Monthly Archives: March 2009

You Are The Blood

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It’s been a gray day all day. Nothing special. Just ‘meh’ which is an expression that I’ve been using quite a lot these days. Didn’t sleep well. Left shoulder blade achy. Could be worse I’m sure. Bill was up and out by the time I got out of bed. Off to church for him, leaving me reveling in my atheism.

Didn’t do much of anything today. Got bagels, newspapers, went to the supermarket. Sat around and watched The Lucky Ones, a straight to Tim Robbins, Rachel McAdams and Michael Peña. It’s a road movie about 3 soldiers just back from Iraq.

They’re stranded in DC and Tim Robbins decides to rent a car to drive to his wife in St. Louis. He’s a reservist who has finished his tour of duty. Rachel McAdams and Michael Peña have been wounded and back in the United States on a 30 day leave. Soul searching and misadventures go on and before you know it, they’re in Las Vegas at the end of the movie.

Strange ending for sure. Who would have thought a zombie attack would have made them all heroes? Not me and I guess the film makers didn’t think so either, hence the total lack of zombies. Would have made more sense though. I do like that Michael Peña….

Bill came home and immediately took a nap before he headed back into the city. His church had their annual pancake breakfast today and he was the official greeter. Then he was off to check up on his mother in Beth Israel Medical Center.

As he napped I wound up watching Sicko, the movie by Michael Moore about the US health care system. I tried watching it a few months ago when I rented it but couldn’t get into it. I couldn’t get past the guy who accidentally chopped off 2 fingers and the insurance company would only pay for one to be reattached. One finger cost $60k and the other $1200 I think.

I enjoyed watching it though if enjoyed is the right word for it. It made me want to live in Paris that’s for sure.

Towards the end after bringing back the rescue workers from Cuba after securing them free treatment, Michael Moore mentions an anti-Moore website that needed to be taken down since the guy who ran it couldn’t keep up the expense now that his wife had fallen ill.

So Michael Moore anonymously paid the insurance bill so the guy could continue running his anti-Michael Moore website. It was a pretty good documentary and it did show how some insurance companies are really rotten to the people they are supposed to ‘look after’.

I know I had my problems with the insurance company from work and then it turned out months later the ‘board’ they sent the claims to for review was owned by the insurance company and rejected many claims, including my own since it wasn’t in the best interest of the insurance company.

In my case they felt that 2 procedures done in the same day disqualified me for coverage, but if I went in Monday and then had another procedure on Tuesday that would have been perfectly alright. I’m now on Bill’s coverage from his job. Better plan I think.

I’m glad I picked out what to wear to work tomorrow. I already know what I will be wearing on Tuesday. It is St. Patrick’s Day and I have to do my bit. Tomorrow night I think I’m supposed to be taking photographs of Bill’s jazz combo as they lay down some tracks at Smash Studios.

That’s what my calendar told me, though Bill hasn’t brought it up since he first asked me if I could do it. So tomorrow I may be posting early from work.

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Search and Destroy

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A nice Saturday afternoon, unspoiled. Last night was nice too. Bill and I hanging out, watching a recording of the Office from Thursday night and Talk Soup. Both enjoyable and filled with laughs and as usual the Office provided nervous chuckles.

Bill went to bed midway through Bill Maher’s show on HBO. It seems I enjoy Bill Maher if someone else is watching with me. Otherwise I just pick up a magazine and read while it goes on. I did pay some attention though.

Bill Maher’s guests last night were Andrew Breitbart and Michael Eric Dyson. Breitbart playing the role of conservative blow hard to a T while Dyson intelligently explained his own point of view (the liberal side) which effectively made Breitbart look like exactly what he is, a conservative blow hard.

I went to bed a little while after that, Bill fast asleep in the bed. It is nice to have him there though and I find myself falling asleep to the sound of his snoring.

Woke up before 9:00 which was nice for a Saturday. Had my cuppa before heading out for morning foodstuffs.

Totally unlike last week, Fake Patrick’s Day. No groups of twenty somethings heading off to parties at 10:00AM. Came home and Bill was awake and puttering about.

Read the papers and helped Bill with cleaning up the apartment. Needed to get vacuum bags for the new vacuum cleaner I got from work last week.

He was planning on heading out at 1:00, at least thats what he told me at 12:50. We actually left together at 2:30. He was off to the dry cleaners and laundromat while I stood outside smoking a Joya De Nicaragua that I picked up yesterday.

Walked Bill off to the bus stop and then I ambled down Washington Street. . Nice enough day in the sun, chilly in the shade but I didn’t mind. A good cigar and I listened to the second half of A Hard Days Night on the iPod.

Came home and finished Mojo magazine with Pete Townshend circa 1967 on the cover from The Who Sell Out photo sessions. Very good interview with Nick Lowe inside and for once a not too pretentious article by Dave Marsh about the Who.

Picked up some adequate vacuum bags and came home and started vacuuming. Very powerful vacuum cleaner, it sucks so strongly that if you put the nozzle to the floor it takes two hands to lift it. Good to know I think. I don’t think it was ever used in the office.

While I vacuumed I listened to Dark Was The Night, the Red Hot compilation that I picked up last week. It was better than I expected it to be. 2 discs that I played in sequence. Even Antony sounds good on it which for me, says something. Highly recommended.

I’m presently listening to War Child- Heroes, another charity CD I bought last week. It’s fun, but I tell you the guy from the Hold Steady who sings Bruce’s Atlantic City seems to have graduated summa cum laude from the Springsteen School of Singing. I find it annoying, but the singer is known for his love of all things Bruce.

Hot Chip’s cover of Joy Division’s Transmission is a lot of fun, a lot more fun than Ian Curtis and company. I never really ‘got’ Joy Division. Always found them depressing. New Order I liked. Go fish.

Rufus Wainwright singing Brian Wilson’s Wonderful/Song for Children is a wonderful reminder of what a beautiful voice Rufus has. Scissor Sisters singing Roxy Music’s Do The Strand is as much fun as their cover of the Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb.

And after trying to figure out why the Blood Bank EP by Bon Iver was so pricey, I downloaded a copy. 4 songs, pirated. Argh.

I would have purchased a physical copy if the price was right, but it wasn’t.

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It's a trap!

It's a trap!