Clockwork Orange Blu Ray Giveaway

OK. So I was looking through CNET on Flipboard and they are giving away a signed - SIGNED -copy of Clockwork Orange. Signed by Malcolm McDowell aka Alex DeLarge. All I had to do was read the article and then leave a comment about the movie. I did the best I could and tried to be as profound as I could be. I checked the number of comments tonight and so far there's 946 currently. I am not sure how they are going to pick the winner but to get a signed copy of the movie from Malcolm McDowell would be something else.

For those that haven't seen the movie I highly recommend looking at it at least one. It is a bit rough but an excellent movie. I tried reading the book but couldn't get through it. I'm going to give it another shot.

Until next time:

"It had been a wonderful evening and what I needed now, to give it the perfect ending, was a little of the Ludwig Van." Alex DeLarge

Inn at the Tides- Patron for the road and Hedren for the Birds

In the early 2000's my partner and I would drive up to Bodega Bay and have lunch at Lucas Wharf




Afterwards, we would drive around Bodega and then head to Occidental to have drinks at the Negris Resturant's bar and then head home. It was always a nice ride out there and back.

About three years ago we decided to stay the weekend out there. Like about three days and we stayed at The Inn at the Tides. I absolutely love that hotel.

This past weekend (27 and 28 May 2011) we stayed one night up there at my favorite hotel.







These are pictures from our room window.

The weather up there was nice but a light jacket was definitely needed.

We got up there about 1:30pm and was able to check in right away. Check is usually by 4pm and check out is 11am. We settled into the room, watched some TV, read and took a nap and then headed to Occidental for dinner at the Negris Restaurant. Our waitress named Lenette was hilarious. I ordered the red snapper lightly breaded with mashed potatoes and my partner ordered the chicken Parmesan and the food was more than we could eat, because before the main course we had minestrone soup in a small pot delivered to our table along with a salad and bread. Along with our meal we ordered garlic bread. That's definitely an Italian restaurant because only Italians know how to feed people. With our food came home made raviolis and you haven't had raviolis until you have had these. The recipe belongs to the owner's mother. The next time I will just have ravioli and call it Bob Hope.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel with our left overs to eat later.

During this weekend Tippi Hedren was going to be at the Tides Wharf signing autographs so my partner was looking forward to that. We found this out back accident when I had to go to the hotel's web site to get the number to make reservations.






Upon arriving back from dinner we hung in the room a bit and then about 7:30pm we headed to the bar for drinks and just hang out a bit. We had plan on staying there about an hour or so but stayed until 11:30pm talking with the bartender and his girlfriend, who is the waitress there. the bar/restaurant closes at 11pm. So I guess you could say we had a great time.

I order a shot (actually two shots) of Patron and an Italian beer recommended to me by the bartender.






My partner had ordered scotch but I can't remember the name of it.



The bartender's name was Theo (no relation to the Huxables- bahahaha) and his girlfriend's name was Megan. I'll tell you a story about Megan in a bit.

My partner and I played backgammon and talked and laughed with Theo who we learned is a musician getting back into his music and plays the trumpet but is getting back into playing the picket trumpet.




And has two kids (boy and girl) who resides with their mother right now but he tries to spend as much time with them as he can.

Theo's girlfriend Megan was a victim of a shark bite about five years ago to which it became big news and she was called by the Today show and The Discovery channel. Each year the Discovery channel contacts her to do an update but she's so over it she doesn't talk about it publicly. She was even contacted by Oprah but she didn't want to do it. The reason being is she was tired of talking about it and she was learning that people were not interested in her but in making money off of her.

I commend her for having respect for herself to not sell herself out for a few bucks. She showed us the scar on her leg (which were teeth marks) and showed where the shark grabbed her. She was very lucky to not have lost a limb.

At about 11:30pm we headed back to our room and had our left overs.

The next morning we got up about 8:30am and prepared to check out, have our complimentary breakfast at the Tides Wharf and then meet Tippi who was signing autographs there from 10a-5p. But she didn't show until about 10:30a. She was friendly and pleasant. She charged $25 for her autograph on items that were pre purchased such as books, DVD's (my partner wanted Tippi to sign her Birds DVD) and other things. But if you purchased a photo or the small movie poster then she signed those. You still paid $25 for her signature but at least walked away with something. You get my point.












This is the back of a fan and Tippi was blown away and said this was a first. She asked Tom (a guy with her - not her husband but probably an assistant) to take a picture of it but he was having problems operating Tippi's iPhone. I will just leave it at that. I won't even mention the comment the publicist made, but it was funny as hell, especially the way she said it.

After we got our autograph we headed home. Although I thoroughly enjoyed myself, I was glad to be home. We plan on going back either in October of this year or in January of 2012.

I highly recommend staying at The Inn at the Tides, but I'm sure any place around there would be good. Definitely have dinner in Occidental. Just get on Bohemian Hwy (that's the street name) and drive for about ten years and you'll run right into the town of Occidental. If you get there (in Bodega Bay) about mid morning or early afternoon have lunch at Lucas Wharf.

As mentioned, I love Bodega Bay and looking forward to going back real soon.

Lights Out - No Wait, They're Still On

All my life sleeping was never an issue for me. I could fall asleep at the drop of a dime. But in 2008, I developed insomnia.

I heard about people not being able to sleep and such. Some would go days without sleep and I just couldn't imagine having to function like that.

In 2008 I would become one of those people. I wouldn't go days without sleeping, but hours without sleeping and then spend the next day wondering what I was going to do.

The reason for the onset of my insomnia was caused by issues at my job in 2008 in which a good number of us were very possibly going to lose our jobs. I went through four months of wondering (July - November). I kept being assured by others at work that everything was going to be fine, but my gut told me different. I was torn between listening to those that had been at the company for years or my Scorpio gut feeling. I didn't know which. ( What was going on at the company is not the focus of this article so I am keeping that out).

During this time I thought my sleepless nights were just a product of what I was going through and it will end. Well it didn't - until this year - 2011.

November 26, 2011 was my last day at my job. It was a relief and I know I would spend December chilling and taking a trip to Arizona during Christmas week and a few days after the new year. Why not? I didn't have a job to go back to or anything. All though I was more at ease with things going on, I still struggled with insomnia but accepted it as part of my life.

2009 had me attending IT school and collecting unemployment (that's another talk show). 2010 saw me with a new job (not in the IT field, but I'm OK with that). 2011 still sees me at the same job and glad to say, me possibly being cured of insomnia. I decided to ween myself off the sleeping pills and that no easy task. I started with eliminating Ambien from my life but keeping other aids around. Well having back ups only made me think I needed them and thus I took them. It wasn't until a few weeks ago I realized that I definitely have to stop relying on medications to help me sleep or my insomnia would turn into an addiction of sleeping pills whether it be prescription or over the counter.

The first night I went to bed without a sleep aid had me a bit worried I wouldn't sleep through the night. Then I realized that that thinking DEFINITELY wouldn't have me sleep through the night. Granted, I woke up here and there, but was able to go right back to sleep. And by morning's light I felt more rested than with the aid of sleeping pills. I liked this feeling and thus gave it a shot again then next night and the night after that.

Its been about two weeks now of me going to sleep on my own, but I do keep sleep aids in the house as a just in case, but I try not to think of them and when I do I just remind myself that I don't need them. Mind over matter. If I don't mind, it don't matter.

My sleeping aids consisted of the following:



































I loved Ambien. That's some good stuff to have handy. Midnight was the next best thing because you take it anytime of the night. Tylenol PM and generic forms from Walgreens are good but seem to stay with you a bit the next day. Unisom is the worst!!!!

I am not promoting sleeping pills because the best sleep is the one you can give yourself. And if you do get on sleeping pills I would suggest Midnight.

Part of me going to sleep naturally again came from me stumbling upon an episode of Dr. Oz's show while changing the channel and this episode was about sleep and he gave some great tips. Here is the link to the article:

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/dr-ozs-get-back-sleep-plan

I hope I never suffer from insomnia like I did and if I should, I will find othe avenues to conquer it without relying on sleeping pills.

Until next time:
"Nothing cures insomnia like the realization that it's time to get up." ~Author Unknown

Kitten Sleeping with Mama Cat

GetGlue - Sharing Music You Listen To - iPad / iPhone Application

GetGlue- iPad / iPhone Application

Tweetpop - iPad Application for For That Use Twitter

Hoarders and Zyklon B

I was watching Hoarders on NatGeo I believe and there was this lady who owned a pig farm. It didn't start out that way, but it grew. The lady ended up having some type of accident which left her in a wheelchair and for company, her sister got her a baby pig. I think it was a pot belly baby pig and from there her pig collection began. She ended up having like 700 pot belly pigs on her farm. She started out with a few and they began multiplying like rabbits so much so they began taking over her house. Literally. The house inside looked just like the outside did with mud and hay everywhere. You really couldn't tell the difference. When the county officials came out they found one that was malnourished and one dead. I'm sure they found more than that in those conditions, but that's what they showed on TV.

Anyhow. She had grown attached to the pigs - all of them and she didn't want to lose them. I do apologize for not remembering the entire story, but the main thing that happened was the county officials came and because the pigs had some type of incurable disease that threatened not only the animals but humanity they stated they had to euthanize them. This made the lady very sad and I don't blame her. She knew this was going to be the outcome, but still.

Now, here's where I had the problem. Yes, the hoarding of pigs didn't bother me as much as what took place next.

When they were talking about having to euthanize the pigs I thought they were going to take the pugs away and euthanize them at a vets office but that's not what happened. Then ended up gassing the pigs right there and then. Then they showed the dead pigs on a conveyor belt being put on a truck. This really disturbed me because it took me to a time of the Holocaust and the use of gas trucks to kill people faster aside from other methods. I am not sure if they used Zyklon B or not. When I think of mass gassings I automatically think of Zyklon B - which I have learned was the drug of choice for the US and the Nazi got the idea from the US. I will need to research this and find out if it's true or not. I was under the impression that the US got the idea of the gas chamber from the Nazis. Research will be conducted and I will report.

Yes, the Holocaust is that close to me that there's a lot of little things that other people may not pay attention to that take me back to that time and that is why I believe I was part of it and I did not survive - at least not physically. I believed I was carried over from that part in life and being used today to recapture that horrific time in our lives via my book. I don't know. But this leads me to the question of are we reincarnated from past lives? I really think we are and I will explain in my next post.

Until next time:

"The human spirit is not dead. It lives on in secret.... It has come to believe that compassion, in which all ethics must take root, can only attain its full breadth and depth if it embraces all living creatures and does not limit itself to mankind." Albert Schweitzer

The Mind Leading the Blind

A friend of mine wrote a blog about the mind, or as some people like to refer to it as the brain (I prefer the mind for the brain is just a shell for the mind).  And during the post she speaks of how people follow what society says.  She also asked that I give a comment or two and thus I did.  The following is my response.

Have you read Crito by Plato?  When Socrates was in prison and he decided he'd rather take his own life than to let someone else do it (he was on death row for what I believe his crime to be, philosophy). Crito, a close friend of Socrates, came to visit him to try to talk him out of it. Crito gave the argument that Socrates would be talked about and frowned upon by society. Socrates told Crito that Crito wasn't worried about him (Socrates) but about himself (Crito).  Socrates said that Crito was worried about what society would think about him if his friend took his life.

I grew up thinking that what others thought of how I dressed, what I said and such was important, but those words never came out of the mouths of those to guard me and guide my up bringing.  What was said was the embarrassment felt by my guardians when I made a certain comment, or cracked a certain joke, or wore a certain pair of pants, shoes, shirt, what-have-you. The guardian was more concerned about what others will think of the guardian rather than what I think of myself. It took me a long time to get rid of that thought.  But to an extent we do cave into what society says and thinks. We have to in order to survive in society.  Our minds allows us the freedom to be ourselves to ourselves.  Our minds allows us, like video games, to become what we feel at that time.  I enjoy first person shooter games because it allows me to do in a fantasy world that I would never do in real life because one its wrong and two, I'm too good looking to go to prison. Plus using bathrooms that do not have doors on the stalls will not work for me.

I am currently dealing with someone who is allowing, to an extent, another to control what they do and think and its a sad thing to see. And some may say the person being controlled is quite pitiful but I feel the person doing the controlling is the more pitiful one because their life is so empty they must embark on another to bring false enjoyment to a fabricated life they (the controller) are leading.  The transformation from being an individual to being someone who is almost showing they cannot think for themselves is quite and interesting thing to view.  Its like watching a rat in a maze, if you will.  You watch the rat try to find its way through while objects or incentives are placed before it and depending on what it is will determine how the rat will react or what it will do.

I've learned over the years that the more I am myself the more I am liked - no only by others, but mostly by me.  I feel I am a very unique person when placed within the masses, but when placed within a small group of people, I am not so unique because once we are in an intimate setting, people are willing to let go of what society thinks is OK and thus reveal their true selves.  Rather, feel comfortable enough to reveal a side of them that society doesn't see.

How a person chooses to go through life, either as a follower, a leader or just being themselves, is up to them.  But in the end, when the sun goes down and everyone has left the building and we are left to ourselves, are we able to rest comfortably knowing we have followed blinding, we have lead with cruel intentions or we were ourselves completely and wholeheartedly and make no apologizes for it.

I have followed but never blindly for I may be following the Pied Piper (if you don't know the story of the Pied Piper, look it up.  Its not a good one) and I have lead but never with cruel intentions for the intentions will be cruel to me in the end. But above all I have always been me with my own crazy thoughts inside my Socrates mind gently resting in the comfort of my rock n roll brain.

Until next time,
"Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people" Eleanor Roosevelt

The Creative Flow: Somewhere Down that Crazy River

As mentioned in my last post, I may have given up on music right now, but the creative juices never stopped flowing.

At the same time I was trying to learn the guitar and writing songs, I began dabbling in poetry.  Again, my influences were Pink Floyd and Tears for Fears (The Hurting was their best work).  I have written approximately five volumes of work, two of them published.  The two published are the following:

 

Carlyle was my stage/pen name.

So I thought perhaps I could get myself out there as a poet and then work music into the mix.  That's didn't work.  Poetry is a thing of the past and read by few.  We are an elite club, let me tell ya.  But as with music, writing has always been in my blood.


I'm going to veer off the road a bit, but just trust me I'll get back on the road safe and sound.

I remember watching a news program and they were talking about the ovens at Auschwitz.  I was in the single digit age then - probably eight or nine.  Can't say for sure though.  And I remember how that just stuck in my mind and ever since then I would watch any and everything on the Holocaust and then on the Nazis.  But the weird thing was that I could never watch or read anything of that nature from dusk until night.  I always had to read it during the day or I would have nightmares.  And another weird thing is whenever I read about the Jews in the camps it was like I could feel everything that was going on.  I know that sounds strange and some say its because suffering no matter in what form, if you have heart and compassion for others, you are going to feel their pain.  But no.  Its nothing like that.  I mean I could really describe everything that's going on and how that person is feeling.  But let's move on.

Ladies and Gentleman the car is about to get back on the road.  HOLLA!

Because I had studied the Holocaust so much and basically consumed myself in it for a number of years, I thought I would write a book about it.  I was going to write a history book of sorts on the subject, but then I realized that would take a lot of research, a lot of talking to folks and a lot of time...A LOT OF TIME.  So I decided to do the next best thing and that's write a historical fiction and viola! that's what I did.  I started the novel around 2003 and wanted to have it done by 2004.  Yeah, I was giving myself a year to write the book - that's writing and editing it.  I picked up a few books along the way to help me with my writing and of all the books and articles I read, the only one that really helped me was the following:

He speaks about the process of writing while giving stories on how each of his books came to be.  For instance, The Shinning was about his drinking induced days.  Most of his books were written during bad times in his life.  I need to revisit that book.

Anyhoo.  As mentioned that book really helped me and inspired me to write and the birth of Suitcases in Another Room was born.  I am not in the editing stages.

Why a book on the Holocaust?  Well I mentioned why and the how.  But more importantly it became therapeutic for me.  I was able to draw from within and the feelings and knowledge I knew I had of the experience of being in a camp and put it on paper.  But here's the kicker.  When it comes to conjuring up feelings of being in a camp, the furthest I get is the showers.  When I see pictures of those "showers" or movies that show the people going into the "showers" I can't tell you what goes through me.  I can't explain the fear - nature honest to God fear that comes up in me.  And because of that I had to immerse myself into reading books about the Holocaust but mostly from person experiences. And of all the books I've read, and trust me I've read plenty of them, this is the best one and my all time favorite:

 Unlike many other books by survivors who published immediately after the war, The Theory and Practice of Hell is more than a personal account. It is a horrific examination of life and death inside a Nazi concentration camp, a brutal world of a state within state, and a society without law. But Kogon maintains a dispassionate and critical perspective. He tries to understand how the camp works, to uncover its structure and social organization. He knew that the book would shock some readers and provide others with gruesome fascination. But he firmly believed that he had to show the camp in honest, unflinching detail. (source www.bn.com)

This book really got my creative and accurate juices flowing and allowed me to really delve into it all and after putting the book (unfinished portion) away for almost a year,  I finished it within about three months.  Just the writing part.  Now comes the editing.

The writing was easier than editing, which I didn't realize at the time.  Doing the research was a lot of work and writing was hard at times because I wanted to make sure I the story flowing smoothly and correctly.

I decided to write the book in the first person because I wanted the audience to feel everything I'm, rather, the protagonist (Mariam) feeling.

I began editing the book (again) last year. I put the book away for about a year, start editing it and then put it away again for about another few months.  Again, life happened while I was making plans.

Once I got settled into my new job I wanted to record my third CD and finish editing my book.  The music feel by the waist side, but the book always stated on the front burner (simmering). 

Now I've gotten back into blogging.  That's another talk, rather, blog.   To be continued...

Until Next Time:
"Catch the blue train places never been before, look for me somewhere down that crazy river." Somewhere Down that Crazy River by Robbie Robertson

Life After High School: Save the Music For the Pros

A question was posed in my high school page on Facebook (Vacaville High 1983) asking "did you become what you wanted to be in high school"? This question has been with me since reading it about a week or so ago and I was going to answer via the page itself but realized the answer would be longer than the page would probably would like.

I have to say that I didn't become exactly what I wanted which was a successful musician. I say not exactly because I accomplished part of the goal and that's recording two CDs, which is the first part to becoming successful for people to hear you you have to have something for them to listen to, right?

Why did I want to be a successful musician? Well it came after hearing Pink Floyd's The Wall. It was actually the song "Mother" that really turned me to wanting to writing music/lyrics. I just didn't know how to go about doing so because I didn't play an instrument at that time. I decided I would have to learn to play the guitar, although the drums was and always will be my instrument of choice.

In 1983 I learned to play the guitar and in the process tried my hand at songwriting, which came to me quite easy. I went a number of years seeking artist that would influence me either vocally or songwriting style. From Pink Floyd to Tears for Fears to The Judds and Reba McIntire. Although I grew listening to soul music and rhythm and blues it was not something I could not write so I left it those that could.

In 2001 I recorded my first CD (recorded in another's studio) tilted "Searching for the Garden of Eden" which was of folk/country genre because the area I was hoping to get into was country music and country music was very easy for me to write and sing. I had the CD put in a local store in Vacaville called Music for a Song (I'm not sure if it's still there for I do not live in the area anymore). I sold one copy and that was because a friend of mine went in and bought a copy to show support for me. The CD was on consignment (don't remember the length of time but it wasn't long that's for sure) and the consignment ended with only a single copy being sold. I realized that perhaps country isn't the road for me to take. But my dreams to make it in the music business was not shattered, only needing a revamp.

I spent the yeas between 2001 and 2007 trying to figure which road to take. Should I stick to country but market myself better or should I find another genre of music? I decided to ask people why they wouldn't buy my CD and they said the genre of music. OK. Now I knew I had to change gears. Along came my discovery of Enigma.

"Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi" by Enigma was the changing CD for me and I wanted to write that type of music so I began collecting their CDs and really listening to their music. I mean really listening to their music. After them came Air and Keiko Matsui among a number of other people.

In 2007 I recorded my second CD (in my own home studio) titled "4240 Hollis St" which was all music with influences of Pink Floyd and Enigma being heard and the CD sold many copies and got listeners on iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody and other online music stores. More songs from this CD have been purchased via iTunes than my first CD and because of this I knew this was the road for me to take. I knew I found my niche and all I had to do was get my second CD out there more (via Facebook and Twitter) and start work on my third CD at the same time. But as John Lennon said, "Life happens while you're making plans" and boy does it.

Between 2007 and now 2011 I switched jobs, lost a job, went to IT school and found a job (though not in the IT field which is OK). In the midst of everything I still had not lost my goal. But instead of wanting to make it big (Grammy big) I just wanted to get paid to compose and felt I was on the right track with my choice of music genre. I had every intentions to begin recording my third CD last year but had no umph. This year I finally got my home studio set up again (had to break it down in 2009 when I moved) and then I lost total interest in writing and recording. I don't know why. I just did. But being creative is something that's in me. I may go back to it but it won't be this year.

So, no I didn't achieve my goal (completely) after high school and the music may be on hold for right now, but my creative energy continues to flow and I'll tell where next time around.

Until next time:
"A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world." Oscar Wilde

Year book picture, circa 1983