DVD PICK OF THE WEEK - KIDNAPPER

This weeks DVD Pick of the Week is the action/thriller titled Kidnapper. I recently watched this film and it had me on the edge of my seat. A case of mistaken identity causes a taxi driver's son to be kidnapped and held for ransom. This forces the father to try and come up with the ransom and follows him as he goes to all lengths necessary to try and get his son back (even selling a kidney) What? Anyway, an action packed movie that you are sure to enjoy. Check out the trailer!

THE COUNTRY AND WESTERN SCENE - I JUST DON'T GET IT

OK, now I can honestly say that I've never gotten into the whole Country and Western scene. I mean I really don't get the Country music at all, the Western clothes, the line dancing, the Award shows, etc... Basically you could say I just don't get the whole darn thing! Now I know a movie will come out and all of a sudden line dancing is a big thing and everyone will be doing it but I can tell you it won't be SAXOMAN! Now I'm sure I've probably upset half the United States but this is just SAXOMAN's own personal opinion, that's all. Now maybe I may have dressed up as a cowboy when I was like five years old but now? Not a chance! HAHA!

JAZZ CD PICK OF THE WEEK - JOSHUA REDMAN

This weeks Jazz CD Pick of the Week is a 2007 release from Joshua Redman titled Back East. I must say that Joshua Redman is one of the few modern day (living) saxophonists that I listen to and currently own 11 of his cd's. I had seen this cd many times but it was typically way over priced at $16 or more. Anyway, as usual I recently spotted this in the used cd bin and scooped it up in a hurry. What is unique about this cd is that it is a trio setting of bass, drums and sax. That's it! No piano or guitar to get in the way. The result is a great cd of jazz improvisation in its rawest form. What? You say you're not hip to Joshua Redman? Well shame on you! Here is one of many videos taken from YouTube showing Joshua Redman in a trio setting. Check it out!

WHY'S IT ALL ASIAN?

Why's it all Asian? No, I'm not talking about my weekly dvd picks. OK, let me explain. The other night I was in my customary position of laying on the sofa and flipping through the channels when I came across a movie titled "You, Me & Dupree". In the movie the wife had found the husbands dvd porno collection in the garage in a box marked "Camping Gear". These were all Asian porn dvd's with some hilarious titles. Anyway, the husband was then forced to dump all of the porn in the trash. The neighbor got wind of this and immediately raided the trash can. The neighbor had a look of confusion as he surveyed his haul and his only response was, "Why's it all Asian?". HAHA!

FRANK AND SON COLLECTIBLE SHOW - OH YEAH

In the city of Roland Heights (California) is something called the Frank and Son Collectible Show. Now I'm told this show has been going on for many years but SAXOMAN just found out about it. Basically this is a show with many vendors selling a wide variety of collectible material. Anyway, SAXOMAN went to see what this show was all about and I must say that it was pretty impressive. I saw great sports collectibles, comic books, toys, action figures and more action figures. A whole ton of stuff! One of the odd things is that this show is only open on Wednesday and Saturday. They even have autograph signings with Magic Johnson slated to appear this month as well as one of the great L.A. Dodger infields (Garvey, Lopes, Russell and Cey). Now I played it smart and went with limited funds but I must say there were lots of nice things I wouldn't have minded having. I've never been into toys much but oh my, is that a Bandai Japanese Dark Knight with Batpod for only $200? WOW! This link will take you to the web site so you can check out what's it's all about. I also must say that I definitely felt like the hippest guy at this show! (Sorry fellas) HAHA! http://www.frankandsonshow.net/

SHREDDED TOILET PAPER AGAIN? WHAT?

Way back on 6/23/2009 I had blogged about my cat shredding a new roll of toilet paper. Well I am sad to say that she has done it once again! Now I really thought this phase was over with her because she's not a kitten anymore but nooooooo. Anyway, this is the latest destruction. Darn cat!

REGGAE CD PICK OF THE WEEK - HORACE ANDY

This weeks Reggae CD Pick of the Week is Horace Andy with the cd titled "Living In The Flood". Now I'm a fan of the music of Horace Andy and his unique vocal style but sadly only own three of his cd's to date. Recently while browsing the used cd bins I came across this cd and took a chance. It's sometimes hit and miss with reggae in that the devious record companies will sometimes put a old photo on a recent release making you think it's when the artist was in his prime. Also, I notice that some record companies won't put a date on the cd back cover or else they'll make it so small you can't even read it. This can be dangerous in that you may get some reggae from the late 80's that is pure crap with drum machines and synthesizers. Anyway, this is a 1999 release and is a good one from Horace! What? you say you're not hip to Horace? Here's a cut from this cd titled After All. Check it out!

NOW LET'S CHECK THAT PROSTRATE

Now I can honestly say that I don't know of anything that strikes as much fear into the hearts of men as the dreaded words "now let's check that prostrate". I mean, come on now! Is there anyone that enjoys this? This has to be one of the worst things ever and is something that I dread and never look forward to. I can honestly say that when I have to have this done that I am squealing like a pig! Yep, worse than Ned Beatty in the movie Deliverance! HAHA!

HEY, THAT'S MY CHAIR

It never seems to fail whenever I sit down on my chair to use my computer. What you may ask? Well my cat has a habit of trying to squeeze behind me as I'm sitting in the chair. Now this may have been fine when she did this as a little kitten (which she did) but she's not a little kitten anymore! As you can see from the photo she is one big, chubby cat. Anyway, she eventually ends up squeezing me out of the chair and I just say "take the whole chair". Darn cat!

JAZZ CD PICK OF THE WEEK - ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM

This past weekend I was doing one of my favorite pastimes which is shopping for used cd's. I noticed one guy was having a 50% off sale on all of his jazz and his cd's are typically only $5 to begin with. What? Yep, jazz cd's for only $2.50! Oh yeah! I can say I spent a good amount of time going through all of his stuff that he had laid out and walked away with a stack of music. One of the gems I picked up is this cd titled "The Antonio Carlos Jobim Songbook". Now you have to be from another planet if you hadn't heard one of the big hits from this cd, "The Girl From Ipanema". Basically this cd is the songs of Jobim performed by a variety of jazz artists. Some of the great artists on this cd include: Stan Getz, Sarah Vaughan, Billy Eckstine, Wes Montgomery, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie and more! Now I had seen this cd many times before but had passed on it. It might have been the cheezy artwork on the cover that turned me off, I dunno. Maybe the $2.50 price enticed me this time. Not hip to the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim? Here is Wes Montgomery playing one of the cuts of this cd titled, "Insensatez" and here is Astrud Gilberto with Stan Getz performing the classic, "The Girl From Ipanema". Check it out and hip up!

ARE THOSE JEANS PLASTIC COATED?

I remember way back in High School I had noticed certain kids wearing their jeans (Levi's) that looked quite a bit different than the ones that I typically wore. As I looked closer at these jeans I nervously asked one of the young thugs wearing them "Are those jeans plastic coated?" I mean these jeans were shiny like plastic and had a sharp crease in them as well. I noticed they also wore these jeans with dress shoes as well. Now I can tell you that my jeans were the complete opposite. My jeans were old, faded and typically worn with my tennis shoes. Anyway, it turns out these jeans weren't plastic coated at all, just very, very heavily starched with a razor sharp crease. Oh well, now I know. HAHA!

NEW YEAR AND A NEW DIET - NOOOOOO.....

OK, so it's a new year and the wife is starting another diet. Now maybe it's a good thing that we both eat healthier but I don't have any weight to lose! Anyway, once again SAXOMAN was dragged to various markets to help buy some healthy food for us to eat. Now I don't mind eating healthy but not all the time! So once again I will have to slip away when my wife is at work to get my fix of cheeseburgers, pastrami sandwiches, chili cheese fries, tacos, etc...etc....

$290,000,000 MILLION - WHAT???

It seems like every week the California state lottery is getting bigger and bigger. I saw it getting big and picked up a few tickets because you can't win if you don't play right? Anyway, I kept thinking someone is going to have a really good Christmas present with this money and then nobody won. New Year's day came and went and still nobody won. Now the pot has grown to $290,000,000 (that's millions for those that aren't used to seeing so many zeros). Anyway, we shall see what happens with the next drawing on Tuesday. Who knows, maybe SAXOMAN could be blogging from some exotic location in the world. Stay tuned!

APPLE AND MY IPOD - SAXOMAN IS NOT A HAPPY CUSTOMER

Back on 9/17/2009 I had blogged about how I was in love with my new 160 gig iPod. I mean I really was in love as I could now fit all of my music on it. Now? Well I can tell you that now I am one unhappy customer. It seems that after just 15 months my iPod is not working! How can this be? Well I was trying to synch up my iTunes library with my iPod and this is where the problems started. My iPod shows as being completely full however it shows absolutely no music on it! So basically I have no music on my iPod and cannot download anything either. A quick Internet search shows that many others have had this problem as well and that their iPod's are now pricey paperweights! When I called Apple they told me my iPod was out of warranty and for $29.95 they could answer my question! What? Are you kidding me? It seems my only options are to send it somewhere (not Apple) for attempted repair or buy a new one. This is very, very frustrating and Apple, SAXOMAN is not happy! The only positive is that my entire iTunes library is backed up on an external hard drive so my over 20,000 songs are still safe for now. I can also tell you that cd shopping without my iPod is extremely tough as my failing memory can in no way remember all of the cd's that I have. AAAAUUUUGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!