On the Grammys: For the most part I enjoyed the show. For a long time, going back to the mid-90’s I’ve disliked the whole deal but last night for me was pleasant bordering on good. And for the first time in many years I made it through the whole show. Sure there were some strange or awful moments but I stayed with it, actually trusting that something good would be coming up. Many times in the past I’d flip it on and some no talent hack would be winning an award over someone far more talented and then some ridiculously bad musical performance would have me looking for the remote almost as fast as those commercials with the little piggy yelling “weeeeeeeeeee” do. So kudos to them for getting better and I thought LL Cool J did a good job as host. It’s amazing to see how far this man has come in 25 years. I guess the same can be said about Ice T, Ice cube and others who have carved out very successful and diverse careers for themselves. Rap is a young person’s game and it’s not often you see some 40-year old rapper still on top. You have to either reinvent yourself or find a new line of work. These guys did both!
But back to the show…
I thought it was cool that Bon Iver won for Best New Artist (despite this being his 2nd record) and I really enjoyed his humble acceptance speech but speaking of speeches how cool was Dave Grohl's after the Foo Fighters won for an album they made in his garage on an old reel to reel tape? After seeing the Foo Fighters rockumentary “Back and Forth” last week and seeing them rip it up on the Grammys, I’d have to say I might be as big a fan of theirs right now than I ever have.
The Good the Bad and the What? As far as performances go I liked Jennifer Hudson’s Whitney tribute, Bruce Springsteen, Bruno Mars, the Beach Boys salute, Adele, the Glen Campbell tribute, Etta James tribute and the Foos. I didn’t care for Chris Brown’s music although his dancing was very impressive and I also yawned a lot during Katy Perry, Carrie Underwood and Lil Wayne. I also thought the Rihanna/Coldplay combo didn’t really work and Chris Martin’s voice sounded a bit off. The Paul McCartney stuff I wasn’t totally into but that awesome medley at the end with the 6 guitarists was pretty cool. Lastly, I’m still trying to figure out what was going on during that Nikki Minaj exorcist inspired musical segment.
One of my favorite unintentionally funny parts of the show is when the suit from the recording industry or some industry comes out to talk about the good things they do. He talks about music in schools, helping out musicians and lots of things we can all feel good about but then… he also sneaks in the pro-PIPA, pro-SOPA rhetoric. I remember thinking: Suck it suit! The show has been solid thus far, don’t push it! And by the way, isn’t “Grammy” an old fashioned way of saying Grandma? Just sayin. Keep the old folks and suits off the stage during the show. They are boring and we have no sympathy for the recording industry.
I can’t say I’ve been a big Whitney Houston fan for a long time so learning of her passing didn’t affect me the way Michael’s did but I absolutely loved her first 2 records and definitely was a fan of her early career. She had an amazing voice and while I’m not surprised to hear of another celebrity with substance abuse issues passing I am disappointed because I hoped Whitney would find the happiness that her gift gave to so many but apparently she couldn’t give to herself. RIP
On the subject of living I am very excited about my progress with my weight loss. I am just starting to be able to wear things I haven’t been able to wear since the summer and there’s a half-a-closet full of stuff I haven’t been able to wear in longer than that! I go out walking every day. I walk to work, I walk home from home and I do it as briskly as I can. Tonight even though I was under my daily calorie goal, I went out for a late night march of about 25 minutes. My plan is in a few more weeks to start jogging a little too. Right now I can walk pain free and my stamina is improving but I’m hoping for a little less ice and snow on the ground before I start to jog. Even tonight when I went out for my walk I slipped twice on spotty ice out there and the last thing I want to do right now is get hurt slipping on some stupid ice. I keep going day to day, chronicling my calories and trying to make better choices. I learn new things all the time and even though I'm a month in and I’ve made a lot of progress, I realize this journey is just beginning.
I made my first poetry slam performance last week and it was one of the toughest things I’ve ever done. This was the first time I’ve ever jumped onto a stage and read my work with lights on me. I like to be level, either sitting or standing with the audience. I don’t like the idea of being up above them and the lights were intense. I read a brand new piece that I only finished that day and an older one I knew I’d be comfortable with. The new one got better scores than the old one because the language was stronger. At poetry slams people are yelling, jumping, throwing hand gestures out there and being demonstrative. It’s performance poetry. While I’m influenced by slam I am not a textbook slam poet. I read in rhythm and sometimes my pieces are worded like slam but I’m not screaming, pounding my chest, flopping on the floor or putting on as much of a spectacle. I want the audience focused on my words more than my actions… kind of the opposite of how I’d like to be viewed off stage, lol. Out of 9 poets, I finished 7th that night. I didn’t expect to win because I was going up against experienced performance poets but I did learn a lot from the appearance and I will tweak and hone my craft for the next time I read at a slam… and I will read again at a slam. Who knows? Maybe it will be next month’s slam. :)
Silly things that make me excited: I bought a Buffalo Braves DVD. Since the Braves played here in the 70’s it’s basically a VHS recording burned onto a DVD but whatever. In the game on the DVD, Bob McAdoo scores 50 points in a 1975 playoff match against Washington at the old Aud. I just got it in the mail and I haven’t watched it yet. I kinda want to make a big deal out of it. Hell I might watch it on Valentine’s Day to help keep my spirits up which leads me to…
VD. Ah yes, another lonely Valentine’s Day. I would just love to spend the evening on the couch with my lady watching sappy movies and feeling thankful she’s in my life but once again I don’t have one. I do take responsibility for this and I am working on improving myself to the point where I can attract what it is I want which is someone extraordinary. Tomorrow will be tough though. I’ll have to fight the urge to listen to sad bastard music and I might want someone to lock me up in the house and hide my money from me til the 15th. You know, just to make sure I don’t buy any awful things to eat tomorrow evening. It’s a brief but intense depression I feel. I haven’t had a real Valentine on Valentine’s Day for 9 years and even though I’m in good spirits now, all the talk, the commercials, the songs, the news stories, the twitter and facebook posts and all the cutesy stuff that will find it’s way to me tomorrow will make me feel the loss and absence of my very own valentine. Oh, the special things I would do for her on this not really so special day. Let’s face it, VD isn’t a real holiday but it can be as real as you want it to be. For all of you fortunate enough to have a Valentine I hope you have a great day filled with love and joy. For those of you like me without one I say we have a big orgy. Okay, seriously I hope those of you like me can avoid all the crap that could make you feel the negative emotions and hey, if you need to indulge in some sweets to make up for the lack of one, I won’t judge.
But back to the show…
I thought it was cool that Bon Iver won for Best New Artist (despite this being his 2nd record) and I really enjoyed his humble acceptance speech but speaking of speeches how cool was Dave Grohl's after the Foo Fighters won for an album they made in his garage on an old reel to reel tape? After seeing the Foo Fighters rockumentary “Back and Forth” last week and seeing them rip it up on the Grammys, I’d have to say I might be as big a fan of theirs right now than I ever have.
The Good the Bad and the What? As far as performances go I liked Jennifer Hudson’s Whitney tribute, Bruce Springsteen, Bruno Mars, the Beach Boys salute, Adele, the Glen Campbell tribute, Etta James tribute and the Foos. I didn’t care for Chris Brown’s music although his dancing was very impressive and I also yawned a lot during Katy Perry, Carrie Underwood and Lil Wayne. I also thought the Rihanna/Coldplay combo didn’t really work and Chris Martin’s voice sounded a bit off. The Paul McCartney stuff I wasn’t totally into but that awesome medley at the end with the 6 guitarists was pretty cool. Lastly, I’m still trying to figure out what was going on during that Nikki Minaj exorcist inspired musical segment.
One of my favorite unintentionally funny parts of the show is when the suit from the recording industry or some industry comes out to talk about the good things they do. He talks about music in schools, helping out musicians and lots of things we can all feel good about but then… he also sneaks in the pro-PIPA, pro-SOPA rhetoric. I remember thinking: Suck it suit! The show has been solid thus far, don’t push it! And by the way, isn’t “Grammy” an old fashioned way of saying Grandma? Just sayin. Keep the old folks and suits off the stage during the show. They are boring and we have no sympathy for the recording industry.
I can’t say I’ve been a big Whitney Houston fan for a long time so learning of her passing didn’t affect me the way Michael’s did but I absolutely loved her first 2 records and definitely was a fan of her early career. She had an amazing voice and while I’m not surprised to hear of another celebrity with substance abuse issues passing I am disappointed because I hoped Whitney would find the happiness that her gift gave to so many but apparently she couldn’t give to herself. RIP
On the subject of living I am very excited about my progress with my weight loss. I am just starting to be able to wear things I haven’t been able to wear since the summer and there’s a half-a-closet full of stuff I haven’t been able to wear in longer than that! I go out walking every day. I walk to work, I walk home from home and I do it as briskly as I can. Tonight even though I was under my daily calorie goal, I went out for a late night march of about 25 minutes. My plan is in a few more weeks to start jogging a little too. Right now I can walk pain free and my stamina is improving but I’m hoping for a little less ice and snow on the ground before I start to jog. Even tonight when I went out for my walk I slipped twice on spotty ice out there and the last thing I want to do right now is get hurt slipping on some stupid ice. I keep going day to day, chronicling my calories and trying to make better choices. I learn new things all the time and even though I'm a month in and I’ve made a lot of progress, I realize this journey is just beginning.
I made my first poetry slam performance last week and it was one of the toughest things I’ve ever done. This was the first time I’ve ever jumped onto a stage and read my work with lights on me. I like to be level, either sitting or standing with the audience. I don’t like the idea of being up above them and the lights were intense. I read a brand new piece that I only finished that day and an older one I knew I’d be comfortable with. The new one got better scores than the old one because the language was stronger. At poetry slams people are yelling, jumping, throwing hand gestures out there and being demonstrative. It’s performance poetry. While I’m influenced by slam I am not a textbook slam poet. I read in rhythm and sometimes my pieces are worded like slam but I’m not screaming, pounding my chest, flopping on the floor or putting on as much of a spectacle. I want the audience focused on my words more than my actions… kind of the opposite of how I’d like to be viewed off stage, lol. Out of 9 poets, I finished 7th that night. I didn’t expect to win because I was going up against experienced performance poets but I did learn a lot from the appearance and I will tweak and hone my craft for the next time I read at a slam… and I will read again at a slam. Who knows? Maybe it will be next month’s slam. :)
Silly things that make me excited: I bought a Buffalo Braves DVD. Since the Braves played here in the 70’s it’s basically a VHS recording burned onto a DVD but whatever. In the game on the DVD, Bob McAdoo scores 50 points in a 1975 playoff match against Washington at the old Aud. I just got it in the mail and I haven’t watched it yet. I kinda want to make a big deal out of it. Hell I might watch it on Valentine’s Day to help keep my spirits up which leads me to…
VD. Ah yes, another lonely Valentine’s Day. I would just love to spend the evening on the couch with my lady watching sappy movies and feeling thankful she’s in my life but once again I don’t have one. I do take responsibility for this and I am working on improving myself to the point where I can attract what it is I want which is someone extraordinary. Tomorrow will be tough though. I’ll have to fight the urge to listen to sad bastard music and I might want someone to lock me up in the house and hide my money from me til the 15th. You know, just to make sure I don’t buy any awful things to eat tomorrow evening. It’s a brief but intense depression I feel. I haven’t had a real Valentine on Valentine’s Day for 9 years and even though I’m in good spirits now, all the talk, the commercials, the songs, the news stories, the twitter and facebook posts and all the cutesy stuff that will find it’s way to me tomorrow will make me feel the loss and absence of my very own valentine. Oh, the special things I would do for her on this not really so special day. Let’s face it, VD isn’t a real holiday but it can be as real as you want it to be. For all of you fortunate enough to have a Valentine I hope you have a great day filled with love and joy. For those of you like me without one I say we have a big orgy. Okay, seriously I hope those of you like me can avoid all the crap that could make you feel the negative emotions and hey, if you need to indulge in some sweets to make up for the lack of one, I won’t judge.
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