The Tragic Tale Of Ofra Haza

Ofra Haza (1957 - 2000) was a Yemeni singer, one of my favourites, her album "Shaday" is in my personal top 100.

Apparently, her premature death was a result of being infected with AIDS by her sleaze-bag manager.

So beautiful, and so young...

Rise Against

Quotation Of The Day: Martin Myers -- I'm a terrible cook.  I turn perfectly good food into poison. I have many recipes.  I can prepare a meal to give you heartburn, nervous indigestion, a gall bladder attack, colitis, ulcers, hyperacidity, gas, cramps, nausea, anything you like.
 
I just bought the new album by Rise Against, "Endgame." (www.riseagainst.com)

The radio station i listen to every morning  (www.therock.fm) has their song "Make It Stop (September's Children)" in heavy rotation these days -- an angry, nay furious rant on the subject of high school bullying and its consequences and it blows me away.  Here's the video:

The first few times i heard it, i didn't know it was Rise Against, of whom i'd never heard before.  I thought it was DeFault -- the vocalist, Tim McIlrath, sound pretty similar to DeFault's singer Dallas Smith.

This is angry music, folks.  But it's also powerful post-grunge activism, and the album may well show up on my "best of 2011" list.

Exploding Head Music

Quote of the day -- Michael Ondaatje:  floating barracuda in the brain

As my regular reader will know, i, for the sins of my previous life, make my living as a cook.

My restaurant, as do most beaneries nowadays, has a satellite muzak feed, and sometimes ours is tuned to the 50's pop music channel.  One of the most dire decades in the history of popular music (IMFFHO).  Some of it i like, i confess -- Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino, i can listen to those dudes all night.  But they didn't rule the decade.  Instead it was utter horrors like Bobby Vinton, Frankie Avalon, Jimmy Clanton, Neil Sedaka (oh, egregious Neil!) (possibly the smarmiest singer in the history of western civilisation) and, on the distaff side, Annette Funicello, Shelley Fabares, Tami Yuro....

Do you remember the Tim Burton film "Mars Attacks!"?  When the Martians hear the music of Slim Whitman, their heads explode.  I know the feeling!

GTG and listen to some Hendrix now -- ah, the sixties and seventies -- now that's what i call music!

September 11

I have no words to describe how i feel today, and i can't even begin to imagine what Americans are going through, on this anniversary of that nightmare.  It makes me wish i had a god to comfort me, but i haven't.

I have heavy drinking instead, it numbs the pain.

My Day Off

Quotation of the day: Alan Coren -- I wonder sometimes if manufacturers of foolproof items keep a fool or two on their payroll to test things.

I've discovered the secret to having a great day off.  I only get one a week and i have, in the past, made all of these huge plans for it, and am then disappointed when i wind up sitting in front of the computer all day and accomplishing nothing.


So now, i've stopped planning to do anything, and i'm brilliant at it.  Well, it's hereditary.  When my dear old Dad (r.i.p.) retired, he would often say that he'd finally found something he was good at: doing nothing.


Now if only i could find someone who would pay me to stay home....

Why Don't....

Why don't supermarkets enforce the 1 - 8 items, cash only rule at the express checkout? Woman in front of me tonight must have had twenty items and paid with a debit card. I had one item. Grrr. I was in a hurry and she was doing my crust in. Did i mention that she had a squalling baby with her?  And she was fat.  I won't be "friending" her on Facebook, i assure you.

Oh, and in response to all of the none of my readers who have asked for a more recent photograph of me, here's one: