In full disclosure, I purchased Playtime by David Hillyard & the Rocksteady 7 on its release day about 15 years ago, give or take six months. And somehow for the next fifteen years, despite never living more than a public transportation trip from New Jersey, I always managed to avoid going to one of their shows. Most of my excuses fall into either I was unaware they were playing or Brooklyn is about as friendly a place to go by public transportation as a wolverine's den, especially if you need to stay late. Last weekend, they played in Brooklyn, which I convinced myself to skip under the modified version of public transportation to Brooklyn, which was driving to Brooklyn and having nowhere to park the car on the snow covered streets when I get there. Really, just a life of excuses.
So, on short notice, the Crazy Baldhead appearance in New York scheduled for last night was changed to a Dave Hillyard & the Rocksteady 7 appearance, in Manhattan, on a Sunday night starting at 10:30 PM. Dave also promised to play three songs from Dave Hillyard Presents California, which in my estimation is the best album to come out in at least five years and probably a good deal longer. In my youth, I would have used the time as an excuse not to go or something else. And even yesterday, I was close to not going, sitting in my apartment by myself, with nothing pressing lined up for today. It would be my third show of the weekend, which I never accomplished in my youth and going to NYC is always a pain. Excuses mounted in the corner, ready to leave me to watch the True Detective finale live. But rather than just sit around, I committed to going, remembering something important I learned recently, there is never a time I went to a show and regretted it.
I make the epic 10 minute walk to the train station and arrive in plenty of time to see the set at the Drom. The Drom was an especially posh bar for its location, located downstairs and downtown on Avenue A. A little early, I head inside and order what turns out to be a nine dollar Heineken Light, which in my estimation was a good deal for the location. Hoping for once in my life that a show would start on time, my dream was dashed as 10 PM rolled past. Instead, prior to going on the DJ was playing a great selection of Skatalites songs, which is oxymoronic, given how few, if any, Skatalites songs are anything other than great. Still, considering it is one of those bands I never found the right CDs to purchase, it was an enjoyable setup.
The show started and was a great experience I should have availed myself of earlier in my life. All of the songs were full of life. A tremendous and by tremendous, I mean best, version of I Can See Clearly Now was played by the band. They played Won't Back Down, Guilty and Green Dolphin Street from California live, with Guilty being my favorite song of the night, mostly because I might have been the only person in the crowd who knew every word in the song by heart due to listening to the song 150 or so times over the last nine months. The rest of the nearly hour and a half set was filled with tremendous ska, reggae and rocksteady sounds, lots of tremendous horn work and even a special appearance by Buford O'Sullivan, who I hadn't seen on stage since he was with the Toasters back in 2001 at the Wetlands.
The most impressive part of the show was of course, Dave Hillyard. With my 15th Slackers show set for Sunday, I've seen Dave play many times over the last sixteen years, though admittedly, I almost always end up on Vic Ruggiero's side of the stage, since he does most of the banter and interaction, along with Glen Pine. While Dave Hillyard is by far my favorite saxophone and really any brass instrument player, he doesn't need to be the personality tour de force for the Slackers in addition to being one of their musical tour de forces. But tonight, as the star of the show, he had tremendous stage presence as well, which I usually don't get to see. He comfortably told some great stories and anecdotes and genuinely seemed to be happy doing what he does best, which is play the saxophone. For the last song of the night, he let everyone else go first, then said something to the effect of needing to come up with his solo and put together an absolutely awesome and inspired two, two and a half minute solo. It was another show which reminded me why I love going to shows and why I would definitely go out of my way to see Dave Hillyard play with the Rocksteady 7 again.
Monday, March 10, 2014
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Hardcore at 35
Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined I would be at a show at age 35, where hardcore was prominently featured. Yet, last night, as I was sitting around my apartment, I decided what the heck and headed off to the Hub City Stompers show at Dingbatz, even though I'm going to see them open for the Pilfers tonight in Poughkeepsie.
Opening for the Hub City Stompers were both Mental Abuse and Social Decay. I caught the tail end of Decrepit Youth, but really got there to see Mental Abuse hit the stage. My understanding is they were something of a thing in the 1980s, which was readily apparent from seeing them on stage. The average age of the band members had to be 55, which leads me to believe there is an emerging market for old man hardcore. The lead singer was a balding fellow who looks like the neighbor from hell, as he sung to the left and right of the stage, but never straight ahead. Now, when I watch a hardcore band, I expect a burlier singer, at least that was the trend 15 to 20 years ago, when I actually went to hardcore shows of my own volition. The rest of the band all wore hats and might have been confused as a Grateful Dead cover band if you were deaf. The music though was appropriately raucous, as you would expect from a hardcore band. But I just stood there and could not get past the fact our heroes and other people's heroes get old and grey.
Social Decay was actually a far better band. They managed to get that old fashioned, wall of sound that hardcore is notorious for going throughout the club, which had low ceilings and painfully loud acoustics. They also looked like a hardcore band, with a stocky guy wearing a hardcore shirt with a bastardized Hartford Whalers logo on the front of the shirt. Even though, all hardcore lyrics are indecipherable and there was limited breaks between songs, making it hard to know when the shifts were coming, they put on a good set. I also enjoyed their set went on late, because the drummer needed to go to a Daddy/Daughter dance, which was both touching and ridiculous as we all clutch at the fading remains of our youth. Not a good enough to get me to listen to hardcore on its own, but good enough to enjoy in the moment.
One non-hardcore aside, King Django has an interesting idea for a horn section. Usually, you mix and match different horns to get variation in sound. However, with his regular saxophone player in tow and two members of the Hub City Stompers on hand who play the saxophone, he went for the three saxophone lineup, which mostly consisted of Django's regular saxophone player doing most of the heavy lifting, while everyone else did a lot of standing around, since about 1/3 of the way through, everyone realized three saxophones is not better than one. Bonus points, the Hub City Stompers trombone player, not on stage.
Opening for the Hub City Stompers were both Mental Abuse and Social Decay. I caught the tail end of Decrepit Youth, but really got there to see Mental Abuse hit the stage. My understanding is they were something of a thing in the 1980s, which was readily apparent from seeing them on stage. The average age of the band members had to be 55, which leads me to believe there is an emerging market for old man hardcore. The lead singer was a balding fellow who looks like the neighbor from hell, as he sung to the left and right of the stage, but never straight ahead. Now, when I watch a hardcore band, I expect a burlier singer, at least that was the trend 15 to 20 years ago, when I actually went to hardcore shows of my own volition. The rest of the band all wore hats and might have been confused as a Grateful Dead cover band if you were deaf. The music though was appropriately raucous, as you would expect from a hardcore band. But I just stood there and could not get past the fact our heroes and other people's heroes get old and grey.
Social Decay was actually a far better band. They managed to get that old fashioned, wall of sound that hardcore is notorious for going throughout the club, which had low ceilings and painfully loud acoustics. They also looked like a hardcore band, with a stocky guy wearing a hardcore shirt with a bastardized Hartford Whalers logo on the front of the shirt. Even though, all hardcore lyrics are indecipherable and there was limited breaks between songs, making it hard to know when the shifts were coming, they put on a good set. I also enjoyed their set went on late, because the drummer needed to go to a Daddy/Daughter dance, which was both touching and ridiculous as we all clutch at the fading remains of our youth. Not a good enough to get me to listen to hardcore on its own, but good enough to enjoy in the moment.
One non-hardcore aside, King Django has an interesting idea for a horn section. Usually, you mix and match different horns to get variation in sound. However, with his regular saxophone player in tow and two members of the Hub City Stompers on hand who play the saxophone, he went for the three saxophone lineup, which mostly consisted of Django's regular saxophone player doing most of the heavy lifting, while everyone else did a lot of standing around, since about 1/3 of the way through, everyone realized three saxophones is not better than one. Bonus points, the Hub City Stompers trombone player, not on stage.
Thursday, March 6, 2014
QPW: Well Worth the Wait Review
If you don't already own Quintessential Pro Wrestling's (QPW) Well Worth the Wait, go buy it now. Seldom is there a new wrestling promotion which puts out a great, must own product, but QPW is the exception to this rule. Their first two shows are available on YouTube, but this show was the first you can own and support the company from anywhere in the world.
Even though this show took place the day after PWG's DDT4 2014, this show made it from taping to doorstep in under 14 days, while I impatiently wait for tomorrow's DDT4 ship date and early next week's arrival date. The DVD arrived about two weeks ago, I was finally able to get some time to sit and devote to watching the DVD, rather than leaving it on the background while I do something else like I do with most other wrestling DVDs.
To be honest, there is a lot to be excited for on this card. The first Kevin Steen/Chris Hero match since Hero's return from the WWE and the only time I've seen a wrestler change gear middle of the match, Joey Ryan wrestling Cheerleader Melissa, Willie Mack!, Brian Cage!!!, Candice LaRae and Christina Von Eerie in an intergender tag match against PPRay, a mat classic between Kyle O'Reilly and Brian Kendrick and Drake Younger against Adam Thornstowe, who I've heard a lot about and was excited to see.
Outside of PWG, there is almost never a card where I am excited to watch all of the matches. Even Ring of Honor will have a few matches where I'm like, oh boy Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer, there's a match I don't need to see. But this is an amazing card which delivers.
Before discussing some of the matches in further detail, the rest of the disc is very good. Having Excalibur and Nigel McGuinness as the commentators was an excellent choice. Even though they started off trying to work this as a family show, once they found their groove and watched Joey Ryan wrestle Cheerleader Melissa, the commentary became a bit more risque, but you do realize that Excalibur relies are far more than just his great storytelling and knowledge of adult topics, as he excels at telling the story of a wrestling match. Nigel is a good compliment to Excalibur, more from the school of people who want you to believe in the physics of wrestling, which is a nice change of pace.
The camera work is good as well. I thought the hard cam was a little far away from the ring, but that is likely due to the nature of the building. However, the lighting is correct (go watch a ROH DVD from before 2010 to see how hard that is to get right) and the camerawork from the floor was good as well, capturing the action from a different angle. I actually expected this to be the hardest part to get right, but fortunately for us, they are far ahead of most promotions out of the gate.
As always, the Joey Ryan as the evolutionary Andy Kaufman was excellent, with just the right amount of sleaze to tell the story and Cheerleader Melissa, aside from some weak strikes, was excellent in carrying most of the offense in the match. Melissa's strikes were made worse by Candice LaRae and especially Christina Von Eerie's strikes in their match with PPRay, which in something of a surprise was one of the best matches of the night.
The real disappointment of the night was the Chris Hero/Kevin Steen match. The action and story telling was good, but I wanted it to go significantly longer, even though Kevin Steen went from regular Steen to Young Bucks Steen during the middle of the match, though I suspect I will see this match again in the next few months in some promotion. The same could also be said of the O'Reilly/Kendrick match, which I think could have went another three to five minutes as well, but as with Steen and Hero, the work in the ring was excellent.
The main event was very good. I think Thornstowe has a bright future in wrestling, but needs some additional polish. Though admittedly, I have a soft spot for anyone who can get away with wearing And Out Come The Wolves trunks. With a more unique finisher than the frog splash, something more high impact given his size, I think he can definitely be a regular in PWG and might even be the local guy who moves to the top of their cards.
As for Drake Younger, he was excellent as always. He mixes in the right amount of technical wrestling and brawling and introduced just enough weapons to make the match interesting. Drake also showed tremendous personality, including a spot which appeared on Kevin Steen's Weekend Escapades and going on commentary with Excalibur and Nigel during the match. Really, I can watch Drake wrestle just about anyone and really enjoy it, so the fact this was a good main event with a true big match feel was no surprise.
Anyway, go order the DVD. It is a great product and gives you a chance to support a growing, local company.
Even though this show took place the day after PWG's DDT4 2014, this show made it from taping to doorstep in under 14 days, while I impatiently wait for tomorrow's DDT4 ship date and early next week's arrival date. The DVD arrived about two weeks ago, I was finally able to get some time to sit and devote to watching the DVD, rather than leaving it on the background while I do something else like I do with most other wrestling DVDs.
To be honest, there is a lot to be excited for on this card. The first Kevin Steen/Chris Hero match since Hero's return from the WWE and the only time I've seen a wrestler change gear middle of the match, Joey Ryan wrestling Cheerleader Melissa, Willie Mack!, Brian Cage!!!, Candice LaRae and Christina Von Eerie in an intergender tag match against PPRay, a mat classic between Kyle O'Reilly and Brian Kendrick and Drake Younger against Adam Thornstowe, who I've heard a lot about and was excited to see.
Outside of PWG, there is almost never a card where I am excited to watch all of the matches. Even Ring of Honor will have a few matches where I'm like, oh boy Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer, there's a match I don't need to see. But this is an amazing card which delivers.
Before discussing some of the matches in further detail, the rest of the disc is very good. Having Excalibur and Nigel McGuinness as the commentators was an excellent choice. Even though they started off trying to work this as a family show, once they found their groove and watched Joey Ryan wrestle Cheerleader Melissa, the commentary became a bit more risque, but you do realize that Excalibur relies are far more than just his great storytelling and knowledge of adult topics, as he excels at telling the story of a wrestling match. Nigel is a good compliment to Excalibur, more from the school of people who want you to believe in the physics of wrestling, which is a nice change of pace.
The camera work is good as well. I thought the hard cam was a little far away from the ring, but that is likely due to the nature of the building. However, the lighting is correct (go watch a ROH DVD from before 2010 to see how hard that is to get right) and the camerawork from the floor was good as well, capturing the action from a different angle. I actually expected this to be the hardest part to get right, but fortunately for us, they are far ahead of most promotions out of the gate.
As always, the Joey Ryan as the evolutionary Andy Kaufman was excellent, with just the right amount of sleaze to tell the story and Cheerleader Melissa, aside from some weak strikes, was excellent in carrying most of the offense in the match. Melissa's strikes were made worse by Candice LaRae and especially Christina Von Eerie's strikes in their match with PPRay, which in something of a surprise was one of the best matches of the night.
The real disappointment of the night was the Chris Hero/Kevin Steen match. The action and story telling was good, but I wanted it to go significantly longer, even though Kevin Steen went from regular Steen to Young Bucks Steen during the middle of the match, though I suspect I will see this match again in the next few months in some promotion. The same could also be said of the O'Reilly/Kendrick match, which I think could have went another three to five minutes as well, but as with Steen and Hero, the work in the ring was excellent.
The main event was very good. I think Thornstowe has a bright future in wrestling, but needs some additional polish. Though admittedly, I have a soft spot for anyone who can get away with wearing And Out Come The Wolves trunks. With a more unique finisher than the frog splash, something more high impact given his size, I think he can definitely be a regular in PWG and might even be the local guy who moves to the top of their cards.
As for Drake Younger, he was excellent as always. He mixes in the right amount of technical wrestling and brawling and introduced just enough weapons to make the match interesting. Drake also showed tremendous personality, including a spot which appeared on Kevin Steen's Weekend Escapades and going on commentary with Excalibur and Nigel during the match. Really, I can watch Drake wrestle just about anyone and really enjoy it, so the fact this was a good main event with a true big match feel was no surprise.
Anyway, go order the DVD. It is a great product and gives you a chance to support a growing, local company.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Sylvain Sylvain and Glen Matlock at Asbury Lanes
There is nothing more punk rock than going to a five hour show on a Tuesday night in the middle of nowhere. Now, those of you who live in South Jersey might disagree with my sentiment toward Asbury Park, but having lived in New Jersey for over thirty years, I have only gone to Asbury Park for some kind of show and admittedly, Asbury Park is a far cry better than most of South Jersey, especially after the last decade of improvements.
I was fencish about going to see the Sex Dolls at Asbury Lanes, since Asbury Park is not the easiest place to get to after leaving the Parkway and I'm not really a New York Dolls fan. But when I heard Vic Ruggiero was joining Sammy Kay to open the show, I was priced in, as I have a hard time saying no to seeing Vic Ruggiero do anything.
So, I arrive at Asbury Lanes in a timely fashion and was able to park my car just in front of the place, which was a little worrying. Admittedly, the crowd for the night would best be described as intimate, but when you put on an acoustic punk rock show in New Jersey on a Tuesday night, that is always a risk.
Sammy Kay opens the show, accompanied by Vic Ruggiero and one of the members of the Fast Four. I previously saw Sammy Kay with the Fast Four at Skalapalooza in 2012 and was not left impressed, though admittedly, that was a very long show for a Sunday and I was there to see Edna's Goldfish and the Pilfers. In the interim, I heard a few of his other tracks and liked the sound, so I figured it was worth seeing him again. Admittedly, even if I hated his work in the interim, knowing Vic Ruggiero would be there was enough to get me to attend. This time, Sammy Kay was much better. I would say the set was the second best of the entire night, as the music was far slower, more stripped down and traditional. Vic mostly played the harmonica and sang on a few tracks, but that was more than sufficient to get me to pay $17 for a night of live music.
They were followed by Dez Cardona and Penny Farthings. I can tell you they played a Velvet Underground cover, there was a bit where Dez played the guitar riff from Third Stone from the Sun by Jimi Hendrix, but otherwise, it was an interchangeable band, since I am not a Black Flag fan, which I suspect was most of the allure.
Finally, as 11 PM hit, Sylvain Sylvain hit the stage. Not being a New York Dolls fan, I was not expecting much, but admittedly was blown away by Sylvain. He had a stage presence which was undeniable. Working the small room, he played a lot of fan service songs from his New York Dolls era, which ended up being quite good stripped down and told stories. He told stories and spoke to the crowd a lot like your dirty old uncle, who can captivate a room, which is exactly what Sylvain did. With each song, I enjoyed his work more, because he knew how to make it personal to the audience. Without hesitation, I would recommend seeing the Sex Dolls tour, just to see Sylvain Sylvain unless you absolutely hate the New York Dolls.
With Sylvain departing after a 40 minute set, Glen Matlock hit the stage. I felt bad for Glen, as he looked out to a mostly empty room, following someone who knew how to play the fans for what they were worth. Glen is a fine musician, in fact, for someone who was the bassist for the most infamous of punk rock bands, he is a perfectly find guitarist. Sadly, for Glen, he doesn't have the same way with the crowd that Sylvain does. Also, Glen was very insistent on playing a lot of songs from his own album, which probably one person in the room heard before last night. Towards the middle of the set, he engaged us with an acoustic version of God Save the Queen which was technically good and exciting, but it also reminded you the signature sound of the Sex Pistols is Johnny Rotten's sneering vocals. Actually, this is also the reason there are no good covers of Sex Pistols songs, because the sound is not in the notes, but the voice. We meandered along for another 20 minutes, with Stepping Stone by the Monkees popping up for the fans in the audience. Glen closed with Pretty Vacant, which was actually better than God Save the Queen and really got the fans going for their joint encore.
The encore was Bang a Gong by T-Rex and Personality Crisis by the New York Dolls. They invited all of the women in the front area up on stage and the four of them still in the club and at the front gamely joined them. It closed the show strong and really showcased the personality gap between Sylvain, who was once again phenomenal and Glen, who admittedly is just a bloke like the rest of us, just with the fortune to be part of one of the most famous musical acts of all time.
In all, it was a good show and would recommend the tour. Sylvain is a real professional who understands audiences and deserved to be playing before a bigger house than was at Asbury Lanes last night.
I was fencish about going to see the Sex Dolls at Asbury Lanes, since Asbury Park is not the easiest place to get to after leaving the Parkway and I'm not really a New York Dolls fan. But when I heard Vic Ruggiero was joining Sammy Kay to open the show, I was priced in, as I have a hard time saying no to seeing Vic Ruggiero do anything.
So, I arrive at Asbury Lanes in a timely fashion and was able to park my car just in front of the place, which was a little worrying. Admittedly, the crowd for the night would best be described as intimate, but when you put on an acoustic punk rock show in New Jersey on a Tuesday night, that is always a risk.
Sammy Kay opens the show, accompanied by Vic Ruggiero and one of the members of the Fast Four. I previously saw Sammy Kay with the Fast Four at Skalapalooza in 2012 and was not left impressed, though admittedly, that was a very long show for a Sunday and I was there to see Edna's Goldfish and the Pilfers. In the interim, I heard a few of his other tracks and liked the sound, so I figured it was worth seeing him again. Admittedly, even if I hated his work in the interim, knowing Vic Ruggiero would be there was enough to get me to attend. This time, Sammy Kay was much better. I would say the set was the second best of the entire night, as the music was far slower, more stripped down and traditional. Vic mostly played the harmonica and sang on a few tracks, but that was more than sufficient to get me to pay $17 for a night of live music.
They were followed by Dez Cardona and Penny Farthings. I can tell you they played a Velvet Underground cover, there was a bit where Dez played the guitar riff from Third Stone from the Sun by Jimi Hendrix, but otherwise, it was an interchangeable band, since I am not a Black Flag fan, which I suspect was most of the allure.
Finally, as 11 PM hit, Sylvain Sylvain hit the stage. Not being a New York Dolls fan, I was not expecting much, but admittedly was blown away by Sylvain. He had a stage presence which was undeniable. Working the small room, he played a lot of fan service songs from his New York Dolls era, which ended up being quite good stripped down and told stories. He told stories and spoke to the crowd a lot like your dirty old uncle, who can captivate a room, which is exactly what Sylvain did. With each song, I enjoyed his work more, because he knew how to make it personal to the audience. Without hesitation, I would recommend seeing the Sex Dolls tour, just to see Sylvain Sylvain unless you absolutely hate the New York Dolls.
With Sylvain departing after a 40 minute set, Glen Matlock hit the stage. I felt bad for Glen, as he looked out to a mostly empty room, following someone who knew how to play the fans for what they were worth. Glen is a fine musician, in fact, for someone who was the bassist for the most infamous of punk rock bands, he is a perfectly find guitarist. Sadly, for Glen, he doesn't have the same way with the crowd that Sylvain does. Also, Glen was very insistent on playing a lot of songs from his own album, which probably one person in the room heard before last night. Towards the middle of the set, he engaged us with an acoustic version of God Save the Queen which was technically good and exciting, but it also reminded you the signature sound of the Sex Pistols is Johnny Rotten's sneering vocals. Actually, this is also the reason there are no good covers of Sex Pistols songs, because the sound is not in the notes, but the voice. We meandered along for another 20 minutes, with Stepping Stone by the Monkees popping up for the fans in the audience. Glen closed with Pretty Vacant, which was actually better than God Save the Queen and really got the fans going for their joint encore.
The encore was Bang a Gong by T-Rex and Personality Crisis by the New York Dolls. They invited all of the women in the front area up on stage and the four of them still in the club and at the front gamely joined them. It closed the show strong and really showcased the personality gap between Sylvain, who was once again phenomenal and Glen, who admittedly is just a bloke like the rest of us, just with the fortune to be part of one of the most famous musical acts of all time.
In all, it was a good show and would recommend the tour. Sylvain is a real professional who understands audiences and deserved to be playing before a bigger house than was at Asbury Lanes last night.
Monday, March 3, 2014
Amazon: Sunday Shipping and Add On Shipping
For some reason, I am in my second year of Amazon Prime Membership. I thought it was a good idea the first year and perhaps I would cancel my Netflix subscription, but aside from Absolutely Fabulous, I cannot remember anything I watched with regularity on Amazon Prime. But there was also the free shipping, which was nice every so often when I wanted a book, but I doubt I really got my money's worth out of the product.
Having missed my window for cancelling, I began year two, actually using the service less than year one. That being said, last week, I ran out of cage wipes for my guinea pig. The wipes are essentially animal safe Clorox wipes without the bleach. But they are really good at cleaning the bottom of a cage or carrier and I've developed a dependency on them, even though the independent pet store refuses to carry the wipes I so desperately need.
Knowing I could not buy them at the regular pet store, I quickly searched for them online and found them at Amazon, where they were half the price I pay in the store. Realizing I might get some mileage out of my Amazon Prime membership after all, I go to put them in my cart, when I come to the realization they are an add-on item. Now, if I pay you $80 to ship me items throughout the year, I expect you to basically ship me any item in your store. I shouldn't be forced to find $25 worth of other items to pad my order, when all I really needed was cage wipes. However, I really needed those wipes, so I went and bought 120 liters of bedding, which is a significantly heavier item, but always ships free and was sufficient to meet the limit to get me my two containers of cage wipes.
Angered, I place my order on a Friday afternoon and see that both items have different ship dates. The bedding will arrive on Tuesday and as of this time is only in transit, but the cage wipes, the Add-On item, are being shipped separately and were scheduled to arrive on Sunday...
Now, perhaps you might feel differently, but if you tell me that I need to order additional items to get shipping, I expect everything to ship together and I don't expect to get specialized Sunday shipping on the Add-On item, yet Sunday came and the cage wipes were waiting for me when I got home from the grocery store, so Sunday delivery works, but at the same time, I cannot help but think I could have just ordered the cage wipes in these circumstances. But I was denied the rational option and look forward to having another 120 liters of bedding tomorrow. Needless to say, the chances of being an Amazon Prime member for a third year are very slim.
Having missed my window for cancelling, I began year two, actually using the service less than year one. That being said, last week, I ran out of cage wipes for my guinea pig. The wipes are essentially animal safe Clorox wipes without the bleach. But they are really good at cleaning the bottom of a cage or carrier and I've developed a dependency on them, even though the independent pet store refuses to carry the wipes I so desperately need.
Knowing I could not buy them at the regular pet store, I quickly searched for them online and found them at Amazon, where they were half the price I pay in the store. Realizing I might get some mileage out of my Amazon Prime membership after all, I go to put them in my cart, when I come to the realization they are an add-on item. Now, if I pay you $80 to ship me items throughout the year, I expect you to basically ship me any item in your store. I shouldn't be forced to find $25 worth of other items to pad my order, when all I really needed was cage wipes. However, I really needed those wipes, so I went and bought 120 liters of bedding, which is a significantly heavier item, but always ships free and was sufficient to meet the limit to get me my two containers of cage wipes.
Angered, I place my order on a Friday afternoon and see that both items have different ship dates. The bedding will arrive on Tuesday and as of this time is only in transit, but the cage wipes, the Add-On item, are being shipped separately and were scheduled to arrive on Sunday...
Now, perhaps you might feel differently, but if you tell me that I need to order additional items to get shipping, I expect everything to ship together and I don't expect to get specialized Sunday shipping on the Add-On item, yet Sunday came and the cage wipes were waiting for me when I got home from the grocery store, so Sunday delivery works, but at the same time, I cannot help but think I could have just ordered the cage wipes in these circumstances. But I was denied the rational option and look forward to having another 120 liters of bedding tomorrow. Needless to say, the chances of being an Amazon Prime member for a third year are very slim.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
The Station Agent
In what I would call my youth, but were really my law school years, I was very into independent film. I suspect this all stems from being New Jersey and watching Clerks the week it came out on video as an impressionable 15 years old, but for the last 20 years, I've generally preferred films, with a story, a limited cast and a small budget. I suspect I probably like theater, but have actually only seen one play in the last 15 or so years, which was an Arthur Miller play where I was a stand in for my mother. I even used to frequent the Angelika in my youth, which only had their movie selection going for them.
In my law school years, I purchased more DVDs than I would care to admit to. Seeing as I had a limited social life and had already amassed a large collection of CDs, DVDs were a natural extension, though you can listen to a CD repeatedly, while most movies and television shows require one viewing at most. Of course, this is why I own five seasons of Stargate SG-1 for the last ten or so years, but whatever. I also frequented the local video store, which I think officially went extinct in 2004, unless your primary clientele were ladies and gentlemen who preferred adult videos, at which point you made it to 2009.
For some reason, I was repeatedly drawn to The Station Agent, but always found something else I wanted to see just a little more, including the time I rented Chinatown, which was just dreadful. But I never picked up The Station Agent. I mean, I've bought more $5 DVDs from Blockbuster when they were going out of business then I care to admit as well, but somehow The Station Agent always eluded my grasp.
So, today I was checking out Instant Watcher, because I lack the will to figure out what is new on Netflix when someone does the heavy lifting for me, when I saw The Station Agent was available. After 11 years of delays, I decided I could wait no more and cleared 90 minutes from my schedule to watch it.
The wait was correct. I think, seeing it in 2003, the movie would not have resonated with me in the same fashion. You need to experience loss and need friendship before you can appreciate the art of doing it right. As a film, it worked. The ending was not too sweet, but felt achievable for all of the characters and gave their struggle depth. The acting was amazing, but considering basically the entire cast ended up in cable prestige dramas, that is not surprising. And the story worked because it acknowledges that Peter Dinklage is a dwarf, without letting it be consuming to the point where you cannot identify with him, which is why Life's Too Short didn't succeed.
So, I can cross another movie I needed to see of my list, not that I repopulate it that regularly.
In my law school years, I purchased more DVDs than I would care to admit to. Seeing as I had a limited social life and had already amassed a large collection of CDs, DVDs were a natural extension, though you can listen to a CD repeatedly, while most movies and television shows require one viewing at most. Of course, this is why I own five seasons of Stargate SG-1 for the last ten or so years, but whatever. I also frequented the local video store, which I think officially went extinct in 2004, unless your primary clientele were ladies and gentlemen who preferred adult videos, at which point you made it to 2009.
For some reason, I was repeatedly drawn to The Station Agent, but always found something else I wanted to see just a little more, including the time I rented Chinatown, which was just dreadful. But I never picked up The Station Agent. I mean, I've bought more $5 DVDs from Blockbuster when they were going out of business then I care to admit as well, but somehow The Station Agent always eluded my grasp.
So, today I was checking out Instant Watcher, because I lack the will to figure out what is new on Netflix when someone does the heavy lifting for me, when I saw The Station Agent was available. After 11 years of delays, I decided I could wait no more and cleared 90 minutes from my schedule to watch it.
The wait was correct. I think, seeing it in 2003, the movie would not have resonated with me in the same fashion. You need to experience loss and need friendship before you can appreciate the art of doing it right. As a film, it worked. The ending was not too sweet, but felt achievable for all of the characters and gave their struggle depth. The acting was amazing, but considering basically the entire cast ended up in cable prestige dramas, that is not surprising. And the story worked because it acknowledges that Peter Dinklage is a dwarf, without letting it be consuming to the point where you cannot identify with him, which is why Life's Too Short didn't succeed.
So, I can cross another movie I needed to see of my list, not that I repopulate it that regularly.
The Downside of Giving Up Caffeine
As it is after 4 AM, I am learning a valuable lesson in giving up caffeine. About six weeks ago, I gave up caffeine, which was fairly hard for about three days, but otherwise, long term beneficial. My caffeine delivery system of choice for the last 30 or so years was soda, usually a brown liquid capable of killing anything, but Sunkist has caffeine as well and if you are truly interested in caffeine, then you should know all of the ways to ingest it.
Despite having made a clean break, I have an exception, which is the one soda a week rule. Sometimes, you are out somewhere and it is difficult to either just have a water or find another available beverage that you are capable of drinking. Think a bar, which might have juice, but without the alcohol, Tang is not acceptable for anything.
So, the last few weeks, I had one and it was OK. But tonight, I was having a moment and used my one soda at Target, where I had a Coke around 9:30 PM. Well, the Coke certainly took the edge off how I was feeling, but at the same time, it left me wide awake. So, I saw 1 AM and 2 AM and 3 AM and even 4 AM. Sitting here, I'm not quite tired, but not quite awake and have that feeling that the stimulant factor is all that is stopping me from enjoying a few hours of sleep before the snow hits.
But the stimulant is coursing through my veins. Back in the day, I could have a Coke, then go straight to sleep. Now admittedly, I slept poorly, but even after giving up caffeine, I wouldn't declare myself a good sleeper and still suffer from nightmares in the dark and waking up about every 90 minutes, just around the edges of REM sleep. It's really terrible. Of course, being full of caffeine, which used to be table stakes for existence, stimulates your mind and keeps you wide awake. Horribly so, requiring me to write meaningless journal entries about my empty life at a time where the vast majority of the people in my time zone are dead to the world.
Lessons learned, I will work on not having that one soda per week so late, especially if I am just heading home to do nothing. On the other hand, I did learn that I can fit into my old pants today, so I can stave off finding new pants to purchase for another few months, so it was not an entirely bad trip into the day.
Despite having made a clean break, I have an exception, which is the one soda a week rule. Sometimes, you are out somewhere and it is difficult to either just have a water or find another available beverage that you are capable of drinking. Think a bar, which might have juice, but without the alcohol, Tang is not acceptable for anything.
So, the last few weeks, I had one and it was OK. But tonight, I was having a moment and used my one soda at Target, where I had a Coke around 9:30 PM. Well, the Coke certainly took the edge off how I was feeling, but at the same time, it left me wide awake. So, I saw 1 AM and 2 AM and 3 AM and even 4 AM. Sitting here, I'm not quite tired, but not quite awake and have that feeling that the stimulant factor is all that is stopping me from enjoying a few hours of sleep before the snow hits.
But the stimulant is coursing through my veins. Back in the day, I could have a Coke, then go straight to sleep. Now admittedly, I slept poorly, but even after giving up caffeine, I wouldn't declare myself a good sleeper and still suffer from nightmares in the dark and waking up about every 90 minutes, just around the edges of REM sleep. It's really terrible. Of course, being full of caffeine, which used to be table stakes for existence, stimulates your mind and keeps you wide awake. Horribly so, requiring me to write meaningless journal entries about my empty life at a time where the vast majority of the people in my time zone are dead to the world.
Lessons learned, I will work on not having that one soda per week so late, especially if I am just heading home to do nothing. On the other hand, I did learn that I can fit into my old pants today, so I can stave off finding new pants to purchase for another few months, so it was not an entirely bad trip into the day.
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