fifteenkey

Music that matters to me � Part 3 (�Prove It All Night� by Bruce Springsteen)

2009-11-23T22:30:00.001-05:00

There are times you go to a show and there�s just a song you have to hear. Back in �81 when I drove a 1,800 mile round trip from Tucson to Boulder for the Stones it was �Under My Thumb.� Third freakin� song. Sweet. 22 years later after missing the early years of Bruce Springsteen because of �Warren� (and you know who you are�) and my punk baby brother, I walked onto the wet floor of Gillette Stadium wanting to hear pretty much the whole set list I got, but having to hear �Prove It All Night� from Darkness. Actually, I wanted the left jab, right cross of �My Love Will Not Let You Down� and �Prove It� back to back, just like the opening of the live NYC DVD from 2001, but that was probably too much to ask�

I�ll admit I�m not a life and death Bruce fan like some. My buddy Pete has seen the Boss twenty something times and Barb� well Barb�s from Freehold, NJ. If I have to explain that, maybe you should stop reading.

Sex, Drugs and Rock n� Roll� There are probably thousands of rock songs about sex, but this one gets to a place where most guys wish they could go, even one night in their life. Now I grew up with some, um, confident friends and I�m not naming any names, but do recall hearing the bravado as a younger man and claims like, �Oh yeah, we went at it all night.� Yeah, sure you did. The only thing that probably went all night was the snoring after 30 crappy seconds, but I digress.

As I looked up at the canyonesque pit from around the 20 yard line, I simultaneously thought what the view looked like on a Fall Sunday and about a woman. Yeah, I multitasked. Then the band hit the stage.

Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA, Friday, 8/1/03 Night 1

The Promised Land
The Rising
Lonesome Day
My Love Will Not Let You Down
Prove it All Night

This song evokes such raw emotion with primal, guttural vocals and screams, pitched, blistering guitars and the consistent thunder of Max on the drums. By the end of this, only the second song of the show, Bruce is dripping with sweat. The way it should be. Rock �n Roll, that is. Heart and soul and one of the best rock songs ever.

Wicked Weekend

2009-11-20T06:31:00.003-05:00

Any time spent with my son Kyle is time well, um, spent, but road trips are the best. Here�s a sample of highway banter with the boy:

Kyle: �Dad, do you know Celine Dion is one of 14 children?�
Dad: �Wow! Really? Which one is she?�
Kyle: �She�s the youngest.�
Dad: �No wonder she�s so skinny.�
Kyle: �Dad!� (as he whacks my arm)
Dad: �Fourteen kids. That�s amazing.�
Kyle: �Her father is dead.�
Dad: �Yeah, I bet he is��

�Gentlemen, you have a package in Shipping,� noted the front-desk dude who�s actual occupation eludes me. The package turned out to be a beautiful box of cookies for my wicked cool boy care of a female admirer, an older woman no less. That was so cool, yet only part of what �Goldilocks� had in store for Mr. Broadway�

Gotham was fully brined this past weekend, and the rain not absorbed by the Apple was absorbed by me every time the deluge flowing atop Kyle�s �Mary Poppins� umbrella collapsed onto my head and shoulders. Kyle meanwhile, remained dry and humored under my functional shield.

While the edge of wetness crossed the slender island, the boys retreated to the lobby bar of our Millennium Broadway digs. After napping (me, not Kyle) nearly past our dinner reservation, we bartered a 15 block bicycle rickshaw ride for $20 and headed to Luna Piena on 53rd, between 2nd and 3rd Avenue. Kyle musseled through a pre-show meal of a shellfish appetizer, then a seafood risotto. Based on the barrenness of the china shortly after their arrival, I guess he liked them. I had a just-right portion pasta special with homemade spaghetti, zucc�s, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and saut�ed chicken. Overall, the food was good and a good value, and our waiter was competent, but without personality other than the �I�m Italian� accent.

Only cool, comfortable fall air accompanied our mile walk to the Gershwin Theatre for "Wicked,� and the show did not disappoint. Although there was some unevenness to a few chorus numbers, the chops of Dee Roscioli as the emerald �Elphaba� and Erin Mackey as �Glinda� were amazing. Their acting and comic instincts (especially Ms. Mackey) were wonderful, but their singing (most notably Ms. Roscioli) will stay with me awhile. Kyle was beaming and wildly clapping after every number, so I know his 18th birthday will stay with him too�

I had a spring in my step on the post-show walk, probably due to the fact I was $18 dollars lighter for a Maker�s on the rocks and a coke! Well, the coke did come in a 4 cent souvenir cup� We headed back to drop off our $8 cup and Playbills when we were jumped by 4 large �Happy Birthday� balloons in our room, planted by the notorious �Goldilocks.� I think we were both stunned by this incredible thoughtfulness, so we headed back out into the concrete jungle for a nightcap that turned into a slice and a lemonade for junior and a couple more hours of bliss for his happy dad.

Sunday morning was warm and bright for our short stroll to Grand Central Station via Starbucks and an Egg Nog Latte. Our last few steps down 42nd street were quiet, and ended with a short exchange:

Kyle: �Thanks for taking me to New York, Dad.�
Dad: �You�re welcome, my boy. Did you have a nice birthday?�
Kyle: �Yes. Thank you��
Kyle: �What do you want to see next year?�
Dad: (laughter)

Music that matters to me � Part 2 (�If It Feels Good, Do It� by Sloan)

2009-11-16T20:31:00.003-05:00

Songwriting is a huge part of my musical experience, but it�s not all about the words. Recently I wrote to a friend, �if that were the case, I�d just read poetry.� Sometimes it�s about chords coursing through you like lightning shot down every microscopic capillary, thumping bass and the riveting rapid fire on a drum kit. Sometimes it's just about fun. Put all of that together with clever songcraft and playful enthusiasm and you have Sloan. I don�t even remember when, but probably around 2002 or 2003 Jeff dropped a homemade Sloan compilation on me. That burned gold CD had more hooks than a Nova Scotian�s tackle box and snared me by the upper lip and yanked me out of the deep end of the ironic �No Depression� ocean. I�ve been flopping to Sloan ever since and will again on December 3rd.

�This song is dedicated to you. Cuz� this song is
for people who know what rock n� roll is about!�

[Facebook friends go here for the wicked cool Sloan video...]

Music that matters to me � Part 1 (Waltz #2 by Elliott Smith)

2009-11-15T19:08:00.002-05:00

[Written Thursday, November 12 at 12:00am]

A few years back, my friend Barb and some of her friends compiled, um, compilations under the moniker "Music That Matters To Me." I helped her find a Gene Kelly song from her childhood and committed to building my own list. Peering down such a deep well was daunting, so Mr. Procrastination deferred. Well, I started a list, but articulating why the music was important was going to take some soul and sentence searching.

My list goes back to the glistening sugar brown sands of Revere Beach with nods to 680 � WRKO and their summers of the late 60's featuring lots of the Motown machine catalog. From there the constant flow tore through the 70's with the Stones, the Who, Pink Floyd, Zep, Elton John, KISS, Queen, Aerosmith, Neil Young and one particular Grand Funk Railroad song featuring my best buddy drunk dancing by himself in whitey tighties. Oh yeah, some of it wasn't pretty. College in Arizona was dominated by Petty, more Stones, Who and heavy doses of Bon Scott's AC/DC, although I dimly recall spinning Back In Black with the Gonnella boys over Black Russians made with "Joe's Vodka" and "Hank's Coffee Brandy." I've never literally had a spike through my brain, but I know what one feels like.

The 80's were owned by U2 and once I had children, music took a back seat until about 1995. It was "that year," to quote the hugely influential Uncle Tupelo, that the RustedRobot casually asked, "Hey, wanna start a record label?" It's from that era where our sonic journey will begin.

In March of '99, the Robot and I were in Austin, Texas for my second South By Southwest Music Conference. We had rented a cool condo for the week, paid of course by mega-label Tar Hut Records, who agreed to upgrade us from the Motel6 they forced Jeff, me and the methane factory Hut234 to commune the previous year. Seriously, if we were hitting bongs or crack pipes back then I'm certain the Austin Chronicle headline would have read,

BLAST KILLS 3 AT MOTEL 6
Gas Leak Probed

"I think you'll like this," said Jeff with a full head of hair and no thoughts yet of twins dancing under it. The first few acoustic strums catch you, but the voice was thin and very mellow in the first minute of Elliott Smith's timeless epic, "XO." As often is the case, the third song of a record (or show) is often killer and "Waltz #2" wasted me. I'm not sure why it appears before Waltz #1 on the record. I'll have to look that up, but it's really not important right now so why spend much time dwelling on something not really relevant to the theme of the post because that would just be annoying and may in fact irritate the reader because who the hell likes a run on sentence, especially when it's completely diversionary from the topic at hand and doesn't even add context, and in fact takes away from what was turning out to be a decent story about "Waltz #2;" it really shouldn't matter that it is sequenced before "Waltz #1," but that curious fact is probably worthy of investigation and a post of its own, don't you think?

Elliott Smith was gripped by demons that eventually forced him to grip a kitchen knife and shove it through his heart. Yeah, he dealt with some pain. From that anguish came beautiful music and "Waltz #2" is one of his most heart gripping for me.

In the place where I make no mistakes.
In the place where I have what it takes.
I'm never gonna know you now,
but I'm gonna love you anyhow.

A Tuesday in November

2009-11-15T19:07:00.000-05:00

[Written Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 9:22pm]

There are good days and there are days like today that should be on a list. Today should be on the "days reaffirming faith in mankind" list. Maybe I'm overstating it, but when was the last time you received a phone call from your child's doctor saying, "sorry we can't see you and Kyle in New York this weekend, but I'm sending him a birthday present to your hotel?" Yeah, never, that's when. Admittedly, my son is bright torch of love, but seriously, doctors are busy people, right? Yet this one makes the time to reach out and touch hearts. Uhhhhhhh�. I'm� Thank you. Just thank you.

I'm in Vegas at a show with 900 of our customers. To drive them to our Services booths, we gave them open ended questions they could answer by speaking briefly with our people at 6 booths. One of them would win a 46" HDTV, Blue Ray player, Netflix subscription, installation and a 4 year service plan. We even threw in Leonard Maltin's 2009 Movie Guide. The random winner was a young mother of 2 who does not already own any of this stuff. She was so nice, and so appreciative� and it was so cool�

Finally, another customer stopped by a booth to let us know the questions promotion got her to engage and was the best technique she's ever seen at a trade show. That was nice to hear.

Finally, I received a call from someone I just wanted to tell all of this to� Yeah, I would have liked to have spoken those words to those eyes, but the call was enough. It fit the day.

The (Not So) Evil Empire

2009-11-15T18:58:00.003-05:00

[Written Sunday, November 8, 2009 at 9:50am]

So the New York Yankees are the World Champions of Major League Baseball. Since their win, I've seen some over the top bad reactions from some residents of Red Sox Nation, and truthfully, a few years back, you know, prior to the Sox coming back from 0-3 to win the ALCS and then the World Series, I would have petulantly pouted about yet another Yankee ring. Now, the Yankees are the Yankees and you won't be seeing me wearing the Darth Vader colors any time soon, but I'm here today to dispel the notion that the Bronx Bombers are in any way an "Evil Empire."

Mickey Rivers � That f&%$ing dirtbag punched Bill Lee from behind in the shoulder during a 1976 Stadium brawl that put Lee on the DL and killed the Sox chances that year. F&%$er. Oh, we're off to a bad start. Let's dig into the archives a bit�

George Herman "Babe" Ruth � The big lug was a Red Sox before making the Yankees re-think the pinstripes thing, plus he visited lots of sick kids in hospitals. Oh, and I'm sure he didn't know all those Nathan's hot dogs he inhaled were laced with roids� Yeah.

Joltin' Joe � Joe D never remarried and sent roses to his late wife Marilyn Monroe's gravesite on a weekly basis for 20 years after she passed. Any man who can love a woman like that cannot be evil. That's a streak.

Yogi Berra � Who doesn't love Yogi? The guy does freakin' commercials with a duck! I know for a fact ducks do not work with evildoers, even if their paycheck may come from some.

Thurman Munson � This may cause a crease in the time-space fabric of Red Sox Nation, but I idolized this guy in the late 70's every bit as much as Sox legend Carlton Fisk. Catchers freakin' rule!

Reggie Jackson � Yeah, he was as arrogant as they come, but he didn't get the nickname "Mr. October" by not backing it up. Plus, while he did fight Yankee manager Billy Martin in the Fenway dugout one year, I fully condone Yankee on Yankee violence and do not consider it at all evil.

Mariano Rivera � After blowing a couple early season saves against the Sox in the Bronx, he stood on the third base line at Fenway on opening day as the Sox received their 2004 rings. When he was introduced, the Fenway Faithful gave him a huge Bronx cheer. The only thing bigger was the smile on his face and the class in his heart.

Joba Chamberlain � I'm gonna take a Kevin Youkilis mulligan on ol' Joba the Nut.

Jorge Posada � Clutch hitting catcher with ears like Dumbo. What's not to like?

Derek Jeter � He's one of the all-time greats and made the best play I've ever seen in a baseball game, plus that "nice guy" thing can't be fake, can it? I still think when he jackknifes back like someone lit his balls on fire any time there's a pitch on the inside corner is overacting, he's still a class act.

Exhibit 1B � Alex Rodriguez � I know, he's a dick and he wears lip gloss, but he was the starting shortstop for the Seattle Mariners when he was eighteen years old. To be that talented that young means he was a pampered and spoiled kid waaay back. Like Michael Jackson, he can't help himself� His attempt to slap the ball out of Bronson Arroyo's glove in '04 wasn't evil. Stupid and pathetic, yeah, but not evil'

Exhibit 1A � George Steinbrenner � The blustery Boss has faded, but the game is about winning and George demanded it. Most people don't know that when Boston's WEEI sports radio does their Red Sox "Jimmy Fund" telethon, Mr. Steinbrenner calls up and donates� big. I'm glad the Yankees won one more for the man who loves them unconditionally.

Yankee Fans � Finally, I know a few Yankee fans, and while some are smug and obnoxious about their boys, the ones I know have more class than most Red Sox fans I know including me.

Early Thanks

2009-11-15T18:56:00.001-05:00

[Written Sunday, November 8, 2009 at 4:40am]

There's an Oscar Wilde quote about how life can't be written; life can only be lived. After living through written fantasy of nearly 700 posts and four years, I'm just now understanding the truth of it. Lately I've had less to "get out" in key pecks because I'm living instead of longing and there's less cathartic motive to document it. I'm repeating myself (early onset Alzheimer's, I'm afraid) I'm repeating myself, but since that August vacation with my son Kyle, I've emerged with blinking and blurry eyes (I got glasses for that). I can see it in Megan and Kyle when they're looking at me with those "who the f&%# is this guy" looks. My boss walks in my office and just laughs an eye roll exclaiming, "I can't take this happy Leo." Sorry, but if it helps, I'm just getting to know this clown myself. Remember, I was in the pod cryogenically frozen for some time and the reanimation process causes all sorts of issues including memory loss and uncontrollable shudders. Not to mention that shit was frickin' freezing and well, you took Physiology or at least saw "Seinfeld" right?

It's good to be back, but as the saying goes, behind every successful man is a group of very tolerant people who looked after me while I was away. I am thankful for:

Jeff: I'm glad, "hey wanna start a record label" resulted in a friendship with one of the finest people I know.

Dave: "You know Son Volt?" Yes, my friend. I do. While battling physical demons I hope I never meet, he was always there with a great ear, pomp and a smile.

Pete: This man told me he wanted my priorities to be, "family, personal development, and the work� in that order." Then he lived up to it. Plus, he got me to my first Bruce show. His laugh is like paddles to a still heart.

Barb: This particular dark (Yankee fan) angel descended and taught me how people should be treated� that is with mutual respect. She has lifetime visitation rights with my children and grandchildren.

Joyce: I inherited her as a new boss and the chemistry was instantaneous on a September 11th afternoon. For work to be fun is incredible good fortune, and following Pete and Barb, she's maintaining the tradition.

Mike: Watching that reality show in Anthem, Arizona helped me learn how to live. May all the good Karma of the Navajo commandments flow through you, my friend.

Kyle: "The boy who lived" gives me a bottomless well of reasons to want to. He shines a light on every life he touches, none more than mine.

Megan: Speaking of wells, one made of tears is forming behind hazel eyes. My girl is my friend. She has (I hate clich�'s but�) the heart of a lion and I could not be more proud of the young woman she's become.

Madison: Sure, maybe it's the acid, but I'm reliving the early years of Megan's life with this child. Smart, funny and beautiful, just like her mom.

I'm on a plane headed to Vegas and the LeoPod is speaking to me once again� I should add that everyone on this list has filled me with life sustaining music.

"It ain't too late to take a deep breath and throw yourself into it with everything you've got. It's great to be alive." � World of Hurt by the Drive By Truckers

I like words...

2009-11-06T19:18:00.004-05:00

[Written 110609 and too late to post before the big U/G]

...not that I've been writing many here lately. Anyway, my web host is performing a major upgrade for the next week, so we'll be dark here till mid month. By then I'll have some crowd pleasing aluminum tube musings, Sin City sightings, and a report from my Big Apple weekend with "the boy who lived" to see "Wicked" for his 18th.

Oh, I'll also be completing an essay on the World Champion New York Yankees and how they're not really evil after all... Yeah, it'll be like the Seinfeld episode, "The Opposite."

Shake it, baby.

2009-10-31T11:18:00.001-04:00

Now that she's 2, granddaughter Madison is into a strange New Orleans beads and dancing thing...

[Note: There used to be a cute video of 2 y/o Madison dancing in a diaper, but someone warned me about all the pedophiles among us, so no more vid...]

Answering to the Facepeople

2009-10-28T20:39:00.002-04:00

Yesterday my Facebook update read, �Leo Daley needs to write something. Anything really. Help a guy out with a topic.� A few of my so-called �friends� responded, so let�s examine their submissions and determine their blog-worthiness:

Warren, obviously watching the green opener, asks, �how bout some Boston Celtics.�
Well Warren, beating King James and some other guys on his home court is impressive, but I�m not inclined to write much into it.
Suzanne gets clever and inquires, �ummmm...what's new in your life? : )�
Well Suz, quite a bit actually, but I�m under an NDA and can�t write anything about it. Let�s just say if �life is a box of chocolates,� I got handed one spiked with Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. I�m tweakin�, man.
Phil, the other business major in a house full of University of Arizona Engineering Grad students, tosses, �There was this time we drove 1000 miles to see The Stones. That was fun.�
Yes it was, Phil, but I don�t remember much more then that. Oh, wait� It was 900 miles each way. Lisa chased us out of town and gave me beers. We had salad in Denver. We saw a kick-ass balloon show passing both ways through Albuquerque. You and I took about 3 hours finding a fuse for the car after the show, but had a great time looking. We saw a stupendous sky of stars while four of us peed in quadraphonic stereo on the side of the road somewhere in the New Mexico desert... Anything else? Yeah, my first Stones show rocked.
George from Orlando wonders, �sticking with the basketball theme, you could write about how there is no way the Celtics or the Cavs will be able to get past the Orlando Magic again this year in the playoffs.�
George, George, George... Even though you literally live in a fantasy world where dreams come true (mostly for little girls), I�m afraid your lofty expectations may lead to a tragic, not magic season.
Louise went for the Daley double suggesting �Agile vs waterfall methodology� and, �even better, Why do hotels give you 8 pillows on a bed. 8? Really?�
Hmmm� On the first request, I believe the Agile approach is more �real-world� and adapts to inevitable project change, while the first thing over the falls in a barrel in the latter methodology is the original project completion date. Your clever second suggestion demands to be answered with another question: �What stories do those pillows have to tell about what happened to them before you got to them?� I realize you travel a lot, so� sorry.
Keith, hopefully in jest asks, �How about some good lifecycle management topics that you'd like to see in a presentation at KronosWorks?�
After reviewing about 15/20 session PowerPoints for the conference with varying degree of that theme, I must write what I hope the Yankees will be saying soon: �Wait till next year.�

Thanks kids!

Love Monkey is Back!

2009-10-27T21:41:00.003-04:00

No, not really, but I have nothing to write about, so instead I�m providing you a rerun of the best show canceled after 8 episodes ever until I come up with some new material... Yeah, CBS dumped it and I was bummed, then hoped VH1 would pick it up (it didn�t), but now through the magic of your tube, here�s the pilot episode... Enjoy!

Love Monkey Pilot Part 1 of 5

Love Monkey Pilot Part 2
Love Monkey Pilot Part 3
Love Monkey Pilot Part 4
Love Monkey Pilot Part 5

Pythagorean Pool

2009-10-24T18:15:00.002-04:00

Billiards is an interesting application of geometry. I get geometry. Back in the day, formula math like algebra and calculus were challenging, but I easily earned 4 Aces in the study of angles and the Pythagorean theorem*. It�s a right brain thing. If you have the capacity to see the angles required, you�re halfway there, but then you have to execute. That�s the tricky part for ADD me because it requires focus. Lose focus on anything but the simplest of shots and you�ll miss. There are a few degrees of imperfection that will still result in a made shot on most efforts, but they shrink as shot length increases, so focus is needed to assure the easy shots and to drop enough of the tough ones to win. Many things can affect focus during billiards and here are some I experienced last night:

Environment � Noisy? Quiet? Lots of people moving about? Hot woman�s hips just beyond the corner pocket? Gotta focus...
Intake � There�s a fine balance between relaxation and impairment and that�s somewhere between one and three Maker�s Marks. I stopped at two. Oh, and wipe the grease from those chicken wings off your hands!
Headful � Bad day at the office? Monday audit with the IRS? That rash still hasn�t gone away? And then there�s that other stuff� Think like Crash Davis in "Bull Durham" and, �get outta the box you idiot, where's your head? Get the broad outta your head!�

Anyway, last night all I saw was the ball, the angle and the pocket. Well, except that one hips and miss. I heard nothing while lining up a shot. I missed a few and had a bad scratch, but I played well and had some fun. It�s a right brain thing. Oh, and don't forget to chalk your stick.

* a² + b² = c²

Drink n� Text

2009-10-22T22:09:00.002-04:00

No, I didn�t do one and never have, but I�ve found the effect of alcohol as a creative catalyst interesting. Not so much while drinking, but the next day. It seems the addition of chemical cobwebs affects the old (and now fewer) neurons in a way that realigns thought. It changes perspective like when a batter is really dug in on a pitcher, comfortably zoned in for a good look, then gets head buzzed by a 95 MPH fastball that was audible. That gets you thinking. I guess mildly traumatizing events just change your perspective. Maybe that�s why drunks like Hemingway and Hunter S. Thompson were such titillating texters. Of course they would have been good without the booze, but different and maybe not epic. Acid does the same thing, but I�ll save that fractal post for another time.

I love words. Yesterday I went truant on low-calorie 4:30 break outs to visit the Bellagio Gallery of Art. Experiencing art is another way to squeeze creative mojito and delivers without the hangover. The current exhibit is around the new �City Center� development on the strip. There were many sketches and models on display, but also less functional art at scale that will adorn the hotel. One was a shiny chrome representation of the Colorado River snaking like liquid mercury 7 feet up a white wall. In the new hotel it will flow inflexibly skyward some 80 feet. What stopped me cold though was a Times Square style neon messaging piece in hues of soft blue. The words� They were rapidly streaming across and I couldn�t stop reading. They were the work and words of Jenny Holtzer and brilliant as the LED�s forming them.

Speaking of words, I just heard Jeff Tweedy sing, �A sonic shoulder for you to cry�� That dude can turn �em.

Lost for Words and Found

2009-10-22T00:56:00.001-04:00

On a recent weekend I lost my ATM card at a restaurant. I remembered where, but upon return learned their lost and found cupboard was bare. I was sure they�d have it, so that unreal expectation increased the blow when sudden inability to access cash prior to a business trip was confirmed. Losing things sucks, but it�s just stuff� and things. My card was replaced in 5 minutes after the trip. People aren�t as easily replaced and this life takes them indiscriminately.

I remember long ago talking over tears to say something like, �I�ll take this time to make myself a better person.� Self assessments are usually more critical than those of your peers, but I�ll put down a good grade on this one, although I don�t exactly feel improved lately. Recent actions harmed others emotionally and I feel badly about that. I am sorry.

Since starting this space almost five years ago, it�s been a kind of beacon, like the SETI project portrayed in Carl Sagan�s �Contact.� In the movie, Jodie Foster plays Ellie Arroway, an explorer of the cosmos dedicated to searching for life �out there.� Aside from her core team, most thought her efforts to communicate with extraterrestrial life wasteful and ultimately in vain, like the Stones song. She kept listening for something likely initiated long ago, and one night while cupped in headphones under a black night blanketing a canyon, life answered. Ellie was jolted and sped off to erase all possibility that the �contact� was false. Was it some CIA thing, a satellite, some alien doing a drink �n dial? It wasn�t.

Well, the space-shit really hit the fan after that and once translations were achieved and plans decoded, Eli faced the decision of whether to take the trip to the unknown in a machine designed by the unknown, but she really didn�t have a choice. [Commercial interruption: This new Built to Spill record is freakin� crazy and ends with �Tomorrow,� a song now melting myPod�] Ellie had to go. She was scared and excited, but faced losing her love interest, a religious character played by that guy who can�t stand up straight. See, given the space-time continuum and traveling faster than the speed of light, leaning boy would likely be dead of old age once Ellie returned. None of the fear or prospects of losing mattered. Ellie had to go. After years of SETI work and then exacting preparation of the machine, she launched into the unknown. She had no sense of time, but it seemed like hours� 12? 28? 51? She had no idea, but when she returned it turns out the entire trip took just 7 seconds� [See scientific discourse on time-travel above.] Yeah, time really flies when you face is blurred because you�re being shot down a wormhole designed by non-locals. Anyway, doubters railed and Ellie�s story was squelched, but she knew the truth of it� Although an atheist, she had faith what happened to her was real.

Years later an older and content Ellie was speaking to school children out under brilliant sunshine shimmering off the SETI radio dishes. One child asked her, �Is there life out there?� �Well, I don�t know,� answered Ellie with a smile, �but it sure seems like a big waste of space if there isn�t.�

Chicago Black and Blues

2009-10-15T14:43:00.001-04:00

Chicago was OK, but I really wasn�t in Chicago, but an Anyplace Airport Hotel because I never left it. Last night a buddy recruited me for a city Blues night, but the 2-3am return didn�t jive with an 8:30AM flight this morning, so I�d have to supply the Blues myself. I scanned the room of co-workers playing pool, playing Wii, eating, drinking, and in one case, belting a great karaoke version of �These Boots are Made for Walking� by Frank�s daughter. A couple Sales reps approached me to say they loved my writing (internal promotional Spam), but I wasn�t engaging. I wasn�t there. At 8:30 I took my Corona back to 822 and poured half of it down the sink. The conference was fine and my presentation went OK. I met some new people and put faces to lots of names. The high point was catching up with my friend Barb Tuesday night, but that was more me marveling at the display of affection toward her by many passersby. Yeah, she�s like the well loved mayor and had a big part in the success of the meeting. When she wasn�t kissing Kronies, we used the 30 second breaks to say words� It was cool.

Corona spilled and a 12 hour day wearing, I again listened to a song that�s been on my minds turntable since friend Jeff posted it days ago. I looked on YouTube for a video and found this amateur effort from a fan. I didn�t go out for the Blues, but got the Black.

Right Now

2009-10-11T11:18:00.002-04:00

The future is a perfect place for a procrastinator. It�s the place where �later� is. I�m not talking about the future of mankind or anything heavy, just a minute, hour, day or lifetime from now. OK, that was kinda heavy. Recently I stopped thinking about what lay out there and just started being there. Yes, this is another in a series of fifteenkey allegory for real events� Thing is, the �being there� thing started back around my reconnection with the �mayor� of Anthem, AZ, and the experience of all the buzz of life in his world. This life has been more fulfilling since walking through that dream sequence because it illustrated the �mystery of the quotient,� the �solve for X� as experiences with people.

Awakening from suspended animation is somewhat disorienting and scary. What happened while I was in the black pod with the little face window? Stuff. Stuff with people. Get togethers� Dinner and drinks with friends. Trips to far off places� Paris. Sydney. What? The Red Sox won the World Series? Twice? Sure, I read about it in the archives, but who knows what alternate reality I came back to, and that 0-3 comeback against the Yankees had to be some Orwellian historical revisionism, right? I stayed in the pod. What if someone came to hit my defrost button and I was away? Over the years, my caretakers looked through the glass and tapped on it, curious to see if there would be a flinch or any reaction. With regularity they attended to primary needs with gourmet meals and live aural therapy. There�s not much difference between comatose and dead, but the angels in my life weren�t going to let me flat line.

Waking up in Arizona had a surreal blur to it, but later tests indicated that was either a.) nearsightedness, b.) the Absinthe, or c.) my head was treated like Teddy Ballgame�s while cryogenically frozen. Yesterday I watched a young woman scan and bag a few groceries with one hand. Her left hand, whatever was left of it, was shrouded under her red Henley. The outline of it was shrunken with more the look of a birth defect than an injury. A wave of empathy crashed over me, but quickly subsided as she dutifully went about her job. Sure, she knows it�s there, but there�s life to live and she�s not letting a physical handicap impede it. My smile and �thank you� for her had a little more life to it than typically expected from a guy with a just thawed head. Apparently my heart survived the reanimation process just fine.

This post began with the intention of writing about �the future� without clich�. Reading it I�m reminded of an old post where one caretaker asked, �enjoying the acid?� Actually I am. I�m enjoying it right now. I�m enjoying the sound of Kyle doing a �Harry Potter� impression while playing PlayStation, and in stereo the nearby sweet music of mother-daughter conversation. I�m enjoying the sounds of this keyboard and I�m grateful to have it. There is no future. Well, no guarantee of one anyway. Right now. It�s everything, (never thought I�d quote Hagar era VH�) but I still need to finish a presentation for� tomorrow.

Morning

2009-10-06T19:00:00.002-04:00

I know I�ve written ad nauseum (by the way, that means, �To a disgusting or ridiculous degree; to the point of nausea.�) about �an old friend� who said or did this or that, and specifically for this post, made reference to music speaking to you in a certain way depending on where you are in life.

Back around 1995 is when another old friend was feeding me CD�s by Uncle Tupelo and their offspring, Son Volt and Wilco. The angst of those records was counsel to my tormented soul back in those tumultuous years, but eventually I got to a point where those mid to late 90�s reminders became unlistenable. I simply didn�t want to regress, so a more upbeat substitute in the form of Sloan sat near as sonic therapist.

Saturday night as Kyle and I glided home after seeing a movie with new friends, Wilco�s debut, �A.M.� appeared first under the �Albums� click of the LeoPod. Somewhat tentatively I depressed the white right pointing isosceles. What jumped out of the speakers was joyful and alive. It just didn�t drag at me the way it once did. Of course there are still depressing songs on the record, but the music was jumping in a way that turned sad words glad. I sang and Kyle suffered through it, but not without complaining that Wilco is the worst band ever. Maybe he thought I was high.

You never looked in my eyes
Long enough to find
Any piece of mind
But now you got it
And I, I must be high
To let you say goodbye
Bye bye bye

I Must Be High - Wilco

Affair from Afar

2009-10-03T10:46:00.002-04:00

After a wonderful dinner of Crazy Maki and Cold Gin, I thought I recognized an old high school classmate on the bathroom route. Uncertain of his identity, I opted against asking and we headed for the door and our goodbyes. Pulling out of the parking lot, I saw the guy again and stopped. Turns out it was Bruce and we caught up for a couple minutes. At one point he asked, �was that you over by the silver car?� When I responded in the affirmative, he added, �we speculated you two were having an affair.� I see� So what does an �affair� look like? My brief research didn�t turn up data on his third party perspective, but I did find on marriagebuilders.com, �50 Indicators of Infidelity. For the record, I�ve been single since 1996 and my date is definitely� Uh, well, let�s just say I�ve met enough of her friends and family to know she�s not married� Anyway, that being the case, I thought I�d run through some of this list in an effort to discover if any of my behaviors promped Bruce and his friend to see �affair� when looking at us�

50 Indicators of Infidelity
1. A sudden upturn in their demeanor or outlook on life. � Bad start. I will admit to that.
2. Constantly late. � Never!
3. More possessive toward wallet, pocket calendar or briefcase. � Nope.
4. Comes home more often with alcohol on breath. � Only on Thursday�s.
5. Starts talking about getting together with old friends they haven't seen in years. � That�s a definite �no.�
6. Starts shopping for new clothes. � Do socks count?
7. Starts taking a renewed interest in their appearance. � Yesterday I let my Student-Stylist cut my hair, so� um, I mean... yes definitely!
8. Starts keeping an overnight bag in their car or office, ostensibly for a workout or a game of tennis. � One should always be prepared for a workout.
13. Takes a new interest in anticipated schedule. � Yes, see Thursday�s above.
16. Car is kept free of paraphernalia belonging to you or the kids. � Except for Maddy�s blocks and Kyle�s Voldemort wand, it�s a �cabin le affaire.�
17. Starts attending extended seminars or conventions. � Hmmm� 3 trips between now and early November�
18. Start using new words and phrases. � I hadn�t used �kazoo� in awhile.
23. Makes more phone calls late at night. � No. I hate the phone�
29. Smell of a different soap from the brand at home and/or you smell freshly showered at 1.00am. � Huh?
32. Loses a lot of weight and seems proud of new body. � Uhhh, well, that was before� and I�m still not content.
33. Saddest list item is: change in die-hard pro-life feelings on abortion. � Oh yeah, and I�m now also addicted to FauxNews.
35. Juvenile behavior and music interests!!! � I wouldn�t say that�s �changed.�
37. Knows all the new pop singers and has CD's. � CD�s? When was this list compiled?
39. Uses the ATM way too much! � No comment.
49. Distances themselves from those with strong (any) moral values. � Yes, especially moralizing hypocrites.
50. Gets "coded" pager messages at all times of the day and night. � I freakin� better not!

I don�t know. This list seems inconclusive. It must have been something else�

Sunday Scrambled with Salsa Verde

2009-09-27T11:02:00.003-04:00

For quite a while now, I thought filmmakers were employing a �soft� (read: slightly blurred) filming technique like the �shaking� method of�NYPD Blue� a few years ago. After looking through my friends glasses last night, I found out they are not�
Even blurred, it�s interesting to see the contrasting visions of set design from each �Harry Potter� Director, but it detracts a little from the story continuity.
There�s something missing in the Red Sox lineup this year and it�s a fearsome hitter. I think that guy plays in LA now.
It just occurred to me I have to travel 3 times between early October and early November, twice to Sin City, which isn�t all that fun without the sin.
Check out Pandora.com internet radio�
Contrary to the market massaging melodies of Fed Chairman Ben �What, Me Worry� Bernanke, the recession is far from over for 14.5M unemployed Americans�
�and his primary constituency at the �too big to fail� financial institutions are still too big and are back to gouging us and gambling with our money.
And where the hell are the alt-energy stimulus dollars?
I�m not crazy about Intuit buying Mint.com because it reduces competition, but as long as they keep producing valuable content like �The Power of No at work,� all is not lost.
In all the noise on health care reform, the dire need to reform our financial system has been largely lost.
Speaking of lost (again), it looks like after a lost summer of �death panels killing Grammy� the public option may become a reality.
I�m looking forward to Michael Moore�s �Capitalism: A Love Story.�
Prediction: with back room diplomacy appealing to the educated middle class with influence on the Muslim powerbase in Iran, Ahmadinejad will fall by the end of 2010. That country and its citizens have too much to offer the world and can no longer be run by the male Iranian equivalent of Michele Bachmann.
Still on the subject of nuts, check out these �Top Ten Questions To Ask Yourself Before Spending $63,000 On Dinner With Sarah Palin.�
Finally, could Bill Maher have dinner with Sister Sarah? I mean are Christian Conservatives and Liberal Elites mutually exclusive? I�m beginning to think not, but�
�hearing �I loooove Rush� in an almost breathless exclaim really chilled my liberal mojo� I think the secret may be the ability to �have a civil conversation about those things��
With a presidential election, London Summer Olympics and the whole Mayan thing, 2012 is going to be quite a year...
...but it's best to remain focused on being alive in the present.

Alive

2009-09-25T20:22:00.003-04:00

Tonight I stopped for a drink after work with marketing types catching up with a former co-worker turned Salsa instructor. Completely unlike me, I stepped it around and talked to pretty much all the dozen or so folks there. Last night I had dinner with a friend till way past my bedtime and Wednesday had a work buddy over for dinner and cigars. Last week was a great time with peers in Newport working the room and just talking to everyone I could. Today I walked around chatting with our team members and even put my head on a picture of a guy dressed as a can of Spam and sent it to oh, about 1,000 people (with an internal marketing message). What the hell is wrong with me? I don�t think I�ve seen an episode of �Dora� in 2 weeks!

Still over thinking as usual, determining the exact source of the problem eludes, but I may have been infected with this �people thing� during the �biggest loser� work contest of 2009 or during vacation. In fact, I may have caught it from my oldest pal Mike Gonnella, who acts like he�s the rush chairman of the Phoenix Harley Riders Association. I remember wanting that vacation to change me� maybe even break me out of the dark cave I�d been living in for so long. Now dwelling on it, the first symptoms appeared when I gleefully told anyone willing to listen about my �greatest vacation ever.� Once those first few steps were taken, I�ve �just kept running� in a Forrest Gump kinda way. This people fever may pass, but it does feel good to know I�m still alive.

Speaking of alive, check out the fans in this video. They are alive.

Intolerance Island 2009

2009-09-24T06:57:00.002-04:00

The 2009 �Value Voters� Summit was held last weekend in Washington DC. The headliners of the event included �15 current or former Republican elected officials or Cabinet members and no Democrats.� I guess winning isn�t one of their values. Of course, these fine folks had a Hollywood celebrity, the runt of the Baldwin litter, the talentless Stephen. The last �film� I saw this guy in was �Shark in Venice� on the SyFy channel. Now Kyle loves any movie with a shark in it, but it was dreadful and one Amazon reviewer described his performance thusly, �throughout the entire thing he looked like a guy trying to wake up from an Ambien hangover who is also slightly constipated.�

Anyway, the breakout sessions of this hoedown included:

THUGOCRACY - FIGHTING THE VAST LEFT WING CONSPIRACY
OBAMACARE: RATIONING YOUR LIFE AWAY
THE NEW MASCULINITY

In �The New Masculinity� session, Michael Schwartz, the chief of staff of United States Senator Tom Coburn's (R-OK) made the case that viewing straight porn turns adolescent boys gay because it �turns your sexual drive inwards.� What Mr. Schwartz whiffs on is the fact that women don�t um, have a hand in these boys fantasies because they�re not there. I doubt these little dudes would be waxing their Wii if Lara Croft suddenly jumped out of their game console. I�m just sayin�.

A DC summit wouldn�t really carry any credibility without a presidential poll, and here�s where the traveling �700 Club� hung their chads:

Mike Huckabee 28.48% - I�d never vote for him, but the Huckster is OK with me.
Mitt Romney 12.40% - Mitt�s got the Bain business pedigree and all, but he makes watching paint dry seem like a KISS concert. Plus, he's a Mormon and these believers apparently don't dig the tabernacle choir.
Tim Pawlenty 12.23% - Who?
Sarah Palin 12.06% - Carrie�s mom is a woman who clearly does not understand her limitations. I hope she is the nominee. I really do.
Mike Pence 11.89% - See Tim Pawlenty above.
Newt Gingrich 6.70% - Not since �A Boy Named Sue� has anyone been so pissed about what his parents named him. A Boy named Newt�
Bobby Jindal 4.69% - Isn�t the Indian �Mister Rogers� a little brown for this group? Yeah, his numbers would indicate so.
Rick Santorum 2.51% - Can you say, �Sanatorium?�
Ron Paul 2.18% - The only one of this bunch that makes much sense, but I�m sure most attendees had no idea what the hell he was talking about.
Other 1.68% - I think Ronald Reagan got most of these votes.

Seeing all these Republican nomads wandering the political desert in search of a clue is priceless and yet another annual stop to suck up at Intolerance Island is an indication they�re still far from finding one.

Fall Again

2009-09-22T07:12:00.000-04:00

Another season is over. They seem to be accelerating toward the inevitable end. The last 50 or so seemed to blur by faster than this rock spinning at 25,000 miles an hour. Now the merry go round is passing by another Fall. As it comes into view, birth markers appear amidst hills of flaming colors and crisp fruit. The air is conditioned and clean. (Megan just walked by at 7:01 to say, �It�s beautiful out.�) The past several years I�ve always been looking ahead with intent to really enjoy the summer, the fall, the holiday season, whatever was next. Once those times pass, I�ve often looked back with a sense that I somehow missed something. Either we didn�t go to the beach, pick apples or sing Carols�

As a child riding the carousel, I would try to see everything and fully experience the ride before it stopped. I�d like a return to that childlike wonder in all I do before� Well, while this ride keeps spinning. Hey, it�s Fall again!

Readings and Rantings on a Thursday night

2009-09-18T17:54:00.003-04:00

Some of this is from emails I�ve written today, recounting events that took place between 6:00PM last night and well, later. Some of the names have been changed because I don�t want people hatin� on me.

First of all, at 10:32PM, and toward the end of a 90 FREAKIN� MINUTE phone call (more on that later), I get an email from �Coach,� who, commenting on my recent blogging of the Pats game wrote, �He not only chased him down from behind, he tackled and landed on top of Jackson knocking every breath of air out of his lungs. I love Wilfork!� Coach was writing his regrets for not attending the NEC reunion due to his accommodations at Mass General Hospital last night. I hope Coach�s physical health improves, but I should note his mental health is far beyond the current capabilities of Freudian psychology or the vast pharmaceutical industry... Only he could read that blog post and know the freakin� plays I was referring to.

At two hours past 7:00 I was getting some air outside a hot Irish Pub full of imbibing Marketing professionals when my lovely ex called me, and like an only-Andy Rooney episode of �90 Minutes,� recaps the reunion in gruesome detail. Long story, but right now she seems to be in a "whoever talks the most, wins" phase, and of course the first thing out of her mouth was, "Esmerelda (literary license) hasn't changed a bit. She's as beautiful as ever." At that point I thought I was being mugged on the tough streets of Newport as a cold, stabbing pain seared my back, but it was only the cut of beautiful words.

As a �glass half-full� kind of guy, the fact I went three half hours without a glass at all was addition by subtraction. When I walked into the dive across the street that everyone had traded up to from the sauna, I was walking more upright than most. As the night regressed, I did learn that lesbians prefer comfortable shoes over heels, and �The U� may have a pretty good football team again. Oh, and while I had �Newport Storm� beer and Cabernet earlier in the night, Maker�s on the rocks just works. Speaking of work, it is for me to socially circulate, but I put the effort in and here are some of the things I heard�

From two different women I took in, �You have kind eyes� and �I was intimidated by your eyes.� So, I guess I have to be very careful about whether I wear my kind eyes or my angry eyes. Finally, aside from my knifing, was the coup de grace of my evening. As I shifted to dissuade the affectionate show of appreciation from a �one too many� 20-something in the bar, my ego was thoroughly enjoying the affirmation. �Yeah, baby. I still got it going on!� Or something like that. As I nodded and smiled approvingly, but also with mock humility at the compliments, the ultimate loud record scratch ripped through my cochlea like a rusty wire brush with, �You remind me of my Grampa.�

�Is someone twisting a knife in your back?
Are you being attacked?
Oh, this is a fact that you need to know�

Wilco (the song)

Mutual Exclusivity

2009-09-16T22:03:00.001-04:00

I�ll be in Newport, RI tomorrow night socializing with current work acquaintances while ex-cube farmers from NEC re-union in Boxborough, MA. Honestly, part of me would like to swap locations, but the hand of fate (yeah, I�m still on the B&B kick) placed me a couple hours South. However, in an almost game time decision, my lovely-ex will be at the NEC gathering and yours truly got her a male escort for the occasion! Yep. My old friend Tommy K, who goes way back with me to NEC and is the guy responsible for me enjoying my current gig, accepted the challenge and will walk in as Gigi�s �arm candy.� (His words; not mine.)

There are only a few people on the reunion list I wanted to see, and it would have been very interesting to see them. Reunions are a time to see if the old flame that dumped you got fat and ugly or ended up with someone that did. Well, they are in my little mind� The starkest memories from the last reunion I attended were the confirmed alcoholism of a big HS drinker who was carried out of the hall, and the fact I didn�t recognize one of the �untouchable� girls from my class. Ooops. Sorry, I�m drifting. Anyway, I also was really surprised at the names I didn�t see, and when I read in the script, �Leo (in Newport),� it confirmed I was one of them. While I won�t be there, between the fabulous Gigi and �Tommy Bar� as my understudy, I expect to receive two very contrasting perspectives on the evening.

Live Blogging the Pats

2009-09-14T19:01:00.065-04:00

Pre-Game

Uh, Tom Delay is going to be on "Dancing with the Stars?" As if that didn't suck enough already. Jeez. I feel sicker than I did in the first quarter of the opener last year.
Is TO the Kanye West of the eneffel?
They should boot Hank Jr. and have Hank "tree" open these games.
Already I can tell this isn't as much fun as cracking right-wing nuts.

1st Quarter

I think that kicker regrets going near Lawrence Maroney.
Wow, that was a very generous spot on the 3rd down pass to Faulk...
Hmmm... In the past Brady would have snuck for the 4 inches.
OK, commercials suck, but the Autotrader one wasn't bad.
What a freakin' neck on Posluszny
Brady is jacked and overthrowing... Settle down, big guy.
Um, that was a nice sweater.
Oh, and Maddy can say, "Football... Woooooo!!!" She's so talented.
Hey, there's Leslie's TV!
Nice tackling on that Trent Edwards scramble... WTF? This is football!
Shouldn't the Pat's be up like 14-0 by now?
Jerrod Mayo hurt??? Oh, wait, that's not important. Let's run an IBM commercial.
Sorry, but Corona in a can just isn't going to work.
Vince is tired because he just chased down a running back on the prior play. Pay attention!
Oh, what? The Bills scored?
OK, at what point will the Pats figure out they need to block and tackle tonight?
The Adrian Peterson B&W Nike commercial is art.
Didn't Richard Seymour used to play where that big friggin hole has been all night?
Well, that was a good first quarter for NFL fans already under a snow emergency...

2nd Quarter

Gotta catch that, TO...
I like the Bills effort on D.
FIOS seems cool, but I can't bear to give Verizon another dime.
Man, Tedy Bruschi's been invisible tonight.
Two words: Kevin Faulk.
Now THAT was a Brady rope to Moss!
I repeat: Kevin Faulk.
Nice drive, and the rust is coming off Mr. Brady. He threaded that pass to Welker.
Who's that Packer with the Fabio 'do?
Trent Edwards really needs to shave that cheesy 'stache.
Oh, yeah. I'll be all over a Chicken Parm at Dunkins...
It seems maybe Bill Belichick went all vampire on the asses of his defenders.
Example Lee Bodden...
The Dirty Dancer has died. RIP Patrick Swayze.
Oh, and 63% of doctors favor a public option...
I'm sure the ad agencies are cutting GM a break 'cuz it's our tax dollars, right?

Halftime

Southwest loves bags.
Can a guy in a marching band hat really be "the soul?"

3rd Quarter

Intentional grounding maybe, but roughing the passer?
Dickipedia entry for Kanye West
Tom Brady sound a little like Beavis when he's trying to draw the Bills offside.
It seems Beavis is establishing a rhythm...
If "that's Tom Brady," then who was that other guy?
Oh, the other guy just threw a 4th and 2 at Welker's feet.
OK, I want that smiling jackass to be caught and mauled by the bear.
The Pats are still losing...
Now by 7 again...
Buffalo is very undiciplined... Spearing?
Brady runs for the first! He hasn't lost a step... He's still slow.

4th Quarter

Bob Kraft has got to lose the blue shirt / white collar thing.
One more time. Kevin Faulk.
Maybe TO's not big on Buffalo wings.
3 auto insurers duking it out tonight... I'm not mentioning them.
What's with the 1/2 second "Are your credit cards max..." commercialis interuptus?
OH! TO mouthing off and the interference call is on him!
Whoa... Nice screen for 17 and a first. Buffalo is believing it now.
Adalius Thomas has been a disappointment. That penalty didn't help.
Wow is right.
Wouldn't 36 hour Cialis almost certainly cause some degree of lost vision and hearing, along with a pulled hammy? I'm just sayin'.
Where does New England need to go? Uh, the end zone.
Galloway? Seems he retired too.
Nice catch, Ben.
Good thing you didn't drop that one or you would have been joining big Sey in Oaktown.
Should have taken a knee, son.
If the Bills lose this game, they beat themselves.
I think this Christmas will be a good time to pick up a PS3, Wii or xBox. The price cutting is already underway.
OK Ben, that was a sweet catch.
Please just tackle now.
"A defining moment for Trent Edwards?" Unlikely. These announcers... Every situation is not monumental. This one better not be.
And in other rugby action tonight...

Postgame

Couldn't Brady just be gracious and tell Suzie Kolber he wanted to kiss her?
The Patriots were very lucky to win tonight. If Mayo is seriously hurt, that defense is in trouble.