Pompeii

Our parents said the gods were putting an end to it all.  That they'd become fed up with us.  But after the ash stopped falling the skies began to clear and our outlook changed.  Not back to the way it was.  Certainly not that.
While they all surveyed the aftermath and began the long and arduous chore of picking up the pieces we made our way to the coast.  Our feet and ankles bruised from walking over pumice, we climbed up the hillside. When we finally reached the summit, chests heavy and hands filthy with soot, we looked to where Pompeii stood.

It was unrecognizable.

The rumors of my demise...

October happened.  November happened after that.  Those are facts.
They've passed in their normal fashion as they do every year with nary a peep out of me.  I wish I could say that this is due to me being out living life in lieu of documenting it.  That's only partially the case.  Compared to the beginning of the year my life has taken a bit of a turn for the mundane.  I'm not really complaining about this.  There was a bit more excitement previously but I'm in a pretty okay place at the moment although it does feel like a very delicate comfort in a volatile landscape.  As for now I'll enjoy it.  The worry of turbulence only serves to taint those few and far between times of smooth sailing.

I begin to worry when we have an actual full Autumn here in Ohio.  Right now, the day after Thanksgiving, we've had a beautifully temperate Friday with a cloudless sky and high 50s.  We've not had to miss a Sunday of Ultimate Frisbee yet this season and this week looks to be good to go as well.  One more week would mean that we've played straight from May into December.  
I'm an alarmist and spouting off about global warming is normally what I'd be getting at, but taking things as they come is a lesson that I'm learning in my early 30s.  I don't sweat much of anything these days and it's really made a noticeable improvement all around.

I intended to write about what I've been doing in my absence but now that I think of it in context it all seems unremarkable.  I do want to make this blog a bit more personal and tone it down on the reviews and such.  I want to take more pictures and share them.  I haven't been doing that at all these days.
I'd really like to invest in a new camera.

Rob Roy is back!

Or I should say Robert Raimon Roy.  And I, for one, am thankful for the name change because web searches for "Rob Roy" were mostly fruitless unless you were looking for Liam Neeson flicks.

Here's the first single off of the forthcoming album 'Le Tigre Blanc'.
Give it a minute to settle.

So Wavy for you.

Friday Fight (They Say It's Wonderful)

I  heard this song first sung by Englebert Humperdinck off of his 'A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening' album.  I'd purchased it in Toronto, I believe, while in spring break in the early 2000s and it was a major catalyst in my wanting to put together a lounge act.

Vs.

This version was not too recently introduced to me by Bumoltua after we'd found that we were mutually familiar with the song and kicked around the idea of throwing a trite version into our live show. He later sent it to me via email and it's been on various playlists of mine ever since.

Ashford and Simpson

It's been a gross oversight on my part, both on this blog and on my show at GoldenStringRadio.org, not to acknowledge and share condolences for the passing of Mr. Nick Ashford of, arguably the greatest Soul duo of our time, Ashford & Simpson.

I'm really dating myself now but I used to be so amped when this video would come on Video Soul back in the day.  And I didn't really understand why at the time but I came to realize later in life that what it was that they were so good at is making the most inspirational and affirming music without being preachy. It was just universally good 'we got this' music.  The type of music that kept marriages together.  The type of music that kept family reunions festive even under storm clouds.  The type of music that had me dancing on the couch in my Spiderman pajamas each time Donnie Simpson would introduce it.  Plus this mix, exclusive to video version, had the best intro ever with Valerie Simpson's a capella building directly into the chorus. Brilliant.

Here are a couple of my favorite Ashford and Simpson songs:

I share in the grief for the loss of yet another musical icon but more so I celebrate a career that's personally touched my life as well as innumerable others.

Nick Ashford

1941 - 2011

Treme

If after I'm long gone someone decides to make a movie of my life I'd always hoped this song would be appropriate to play over the ending credits:

Speaking of TV on the television, I'm about halfway through the first season of Treme.

I enjoy it a great deal.  A lot of the nuances carry over from The Wire but I was a bit put off because I was waiting for an overt conflict.  Then I realized with Hurricane Katrina being the primary antagonist it opens up a lot of room for the writers to focus on individual characters and it frees up the time for all the 4 minute musical pieces which they've been taking full advantage of and I, for one, couldn't enjoy more.  I can only speculate on the authenticity of the show's portrayal of the struggle of those displaced by the disaster, (based on the opinions of critics of both this show and The Wire the writing staff is heralded for the painstaking research that they do) but the show has certainly made me fall in love with the city as it's principle character.  This being said with the fact that I'd seen it with my own eyes (pre-Katrina) in real life.
It doesn't have me on pins and needles like The Wire did with each episode.  This time around I'm more so just along for a leisurely ride.

The Face Of A New Portugal

She married a resolute man.  Very austere.  Many disgruntled would-be suitors would say underneath their breath, 'That's what she gets.' 'It's her loss.' 'Serves her right.', because they don't see him as she does.  They see the Republican.  The face of a new Portugal.  They see how he walks, not hand in hand with her, but directing her with a stern hand on the small of her back.  They don't see the kisses that he places on her forehead when he leaves each morning.
They see how the boys follow directly behind him, with the most erect of postures.  Never can one say they've seen them shouting or running around even when surrounded by children who are.
They don't get the intimate moments when he's not in the public eye.  On the evening hours in his slacks and bare feet kicked up, reading the gazette to the children.  The way he intently closes his eyes with that first inhale of a fresh cigar.  They've never seen him passionate, which he often is, either with anger or lust which in either event ultimately has the same effect on her.
He could be a furious man.  Never has he been sentimental but she could live with that.  She'd joke with him in the mornings while he shaves about how he had the mustache of a Republican and how cliche it was for him to have such a mustache. He'd laugh his laugh which was a mono-syllabic grunt the way you think of a sleeping elephant to cough.  That was all she'd get out of him because that's how he'd trained himself.  He believed someone of his stature should never be so compromised as to be doubled over in laughter.  He was very restrained.  When they were young they laughed together.  He'd once said that it was her sense of humor that made him love her above all things.  He didn't have that mustache back then.

From her bath she could reach her pruney foot, dripping all the way, and rub the back of his leg.  He liked that.

Ghostface Killah has single-handedly ruined the new Kanye West/Jay-Z collaborative album, Watch The Throne, for me.  Well I won't say that.  I still enjoy the album very much, but his hilarious review has put a very different perspective on it.  Thanks to Bumoltua for pointing this gem out for me.

In other new developments, I've upgraded to a new 250 Gig XBox 360 with the built in WiFi which allows me to play and enjoy from the comfort of my bed.  Thus making all hope of any productivity lost.

7005!

You know that sweet-ass new position I was so excited about getting last month at work?  Yea, that's the very same one that's being dissolved as of Monday.

When being recruited, I asked specifically if this wasn't a fly-by -night position, because in my place of work specialized teams come and go.  I was assured that the job was here to stay (and to his credit this team had been around for a couple of years already).  So I can't help but to feel a bit bushwaggled.  It's not the worst case scenario, though.  I still keep my sweet schedule but I'm thrown back into the tedium, which I'm not sure whether it's a blessing or a curse considering my 10+ hour days.

I'm determined not to think of it this weekend, however, because I'm on my way to pick up a metric sh*t-ton of cookies from Jimmy's on Belmont and pick up my tux (and it better damn fit right since this is my first opportunity to try it on).  Then I'll be driving about an hour up to Aurora, Ohio for a huge party/wedding weekend in a swank inn. Right now I'm over-packing and desperately searching for a black belt.  Looks like I'm going to have to buy another. The work week will come sooner than expected but if I act as if it doesn't exist then I may just get to enjoy myself for a couple days.

Besides that everything else is on the up & up.  Bitches be crazy.  Frisbees be flyin'.  Another day in the life.


One interesting tidbit that I looked into recently was my text messaging usage. Incoming/Outgoing for
April: 5855
May:  5665
June:  7005

Where the hell do I find the time?

Yet another reason to love Brazil

I've been doing very poorly with my Portuguese.  Actually, I'll take that back because it denotes that I've been working on my Portuguese at all.  I haven't.  I also need to do some research into getting a work visa for the 2016 Brazil Olympics because I'm thinking that's the widest open door for this move and it fits well within my 5ish year time frame.

What I have been doing is a lot of working and not much else.  Well, I'll take that back too because I've also been spending a good amount of that money which is what I shouldn't be doing.  But in my defense it's mostly been in preparation for weddings which I absolutely love.

And also, while typing this, I found yet another reason to love Brazil:

Blindness (2008)

This movie is f*cked up. 

I honestly wish I hadn't watched it.  Not to say in any respect that the movie is bad.  Quite the contrary, it succeeds in what I believe are all the points it's trying to hit.  It's very well shot and masterfully acted by a great cast of characters, some of which underused.  I've become a great fan of the pairing of Julianna Moore and Mark Ruffalo.  The pacing is spot on.  At no point did I feel that the two hours were squandered.  Am I going to read the book after seeing this? Probably.  

My gripe is not with the film-making or the story-telling.  It's with the truth portrayed.  The depths of humanity that we can't bear to acknowledge but are so accurately showcased, unapologetic, in this movie that made my sick to my stomach and angry that I was made to watch it.  The glimpse inside myself to make me question which side of the coin on which I fall.    There are taboos that are not broken in modern media.  Scenarios in which we are have become accustomed to the Dues Ex Machina swooping in the save the day that we don't give it a second thought.  On the rare occasion that a director or story-teller does not turn away the lens and shows what is unjust and rotten; what actually happens in the real world, we become scandalized.  It's this unflinching camera that has earned my disdain.

I make it a point not to read reviews before I contribute my 2 cents and I'm shaking with anticipation to see what's been said about this film.  But regardless of what's been said, regardless of what I've said, I will defend this work.  As allegories go it's not the most original of the lot but it is well put and it will demand your attention.

7.5/10

Machine of Soft Tissues (unfinished and scrapped)

And what did the angels call her? And which one of them was held responsible?  Which of them had the audacity to suggest a creation like her?  This spectacle of femininity.  This anomaly. 
In the morning she stirs and all of God's creatures take notice.
Machine of soft tissues.  Bone and sinew that compose something all together brilliant. With a radiance to rival our very own sun.


Each bat of the lashes like the opening salvos of a decades long war.


Lips that, when pursed, cause hairs to stand on end.  Startling.  That feeling of unintentionally running your fingers through taut cobwebs.


And what did the angels call her?  What did they name perfection? Ah yes; [Omitted].