Jimmy Buffett dies

Posted 11:30 AM by Gerald So

After two unspecified health incidents this year, Jimmy Buffett died last night aged 73. One of my professors at Hofstra, who liked my C.J. Stone aviator stories, recommended Buffett's novel WHERE IS JOE MERCHANT? From there I got into Buffett's music, which reminds me to kick back and enjoy myself whenever I can.

Here's to you, Jimmy.

Embed from Getty Images

Cap In Hand

Once upon my childhood, Captain America was one of my favorite heroes. What appealed to me was he had no far-out powers like X-ray vision, super-breath, flight, etc.

I wasn't a kid anymore when the rumors of steroid use ran through Major League Baseball, but I was shocked to learn Mark "Big Mac" McGwire had used the then-legal supplement Androstenedione in breaking Roger Maris's longstanding single-season homerun record. Though "Andro" was legal, I didn't think it was fair. And then I realized Steve Rogers became Captain America by volunteering to take "Super Soldier" serum. This was similarly vetted by Uncle Sam, but was it fair?

Superheroes gain their powers in all sorts of ways, many by ingesting secret formulas. There was nothing "wrong" with it, but I was stuck on whether it was "fair". After all, Captain America was supposed to represent our country's highest ideals, one of which was fighting fair, and he himself had taken a shortcut. If he hadn't, he'd be physically incapable of serving.

I may be the only one to see the Super Soldier serum as a performance-enhancing drug, but it turned me off Cap for many years. With the quality of the recent Marvel movies beginning with 2008's Iron Man, I was curious how they'd present Captain America. I've had my eye on last year's Chris Evans movie until, yesterday, I bought it on Blu-ray at Amazon for $19.99.

Captain America's theme music sealed the deal:



It's the most stirring theme I've heard since Iron Man's "Driving with the Top Down", and it rivals John Williams's Superman theme.

Whitney Houston

No matter how far stars have fallen, it's a shock when they flame out. I can't think of Whitney Houston without hearing her once-in-a-generation voice at its peak, without remembering how my 6th grade teacher—who inspired my choice of colleges—wanted "The Greatest Love of All" as her wedding song and invited the class to her wedding to sing it. Ultimately, she was told she couldn't use the song at the ceremony, but rehearsing it was a memory. I didn't attend the wedding, but I made up for it by going to college.

No one knows yet what led to Whitney's death, but I regret she didn't preserve her voice. That my mind has preserved it is truly a gift.

My personal favorite Whitney song is "Saving All My Love For You".

A Writer's Moral Responsibility

Today on Do Some Damage, Sandra Ruttan discusses a writer's moral responsibility, citing a commentator's opinion that if Amy Winehouse hadn't won a Grammy for her song "Rehab", she might be alive today.

Sandra writes, in part:

As authors, we're entertainers. Some of us may write more obvious entertainment, and some of us may write things we hope inspire people to think about serious matters at times. But in determining the best book of the year, or best song, or album or short story or movie, our primary focus can't be on the message.

It's when we get sidetracked on secondary issues that we lose focus on the real issue; great writing. I don't know that I would have agreed if I'd watched the Grammy Awards the year Winehouse won, but that doesn't matter either. What matters is that the committee should use the criteria for evaluating the music, and determine the best contender in each category. The awards weren't set up with the stated objective of making a moral statement or setting a certain type of example.

I commented:

I disagree (slightly) only because I don't think text can be completely separated from its message. On some level, we evaluate text by how effectively it delivers its message. Isn't concern for message part of what separates great prose/poetry from good? Are we truly more entertained by writing that has no purpose/message/goal but to elicit our gut reactions?

I don't know Winehouse's music, either, and I don't know what criteria they use to judge the Grammys. Music does seem to have more elements than text--melodic composition for one--so it's possible to separate melody and performance from text.

This much said, like you, I don't think it would have changed things had Winehouse not won.

More from WE MIGHT HAVE

I originally intended the video below for my Amazon.com author page, a single poem that exemplifies the tone of We Might Have while complying with even the strictest rule against obscenity:



Ultimately, I found the size of Amazon's video screen small and decided any videos I post there should be about me in general, not any specific project.

Anyway, "Gotta Wonder" may be most resonant when paired with Frankie Avalon's 1959 hit, "Venus":

I've Finally Seen: THE INCREDIBLE HULK (2008)

My brother and I watched The Incredible Hulk from Netflix yesterday. I was a fan of the Bill Bixby/Lou Ferrigno show, but otherwise am not wild about the Gamma Green Giant. I tend to lose interest in live-action-and-CGI movies if there's too much CGI, and because the Hulk is so much larger than life, CGI is a must.

William Hurt and Tim Roth made great adversaries for the Hulk. Edward Norton and Liv Tyler did not annoy me as Bruce Banner and Betty Ross. I enjoyed the clip of Bill Bixby in "The Courtship of Eddie's Father," Lou Ferrigno's cameo as a security guard, and the use of Joe Harnell's iconic TV score "The Lonely Man". Marvel really put its stamp on this movie, and that more than anything else interests me in a sequel.

Now Hear This

I may have mentioned I'm a big fan of sound. I can listen to the same songs on Repeat for hours. So when I saw the text-to-speech Odiogo players on John Rogers's blog, I knew I'd give in and try it sooner or later.

I've created a new blog, PodioSo, and moved my Odiogo experiments over there.

Another Way to Die

...is the title of the next James Bond movie theme song, the first duet in franchise history, to be sung by Alicia Keys and Jack White, written by White.

More detail from Zap2it.com.

I'm just grateful the movie isn't called Another Way to Die, dangerously close to the uninspiring Die Another Day.

Back to Bertucci's

Regan, Deshant, Tracy, Matt Tedesco, John Ricotta and I had dinner last night at one of Font's favorite hangouts, Bertucci's Brick Oven Pizzeria. I had been in the mood for pizza but went with Lasagna Rustica on the spur of the moment: a swell blend of sausage, beef, ricotta, and pasta that I finished for breakfast this morning. After dinner, we played Cranium Wow back at the house, where my most impressive feats were getting Matt and Regan to guess "unibrow" from a drawing with my eyes closed, and unscrambling America Online from the category "Original Service Provider" and the clue phrase "Reliance on AIM."

Our team won pretty handily, only missing guessing "867-5309" as hummed by Regan. Hard to believe it's been twelve years since college and we have as much fun as ever getting together.

Turn that tassel

AP: Vanessa Williams receives diploma

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Vanessa Williams has received her bachelor of fine arts degree from Syracuse University, nearly 25 years after she dropped out to become the first black Miss America.

The 45-year-old actress-singer, who stars in ABC's "Ugly Betty," also delivered the convocation address Saturday to graduates of Syracuse's College of Visual and Performing Arts.

Stark Raving

I've snapped up the Iron Man soundtrack by Ramin Djawdi and the novelization by Peter David.

"I fly low, I'm in high demand."

I just listened to Stephen Stills' "Treetop Flyer" on the recommendation of Sean Chercover, and it's officially one of my favorite songs. Thanks, Sean.

First P. Diddy, Now This.

Miley (nee Destiny Hope) Cyrus has changed her name to Miley Ray Cyrus to honor her father, Billy Ray Cyrus. I'm all for the sentiment, but I thought she was well known enough as Miley.

I also think her playing Miley Stewart, who plays Hannah Montana, and then playing Hannah herself at concerts is confusing. Maybe kids get it.

Quantum of Solace

You've probably heard Quantum of Solace is the title of this year's James Bond movie starring Daniel Craig. You may know that Ian Fleming's story "Quantum of Solace" wasn't a spy story and featured Bond only in the background at a Bahamian dinner party. Wikipedia can give you a synopsis of the movie.

Nowhere else on the Web will you find my friends' parodies on the title:

Harry Potter and the Quantum of Solace (Andrew Carbone)

Star Wars Episode I: The Quantum Solace (John Ricotta)

Spongebob Squarepants II: Quantum of Starfish (Gerald So)


and my projected lyrics to the film's title song:

Tell me, oh please tell me this.
How will I get
a Quantum of Solace?

When you go for the kill,
best not to miss.
I'll never give
a Quantum of Solace.

Sweet Child O' Mine

"Sweet Child O' Mine" can now be purchased as part of my ebook Call Me Cupid: Six Screwball Stories of Love (February 2012).

New

I'm not one for new year's resolutions. Like most humans, I've failed to keep too many of them. That said, I am committed to perceiving as much newness as I can. Logically I know January 1st is just the day after December 31st, but when you think about it, any measure of time is arbitrary. So why not see new chances in every year, every month, every day, every moment?

Easier said than done. In grade school, January was my worst month: the momentum of a new school year gone, summer vacation nowhere in sight. Even as I woke just now, I told myself, Here it is January again. It can feel like a month of Mondays if you let it.

So the trick is not to let it. Much as I dread January, there's a part of me that loves to work on rainy days, in the wee hours, when there's a foot of snow on the ground, i.e. when other people just want to sleep in.

Three-and-a-half hours into January, I say:

That's okay, let's see how you do it,
Put up your dukes and let's get down to it...
Hit me with your best shot, 2008.

On the fourth day of Christmas...

I got together with my friends the Tedescos (Matt, his wife Kim, their daughters Sophie and Ava) and the Ricottas (John, his wife Kelly, their daughters Emma and Julie) for a belated Christmas party featuring pizza from Angelo's of Carle Place, music by Los Straitjackets, and much cuteness.

I gave John an Insult-a-Day 2008 Desk Calendar, filled with humorous celebrity one-liners. I gave Matt The Bourne Ultimatum on DVD.

The Ricottas gave me a Borders gift card that I'll use online for maximum value. Matt gave me a copy of James Bond and Philosophy: Questions Are Forever, featuring his essay "The Moral Status of the Double-0 Agent: Thinking about the License to Kill". I forgot to have him sign it, but I'll rectify that in a few days when we meet for a movie.

For dessert, I tried Cheese Fudge, highly recommended by Beloit prof Tedesco and almost unrecognizable as cheese by my taste buds. Eureka!

He believes he can fly.

Pardon the riff on R. Kelly, but it's apropos of my poem published in Yellow Mama. My thanks to editor Cindy Rosmus.

Snow Time Like the Present

I was certain I'd see snow on the ground yesterday morning. I was only off by a day. This is the pleasant type of snow that looks like frosting on a Mini-Wheat, and most features of the land are still visible. Time to put on 'Tis The Season For Los Straitjackets.

The Cracked CD Case

It happens to us all now and then. My latest CD, Robert J. Kral's soundtrack to Superman Doomsday, arrived in one of those super-flat tear-open mailers also known as damage-awaiting-inspection. I thought briefly of returning it, but before I knew it, I'd broken the plastic wrap and peeled the security seal. Not only was the familiar bite taken out of the front cover, the booklet window had a crack in it, one of the booklet-holding brackets had come off, and as I removed the CD itself, a plastic shard fell out from who-knows-where.

I put the CD in my player—it played at least—removed the front booklet, and was trying to get at the track listing on the back when I noticed all of the damage was to the snap-on front cover. I removed the cover from an unfortunately purchased, long-purposely-lost instrumental medley of Broadway songs (What? Not the original recordings?!), matched it to the back cover of the Doomsday soundtrack, and voila!