MuskMan

Good morning, friends. What an odd thing to talk about in this 100 degree heat, smells. I'm sure some of us are smelling real high with heat indexes in the hundreds. We have an excessive heat alert in our area today. I wear perfume, just a little, but in this heat, I think it died. Wonder if there's anything on the market for the heat, I mean to make one smell and feel cool? I might consider buying it.

Well, take care in the heat, guys. Me and the g-girl are going for our walk. We're running late. Please know that God loves you so much more than you can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

Hmmmm, I've never quite gotten the point about pheromones with homo sapiens. Of course, my last biology course was the one I took in the tenth grade, so I'm just ignorant.

Wilbrod, the Purina diet story made me fall out of my chair. That's a classic!

Bob S, check Lynne Truss's Eats Shoots & Leaves for her discussion of the double possessive. Quite enlightening, I should say.

Morning, everybody!

Sometime in the final years of the Carter administration I acquired a bottle of Jovan Musk. It was a gift from my younger sister who, evidently, figured I needed all the help I could get. To this day I associate its sweet scent with quiana shirts, narrow gold necklaces, and startlingly beautiful women in slit skirts and Farrah Fawcett haircuts swirling to the musical stylings of Donna Summer. It was the aromatic background to many high school nights. As to the alleged aphrodisiac properties of its pheromone constituents?
Let us just say that the data are mixed

Cassandra, I expect your heat wave will break tomorrow, as it has already broken here. Only going up to 93º today, which is BIG improvement over three days of 100º. Tomorrow is projected to hit 88º. And I don't know how you could think we looked lawyerly, not a suit and tie amongst us. And yes, even in this heat it is the official wear of lawyers in Washington, even for happy hour (though they may loosen the tie, it does not come off till they reach home). Of course women lawyers are harder to tell, but they still dress VERY professionally looking. Which wouldn't describe what TBG (office casual) or mo was wearing, especially goth mo. I should just strike out the last two sentences as I clearly don't know what I'm talking about.

Actually in the heat and humidity, there's quite a variety of smells that aren't normally so pungent.

The smells of mold and biodegredation, for example, are stronger than I remember them along the creeks and undeveloped areas near my home.

Also, this time of year typically brings out the best of dumpsters and trashcans.

Attraction and smell is an odd thing, somtimes it has as much to do with positive association as with actual pheremonic attraction. I think.

A lady I know - tall, fit, tanned, blonde, a classic knockout actually - loves the smell of skunk. She's made the association of skunk with enjoying relaxing days in the summer, and with the high level of activity for skunks these days (I see alt least one new skunk roadkill per day on my route to work, and I'm seeing live ones every other night or so along the local roadways), I called my friend's husband this AM and, kinda, well, asked him how things were going with the Mrs.

I was specific about the skunk smell, and um, if he'd noticed anything about his wife. He laughed and said yes and nothing more, which was all I'd expect any gentleman to say.

So in conclusion, even skunks can get lucky in the right stinkuation.

bc

My classroom doesn't smell musky, just musty, like something out of Jumanji. Lord knows what'll be appearing in the room next.

Goodmorning everybody. I feel lucky to still be alive. Cassandra, your prayers perhaps?

I wonder if the people I talked with and bumped into on the metro will have anything to do with someone, let's say, that lives in California. Like maybe I conversed with a stranger for an extra 2 minutes and a phone call was missed, leaving the stranger playing phone tag and a computer system crashed because... Eventually it will reach California, then back to North Carolina.

Yes, Cassandra, I believe prayer does change the world. Thanks!

And thanks to all of you from the previous boodle that expressed concern over the white water adventure I experienced during the PBH. The event keeps replaying over and over again in my head and I'm beginning to think that my gardien angel is trying to convince me that white water canoeing just isn't my sport.

Just reading the words Jovan Musk makes me gag.

I know I've mentioned this before, but when my son was born (my first child), I could smell him from yards away. I was amazed and in love like never before.

And now that he's 17, I can still smell him from yards away. But for a very different reason.

Ha TBG.

Jack I'm not a religous person so no prayers from this corner, but I do cross my fingers. A lot. But it doesn't seem to work all that frequently. Maybe I'm somehow channeling the luck to others though. Yeah, that's it. Glad you're still among the living, and hope you can make it to the next BPH, which will definitely be a MUCH cooler evening. And trust us when we say you may feel a little nervous walking in the door, but less than a minute after sitting down you feel like your out for happy hour with some of your bestest buddies in the world.

Pat,

Silly me was going to recommend that you see the movie Sliding Doors.

But it's about a woman and two scenarios for her life, running simultaneously. She either slips through the sliding doors one day on the London subway or doesn't make it through the doors. What happens to her life either way?

Not a heavyweight movie, but fun to watch. I don't know if you get to "see" movies at all. How would that work? Does someone describe the action on the screen while you hear the dialog?

There's something just so mundane about boodling in "real time."

TBG you are so correct, my girls are away right now visiting relatives, I really miss them and I discovered I not only missed having them around but also the way they smell, (at 10 and 5 they still smell good!).

I also noticed in visiting mom amongst all the smells in the hospital you pick up on her scent, its very comforting. She could use some prayers, crossed fingers and some luck. They will be trying chemo next week as they believe they identified the cancer and may be able to get her into remission.

Jack I am thinking of your family.

As for cologne I am not a big fan as I am allergic to a lot of different scents. Jovan Musk doesn't do it for me but Polo by Ralph Lauren does, of course it also dates me. But it reminds me of my immediate post university years, earning income with no real responsibilities, also my husband use to wear it when we first met.

Going off topic here for a sec, I've secured a sort-of Trans-temporal VPN with that guy from the future who spammed me the other week.

So now you can ask him questions, and find out what the future will bring, since we're 2,000 years in his past. Will Joel Achenbach ever win a Pulitzer Prize? Ask Dr. O. (I am *so* not going anywhere near that one!)

http://www.10thcircle.com/10/?p=102

bc

I guess that last is sorta on topic since TBG and others (OK, me) found the Boodle Temporal Dislocation an interesting phenomenon.

bc

My dad wears Lilac Vegetal. Always has. His dad wore it too.

I think when he's gone, I'll keep a bottle in the house just to remind me of him. Mix in a little Vitalis and it'll be just like he's in the room.

When my mom was in her last days before she went to Hospice, they were bathing her with some kind of soap or cleaning "stuff" that just smelled horrible to me, by association with her impending death. When she died I made my sister give all of Mom's clothes away immediately (the ones she'd had in the assisted living center). I didn't want that smell anywhere near me.

If I even catch a whif of something like it, it makes me shudder.

But on the other hand, my niece has many of Mom's things in her house now and when I open the drawers of Mom's sewing machine or dressers and breathe it in it's like having her back in the room and I love it.

Both my mom and my grandmother favored White Shoulders.

A very comforting smell for me.

bc

One generation's Jovan Musk is another generation's Eternity.

My husband bought me Blush Intense by Marc Jacobs for Mother's Day, and I've gone around smelling of jasmine all summer. I love it.

Ahh PLS you just made me feel old :)

Oh, yes, the Lilac Vegetal moment. That was my dad's favorite aftershave lotion. I don't remember the scent so much but I do remember the bottle. Fond memories of sitting on the toilet seat (closed, not being used in the literal way, for all you, um, "anal" types) watching him shave (I was 4 or 5 years old) and rapt by the rhythm and methodology of the entire task at hand. I would hand him pieces of toilet tissue when things got out of hand and he needed to blot.

I tend to be more allergic to scents (terribly to cigarette and cigar smoke (the latter being gawdawful anyway)) as I've grown older. Or maybe my sense of smell has diminished. Dunno.

Does the BPH meet on a regular basis, or just an irregular, periodic basis? I enjoyed the pictures of this latest one I missed.

I guess the significance of any aroma is linked to memory. For me, smells of cut grass, hot asphalt, chlorinated pool water, and musty libraries are all winners. Yet, I suspect that any attempt to create a fragrance based on these aromas might be as doomed to failure as Kramer's attempt to create a cologne that smells like the beach.

Speaking of which, I am off to Myrtle Beach for the next 10 days. I will be existing under primitive conditions, by which I mean no internet connectivity. I might drop by the library if I can get away with it now and again. Be good and stay cool.

RD - have a great time, and don't forget about Louis's at Pawleys (www.louisatpawleys.com)

Have a great vacation RD

RD, the best seafood in the area is at Twin Lakes in Sunset Beach. Go north on 17 and follow the signs to Sunset Beach. The restaurant is at the bridge at the Intracoastal Waterway. It's better than anything in Calabash, IMHO.

Have a good trip, RD.

Don'f forget your sunglasses.

bc

Interestingly, I don't think any of the important women in my life used fragrances-mother, sister, serious long-time girlfriend, current wife. My electric shave lotion has some fragrance to it, but it doesn't last long, and that's not why I use it. I always gagged when any man walked past who had used musk. Reminded me of the reptile house at the zoo on a warm day. They obviously never read MuskMan. Women's fragrances are all over the lot--some heavy and sickly-sweet; some lightly floral. Some famous person said something to the effect that perfume should be noticed after the woman walks past, and should perk you up but not turn and stare thinking, "What was THAT?".

Jovan Musk must be like everything else that was once fashion. It came back. I remember its first instance in the early 70's and it was not great them. I mushc prefer the scent of a single flower, like roses, or lavender.

All that said, and I may have mentioned this before, nothing on earth smells as nice as real old fashioned chewing tobacco that came in a big sweet lump and looked kind of like a package of dates. When I worked in Uncle Tony's store as a teen, we kept it in a can with a airtight lid, and when certain elderly gents came in, I made sure to be at the counter to help Uncle Tony wrap it. He used to laugh at me. No one sells it anymore around here, and if people chew (EWWWWWW), what they chew is not the same at all.

Oh, and that reference to Peoples Drug Stores. Boy, does that go back!! Can we trade in our CVS's for good ol' Peoples? Please?

I never could stand that musk smell and stil don't have a clue why anyone would want to smell like that. When we were first dating, my ex gave me a bottle of the same perfume his mother always wore - creepy. Should have known right then. Arpege and Jergens lotion always remind me of my mother. I have always loved Lauren and L'air Du Temps. Having worked with women who wore very heavy scents in the office, I am sensitive to how much and what I put on. I think there's nothing more appealing than the smell of baby powder, except that freshly showered soapy smell, that's quite sexy.
I should clarify, the perfume wasn't called 'creepy' but his relationship with his mother, even to this day, certainly qualifies.

SCC, then.

Speaking of vacations, I'm headed out to California with my husband (and without our daughter, who is with grandma and grandpa). Six days, and we'll be in San Francisco, Napa & Medocino. Any suggestions from anyone?

Now-local author David Liss and I briefly discussed palm toddy cats as well as civets back in the spring of 2003. You do know from whence musk is derived? The story of musk is an ancient one.

As Liss wrote to me in an e-mail on April 28, 2003.:

[civet cats] "It adds some color to story [sic] about Daniel Defoe trying to corner the market on civet cats in early 18th century England."

http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft9906/reviews/zaleski.html\

Book review: Daniel Defoe

Another was his terror of debt and his sense of being hounded by creditors, as well as by literary and political opponents. Defoe relished the harsh world of late-seventeenth- and early-eighteenth-century business, when capitalism was coming of age; unfortunately, he had an uncanny knack for investing in projects that left him in ruins. He traded in cows, bricks, tobacco, honey, land, diving bells, and even civet cats, almost always for a loss.

I know this is yesterday's news, but there was nothing wrong with the WaPo servers yesterday. No its worse than that. Check out Celbritology and yesterdays link.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/celebritology/

It was David Hasselhoff.

Does anyone get the feeling that he is going to be the new William Shatner, endlessly recreating himself?

Hey Kurosawaguy gave us up for David Hasselhoff, celebrity chats.

dr, has Shatner completely given up his Canadian citizenship,please say yes.

My grandfather (born 1892) was always an Old Spice man, all his life. And like firsttimeblogger, I too remember watching his shave when I was little. He had a big china mug of Old Spice shaving soap, and a shaving brush, and would lather up. Then he'd strop his straight razor, and making shaving with it look so easily. When he was done, he'd splash on some Old Spice aftershave, and go, "Ahhhhhh." My mother always said he was the easiest man she'd ever met to shop for, for birthdays or Christmas: a couple of flannel shirts, and some Old Spice (which was given to us kids to give to him). And he loved the flannel shirts (he often wore one as a sort of sweater over a regular dress shirt; when he was older he was always cold in anything but the hottest weather) and always used that Old Spice soap and aftershave, so everybody was happy.

I happened to mention this memory one time to my wife, and the following Christmas, you know what the kids got me for a present: one of those Old Spice gift sets. So I had to use the Old Spice for a couple of months until it ran out. I actually like the stuff OK, but it always seems a little tacky and overpowering (and a little bit of it goes a long way). I'm not generally a snob about very much, but somehow I just can't bring myself to use an aftershave I can buy at Food Lion.

(After I had my quadruple bypass several years ago, I somehow lost my "internal thermostat," and went from always being warm to always being cold, so now I, too, often wear a flannel shirt over top of a dress shirt, like my grandfather did. I even have one flannel shirt I keep here in the office that I wear on days when the AC is cranked up. And I wouldn't be surprised if any year now, one of the grandkids gives me an Old Spice gift set for Christmas or a birthday, and I guess I'll have to splash some on to please him/her, and say, "Ahhhhhhh." Which I will.)

I think I was in high school when the aftershave called "Canoe" (but pronounced ka-KNOW-ee) came out, and was all the rage; every guy had to run out and buy Canoe. I was a freshman in college at West Chester State (young Dave Barry was probably just up the street working for the paper there, had anyone but known who he'd turn out to be) when English Leather suddenly erupted onto the scene. Every evening we'd get dressed (this was "back in the day" when a college dining hall had dinner dress codes) in our standard "uniforms" (de rigeur back then where "wheat"-colored jeans, white or blue Oxford button-down [often un-ironed] shirt, necktie [but not snugged up tight], and light brown cordoroy jacket, often with leather elbow patches). Then we'd all splash on our English Leather and walk two blocks to the dining hall.

(I didn't have a tan corduroy jacket, but wanted one worse than you can imagine. I was such an outcast without my cool tan cord jacket. I wrote home begging my parents to buy me one, and finally just before Christmas finally got one -- an early Xmas present, of course -- and so finally became one of those English-Leather smelling cool guys in wheat jeans and a tan cord jacket. Second semester was sooooooooooooooo much better now that I was cool. I think I may even have had a date that semester--I don't remember. Must have been either the jacket or the English Leather that did it.) (N.B. English Leather only had the one flavor back then; lime and spice flavor came later.)

(You younger boodlers probably think I'm hallucinating, but yes, back in 1964 college kids wore coats and ties in the dining hall at dinner--and I'm talking about just your ordinary old everyday non-sectarian cheapy state-supported poor kids' land-grant teachers college, not some hotshot Ivy school like, uh... certain people went to. All the girls in one dorm, no "visitors" [i.e., of the opposite gender] above the ground floor; all the guys in a different dorm. Vietnam and the peace movement, hippies, the birth of the drug culture, etc., wiped all that out pretty quick. You hadda be there. I'm pretty sure Jerry Rubin didn't wear English Leather.)

Cut grass in the mist might be a winning grassy note in a perfume. Chlorine and hot asphalt, not so much, unless swimmers somehow get hit on more than the average.

I do believe human pheronomes are real, however I suspect all the "hot testesterone-marinated stud" signals would not override what basically smells like a guy with an repulsive immune system. (Sorry Joel, but it's time you faced it. That and your wedding ring pretty much made you as sexy as pheronomone-laden buzzard meat.)

...Your Multiple histocompatibility complex just doesn't lie.

Thanks, dmd. I'm glad to hear that your Mom's condition is such that her team is speaking of remission. Keep the positive energy flowing...

Hey, dmd, just checked out that Hasselhoff/Kurasowa guy post. Didja notice a certain poster further down going by the handle of "bc"? Hmmmmmmm.

Pls,
you don't say how long you'll be in the three regions during your short six-day trip. Two days for each spot?

San Fran: All the usual tourist places.

Napa: The wineries, tours, tastings. Some wineries are modern, others associated with older vineyards and historic estates. Inhale wine to your heart's content.

Mendocino: I love this place. You can go over through Jenner--can stop and see if there are sea lions where the river flows into the beach, but from there it's longer time-wise to go up the coast-but scenic. Or you can go through Philo and Booneville to arrive on the coast just north of Elk. Elk has a winery or two and you may pass wineries through this valley. Greenwood Ridge (California Wine Tasting Championship) isn't far from here, but small. Spend time in Mendocino dining, walking, photographing.

I think it's worth a short drive north to Fort Bragg, much more a working man's town than the touristy Mendocino, but drive down to the harbor to get a feel for the fishing fleet and have a fresh dinner at the big restaurant at the bottom of the hill. Also, you can take a half day's ride from here on the Skunk train (smells are fine) through the redwoods. If it's still hot in California, you'll enjoy the coast. Expect foggy mornings along California's summer coast. Take a light sweater or jacket.

Nor do other people's Multiple Chemical Sensitivities ;).

I'm with Bad Sneakers on the value of talcum powder (baby powder smell), good hygenie and nothing much more.

I've gotten olfactory migraines from actually fairly pleasant smelling fragnances, and others make me gag. I just don't have the olfactory fortitude to work as a perfume or cologne tester, that's for sure.

Not to mention almost all of those fragnance, once they land on my skin, smell like they're trying to dress up a freshly dead corpse's scent.

I suspect my MHC or my skin temperature just doesn't gel with perfume, despite my French heritage. It must be that Irish-Scots blood in me.

Maybe I'm actually doomed to smell great only when boozed up with beer, whiskey or after cooking cabbages. Ew. Then again, maybe good honest gardening dirt is the key.

I also find skunks not to be as repellent at first, since I seem to smell the truly rancid part of their scent slower than other parts, or maybe the skunks around here just don't have what it takes.

I once bathed my dog 3 times after an encounter with a skunk, and it wasn't until after 10 minutes or so I really started gagging. The tomato didn't blend with the skunk so well.

Mudge, Old Spice at least doesn't make me ill... good thing because my father used it a lot, although he managed never to use so much that it spread throughout the room, probably because he had a beard and didn't do THAT much shaving.

My mom, on the other hand, could have used lessons about toning it own.

I made the mistake a few years ago of buying drugstore perfume as a Christmas stocking stuffer. It got a pretty dismissive, "Wow! I haven't worn this since junior high." Nowadays she trolls Sephora and the Neiman Marcus fragrence selection and hands me an approved list before important gift-giving holidays. I had a few fancy colognes but there just never seemed to be an occassion important enough to wear one.

If I had the faintest glimmer that phermones worked I would resort to them, but I think any proof of their efficacy would be totally lost in the statistical noise of all the other uncontrolled variables.

I think the cheap stuff is synthetic musk. Whaddya want for $16 a bottle? Do men read labels?

Your welcome Jack, like your MIL it is her liver that is the problem. Two weeks ago I would never have considered getting her into remission as a possibility, just getting to the next day was big, but something happened in her and she began to climb back.

I am not a particularly religious person, despite my family upbringing and 13 years of Catholic school (no priests or nuns however). Yet just at the very start of moms recovery my uncle came for a visit.

That morning I had stayed the previous night with my dad, mom was very weak, eating almost nothing but the applesauce her pills were crushed in. She was recovering from pnuemonia and had sleep apnea for periods up to 30 seconds every few minutes. I spent time with her on the Friday night but mostly she just lay in restless sleep calling out for Mary.

In the morning I went to visit her, it was not good, she was in mid delusion when I entered the room, unaware of what her train of thought was I smiled a little when she referred to the nurses in the room, as performing part of her treatment. After I smiled she remarked that it wasn't funny they were preparing to execute her. The morning did not progress much better she was in and out of various delusions, feeling very overwhelmed and alone I was anxious for my Dad and Uncle to appear.

Immediately when they entered the room she cheered. It was not the happiest of visits for us. Just before we left, my uncle, a priest, decided to say a few prayers, trying to hide that I really didn't remember all the words I put my head down, and glaced at mom, during the prayers she was still for a bit then breathed a large sign and moved one finger.

At the time I thought she had completely made peace with her death, but it began a really surprising bounce back for her.

Logic tells me that she has just recovered from the trauma of her diagnosis and various infections, but I can't totally remove that picture of my uncle praying over her and the belief that it somehow made a difference. It makes me feel a little better so I will stay with it.

Please give my best to your wife and family, it is such a difficult time, I will keep you all in my prayers hoping for a miracle and barring that strength and love.

Anyone ever get a compliment from a stranger for their natural scent or cologne?

Last December, I was up early in a local store for one of those early morning limited-specials kind of deal. I was heading down a narrow aisle on my way to the front of the store and an older gentleman passed me, shorter, also a shopper, and said, "What beautiful hair you have." I didn't know him from Adam.

I hadn't even showered yet that morning, and had just run a brush through my tresses before dashing out the door. His remark did catch me off-guard and left me with a nice early morning glow just before sunrise.

pls,
If you get near Fairfield, be sure to take the Jelly Belly factory tour. That is the only place you can buy bags of their QC rejects called Belly Flops.

I had a boss that wore too much cologne and would use my phone and the handpiece would reek of his scent the rest of the day. Eeeeewww!

SCC: Mendocino. I'm typing too fast.

Only from friends. Most people would feel awkward saying "gosh you smell good." to a stranger, I think ;).

I hear for women, the best scent they can have is to smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls.

Apparently, that person wearing godawful perfume might be an alcoholic...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060725092208.htm

(Sorry, guys! You had to know.)

My mother never wore perfume; she had a roommate in the Army who bathed in Tabu, and she was turned off to the whole concept. She always said that perfume should whisper, not shout. That sounds about right to me.

When I was in junior high, the cologne for men was Jade East. It was years before I figured the name out, it sounded like Jadees when guys referred to it.

Thanks for the suggestions! I don't know whether or not we'll be near Fairfield. We'll be in Mendocino for just 1 night, and have horseback riding on the beach scheduled. We don't know what we'll do for dinner that night, so if anyone knows of a good restaurant, that would be great.

The bathroom soap that they use here at work always makes me think instantly of the beach: Woods Hole, MA, in 1976. I think that the scent must be similar to whatever soap we had in the house during that summer. Maybe. Anyway, it works. Sometimes, I wash my hands unnecessarily, then sit at my desk and smell my hands, trying to recapture a memory that flits through my brain too fast for me to pick out the specific moment that wrote the association of soap-smell and beach permanently into my mind.

Rosehips, maybe.

I despise soaps that are supposed to smell like almond (you listening, United Airlines?). It smells a little like almond, a little like marzipan (which I dislike, unlike everyone else on Earth), and a lot like an obvious fake. The artificiality is blatant. I don't like being lied to.

Sunscreen always makes me think of the Great Southwestern Vacation that the ScienceSpouse and I took the year after I finished my dissertation. Sagebrush. Windswept plateaux. Mysterious ruins standing in the midst of a dry grassy plain, or a dry scrubby canyon. Stowing the food away from a curious skunk. Rising at dawn for the cheap all-you-can-stand pancake breakfast at the Mesa Verde campground. Stomping on flaming fire ants in Chaco Canyon. Good times.

If you want guys to encounter you with happy associations, ladies, nothing does it like sunscreen.

Oh, and my mother-in-law practically bathes in Angel by Thierry Mugler. I can't stand the stuff - it's incredibly heavy. After "Grandma" laves, my daughter's clothes still smell like Angel for days.

No dmd, he is Canadain, and quite proudly so. After all these years, and after all he has done, if there is one thing you have to give him, its that he has a sense of humour. Hasselhoff would have an awful lot to live up to.

My favourite Shatner quote: "I'm not a Starfleet commander, or T.J. Hooker. I don't live on Starship NCC-170... (some audience members say "1"), or own a phaser. I don't know anybody named Bones, Sulu, or Spock (picture of Dr. Benjamin Spock is shown on screen behind him). And no, I've never had green alien sex, but I'm sure it'd be quite an evening. (Pomp and Circumstance begins playing.) I speak English and French, not Klingon! I drink Labatt's, not Romulan ale! And when someone says to me 'live long and prosper', I seriously mean it when I say, 'get a life'. My doctor's name is not McCoy, it's Ginsberg (nude picture of Dr. Ginsberg shown on screen). And tribbles were puppets, not real animals. PUPPETS! And when I speak, I never, ever talk like Every. Word. Is. Its. Own. Sentence. I live in California, but I was raised in Montreal. And I believe in priceline.com, where you never have to pay full price for airline tickets, hotels, and car rentals! I've appeared onstage at Stratford, at Carnegie Hall, Albert Hall, and the Monkland Theatre in NDG. And, yes, I've gone where no man has gone before, but... I was in Mexico and her father gave me permission! My name is William Shatner, and I am Canadian!"

-- from a Just for Laughs appearance; a parody of the popular Molson Canadian Commercial entitled "I Am Canadian"

I'm having difficulty shaking the scent of the Potomac River. Of course I live in DC and drink out of the water fountains in the office.

My Grandfather wore English Leather. My Grandmother always smelled like flowers.

My youngest kid was breast-fed until 3. During his first months of life On the evenings when my wife worked, I tried to bottle feed him with pumped milk. He had absolutely no problem waiting for 9 hours for the real deal, which got me in trouble with the wife. My doughter came up with the idea to get one of my wife's shirts out of the dirty laundry and wear it during the bottle feeding. It has something to do with smell. It worked.

TBG, on very rare occasions, I'll watch a movie and pester my family members about what's going on. I never have been much of a movie guy. For most movies, I have a hard time "getting" it. And if I actually can understand the nuances of the plot, it throws my emotions out of whack. I have heard that there are theaters and movies now that contain running commentaries for the visually impaired, but I haven't been there yet.

RD, all beaches smell like coconuts to me. Have a great vacation.

On the other hand, SciTim, there's Jergens' lotion, which I believe is cherry almond. My grandmother used it, and the scent always brings thoughts of her to me. What a wonderful smell.

As the Lone Mule would say: "This STINKS"

ahhh scents - i always thought of doing a theatre piece with scents (before i dropped out of the bizness)

i HATE HATE HATE obsession or really any calvin klein fragrance - for some reason they give me a splitting headache - but obsession for men reminds me of a particularly awful date i had with a loathsome creature - now i equate that smell with that memory and YUCK! polo was my highschool boyfriend's cologne - ah, the memories! love that smell - also, p diddy has a new cologne out Unforgiveable that is heavanly! this (younger) guy that i have a tiny crush on wears it and it just makes me melt!

i am a terrible creature of habit and when i land on a cologne that i like, i wear that and only that for ever. i'm currently doing samsara by guerlain - i get compliments on it all the time - and yes, loomis, it does give me a warm fuzzy... i also get compliments on my hair (!!!!! curly mess that is completely untame-able)...

dr, I was waiting for someone to say that.

It only makes scents, after all.

Mudge, you know that I am a promiscious Blogger. The Boodle is home, but I visit many places.

bc

dmd, Polo was indeed the mid-80s thing. Funnily, I think a lot of the preppie fashion of that period was a fond reminiscence of 1964 when freshmen wore jackets and oxfords to dinner.

Confession: I think I still have my bottle of Polo (I applied very sparingly).

So, shop steward, you should propose a challenge or contest for the boodlers so that we can try to impress the boss for when he gets back. Speaking of smells, we'd better clean up the Boodlers' Lounge before he gets back too.

Whenever I grill porkchops, my wife will complain about my Eau De Barbeque for the rest of the evening, but I think she secretly likes it.

Oh Mudge, I remember Canoe, I loved that smell when I was young. It just dawned on me that a bunch of us girls in college liked it so much that we took to wearing it for a while. I'm sure if I smelled it now I wouldn't have the same reaction. I am definitely less tolerant of certain odors now that I am getting up there in years - not too far behind you. I also remember the dress codes at school. The one that always puzzled me was women not being allowed to wear pants. Skirts were above the knee and only unending vigilance could keep me from showing more leg than I intended. Plus, pantyhose were a drain on a struggling coed's budget.

Soc, no fair, Polo on gentlemen with Jackets and Oxford, I am not going to be able to concentrate at work now. Seems much more fitting that the clothes that it originally accompanied in the 80's, of course often you couldn't smell it overtop of the scents from the various hair products everyone used to excess.

Mudge I did see bc's comment as well.

When I was a teenager I wore Jovan Musk or Charlie--back in those days I was a big consumer of stuff like hair conditioner and makeup and fingernail polish. Nowadays I'm pretty much all natural all the time, and yes, I do have the experience of people complimenting me on my scent. I have tried a couple of times to return to the Jovan or Charlie, just because I have fond memories of those days when the world was new and everything was possible. But I no longer like the way those colognes smell. But for anyone who "hates" musk, I just want to mention, my sister favors patchouli. Now that's a fragrance that can make you appreciate Jovan Musk again.

However, this kit is not about cologne, not really. It's about pheromones, and that is one of my favorite subjects, because the real subject is: why do we do what we do? What motivates us, because as the famous saying goes, man is not a rational creature, he is a rationalizing creature. We are led by the nose and we don't even know it. I am always interested in pheromone studies because they help uncover our subconscious motivations. But it's a subject most people are very uncomfortable with because that "free will" thing is one of our most cherished illusions. And there are a good reasons for that. I cherish it myself.

Thanks again, dmd, for the words of encouragement.

I may have to operate a dehumidifier in here...it smells nasty to the point that I wonder what kind of fungi is airborne and how benign it is.

Pat, I don't think a movie with a running commentary for the visually impaired would be my bag either. Most movies nowadays are mindless action and visual gags.

A movie based on a book, maybe would be better, but heck, listen to the book and you're done.

Exception: if you know Hamlet, you might want to try out "Rosencrantz and Guilderstern are Dead" with visual description-- it's a very spare movie visually except for some low-key visual gags, and some fights with the actors near the end. It's very funny to people who really know Hamlet. The movie is almost entirely dialogue. It's very weird and might be hard to follow.

Heck, Rosencrantz and Guildernstern themselves aren't entirely sure who is which.

Otherwise, I'd just bring an iPod to the movies with your favorite stuff and start dancing like nobody can see you, deaf to the screams to SIT DOWN!

I used to bring books to concerts all the time because my parents were too cheap to pay for a babysitter and didn't want me home alone. Well, watching a group of kids sawing away at instruments is interesting only so long, and making up the stuff between the pauses between dialogue might be tough.
I find watching movies without dialogue very hard myself too.

Free will when it comes to courtship and marriage is a rather novel and modern concept and not universally practiced either.
Shotgun weddings, arranged marriages, endless cheating, dowry marriages, marrying unattractive people for financial/political/social advantage...

The motives will always outstrip what pheromones alone can tell us.

Mmm, smells like Teen lust ooh ahh aooh aaah....

I was told teen spirit was a deodorant, but I always thought that was a ridiculous lyric.
Smells like teen spirit...

jack and dmd

I lift all my friends up in prayer petitionig God through Christ to give whatever is needed in the lives of my friends here. I know that sickness is everywhere, and that not only those sick suffer, but families do too. I'm happy about your news dmd, and I'm still praying jack. Pat, God is good.

RD, hope you enjoy the beach. You're not too far from me, although I'm in NC. Sitting on the state line in a sense.

Nani, wherever you are, I hope everything is well with you and family. Looking forward to hearing from you.

kb, nice try to deflect the boodle back on topic.

I never purchased Canoe, but I recall the bottle was signal flags spelling that out? Also, the television ad had an annoying double repetition of the name Canoe (or rather, single repetition) that obviously worked to some degree in that I recall it, but not in the degree that I would purchase that product.

"petitioning"

wilbrod - guess you had to be in highschool in the 80's - teen spirit was a big time commercial and they always had elaborate commercials on mtv - i got a kick out of the title "smells like teen spirit"

pls - in san fran i would recommend the rest. the stinking rose http://www.thestinkingrose.com/ it's a garlic rest. so be prepared to STINK!

google ads have jovan musk! LOL

wilbrod - guess you had to be in highschool in the 80's - teen spirit was a big time commercial and they always had elaborate commercials on mtv - i got a kick out of the title "smells like teen spirit"

pls - in san fran i would recommend the rest. the stinking rose http://www.thestinkingrose.com/ it's a garlic rest. so be prepared to STINK!

google ads have jovan musk! LOL

For some reason I'm visualizing William Shatner doing his "Rocket Man" parody but doing a riff on"MuskMan" instead but I can't quite make out the lyrics.

Let's just say he is spraying himself as well as smoking... and I anticipate a fireball any moment when aerosol meets flame.

Anybody willing to help interpret the lyrics here?

PLS-
This is a useful guide to San Francisco from the SF Chronicle. I recommend going to the Ferry Building Market. Beautiful building, cool shops and places to eat, and a fab view of the bay.

http://www.sfgate.com/traveler/guide/

Did I just say "fab?"

Wait, could it be a ballad on Pepe Le Pew? Darn that Canuckistan accent and his mumbling talent.

I always found Leonard Nimoy much easier to lipread than Shatner and he was supposed to be the emotionless alien and deadpan, too.

My google ads:

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dr, forgot to say earlier I remember seeing that William Shatner piece, very funny.

Ac from Sj, I've been to San francisco. "Fab view of the bay" fits.

Boffo, not that much. Gorgeous, meh. "Nice"-- huge understatement.

Fab is it.

dr, how about Pam Anderson - can give her away?

PLS

A couple of suggestions for San Francisco restaurants:

Scomas, on Fisherman's Wharf for their "Lazy Man's Cioppino" (never had anything else there).

Kuletos near Union Square for Italian (anything on the menu is good).

In Napa Valley I had lunch at Buchon's in Yountville and it was excellent. For winery tours I would recommend Clos Pegase. A newer winery, the caves were hollowed out of a limestone hill and the buildings/landscaping is kind of a modern-roman-southwest mix, designed by Micheal Graves, that works surprisingly well. The wine is good, too. Ask the server in the tasting room for a tour of the caves. That's how it worked when we were there several years ago. (How do you make a small fortune in the wine business? Start with a large fortune, and work from there.)

kb, I find it an interesting subject too, but don't know that much about pheromones. Remember a little bit from biology a long, long, time ago. I think it's all part of being human, and an aspect of our humanity that is still somewhat "mysterious". Can we blame ourselves if we meet certain people that we just don't like because of the "smells" they give off, not the man-made kind, but those given by nature? I find that really interesting. And what about those scents we pick up from the opposite sex, that lead us to fall in love or utterly reject a person. Is it the same for everyone or do we have the same mechanism in place for everyone? How many scents are we talking about here? The list is endless.

PLS, instead of Napa, can you shoot over to Sonoma Valley instead? (Next valley over.) There's a great little vineyard called Viana Winery and Italian Marketplace (http://www.viansa.com/) that's really good, and they have some really terrific vino, especially their "Athena" Dolcetto, to die for. Their shop is beautiful, perched on a hill with a great view, and the store has all sorts of cool stuff, dips and jellies and what-not. A "must-visit."

Fisherman's Wharf: touristy and over-rated. Alcatraz: very worth a visit. Dinner at the Carnellian Room on the 54th floor of a building across from the TransAmerica Building: world-class outstanding view of the city, bay, harbor, etc. Unparalleled.

Slyness, yes! Jade East! It came out right about the same time as English Leather (1964), and that was the "backup" aftershave/cologne on days you didn't want to do the EL. I think I actually preferred it to EL, because it wasn't as heavy.

Loomis, I too, wouldn't think of saying anything to a stranger (a woman, anyway) about her perfume or appearance or anything; just way too invasive and "not done," even though I've often been tempted. There's a woman I see at the bus stop every so often who is an absolutely stunning dresser, but very understated, and she likes to wear hats. Almost every day I look forward to seeing her to see what she's wearing. She's probably in her late fifties, black, very trim, and wears her hair extremely short, almost a buzz cut like Shari Belafonte, that is extremely attractive on her. But as much as I'd love to say to her one day how classy I think she is, I can't conceive of ever doing so in a million years. Which is a shame, I suppose. But it ain't happening.

Environmental scents can also interfere with the natural pheronomes too.

I know a woman who couldn't bear to go out with a guy again because he had an unneutered tom cat and the whole apt reeked of tom urine... and his clothing as well. It was worst turnoff she ever had in her life, even though the guy was nice enough.

I guess anybody who dates me must not mind dog smell too much, either, although that is not in the same league as an unneutered tom cat.

And I think that's also why many people prefer the plain clean smell to a ton of perfume-- less jangle on the nose.

Mudge, is she at your bus stop? If so, perhaps on a day when the weather is commentable, raining, muggy etc., you could make a comment that despite the weather she always looks put together,. I am sure you could come up with something Although you may want to have a least said hello on a previous occasion.

dmd, I don't think they'd take her, maybe her...umm, inserts, but not all of her.

PLS, been several years since I was in San Francisco, but we reallly liked Scomas, enough that we went back a second time. It's near Fisherman's Wharf, but not in the touristy part. When you're in a restaurant where all the waitstaff are elderly, you know it's a good place. The food was fab, if I may use the expression.

Okay, now I see that Steve-2 recommends it also.

Heheheheh

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"When you're in a restaurant where all the waitstaff are elderly, you know it's a good place???"

Do you mean it appears it's a family business of long-standing, or you enjoy being served by waiters who have senior moments and drop false teeth in the soup?

(Man I'm glad I'm anonymous on this blog-- my grandmother would put a hex on me right now).

dmd, and then there is Conrad Black who renounced his Canadaian citizenship, whom the British would like to give back, and whom the US doesn't want either.

To go veering wildly off topic for a bit, a question for the boodle.

Castro is ill and from what I saw on tv today, there is partying in the streets in southern Florida, and fireworks. Does that kind of partying strike anyone else as a bit unseemly?

People are partying because someone is ill. That just seems wrong somehow. Partying because Cuba has the power to be a self determining nation rather than a dictatorship, now that I can see should be partied about.

Cassandra, one of the studies that did come to a pretty clear conclusion showed that pheromones play a part in the phenomenon that happens when women share living (or even working space)--their menstrual cycles synchronize. The study showed that the pheromones can make that happen, with no other contact between the women.

Other studies haven't been so conclusive, maybe because they didn't have a concrete result to measure. Science hasn't found a way to really measure "attraction" or "falling in love"--it may be just too complex for humans to comprehend.

Joel's non-scientific study was not conclusive. It's very possible that women were noticing him and hoping he'd talk to them and he didn't notice because he was too self-conscious. On the other hand, it is possible that the musk odor was so off-putting that it balanced the attractive properties of the pheromones. And it is also possible that one's own pheromones are "as good as it gets" and adding more, the kind you can buy, will never improve the situation. Maybe your own pheromones are specifically designed to attract the kind of person that you are predisposed to like(!) That would be, like, "intelligent design," wouldn't it?

Been to SF once and the most memorable thing about the trip (besides that little ground shaking thing) was a trip to Angel Island. Hike to the top for spectacular views of the bay, city, bridges, especially Golden Gate. Liked it so much I went back a few days later to rent a bike to ride around the island a couple times, much fun. The ferry to AI passes Alcatraz and that was enough of that for me. It was on this trip that I "discovered" Ghiarradeli (sp) dark chocolate. mmmmhmhm, that is the best.

That would be too good to be true, Kb.

I can think of a lot of women I know who complain they seem to attract jerks and creeps. I would add a line, "usually when they're beating me off", but let's not get too personal here ;).

Also, women can find their mates less attractive on bc pill because their olfactory preferences shift. And dating on bc= when she goes off it-- "oh, ew, he smells like my dad."

The pheromones that help synchronize cycles seem to be at their peak in the morning, they are also more apt to shorten a phase by a few days, rather than delay a phase by a few days, from what I vaguely recall.

SCC: I just realized I accidentally wrote a double entendre. I meant of course, being assaulted with an umbrella, mace, kung fu, etc. Nothing else.

Wait! The SCC made it even worse. I'm slinking in shame now.

I can see why Mudge and other gentlemen might not want to say anything overly complimentary to strange women. Language is such a fickle beast...

Wilbrod, I missed that until you SCC'd, but I noticed "bc pill", and wonder what bc has to say about that.

PLS: While in SanFran, walk Geary Street for facinating art galleries. I saw the latest imported art, plus Norman Rockwells, Picassos, and Rembrandt sketches. Also, walk China town, see Ghiarradeli Square, and Walk Across The Golden Gate Bridge (it is so cool!). Drive to Twin Peaks for a sky view of the entire Bay Area. And, rent bicycles and tour Golden Gar Park.

I lied, heh hed. There's really no Golden Gar Park. In fact, there's no Golden Gar Anything, in this dimension. Golden Gate Park. Much better.

re: Kuletos near Union Square for Italian (anything on the menu is good).

I second that!

dr, I was going to mention Castro because that is HUGE news here in subtropical America, and apparently pretty much of a ho-hum subject everywhere else. I couldn't get too worked up about it--it's not a revolution or a coup, and nothing will be changing any time soon for Cuba as a whole.

The older Cuban exiles in Miami are positively insane on the subject of Fidel Castro. Most of them are really old now, and the overall sentiment among Cubans has mellowed somewhat. But 15-20 years ago, if you as much as said that the U.S. should have diplomatic relations with our nearest Caribbean neighbor, you might find a bomb in your car.

Of course it is wrong to celebrate someone's illness. But it's understandable that people are happy that the long period of Castro's personal domination of the island's government is coming to a close. I hope that Cuba will be allowed to be a free democracy, but I don't think that is likely. The radical Cuban exiles don't seem to understand or appreciate democracy. They are always ready to deprive others of their civil rights on the basis of their politics. And Castro didn't come to power by overthrowing a democracy, remember.

...how abouot the smell of darkroom chemicals? Love that; it means excitement. Rain on the wind. We had some rain last night in central Wyoming. Smell of horses and the saddle you're riding in. Any leather. Fresh-cut grass. Sitting on the porch waiting for a friend's mom to get her maple rolls out of the oven. I have my late mother's old bottle of "D-jer Kiss" which still brings her to mind whenever I open it.

Wilbrod, *I* may put a hex on you!

Silly boy.

...and I might add that Miami isn't much of a model for democracy, either.

You know, kber, that's interesting. You think about Latin America and democracy, and the two really don't have a good history together. (I'm speaking in generalities here.) But think about what happened in Spain, which had such a significant influence on Latin America. Fascist till Franco died, then morphed into a peaceful democracy. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the same happened in Cuba? Wonder if there is a leader who could make that happen?

slyness, a leader to make democracy happen in Cuba? It's sure not G.W. Bush. That's what mostly fuels my pessimism.

But there is a great deal of idealism in Cuba, and I think most of the people in Cuba are proud of being independent from American economic and cultural imperialism. I believe they could create a democratic/socialist society and I hope they do have leadership for that.

Kber, I was thinking an internal-to-Cuba leader, for sure. But of course the POTUS would have to walk carefully not to muck the process up.

Kber, do you think Cuba would have to go through a tough transition similar to Russia? I know many Canadians who holiday in Cuba (yes its legal here), a common practise is to take down stuff they desperately need there, everything from Shampoo, diapers, toothbrushes shoes etc. I have a SIL who takes almost a suitcase with her of products on her trips.

I am not a big believer in economic boycotts, in the end its the people who suffer most not the government. I can see Cuba going democratic, major multinationals moving in, but conditions for those who need help the most - would they change?

Well, he's out of a job in 2008 anyway, so why not make a horizontal career move?

kb

I'm not sure exactly what "intelligent design" is, and as a Christian, that may very well go against everything I believe in and try real hard to practice. I believe the human form to be a wonderful creation, and its mysteries certainly not all known.

Perhaps the those in Cuba that believe in Communism think the US might annex their country. The way our international picture looks right now, that may not sway too many people in Cuba or anywhere else for that matter. If democracy would help the people in Cuba, compared to what the situation is now, sounds good to me. Keep in mind I am not that familiar with things in Cuba. I've seen a couple of movies portraying life in Cuba, and it was not shown in the best light.

from wikipedia:

Raúl Castro is thought to be more pragmatic than his older brother, and would also be more willing to institute free market-oriented economic policies. However, he is also considered to be a political hardliner who will maintain the Communist Party of Cuba's political power. It is speculated that he favors some version of the current Chinese political and economic model for Cuba.

But whatever you do don't wiki fidel if you're at work. In fact you may not want tio wiki him at all.

Has anyone else noticed that the Boodle still seems to be about one minute fast?

Omni - you are joking right?

nope.

I knew a guy who was cuban-american. He said in many ways he'd love to live there, but there simply are no jobs.

I always think all things equal, people like to stay near home if they could find the economic opportunities they wanted there.
Which is why I was very angry even as a teen that NAFTA did not involve compelling Mexico to sign a minimum wage law. I knew it wouldn't make things better without that.

OK, this is weird: I had already read dmd's 1:28 post when I posted mine at 1:27 (according to my computer's time, which is automatically set via Internet).

We're still fighting time and space here, guys.

Wouldn't be the first time someone said I was a real pill, Wilbrod.

And SoC.

This reminds me of a guy some years ago who was peddling a book he wrote about "How to Score With Women - Every Time", or some such nonsense.

One of his claimed "methods" was to get a woman's full attention, eye contact, etc., smile and engage her in coversation, and think very Adult graphic thoughts as much as possible. The idea was that a man thinking about, er, Congress for a prolonged period would cause a his state of physical arousal to generate Manly pheromones that a woman would be receptive to in a, er, um, s3xual context.

Granted, people can have an inexplicable physical attraction for one another, but that theory sounded ridiculous.

Besides, I've been trying it for 15 years on the Mrs., nuthin' doin'. It don't work.

bc

I had read Wilbrod's 1:30 when I posted my 1:29. I'm feeling a little dizzy.

Perhaps its all the talk of Cuba, our posts are being monitored?

PLS -- good restaurant in Napa, "Don Giovani." Up the road about 10 miles in Yountville, "Mustard's." (Actually, I don't recall if the name is a possessive, or not.) But we just ate there Tuesday night and it is as good as ever. Hanger steak followed by lemon-lime pie with brown sugar meringue.

It seems the temporal police wanted to prevent me from BOoOing.hehehe

So why shouldn't we wiki Fidel?

TBG, probably because a big obscene picture will pop up? Because the site was vandalized by the aforementioned crazy Cuban exiles? Just guessing...

cause you don't get a picture of fidel, you get a picture of something else...

I'll have to do that from home, cause it's a blocked site here at work...

Ohhh. OK. I won't try it then. I'll just check out whitehouse.com then.

Well, I just searched for Fidel on Wiki and nothing exciting happened.

oh man gunde! i LOVE the smell of darkroom chemicals! i used to love to just lock myself in the darkroom for hours and hours with a walkman... so serene!

'mudge - i say compliment her in the least lechurous way possible - just a kind of aside comment - it gives women lots of warm fuzzies to be complimented by a man who is obviously not trying to hit on you!

kb,

When I lived in WPB, the cable system carried the Miami stations. It astounded me that news from Cuba lead the 6 o'clock news every night. Cuban ex-pats are just nuts over Fidel. They seem to be harboring some dream about getting their sugar plantations back as soon as Castro becomes room temperature. Not going to happen.

If you talk about it will come? Is time space changing just because we talk about it changing?

I keep forgetting that Cuba is fairly verbotten in the U.S. Its just Cuba here. I am familiar with some of the games corporations play though because of Cuba.

I think change will be in the wind for Cuba, but the best thing that could happen, the most beneficial for the western world, would be, if that when that change comes, there is not a hint of American influence, and I don't think that that will happen. Kbertocci, its getting a fair amount of media attention up here. I shall check BBC after lunch.

I agree, I think things are slipping out of synch here.

I dunno who runs the daggone servers, but there are plenty of automated processes and services to timesynch servers with the National Observetory (which I just drove past about a half hour ago. Stuck my tongue out at Cheney in case he was there. Feds, you might see my pic pop up somewhere.).

Geez, having to set and synch date and time for a bunch of servers by hand is a complete waste of time.

bc

We're creeping back into the future folks.

my 1:47 should be after TBG's 1:49.

Cassandra--

That "intelligent design" remark was just a wisecrack. I think "intelligent design" is kind of a joke in itself, to most people. What I really wanted to say after I theorized about the pheromones being tailored to individual tastes was, "God is great"--because that's what I actually feel about the amazing complexity of creation, that we have no hope of fully understanding.

Hmph.

1:53 PM.

bc

That post took about 5 tries and only worked when I removed the correct time from the body of it.

It is now one forty-eight pee em Eastern Daylight Time.

um, I slipped into the past for a moment there. who knows where this will take me.

1353 EDT

Here we go again.

See how my 1:53 post went in at the correct time, but was inserted before TBG and omni's posts which I read before writing mine.

I'll let the WaPo peoples know that they need to get all hands on their back ends.

1:55 PM

bc

Are they all coming up 1:53 or was there mass posting?

OK SoC, when I was there it had two views of a man's you know. It's seems to have been replaced with Fidel's picture. Probably just some Miamian's messin' around.

Time keeps on slippin'
slippin'
slippin'

Into the future.

1:57 PM

bc

bc, that tune cootie won't work on me, as I'm immune at the moment, cause all my misplaced posts are going back in time.

When we visited Napa, we stayed in Yountville at a hotel where all the rooms are train boxcars. We had dinner at a generic family restaurant and on the way back I stood in front of French Laundry with a Snickers bar in my hand to say I had eaten there.

The train station hotel was across the street from Bouchon, so the wife and I ditched the kid in front of the tv and went over. The waiting list for a table was over two hours. Keller must think he's running a Cheesecake Factory or something. Instead, we sat at the bar and drank girlie drinks and ate appetizers.

I took one of their parchment paper menus as a souvenir so I could prove to people that a Croque Madame really cost $15.95. I don't know if that's the worlds most expensive egg and cheese sandwich, but it has to be close.

Proof:
http://www.frenchlaundry.com/bouchon/bomenu.htm

...it's a time warp puttin' wrinkles in your skin
it's a rockabilly music makes you silly in the end
it's a time warp puttin' circles on your eyes
it's a rockabilly music that's a blessing in disguise

I'm still getting 'blowback' on the Paloma Blanca tune cootie I threw out yesterday.

By the Chordettes (thame song for 'Back to the Future'?):

Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream
Make him the cutest that I've ever seen
Give him two lips like roses and clover
Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over

Sandman, I'm so alone
Don't have nobody to call my own
Please turn on your magic beams
Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream

.
.
.

take that bc...

Is this some sort of competition for worst tune cootie. SoC wins for not once but twice with the Paloma Blanca.

Perhaps we should just put time in a bottle?

ACK! i'm being attacked by tune cooties!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ha, I'm not famliar with Paloma Blanca...immune to that one as well.

i don't know paloma blanca but i certainly know my gordon lightfoot! dmd - don't make me trump you with a wreck of the edmund fitzgerald tune cootie!!

mo, trust me The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald would be a delight instead of Paloma Blanca. Paloma Blanca is one of those song that make you want to run screaming, sort of like One Tin Soldier if you remember that or Morning After (is that the name?) from the original Posieden Adventure.

Or perhaps you are too young for all of those, in that case good for you.

Here's a cootie in honor of MTV's birthday:

Video killed the radio star.
Video killed the radio star.
In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind we've gone to far
Oh-a-aho oh,
Oh-a-aho oh

Silly Buggles. I still can't believe that Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes of "Yes" fame were willing participants in that madness.

Martoon, cruel and unusual punishment.

Why didn't you just add Mr. Roboto, I had like Styx to that point.

I didn't even have to get to the words before I started laughing, just the thought of Elmer singing Springsteen sent me off.

Thanks

Going backward again, my 2:52 was in reference to Curmudgeon's 2:55.

My favorite tune cootie, from the album "Elmer Fudd Sings Bruce Spingsteen":

I'm driwing in my caw, I tun on the wadio
I'm puwwing you cwose, you just say no huhuhuhuhuh
You say you don't wike it, but gull I know you'we a wiah
`Cause when we kiss.... fi-uh...

SCC: "driwing" should be "dwiving"

Domo, dmd.

Oh, Mudge, that one got me.

Gotta fight back, um...

I'm sailing away, set an open course for the virgin sea
I've got to be free, free to face the life that's ahead of me
On board, I'm the captain, so climb aboard
We'll search for tomorrow on every shore
And I'll try, oh Lord, I'll try
to carry on

bc
PS There's a great South Park bit where this song is an unrecoverable tune cootie for Cartman. He tries to resist, then caves in and tries to push through it by singing the whole song as fast as possible, which is pretty funny in itself.

too young for all those except the elmer fudd - but i thought that song was originally sung by a woman? clearly i am not a springsteen fan...

bc - that bit on south park is prolly my fav...

For those that did not succomb to that, I toss in the second round:

Is this the real life-
Is this just fantasy-
Caught in a landslide-
No escape from reality-
Open your eyes
Look up to the skies and see-
Im just a poor boy, Ineed no sympathy-
Because I'm easy come,easy go,
A little high,little low,
Anyway the wind blows,doesnt really matter to me,
To me

Mama, just killed a man,
Put a gun against his head,
Pulled my trigger,now he's dead,
Mama, life had just begun,
But now I've gone and thrown it all away-
Mama ooo-ooo-ooo-oooooo,
Didn't mean to make you cry-
If I'm not back again this time tomorrow-
Carry on, carry on, as if nothing really matters-

HA!

bc

Thanks for the correction bc, I am terrible with the names of songs, even worse for the name of who sings them.

scc - not too young for styx! babe was one of my fav songs growing up

mo, you might be surprised as to how many folks have had hits singing Springsteen.

Aside from Elmer Fudd, that is.

bc

Wow, we've got enough suggestions for a month! We'll definitely have to try Scomas since it got so many recommendations. Thanks a bunch, everyone, and I'll be gone for about two weeks.

mo, I think it was Robin Williams, doing Elmer Fudd, doing Springsteen.

Ariel Sharon also had an Elmer Fudd thing going on as well, to my ear.

Oh, dmd, you misunderstood me.

The song is indeed called "Mr. Roboto", I was just thanking you by using the word "domo" (or, thanks) as used in the song.

I have some Cartman-class fatal tune cooties, but there's no way I'm ever going to tell any of you what they are.

bc

Enjoy your vacation, P.

bc

My fav Styx song circa 1976 - Grand Illusion, Styx was the first concert I went to in 77 or 78.

Welcome to the grand illusion
Come on in and see whats happening
Pay the price, get your tickets for the show
The stage is set, the band starts playing
Suddenly your heart is pounding
Wishing secretly you were a star.

But dont be fooled by the radio
The tv or the magazines
They show you photographs of how your life should be
But theyre just someone elses fantasy
So if you think your life is complete confusion
Because you never win the game
Just remember that its a grand illusion
And deep inside were all the same.
Were all the same...

So if you think your life is complete confusion
Because your neighbors got it made
Just remember that its a grand illusion
And deep inside were all the same.
Were all the same...

America spells competition, join us in our blind ambition
Get yourself a brand new motor car
Someday soon well stop to ponder what on earths this spell were under
We made the grade and still we wonder who the hell we are

SoC, I am sorry but that 3:25 comment has given me the biggest laugh all day.

How was the concert?

First concert, Trooper, 1978.

dmd, it was...

A good time, not a long time, so have a good time, the sun don't shine everyday.

SoC, you just brought back a flood of memories from Grade Nine. Thanks

http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/pageviewer?root=%2Fmoa%2Fatla%2Fatla0037%2F&tif=00173.TIF&cite=http%3A%2F%2Fcdl.library.cornell.edu%2Fcgi-bin%2Fmoa%2Fmoa-cgi%3Fnotisid%3DABK2934-0037-36&coll=moa&frames=1&view=50

The historical antecedent to tune cooties, courtesy of our boodle icon, Mark Twain.

"Fire" written by Springsteen was a #2 hit for the Pointer Sisters. Robin Williams does the tune cootie version. The only commercially available version peformed by Bruce is on his "Live/1975-1985" box set.

Bruce's only number one hit was when Manfred Mann covered "Blinded By The Light". On his Storytellers DVD, Bruce gives his take on the difference between the two versions, particularly the "wrapped up like a deuce/douche" controversy. Very funny.

Bruuuuuuce!

Just saw this in Liz's blog today, list of the uncoolist songs its OK to like.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/celebritology/

Since, as usual, I sit here listening to all your darn tune cooties, but can come up with none on my own, I give you this.

http://www.business.uc.edu/earworms/101

My first concert had Eddie Money as the opening act. I have it on good authority that Foghat was the main act, but I can't quite confirm that. SOMEBODY played "Slow Ride" for at leat 20 minutes.

I saw Styx on the Paradise Theater Tour which is considered the pinnacle of their career. I wanted to take the woman that is now my wife but her parents wouldn't let her go. Instead I took my buddy Mark who needed 3 months to pay me back for the $8 ticket.

The cheapest seats for their joint "We Lost The Lead Singer Somewhere" Tour with Foreigner run about forty bucks.

I expect to go to hell for this, but I'm feeling particularly evil and disruptive since I still have 4 hours of work ahead of me...

"My Sharona" (The Knack)

Ooh my little pretty one, pretty one.
When you gonna give me some time, Sharona?
Ooh you make my motor run, my motor run.
Gun it comin' off the line Sharona
Never gonna stop, give it up.
Such a dirty mind. Always get it up for the touch
of the younger kind. My my my i yi woo. M M M My Sharona...

My first concert was the WIBG Spectacular, with the Four Seasons, the Isley Brothers, and several other acts. Second concert was Jimi Hendrix. Of course I was very very very young then. Even so I suppose that makes me one of the elders here.

One time when I was working in an office on a very slow day we tried to come up with a song that would make everyone there lunge at the radio to change the station. We couldn't come up with a consensus because there was one woman who liked everything we didn't. I nominated Que Sera Sera.

ac, at least Que Sera has dislodged Paloma Blanca. Why can't I have Detroit Rock City as a tune cootie? It was on the radio this morning.

The first concert I went to was Kenny Rogers and the First Edition. Boy, those folks on Liz's blog think they should be embarrassed.

What's wrong with "Que Sera, Sera?" It helped me memorize the future form in Spanish when nothing else would.

That Twain piece is amusing-- I came across an "SF" version of his... It was called "Rumpty rump dee rump dah" something like that. This not only infected everybody, everybody seem unable to get rid of that rumpty rump dee rump, even when painting, you'd see the tune cootie in abstract blots and splash...
It was finally banished by finding the anti-cootie, which worked even on the reader (I had to try and remember the original 'cootie') I believe the cootie had an infernal origin.

Should have know Twain beat the other writers to that idea first. He did some of the first american mysteries, establishing the lawyerly detective genre, time travel, SF. Religious fanasty, etc. Earworms would not have gone unnoticed.
And a hey punch a rumpty dee rump, etc.

"Lord Randall" I found really annoying in English class. But mercifully I haven't had to read it since I was a teen and I also read different versions so I can no longer recall every verse involuntarily.

I suffer from tune cootie too, in literary formats. It's just one of those things the brain starts knitting with when it gets bored.

Although I admit, the idea of an abstract art tune cootie in that story was inspired-- and worked on me for a hour or so.

MY first concert was the Monkees, and I was still in elementary school, IIRC...I realize that dates me, but it also trumps others' first concerts for the epitome of lowness.

Slyness, I was only 11 as well (what were my parents thinking?). It was like "sheesh, who's burning all the leaves?"

Oh, Slyness, I saw the Monkees, too. I'll admit it.

ok - i'm the cool one in the group - my first concert was U2 Joshua tree tour! top that!

Okay, you asked for it. Think of the Gilligan's Island theme song. Is it firmly in your head? Now sing along:

Amazing grace how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now am found
Was blind but now I see.

Cures any other cootie.
Don't say I never gave you anything.

ivansmom, ha!

Was blind but now I see, was blind but now I see.

Back to the Kit -- my dad also wore Old Spice. It reminds me of him but I don't like it on anyone else. My mom never wore scent but my grandmother smelled wonderfully, and very gently, of flowers. I think it was a combination of that rose-type old-lady lotion and powder that always used to be around -- it may have been Avon -- and Dove soap.

I have worn the same, rose-based perfume since law school. I remember I didn't wear it while the Boy was a baby, but I did use a similar rose-scent lotion. I knew how easy it is to associate a scent with a person and experiences, and I decided I'd like him to always have a particular one for me. Brother.

Mudge, compliment that woman. I am confident you can find a polite way to do it, and it is such a happy thing to receive a sincere compliment from a stranger. I often will casually compliment someone I see often, or am transacting business with. One often thinks, "she looks elegant today" or "I like her nails" (particuarly as I don't "do" mine) or some such thing. I finally decided that life is short and if you have some joy you should spread it, so now I pass those things on. I'm obviously not expecting anything in return and I've never had anyone upset by it.

Thanks for that, Ivansmom. I was beginning to go crazy with Last Train to Clarksville.

mo, please tell me you waited until you were older to see concerts?

I went to the U2 Joshua Tree concert too, also the tour for Under a Blood Red Sky (I think) it was the album before Joshua Tree.

Two different venues one relatively small, 6,000 one large 45,000 both AWESOME.

Ivansmom,

I've been complimenting strangers lately, too, and it's so much fun.

A sincere "That color looks great on you!" or "What a nice outfit" is a good way to make someone's day.

I agree that Mudge should say something to his Bus Stop Woman. Something like "You always look so nice" could work.

Mudge, you can certainly pull that off that without sounding creepy. And if you get slapped, please forget that I gave you this advice.

Five-oh-three pee em Eastern Boodle Time

dmd - i was *shrug* early teens - maybe 15? first concert i was allowed to go to - not allowed to any previous U2 concerts!

brava ivansmom! i'm glad someone backed me up on complimenting the woman! i too try to compliment if i like a womans shoes, shirt, what-have-you... or a guys for that matter (but i'm of the firm belief that woman dress for other woman)

TBG and Ivansmom, I agree with you both, it would make my day if someone, particularly a stranger complimented me. I am more the rumpled type so it doesn't happen too often. I do try to say comments to others though.

Most mornings I go to a grocery store across the street from work to get something to eat. It is a 24 hr store and the staff are usually a little grumpy in the morning. All but one cashier, she is an absolute delight always bright and perky, it is infectious. I have complimented her several times as her attitude makes my day better.

mo, I will just slink away with my walker now.

For today, my besetting tune cootie is:

Don't think sorry's easily said
Don't try turning tables instead
You've taken lots of chances before
But I'm not gonna give anymore
Don't ask me
That's how it goes
Cause part of me knows what you're thinkin'

Don't say words you're gonna regret
Don't let the fire rush to your head
I've heard the accusation before
And I ain't gonna take any more
Believe me
The sun in your eyes
Made some of the lies worth believing

Chorus:
I am the eye in the sky
Looking at you
I can read your mind
I am the maker of rules
Dealing with fools
I can cheat you blind
And I don't need to see any more
To know that
I can read your mind, I can read your mind

Don't leave false illusions behind
Don't cry cause I ain't chnaging my mind
So find another fool like before
Cause I ain't gonna live anymore believing
Some of the lies while all of the signs are deceiving

o Alan Parsons Project. "Eye in The Sky." Lyrics. _Eye in the Sky_. Perf. Eric Woolfson. Eng. Alan Parsons. 1981. Arista, 1 June 1982. 4 Aug. 2006 <

http://www.tophitsonline.com/lyrics.php?songid=13783

>

Interesting and topical article about a Toronto journalist who recently had some problems while in Cuba.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1154641811954&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home

SonofCarl, you are welcome to "Detroit Rock City" back, as you've infected me with it.

yellojkt, I'll take your word on "Blinded" MMEB being Springsteen's only #1. I think other than the Pointer Sisters, I seem to recall Patti Smith charting with "Because the Night", Frankie Goes to Hollywood with "Born to Run", and I think "Glory Days" hit the country charts recently courtesy Mr. Kidman. Er, Keith Urban, I mean.

Hmm. Come to think of it, MMEB also charted with a cover of Springsteen's "For You" at some point in the early 80's.

bc

martooni, you OUGHT to go to hell for that. "My Sharona," indeed.

Gotta run for the bus. Home computer is still being difficult, so I'll likely be incommuniblogo until Monday. Everybody have a good weekend.

My Sharona. Gotta get 'im for that one. Let's see...

Mudge, if you do give in to the temptation to compliment this woman, please do not touch or grab yourself while doing so.

She may also become alarmed if you approach with your arms in front of you and hands open/palms out to indicate empty-handedness, saying "I come in peace."

Also: most women do not regard "Do fries go with that shake?" as a compliment.

An invitation to view your "elephant imitation" is also wrong, Mudge.

My suggestion: say nothing. Smile shyly and look away if she catches your eye. This should limit your legal exposure.

bc

bc, it has a great guitar riff, though. Since I brought that one up I've been immune to tune cooties, even during a peek at the Celebritology blog. Not sure how conducive it is to a safe drive home, however!

Mudge
re: your 12:16

There are some who are shy and others who are bold and forward. Complimenting a person is not necessarily bold and forward, particularly if you wipe any semblance of a lecherous grin off your face. *w*

A compliment sincerely given is usually well-received by a woman (I think). Live a little. Give a sincere compliment. Make someone's day.

Giving truthful nice words and flirting a little makes the blood flow a little bit faster and is good for the heart. It's good for your health, her health--bottom line--this is the argument I have always used with my mother by way of rationale. It's harmless, it's fun (or...it can be fun, has the potential of being fun).

One of the best spontaneous utterances from my own mouth, after laying eyes on an incredible man for about 15 seconds was "Do you teach?" He look like he taught. He did--law. This story ends here.

SCC:
He look= He looked
This story ends here before I incriminate myself any further...

Linda, it must have been the leather patches on his tweed jacket elbows that gave him away as a teacher.

==

We're leaving town tomorrow, too. Annual G Family Road Trip. This year we're calling it the Hillbilly Road Trip, as we will wind our way through the Cumberland Gap down to Chattanooga (staying at the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel), back up through Gatlinburg and Asheville over to Charlotte, where we have planned a Sunday brunch BPH with Slyness and her family.

Jack, can you make it to lunch on Sunday, Aug. 13? Or any other Charlotte boodlers? Email me at boodler at mac dot com if you can join us.

We are even visiting Mt. Airy, N.C., (the "real" Mayberry) and are spending one night in Andy Griffith's boyhood home. Check it out: http://www.andyshomeplace.com

Now that's what I call travelin' in style.

Have a wonderful trip TBG and PLS.

Rastah fratch

"...Born to run...."

A classical tune cootie: the Barber of Seville Bugs Bunny episode where Bugs is massaging Elmer Fudds head.

I'll try to drop by the Boodle this weekend but then we're off (finally) to vacation. Southwestern Colorado, in the San Juan mountains. Temperate days (after 100s) and cool nights. We're unplugged there so I'll probably check in about 10 days from now. Unless Ivansdad brings the laptop and finds a wireless cafe (I don't think he can go that long unplugged).

All this talk of scents and complimenting strangers reminds me of the movie "The Pickup Artist".

Mudge... try this one out at the bus stop (from the movie):

"Did anyone ever tell you that you have the face of a Botticelli and the body of a Degas?"

I promise you'll only offend art majors with that one.

'martooni,
If you have a moment, please tell me a little bit more about the music of Michael Hedges. I don't know Hedges' work, and your own work and links to your songs, and mention almost in the same breath of Hedges, has me intrigued. Do you have a favorite Hedges album/CD? How did you learn of Hedges?

How did we get from Muskman to tune cooties without once mentioning any Pepe Le Pew songs?

Granted, both (and Pepe's smell) tend to linger in consciousness far longer than anybody wants them to.

dmd...

I've been thinking about you and I'm glad that doctors are actually talking about remission. I know you thought the end was near. The story about your uncle's visit was beautiful. Is he your mom's brother?

I know you feel like you can't stay on this roller coaster for much longer. I hope that the ride starts going smoothly for a long while. It's nice that you'll be able to share the stories of the past weeks with your mom as she feels better.

I remember thinking, "Boy, Mom is really going to hate looking back on these last few weeks," as if she'd suddenly wake up and say, "Wow.. I really felt like sh*t." It sounds like that's kind of what your mom did and I'm so glad.

Take care of yourself and your girls and your mom and especially your dad. That roller coaster ride is really tough for all of you. Just keep your hands and feet in the car, please!

TBG

Loomis... I was turned on to Michael Hedges after a local show by guitarist Preston Reed (who I think is based in the D.C. area). Preston was pretty damn amazing himself and has several CDs out. He's also the one responsible for getting me to experiment with (and ultimately fall in love with) alternate tunings for the guitar.

As for Hedges recordings, I'd recommend "Oracle", "Taproot", "Aerial Boundaries". He also has a "Best Of" that is quite yummy. For that matter, they're all yummy. Just a superb player and composer.

I'd also recommend any of Preston's CDs... not typically stocked by Circuit City or Best Buy, but can be ordered online easily enough.

As for Hedge's work, it defies classification. He bounces from genre to genre, but the common thread is that he uses alternate tunings (instead of the traditional EADGBE) which allow a greater tonal range and some interesting drones and harmonic effects. The most amazing thing is that he typically plays solo but it sounds as if he has two guitarists, a bass player and drummer behind him -- just one guy with two hands, ten fingers and an acoustic guitar.

TBG, my uncle is my dad's brother, some day I will speak at length about him, his is an amazing person. He married my parents and myself and both my brothers as well as countless cousins, cousins kids, not to mention baptisms. We are a very large family on my dads side.

Have a fantastic trip, and tell us about Asheville, such a beautiful area.

Michael Hedges played what is loosely called "acoustic music" but that is way too general a description. It is like what Leo Kottke does and John Fahey did, only more so. He was a classically trained musician who decided to go off in his own direction and made a great number of fans among musicians. He is frequently classified as "New Age" because he recorded for the Windham Hill label (sez Wikipedia) but he was really making Michael Hedges music.

The number of tunings he used was extraordinary, as the links (especially Wikipedia) below show. The first link appears to be Hedges's own site. Sadly, the man died in 1997 in a car accident at the age of 43. I have his records "Watching My Life Go By" and "Live on the Double Planet" and like them both. Thanks for the reminder to dig them out and listen to them again!

http://www.nomadland.com/Point_A.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Hedges

The first concert I saw was a family trip to the Shady Grove Music Fair to see The Hangmen opening for The Lovin' Spoonful. We also saw "Camelot" with most of the original cast, including Robert Goulet, at the same place.

My brother, however, saw The Beatles at their first concert in America. It was at the Washington Coliseum off of New York Ave. in NE DC. I have a boot of that performance; they must have been basically playing by numbers since I don't think they could have heard each other very well.

pj... "Double Planet" rocks. And thanks for the link to the wiki. Saw some names there I haven't heard mentioned for a while. I'm going to have to dig up some old gold myself this weekend.

A sad side note about Michael's car crash... he went off a cliff on whatever that highway that runs down the Pacific Coast is called and apparently survived the crash, but wasn't found until several days later (I'm thinking it was almost two weeks) and had expired by the time help arrived. IIRC he was driving a vintage Triumph or MG.

I think he did for acoustic guitar what Mingus did for the upright bass, Miles did for trumpet, and Ella did for vocals -- yet he wasn't a jazz player (at least nobody ever nailed him down as one). That man just oozed music and coaxed sounds out of a guitar that simply defy the physics of the instrument, yet sound so natural. He was definitely a force of nature.

Wish you were still with us, Michael. Never heard anyone squeeze so much love out of six strings.

kb, thanks for the link to the Twain piece. What a master.

mo, dmd, everyone (bc, yellojkt?) who saw U2 early - I am so jealous! I knew about them in the mid 80's, but didn't see them till 1997. I've told my traumatic Stones concert story here before - suffice it to say I didn't go to a rock concert for 20 years after that.

Let's see, first concert was probably the Righteous Brothers - with Nino Tempo and April Stevens opening. Ha! If that doesn't date me, nothing will. (They had a hit with a song called Deep Purple - there's a tune cootie for ya!)

I was an original Beatles fan - so I am deeply, mortally jealous of pj's brother - brother! - no boys should have been allowed! (Just kidding, but the kid next door got to see them, and a guy I know from Seattle - it's just not fair.) Is the boot any good, pj?

And here's a bit of Coldplay's "Clocks" that's appropriate for the boodle:
Confusion never stops, closing walls and ticking clocks (gonna)
Come back and take you home, I could not stop, that you now know (singing)
Come out upon my seas, curse missed opportunities (am I)
A part of the cure, or am I part of the disease (singing)

My first "real" concert (as in I was there with friends instead of family, paid for my own ticket, and was high as a kite) was the J. Giels Band at Westminster College's Orr Auditorium 'round about 1982 or so. It was also my first encounter with the power of a Hammond B3 organ attached to a spinning "Leslie" speaker. I swear you could feel the wind off that monster twelve rows back.

The most memorable concert though, was Al DiMeola, Stanley Clarke and Jean-Luc Ponte (performing as "Rite of Strings") at Cleveland's Nautica Amphitheater. My jaw was on the ground for most of the show, mainly because the three of them did things with strings that can only be described as "Godly", but the best part was when a giant barge crept up the once flaming Cuyahoga river just behind the stage during Stanley Clarke's solo performance. It blew it's big fog horn (an F#, I think it was) and Stanley nearly jumped out of his skin (not seeing it coming). He laid his upright bass down on the stage, walked a couple quick circles shaking his arms as if to rid himself of the heebee-geebees, then picked up his bass and answered the barge's horn with it. It was like that scene in Spielberg's "Close Encounters" when the scientists communicated with the mothership via keyboard. He took that F# and ran with it, improvising a tune on the spot that was simply incredible -- mimicking the barge's foghorn and adding layers of percussive bass lines that just blew the audience away as the barge answered with its horn. Never saw or heard anything like it before or since. I only hope somebody captured that moment on tape.

After dinner out, I stopped on the way home at the local bookseller, slipped on the headphones, listened to Hedges--his vocal album, his Grammy album, and a later "Best of" album. Hedges was racked in the New Age section--and on Windham Hill, as you mentioned, pj.

The album--or liner notes for Hedges mentioned Kottke, whose CDs were in the Folk section--also Windham, I believe. Kottke had a slight edge over Hedges for me, but only very slight. I'll have to bring these two acoustic guitarists home in the very near future.

Thanks martooni and pj. This music made the night special--listening was my dessert.

Ah Jean Luc Ponti, he opened I think when I saw Styx. Which also reminds me that first concert was actually Saga, which I saw in the local High School Auditorium before they progressed from playing really small venues.

kb,
Thanks for the Twain link. Wonder if anyone earlier than Twain wrote of tune cooties? That you found Twain rhapsodizing on words and rhythm is pretty amazing in and of itself.

Remembering Jean Luc has me thinking of another show with another violin player. Also in Cleveland. This time it was Laurie Anderson at the Palace Theater.

You know how the stereotypical "Monster Truck Show" ads go on about "We'll sell you the Whole seat, but you'll only need the Edge! Edge! Edge! Be There! Be There! Be There!"? Between her storytelling, the music, the multi-media mix of moving sculptures, laser beams, and a floating blob I can only compare to the old "Prisoner" television series, they could have sold my seat four times over because my butt was barely in it.

What I found most surprising is that Laurie ain't just talk and whiz-bang effects -- that girl can play the crap out of a violin. She did this gypsy number that (combined with the lasers and sculptures and floating blob) was camera-ready for MTV, but the tune -- and her playing, especially -- had me off the seat before I knew what hit me. Phenomenal would be an understatement. Throughout most of the show she used the violin basically as a sound effect to emphasize and dramatize points in her stories. But she proved she could play the hell out of it with that last number.

The lesson I took home was "Never underestimate a talkative woman with close-cropped hair and an electric violin -- especially if she has a bank of lasers behind her."

Now look what you've done, Boodlers... you've got me reliving every concert I've ever attended (and there have been many) and getting all worked up because I haven't been to one since the birth of my Bean (April, 2002). And now I'm getting all antsy and finding myself craving amplifiers that go to "11" and bands that prefer to "jam" instead of lip-sync their hits.

I think I'll have to rent "This is Spinal Tap" this weekend. It won't fix what ails me, but it may be enough to keep me from selling the house and loading up the Bus with my gear and heading for Nashville (or Memphis, Seattle, or Athens (GA), etc.).

I *so* wanted to be a rock star in this life.

Dangit.

I even have the perfect hair and beard for it.

My first concert was also in our high school auditorium.

Bob Seger had already seen his first hit, Ramblin' Man, go up and down the charts by then and played the good ol' W.T. Woodson auditorium. I think it was my freshman year.

If RD tells his son that, he'll probably say, "Who?"

I think I saw every big name that ever played at the Cap Centre in the 1970s. And RFK. And even Merriweather Post. And also the Cellar Door and the Bayou.

But I can't for the life of me remember any of them except for Fleetwood Mac, George Harrison, Jefferson Airplane (or was it Starship by then?), Yes, James Taylor, Jackson Browne; and Billy Joel every time he's come to town. There's more, I know, but... well you know what concerts were like in the 70s. How could I remember every one?

Lately my favorite band to see in concert is Barenaked Ladies. They put on a great show. And if you are a member of their fan club, you get seats somewhere in the first 7 rows or so. So my daughter's first rock concert was BNL in the 2nd row, center. She's spoiled for life. They mentioned her in the show and she even had a drumstick tossed to her.

Seeing U2 early on in a relatively small place was cool. The Police, too, FWIW.

I guess my fave local guitar hero was the late Danny Gatton. I think I have a couple of his albums on vinyl, and I have 88 Elmira St. and a couple others on CD. That mo fo could *play*.

It was pretty cool to be able to catch him a couple times a year at clubs here and there. Ah, good times.

Speaking of wannabe Rock Stars, I see that Jack Black has his Tenacious D movie coming out soon.

bc

I admit to having felt some baby-boomer weirdness/guilt for shelling out the relatively modest price to see James Taylor for the first time, at least on stage, when I was into my 40s. Since the orchestra liked me (I subscribed early & often), the seats turned out to be something like 3rd row center. And to think Taylor had been hot when I arrived in Chapel Hill as a student so many years before.

TBG, the guys from BNL such good Toronto boys. They are a lot of fun and do an incredible amount of charity work. Great choice for your daughters first concert.

bc,

I remember Danny Gatton. Good stuff.

We also liked to follow Nils Lofgren wherever he played in town. Now he is one cool rocker!

martooni, I hear you - I had a great run of concerts, mostly in DC - Traffic, Grateful Dead, Rod Stewart, Led Zeppelin, Arlo Guthrie (Ry Cooder was in his band), Quicksilver Messenger Service, Frank Zappa, Spirit, Stones. Wish I had seen the Beatles, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Jethro Tull, early U2. Last year I finally saw Dylan and Paul McCartney, and Arlo again. Leon Russell still tours, very small venues, very loud and he's got a great band now. I love live music - wish I had some musical ability!

What are we all doing up? Should I get out the beer, chips and onion dip?

I was very pleased when my son found BNL. Smart, nerdy guys who are family men, incredibly great musicians and do good works, to boot.

He also has introduced me to Fountains of Wayne recently. I like their stuff, too. Also The Shins. They all seem to have a similar sound that appeals to me.

A rare SCC (I usually just let them pass)...

When I said, "Now he is one cool rocker!" what I mean was something like,

"Now, there's one he!! of a rocker."

Dammit, Hal.. where are our fording italics?

I need some good old-fashioned live music so bad I could scream.

But I won't.

At least I have my memories...

Sat in once with Trent Reznor of "Nine Inch Nails" when he was still playing with "The Urge".

Sat in many times with Billy Beck of "The Ohio Players" ("Rollercoaster... of love..." if you're 40-ish or over, you know them).

Got drunk with the Psychedelic Furs.

Got drunk with the Cramps.

Got drunk with John Mayall (of Bluesbreakers fame)... well, actually, I got drunk (can't remember if he did).

Sat in with the "Tonight Show" Band (as in Johnny Carson) at a local club when they were in town, though Doc Severenson (sp?) was AWOL. We went until 6:00am or so though.

Many jams with Grandpa and his buddies. (though I'm not sure he's ever decided whether I'm a "player" or not)

Played bass with a Greek band (and never made so much money playing music in my life) and I'm not even Greek (though I look it).

Years of playing coffee shops.

Years of playing bars.

Several "I represent XYZ records and we're interested in you" moments that never amounted to anything.

Lately... not much other than the occasional "open stage" when I can sneak out for a few hours.

But I still have hope. My hair is long and my beard is thick. If nothing else, I can impersonate Cat Stevens.

mostlylurking,

The Beatles boot is fairly listenable. When Capitol officially released the Hollywood Bowl concert back in the early '80s I recall getting very depressed while listening to it. It wasn't the playing of the group, that was fine; it was the constant screaming of the audience that got to me. I have only listened to that record twice.

One interesting thing about Beatles' concerts is that they only played for about 35-40 minutes per show during their tours. I think that's just what headliners did during that time.

Anyway, the boot I have includes the following songs:

Introduction (a very noisy 1:20)
Roll Over Beethoven
From Me to You
I Saw Her Standing There
This Boy
All My Loving
I Wanna Be Your Man
Please Please Me
Till There Was You
She Loves You
I Wan to Hold Your Hand
Twist and Shout (the tape runs out during this song)

Ivansmom - Possibly disturbing, but the lyrics to "House of New Orleans" also fit fairly neatly into the "Amazing Grace" melody, & vice versa.

'tooni - at around the same time, I saw Return to Forever (in that incarnation it was Stanley Clarke, Al Dimeola, Lenny White & Chick Corea). Amazing stuff, I've never been the same since! I saw Stanley Clarke & George Duke at Wolf Trap (just outside Wash. DC) a few weeks ago, and it brought back some very cool memories.

I recently tossed out off-handedly (in the presence of actual readers) a remark to the effect that I wasn't aware of any American writers whose collected works I would prefer to take to the proverbial desert island than Twain's. There were only half-hearted nominations, nobody seriously contested that choice.

The Psychedelic Furs, now you have impressed me Martooni.

The P-Furs is very cool, Martooni. Any John Mayall was probably already drunk.

Those are some very cool recollections, though. Thanks for posting them since it brings back lots of memories.

I wish I could remember details, dmd, but, well... details aren't my forte (just lucky to still be breathing, as they say).

I do remember that it was at "The Cedars" on Hazel Street in Youngstown, Ohio sometime around 1980 (or maybe '82, or '81... grrr... stupid brain cells). Whatever the case, The Cedars was a little dive that is legendary in these parts (it's since been expanded and renovated) for hosting bands who made the "big time" back in the day.

It's still a fun place to hang out, but it lost its edge when they ripped down the old red and gold velveteen wallpaper that was encrusted with 50 years of kitchen grease and nicotine. They also removed the tacky 70's drop-ceiling to reclaim a 1940's tin ceiling that had been in hiding. The joint looks great, but it ain't no punk palace no more.

Even if you try, you can't get your Doc Marten's to stick to the floor anymore.

Your shoes sticking to the bar floor, and the P-Furs, sums up about 3.5 years of my university days, its a wonder I graduated.

dem was the days, dmd.

it's a wonder i'm still alive.

pj, I'm sure if I had been at a Beatles concert I'd have been screaming - I don't know why - mass hysteria or something. I screamed at the TV - so weird. Recently I saw an old video clip of the Graham Bond Organization (British group, with soon-to-be Cream's Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker) - girls in the audience were screaming. I read a book awhile ago called Ticket to Ride, by a guy who travelled with the Beatles in the US. It was very odd to read the descriptions of the short concerts, which could not be heard.

the visions dancing in my mind
the early dawn
the shades of time
twilight crawling through my windowpane

Who here remembers that one?

And on a musical note:

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/2006/08/treadmill-dance.html

I giggled about this for quite a while, then I watched it again.

Good morning, friends. Seems we were up late last night talking about those musical groups of a life now gone by. Remembering our youth or lack of it now? Going back in time. Then suddenly lurched back to the present. I'm up and dreading the walk. Will I ever look forward to the walk? If it was an exercise I couldn't do, I would probably want to do it. Anyway, got to wake the g-girl, she's still here.

I hope your weekend is good, and that everyone gets that much needed rest. Things are suppose to cool down a bit here, with lots of thunder boomers. Looking forward to the cool, not the thunder.

I think it just so amazing that the worse the situation gets in Iraq, the less people talk about it. I know, talk doesn't help. Yet it was talked about so much when it first started. That's all one could see on television "the situation in Iraq". All day long the TV ran story after story about Iraq, now it's just utterly zip. Oh, I know, we have a new war, so that gets all the attention. Isn't it amazaing how we zip from one war to another war in the media without missing a beat. Lord, have mercy, we live in a tough world.

I've said my prayers, and I've lifted all of you up to God through Chrsit, for whatever is needed in your lives, and the lives of your family. Most of all, I've petitioned God to make His presence known in your lives through His son, Jesus. Please pray for me too. And remember that God loves you so much more than you can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

To Error and Nani

I've missed you Error, hope everything is okay with you. And Nani, as always looking forward to hearing from you. My prayers are with you guys, and just want good things for you in your life, and God's blessings on you through Christ.

Cassandra,
Frank Rich beat you to the same thoughts a week ago Sunday in his NYT op-ed:

July 30, 2006

The Peculiar Disappearance of the War in Iraq
By FRANK RICH

AS America fell into the quagmire of Vietnam, the comedian Milton Berle joked that the fastest way to end the war would be to put it on the last-place network, ABC, where it was certain to be canceled. Berle's gallows humor lives on in the quagmire in Iraq. Americans want this war canceled too, and first- and last-place networks alike are more than happy to oblige.

CNN will surely remind us today that it is Day 19 of the Israel-Hezbollah war -- now branded as Crisis in the Middle East -- but you won't catch anyone saying it's Day 1,229 of the war in Iraq. On the Big Three networks' evening newscasts, the time devoted to Iraq has fallen 60 percent between 2003 and this spring, as clocked by the television monitor, the Tyndall Report. On Thursday, Brian Williams of NBC read aloud a "shame on you" e-mail complaint from the parents of two military sons anguished that his broadcast had so little news about the war.

This is happening even as the casualties in Iraq, averaging more than 100 a day, easily surpass those in Israel and Lebanon combined. When Nouri al-Maliki, the latest Iraqi prime minister, visited Washington last week to address Congress, he too got short TV shrift -- a mere five sentences about the speech on ABC's "World News." The networks know a rerun when they see it. Only 22 months earlier, one of Mr. Maliki's short-lived predecessors, Ayad Allawi, had come to town during the 2004 campaign to give a similarly empty Congressional address laced with White House-scripted talking points about the war's progress. Propaganda stunts, unlike "Law & Order" episodes, don't hold up on a second viewing.

The steady falloff in Iraq coverage isn't happenstance. It's a barometer of the scope of the tragedy. For reporters, the already apocalyptic security situation in Baghdad keeps getting worse, simply making the war more difficult to cover than ever. The audience has its own phobia: Iraq is a bummer. "It is depressing to pay attention to this war on terror," said Fox News's Bill O'Reilly on July 18. "I mean, it's summertime." Americans don't like to lose, whatever the season. They know defeat when they see it, no matter how many new plans for victory are trotted out to obscure that reality.

Just a quick look-in between house chores. Trying to get some stuff out of here to Salvation Army so we have some room to clean more carpets. I wasn't real big into rock concerts back in the day. I did see the Who (fronted by Lynrd Skynrd!), Peter, Paul & Mary, Neil Diamond (old girlfriend's big love), Seals and Crofts, among others. Tried to get to CSNY back about 1972-3 at the Cap Center, but the ticket lines were too long. I'm a bit more into the folkie-rockie thing, like Leo Kottke and Schooner Fare. Too much to do around home these days to do much concert going. Maybe after we move (which may be a while, given the current market). Well, back to work. May check in later.

Loomis

There was such hype when the war started, such enthusiasm for this war, such support for it in the beginning, and now, alas, even the administration seems not to want to discuss Iraq or where we're going in Iraq. And the even better question, why are we there. Many of the fears that were mentioned before the war have come to pass it seems, and no one wants to admit failure. I am always suspicious of folks running wars or anything else that they've never had any experience doing. I believe these folks are way out their comfort zone. You think?

The Iraq war never had such overwhelming support as going into Afghanistan. Speaking of which, we still do have military in Afghanistan, and nation building is going apace there-- with less civil conflict than in Iraq, but still it's not a vacation spot.

Talk about the truly forgotten war... Where's Osama?

New Kit!

I think it's refreshing to read a column that refers to it as a "Christmas Party" rather than that stupid "Holiday" party.

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