Wednesday, July 02, 2003

Another rambling post

I also see that my template is screwed up again...there's way too much white space in the links column at right. Sigh. Hopefully it will take care of itself like it did last time, but I'm getting tired of it doing this for no good reason. I haven't made any changes to my template code, except for changing the number for my unemployment chart. Update: it's all better now! It's driving me crazy, I tell you...

Still no phone call from the fellow from this company, speaking of unemployment. I'm beginning to think someone was fucking with me Sunday. Update: I guess not...I left to go buy comics and when I returned two hours later there was a message on my machine! Now we're playing phone tag, but at least they called!

Woke up early yesterday morning and couldn't go back to sleep, so I did what I usually do in these situations, watched TV. I caught a showing of the 1970 flick Alice's Restuarant, starring the writer of the song of the same name, Arlo Guthrie. It's an entertaining film for the most part, very dated and full of hippie-era dialogue and references. The acting is mostly amateurish, but most of the principals (especially Arlo) are likeable and charming, so it's watchable...but there were slow stretches. One highlight for me was a duet with Arlo and Pete Seeger on an old Woody Guthrie (Arlo's dad, you know) tune, "The Car-Car Song", while an actor portraying Woody watched on in his hospital bed. That was one of the strangest things for me...throughout the film Arlo is going back and forth between the converted hippie-haven church which the film revolves around and the hospital deathbed of his "father". It must have been a hell of a thing for Guthrie to relive the death of his Dad like that. Can't imagine it was pleasant, but it's in the film so who knows...

I'm a fan of Arlo's real-life music, though– he put out several excellent records on Warner Bros. throughout the 70s and early 80s, especially Amigo, which I intend to elaborate on in the upcoming Vinyl-O. He's not recorded and released many albums of original material in the last couple of decades– but apparently he maintains a heavy touring schedule. I wouldn't mind seeing him one of these days.

OK, I'm done for now. Hopefully more later.

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