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Jazz

One Step Beyond

I reject your reality and substitute my own

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Asian, like me

  • 3 days ago
  • 5 comments

This is the sort of predictability I like:  when the Hubster comes home from traveling (which is like, three weeks out of the month), I know exactly what he wants to eat---every time.  I love it and can't make it, so it's a bonus for me!!  Hubster's a "Round Eye" so it's a delightful surprise---


Sushi and a Bubble drink!!  Yay!  

Sushi
Sushi
Bubble-tea-drink
Bubble-tea-drink

5 comments Tags: sushi, japanese food, tapioca, bubble drink, pearl drink

Michael Jackson

  • Jun 25, 2009
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Suddenly dead! WTF?!? Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett...what a weird couple of days. The passing of my generation's icons started awhile back, but this looks to be a banner year. Makes me sad :(

Sent from my iPhone

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Flight delays

  • Jun 25, 2009
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What's going on with Southwest Airlines? They've been consistently late the past several weekends. So irritating. Not minor delays, either. We're talking hours, on many flights! This is worrisome...

Grrrrr.

Sent from my iPhone

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Apricot tree

  • Jun 22, 2009
  • 2 comments



My parents' yard is a jungle of fruit trees.


Sent from my iPhone


photo.jpg
photo.jpg
2 comments

The Bro

  • Jun 22, 2009
  • 1 comment




The always fashionable little bro with his '74 Vespa 150 Sprint.



Sent from my iPhone


photo.jpg
photo.jpg

1 comment

Anniversary

  • Jun 15, 2009
  • 15 comments

3 years ago today I was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer.  I've been off treatment for 3-1/2 months.  Inspite of these miracles, death and disease are never far from my mind, nor are my comrades in war with this monster.


So I dedicate this anniversary to you, for each day you've all fought so hard to win.  You've all helped me on my way to this anniversary and I hope and pray you'll be with me at future ones.

I spent a day in Napa this past weekend and raised a few glasses of champagne to you and all the survivors and caregivers everywhere.  

Love, strength, peace, and grace to all!

Feeling good at Cycle 4
Feeling good at Cycle 4


15 comments Tags: cancer, anniversary, diagnosis, lung cancer, survivorship

Movies the Hubster didn't want to watch

  • Jun 9, 2009
  • 5 comments
Australia
Australia
3-1/2 Stars

This is epic, as Baz Luhrman films tend to be.  It could be hokey, and has something of a false ending about 3/4 of the way through.  There are holes.  Yet...yet I liked it.  It's superficially enlightening on a number of historical points.  Wonderful cinematography and production values.  Good performances.  Wow, Hugh Jackman has some body!!  Make popcorn, keep the tissue box near, and don't think about it too much.









Revolutionary Road
Revolutionary Road
5 Stars

Wow.  Heavy.  Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio are perfect, as is Michael Shannon as the voice of truth.   Award-worthy performances all, with Leo outdoing himself (I never thought he was that great, but he is stunning here).  I realize the direction may not have been as daunting as Danny Boyle's task, but in another time and place, Sam Mendes deserves kudos.  Textbook perfect mise-en-scene.  The language of this film is the best I've seen in a very long time (I may elaborate on that in a longer post, but first I'm compelled to buy the dvd and read the novel---by Richard Yates). It's a very American version of what seems like Europeans (or at least the French) have been doing for some time.  The commentary and deleted scenes make me think a director's cut may eventually be released.  You may need a couple of martinis while/after watching this film.

On a lighter note, I'm dying for the fashions and furniture of that period!

True Blood: The Complete First Season (HBO Series)
True Blood: The Complete First Season (HBO Series)
3-1/2 Stars

The chemistry between Sookie Stackhouse and Bill the vampire was the way it should've been in Twilight.  Among other things.  Much more interesting, if this is your kind of genre.  The first two episodes were sufficiently enchanting to catapult the next disc onto my qeueu (which says alot in the context of 291 movies vying for attention).











Taken (Single-Disc Extended Edition)
Taken (Single-Disc Extended Edition)
2-1/2 Stars

Hubster would probably watch this because it has action sequences.  Saw it at a neighbor's home.  It's ok, not really my cup of tea.  It was fine while we watched it, but I probably wouldn't see it again.  (I like action, but the story is pretty cliche.)











2008 was a tremendous year for good films, which I hope is portentous for things to come.  Is it because, or in spite, of the severe economic downturn?  I don't care, keep it coming!

5 comments Tags: movies, films, nicole kidman, hugh jackman, kate winslet, liam neeson, leonardo dicaprio, sam mendes …

Next time you waste food...

  • Jun 5, 2009
  • 2 comments
Chicken a la Carte by Ferdinand Dimadura
Thanks to Lady Grace for sharing this short film by a Filipino filmmaker.
2 comments Tags: globalization, poverty, hunger, third world

Rant

  • May 20, 2009
  • 9 comments

Things are so strange all the time, everywhere.  I feel like the world's going to hell in a hand basket.  Faster and faster with each passing day.


  • Lay-offs.  I know it's everywhere, you can see it in the thinned traffic on the freeway and the shuttered businesses.   It's heartbreaking.  It makes no difference that you've been with an organization for 30 years---the government doesn't give peons severance benefits.  Is anyone feeling secure in their jobs?  I personally don't know anyone.  The Hubster's even thought of his options.  They generally involve leaving the country.  Which makes me wonder about---
  • Homebuying.  In spite of the supposed glut of houses on the market, everything we offer on has multiple bids (one had 31 offers).  The only one that didn't was a short sale on which we've heard nothing from the bank (Chase) in a month!  So we're making another offer today on a rancher in Pinole.  More on that later.  Frankly, I'm too scared to buy a house right now, but Hubster is really caught up with it.  Sometimes our priorities are so very different.
  • Health.  Even more heartbreaking than lay-offs, they go hand in hand, thanks to our lovely health insurance system.  Those of us walking the razor's edge of treatment/functionality/hope have been doing it for quite awhile now.  I'm heartened that we've hung on this long, but I can't help but wish for more.  I've been luckier than most, so far, but feel horrifically insecure about everything---wellness, finances, relationships.  I weep, hearing how my battle-scarred friends are doing (you know who you are).  No matter what the circumstances or the brave face we wear, we feel alone and lonely in our fate.  I don't think this condition can be helped.  I try not to think of it too often, but it sneaks in there---putting me in my place, humbling me, pissing me off.  
If it wasn't for the pain caused by lying in bed, I wouldn't be able to get up in the morning.  So I guess pain is sometimes good for something.  It's a reminder that we're still alive.  Isn't that what they tell you in combat?

9 comments Tags: real estate, health, cancer, chase bank, homebuying, lay-offs

Movie reviews

  • May 13, 2009
  • 4 comments
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Single-Disc Edition)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Single-Disc Edition)



3-1/2 stars


Loved the story, but the film was extremely long and slow-moving.  Terrific performances and special effects.  My favorite character, though, is the guy who says, "Did I tell you I was struck by lightning seven times?  Once when I was..."






 
Let The Right One In
Let The Right One In
3-1/2 stars

A Swedish film which was dubbed in English (at least at Netflix).  I'm certain it would be better in Swedish with subtitles.  But still good.  Atmospheric and sincere, it depicts what seems to be a Scandinavian sensibility.  There's no sensationalism, and if a vampire movie can be heartwarming, this one is.

Pre-dates Twilight in the increasingly crowded human-loves-vampire-and-doesn't-get-eaten genre.




I must admit I swiped this review format from Bitchee.  He's quite the movie watcher!
4 comments Tags: reviews, movies, f. scott fitzgerald, literary adaptation

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Jazz

About Me

Jazz
United States
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A traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. ---Lao Tzu

Link-O-Scope

  • NPR: this I believe
  • danno delineation
  • Go Fug Yourself
  • Bokker
  • design sponge

Photos

  • Bubble-tea-drink
  • Sushi
  • photo.jpg
  • photo.jpg
  • Feeling good at Cycle 4
  • Suncollage
  • DSC00238
  • IMG_0856
  • DSC00375

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Neighborhood

  • W♥M
    W♥M Updated: 15 minutes ago
  • Nancy
    Nancy Updated: 1 hour ago
  • Inspirational Place
    Inspirational Place Updated: 4 hours ago
  • Mark
    Mark Updated: 7 hours ago
  • shy
    shy Updated: 12 hours ago

Explore friends, family, friends & family, or entire neighborhood.

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Tags

  • alimta
  • bruno
  • cancer
  • chemo
  • clinical trial
  • ct scan
  • death
  • legislature buildings
  • lung cancer
  • paris
  • poetry
  • qotd
  • seal point
  • tarceva
  • the
  • travel
  • vancouver island
  • victoria bc
  • vox hunt

View my tags

Videos

  • Taken (Single-Disc Extended Edition)
  • True Blood: The Complete First Season (HBO Series)
  • Revolutionary Road
  • Australia
  • Chicken a la Carte by Ferdinand Dimadura
  • Let The Right One In
  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Single-Disc Edition)
  • The Passions -  German Film Star - live version

View more of my videos

Audio

  • Extras: A Collection of Rarities
  • The Great Recordings
  • The Lady and the Unicorn
  • Compact Jazz: Nina Simone
  • Jazz as Played in an Exclusive Side Street Club
  • 10 ...and The Fighting Takes Over
  • Selling Water by the Side of The River
  • Brave Hearts: New Scots Music, A Narada Collection

View more of my audio

Books

  • Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness
  • Outliers: The Story of Success
  • The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet
  • The Reader (Movie Tie-in Edition) (Vintage International)
  • The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals [OMNIVORES DILEMMA]
  • Atonement
  • Run With the Hunted: Charles Bukowski Reader, A
  • A Great and Terrible Beauty (The Gemma Doyle Trilogy)

View more of my books

Archives

  • July 2009 (1)
  • June 2009 (7)
  • May 2009 (5)
  • April 2009 (2)
  • March 2009 (7)
  • 2009 (41)
  • 2008 (71)
  • 2007 (102)
  • 2006 (20)

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