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Last week I was finally able to find the film Fancy Pants at the video store. It had been missing for years, and someone either FINALLY returned it, or the store bought a new copy. Either way, there it was, so I grabbed it. My mom showed it to me when I was a child and I liked it, but I couldn’t remember too much about it. I wondered if it would still appeal to me, for now as an adult (more or less), both main stars, Bob Hope or Lucille Ball, are hit or miss with me.

My fears were quickly placated– I was laughing from the get go, and throughout the entire film. Fizzy watched it with me, and she enjoyed it, too. I haven’t seen many, but for what it’s worth, this is my favorite of Bob Hope’s films. Anyone out there who, like me before watching this, doesn’t think of him as a great comedic actor, needs to see this film just to make SURE you don’t like him. He plays an American actor impersonating a British butler impersonating British royalty, and has many great scenes, including his retelling of an encounter he had where his military outfit found itself in a position of “3 against 1000.” Truly hilarious, in the rapid-paced, fast-talking, clever dialogue format that has nearly disappeared from films of the modern era.

If you find yourself enjoying Bob Hope in Fancy Pants, I only know of one other film he made that I found extremely enjoyable– Bachelor in Paradise. Funny stuff, man.

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I have been an absentee blogger for some time now, the reasons for which I explained in my previous post, but as things have settled down somewhat, I should be able to offer up regular material once again. Thanks to all who wished my Mother well. She is home recovering.

This is the time of year at which it is customary to make resolutions for the new year, and perhaps recap the previous year. As this is my first post for 2004, I could try to do so, but I am not sure I’d have very much to write. I am fairly pleased with my first year’s output as a blogger. I have 82 entries under my belt, and while not all of them are masterpieces, I think I’m improving as I go. I don’t know exactly what to resolve, but perhaps I will try to balance the topics here a bit more evenly. I write about music far more than, say, food, and perhaps it will be more interesting to you, gentle reader, if I deliver more food, film, and cocktail posts your way.

Okay, that will have to suffice for my resolution and recap blog. I now resolve to enjoy the rest of this fine day. For more than a week I was so sick I couldn’t leave my bed, so I am especially appreciative of my health now that it has returned. Fortuitously, January and February are especially easy months for me, as it is a slow time for private parties and the like. I still have to tend to the clients who are booking me for events later in the year, but the lack of parties to organize and staff in the near future means more free time.

Today’s Question: What are your favorite months, and why?

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As several commenters have so skillfully pointed out, I have not posted for some time. Initially this was due to the busy December party season, but a little more than a week ago my mom fell ill, and I have been with her ever since. I have three siblings, but none live in California, so until they arrived a couple days ago I’d been the only one around to help. They timed their arrivals well, however, and not just because of the pending holiday– today I’ve been feeling sick, and I’m not supposed to visit mom until I feel better. However, this means I am alone on Christmas for the first time in my life, as Sue is in Los Angeles with her family, and what little family I have is at the hospital.

I will try to post again soon, but I can’t say when that will be. In case I’m not back for a few days (or more) here is a question to ponder and/ or answer.

Today’s Question: What do you hope Santa will leave in your stocking?

Neither of my Christmas wishes will be under a tree or in a stocking come the morning.

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Thanksgiving has come and gone, thus officially kicking off the Christmas Season. Holiday music abounds, stores are open later, traffic and crowds are larger, Santas are out in full force, and general merriment is on the rise everywhere. As such, I am poised to purchase Christmas cards to send to family and friends, as well as making my annual list of people for whom I need to buy gifts.

My sister and her husband were home for Thanksgiving, and in between sometimes sickening palavers of love and affection for one another, such as:

Lil’ Sis: My Sweet Jeffy!
Jeff: My Cara Bear-a!
Me: *barf*

they had time to converse with me. The matter of holiday shopping was bandied about during one of the conversations. Lil’ Sis was insisting to Sweet Jeffy that they awaken bright and early the day after Thanksgiving, in order that they might spend the entire day shopping and bargain hunting.

I’m as big a fan of saving money as the next guy, but no level of price reduction will get me to venture out to shop on the day after Thanksgiving. I’ve seen televised footage of what shopping is like on that day. No thanks; I’ll pay the extra 10%. I dislike shopping enough as it is without having to contend with stampeding hordes while hunting down gifts.

In the meantime, I need to stop buying “gifts” for myself. Don’t ask me why, but I’ve accumulated a bunch of “throwback” basketball jerseys lately. Playing basketball has become my primary form of exercise, and for some reason I find it fun to wear the things when I play. It’s sort of dumb to spend that much on exercise clothing, but there is something about the old-fashioned aesthetic that appeals to me. I already have a few of them, but I kind of of want one more– this one. Crazy, right? Someone stage an intervention already.

Oh, so back to the topic at hand– bargain hunting. Sometimes I think sales encourage people to purchase things they otherwise would not, simply because of the reduced price. Today’s Question: What do you think?

Oh, and just ‘cuz, here is what Christmas music sounded like in 1949:

Currently Playing: Nat “King” Cole – All I Want for Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth)

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People keep asking me to post pictures, so today you get pictures.

This first one is of my parents on their wedding day. Their third wedding day, to be precise. They eloped to Las Vegas the first time, but my mom got cold feet. The trip wasn’t a total loss, as they each brought a friend to act as a witness, and the friends spontaneously decided to get married that night instead. The next time, they eloped to Tijuana and got married for real. The third time, pictured below, they had a proper church wedding.

Here is Mom more recently. I have put her to work, dealing blackjack at my casino parties. Here she is at an event I did for Visa in December of last year.

Here’s another photo from a casino party, this one from February of this year. That’s M.C. Hammer, oops I mean just “Hammer,” standing there. He was a guest at that party; I’m not sure why, as the party was for the National Car Dealer’s Convention. I wonder who invited Hammer?

Here’s my kid sister. She is a rough, tough, ass-kicking lieutenant in the Navy. She works at the Pentagon now, and was just in the Middle East doing something or other. She’s coming to Berkeley this month to recruit people to work for the Secretary of Defense. Need a job?

Oh, and look! Here I am, getting my hairs cut.

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Some songs are linked inextricably to a holiday. In many cases it’s a legitimate connection, for example “White Christmas” and Christmas, but in other cases, it’s an association that came to be after the song was released.

Currently Playing: Guy Lombardo – Auld Lang Syne

We all sing it, or at least hear it, as the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve and the new year begins, but it wasn’t originally a holiday song. It is, however, one of my favorite songs, so while 2004 is still several months away, I’m playing it anyway. Plus, it’s recorded by an Italian-American, the great Guy Lombardo, so I’m even *more* partial to it.

It’s not so much the case anymore, but a LOT of the big-name singers of the big band era were Italian-Americans. I wonder why that was the case? Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Louis Prima, Lou Monte, Al Martino, Tony Bennett, Jack Leonard, Vic Damone, Jimmy Durante, Jerry Vale– I could go on forever it seems, except I’m not sure where I am going with this. I could continue by listing all the great Italian-American athletes, but that would be an even longer list. Let’s just all agree that Rocky Marciano, Joe DiMaggio, and Joe Montana were the greatest in their respective fields (no pun intended), and leave it at that.

As you may have surmised, I am in fact an Italian-American, though I’m not sure what that really means. My grandfather came to America from Sicily, so my father was raised in a traditional Sicilian/Italian household, but by the time I was born, we had assimilated, and were just another American family.

My older brothers grew up with at least some sense of the immigrant experience, at least in terms of being surrounded by family from the old country, but by the time I was born most of my Sicilian-born relatives had passed away, and the remaining relatives had left crime-ridden Hawthorne for greener pastures. Said brothers were exposed to the sort of neighborhood and lifestyle that I can only experience second-hand by watching Goodfellas or The Godfather.

America is the melting pot after all, and I suppose I’m another example of that phenomenon at work. Though I may identify as Sicilian-American, realistically I’m no more Sicilian then I am black, white, Chinese, or Lithuanian. I’m just American. To an extent I’ve inherited my father’s love and loyalty for all things Italian, but I can’t exactly say that I’m any different then any other American person due to my lineage.

Today’s Question: Do you feel you belong to any non-American ethnic group, or are you just a melted-in American?

For the record, I’m only half Sicilian. I’m also 1/4 Mexican, 1/8 Native American (Cheyenne, I believe) and 1/8 Swedish. But really, I’m 100% American, for what do I know of those other cultures?

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Another summer, another vacation is over
It’s September now with the sun and the smell of the clover
Down by the gate we sit and we watch all our friends go by
And pretend we don’t hear the bell that rings through the summer sky

I’m not in the mood for paragraphs and such, so instead you are getting a bullet point recap of my trip. I may not even pay attention to punctuation or verb tense, so steel yourself as I let my grammar slop over.

Drove to Los Angeles, El Segundo to be precise, with Mom.
On the way we stopped for dinner with my Aunt & Uncle in Thousand Oaks, a town I like to call T.O.
Missed Fizzy.
Drinks and a beautiful night on Newport Beach with my friend Janet.
Mom’s High School Reunion.
Caught up with various friends.
Drinks with Pessi and Sweetpea at Good Luck Bar, Pessi’s new hangout, and met Doorboy, her new crush.
Lunch and games with Mom’s high school friends Dorothy and Marci, way down in Oceanside.
Took an aimless but fun drive through Hawthorne, Lawndale, Inglewood and Torrance.
More missing of the Fizzy
Lunch at Southern California’s best deli, Giuliani’s in Gardena.
The long drive North.
Dropped Mom off at her house in Sebastopol.
Home at last. Fizzy!
It was all that and a bag of chips. Hawthorne is nicer then it was when we moved away (not that it could have grown any worse), and overall a good time was had by all. But sleep? Hardly. Maybe 16 hours total over a four night span. I caught up on some of that last night, but am about to go hibernate.

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So I thought I had it bad. I told my Mom my banking story and she one-upped me but good. Seems that after my dad passed away, she went to her bank (which is now a counter in a Safeway, but that’s a whole other rant) with the death certificate to have him taken off the account.

The teller accidentally removed HER from the account instead, and then informed her that without my father’s signature she would be unable to access the funds in the account.

Now THAT’S customer disservice!

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Yesterday was Independence Day. Fizzy and I drove up to my Mom’s house. Both of my brothers were there, along with my two sisters-in-law and four nephews. We were one sister and one brother-in-law away from a family reunion, but Cara and Sweet Jeffy stayed home. Or maybe they went elsewhere? How would I know?

There is very little to report. As is traditional we BBQ’ed food and ate it, then watched things explode. A good time was had by all.

Because this entry is so short, I will fatten it up with another silly thing.

You have a mysterious kiss. Your partner never
knows what you’re going to come up with next;
this creates great excitement and arousal never
knowing what to expect. And it’s sure to end
in a kiss as great as your mystery.

What kind of kiss are you?

Lucky Fizzy, I always keep her guessing! And what sort of kiss is she, I wonder?

Her bee stung lips,
Kisses sweeter than wine

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Desmond Dekkar’s “Shanty Town” is playing as I write, the strains of which remind me of my college days and all the ska shows I used to attend with my friends. College was not that long ago, yet I’ve lost touch with pretty much everyone in my social group at that time. Dave, Rudy, Anna, Sumi, Rusty, Coco, Justine, Justine’s Sister whose name I can’t recall, Andrew, Townson, Bobby, Julia… I have no idea where any of those folks are now. I guess that’s the hazard of staying in your college town after graduation; everyone else moves away. Eventually something will appear on the internet to reconnect everyone, right? I mean, there is porn galore, sports everywhere, and every imaginable object for sale or auction, why not a find-your-old-friends web page?

There isn’t much more to today’s post than a reminiscence of old friends. Not to mention that it’s Father’s Day. Most likely I can track down my missing friends if I try hard enough, but there’s no way to see my dad again.

Today’s Question: Who do you miss the most, and why are you no longer in touch with him or her?

I *am* going to see my mom today. Fizzy and I are about to head to ye olde homestead to pick cherries from her tree. There is a rumor of peaches as well; I hope it’s a true rumor! You see, mommy has a plethora of fruit and vegetable plants and trees of all sorts, so peaches seems very possible.