this one's for you, d.c.

i just found out today that my friend d has cancer. it started out in his liver and has spread to his lungs and pancreas. he went into the doctor's last week because he thought he had the flu. turns out this is the kind of 'flu' that gives you 6 weeks to live. that's right, he has until christmas, according to the doctor.

the funny thing is, d didn't tell me about it. another close friend of ours did. "he doesn't want anyone to know", my friend says. but i just want d to know that i care for him, and that his friendship means a lot to me. d and i used to work together; and i've always hoped we'd be able to work together again. i do not know if that will be possible any more.

still, there's hope. there's that crazy kind of hope i have that he will pull through...somehow. there will be prayers to st. jude, the saint of lost causes, maybe someone upstairs will listen, and give d a few more years. i feel really bad for the other friend. d and he have been friends for ever, and he's taking it hard.

in the end though, i hope d doesn't suffer too much. any kind of cancer is painful, cancer of the liver especially. god bless d.

2 minutes to midnight!

i was lucky enough to catch iron maiden in concert last night (well, after spending mucho dinero in pursuit of a ticket). and the tickets were good, vip seats for a concert is always good idea if you want seats with a solid view. 3 inches of blood opened for maiden...but i didn't catch their set as i was held up driving to irvine to get to the venue (in the process also winning 2 tickets to go to dave navarro's halloween party at the highlands).

so was it worth it? dickinson and co. started off with songs from their new album, "a matter of life and death". starting with "different world", they proceeded to sing every single song from this album. in their 31st year, they should really know that while their new shit is good, it's the oldies that made maiden. songs like "seventh son of a seventh son", "aces high" and "666" were conspicuous by their absence.

dickinson was in fine fettle...roaring, screeching and banshee-ing like we all know he can. so was the rest of the crew, the guitar work was solid and the drum work, tight. maiden is one of those rare acts that has been lucky (and talented) enough to have a solid second run in their careers. their latest album is in the billboard top 10, and how many other metal acts can boast that? the verizon amphitheatre was completely sold out, and it was great to see the number of young people out there.

and for me personally, a wait of 16 years is over. i've finally seen maiden (eddie did make his token appearance), who along with priest were an important part of my days growing up. would i have loved to hear some of those old songs? hell yeah, but did i come out satisfied after the concert, that would be a "hell, yeah" too.

picture courtesy: http://www.sfondideldesktop.com/

canada eh?

aah canada...what a lovely place. the beaches, the palm trees and the sounds of calypso. wait, wrong country (sorry turk and caicos islands). i was in canada last month (or .ca as the interweb likes to call it), i know i am lazy and should've gotten to this post sooner, but what can you do? i have people to do and things to see.

anyways, canada was a revelation. vancouver's 3 hours from LA (so's dallas), but it's such a sea change from LA or dallas. it's cleaner, the people are nicer, the beer is better and the women...well, they look like men, but 3 out of 4 isn't bad.

and like any good tourist, i saw a lot of vancouver...the capilano suspension bridge, the salmon hatchery, granville island and of course downtown vancouver. i was also lucky enough to be invited by some friends (yes, i do have one or two), to edmonton. now, if you haven't seen the rockies yet, well, that sucks. if you do get an opportunity though, don't miss out. they are beautiful. also, please do check out the columbia icefields.

picture courtesy: http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h79/sinjinob1994/

this music moves me 2

the much awaited sequel to "this music moves me" has just arrived. i am publishing this post due to the overwhelming pressure from the 3 people who read my blog. so check this out, you poor, stupid, ignorant idiots that listen to anything that's on kiss fm.

goldfrapp - ooh, send shivers down my spine, luscious luscious alison goldfrapp. she deserves to be a star on the basis of just her name. but by golly, she's talented too. if you haven't checked out "supernatural" yet, chinese water torture would be the way to go. hold the presses though, "she" is actually a "them" because there's also this other dude who noone really cares about.

editors - on constantly on ipod2 (this post for later) and the car. "munich" and "blood" are highly recommended. if you liked echo and the bunnymen, you will like this english band (let's not hold that against them).
"people are fragile things, you should know by now.
be careful what you put them through."

does it really mean anything...i really don't know, but damn it's catchy. you can debate the meaning here if you like.

celldweller - believe me, i listen to them before going to bed. no, they don't put you to sleep. far from it, they rock my boxers off. don't tell me you've never danced in the horizontal position before (can this also be a weird sexual metaphor?). this detroit-based band plays nothing but aggressive-industrial-techno. "switchback" and "stay with me" especially gets the adrenalin pumping. they just came out with a cover of, of all things, the beegees' "tragedy"! and it's good!

oh btw, this boy has tickets to dj shadow at the avalon on 9/25. awesomo.

picture courtesy: http://isleofwightfestival.com

differential diagnosis

it's an advanced case of vasculitis...or it could be lupus. no, thankfully, i haven't been afflicted by either disease. but if i were, i would want to be under dr. gregory house, m.d.'s care. easily the best show on regular tv (i don't watch anything else on regular tv, so i must be right), house earned hugh laurie a well-deserved golden globe this year.

one of britain's best actors, laurie is probably best known to discerning american audiences (about 1/398ths of the general population) for his roles in the hilarous blackadder series, the equally hilarious "a bit of fry and laurie", or the also equally hilarious "jeeves and wooster" (noticed how i used "hilarious 3 times because i couldn't think of anything else?).

house, produced by paul attanasio, david shore and bryan singer (yes, of "superman returns" fame), is an ill-tempered, but brilliant cripple (trust me, i wouldn't normally use the word, and i don't think house will complain), who specializes in medical cases that stump other doctors. and boy is he ever good. it is easy to see how house is similar to that other famous fictional detective, s. holmes.

and there are a number of running jokes...vasculitis and lupus find mention in pretty much every episode. there's a fair amount of sexual tension too, between pretty much every member of the cast, just to keep things interesting. in the end though, the laurie owns the show, he makes house human, eccentric and imminently watchable. season 3 starts 9/5, and seasons 1 and 2 are available on dvd.

picture courtesy: http://www.hollywoodjesus.com

hoopleheads unite

alas and alack, deadwood is over. the final season of deadwood just rolled out last sunday. was it all that? nah, it seemed a little loose and disjointed for me. that possibly could be attributed to hbo's decision to pull the show, when a fourth and final season seemed an eventuality.

the show, based on all the colorful characters that populated the town of deadwood, south dakota during the gold prospecting days of the 1870s was based on the times and trials of actual characters...well, embellishments are present, but this is fucking tv.

i was a bit late on the deadwood bandwagon, but i devoured the first 2 seasons in 2 days (must buy dvds). and i am only sorry i didn't catch on to it quicker. the show though, belonged to one person, the vile, cunning and despicable al swearengen, played by the awesome ian mcshane. ultimately, he was a man of his times, and mcshane nailed the role.

now all you "san francisco cocksuckers" needn't feel too bad, because deadwood will be back for one final hurrah next year with 2 2-hour movies on hbo. all i have left is a heartfelt thank you to milch and co for making this show.

picture courtesy: http://www.evolver.at/

venting...

FUCK!!! imagine me screaming the expletive extremely loudly multiple times. that's the kind of day it's turned out to be. the day started innocuously enough...until the speeding ticket! now, that's cool with me, i'll pay the fucking fine and move on.

but then the day started getting really interesting. like someone said, when it rains, it fucking pours. i know there's a few of my friends reading this thing, so i am not going into the specifics of what happened. suffice to say, i would love to break something right about now. i try to remind myself that my personal shit wouldn't creep into my blog, unlike most people's blogs.

this was going to be me trying to be me putting a new song in someone's head; or a new movie on someone's greencine queue; or a new book in someone's hands. and i swore i wouldn't put personal shit on here. but that doesn't mean i can't vent, rave or rant! does it now? i feel like i need to go to a fucking bar and get a couple of bottles of JD, and get shit faced. why do people have to fucking bring up things that were fucking dead and fucking buried...especially people who you've liked for a long time?

FUCK!!!