The College Crowd Digs Me

"From the claustrophobic beat of my heart To the openness of your smile. We're in this together going the distance Right down to the last mile." Graham Parker NO SPOILERS: No doubt...everyone has heard of this book. "The Count Of Monte Cristo" . It's a classic. Bona fide. Yet...I'm surprised at the number of ...readers...who keep setting this one aside for later. Or worse...putting the book into their..."skip it" ...pile altogether. Skipping classics can usually be blamed on the reader’s unfair assumption...the novel will be boring and irrelevant. Or maybe a bad experience with another...so-called...classic soured the entire pie. But whatever the reason...Take a chance on this one. "The Count Of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas is nothing short of amazing. His skill at bringing all his ideas and plans together in this exciting adventure will simply stun the reader. Filled with 528 pages of courage, greed, jealousy, frien...

"Your eyes got me dreaming. Your eyes got me blind. Your eyes got me hoping... That I'll be holding you close tonight." Bob Welch Just finished watching part one of... "The War" this early morning on PBS...and once again... Ken Burns has delivered a well thought-out and informative piece. Never studied World War II in school...so this is fascinating stuff. I'm amazed at the action clips. And the "still pictures"...are just as powerful in conveying what the general buzz was. Thankfully...I have DVR to record this Ken Burns series...as my schedule would never allow me to watch it otherwise. AND ANOTHER THING: If you enjoy lists like I do, Rolling Stone has listed... The Top 25 Music DVDs of All Time . Check it out. AND ANOTHER THING: It's easy to smirk when mentioning Bob Welch ...if all you know of him...is the wussy photos on his solo albums. But burn those images out of your mind...and you'll find that Bob Welch ...

"Hurry home early. Hurry on home. Boom Boom Mancini's fighting Bobby Chacon." Warren Zevon One of my favorite rockers by the "Wizard of Words"... Warren Zevon ...is the little known nuggett... "Boom-Boom Mancini" ...off his fantastic "Sentimental Hygiene" album. It has a deliciously powerful beat...and a terrific hook. And should have been a radio staple jam...drawing new listeners to the... Zevon Zoo. Anyway...the song was about the real life... lightweight champion boxer... "Boom Boom Ray Mancini" . One of the reasons he became so popular...was "Boom-Boom" would always run out to the middle of the ring at each bell...and immediately start whaling his opponent with a barrage of punches. Boom Boom Mancini Because his fights were always tasty slugfests... ABC began televising his fights live...drawing huge viewer numbers. He soon became world lightweight champion at 20 ...defeating Arturos Frias in the 1st round. "...

"Sometimes we'll sigh. Sometimes we'll cry. And we'll know why Just you and I Know true love ways." Gary Busey/ courtesy of Buddy Holly I was almost thrown off the ship before I even got on board...after only my 2nd week of Survival Football. Survival Football takes very little of your time. And is a lot of fun. You are tossed into a huddle of maybe 50 other players...and each week...you have to pick one team you are SURE will win their game. If you are right you get to play next week...if not...season's over for you. Sounds easy enough...however... the rub is ...once you pick a team to win for the week...you can never use that team agai n as your pick. So...to hopefully be around at the end of the season...you want to avoid picking all the powerful teams too quickly...or else you'll be left with scrubs too soon. Ideally...you try to pick the worst team with the best chance of winning...when possible. If that seems impossible on any given week...t...

"I married Isis on the fifth day of May... But I could not hold on to her very long. So I cut off my hair and I rode straight away... For the wild unknown country where I could not go wrong." Bob Dylan From a very early age, I developed a very eclectic taste in the CDs I now enjoy, thanks in part to growing up with an obsessive musical family. And I dare say, I have probably heard more Bob Dylan albums than most of my peers. But as big a fan as I am, it may surprise you, that there are few Dylan albums I truly enjoy from beginning to end. My favorite...and the one I recommend to newbies...is the oft forgotten "Desire" . Released in 1976 , "Desire" was amazingly recorded in just a few nights after several chaotic rehearsals guided BD to go with a "less is more" route...with first-takes usually being sufficient. Along with his band, Dylan invited the gorgeous voice of Emmylou Harris and the haunting violin play of Scarlet Rivera into t...

"Well I wonder who knows...i f anyone knows... Where lovers go in their sleep. And what if they meet. Dream the same street... And she passes obliviously?" Freedy Johnston NO SPOILERS: "King Creole" (1958) is the DVD pick this week. And NO , this is not the anniversary of Elvis' death. Or the anniversary of his birth. Or even of his first haircut.....ad nauseam. .....This is simply some tasty borderline film-noir. And it's good stuff! In this movie, directed by Michael Curtiz (of legendary "Casablanca" fame), Presley is not especially likeable... nor is his character particularly sympathetic. But that is exactly why this film works. Curtiz obviously sees Elvis as an actor first, and a pop idol/singer, second. And this is perhaps the closest Elvis ever came to being taken seriously as a Hollywood actor. Elvis still performs his proverbial musical numbers, of course...and they are arguably his strongest set. But more importantly...th...

"Take it where you find it... Can't leave it alone. You will find a purpose to carry it on. Mainly when you find it... Your heart will be strong about it." Van Morrison NO SPOILERS: Memoirs are often a crap shoot. Too much watercolor starts to stink. And obvious writer agendas that all too often raise their ugly heads...create a nasty funk, as well. But when you stumble on someone's memoirs that ring dead-on true, then you got yourself a pretty good read. "It's Not Easy Bein' Me" is a terrific 288 page offering by Rodney Dangerfield that completely entertains from page one. The numerous stories of Rodney's brushes with legendary entertainers is a blast to read. And the shoulders he has rubbed up against is nothing short of amazing. Johnny Carson , of course. But how 'bout Al Jolson ! Jack Benny ! Lenny Bruce ! And the younger comedians he befriended trying to break in to the business reads like a who's who. Robin Williams...