Dance Me to the End of Love*

On November 11, 2016November 11, 2016 By StevenIn Life At Home1 Comment

Damn it, 2016, knock it off already. You’ve already taken Alan Rickman, Prince, Abe Vigoda, George Gaynes, Jerry Doyle, Gene Wilder, and David Bowie. And now I see in the news that you’ve also taken Leonard Cohen from us? This will not stand!

Leonard Cohen was beloved by many of my friends. I loved him too. Leonard has been actively writing and performing music for almost sixty years. Almost everyone knows his work, even if they don’t realize it- he wrote “Hallelujah,” one of the most covered songs ever sung. Jeff Buckley, Rufus Wainwright, and countless others have done hundreds of versions of this song, but the original is still the best. Leonard Cohen originally wrote around 80 verses for the song, and different artists sometimes choose different verses, which means that almost every version is just a little bit different.

My first exposure to Leonard Cohen was in 1990, when I was seventeen years old. A group of us (including Jade Walker and our good friend Chris Pine, who is now deceased) went to see the Christian Slater movie, “Pump Up The Volume.” During the movie, Christian Slater’s character spun up “Everybody Knows” and “If It Be Your Will.” I was transfixed, and I’ve been listening to Leonard Cohen (and the ridiculous number of covers of his work) ever since. Those first two songs are still among my favorite songs of all time.

A recent Rolling Stone article mentions that when he finished his “Grand Tour” in New Zealand on December 21st, 2013, he had been touring for five years and played 387 shows. He came out of that tour with serious physical problems. Leonard Cohen had multiple fractures of the spine, and severe mobility problems. His final album, “You Want It Darker,” was recorded from a makeshift studio in his house. His son set up a Neumann microphone on the dining room table, and set the living room up with recording gear, a laptop running Protools, and a set of speakers. Much of that album was recorded with Leonard in an orthopedic medical chair. “You Want It Darker” was released on October 21st, just a few weeks before Leonard left us.

(Editor’s note: I accidentally acquired a subscription to the Rolling Stone a few months ago. I’m still not entirely sure how this happened, but every once in a while the magazine is really entertaining. If you’re interested in reading this fascinating look at the production of Leonard Cohen’s final album, I scanned the page from the November 17, 2016 Rolling Stone. Here you go. Click the thumbnail on the right to embiggen. )

Leonard was 82 when he died, which means he was about 79 at the end of his final tour. Six months before the Grand Tour ended, I was lucky enough to see him at the SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany. I was thrilled to finally be able to see him live, and I had no idea that he was on the last tour of his career. Even then, in late June of 2013, he was spry and witty and a master of his craft.

Thanks to the wonders of YouTube, I can show you what it was like to see him perform Hallelujah live in Mannheim, Germany, about three and a half years ago.

I’m tired of 2016 taking my musical idols from us. Someone keep an eye on Cyndi Lauper, Martin Gore, Andy Bell, and Vince Clarke, ok?

*If you’re not familiar, “Dance Me to the End of Love” is one of Leonard Cohen’s songs. There’s a live version on the 2009 Live in London recording you can get from Amazon and iTunes.

What’s your favorite Leonard Cohen song?

Editor’s Note: I’m attempting to blog every day in November with CheerPeppers. I don’t expect to succeed because life be crazy, but any blogging in excess of my previous post-free month is a win, right?

Feelin’ Blue (Musings on a Trump Presidency)

On November 10, 2016November 10, 2016 By StevenIn The U.S.7 Comments

I’ve been positively sick and despondent about the election results ever since I woke up on Wednesday morning to find my phone full of incredulous WTF messages from my German friends. I almost rage-quit my blog out of the intense feeling that I would never have anything to say again- my faith in our country was that shaken.

But then I saw a bunch of news about the things that are going on, and I feel like I need to say a thing.

To all the #notmypresident protesters. To all the disgruntled Bernie-Bros. He is our President now. For all of us, not just the Red States. Half of our country may have voted against him, but the peaceful transfer of the Presidency is part of what makes us America. Let it go, and choose your battles carefully for the next four years. This fight is already over. It’s time to move on to the next challenge.

To all those talking about leaving the country. Don’t. If you don’t like what this is going to become, stick around and fight. And vote in Democrats at the midterm. And vote in a Democrat four years from now. And subscribe to your local newspaper, even if you don’t plan on reading it- we need those reporters to keep tabs on what a Trump White House is up to.

I saw a picture of the electoral map as voted by people in the 18-25 age bracket, and it gives me hope. This is our future:

18-25map

To all the rampaging bigots who are taking this election as carte blanche to be hateful, a hearty hi ho fuck you. There are already reports of nasty behavior and intimidation to blacks, muslims, trans folk, and pretty much everyone who isn’t white. To the alleged perpetrators, get over yourselves. A Trump presidency doesn’t negate your obligation to be a decent human being. Stop it. Just play nice with everyone else.

Ann Coulter said this thing:

If only people with at least 4 grandparents born in America were voting, Trump would win in a 50-state landslide.

— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) November 8, 2016

…and she missed the point. She missed the point by a LOT.

There aren’t that many people in this country who have four natural-born grandparents. I’m a second generation American myself- only two of my four grandparents were born in the US. I think that’s true of a great many people, because the country really isn’t that old. 240 years is not a long time when you’re talking about multiple generations. But I digress… my point in bringing up Ann Coulter is that she missed the point because we’re the United States of America, even if right now it feels like we’re anything but.

My country’s better angels are all about inclusion and adaptation.

My $.02: I am not a Trump supporter. I despise everything he said during his campaign. I find him to be a misogynist, a bigot and a bully.

However, he’s our President now, and we have to deal with that. We made it through eight years of Dubya (who seems positively mild by comparison), and we’ll make it through this. Maybe he’ll turn out to be an OK President- not evil so much as just mildly ineffective. Maybe he’s the guy that will finally actually unite us all. I kinda doubt that last one, but I live in hope.

Fellow Blue-State people, we have to accept that this is a done deal and move on. For my part, I will continue to advocate and fight for minorities, GLBTQ people, and people of all faiths. Even the ones I think are boogety-woogety nonsense. (Hint: That’s all of ’em. I don’t have to share your beliefs to fight for them.)

Besides, now that Sarah Palin is reportedly being considered for a Cabinet position, the late night talk show comedians are going to have a field day. I mean, what’s next, Michele Bachmann as Secretary of State?

Lost Photo Post: The Orlando Eye

On November 9, 2016 By StevenIn Florida

This is one in a series of photo posts where I took a bunch of photographs, intending to make a blog post out of them, and then never got around to actually writing the post.

Anyone who has read even a little bit of this blog has probably already figured out that I love tall things. Tall buildings, tall ferris wheels, you name it. I even have a tall-stuff tag for posts that involve being up high!

The Orlando Eye is one of those places that I wanted to go as soon as I found out it even existed. I’ve been on the very similar London Eye several times now. They were building it when Amelie and I went to Megacon in 2015, but it wasn’t quite open yet. We planned on going on it the next time we were in Orlando, and we almost reached the location but there were thunderstorms and high wind, so we decided to postpone.

Fast forward to Megacon 2016, and we finally had time to stop back at the Orlando Eye. I’ve got a bunch of pictures below, but first some details:

The Orlando Eye is on International Drive, not terribly far from the convention center, Universal Studios, and Sea World.

The Eye is a 400 feet tall ferris wheel with enclosed and air conditioned cabins that rotate slowly around the ring. It’s similar to the London Eye, although the structure and mechanisms are slightly different, and the London Eye is only 43 feet taller.

Since July of this year, it has been rebranded as the Coca-Cola Orlando Eye. From the capsule, you can see the Universal hotels.

The ride is very smooth- a complete cycle takes about thirty minutes. This view is the Orange County Convention Center, where Megacon has been held for many years. You can just make out the Sea World roller coasters behind the Convention Center.

This is another view from the Eye. I honestly cannot tell which roller coasters are visible in this photograph. I think it’s Universal Studios Islands of Adventure, but International Drive is in the heart of the biggest concentration of tourist attractions, so it could be almost anything.

A little bit more of I-Drive, with one of the capsules visible. The Orlando Eye capsules are heavily tinted, because this is Florida. The view here isn’t as interesting as on the London Eye, I’m afraid. For one thing, the Eye has no tall buildings around it to look at. If they had built this in downtown Orlando, thirty minutes to the East, it would have had a better view I think.

This restaurant is a short walk from the Orlando Eye. I suspect that they did the roof lettering deliberately to attract the attention of hungry Eye-goers. This appeals to me immensely: I like when things are clearly labeled!

Off in the very far distance, you can see Epcot. This one required some zoom lens. And, to be fair, the only reason I can tell that it’s Epcot is that Spaceship Earth is pretty distinct.

Finally, here’s a couple of horses. As crowded as International Drive can get, Central Florida is still covered in swatches of land that is either undeveloped or used for farming and livestock. So: horses!

Have you ever been on the Orlando Eye?

Stressed out by the election?

On November 8, 2016 By StevenIn Life At Home1 Comment

It’s going to be nearly impossible to avoid election coverage tonight, but if you’re already stressed out, here’s a web site full of live webcams on various critters.

I’ve been especially fond of this one with fruit bats. They’re like tiny fuzzy flying puppies!

It’ll all be over in a few hours. Be strong, everybody.

Memories are a tricky thing.

On November 7, 2016November 8, 2016 By StevenIn Life At Home8 Comments

I was searching my computer for a specific photo because I thought a story about that photo would make a good blog post. I couldn’t find the photo that I was looking for, but I did find this one, and it’s amazing.

Yesiree bob, what we have here is a vintage Olan Mills studio shot of the Glassman Boys. My older brothers Scott and Jonathan, and me in the most ridiculous shirt the 1970s could possibly throw up around my neck. There’s another one with the three of us and our parents, but not my sister- I assume this is when Michelle was off at college.

Here’s the thing about this photo that is the most interesting to me: I don’t remember it. I don’t even remember going to this photo session a little tiny bit. I didn’t even know I had this file on my computer until just a few minutes before I started writing this post.

I know that I was about ten years old here, because I was wearing the same horrible Art Deco shirt in my 1982 elementary school class photo. (Seriously, it looks like Andy Warhol and Piet Mondrian got drunk together and threw up on a canvas!)

Guess who didn't fully understand the "cowboys and indians" theme they wanted for class photos that year? — Guess who didn’t fully understand the “dress up as cowboys and indians” theme they wanted for class photos that year? Yup, that would be me!

I do remember another studio photograph that was taken with my siblings, including my sister- that one is indelibly burned into my brain for two reasons- the first is that I actually had a copy of that one all these years, whereas the sibling picture up above is actually new to me. The second reason the other one is far more memorable is that my sister drove us to and from the studio, and on the way home a neighborhood girl chased a ball into the street in front of our car. The girl survived, but I remember her having a nearly full body cast for a while after. Michelle was traumatized, naturally, because running over a person is scary and stressful. (Or so I imagine.)

My memory of the times before high school is fragmented at best. I’m not really sure why that is. Some people have really detailed memories of their childhood, but the only things I remember clearly tend to have to do with times that I was either very embarrassed, very angry, or with very dear friends. Memory is weird that way.

Speaking of memory, I have no idea what my original idea was for the primary thread of this post, so I’ll wrap up with another childhood memory. This one is more funny than traumatic.

In the late 1970s, my brothers had a giant Habitrail with a bunch of gerbils in it. For the uninitiated, Habitrail is this system of tubes and spires that allows you to take any standard sized fish tank and make it a playground kingdom for gerbils. It’s changed over the years, but do a Google Image search and you can get a basic idea of what a Habitrail looks like.

I don’t remember what all of the Gerbil’s names were, but I know that one of them was named Chip. I know this, because at a few minutes before 8pm one night, one brother says to the other, “Let’s go watch CHiPs.” The Larry Wilcox/Erik Estrada show premiered when I was about five years old, and I didn’t watch nearly as much television back then. For one thing, there were only about a dozen channels between the VHF and UHF dials, and we didn’t have cable television yet because it was still the 1970s.

“Let’s go watch CHiPs,” said my brother, and I pointed to the Habitrail and responded in the only way that made any sense to my tiny brain at the time:

“But why are you going in there? Chip’s right here!”

What’s the earliest thing you remember?

Whimsy. Tacos. The DMV.

Tag: National Blog Posting Month