Once Again, Mark Morford Rocks

America Loses Another War

Good Things, Part 3

Another in a continuing series...

Red wine

U2

Coen Brothers Movies

A Prayer for Owen Meany

Caramel Corn with Almonds and Pecans that the Boy Scouts sell

MCR Rawks!

My daughter turned 16 last week, and one of the gifts we got her was a ticket to see one of her favorite bands, My Chemical Romance, who by coincidence are playing here in town this Thursday. It’s the Y101 “Snow Ball”, which features Sparta and Say Anything in addition to MCR. She was pretty darn jazzed about the opportunity to see Gerard and the boys in MCR play songs from their new CD The Black Parade. However, since I’m not quite ready yet to turn her loose in a crowd of several thousand for a show of this nature, I got TWO tickets. Though this particular bill is not one I would have chosen to see, and I hate the Coliseum, I’m looking forward to it. Compared to similar bands, I think MCR is pretty good. They have a way with melody and infectious hooks, and they have ambitions above and beyond their genre (most often they’re labeled Screamo). I also like the only song I’ve heard by Say Anything. I wonder sometimes if it’s embarrassing to my kids that I enjoy some of their music. I don’t think they mind. There’s a huge amount of stuff I listen to that they will have nothing to do with, though my son is more flexible. He likes a lot of classic rock, The Who, U2, Pink Floyd…he just chose “I Wanna Be Sedated” for his new ringtone, which I think is a riot. Of course he likes new stuff also. The daughter, on the other hand, sticks mostly to current rock, pretty hard stuff usually, like MCR, System of a Down, Evanescence, the Used. I remember my parents being pretty flexible about the music I liked, even though there were occassional comments like “It sounds like just noise to me.” In general they were open to being exposed to the music my sibs and I listened to. There seems to be a thin boundary between being a (moderately) cool, involved parent, and being nosy. I don’t want to invade my kids’ territory, I just want to stay in touch.

UVA-VT

Here it is, folks. The game many folks wait for all year, even in years when one team (usually Virginia) has little hope of winning. This year it's in Blacksburg, which means Virginia has even less hope, since they have rarely won on the road in the Al Groh years. They haven't won in Blacksburg since 1998. Both teams are having seasons that are less than they hoped for back in August. Tech is 9-2, ranked 17th. UVA is 5-6, and has won 3 of their last 4, all at home. It's always a game of high emotion. On another note, why can't I get those logos to line up?

The Dave

My brother turns 40 on Wednesday.

My younger brother. My little brother.

OK, not so little. He is, after all, soon to be 40. He got married before I did, had kids before I did, defended his country, which I never did. Not long ago his actions quite likely saved someone's life.

Not so little.

A goofball, for sure. He makes me laugh. He makes everybody laugh.

He lives too far away. I just got to see his family for the first time in 5 freakin' years, which is WAY too long. I intend to try to make sure THAT never happens again.

I don't talk with him enough either. He and I both mention this frequently, when we do talk, and say how we want to try to communicate more. Then our lives intervene, and we go for weeks without a word. My sister too, though I see her more often (since she lives in the same state), but still not often enough.

Anyway, my brother is One Cool Dude, he's got a great life and family, and I love and miss him, and I'm really proud of him.

I didn't start out to write something quite so sentimental, but oh well, that's what came out.

The truth is, he's also a Judas Priest-listening, no-hair-having, Cowboy-watching, tattooed psycho nutjob freak. Keep up the good work, bro!

Happy birthday.

Sam Cooke

Watch this. Was there ever anyone like Sam Cooke?

Frankenbass

Back in the summer, I built a bass. I guess it's not really a Frankenbass, since I didn't use various found parts, but ordered a kit from Carvin. In any case, it was a lot of fun, there weren't too many major hitches, and I added a new bass to my stable for not much money. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. It plays pretty well, though not as nice as my Watts 5-string. It sounds pretty much like I had hoped...single coil, Jazz-bass kind of sound. And it looks...OK, if you don't look too closely. I've used it a number of times at church, and most recently at the picnic where we played some old rock songs. I've been happy with it all along. Next up...Carvin also makes a Strat kit...!

Good Things, Part 2

Oh yeah....Virginia beats Arizona in the first game in the new JPJ Arena.

That's a Good Thing, too.

Good Things, Part 1

OK, here’s the first installment in an ongoing list of Good Things. These are simply things I enjoy.

The Beatles

Thai food

A really cold beer on a hot day after cutting the grass

Anything written by Carl Hiaasen

Rear Window

Seeing one of my kids perform

Playing bass with my good friends at church

Days like today. It’s just *beautiful* out.

47...48...49...

Tonight a good friend of mine will celebrate her 50th birthday. Something like this will always get me thinking about aging, and how fast time goes, and about things I still want to do. Especially, I realize, "Hey, wait a minute! I was just 30! When did I get to be 47, and how come my contemporaries are my age too? I still feel like 30." OK, maybe I don't feel quite 30 anymore. I weigh a few more pounds, I have a few more aches and pains, and I can't stay out until 2 drinking anymore. What about that cover band I've always said I would form, or how I would audition for a play again when I had time? Within the last couple of years I've told myself I would do something big, anything, when I turn 50. Why wait? I could get hit by a bus tomorrow.

It's true, I could and maybe should do my big thing today. My father died at 52, so there's a reason not to wait. However, there are also big reasons to wait, and I think it mostly has to do with not being selfish. My family is REALLY active right now. My kids are in 9th and 10th grade, and they are in constant need of transportation and other things that require my attention. I play in a praise band at church and a healing service once a month, and other ad hoc bands, and I sing in the choir. All those activities fulfill me in many ways...I'm serving God and my church, and I'm playing music, which I love. I'm also starting to feel the impending loss when the kids will go away, and trying to hold onto them as much as possible. I'm also taking classes at VCU.

In three years, the kids will be gone or going (and driving), I won't be taking classes any more, and I'm thinking I might be ready to change what I'm doing at church. Auditioning for a show or forming a band might be just the ticket at that point in my life.

What about my spouse, you may ask? I've been talking about this off and on, so she knows it's coming. My hope is that we will be able to negotiate the time issue so that I'm spending enough time with her in our emptying nest and yet still be able to satisfy my desire for doing a new performing gig of some kind. Stay tuned.

Today's Morford

Eleven New and Happy Things

Whine Tasting

I'm not having that good a day. I didn't get enough sleep, my head hurts, I think I pulled a muscle, and I'm just all around grumpy. So, I decided I would try and write about it, in the faint hopes of making me feel a little bit better. I don't think it's working. I should be happy. I'm happy with the results of the election, and tonight is choir rehearsal, which is always a good thing. We got some good news today at work, which is rare lately. Every once in a while I go through a stretch of vague dissatisfaction, which generally passes. I've been told I'm doomed to go through my entire life being vaguely dissatisfied, which is...vaguely disturbing. I guess dissatisfaction can be a good thing if you use it to drive yourself to another level, or get another job or something, but I usually just whine, which isn't all that fulfilling, and doesn't often result in any lasting change. I've resolved to keep whining to a minimum on this blog, and so far I think I've been successful. So feel free to post a bitch slap if you think I'm whining too much.

Electorama

Today is the day. Go do your civic duty, people, and vote for the candidate of your choice.

I went and voted this morning about 8:30. I was number 187. I don't know if that's high or low, except that I remember the last time I voted I was something like number 12.

No matter what happens today, there's going to be a kerfuffle afterwards, that much is clear. It's only just noon, and there are already news stories flying about irregularities. I think we're going to see quite a few recounts, accusations, lawsuits, sour grapes...hopefully some fisticuffs.

Events will be interesting for sure here in the Old Dominion, where we have the George Allen-Jim Webb Comedy Show. It's on about a six-month run, and gets funnier all the time. You have to laugh, because if you start to think about what it says about democracy in action it's just depressing. The most recent poll has them one point apart, and the Feds are investigating allegations of voter intimidation.
I saw a sign outside a little while ago that read "United We Stand" under a waving flag. I don't think we're quite so united anymore.

Pain, Loss, Kids

My son has a buddy, E. They've been in the same school for about five years now, and are reasonably close. My wife and I have gotten to know E's parents some, and our boy has spent the night over at E's house a few times. E's younger brother T developed a brain tumor over the past year or so, and last week he passed away. He was 11 years old. We went to T's funeral on Saturday. As you might expect, it was a very sad and draining event. One kid's funeral is too many, but it seems like I have been to way too many kid's funerals in the last couple of years. They tear me apart.

I think any parent looks at something like this and just can't imagine, CANNOT imagine, what the parents are feeling. No parent should have to bury a child at all, but when than child is *really* a child, the grief must be completely unbearable. I can't think about it without getting all upset and wanting to go hug my kids and keep them safe. Of course, you can't protect your kids from disease, and you can't lock them in the house, as much as you might want to, because they have to go out and learn about the world for themselves, and learn to protect hemselves, and learn to be responsible and well-adjusted citizens of the world all on their own. You try to teach them how to take care of themselves and you hope that some of it sinks in.

I try to tell my kids how much I love them, just like my mom used to try to tell me, and they look at me in probably the same way I used to look at Mom...they're humoring me, but they really don't get it. I don't think anyone gets it until they have kids of their own.

I know that anytime I see T's parents from now on, their eyes will show a pain that I can't imagine now, and hopefully will never feel. I won't understand their pain just as my kids don't understand how much I love them. I hope and pray that time and God will bring them some peace and comfort.

Molly Ivins on the Upcoming Election

Molly tells it like it is:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/19/ivins.elections/index.html

GOP asks their own candidate to withdraw

San Jose Mercury News

Mark Morford Strikes Again

Mark Morford is incredible:
What if we All Vanished Tomorrow?

EC Was Here

I took my spouse and kids to see Eric Clapton at the new John Paul Jones arena in Charlottesville last week. The kids (ages 14 and 16) were not nearly as excited as D and I were. However, I think Eric won them over. It was a very well done show. Eric, at 61, can still rock. I had a bit of a sense that they were going through the motions, but not too much. They've been playing the same set list with tiny changes throughout this whole tour, of which Charlottesville was date 51. This makes me wonder if a live disc is in the offing. This was a totally new band for Eric. The rhythm section of Steve Jordan and Willie Weeks was rock solid. Two keyboards, two backup singers, and two hot young gunslingers on guitar, Doyle Bramhall II and Derek Trucks. I think having the young bucks on guitar works well for EC. They keep him young and on his toes, and he gets to share his wisdom with them. Trucks is a highly talented kid who played slide most of the night on a cherry red SG. He's not quite as lyrical a player as Duane, but is still young and very very good. Bramhall looks a bit like the guy who played Tony Almeida on 24, and has pretty serious chops. Highlights were Got To Get Better in a Little While, Anyday, Layla, Crossroads, and Motherless Children. Robert Cray opened, and joined EC and the band for Old Love and Crossroads.

GWB and Faith

Former White House Staffer David Kuo on BushCo's faith-based initiatives:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15292065/site/newsweek/