The Haunting of Me.


I suppose there is the standard definition of the word 'haunting' or 'haunted'. No, I'm not going to go look them up. Typically though, haunting connotes something scary, or at the least something to make you a bit anxious.

I am haunted by music. I am struck to the core, when I hear certain tunes. It doesn't have to be scary, or even anxious rending.

Certain songs though, just make you feel --- what? Ah, I guess it doesn't matter what it makes you feel, just as long as you ARE feeling.

Yes, it's the feeling, isn't it?
Plenty of music makes us feeling nauseous, or a step closer to epilepsy even. Much of it is wonderous though.

"Amazing Grace". Yeah, that IS amazing. The song is beautiful in its simplicity. In the same Christian vein is "Thy Word" Amy Grant does a good turn at this. Even better is to hear a room full of 13 - 17 year olds singing right along with her. The same kids that just raved on about My Chemical Romance, or their plans to see Aerosmith. The same kids that pelted you with snowballs on the last retreat. Those kids, singing their hearts out to "Thy Word".

Wondeous indeed.

Speaking of Aerosmith - and there's alot of great tunes there - but let's get into "Walk This Way". It's all of what Aerosmith was and is meant to be. Rockers at the first, last and in between. Sassy, loud, confident rockers. Sung by themselves, or with Run DMC. Sung in an arena, or lip-sync-ed in someone's bedroom. An invitation to a party -- to walk this way.

So cool.

This would be cheating - but there's a ton of stuff I just love on the Love Actually sound track. What haunted me though? That Dido song, of all things. "Here with Me". The song had plenty of airplay, and it was 'ok'. After seeing the movie though, now I freakin' love it! That's the thing though, after seeing certain songs connected with a fresh story - it makes a difference.

Just like one of my favorite U2 songs, "Streets Have no Names". The music video that accompanied this song depicted of a brazen act of just saying, "What the F(*k". The band was taped playing on a rooftop, the setting was downtown L.A., and the mood was defiant fun. As a friend of mine says, "Don't ask for Permission - ask for Forgiveness" - and U2 was playing without permission and eventually got silenced.

It's gotten too late to be coherent here, but the music is still there; doing its haunting thing.

Some Good News!

A while back I had posted a request from a musician (and personal friend). He was asking for CD buyers to be mindful of how the purchase of Cosmic Orgasm would be linked to Red Cross donations.

Here are the results of that fundraising effort.


"Last night the donation program came to a close andthe funds raised were sent directly to the Red CrossDisaster Relief Fund thru their local Portland Oregonbranch. In the end, it raised a total of $165,060 overthe last seven weeks! Cd Baby also donated $40,000 oftheir own! For a Grand Total of $205,060!!! Thank Youto the customers, artists, and Cd Baby! Peace, Aaron"Spaceman Spliff" "


Good Stuff, eh?

So so so, yes I know. It's been too long and time has gone on ...and on.
It's with heavy heart that I must confess -
Life has been a bit of a mess.

Nothing drastic, nothing vile -
Just the usual stuff that happens to most
Kind of consumes us for a while.

Then please continue, go on about your life
See, I'm here! Despite the strife.
And just in case you wondered, or cared

Poetry ain't my strong suit
Really just did it -- on a dare.

Something I realize I need to address before too much more time passes. When I ran my lil' movie quiz of September 7th though I did supply the answers; I never mentioned who the top winners were.

So, now with a flourish and drumroll, yaddah yaddah yaddah --

Eowyn and The Duke both got top honors.

For the most recent quiz of September 28th, Eowyn is in the lead. But it's not too late to enter!


And for my teaser question of Sept. 24th,

" What do Ian Anderson, Ronnie Montrose, Tommy Shaw, Billy Sherwood and Malcolm McDowell have in common?"

These gents join other music greats on the Back Against the Wall tribute CD that revisits the work of Pink Floyd's The Wall. CD review forthcoming.

That's it for now.

Quiz Time Again!

These shouldn't be too hard : )~


1. "...the soft glow of electric sex"

2. "I've got a bad feeling about this"

3. "...and the schnozberries taste like schnozberries!"

4. "Sometimes you just gotta say, 'what the fuck' "

5. "At my signal - unleash Hell"

6. "Quid pro quo!"

7. "Are you stalking me? Because that would be super"

8. "I'm gonna give you to the count of 10 to get your ugly, yellow, no-good keister off my property before I pump your guts full of lead! One, two, ten!"

9. "Fuck Grandma"

10. "Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony."

Fun with Words.


Jambalaya. This is a fun word. It's exotic enough to be interesting, yet not foreign enough to be scary. It sounds like what it is, something fun and filled with good spicy stuff. Say it with me... "Jambalaya" It is reminiscent (and some say derived from) of the word, paella. Of course, I can't think of paella without thinking of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer is invited eat paella with Mr. and Mrs. Costanza. Another explanation is that the word comes from the french "jambon" (hambone) and the West African word "Ya-ya" (rice). Works for me.

What do Ian Anderson, Ronnie Montrose, Tommy Shaw, Billy Sherwood and Malcolm McDowell have in common? "Stand still Laddie!" We'll take questions at the end. You know what I mean.

Next.

Am I getting too old? No, I don't think so. No. But - I need to wear my glasses more and more. For the close work, reading. OK that's normal. But - it's hard to read a menu in a restaurant. The lighting is a little low. So, what's the big deal?

Its these websites. Some are a pain to read? Does no one else see this? Seems to be mostly bands' websites. Of all the websites I tend to visit, the rockers seem to be the hardest to read. A tiny font size, and the text and background colors don't contrast enough, and I'm like blind by then.

Speaking of bands, same thing with the CD covers, lyrics, production notes. Too small! Too hard to read. Change the colors. Hey you groovy young musicians, psst...Some of your listening demographic is a bit -- more mature. Actually we probably take up more of your pie chart than you realize. Bigger font please!

Other than that it's all fine. It's good. I guess.

An excerpt from my forthcoming CD review of The Dropkick Murphys' The Warrior Code.

" “Your Spirit’s Alive”, the first track, is a bit of a tease. It starts out sweet and slow, just pipes and piano. Someone like me, who loves all that folk Celtic stuff will smile and say, “Ahh.” After 20 seconds though, the rest of the instruments come in and the beat just about triples, with the Murphys shouting the lyrics, “We are the ones who will never be broken, we are the ones who survive…” And someone like me, who loves the punk likes of Green Day, Quiet Riot metal, or Sublime ska will smile and say, “Ahh”, again."

I sure wish I could get the whole damn thing done. But life is interrupting. : )

Something to consider:

Here is another article by Annie Jacobsen; following up on her Terror in the Skies series. I've not read every part of the series, but I have read enough to know that the public (and no, not just the American public) needs to be more aware of what is going on around them.

Awareness, not just of fellow flight passengers, but of our political leaders' actions as well.

Can we be aware without profiling? Probably not. It stinks, but I think we need to be a little less politically correct.

Can we be aware without questioning what the government does? NO. Iraq, oil, FEMA, 9/11, WMD's, contrails/chemtrails -- look around, read, research, ask questions. Some things are whack, some are real, it won't be easy to gauge the truth, but asking questions is the start.

Is this all exhausting? Yes.

Should that stop us? No.

Is it me? Or is Man on Fire really kind of sucky? I actually tried to change the channel, and I think the batteries are worn down in the remote - so now I'm looking for new batteries.

Anyway, I have only seen parts of it, I can't really sit down yet and give undivided attention to it - so, to be fair, maybe it's OK. I don't know though, so far, it's just not that great. So, someone tell me, should I bother trying to see the whole thing?

Something that my writing group and I will be investing in, or better yet, starting a grown up version of these. For when those good ideas strike!

OK - I know y'all waiting for answers, here you go.


"I get compliments on the hyphen." Unlce Buck

"Because we are still alive." The Matrix Reloaded

"It was a good death." The Last Samurai

"Life moves pretty fast, if you don't slow down
and look once in a while, you could miss it." Ferris Bueller's Day Off

"Dooodie!" Caddyshack

"I'm sorry John, but you're going to have to run
again...Ruuuuuuuuuuuun!" The Minority Report

In Good Company: A Review of Company Man.
By Mary K. Williams

(cross posted to www.blogcritics.org)

Company Man by Joseph Finder: New York, St. Martin’s Press. 2005. 215 pgs.


You know a book is good when it gets inside you. When you think about what is going on with the characters when the pages are closed and wonder how any one of them might handle a certain situation. In Company Man, Joseph Finder has created such characters. He's also created a tensely paced believable thriller.

Nick Conover is a recently widowed CEO of a large office-furniture plant in Fenwick, MI. When we meet Nick, he’s trying to deal with his two children, 16 year old Lucas and 10-year-old Julia in the aftermath of losing their mother, Laura. Aside from family sorrows, Nick has to continually please the corporate owners.

Because of pressure from the home office in Boston, he’s had to lay off about five thousand employees resulting in nearly the whole town hating him. On top of everything else, a shadowy stalker has been breaking into his family’s home to vandalize it with frightening graffiti. Before long, his worlds collide and in uncontrollable circumstances, there’s also now a dead body and a cover-up to contend with. Business deals begin to collapse, and Nick’s life becomes even more strained as homicide detectives begin to investigate the case.

Joseph Finder isn’t a stranger to the corporate thriller. His 2004 novel, Paranoia, was on the New York Times Bestseller list, as well as High Crimes, the 1998 legal thriller turned major film (Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Jim Caviezel).

A former Yale Russian Studies student and Harvard instructor, Finder started his literary career with a book called, Red Carpet: The Connection Between the Kremlin and America’s Most Powerful Businessmen. This book, an account of Dr. Armand Hammer’s connections to Soviet intelligence, nearly led to a libel suit by Dr. Hammer against Finder. Soon enough though, the facts against Hammer were verified when the walls of the Soviet Union began to crumble and archived intelligence surfaced.

Because perhaps of Finder’s connections in the intelligence world (he’s a member of the AFIO, the Association of Former Intelligence Officers), he seems to have excellent instincts and timing regarding his espionage subject matter. In his first fiction novel, The Moscow Club, he told the story of a KGB driven coup against leader, Mikhail Gorbachev. The book was published in 1991, six months before the real event.

In 1994, Finder published his second novel, Extraordinary Powers, about the discovery of a Soviet mole positioned in the upper echelon of the CIA. Just days after this book came out; Aldrich Ames was named as one of the most notorious CIA moles in history.

When the subject matter is the corporate world, Joseph Finder still on top of his game. Company Man gives us all the shades of big business life, from cube farms to outsourcing to a Warren Buffet / Berkshire Hathaway type ownership. Finder does thorough research for his stories, and it shows in Nick Conover’s on target interactions with his teenage son, as well as his thoughts about his dead wife, Laura. Finder shows us the human failings in Nick, guiltily finding fault with Laura’s decorating choices --

“The first graffiti had appeared on the heavy, ornate ash-wood front door, which Laura had deliberated over for weeks with the architect, a door that had cost a ridiculous three thousand dollars, a fucking door, for God’s sake”

-- instead of simply elevating her to sainthood, just because she’s deceased.

The author still keeps things real, as homicide detective Audrey Rhimes enters the scene. Company Man’s book jacket and other PR blurbs mention this character as having “her own, very personal, reason for pursuing Nick Conover.” However, as the story unfolds, I didn’t view Rhimes this way. It’s no secret that her husband has been laid off from Stratton, and his subsequent drinking and general surliness provide tension and a nice secondary plot line. But Finder’s depiction of this woman is not of someone who is itching to get the guy who soured her marriage, instead she almost reminds you of Tommy Lee Jones’s “Sam Gerard”, the U.S. Marshall in The Fugitive. Gerard just wanted to do his job, and get the bad guy. The Rhimes character is just as single minded as Gerard. And in both cases, as the investigation process widens to include other possibilities, Finder makes Audrey Rhimes is smart enough to follow every lead.

The bottom line on Company Man? A very enjoyable read.

I came across this report today, and found it very interesting. The author, Annie Jacobsen, has been also doing an ongoing investigative series related to airline safety post 9-11. She found enough information to publish a book, Terror in the Skies: Why 9-11 Could Happen Again.

However, this particular news report is about the work that a group of Federal Air Marshalls performed in the most dreadful of situations during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

This is just one report of one group of heroes. There are many many more who have been doing necessary work in the Gulf States. One is a young man from my town, and dojo.
Will Minior was to start his freshman year at Loyola University, and instead he learned how to run a shelter. Minior has since returned to Massachusetts to attend Stonehill College, but no book learning will compare to some of the tough lessons he learned those days in New Orleans.

(cross posted to www.blogcritics.org)

Something I should have done last week, when my musician friend sent me this, another good cause...


"Greetings,

This morning I signed a deal with my distribution company that all proceeds from album sales will go directly to the American Red Cross National Disaster Relief Fund. So, please Buy My Album and support the victims of Hurricane Katrina!My album can be purchased from the following link"


By the way, this is a good CD.

Another Quote I love -


“He's gonna marry the first girl he lays. And she's gonna treat him like shit." “She won't respect him. 'Cause you can't respect somebody who kisses your ass.”

And One More, I can't believe I forgot this one, I've been saying it lately...

"There's always a bigger fish"

QUIZ: What Movie?


"I get compliments on the hyphen."


"Because we are still alive."


"It was a good death."


"Life moves pretty fast, if you don't slow down and look once in a while, you could miss it."


"Dooodie!"


"I'm sorry John, but you're going to have to run again...Ruuuuuuuuuuuun!"

For your consideration: Two good causes.

Another charity ride for my husband, takes place this Saturday, September 10th.

Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

Waiting for Katrina.

(cross posted to Blogcritics.org)


It wasn't meant to put me to sleep. The Duke's saga of his Dublin trip is anything but numbing. His (and Sir Fleming's) quest for jazz, love, and God knows what else is a ride through a talent I am astounded to witness, yet I got sleepy, and it was good. Maybe I was hypnotized, and awoke groggy. I don't know. But I knew I needed the sleep.

I had been watching TV earlier, vacillating between Ron White's, They Call me Tater Salad on Comedy Central, Foxy Brown on Sundance, and Meet Joe Black. I started analyzing the acting of Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, and Claire Forlani, and wondered if it was their best work. I would still be ruminating about that if I hadn't remembered my son's request for me to monitor the Weather Channel's coverage of Hurricane Katrina while he slept.

Shit that's right, I had managed to forget for a little while. In the late afternoon/early evening I was glued to the Weather Channel, and thought I was doing my son a favor by pointing out how extrodinary this was going to be, this massive storm about to hit the South. As we both watched, I stopped playing instructor and was open-mouthed -- listening, watching.

Holy crap! This wasn't going to be good. Gulping and squirming in my chair, I thought that perhaps I was really watching a documentary on the filming of The Day After Tomorrow, a movie that I have been addicted to lately. The whole scenario seemed too improbable.

I go online and watch the ABC coverage for a while, then go back to watch The Weather Channel. Finally I take a break for The Duke's posts. A few weeks ago, we were sharing weekend plans, his weekend in Dublin was probably going to be a little more lively than mine in Old Orchard Beach, ME. (Though mine was lovely, thankyou), though both were intended to be for resting and recharging. I think I did more resting and The Duke did more recharging. So, I am all relaxed, after my visit to Dublin, via his Dukeness, and I get ready for bed.

I wake up about an hour later, and in pain. Somehow I blew out my knee during this past weekend. (Family camping reunion - great, great stuff) I don't know if it was the relay, or the three-legged race, but I've been limping since this morning. Then it dawns on me as I go downstairs for Advil, "What the heck is your problem, girl? You saw those people in the shelter, in the Superdome, for God's sake. Will they sleep at all tonight? Will they have a house to come home to? Will they have a city?"

So, Advil is working, and I am grateful.

I have electricity to type this -- and I am grateful.

The family is home, all asleep, all safe.

Yup, you got it.

Grateful.