"...It's Home From Work We Go..."

...if only that were true. Sorry I've been missing in action the last week or so, 55 hours in already this week at work with no immediate end in sight. And I'm already woozy and exhausted from today's adventures, and it hasn't even started yet.

I will probably sleep most of tomorrow unless something gives today. And something tells me that ain't gonna happen.

With love to all of my fellow working stiffs out there (from YouTube, as usual)...


From Walt Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" movie, featuring the classic song of capitalists everywhere: "Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho".

Have a great Friday, everybody. I'll check back in again this weekend sometime, after I've gotten some sleep.

Here's to the Hokies...Let Us Never Forget

Today marks the one year remembrance of the tragic massacre that shocked the great Virginia Tech Hokies, the US, and the world. A year ago at this time, the massacre was just beginning...a fact that sends shivers down my spine as I look at the clock. As I watch that same time tick away, I also realize just how quickly that year has passed...and also how some things have not moved forward, either. So many great minds, so many great people, so many great souls, so many great dreams were lost that spring morn. And as horrible and as emotional as that day was to the psyche of the world in which we all still live, what actually has been done about gun purchases to those unqualified to own, safety precautions on campus, etc? A hot topic there for a bit that has went disturbingly quiet throughout this land, ever since the photos and the bios and the family stories fell off the front page. All these wonderful voices forever silenced, yet we still cannot manage a conversation in their absence...

Virginia Tech University®

Today, again...and for all days since and for all days forward...we are Virginia Tech. Let us stand alongside our friends from Blacksburg (and throughout this nation, throughout this world) once again, and let them know the lives of their loved ones were not lost in vain. And let's work together to prevent another horrible nightmare like this from ever happening again.

Many hugs and condolences to the whole Virginia Tech family...and especially to the family members and friends of those that were lost that fateful day...from me. Words cannot express the grief I still feel for what has been so horribly taken from you and from the world at large. God be with you all...always.

---

Special hugs go to VT alum and dearest friend, the Wise Ricky. If there is anything I can do to make the day a bit better for you, please let me know.

And, yes, while I am behind on the Jamie Bishop memorial project I want to place here in Carrboro (Herr Bishop and his widow lived, studied and worked here for a bit), it will be completed by next year's remembrance. I want to do the memorial 'right' with some locals and former co-workers who actually knew him well, but that takes some time, organization, and money, and all three requires some planning and saving. For those that are interested in learning more, please email me: themarquise@gmail.com.

The Boys Are Back: Durham Bulls® Home Season Opener

Ahh, spring. The absolute best and most glorious season, in my humble opinion. Full of blooming flowers, warmer temperatures, backyard grills starting up, new mothers proudly showing off their young as they go about their day. And baseball starting up again.

Tonight is the home season opener for local (and minor league baseball) institution, The Durham Bulls®. Yes, this is the same team and city featured in the Kevin Costner/Tim Robbins/Susan Sarandon romantic dramedy "Bull Durham". And while The Bulls now play in the much-improved "DBap", "The Bap" area where several scenes of the movie was shot still exists, but is now greatly underutilized. The game tonight starts at 7:05 pm, and is against Scranton-Wilkesboro. It should be a glorious night for an opener, as today will be in the 80s here and into the 70s and 60s for the game tonight, and everything...and I do mean everything...is in bloom. The boys, and a new baseball season, are back and it's time to celebrate their arrival.

It's been of a trying week around the homestead (nothing specific, but everything in general), and I need some release. God bless the Bulls, though, as they still play the game as it was intended, without all the hubbub that now permeates Major League Baseball® (MLB): with young and flustered players not used to playing on a semi-pro team nervously taking the field, with bored hot dog vendors in the aisles, with children wailing from above you in the covered 'bleed seats', with old men and their wives talking about Florida vacations long past over your shoulder, with an announcer that is inaudible from more than 4 rows from the press box, with moms chastising brothers to share the popcorn with their sisters. All for about $8 if you sit on the lawn, about $15 if you're in the stands. It's a community, still, at a time when we don't have that so much anymore. And it's an intentionally slow game because of that...if nothing else, you focus on the fundamentals of things and take a good look around you while doing so. Tradition still lives, families still enjoy being together, time can be halted a bit...if only for a couple of hours on a springtime night. And you really enjoy being a part of it all.

And in the memory of my beloved father who played it for decades and also loved this game more than Life itself, let's play ball!

Life is Really Freakin' Good Right Now

University of Kansas Jayhawks®, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas

2008 MENS' DIVISION I BASKETBALL NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

...and in a nailbiter in overtime, no less. Final score: Kansas 75 Memphis 68. Read about it here, from the KU student newspaper, "The University Daily Kansan". And it also comes on the 20th anniversary of Danny Manning and The Miracles doing the same for the Jayhawks back in 1988 (my, how time flies.) It was a helluva game, and the 'Hawks barely pulled it even at the end of regulation to even get to overtime. Memphis was very determined opponent.

Oh, to be in Lawrence and near Henry T's right about now...tomorrow should be a citywide holiday there. Hell, maybe they should even consider taking off the rest of the week.

CONGRATS, JAYHAWKS!!!

No Joy in Blue Heaven

In case you don't follow the college basketball games as closely as I do, let me break the news: The University of North Carolina Tar Heels lost last night to The University of Kansas Jayhawks. And, while I would like to sugarcoat it for those that I live and work with here locally, I unfortunately cannot. It was ugly.

It wasn't so much a game as a bloodletting. The Tar Heels never played their game, and were just completely steamrolled (almost into a shock-like state) in the opening minutes...an opening attack so severe that the UNC team never really fully recovered. God help them, at one point they were trailing the Jayhawks by 28 in the first half. While the Heels did get back within 5 points at one point in the second half (largely due to Jayhawk errors more than the Tar Heels 'finding their game'), the second Kansas wave then hit the local heroes for a vicious, and final, round. The final score was 84 to 66.

I watched the game last night with some UNC fans and local neighbours, who at least understood my divided loyalties plight between the two schools, and to say they were dumbfounded might be the understatement of this new year. I was cheering for the Heels to show up, too, but it just never really happened. As God as my (and their) witness, we still don't know what team played in San Antonio last night, but it sure wasn't the same one who left earlier this week from Chapel Hill. My heart aches for the boys, it does...some of whom looked close to tears honestly in the post-game media interviews...because what they showed last night is not what or who they really are about. We desperately needed a mulligan, but none will come.

So now, tomorrow (Monday) night, is the Championship game between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Memphis Tigers. Tipoff time is scheduled for 9:21pm (EST). (And, again, kudos to CBS for broadcasting the final online as well for free tomorrow...go to that link and click on "NCAA® March Madness® on Demand".) And, although it still may not be safe to do so, I will venture out to see if I can find a Jayhawk-friendly viewpoint in which to watch the game. (I'm hoping some Tar Heel locals will show a little love and cheer on the Kansas team...a team and school whose basketball history is forever intertwined with that of North Carolina involving coaches, players, staff, etc...against the Tigers. But who knows...I may be watching at home instead again...but this time without the neighbours.) Rock chalk, Jayhawks, people...but I am deeply saddened for the Tar Heels still the same.

If there is any possible bright spot from last night's victory, maybe this has finally ended the disdain bitterness of some of the diehard Jayhawk faithful against Coach Roy Williams, current coach of the Tar Heels and former coach of the Jayhawks. In a love/hate feud that has been building to a crescendo since Williams left Kansas to come here (his alma mater) in a highly reviled manner, there still exists a deep resentment of many Kansas fans against him. I know many who felt that Coach Roy left KU at the height of its potential, or that perhaps his heart wasn't in it at Kansas, or that his loyalties always remained here in Chapel Hill and he was just milking KU of all the money he could until the UNC position came available. (Insert your own conspiracy theory here.) No matter what happened, though, Williams left Kansas after earlier promising to stay. The facts of the 'how' Williams' departure was done...and it was done very poorly from a fan's perspective...may still be murky, but the onslaught of hatred that Williams brings with him every time his name is mentioned to a Jayhawk fan cannot be underestimated. And it's been that way for 5 years now.

I know Kansas wanted, and certainly could, win without this added 'retribution' incentive last night. However, any wandering into a Jayhawk fan message board gives the impression that a victory over UNC was deeply personal, with far more gravitas than just a berth to a national championship game. Instead, the Jayhawks were perhaps settling a bill that has been long overdue and (in some eyes, anyway) unpaid. Like a proud lover cast aside for a newer (read: richer) bride, hell hath no fury like a woman (or basketball community) scourned. Maybe with such a decisive victory last night...maybe...the wound in Lawrence can start to finally heal. Perhaps last night's game could be a newer version of the spoils of war, extracted from a distinguished, but clearly overwhelmed, opponent. And maybe the two schools, who have created such great relationships with the one other since this sport was invented, can start a new chapter. Maybe, maybe...but probably still not anytime soon.

But we'll see what happens tomorrow.

It's Semi-Final Game Day...

The Kansas Jayhawks®, University of Kansas, image from Sportslogos











versus




The UNC Tar Heels®, The University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, image from Sportslogos








...and I still don't know which team I'm pulling for tonight. Tipoff's at 8:47pm (EST) (and CBS will be streaming it online again, too, click above link and then look for "NCAA® March Madness® on Demand"), and I'm completely undecided. I'll be thrilled, honestly, if either one wins and really sad, honestly, for the loser. I've been lucky enough to 'storm the town' in celebration a few times when each has won a big game (and the odd Championship), but I've also looked at the bottom of a few beers when there's been a heartbreaking loss. And, with these two, it could easily go either way.

However, in the interest of my own public safety, I will be staying in and watch the game here at the humble abode. If I knew I could restrain myself from clapping or even appearing to support Kansas in the slightest form, I would try to go out into Chapel Hill proper, the town's been waiting for this game all week...but, unfortunately, (as countless friends can attest), I don't watch and cheer like that. I'm not a shrinking violet in so many things in my life, and especially so with my sports appreciation. Be it basketball, football, racing, whatever...I'm a bit vocal for 'my' guys, 'my' team, 'my' driver. I'm that tomboy sports nut that people hear about like it's some sort of urban legend. Ain't no myth, kids. (And, yes, I once did aspire to be a sportswriter...makes sense now, doesn't it?)

It's one thing to go to Bailey's (like I did for the Orange Bowl, back in January) and cheer on the Jayhawks (against Virginia Tech), but it's quite another to go to same bar and do the same when the Tar Heels are the competition. It's sorta the equivalent of going to a duel knowing you have an angry mob to face and they've all got much, much better ways to hurt you than you do them. Like murdering one's brother or coveting the neighbour's wife, there are some things one must not do, and there is no rationale...before, during, or after...for doing so. As I found out the hard way in 1993 (as a fresh transfer to here from the land of Jayhawks and still living on campus at UNC), you do not cheer against the local heroes without taking certain precautions. Call me what you will, I just don't want to wake up to the smell of rotten eggs in my room air conditioning unit and all over my vehicle again.

And, yes, I guess this does serve as an admission that I've gotten 'soft' somehow in my old age. So be it. That doesn't erase the fact that my heart and sentiments are divided between these two great schools, these two great teams.

But may the best team win tonight...but whoever does, I think, will eventually take the Championship on Monday.

"Friday on My Mind" and Other Obsessions

I'm feeling lazy today, all of which is aided by the fact that I'm home, on a rare day off from work. I've done the laundry, and some cleaning, and some mail...but pffffffft and screw this already. I'm done with the work thing this week, people. Maybe tomorrow I'll reconsider, but not today. The real job has left me feeling like I was the 'accidental victim' at the scene of a hit and run accident. An accident that must have involved a heavy-duty truck.

Thank God I also found TBS running one of my all-time fave movies earlier today, the classic "Almost Famous". (Although I'm still curious as hell as to exactly how much of that film was autobiographical for its director, Cameron Crowe, and which parts were/were not true.) I adore Cameron...other people still go see all the movies featuring certain stars, I, instead, go and must see all of Cameron Crowe's movies. I think I even own copies of 2 of his scripts...I'm that addicted. After watching his glorious ode to Penny Lane and the fictional band Stillwater, though, listening to some good music has been on the brain.

This afternoon I've furthered that goal and started peeking through the music files and racks here at the humble abode, and specifically for Aussie music. (Non-INXS fans: you're spared this time, especially as I can't find a decent...read: non-blurry...video clip anywhere of "Heaven Sent" or "Shake the Tree".) And, after a long delay in finding some decent videos to actually go with the sounds that all too frequently come moaning from my ancient audio system, I found some corkers from the blog's frequent video home YouTube. I hope you enjoy the following servings...old to some, new to others.

The day's been good to me, folks, and I hope it returns you the favour...even if you do nothing (like me) at all to deserve it. Live and laugh some, too.

The Easybeats performing "Friday on My Mind"...circa 1967. The rhythm guitarist here, George Young, is the older brother of Malcolm and Angus Young from Aussie heavy rock powerhouse AC/DC. And, no, I don't know what lead singer Stevie Wright did/took to be so happy.

Russell Morris from 2007 singing an acoustic (and much better) version of his 1969 song "The Real Thing". The original has got this ascending psychedelic feel to it, but actually this rendition is clearer, and seems far less manufactured. The lyrics are still a bit '60s, but is that really all that bad??? Excellent voice, excellent technicals.

Geoff Achison, Aussie guitarist extraordinaire, with fellow guitar master Lloyd Spiegel, performing "The Midnight Hour" in 2007. Hang with this one through the beginning, as it was not rehearsed and is an amateur quality video...but it includes a free guitar lesson, too. Hands down, though, Achison is best damn Aussie guitarist I've ever seen perform live. He is now State-side trying his fortunes out over here, especially in the South. Don't miss his show.

And, finally, one of the best for last...

Cold Chisel, lead by legendary Aussie front man Jimmy Barnes, back in 2003. Sadly, neither made it big here in the States, but they are a religion in Oz. I had the pleasure of seeing Barnesy at the Sawtell RSL Club back in 2006 (complete with their carpets which looked like bikini tops with balloons in one area...we tourists thought it quite amusing). Fantastic show (with his daughter, also a professional singer), and this was the finishing barn-burner. Ears were ringing for hours afterward (sorta symbolic for the music that trip, actually), but "Goodbye (Astrid, Goodbye)" was well worth it.