REST IN PEACE - YUSEF LATEEF

I heard the news yesterday that jazz legend Yusef Lateef had passed away. Now I have always been a big fan of Yusef and have a whole lot of his recording in my library. One of the unique things about Yusef is that he not only played tenor sax and flute but also played the very difficult oboe. A triple threat musician who in my opinion never got the true recognition he deserved as a musician.   Yusef even had a brief stint with Cannonball Adderly and luckily several of these recording are available. Farewell brother Yusef, you will be missed. Not hip to Yusef Lateef. Here is one of his many great recording from the Eastern sounds cd titled Love Theme from Spartacus with Yusef on oboe. Enjoy!

PHOTO OF THE WEEK - MORNING SUNRISE

Now while most of you are tucked in bed sleeping like little babies SAXOMAN is on the road driving to work. Getting out of my car this morning I couldn't help but notice the sunrise and the beautiful color of the sky. I then pulled out my iPhone and snapped a photo to share with you all. Enjoy!

SAXOMAN VISITS KRUSTYLAND

OK, now technically not Krustyland but The Simpsons Ride at Universal City. SAXOMAN decided to call in sick to work for a day (Owww, my tummy hurts HAHA!) to spend the day with the wife and some visitors from out of the country. Now it has been many years since I went to Universal Studios and recall only the shark from Jaws as one of the few attractions way back then. So as we went in the park the first stop of course was the Simpson's Ride. HAHA!  Being a huge Simpson's fan it was my duty to check it out right? Now I  figured it might be a tame ride made for kids but noooo……this was one wild ride where you were assaulted with the sights and sounds as you tried to escape from Sideshow Bob. We even got sucked into a giant radioactive Maggie who thought we were a pacifier and spit us out! Yuck! Water (spit?) flew on us from the giant Maggie. Now when we were done with the ride and we decided to go again! What? What a blast as all my favorite Simpson characters were represented. Outside was Moe's tavern and the Kwik-E-Mart as well.  Too cool……Now while we were there we also rode the Transformers 3D ride (twice), the Mummy ride, a haunted house (noooo…..let me out of here!) and many other great rides. A fun filled day as I miraculously made a recovery from my "illness" to go back to work the next day. HAHA!

DVD PICK OF THE WEEK - BRUCE LEE

This weeks DVD Pick of the Week is the recent Bruce Lee release of Enter the Dragon. Now this is the 40th Anniversary Edition of this classic martial arts film and is also the Blu Ray version. Now it's hard to believe that it's been 40 years since this film first came out as I recall seeing this in the theaters way, way back in the day. Now this wasn't the first Kung Fu movie I saw but it was definitely one of the earliest that I went to check out. This dvd is packed with a slew of goodies (see photo) and this is the best version of this movie to date and you will not be disappointed! Check it out and add it to your library. SAXOMAN recommended!

SAXOMAN RUNS A MARATHON……IN SPAIN - WHAT?

Yes, you read right. SAXOMAN ran a marathon! Now when SAXOMAN was on his recent vacation in Spain he also ran a marathon in the city of San Sebastian. Yep, I kid you not. SAXO is becoming quite the athlete lately. Now technically they don't do a full marathon in this race so it was a half marathon which is 13.1 miles (only). Now it was a cold, windy day with a chance of showers. With about 28,000 runners this was one big race. As SAXOMAN took off the showers started coming down. Instead of the people groaning and complaining they raised their arms and cheered. Now luckily the rain didn't last too long and it was a little sporadic after that. This race also had many hills as well so that made it a little harder but SAXO persevered. Now at one point I asked the person next to us if the ambulance behind me wanted to pass, no they always do that for the runners in last he said. What? I'm in last? I decide to start picking up the pace and slowly passed the many runners that started out too fast. HAHA! Eat my dust chumps! Now one thing about this race was that the whole town comes out to cheer you on, bad weather and all. With your name on your bib with your number the crowd cheered your name as you ran by. "Come on SAXOMAN, you can do it! Keep going, you're doing great!" were some of the many cheers I heard as I ran by and tipped my lucky Dodger hat to the appreciative crowd. Their enthusiasm really help to keep me going. Several people set up vans along the route and blasted music. Hmmm….there's a guy dressed like a pirate and waving a big pirate flag. Ok…. Now as I neared the finish (or so I thought at the time) the theme of Rocky was blasting. Now being a huge fan of all the Rocky movies this really pumped me up and drove me harder as I neared the finish line. I crossed the finish line to a cheering crowd with a respectable time for a first time marathon runner. What's up next for SAXOMAN? Many more adventures to come so stay tuned!