brainsplotch

Another Christmas has (mercifully) ended. Another year is about to end. Another year in which I pretty much blow off this blog is about to end. Since my last blog post, I went on another Caribbean cruise with my family in July. Otherwise, it's been mainly business as usual. I'm volunteering for Preservation Lansing, going to my normal 7-3:30 job, attending concerts and sporting events occasionally, and that's about it. One big development in December: it looks like there will be a sequel to my Portland, Michigan book--and by making this public, it means I HAVE to get this done. Early January will be all about getting the proposal sent to Arcadia Publishing. Then, it looks like the early part of 2019 will be fairly busy. I'll be writing a book and my older son will be finishing his senior in high school. January to June could be a bit nutty.

It appears that Brainsplotch is back again. I don't know what the heck was going on with the computer I was trying to use, but Blogger was haywire and wouldn't display Brainsplotch or let me do anything. I apologize for being away from this blog for so long. I think this post will just be some random observations. I can't even think about Donald Trump without my blood pressure rising. I am disgusted with how he has no problem cozying up to the world's worst dictator (Kim Jong-Un) while alienating Canada's democratic leader. Just think about that for a moment...the President of the United States pissed off CANADA!! Freakin' CANADA!! Trump is not normal. This presidency is not normal. I pray that we survive this dunderhead's bloated narcissistic, childish reign. I pray that the Dems take over Congress in the midterm elections and we can get impeachment rolling. If any Trump apologist happens to stumble upon this blog post, don't even comment. I don...

Test post to see if Brainsplotch still works.

I finally saw the movie Lady Bird tonight, after wanting to see it since it was originally released. Now that it has Academy Awards nominations, it's back in theaters. (I don't think it's first run in Lansing lasted more than a few weeks).   We don't get a chance to see many coming-of-age movies with female protagonists, and that is what Lady Bird primarily is. Saoirse Ronan (first name ronounced "SIR-shuh," by the way) delivers a nuanced performance as the titular Christin "Lady Bird" McPherson, a senior at an all-girls Catholic high school in Sacramento, California. In an attempt to forge a new identity, Christina insists that everyone refer to her as Lady Bird. (We are not given a reason as to why she chose "Lady Bird" as her new name).   Lady Bird is a girl who, despite not being a particularly great student (good, but not great), is not lacking in self-confidence. In this, she is similar to Max Fischer from Wes Anderson...

U2 had a new album out, Songs of Experience , so I have decided to go back and revisit their back catalog. U2: War . Sometimes it’s hard to remember a time when U2 wasn’t huge, though they were getting there with War. They were still the earnest and idealistic young Irishmen and not yet the established corporate dad rockers of today. And in 1983, they were virtually unknown in my little corner of the world: Michigan’s Thumb region. It’s even more mind-blowing when I ponder the fact that I’ve been listening to this band since I was about 17-years-old, and now I’m almost 50—and they are still together making music. Our school was dominated in the eighties by the likes of Ratt, Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Van Halen, and Quiet Riot.   If U2 were thought of at all, it was as prissy sensitive boys who definitely didn’t rock as hard as the metal gods adored by most of the people in my school. I kept my U2 fandom to myself for the most part. I didn’t need any more trouble than I a...

I'm trying to shake up this blog a little bit, so this is the first in a series (?) in which I take a random album from my collection, listen to it, and then just briefly discuss it. Nothing deep and profound, the aim is to be conversational. So the first album is the 1968 self-titled debut by English folk-rock band Fairport Convention. I chose this because I happen to be reading record producer Joe Boyd's memoir White Bicycle: Making Music in the 1960s. It's a book I picked up at Elliott Bay Books in Seattle, Washington. (Shameless vacation mention and indie bookstore name drop). Joe Boyd, among many other act including Nick Drake, was behind the board for Fairport Conventions stellar recorded output from 1968 to the early 1970s. I got into Fairport Convention quite by accident. I heard their 1969 album  Liege and Lief at a Borders' listening station sometime in the mid-'90s. I'm pretty sure I'd read a little bit about them before, probably in the R...

I know it's been awhile since I last wrote in here. I am currently plugging away on a "review" of the Tragically Hip's Fully Completely, the fourth installment in my ongoing look at the Hip's discography. Unfortunately, this Fully Completely post has become an albatross. I feel as if I will need to either do some heavy editing or just publish it in two parts. I'm leaning to two parts in order to make it more digestible for anyone who might want to read it. As for when I will hoist this colossus upon my dear readers, I hope within the next week. But we'll see. So what else is new? I'm surviving our Idiot-in-Chief, often trying as much as I can to forget that he is president. It's about the only way to keep my sanity. Still, the man does at least one embarrassing thing every day and he is difficult to ignore. And really when you get down to it, he's too dangerous to completely ignore. I'm cutting this post short because it's getting...