cassandra

As children we're taught black from white
and life is a movie we must write
And ever will we live in shame and regret
if we don't snag that shiny statuette
So we toss our lives up on our screens
Other people merely pawns, knights, or queens
I've finally learned that the only way
to win the game is not to play
So here's what i'll do
Not for me, but for YOU

I'll be your leading man
in some preposterous disney dream
Bathings, backrubs, babies
You-me-we, the inseparable team

Or make me co-husband number three
If non-traditional is sensible to thee
Have me in your harem if that's the way you go
Ten men for each woman? A logical ratio

Or send me to the wilds of Alberta
To your friend who bears that same name
She wants children but men don't want her?
Alberta from Alberta will be glad i came

I'll follow any lead you take
Platonic? Vasectomy? FWB?
I'll travel any road to make
you feel mindless, loved, and free

Why would i give my precious life
when it's not in MY movie plot?
Why would i give you anything
or everything i've got?

Because REAL trust, REAL love
have been eradicated like toilet feces
Extreme measures are called for
if we're to save our species

Because i feel the most perfect peace
when into my eyes you gaze
Maybe i'll find that in other eyes
or never again for all my days

i give

I give you these thoughts
and dreams that may amuse
I give you this mind
No need to search for clues
I give you these arms
to wrap you close and tight
I give you these hands
to rub you slow and right
I give you this cock
Do you want many or one?
I give you this cunt
For fertility or fun
Don't mind this morning breath
I'll do you from behind
Don't mind this breezy fart
Did i just blow your mind?
I give you these tears
My hopes and fears to keep
I give you this heart
to whisper you to sleep

tell

TELL me what you want
I don't want your fear
Tell ME what you want
I'll give - am i clear?
Tell me WHAT you want
Would the morality guardians jeer?
Tell me what YOU want
Grandma's ghost won't appear
Tell me what you WANT
Not what you think i want to hear

puppy

I want to follow you home
like a puppy
Show you my puppy tricks
I want to smother you
in puppy love
Bathe you in puppy licks
I want to scamper
inside your drawers
Make you laugh
at my puppy roars
Hide a puppy bone
as you gasp, giggle, or groan
I want to fall asleep
next to your heart
And dream of you
when we part

bullhead o'reilly

Ah, IMDB. As some of you may know, the Internet Movie Data Base has a sub-section devoted entirely to something called "wacky credits". I think i've found the wackiest of all time (and not in the way they mean). In the two-part television episode "The Great Invasion" from 1966's SHANE, actor e.j. andre plays a character named bullhead o'reilly. It's the only time the character ever appears in the series. Simple enough...but wait! As listed on IMDB, in part 1 e.j. receives "credit only". In part 2, e.j. is listed as "uncredited". If that sounds confusing, let me fail to clear it up by explaining that what they mean is that andre DOESN'T appear in part 1 (even though he's given credit), and DOES appear in part 2 (even though he doesn't receive credit). In other words, he wasn't there when he was there, and he was there when he wasn't there. Everybody clear? Aside from violating any number of the laws of time and space, this presumptive mistake is the most fascinating credit snafu i've ever seen. Is it IMDB's error? A boner in the original show credits? Is there any possible way it could be true?? If so, SHANE was decades ahead of its time in terms of post-modern irony. Any fans out there who can clear this up?
Yes, i need to get out of the house more...but scroll down yourself! If you dare...
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0029191/?ref_=tt_cl_t8

this game

Your smile makes me feel drugged
I want to drink it
Pour it in my ears
May i stand at your heart's door?
Chase your loneliness
Erase your fears

How can i hope to find you
when i can barely find me?
How can i hope to love you

when love is never for free?

If we offered ourselves without greed

this world would never let us be

Might we fly on wings of giving

beyond pride, vanity, or shame?

Or must we fall back into living

this barbaric, depraved game?

cherise

I looked into her eyes
expecting a devilish gleam
But i found a haunted vision
i'll meet in some sad dream

I saw eyes that have not known
the mindlessness of love's peace
Eyes that have never closed
in the ecstasy of release

A heart that beats alone
Locked behind a barren fence
Never with that rhythmic echo
A mirrored heart to press against

A spirit that's never breathed
the freedom of pure giving
An ocean of acceptance
No more waiting, finally living

I saw eyes that only know
what it means to calculate
Treat others like a prize or trash
Never to give, only negotiate

So if you want my beating heart ever
or only for a little while
I'm not here to be your judge
I'm here to make you smile

sunset, lone arranger

glenn frey
1948-2016
As i said to my brother yesterday, "Is there a hole in your world?" Farewell glenn, you'll be missed. You'll also be resurrected more than most humans, your songs sure to be heard for many more decades (oops, that comment's for joe). One of the founding members of the Eagles, glenn deservedly rode that wave for the rest of his life, enjoying a successful solo career and eventual Eagle rebirth. He also painted pictures, took the occasional acting gig, and sang a perfect (and largely unrecognized) guest vocal on randy newman's "Short People". That he garnered as many solo raspberries as he did kudos is largely subjective nonsense, as the vagaries of fame are endless. Did some enjoy kicking glenn, just because he took away America's favorite band? History wants to re-write the Beach Boys into that slot, and it's a worthy debate, but much of the anti-Eagle sentiment is small-minded crap - anti-country snobbery, anti-intellectual snobbery, anti-California snobbery...for smart, multi-faceted music that evolved and endures, the Eagles take a back seat to no one. So was solo glenn gratuitously abused for what he wasn't, rather than what he was? His ex-partner don enjoyed greater success, but the concomitant anti-don backlash was more pointed as well. I myself once pooh-poohed glenn's work, but when judged fairly, he owes apologies to no one (except for taking lead vocal on the resurrection of "Take It to the Limit"). The only vaguely objective assessment for popular music is, does it pop into your head without prompting? By that measure, even glenn's worst (i'm looking at you, "Heat is On") had some sort of merit. The poet and social agitator in me always pulled me to henley, and in that light it's interesting to compare glenn and don to paul and john, the greatest musical duo from the other side of the pond (one even wonders whether the late-Beatle dominance of paul mirrors late-Eagle don, but the parallel doesn't stand up). A part of me wants to say that don's work is flat-out better, and probably it is...but maybe that just means he had more motivation, and knew better how to offset his own weaknesses, often using the Heartbreakers as both band and co-writers. Perhaps glenn wasn't chasing his own shadow so much. Or not - whatever the case, maybe glenn just had fun making music (with writing partner jack tempchin). And some of it's much better than you think.
NO FUN ALOUD (1982)
Flaccid and forgettable, with one balladeer gem ("The One You Love" - insipid, but undeniable).
THE ALLNIGHTER (1984)
A step in the right direction, as rocker glenn is back with a blues edge. Some consider "Sexy Girl" the pinnacle of frey saccharin stomach-churners, but stripped of all Eagle expectations, it's a well-crafted, fun song. And "Smuggler's Blues" burns the barn.
SOUL SEARCHIN' (1988)
Returning to the music that came out of the Detroit of his youth, frey made an album more listenable than its predecessors, with two standout singles.
STRANGE WEATHER (1992)
The best frey by far...and i say that not just because he channeled his inner henley. Unfortunately, no one was listening - i've yet to meet a single person who knows how great this one is. Long enough to be a double album, you might search for a weak link in vain, as track after track sinks into your consciousness. On a great album it can be hard for any song to stand out...but the exquisite "River of Dreams" manages that effortlessly.
LIVE (1993)
Had glenn released a live album earlier, it might now be held up as a classic example of what not to play at a party. And i suppose this one will never gain a hip cult following...but be glad he waited. I'm not promising there won't be moments when you'll wish for a tad less frey, but if you forget about "that band", you'll have a dandy time. Filmed in Dublin, he offers the perfect four songs off the new album, four from the catalog, and six Eagle tracks - including a respectable take on "Desperado". You might even abide that song from 48 HOURS. The standouts are "River of Dreams" and irish classic "Wild Mountain Thyme".
SOLO COLLECTION (1995)
Led off by three new tracks which show almost no fall-off from STRANGE WEATHER, the rest (except for "Heat...") is spot-on, largely because his less-successful fourth album gets more play than the previous three.
AFTER HOURS (2012)
In the american-songbook era, an album of standards from a heretofore rocking dinosaur is cause enough to tense up. But relax - this one's more nightclub than big band. Yes, there's an orchestra, but they play second fiddle to a jazz combo. And glenn's vocals are silky smooth. Along with the forties and fifties, he throws in a little brian wilson and randy newman, plus one original. Of course the lyrics are occasionally embarrassingly regressive - but if you can relax on that, let the smoky sounds carry you away.
Dream Set List
-Common Ground
-New Kid in Town
-This Way to Happiness
-Lyin' Eyes
-Smuggler's Blues
-Love in the 21st Century
-Here's to Life
-After the Thrill is Gone
-What Do I Do with My Heart
-Tequila Sunrise
-I've Got Mine
-Soul Searchin'
(encores)
-True Love
-River of Dreams
-Peaceful Easy Feeling

"Barbary Coast"

-created by douglas heyes
1975
Only for cultural historians with a masochistic bent, BARBARY COAST was mercifully canceled after half a season. One longs for intelligence in a show. Failing that, cleverness counts. Minus those two, you'd better have a lot of charm. This show has none of the above. William shatner's one television lead smack dab between TREK and HOOKER, it's a WILD WILD WEST clone that's an object lesson in what happens with neither a vision nor good writing. Painful is the word, and once you're committed as a reviewer, all you can do is hope for the end. Shatner plays a governor's agent (and master of disguise) fighting corruption in post-Civil War San Francisco. Doug mcclure is a casino owner and reluctant partner. Richard kiel gets a chance to play against type, as a good guy who's more handyman than muscle. Kiel is wasted, mcclure is competent, and shatner needed either more devotion to his craft, or a director who could prod him to deliver more. The pilot, starring dennis cole in mcclure's part, is abysmal, and it gets only marginally better. There are no juicy guest spots. I wouldn't be writing this however, without some tiny glimmer of watchability to offer. In the final three episodes, something good almost starts to happen. For the shatner devotee, watch these two and promise to leave it at that.
-The Day Cable was Hanged
The writing finally approaches competence, and a larger historical context is added to the mix, as cable captures a man alleged to be john wilkes booth. He hands him over to a general more concerned with self-aggrandizement than truth. Cable digs deeper, and springs the condemned prisoner. They missed a chance for an inspired ending, by having the man turn out to be booth after all, but this one's worthwhile.
-Mary Had More than a Little
Cleverness finally arrives, as two nefarious plot lines weave their way toward a convergence you can't see coming. A gang of crooks take over a soup kitchen, in order to tunnel into the safe next door. The daughter of one of cash's old friends turns out to be a hustler with angel wings and a thug boyfriend ready to mug the big winners who leave her table. One of shatner's characterizations finally becomes fun.