Follow Up: Fuck You

In 2009, Lily Allen released a song called Fuck You that I discussed here.

The song was a hit, making it to #1 in Belgium and number 68 on the Billboard charts.

This past Summer, Cee Lo released a song entitled Fuck You.

Both are catchy songs.

Each have disparate messages.

Here is Cee Lo's very catchy song - to compare to Lily Allen's same-named one.


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In the future, I'll discuss my history with the word fuck, including my 3rd grade suspension concerning the word.

Email Exchange

Over the years, I have given my 74-year-old dad computer lessons. Some things are just outside of his grasp - like using the Shift key. Here is an email exchange today about an upcoming event.

Me: Do we have anything planned yet for Christmas morning – for the family gift exchange? I offer to host. We can meet around 10 am at my house for coffee, donuts, grits and grillades (mom’s recipe), and/or hot chocolate. What do you think?

My Sister Christine: Assuming that it works for Karlie, which I think it does, I think it sounds nice. We have “Christmas with the [in laws]” this year, but I don’t it will start until the afternoon. Thanks for offering to host. I love the holidays!!!

Me: And I have two Snuggies ready for anyone who wants to use them! (Karlie can bring hers too.)

My Dad: WE WILL BE IN ATTENDENCE DAD

Me: Sounds good. Remember: In email, ALL CAPS means that you are YELLING at someone. You really should practice with the Shift key.

My Dad: THANKS

Me: Oh the irony…

Mystery Solved

Remember the guy in the below photo? He is the mystery actor described in this post.

Carlos figured out who he is. We were watching Runaway Jury yesterday morning and recognized him. His name is Cliff Curtis. Here is his official IMDB photo.


Here is his bio via IMDB:

Cliff Curtis was born in Rotorua, Aotearoa, New Zealand, on July 27, 1968.

Of New Zealand Maori descent (Ngati Hauiti, Te Arawa) he spent time when young learning the traditional Maori fighting styles of mau rakau. He enrolled at the New Zealand Drama School, and then the Teatro Dmitri Scoula in Switzerland.

After returning to Aotearoa New Zealand from Europe, he was cast in The Piano (1993). Subsequent roles in New Zealand include the camp melodrama Desperate Remedies (1993), the gruelling urban drama Once Were Warriors (1994), and the lighthearted comedy Jubilee (2000).

In Hollywood, Curtis has played a range of different roles and ethnicities in films. He plays a Colombian in Blow (2001), an Arab in Three Kings (1999) and The Insider (1999), a Latino in Training Day (2001) and Runaway Jury (2003), and a drug dealer of ambiguous ethnicity in Bringing Out the Dead (1999). However, he is probably best known for his role as Paikea's father Porourangi, in Whale Rider (2002).

Carlos has a great memory. He said that he couldn't remember the guy's name, but remembered that he had starred along Bruce Willis in a movie. We can now confirm that movie is Live Free or Die Hard.

Thanksgiving

In my generation, we have 13 cousins. At 43, I am the second oldest. The first five of us are very close in age and grew up together.

My 41-year-old cousin Paul, the youngest of us five, has been battling colon and liver cancer for the last six months or so.

In person, via email and via Caring Bridge, he keeps us updated on his condition. Since today is Thanksgiving, I wanted to share with you his most recent communication. You’ll see that he is quite a good writer – and tries to keep his humor about the situation.

All right…all right, I’m back in the game. Today was the big pow wow with Dr. Griffin, and the unknowns are now known and on the books.

To back-up a bit and get you on the right page, I had a CT scan last Tuesday, because they hadn’t taken a look at my toenail on my left pinky toe. Well we got it, and now they can digitally recreate every pore in my body. The CT came back favorably, and we are now describing the size of the liver lesions in mm rather than cm.

As usual, the colon doctor didn’t trust the tested and proven CT to determine his prognosis, and I’m sore again. The really good news is that I’m scheduled for surgery on December 10 at Tulane Hospital. I am first in line for the day, which, like flying, is where you want to be. Funny, the similarities these days between flying and colorectal cancer.

Anyway, the colon surgeon should go first and re-connect my plumbing and then the liver surgeon. Sad to say, but we really don’t know what his plan is for the liver. I guess I’ll wake up with a surprise. Regardless, I’m very excited about making progress toward the end of the surgeries and getting to the next stage, whatever that is.

I will be in the hospital for 2 days, which would mean I will be out by Sunday if all goes well. Both procedures are laparoscopic this time, so recovery should be nothing like the first surgery. I assume that I will have more scans after the surgery and take those results to the Medical Oncologist to see what’s behind the next curtain. As I have stated before--through gnashed teeth--I want the second chemo regimen. I want to go through this just one time, and I will do what I need to do to achieve that goal.

All is well on the home front. We are heading to Shreveport tomorrow evening to spend Thanksgiving with Sarah’s family. I am looking forward to getting out of town for a few days and relaxing. I genuinely feel good and have had no other major incidents with my special friend [his colostomy bag]; however, I will be burning the bulk of my clothes once this is over. Oh, and after the surgery I’ll have some fancy balloons available for any birthday party or bar mitzvah. I have been itching to start jogging again but have learned from a reliable source that sweat and the adhesive on my apparatus do not work well together. Jogging can wait.

I hope you are all doing exactly what you want to do this Thanksgiving. In my family, all Thanksgiving attendees must write on a little piece of paper what they are thankful for and place it in a basket. After we dine the contents of the basket are read aloud and everyone tries to guess who submitted the entry. It’s funny, touching, sometimes sad, but always meaningful. I will not be there this year, so here’s what I’m thankful for: I am thankful to be alive. I am thankful that my body has reacted so well to treatment. I am thankful that I have such wonderful people around me who support and love me. I am thankful for doctors who have torn me up and are putting me back together. I am thankful for the quiet strength that I receive from my wife and children. I am thankful for being treated normally and not like I’m a piece of thin blown glass. I am thankful for the opportunity to kick this thing in the ass, turn around, and attack the rest of my life.

I printed out Paul’s Thankful For submission and slipped it into this year’s basket. We all had a good cry.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

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Some Thanksgiving quotes:


If a fellow isn't thankful for what he's got, he isn't likely to be thankful for what he's going to get.
- Frank A. Clark

Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action.
- W.J. Cameron

An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day.
- Irv Kupcinet

There is one day that is ours. There is one day when all we Americans who are not self-made go back to the old home to eat saleratus biscuits and marvel how much nearer to the porch the old pump looks than it used to. Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American.
- O. Henry

On Thanksgiving Day we acknowledge our dependence.
- William Jennings Bryan

Thanksgiving is America's national chow-down feast, the one occasion each year when gluttony becomes a patriotic duty.
- Michael Dresser

Forever on Thanksgiving Day
The heart will find the pathway home.
- Wilbur D. Nesbit

A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues.
- Cicero

And though I ebb in worth, I'll flow in thanks.
- John Taylor

Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.
- Aesop

God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?"
- William A. Ward

List: Top 5 Classic Rock Bands

Our friend Debbie loves to ask, "What is your Top Five ____________? Go."

My list of Top Five Classic Rock Bands has been set for years.

1. U2 - which I discuss fairly often.

2. Led Zeppelin - which I have discussed numerous times, including my Top Ten Led Zeppelin Songs of All Time list

3. Rush

4. Queen - one mention so far

5. Pink Floyd - also one mention


I thought today I would discuss Rush.

In 8th grade (1980), Rush's album Moving Pictures came out. My friend Steve brought it to school and insisted I borrow it. I did. And I was hooked for life.

The cover's double meaning (right) was lost on a 12 year old.


For years later, I wanted to be a drummer because of Neil Peart. Ironically, I never tried to play (the drum solo song) YYZ from the album. I used my drum sticks - known to my dad as his screw drivers - on my drum kit (AKA the floor and pillows of my bedroom) to perfect Tom Sawyer, Red Barchetta, Vital Signs and especially Limelight.

Here is what I wanted to be able to do as a 12 year old - done by a (then) 9 year old: Teddy Z covering, drums only, Tom Sawyer.



Hell, I'd like to play like that now.

Here is Vital Signs live in 1984.


My friend Lloyd and I would endlessly discuss the meaning of the songs Red Barchetta, Witch Hunt, Camera Eye, and all the other songs on the album.

A small footnote at the end of Red Barchetta says, "Inspired by 'A Nice Morning Drive' by Richard S. Foster." In the pre-internet world, it took me years to figure out that was a short story in the November 1973 issue of Road and Track magazine. I am still trying to hunt down a reasonably priced copy of the magazine on eBay. Those damn Rush fanatics.

Here's an article by Richard Foster describing when he finally met Neil Peart, Rush's drummer and main lyricist, in 2006.

After listening to Moving Pictures, I had to find out everything about this band.

I started at the beginning with their eponymous first album, continuing through Fly By Night and Caress of Steel. All noble efforts, but nothing that really hit me.

Then I discovered their fourth album (right) - 2112.



The first side is all one song, divided into seven parts. I remember thinking, "It's something about a world without music, but I don't get it." Then I listened to it again and again and again.

Here are parts 1 and 2, live in 2007:


Side two has some decent songs, but nothing like the fantastic side one.

Moving up the band's history, I then discovered A Farewell To Kings, Hemispheres and Permanent Waves. Without exception, every song on those three albums are fantastic and as still some of my favorites.

A Farewell to Kings has the (sort of) hit Cinderella Man, but I'm more partial to their longer songs such as Xanadu and Cygnus X-1.

I don't play an instrument, but I have been told that mastering their 10 minute instrumental La Villa Strangiato from Hemispheres is prized among musicians. Something about all the odd timing changes. My friend Kyle used to be in a bar band that covered that song - and well too.

Here is a live version of La Villa Strangiato from around 2004:


The Trees, another of the songs from Hemispheres is an allegory about, well, here are the lyrics:

There is unrest in the forest
There is trouble with the trees
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their pleas

The trouble with the maples
(And they're quite convinced they're right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light
But the oaks can't help their feelings
If they like the way they're made
And they wonder why the maples
Can't be happy in their shade

There is trouble in the forest
And the creatures all have fled
As the maples scream 'Oppression!'
And the oaks just shake their heads

So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights
'The oaks are just too greedy
We will make them give us light'
Now there's no more oak oppression
For they passed a noble law
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe and saw

Here is a live version of The Trees from the late 1970's.


Permanent Waves has some of their most popular songs, including The Spirit of Radio - which they opened their concerts with for many years. (Even their 2005 live 30th Anniversary CD opens with the song.)

Here is The Spirit of Radio live from 1984:


By the time Signals - their next studio album after Moving Pictures - came out, I knew every song of theirs, and ate up the new CD. I was a Sophomore in high school and my Theology class (Catholic boys school requirement) was informally called "Sex, Drugs, and Rock N Roll". All we discussed were those three subjects. In detail. For nine months. Our professor, Fr. Ed, was quite cool. (I still keep in contact with him via Facebook.)

We were encouraged to bring in our favorite albums. He would play the songs and we would discuss the lyrics. We did one Rush song, Losing It, from Signals. Here are the lyrics:

The dancer slows her frantic pace
In pain and desperation
Her aching limbs and downcast face
Aglow with perspiration

Stiff as wire, her lungs on fire
With just the briefest pause
The flooding through her memory
The echoes of old applause

And she limps across the floor
And closes her bedroom door...

The writer stares with glassy eyes
Defies the empty page
His beard is white, his face is lined

And streaked with tears of rage

Thirty years ago, how the words would flow
With passion and precision
But now his mind is dark and dulled
By sickness and indecision

And he stares out the kitchen door
Where the sun will rise no more...

Some are born to move the world
To live their fantasies
But most of us just dream about
The things we'd like to be
Sadder still to watch it die
Than never to have known it
For you, the blind who once could see
The bell tolls for thee...

I don't remember the exact discussion. All I remember is how proud I was that we were talking about MY band with the entire class for an entire hour. How very cool.

There is no video or live performance of the song by the band, but here is the studio version of the song.





Geddy Lee, the band's singer/bass player/keyboard player, introduced keyboards more and more into the bands songs - starting with Signals. I kept buying their albums for awhile - after Signals came Grace Under Pressure, then Power Windows, then Hold Your Fire. By their latest live set A Show of Hands, I had moved on to other bands (though I diligently bought every new release, and still do). But every so often, I pick up a Rush CD from my pile and listen to it.

Recommendations -

If you have never ever heard a song by Rush, start with Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures or their second live album Exit...Stage Left, which contains songs from that time period. Those are the easiest to jump into.

If you're a fan of prog rock, start with 2112 or Hemispheres.

If you're already a fan of Rush, you must see the documentary Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage. My favorite part is watching the actual home movie of Alex Lifeson (guitars) telling his parents that he is dropping out of high school to go on the road with his band. Priceless.

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Final Note -

Moving Pictures and 2112 are the two Rush albums contained in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

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Final Final Note -

Apparently the creators of South Park are Rush fans too...

Link: What The Heck Has Obama Done So Far?

If someone says, "Obama hasn't done ONE good thing for our country yet!!", here's a site to help you set the misguided person straight:
What The Fuck Has Obama Done So Far?
or the PG version What The Heck Has Obama Done So Far?

Source: The always entertaining STFU, Conservatives

Tea Baggers

A friend emailed me this, though he still calls them Tea Partiers, whereas I call them Tea Baggers.

Did you know that the words “race car” spelled backwards still spells “race car”?

And that “eat” is the only word that, if you take the first letter and move it to the last, spells its own past tense, “ate”?

And if you rearrange the letters in “Tea Party Republicans,” and add just a few more letters, it spells: “Shut the fuck up you free-loading, progress-blocking, benefit-grabbing, resource-sucking, violent hypocrites, and deal with the fact that you nearly wrecked the country under Bush and that our president is black, so try and get over it.”

Isn’t that interesting?

Punching The Clock

At work, we have a new time clock system, mandated by the university.

There are five people in my office. Three of us are salaried and are unaffected; the other two are hourly. Even though I am the Manager of our office - but AS I HAVE SAID OVER AND OVER TO THE HOURLY PEEPS NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU BITCH TO ME - I have no control or affect on the new system.

Today, we had an Office Meeting. I said:

You can complain and complain all you want about this new system. I will always listen to you. I will never get defensive.

This is not my system. I am merely telling you the details that I hear from my superiors. Whatever questions I cannot answer, I will ask upward - no matter how much resistance I get.

[The upper up bosses are "tired" and "frustrated" of questions about the new system and want them to stop. I plan on asking questions as long as I want to.]

Remember this though: This new system is not going away. Whether you like it or not, long term, you WILL be judged by how you react to this obstacle.

Character comes from how well you work with adversity. Grow and learn from this experience.

Will you adapt? Will you fight it? Will you quit? It is your call. I will back any decision you make.

Dead Pool

Remember the 1988 Clint Eastwood movie The Dead Pool? I haven't actually seen it, but I can relate to it. I keep track of celebrities who have died.

Some days when Carlos and I talk after work, I open the conversation with, "Guess who died today." (Carlos, who keeps up with pop culture as much as I do, usually knows the answer.)

I subscribe to the newsletter for the website Who's Alive and Who's Dead - including daily bulletins for very famous people.

I receive the daily and weekly posts from the associated Yahoo Group.

CNN sends me daily bulletins.

All so that I can know information like Jill Clayburgh's death was announced yesterday.


I have never played the game The Dead Pool, but I may play this year. Once I have my list - and after I post it to The Dead Pool - I'll post it here.

New Discovery: Antony Hegarty

I have had "Antony Hegarty" listed on my New Discovery list for almost two years - so I guess I can't call him a New Discovery.

Flipping through the channels one evening, I came across a tribute concert to Leonard Cohen. I was half paying attention until this astonishing voice came on. This is what I saw. Unfortunately, "embedding disabled by request".

I stopped in my tracks and watched with my mouth agape for the entire time. What an incredible voice.

Antony (and his band The Johnsons) made their US network television debut on Late Night with David Letterman:


They have also appeared on one of my current favorite shows, Sundance Channel's Live from Abbey Road.

Here is Antony Hegarty's Wikipedia page.