If you've been watching the news of late, you've seen and heard a lot about airline shrinkage. There's just no way the US airline industry can keep operating the way it has been in the face of oil at $138USD a barrel. So it's change a-gogo right now. Some of these changes blow ($15 for the first bag - gracias, American Airlines) and others do not. Like United's decision to behead TED, its airline within an airline concept. When TED first started flying, I was a fan, but that's because I was in LA and doing mostly short-hauls on TED. Moving to Chicagoland quickly killed any affinity for TED. So the announcement earlier this week that TED was to be euthanized (not quickly enough, if you ask me, since it won't totally go away until 2009) was a good, no a great, one. So adios, TED. Adios. Way steamy in Chicagoland today. I ran at 7:00AM today to avoid the heat and by the time I was done at 8:00AM, the heat was on and the bugs descended as if sent as a curse, a la Old Testament times. Ugly, with a capital "U"!
Speaking of curses from on high, here's today's 80's flashback:
So this whole Yaz reunion has me all kinds of worked up and discovering Yaz videos on Youtube has set me into a search for all kinds of 80s video. It's like having unlimited access to VH1 Classic (without Flava Flave and his skanks). I've decided to post all manner of 80s music this summer and I'll do it from time to time, but I thought tonight would be a great night to kick it off with some serious cheese. Our first clip is an homage to garbage bag fashion - watch the redhead - she's so into this it's bordering on the homicidal - anyway, you can thank some British producers for the ladies of Toto Coelo (seriously, that's the name) and this gem 'I Eat Cannibal' - really, there are no words:
And then there is this classic from Julie Brown (no, not the HORRIBLE English MTV VJ - yep, VJ, MTV once did play music videos). I hesitated at first about posting this, given the subject matter, but this was made way before it became fashionable for kids to shoot up their schools. This is WAY pre-Columbine. I actually remember buying this record (yep, a real live record, black vinyl and all) at the Sherman Oaks Galleria in the spring of 1984. My buddy Andy and I had decided to spend spring break of our senior year in California, trying way too hard to be the cool people we were convinced that we were and I heard this song on KROQ as we were driving to Malibu and I knew I had to have it. So it was off to the Galleria in search of the record and some Valley girls. At least I got the record. It was an EP and had four of the funniest songs I had ever heard...so anyway, enjoy this one (and if you were a homecoming queen...too bad-this is too good to pass up):
Keep checking back for more videos - I promise they won't always be so cheesy!
So I was checking out something on the Chicago Tribune website earlier this morning when I caught three little letters out the corner of my eye - YAZ. Was it a trick? I read it over again...indeed, a concert listing for Yaz in Chicago this July. Really? It couldn't be the original duo, I thought. That was not a good breakup and I couldn't imagine them back together. And, frankly, I thought Vince Clark might be dead. So off to the font of all knowledge I went - Google. Within seconds, it was 1982 all over again. "Upstairs at Eric's" is back! The original duo, Vince Clark and Alison Moyet, are back playing dates across Europe and the US this summer.
This takes me back to the halcyon days of 1982 and 1983. I was utterly mesmerized by Alison's voice - she was amazing. I must have played that album (well, cassette - way before CD's) until it broke. This album and that voice were one of the reasons I wanted to go to London so badly when I was a teenager. London was the center of all cool in my mind - it had to be better than Scottsdale, for sure. When I finally got to London in the summer of 1984, it met all my expectations. I've been going back to London for more than 20 years now. A couple of years ago, I saw the play "Chicago" in London and had the chance to see Alison Moyet when she was playing "Matron Mama Morton." She was incredible.
So here it is - twenty six years since their first album and it's Yazoo Reconnected. It cracks me up. I'm not sure I can miss this opportunity. Here's a look at what Yazoo looks and sounds like today. Enjoy -
I found this gem (turns out Youtube is of some marginal worth) while chatting with a Dell Support Agent tonight. We got the new hard drive for Shari's computer and thanks to the wonder of the "chat" function, she is up and rolling again. I have to say, Dell pulled it out of the fire with this function. It was awesome. I still believe that Vista is a tool of the Devil but I have to hand it to Dell for a massive improvement in customer service with the advent of chat!
Seriously, the first of June? Already? At least it's, technically, a day of rest. A gorgeous day here in Chicagoland and we spent it getting religion. It's Fast Sunday today (quick reminder for those non-Mormon readers o'the Den - the first Sunday of each month is a dedicated day of fasting as well as an opportunity for Church members to share their testimonies during our Sacrament service) and it was a nice day. Nothing out of the ordinary. Even the boys who usually play "Testimony Bingo" were disappointed by how NORMAL it was today.
Once we were home, it became a day of further rest. Lots of napping today. Which amazes me since all three kids are out of school now. How could they suddenly be so exhausted? I didn't get through the Sunday New York Times until 330PM today. Courtney is now making snickerdoodles for later tonight and I have flank steak marinating in an Asian marinade that I made this morning. I'll grill it later and add it to a fried rice. That'll be dinner. I'm using a yakitori sauce from the local Asian market as the marinade base. I then through in a splash of soy sauce, one diced clove of garlic, a handful of diced green onion, and some ginger powder. I think it'll be pretty tasty.
I'm also reading an amazing new book called "They Poured Fire On Us From The Sky." It is stunning. Very simply written, it is the story of three young boys, now young men, who escaped Sudan. It is a very moving read and it compels you to find a way to be a part of stopping genocide. It stuns me that we, sons and daughters of a loving Father in Heaven, continue to kill one another in the name of peace, or protection, or destiny. It's got to stop...but read this book.
