mickavory's Journal

I Think It's Gonna Be A Long Long Time
So, the Rocket Man crapped out on me last Saturday night. Apparently, he was ill and had to cancel a bunch of upcoming dates on the tour. They luckily rescheduled my show for November 5th, which is almost a year after I bought the tickets originally. Either way, I'm fine with it. By the luck of Ticketmaster's draw, I have 4th row tickets and I didn't want them to cancel and then resell or some nonsense. As long as they reschedule, I'll keep my original seats. Yeah! Now I only have to wait 8 more months to see Captain Fantastic.

Going to see Elvis Costello on Saturday. I'm most excited. I think Elvis will put on a fantastic show. I'm sure the day will involve us going to Lippy's and parting with some of our hard earned scratch. Lippy does have a good selection of discs. I don't know if I'm going to try out for some more 60s soundtracks like I got last go round. I think his selection of Exotica is a little weak and unless he added a few to the stack, I've seen everything he's got.

The only visit to the thrift store this week got me a clean copy of the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang soundtrack LP. The songs are by the Sherman Brothers who are the geniuses behind many of the catchy Disney songs of the early 60s, like the stuff from Mary Poppins. Coincedentally, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang stars Dick Van Dyke, although I've never seen the film, and it comes from one of only 3 non-Bond stories by Ian Fleming. Pretty cool, huh? I haven't listened to the record yet, so I don't know how the songs are.

I need to make an order for Bags Unlimited and get some LP sleeves. I ran out a couple of weeks ago when I had a big haul from the thrift store. I've also got to get some 45 sleeves and 45 paper sleeves for all those packs of 45s I talked about that I couldn't match up a few weeks ago.

I read a Flannery O'Connor book real quick this week. It was pretty good, but I like her short stories much better. They are more violent and miserable than this book played out to be. She is still my favorite Southern Writer.

I saw Sideways last Sunday. It was ok. I don't think it is as bad as Rusty and Carrie and Lori and Ted are making it out to be, but it was not Best Picture or Best Director worthy. The characters are a little aggravating at times. I can see the point of the movie. It was decent and funny in some spots. I will agree that it is not as great as everybody makes it out to be.

Sing Us A Song You're The Piano Man
So, I'm taking a piano class out at UNO on Monday nights. It is a beginner class because I know very little about playing piano. I'm hoping that the class will at least help me to read music a little bit and give me a few pointers on the old 88s. It is a lot of fun, but the teacher doesn't teach much. She will tell you a few things and give you a few pointers, but then the rest of the hour and a half class, you play by yourself through headphones out of a book.

If you have absolutely NO IDEA what you are doing, then you will have a difficult time. I've got some musical ability already, so I'm making a decent go of it. I can already play simple stuff like When The Saints Go Marching In and Clementine. Easy stuff. My speed is a little fast because I have trouble counting out the beats.

But, it is fun. This is the third class of fun stuff I've taken out at UNO in the past couple of years. The last two were both film appreciation classes, American film and Foreign film. Maybe this fall I may take the New Orleans History or the Literary New Orleans, all about New Orleans authors (since we have some famous ones that were from here.)

Not too much has been going on otherwise.

Chuck Taylor
So, the weekend was pretty boring. I did some shoveling and some staining and some sweating, etc. The usual fun stuff. I finally finshed reading "One Hundred Years of Solitude" yesterday. It took me long enough. So far, that was the longest book I've read this year at 447 pgs. Most of the other stuff I've read has been less than 250. This was a bit more of a task. I'm not apprehensive at reading longer books, but they of course, take longer to read. This one took 11 days, but there were two days in there I was busy and did no reading. So,in real time, nine days. I've been doing other things at night like downloading and burning since I got my burner software to work. I've been slacking off, but I started something else last night and hope to finish it in a day or two.

I've got to get caught up. I read 8 books in January and I'm only on my third book in February and it is getting near the end of the month. I may be able to finish the one I started last night and probably one other by the 28th. That isn't very good numbers this month. But, if you figure my goal to be 30 books by Dec. 31st, then I'm almost halfway there. 12 books since Jan 1 is a pretty good amount.

Still sitting at 3 movies watched this year.... funny, huh?

Thursday night I got a new pair of Converse.. low tops this time (which I've gotten the past 3 or so times) in the color of 'tangerine.' They look like a creamsicle. I think they look pretty cool. It has been along time since I've had a pair of Chuck Taylors. I saw that Neola had a pair when she was in last weekend. Then I ended up going to the shoe store and saw that cool color. After I was intrigued by the neon orange ones in the window display.. i ended up with something less shocking in the tangerine. Ever since Nike bought Converse, the price has skyrocketed for a piece of cardboard with canvas wrapped around it. They are quite uncomfortable, but they are cool shoes.

I still want a pair of Spicoli Vans. The black and while checkerboard pattern he wore in Fast Times.. I'd bet they look cool.

Vinyl Rules
I've been going to the thrift store more frequently in the past few weeks. I used to go rather sporadically, maybe once a month, but things have been looking up lately. There is a good thrift store (in my opinion it gets the best quality stuff) near where I work. I've been going there since I was a kid because I used to live near where I now work. It is called Red, White and Blue Thrift Store. The place doesn't totally stink like every other thrift store I've been to in the city and their selection of records and toys and whatnot is usually decent and usually in good shape.

Lately, I've been getting into the Exotica / Mood Music genre. You could call it Space Age Pop. Usually smaller unknown records by unknown groups or artists. Or, elevator music stuff like Ferrante & Teicher, or Ray Conniff. I've been digging on all of that for the past 6 months or so. I've picked up some really good records at the thrift store in that genre.

For a while, the thrift store was going through some kind of nonsense where they made all the records like 4.95 after they had been .95 for years. What gives? Do they think they are some sort of collectibles store? They are a thrift store, nothing more. Recently, they went back to the .95 or 1.95 type price for their vinyl. I don't know what happened, but I barely bought ANY records at the 3.95 or 4.95 price. I'm not going to take a chance on some unknown stuff if I have to pay that much for it.

About two weeks ago, I went in on a Friday and saw they had 'bagged' a bunch of 45s. I don't normally go for 45s, but these all had the picture sleeves with them and they looked in pretty good condition. Each bag was like 3.95 and I could tell they were from the 80s and there was like 20 pic sleeves and records in each bag. I bought 4 bags of them. When I took them home and started to route through them, they had some great picture sleeves.. Madonna, George Michael, Whitesnake, Bruce Springsteen.. etc (all 80s stuff).. Then I found the sleeve for "Touch Of Grey" by The Grateful Dead. I've been wanting this sleeve for a while. I slid the record out to see the condition.. and it was something else. I immediately started checking the other sleeves. The records were all mixed up. Nothing matched. I was pissed. But, you can't bring things back to a thrift store.

I got a hold of the other 4 bags I had not previously bought. Those were all mixed up too. All in all I got 35 matches, with about 50 sleeves and about 60 records or so left over (some of them came in plain stock sleeves) with no match. Oh well.. it was worth a try. I did match the Grateful Dead 45, of which I am most happy. So, now I'm stuck with a whole bunch of good records and a whole bunch of good sleeves with no matches. That sucks.. I did get the records for the two George Harrison 45s that I already had the sleeves for.. So, that matched up.. And, I have extra sleeves for them too.. Maybe Tommy wants them.

But.. the moral of the story.. check out the thrift stores in your area sometimes.. You may find some cool swag.

Cable Modems
So, I talked to my boy last night and he said he's getting a cable modem. I informed him that he is in for a world of hurt when that thing arrives. I don't think he wants me to show him how to use the newsgroups. He sort of does, but he sort of doesn't.

See, he is a compulsive / addictive music person just like me. When you get on those newsgroups, it is like a drug. I want those shows. Some new show comes along and it is hot and it is a soundboard, I've gotta have it.

I've gotten to the point now where alot of the same old stuff is coming around again, so I'm not as compulsive as I used to be with it. However, some new show I don't have comes up... There I go again.

But, when I got on it fresh.. I was like a man possessed. That is what my boy will be like if he gets set up with it. He will want EVERYTHING that comes through. I know him pretty well. We are cut from the same cloth. Since I started with this newsgroup thing, I've added a good 1000 Cds to my collection in 3 years. I have barely bought any regular CDs in the past three years. The downloading takes up all my money with blanks, jewel cases, ink, paper, etc. But, I do have ethics. I don't download regular store bought discs. My boy has ethics too. He won't do any of that either. And there is a wealth of that available.

It so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.

Mardi Gras Mambo
Happy Mardi Gras everyone. All of you suckers out there who choose to NOT live in the greatest city in the world had to work today. I got a free day off. Yep, everything is closed on Fat Tuesday. Now, we have to be wholesome and sinless for the 40 days of Lent. We can't eat meat on Fridays and whatnot.

I didn't bother to go to any parades this year. Yeah, I may be praising Mardi Gras on one side, and I'm condemning it on the other. I've never been a Mardi Gras person. Sure, I'm not stupid. I'll take the free day off of work or school. But, I always felt that Mardi Gras was a two week inconvenience. It is difficult to go in certain parts of the city and Metairie because of the parade routes. Sure, it rained on some of the parade nights making it nasty to go out. Sure, this was the earliest Mardi Gras we had in like 20 years. I just don't get in the big mood of it. I hear all of the Mardi Gras songs. I eat the King Cakes. I watch the parades on TV sometimes. But, I don't bother to go out. Too many crowds. Just too many crazy people around. They try to keep it "family" oriented in some spots. But, that doesn't mean you don't have people swarming all over you stepping on your hands for a freakin' 5 cent pair of beads.

How ironic is all of this from a person who collects Mardi Gras doubloons. Got hundreds of 'em in coin collecting books.

Really.. all of my griping is for naught. Mardi Gras is a fun bonus day we get down here to celebrate and have fun. I just don't get wrapped up in the parades and the nonsense. It is just not for me, but I sure hope everybody else had their fun. In about a hour and a half, they will shut down Bourbon Street as Mardi Gras officially comes to an end. Well.. no more King Cakes until next year for me.

Books Books
Not much to report. So, I've got four old books on my shelf by a guy named John D. MacDonald. They are part of a series about a character named Travis McGee. Apparently, McGee is a "salvage" expert. Somebody stole something from you that has value, but not the kind of thing you want to go to the police about. So, he tries to get it back for you with a 50% fee. The books started being written in the mid-60s, when times were starting to swing with the cocktail culture and the free-form sexual revolution coming.

I've been wanting to read the books, but when you have a series, it is best to start with the first book, which I did not have. So, I went to the library last night after work and picked up the first one, "The Deep Blue Good-by." I started it at 9:20 last night and finished it at 12:50. It was pretty good. Fairly easy reading. Sort of like a James Bond novel with some adventure and gorgeous women, but no evil bad guy bent on world domination stuff.

All in all, there are 21 books in this series. And, I found out that MacDonald wrote like 50 other books besides the McGee series. All of these mystery writers have a "character" that they write about. Spillane has Mike Hammer. Gregory MacDonald has Fletch. Dashiell Hammet has Phillip Marlowe. Etc. Etc. So, it is a series sort of like those guys. Fun reading, not too intellectual, but not See Spot Run.

I would like to read more of the series and may go back to the library tonight and get another one or two. But, I don't want to get burned out on them. I may intersperse them with other books instead of reading them all in a row.

But.. If you add those 21 books to my list this year.. it will be HUGE.

My message yesterday said I read SEVEN in January.. add this book I read last night and it makes EIGHT.

EIGHT a month! That would be 96 this year.. I don't think I can keep up that pace.. Especially when I decide to take a month and read all of the Lord of the Rings.

It's Been A Long Long Long Time
So, I've been lazy about updating this journal and I don't want to be in jeopardy of losing my daily clickable status with Rusty. I figure it is time to update.

Not too much has been going on lately. I finally got my computer up and running. But, I will say that these computer manufacturers are getting worse and worse. Most of the software included is trial versions. They make you think that you are getting something good and you are only getting part of the software you really need. The CD burning program it came with sucks, so now I have to go out and spend $70 on the Nero software. That stinks.

Other than that, I've got it running pretty close to where my old computer was. I just have to hope that all of this supposed virus protection and firewalls really works. I think the whole virus thing may be created by Bill Gates to get people to buy new computers with his new products in them.

My book total for the month of January was 7. That's right!! SEVEN books I read this month. That is pretty good and I dare anybody else to push more than that. I just finished "The Big Kill" by Mickey Spillane last night and I may take tonight off and start fresh tomorrow. Since tomorrow is the beginning of a new month. Oh yeah, its a short month too. Less reading time.

I have no idea what I want to read next. I've got a bunch of books at home I can read before I go buy any more. I've got all three LotR books. I've got the Simillarion (?). That is good for a whole month of reading right there. I've got a couple more old Alastair MacLean hardbacks. I've got a few other old books I've picked up here or there. But, nothing is jumping out at me. I also have the new Dylan book I haven't touched yet. So, I've got some choices.

There are certain books I want to read by the end of the year. I may have to buy those or get some of them from the library so I don't hurt my pocketbook.

New Computers
So, sorry to let my public down but my computer at home has crapped out on me. I can't check my email or get onto the internet. I have a strong feeling it is the computer and not the modem. So, I decided to take all of my winnings from the fantasy and pools I've won lately and get a new one.

Yesterday I ordered a new Dell computer which is a 3 Ghz. My old one was a 300 Mhz. So, this new one is way more than 4 times faster. I can't wait. It will be pretty good to use that new Windows XP. I hear it is pretty easy to use.

I'm excited. It arrives Thursday. I've been cleaning up my computer desk area to accept a new system. It's been the way it is since I moved into my house in 1999 and hasn't really been touched since then. It is pretty dusty and messy, so I straightened everything out. I'll clean it up once I take the old system apart.

I'll still keep it because it works fine for burning CDs and I still have stuff on the HD that I haven't had time to get off. Once I get the new system, I'll try to post more stuff here.

Computers Suck
I haven't been updating my journal as much as I'd hoped to originally because I'm having computer problems at home. My system has caught some type of virus or something that corrupts Internet Explorer. I've been having off and on problems with it. For some reason, it won't find websites. I have to hit refresh about 10 times to get it to bring up something simple like yahoo. It gives me an error message that the site is unavailable. C'mon. Also, I may type in www.yahoo.com and it will all of a sudden try to find www.www.yahoo.edu.org.com. Gee.. that is pretty neat. I type one thing in and it looks for something totall different. Cool. It is an aggravating enough problem that I can't seem to fix. I've reloaded Internet Explorer a few times to no avail.

I also got an email the other day from my provider saying that spam is coming from my system and that they will suspend my service. Screw them! I'll be having a MAJOR fight with them if that happens. It is not my problem that they don't have any sort of spam blockers. They need to fix that on their end before they chastize me. I get inundated with about 75-80 pieces of junk email per day. And they accuse me of sending spam? If they would block the spam from reaching me, then the virus wouldn't be sending it from my computer.

It looks like it will be time in the near future to spring for a new computer. My system is still running Windows 98 and it is almost 7 years old. I got it in April 1998. Other than the IE virus, it works great. I hate the fact that I may now have to pay $700 or so to get a new one. I use the computer for basic functions. Downloading music, burning cds, and playing on the internet and email. I don't use it for games or multimedia or what not. So, my basic old computer is all I need. It really sucks. When they go bad they sure do go bad. I figured I could use this computer for a few years to come as long as Bill Gates doesn't FORCE me to upgrade to his new versions of Windows, I thought I would be fine. My theory was that as long as I could still access the internet and there was no block on say computers that access it with an old version of Windows, I could use it until it just dies or gets totally corrupted. I guess the virus writers changed my tune.

What a job they have. Somebody's entire purpose in life is to create a program which will destroy someone else's computer! What kind of human being is that? Hee-hee.. I'm going to write this virus and screw up all these people I don't know's computers. I can understand someone being malicious at someone else. But, make it a direct action. I want to mess up Jimmy's computer because I don't like him specificially. Don't just randomly screw people's systems up. It is stupid and inane to want to randomly destroy some unknown person's computer in Des Moines or something.. Those are the real criminals...

Bored
So, I've been pretty bored lately. I finished my first book for my list on the 4th and I started a new one the next day. As it went with the movie list, I feel compulsed to push on each day instead of taking a break. The weekend is coming and I'm sure I'll be busy. Maybe I won't get any time to read.

Work has been pretty lame too. The other girl in the office has been out sick. She went home yesterday and is not coming in today. I don't mind, becuase she doesn't really do much to affect me. All she does is answer the phone and handle some filing and some flood stuff. Those are things that I wouldn't normally do anyway. It still sucks to be by yourself sometimes. We don't have any kind of voicemail and we have 4 phone lines. So, when they all ring at the same time, guess who has to answer them?

I'm in the money! I'm in the money!
So, USC spanked the hell out of Oklahoma tonight. I, unfortunately, came in second place in the bowl pool and ended up with $250. Hey, what am I bitching about? I could have come out with nothing. Or gotten the booby prize of $25 (your entry fee back for having the worst score.)

I ended up losing first by only TWO points.. If that jackass for Texas hadn't made that last second field goal the other night... Oh well. I've got $250 that I didn't have yesterday.

Anyway, I got pretty much yelled at today at work for not calling two customers back last week. There were two complaints about me (which is unusual) from two different people. One is a total asshole anyway. I did talk to him last week, but I don't know how to fix his problem. He bitches to hear himself bitch. He was complaining about his credit score on one of his policies. I couldn't figure out which one. So, I gave him some nonsense answer which I don't even know is right. Then, he started complaining that he has a $1 payment fee. Well.. it is sort of like tax. If you don't want to pay it, go somewhere else. I'm sure you can just go into Wal-Mart and say that I only want to pay the listed price for this, not the sales tax. I'm sure they will let you.

The second person who complained, I did not call back. It is a strange situation where I spoke with the guy, the wife and the niece about putting the niece on her own auto policy or something. I don't have time to be middleman between three people. So, I gave the wife the info and then she wanted me to call the husband. Sorry.. I forgot to do it. Anyway, the niece called me yesterday and I talked with her about it. But, the guy still calls and complains about me.

So, I got fussed because I didn't call these two people back. The boss thinks we weren't busy last week. But, I didn't sit around for 5 days while she was out and twiddle my thumbs. I did do work. I just couldn't get around to calling those people back. Like she has never forgotten to call ANYONE back in her life. C'mon. I was busy, with other work and other problems.

I hate my job sometimes.

Aren't days off wonderful?
I just hate going back to work after a nice long weekend. It makes me feel so 'blah' when I wake up Monday morning. I don't want to get out of bed and have to go deal with the nonsense that I have to deal with.

So, I've been having problems with an old man and his flood insurance. He and I got into a slight arguement today, which I kind of agreed with him. His rate went up because flood re-rated his policy. He used to be listed as a slab house and now he is correctly classified as a raised house. His rate went up over $100. His house is raised. Wouldn't you think it has a lower chance of flooding than the slab house? Me too, but the federal government and flood doesn't think so. What fun?

I went to see "Beyond The Sea" on New Year's Day. It was pretty good. I know the budget was low, but in some far away shots Kevin Spacey looked EXACTLY like Bobby Darin. I'll bet they digitally maniuplated his face in some spots. It could have just been my eyes. The story was a decent representation of Darin's life, but it didn't show any of his rise to fame. One scene he was a 14 year old kid. Next scene he is on American Bandstand with a hit single in "Splish, Splash." What gives?

I started my new "Book Year" project. I'm going to email the stuff to Rusty once I get the movie list reviews out of the way. I've set a goal for myself of 25 books, which I think I can do. I looked on my shelf and I count at least 14 books I read last year. That's not bad considering I went to at least 14 concerts and watched 113 films. Busy me. How do I have time to sleep?

My first book is NOT the Bob Dylan Chronicles Vol. 1 as I previously mentioned. I decided to start with "Strangers On A Train" by Patricia Highsmith. You may find a continuing theme with my book list and notice that many of them have been made into movies. It usually happens with the great ones. You may also find a theme that many of them are mystery or detective stories. Those are my favorite as I get bored with straight novels telling some boring situations in peoples lives. I like a little spark. A murder here, a crime there, etc. It makes it fun.

Maybe Bob killed somebody or committed some crime and I'll read about it when I get to his book. That may make it more interesting.

Toilet Bowl
Happy New Year to everybody. I hope everyone's January 1st is going as well as mine.

I'm talking about the Benjamins!

So, I'm involved in a pool whereby we pick the college bowl games. We take 25 games, pick a winner and then assign a number between 1 and 25 to each game. You give 25 your strongest choice and 1 your weakest choice, for example.

When your pick wins, you win that many points. We don't care what your win/loss record is, we do it by number of points earned. For example, if you assigned 1 point to the Tennessee / Texas A&M game and lost it, you would only lose 1 point. But, if you put 25 points on it, you lose 25. It is up to you to assign your point value to each pick. Confused yet? It's pretty easy.

So, this is my fourth year doing this with a bunch of the guys. I won it last year (but I can't remember doing so). I'm in contention to win it again this year.

Michigan was my key. Michigan lost by one point at the last minute. If I had won that game, I would have been guaranteed $450. Yes, that's right $450 for a $25 investment. Not bad, huh?

Since Michigan lost, I am in second place right now. I CANNOT get worse than second which is $250. Not bad either you say? I still have a serious chance to win first. There are THREE bowl games left. Me and the three other guys who are close in points ALL have the same three picks in the next games. But, I have them for FAR less value than they have.

If all three teams we have all picked WIN.. I come in second and get $250.

If ANY of the three teams LOSE... I come in first and win $450.

So, it boils down to me routing AGAINST teams that I picked to win. Fun, isn't it?

Oh yeah.. by the way.. in my fantasy football this year.. I made it all the way to the Super Bowl. I lost, boo-hoo, but I still won $400 for coming in second. I could have won $800. I got there by the skin of my teeth so I'm not complaining. If I win this Bowl pool.. that will make it $850 I've won in the past two weeks..

Like I always say.. I'm rich in December, but poor the rest of the year.

Pass and Stow
Today was another hectic day at work. I really hate it when people let their policy cancel and then they all of a sudden need a new policy TODAY because they are refinancing. What about the entire year that they didn't have any insurance on their house? Do they care? Nope. But, they want me to jump through hoops immediately because they are now doing a refinance. I hate it.

Last night after work, my friend Kevin and I went to see National Treasure. Yes, I am an admitted Nicholas Cage hater. I guess I can't get over the fact that his uncle Francis Ford got him into the business. I also think he can't act. Cage is like a step above Keanu and David Caruso. But, he did get to marry Lisa Marie and go upstairs at Graceland (I'm sure).

Despite Cage's tolearable performance, the film was really good. I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Yeah, it's far-fetched. Treasure maps on the back of the Dec of Independance? Sure. Clues on our currency? Yeah right. The plot was sort of like a U.S. history version of 'The DaVinci Code.' I guess I enjoyed the film more because I have a degree in History. The film weaves alot of historical facts and landmarks with a bit of fiction. Fun, but pretty unbelievable.

I really liked 'The DaVinci Code' and read it probably in two days a few months ago. It is a pretty fun book, but I hate all the psuedo-DaVinci code books that have come out in its wake. Somebody always has to grab a piece of the best selling pie to make their quick buck. I tried to read a history of the Knight's Templar earlier this year, but I got bored with it. Too much detail.

This is my first journal entry here. I've taken a cue from both Jason and Tommy to document my boring life. They always seem to do exciting and exotic things while I'm stuck here in the ever-changing climes of New Orleans.

Today has been pretty boring. I've been at work by myself today. It is always a good thing when I'm by myself because I can just play around all day. As it is evident with me creating this web journal. I also took time today to update my welikemedia 100 movie year article. I've been very lazy with getting my reviews to Rusty. I actually finished the challenge on Oct. 31st, but I haven't sent him any reviews since mid-October. Today, I did 10 reviews and am up to 94 on the count. My total count so far is 112.

I took my last vacation day of the year yesterday and went to see 'The Aviator'. It is a pretty good biopic of Howard Hughes done up right by the wonderful Martin Scorsese. Marty is my favorite director of all time and I try not to miss any of his films. The only big problem with the film, to me, is that it is hard to picture DiCaprio as anything but a young kid. When they put a moustache on him as later in life Hughes, he looks a little better. The early part of the film, sans moustache, he just looks like a kid. That baby face is what does it.

Well.. I finally got my Epiphone EJ-160E John Lennon acoustic in the mail the other day after a 6 month wait. Now Tommy can stop hearing me bitch about it. The problem with the guitar is that it is so pretty that it seems so fragile. I hate to play it for fear of damaging it. But, it was bought to be played and play it I will.

My house is starting to look like a guitar store. I got 3 new guitars this year and a bass and a new amp.

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