well - poured myself a black and tan (my grocery cart must have seemed bizarre today - vegetarian frozen dinners, guiness, bass and loads of potato chips) , sat down and watched sabado gigante - my absolute favorite show that of which i don't understand a word.

hosted by the dapper don francisco (who looks like a latin american rip torn) from what i can tell, it is part a variety show, part a game show and pure fun.today they apparently had a contest where members of the audience sang songs. if you were bad, a guy in a lion suit came and dragged you into his cave - there was a guy who kinda looked half like a spaceman, half like a masked wrestler periodically blowing a trumpet - occasionally grappling with a contestant. (as god, and anyone else who has ever seen this show, is my witness, i am not making a word up) don francisco periodically put on funny hats. a woman won the contest and i gather $1000 - with maybe a chance to win a ford focus. who knows though, my description could be way off cause i don't understand a word of spanish...

what a fun show, though...

so let me get this straight, iraq doesn't have any banned weapons, and anyway, they are destroying them anyhow...

out birthday shopping for my daughter, i picked up the new norah jones dvd for myself.
it is predictably very good. very inexpensive - no more than an audio cd. videos of jazz concerts (other than maybe sun ra) are, for the most part fairly low key, but still seeing the musicians play, the facial expressions and interplay does add to it. the show was at the house of blues in new orleans. i saw joshua redman play there several years back and met his fabulous drummer, brian blade. great show, great venue, great city, great (phonetic spelling mode) ben-yays (/phonetic spelling mode)

apparently my are you hot? post lost the respect of half of my readers, (please note my responses to your comments on that post Jen and Melanie - i'm not going down without a fight)

well, let's shoot for the other half - i love the ali g. show on hbo - i mean - how can you not laugh!

a big up to you, ali

my new favorite friday afternoon activity is bbc6's roundtable. they play new singles and a panel discusses them and at the same time there is an online chat. the chat commentary is often funny - no real dialouge - but folks either slam or lavishly praise each cut - usually pretty funny. my only complaint - when they summarize the chatroom opinion on air - they usually only mention the opinions that confirm the panel's... it is amazing to hear a song i love get panned or vice versa...how can everyone else be so wrong...

the odd thing about this format is often the music i like best takes time to grow on me - so initial opinion is not always definitive...

i watched are you hot? last night and i found it bothersome - now i'm not going to take the high road here and lambast it as perhaps the shallowest show ever in a shallow medium - of course it's horrible that physical appearance is emphasized to such a degree - but i guess anyone involved with the show - viewer and participant kind of knows what they are getting into with this show

what i actually was more bothered with was the narrow view of beauty the show portrays. it seemed to me that any contestant that didn't fit a certain mold was booted. for me, beauty, whether it be in a tree, music, or a person, comes from the uniqueness - the individuality.

friday five

1. What is your favorite type of literature to read (magazine, newspaper, novels, nonfiction, poetry, etc.)?
non-fiction - specific topic depending on what i'm into at the time or what catches my fancy at the library or bookstore

2. What is your favorite novel?
dharma bums - kerouac, the moors last sigh - rushdie - let me think about it...

3. Do you have a favorite poem? (Share it!)
does the tao te ching - or bhagavad gita count - also whitman's leaves of grass is great

4. What is one thing you've always wanted to read, or wish you had more time to read?
walden - thoreau - from cover to cover - i've read parts - possibly most of it - but not all of it and not continuously - i love parts - one of my favorite books - but then he'll go on for hours about a bean field or something....

also, the bible - i started to read it from cover to cover - it's amazing what is in there - i recommend the harlot by the side of the road as a good summary of some of the shocking stories found...

5. What are you currently reading?
i think the title is outside 25 a compilation of articles from outside magazines first 25 years. also my prof gave me a book about software usability the inmates have taken over the asylum. i'm also skimming a book on web accessibility in my free moments.

ps...
can't stand hotmail spam anymore
i have gotten a new email... mike_zellers at yahoo.com
i'm going to try it out and see if i like it...
for now, please direct all email to the yahoo account...

saw a documentary/concert with the marsalis family on pbs - i think it was a tribute to dad, ellis.
when the marsalis' came out in the early 80's perhaps - they were a breathe of fresh air. exciting young musicians playing mainstream jazz steeped in the tradition at the time when many jazz artists were watering down their music into a pop-hybrid (as opposed to early jazz/fusion artists who i still find very talented and greatly overlooked). but alas, perhaps they kicked a bit too hard as jazz sometimes seems in danger of become a museum piece. anyhow - regardless of all this- they are great musicians. ellis especially seemed in great form. really playing and selling THE SONG as opposed to playing to show off prodigious technique.

in other tv related news - dvd of the first season of couplings came today and i'm going to be watching it directly...

rip mr. rogers.

i always thought he was cool - neat little jazz trio always noodling in the background. hated when people goofed on him - so watch your comments!

excellent, but horrifying, nova last night about biowarfare - discussed a lot of the US's military research about this, the effects, etc...why do i even watch this stuff

also, haloscan, again, argh!

as the hectic part of the term winds down, i did the unthinkable. signed on to teach another class. it is a 1 credit hr exploring the internet class that meets on two saturdays and 1 sunday - 8 hours each day. i think it might be a fun course - and i hope, not too much more extra work... the good thing is, with spring break, only the first class prep will be hectic.. i am going to have everyone create blogs and will dry run my blog presentation

hmmm - going for the post record today...

these are dangerous and scary times. impending war, terrorism, threat of weapons of mass destruction, etc...

however, hearing james taylor perform sweet baby james on live tv is a danger that no one in 2003 should have to worry about. yet last night at the grammies...

the torture never stops...

just to show i'm not jumping on the norah jones bandwagon - here is what i believe to be my earliest norah jones post. perhaps i should add the tag "read about tomorrow's grammy winner's today" to my blog - though, granted, most years that wouldn't be something i'd take credit for...

description of the yeah, yeah, yeahs on bbc6. lead singer (forget the name) looks like she applies her lipstick in the dark with a shovel!

nice

have to check them out more - i've heard a few songs of theirs and i like them...

nominate, then later, vote for your fantasy band here. kind of dumb, because in all the great bands it is the chemistry between the musicians that make the band great - so choosing a band in this way is no guaranteed THEY'D ROCK! but hey, it IS a fantasy and a fun discussion starter...perhaps i'll post my votes...

in the middle of a particulary tough yoga class, our teacher demonstrated doing a backbend off of a chair. since she was upside down, she commented that we all look different upside down. i replied, yeah, we're all smiling now
)-:

everytime i try to lift my arms today, i'll recall the class. not pain so much as fatigue.

congratulations, norah jones

i know, the value of awards shows are dubious. and "grammy sweeps" obscure that there is a lot of great music/musicians out there. that being said, it is refreshing to me to see a minimally hyped artist (at least at first) making genuinely creative music, that is subtle and intelligent, and decidely un-fashionable, get the big wins at the grammies. it's almost like the one fluke, where talent finally gets rewarded...

if you're one of the 5 or so people who, like me, watch global extremes on oln, who's your favorite to make the summit? mine is fellow yoga practioner, petit pinson. she really seems cool. this show is, if you will, kind of a survivor where it is outdoor shills and athletic ability which determine the winners and losers and not petty group dynamics and backbiting(which is entertaining, of course, i don't miss an episode), the winners get to try to summit everest...