Tag Archives: Craig Ferguson

Dracula’s Lament

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Well I was all set to start writing about a half hour ago but I started playing So It Goes by Nick Lowe on guitar, then wound up playing Stereotypes by the Specials and then I went into Give A Little Bit by Supertramp and then finally found myself playing The True Wheel by Brian Eno and I was in heaven.

So many changes but so much fun to play. A welcome distraction. My callouses are coming along quite nicely and my index finger on the left hand isn’t as cramped as it had been. I haven’t been playing as much as I would have liked to but apparently not playing had served me well.

This evening from Bill: You know baby, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
Me: Aw I agree baby, I feel the same way. I AM the best thing that’s ever happened to you.

Last night I went down to Julio’s apartment and hung out. Like old times, we had a bottle of wine and talked. Stine and Alexander are in Denmark and Julio is flying out there on Saturday, not coming back until next year. And by next year, I mean in a couple of weeks.

It was good last night, we talked about McSwells and how he doesn’t ever want to go there again. Not even for a drink, but of course I am always game to hoist a pint or two with Rand.

We also talked about seeing Macca at both Madison Square Garden and CitiField. He felt the Garden was more intimate but the sound and sightlines at CitiField were much better.

Julio also had 2 Christmas presents for me, which was an awfully nice surprise.

One was a biography on Paul McCartney that just came out. I had read the reviews and they were quite good. It’s by Peter Ames Carlin and not a puff piece. I don’t think I’ve ever read a McCartney bio, except for the authorized one by Barry Miles, Many Years from Now.

That was good, but Paul was directly involved in it. The one that Julio gave me last night mentions how Paul has been rewriting the past to suit his needs, like saying that he basically wrote In My Life. Julio hoped I didn’t have it and I didn’t.

He also hoped I didn’t have the other book, John Lennon : The Life by Phillip Norman. I didn’t have that either but I did take it out of the library earlier this year and read it. Julio was dismayed by that but also to be on the safe side, gave me gift receipts for both books.

I did take a walk to Barnes and Noble in Hoboken this afternoon looking to exchange the Lennon book, but they had a meager selection. I could go to another Barnes and Noble in the city and exchange it there, but it’s such a lovely picture of John on the cover and not wanting to disappoint Julio, I think I will end up keeping it.

But I may go into the city and just take a look see. There is that Beatles book scheduled to be released in June 2010, You Never Give Me Your Money but I don’t think I can or should wait that long.

I came upstairs and stayed up to watch Craig Ferguson’s 1000th broadcast. I’m really enjoying his show and last night was very funny. No Craig Ferguson, he had puppets instead, interviewing the guests and also had Jason Segal and Nathan Danforth with The Broken West featuring Ferguson’s Dracula puppet singing Dracula’s Lament from Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

So sweet that I posted it on Facebook. Just something really nice and Jason Segal is cute too. And now I am posting it here too…

Release the Stars

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Late night posting. Or later than usual. Just got back from Manhattan after attending a memorial service for a friend of Bill’s David Sheppard. Nice gathering, quite a lot of people, theater folk since David Sheppard was a director at the Theater for the New City on First Avenue.

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Bill helped organize the memorial through Facebook.

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Facebook! For all your impromptu (or planned) organizing needs!

Bill also played some piano at the service and it’s always good to hear Bill behind a piano.

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Right now, Broadcast News is on. Such a good movie, I keep getting distracted. Why haven’t Holly Hunter and Albert Brooks made another movie together?

Last night was a good night for TV. I somehow started watching a special on WNYC on Men’s fashion which I thought would appeal to me, but it turned out to be a piece on 2 Dutch designers, Viktor and Rolf who really put on a fantastic show at their couture viewings.

Not your average runway walkers either. One show had all the women done up like Tilda Swinton, pale skin and red hair. The real Tilda Swinton was feature, she being such a good pal of Viktor and Rolf. Other runways had the models wearing lighting scaffolds as they walked the gangplank, or wearing motorcycle helmets, or wearing 10 jackets over 10 shirts.

You really had to see it, it was mesmerizing. And surreal in the proper sense of the word. Surreal is a word that gets used too frequently and improperly these days. Andre Breton must be spinning in his grave and adding more names to his list.

After that I wound up watching Charlie Rose interviewing the recently deceased Harold Pinter and that was incredible. What a mind, what a playwright. No Ouija boards were involved since it was taped a year prior to Pinter’s death on this past Christmas Eve.

Charlie Rose makes anyone interesting, and if the guest is interesting already, the conversation goes up several notches.

After that I decided to take Rand and Bill’s advice and give Craig Ferguson a chance. Ferguson wasn’t on yet and I caught the band on the Letterman show, Bon Iver who were surprisingly very good.
And here is that clip.

Craig Ferguson was pretty good too.

Ooh William Hurt in braces! Sorry Broadcast News again.

I was up, not tired and wound up channel surfing and watched Louis CK doing stand up. He was hilarious. Usually not my cup of tea but the stars seemed to be aligned and I found myself laughing out loud as he discussed his wife and children.

If only Julio were around to hear Louis CK talk about changing diapers, I’m sure he could relate. Sounds pretty gross for all concerned. After all that entertainment and intellectual stimulation I needed to go to bed.

I woke up and did my usual rounds around Hoboken. People are beginning to return to Hoboken and the holidays are almost over. Used Christmas trees line the gutters.

Julio and Stine return with Kal-El on Monday. It will be good to see them all again.

I have to see them, I have their mail