Like hi. It's an overcast Wednesday morning in Tucson, which is a very unusual thing. (Normally, it's not Wednesday at all.)
Happy belated Halloween. If you're like me, the belated part doesn't mean much because you still have six bags of Milky Ways left. And I discovered that it's very difficult to eat a whole bag of Milky Ways in one sitting.
Not impossible, just difficult.
I think that I partook in a pretty good Halloween costume this year. My blonde friend Jill and I went to a party as Nicole & OJ Simpson. We made a quick trip to the Salvation Army store and picked up an old black dress for $3.50. Jill actually looked pretty good in it, but then we ripped it to shreds and covered her in fake blood. Mmm mmm good! For my outfit, I piled four pairs of socks on my shoulders (under the blue T-shirt), wrote "32" and "SIMPSON" on the back of the T-shirt, drove to the airport to get some Hertz stuff so I could make a Hertz name tag that read "HI! MY NAME IS O.J.", got a plastic knife, one glove, a Nerf football, and a 1-pint carton of Minute Maid orange juice. Oh, and that black stuff you put under your eyes.
And then we covered me in fake blood also. Woo-hoo! Such bad taste! Jill and I were very proud, indeed.
If you haven't already heard, Tom Jones is back. He's got a killer new song called "If I Only Knew" (produced by Trevor "Art of Noise, Yes, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, ABC, Seal, Buggles" Horn, so it's sonically unbelievable). I love it, and I'm hoping that the rest of the country loves it also.
As for research stuff, I think I'm at the point where nobody knows (or even cares) what I'm doing. Including my advisor. Oy.
Don't forget to tune into KXCI a week from Friday - the next Crap From The Past airs, and it's gonna be huge. Details to follow.
Later, grizzly dudes.
Ron
(written November 10th:)
Like, hi. And thank you for the continued negative feedback concerning my truly tasteless Halloween costume. Next year, Jill and I WON'T be OJ and Nicole. We've learned a valuable lesson here - that I am not at all believable as a football player. It'll never happen again...
Had an amazingly good weekend. Went out dancing Friday night, which was fun. Saturday - UA Homecoming football game (We won, but it was ugly. The best play by far was the 97-yard interception that we ran back for a touchdown. I can't believe that we moved up in the rankings after Saturday.) After the game - big party. I mean BIG party! Including an entry for the It's A Small World file. Lemme 'spain. ("No, not enough time. Lemme sum up." - Princess Bride)
About a year and a half ago, I went out with a few friends to see the Sick and Twisted Animation festival, where I discovered that my wonderful song, "Mutilator", as recorded by Deth Boat featuring me on vocals, turned up in a short animated film. Needless to say, I was speechless when I heard myself screaming at the top of my lungs on the big screen.
As fate would have it, I wound up sitting next to a very attractive woman in the theater (which was my idea, actually. I said, "Let's go sit over by that attractive woman.") We talked a little bit during the movie. I found out that she was from Colorado, and overheard another girl in the same row say that this woman was her 117 T.A. Unfortunately, I lost her in the shuffle after the movie and didn't get her name. Fooey. A quick scan through the course catalog revealed that there was only one 117 class offered in the entire school - Art 117. I figured that they (the art department) might have a big display case with pictures of the graduate students (like Opt Sci), but they didn't, and I abandoned my search after that.
("So Casey, can you play "Wind Beneath My Wings"...")
Fast-forward to sometime in July, when KXCI is playing Disco Music in the streets of downtown Tucson during Downtown Saturday Night. ("Downtown Saturday Night Fever"!) My co-host (Steve "Starsky Suave") and I are decked out in full 1977 regalia. He looks divine in his black/powder blue frilly shirt and pants, and I look resplendent in the same outfit that I wore for Halloween two years ago. (I mix tenses. Please forgave me.)
We take turns mixing songs and announcing silly things on the mike. At one point, Steve takes a break to go dance with a lady-friend of his who stopped by to say hi, while I mix a few songs. Crimes of fashion were committed, and fun was had by all.
Now fast forward again to this cool party on this past Saturday. This is not the usual Opt Sci crowd, so I am very pleased (the circle of friends gets kind of stifling after a while). Not more than five seconds after I've stepped in the door, I wound up being introduced to a very attractive woman, Margaret, and her friend, Amber. We talked and danced the whole night (yes, the party was so good that people danced), and afterwards went to Coffee Etc. (open 24 hours! And they serve pancakes too!). It was only after a few hours of conversation that I realized that Margaret was the one I sat next to at the movies, and also the one who danced with Steve at the Disco Vortex! Yaa! Small world, indeed!
("So, Casey, can you play "Everything I Do, I Do It For You"...")
Margaret and I saw "Frankenstein" last night, along with a few of her friends. The movie was fair, but the company was excellent, and as always, I'll keep you posted.
And I like the new Tom Jones song so much, I put it on my answering machine.
If you have any requests for this month's Crap From The Past show (which airs this Friday), let me know.
Today's high: 74.
Brr!
Later,
Ron
(written November 18th:)
"Hi ho!" - Kermit the Frog
Had another groovy weekend, including a Thank God It's Friday, a Saturday in The Park, and Another Pleasant Valley Sunday.
Friday - had dinner with a friend of mine, who I hadn't seen in a month.
Ran into some other friends of mine at the restaurant. Small world, I suppose. Then did a killer Crap From The Past show. I think I'm onto a new feature that I could very easily do every show - the Torture Chamber! What happened is that I wasn't getting very many phone calls, so I threatened to play parts of Barry Manilow's "Even Now" album unless I got phone calls. Apparently, people didn't think that I had the chutzpah to actually play Barry, so I played Copacabana (the ultra-extended mix) while taking irate phone calls live on the air. People were truly upset, and the whole bit was hilarious. I decided to do this every show now, and I have tons of music that will make people scream - "I Am Woman", "You Light Up My Life", and the coup de grace, "Feelings" by Morris Albert. Oh, I am so looking forward to my next show...
Saturday - watched our football team lose on national TV. It was a really good game to watch, though; both teams had sorely deficient defenses, and the final score was 45-28. Usually, our defense kicks butt and keeps the scoring down - yawn!
Saturday night - another killer party, this time at Eric's house. The two ladies that I met at last week's party showed, and brought along three more women, which is a big plus for Opt Sci people like myself.
Sunday - awoke late, went to brunch at 2, hung out and read the rest of the day.
And now, the part where you, the reader, get to partake in the creative process itself... It's... Write The Blues Song! I'll start:
I wanted to make a samwich/But my bread it done turned green.Now it's your turn. Send your verses to me. When it makes millions, I'll be sure to include you in the royalty checks.
I wanted to make a samwich/But my bread it done turned green.
I got me plenty o' meat/But nothing to put it in between.
And finally, how do you think people would react to a bumper sticker that says "Beam me up, Jesus"?
Ron
