DYING MY HAIR - WHAT?

As I have gotten older I have noticed my hair is getting grayer and grayer. Looking at old photos of myself it wasn't too long ago that there wasn't a gray hair to be found on my little head. Now I don't think I would ever do something as drastic as shave my head but one thing I have considered from time to time is whether I should dye my hair. What? I mean who doesn't want to look a little bit younger right? Women do it all the time so why not men? Well I can tell you that I seriously doubt that this will ever, ever happen! I have seen far too many men look absolutely ridiculous with their unnatural looking hair color. Now I don't know if they realize how silly they look or if they try to dye their hair themselves or what, but to me it just doesn't look natural at all! I mean you see a really old guy with jet black hair and it looks natural or believable? I think not! I've seen some dye jobs that have turned yellow or orange from the sun and have also seen men that try to dye their facial hair as well which probably looks good for maybe one day. Really, really bad. Sorry but I seriously doubt you will see SAXOMAN ever dye his hair and if you do? Smack me on the back of the head and tell me how ridiculous I look! HAHA!

STINKY FELIX

When I was a kid growing up in Junior High and High School a lot us kids used to escape to the mountains for the day. Because it was so close we could go exploring and do mischievous things without getting caught! Above Altadena, Pasadena, Sierra Madre and Hastings Ranch were many places to go exploring such as Eaton Canyon and "The Falls" (a big waterfall where kids used to hang out). Kids would go up there to get away from their parents, the cops or everybody. Now one thing I remember about those adventures is the name Stinky Felix. You would see the name Stinky Felix spray painted on rocks in the most remote areas you can imagine in these mountains. Now back then graffiti wasn't popular or something everybody did (unlike now) but there it was, Stinky Felix wherever you went. Now one day we actually met this guy who claimed to be Stinky Felix. We were in awe, like meeting a celebrity. He is real, he's not a myth, he does exist! We were star struck! Anyway, I'm sure there are many rocks in the San Gabriel mountains that still bear the spray painted name of Stinky Felix. All I can say is long live the legend of Stinky Felix!

CATHOLIC SCHOOL

Now why am I blogging about Catholic School? Did I go there? Do I have horror stories about the nuns or worse yet, the priests? No, actually I didn't go to Catholic School but I did live up the street from Saint Phillips Catholic School (see pic) in Pasadena from about age 5 to 12. Every day I would see and hear the kids that went to this school walking by my house. I can tell you that these kids seemed to be the worst kids I had ever come across in my young life. I would see these kids smoking cigarettes and using the foulest language my young ears had ever heard! Oh my! Now maybe there was a reason why these kids were being sent to Catholic School but to me they all seemed like they should all be in Juvenile Hall. Really bad, bad kids. Anyway, that's my take on Catholic School.

BACK TO WORK - WHAT?

Yes, it's true. Yours truly (SAXOMAN aka Afro-Samurai) is going back to work! After 9 months and a couple of weeks off, I am joining the work force once again. I will no longer be living off of the unstable State of California and will now be earning a real paycheck! I will now be a prisoner to commuting (see pic) as well as being a prisoner to long pants, dress shirts and shoes and socks! I will miss wearing shorts, t-shirts and sandals and will also miss my weekday trips to Chinatown, Venice Beach, the movies, and all my favorite cd shops. I will also miss sleeping in and waking up without an alarm. What I will miss most of all is my daily hour nap that I got in the habit of taking every afternoon. Jeez.....I hope I can stay awake all day at the new job! It will be good to finally get back to work as the job search and the never ending interview process has been exhausting. They want me to start right away so I have one more week of freedom left! Oh no! Now I can't guarantee to my many readers (2? 3?) how this will affect my blogging but I expect my postings to drop considerably. Please continue to read as I'm sure my new adventures will create many more interesting blog topics!

DVD PICK OF THE WEEK - BREAKING NEWS

This weeks DVD Pick of the Week is Johnnie To's 2004 release titled Breaking News. Johnnie To is one of my favorite Hong Kong filmmakers and producers. His films are typically set in the streets of Hong Kong and I have probably seen so many of his films that I could navigate my way around Hong Kong with no problem (yeah, right!) What's great about this film in addition to being action packed is the way the police and the bad guys both utilize the media to try and show different versions of what is happening. Another pick of the week that is worth checking out! Watch the trailer for this movie here. Note: Ignore the first 45 second intro of the trailer.

FASHION ARREST

Now I don't consider myself a fashion icon or anything like that (far from it) but I do try to use a little common sense when I dress myself. I get a kick out of people watching and one thing that really strikes me is that a lot of people look like they got dressed in the dark. I was driving down the street today and I saw a guy wearing plaid shorts and a Hawaiian shirt! What? My wife said "he's probably single" as a wife would not let a man leave the house looking like that. I've seen fat guys who believe it's acceptable to walk around with no shirt (Hey, cover that up!) and I have seen way too many overweight women wearing very tight clothes that they shouldn't be wearing (Not a pretty sight). Ladies, just because it's stretch material doesn't mean it should be stretched to the limit! Please! I see other men wearing shorts with tucked in shirts (what?) and some guys that still think short/shorts and knee high socks are in (No!) Now, like I said I am in no means perfect and not a fashion icon but please people, use some common sense when you get dressed.

Just my two cents......

GETTIN' FUNKY AT THE L.A. COUNTY FAIR

Last night I went to the L.A. County Fair (yes,again) to see the Average White Band and War in concert. You really can't beat the price of these concerts (free with your fair admission) and I try to go to as many of these as I can. Playing all of their hits, AWB and War had the crowd rocking! I guess due to economics, AWB no longer travels with two sax players and instead utilizes just one horn. They are still able to create the two sax sound so for any musicians that may be interested in how this is done, go to this link to read all about it.
http://www.averagewhiteband.com/_musos/fredsgear.html
Now I can tell you that there were so many shaved heads and tattoos in the crowd that it felt like being transported to the L.A. County Jail. HAHA! I must say though that regardless of the crowd, this just shows that the power of music can unite people of all ages and races. I did have a minor gripe about the sound mix in that I felt the vocals and horns weren't loud enough. Maybe I have too critical an ear, I dunno. Just my two cents.
Up next!? Why some more funk with The Gap Band and The Brothers Johnson at the Fair on Oct. 2nd. I'll be there for sure!

I'M IN LOVE - 160 GIGS (OH YEAH)

Yes, it's officially love! I just picked up the brand new 160 Gig iPod! WHOOHOO! For those faithful readers of my blog (2? 3?) you know that music is like oxygen to me, I just can't live without it. Well once the new 160 gig iPod came out this past week I knew I had to have it for my overflowing music collection. I have been struggling with an older 80 gig model and only part of my music collection at my disposal. I rushed over to Best Buy and picked out a new 160 gig model in black (of course) and I tell you I got dizzy and almost passed out from the excitement. I had been saving my Best Buy Gift Cards that I had received for Christmas (what? Yes, Christmas), my birthday and my recent graduation. I had to first download the latest version of iTunes and then connect my brand new iPod. I then waited...and waited.....and waited. Hell, I had to wait half the day for my over 18,000 songs to be downloaded! I've already used up 99 gigs on this new iPod so I have a little ways to go before I fill this one up. Me and my new iPod are now inseparable. It is officially love! HAHA!

TODAY'S MUSIC - I JUST DON'T GET IT

OK now I can honestly say that I really don't get today's music. The other night I watched a good portion of the MTV VMA's (Video Music Awards). One of my first thoughts as I watched this was, "who the hell are all of these people?" Now maybe it's because I don't have kids or maybe it's just because I'm old, but I find that year after year I drift further and further out of touch with what's happening in today's music. Now don't get me wrong, there are several current groups and artists that I really do like (Ozomatli, Poncho Sanchez and Joshua Redman to name a few) but most of the music I hear today is just not very good at all (to me). There seems to be more importance placed nowadays on the visual look of the artist and the stage show than the real content of the music. I must admit that I had no idea who Lady Gaga (see pic) was before this show and watched as she performed and smeared blood all over her face and body. Ewww! Also, Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez looked seriously out of place sitting in the front row amongst all of the very young musical "artists". Now I really doubt that years from now people are going to look back and say "Wow, 2009 was sure a great year for music, wasn't it?" I think not!

LOWRIDING (BACK IN THE DAY)

Now way back in High School most of my friends drove lowriders. I was busy saving my money for a saxophone so a car was really secondary to me. For some odd reason most of my friends all bought 1958 Chevy Impalas (see photo). There must have been at least 10 friends that all drove 58 Impalas. Some of them would put hydraulic lifts in the front, back or all the way around. They actually were pretty cool looking cars and I always regret not having me a lowrider too! Anyway, because I didn't have a car I would make the long walk home from school each day. Frequently my friends would see me walking and offer me a ride. They would tell me to hop in the front passenger seat and I just thought they were being nice. I had no idea of the real reason for this at the time. What would happen next is that they would drive until they found the most unattractive, overweight girl that they could find walking home. They would then pull up right next to her with me right in her face (because I sat in the passenger seat) and proceed to bounce their car repeatedly with their hydraulic lifts as a way to "impress" the girl. Now I can tell you that when this happened I wanted to just die from embarrassment. I would bury my head in my hands, shaking my head repeating "noooo, noooo...... nooooo.....lemme out!" For some reason they all got a kick out of this and I can tell you that I fell for this trick more than once! HAHA!