Paul Stanley ‘Live To Win’

Today’s musical choice is KISS vocalist and rhythm guitarist’s new solo album. And upon the first listen, I must admit… I didn’t like it. It sounded like crap to me. I have never liked anything co-written by Desmond Child and his damn name is all over the place.

Desmond Child is a failed musical artist who found fame and fortune writing with and for other artists like KISS, Bon Jovi, and Cher. His songs are formulaic and laden with friendly and catchy hooks that will nestle deep into your brain and drive you crazy. I hated anything with his name attached. It’s drivel aimed directly at the masses to fleece money from their pockets.

With that in mind, I kept listening to Paul Stanley’s new CD and a strange thing started to happen… I started liking it. I fought it, but eventually the repeated listening of the CD started to open me up. ‘Live To Win’ sounds like it was sent by a time machine from the mid-80’s. But there are moments of alternative grunge rock from the 90’s thrown in too. And overall, the CD sounds like watered down KISS. I can imagine that throwing the other members into the mix would result in a harder edged album. Oh well…

I’m digging it and it’s been in my player since last Friday. And for the record, my nephew Preston said, “It rocks!”

Now for something totally different…

I have an irrational fear of scurvy.

I don’t eat many things loaded with Vitamin C. No oranges or anything else like those fruits. Hell, I don’t really know what fruits or vegetables contain Vitamin C.

So anytime my gums start to bleed, and this can happen while brushing my teeth, I start to think “scurvy”. I got a skin eruption on the back of my neck last Friday and the first thought I had… “Scurvy”.

I was explaining this to my friend Robin yesterday and she laughed her ass off. She told me that in this day and age, people rarely get scurvy. And she told me that if I’m so afraid of coming down with scurvy that I should purchase Vitamin C tablets.

That seems like a reasonable thing to quiet down my scurvy fears, but I’m too lazy to go out and buy Vitamin C tablets. If I’m in a drug store or some other retail establishment, I never think about my scurvy fears and forget about getting Vitamin C tablets. I don’t drink much orange juice because I don’t buy it often. Sure, if I see some orange juice around, I will drink some because it’s readily available.

And you can see why it’s a revolving problem with me… I don’t want scurvy, yet I do nothing that can easily calm my fear because I’m too lazy to procure the items that will protect me.

I’m kind of like George Costanza on Seinfeld. He has a weird phobia of Lupus.

I wonder if there’s a name for scurvy phobia. I wonder if there’s a support group or a foundation that helps out those suffering with scurvy. Is there a ribbon? Who is the spokesperson?

Perhaps there are no answers because I’m too lazy to even look it up.

Muddy Waters ‘The Real Folk Blues / More Real Folk Blues’

Ahhhhh… The feeling of sitting down in front of my PC and writing up an entry, it’s very satisfying. Things have been a little hectic as of late and I haven’t had the time for a decent update. So lets see where this puppy takes us…

Last Saturday, I was a one of the five judges at the Piedmont Blues Preservation Society's 2006 competition. I arrived at the Lion’s Lair in High Point right around 6:15pm. I got there early because I only had a slight idea as to where it was. And as it turned out, I found the place quite easily. I didn’t spend a whole lot of time driving around in circles and making frantic calls trying to find the place. I pretty much went straight to it. There was no pulling my hair out. No loud cursing. No crying.

I can’t really recall, but I think that I was the first judge there. I caught up with Casey Hazelman, the new President of the Piedmont Blues Preservation Society, and Chris Roulhac, the new Vice President. I also ran into PBPS member and WQFS Blues DJ, Mike Caudle. The former President, John Amberg was there to pass the torch and do what he could for the organization that night.

After making contact with those folks, I saw no one else that I knew and since I was flying solo, I did exactly what I normally do… I found a couch and had a seat alone with my Yuengling.

Jeri Rowe from the Greensboro News & Record came in and as it turned out, he was there for judging duties too. We chatted and chatted and were introduced to the other judges gathered… Wayne Bennett who is getting a doctorate at the UNCG’s Music Academy and Steve “Wachovia” Haines who runs the Miles Davis Jazz Program over at UNCG.

Then in walks a stranger that I haven’t seen for a while… Benjy Johnson from Benjomatic and Earthtones Recording Studios was the last judge to arrive. I can’t remember the last time that I saw Benjy. And of course, he had his ever-present cup of coffee in his hand. That is until I put a fresh Yuengling in its place.

The judges had their own table and with the beer running through our bladders, we had a hard time juggling our bathroom breaks with watching the bands. The bathroom at the Lion’s Lair is a “one-holer”. That’s West Virginia speak for one toilet, so you can see what the hold up was all about. It happened and it’s a rarity… For most of the evening, the line for the men’s room was longer than the ladies. The bands played up to 15 minutes, stopped, tore down, and the next one set up, played for 15 minutes, and tore down. So you can see where we couldn’t exactly spend our free time in line for the “one-holer”.

My thanks out to Jennifer and Bethany, two of the bartenders there at the Lion’s Lair. Those two lovely ladies would come around and check on us, clear our empties, and replace them with fresh cold ‘uns. They took good care of us and they didn’t have to, so again, thank you ladies.

The judges really hit it off Saturday night and we’re making plans to do some “hanging out” again. Steve “Wachovia” Haines plays in an adult hockey league and from what he told us, it sounds like a good time for such “hanging out” activities. Benjy Johnson broke out his Charvel strat and joined the impromptu jam with Casey Hazelman. And much to my surprise, Mike Caudle got up there with his harmonica. I had no idea that he played a musical instrument.

It was a great time and I ended up staying much longer than I anticipated. I had only 4 and a half hours of sleep from getting in late from the Eddie Money show and getting up for my nieces dedication service/christening on Saturday morning.

The Rev. Webb told me that it was good seeing me in church and that I should come more often. I told him that I was surprised that I didn’t burst into flames when I walked through the door… He didn’t laugh. Now I’m a Godfather and legally bound to care for another member of my family if the need arises. I consider it an honor.

I also had the honor of doing the stage announcements at the Eddie Money show at the N Club the night before. I needed some sort of noisy validation after my recent emceeing duties at The Garage for the Fashion Rox show where no one knew who I was.

Well, I got that validation. I stepped up onto the stage and managed to hear folks shouting my name. I could hear no crickets in the building whenever I spoke introducing myself. Adam and myself got LOTS of noise when we were throwing out Rock 92 Hanes Beefy-T T-shirts.

Yeah… I felt better. The Rock 92 P-1’s were in the house!

After the show, Eddie Money took the time to hang out in the lobby to meet folks who came out for the show. I was coming down the stairs when Eddie noticed me… “Hey big guy!” he shouted.

I couldn’t believe it! He remembered me from the Two Guys Named Chris show where he was a guest that morning and he gave me a big sweaty bear hug. Yeah! Eddie Money hugged me!

How cool is that?!

Now for a little racing news… I’m very excited about Robby Gordon switching from Chevrolet to Fords next year!

I’ve been a Ford man since I’ve been driving simply because my father told me that if I purchased something else, I would have to find someone else to work on it. And since I’m not very mechanical, that meant paying someone to work on it, so I took his words to heart and have purchased nothing else over the years.

My first purchase was a 1987 Ford Escort EXP. Then I’ve been buying Ford Rangers ever since. I’m thinking about a car for my next vehicle.

So I’m glad to see that my favorite Nextel Cup driver moving over to the Ford Fusion. I think it’s a good mix… The Ford Fusion and Jim Beam.

I did see it coming, because Robby Gordon was in the press recently about the failure of joining forces with Robert Yates Racing. So I kind of thought something was up… Yates has always had Ford in their stables. The announcement didn’t hit me as a complete surprise.

Well that’s pretty much it for me today and again, I don’t know if I’ll get to make another update before Monday.

Stratocruiser 'Revolutions'

You know, it has happened again...

Last year I got a "Nod" from Go Triad Magazine for Best Blog in the Triad. This year, the Best Blog award was placed on my head by the readers of this here exercise of mine and readers of Go Triad.

Believe me, I'm very thankful. And the weird thing is this... I really haven't had the time to write up a good update.

Last week there were all kinds of goings on with Two Guys Named Chris and I ended up filling in for Goat Boy as well as doing my own amount of work. And that was supposed to be my "slow" week.

This week, I've been working with Coup Delicious, hanging out with my nephew Preston, and spending time with a girl in Mt. Airy.

My Netflix discs are piling up and starting that logjam that I do not like and my VHS tapes have now increased from 14 to 16 with all new shows from this year's television season that I haven't had time to watch.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. It just irritates me that last year, I got the "Nod" from Go Triad and I wasn't able to keep freshening up my blog with as many updates as I would have liked.

This year, I win the Best Blog honors and I'm STILL not able to put in a decent update.

It's driving me crazy!

If you're new to my little blog, please help yourself to all the previous posts. You may find something that you enjoy. If you're a regular, then you know I'll be coming back with something worth while real soon.

I'm shooting for a long and decent update tomorrow around 6pm. So drop on by... Ya hear?

Santana ‘All That I Am’

All right! I’m finally updating and it should be a long one, so grab a bevy (as Eddie Money says) and settle in. And for those of you who do not know… The title of each blog is the musical selection for my day.

Not long ago, I had a celebratory dinner with my friend Kristina. At the time, she had gone a whole month without smoking and started working a new job. So we hit the Lone Star on High Point Road here in Greensboro.

I really felt like I wanted a steak, but for some reason, I ordered grilled chicken. We started drinking beer along with shots of Tequila for her and Jim Beam for me. Kristina also ordered sautéed mushrooms for an appetizer.

I’ve always had a long-standing rule… I don’t anything eat that can conceivably grow between your toes. Therefore, mushrooms have always been off my digestive list. Why anyone would actually chew and swallow fungus was beyond me.

When the mushrooms arrived, Kristina offered me one. I declined. She asked me if I’ve ever had them… I’ve never eaten sautéed mushrooms, but I did try mushrooms once when I was younger. I didn’t like them.

Kristina started to use logic on me and asked, “How do you know that you don’t like sautéed mushrooms if you’ve never had them?”

Damn her and her logic!

Then I remembered the little talk that I had earlier that day with my finicky 6-year-old nephew, Preston… I told him that I have always hated mayonnaise, but recently, I tried it again and now I put it on a lot of things. I explained to Preston that as you get older, your taste buds will change and that you should always keep trying things to see if you like them now.

After all, I should practice what I preach because I was starting to feel hypocritical. I explained all that to Kristina, grabbed my fork, plunged it into a big sautéed mushroom, and popped it into my mouth.

At first, I wasn’t thrilled, but I didn’t spit out the joker. And after about 30 seconds, I wanted another sautéed mushroom. Kristina had to threaten me with the bread knife to keep away from her mushrooms.

The next day I told Preston the mushroom story, but it didn’t convince him to try tuna fish. And that brings me to another subject…

I’m starting to think that Subway (Eat FreSHHH!) is putting some sort of super crack into their sandwiches. I’ve been eating there at least once a week. I sometimes pass by Subway Sandwich Shops that aren’t on the way home. I’m a tuna sub combo junkie. And I really like the shop on Battleground in front of Killian’s Pub because they have Cherry Coke on the soft drink dispenser. If I’m satisfying my Subway addiction, I’d might as well wash it down with my favorite soft drink, am I right?

I get the tuna sub on the Monterrey Cheddar roll. Then it’s just plain with cheese. No lettuce or any other nasty garden item… Yes, I’ve tried them again recently. I get the combo with Baked Lay’s chips because I’m still not eating a whole lot of fried items.

I don’t know what it is about those sandwiches, but I want one right now. And to top it off… I just had one yesterday!

I’ve have been eating tuna subs from Subway for years, but I’ve never experienced anything like this before. That is, until they introduced those new breads. And that’s where I think they’re sprinkling “junkie dust” on the sandwiches. Perhaps they bake it into the bread?

Damn! I really want a Subway tuna sub right now!

Now to get my mind off Subway… I finally watched Lucky # Slevin and sent it back to the fine folks at Netflix. It stars Bruce Willis and a few other people that I forgot about. Willis is a killer who arrives in the “big city”. The police don’t have a clue as to who he is or what his plans are. Willis plays both of the city’s mobsters with a pawn in place to throw the police off and take the fall.



Willis’ character talks about the “Kansas City Shuffle” and that’s exactly what the film does to the viewer. It’s ingenious and I gave it 5 out of 5 stars on Netflix! The movie is awesome and delivers the same kind of punch that The Usual Suspects does.

Do yourself a favor and check it out!

Last night I managed to squeeze in 12 And Holding. It’s an independent film and for most folks out there, it will move a little slow. But I found it engaging and couldn’t tear myself away from it.



12 And Holding starts off with four kids and a tree house. Two of them are twin brothers with the only visible difference between the pair is a birthmark over the left side of face. And there are older bullies that for reasons unknown, don’t get along with the quartet of tree dwellers. Eventually, the bullies torch the tree house without knowing that the fat kid and non-marked twin were inside. The solo twin perished.

The woods where the kids played are razed to make way for apartment buildings or condos. It will no longer be a reminder of a bad event.

Then all hell breaks loose with the three surviving kids. The fat guy loses his ability to taste and turns his eating habits around. But his overweight mother ridicules his healthy eating habits and trouble follows.

The little girl who got her first period at the beginning of the film, takes her first step into womanhood by seducing an older man. After watching her story and recital performance, you’ll never listen to Blue Oyster Cult’s “Burnin’ For You” the same way again.

And the twin with the birthmark visits one of the bullies in detention and threatens him. But over the course of the film, the other bully that threw the Molotov cocktail committed suicide and the twin softens up. His visits to the surviving bully get friendlier and the pair makes plans to leave for New Mexico.

All the stories come to a great conclusion and I’m giving this flick 4 out of 5 stars on Netflix. I highly recommend it.

Here’s the Netflix friend call-out… Make me a friend if you like… eugenebsims@yahoo.com

One of my last few entries was about my emceeing the Fashion Rox show at The Garage in Winston-Salem. No one had a clue as to who I was… But I got some validation last Friday night at the N Club when I did the stage announcements for Eddie Money. The peeps gathered there knew who I was. They shouted my name. They spoke to me as I walked around the through the crowd and women were offering up their bodies for deviant pleasure. I thanked God right then and there for folks that actually owned radios!

And again, my deep thanks for voting my blog the Best Blog in Go Triad magazine.

Last week, I filled in for an angry and vengeful Goatboy on the Two Guys Named Chris show. And when I walked into the studio on Thursday morning, Chris Demm and Chris Kelly congratulated me.

“Huh?” I asked. “Did I get someone pregnant?”

Demm laughed and said, “No, you won best blog in Go Triad.”

“I DID???” I asked with great surprised.

I couldn’t believe it until I saw it in print. Josie and Josh from Murphy In The Morning on 1075KZL (our sister station) also congratulated me. Josie even said that she’ll have to check it out even though she’s known about it for over a year.

I was truly amazed and I’m very appreciative. Just to be listed with the blogs of Sarah Beth Jones, David Hoggard, and Patrick Eakes is an honor. They are great writers and express views that actually mean something unlike my ramblings and rumblings about the lack of Long John Silver’s in Greensboro.

Tom Petty 'Highway Companion'

Imagine my surprise when Chris Demm and Chris Kelly told me this morning that my blog was voted the best by 'Go Triad' readers... I was in disbelief.



If you voted for me, I thank you very much. If you read this on a regular basis, I thank you very much.

I have been using the fact that my blog got a "Nod" from 'Go Triad' readers for a year now, but I never compaigned to win Best Blog.

I've been writing to keep myself sane and to exercise what little skill I have with a word processor. And again, I just want to say thanks. It means a lot to me that anyone who takes the time to read my blog, also took the time to cast a vote. I really appreciate it.

I promise to make a real update soon. I thought this week was going to slow down, but Chris Kelly and Goat Boy have changed all that. Now I'm back to working long hours and I lack the time to sit down and write.

Again, thank you readers of 'Go Triad'. I'm a little overwhelmed and very appreciative.

Jerry Lee Lewis ‘Last Man Standing’

I’ve managed to watch disc one of season one of Six Feet Under and so far, I’m not all that impressed. The father of the family is killed off in the first episode and his wife and offspring manage to see him from time to time. They even chat with dearly departed Dad.

I don’t know if this trend will continue, but so far, nothing on this show is grabbing me. I had high hopes since Carolyn (frequent reader of this here blog) suggested it many moons ago. So far the show is averaging a 3 out of 5 stars and therefore worth the effort. But if it doesn’t pick up, I may not watch season 2 of Six Feet Under.

And since I’ve been so busy, my Netflix discs have been backing up… But that’s not the only logjam that I’m experiencing. I have 14 VHS tapes with hours and hours of recorded television shows on them. Everything from WWE Raw to my beloved Veronica Mars have been stacking up and waiting until I can get to them.

The only thing that I’m making time for is Battlestar Galactica. I’m up to date with that show because it’s my current favorite and cannot be missed. Every episode gives me great satisfaction. If it were a woman, I’d marry it.

Wait a minute… Does that sound super-geeky?

During the last update, I’ve managed to watch an episode of Nip/Tuck from September 25th, the premiere of Men In Trees, and the premiere of Heroes.

Nip/Tuck seems to be better this season and that’s good news. It’s been lacking something over the last two seasons. So far, I’m pleased. The 9/25 episode was really filled with the “S” word. It seems that the writers went out of their way to work in as many “S” words as they could.

I wasn’t knocked over by Men In Trees. It seems like a bit of a rip-off of Northern Exposure except that I haven’t really seen any quirky and weird folks like the ones that inhabit Cicely, Alaska. I will keep watching because there’s something that’s pulling me into it. I haven’t quite figured out what that something is, but as soon as I find out, I’ll tell you.

Heroes is the closest thing to a science-fiction series on network television this year. So I guess NBC is sticking their necks out again with this “ordinary humans become super heroes” kind of show.

Right out of the gate, the show has grabbed me. There are folks around the globe experiencing changes and abilities. One Japanese cat can teleport by bending time and space. A cheerleader who has nigh-invulnerability. There’s a politician that can fly and a painter who paints scenes of events that will happen in the future.

It has something to do with a dead professor from India that believes in the evolutionary changes that can occur with humans and were led to believe that the professor had something to speed along those changes.

And if that weren’t enough, we find out that a secret agent type is the adoptive father of the cheerleader who is going through the changes.

There’s also a woman who keeps seeing herself in the mirror. At one point, she wakes up to find mobsters that were tightening the screws, dead and scattered around the room. When she looks in the mirror, her reflection has her index finger pressed against her lips signaling her to keep her stinking trap shut.

I’m guessing that she’ll become the “super villain” in the series.

Heroes shows great promise. It shows like a comic book in motion and I can’t wait to catch up with it.

I was saddened to see Smith biting the dust so soon. I have a couple of episodes on tape and I will watch them. Who knows? Perhaps CBS will bring the show back. For some reason, I think it has great possibilities.

Janet Jackson ‘Rhythm Nation 1814’

Yes, I know that I haven’t done a whole lot of updating recently. I’ve plenty of excuses and I still have Lucky # Slevin from Netflix in my possession. No, I haven’t been able to watch it for over a week now. So that should be quite obvious as to how busy I am these days.

I managed to squeeze in some old friends and I met them for lunch one day last week. Jonathan Everett and Tracy Thornton (ttpan.com) met me at Terry’s Deli between 68 and Wendover Ave. It was cool catching up and BS’ing with each other. There’s nothing like an hour of arrested development to put you in a good mood despite the hustle and bustle of life. Sure, we’ve grown up a little bit in the last 20 years, but there are still the occasional attacks on each other’s manhood and heterosexuality. And we get to use and awful amount of “bad” words.

Jonathan, Tracy, and myself formed a rock n’ roll band back in high school. Of course, it didn’t go anywhere, but it manage to define where we were going in life. Jonathan found out that he didn’t like the lifestyle and ditched it for a safer and brighter career as a computer guru. Tracy, the only one of us with the drive that met his talent, has gone on and made a nice career out of playing steel drums. He’s become an underground success with his latest CD, ‘Pan Is For Punks: A Steel Drum Tribute To The Ramones’. As for me, I never truly had the talent, but was destined for a career in music anyway. I’ve been a concert reviewer for the Greensboro News & Record and I work as a DJ at Rock 92.

Tracy’s Ramones CD is available at Amazon.com and his own website, ttpan.com. His highly popular Christmas CD is also available on his website.

Friday night, Adam Korn, Patrick the Intern (don’t know Patrick’s last name), and I set up for an appearance at Cox’s Harley-Davidson in Asheboro. Deidre from the Two Guys Named Chris show came out and met all of her adoring fans. The AHDRA (a Harley Drag Racing Series) had some of their racers out there showing off bikes and signing autographs. There was some good barbeque pork to be had as well.

During our 2 hours, they cranked up one of the Harley-Davidson dragsters. It was LOUD! Every time the guy hit the throttle, Deidre would jump. And that’s when I noticed something… There weren’t too many women standing around watching this exercise. I had seen women there before, they were right along side their men. And as I kept looking at these guys watching the motorcycle being revved so loudly that folks back in Greensboro could hear it, I leaned over to Deidre and said, “You know… If you just took a picture of these guys without the motorcycle in it, you’d think that they were staring at a beautiful naked women dancing seductively before them.”

Those guys were watching intently and with little or no blinking. It was hilarious how much these guys were into watching a guy rev up a motorcycle so that it would blow the dust off the pavement. Of course, I’m the same way when I see Chicken Planks hoisted out of the deep fryer at Long John Silver’s.

Saturday night, I was the emcee at Fashion Rox over at The Garage in Winston-Salem. Cheryl Wiegert put this event together and from what she described to me… It was going to be a blast. Live bands and fashion models strutting the wares of Envy Shoes, Wild Flower Boutique, Samadhi Designs, and Putting On The Ritz. It was something daring to be different.

I was looking forward to it.

But that all changed as soon as I stepped up to the microphone.

I don’t get nervous in front of crowds. I’ve been getting on stages my whole life without any problems. It’s in my nature to attract attention to myself and if there’s a microphone in my face, I’m more than happy to use and abuse it.

I introduced myself and there was nothing but complete silence and blinking faces out in the audience. It was so quiet, I thought that I heard the International Space Station zip by in its orbit around the Earth. I realized (and why I didn’t before, I don’t know) that these folks had no idea as to who I was. I got nervous… And if I didn’t have it written on paper before me, it totally went out the window. So the first announcement didn’t go so well. I even had some folks from Wild Flower Boutique hassling me from the bar about the way I pronounced their establishment’s name.

Whenever I got on the stage after that, the nervousness was all gone. I didn’t care and we were going to have a fun night. Stratocruiser, Autohypnosis, and TK IV II I (TK 421) rocked the house and the fashions were strutting up and down the red carpet.

None of us knew what to expect and it turned out fine.

At one point during my announcements, I told the crowd that they didn’t know who I was because they didn’t look like much of a .38 Special kind of crowd. I even dropped the fact that, I, Eugene Sims, the Self-proclaimed Bad Boy of Rock 92 was so bad that I have been banned from the Two Guys Named Chris show. Still nothing. These fashionable types apparently don’t own radios.

Despite everything we all had fun and things went very well.

I did learn one thing that night… It’s nearly impossible to get a taxicab in Winston-Salem at 2:30am. I waited and waited for 45 minutes for that damn thing. I called and called and I’d either get “10 more minutes” or “it’s just around the corner” from the lady on the other end of the phone. They were damn good about picking me up at Cactus Jack’s on Deacon Boulevard around 7:45, but they pissed me off early on a Sunday morning. I didn’t take a jacket and it was a bit chilly outside as we waiting for the cab that never came.

Kinda sounds like a yuppie horror movie doesn’t it? The Cab That Never Came!

Kim Thore once again came to my rescue and she gave me a lift back to the hotel. Next time, I’ll program all the cab company’s phone numbers in my cell phone so that I can pit them all against each other. The first driver there will get the fat tip.

Here’s a picture of my niece Chloe with my bass guitar. My sister has asked me to encourage her interest in the guitar so I broke it out, plucked on it a bit, and let her toy around with it. She played with the thing for about 30 minutes and that’s longer than I have played it in over a year.


I have an idea for the “ultimate cover band”, but I can’t get Jonathan Everett on board with it. I would love to start playing music again and yet I can find no one that shares my vision.

During the course of my hectic week, I managed to finish season one of Monk. I’m giving it 4 out of 5 stars. Although it predictable at times, the show is funny and enjoyable.

I also watched the teen horror movie Stay Alive.

Stay Alive is a video game where the stakes are very real. If you die in the game, you will meet the same fate in reality. It’s rather generic and bland, but I’m giving it 3 out of 5 stars.

But I have noticed something, or the lack of something in teen horror flicks these days… Where is the nudity?

Sure, drug use is still running rampant and violence still invokes an R rating, but what happened to the bare breasts?

Back in my day, just about every teen horror flick had some bare boobage in them. I don’t want to sound like a curmudgeon here, but I want nudity back in horror movies! Just like we had in the good ol’ days.

Blondie 'Blonde And Beyond'

This is going to be a short update because I really haven't had the time to write up a decent one.

While looking for a picture of today's musical selection, I found out that the CD is now out of print. Huh... I'm glad that I got it while working for Capitol Records those many years.

I turned my nephew on to Mars Attacks! and he seemed to enjoy it. Although at times, he got a little scared and covered up his eyes. And HE tells me that he wants to visit Woods Of Terror out on Church Street... That should be interesting...

He gave it 5 stars because Foxy Brown's (Pam Grier) kids shot up the Martians. He laughed his little ass off over that one.

And you know, I'm thinking about switching over to Blockbuster's online rental service. After talking it over with Christine (frequent commentor), it seems like more DVD's can be had.

I'm looking into it.

Sorry about the shortness, I'll try better. And don't forget Fashion Rox happening at The Garage Saturday night in Winston-Salem. I'm the emcee for the event that will be a fashion show and concert featuring area designers, Stratocruiser, Autohypnosis, and TK IV II I (TK 421).

I hope to see you there!

Motorhead ‘1916’

Okay… I don’t want to come on this blog and just write about the weird dreams that I have… The last one that I had was a doozy!

For some reason, I was working as an usher at a movie theater. I was stationed at the “ticket ripping” place where I would point out what theater your movie was in. And after the first few people, a drunken chick came up and wanted to use the bathroom. I couldn’t let her by because she didn’t have a ticket. She told me that her boyfriend was getting the ticket and she was going straight to the bathroom and would be right back. I couldn’t allow that. She would have to wait until her boyfriend showed up with the ticket.

She stood by tapping her foot and giving me and the other usher dirty looks. When the two of us were distracted, she took off and made a clumsy attempt at trying to get over the velvet ropes. The other usher and I had to grab her and escort her out of the establishment and when we shoved her out the door, we politely told her that we no longer wanted her business. And of course, she shouted obscenities at us and shouted how she would never come back.

Upon re-entering, we noticed several rowdy kids taking off to a theater. The other usher and myself tracked them down and made sure they had tickets for the flick. And here’s where the weirdness begins… We made our way back out to the lobby and it was pure bedlam. The female employees were running out the front door with their mouths covered by their hands and some were shouting things like “Oh my God!” People were running everywhere and in no direction.

I came around the corner with the other usher and we both stopped in our tracks. There was a head lying on the floor with the body lying close by. The body was dressed in an usher’s uniform and looked as if it had turned to jelly. The head was rocking back and forth and complaining about how hard they had hit the floor. I noticed that the back of the head had in fact been cracked open like a cantaloupe. It looked like a big clump of hair matted down with thick blood and pieces of bone visible. Her eyes were rolling around wildly and I started to talk to it.

I got down on my hands and knees making sure not to get any of the gore on me and asked, “Can you see me?”

Her eyes were still rolling around looking for something to focus on and she answered me with, “No. My head hurts.”

“It’s okay. You’re going to be fine,” I said with a confident, soothing tone and trying not to sound like I was lying. I crawled closer and asked her, “What’s your name?”

She mumbled something that I couldn’t understand and so I decided to tell her my name and some other “fun facts”.

I said, “My name’s Eugene. I’m a fat guy who owns a truck, watches NASCAR, and visits art museums.”

I got no response and I realized that she was finally dead. And that’s when I woke up.

Yes, I’m still scratching my head over that one. So if you have any interpretations, feel free to post them in the comments section. I appreciate the emails, but I’d really like you to post them.

I’ve finished the first two discs of Monk and I must say that I really dig this show. Is it still on television?

I could never find that show because they kept moving it around on a broadcast network and every so often, I would see ads for it on the USA Network. I only made a mental note, but never followed up on it.

Next up and warming up in the DVD player is Lucky Number Slevin. I have heard so many good things about this flick and I will let you know what I thought of it soon.

Blondie ‘Autoamerican’

Coup and I worked two different wedding gigs over the weekend. The one on Saturday was actually the reception and Sunday’s was the ceremony and reception.

I wasn’t too keen on working the Sunday gig because the NASCAR race was taking place at my favorite track, Talladega Super Speedway. But Coup needed the assistance and I could use the extra buckage. So I taped the race and managed to go through the day without hearing anything about it. I didn’t hear who had won. I didn’t hear about any big crashes. I didn’t hear a damn thing. And I didn’t happen by a television where I could see the winner chatting it up with a smile and thank yous to GMAC, Garnier Shampoo, and Quaker State for helping them get to Victory Lane.

I actually got to watch and enjoy (a boring race for the first 120 laps) the race from start to finish. I fast-forwarded through the commercials, some of the other things that I didn’t care about and managed to watch the whole thing in two and a half hours. The ending was very surprising! So surprising in fact, that I actually leapt to my feet from off my bed. Time will tell if Brian Vickers can beat the Talladega first time winner’s curse.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about… Google it. There are legends about the Talladega Speedway being built on Indian Burial ground. And only a few first time Nextel Race winners have gone on to have further success in racing. The majority of those first timers never have any success in NASCAR or any other racing series for the rest of their careers.

Anyone remember Bobby Hillin Jr.? How about Dick Brooks?

And some of the strangest things that I’ve ever seen in racing occur at Talladega. I always like to see what can possibly happen at Talladega. One day, I hope to attend a race there in person.

Now back to the wedding gigs… I got a little tickled at the reception on Saturday. The Best Man had a facial tic. And before you start pointing your finger and thinking that I’m making fun of him, I wasn’t. It just kind of caught me funny when he was nervous about his toast speech. He was delivering a rather unmemorable toast while twitching like Gene Anderson, one half of one of the greatest wrestling tag teams in history, The Minnesota Wrecking Crew.

I fully expected him to say something like… “My brother Ole is right! (twitch) We’re going to pull off your arm and feed it to you! (twitch) The only way you’re going to escape the steel cage is going through it like a strainer! (twitch) We’ve gone ahead and called the hospital and told them to stock up on AB Negative! (twitch) YOU’RE blood type!”

During the dancing portion of the evening, the Bride came up to the DJ table, bent over and stuck her hand down the front of her dress. She searched wildly for her cigarettes and when she found them, she hid them under the cloths we use to conceal the mess of wires used with the equipment. At first, I was thinking… Wow! The Bride is going to give us a free show here! Or maybe she’s recruiting a tag team for her wedding night?!

From what I understood, everyone was well aware of the Bride’s smoking habit. I didn’t really understand why she was stashing smokes at the DJ table. Oh well, everyone has his or her little idiosyncrasies.

Sunday’s ceremony and reception was more like a comedy of errors. The old folks will tell you… If the ceremony and reception goes off with more than a few wrinkles, which means a marriage that will last.

The Unity Candle wouldn’t light and they did something with Memory Chains (?). They are under the cake and twelve people have been chosen to pull out those chains before they cut the cake. The chains have symbols or something on them meaning different things and wishes. It seems kind of stupid to me, because the couple already knows what each chain stands for. It’s not like a fortune cookie or anything like that, so what’s the point?

Two of the chains broke and when the final and twelfth person went to pull theirs out, there were no chains left. Faux pas!

Coup and I were hassled by some chicks that wanted to shake their booties to some music with a beat. So I said, “You see the dance floor now? The floor is full, dancing to a slow song. I’m willing to put up my paycheck against yours, that as soon as we play your request, they are going to clear out.”

I also explained that day gigs are the toughest when it comes to getting folks to the dance floor. They aren’t drinking as much and those inhibitions are still there. And also, it was Sunday. Folks aren’t going to let it all hang out when they have jobs to go to the next day.

As soon as her request hit the eardrums of those on the dance floor, it was like a RAID commercial. Folks were scattering like roaches and I got to give a knowing smile and nod of the head to someone who doesn’t have a clue as to how these things work.

Seriously folks, leave the wedding DJ alone. In most cases, they know what they’re doing and Coup Delicious is one of the best. Professional DJ’s are just that, professional. They know the animal and it should be left to professionals. Sure, you, the groom, and three others may have special memories built around the beach and a Tupac song. We’ll play it, but I can guarantee that the floor will clear out before Shakur can make it to the chorus.

Bruce Springsteen ‘Lucky Town’

The other night, I helped out Tripper broadcast live from the Dixie Classic Fair. I’m known as “Eugene Unit” on the 1075KZL airwaves and at first, I didn’t like the moniker. Simply because I had no idea what Tripper was calling me (he started the nickname). I thought Tripper was calling me a “tool” in a nice way.

But he explained that rapper 50 Cent has a group of rappers under his wing called “G-Unit”. So… I’m cool with it now.

While we were hanging at the fair, folks were coming up to get their 1075KZL stickers. There were two particularly attractive young women who came up with eyes on the stickers and I asked, “You ladies want stickers?”

“Sure,” said the blonde. “Put it on my ass!”

Of course, I happily obliged and made sure that it was stuck on her hindquarters pretty good. Then I turned to her friend and asked, “You want a sticker?”

“Please,” she said with her hand extended.

“No, no, no,” and I motioned with my hand for her to turn her back towards me. “Turn around.”

She reluctantly did so and I slapped that sticker on her cute little butt and made sure that it was on there real good… Then something occurred to me… Are these girls 18?

Then I saw an older woman standing behind these young ladies with a slight look of disdain on her face. My ass-slapping hand kicked my brain into gear… “Come on over here and get a sticker.”

She eventually allowed me to slap and rub a KZL sticker on her wonderful posterior, but claimed that as soon as she was out of view, the sticker was coming off. I made sure that I spent a little more time on her rear-end to make sure that she wouldn’t think that I’m some sort of pervert who enjoyed touching the rears of young women. I wanted her to think that I’m the type of pervert who would rather touch and caress an older woman’s behind. Which is true!

When talking to Tripper last night, I found out that the girl has a MySpace page and she is in fact 18 years old. I was relieved.

I have finished up season one of Grey’s Anatomy and I’m giving that joker 5 stars! The season really ends with a bang! It totally blindsided me with the season ending “cliffhanger”.

Grey’s Anatomy makes me laugh, impresses me with it’s intelligence, and manages to make me want more. The show is TEN times better than House.

I think House is a medical drama for folks who enjoy American Idol. Because, if you think about it, House is a medical drama with a doctor who acts like that Simon dude on American Idol. People simply tune in to hear how Dr. House will put folks down and see how mean and nasty he can be.

You don’t learn anything about the characters on House. There are no parallel storylines going on through the show like there are on Grey’s Anatomy. With every episode of Grey’s Anatomy, you learn more and more about the characters. You see things in the shows that you have experienced in your life. The show may actually teach you something about the dynamics of daily human interaction.

I simply love it!

Next on my list of shows that I’ve never seen… Monk.

Although I have seen at least one episode of Monk, I just couldn’t keep up with the where and when it was broadcast on television.

Thank God for Netflix! Now I can see all the shows that I’ve never had time for.

Bad Company ‘Straight Shooter’

The new fall television season is upon us. I’ve always found the new season promising when I was a kid, but as an “adult”, I’m not so excited.

As a youngster, I would dissect the TV Guide as soon as I saw it had arrived in the mailbox. And as a matter of fact, I think I was only reason my mother subscribed to the magazine. I would have practically the entire network schedules memorized. I would plan my week around those schedules. Only Sunday and Wednesday nights were off limits for me because I was raised Baptist and we had to be at church every time the doors were open.

I’ve never seen Eight Is Enough or The Greatest American Hero because they were on Wednesday nights. We would have to race home on Wednesdays to catch the beginning of Charlie’s Angels. On Sundays, we would always manage to catch the last 40 minutes along with the 30 car pile-up on CHiPs. We always had to stay for choir practice after the evening services.

Last year, I was excited about the network offerings for the new season. This year, it’s a different story. There’s really nothing new that’s tripping my trigger. I’ve managed to tape Heroes, Jericho, Ugly Betty, and Men In Trees, but I haven’t watched any of them yet. The discs from Netflix will always take precedence over something that I can get for free.

I’m still taping my old returning favorites like Nip/Tuck, Veronica Mars, Lost, My Name Is Earl, Supernatural, Battlestar Galactica, and Ghost Whisperer.

And I’m jacked about two of those returning shows… Veronica Mars and Battlestar Galactica. I’m practically giddy about those jokers! I may even set aside discs from Netflix to watch them and keep up to date with them. Hell, I might even try to catch them as they air instead of relying on the powers of my VCR.

Over the weekend, I started watching season one of Grey’s Anatomy and I must say that I’m very pleased with the show. It’s not annoying like House because this show actually lets you get to know the characters. The only thing you get to know about Dr. House is that he’s arrogant, brash, sarcastic, walks with a cane, and pops pain pills into his mouth as if they were breath strips. The other characters are filler and that’s a damn shame.

I quickly lost interest with House, but Grey’s Anatomy has me falling in love with an actual medical drama… Which is something that I’ve never done. I’m too far away to get started with the current and third season, but I’ll eventually catch up.

Again… If you haven’t started watching Veronica Mars… I suggest that you give it a try on Tuesday night at 9pm. You’ll find it on the new CW network.

And put aside your snotty, anti-sci-fi hatred and watch Battlestar Galactica. It’s not Star Trek and it definitely ain’t that crap they made with Lorne Greene back in the late 70’s. The newly updated version is dark and gritty. The two-hour season premiere hits the Sci Fi Channel Friday night at 9pm.

Just do it!