spacemonk

god bless taco bell. for well under $5.00 (say, $3.50) a vegetarian can eat like a king - granted a king with a penchant for junk, fast food...and if you avoid the ridiculously overpriced mega-beverage - you can probably get around the $2.00 mark

if memory serves, i have read, btw, that taco bell was very co-operative re:changing their menu to make it more vegetarian friendly - including, i believe, changing the tortillas so they did not include animal fat

i have 5 rollon deodorants in my medicine cabinet. 4 of them are brand new. have i read about an impending deodorant shortage? no...

i almost always use unscented deodorant because sometimes even very subtle scents bother me when i have a headache or feel prone to one... but once in a while when i buy deodorant, i buy two - a scented and an unscented. i use the unscented more frequently, but what the heck, variety is the spice of life.

so anyhow, a couple months back i bought a scented (right guard extreme) and an unscented, for a change of pace. i used some of each, but used the unscented way more since i've been getting headaches frequently lately and ran out of it a couple weeks back. for a week or so, i used the scented, which i liked, but as i said, with the headaches i've had recently even the slight scent aggravates it. so about a week ago, i ask my wife to pick me up some deodorant when she was going out (remember my default deodorant is unscented, so i felt no need to clarify). well, she decided, for a change of pace to pick me up - you guessed it - some scented - right guard extreme - exact same scent. of course, it was on sale, so she picked me up two. so now i have three deodorants, which i like, except when my head hurts, and it's been hurting a lot. so this morning, i had errands to run, so i asked my wife if she needed anything from the drug store. she said no, i go and buy some unscented (deodorant count - 4) . later in the day, she went grocery shopping, and you guessed it - picked up an unscented (diff brand, but what's the difference). deodorant count - 5! 4 untouched, one slightly used. at least it is not perishable.

as my wife said, i have NO excuse for smelling bad for a long time!!!

ah, next week's dilemma:
watch "alias" and tape "the sopranos"
OR
watch "the sopranos" and tape "alias"

decisions, decisions...

got the dave holland big band cd yesterday. even after i started to listen to jazz, for the longest time, i couldn't get into big bands - seemed old fashioned and corny - and of course, some of it is...but after learning about duke ellington, count basie, miles davis/gil evans collaborations, gil evans on his own, jaco pastorius' word of mouth orchestra, carla bley and charlie haden's liberation music orchestra, i started to see both the range of tone colors and the power that only larger ensembles can provide - and realizing big band music, like any style (yes, even country!) can be as cool, progressive and challenging as anything else when done by the right musicians

anyhow, dave holland's big band cd is predictably great. as i have written earlier, his quartet/quintet has been among the top ensembles in jazz over the past decade, give or take - and the big band is an extension of this band's core - sax young lion, chris potter, robin eubanks - as fine of a trombonist as there is, powerful drummer Billy Kilson and the ever inscrutable steve nelson on vibes and of course mr holland's strong bass... this cd reflects a variety of influences, including mingus, but is totally holland and his great band....

have a meeting all AM. yuck. the topic is worthwhile, but i like not having to come into the office on fridays...oh well

think maybe they do this just to egg folks on???

i have a headache today - either the weather or dozing off on the couch with my neck in a bad position...oh well,

have meetings today and tomorrow, so don't get to completely enjoy my down time...getting a much needed haircut today. worked like a dog m-w so only school work i have is grading test so weekend can be mainly devoted to having fun (two married friend's mutual 30th b-day party, skating race (5 mi.) on sunday) as well as working on the class i'm taking plus shoring up my .net skills

teacher's discount days at borders are this weekend...which means i'll pick up the new dave holland cd, a b-day present for the aforementioned couple and some early christmas gifts...does anyone know if there is anything inappropriate about avril lavigne's cd - there doesn't seem to be from what i've heard, but i haven't heard the whole thing - she was on a concert on nickelodeon and my daughters love her. i know this will paint me as old-fashioned, but from what i see, i'd much rather they like her than britney spears, who i resent for trying to play it both ways...

if well meaning but ill informed friends send you email hoaxes - including, but not limited to: bogus virus warnings, unfounded rumors, urban legends, things a friend of a friend told them, etc...feel free to point them to this site to help them assess the accuracy - oddly enough, some of the rumors are true

i found this fascinating

my public service announcement for the day

as kind of a side project i've been working creating simulations in flash for web-based classes for another faculty member. it's been a lot of fun. i started off knowing nothing about flash, but having developed in a number of programming languages "since time immemorial" as tony soprano might say, it's not that hard learning a new one. so instead of going to bed early like i should have, i spent some time last night finishing one off (i hope)

THEN, i come upstairs and do the my final rounds of the night through all the channels, and see, a replay of the aforementioned sopranos premiere....

sleep is the enemy

i kinda like flash and have considered including a flash movie on this page, but it seems to go against my latest, thoreau inspired policy to "simplify, simplify" my page design...

interesting lawsuit between the beastie boys and jazz great james newton - read about it here - scroll to sept 16th section. i have no idea where i stand on this, interesting case between two artists i admire with interesting implications - incl. is the eurocentric concept of composition and performance relevant in the improvisational art of jazz...

bbc6 was taking a poll of listeners best record of past 12 months - the flaming lips and other bands i am only tangetially aware of got many votes... i, of course, voted for wayne shorter's FINGERPRINTS LIVE - which i am sure got no other votes as bbc6 plays mainly rock music - i did get an on air mention and an email back from the producer saying "good call"

i feel i have done my duty today to spread culture worldwide...
;-)

just got word a bunch of my former colleagues who worked for a spin-off company got laid off. my thoughts are with them. they are all very talented and will make it thru this. sometimes, it can be a blessing in disguise.

sopranos season premiere

highlights: WORLD DESTRUCTION - by afrika baambaata (sp?) & john lydon played at start and at end (i had that on 12" back in the day). also, the whole dialouge about quasimodo predicting the wtc tragedy

lowlights: remembering james gandolfini is younger than me...

hmmm - vegetarian pseudo-chicken wings, a beer and the season premiere of the sopranos. the only thing missing is...no wait a minute, nothing is missing. it is perfect!

local morning dj said that among both men and women ice cream is the number one comfort food. he then pointed out that "stressed" spelled backwards is "desserts", although pizza is always my favorite comfort food, perhaps he is on to something.

hmm - sometime in the next few weeks i will have the second anniversary of becoming a vegetarian - maybe even today - i don't recall the exact date. i quit, pardon the pun - cold turkey, i was eating chicken wings - which i loved - and kind of had an epiphany of what i was really doing and stopped eating meat. i had thought about vegetarianism for a while, but never really tried it other than having an occasional meatless meal, but i had never previously committed to it - i intellectually knew the reasons, but didn't feel it. about two weeks into it, i was really hungry and there wasn't much food in the house, so i ate a piece of chicken and pepperoni pizza - i haven't intentionally eaten any meat product since. so i became a vegetarian originally more for, uh, aesthetic reasons, than for health, animal rights, etc...though since becoming a vegetarian, i see these as good reasons as well.

now it's just what i am. i don't really bother trying to convert anyone, although i will gladly discuss my diet with people who are curious and respectful. the reasons are still close to my heart, and if on occasion, i think of eating meat, i remind myself of them, but i teally don't think much about it on a day by day basis - meat simply isn't an food option for me any more.

took a quick spin around the neighborhood on bike - about 40 min. nothing too extreme here, so i thought. at a certain point, i decided to try all the inclines in highest gear and get up out of the saddle when necessary...afterwards walking downstairs to the computer, my legs are very wobbly - oh well, this too shall pass