to keep buying their music forever?

“I know, I know. Mary says I’m – what’s the word, transferring? I’m transferring my feelings about something, or someone else to the music I listen to.”

You mentioned your friend, Abby?

“Yeah. Let me say first, that I had a bunch of good friends back in college, and kept in touch with them for many years, but eventually I stopped seeing them, then we stopped calling, and now I think we just get one Christmas card from that group of people. So it’s not just Abby.”

Who was she?

“I met her through another friend in college – I think she was someone’s roommate. I’m not sure of the last time I saw her – maybe like fifteen years ago, a few years after she got married.”

And…

“…and she died a couple years ago.”

Oh.

“She was forty-nine, I think. I read her name in the alumni newsletter, in the ‘Deaths’ column. Then I went and found her obituary in the Tribune.”

People do go on different paths, and lose touch over the years.

“I know, I know. It was just a shock to see her obituary – I think she was the first friend of mine that died. And then it was kind of an unhappy realization that none of my other friends from back then had let me know that she died, or that she was sick – the obituary mentioned a ‘battle with cancer.’”

Maybe they had lost touch with her, too.

“Maybe. I guess. So anyway, I was thinking about what Peter Walsh said, and I started looking at the stuff I have in our basement, and started thinking about things that I’m keeping for the memories – cd’s from bands that I stopped listening to, or junk from college days.”

Umm… I think we are just touching lightly on a heavy subject, Will.

“I know. Peter Walsh also has lots to say about the reasons that people save clutter. And that it’s one thing to go through your old lp’s, or cd’s, or through your closet, or basement, and attic, and then the garage…”

But it is another thing…

“It’s two other things. One is to address the reasons that we need to hang onto so much stuff – physical clutter, I mean. And it’s another thing to deal with friends who are gone. Or who are still around, but just not in our lives.”

So which are you going to do first?

“I think I’m going to play an old Big Country record, and then an old Hoodoo Gurus record or two.”

Seriously.

“And then, what I’m going to do, is throw out some stuff that I really don’t need any more.”

What about the old friends? Going to give someone a call, or maybe an e-mail or a letter?

“Still working through that.”

Well, good luck with that.

“Thanks. Leave us with a Big Country lyric, won’t you?”

“I dreamed I heard that you were dead
I dreamed I searched an empty bed
For a sign of you”

Read About It

2007-07-11T15:06:00.000-05:00

Stuff I read online recently…

Amy Rigby aka Little Fugitive In France tells about hearing “Every song you never wanted to hear again played as badly as possible without shame.”

Calculated Risk writes about “Those Wacky NAR Forecasts.”

Cocktail Party Physics writes about Al Gore III and his Prius, and many other things.

Jim DeRo talks to Yoko Ono.

And the BBC writes about organic food.

Good Life, With Cats

2007-07-10T13:39:00.001-05:00

As I was saying, I talked to my friend Will Briarwood the other day. He was giving me the latest on his cats…

“We took the old girl to the vet a week-and-a-half ago, and we took the boys in the next day.”

And?

“Well, we have good news for now, and we have pretty good news, and we have some good and some not good.”

Proceed.

“The big guy, who has had two cancer surgeries, he got a clean bill of health. The vet said if he can stay healthy for another few months, then we can worry less about recurrence.”

That does sound good.

“For now. After his first surgery, he got two more tumors about five or six months later. So we will keep checking him. I feel bad sometimes, when I go to pet him, and I hesitate because I’m worried about finding another lump.”

I think I read somewhere that cats can, in some way, sense that you are worrying about them. So it is important to keep a positive attitude, to avoid stressing your cat. And yourself.

“I try, but it’s hard. Anyway, the big guy also lost about a pound in the last three months. I told the vet it was probably because the little guy eats special food, and we put it up on the kitchen counter where the big guy can’t get it. So the big guy is eating less than he used to.”

Was the vet concerned about the weight loss?

“Yeah, but I think that’s one of those things that always catches their attention. A weight loss, or a weight gain, those are numbers that are easy to notice. He said another pound might be a concern, if it’s too sudden.”

And how is the little guy?

“He got the pretty good news. He’s all healed after his surgery two months ago. The vet was a bit concerned about the concentration of his urine – we have to get him to eat more of his moist food. Or try adding water to his dry food.”

And how is the old girl?

“Let me take a deep breath here… the vet had us increase her prednisone, which brought her appetite back, which is good, but she’s still coughing, which is not good, and she’s also slightly anemic, which is not good, and we are giving her iron supplements, which we worry could make her constipated. But her kidney functions were good, and she acts normal, meaning that she’s not hiding, and she’s not lethargic, which is good.”

And let’s not forget the queen.

“She’s sixteen years old – we figure she’s about eighty-one in human years – and she also got a clean bill of health last month.”

And how are you and Mary doing with all this?

“It’s a strain. Emotionally and financially. I would be lost – and so would the cats – without Mary.”

You know, you have complained to me that you are the one who is always paying the vet bills, and the pet store bills, and cleaning the catboxes, and…

“Yeah, I know. But she loves those cats so much, and they love her so much – that connection is so important for their health.”

You have given those cats good lives, Will.

“And they have given us a good life.”

Thanks

2007-07-09T12:51:00.000-05:00

I was talking to my friend Will Briarwood yesterday. He called to let me know how his cats were doing.

“First, though, you said you wanted to thank some people.”

I did say that. So thank you, Amy Rigby, for all those great cd’s of yours, and for your kind words in your comment on this blog the other day.

“I hope she’s happy with Eric in France, and I hope that domestic bliss doesn’t make her next record boring.”

Thanks, Will. I think.

“Who else?”

Two people, neither of whom I ever met in person, both of whom I knew online.

“As well as one can know someone online, you mean.”

Right. So, thank you, Chet Kresiak, for your encouragement about fifteen years ago, when I first got online via the old Prodigy , and we met on the Springsteen boards. And thank you, Dave Purcell, as you were the first person to encourage me to post more on Postcard2, like ten years ago.

“I’d like to thank my wife, Mary, for taking care of our cats.”

Hold that thought for the next post…

Summertime and the Blogging Is Easy

2007-07-06T11:49:00.000-05:00

I got an e-mail from my friend TS Elmwood earlier today. TS is into The Weather.

She wanted to make sure I was reading the Tom Skilling weather blog. I do read it, and I had seen the story she mentioned in her e-mail, about how hot and dry it was out west. I called her to discuss.

“Weren’t those great numbers? A hundred and ten degrees, with a dew point below zero, and like one percent humidity.”

It was fairly dry here the other day, but for us that means a dew point down in the forties.

“I hope you got out and enjoyed it.”

I mowed the lawn, front and back.

“That’s not what I mean. Are you still walking?”

Not as much as I should. I got a pedometer recently, but I do not think I have gotten past about five thousand steps in a day.

“I told you that moving out to the suburbs would do that to you.”

I know. When I lived in the city, and did not own a car, I would walk everywhere.

“Now you sit inside and blog.”

Are you saying that I should get a long cable, and take my computer outside?

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying, you dope. How is the blog going?”

OK. I did get my first comment the other day, and it was from one of my favorite people.

“And that would be…”

Amy Rigby. She’s a singer / songwriter, and I have all of her cd’s. I left a comment on her blog, and she returned the favor with a nice, encouraging comment on mine.

“It is nice to get encouragement, isn’t it.”

It is.

TS had to go out with her kids, so we said goodbye.

But before I forget, let me repeat, it is nice to get encouragement. So in my next post, I want to thank some people…

9-1-1 On 7/4

2007-07-06T11:04:00.000-05:00

I was talking to my friend Will Briarwood yesterday. I asked him how his Fourth was.

“Not too bad. But I did call 9-1-1 last night.”

Neighbors with late night fireworks again?

“No, those morons were a lot quieter this year. And besides, I don’t think the police ever showed up when we called them a couple years ago to complain. This year I called them about Monica.”

Monica?

“About seven o’clock, the doorbell rang. I answered it, and it was a young woman, maybe college-age. She said she was a foreign exchange student – she did have a slight accent – and she was selling children’s books.”

Umm – that sounds pretty dangerous. Did you call Homeland Security, too?

“Ha. Let me continue the story. So she said to me that my children were probably older and moved out. She kept talking, and I cut her off and said I was sorry, but we would not be interested.”

Again, sounds pretty dangerous.

“Then she started asking about which of our neighbors had young children – and she pulls out this map she had drawn of our street, checking off different houses. She said she had knocked on one door twice by mistake, and that she wanted to keep track of which houses she had been to.”

OK, that does sound a bit weird.

“So I told her I did not feel comfortable giving out that sort of information, and she apologized, and went over to the house next door. Mary and I talked about her for a few minutes – we figured it was probably a ninety-five percent chance that she was just some kid selling books.”

And that other five percent?

“Well, there have been a few burglaries around our side of town, over the past few weeks, daytime burglaries. And the stories in the local papers, they always quote the police as saying that citizens should report any suspicious activity.”

So you reported.

“I called the non-emergency number. The woman there said I should call 9-1-1, and they could send a car. I called 9-1-1 – I told the dispatcher about her, and he said they would check her out.”

And?

“Well, I made one mistake, I think – when the guy at 9-1-1 asked if I wanted the officer to come talk to us after he talked to the woman, I said no, that was not necessary. So I don’t know what happened.”

You never saw the police?

“Well, when I was talking to 9-1-1, I could see Monica – did I mention that she said her name was Monica? I could see her at one of the houses at the other end of the block. Then I saw her walk to the corner, turn north, and that’s the last I saw of her.”

Maybe the police saw her on the next block and talked to her.

“Maybe. I mean, I felt bad for this woman, because she probably was just someone selling books. But she was out on a holiday, and she was asking weird questions.”

You do not think that any of your neighbors would call the police?

“I don’t think many of them were home last night. But before Monica left, when I saw her talking to the neighbor at the end of the block, I could see the neighbor pointing to several of the houses down there, like she was telling Monica which houses to go to.”

If Monica was working with burglars, I guess knowing which houses had young children would mean it would be more likely that those houses would have someone home during the day, right?

“Yeah, I wish I had thought of something to tell her, like that Mary worked at home, or that she was out walking our big vicious dog and would be right back.”

Another story with no ending, Will…

“Write one for me. Like, ‘Police Crack Burglary Ring Thanks To Vigilant Citizen.’”

Or ‘Exchange Student Goes Back Home After Police Harassment.’

“Ha. Remind me to give you an update on the cats, next time I talk to you.”

Will do.

“What ever happened I apologize
so dry your tears and baby
walk outside, it's the Fourth of July”

All I Ever Wanted

2007-06-28T14:17:00.000-05:00

I was talking to my friend Will Briarwood this afternoon. He mentioned he would be taking a few days off work.

“Yeah, it’s vacation time. I’ll be out Friday through Wednesday.”

Big plans?

“Yes and no. Yes, I have lots to do around the house, but no, I don’t think we’re leaving town.”

I suppose you would not want to leave the cats for too long.

“Exactly. You know, I don’t think Mary and I have been out of town together for more than one night since… 2001, maybe? So, the old girl – not Mary, the cat -- is going back in to the vet tomorrow. She was due for a pedicure…”

Pedicure?

“She’s getting her nails trimmed, because we’re tired of trying to cut them at home. Mary calls it her pedicure. And while she’s there, we want the doctor to check her weight and her hydration – we’re worried that her appetite is down again. And we’re worried that all the meds she takes are just wearing her down.”

As we have discussed, it is hard watching the pets get old.

“And then on Saturday, both the boys go in. Big guy for a checkup – it’s been three months since his second cancer surgery. And little guy needs to get his urine re-checked, after his surgery two months ago.”

Aside from going to the vet, got anything fun planned?

“I’d like to go to the FitzGerald’s American Music Festival, but I never seem to have the time or energy to back there since we moved out west.”

Who is playing this year?

“Marcia Ball, Jon Dee Graham, the Wacos, Tony Joe White – if I do go this year, it will be to see him. Who else… Robbie Fulks, Beausoleil, Bill Kirchen, Anna Fermin. Maybe Mary and I will go to a movie. Most likely, I’ll just screw around at home for six days.”

You usually take a longer vacation this time of year, don’t you?

“I used up most of my vacation days with taking care of the cats. These two days were all I had left.”

Two days -- I thought you said you were off till Thursday…

“Tomorrow is summer hours – our office gives us alternate Fridays off during the summer. And Wednesday is a holiday.”

Got it. So what’s on the To Do List at home?

“Jeez, let me think – I want to clean out the office in the basement. And the usual stuff like mowing the lawn, and cleaning catboxes, fun stuff like that.”

Looks like you might get some nice weather for the next few days.

“Yeah, it sure was nice to turn the AC off and open the house up this morning.”

What movie are you thinking of seeing?

“Well, Mary wants to see Pirates again. I was thinking of Sicko. And I heard good things about Waitress.”

Have a good vacation, whatever you do. And good luck with the cats.

“Thanks. I feel like singing that Go-Go’s song.”

Go for it.

“Vacation
All I ever wanted
Vacation
Had to get away
Vacation
Meant to be spent alone”

Talking To the Old Town School

2007-06-25T14:04:00.001-05:00

I was talking to my friend Will Briarwood earlier today. He was not in a good mood.

“You know, I love the Old Town School of Folk Music.”

You have mentioned that.

“Mary and I have been members for a number of years, and we’ve increased our annual donation the past couple years.”

But…

“They piss me off sometimes.”

You have said that the Old Town School is a great place to see a show, and they have well-behaved audiences, and the people there are great…

“Yes, all true. But I have four complaints.”

Four?

“First, their phone system. When they put tickets on sale to members, I usually go there, to the Lincoln Avenue location, and buy them in person.”

You have mentioned that you have gotten some great seats.

“We usually get seats in the first row. But the other day, tickets went on sale for The Swell Season, and there wasn’t a pre-sale for members, and I didn’t feel like taking the morning off work and driving into the city just to buy tickets for one show, and I ended up with tickets in the balcony.”

I have been to the Old Town School, and balcony tickets are still pretty close to the stage.

“I know, I know. It will still be a great show, and yes, we’ve gotten spoiled after sitting in the front row for most shows. But I had to call like ten times, and wait on hold – so I wish they would either upgrade their phone system, or bring in more people to answer their damn phones.”

You said you had four complaints…

“Well, let me think, I guess the second and third complaints lead to the fourth complaint. The second complaint is Al, and third complaint is Robbie.”

Who are…

“Al is the guy who introduces the shows, and reads all the announcements, and explains the rules…”

Rules?

“Rules for smoking outside, but not taking your drinks outside, and turning off cell phones, and not trying to sneak in a recording device, and not using the noisy doors during the show, et cetera, et cetera. And he thanks the show’s sponsors, and the school’s volunteers, and he thanks the members, and he thanks the media…”

That must take a while.

“And that’s my complaint. If it’s a seven pm show, and Al starts his intro at a few minutes after seven, then the show starts at seven fifteen, if we’re lucky.”

That doesn’t sound too bad.

“Hang on. My third complaint is Robbie. Robbie Fulks, that is.”

I thought you were a fan of his.

“I am, of his music. He is the host of a series of country music shows at the Old Town School. At each of these shows, Robbie interviews the performers.”

Again, doesn’t sound too bad.

“Sometimes he interviews them for like almost an hour.”

Oh. So with Al and Robbie…

“The shows start later than they should, and they run late. And that is my final complaint – and before you say that isn’t so bad, sometimes they have two shows scheduled for one evening. If the early show starts late, then sometimes the performer has to cut their set a bit short.”

Got it. I think.

“I should point out that on nights when Robbie hosts a show, they don’t have a late show. So his long interviews do make the evening a bit longer, but they don’t cut into the sets.”

So…

“I know, I’m running on here. Let me give you two examples. Sometimes, with popular artistes, the school will schedule a 7pm show and 10pm show. If Al doesn’t get off stage till seven fifteen, and the opening acts ends at eight or so, and the main act comes on at like eight fifteen, then they play a shorter set so they don’t delay the late show.”

Got it.

“Second example – we saw Tift Merritt and Anna Fermin at the Old Town School last weekend. Al got off stage at about seven fifteen, Robbie interviewed them till about eight, Anna played about forty-five minutes, and Tift didn’t finish till like ten thirty. I know, that’s not so bad, but it was a Sunday night, and we’ve been to shows that ran past eleven, which would have ended earlier if Robbie had yakked less.”

Will and I both had work to do, and we finished that conversation. He called me back a bit later that same day.

“OK, so now I’m less pissed off.”

At the Old Town School, you mean.

“Yeah. I sent a couple of e-mails to their website, and I already got two nice e-mails back from Gary – he’s the membership director – thanking me for my past support, explaining that with some shows they don’t have time for a members pre-sale before tickets go on sale to the general public, and saying that the Swell Season show was a lot more popular than they expected. And he asked me to clarify my phone problems, so I gave him all the details.”

I’m not sure I know Swell Season, by the way…

“It’s the actor-musicians from the new movie, Once. Great movie, great songs.”

You did not complain to Gary about Al or Robbie?

“Mary says she’s thinking of doing that. I should probably e-mail Gary to warn him.”

Who Wants the World?

2007-06-11T15:48:00.000-05:00

I was talking to my friend Will Briarwood a little while ago – he gave me a quick call to make sure I had seen a news story about our least favorite music venue.

“Did you see that story in the Tribune, that the World is for sale?”

You must mean the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre, formerly the Tweeter Center, formerly the World Music Something-or-other -- I saw the story in Greg Kot’s blog.

“I think he called it ‘under-performing amphitheater.’”

I think he also said that the concert industry in general has had some performance anxieties lately.

“Heh heh – he said ‘performance anxieties.’”

I think the worst sound I ever experienced at an arena show was one of the Lilith Fair shows that covivant and I saw there. It was muddy, and it was boomy – just terrible.

“And I assume that Sarah and company didn’t have the sound cranked up that high.”

Not really.

“We’ve discussed this before – if you were in the middle of the seats, rather than the left or the right side, then the sound was not quite as bad.”

I don’t think I’ve been there for years, thankfully.

“I saw the Springsteen show there last year.”

Kot mentioned that show in his article, didn’t he. Let me find what he said, here it is:

“The nadir came last year when Bruce Springsteen, who normally packs stadiums, attracted only a few thousand fans to the amphitheater for a concert devoted to his folk-oriented 2006 album ‘We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions.’

Springsteen fans, among the most devoted in rock, stayed away because, many of them said, they didn’t want to fight midweek rush-hour expressway traffic and shell out $92 for a ticket at a charmless venue.”

“I was down near the front that night – it was a great show, by the way -- and I think there were more than just a few thousand fans there. But yes, it was a pain-in-the-butt to get there on a weeknight.”

I think my worst ever traffic experience also involved the World – I think it might have been my first time there, it took us three hours to get there from Oak Park.

“The article also said that it’s Live Nation who is trying to sell the place – didn’t Jam used to own it?”

I think so.

“I seem to recall an interview Kot did years ago, with those two mopes at Jam, and they acted like they were offended when he brought up the awful sound of the place.”

Maybe it will sound better when it’s a subdivision in a few years.

“Imagine living in a house, on property where Bruce Springsteen, or Neil Young, or U2 once stood.”

Maybe they’ll call it the Midwest Tweeter World subdivision.

“How about the Springsteen Young Bono Estates. Start printing those sales brochures now.”

Dick

2007-06-08T13:59:00.000-05:00

I talked to my friend Mary Briarwood last night. She’s married to my friend Will Briarwood.

“He’s out running errands – I think he was going to the birds store, to the pet store, the hardware store…”

Sounds like fun.

“As he long as he doesn’t get into any fights tonight.”

Will? Fighting?

“Just verbally. He went to get his hair cut last night, where we always go –“

Some guys get into bar fights – Will got into a fight at the salon?

“Let me tell the story, please. So, he’s talking with the woman who cuts our hair -- in previous conversations, she has referred to herself as a moderate Republican.”

Doesn’t sound like the kind of person that Will would get into a fight with.

“He didn’t, not with her. He said they were having a fairly polite discussion, speculating about next year’s elections, when the guy who was her next appointment somehow got into their conversation.”

And…

“What was the term Will used – I think he referred to the guy as a ‘typical Republican dick.’”

I suppose there are still plenty of them around. I trust no one was injured.

“No, no injuries. Will said that this guy was just obnoxious. You know how some people just can’t discuss anything without making you mad?”

You mean, like typical Republican dicks.

“And you know that he and I don’t generally get into fights with people who vote Republican – I mean, I love his mother, and she has been voting that way for fifty-five years.”

And in all fairness, I’ve encountered plenty of people who vote against the Republicans, and who are pretty obnoxious when discussing politics.

“That’s true. I work with a woman who is a hundred-and-ten percent pro-choice, and she gets semi-hysterical with anyone who raises the slightest disagreement with her.”

So what did Mr. Dick say to get Will in a fightin’ mood?

“I think Will said that it started when the guy heard Will mention Hillary, and the guy said he was moving to Canada if she wins blah blah blah, and then the guy trotted out the old dogma about all of President Clinton’s accomplishments being just the finishing touches on everything Reagan and Bush did.”

I don’t mind talking with people who disagree with me, but come on, show me that you’re thinking before talking. Not just repeating talking points, or dogma.

“And the guy said he would never vote for – what’s his name, the actor – Fred Thompson?”

Yeah, just what the country needs, another Republican actor running for President.

“The guy said he could never vote for him because he voted against impeaching Clinton.”

An ideologue, sounds like.

“Lots of those out there. It’s going to be a long seventeen months.”

Well, tell Will to stay out of trouble, and ask him to call me when he has some time.

“OK. Say hi to covivant for me.”

All the people we used to know...

2007-06-04T14:49:00.000-05:00

I was talking to my friend Will Briarwood yesterday. I reminded him that he was going to tell me (again) why he likes their veterinarian.

“Because he went with his instincts, and saved our old girl a lot of stress, and saved me the cost of some fairly expensive tests.”

This is the cat who had some sort of lung problems?

“Yeah. We took her in for tests, but the doctor thought that the anesthesia would put too much stress on her kidneys, and he thought that maybe an anti-inflammatory would help her.”

So what is wrong with her?

“He called it a consolidation in the lung lobe. He described it as mucus or debris collecting there. He put her on an anti-inflammatory, and it was like throwing a switch – she stopped coughing, and started eating everything in sight.”

Does he still want to do those tests at some point?

“I think so – we’re taking her back in at the end of the month for evaluation.”

And the other cats are doing well?

“Far as we can tell. The other old girl is going in for a checkup a week from Saturday – she’s sixteen now, so the vet said it would be good to check her at least every six months. And we’re going to take the big guy in, to make sure he’s doing ok after that last cancer surgery.”

It is tough to watch our animals get old, isn’t it.

“Yeah. Which brings me around, sort of, to my theme for this weekend.”

Animals getting older?

“All of us getting older. I ran into someone I knew in high school, last time I was visiting my mom. She and her husband were in the grocery store, and we made small talk for a few minutes, and she asked what I did for a living, and I told her, and she said something to her husband like ‘back in high school, we all thought that Will would be a famous scientist or something, he was always the smartest kid around.’”

Your point is…

“I never did become a famous scientist or something. I just do insurance.”

And…

“Sometimes I think that I did not do all that I could have with my life.”

Will, you’re only fifty. It’s not like your life is over.

“I know. I was just thinking about some people, like – ready for my list? – Graham Parker and Jon Langford, and Loyd Auerbach, and the Cosmic Psychos.”

Umm – I know the first two you mentioned…

“I saw GP and Jonboy at the Old Town School Saturday night. Good show. Langford was the opening act, and let me think here, during his set he mentioned Barbara Manning, Kevin Coyne, Grant McLennan, and aboriginal country music.”

Go on.

“I’ve gotten the impression before that Jon is disappointed that some of his favorites have never had the success that he thinks they deserve. He introduced one song as something he wrote for Barbara Manning, and like one or two people applauded her name.”

And Kevin Coyne?

“Jon did one of his songs, and again, like one or two people applauded at the mention of his name. I had heard the story that the last time Coyne played in the US – he died a few years ago, I think – he played to a very small crowd at the Old Town School. Supposedly Langford was calling up everyone he knew, to get them to go to the show.”

Grant McLennan also died recently, didn’t he.

“Jon said he died right before a party, that was being thrown to celebrate his engagement.”

All kinds of happy stories there, Will.

“And Jon talked about playing some festival in Australia, and how most Australian country music is pretty bad, but aboriginal country music is pretty great. He played a song by an aboriginal singer – I wish I had written down the guy’s name, or the song title – it was really good.”

So to sum up so far, we’ve got you and your concerns about your life, and Barbara Manning, who never really sold many records, and Kevin Coyne –

“—who was fairly successful in parts of Europe, I think, but never sold anything over here in the U.S.”

And Grant McLennan, who I have heard of, with The Go-Betweens.

“On the other hand, you have Graham Parker, who has had a long career, but doesn’t sell nearly as many records as Elvis Costello, to whom he used to be compared.”

And Jon Langford, who has also had a long career, with The Mekons, and the Waco Brothers, and his solo stuff, and his artwork -- but has never sold a lot either.

“And I’m trying to get to the happier part of the stories here – both GP and Jonboy, they just keep on keepin’ on. They’re still making good music, and they’re not pretending that they’re still in their twenties – I hate to use the phrase ‘growing old gracefully,’ but they are growing old without compromising the qualities that made them worth listening to in the first place.”

Who else did you mention earlier – Lloyd somebody?

“I’ll get to him in a minute. I was listening to a live cd in the car this morning, something I downloaded online, by an Australian band called The Cosmic Psychos. I was reading the notes that I got with the music, and it said that the guitarist died recently.”

Another happy story.

“You know that I really like a lot of Australian bands – The Church, Celibate Rifles, Hoodoo Gurus…”

…The Hummingbirds, Midnight Oil, Kasey Chambers…

“...and aside from Midnight Oil, and maybe The Church, those bands never really had a lot of success.”

But they kept on keepin’ on, as you said. Is that our moral to our story today?

“Could be. Then there’s Loyd Auerbach.”

Who is…

“I knew him back in college. Weird dude, really into comics, and science fiction. I saw his name in the latest alumni newsletter. He is a parapsychologist.”

You’re kidding. A real Ghostbuster?

“He writes books, too. I was reading his Wikipedia profile – which I suspect he wrote – and it says he’s been on Oprah, and Letterman.”

How does he fit in to our stories here?

“I don’t know. I just wanted to make the point that, back in college, we all kind of laughed at his career plans – he was going to do graduate work at some school in California –“

In parapsychology?

“You know, I think it actually was in parapsychology. Anyway, the point is, that most of us got out of college with no idea of what we wanted to do. Loyd had a plan, and he stuck to it, and now it’s almost thirty years later, and he’s still doing what he wanted to do.”

You mentioned that he has written books.

“I also checked Amazon. I think three of his books are in print, and the rest – like four or five, maybe – are out of print. The book that’s selling the best is ranked number 432,745 at Amazon.”

So you’re acknowledging that you’re kind of happy for Loyd, that he’s doing what he wants to do…

“And I’m acknowledging that I’m kind of happy that he’s not selling a ton of books.”

Didn’t you tell me awhile back that someone else you knew in college was an author?

“Sharon Shinn – she writes fantasy novels. I have seen her books at Borders, so I think she probably sells a lot more than Loyd does.”

Can I add one more person to your stories here?

“Go for it.”

Brian Rosinski.

“Singer or author?”

Baseball player. When I was working and living in Evanston years ago, I knew people who went to high school with him. Supposedly, he was the best high school baseball player in the area in many years, and people thought he would be a big star.

“I’ve never heard of him, so I’m guessing that he was not a big star.”

He was drafted by the Cubs in the first round, like the fourth player overall, but he never made the majors.

“Couldn’t hit the curve ball?”

I think he got hurt in the minors.

“Your point?”

Ummm… sometimes we don’t have the career that we expect, or that we think we deserve, sometimes we get hurt or sick, or our cats get sick.

“There was a nice moment during Jonboy’s set, when he talked about listening to Graham Parker’s first record, and being blown away by it, and how great it is that Graham is still around, making good music.”

Can I say “keep on keepin’ on” again?

"Go ahead."

“The only thing I knew how to do
Was to keep on keepin' on like a bird that flew…

All the people we used to know
They're an illusion to me now.
Some are mathematicians
Some are carpenter's wives.
Don't know how it all got started,
I don't know what they're doin' with their lives.”

Vets and Blogs

2007-05-30T13:42:00.000-05:00

I talked to my friend Will Briarwood briefly the other day – he said his cats were all doing pretty well, and that he would give me more details when he had more time. He also said he would testify again as to why he really likes their veterinarian.

Speaking of veterinarians, we got a card in the mail from The Cat Practice in Oak Park, announcing that Dr. Malin is retiring. Dr. Malin took care of our cats for many years, so best wishes to her, and to Dr. Coughlin, who is taking over the practice.

I was browsing through the blogs I read regularly during lunch hour today. Here are a few of the stories I read recently:

Jennifer Ouellette writes about apocalypses, with references to American Idol and Buffy.

Starbucks Gossip writes about a woman and her dog at a local Starbucks.

Aaron Barnhart at TV Barn writes about the recently nonrenewed Jericho.

Greg Kot writes about Anna Fermin.

Get Well, Old Girl

2007-05-24T15:26:00.002-05:00

I talked to my friend Will Briarwood yesterday. He was telling me about his cats’ ongoing health problems.

“I talked to you last week, right?”

You did. You mentioned that your little guy had his surgery, and one of your old girls had an upper respiratory infection.

“Well, the little guy got his stitches out, and seems to be doing fine. He is switching over to a different food – the good news is, he’s been snarfing it. The bad news is that the ingredient list looks like crap.”

Crap?

“The first ingredient is water, followed by ‘meat by-products, chicken by-products, and animal fat (preserved with BHA/BHT).’”

I keep meaning to ask the vet about special veterinary diets that seem to have less than special ingredients.

“I’ll ask him if I have a chance when I see him tomorrow – the old girl is going in for more tests.”

Tests? For an infection?

“They were hoping it was just an infection. The old girl took antibiotics for two weeks, and she’s still coughing, and the x-rays they took yesterday showed the shaded spot on her lung was still there.”

That doesn’t sound good.

“Well, the doctor said it could be several things. It could be a persistent infection that needs more or different antibiotics. It could be – I forget exactly what she said – some sort of twist in the lung lobe that shows up on the x-ray. She said it did not look like lung cancer, and it was probably not mold or fungus related.”

So what kind of tests?

“Well, two weeks ago she had an x-ray and an ekg. Yesterday she saw the veterinary cardiologist – I don’t think I knew that there were veterinary cardiologists prior to two weeks ago. And tomorrow there going to put her under anesthesia, and squirt liquid into her lungs and then suck it back out, and then test that for abnormal cells. And they’re going to aspirate the area and take a sample.”

Poor old girl. How’s she holding up?

“Okay, usually. I think the coughing is making her sore – she went and hid under the bed when I left home this morning, which she almost never does.”

I hate to ask about your bills.

“I think the last eight months or so have been the most expensive we’ve ever had. I was telling Mary last night, maybe I’m just tired and worried, but I’m starting to get the uneasy feeling that we’re paying too much.”

You don’t mean that your cats aren’t worth that much – you mean that you think you’re being overcharged, or strung along?

“Something like that. It’s frustrating when you get test after test, bill after bill. But I suppose that’s the way it has to be, and that’s the most thorough way to check the cats’ health.”

Have you had time to watch all the season finales?

“Actually, I have watched them all: Veronica Mars, Lost, Heroes. I think I’m done for the season.”

I was surprised at how good the Lost finale was.

“Yeah, that was pretty great. And as I think we discussed last time, I worry about the cats more than I worry about cancelled tv shows – but it doesn’t mean that I’m not really bummed about Veronica Mars.”

Walking out into the rain, out of our lives forever…

“Unless they do a movie one day, as is already rumored.”

I don’t see that happening. I don’t think the fans are as crazy, or as vocal, as the Firefly fans were.

“We’ll see. And we’ll see if we get a Jericho wrapup at some point.”

We will see.

“I’ll keep you posted on the cats. I’m spending my day off tomorrow going to the vet, to the car dealer, and then taking my mom shopping for her birthday.”

As Mary tells me, you’re a good son, and you’re a good kitty daddy.

“Thanks.”

Cats Are OK, Veronica Is Gone

2007-05-18T16:51:00.000-05:00

I talked to my friend Will Briarwood earlier today. I asked him how all his cats were.

“OK, considering. The little guy had his surgery, and he’s been running around like a nut since we brought him home. He has stitches, so he’s supposed to be wearing a collar to keep him from touching the incision – but he keeps trying to pull the collar off. Since he hasn’t been trying to pull his stitches, we just gave up and left the collar off.”

And the other cats?

“One of the old girls is taking antibiotics – after an exam, and a chest x-ray, and an EKG, the vet said she hopes it’s just an upper respiratory infection. I’ve only heard her cough once in the past few days, and that was followed by her barfing her dinner mixed with globs of hair.”

Yum.

“The vet was concerned that it could be a heart problem – older cats that have thyroid problems can have heart problems too. She’s going in for a follow up next week – hopefully we won’t have to see the veterinary cardiologist next.”

I hate to ask about your vet bills.

“I think I’ve already put the vets’ kids through college, now I’m working on grad school.”

How was Norah Jones?

“She was really good, I enjoyed it even more than I thought I would. Ted Cox had a good review in the Herald. I got to meet the person to whom I had sold my extra ticket – a nice young woman from Virginia.”

I’ll get you a copy of the show – I downloaded it from dimeadozen.

“Thanks. So, are you as pissed off at the tv networks as I am?”

It does suck that Veronica Mars is gone, after next week finale.

“And Jericho – I can’t believe they screwed me over, just like with Invasion – you watch a show for a year, they leave you with a cliffhanger, then they cancel it.”

Like reading the first part of a novel, and someone takes it away from you.

“And Gilmore Girls is over, but at least that was planned, and they did give us a nice ending.”

I was reading that NBC is going to give us more sci-fi shows, after the success of Heroes.

“And I’m not going to watch any of them. I don’t think I’m going to watch any new shows next year.”

We have said that before…

“… and we always end up watching some new shows. I know. Maybe I’ll just wait, and see what looks like a hit, and get caught up online like I did with Heroes, or just watch reruns, like I did with Ugly Betty.”

Did you ever get around to buying the dvd’s for the cancelled shows over the past few years?

“Well, I did buy the Firefly dvd’s, of course. But no, I haven’t bought Invasion, or Kitchen Confidential, or Threshold, or Commander In Chief, or Point Pleasant…”

It’s hard enough staying current with the current shows.

“I know. My wife keeps telling me about the free time I’ll have, now that most of my shows will be in reruns, and then I’ll have free time in the fall because I’ll be watching fewer shows. And, to tell the truth, having a house full of sick cats kind of puts my tv shows into perspective.”

I suppose you worry a lot more about the cats than about Veronica Mars.

“At least I can do something to keep them from ending before their time."

Sick Cats, Lost Cat, and Norah

2007-05-08T13:10:00.000-05:00

My friend Will Briarwood sent me an e-mail this morning.

“Wanted to update you on a few things. First, all the cats are doing ok, thanks for asking. Little guy is having surgery Thursday. Big guy doesn’t seem to be having any new problems, and his fur is growing back from his surgery last month. And one of the girls is going in to vet tomorrow, because she has an occasional cough, which I’m hoping is just a hairball problem.”

He also mentioned some stories on the pet food recall.

“The New York Times had a story about the Chinese arresting someone for the contaminated wheat gluten. And the Los Angeles Times says the FDA has reports of over four thousand – 4000! – animals dying.”

And regarding Lost:

“You probably saw the stories about Lost, how ABC wants to do only sixteen episodes for each of the remaining seasons, and run them all in a row, with no repeats. And you probably noticed that, even though Eyepatch Guy returned, there have been no sightings of his cat, which was abandoned in the jungle.”

And regarding Norah Jones:

“I did sell my ticket – I got less than I paid for it, but at least I made another fan happy. Will let you know how the show is.”

Get Well, Little Guy

2007-05-03T12:35:00.000-05:00

I talked to my friend Mary Briarwood the other day. She’s married to my friend Will Briarwood.

“He’s out mowing the lawn. And then he’s going to check his bird feeders, and pull some weeds – assuming he survives all that, I’ll tell him you called.”

Thanks. How’s the cat?

“Jeez, which one?”

Ummm… is there more than one cat with health issues?

“There is always more than one cat with health issues. The latest is the little guy – we just found out that he needs to have surgery, because he has another stone in his bladder.”

He had surgery before, right?

“About four years ago. I’m so tired of seeing my cats with their fur shaved, and with stitches, and…”

I’m sure he’ll be ok. As I always remind Will, the two of you are the best cat owners around.

“I just wish there was more we could do to keep them healthy.”

If there is more, I’m sure you’ll do it. How was Las Vegas?

“It was fun. The Beatles show was great, my daughter and I did some fun things, she tried on wedding dresses, and I got my picture taken with the sexiest man in the world.”

Wait, don’t tell me, Will told me about you and… Johnny Depp?

“Jack Sparrow, actually.”

I didn’t know he was doing a Vegas show.

“The wax museum version of Jack Sparrow.”

Got it. I hope the house was still standing when you got home – Will said he had some wild times planned while you were gone.

“I know, wild times. He locked me out of the house, so I had to ring the doorbell and get him out of bed when I got home the other night. He said the cats missed me.”

He did say that he was not looking forward to trying to pill a cat without your help. Did he leave the electric blanket on for them?

“He said he did, and it was on when I went to bed last night.”

I’m sure they appreciated it. I’ll let you go – good luck to the little guy on his surgery.

“Thanks. Tell covivant to call me sometime.”

Patty, Julie, Norah and Will

2007-04-25T13:45:00.000-05:00

I was talking to my friend Will Briarwood today. I asked him if he had listed his Norah Jones ticket on ebay yet.

“Yeah, just did, this morning.”

Any bids yet?

“Not yet. I checked all the listing for tickets for her Chicago show – mine is the cheapest at $19.99. And there’s only one other auction that is offering a single ticket.”

Good luck. Hey, do I hear Patty Griffin?

“Yeah – the person who sits in the next cube is out for a few days, so I can play music at my desk without bothering anyone.”

Her new album?

“Yeah. Hey, I forgot to mention, during our conversations about cats – I have a Patty Griffin song stuck in my head when I think about my cat.”

The cat who had surgery.

“It’s a few lines from her song ‘Be Careful.’”

Give them to me, and I’ll put them at the end of my post.

“OK. And as long as we’re talking about female singers…”

Which we do a lot, it seems.

“Don’t get me started. I don’t know what’s wrong with guys who only listen to men. Is it some buried homosexual impulse? Is it some misogynist thing?”

I won’t get you started. But I will say that I was listening to a Bruce Springsteen live recording the other day, and Bruce was talking between songs, and you could hear some guy in the crowd yelling “Broooooce.”

“I bet he’s sick of that.”

Actually, it was pretty damn funny – he said something like, “It’s really great when other men express their love for me.”

“That is pretty funny. So, speaking of female singers, weren’t we discussing Julie Miller recently?”

We were.

“I heard that she’ll be releasing a collection from her old out-of-print Christian records.”

Like a box set?

“No, I think it’s just a single cd. And it will be available only at their website.”

Cool. I’ll let covivant know. So how’s the bachelor life?

“She just left this morning. In fact, I’m not sure if their plane has even landed yet.”

They went to Vegas, your wife and her daughter?

“Yeah. They’re going to see that Beatles show tomorrow night.”

The Cirque du Soleil show, LOVE.

“Yep. They were considering trying to get tickets for one of Prince’s shows too, but decided it was too expensive, and too much hassle.”

I did hear that Prince is playing Vegas.

“Supposedly the shows are great, but I think tickets are like $125, and even though the wife loves Prince, she didn’t feel like standing for several hours in a crowded nightclub.”

I saw that someone had like six cd’s of his Vegas shows over on dime – if I can find some time to download and burn it, then I’ll give you a copy.

“Thanks, the wife would probably like that.”

So, what’s on the bachelor agenda this evening?

“Exciting stuff. Stopping at the Wild Birds store, then at Whole Foods, then home. Feed cats. Try to give the one cat her two pills, which I’ve never done by myself. Eat some of the leftovers that the wife left for me. And hopefully stay awake long enough to watch Jericho and Lost.”

That does sound exciting.

“But mostly, I’ll try to hang with the cats. The guy who had surgery is really a momma’s boy, and he really misses her when she’s not around.”

Patty Griffin lyrics for Will’s cat:

“Be careful how you bend me
Be careful where you send me
Careful how you end me
Be careful with me”

Norah Jones Ticket Available

2007-04-24T12:36:00.000-05:00

I was talking to my friend Will Briarwood again today. He said he had to do some backtracking.

“Remember our conversation a while back, about Norah Jones tickets?”

I do. You were angry at ticket scalpers and ebay.

“And I said that reselling tickets should be prohibited or at least restricted.”

And now…

“I’m trying to sell one of my tickets. But I’m not trying to scalp it – I just want to sell it for what I paid for it.”

No one around to go with you?

“No, the wife isn’t a fan, and my brother and sister aren’t either. So I’m going to try and sell it on ebay – but I don’t know how much interest there will be in a single ticket. For a show on a Tuesday evening.”

Couldn’t a ticket scalper buy your ticket and then sell it for a higher price?

“Technically, yes. I’m going to try to put some kind of warning in my auction that the theatre does not allow reselling the ticket for more than the face value. Maybe that will keep the scalpers away.”

Hopefully it won’t keep potential buyers away.

“Hopefully not.”

How’s the cat doing?

“The guy who had surgery is doing ok. One of the other cats got into my wife’s herb garden, and was throwing up this morning.”

Nothing poisonous, I hope.

“Chives – I checked around online, and one list said chives were harmful to cats, and another list said chives were not harmful. He doesn’t act sick, so we’re just going to keep an eye on him for a few days. Then one of the other cats had a bit of a cough, so we have to keep an eye on her.”

I wish I could add our cats to my health insurance.

“No kidding. I have great insurance for myself, and nothing for the cats. Just a long series of charges to my Visa.”

And you? Feeling better?

“Yeah, sort of. I went to the doctor last week, and she said my lungs were clear, so I don’t have pneumonia or bronchitis, just a frakking annoying cough. She told me to take Claritin.”

You and Kelly Willis.

“That’s right. But I doubt that Claritin will do much for my singing voice.”

Well, take it easy.

“I plan to. The wife and her daughter will be out of town for a few days, so I’ll have the place to myself – well, me and four cats.”

You can turn the heat down.

“I plan to. But I’ll have to leave her electric blanket on at night, because the cats like to sleep on it.”

As I said, you guys are the best cat owners.

“Thanks. If I can sell my Norah Jones ticket, then I’ll put the proceeds into the pay-the-next-vet-bill fund.”

Ten Questions On Music

2007-04-18T14:25:00.000-05:00

I was talking to my friend Will Briarwood again this morning. He started our conversation by apologizing.

“Sorry I’ve been such a drag lately.”

Don’t worry about it. How’s your cat doing?

“Well, we got his stitches out, and we waited a day and then took his collar off, and within an hour he had chewed a big raw spot on his back. I wish I could have stayed home with him today.”

Nothing serious, is it?

“Well, he had to get his collar back on again, and he was not too happy about that. I talked to the vet today, and she said to keep an eye on things. If the spot he chewed doesn’t heal promptly, then we should call them back. Hey, enough about that. Let’s switch to a happier topic. I found this list of questions on my boss’s blog.”

Your boss has a blog?

“Yeah, I found it by accident when I did a google search
for our company name.”

Is it about your company? Or is it personal stuff?

“Personal, mostly about music.”

Have you posted any comments on his blog?

“No way. So, here are the questions…”

1. What was the first record or cd that you owned?

W: “I think it was a Three Dog Night single. Maybe ‘Eli’s Coming.’ ”

K: My brothers and I bought some 45’s at the local Osco – I think the first was “In the Year 2525” by Zager & Evans.

2. What was the worst concert you ever saw?

W: “I saw John Fahey several years ago, it must have been right before he died. Maybe his music was too complex for me, but I thought he was just doodling for over an hour…”

K: Can’t think of any really bad ones. I saw Siouxsie and the Banshees put on an uninspired show back in the 80’s. Covivant and I saw Johnette Napolitano twice, with different bands, and both times she played really short shows.

3. What cd or album in your collection are you embarrassed to say is there?

W: “I think I sold all of my REO Speedwagon and Kansas albums before we moved last time.”

K: I owned at least six Styx albums, which I think I sold too.

4. What was the last song that gave you goose bumps?

W: “Patty Griffin, ‘Mary.’ “

K: Kim Richey, “Every River.”

5. If you could sit in with one musician or band, who would that be?

W: “I think this question is for the musicians out there. When I was a kid, I wanted to be in Black Sabbath.”

K: If I were a musician, I think it would be pretty cool to play with the E Street Band.

6. What's the best place you've ever seen a concert?

W: “Fitzgerald’s.”

K: I’ll go with that. Followed by the Old Town School.

7. The worst?

W: “I hope I don’t have to ever go back to the World/Tweeter/Midwest whatever the frak it’s called now.”

K: I don’t think I ever want to go to another big festival, like at Soldier Field.

8. Did your Dad have a love for music? How about your Mom?

W: “Ummm… not really. I mean, my dad liked Frank Sinatra, and I took my mom to see Tony Bennett earlier this year, but they didn’t buy music by the ton the way I do.”

K: I can remember my dad liking only a few rock songs: “Sugar Sugar” by The Archies, and “Old Time Rock and Roll” by Bob Seger. And “American Pie.” My mom really liked watching Bruce Springsteen when she would see him on tv.

9. DRM stands for __________________ .

W: “Ummm… I have no idea. Are those Dave Matthews’ initials?”

K: I remember a band called DRI. And DOA. No idea.

10. What singer's pipes blow you away?

W: “Patty Griffin, Neko Case, Sinead O’Connor, Karan Casey.”

K: Roger Daltrey when he was younger. Bruce Springsteen.

Get Well, Big Guy

2007-04-17T15:41:00.000-05:00

I talked to my friend Will Briarwood this morning.

“Sorry I didn’t get back to you the other day. It’s been another hectic month.”

No problem. What’s going on?

“Our cat had another cancer surgery.”

I’m sorry to hear that. How is he doing?

“OK, considering. He had two little lumps, so we took him to the vet, and it turned out that both lumps were cancerous – the vet called them soft tissue sarcomas. So he had to have them both removed, and he’s got two more long scars, to go with the one he got last year. He just got his sutures removed yesterday.”

You and your wife are the best cat owners, Will. I’m sure you’re taking good care of him.

“I hope so. My wife is starting to worry that we’re going to be keeping him alive for selfish reasons, rather than doing what’s best for him.”

How old is he?

“He’ll be nine this year. So, in human years, he’s about the same age we are.”

How is he handling everything?

“As far as we can tell, he’s ok. I mean, he’s clearly uncomfortable, and he’s not happy with the collar he’s been wearing for two weeks. But never for a second did I believe that he wanted us to put him out of his suffering. And the other day he jumped from the one set of steps, up on to our bed, which is about three feet – it was a damned good jump for an overweight, three-legged cat recovering from cancer surgery.”

As I said, I know that you are taking care of him.

“We discussed everything with our vet. He had talked with a couple of veterinary oncologists -- I guess that sometimes they can do radiation treatments for cats, but he didn’t think that our cat was a good candidate.”

Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease.

“And then I find out that the one flavor of cat food that we feed one of the other cats, just got added to the big recall. So I had to return that food to PetSmart today, and now I have to find something else that the one cat will eat.”

I keep meaning to write some letters to the cat food companies about all this.

“I read through the FAQ from the one company, Nutro / MaxCat. It answered some questions, but there are still plenty more to be answered.”

All that’s happening in the world, and we worry most about our cats.

“Because they’re closer to us – physically and emotionally – than the rest of the world.”

Ten Questions for a Monday

2007-04-02T13:57:00.000-05:00

Why won’t they name the company that supplied the wheat gluten that went into the pet food that poisoned hundreds or thousands of pets? Why hasn’t the FDA issued an updated count of pets that have gotten sick?

Who is going to buy the Cubs?

Would this story be believable with any other recent Vice President? What about this story and any other President?

What is happening to the bees?

Will Veronica Mars be back next season? What about Jericho?

Does Harry Potter die in the seventh and last book?

Does anyone really drink eight glasses of water every day?

Bob Frakking Dylan

2007-03-30T14:06:00.000-05:00

I was talking to my friend Will Briarwood for a few minutes today – he was busy at work, and didn’t have a lot of time.

WARNING – SPOILERS FOR THE SEASON THREE FINALE OF BATTLESTAR GALACTICA

“We have not discussed the season finale of Battlestar Galactica yet. Pretty strange, huh?”

Strange that we have not discussed it, or a strange episode?

“Ha. Both, I guess. Let’s see, Season One ended with Adama being shot.”

That was right about when I started watching.

“Season Two ended with them on New Caprica and the Cylons finding them.”

That was a shocker.

“And now Season Three ends with new Cylons, Bob Dylan, and the return – maybe – of Starbuck.”

Seeing Starbuck again wasn’t a shock. And I kind of suspected that something was up with the chief, when found that temple. The other three Cylons were a bit of a surprise.

“And them hearing Bob Dylan? How do they explain that?”

I read some of the reviews, and interviews. I think someone said that maybe there was a songwriter somewhere out there, who somehow thought of the same lyrics as Dylan…

“That’s a bit of a stretch.”

Stay tuned. I’m sure they’ll explain some things next season.

“Which isn’t for like nine months. 2008.”

I heard they’re planning to do an episode this fall, kind of bridging the gap between season three and season four.

“We’ll talk more later. Gotta run.”

And so Will ran. Before we could discuss whether Starbuck is just in Lee’s head, the way that Six and Baltar are in each other’s heads, and I didn’t get to ask him if he had seen Tricia Helfer in Playboy, and how Tigh could be a Cylon when Adama has known him for many years, and what it means that there is at least one other Cylon/human hybrid baby, and…

And Even I'm Getting Tired...

2007-03-29T14:39:00.000-05:00

I was talking to my friend Will Briarwood today. I thought he would tell me about last night’s Patty Griffin show, but…

“We didn’t go.”

Bummer. What happened?

“What happened? What happened is that I forgot that going to shows in the city on weeknights is pretty tough on a tired old guy, who is still adjusting to new medication, and is sick of fighting traffic. I just wasn’t up for it.”

Sorry to hear that, Will. I know you’re a big fan of Patty’s.

“Yeah. I was bummed about missing her shows at Schubas earlier this year, so I was hoping to catch last night’s show, but it didn’t happen. If I had planned things better, I could have at least sold the tickets on ebay or something…”

You ok? You sound tired again.

“I probably shouldn’t have had a beer with lunch, when I’m on medication.”

Did you watch Lost last night, as long as you were home?

“Yeah. So not only did I miss my concert, but I wasted an hour watching another weak episode of Lost.”

It was not one of their better shows. I’m not sure what the point was in telling the backstory of a couple of minor characters.

“I wanted to watch Jericho last night, but didn’t have time.”

Me neither. I burned more of covivant’s cooking shows to dvd, watched Lost, and went to bed just past ten.

“I was talking to someone about that big Clapton concert, the big festival that’s in Chicago this year.”

The Crossroads concert.

“Yeah, that one. When I expressed my opinion that big all day festivals were fine for young people, that I wouldn’t go unless I had a skybox ticket, in the shade, with a private bathroom – well, the person I was talking with called me a ‘weenie.’”

Yawn. Whatever.

“I mean, I saw some festivals when I was younger, but when I make a list of the best shows I’ve seen, I don’t think my list includes anything that was at Soldier Field, or Navy Pier, or that Guinness Fleadh clusterfuck.”

The person you were talking to about the Clapton thing – is this one of those guys who thinks that the more money he pays for a show, the better the show is?

“I don’t think so. I think he’s genuinely enthusiastic about music, even though he’s older than we are. He’s mostly a classic rock fan, and those are the shows that you find at big stadiums in the summer.”

I don’t plan on finding any of those shows.

“I thought about going to that festival last year in Chicago, the one that Roky Erickson played at. But I just have no interest in spending many hours sitting – or standing, more likely – in the summer weather, with twenty thousand drunk morons around me.”

I hate to say it, Will, but I think we are both having trouble adjusting here.

“Adjusting to what? Getting older?”

More specifically, I meant giving up a lot of the concert-going experience.

“Yeah. It’s something that I’ve really enjoyed for many years – giving it up, or just cutting back, it feels like some kind of admission that I’ve gotten old.”

Got any meaningful song lyrics I could quote at the end of my post?

“How about that old Jethro Tull song, about being too old to rock and roll, too young to die?”

Yawn.

“I was kidding. ’Hope I die before I get old’?’”

Cliché.

“Maybe a Patty Griffin lyric. How about this one…”

Ouch. You sure you’re ok?

“Yeah, I’m fine, really. Just hanging on to that capacity for sadness.”

“Everyday I take a bitter pill
It gets me on my way
For the little aches and pains
The ones I have from day to day
To help me think a little less about the things I miss
To help me not to wonder how I ended up like this”

To Know Which Way the Wind Blows

2007-03-26T15:36:00.000-05:00

I was talking to my friend TS Elmwood again yesterday afternoon. We were both out enjoying the record warm weather.

“Do you believe this? Weren’t we buried in snow a few weeks ago?”

I guess we lived through February.

“And it will be opening day for baseball season in a week.”

I found the neighbor kids’ baseball in our backyard the other day. It was like a sign of spring, that and all the robins.

“It was great, being able to open up all the windows at home this morning. Unfortunately, our neighbor was out on his patio with his cigar, and with the wind out of the southwest, I could smell it in my kitchen.”

Bummer.

“They’re good people, but the next time they complain about my bird feeders, they’ll hear from me about cigar smoke.”

They don’t like birds?

“No, they might poop on their perfect lawn. And I don’t think they like all the squirrels that invade my feeders, one of them might drop a peanut shell in their perfect garden.”

Life in the suburbs.

“Big plans for the nice weather today?”

I hope not. You?

“Do a little cleanup in the yard. I think I’ll save raking leaves and dead stuff for a couple weeks later. All of your cats healthy? Nothing bad in their food, I hope?”

Healthy as we could hope for a bunch of old cats. They sure enjoy being out on the porch when it’s warm like this.

“I didn’t think that you let your cats outside.”

No, we don’t – we have a screened-in porch, that’s too cold in winter and too hot much of the summer, but it’s really nice in spring and fall. I was out there, reading a book, with a cat curled up next to me.

“I was outside earlier, and I just sat still for a few minutes, and felt the warmth of the sun on my skin. And I went throught the drive-thru at Starbucks, and sat there while they made my drink, with the car windows down, feeling the breeze. I just love these warm spring days, I feel my lifeforce coming back after all these months.”

Covivant says she hopes my S.A.D. is finally lifting.

“We saw a couple of Irish bands Saturday evening – it’s hard to stay sad, or S.A.D., with that kind of music.”

Whom did you see?

“Lunasa and Dervish, at the Old Town School. I’ve been a Lunasa fan for several years, they’re always great. I liked Dervish, too – first time I’ve heard a Cher song done Celtic-style.”

Cher?

“The singer introduced it as a song she had heard on the radio, and she thought the band could play it their way. She said it was about the ‘marginalized of society,’ then she started singing ‘I was born in the wagon of a traveling show…’“

That would be “Gypsies Tramps and Thieves,” I believe?

“You got it. They also played Dylan’s ‘Boots of Spanish Leather.’ ”

***Warning – spoiler coming for the season three finale of Battlestar Galactica***

You don’t watch Battlestar Galactica, do you?

“No, but I’ve heard it’s good.”

I’ll have to talk to Will about it, then. They used some lines from ”All Along the Watchtower” in last night’s season finale.

“Sounds intereresting. You’ll have to stick those lines at the end of your blog.”

“ ’There must be some way out of here," said the joker to the thief,
’There's too much confusion, I can't get no relief.’ “

More Sick Cats and Dogs

2007-03-23T12:44:00.000-05:00

I talked to my friend Will Briarwood again today. He was still angry about the pet food recall.

“Rat poison. How does rat poison get into pet food?”

I don’t know, Will. I saw the story, didn’t get the chance to read it yet.

“And the first lawsuits have been filed against Menu Foods.”

I saw that. And I saw that PETA is demanding criminal charges in several states.

“And I hadn’t even noticed the dates in that New York Times story – Menu knew about possible problems last month, and it took them three weeks to announce the recall?”

I did see where someone pointed out that this could be a wake-up call to millions of pet owners, that they need to take a look at what they are feeding their pets.

“And it could mean an increase in business for the natural food makers.”

I talked to our veterinarian yesterday – he said they had one cat that was hospitalized last week, and they think it was due to the food.

“I hate to think of how many pets have been affected by this. I could be hundreds, thousands.”

I keep thinking about the picture from the New York Times story, the one I used on my previous post.

“That was a great picture, a sad picture. I feel bad for that woman and her poor little dog. Sometimes I look into the eyes of our cats, and I think of how much they trust us, that we’re taking care of them, feeding them the right food.”

You’ve given your cats good lives. Always remember that.

“I know, I know. I just worry that someone could take those lives away from me.”

On the Menu: Sick Pets

2007-03-21T13:16:00.000-05:00

I talked to my friend Will Briarwood this morning, and he was not happy.

"You've heard about the big pet food recall, I'm sure."

Of course. I was in PetSmart Sunday, saw the sign, and went home to make sure our cats' food was okay.

"Well, even if it's ok, it's probably not ok."

Meaning what?

"Meaning that if you buy foods made by this Menu Foods, then you're supporting cruelty to animals."

Explain.

"I was reading a bunch of the news stories, and I saw a story in the Tribune that was just disgusting. Here, let me quote it to you: 'Menu Foods told the FDA it received the first complaints of kidney failure and death among cats and dogs from pet owners on Feb. 20. It began new tests on Feb. 27. During those tests, the company fed its product to 40 to 50 dogs and cats. Seven animals--the mix of species was not immediately known--died...’ There was also a story in the New York Times.”

So they learned that their petfood might be killing animals, and they decided to be sure?

"By killing more animals."

I read the list of pet foods made by Menu -- it's a long list. And it includes the Nutro / MaxCat that we buy.

"I think it might be time to reconsider the brand you buy."

I will reconsider. It's just that our oldest cat is really picky -- she's going to be sixteen years old next month, and I don't know if she will be interested in trying new foods.

"I know, it could be a tough decision, but I've heard you talk about how you try to buy cruelty-free products. I started looking around online. I found a list of brands from companies that do not test on animals at PETA's website.”

You know that I’m not a big fan of PETA.

“I know, I know, neither am I. But sometimes they have information that other organizations don’t.”

If PETA would stop trying so hard to offend people, they might have a few more supporters.

“I think PETA believes that offending people is their purpose. Anyway, do some checking on your catfoods.”

After I talked to Will, I did some checking.

We buy cat treats made by Halo -- they are on the list of companies that do not do testing on animals.

We buy several kinds of dry food, including Innova and Science Diet. They are not on PETA’s list.

And we buy Nutro moist food. Nutro is not on PETA’s list.

I’ll be contacting these companies, to ask them their position on laboratory testing of animals. Stay tuned.

The Times, They Are A-Springin'-Forward

2007-03-12T15:26:00.000-05:00

I was talking to my friend Will Briarwood, and I told him he looked like he could use a long nap.

“There are several reasons that I’m tired today. One is stupid Congress.”

You and Congress were out partying this weekend?

“No, it’s the time change. Springing forward always throws off my schedule – it feels like I woke up in the middle of the night this morning.”

It was kind of dark when my alarm went off today. Congress could probably find some more important problems to work on, rather than screwing up our clocks, both internal and external.

“Then there’s my urologist.”

I did not know that you have a urologist.

“As of last week. New medication, makes me a bit dopey.”

Let’s save that discussion for another post.

“OK. The main reason I’m tired is the three shows I saw in the past three nights.”

You and your concerts, again. You’re old enough to have a urologist, but you still think you can go out three nights in a row.

“I know, I know.”

So whom did you see?

“Friday was Alejandro Escovedo and Chuck Prophet at the Old Town School of Folk Music.”

If you drove into the city on a Friday, then I bet traffic sucked.

“Took me over two hours to get there. I spent more a lot more time in the car that evening than I did watching music.”

Long drives, or short show?

“Both. It was one of those nights where the Old Town School decided they had to squeeze in two shows. So they had to clear the room for the late show. Alejandro was done by like 9:30 – he only played for a little over an hour.”

You’re kidding – I saw him play for almost three hours once.

“Well, in his defense, he is a bit older now, and he does have his own health issues.”

He still puts on a good show, doesn’t he?

“Well, yes. But he played several songs from his most recent record, and one brand new song, and I hate to say it, but his songwriting is in a slump. It makes me nervous that he’s using his wife poetry for song lyrics. And the brand new song – which he wrote with Chuck Prophet – didn’t do much for me.”

How was Chuck Prophet’s set?

“He was good. I wish I had bought a cd or two.”

He was in Green On Red, right?

“Right. One of those bands I missed back in the 80’s.”

Whom did you see Saturday?

“Back to the Old Town School for Karan Casey and Crooked Still. It was a really good show.”

I’ve heard of Karan Casey, but I don’t think I know Crooked Still.

“Kind of bluegrassy / old-timey music. But with a cello as the lead instrument, rather than a fiddle.”

Different.

“I was telling someone that the singer looked a bit like Lisa Loeb, the banjo player looked a lot like a very young Bruce Springsteen, and the cellist looked like Kurt Cobain.”

Different.

“And it turns out that the banjo player actually toured with Bruce last year. I wish I had bought their cd too.”

You’ve seen Karan Casey before, haven’t you?

“Saw her open for Lunasa, last year. One of my favorite Celtic singers. She does a version of a song called, I think, ‘Love Is Teasing’ -- aye, ‘twould melt your heart. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s on any of her cd’s.”

And Sunday’s show?

“Natalie MacMaster, out at the Hemmens in Elgin. Another really good show. My wife and I bought three of her cd’s last night. A very energetic show, considering she’s six months pregnant.”

She’s the one who fiddles and stepdances, right?

“Right, but there was a bit less dancing last night. Coincidentally, I saw both her and Karan Casey last year – and both were pregnant last year.”

And today you’re probably more tired than a pregnant stepdancer.

“As soon as I pick my wife up from the train, I’m going to bed.”

Isn’t Heroes on tonight?

“It’s a rerun. But, dammit, that reminds me that I do have to watch last night’s Battlestar Galactica. And my wife has been busy, so we have a couple of Gilmore Girls we haven’t watched yet.”

March is rerun month, Will. You’ll have time to caught up on your shows.

“I know. Right after I get caught up on my sleep.”

Lost Cats

2007-03-08T12:47:00.000-06:00

I was talking to my friend Will Briarwood, and he was not happy.

“I think I’m going to stop watching Lost.”

We discussed Lost recently – I didn’t think you were ready to give up on it.

“What did you think of last night’s episode?”

SPOILER ALERT – we are going to discuss episode number 59, “Enter 77,” which was on US tv yesterday, March 7, 2007.

It was pretty good, I guess. A bit violent.

“What about the cat being abandoned in the jungle at the end?”

That did bother me.

“It bothered me a lot. They wouldn’t have done that to a dog.”

By ‘they,’ you are referring to the writers and/or producers of Lost.

“Any tv show’s writers and producers. It’s always ok to have a cat being abused, but they would never show a character leaving a dog to die in the jungle.”

Slow down, let’s think about this. Perhaps The Others will come to investigate the explosion, and they’ll find the cat and take care of it.

“I’ll bet you anything that the show never refers to that cat again. Or the horse we saw, or the cow.”

But you must have appreciated the scene where the Iraqi woman talks about rescuing the alleycat.

“Yes, it was good that she rescued the cat. But the writers would not have written the scene with a dog being tortured.”

They did not show any animal abuse on screen. The Iraqi woman’s cat seemed to be cared for – it showed that she still had compassion in her, despite being tortured herself.

“Yes, yes, that was a nice touch. It’s just that I hate to see animal abuse, especially involving cats, being used as a plot device.”

I found myself thinking about all the cats on Maui.

“That’s right, they film Lost in Hawaii. I did read that there is a serious cat overpopulation problem there.”

Seeing that cat abandoned in the jungle, I was thinking of all the starving cats in Hawaii. And the ones that are not starving are eating the endangered bird species.

“I was thinking about Carlita.”

Umm…

“Rose’s cat on Invasion. When the show ended, there were several cliffhangers left unresolved, including whether Carlita survived everything.”

Do you think that Lost will answer some of our questions in the remaining episodes this season?

“Actually, I think that Eyepatch Guy may have answered some questions last night, when he talked about the conflict between the Dharma scientists and The Others.”

One more thing bothered me about last night’s show – when did Locke become so dumb?

“Yeah, ignoring a dangerous captive so he could go play chess. Pretty dumb.”

You are going to keep watching, aren’t you?

“Yeah, I will. Just so I can say ‘I told you so’ when they never refer to the lost cat again.”

Julie Miller, We Need You

2007-03-02T14:02:00.000-06:00

My friend Will Briarwood was telling me about Julie Miller, Bruce Springsteen and 9/11…

“Remember the story about Bruce Springsteen, and the fan who said we needed him after 9/11?”

Refresh my memory.

“The story – at least the story that we saw on the morning news shows – was that Bruce was in his car somewhere in New Jersey, a few months after 9/11. A fan recognized him and yelled something like “we need you, Bruce.”

I do remember the story. And Bruce was inspired to write songs about 9/11, which became his album The Rising.

“Yeah. Bruce did make a great album, with some great songs.”

You said you were also thinking about Julie Miller.

“One of the first shows I saw after 9/11 was Buddy and Julie Miller at FitzGerald’s. Near the end of the show, Julie was talking about what was happening in the country -- I wish I had written down her exact words.”

What did she say?

“She talked about God, but only about love, not about hate. I remember her message as everyone should try to love each other a bit more and hate each other a bit less. That we should all reach out to anyone we knew who was a Muslim, or an Arab-American. Because that was what Jesus would do.”

That’s quite different from what a lot of so-called-Christians were saying at that time.

“I know – I seem to recall Jerry Falwell on tv, saying that we needed to kill the evildoers, in Jesus’ name.”

So your point about Bruce and Julie is…

“I wish that someone would see Julie driving around Nashville, and would say to her, ‘we need you, Julie.’”

Which would inspire her to make an album about…

“About what she said at FitzGerald’s.”

I don’t think I’ve heard anything new from her for a while – where has she been?

“Not sure. I checked around online, and I think the story is that she’s had some health problems, and a death in the family, and just hasn’t been able to make a record for several years. I have a Google alert for ‘julie miller,’ but most of the info I get is on many other people named ‘julie miller.’ “

Covivant is a big fan of hers. It would be good to hear Julie’s perspective on things.

“I mean, people have made records about 9/11. I think the best is the Sleater-Kinney song, ‘Faraway.’“

There were those Neil Young records, good and bad.

“And Butch Hancock’s most recent one.”

I’ve heard a song by Mudhoney called “Hard On For War. ” And I heard Richard Thompson play his new song last week, called “Dad’s Gonna Kill Me.”

“ ‘Dad’? “

Short for Baghdad. Like ‘Nam’ was short for Vietnam.

“Got it. So, are you going to put some Julie Miller lyrics at the end of the post?”

Yes, I am.

“You can have my heart
If you don't mind broken things
You can have my life if you don't mind these tears
Well I heard that you make old things new
So I give these pieces all to you
If you want it you can have my heart”

Dream Dreams the Dreamer

2007-03-01T13:01:00.000-06:00

I was talking to my friend Will Briarwood earlier today. He was telling me about the dream he had last night.

“I had just arrived at a concert hall, and I was trying to find some place to leave my bike.”

Your bicycle, or your motorcycle?

“Don’t know. I don’t remember that I was pedalling, and I don’t remember that an engine was running. It was one of those dream things, where you just move via an unknown force. I was riding around alleys and parking lots, and there were no parking spaces or bike racks.”

Did anything look familiar? Did you know where you were?

“I thought I might be in Oak Park. I was getting worried, because the show had already started. I could hear the opening act from outside.”

Who was it?

“It was Big Country. They were opening for U2.”

Interesting. What song were they playing?

“Don’t know. I just heard music and knew that it was Big Country.”

Stuart Adamson is dead – were you hearing a different singer? Or were you back in the past?

“Did I mention that it was a dream? It was another one of those dream things, where you just know what is happening, without knowing all the details.”

Okay. Did you get your bike parked?

“Nope. Dream ended with me still outside, riding around.”

Sorry to hear that. You know, I think they say that dreams like that indicate a fear of having no control over your life.

“Yeah. The fear pops up in your unconscious, and plays itself out as a dream – rather than the dream making you wake up feeling afraid.”

I know you’ve mentioned that you hate being late for concerts.

“I do hate being late -- my wife complains that we always leave way too early, and end up sitting around waiting for the show to start.”

It wasn’t her fault that you were late, in the dream?

“No, I don’t think my unconscious was blaming her for anything. I don’t think I was with anyone. Just me on a bike.”

You do think about concerts a lot, for a man your age.

“Right back at ya. Hey, did I tell you I was thinking about Julie Miller, Bruce Springsteen and 9/11?”

Tell me about it in the next post…

The Folk Interrogation

2007-02-28T14:01:00.000-06:00

I was at a show the other night, and was talking to an old friend, Bailey Cleveland. She has some great stories…

“I’ll bet you never heard of The Folk Interrogation.”

No, I don’t think that I have.

“That’s because you were a Seventies child. I was a Sixties child.”

Yes, you do tend to remind me of that whenever we have a conversation about music.

“You think that music started with Emerson Lake and Palmer or The Ramones.”

You know that’s not true – tell me about this Folk Interrogation.

“It was in the late Sixties, I think I went in 1968 or so. My boyfriend’s older sister took us with her and her friends.”

What and where was it?

“It was a music festival, at a small college somewhere downstate. I don’t remember exactly where. I just remember a bunch of hippies with guitars.”

And the name ‘Folk Interrogation?’

“The idea was that these hippie folksingers would show up at this festival with songs they had written about the issues that were important back then. And they would interrogate The Establishment with their songs.”

Lots of Vietnam songs, I would guess.

“And Womens Lib. And Civil Rights.”

I don’t suppose you remember the names of any of these singers, or any of their songs.

“All I remember is some guy with a really bad voice, singing about the environment – I think we called it ‘ecology’ back then – he had a song with a chorus that went something like ‘in nineteen fifty-nine they told us DDT’s ok.’”

I don’t suppose there are any recordings from that festival, maybe from the college radio station?

“I’ve never seen or heard one.”

And you didn’t save any kind of posters, or anything?

“I was a teenager at my first music festival, learning about sex and drugs, so no, I didn’t spend my time looking for recordings or posters. If you’re looking for information, try the internet.”

I’m just curious. As you point out, I was too young for the sixties, so this is like the stuff of legend to me.

“I’m glad I could help pass the ancient stories down, to another generation.”

Hit the Road, Chief

2007-02-22T11:41:00.000-06:00

King Kaufman writes about Chief Illiniwek at Salon. I agree with what he says:

“Then there's often some name-calling, branding those who want to get rid of the chief as ‘politically correct,’ sort of the last argument of a scoundrel. Politically correct is what some people call you if they don't like it when you ask them to have some respect for other people.”

Can We Live Through February?

2007-02-16T13:18:00.000-06:00

I talked to my friend TS Elmwood again the other day.

“I see that winter finally showed up in the Chicago area.”

I think we might have gotten about a foot of snow last week, and it’s been below freezing for almost all of the past two weeks. My thermometer read fourteen below one morning.

“How is your back holding up with all that shovelling?”

OK so far – luckily, the kids next door have been doing our driveway and sidewalks for us.

“Have you had any conversations with non-believers regarding global warming lately?”

What do you mean?

“There’s a guy I know, he’s not a bad guy, but at least once a week during the winter he’ll say something to me like ‘nice weather, so much for global warming.’“

Perhaps he’s joking.

“No, he’s the same guy who still believes that they’ll find the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.”

You’re saying he’s generally confused?

“I’m saying his political and religious beliefs – which are hard to tell apart, sometimes – require that he not believe in global warming, or evolution, or any of that stuff he considers to be liberal propaganda.”

Ah. He could be a US Senator from Oklahoma some day.

“This guy was telling me about some debate he saw, probably on Fox News, about global warming. I told him it wasn’t a debate, it was sophistry.”

Good word. Did you see that Onion story on the debate over gravity?

“Yes, ‘intelligent falling,’ very funny. Getting back to the weather – I was reading something about Ojmjakon recently.”

What’s that?

“Not what, where. It’s supposedly the coldest inhabited place on Earth, it’s in Siberia. I checked, and the forecast high temperature for tomorrow is minus forty-five.”

Fahrenheit?

“Yes, but it’s about the same as Celsius at that temperature, you know. Then I was reading about Alert, Nunavut.”

Which would be?

“The northernmost inhabited place on Earth. 82.5 North.”

It’s probably still dark there.

“They’re getting several hours of twilight by now, but no, the sun has not risen yet this year.”

I was thinking about hot Jupiters the other day.

“That’s an astronomical term, right?”

It is. Hot Jupiters are large planets, in other solar systems, that orbit very close to their stars.

“So they would have really short years.”

And their Februaries would be really short.

“You know that Dar Williams song, ‘February?’”

I do. I think I saw her play it when covivant and I saw the Cry Cry Cry show.

“Do me a favor and quote some of the lyrics in your blog.”

Will do. Stay warm, TS.

“First we forgot where we’d planted those bulbs last year,
Then we forgot that we’d planted at all,
Then we forgot what plants are altogether,
and I blamed you for my freezing and forgetting and
The nights were long and cold and scary,
Can we live through February?”

Norah Jones -- Where Have All the Tickets Gone?

2007-02-14T16:12:00.000-06:00

I was talking to my friend Will Briarwood again, and he had another concert story.

“You know, we're getting older, but we’re still young enough to go to concerts.”

You went to another concert?

“Not yet -- I got tickets to the Norah Jones show.”

Is this going to be another rant about Ticketmaster?

“No. It’s going to be a rant about ticket scalpers and ebay.”

You got your tickets from a scalper on ebay?

“No, no, let me explain. Norah Jones is rather popular, as you know.”

I saw that her album debuted at number one on Billboard, and of course, it’s number one at Amazon.

“And she’s going on tour. And she’s coming to the Chicago Theatre in May.”

You have some sort of ‘in’ with the Chicago Theatre, if I recall.

“I donate money to the theatre, so I’m a Chicago Theatre Insider. So I get access to presales, and I usually get great seats.”

I recall you saying you saw Bonnie Raitt from the first few rows.

“And John Fogerty, and Dolly Parton, and James Taylor, and my wife and her daughter saw Carly Simon, all in the first five or six rows. So I had high hopes for some great Norah Jones tickets.”

And…

“Well, I did get good seats. I think I’m about twenty rows back. I e-mailed the theatre to ask why the tickets were a lot farther back than usual, and the response was that it was a very popular concert.”

Perhaps more people are becoming Chicago Theatre Insiders.

“Which would be good for the theatre, I guess. But then tickets also went through Target and WXRT.”

I don’t follow.

“WXRT had a presale for the show. And I think if you bought the new cd at Target, you got access to their presale. And I think Norah’s e-mail list was also offering a presale. So I’m sure they took a bunch of the tickets. Anyway, I thought I would check ticketmaster-dot-com for tickets when they went on sale this morning, to see if maybe I could find some better seats. Tickets went on sale at 10am, and at 10:01am I was getting the ‘no tickets available’ message.”

That was quick. How could all those tickets sell out in one minute?

“I told you this was going to be a rant about scalpers and ebay, didn’t I?”

You think a lot of the tickets went to scalpers?

“I checked ebay a little while ago, and there were already sixty-one lisings for
norah jones chicago. That’s only three hours after tickets went on sale – I’m sure there will be a lot more listings over the next few months.”

Ebay does let ticket scalpers access tickets and buyers all over the country.

“You know, I’m generally in favor of fewer rules for ebay, rather than more restrictions.”

I think we’ve both bought a few bootleg cd’s on ebay.

“But I don’t think ebay was driving up the price of cd’s. With a limited supply of tickets, and more scalpers all over the country getting them and selling them on ebay, that leaves fewer tickets for the local fans to buy.”

So you don’t think ebay should allow ticket scalping? Aren’t there rules limiting the resale price?

“Yeah, there are rules. There are also millions of auctions on ebay every day – you think they have time to enforce all the rules?”

So, what’s the solution?

“I think the best solution is to require that the buyer present an ID at the show, with the ticket – that would prevent resale.”

I wonder why more performers don’t do that.

“Too much work, maybe. It’s just easier to just sell them and collect their money.”

At least you did get tickets. Who’s going with you?

“Don’t know yet. The wife isn’t a fan.”

I heard The Arcade Fire is coming to the Chicago Theatre in a few months – they’ll be doing three shows, so tickets should be a bit easier to come by.

“Stay tuned.”

For What Shall It Profit a Man?

2007-02-08T13:32:00.000-06:00

I was talking to my friend Will Briarwood the other day. Will has a good job, with a small company, and he has told me that the owners are good, generous people. But…

“I don’t like corporate charity.”

You mean, like, government taxbreaks and subsidies for big corporations?

“No, I mean, like, charity that is sponsored by my employer.”

Ahh. That can be a tricky path.

“No kidding. Our company has gotten involved with Nothing But Nets.”

I’m not sure I know that one.

“They purchase anti-malaria bed nets for people in Africa.”

Sounds like a good program.

“I have no reason to believe it’s not a good cause.”

So…

“So you have your list of charities.”

I do.

“And I donate to the charities of my choice. I feel like, if I donate to Nothing But Nets, then I should be able to knock on the bosses’ doors, and ask them for money for one of my charities.”

Doesn’t your company have a matching gift program?

“No, probably because it’s too small a company.”

So go knock on the bosses’ doors.

“I don’t think so. As I’ve said, they’re good people, but I just don’t like the idea of charity in the workplace.”

You’ve mentioned your co-worker with that foundation…

“Lunch for Life. They raise funds for the Children’s Neuroblastoma Foundation. I haven’t donated to them, either.”

May I ask why not?

“I don’t know enough about them, for one. I don’t donate to charities that might fund animal experiments.”

Understandable. It can be a tough decision – one wants to be careful about where one donates, but not be too cynical. I had someone tell me that he wasn’t sure about donating to Doctors Without Borders, but then he heard that they won the Nobel Peace Prize, but then he remembered that Yasser Arafat and Henry Kissinger had also won Nobels…

“Yeah – getting back to Nothing But Nets, on the one hand, they work with The UN Foundation.”

Ted Turner’s money.

“Yeah. On the other hand, they get matching donations from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.”

That’s a problem?

“Maybe. Did you see the series in the Los Angeles Times?”

I did see that. They reported on how the Gates Foundation invests in companies that contribute to the problems that they’re trying to solve. They are the biggest charitable foundation in the world, so you might have a hard time avoiding charities that get money from them. What are you going to do?

“I’m going to keep donating to my charities. If and when I feel like I have enough information on a charity, I may add it to my list.”

You know, you could probably get some points with the bosses by supporting their charity of choice. And your co-worker would appreciate your donation.

“You know I’m not much on religion, and this might not be entirely relevant, but check Mark 8:36.”

Fifty-Two Percent Surcharge

2007-02-01T14:40:00.000-06:00

I was talking to my friend Will Briarwood again. He was telling me about buying some concert tickets.

“I really like Jon Dee Graham.”

I saw him open for Alejandro Escovedo a year or two ago, and he was pretty great.

“And I really like Peter Case.”

Always puts on a good live show.

“And, as we’ve discussed many times, I love FitzGerald’s.”

The best music club in the Chicago area.

“So I bought tickets for the wife and me, to the Jon Dee Graham / Peter Case show at FitzGerald’s later this month.”

I sense a flipside to all this love and like.

“I hate Ticketmaster. It cost me $45.80 to buy two fifteen-dollar tickets online.”

That would be about a 52% surcharge. I thought you bought your tickets at FitzGerald’s, and avoided the Ticketmaster fees.

“I used to. Since we moved to County DuPage, it’s just too much hassle to drive to Berwyn in the evening, just to save fifteen bucks.”

It’s not as if a mature rock fan such as yourself can’t afford fifteen bucks, to save the hour or two you would spend driving to and from Berwyn.

“Perhaps. But it’s the principle.”

Umm, when people say it’s not the money, it’s the principle…

“Yeah, I know, they’re usually saying that it is the money. I just wish it was still my fifteen bucks, or Jon Dee’s, or Peter’s, or Bill Fitzgerald’s money. Not some evil corporate Ticketbastard.”

Children Running Through, Old Guys Sitting Home

2007-01-31T16:44:00.000-06:00

I was talking to my friend Will Briarwood. As Will mentioned recently, now that we’re out in the suburbs, neither of us go to shows in Chicago as much as we used to.

“ Patty Griffin played two shows in the city last weekend. I was thinking of going, but didn’t.”

She played at Schuba’s, right?

“Yeah. That’s one reason I didn’t go – Schuba’s is a great club, but there aren’t many places to sit.”

Something to consider for those of us with occasional back problems.

“General admission shows just don’t appeal to me anymore. And once I hesitated about going, the shows sold out right away.”

There’s quite a buzz about her new cd, which is due out next week.

“Yeah, I saw someone in No Depression raved about it. I ordered it from Amazon already. So, anyway, I thought I would check online for reviews of the Schuba’s shows. I couldn’t find anything from the local papers, or at Google News – but then I learned that you can search blogs through Google.”

I just learned that myself.

“Someone named unglaubliche caitlin was at one of the shows. And sakistore was at Saturday’s show. And Patty’s webmaster was at both shows, and took some great pictures.”

I suppose that us aging suburbanites will have to enjoy some of these shows vicariously.

“Good thing we know how to use The Google.”

"Television, say you care."

2007-01-25T14:55:00.000-06:00

Will Briarwood and I continue our discussion of tv in 2006.

“In addition to Battlestar Galactica, Veronica Mars and Lost, which we discussed already, we watched Gilmore Girls, 30 Rock, Jericho, Heroes, Project Runway, Supernatural, Desperate Housewives, Queer Eye, Eureka, Numb3rs, The 4400, Threshold and Invasion.”

We seem to be watching more tv than ever.

“I know. It’s because we’re getting older, it’s moving to the suburbs and going into the city less often, and it’s the damn DVR.”

But it’s also true that there are some good shows these days. Let’s go through your list.

"Gilmore Girls is in their seventh season, and it’s probably their final season. And this season is even weaker than last season. I can’t believe they married Lorelai to Christopher.”

They’ve jumped the shark, as the saying goes. Do you want to discuss that Ausiello debacle?

“You mean the major spoiler he threw at us before the end of last season? Nah, don’t get me started on tv writers and spoilers. Let’s just go through our list.”

30 Rock is a new comedy. Alec Baldwin just won a Golden Globe.

“Great show. I wonder how they get all those jokes on, the ones about GE and NBC and product placement.”

Jericho is a new drama.

“I enjoy Jericho, but I’m not sure they have the writers or actors to keep it interesting.”

Ashley Scott is as attractive as ever.

“I think Heroes is my favorite new show this year. It’s the first show that I was able to get caught up with via the internet – I think I watched like seven episodes online.”

They do seem to have plenty of talented actors.

“Project Runway had their third season last summer. I hated the ending.”

Yes, I do recall you expressing your distaste for Jeffrey. Have they said whether Tim Gunn will be back this year?

“Not yet. He’s got his own show, his own book – I don’t know. Yeah, Jeffrey was even more of a jerk than Santino was.”

Supernatural is in its second season. How’s it holding up?

“I think I like this season better than last year. The new supporting cast helps a lot – I don’t think either of the lead actors is good enough to carry the show.”

It does have its scary moments.

“Desperate Housewives , yet another show in season number three. Better than last year, not as good as the first.”

Marcia Cross had her baby yet?

“Babies, plural – she’s having twins. She’s on bed rest, and apparently they’re going to shoot her scenes at her home.”

Queer Eye finally reaches the end.

“Yeah, they’re kind of out of ideas. TV will be much straighter without The Fab Five.”

Lots of friends and family watch all those CSI shows, but Numb3rs is the only cop show we watch these days.

“Numb3rs has a good cast, and some interesting stories, but sometimes they do lapse into those stupid cop show cliches. And I can’t believe a show that violent gets those family-friendly tv awards.”

The science fiction shows: Eureka on SciFi, The 4400 on USA, and the cancelled Threshold and Invasion.

“Eureka was pretty good in its first season. I think Colin Ferguson carries that show. The 4400 had its moments, but I think the first two seasons were better. And I still can’t believe I watch this much tv after the networks jerked me around by cancelling Threshold and Invasion.”

And they jerked us around with Firefly and Point Pleasant, and Wonderfalls, and Kitchen Confidential, and Love Monkey, and even Buffy and Angel had plenty of life left in them when they were ended.

“If Bill Gates gave me a couple billion, then I would start a network and have shows like those. And you know who I would get to run things.”

Help me, Joss Whedon, you’re my only hope…

"Television, say you love me..."

2007-01-24T13:07:00.000-06:00

My friend Will Briarwood and I were discussing tv in 2006. Warning – there may be some spoilers below, if you have not watched current episodes on USA tv.

“The best show on tv is Battlestar Galactica.”

So say lots of critics.

“There was a story line, in which one of the Cylons, played by Lucy Lawless –“

She’s excellent, by the way.

“—she is excellent. Almost made we want to go back and watch some episodes of Xena. So, she’s trying to see the face of God, by killing herself over and over.”

The Cylons that die are reborn in a new body.

“Right. So, in last week’s episode, she does see part of what she was seeking, but because of what happened to her when she reincarnated, no one will know what she saw.”

And?

“That’s a metaphor, kind of, for people who watch the show. We know it’s the best show in many years, but no one – well, not enough people – are seeing what we see on the show.”

I did hear that their ratings were pretty bad this past week.

“Part of that was the football game on that evening. And part is that people like my brother, who would like to check out the show, don’t think they can figure out what’s going on in the middle of the season, and don’t have the time to get caught up on all the previous episodes.

So they watch football. What else did we watch in 2006?

“The next best shows were Veronica Mars and Lost.”

Both in their third seasons, and both supposedly not quite as good as they used to be.

“Veronica is adjusting to college, and so are the show’s creators. I worry that they’re not getting support from the network – I heard they’re going to stop with the multi-episode mysteries, and just go with one mystery per week.”

Another situation where they don’t want the new fans thinking they’ll be lost if they show up midseason.

“Which is also part of the declining ratings for Lost. And they have the most convoluted storylines in the history of television.”

What was their deal this year – they did six new episodes in the fall, took three months off, and they’re going to do all new episodes February through May?

“I think so.”

What else did we watch last year?

“Gilmore Girls, 30 Rock, Jericho, Heroes, Project Runway, Supernatural, Desperate Housewives, The 4400, Queer Eye, Eureka, Numb3rs, The 4400, Threshold and Invasion.”

Let’s continue this conversation in another post.

Body Blogs

2007-01-10T12:52:00.000-06:00

I also talked to my friend TS Elmwood the other day. I mentioned to her that I had started this blog a while ago.

“A few years ago, I read a bunch of blogs, but I realized that most of them were what I called Bodily Function Blogs.”

I hate to ask.

“There are three kinds of Bodily Function Blogs. The first is the Navel Gazer.”

Is navel gazing a bodily function?

“Close enough. If you are a good writer, you can use an interior monologue. But most of these blogs reminded me of the things I wrote in my diary when I was thirteen.”

Dear Diary, I wish that cute guy in math class would notice me. Ten Joni Mitchell Songs That Make Me Feel Better.

“It was The Moody Blues in my diary. Second type is the Diarrhea Blog.”

Again, I hate to ask.

“You know what I mean. Long rants about nothing. Crap, crap, and more crap.”

And the third?

“The throat clearer. The blogger who might have something to say, but cannot seem to say it.”

Ahem. I haven’t really gotten my blog going yet.

“I know you, and you have plenty to say. Find some focus and discipline, which are the writer’s friends.”

I once had someone summarize my posts as “terse and cryptic.”

“If you intend to be terse and cryptic, that’s fine. I assume you actually want to communicate, so it’s not fine.”

Focus and discipline.

“You can do it. I’ll be checking up on you.”

The Vulcans Are Coming, The Vulcans Are Coming

2007-01-09T14:13:00.001-06:00

I talked to my friend Sherry Maple the other day. She was my next-door neighbor many years ago, when I lived in Evanston. After updating each other on spouses, kids, pets, jobs, etc., we discussed the important stuff.

“Can you believe it’s the year 2007? And can you believe the Vulcans will be here in only fifty-six years?”

You’re referring to the Star Trek version of the future.

“Of course.”

And that would be the events depicted in Star Trek - First Contact?

“Yes, the one where the Next Generation crew stops the Borg from messing up Earth’s future.”

Planning on being around to greet them?

“I wish. Let’s see, if the Vulcans show up on April 5, 2063… I’ll be not quite a hundred and five years old.”

I’ll be almost a hundred and seven. Although we might not be there, your kids will probably be around that year.

“Makes you think. You know, about our place in the planet’s history and all that. What do you always say about the three ways to understand things?”

You don’t remember?

“Of course I remember. I just think you like saying it outloud.”

There are three ways to understand the world: through baseball, through Star Trek, or through Buffy.

“Speaking of which, I saw that the Buffy singalong phenomenon has reached Chicago.”

At the Music Box.

“Are you going?”

Probably not. It would probably be fun, but it’s way past my bedtime.

“Past your bedtime, past our lifetimes… what’s that saying, when you’re young, the days are like years, and when you’re old, the years are like days?”

Talk to you next year, Sherry.

“Live long and prosper, Kalikoolin.”

Charity in 2006

2006-12-19T12:46:00.000-06:00

Looking back on 2006 – before posting the lists of best tv shows, best cd’s, etc., I wanted to make a list of charities that deserved my money this year.

Taking care of animals and the environment:

Defenders of Wildlife

Elephant Sanctuary

Fund For Animals

Greenpeace

Humane Society of the United States

Illinois Prairie Path

Jane Goodall Institute

Tiger Haven

Wildlife Land Trust

Taking care of cats and dogs:

Two of our cats came from The Animal Care League.

My brother’s cats came from The Anti-Cruelty Society.

Merry Christmas to Sister Marijon at Cats-Are-Purrsons-Too and Touched By an Animal.

Birds:

Cornell Birds

Hoping to visit the International Crane Foundation in 2007.

Raptor Center

The universe:

I’ve been a member for years, just wish I could make time to visit The Adler Planetarium more often.

And I wish we could get to visit the Lowell Observatory in 2007.

Helping people:

The Brady Campaign

International Campaign to Ban Landmines

Doctors Without Borders

Greater Chicago Food Depository

Merry Christmas to Manny, Barbara and the people at Koinonia House.

MADD

Old Town School of Folk Music

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

Merry Christmas to my sister, and everyone else who walks for Y-Me National Breast Cancer Organization.

Election News

2006-11-08T14:16:00.000-06:00

Well, it's a nice day-after-the-election, unlike 2000, 2002, and 2004.

Stuff I learned while following election results…

Tammy Duckworth is working on a Ph.D. I sure wish she had beaten Roskam.

Jon Tester is an organic farmer.

Katherine Harris spent a lot of campaign funds on Starbucks.

Environmental groups are happy that Richard Pombo lost.

And Britney filed for divorce .

Climbing

2006-11-06T15:09:00.000-06:00

There’s an election tomorrow here in the US. The Chicago Bears lost yesterday, for the first time this season; Northwestern won for the first time in over a month. And my friend Will Briarwood wanted to talk about what’s most important to him these days.

“My cat’s doing pretty well after his surgery. For the first time in a month, he climbed to the top of the cat tree.”

That’s pretty impressive.

“And he wasn’t in pain this morning, as he has been sometimes after exerting himself.”

Did you see Mutts today? It’s Shelter Stories week again.

“Yeah, I did. I think I read that the cat in the comic lost his leg from a trap, rather than from cancer. I tell you, I don’t have too many heroes these days, but Patrick McDonnell is definitely one.”

I know you’ve mentioned that Bruce Springsteen is a hero. Who else?

“Ummm. Let me get back to you.”

Signs For Tammy

2006-11-03T14:15:00.000-06:00

My friend Will Briarwood gave me an update on his quest for a yard sign for Congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth.

“So I had gone over there to campaign headquarters at 8am, and there was no one there yet. Someone called me back later that day, and let me know that their hours were 9am to 10pm.”

So you went back?

“Yeah, and a very friendly woman gave me three signs.”

So what’s the score now on your block?

“I think there’s about a dozen Roskam signs. With my signs, there’s now a total of four Duckworth signs.”

I guess the vote total will be more important than the sign total.

“We’ll find out next Tuesday, assuming the votes get counted, and the electronic voting machines don’t screw us.”

Who Are You?

2006-11-02T13:10:00.000-06:00

Listening to the new Who cd, Endless Wire, and my first reactions are that Pete's guitar still sounds great, but Roger's voice sounds pretty damned old...

On the other blogs…

2006-11-01T13:00:00.000-06:00

The Six Degrees of Bob Dylan game is coming to a close. My entry which connected SpongeBob to Bob Dylan via James Dobson, Arlen Specter, Rick Santorum and U2 had better get an honorable mention for creativity.

Nothing new at Tim’s Take since season three of Project Runway ended. There is a long interview with Tim at the Chicago Tribune.

Gapers Blog writes about The Damnwells.

Nominations are out for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Everyone writes about who should be in, who should be out. Desolation Row has some interesting suggestions (T. Rex is a great idea).

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Are Roskam Signs

2006-11-01T12:26:00.000-06:00

My friend Will Briarwood, who doesn’t generally vote for Republicans, was telling me why he might vote for them next week.

“The people next door to us have a Roskam sign in their front yard. The people across the street have two Roskam signs. And the people on the other side of us have five, count ‘em, five Roskam signs in their yard.”

Peter Roskam is the Republican candidate for Congress in Illinois’s Sixth Congressional District.

“I e-mailed the Duckworth people a couple weeks back, asking about a yard sign. They finally called me back on Monday, and left me a voice mail, telling me where their campaign office is, and telling me to come by for a sign. The guy on the message said there would be someone at their office pretty much all the time, between now and election day.”

Tammy Duckworth is the Democratic candidate. Polls show the race is just about even.

“I went over to the Duckworth office this morning. There was no one there.”

You probably should have called first.

“Well, I did, about twenty minutes till eight. There was no answer, and I was hoping that maybe they had just gone out for coffee.”

Maybe there was a line at Starbucks.

“I guess. So I called again, and left a message, and told them I was sorry I had missed them. And I suggested that Roskam’s volunteers were probably already at work at 8am.”

You’re not really going to vote against Tammy because of a yard sign.

“Probably not. Hey, I know I’m not George Soros, donating piles of money to the Democrats. But I did send a donation to her campaign, and all I ask for is a yard sign.”

Cat Vets

2006-10-30T16:59:00.000-06:00

Following up on my previous post, I should mention that Will and I highly recommend these veterinarians, who take care of only cats:

College Station Cat Clinic in Wheaton, Illinois

The Cat Practice in Oak Park, Illinois

Show Me the Way

2006-10-18T14:43:00.000-05:00

I was talking to my friend Will Briarwood about his cat, who had some fairly serious surgery recently.

“It’s strange,” he said. “There’s so much to think about, worrying about him, hoping he’ll be ok, trying to understand what’s happening with him. I keep hearing Peter Frampton in my head.”

Peter Frampton?

“Yeah. A couple lines from ‘Show Me the Way’ -- ‘I wonder how you’re feeling’ and ‘I can’t believe this is happening to me.’ “

You’re hearing the live version, I assume.

“Yeah, from Comes Alive. What’s that called, dissociation?”

I think so.

“And I started thinking about how they had to shave so much of his fur, that he’s starting to look like Peter Frampton.”

You have to give Frampton credit for not doing a combover, or wearing a hat 24/7 like The Edge, or wearing a rug.

“Yeah. There’s a lesson here somewhere, something about accepting what happens to your hair, or to your cat.”

She Kissed a Girl, She Saw a Cop, She Got Booed

2004-11-19T13:03:00.000-06:00

There’s a good article on Jill Sobule in the latest issue of No Depression magazine. Her latest cd is Underdog Victorious.

A couple quotes…

On a new song, “I Saw a Cop”:

“Wouldn’t it make a great video? But we need to get someone famous to play the cop. Let me think about that one. Teresa Heinz Kerry! That’d be awesome! There’s something kind of old-time sexy about her; she’s got that Marlene thing going.”

On getting booed as an opening act for Don Henley:

“Maybe ‘cause the t-shirt I had on said ‘My Bush Would Make a Better President’…

Dumbass Hunters

2004-11-16T10:02:00.000-06:00

The War On Wildlife continues…

There are only about two hundred whooping cranes left in the world. Dumbass hunters in Kansas just shot one percent of the entire population.

“Seven Kansas hunters have admitted to last weekend's shooting of two endangered whooping cranes in Stafford County, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent said Wednesday.

One of the cranes died Wednesday morning at Kansas State University's veterinary hospital. The other is recovering from a broken wing and several body wounds.”

And Defenders of Wildlife has this appalling story from Alaska:

“The anti-conservation Board of Game has just voted to allow up to 900 wolves to be killed by the barbaric practice of aerial gunning. This is six times as many as were killed last winter.

Easy targets against fallen snow, wolves can be gunned down from airplanes or chased to exhaustion, then shot at point blank range.”

But once in a while, the wildlife does win a small battle .

“NORTH VERNON, Ind. - When hunter Jim Mick went into the woods to bag himself a deer, he never expected to come out empty-handed — and badly bruised.

The 69-year-old bowhunter was treated for injuries he said he suffered during a wrestling match with an angry buck. Mick, of North Vernon, said the deer attacked him Monday while he was hunting alone in rural Decatur County in southeastern Indiana.

"He came out of the tall grass and briars," said Mick. "When I realized it, he was on me already."

Mick said the animal, which weighed about 150 pounds, struck him in the chest and knocked him to the ground, goring him in the thigh. "All I had time to do was throw my hands up and grab his antlers," he said.

After about a 10-minute struggle, Mick said he managed to put a tree between himself and the deer, and the animal retreated.”

Another Bird of the Week -- Great Horned Owl

2004-11-10T13:24:00.000-06:00

With the time change, it’s just about dark when I leave the office out here in Geneva, Illinois. We’re right by the Fox River, and the area still has plenty of forest.

Last night, as I was leaving, I could see two owls together in a tree north of our parking lot. I could not identify them by sight, but they were hooting, the both of them, and they sounded exactly like this recording of great horned owls.

Purple People Meters

2004-11-10T13:00:00.000-06:00

Lots of post-election maps…

The pretty purple one at boingboing.

Wonkette has the striped one .

These guys have red, blue and purple in various shapes.

And I found the free vs. slave state map at miscellaneous meanderings.

11/11 update --
Another map, one with big blue towers.

Bird of the Week -- Red-Breasted Nuthatch

2004-11-09T13:42:00.000-06:00

We have seen an occasional white-breasted nuthatch at the feeders out back, and the other day we saw a female red-breasted nuthatch.

Anne McCue

2004-11-09T13:02:00.000-06:00

Saw Anne McCue open for Dave Alvin this past weekend at Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music. Her new album, from which she played several good songs, is Roll.

Amazon has free downloads of a few songs from a previous record:

"Walking Devotion"

"My Only One"

"Arcane"

She opened her set with a great line, and excuse my attempt to reproduce her charming Australian accent:

“It’s noice to be heah in the blue stite of Illinois.”

Lost In the White House

2004-11-09T11:38:00.000-06:00

Someone reminded me of my favorite joke of the year, which I've updated a bit...

So there's this big post-election party at the White House. All the big contributors are there, hootin-and-a-hollerin'.

One guy has a few drinks, and wanders off to find the men's room. He gets lost, walks around a while, and finally opens a door to what he hopes is the men's room.

Instead, he finds Bush and Cheney in a conference room, standing by a big table that's full of maps and charts.

He apologizes profusely, and turns to go. "That's alright, citizen," says Bush. "No apology needed."

"Thank you, Mister President," says the guy. "And may I say, what an honor it is to meet you and the Vice President, and thank you for all you've done to the country."

Bush and Cheney nod and smile, and continue looking at their maps and charts.

The guy summons up his courage and says, "May I ask you, sirs, what you have planned next?"

Bush replies, "Well, citizen, there's going to be a big offensive. It's going to kill another hundred thousand Iraqis and Oprah Winfrey."

"Oprah?" the guy asks. "Why Oprah?"

Cheney laughs and slaps Bush on the back. "See, I told you -- no one cares about a hundred thousand Iraqis!"

Shrub and Satan

2004-11-08T11:54:00.000-06:00

Al Franken explores the shocking story of the Bush-Satan Connection.

The Only Band That Mattered, Except to ABC

2004-11-08T11:23:00.000-06:00

So ABC has two new hit tv shows this season, Desperate Housewives and Lost. I watch them both, and they’re quite good.

They’ll probably be pulling in piles of money from the advertisers. So maybe someone there didn’t have to be such a dick about some video from twenty-four years ago...

I was reading in Harp magazine about the new re-release of London Calling by The Clash. There’s the original album, a bonus disc of outtakes and rehearsals, and a dvd with videos and a documentary. They were also hoping to include the band’s legendary 1980 appearance on Fridays, on ABC-TV. But the aforementioned dicks at ABC allegedly demanded too much money for the footage.

Post Election Joke #2

2004-11-05T13:36:00.000-06:00

An example of the kind of jokes going around The Other Side...

We at Carnival Cruise Lines: didn't forget that a lot of entertainers had promised to leave the country if George W.Bush were to be re-elected President.

With that in mind, we have a Special Offer for those who still want to keep their promise!

Attention: Would Alec Baldwin, Rosie O'Donnell and her wife, Ed Asner, Janeane Garafalo, Whoppi Goldberg, Al Franken, Michael Moore, Cher, Phil Donahue, Rob Reiner(apparently still a "meathead"), Barbara Streisand, Jane Fonda, Pierre Salinger, as well as the entire staffs of the LA and NY Times and anyone else who made that promise, please dispose of all US assets and report to Florida for the sailing of the Funship Cruise, "Elation," which has been commissioned to take you to your new vacation homes in Afghanistan.

You may opt to be dropped off in Somalia or Iraq.

The Florida Supreme Court will sponsor a Farewell Parade in your honor through Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties prior to your cruise.

Please pack for an extended stay... at least four more years.

Note: Since you advocate strict gun control, you may not bring any.

Staffing your voyage is Bill Clinton as captain, Al Gore as cruise director, Grey Davis, Purser Terry Heinz Kerry hopefully will be kept somewhere below decks away from the media.

Monica Lewinsky as the "Cigar and Cigarette Girl",

Entertainment by the Dixie Chicks and Bruce Springsteen, John Kerry will be our Life Guard in consideration of his past experience in pulling people out of the water. (Unless he decides at the last minute not to go) He is advocating the ellimination of the game "shuffleboard" in favor of his new game he calls "waffleboard" Be sure to pack your flip flops as you will need them! while playing.

Ted Kennedy will double as Bartender and Director of Emergency Procedures

If you have any questions about making arrangements for your homes,friends and loved ones, please direct your comments to Senator Hillary Clinton. Her village can raise your children while you're gone, and she can watch over all your money and your furnishings until you return.

"Bon Voyage!"

Post Election Joke #1

2004-11-05T13:35:00.000-06:00

While walking down the street one day, a Republican head of state is tragically hit by a truck and dies. His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.

"Welcome to Heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in." says the Republican.

"Well, I'd like to but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have you spend one day in Hell and one in Heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity."

"Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in Heaven," says the Republican head of state.

"I'm sorry but we have our rules." And with that, St. Peter escorts the Republican to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to Hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a club and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him, everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, hug him, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at expense of the people. They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster and caviar. Also present is the Devil (a Republican, too), who really is a very friendly guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes.

They are having such a good time that, before he realizes it, it is time to go. Everyone gives him a big hug and waves while the elevator rises. The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on Heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him.

"Now it's time to visit Heaven." So 24 hours pass with the Republican head of state joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

"Well then, you've spent a day in Hell and another in Heaven. Now choose your eternity."

He reflects for a minute, then the head of state answers: "Well, I would never have thought it, I mean Heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in Hell."

So Saint Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to Hell. Now the doors of the elevator open and he is in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags. The Devil comes over to the Republican and lays an arm on his neck.

"I don't understand," stammers the Republican head of state. Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and club and we ate lobster and caviar and danced and had a great time. Now all there is a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable."

The Devil looks at him, smiles and says, "Yesterday we were campaigning. Today you voted for us!"

Dubya Obituary

2004-11-04T11:48:00.000-06:00

Greil Marcus writes an obituary for President GWB.

Kelly Hogan's Father

2004-11-03T15:23:00.000-06:00

This was posted to several mailing lists. Kelly Hogan is a Chicago based singer.

From KELLY HOGAN--posted elsewhere:

Hello friends and family --

First off, I apologize for this mass e-mail.

As many of y'all know, after being called up out of National Guard reserves two years ago, my dad (career policeman, age 59, flew helicopters in Viet Nam) is about to be shipped to Iraq in the next few weeks to lead convoys in the desert for Apache warbird "Flying Tigers" Aviation Regiment 8-229th.

It's very hard for me to talk about this issue, and I'm still figuring out how to deal with all the levels of bullshit involved. I also have other friends in Iraq already and I'm sure many of y'all do too.

I feel funny sharing this personal information, and my goal is certainly *not* sympathetic feedback of *any* kind -- but rather to pass along a screwed-up fact to add to the pile -- to increase awareness of the current situation.

I just finished reading an interview with Stan Goff (24-year military vet, Bring Them Home Now campaign, Military Families Speak Out, Veterans for Peace) in the new issue of The Sun magazine -- and I wanted to pass along two links for y'all:

http://www.thesunmagazine.org/347_Goff.pdf

http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/

I know there are many sides of the issue. These are just two more that I felt compelled to share.

Thanks for your time.

Hogan

Four More Years, Ka-Ching

2004-11-03T10:39:00.000-06:00

At least Wall Street is happy.

The Day After

2004-11-03T09:38:00.000-06:00

Well, umm, I went back to Ohio and the election was gone...