Don't Shoot!

So, we bought our Christmas tree at Home Depot the other night. We always buy a live tree. Being vegetarians we have a sensitivity to not promote the taking life when it is not necessary. We see no sense in buying something that was cut down when we can let it die later in our own yard after Christmas due to neglect in our own yard. Mind you, we are 0-3 with our previous "live" trees since our "green thumbs" lean towards a desert tan.

While in the checkout lane, there was a man that was going through the process of having his credit card swiped for the 4th time. A bit out of the ordinary. More out the of ordinary was a very cute German Shepard type dog laying down patiently waiting for him. My wife commented that he was law enforcement. He looked the part with his hair cut military style, athletic build. Oh, yeah...he had a side arm. This is legal in Arizona for even the regular citizens in businesses that allow it.

This man also had on a rodeo belt buckle. For those out there that don't know about rodeo belt buckles, they are very large and usually are awards for titles won at rodeos or maybe commemoratives of a rodeo.

She asked, "I can't see his belt buckle from here. What does it say on it?"

"I am not staring at his buckle. No guy with a rodeo belt buckle wants to look up and find another guy staring at his crotch. Plus, I am not going to risk getting busted 'checking a guy out' when he has a trained dog and a gun!"

Smelly

"I must smell weird!", I thought to myself as I got out of the shower. And I did smell weird. My hair shampoo was scented with white birch extract (whatever that is for), my shaving soap in olive oil based, my facial soap has a smell of tea tree oil and creasote. To top it all off, the body soap I like to use has peppermint oil in it. No wonder our dogs bark at me like I am a stranger: I smell like a combo of a cheap drugstore and Bath & Bodyworks.

Rent

My wife and I went to see the new Harry Potter movie the other night. We ended up seeing a movie I knew nothing about: Rent.

The plot is based on bohemian types living in the armpit of urban squalor and on the verge of being evicted from their building in the cold of winter. No one ever really chooses to live like that if they have a better choice. Having been through that whole scene when I lived on Chicago's south-west side, and having lived in other urban environments I was immediately repulsed before I met the characters in earnest. I am sure this "starving artist" ethos is appealing to those who haven't lived it first hand...especially the middle-class white people (e.g. college kids) that show up for such movies. The lyrics to the Dead Kennedy's song, "Holiday in Cambodia" come to mind.

When I meet the characters they are getting evicted because an old friend "sold them out" to the man. My god! Despite the "betrayal", they are forced into a situation of having to pay back rent...and rent in general. So, what do they do? Get jobs? No. They have a protest rally. Not only do they have a protest rally to stand-up against the wicked white land-lord that wants what is justly due, they have an elaborate song and dance scene taunting their residential benefactors by celebrating the lifestyle that underscores the very reasons for their plight. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

And although I can almost forgive one male character for getting HIV from a heroin junkie girlfriend (she dies) he bothers to fall for another heroin junkie girl that whores herself as an "adult dancer" to pay for her habit. From the frying pan into the fire. I am supposed to care about this guy? Any character transformation and redemption comes too late.

The only main character we see earning an honest living (eventually) does do it by what he calls "selling his soul" and yet this same supposed forfeiture of his principles allows him to proudly take a stand when offered another pact with the devil landlord. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Any respect I built up for him (which was little) was lost.

The tender & real moments were too fleeting. Rent has great musical performances and the acting is great. The way they treat homosexual relationships was so respectful and well-done that it was the movie's only saving grace for me. Besides being disrespectful, I am so tired of the gay & lesbian schtick being played out as some comedic or dramatic mechanism for an otherwise weak movie. In Rent it is all really done well.

I remember where and what I was doing when I first heard about AIDS: as a child in a small town in Minnesota in the early 80's. Although I can only guess that the information I learned so quickly in school and on t.v. was common knowledge for those on the street who knew people affected by AIDS or cared enough to pay attention. I am not warming to a play or movie that asks me to tap my toes and sing along to a soundtrack that glorifies the lifestyles that leads to the characters doom. Maybe Rent would have been better if the characters weren't so stupid and I hadn't seen most of it before.

Looks

I am a rather ordinary looking guy. It's the kind of face you wouldn't look twice at in a police line-up.

Lies, Lies, Lies!!!!

I work in a rather open-air office environment where we use the internet and instant messaging programs quite a bit to communicate. As some of you may know, these instant messaging programs have developed their own lingo. For example, when someone says something funny, the response is to type "LOL". Translated, this means "Laugh Out Loud".

So, the other day I was messaging with someone that wasn't vocally convenient to shout at even though I could see them at their computer. They typed in response to something I said," LOL".

The thing was, they didn't really laugh out loud! I kind of felt let down. They did smile but there was no laughing. Typing a smiley face :-) would have been the honest thing to do.

People lie when they use the internet. Keep that in mind and you won't learn this harsh lesson the hard way like me.

Bozo

I don't think that have any friends where I work. I thought I was a well liked guy and kindly thought of but it seems to not be the case. If I had friends at work they would have warned me.

It has been too long since I have had a hair cut. But since I usually wear my hair (what is left, anyways) very, very short it usually requires no grooming. But since my hair has been growing long I woke up this morning with bed-head. I didn't realize the extent of the bozo-effect until I got to work and looked into the restroom mirror.

Sad thing is, not one soul at work suggested I politely excuse myself and go wet my hair down. Lord knows what everyone was saying behind my back. I did get a haircut at lunch but I sure hope this whole episode doesn't affect my raise.

Stupid People

Duh! Some people, I swear.....

I stopped by a convenience store this morning on the way to work to get a bottle of iced tea. When I handed the clerk some money he asked me if I wanted it in a bag. I said, "No way! Leave it in the bottle!"

Tombstone Western Music Festival

Tombstone, Arizona.

There are not many locations in America that have a name that is so evocative names. Sure, there are others like New York, New York and Los Angeles, California that stand out. But when you say Tombstone you think about only one thing:

Pizza.

O.K....two things.

Cowboys!

This Friday night was the first night of the 4th Annual Tombstone Western Music Festival! The line-up of talent (not necessarily in order was):

Dave Stamey http://www.davestamey.com/
The Texas Trailhands http://www.jerryosborne.com/tt.htm
Kip Calahan http://www.jerryosborne.com/tt.htm
Joe Bethancourt http://www.locksley.com/
Trails and Rails

It was in an old 100+ year old theater called the Schieffelin Hall. The must have been recently refurbished in some fashion since the place seemed very tidy, well taken care of and had the subtly scent of paint fumes still lingering in the air.

When you look at the line-up you may say to yourself that you don't know any of the names on the bill. I didn't know most of them previously, either. But the more I listen to western music the more I find there are such great talents and so many great songs that don't get the exposure they richly deserve.

As if the show wasn't enough, there was a jam sessions at the Holiday Inn after the show. I sure hope there wasn't anyone in the place that actually wanted to sleep before dawn! I play guitar a bit and write songs a little less. It was kind of hard to really study these talented musicians because I was so amazed and stunned by what I was seeing and hearing. Very seriously, I was slack-jawed more than once.

I had to be to work at 7:30 am and about 1:30 am my wife suggested we go since we had a long drive back and an early morning. They were still going strong when we left!

Do your ears and heart a favor the next time a western artist or festival is around and just go. Yes, you can thank me later!

I was wondering...

If someone uses sign language to communicate and they get Parkinson's disease, is that like stuttering for the deaf?

Thought for the Day

I have been recently diagnosed as an internet claustophobic: I am deathly afraid of being in small internet chat-rooms.