18th & 19th August, 2008

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Photo by Jay Hagan, 7/12/08 Burbank, CA

A Thought for Today

If you give up the struggle make sure there's a captain hanging around to surrender to.

 

TO BEGIN WITH

Many of you aren’t old enough to remember when flying was fun. Yep, once upon a time in our own galaxy a commercial flight from say Los Angeles to New York City was an absolute delight. But nowadays most folks don’t believe in fairy tales so I won’t attempt to tell one here while I wait, never mind how long I’ve been doing so this morning, for my flight to New York’s JFK to be called. Instead, lets move on to other things that need removing from a too crowded and increasingly addled mind.

NOBODY ASKED ME BUT . . .

TACO BULL & BURGER KONG

This one is for all you guys out there: In a Taco Bell TV ad a man sits down at a table and has an extra spicy entre –– to prove it really has a jolt to it, a bunch of miniature men underneath the table kick him in the crotch. Am I the only one who winces at this commercial?

Then there’s that dude in Ohio last week that got fired for taking a bubble bath in the sink of a Burger King kitchen. Don’t know about you but fast food is getting a little too racy for me.

TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN

How come only one journalist (!) has jumped on the fact that among the donors to John McCain’s campaign was Paris Hilton’s dad who contributed the maxim buck amount allowed, forty-five hundred dollars That journalist? King of the faux news (but this item was for real) John Stewart. As for Papa Hilton, he and his family certainly got their money’s worth.

A TURKEY THE SPAM FILTER DIDN’T PLUCK

Hi honey: i'd like to rite you a candid letter, pleas read it.
I'm really tired of impotent morons around me now. I still remember the knights we spent together and it becomes clear to me that you are the best man i've ever met. How are you theze days? Maybe want to have some fun again? :) I'm coming to town next weekend, spended two weeks starring in a video for adult site. would be so glad if you take a look at my body)


This was followed by a web address & no I didn’t check it out, but hey, she spelled moron correctly and what about those knights? I hope the table was round.

METAPHORICALLY SPEAKING

It is impossible to parody the work of wine critics since just when you thought they were beginning to pare down their gobbledygook, in the face of so many jokes about what they write, one of them breaks ranks and really, I mean really, pours it on (no pun intended.) Case in point (ditto). Here’s a description taken from a booklet tucked inside the box of every bottle of the Dom Perigon, 1999 vintage you’ve just bought. One is left to wonder why such a sales pitch in necessary since you’ve already plunked down the cash at Costco, or your favorite wine emporium for this champagne of the gods.

“This wine is full of life, with a fresh nose that dances through a spiral of aromas, blending hints of angelica, dried flowers, pineapple, coconut, cinnamon, cocoa, and tobacco. With a fullness in the mouth, its earthy, smoky, pearly complexity rises to the surface, underscored by the vibrant warmth of peppery spice. The sensation of intensity develops and melts into a deep, rounded heart, with a fruity, exotic maturity and a slight touch of aniseed. This sensation, almost unsettling, is even more pronounced in the finish, while the notes of spice, still present, remain discreet, with toasted iodine flavours.” – Richard Geoffroy

Shut up and pour, Dick, if I wanted pineapple or coconut juice I’d have ordered a Pina Colada. But do provide me with your recipe for Toasted Iodine, sounds delicious.

RM 8/17/2008

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ROD McKUEN CONCERTS

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notable birthdays

Monday, 18 August

Molly Bee o Robert Buchanan o Vincent Bugliosi o Rosalynn Carter o Roberto Clemente o Virginia Dare o Max Factor o Marshall Field o Gail Fisher o Otto Harbach o Rafer Johnson o Christopher Jones o Dennis Leary o Andrea Leeds o Meriwether Lewis o Moura Lympany o Martin Mull o Elsa Murante o Edward Norton o Roman Polanski o Robert Redford o Erik "Everlast" Schrody o Christian Slater o Madeline Stowe o Patrick Swayze o Jeremy Ward o Malcolm-Jamal Warner o Casper Weinberger o Grant Williams o Shelley Winters

Tuesday, 19 August

Adam Arkin o Bernard Baruch o Coco Chanel o Connie Chung o Bill Clinton o Claude Dauphin o John Deacon o Malcolm Forbes o Peter Gallagher o Tipper Gore o Benjamin Harrison o Isaac Hayes o Billy J. Kramer o Lil' Romeo o Alfred Lunt o Gerald McRaney o Colleen Moore o Diana Muldaur o Johnny Nash o Ogden Nash o Randi Oakes o Debra Paget o Matthew Perry o Gene Roddenberry o Willie Shoemaker o John Stamos o Jill St. John o LeAnn Womack o Orville Wright

Rod's random thoughts In friendship, silence is more important than words.

Friendship is a seed once sown that’s better in the practice.

The essence of friendship is trust.

GOOD EVENING FRIEND

How good it feels
to concentrate on others.

Foreigners or farmers
women in the street and those
                      within my head.
Lumberjacks and loudmouths.
Mothers chasing children and
the child working at eluding parents,
making mischief of the mischief
                   being made on them.

Lovers courting, squaring off within
the dance, then dancing circles
                       ‘round each other,
pairing off, then repairing to their corners,
exchanging partners or tripping through
the day not as dancers, but as audience
to those who love and live their life loves
                                    in an instant.

What a time this end of summertime
to just observe, to call the world companion
and let imaginary friendships tumble, spin
               as the heart goes spinning. too.

Friendships needn’t be that real in body
If they are comrades in our minds. A friend
can be a fig tree and never know it, a place
within a certain wood. A special tree
                       inside that selfsame forest.

How many Augusts I have taken to my heart
would more than fill a calendar made of Augusts.

How many people walking in as many
different leas will go unmarked,
                                    not jotted down.
There are compatriots I have made and lost
and made again without their knowledge.

Good evening, friend. Ah, ha, you did not
catch me or discern that bond between us
                                   or did you?

- from "Looking For A Friend", 1980

 
    AND FINALLY

This hastily gotten together trip to New York couldn’t come at a more incontinent hour but there is important business to be done and if that leaves little or no time for pleasure or looking up friends there is no denying that, whatever the circumstance or reason, there is always something magic and awe inducing about walking down a New York City street. Especially when it has been a while since you’ve done so.

As for flight delays, one has to find the positive, with a few more hours in the lounge or on the tarmac I can finish up my next Flight Plan even if the folks at Delta can’t manage to get their current one together. Why else does one remember to bring along extra laptop batteries when confronted with air travel?

RM LAX, Delta Pre-boarding area / August 17, 2008 7:20AM PDST

 
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Webmaster: Ken Blackie • Birthday Research by Wade Alexander • Poems from the collection of Jay Hagan •
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