RECOMMENDED VIEWING - BREAKING BAD

There are lots of hugely popular shows on tv that are watched by millions. Shows like American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, Survivor, The Voice, X-Factor, etc...etc... Now for some reason these shows have never really appealed to me and I just don't watch them at all. One show that I had heard good things about but never watched is the show titled Breaking Bad. I had read that this show had been nominated for 63 Emmy's and won over 32. Now I saw that I had this show on Netflix and I could watch all four seasons. The wife and I decided to give it a shot and if we didn't like it after a few episodes we would bail out. Well needless to say we got hooked on the adventures of school teacher Walter White and his exploits in cooking crystal meth. Now I don't typically recommend tv shows but this one gets two thumbs up from SAXOMAN and is definitely recommended. Now as we wind down watching the last few episodes of season four we realize we will now have to wait until next summer to see the final season five. Oh well........check out the trailer for the show and check it out!

HEY MAN, CAN I BORROW YOUR COMB? WHAT?

Now I remember way back in High School I had just finished gym class and was looking in the mirror and combing my hair. I then hear a guy next to me say "Hey man, can I borrow your comb?" I was stunned, shocked! I mean who asks to borrow another mans comb? I looked over and it was a guy from my gym class but I didn't recognize him. He had what is known as a "process" (aka a "conk" or a "Tony Curtis") Now for those of you that don't know this is where the hair is straightened and slicked down like the photo here of the early Temptations. Now I don't know why in the world this guy would have this done to his head because this was the early 70's and the time when afros were as big as can be. Anyway, I looked over at the greasy pile of hair on his head, looked at my comb, shook my head and said "No way man!" and quickly took off. HAHA!

MEMPHIS BARBECUE BURGER - OH MY!

Now I don't know what it is about this commercial but it really makes me want to try out this new Carl's Jr. Memphis Barbecue burger! A burger with pulled pork? i mean what could be better? Oh yeah, this is the director's cut of the commercial that they don't show for some odd reason. My oh my! HAHA!

GYM CLASS - NOT FUN FOR ALL

Now on a serious note - I was thinking the other day way back when I was in Junior High and had to go to gym class. Now for me gym class wasn't a big deal or a traumatic experience because I was a somewhat athletic kid. I was good at baseball and pretty good at other sports as well. No, what really sticks out in my mind was the kids that weren't so lucky to be athletic or may have been a little overweight. These kids had it really tough and I remember feeling sorry for these kids. These were the kind of kids that were the last ones to be picked when team were selected. As a class you typically would all have to line up and do the particular activity of the day (rope climbing, high jumping, the horse, running, hurdling, etc.) Now the kids that couldn't do these activities well were typically made fun of as well as being publicly humiliated before the entire class. We had to do these activities several times adding to the trauma. I remember seeing a chubby kid try and do the high jump, landed on the bar and then the stand holding the bar ends up falling on him. Really bad stuff......Anyway, I don't know if gym class is the same today or if things have changed. I only hope that these kids are ok today and not scarred for life as gym class was for some, not a very good experience.

WHY NOT THE L.A. RAMS?

I see the L.A. City Council today approved the way for a football stadium to be built in Los Angeles. All they need now is to find a team that wants to move here. The deal is actually for two teams to share the stadium kind of like the Lakers and Clippers share the Staples Center. So all I can say to this is why not my beloved Rams move back to L.A. where they belong! I mean it's a natural fit after they left us high and dry and moved to St. Louis. Come on Rams, come on back home! I forgive you!

JAZZ CD PICK OF THE WEEK - JOHNNY COLES

This weeks Jazz CD Pick of the Week was a recent surprise i stumbled across in the used cd bins. The cd is titled Little Johnny C and is by trumpeter Johnny Coles. As I was reading the liner notes for this cd I noticed it had one of my favorite tenor sax players (Joe Henderson) on it so I quickly scooped it up and put it in my overflowing basket. Although I can honestly say at the time I wasn't very familiar with the name Johnny Coles, I quickly discovered that he had played with Eric Dolphy and Charles Mingus to name just a few. Anyway, like I said a real pleasant surprise and deserving of the Jazz CD Pick of the Week. Anyway, here's just one of many of the swingin' tracks from this cd. Check it out!

DVD PICK OF THE WEEK - MY WAY

It has been a rather slow period for Asian cinema lately so that's why there hasn't been a pick of the week in a while. Anyway, this Korean movie titled My Way was a real pleasant surprise. Now although I had heard about this movie I hadn't been aware it was available. So to my surprise my brother in law of all people lent me this movie that he had just rented from Red Box. What? Yep, the unhip hipping the hip! HAHA! Anyway, a really good movie that I throughly enjoyed. At the climatic ending tears were streaming down my face. A very emotional part of the movie. Based on a true story here is the trailer for My Way. Check it out and go rent it!

SAXOMAN - NEVER A SELLOUT

Now I must admit that I frequently receive e-mails from people wanting me to plug a band or an artist. Typically the e-mails will promise me a cd or a download of the music. Now as I've listened to some of these i have always politely declined to blog about these artists. They really haven't been very good or are typically not my style of music. I mean how can SAXOMAN stay true to his millions (2? 3?) of readers and shamefully plug some artist that I do not really like? This got me to wondering what other journalists do when a group flies them to an exotic location, puts them up in a posh hotel and then puts them backstage. Do these journalists feel obligated to write a good review after something like this? Well I can assure you that SAXOMAN will never fall into this trap and will never be compromised or sell out! SAXOMAN is a man of integrity that will not be compromised! AMEN brother, say it loud!