A MAJOR MILESTONE - 200 BLOG ENTRIES

WHOOHOO! Yes, that's right! Today marks a major milestone. My 200th blog entry! Who would have thought that when I started this blog way back in February of 2009 that I would have so much to say on such a wide variety of topics. Hopefully you are all enjoying my mindless rambling as I can assure you there is plenty more to come! The creative well has yet to run dry as I have an endless supply (I hope) of stories as well as music and dvd picks. Keep reading as you know there is never a dull moment in the life of SAXOMAN!

BASKETBALL.........AT LAST

Well after what seemed like an eternity (to me) basketball is back! That's right! After my beloved Purple and Gold (Lakers) won the championship last June I have gone without any basketball since then and no, I'm not watching the WNBA out of desperation. Anyway, the Lakers open the pre-season tonight on KCAL Channel 9. Oh yeah! I look forward to sitting on my butt and watching basketball and being totally unproductive for the next nine months. Come to think of it, I have been pretty unproductive for the last nine months as well. HAHA!

Oh well........

FUNK CD PICK OF THE WEEK - PARLIAMENT

This weeks Funk CD Pick of the Week is The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein by Parliament (what a title huh?) I had been aware of this cd for some time but had never picked it up until yesterday. I can say that not all of Parliament or Funkadelic cd's are must haves, at least to me so I had passed on this cd in the past. I did a little cd shopping yesterday at my monthly PCC Flea Market and picked this cd up for $5 along with several other hip titles. To my surprise this cd was much funkier than I had anticipated. The horns on this cd are really, really funky. I only wish these older cd's had a little more bass when they were recorded cuz you can't have the funk without the bass right? Anyway, for those of you that aren't hip to this (yes, you!) give it a listen with the link provided and I'm sure you will say that SAXOMAN has hipped me once again!

http://www.amazon.com/Clones-Dr-Funkenstein-Parliament/dp/B000001FUB/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1254796238&sr=8-7

GETTIN' FUNKY AT THE L.A. COUNTY FAIR (ONE MORE TIME)

After a long first week of working and commuting (ugh!) it was time to cut loose and enjoy some funk on Friday night at the Fair. Up first were The Brothers Johnson who threw it down with all of their hits. A really funky show. Now the Brothers Johnson are typically guitarist George and his brother Louis on bass. Standing in for Louis was a young cat who could really play the bass. I wondered what happened to Louis because when I saw him perform 2 years ago he was wearing one of those things on his wrist like when you have carpel tunnel syndrome. I can only guess that age and too much slappin' and poppin' of the bass with his thumb has taken its toll.
Up next were The Gap Band. Decked out in all white suits and matching white brims (cool) they preceded to rock the house. Playing all of their hits they put on a great show. I had never seen The Gap Band live and they really put on a funky show. I did have a few minor complaints though. I thought the set was a little too heavy on ballads and should have been more upbeat. You need to rock the crowd and not have people huggin' and smoochin' in the aisles (gross!) HAHA! The Gap Band also had four female dancers. This seems to be a growing trend with some of these bands and although the dancers are nice to look at and the choreography is cool, I just don't get the concept. To me it makes it feel like more of a Las Vegas type act when they do this. I think it cheapens and dilutes the show. I feel the music should speak for itself. I dunno......just my two cents. On a side note, if you look at the Gap Band photo (below) you notice they are all wearing cowboy hats. Now I have never understood brothers that wear cowboy hats. I would never wear one and I seriously doubt any brothers in the L.A. area would wear one either. It must be a southern thang.....I guess.

THE VOTES ARE IN AND THE POLLS ARE CLOSED

Well as you know I recently ran a poll to gather data as to what people like most about my blog. I must say that I was sadly disappointed by the low turnout of my many (2? 3?) readers. The results of the poll are as follows: 5 people like my music picks, 11 people like my real life stories, and 11 people like everything abut my blog. Hey, where are the Asian cinema lovers out there? Anyway, so there you have it, a dead even tie! In other words, the blog stays as is.

Now in late August I added a counter at the bottom of my blog to get an idea as to how many people where viewing my blog. In just over one month I have received over 900 hits! With that many viewers I would expected more voting unless that was me looking at my blog so often. Hmmmm.........

BACK TO WORK - THE FIRST DAY

The first day of a new job is a lot like the first day of school. You pick out what you're going to wear the night before, you worry about if the new people will be nice and you typically spend a restless night of sleep. I hit the road at 6:00AM figuring I'd beat the traffic. I quickly moved over to the fast lane thinking I would go faster (yeah, right!) Within a matter of minutes I was at a dead stop! What the hell? I quickly saw that a van had stalled out in the fast lane. AAUUGGHH! After getting around this van I tried to get back into the commuting mind set (be aggressive, don't let anyone in, not too much space between you and the car in front of you, etc...) There were a few slow spots but then? Clear sailing! I made it to the job in 45 minutes. Not bad for a 34 mile commute however the only problem was I still had an hour and 15 minutes to kill before my orientation! I pulled into a nearby Home Depot where the day laborers thought I was soliciting work. I waved them away and tried to take a short nap but was afraid I'd oversleep. I finally made it into work only to find that the HR lady who was going to do my orientation called in sick. Oh well.......

TEXTING - I JUST DON'T GET IT

OK now I can honestly say I don't get this whole texting thing. I see people texting everywhere I go. I see people texting while they're driving (What? Yes, I know some of you do it!), while their sitting courtside at a Laker game (what? that's just wrong!) and every other place you can imagine. People who do it tell me it's addictive. I dunno.....isn't it easier and faster to just call someone? Is it because you don't want to talk to someone and it's like an e-mail? Maybe because I am currently without a cell phone (what?) that I don't partake in this activity. I dunno......even when I had a phone I don't think I texted more than a couple of times. I'm sorry but maybe I'm just old school but I just don't get this whole texting thing!

CANTERBURY RECORDS IN PASADENA (YES, IT'S STILL THERE)

On Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena, CA sits Canterbury Records. This store has survived the times and is still going strong! Now according to the web site, Canterbury has been in business since 1956 but I'm not sure exactly how long the store has been at it's current location. I know that I have been going to the same location for as long as I can remember and I used to go there way back in the 60's (yes, a long, long time ago). I remember back then they had listening booths where you could listen to a record before you bought it. I remember my friends using the listening booths as a place to stuff 45's down their pants and steal them! What? I dunno.....I may have been guilty of doing this once myself. I blame it on peer pressure. Now I'm not sure if they actually sell records anymore but I can tell you they have a very well stocked selection of jazz cd's and the prices in most cases are very reasonable (typically $11.99 for classic Blue Note stuff). Of all the stores I have been shopping for jazz cd's I rank Canterbury right behind Amoeba in Hollywood.
If you're in the area I definitely recommend you check it out!

TIME FOR ANOTHER TRIP TO CHINATOWN

Well as most of you know my extended nine month vacation (unemployment) has come to an end. Because I start my new job on Monday I have been trying to take advantage of my last week off and do as many things as I can. It has been hot as hell this week so it has somewhat limited all of the things I wanted to do. Anyway, this meant that it was time for another weekday trip to Chinatown. Oh yeah! I drove to Pasadena and hopped the Gold Line train for $1.25 and after a short ride there I was. It's nice to go during the week when it isn't so crowded. You can browse freely and ask the lady in the DVD store "English subtitles?" She always says "yes, yes, English subtitles" regardless of whether they have them or not but when it is slow you can have them pop the DVD in and check it out for yourself. So I picked up a few of the latest Chinese bootleg releases which you may be reading about shortly as one of my recommended DVD Picks of the Week. Now what really amazes me is I can read about a movie being released on China and in 3 -4 weeks I can buy a great bootleg copy of it here in Chinatown for only $4. Incredible! After that I hopped the train home to relax and enjoy the latest in Asian cinema. I will definitely miss my weekday trips to Chinatown!

DVD PICK OF THE WEEK - INVISIBLE TARGET

This weeks DVD Pick of the Week is the Hong Kong action film titled Invisible Target. This is a non-stop action movie and has it all! Martial arts, gun battles, exploding cars, car chases, foot chases and one of the stars is Jackie Chan's son! A must see and my pick of the week. Now you can rent this at your local video store or buy it. Me? I own the 2 Disc Ultimate Edition of course! Anyway, here's the trailer for Invisible Target. Check it out! I'm sure you will enjoy it!