GIVING BIRTH - WHY ON EARTH?

It seems pretty commonplace nowadays for fathers to participate in giving birth to their children. There seems to be no problem being in the delivery room and participating in this process. My only question is why on earth would you do this? I mean do you get a reduced rate for doing the doctors job? I don't know but all I can tell you is that there is no way SAXOMAN would ever witness or participate in such a thing. I mean I can't even watch the fake births in tv movies. No way! If your a faithful reader of my blog then you know I'm a pretty squeamish guy to begin with right? Anyway, way back when I was in High School I had to run a film for a class. Now I had no idea what the film was about as I was just the kid running the projector. Anyway, this was a film of a baby being born! Yep, I kid you not. Now I can tell you that I was horrified, mortified, traumatized and scarred for life! I can tell you that others viewing this film felt the same ways as a few people almost passed out. As I was rewinding the film I felt pretty woozy myself after what I had just witnessed. Giving birth? Count me out!

THE JOY OF SLEEP

Now I don't know about the rest of you but I really enjoy sleeping. There's nothing better than closing my eyes for a long, restful night of sleep.

I have always enjoyed my sleep and have taken naps for about as long as I can remember. I have no problem sleeping in on the weekends (when the cats don't wake me up) and even taking a nap later that same afternoon. I find that as I've gotten older that I can fall asleep just about whenever or wherever I want. Ah, the joys of getting older. HAHA! I know some people that cannot sleep through the night and I can only imagine how terrible that would be. Anyway, just to let you know that SAXOMAN is a man that enjoys his beauty rest!

REGGAE CD PICK OF THE WEEK - DAMIAN MARLEY

This weeks Reggae CD Pick of the Week is the 2005 release by Damian Marley titled Welcome to Jamrock. A very strong release throughout that mixes Reggae, R&B and Hip-Hop. For those that don't know, Damian is the youngest of Bob Marley's sons and one you definitely need to check out! I must say that I was pleasantly surprised at how good this entire cd was when I had originally picked it up! Not hip to Damian Marley? Here's the video of the title track, Welcome to Jamrock. Check it out and hip up!

DVD PICK OF THE WEEK - RETURN OF THE ONE ARMED SWORDSMAN

This weeks DVD Pick of the Week is some classic early 70's Kung Fu starring my man Jimmy Wang Yu in Return of the One Armed Swordsman.

This is a must see for all of you fans of early Kung Fu and swordplay flicks. More action and more villains than the original! Recently released by Dragon Dynasty you can all now rent this at your local video store and watch it in English. Now I haven't bought this version yet as I already own the Chinese (IVL/Celestial) box set (of course) that contains the trilogy of these classic films. Unless there are an abundance of extras on this release I'll think I'll pass but I think the rest of you should definitely check this out to see what I'm talking about!

AM I THE ONLY ONE STILL USING A CAMERA?

A while back I blogged about going to the Pomona Car Show. Now one of the things I remember as I was taking pictures was that I seemed to be about the only person there that was using a camera. Now I don't mean I was using an old camera with film or anything like that. I mean I was using my trusty regular digital camera. So what were people using instead? Well everyone was taking photos of the cars with their cellphones instead. Man, I guess I'm just out of touch...

SALSA CD PICK OF THE WEEK - CELIA AND JOHNNY

This weeks Salsa CD Pick of the Week is some classic salsa from the 70's and of course is on the Fania label. This weeks pick is titled Celia and Johnny and when recorded, brought together (for the first time) Celia Cruz and Johnny Pacheco. This instantly became a smash hit when released and several of the songs on here (Quimbaro and Toro Mata) became classics that Celia would perform for years to come. Besides the up tempo salsa numbers there are also some great ballads (boleros) on here as well such as Viejo Luna (one of my favorites). Anyway, a great Salsa cd that you salsa lovers should have in your collection. The one to buy? The one that says Original Fania Remasters on the side spline. These versions have been remastered, contain new liner notes, additional photos and lists the musicians which the earlier releases didn't. Here's another cut from this cd titled No Mercedes. Check it out!

HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME AND AMOEBA

Yesterday I decided to take a long overdue trip to my favorite cd store, Amoeba in Hollywood. Because it was about 100 degrees outside I figured there would be a lot of traffic with everyone headed to the beach so I decided to hop the train instead. As I got off at Sunset and Vine I walked the three blocks to Ameoba. As I was walking I was looking down at the many stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Walking down Vine Street I saw many classic stars. People like Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Charlton Heston, The Three Stooges, etc...Real stars in my opinion. I also saw many "stars" that made me wonder how they even got there. People like Paula Abdul, Tony Danza, Julia Louis-Dreyfus. I mean come on now! Anyway, I made it to Amoeba and did some serious music shopping once again. I left with a handful of Jazz, Reggae and Salsa and was one happy guy!

WHERE'S ALL THE SUMMER BLOCKBUSTERS?

I'm a big movie fan and typically go to the movies quite a bit. I always look forward to the summertime and going to see all of the big budget summer blockbusters. There's nothing like the big screen, the cool temperature (when it's hot out), and the wife's purse stuffed full of chocolates and gummie bears! All I can say this summer is, where are all the big blockbuster movies? I mean this has been a really bad summer for movies. I saw Iron Man 2 when it came out and also saw the Karate Kid. The wife saw Sex in the City 2 with the girls and that's about it. There really hasn't been any true "must sees" in my opinion. Come on Hollywood! Get it together or SAXOMAN is going to have to write his screenplay to show you all how it's done. HAHA!

HOT AS HELL

If this is what hell feels like then I don't wanna go! Huh? OK, let me explain. Lately where I live it has been over 100 degrees for the past several days. It has been unbearably hot and to me is what hell would feel like! Now they tell me it's supposed to be hot all weekend as well too. No fun at all.....Let this heat end soon.

JURY DUTY

Now a lot of people I know have a problem with getting called for jury duty. I can tell you that SAXOMAN has no problem whatsoever with getting called for jury duty at all! As a matter of fact I had been calling in all week in hopes of attending and finally I was told to report! Now you may ask why someone would enjoy this so much. Well let me tell you, I get to sleep in for an extra two hours, avoid my morning commute, avoid dealing with a stressful job, and then avoid making another ungodly commute home. As far as I'm concerned they can put me on jury duty for a month or more! HAHA! Bored? Not a chance. I had my L.A. Times and my iPod. After listening to music I started to watch Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds on my iPod. HAHA! What a life. Anyway, as I was getting ready to leave the courthouse today the judge told us to come back tomorrow but not until 9:30AM! WHOOHOO! A few more extra hours of sleep. HAHA! I love the judicial system!

JAZZ CD PICK OF THE WEEK - ORNETTE COLEMAN

This weeks Jazz CD Pick of the Week is the 1959 recording from Ornette Coleman titled Tomorrow is The Question. Now I have to admit that up until very recently I only had one lone Ornette cd in my vast collection of jazz cd's. I have recently picked up a few more of Ornette's cd's and have been pleasantly surprised. I guess I had thought that Ornette was this far out, free jazz type of cat but I don't find this to be the case at all. Either that or my ears have opened up a little bit. On this recording Ornette is teamed with Don Cherry on trumpet and operates without a piano, only bass and drums. A very hip jazz cd that is definitely worth a listen (see link).

http://www.amazon.com/Tomorrow-Question-Ornette-Coleman/dp/B000000YJ0/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1278900572&sr=1-18

SUNGLASSES - WHAT THE???

OK, now when did sunglasses get so expensive? Now I remember when the only name brand sunglasses around were Ray-Bans and could cost you $30 - $40 for a pair. That's if you wanted to spend that much and not buy the $5 knock-offs. Now I have to admit that this was a few years back, maybe the 80's HAHA! Anyway, the other day I was at the mall and I went into a sunglass store and all I can tell you is that SAXOMAN was shocked! When did sunglasses become so expensive? I mean I saw sunglasses priced from $120 - $210! WHAT??? When did this happen or where have I been? I was (and still am) shocked beyond belief. How can these things cost so much? Man....oh..man....

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

This weeks Photo of the Week is none other than my attempt at growing a Chia Homer. Yes, it's true I have way too much time on my hands. Anyway, as you can tell I managed to get a fairly good size 'fro with my dilegent attention to my Chia Homer. Enjoy! HAHA!

SO THE WIFE TELLS ME SHE WANTS A NEW BED...

So the wife has been bugging me to get a new bed. She wants something smaller and "cozier". Well I don't know about all of this but if she insists I think I found just the bed (see photo). I even found a matching comforter too! HAHA! Who could ask for anything more?