The monster in the living room

It's oblong and silver colored, weighs about 150 lbs. Takes up half the side of our living room wall. Shiny black glass front, all 32 inches in diameter, but the frame is much bigger than that. Knobs and jacks and plugs, oh my. Impressive! And last night it invaded our peaceful apartment home: Sony Trinitron HD flat screen TV.

About 9 my hubby calls from work. Since I virtually never hear from him at that hour unless he finishes extraordinarily early (we are one of the 1.1% of the American population who share a car) I answered the phone, reaching for my keys. But no, he said, he wasn't done yet but looked like he would be about 10. All right, says I, returning to my relaxation Scrabble game. Then he says the three little words, "I won something."

I still didn't register anything. Won something? Probably a case of jelly or a Smucker's sweatshirt, like last time. So he asks if I'm gonna ask what he won.

I really thought he was having me on, as he sometimes enjoys doing with that twisted Irish humor of his. But no. This time there had been a BBQ and drawing at work to celebrate their exceeding a previous record, and Patrick ended up with one of the prizes.

Now I can think of any number of things that would have been nice to have won: a trip somewhere together, (since we still haven't stayed the night anywhere that wasn't a business or church trip since 1983); a Taylor or Martin guitar; a home theater system; a nice stereo. We already had a perfectly suitable TV, which was big enough without creeping into idol status. But won it he did. No way could that thing fit into our Jetta. We had to wait till a coworker got off work at midnight--then the fun began.

It is one thing to win a TV. It is quite another to win a huge TV and get it up three flights of stairs, around twisty corners built for 1927 furniture. The borrowed hand truck was useless. We had to huff and puff it inches at a time, three of us sweating (and at least one uttering naughty words silently). I'm sure we just endeared ourselves to our neighbors.

But we did it, and so far no one has gone to the ER with cardiac pains.

Today IT sits enthroned on its pedestal. The former TV, poor little Admiral 27-incher, looked just pathetic next to the Emperor. Alina was happy to take possession of the old set, and took it immediately to store at her boyfriend's house. Now Sony rules. If I can figure out how to hook it up, of course.

Meanwhile, the box it came in takes up our entire sofa, awaiting being flattened and put in the recycle bin. Won't this afternoon be fun?

Now here comes the real irony to all this: we don't watch TV. None, nada, ever. We get our news online and pretty much everything else as well. So, Sony may rule, but we are the power behind the throne; and we say that broadcast blahblah, "reality" crapfests, and bony blonde bimbos named for hotel chains do not happen here.

Ah, but movies do. Movies do!!! So do documentaries, concert DVDs, and music instructional videos.

What will the first one be? Fellowship of the Ring? Master and Commander? Fleetwood Mac's The Dance or Ricky Skaggs' Soldier of the Cross? Or maybe Willow or Pirates or Vertigo...

Anticipation.

But first, I must get dressed. It won't do to keep Emperor Sony waiting.

Way to go, Supreme Court

The people in the long black robes in Washington, D.C. ruled today that citizen's private homes can be siezed to make way for playgrounds for the elite. No longer will a municipality have to cite urban decay or social concerns such as the need for hospitals, to claim eminent domain. "It'll be good for the economy", they say, reassuringly. Oh, yeah, right. So now entire neighborhoods can be razed to erect casinos, resorts, and golf courses. Then the former homeowners, who never will be paid what their houses are really worth (not even beginning to factor in sentimental value) can end up working as waitresses and busboys for superwealthy vacationers, as their own economy goes down the old flusheroo.

It's the American Dream, all right.

I find it interesting that the four most conservative members of the Court (O'Connor, Scalia, Rehnquist, Thomas) stood up for the middle class and dissented from the majority opinion. Meanwhile, their liberal counterparts aligned with the greedy development corporations. What were they thinking? What were they thinking?

Birthing a band

We found each other; we've practiced; we think we sound pretty good. Now we have to market ourselves a bit. Tonight we finished our rough 4-song demo, all Gregsongs (that will alter in the future as we add more songs from me and a few covers as well.) Here's the photo for the press kit.

So, how 'd it go?

David Zink, me, Greg, Mary Beth - May 28, 2005
(Taken with a cruddy camera phone, which taught us to make sure we bring a better one to future gigs!)


"So, Sharon, how'd that go last week, anyway?"

"Oh, the David Zink concert? The one where he came up during our set for one of our songs, and was so encouraging afterwards? The one where the audience was amazingly enthusiastic, actually participating without being prodded? The one after which the car containing Mary Beth and me (along with our guys) could have floated back to Salinas? That concert?"

Tuesday night we are scheduled for Woody Cash's very last interview on his KNRY 1240 AM Peoples' Radio folkie show Radio Gig Monterey. After that we've been invited to Eddie's in Monterey to finish out the evening. Wednesday night we're recording for our demo at Greg's house. During the next couple of weeks the Web site will go up and the press kit will be ready for distribution to the area house concert and small venue circuit. We're gonna see where this boat will float.

I may be a late bloomer, but watch out when I do!

All's fair in love, war, and the Internet

So you think the best way to find something online is to Google it, and that the first page of results will tell you what you need to know? The one-celled organisms known as Internet spammers have found a way to manipulate that as well. An eye-opening article in the USC Annenberg Online Journalism Review reveals the insidiousness of search engine subversion. I always did hate people sneaking ahead in line, especially when it's to perpetrate falsehoods.