In My Bag...

The new High on Fire album is called "Snakes for the Divine" and it does not disappoint.

This album brings the thunder. Check out the beautiful album cover.

Tense Tuesday

Take a Vacation from your thoughts

Great Valentine's Day this year in 2010. We made an authentic sicilian stew in the kitchen. The prep and cook time was three hours plus! It all ended happily as we sat down and enjoyed our creation with an inexpensive south Italian wine from Trader Joe's. Watched three movies over the weekend. The Wolfman in the theatre Saturday night at Big Newport, Mystic Pizza from netflix Sunday night for Valentine's, and The Hangover Monday morning which we borrowed on DVD. Wolfman was a let down, but the other two were great fun. Looking forward to a very calm and relaxing week.

Shine a Light

Focus and relax. Action is meditation. Peace is best.

The Question

When is summer going to come back from it's annual winter vacation?

"Bones" (2001)

Revisited the 2001 Snoop Dogg horror romp "Bones" last night as it happened to find it's way into our Netflix queue. Snoop plays Jimmy Bones, a notorious 1979 superfly pimp who gets wrongly assassinated by the community. A group of urban teenagers rent out the building his murder took place in to throw a disco event and, low and behold, the ghost of Bones comes back to haunt them and their parents who took part in the group slaying of the title character. Thankfully, Snoop and director Ernest Dickinson keep the tone light and spoofy, with fun flashbacks to Bones heyday in '79 being the highlights of this familiar tale. Script and acting are derivative but the movie is lightweight, has a sense of humor about itself and delivers plenty of gore. Bones himself, as Snoop plays him could have taken off as a "Freddy Krueger meets Superfly" villian with a great wardrobe. If only the movie itself had more punch. This could have been a great franchise, definitely funnier and more interesting than the current "Saw/Jigsaw" phenomenon. As it stands, "Bones" is a moderately entertaining night out at the movies and a painful reminder of a time when horror movies were still fun.

Movie review: Taking Woodstock

This story about a young man's coming of age set against the backdrop of a major concert that is a social event in U.S. history. It has magical cinematography and visual effects. Some of Ang Lee's visualizations of psychedelia were a thing to behold. The movie is light in tone, has humor, good acting and attention to period detail (1969-1970?). I was sort of let down by the marketing campaign, which promised more groove and less soothe. Woodstock the event is seen only out of the corner of our eye, an effective tool when Spielberg used it in "War of the Worlds" by teasing us with sidewards glances of aliens and then dramatically revealing them. There is nothing wrong with this story and the movie is fairly straight forward and pleasant to watch. It's just not the story about Woodstock that I wanted to see. There is an exciting, outrageously funny and moving story about this event waiting to be told. "Taking Woodstock" humbly tells a story about a family that happens around the parameters of the concert. Highlights: the theatre troupe and the visual effects. Admirable, enjoyable and ultimately a let down.

Embrace the rain

Rainy days are somehow peaceful. The pitter-patter of the rain hitting the earth. It's oddly relaxing and calming. Have a cup of hot tea on your porch and listen to the rain. It's almost as good as sunshine.

Let's get off to a good start

Starting my week with a positive attitude. Imagining possibilities. Not to self- Don't allow fear, negativity and contempt to affect the sunshine of your soul. Your spirit is strong like the wind. Hold it all together and spread the good word.