Tunnelvisionary

Flowers of God are a local band, hailing from the Oak Cliff section of Dallas. They have a laid back, laconic sound and the critics will tell you, are influenced by the Velvet Underground. I like their minimalistic, bare approach; their songs sort of shuffle along. Exhibit A is "Tunnelvisionary", a single from 2010, featuring Sarah Jaffe from Denton, TX on vocals. Sarah pops in around the two minute mark.

Denton has a burgeoning music scene, supposedly akin to Austin in the 1970-80's before SXSW got too big.

Click the Play button:



Cool song that gets frequent play on KXT 91.7FM, our local public radio station that plays darn good music just about 24/7.

Book Review: The Blind Side

Picked this baby up in hardcover at Half Price Books for $6. List is $25. Does that make them Quarter Price Books?

I had bought this new when it came out in 2006 and gave it as a gift to a friend, hoping it would be read and then duly returned to me. Never happened. Ironically, the same friend introduced me to the debut work of Michael Lewis, the terrific Liars Poker, way back in the late 1980's. Back then it was declared that anyone with an interest in Wall Street needed to read Liars Poker and Barbarians at the Gate. I think that may still be true. Both are excellent.

In between I tried to read Lewis's Moneyball but found it impossible. I love baseball but all this praise for the Oakland A's was too much. They never won bupkis while he was there. A couple of Division crowns in the AL West do not mean squat. And a team that fielded McGwire and Canseco should have been kicked out of baseball, even if that was before Beane's time. Guilty by association.

A few months ago, we came across The Blind Side on TV and found the movie very enjoyable. Only a misanthropic curmudgeon wouldn't. And so when I spied the book in HPB, I slapped down my $6 (plus sales tax, 8.25% here in Tejas - I don't shirk my fiduciary responsibility to Austin).

Here my review: the movie is better. I know, I know, the book is always supposed to superior to any film rendition. But just like Jaws, Michael Oher is bigger and better on the screen. Every now and then the flakes in Hollywood get it right. Not that the book is bad - it isn't. I love the parts about Lawrence Taylor. I mean there is a player I can tell my grand kids about - the football part, not the ugly post-retirement LT that one day soon will likely make the Michael Jackson / Whitney Houston kind of headlines. LT was a monster on the field and simply a game changer as offences tried to account for his pass rush. Kind of odd (a juxtaposition, even) that he had a stable childhood and is now wheels off, whereas Michael Oher had an awful youth (until he met the Touhey's) but is now a stalwart of the community.

In short if you see the book for $6 or less, get it.

Otherwise, the movie is on TV every now and then.

Heartland, Heartland, Heartland / Radiohead Concert Review

Road Trip to Mizzou and Arkansas


The quickest way to drive to Columbia, MO from Big D is to head straight up I35 and hang a right in Wichita, KS. In between, there is not much to see. A vast, flat plain, treeless and windswept. It takes little more than an hour to reach the Red River and immediately the casinos appear, we are in Indian territory. Further north is Ardmore, Oklahoma, where in 2003 about 50 Democrats from the Texas House of Representatives hid out to avoid a contentious vote. Talk radio in Austin had a blast with that.

Just south of Oklahoma City is Norman, home of OU. Impressive football stadium but there was zero interest in the campus from my co-pilot. A few miles north is Moore, whose claim to fame is that it is the home of Toby Keith. Much debate ensued: was he born there? Does he live there? Was this the best they could come up with for their water tower?

Cruising through Oklahoma City, I told the story of Timothy McVeigh, who in 1995 became a home-grown Bin Laden. Ironically, the evil bastard was executed June 11, 2001, exactly 90 days before 9/11. We did not see the memorial but did see several buildings that resembled the Murrah Federal Building, where 168 perished including nineteen children.

In Kansas, we argued whether we should have planned a side trip to Holcomb, the setting for Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" (there is a lot of anger out here on the prairie...). Fiona read the book for her English class and declared it to be a worthy read, pushed it on me and I have to concur with her assessment. Turns out Holcomb is way west, almost in Colorado, and we were rapidly approaching Kansas City and night was drawing in.

Determined to procure some famed KC BBQ, we threaded our way downtown, eventually ending up in the Light & Power District, which was hopping with throngs of youngsters, hipsters and those out for dinner and a cocktail. We parked the car and found ourselves outside the Sprint Center arena which was buzzing. A scalper tried to sell us tickets for an unknown event - I assumed the Big 12 College Basketball tourney. Turns out it was Radiohead. He was asking $150 for floor seats - we politely declined and went and had a leisurely dinner (not BBQ!). About an hour and a half later, we went by the arena again. This time Mr Scalper had two for $150 and after some shrewd negotiating ("free string"), Fiona and I got in the tickets for just about face value.

We tumbled into the Sprint Center in time to see the very end of the opening act - who was it again? She was delighted, having missed Radiohead when they came to Dallas just a few days previously. The show was excellent. They played for two hours, first half mostly King of Limbs, second half older stuff, closing the show with Paranoid Android. The sound was very very good. The light show terrific. One of the top five shows I have been to. So our day on the plains was not all bad and when we crawled into our hotel in Columbia at 1am, we did so with the falsetto of Thom Yorke resonating in our heads.

I was banned from taking pics at Mizzou or U of A. Both are good schools, the former strong in journalism and broadcasting, the latter in business (thanks Sam Walton!). The Mizzou campus is almost a slice of Americana; Fayetteville, AK is the prototypical college town. Time will tell if we get to drop off a Fish at either.

Paging Dr. Melfi

All of you would be goombahs, remember how Tony Soprano used to get visited by ducks in his pool? Well Southlake ain't Joisey but the Mr. Drake and Mrs. Duck showed up last week, no doubt looking for a safe place to call home. He thought the water was fine; she was a bit more apprehensive. And she was right. Texie was sent out to shoo them off and they have not come back.

On the First Day of March

Boys from the County Hell

On the first day of March it was raining
It was raining worse than anything that I have ever seen
I drank ten pints of beer and I cursed all the people there
And I wish that all this raining would stop falling down on me

And it's lend me ten pounds and I'll buy you a drink
And mother wake me early in the morning

At the time I was working for a landlord
And he was the meanest bastard that you have ever seen
And to lose a single penny would grieve him awful sore
And he was a miserable bollocks and a bitch's bastard's whore

I recall we took care of him one Sunday
We got him out the back and we broke his fucking balls
And maybe that was dreaming and maybe that was real
But all I know is I left that place without a penny or fuck all

And now I've the most charming of verandas
I sit and watch the junkies, the drunks and pimps and whores
Five green bottles sitting on the floor
And I wish to Christ, I wish to Christ
That I had fifteen more

The boys and me are drunk and looking for you
We'll eat your frigging entrails and we won't give a damn
Me daddy was a blue shirt and my mother a madam
And my brother earned his medals raping gooks in Vietnam

On the first day of March it was raining
It was raining worse than anything that I have ever seen
Stay on the other side of the road
'Cause you can never tell
We've a thirst like a gang of devils
We're the boys of the county hell

Shane MacGowan (1984)

Monster Madness

For a laugh and with nothing better to do one weekend in 1991 on Long Island, I took Sheila to see what was then the Mud and Monster Show in Nassau Coliseum. Payback sometimes takes decades; Sheila returned the favor and took us all to see what is now called Monster Jam at Cowboys Stadium this weekend. JerryWorld was just about full - my guess is that there was 70,000 fans there - of all ethnicity, age and creed. That is the hidden beauty of monster trucks, they unite the world while treating us to the noisiest two hours imaginable. Thankfully, the roof and doors were partially opened and the fumes had a place to go.

This has become quite the event, with fans wearing the colors of their favorite trucks. The merchandising is relentless from truck-shaped hats to Matchbox replicas. The races are somewhat staged, WWF style. Of course it is: Monster Jam is operated by Feld Entertainment, who own Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus. It is a traveling roadshow, with pantomime villain drivers that get jeered and cheered.

The crown jewel and fan favorite is Grave Digger, one of the original trucks from the 1980's. But it is no longer based on a production truck - this 1500 HP (9.4 Liter super-charged motor) brute has an intricate suspension, four wheel steering and numerous safety features.

The show is divided into two sections: the first involves two trucks racing against the clock on a tight circuit; the second, a free-style event where the trucks have 150 seconds to perform crazy 60 foot jumps, wheelies and burn-outs. If they do not stall or wreck in the first two minutes, the last 30 seconds is devoted to literally trying to roll (read: destroy) the truck. It is insane, especially when wheels come flying off and they continue the performance on three wheels. No wonder the first 20rows of seats are blocked off.

Hoses break, engine fluids spill, fires break out and the show goes on. The more the drivers trash and wreck the truck, the better the crowd likes it. Each fiery conclusion whips the audience into a deeper frenzy. I was on the edge of my seat at almost every run, fearing the worst. And yet, the drivers walk away, seemingly unscathed by the carnage. The judges then award style points and the winner gets a cheesy trophy. The stalled truck lies on its roof like some wacked out beetle, waiting for the giant wheel loader to come and drag it away.

This is big business: this weekend alone there are NINE Monster Jam performances across the US. The trucks take such a beating that there are multiple understudies: there are 25 Grave Diggers. Each truck costs about $600K and when we went, there was about 20 trucks running. That is a huge investment! With all the wreckage (and the cost of fuel!), I am not sure how the whole production makes money... but they sure sell a lot of merchandise and it is on the SPEED channel every weekend. While Monster Jam will never be confused for high-brow theater, it is a lot of fun and a great diversion for a few hours.

The Walking Dead

My favorite TV show, hands down. AMC has another hit on their hands, following on the heels of Mad Men and Breaking Bad. Who would have thought that a TV series about a zombie apocalypse could be so engrossing (with a sometimes emphasis on gross)? We are up to episode ten of Season Two and it continues to captivate.

Mind you, there was a bit of a lull around episodes eight and nine - the first half of Season Two ended with the unforgettable barn scene and the discovery of Sophia. The following two episodes "Nebraska" and "Triggerfinger" were light on zombies and heavy on developing the rift between Rick and Shane (driven by Lori of course). Last night, things got back on track with zombies crawling our of buildings, clamoring over each other lusting for flesh or just wandering solo through the fields. What an image. Glenn may have competition for Maggie and there was an attempted suicide...

We still do not know what prompted the virus that attacks the human brain and brings on the state of zombieness, what happened to Morgan and Duane (father / son from the Pilot), and we expect the maniacal Merle (minus a hand) to make another appearance and perhaps exact revenge on T-Dog. Wild stuff!!!

So I have a theory that The Walking Dead is somewhat plagiarizing my other favorite TV mini-series, Lonesome Dove. There are the two strong willed lawmen: Shane / Rick and Call / Gus. They both love a woman called Lori (Call not overtly). They clash frequently but at the bottom of it all, respect each other. There is a faithful young sidekick (Newt / Glenn). There is a faithful black sidekick (Deets / T-Dog). They are trying to move a group across hostile territory. There are ferocious enemies (zombies / Comanches).

As an aside, the name Lonesome Dove comes from a church in Southlake, TX. Larry McMurty saw one of their vans drive by one day and decided to use the name. Not sure where The Walking Dead came from, but you know where to find me 8PM Central on Sunday nights...