I remember when I first saw him - big as life - on the little screen. Rock and Roll High School it was... PJ Harvey starred as a fun-loving teenager who adored The Ramones and was doing all she could to get her, her best friend (the typically 'unattractive' girl - brown hair & glasses who ends up with the hunky blond guy at the end), to their concert. The evil principal, however, was doing all SHE could to stop the concert and the inevitable teenage hormonal rush that the concert would bring. She made it an expulsable offense for any of the students to attend... but plucky PJ went anyway. The movie ends with the school in flames and all the teenagers dancing around the campus singing while the Ramones themselves play their music... it's a brilliant movie.

My Oldest Brother & I watched that movie every chance we got (it was on cable, so you know they reran it every chance they could). He even went so far as to buy all the Ramones albums and play them over & over again... I loved them, too. They made me giggle and want to dance and just have fun.

Beat on the brat.. beat on the brat... beat on the brat with a baseball bat!

It's anthemic for me - I can't stand kids most times.

Twenty-twenty-twenty-four hours to go... I wanna be sedated!

And boy have I felt like that! Like the only thing that'll get me through the day is a strong & steady morphine drip. Or a Ramones song.

And now Joey's dead. I almost can't believe it. He was only 49, but he had lymphoma, and I guess there's no coming back from that. Joey... PJ's favorite because of the way he eats his pizza - all in one slithering slip down his throat. The guy was tall, lanky, and affected a stoned-out posture - but he had to have been smart to have the success he did. He brought punk to America. He made it palpable for us - understandable and something we could all get behind and enjoy. (The Sex Pistols were scary. The Ramones were just four nice young men.)

I remember in college having to do a project on pop culture & history. My group chose punk music and I did my part on the Ramones. I remember reading some lyrics to the class - and being amazed that, as I expounded on the 'social relevance' of the songs, they nodded their heads in agreement. I thought I was making it up. Either I had finally, fully developed my innate ability to find the connection between any two disparate objects, or I had stumbled onto a universal truth.

Yes, my friends, the song should be sung: Shana is a Punk Rocker.
posted by SPowers at 10:36 AM | Remember It!

Good news. I finally found the lyrics to a song that's been plaguing me for months. More than months. A year at least. I feel good. No - not that song. Heavy Metal. THAT song. I mean, I know the words - when I hear the music. I've even seen the movie. I don't have the album (and that's not a hint to anyone) nor do I particularly care for Sammy Hagar's music otherwise. I needed the lyrics to the song and it's been SO incredibly long a search.

Bad news. This morning, while driving to work down the quiet country-ish lane (it's a wide-laned divided street bordering a golf course, has a well-landscaped median), as I was going just about 30 mph - because that's the speed limit on this street, a frog leapt from the carefully manicured bushes directly into the front left wheel of my car. I saw the streak of grey-green. I heard the tiny thud-thump. I know the frog died.

When I told Bosswoman about it, she replied: And you didn't stop? What kind of person are you?

Oh, gods, she's right. I've killed KERMIT!!
posted by SPowers at 10:27 PM | Remember It!

Yesterday... long day. Up at 7:30. Gym workout - step class nearly killed me. It's important to do that cardio stuff on a regular basis or you'll lose momentum. Home, shower, change, eat some leftovers, head out to... Disney World. Yup. It's an hour or so away. I don't normally go there, but Amanda Darling has been there all week and I thought it would be nice to visit for a while.

*ahem*

"We had a very nice lunch and we looked for Trixie books and it's ever so nice to meet a Trixie Friend in person."

Actually, we had a hoot. Sweet, Monkey-Girl & I had a light lunch & then some piña coladas at Disney Village, then we headed over to the Polynesian Village for some more coladas and a white sand beach. Then it was dinner at the Poly, some more shopping at the Village and then a quick tour of Ft. Wilderness where Monkey-Girl was staying. Ugh! But I could never 'go camping' even at Disney where they provide you a Comfort House at every adorably-named loop of campsites. There's just something odd about people doing their laundry at Disney World and then hanging it outside for everyone to see. Oh, well. I guess it's a good thing I can afford to stay in a hotel if I want to; not that I need to. My dad does still live in the Orlando area and he would never turn me away.

Not that Monkey-Girl is poor or anything and that's why she had to stay there! No! She chose to do it, I think, because she'd never stayed there before and she enjoys camping. Of course, she wasn't able to bring all her gear with her on the plane, so she was roughing it a bit more than I think she wanted to. Still, she was at Disney and that counts for quite a lot.

Today - Easter Sunday. I woke up as usual at 9 am. Was up until noon or so and then I fell back asleep for 2 hours. I have so much to do, but Sweet suggested I wait to do some of it tomorrow and I can't help thinking that's a very good idea. So here I am, with some work to do, and all I'm doing instead is blogging. True, laundry is going and dinner's quick & easy and I only have one dress to iron for next week's wedding (not mine, Sweet's cousin in New York), but I'm still sleepy. I haven't really recovered from last weekend, I don't think, nor from all the sun & stuff yesterday. It doesn't sound like we did a lot, but trust me - it involved a great deal of walking & waiting & all that other stuff - all at 94º+ temperatures and no sea breeze to speak of!! It's Orlando. What can I say. You're lucky to get a breeze.

At any rate... Sweet & I are planning our 8 1/2 year anniversary and we want to spend it in Disney World. We're going to try to figure out which hotel in which to stay. I think it'll be good. October's a great time to go there - off-season, you know.
posted by SPowers at 4:41 PM | Remember It!