HAPPY HOLIDAY'S TO ALL

Happy Holiday's from SAXOMAN! Now I know it's politically incorrect (a future blog topic) to wish people a Merry Christmas so Happy Holiday's, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and whatever faith I may have missed. Now SAXOMAN is currently blogging from the road so here's the latest. Yesterday as I was getting close to Flagstaff, AZ, I noticed this stuff on the ground like someone had spilled a giant vanilla Slurpee. Looking closer I realized this was snow! What? WOW! A White Christmas and snow everywhere! I had never experienced a White Christmas so this was very cool. So this morning I left Flagstaff and it was 9 degrees outside! Yikes! SAXOMAN is a tropical man and doesn't do well in this type of weather. No way.....I then had 350 miles to drive and only four and a half hours to do it. What was the rush? Well, only the NBA game of the year! Lakers versus Cavs or Kobe versus LeBron. So risking life and limb I make it to Albuquerque, NM in record time (HAHA) and rush to my hotel room. I turn on the TV and start furiously flipping through all the channels to find the game. I finally find ABC and what? It's only halftime of the Boston/Orlando game! What? Oh well, at least I am early. Now the wife starts bugging me to go out and eat but I'm sorry, I'm watching basketball now! DO NOT DISTURB!

AVATAR - WORTH THE HYPE? OH YEAH...

Well yesterday the wife and I went to see the new James Cameron film, Avatar. We tried to go in the early afternoon and found that it was sold out until 7:00PM. We decided to buy our tickets then and come back for the 7:00PM showing. The girl at the ticket counter said "Come early because there's probably gonna be a line". Man, she wasn't kidding! We got there at 5:45PM and there was already a long line. We waited in line for one hour for a movie we had already bought tickets for. Incredible! Anyway, we were finally let in the theater and we all rushed to get the best seats possible. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we went to see this at the IMAX Theater and in 3D! Oh yeah! The only way to go! Anyway, all I can say is this was one great movie! A dazzling display of colors and special effects that transported you to another world. A movie that truly has to been seen! Now I know you can see this movie in a regular theater without 3D but my advice is spend the extra money and see it in all its glory, IMAX - 3D. Now unless you've been living under a rock or something I'm assuming you've seen the trailer for this film? If not, check it out! Me? Why, I'm gonna go see it again. Yeah!

SO BACK WHEN I WAS PIMPIN'..........WHAT???

OK, now let me first clarify that I wasn't actually pimpin' but I did have the fur coat. What??? Anyway, here's how it all went down. I was a kid in high school and needed to get a jacket so my Mom took me to the store to buy a jacket. I think she might have taken me to Montgomery Wards or some other similar store. My Mom was steering me towards the square conservative jackets while one beauty caught my eye right away. There before me was a black, double breasted, three quarter length, fake fur coat. Man, I thought that was the coolest coat ever. I would be just like Iceberg Slim (a well know pimp and author in the 70's) and I'd also be the coolest kid on campus. So after trying on several jackets, I kept going back to the fur coat and posing' in the mirror. My Mom must have thought I was crazy and finally relented (what was she thinking?) and off we went. Now when I got home I can tell you when my Dad saw this coat, he showed no mercy whatsoever. He didn't think of this coat as being cool or as something that a pimp would wear but he felt it was only something that a woman or a homosexual would wear. His remarks about this coat were brutal. Obviously he didn't know what cool was! I remember trying this coat on at home with my slacks and my black patent leather shoes (or Pilgrim shoes as my younger brother liked to call them) and looking in the mirror. Everything looked cool except, well the person that was wearing this stuff. It just didn't go with me or my ethnicity if you know what I mean. Anyway, I never had the nerve to wear this coat out in public fearing ridicule and public humiliation. I think I kept the coat for about two weeks and my Mom finally took it back. I seem to remember her not having the receipt or something like that. I dunno.......Anyway, that's the story of the fur coat. I finally did get a jacket but it was an old one someone had left behind at my Mom's work. Oh well.......

SEXIEST MAN ALIVE - WHO ELSE?

The votes are in and the polls are closed. Yep, once again SAXOMAN has been voted Sexiest Man Alive! Similar to the People Magazine honor, the Internet conducts similar polls and once again, SAXOMAN comes out on top! This marks the 10th consecutive year that my many (2? 3?) readers have bestowed this prestigious honor on me. I am overcome with emotion and at a loss for words. HAHA!

THE SNUGGIE - GUYS, YOU BETTER NOT BE WEARING THIS

OK so what's the deal with the Snuggie craze? I see the Snuggie commercials everywhere and even see they have Snuggies for pets as well. What? All I can tell you is that SAXOMAN does not endorse these ridiculous looking things and wouldn't be caught dead wearing one! Any man that wears one of these silly looking things should have his man card pulled as well as his subscription to the SAXOMAN blog revoked! Guys, you better not be wearing these things!

It's So Easy - From YouTube to iPOD

Well being the curious guy that I am, I decided to look into something I had blogged about recently. I was wondering how to take a YouTube video (or audio) and put it into iTunes and then my iPod. I had some classic slow jams I had posted on my blog from YouTube and wanted to put them into my iPod. Well a quick search on the Internet and I found a website called Zamzar which does the trick! Now you don't have to sign up or anything so all you do is copy and place the URL you want to copy, select the format you want (MP3) put in your e-mail address and BANG! It's done! You get the converted file e-mailed to you right away. I then open up the file and it goes right into iTunes and then my iPod. Very cool indeed...I recommend you check it out!

DVD PICK OF THE WEEK - INFERNAL AFFAIRS

The other night I was flipping through the channels and started watching Martin Scorsese's movie The Departed with Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon. Now this movie won four Academy Awards including Best Picture and of course I own the DVD of this movie. Watching this movie reminded me of the original movie it was based on, the Hong Kong classic Infernal Affairs. Now maybe I am biased because I saw the original first but I think that Infernal Affairs is far superior to the remake. You can rent this at your local video store or buy it at Best Buy. This movie spawned two additional sequels but the first one is still the best in my opinion. I see where this was recently released on Blu Ray as well as a collectible six DVD box set which I don't own (What?). Here is the trailer for Infernal Affairs. Check it out and see what you've been missing!

LONG LOST FUNK JAM - OH YEAH...SCORPIO

Here is one of the great funk tunes from the 70's titled Scorpio. Now this was a million seller back in the early 70's and even went to number 6 on the Billboard charts. The artist? Motown studio session guitarist and super funky white man, Dennis Coffee. Check it out! Oh yeah!

FINDING MONEY (PART 2) AND BEING BLACKMAILED...WHAT?

Blackmailed? What? Yes, you heard right! SAXOMAN was blackmailed. Anyway, here's how it all went down. My brother and I were walking home from the local pool at PCC (the local college) one day and stopped at the gas station to use the bathroom. In the bathroom stall I found a wallet lying on the floor. I opened up the wallet and there was twenty bucks inside! WOW! Twenty bucks! I felt like a rich man! WHOOHOO! I quickly grabbed the money, stuffed it in my pocket and left the wallet on the floor. The things a kid could do with twenty bucks back then. My mind started racing. So what happens next? My brother tells me I have to share the money with him 50/50 our he's gonna tell my parents about the money. "What? Are you kidding me? You're blackmailing me?" Yep! That's exactly what he was doing! "Aw man, don't be a jerk" I said "Have a heart". "Nope, no deal" he says. So with no other options I was forced to split this money with him. I think we went to the local toy store and bought some toys and then went to the local market to buy some candy. I believe the money lasted for more than one weekend too. Twenty bucks went a long way back then. Anyway, it was nice to find some money (again) but it would have been better if I was able to enjoy it all to myself. Oh well.....the love of siblings.

FINDING MONEY (PART 1) AND AWAY IT GOES....

I remember standing in front of Canterbury Records as a kid watching a parade with my Dad. Now I'm not sure if this was the Rose Parade or what, but there is one incident about this day that happens to stick out in my mind. Being a curious kid I was always observing things that go on around me. I noticed some money lying in the street and went to pick it up. It was a twenty dollar bill! WOW! I felt like I had struck gold! like I had found a fortune! WOW! Twenty bucks! My Dad asked a few people if they dropped it and they all said no. So what happened next? My Dad scoops the twenty from my hand and goes into the record store and buys a Robert Goulet album. I think he then walked next door to Sees Candy's and bought a small box of candy. We then go somewhere else and he buys a pair of green fake jade earrings. Twenty bucks went a long way in those days. We get home and he gives all this stuff to my Mom! Hey! What about me? I found this money! Where's my cut?. Anyway, my Dad looked like a hero and I felt like a zero. Jeez......

ONE MORE LONG LOST SLOW JAM - SPOONBREAD

OK, here is one last forgotten love song from the 70's. This is from a really obscure kid group called Spoonbread. The title of this song is How Can You Mend A Broken Heart. Now I don't know very much about this group at all and this may have been their only release. Anyway, check it out! I'm sure you've heard the song before but not this version. Another rare gem from SAXOMAN. Enjoy, and yes of course I own the original 45 of this rare classic. HAHA!