SAXOMAN RUNS THE L.A. MARATHON - WHAT?

Yep, you read right my many readers. SAXOMAN ran the L.A. Marathon! What? Yep, I kid you not! Last Sunday SAXO joined 30,000 others and ran from Dodger Stadium to Santa Monica. 26.2 miles, oh yeah! Now I must say that this was my very first full marathon and quite a physical challenge. Starting in the wee hours of the morning we all converged on Dodger Stadium. Because we could sit anywhere in the stadium I took full advantage and went and sat behind home plate. Nice! Probably the only time I will ever be able to sit behind home plate but regardless it was very nice! Anyway, the hot day made the race even more difficult as the streets were lined with cheering fans who urged us on to the finish line. Several people told me cool ocean breezes were up ahead but I'm sorry to say there were no breezes to be found. As a matter of fact it was over 80 degrees in Santa Monica where it's supposed to be cooler. Oh well…..anyway, thanks to my brother-in-laws for meeting the wife and I at mile 13 for some much needed Gatorade and a quick snack. A special thanks to the Pasadena Pacers who had a cheering station at mile 20 where you could get about anything you needed. The photo here is my actual medal that was presented to me at the finish line. Now as I'm running this ungodly distance I'm thinking to myself I'm never, ever going to do this again. This will be a one and done experience for me. But now that the pain and soreness has gone away I'm sure I will sign up for another marathon and forget about the difficulty I had. Now I will probably have my eyes set on improving my time. HAHA!

SONG OF THE DAY - DUKE ELLINGTON

I was watching the recent movie American Hustle the other day. One of the songs featured in the movie was the song Jeep's Blues. This song is also featured at the end when the closing credits are rolling. Now I had really forgotten what a hip tune this really is. From the Duke Ellington album titled Live at Newport this is one great cd and a great tune. Now I must admit I used to have this cd but ended up selling it because the sound quality wasn't very good. I ended up buying the reissued two-cd set with greatly improved sound quality. After watching the movie I pulled out this cd again to re-visit it and it is even better then I remember. Not hip to jeep's Blues? Check it out and hip up!

A PIGS HEAD - HUH?

So on one of my trips to the market in Viet Nam I saw a pigs head sitting there for sale. Huh? What? A pigs head? What are you supposed to do with a pigs head I wondered? I dunno….I have no clue. How do you serve this? Cook this? What exactly are you supposed to do with a pigs head? Now I'm sure there are probably many ways to eat a pigs head but I personally have no clue whatsoever. Oh well….Because this definitely caught my attention I just had to take a photo for my many readers. enjoy! HAHA!

A SHAVE AND A CLEAN EAR - HUH?

Now I know many of my readers have been anxiously awaiting photos and comments from my recent trip to Viet Nam. So while I was in the city of Hoi An I would pass this barber shop every day. Hmmm…..an old fashion shave sounded interesting but I was just a little confused by the clean ear sign. I mean what do you get? what do they do? Do they clean your ear or just clean the shaving creme out of your ear? I dunno……all I know is I passed on the shave and clean ear. Maybe next time. HAHA!

REST IN PEACE - RUN RUN SHAW

While I was on vacation I was saddened to hear that Chinese film mogul Run Run Shaw had passed away. Now to be honest I didn't even know that he was still alive so it was a surprise to hear this news. At only 106 years old (what?), Run Run Shaw lived a long and prosperous life. The founder of Shaw Brother studios which turned out hundreds of movies and many Kung Fu classics like The One Armed Swordsman, Five Fingers of Death and countless more Mr. Shaw was a true legend. Now I have to admit that I probably have at least 100 (or more) of Shaw Brothers movies in my library. I'll have to pull out some of these classics and give them another watch. Rest in peace! Not hip to the Shaw Brothers movies? Check out the trailer for the classic Five Fingers of Death (aka King Boxer).

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS SAXOMAN?

OK, now I have to admit it's been a while since my last post. Well the reason is that SAXOMAN has been away on vacation for the past three weeks. What? Another vacation? Yep, SAXO has been visiting Vietnam as well as a brief stop over in Cambodia. Enjoying the local sites and food as well as getting several massages I am finally back home. A good time with many blog posts and photos to follow so stay tunes!

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!