Wednesday 13 November 2002

What was I saying? Right, Future Bible Heroes. Whenever I hear Claudia Gonson sing “I’m a Vampire” on my whatever I have playing it, I keep trying to imagine her doing it with aplomb—that is, without cracking up onstage. She does that sometimes. The song calls for an unrepentant glam-banger of a she-vamp, and I’m not sure she could pull it off onstage, with a Freddy Mercury-like presence rather than a barely-suppressed (if that!) smirk. 11:36:29 PM    comment []

Monday 11 November 2002

Da Loosh wants to be re-catapulted into fame again with his discovery of a new music search engine and its graphical representation of its...well, graphs. GNOD and Gnoosic. 11:59:34 PM    comment []

Sunday 10 November 2002

Picked up the latest Tori Amos album, Scarlet’s Walk. I went the special edition route. While on the subject of Tori Amos, one thing about my (second) cousin Nina whose wedding I attended a few weeks ago. Her first dance with her husband was to a Tori Amos piano piece, a cover of Led Zeppelin. How cool is that? 10:31:09 PM    comment [] The Apple Store at Menlo Park opened yesterday. I looked through it today, having been zonked yesterday. It has a smaller selection of software than both Tice’s Corner and Short Hills, but it has the same amount of hardware on display, or so I note. As with other Apple Stores, it seems to be disproportionately populated by salespeople, which means to me high margins and low pay, but what do I know? Of course within five minutes of walking in I spot three things I. Want. Now. Yet resisted the temptation, but how long can I hold out? 4:45:06 PM    comment [] I heard Joseph Frame at Borders. He played that Castillan tune, Romanza, as arranged by Edgar Cruz with some personal touches of his own. My own rendition suffers horribly by comparison. I was impressed how he worked in some of the ornamentation. The question is, how much more serious with the guitar can I get without more formal instruction and theory? For that matter, how much further can I get without at least some modicum of dedication to it? 4:07:04 PM    comment [] Shoot. I forgot that today was the last day of the run of Burn This, my favorite contemporary play. Er, yesterday. Sigh. I suck. 2:59:57 AM    comment [] Friday, I had managed to change Netscape stations in the lab to Jazz Singers from Classic Rock that the Vietnam vets listen to. Seventies rock is not my strong suit, though I enjoy most of it. I can name many fewer jazz singers, especially male ones, than I can name seventies rockers, but I find the music to be less intrusive material in a work environment. Strangely, I remember hearing a lot of Fitzgerald, but no Holliday. 12:32:30 AM    comment []

Saturday 9 November 2002

Your blogger, ripping off content for fun and, um, profit? Dan Rydell: The story is, we had a conversation, seriously. Someone had clearly briefed her on my stuff with the public schools, and I told her about my opposition to secular programs that are publicly financed, I really spoke up and she seemed to listen. Casey McCall: You mean nonsecular. [beat] What do you mean? You don’t oppose secular programs that are publicly financed, you oppose nonsecular programs that are publicly financed. [beat] Yes. Go on. Wait. I’m right. You’re sure? Nonsecular means, “bound to religious guidelines.” Secular means, “free of religion.” [Thinking] Okay. I’m sure I got it right at breakfast. Uh huh, 50/50 chance. [Sits down, sighs] So go on. [Abstracted] I’m gonna go... I’m going to change my clothes. [drops clothes] I didn’t get it right. I know. I blew it. Yes. I mixed up. I inverted the definitions of secular and nonsecular. Looks like that might be the case. Hillary Clinton thinks I’m an idiot. Either that or a religious bigot. I went to an Ivy League school, Casey. Proud day for Dartmouth, Dan. I made an idiot of myself in front of Hillary Clinton. Yeah, but at least you had to spend a thousand bucks to do it. [Sighs] Well, clearly I have to get in touch with her. Clearly. I need her to know that I know the difference between secular and nonsecular. You don’t know the difference between secular and nonsecular. Yeah, but I do now and I should’ve then. I have to call her. At this point I’d say it’s a moral imperative. I’ll call her hotel. They’ll put you right through. I’m not saying it’s not going to take perseverance, but I’m going to make contact with this woman. Good luck. Thank you. —Dan Rydell, Casey McCall “When something wicked this way comes,” Sports Night *Technically secular means “worldly.” You can have a secular priest*: one who goes out and preaches among the people, instead of living the monastic life. This has been extended to any priest not a member of a religious order. One of the sources of discontent with the Spanish regime in the Philippines was the limited opportunities for the native* priests, who were typically trained in the secular tradition, while the priests that administered Masses and received parishes were typically Spanish priests from the religious orders. *At the time, the term “Filipinos” referred to the descendants of the Spanish colonizers; the indigenous Malay peoples were referred to as indios and their regional affiliation*, such as: indios tagalog, indios visayan, etc. Another source of discontent. *I actually got into an argument on Moxie’s site because of this. I pointed out that Bible classes are by definition nonsecular. Someone jumped all over me writing that secular also applies to priests, pointing out a dictionary definition. I kindly refained from unleashing my thoughts on his or her ignorance, then pointed out to Moxie that she probably meant non-sectarian Bible study class. People who make silly judgments in writing about other people on the basis of dictionary definitions without the benefits of real knowledge of how the word actually is used deserve all that you can give them, but I just don’t have the energy sometimes. *I myself am the son of a Cebuano and a Tarlaqueño Kapampangan, born in Roosevelt Hospital, so I suppose I do fit in Ravenwolf’s New York Bloggers blogroll*. *Though I live in New Jersey. [update: whoops, messed up Doc Weevil’s link. There it is. Also some spelling corrections.] 11:55:39 PM    comment [] Here another Saturday night and I ain’t got nobody; I got some money ’cause I just got paid. Now how I wish I had some chick to talk to—I’m in an awful way. —Sam Cooke, “Another Saturday Night” 11:48:51 PM    comment []

Friday 8 November 2002

I saw Spirited Away some weeks ago at the Neshaminy Mall on Route One, on someone’s advice. While browsing through a bookstore I saw the comics “adaptation” of this movie. They pretty much took cels from the movie and slapped word balloons on them. Why? 11:48:18 PM    comment []

Thursday 7 November 2002

Has anyone ever noticed how on Without a Trace that in each episode, at some point in the story, Poppy Montgomery bends down to point something out to a coworker? Not flashing the audience, but almost. Just wondering. 11:02:40 PM    comment []

Wednesday 6 November 2002

Whoever was looking for information about Rita Dove’s “Parsley,” it’s over here. Next time, young feller, do your homework earlier at night! And check the Google caches if it’s not on the front page. 12:02:42 PM    comment []

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