Desirable Elements of Information

Some now living will never die.

It’s been a while since I could just post about whatever I felt like, so I thought I might take a few minutes to update you, faithful readers, about some of my ongoing obsessions.

Abe Vigoda

According to every source of information at my disposal, Abe Vigoda remains alive. Among those who have shuffled off this mortal coil since I last wrote about Abe (2/25/11):

Andy Rooney
Amy Winehouse
Whitney Houston
Adam Yauch
Donna Summer
Ernest Borgnine
Sherman Hemsley
Gore Vidal
Phyllis Diller
Jack Klugman
Charles Durning
Norman Schwartzkopf
James Gandolfini
Peter O’Toole
Slim Whitman
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Elaine Stritch
Robin Williams

Just to name a few. Whereas Abe’s to-all-appearances-imminent death has been a running gag in popular culture for about 40 years now. Long may he reign.
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Bands I’ve Seen 3.0

His mind is like an ocean.

Since I haven’t updated this list in about 4 years it seems like I should, although my live music consumption has gone way down. This is partly because I am getting old and tired and most of the bands I love have broken up, and partly because a couple years back I relocated to Darkest Northern California, which is not often visited by the major touring bands. Every once in a while someone throws us a bone — for example, Ozomatli put on a sizzling show at the Van Duzer Theater Tuesday night, complete with encores in the lobby — but mostly we are left with only local options. And some of those are quite good, but they have a tendency to be late-starting shows aimed at college kids (see the second sentence of this paragraph).

One of the better shows I’ve seen since I got here was by Naïve Melodies, who are a Talking Heads cover band; I’m not sure whether they should go on the list (though I have included cover bands before, specifically AC/DShe, the all-girl AC/DC). Another was a screening of Stop Making Sense at the Arcata Theater Lounge (complete with dance floor), and that definitely doesn’t count.

After all these years I’m still missing an “I” and a “Q.” I never saw Queen, Quarterflash, or the Quicksilver Messenger Service, but I would see Q-Tip given half a chance. As for “I,” it may have to wait for time travel so I can see the Ink Spots.
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Now Where Was I?

So in the time it took me to get all the way through Apocalypse Now, the NBA Playoffs, the World Cup, the Tour de France, and many other world and personal events came and went. In the interest of economy and brevity, I have composed some haikus to cover this lacuna.

I hate the Clippers
I wish we could have beat them
Andrew Bogut’s ribs 🙁

The pain of Brazil
Four goals scored in six minutes
Unprecedented

Do you believe that
Vincenzo Nibali is
Drug-free? Please discuss.

We have a new house
It’s full of boxes and cats
Please come and visit

Out of the boonies
Man, the Internet is fast!
What’s good on Netflix?

I have a new job
I know, it’s hard to believe
But what can you do?