Thursday, June 5, 2014

Did someone mention music?

Its 12:32 am

    Sitting in the den,the cheetah is sitting in the window and listening to the birds chirp outside.
Drinking some iced tea and just waiting to see if the words will flow well enough for a entry.
I am tickled to see that Dollar Tree Theater is starting to gain some traction as far people being amused by the term. Paladin and I slugged our way through a truly God awful film called "Curse of the Wolf" which should have called "Curse of the wasted 90 minutes". Like I posted in on my Facebook page,this movie was so bad even the SyFy Channel rejected it
  But we started watching "Descendent" starring Jeremy London and a young Katherine Heigl (the movie was released in 2003) and it was surprisingly a nice little gem of a tale. Quite unexpected considering the fact the first five films I have watched in this collection have been so bad.



So many things come across in this film...number one being bummed for Jeremy London,who was the best thing going in this. His role as  Ethan Poe,a descendant of Edgar Alan Poe was sad, sympathetic,creepy and driven. Very much like Jeremy himself in real life as a series of bad lifestyle choices have pretty much derailed his once promising career.  Pretty much just like Poe's drinking destroyed his life,a case of life emulating art.
  Katherine's performance was very understated and I liked the fact the director didn't glam her up,she looks very plain and normal which allows the watcher to focus on her acting which is quite good.
Of course the next movie I am going to watch is called "The Fear Chamber",so I suspect I will heading back down to cheesy town.


 
    Had a very unexpected surprise when I came in to work last night. One of my co-workers and I have bonded over the love of good music and he burned me several CDs worth of music. While I can get 19 low budget films for a buck at the Dollar Tree or Wal-Mart,I can't afford 15.99 for a single CD. And since I have blogged about the death of used music stores in my area,I won't recap it again. New music has been extremely rare and since I never listen to commerical radio,I am out of touch with many new bands....which is my friend was amused when I told him I stumbled across Paramore.
  I kept hearing a quirky sounding tune on our overhead radio in the store. I started to listen for it and when I did,I copied down the lyrics and came home and Googled them and up came "Still Into You" by Paramore.
Slide over to YouTube and ta da,I saw the video. What a cool sounding alternative band. Really like Hayley Williams look,spunky without being affected.
  The band has been around since 2003 but the releases have been sort of sparse,only four albums in 11 years is not a very large catalog. Which while of sad for the band,maybe not such a bad thing for a new fan like myself who has belatedly found their music.
While I am listening to Jewel again while I am writing this blog,I am pretty excited to give the new CDs a crank in the Rodger Young during the summer months.
  He asked me about my favorite singers and of course I shared him Barbara and Dave Alvin,whom he wasn't too familiar with. We talked Dave and of course The Blasters,who have just released a new album.
Last night he came into work a bit excited,The Blasters and Dave are touring Detroit and so guess who is going to treat my buddy to two of the very best in American music? It will be my first live music show since I can't remember when. Oh,I have seen a couple of free jazz shows but the last time I saw a show at the club level was Barbara Manning so many years ago.
  It will be a real treat to introduce Dave Alvin to a new pair of ears....as well as The Blasters. Sort of bummed the brothers are not playing together but still,Phil can still bring it a lot better then most anyone...

  Getting geared up for the work around the house,I went and started gathering up the supplies that I will need to get this project going,fresh caulk,new check value for the sump pump,plumbing parts for the bathtub and going to have to replace the faucets in the upstairs,some much has fallen apart while Lori was sick. Its like I am seeing these things for the first time...and now I am ready to try and fix it.

  Working overnights is not so easy for me anymore,when I was younger,it was nothing to wake up at 7:30 am,be to work at 9:00 am,work all day,do a rock show,get home by 3 am and do it again the next day. I am no longer that same guy anymore,I am slowing down a little bit....it takes longer for this beat up soul to recover. I like the shift in terms of the people I work with,my job is so much easier because of the team I have and we work well together. Its funny,when I do interviews for jobs,they always "Do you like working by yourself or with others"? While I am perfectly happy working solo,I enjoy working with a team so much more. A good team gets the work done and done right. Time flies as well....because you are working on a common goal and working to hold your end up.

   

Its one of the strengths of my job,we have a lot of folks who will quickly jump in and help out someone else. Makes it easier to come into work...

Heard some most welcome news from back in San Jose,seems like the SoFA Street Festival is coming back in September. This was a true neighborhood driven event and I got to work on three of them in both planning,set-up and booking bands. The Fair was the brainchild of Fil Maresca and Gary Walker of Club FX and it was a lot of fun with great music,small businesses and tons of folks walking down First Street.
 Well Fil is back and he is once again working very hard to put this event in place.
    I think its going to be more of a real challenge this time due to the fact there are no more clubs in the area...which really helped draw the crowds due to the strong musical line-ups both in the venues and on the main stage.  He does have some heavy firepower still at his disposal in the fact that my former boss Jimmy plus Chris Esparza and Larry Trujillo are still in the live music scene and should help book some strong local and in Jimmy's case,national acts to help headline the music part of it.
 Just hope the city of San Jose is a lot more progressive in working to make this happen with as little trouble as possible.

   Well that is it for now....short and to the point.

If you are on Twitter,follow me @Jinzo_2400


Shout outs

Don Zimmer - a hell of a great Yankee, RI.P.
Valerie - This is your year..
Monique P. - Can't wait for your answers and new website
Fluffy Sisters  - The poster above is so you.....
Josh - Thanks for the toons


Everyone else "Life is a cabaret.......so sing!"


If you had to share your favorite band/singer with someone new,who would it be and why?









11 comments:

  1. I guess we all do slow down eventually and can't keep to the same pace as we did when we were younger :) And thanks for the movie recommendation.

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    1. Thank you for reading Salma, most of the movie I am currently watching are pretty cheesy so when a better then excepted film pops up...I need to share that as well...

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  2. Great post! I truly enjoyed reading it :)

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    1. Thank you Priya!! Looking forward to seeing what you are cooking next!

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  3. When I think of the things I used to handle at a younger age, I'm amazed. But you're pretty good at juggling subjects--movies, music and a plumbing project. You're not as old as you think!

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    1. Thank you! I am not so sure that juggling bad movies is a skill....but I admit,thinking of going to see Dave Alvin is pretty darn cool....

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  4. I love your subject choices. Your posts are always so varied!
    :)

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  5. If I had to share my favorite band with someone who would it be and why....hard question....because first I would have to decide who is my favorite band?

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  6. Why do I have a feeling your CD wall is rapidly catching up with mine?? If you haven't checked out Paramore,do so,Hayley has a nice set of pipes....

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  7. Yes, I am indeed slowing down (I'm 61) I've been reading your blog on and off and I've just followed you on Twitter (@RamblinGarden). I love your varied subjects! Alana

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