Grab Bag

This is sort of a grab bag blog.

First, for those of you that have been reading my blog.  Thanks.  To both of you.

In reference to some past columns:

The TV one – add SCTV, early Saturday Night Live (RIP Belushi and Radner), Police Squad (Only six episodes, but it’s the equivalent of reading an early Mad magazine TV spoof.  There’s stuff to watch not only in the foreground, but the background as well).  Does anyone remember a TV show called The Associates?  It had Martin Short as a member of the cast.  I recall an episode called (I think), the Censor, about a network show that goes from uproariously funny and bawdy to white-bread bland due to censorship.  It guest-starred John Ritter.

The Yard Sale one – My son is slowly mounting a Napoleonic campaign to collect every old game system in existence.  He just needs to keep a poker face during negotiations when he is getting a great buy.

Sublimity – At a recent yard sale, I picked up some Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Big Band, and Debussey CDs for about a buck a piece.  Davis’s Jack Johnson is revelatory.  My son, the musician, said that Davis is playing multi-tonic (?), two notes at once.  Again, great stuff.  The Debussey CD included a nocturne called the Sirens.  He uses a female choir; it's enchanting.  Added this to my MP3 along with a ton of other stuff.

Gaming – My son is reliving his Game Cube days and is picking up a lot old titles.  Serious Soul Calibur II and Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters grudge match time again.  The latter game is cool if your old like me and remember watching Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra on your local UHF channels on Saturday afternoons.  Soul Calibur is one of the best fighting games ever.  My son’s favorite is Ivy, the Brit S/M chick with the sword that becomes a razor whip.  Nasty.  I usually play against him with either the fast characters (Taki, Talim) or just try to bull rush him with the big slow guys (Astaroth, Berserker).

See you soon!