Ramblings Of An Idle Mind

Want Some Cuteness?

2009-08-26T20:30:00.000-07:00

My Latest Hmph

2009-08-25T22:30:00.001-07:00

It's official.....I hate that Vlasic Pickle Stork dude. Great pickles.....bad stork. He has zero problem explaining away that it's perfectly okay to scare the bejeebers out of unsuspecting cats and redheads enjoying a glass of lemon-laced water.

Get the fuck out, Stork Dude. I'm going with the Polish pickles, the ones with all the consonants, now.

Hee Hee

2009-08-14T15:08:00.000-07:00

Tootin' The Ole Horn

2009-05-14T18:36:00.000-07:00

Reprinted from BlogTalkRadio.com's blog entry dated May 14, 2009:

Rock Legend Rick Derringer: ‘Internet Radio Is the Wave of the Future’

Forget social-media gurus. If you really want to know where the radio industry is headed, ask the man who wrote Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo.

That would be Rick Derringer.

“It’s just like going back in time and rebuilding the whole record business from scratch,” Rick (above) tells us of Internet radio.

And this week on Rundgren Radio, Rick riffs on the subject like no- body’s business.

“I saw the old Elvis Presley movie Jailhouse Rock the other night. And in it, he’s actually able to say, ‘Let’s start our own label,’ the guitar virtuoso, whose new album is titled Knighted by the Blues, tells hosts Doug Ford and Cruiser Mel.

“And they started their own label and they were able to cut this record and bring it right into the radio station and get the guy to play it while they were standing there. And the audience would call in and request it at that time.

“Those days of radio, people figure, are gone because radio is so controlled and it’s so big – Clear Channel and all those stations – it’s programmed and it’s so controlled that that can’t happen anymore.

“Well, they’re wrong. It can happen and it is happening right now. Tonight, you’re listening to it. Internet radio is the wave of the future – but it’s also a big salute to the past, because we’re able to go on, we’re able to do things like we’re doing now.

Rick’s original band, The McCoys, had a No. 1 hit in 1965 with this single.

“Stations can play whatever music they want to, people can either call in or email, immed- iately responding to what the radio station is playing.”

If that weren’t enough of a sales pitch, Rick goes on to explain why oldfangled radio just can’t cut it in this day and age.

“Radio stations, no matter how big they are – the terrestrial stations, we call them – are limited by the output of their transmitter, which means they can only be heard within a certain given metropolitan area,” he says.

“These stations, like the one we’re on now can be heard everywhere in the world.”

Tallulah Lives

2009-05-11T14:56:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite telly shows these days is A & E's "Paranormal State." I'm not sure where I've been hiding myself until recently, because this show has been on for quite awhile, yet I only got on the ghostwagon in the last couple of months.

I dig this stuff mucho - well, maybe not in person, but on the tube when I'm in the safety of my own un-haunted home, it's the stuff that gets my ghost. Pun intended.

There have been nights when I have to watch old Frazier or Golden Girl re-runs to get the heebeejeebees out of my head from watching this show. No kidding, I'm a sucker for this shit. And Ryan Buell? Oh yeah. He can exorcise me anytime.

Last weekend was my high school reunion and it was fun seeing everyone that I wanted to see. That's really not related to this blog entry, but it does bring up the fact that I missed my college reunion this past year. And that reminded me that I had a ghostly encounter in my dorm room at said college.

The college I'm talking about is a beautiful campus on a hill in Virginia. The dorms are old plantation homes from the civil war. The school was a seminary for girls for awhile and then became a liberal arts college at some point. Blah blah blah.

ANYWAY - one of the most famous students at the seminary was Tallulah Bankhead. (don't ya love that name?) Tallulah attended the college in 1913, but only lasted about a semester. See - she was a little tough to tame. In fact, she was expelled from the college for hanging upside down from a tree in a skirt. Tsk. She also bit a student or perhaps a professor. Not on the same day. Well, I don't think so.

When I was at the college some many decades later, I was a theatre major. All I could do was eat, sleep and poop the theatre. (Notice the "re" and not the "er"...yeah, that's how I roll.) My senior year was awesome. I finally found a roomie that I could truly giggle with and we were both hall officers - she was hall president and I was the judicial rep for the dorm. (I was always a stickler for da law. Take that!) Barbara and I had an awesome room on the second floor of a beautiful dorm / plantation home. On pleasant days, we'd hang out the windows like proper southern ladies, smoking ciggies and drinking grain alcohol, but unlike Tallulah, we never hung from trees in skirts, never bit anyone and we both made it out alive within 4 years.

Being a theatre major, I was directing my first play just after the Christmas break and had been living solely on Dr. Pepper Big Gulps and cigarettes for about 3 weeks. Sleep was a luxury I couldn't afford. One night, Barbara was studying on her bed and I was stressing about my directorial debut. Though I can't recall just how late at night it was - it was bloody dark outside and it must have been cold as our radiator (yes, this place was old) was banging more than usual. We both looked up from our studies and a rocking chair by the window started rocking pretty wildly. I can recall not believing my eyes and looking over at Barbara only to encounter her eyes - now baseball sized. I think I levitated over to her bed and we embraced, watching the chair continue to rock back and forth for several minutes. I'm not sure what we did next, but I'm sure it involved blowing off our studies in favor of eating or drinking to purge ourselves of that vision.

Being curious about whether or not our vision was a ghostly visitor or just a group hallucination, we did some research in the library....back in the olden days when there were libraries and card catalogs, remember those? We had heard about Tallulah Bankhead being a student in days gone by, but were stunned to find out not only had she lived in our dorm, but had lived in our ROOM. Yes, my friends, Tallulah may have checked out, but she never left.

I think what allowed me to not get completely creeped-out was the thought that perhaps she approved of what I was doing with my play, one theatre person to another. I've often wondered if any other appearances of Tallulah have been witnessed in that room.

Another RundgrenRadio.com Presentation

2009-05-09T10:50:00.000-07:00

Wanna make a little history? Todd Rundgren will perform his entire "A Wizard, A True Star" album top to bottom LIVE (yes, the one from 1973) in Akron, Ohio on 09/06/09! Buy your tickets at AWATSLive.com or Ticketmaster.

Can't Help It....I'm Traveling Back to the 80's

2009-04-14T22:29:00.000-07:00

I promise that I'm not copping out here by posting a video in place of a blog entry. This band came up today in convo, if facebook counts as convo - and I've been hankerin' to see my ole Atlanta boys ever since. Ain't they the cutest? Enjoy. Pull out the ole banana clips, the shoulder pads, the heavy eye makeup - but please, leave the leg warmers in the trash. P.S. Hi Rick! *winky winky*

Yo Buddy

2009-04-12T09:54:00.000-07:00

The Kasim Weekend in Tampa

2009-03-15T18:51:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been almost 3 weeks since CruiserMel hit the blog, with anything of interest or not. For the record, I've read the emails and instant message thingies and haven't been ignoring you guys, but I just haven't had the blogging mojo until today. What helped was having a bunch of free time and a late lunch that meant I didn't have to worry about what's for dinner, so I decided to read a few blogs and voila!, I found my muse to share and so - here we go.

Back at the end of February, I headed out to the airport to board a plane that would take me away from Dallas to some Tampa sunshine and the Kasim Sulton DVD Release Party that Doug & I (RundgrenRadio) had worked pretty hard to produce. It's always simultaneously tense and a relief when you're a day away from a gig and the outcome is totally up to the Gods as to whether this thing will come off with or without a hitch.

I knew when I got a gander of the pilots on my first Southwest flight that all would indeed be golden, because the two pilots were scrumptious. I mean - omg, if I could've ordered one of them from the flight attendant with my free drink coupon, I certainly could've died happily in a plane crash and still been saying "Kasim, who?" Nah - but if you'd seen these two, you'd be rushing the cockpit in your fantasies as much as I was. No doubt.

We'd booked a bunch of hotel rooms with a typical Tampa hotel right across the street from our venue. Convenient wasn't the word - it was closer to walk than to drive to the place, which meant lots of adult bevs would be consumed and Doug & I were diggin' that concept as part of our venue rental involved a certain guarantee of alcohol and food sales. When we went to the venue to check it out, we were pleased to hear the manager had waived that requirement since we were bringing so many folks to his place. Nice dude. Of course, he knew we'd far exceed any minimums - but he was cute and I figured he was probably flirting up to me. Natch.

We got all checked in at the hotel - but only after looking at dozens of rooms (okay - about 5) with beds so concave anyone, not only a princess, would feel a pea lurking beneath the mattress. Actually, the hotel was very cool as every single room had a view over Tampa Bay, known for it's glorious sunsets. It served us quite well. Nicely done.

After having a pow-wow with Doug about last-minute party plans and picking up Mrs. Doug at the airport, we suffered through a 6 mile goof by the GPS which took us across the longest bridge to nowhere, a certain redhead who needed to pee, and a near-empty gas tank, we found our way to the restaurant where we would meet Kasim, Carrie and Dave, the other producers of the DVD taped last March in Atlanta. We had to snicker because they'd waited for a table for about an hour and we skated in just as they got seated.

By the time we made it back to the hotel - many of our guests had arrived and there was a party-a-goin-on in Carrie's room. I got to see many of the folks who had been at the taping a year earlier as well as I got to meet some new friends who wanted to get out of the cold that the northeast has punished them with this year, as well as to see Kasim in a dinner-club setting the next night. We had an awesome group, I tell ya. There are pics galore on Facebook and MySpace, but I left my camera behind that night so I could truly relax and be photographed embarrassing myself. You can check some of them out here, if you must.

I'm not sure what time I hit the bed that night - but it was some glorious sleep and not a pea in sight.

The next day a group of us went to Whiskey Joe's for fish tacos (grouper, yummm) and what would turn out to be our last few hours of sunshine on a deck that is probably best visited at sunset. No lie - if you go to Tampa, you must hit this spot and let me know if that's true. Anyway, Joe had a fish tank in the foyer that mesmerized me for some reason. There was this fish that was totally flirting with me. Totally. He was so cute, I gave him star billing in this post. Ain't he cute?

That afternoon, we headed to the venue to decorate before Kas' sound check and found the place awaiting our arrival. B helped me execute some pretty cool table centerpieces while Doug hung giant facsimiles of the DVD cover behind where Kasim and Jesse Gress would be performing. It looked so nice. Hell, were we really doing this? And was it looking this good? Hell to the yeah! G was tweaking sound equipment and by the time Kasim arrived, we were about ready to go whore-up for the party which would start an hour later.

Here's what we saw when we arrived. Dammit! We missed Tina's baby shower! But what we were most pleased about was that they had spelled Kasim's name right. Oh and that they mentioned our party in the first place.

The people poured in, the drinks started flowing and Kasim arrived for a little pre-dinner mingle with the peeps. He's incredible with the schmooze. He was tired and not at all used to having to mingle before a gig, but he was a sport and people loved getting autographs and their photos taken with da man. He adjourned just as dinner was being served, to a place where he obviously channels the angels and their voices. All in all, the dinner was pretty yummy, considering this place was cooking 100's of meals for the wedding reception and quince (15th bday celebration for the Hispanic crowd) going on all at the same time. And just as we were finishing our UNBELIEVABLE chocolate cake slices, Kasim and Jesse arrived, all shiny and fresh for a night of celebration and music - unparalleled in a Kasim solo show, in my opinion. He was stellar and told some brand new tales and brought out some material that no one had heard from him before. I so wish we'd made another DVD that night. (Just kidding, to my fellow producers...I wouldn't wish that investment of time and work on anyone more than once!)

After the show, Kasim and Jesse signed more autographs and Doug & I let out a big sigh of relief as we'd racked up another home run in our stable of RundgrenRadio hosted gigs. And if we had thought Friday night's party at Carrie's room was rockin' we were so wrong when we arrived at her room on Saturday night. Even Kasim joined us, which was either him expressing his adoration for us all or his resignation to the fact that no one was going to get a quiet night's sleep anywhere in that hotel.

When the sun came up on Sunday - oh wait - it didn't come up; instead, Tampa was cold and rainy and miserable. A huge snowstorm had blanketed the eastern quadrant of the US from Birmingham and Atlanta all the way up the eastern seaboard, so some of our guests had to scramble for flights and/or another night at our hotel. Though I'm sure it was a hassle at the time - all have reported that they eventually made it home and are warm and cozy in their memories of a fantastic time with their friends, old and new. Awwwww.

And if you haven't gotten your copy of the DVD - you can order here. Four stars, I promise!

Here are a few pics from the gig. Peruse at your leisure.

My centerpieces:
The DVD cover and poster for the evening:
Mr. Sulton channeling the angels:
Jesse Gress joined Kasim on stage for a few songs:
Kasim
A very tired CruiserMel and Kasim smiling at the success of the evening:
Kasim and a very proud Doug:

Wanna See Something REALLY Scary?

2009-02-24T10:32:00.000-08:00

And I wonder why I have to watch The Golden Girls after watching this...

Heading North for the Holidaze, Part Two

2009-01-26T16:47:00.000-08:00

Oh all-righty, I know it's been weeks instead of days since I last posted. So sorry, as usual. I wish I could tell you that I've been on a whirlwind world tour or that I've been training for a marathon somewhere...alas, those would be lies. I have, however, been laying a little lower than normal with an upper respiratory thing that has kicked my butt six ways to Sunday. I haven't really felt all that bad, but my energy level has stayed pretty much at 30% for what's been over 3 weeks. I'm still popping horse pills and am upright a good portion of the time, but when given the chance, I've taken enough naps to last a year.

Meanwhile, I've had this here blog on my brain and so finally tonight, I decided to just knock it out - good or bad.

We left off with CruiserMel and others in Annapolis, MD. Well, we got up and said "tootles" to Merv who had to work on New Year's Eve. WTF? Yeah, she rolls like that....a night of drunken fun and giggles til the wee hours and she's up and at 'em by 8:00 am. The rest of us were a little slower, but we hit the road back to Philly with stars in our eyes and very high hopes for the fantastic party we had planned.

We were slowed a little by the driving snow we headed into and the mutha-effin' awful traffic in Philadelphia. Geez, what is up with that, Philadelphians? Crazy!

We got checked in to the hotel and Doug & I hit the street for last-minute items. We headed over to the venue and the fairies were hard at work.

Perhaps I had not mentioned, but a couple of Toddfans wanted to get married amongst their Toddfriends...so several girls hopped on the romance train and threw together a really "Toddcentric" wedding. There is an old Quaker law on the books in Pennsylvania that once licensed, a couple can "marry" themselves - so this particular couple decided to go that route. And what a trip!! The wedding "fairies" had decorated the place and not missed a single detail. The bride wore a bridal train that included a facsimile of every Todd Rundgren album cover trailing behind her and carried a bouquet of flowers fixed into an over-sized martini glass. The bride entered the venue to an electric guitar version of "Here Comes the Bride" and the officiators were Prairie Prince (TR's drummer) dressed as the Pope and Rachel Haden (TR's bassist) dressed as a Catholic school girl. Yes, this was wacky. As planned. Kasim Sulton (TR's keyboardist and guitarist) even sang a love song to the couple whilst dressed as a Catholic priest. The bride & groom spoke vows to each other in the form of Todd lyrics and song titles. I had written the vows one Sunday afternoon and was thrilled when the crowd "got it" and laughed. If I ever get married - this might be the way to go. But alas, I didn't catch the bouquet.

After a quick reception - it was SHOWTIME! Doug & I took deep breaths as we looked out over the crowd and just let whatever happens happen. There was so much excitement and buzz - it was palpable. Before we knew it - Todd was shouting: "Is this a show? NOOOOOOO, this is a PARTY!" And we were off.

Todd & Company put on a very cool show and even did a couple of songs he hasn't performed in ages, including "Hello, It's Me". Todd didn't disappoint at midnight either...we got Auld Lang Syne and a rawkin' countdown. Doug & I contributed several cases of champagne which were shared amongst the peeps. It was truly my favorite NYE in my lifetime! Wanna see some pics? Well - have at it.

Prairie & Rachel officiating...
Father Kasim sings "Love Alone"...
The Pope as mic stand...
Striking the early chords of the show...
Look, Ma! A real Todd show!...
Hiya, Kas...
Todd takes us into the new year...
And Mel gets her kissy on...
...and again...
I'm pretty sure we had a great time from the look on our faces...
Happy New Year, y'all!

Heading North for the Holidaze, Part One

2009-01-08T14:20:00.000-08:00

Oh my Todd, I have been remiss in my blogging responsibilities during the holiday season. So let me start off with a big ole BELATED HIPPY HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all my chitlins! I hope yours was awash of happiness and joy and blah blah blah. And where would I be if I didn't say HAPPY NEW YEAR, my dears.

My holidays? Well, we had our "family" Christmas early because CruiserMel had travel docs in hand for Christmas Day and I believe my brother had tix to a bowl game or two that week. Yeah, the holidays had a different feel to them this year and that was cool with me. I'm afraid that we just didn't have it in us this year, what with Mom & Dad both gone for the first time. We'll get back on track for 2009 though.

Meanwhile - here's what went down with the Cruiser, in case you wanna know. And if you don't wanna know, then just fast forward through the pics and make up your own stories.

I got to Philadelphia on Xmas Day - to join my bff E and her family for left-over turkey and piles of spinach artichoke dip. And vodka. Hey, it was better than the bag of chips I'd purchased at the DFW airport that morning. E had a similar Christmas spirit as I did this year (she lost her mother, too) - but she beat me by having 11 ornaments on her tree, whereas I had 2 (a Kasim ball - private joke - and a Hawaiian dude with a ukulele that I'd bought in Kauai in June.).

Anyway - after many vodkas and a gallon of spinach dip, we all passed out for a long (well, it was actually kinda short) winter's nap. Before I knew it, my alarm clock went off, I brushed my teef, grabbed a diet coke and stumbled my way down to E's basement office where Doug & I had shipped boxes and boxes of New Year's Eve / Todd Rundgren swag (I believe I counted over 30 boxes - sorry, E) to make some kind of organization of it all. While E tried to conduct her business as usual, I got a workout of mass proportions by bending over approximately 2347 times to pack NYE "gift bags" with event tshirts, champagne glasses, Toddtini shakers and such for the lucky couple of hundred who would be attending our gig in Philly for NYE. After 14 1/2 hours, I was still in my jammies, but had completed the task at hand. When I could barely move - I was lured upstairs by the pull of more cocktails (hey, it's a painkiller, right?) and we stared at the tree and had a little togetherness by the fire. But we had big plans for the next day....

We drug ourselves outta bed and into the car for a short ride on the Pa and NJ Turnpikes to Secaucus, NJ (thus begins the loss of the Texas twang) where we had decided to stay to save some dinero for our visit to New Yawk. Let me say right here and now: you get what you pay for and though the hotel bill and even the busfare / trainfare into Manhattan was reasonable, I will certainly not do that again for a couple of reasons. 1. The time it took to traverse back and forth. 2. We got a nasty surprise in our room's ice bucket. Get a load of this...

Can you see that shit? Yes - those are dirty toenail clippings. We still aren't sure what's worse - the lack of thorough housekeeping or the fucked-up A-hole who did this in the first place. Nevertheless, we didn't let it hamper our fun, but we passed on ice for the rest of the stay.

As soon as we got whored-up, we caught a bus and then a couple of subway trains into Manhattan and met up with a gal I'll call "L" who I'd met previously through various Kasim and Todd channels over the years. We had a nice Irish dinner and got to The Blender Theater with enough time to get a good place up front for E's first Todd show in a long time and her daughter's first Todd show ever. It was amazing - but I must say, I've never been so uncomfortable physically at a concert in my life. I was wearing heels (gotta, ya know...I mean, there were cute boys there!) and the floor area was graded downward towards the stage, so you try standing on your tippy-toes for 2 hours and get back to me on that. AND when one needed to leave one's spot to get a drink or hit the ladies' room or whatnot, those people were not going to budge to let you back in. I figured it out pretty quickly and put my own brand of New Yawk on and bullied my way back to the front, but not before pissin' off a bunch of folks. (We in the south are a kinder, gentler bunch....but I digress...) Get a load of the one decent photo I snatched that night... oh my. Excuse me for a second...

After the show, we visited with the band and some friends I had not seen since Kauai or some earlier shows this year and it was vunderbar. [edit: when spellchecking this paragraph, blogger wanted me to write wonderbra. ha- ha] Eventually, we needed libations and decided to go back to the Irish pub and enjoy some fun and fellowship with L. L lives in Longuhh Island and we had fun poking good-natured fun at her accent - though I'm sure she had to bite her tongue not to call us hillbillies.

Get this line of questioning that we barraged L with: What do you call cat's feet? Paws. What do you do when you hesitate? Paws. What are the tiny holes in your skin? Paws. LMAO It's not nearly as funny in written form, but it was worth the trip to NYC all by itself. And L was such a good sport, too. She delayed her trip home so we could close up the bar and caught a train at 3:19 in the A, which meant we had to train and bus back to Secaucus - arriving somewhere around 5:00 in the A. Fageddabout any body clocks at this point.

We emerged around noon for 9 hours of what I would call a NIGHTMARE and E and her daughter would call power-shopping. I am no fan of shopping, but in the name of being a good sport, I hobbled along and ended up being the one who bought the most. It figures. And I had zero space in my luggage. Typical. We finally FINALLY got to sit down at a restaurant, stuffed our faces and drove back to Philly, arriving around 1:00 in the A. I'd logged more miles in 3 days than in the entire year - it felt that way, at least. Oh and just by coincidence, I saw Grace's office building from Will & Grace!

On Monday morning, E drove me into Old City Philadelphia where I met up with Doug from RundgrenRadio to check out the venue we'd booked for our NYE celebration and were very very pleased with what we found. Not bad, for booking sight-unseen from Texas and Alabama. We went and bought thousands of dollars of wine, vodka for Toddtinis, mixers, beer, etc etc etc and arranged for delivery for Wednesday. The beer store said it would cost us an additional $6 - after we finished laughing, we said "sign us up" and were off. (What? We're going to give you mucho dinero and balk at a $6 delivery charge? Get outta here!)

Anyhooooo - we took a little time off Tuesday for some fun and made our way to Annapolis for another Todd gig, by way of Baltimore, where we met my friends Merv (another bff) and S (who had flown in from Cali and is quickly becoming another bff) for crabcakes at G & M at lunchtime. Excuse me while I gasp. The Maryland crabcake is one awesome mutha-fucka, baby! I swear, it bears no resemblance to what we have in Texas. I think an entire family of crabs gave their lives for my lunch that day. It was so delicious that I almost licked my plate. I heart you, Maryland.

We made our way to Annapolis before too long and can I say ADORABLE!?!? First we saw the naval academy on the right and then made our way to "town" where they have streets paved with red bricks and some presh storefronts. Awww. S, Merv and I dropped our bags, whored-up (the girls helped me compile a rockin' ensemble for the night with some of the togs I'd purchased in NYC and a leather spike bracelet that Merv had confiscated from her pre-teen daughter days earlier - I looked a little Beatlesque, but with a punk flair) and walked to a little pub for some fellowship with about 20 other Toddheads before the show at the Rams Head. It was truly like a Toddstock reunion...all hugs and kisses and sharing of photos. I know you non-Toddheads don't get it and it's not your fault - but these things are way better than any family or high school reunion you could conjure up in your imagination - even if on hallucinogenics.

After dinner - it was Todd time again - and we had primo seats smack dab in front of the postage-stamp-sized stage. It was so small, I honestly thought we'd be wearing some Todd by the end of the evening, but he kept his footing (for once) and put on his typical A-1 show for us.

After hanging out a little after the show, our crew re-grouped at the pub next door and closed it down, as usual. Somehow we made our way back to the hotel and giggled til the wee hours like teens at a sleepover. I have a feeling S & Merv & I will end up in jail together some day. S called the front desk at whatever time it was, because she'd seen on a travel show that our hotel was pet-friendly and even had a "house dog" who greets guests upon check-in and somehow we hadn't seen said "house dog" so she felt slighted. Merv & I could only roll in laughter on the floor like 14 yr olds and that's saying something if you read my earlier paragraph about the Secaucus hotel and it's cleanliness. Ah-ha! - just checkin'.

Whew. I'm tired. Or hungover by proxy. I had planned to give you the run-down on NYE, but I'm afraid I'm wearing out my welcome here, so I think I'll punt for a day or two so you can catch your breath. You'll need it because the NYE story deserves a good night's sleep beforehand. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Catch ya on the flipside, okay?

Time to Pimp Da Radio Show Again

2008-12-16T13:56:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm so over what happened at the Target yesterday. Now it's time to move on to something really fun and really cool imho.

Remember when I was part of the production team of RundgrenRadio and GroupieGear presenting An Evening with Kasim Sulton in Atlanta back in March? You don't? Okay, you've got a bye for now..but scroll down a couple of entries and you can get the idea.

Well - it's come full circle now and the DVD is to be released in a matter of DAYS. Days, people. Get your orders in NOW for the holidays, and by my calendar - that means AHORA!!!!! Check it out here: KasimStore

And tonight, girls, we'll have Kasim on da radio show at 8:30 pm ET. He's going to be a busy boy for the next month or so - so here's your chance to call and say "Happy Holidays" or "See ya at the ___ show" or ask that question that's been burning in you all these years.

Meanwhile - here's a quick taste....bon appetit!

Survey Says: F U

2008-12-15T14:24:00.000-08:00

Listen up, you little cretin. It was effin' cold as hell today and though the fact that I wasn't dressed appropriately for the blue effin' norther that came to Dallas today isn't your fault - the fact that you blatantly made eye contact with me this afternoon in Target's ridiculously full parking lot - as if to say "You want my space? Here, follow me!" - it IS your fault that you effin' sat in your car for 4 minutes while I simmered and stewed. Four minutes! I counted! What the fuck were you doing in there? Balancing your checkbook? Programming your GPS? Getting your funzies from the lingerie section of the Sears catalog???? I waited and waited those long 4 minutes until I figured you were one of those who don't maintain your vehicle and couldn't start that piece of shit on wheels, gave up and pulled forward justenough to get 2 car-lengths beyond your space when you decided to put your car in reverse to go about your fa-la-la-la merry way - giving the redneck in the Dodge Ram truck who had just pulled into the lot a free ride into your recently vacated space. It took me another 20 minutes - 20 MINUTES - to find another space. Thanks for the holiday FUCKING you gave me. You're the reason they created the phrase "bah humbug" you TOOL.

Even If You've Been Naughty...

2008-12-05T17:28:00.000-08:00

Need Some Dessert With That Turkey Coma?

2008-11-30T17:43:00.000-08:00

Well, TurkeyDay came and went. The bird I enjoyed was loaded with sleepy stuff - and I had the most amazing nap Thursday afternoon. Matter of fact, my nap went on for hours and hours, until I woke up in a darkened house and screwed up my body clock for the next couple of days.

Turkey coma = good!

It occurred to me that I haven't gushed about Kasim in awhile. Well, not really. But lately, there's been a flurry of talk about his new DVD from his Atlanta show last spring that RundgrenRadio and GroupieGear presented. The DVD should be just about finished and from what I've seen so far, it's going to be a very nice addition to any Kasim fan's collection (or Todd Rundgren fan's for that matter).

And speaking of Kasim, check out this video from 1982, from his adorable days. Not that he's not adorable still, mind you...oh whatever. Just watch.

Happy Gobble Day

2008-11-26T14:14:00.000-08:00

Um...okay

2008-11-25T23:08:00.000-08:00

No, really, seriously. Caption this picture. It's a guy, btw.

Too Soon For NYE Plans, Yo?

2008-11-19T11:10:00.000-08:00

You had to know it was coming. This whole RundgrenRadio thang is like an addiction that keeps on itchin' in da brain, baby.

Doug & I just couldn't stop at doing the Birthday Bash back at Labor Day. It's a frickin' freight train and the next stop will be a semi-private party hosted by RundgrenRadio in Philadelphia on New Year's Eve. And yeah, Todd & Company will be in da house!

We're gonna have a bunch of fun stuff - we don't half-ass these things. Gotta keep it special and awesome! There'll be a free custom etched champagne flute for everyone and a commemorative event tshirt and some fantabulous custom event martini shakers for purchase, if you want. And of course, Todd Rundgren and his band will take the stage in time to ring in 2009 with some good old-fashioned rock-n-roll from his new cd, Arena.

Oh and to top it all off we'll be having a wedding before the band takes the stage. Ain't that the coolest? Two fans who went to Toddstock last June want to make it legal in front of their Toddfamily. I'm giddy and twitching with glee! And the good part about being involved with this wedding is no butt-bow'd bridesmaid dress! Me likey.

EDIT: Kasim Sulton will be singing a love song to the bride & groom. Can ya handle that???? Oh wait - Prairie Prince will be donning the Pope outfit. Not tellin' what role he'll play...just yet.

So - just in case you want to be a part of this gala and will be in the Philadelphia area at New Year's....check out our website here. Would love to have y'all join us!

So - THAT'S what I've been up to lately. Sorry for the no-posting thing for awhile. If L will send me her photos from our cruise, I might be able to do another posting pretty soon about our exploits on the high seas. Hint, L!

Pick A Card, Any Card

2008-11-01T15:35:00.000-07:00

Ugh. What a choice we've got this time around. In my voting adult life, I've never felt like I was given the ole "which one is the lesser of two evils" choice as I am right cheer in 2008. But of course, I made my choice when I early-voted two weeks ago.

The only thing to do now is sit back and watch the feathers fly.

Or not. Tuesday at 8:30 ET, join us on RundgrenRadio.com for something way more interesting than watching the pundits pund, or whatever they do. They're not going to give you anything useful until the wee hours anyway.

On the show Tuesday, we'll revisit Todd Rundgren songs that have mirrored Todd's political punding (have I invented a new word?) over the years. So mute that telly (you can watch if you must) and have some fun on Election Night.

I Vant To Drrrrrink Your Blood

2008-10-30T21:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween, my friends!

Groovin' With The Gays

2008-10-27T15:39:00.000-07:00

Hey, where ya been? Oh yeah, I'M the one who's been M.I.A.

I've been busy, my little chitlins. Busy, I tells ya! How do I know I've been busy?

1. Dishes piled up in the sink because the dishwasher needs to be emptied.

2. You should see my credit card bill. Oy vey.

No, I'm not all Todd, all the time. Sometimes, I'm not even some Todd, some of the time. Okay, I've got a Todd story awaiting a blog entry. Don't roll your eyes, they might stick like that.

Thursday night, I headed out to see a singer/songwriter I've come to love for the past few years - Jason Mraz. Have you given this guy a good listen? Not only does he have an unbelievable tenor thang going on, but he's one of the most gifted wordsmiths in music today. And he's really cute for a geek.

Yeah, you've heard of him. He had a hit a few years ago with The Remedy. ("Well, if you've gots the poison, I've gots the remedy...") Now he's got a full-blown monster on radio with his newest single "I'm Yours." Seeeeeeeee, I knew you'd know who I'm tawkin' about.

He played to a packed house Thursday night and I was fortunate to get me a third row perch, albeit near the bass speakers, but it was a good pain to carry for a couple of days afterwards.

Lemme tell you about Jason's fan base. I expected mostly 20-somethings, females, upper-middle, yuppie types. That's what I found. Mostly. But there were folks there of every make and model known to Man. I saw pre-pubescent girls, middle-aged couples, some goth freaks (or were those Halloween costumes?), several scruffy-looking musician types who looked like they'd kill to get their songs on Grey's Anatomy, and an entire row of "the gays" behind me.

Get off my case. They called themselves that when they apologized for singing every song at the top of their lungs into my ears. I could barely hear them over the bass, but it went something like this:

"Honeeeeeeeeeey, you should know bettah than to sit near the gays if you don't want a real show!"

Fine by me - that meant I could get my own groove on in an upright fashion and not piss anyone off behind me when Jason busted out with an oldie, but oh-so-goodie "Build Me Up, Buttercup."

Love those gays. I thought one of them was going to ask me to Carolina Shag with them for awhile, but they were paired up kinda cozy by then. Sigh.

Anyway - chalk this show up as a winner. Even if you're not a fan beforehand, you will be, my friend. You will be.

Bigfoot Gets A Pedicure

2008-10-15T18:37:00.000-07:00

The point of a woman going to a spa or a salon is to get a little pampering, a chance to treat one's self, to have an "I'm worth it" moment.

Or so I thought until last Saturday when I went to grab that L'Oreal moment for myself.

I went for a mani/pedi combo package. Yes, the deluxe package, please.

The bubbling foot spa, the massaging lay-z-boy chair, the lotions and potions....I wanted it all. I leaned back, let the shiatsu take effect, turned on my ipod, closed my eyes and let the flurry of Vietnamese bees do their thang to my fingers and toezies.

It was heaven and my esteem was blooming like ragweed in the fall. I felt indulged and a peaceful smile came across my face.

At this point, I felt a tap on my arm. One of the bees wanted to ask me a question. I took the earbuds from one ear and gave her a look that said "Why, yes, I'll take a glass of wine."

Vietnamese Bee: "You want eyebrow waxing?"

CruiserMel: "Sure. I'm worth it." (figuring I'd make her happy and put an additional $10 in her pocket to send home to her 100 year old great-grandmother.)

Vietnamese Bee: "You get lip waxed, too." (not in a question form either)

CruiserMel: "Uh, no thanks." (Did that once. Hurt like hell.)

Vietnamese Bee: "You get lip wax."

CruiserMel: "No. Thank you."

She got one of those looks on her face, as if to say "Suit yourself. Look like a monster for all I care."

I closed my eyes and went back to my music.

Then the "L'Oreal moment" passed. What does she see that I don't in my 10x magnifying mirror? Mother of God, am I growing a beard?

What will I say if the guys in ZZ Top want me to audition for them?

Kids will mistake me for Santa at the mall!

What if they do a remake of The Addams Family and want me to be in it?

So much for "I'm worth it." I'm apparently Sasquatch. But I've got rockin' toes. Sorry Great-Grandmama.

Caption This Pic ...

2008-10-08T14:18:00.001-07:00

... because I seriously have no words.

Assistance Please?

2008-10-06T11:40:00.000-07:00

Hey, you beautiful reader(s) you. I am working on doing polls over at another blog and I need your assistance. See that little poll in the upper right corner? Can you please vote so I can see how this thing works? Won't take ya a second. Meanwhile, bear with me with these new changes.

Oh and Happy Monday to ya!

Da Blog Had A Facelift...Or Was It Just Botox?

2008-10-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

First, Blogger forced us to change. I didn't groove on it at first, but it's grown on me and now that I finally got the hang of all of those changes, they've gone and made this whole thing more simple to manage.

My mistake? I believed them when they said I could do all this cool stuff to my little corner of cyberspace.

Don't get me wrong - it is easier. Well, it looks easier. And perhaps it will be, but I'm a creature of routine and this thing has scraped my last nerve across an electrified barbed-wire fence with an exposed canine root and I'm pissed.

I want my RundgrenRadio playah back. I also want my music playlist thingy back. There's prolly other stuff missing, too, but I'm too cross-eyed to figure it out anymore; not tonight. I guess I'll be spending some quality time with da blog over the next few days to get it back to how I liked it.

Meanwhile - anyone else upgraded? What do ya think?

A Pretty Good Week Indeed

2008-09-29T13:57:00.000-07:00

Hiya, my little chitlins! How's it hangin'? Really? Do tell! And the kiddies? How's the job going?

Oh wait - you're here to hear about CruiserWorld. My bad.

Life in CruiserWorld has been pretty groovy, baby.

Last week, we had two outstanding (if I may say so myself) RundgrenRadio.com shows. Tuesday, I hosted Denny Laine, who founded "The Moody Blues" and co-founded with Sir Paul McCartney "Wings." I reckon that will be as close to interviewing a Beatle that I'll ever get. Lemme tell ya, I was pretty nervous, but he was so gracious and mellow that I forgot all about my butterflies about a minute into the show. Then on Wednesday, we hosted our main man TODD RUNDGREN for an hour and a half! We've had him on before, but this was extra special as he was excited to talk about his new CD coming out - TOMORROW.

Let's see what else has been going on... oh yeah, I'm working myself out of a job and therefore taking some days off here and there to get things done. Important things like cleaning house, doctor's appointments, auto maintenance, and oh yeah - going to the State Fair of Texas.

If you recall, the 3 weeks of The State Fair of Texas are some of my favorite days of the year. I never liked the Fair as a child - it was dirty and stinky and when you're closer to the ground, it's most unpleasant. But now I'm tall (okay, taller than back then) and it's really cool. I'm not so much into the rides, though I did my annual spin on The Love Bugs ride, but it's the people-watching that's so fun. You see everything! Young, old, fat, thin, attractive and then there are the people who put the U in UGLY. And those are the visitors! Oh my.

I ate my self-required two Fletcher's corny dogs, drank a beer and had a homemade root beer. I'm a traditionalist. I'm not into the new best thing - usually covered in a thick layer of fried. (corny dogs excepted) They've got fried EVERYTHING. They've got fried oreos, fried pickles, fried ice cream, fried latte, fried cookie dough, fried olive balls (gotta admit, this one almost made it onto my "gotta try" list), fried corn, etc. Hmm, I just made myself hungry, but I digress.

This year's new food thang just makes my arteries harden as I type this: chicken fried bacon. You may ask yourself, isn't all bacon fried? Yes, it is. But this is CHICKEN fried. It doesn't involve chicken, but it does mean that it's been batter-dipped and then fried. Double death. Makes me shiver. I got a gander of it and it wasn't all that disgusting, but for the price and the risk, I'll stick with my corny dogs, thankyouverymuch.

I caught the Dancing Dogs show, which was cute and it was at a time that I needed to rest my bones for a few. As I watched these pooches doing rhythmic moves to Michael Jackson, I thought of my own little CruiserDog who can do all of one trick - and that's only so he can get a cookie. These little guys WORK for a living. I just glared at CruiserDog and he rolled over to reveal his privates and let out a fart. That's my boy.

After the dog show, I mosied (that's what we do in Texas) over to the petting zoo - one of the cutest things every year. They had goats, camels, donkeys, miniature horses, and all sorts of barnyard beings. As usual, the cutest of the cute award goes to those little pink piglets. I tried to force one into my purse, but they frown on that. And of course, one look at the size of his mother, I thought better of it.

Oh oh oh - there are several bands that play around the fairgrounds, one of which really caught my ear. I'd heard of them before and poo-poo'd the whole idea, but now that I've heard them, I'll be catching their shows in rotation with my other local acts. Stay with me - they are Celtic Rock. I know, I know. It probably draws a full army of dorks, but once you've seen this one guy rawk an electronic bagpipe in a KILT, you'll change your mind. Check 'em out: The Killdares.

Anyhoo - here are a few pictures taken last Friday on opening day. If you're in the north Texas area, I highly recommend hitting the State Fair. Afterall, it is the GREAT State Fair of Texas.

And while I'm thinking about it, fellow blogspot bloggers - I am helping someone get started on their own blog. I've found that the powers that be with blogspot have changed the template process. Has anyone with an establised blog tried to upgrade to a new template? I'm thinking about it, but what if I lose some stuff in the transition? Any advice?

Countdown to Todd Rundgren's "ARENA"

2008-09-21T11:04:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite blogs to read is running a contest to win an autographed copy of Todd Rundgren's soon-to-be-released cd "Arena". It's free. It's easy. Go read his blog, give him your 5 favorite Todd songs (it's okay if you only know a few, you can borrow a song or two from previous entries in the comment section - but shame on you, you can do better than that!) and you will go into the hopper for the drawing.

And just so you know - if you don't win the autographed copy - you can buy your copy at your favorite music outlet beginning Tuesday, September 30th! You're gonna love it. Guaranteed!

RundgrenRadio Rocks Vegas

2008-09-05T19:14:00.000-07:00

RundgrenRadio.com turned one last weekend. It's hard to believe we're still going strong, but we had some 60 rockin' guests over the course of 12 months - not bad when we only provide a bag of Doritos and flat ginger ale for our guests.

In celebration of our success, we threw what will probably become an annual Birthday Bash for 100 lucky listeners in Vegas. VEGAS. You guys know I dig me some casino action - and mix that with great friends and CruiserMel is in bliss.

But it didn't stop there...mix in an all-star concert tribute to the Sgt Pepper album, a Tubes concert, and top that with the biggest cherry of 'em all - Todd - and you've got the makings of an audio orgasm.

Here's how it went down (I hope you have time):

Friday, Day One: Put my happy butt on a plane westward bound. A couple of cocktails later, I'm in Vegas, meeting up with a couple of Toddheads at baggage claim, riding the shuttle bus past all my fave haunts and checking in at the Golden Nugget on Fremont Street, where RundgrenRadio's home base would be for the next 72 hours. Before long, there I was in the middle of a pack of Toddheads, bubbling with excitement and buzzing with cocktails. (This would be the start of many, but of course.)

Before long, we were whorin' up and catching a chartered bus for a drive to the Texas Station hotel (which kinda felt like it was as far as Texas) for the Sgt Pepper show, "It Was 40 Years Ago Today" - starring our Todd Rundgren, Christopher Cross, Denny Laine (Moody Blues, Paul McCartney & Wings), Lou Gramm (Foreigner), Bo Bice (wtf?), Greg Hawkes (The Cars), Jesse Gress, Prairie Prince, and ohhh, I know I'm forgetting some, but you get the idea. I'm not what you'd call a big Beatles fan, but that music is kinda in everyone's hard wiring and it was a fun show. Todd showed alot of personality and silliness with his "For the Benefit of Mr. Kite," a high point for me - picture Todd with fake eyebrows and mustache a la Groucho Marx and a top hat. Funny.

When the show was over, some of us went to the meet & greet and were mingling with the entire band and crew when I spotted Denny Laine and thought he'd make an excellent guest on the radio show - so I pressed my boobs together a little and approached. Turns out I didn't even need to do that as he was one helluva charming British fellow who was flattered and humble to be asked and he accepted right away. While I was visiting with him, the weirdest thing happened. The room went silent as Bo Bice (Mr. American Idol) burst out of the dressing room area and began screaming at the top of his lungs that we had broken into his dressing room and stolen his "shit, you goddamned assholes" (among other questionable phrases for a role model in his first 7 minutes of fame to be spouting). His concert poster he'd had signed by everyone was missing. He made a grown woman cry. Most of us were Todd fans - why would we want his stupid poster? Geez. Perhaps you should look at your redneck fans, Bo. Oh yeah - there were only like 3 of those there, jerk. When he was done ranting, he turned to go back in his dressing room and the door had locked him out. Serves you right.

Needless to say, the mood was a bit weird for a bit after that. So - we all piled into our bus and headed to the Palms, to a restaurant called Simon for an after party to end all after parties, hosted by Todd's merch gal, Cathy. It was incredible. Super chic decor, super chic food and bevs, and of course - super chic guests - US. The place is so cool that their signature dessert is an enormous ball of cotton candy, for grownups. Yup - Todd dug it.
After a few hours and martinis later, we all sloshed back to our hotel and CruiserMel hit a blackjack table at 4:00 am. Martinis and fatigue do not make a good combo when approaching the tables in Vegas, so I lost some amount of money, of which I'm uncertain. Somehow I found my room I shared with Sheri and floated to sleep, only to awaken 4 hours later to start it all over again. It's Vegas, baby - ain't no sleepin' going on in this town!

Saturday, Day Two: RundgrenRadio's Doug and I headed to some guy's house to watch a rough cut of the HDDVD made at the RR sponsored Kasim Sulton show in Atlanta back in March. It sounded unbelievable and Kasim looks like he could jump off the screen and into your lap. A good thing, if you're a girl. Notsomuch if you're a guy.

Then it was back to the hotel to whore-up for another concert night...this time The Tubes were playing at the Santa Fe Station hotel (felt like a drive to Santa Fe to get there - geez, this town is big!). Todd's drummer, Prairie was and still is a member of the Tubes, Todd had produced a couple of Tubes records in the 80's and Todd's wife, Michele, had been a dancer with The Tubes at that same time, so we felt we had to check it out. It was worth the trip as the show was more fun than I could have imagined - the singer, Fee Waybill, is one zany dude - check out this costume he wore for "White Punks On Dope". It was fun to turn around and see Todd in the audience and Michele hopped on stage a couple of times to get her groove on. When they played "Talk To Ya Later" I was dancing so hard, I almost fell off my shoes. It appeared all was well. Everyone was high on the show they'd just seen and the band came out to sign autographs. Doug put me on a mission to see if we could get Fee on the radio show. Once again, I pressed my boobs together, batted my lashes and went in for the kill via flattery. (History lesson: Fee didn't particularly like it when Todd produced his band - okay, then why did Todd produce TWO records, huh?) I knew it might be a tough "get" but a few cocktails and I'm fearless. He was thrilled I liked the show and I even got a wink, so I moved in a little closer and told him all about RR as he listened intently. Then WABBO! He pulled even closer to me (now you're kinda making me uncomfortable, Fee) and said: "I have nothing positive to say about that man. He ruined my career. I don't want to hear about your little show. Not until there's a TubesRadio.com." Say WHAT? He said no? Aw come on, please? Nuffin. Oh well, he did let me get a photo with him. One I plan to draw devil horns and wicked eyebrows on when I can figure out photoshop. That makes for two assholes in one weekend. Divas.

After the show, a few of us went to this jammin' penthouse apartment where my friend Steve was staying and lemme tell ya - I can see why Britney likes Vegas so much. What a view! Whoever owned this place was one lucky high-roller. Phuck!
Two guys brought guitars and we had a wonderful singalong of Todd songs which eventually degraded into replacing the word "love" in songs to "Doug". Doug is the Drug. All You Need is Doug. Doug is the Answer. On and on until someone sang the J. Geils classic Doug Stinks, and pretty much the party petered out. Sleep log: 4 hours.

Sunday, Day Three: This is the big day. The ACTUAL birthday bash day. The day that Doug, Darnelle and Steve and I had worked so hard on was finally here. And I had the hangover from hell. And nerves on top of that. Bad combo.
I hit the pool area where we hung out with some Toddheads, Prairie, ML, Jesse, and oh geez, I'm supposed to remember who all was there? I was hungover, remember? I sweated out my alcohol stash until I could take no more and then split away from the fray over to Binion's where I kicked serious tail at blackjack and made a mental note to gamble fairly sober from now on.

Soon it was time to get ready and go over to our venue and start the party. OMG, we done good on this one. The place was fabu! We had beautiful food brought in (I heard it tasted good), the drinks were flowing, we had 2 awesome cakes from the bakery of Cher and Celine Dion, we were amongst about 100 great friends, and the place was electric with excitement - both in front of house and backstage. The band was pumped, which was flattering. We heard Todd say backstage: wow, this is a REAL gig. Duh. We don't half-ass this shit. It's our birthday!
Uh-oh, look who got their lip on....
OMG, he came out into the audience to play in one song...seriously, at one point I thought he was going to poke my eye out with the head of his guitar. Talk about up close and personal!
Quite possibly my favorite picture I've ever taken of Mr. Rundgren. Sheer luck that I caught that photo.
That's supposed to be one of Todd's guitar picks. Clever, huh?
Very cool - the bakery put the promo poster for Todd's new album "Arena" on the cake (coming out September 30, btw - check out Amazon for pre-sale - JUST DO IT! NOW!).

Todd kinda likes cake apparently. And uses it for a facial moisturizer. Hey, if I can rock as hard as he does when I turn 60, I'll start spreading icing on my face!

Now, I've seen a Todd show or fifty over the years, but this one felt special. I parked my hiney on the first row (it's GOOD to be queen - and to have a reserved table) and was so bowled over that I stopped taking photos. I wasn't going to see this thing come to fruition through the lens of a camera. Not this time. So, I've stolen a few pics from friends who were there. Thanks, btw.

Jesse, Prairie, Todd, and Rachel had saved their best performance for us. Many thanks, guys!

On, and before I forget, Doug & I were given Olympic medals for our contributions to RundgrenRadio. Gold. Well - gold colored. It was cute and was very thoughtful. I'll cherish it forever. Right next to my "silver" medal for swimming at the country club 4th of July event when I was 6.

And just as quick as it came, it was over. I was on cloud #9 or maybe even #10. So was the photographer of this next picture.
...until that alarm clock went off after only 4 hours of sleep. And I had no voice. And I had to board a plane back to reality.

Cheers, RundgrenRadio! Same time, next year? (I think I've pimped RR enough in this entry - now it's your turn - go click on it and listen to some good stuff. Ya hear?)

I Hated That Picture Yesterday...

2008-08-26T15:23:00.000-07:00

...so I had to take a couple of pictures of CruiserDog, fresh from getting his hair done. Isn't this better than that rodent pic?

This was CruiserDog taking a well-deserved nap. The beauty parlor is so taxing. It's hard to be this handsome.

This is the intense stare my sandwich got once he woke up. He seems to forget that he always gets the last bite, not the first.

Where's A Pied Piper When You Need One?

2008-08-25T15:46:00.000-07:00

A month or two ago, a friend of mine had an up-close-and-personal encounter in my backyard during the day with a mother possum (and her babies - aw...how ugly) near some bushes that line my patio. I never saw "momma" or her little ones and figure they moved on to greener pastures, or at least next door. And that was good. Amen.

Fast-forward to yesterday afternoon...I'm chatting away on the phone and something grabbed my attention on the patio, poking it's little furry nose through a latticed brick wall that is between my patio and aforementioned bushes.

"It's a little bunny!", I exclaimed. No wait - aw for the love of Todd, it's a goddamn mouse. Phuckity phuck.

I've hardly had any bugs in this house that I bought 6 years ago (good thing!) and now I have a frickin' mouse. Gotta call some guy with a giant fiberglass termite on his car, I guess. It's not like I didn't blow a wad of cash on my trips this summer. It's only money, right?

I continued with my convo when suddenly cute little mouse steps through the hole in the brick wall and scampers towards my sliding glass door.

Oh hell no - that ain't no mouse - it's a RAT!

Needless to say, CruiserDog is now pottying in the front yard thankyouverymuch, until "Ben" is properly evicted.

I called today to get someone out right away and to my complete gross-out surprise, I was told rats travel in at least pairs and they can birth 10 micies (who will "do it" with eachother) every 45 days and so on and so on and they tell two friends and they tell two friends.... you get the picture.

I pondered selling the house briefly, but was told that my new superhero Joe (who surely drives a car with a gianormous fiberglass rodent on it's roof - which will thrill the neighbors) will be right out to put out a "bait station" which cannot hurt, nor even attract CruiserDog, but will make Ben and his family to have an upset stomach, not want to take it to the fam, go under someone's woodpile (of which I don't have - heh) and depart this world. (No worries, I asked about secondary death and this place is super-green and even if a neighbor's cat or dog were to find ex-Ben, they would not be made ill. I'm nothing if not a responsible pet lover.)

And I sit here wondering how many nights I took CruiserDog in the back yard barefooted and unarmed. My skin crawls as I type that sentence. There's only one word that comes to mind: eeewwwwwwwwwww.

Ratatouille anyone?

Being Platinum Has It's Privileges

2008-08-20T09:19:00.000-07:00

Ahoy, mateys! Yes, CruiserMel has finally grabbed an opportunity to continue the rep of CruiserDiety. I was beginning to wonder why I was calling myself CruiserMel at all, frankly, since it had been a year (or was it more?) since I had hit the high seas. But as you know, my year's been wacky what with my madre's passing and all that goes with that, as well as some other shit that you needn't worry your warped little mind about, you four folks who actually read this lame blog.

It all started out with a lone, but oh so fun drive to Houston on Saturday. I plugged in my iPod to the AUX plug of the CruiserCar and shuffled my way through 4 hours of my favorite tunes, slogged through Houston's God-awful traffic (on a Saturday?), found my hotel and asked the front desk idiot where I could get some fresh seafood for dinner. (I'd been Jonesin' all day...) She pointed me to THE most touristy and overcrowded area of Houston (Kemah, actually) wherein I got mired in yet another hour of traffic before I could give up, turn around and hit a hamburger drive-through. I supposed I could've chosen the fish sandwich, but since it was probably processed in June somewhere in Arizona, I elected to go traditional and get a burger and headed to my hotel. *sigh* I think I talked on the phone a couple of hours and watched some Olympic action til I passed out.

Sunday morning was bright and shiny and I was on my way to the pier in Galveston, a mere 20 minutes away! There she was - the Conquest. My dear old friend who I've sailed upon 3 or 4 times prior, and she was looking perdy good with her red, white, and blue funnel towering over the city. I parked the car and waited in the heat for the shuttle bus to take me the 8 blocks to the ship, but punted that waiting idea to the curb when it looked like I would sooner melt into the pavement than get on a bus in the next hour. So I schlepped it. Yes, I ain't no pansy-assed little girl - I am woman - and I am pissy - so get me on that air-conditioned ship, dammit!

It didn't take me long to get those cruise muscles working again - first, dump my stuff in my cabin, then grab some of their great pizza on deck, boat drill (ugh), and then sailawaytime with a drink in my hand!!!! Goodbye Galveston! Goodbye reality!

I won't bore you with the minute details of each day, but suffice to say that here was my usual M.O.:

Awaken around noon.

Watch telly until 1:00 while hydrating from previous night's activities.

Shower and dress.

Emerge from room, pasty and pale around 3:00.

Go to Lido deck for nourishment and maybe a little sunshine. (Vitamin D, ya know.)

Hit casino from 5 - 7.

Dress for dinner.

Hit casino from 7:20 until 8:15 dinner.

Trudge through dinner with weird people who were assigned to my table. More later.

Hit casino from 10:00 until 3 or 4 a.m.

Cavort, if the opportunity presents itself. heh

Pass out.

Repeat.

Once, I went on a cruise where I swear, we spent every living moment in the casino, with a plan to get ourselves completely sunburned on the final day of the cruise so we'd look like we'd been on vacation. Naturally, that last day - rain. Lots and lots of rain. So - when I went back to work, my boss joked "Spend the whole cruise in the casino, Mel?" SOOOO - that's why I made sure to spend at least a few minutes in the sun each day on this one. No burn, but I wouldn't say I look like the vampire I truly am.

About my dinner partners.... I love assigned seating for dinner, particularly when I'm travelling alone, which I did on this particular cruise. When you're assigned to a table, you get to know the 7 or 8 others dining with you over the course of the week and I've made some very good friends this way. I still exchange Christmas cards with a couple I met back in 1992 to this day!

The first night, only 2 of us showed up for dinner. Myself and a man 2-plus decades my senior. He was nice enough I guess. I remembered his name because of a famous guitar player - B.B. He was from Arizona or California or something out that way. (Because he was clearly not going to be of romantic interest to me, I kinda zoned out while he talked a bit.) He seemed to be fairly hip for someone his age - using terms like "been there, done that" and "dude," albeit it wouldn't fly on BET or MTV nowadays, but he was trying. We had a nice dinner and then, natch, I headed to the casino to get my ass handed to me on a platter (nicely decorated with the Carnival logo). But enough of that.

The next night, my gentleman dining partner showed up, in a nice suit and a ... wait for it ... toupee to end all toupees! His real hair was grey on the sides but obviously his toupee-maker didn't get that message and the lid on his head was black as night! Ummm, kay. Mentally, I gave him a pass, thinking that the lighting in the cabins isn't so great, so it was possible that I had too much makeup on - and I didn't want to call the kettle...well, you know. I had one question about B.B., but didn't have the cahoonas to ask, so I'll just post it here and hopefully I'll feel better. B.B., if you don't call yourself a complainer, why do you always complain about everything and send every entree back (after eating 1/2) to order another one? Just askin.

There were 4 ladies who joined us that night! Yay - I don't have to sit here making convo with grandpa all alone anymore! They were a woman (about 70?), her daughter, and her daughter's daughters (17 and 19). They were lovely women from near Dallas, so we had some things in common.

Until.......they all ordered Caesar salads. Every night. Did I mention these were lovely women? Don't lady-like manners usually go with the term "lovely women?" Let me tell you - these ladies would sit there prim and polite, hands in repose in their laps until the exact moment they must've had some silent starter gun go off in their heads and they grabbed their forks like a joy stick, poked into the poor lettuce and hacked away with ferocity until there was little left but minced greenery. The din of the silverware clacking against the dish was deafening. I swear, I heard the Eagles singing in my head "They stabbed it with their steely knives, but they could not kill the beast." Swear! Every night without fail they would mince their salads into a puree before ever taking a bite. That song was the only thing that would throw a bit of humor into my thoughts which kept me from buying a copy of an etiquette book and forcing them to read it before each dinner. It was gross and funny all at the same time. Can you tell this sorta soured my original thoughts about these ladies. Uh - yeah.

I spent quite alot of time just gazing at the sea between naps, eating and blackjack. I would've gazed at the people, but if you'd seen them, you'd swear off all eating for life. You've heard of Doctors Without Borders? This was People Without Mirrors! Do they really make bathing suits in size 46? Some men had bigger back boobs than my front boobs. And let's talk about back hair, shall we? Somebody give me a barf-bag. One guy (or maybe he was a bear) got in the pool and he started to friggin' shed and scared a little girl. Uncool, dood. And there should be a law against wearing bikinis unless you look like a supermodel. I mean it. If you've got a jiggle - and that means just about anyone over 30 - I've got one word for you: cover that shit the fuck up! Okay that was six words. Tough.

I didn't get off the ship but once - Cozumel - but only to go to my favorite dive for some fabulous guac and a bottle of Mexican beer. Here's a question that floated into my brain as I was wandering through some stores: How come they speak perfect English in Mexico to us tourists, yet in Texas, they claim "No hablo"????? Huh???

Get a load of the color of this water! Does that color actually exist in Nature?

Here are some pics I took of the cute little towel animals my steward (Arjawa) left on my bed each night. They were a nice substitute for my precious CruiserDog - well, for a week. Towel animals are one of the little niceties about cruising. I know, it's corny. I don't care. Thwpt.

I'm a card-carrying platinum Carnival-holic, which means I've been on more cruises with Carnival than the Captain, which gets me some special privileges, some of which are pretty cool. After schlepping my luggage eight blocks and presenting my sweaty self to the pier - I got to bypass 2500 others waiting in line to get to the A/C. This was good. I also got special treatment by the giftshop clerks, barkeeps, and waiters when my sail & sign card (yes, it was platinum) was presented. This was good. There was a special cocktail party for previous cruisers and a special wink to the platinum cruisers, of which there were only 12 on board. Two nights I was surprised by beautiful plates of canapes and petit fours. I felt like I needed to invite company over for cocktails when these beauts showed up at my door. Check this out - pretty, huh?

Though I did alot of praying in the casino, there were times I prayed to be 19 years old and cute again. Here is just one example of the hundreds of specimens between 18 and 22 available on board. Girls - if you want one of these, go cruising the week before school starts. These guys outnumbered the girls 3 to 1. Oh. My. God. I'm feeling perverted just typing this.

All too soon, the week was over and I had a bartab that exceeded most of my past cruise tabs now that Todd has taught me to enjoy Martinis at $10 a pop. Yikes. But I was properly vacationed and now I am back to reality, working my way towards my next cruise. Ain't life grand?

Toddtopia Texas Style, The Next Chapter

2008-08-08T20:45:00.000-07:00

I promised you kids a Part Deux to my Adventures in Toddtopia, Texas Style, didn't I? Easier said than done, now that almost three weeks has passed, but I'll give it the ole college try...

When we last left our heroes, Doug & CruiserMel were heading back to Dallas from a fantastic night in Austin seeing Todd Rundgren & his merry band (literally). We busied ourselves by brainstorming about how to best commemorate the upcoming one year anniversary of RundgrenRadio and oh shit, I can't remember.

We got home in time to freshen up before heading out to the House of Blues to meet up with more fans for dinner before the show. It was fun, once again, to meet up with like minds and to break bread over gumbo and cocktails for awhile.

Then it was time for the show. I don't know how many of you have been to the Dallas HOB, but it's a jewel! Very roomy and not a bad seat (or standing place) in the house.

I staked my claim down front on Rachel's side of the stage. I'm not sure why - I mean, yes, I usually take up residency on that side of the stage because Kasim's usually there, but I'm not married to that idea when Rachel's holding up the bass end of the show. But she's fascinating to watch! She's a tiny little pixie and she's just beautiful (according to the men in the crowd), but what's so exciting is the poise and ease she shows while hitting these booming basslines with panache while still looking great. Girl power squared.

A few songs into the set, Todd was warmed up and doing his signature spins and scissor kicks. Not friggin bad for 60, which is now the new 30 in his case. Can I get an amen?!?!?

It was the final chord flourish and Todd spun around to stage right and down he went into the audience. Yessir, he fell 6 feet to the floor and onto a barricade of sorts, while spinning with his guitar. And btw, the guitar sounded just fine. There was some commotion, Jesse Gress pulled him up onto the stage, then some "adjustment" done, and Todd approached the mic with an announcement that it's true - they are made of steel.

That fall seemed to give him incentive to push himself to the limit and Todd did not disappoint for a second at the Dallas show. Great fun - good stories - great licks - and an even finer honed body of new music thrilled the crowd.

Yup, that's Mr. RundgrenRadio himself, gettin his hug on with Todd's wife. Yeah, she looks like she minds. Uh huh. *wink*

Not to be outdone, CruiserMel got some snuggle on with the Missus. Take that, Dougie!

Oh yeah, I'd started with single malt scotch that day. So now I know what I look like when I'm a little lit. Niiiiice. Ugh.

Anywhooooo, moving on....once again, Pippi and I started the "raise the roof" dance move during "Mountaintop" - sure to become the next sports anthem at your favorite NFL games - and I was thrilled to turn around at one point to find most, if not all, fans raising the roof in unison. (If this will be my claim to fame, there are worse things to be famous for, right?)

All too soon, the show was over. So wrong. So wrong. I could watch this guy perform every night - same songs even - and I would be thrilled each and every time. I debated going to Houston the next day for his show, but passed on it. Now I regret that decision as it would be a matter of weeks (over a month, Todd dammit!) before I would get a chance to see Mr. Rundgren again. Wahhhh.

At the end of this month - yup, here CruiserMel goes again - I'm headed to Vegas to see Todd front the "It Was 40 Years Ago Today" tour - a Sgt. Pepper all-star show. Todd? Beatles? What could possibly make that better? Oh yeah - VEGAS, baby!

My Favorite Restaurant

2008-08-06T16:52:00.001-07:00

I always knew I loved their food. Now I know I love their attitude.

Adventure in Toddtopia, Texas Style

2008-08-01T13:37:00.000-07:00

I promised you guys a recap of my Todd in Texas / Birthday weekend several days ago and I plan on making good on my promise. So, without further ado, I give you my Adventure in Toddtopia, Texas style.

Lil bro Doug flew all the way from Alabama (and boy, were his arms tired, ha ha) Saturday morning. I picked him up at the aeropuerto in the CruiserCar and we high-tailed it the 3 1/2 hour drive to Austin. Along the way we stopped for colaches in a town called West. The Czechs pronounce that like this: ko-lah-chees. Apparently, in Alabama, they call them ko-laaks. Woops, there go my eyeballs rolling back in their sockets. Boys. Tsk.

We finally got to Austin, threw our stuff in our hotel rooms, and made it to a late lunch with the mother of a Heisman trophy winner. I can't tell you who's mother it was or I'd have to kill ya, but suffice to say, he had roots at UT and is currently with the Miami Dolphins and is recognized by his dreadlocks and arrests. That vague enough? *wink* She was lovely and we had a good time while they discussed whether the Dolphins will emerge victorious or not this year.

Then it was back to the hotel for CruiserMel to take a nap and apparently for Doug to hit his bottle of Gentleman Jack pretty good. I woke up, whored-up, then met Doug as we began our Todd in Texas adventure. Doug was feeling very little pain at this point and I was anxious to get started medicating myself, as well.

Austin is one groovin' place - I'd say there's probably a bar for each citizen. Seriously, there are bars with live music everywhere you turn! I'm not sure how people live there - not that it's a bad place, au contraire; but it's just too fun! I suppose a person would have to occasionally work to pay for all that fun, but it sure would be hard to not make a personal goal-chase out of trying to go to each and every bar within a year or so. I thought New Orleans was hoppin' - but I believe Austin is a close second.

We met up with some fellow Toddstockers (and other Toddheads who weren't fortunate enough to go to Toddstock in Kauai back in June) at an Irish pub called Fado's. They'd held a special area for us and it was just great. Many of us ventured out to the patio though - to prepare for what was surely going to be a hot night - in many ways.

Then it was about time for the show, so we walked around the corner to Antone's, thinking we'd be able to waltz right in. *screech* There was a line wrapped around the building. Hmph, getting to the front of this crowd wasn't going to be easy, but to see such a great turnout for Our Hero was a very good thing for Todd. Austinites are really very nice folks. I wouldn't expect anything else from Toddheads.

Antone's very quickly filled to its capacity and being a little person, I knew that making my way up front was going to be difficult, if not excruciatingly hot, so we hung back at the side where we could breathe and yet have a great view of the band from the wings.

Kasim isn't playing bass on this tour, so I wasn't too heartbroken to not have my elbows on the stage this time. Besides, Rachel Haden is playing bass this time, so trying to get through the guys who are drooling and taking up space below her is completely futile. What do you guys think? She's cute, right?
Eventually, our friend Steve found us and asked our help in getting Toddtinis to the stage for the band. He'd brought light-up martini glasses for the occasion. We each took 1 or 2 drinks and it was amazing how the crowd parted for us. Taking nectar to the Todd takes precedence over having a good view if you're a true Toddhead. The band drank the Toddtinis like Gatorade. Then again, it was about 105 degrees in there, so you would, too.

I finished watching the show with my legs pressed against the stage between Rachel and Todd. Man, those folks were workin' the crowd. It was one of the best Todd shows I've seen in a long time.
I hadn't heard the new material since Kauai and the band has definitely been gellin' like felons. It was phenomenal. I'll do a separate blog entry about the new stuff later, but let me tell you - it blows the shit that's out there now AWAY. The cd hasn't come out yet, but there are enough bootlegs floating around that most people knew every word and crowd-participatory move to make without being instructed. Rhythmic fist pumps were common as the music just demands that.
That's me, next to Pippi (her Hawaiian name) wearing her Hawaiian lights in her hair. She's hysterical and crazy and she's a die-hard fan I met in Kauaii at Toddstock. Todd loved it when we "raised the roof" during "Mountaintop." Could this be the start of a new dance move? You bet it was! By the end of the song, I had a good part of the crowd doing it. Who knew CruiserMel would start a dance craze! Thanks, Pippi for helping me out. You get equal kudos, girl.

After the show was done, we hung out a little bit and then headed for Thai food, where we sang 80's songs at the top of our lungs until the wee hours and then headed for the hotel. Oh yes, this trip was worth it. No doubt.

The next morning, it was rise & shine and back in the car for the ride to Dallas.

Tune in next time for the continuing saga of Doug & CruiserMel's Adventure in Toddtopia, Texas style!

...And CruiserMel Takes The Mic Again

2008-07-29T15:40:00.000-07:00

Hi there. You good? Excellent. Who me? Well, as my boss at my paying gig would say "A little bit better than outstanding."

Okay - maybe not quite that good, but good, nevertheless.

I'm pretty pumped about tomorrow night. See, Doug from RundgrenRadio (my non-paying gig) is letting me take the helm of the radio show this week and I'm thrilled about my guest.

His name is Brent Bourgeois. You may not immediately recognize the name, but if you were around in the 80's (or even if you're into the retro thang) (or even if you're into the CCM thang, too), he was the Bourgeois of Bourgeois Tagg.

What? You don't recall that name either?

They were a band out of northern California, via Dallas (just follow me here), who had some success on MTV with a couple of tunes. And yes, they've got a Todd connection. Todd produced their second album, which spawned their Top 40 hit "I Don't Mind At All." No worries, you'll recognize it when you hear it. See below.

Todd liked them so much he stole them as his own band for awhile! Attaboy, Todd.

Anyway, Brent's had a storied career which took him from 80's pretty-boy pop all the way to a solo career where he took the spotlight alone, doing a duet with Robert Palmer, then to Nashville, writing with the likes of Michael W. Smith, 4Him, and four #1 contemporary Christian hits.

So yeah, I'm a little excited to be interviewing him Wednesday night - 8:00 Eastern. Be there, aloha!

Girls Rawk-N-Rule

2008-07-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

I had something planned to tell you guys, I really did, but somehow I ran out of time over the weekend and so, unfortunately, I'm phonin' it in just so you'll keep coming back. I promise to tell you all about my bday weekend (Wow, was that like almost two week ago? Shit, that means I've got a bday in 11 and a half months!), but for now, I can just show you a portion of what I got to see last night.

I'd never seen Heart performing live and to be frank here (quit calling me Frank), I was going to the show to see 2 of my musical lifetime loves (Cheap Trick and Journey), but Heart was sandwiched between the bread, so I gave the girls a chance.

Man, oh man! Girl power, indeed!

The Times They Are A-Changin'

2008-07-17T16:39:00.000-07:00

Today is my birthday. Why, thank you. And you, too. You're the best.

The day started off just dandy, with CruiserDog's fuzzy butt in my face on the pillow next to me. Then somehow I completely missed the glass as I was pouring some left-over iced tea from a pitcher, drenching my feet and kitchen floor. It all improved as I got to the office and handled a couple of problems that had been hanging over my head (well, more like piling up on my desk) with finesse and lightning speed. By the time I left the office, I was smiling, looking forward to a four-day weekend filled with a couple of Todd shows in Austin and Dallas. Life was great!

I buzzed through some errands and headed home to find several bday cards, mostly insulting, the way I like it. Life really is great, indeed.

And then...what's this? A catalog I've never seen before. Hmm. Two lovely women on the cover, smiling at the camera with a look that seemed to say in some condescending way: "I understand."

WTF?

I leafed through the pages a little and discovered a pattern. This was a catalog entirely aimed at middle-aged vain women! Vain, I might be, but I'll be DAMNED if I'll ever admit to being middle-aged! I might cave-in when I'm rounding 70, but not now, no way. And certainly not on my frickin' birthday!

The cover says "As We Change" in a typeface that just looks like it "understands." Good grief! If you truly understand, you would most certainly not time your mailings to arrive at a woman's mailbox on her birthday; I don't care if it's her 29th or 69th! F you and your understanding font!

I must admit I did check out what they were selling and most of it was nonthreatening, in an aging sense. (moisturizing creams, satin pillowcases, magnifying mirrors, etc.) Then, as I got further into the magazine, it got a bit scary. There were pajamas designed for women who suffer hot flashes. There were vitamin supplements to make one feel sexy again. There were at least 3 pages of girdles. Girdles!

And then, they cut to the chase with "personal massagers." Oh. My. God. Pages and pages of "personal massagers." It was bordering on soft-core porn. Right here in my house! Then it hit me - these people are reminding women of a "certain age" that they can't get any from their men anymore at their advanced age. Way to go.

Such trash! Appalling! For shame!

I'm planning on throwing it away as soon as I place my order.

He's Baaaack

2008-07-10T18:42:00.000-07:00

OMG, the trading baby's back! I wish I needed an advertising company, because this whole campaign is frickin' brilliant!

All Todd All The Time In Utopia

2008-06-28T14:30:00.000-07:00

Aloha! I wrestled with how to put into words the Utopia that was my week last week, but it isn't as easy as it would seem. Toddstock was - well - oh how can I even come close to expressing it?

Todd has a song called Cliche' that he wrote years ago, a beautiful ballad, where he repeats the following line:

"Where are the words? Where are the words? Where are the words?"

I could just stop right there, but I know you guys know me better than to just leave it there, so I'll try to hit some of the highlights at least.

First to explain some of the great stuff Todd and his bride of 10 years, Michele, provided for this affair in Kauai. They've got 5 acres of beautiful, rolling land with a view to kill for. Their land rolls down into this valley with a river that runs to what is pretty much a private beach.

Now I see why he scolded me for calling it his "yard."

Todd & Michele provided a big food tent, complete with full kitchen, food and drinks. They had two bars on property. They even brought in a masseuse who had her own tent so people could get their weary bones worked on without leaving the property. And their house! Oh my, the house! I wish I could show you what I mean, but naturally, we faithful aren't going to post any pictures that might give away the secret location and cause a security risk. So until I get some go-ahead to post photos of the house or any from the property itself, I'm afraid I'm going to have to be choosy about what I can show here. Sorry, but my Toddly is important to me and I don't want you guys to go all postal on him (okay, y'all are okay, it's just that guy you hang around with who doesn't bathe, has a limp and scratches his face all the time that I'm worried about.)

After travelling all day Monday (and I mean ALL day), we arrived in Kauai and headed off to find our rental house, something called The Waterfall House. And here's why!

That's the Hawaiian way - no one wears their shoes into any one's home. I'm sure there is some spiritual explanation for this, but the practical reason is because they've got this red dirt that absolutely won't come out of or off of anything it gets on, so it's just the right thing to do.

Even though it was something like 2:00 am to our bodies, that didn't stop us from wanting to go check out what was happening over at the Toddstock Camporee. Off we went, like little virgins, all atwitter to meet other like-minded Toddheads, get a gander of Todd's house and property, and hopefully hook up with something alcoholic, because eleven hours of travelling and only a couple of hours of sleep just doesn't take the edge off enough.

The cute memory of that night came when I was waiting outside an outhouse (that Todd had constructed), chatting with some friends, when a male voice from inside said "Mel? CruiserMel? Is that you?" I didn't recognize the voice until out stepped Bobby Strickland, a sax player who I had interviewed on RundgrenRadio a couple of months ago. It was funnier than how I just wrote it.

I have few other memories of that night, but I do know we shut the place down around 1 or 2. This would become a pattern.

Tuesday, we got up and gasped at the beauty which was our rental house and it's surroundings. Our house rocked! Avocado trees, mango trees, and species of flora and fauna I'd have to look up in a book to tell you about. This was in our yard, people! Avocados! Can you imagine?

Before we knew it, it was time for three of the six housemates, including myself, to do something touristy. We headed off to a tour of the Fern Grotto. The little boat trip was cool, because we passed people on the river kayaking and doing some kind of standing on boards and paddling with long sticks. Groovy. Once we got to the Grotto, CruiserMel channelled Elvis and couldn't stop singing "In the Grotto" (Ghetto) to the point where I'm pretty sure some others wanted to kick my Texan ass. So I sang even louder. The lack of sleep was kickin' in and the punchies were in full tilt boogie.

After our tour, it was over to the Camporee, where I'm not kidding here - over 100 tents were set up, maybe more. The food & dining tent was huge. The fans had built, under Todd's supervision two tiki bars, one for beer and one for martinis. If you wanted anything else, you were on your own, but CruiserMel decided to partake of Todd's famous martinis - made by Todd himself! And by martinis, I mean lethal doses of straight vodka shaken with ice until a thick layer of frost appears on the outside of the shaker, then strained into a glass. And because I don't know what it's for, who needs vermouth anyway? OMG, in that humidity, Todd's Tinis were a welcome refreshment.

A little too much refreshment apparently, because I found myself getting my makeout on with one of the campers. Don't look at me that way. Hey, he was the prettiest guy there! That's what matters when CruiserMel is on vacation donchaknow. Shhhhhh, I'm trusting you guys not to tell. And yep, I got even more makeout on during the week. Vacay, you know.

The next day, I realized that those refreshing bevs from the night before tend to make one want to sleep until, well, forever. However, my friend L & I had appointments at the Princeville Resort for spa treatments that we had to get moving towards, so after doing a particularly awful job at doing a RundgrenRadio update show, grabbing a couple of b-fast bars and a gallon of water, we were on our way. Lemme tell ya ladies...if you have had the year I've had (and the amount of martinis the night before) Princeville has the cure! I was a noodle after that pampering. Screw the masseuse at the Camporee, we wanted to go first class.

Wednesday night was an especially magical one at Toddstock. After cleaning up and putting on our Hawaiian garb as instructed, we drove the 1.5 miles to the Camporee and witnessed a very personal Hawaiian tradition, that I felt I was almost intruding on, but Todd had graciously wanted his friends and fans to be there. It was the house blessing and it was so cool. A non-denominational Hawaiian priestess went around the outside of the house, saying Hawaiian words and planting a plant on each of the 4 corners of the house. Then she blessed the front door, took the family inside for a few minutes, and then invited us all to step inside, where we each had to bless the house with one word that we wished for the Rundgrens' new home. My word was light. Others were equally touchy-feely until some wise-cracker said chocolaty and another used a synonym for an illegal herb. Todd thought that was as good a word as any on which to stop. After dinner, I passed out some souvenir koozies I'd made up for all who attended. It only felt natural - because the sense of community was so thick amongst the family, friends, and fans all week; I may as well participate, ya know?

And of course, I found myself drawn to Todd's martinis once again.

Aw hell - let's just say that I took up residence at the martini bar every night just to save time.

Thursday was fun. I did another radio show with Doug on RundgrenRadio from the Camporee as many folks left for a hike up the Na Pali coast, led by Todd himself. We had fun interviewing the other lazies like ourselves and the morning was glorious with the sun coming up over the mountains. Was I getting used to the Toddtinis? Affirmative. I did worry when one interviewee likened the Toddtinis to Kool-Aid at the Jim Jones camp. But only a little.

That afternoon, Keli, Kelika and I (Meli - our Hawaiian names), headed to the heliport to take a magnificent helicopter tour with Jimmy holding our lives in his hands. He was really cool and I trusted that if we went down, he'd be sure to crash us somewhere gorgeous. Here's a pic of the Na Pali coast that some Toddstockers (Toddstalkers?) hiked earlier in the day.

That night - well - I think was a repeat of the previous ones....martinis, making-out with HandsomeMan and watching Todd really enjoy himself with one too many Toddtinis. The night closed out with a rousing singalong of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, Old Man River and Bali Hai, before Todd adjourned himself (and by adjourned, I mean - was led to his bed by a couple of big guys). Another one for the memory files.

Friday was filled with a tubing tour with about 20 other camporees down a lazy river through an old sugar plantation. It was hysterical playing bumper-tubes with my new friends. There were 4 or 5 tunnels, one that was over a mile long and we had helmet lights, but eventually we turned them off to experience the sensation of not moving at all, when we had actually sped up or were going the same speed as we'd been travelling all along. What a trip!

After cleaning up, it was back to the Camporee for a lovely dinner, prepared by friends and fans (as was done all week, btw) and the highlight of the week for us RundgrenRadio folks, a very special show featuring Todd, himself. Todd donned his RundgrenRadio tshirt and we had a fan-driven Q & A show session. He seemed to love it. We faithful had some awesome questions for him - not like typical radio or news interviewers. It was fantastic! That show's had so many hits that it's not just a top show on Blog Talk Radio's music shows, but made it to the top 10 shows of all! Yay Dougie! Extra Toddtinis all around. Including me. Yeah, see the pattern? I was getting better at being a functioning drunk by now.

Saturday was a lazy day of driving around the island and preparing for the big luau hosted by the Rundgrens. Hawaiian natives gave Michele a flowery headdress, lifted her up on a surf board, fanned her with palm fronds (yeah, Todd participated in honoring his bride) and marched her through us adoring fans. A Hawaiian dude blessed us and our meal and we tore into the flesh of a pig that had roasted all day on the property. It was really yummy. Of course, the vegetarian camporee attendees went into town and had Thai food instead. More for us! I think after dinner they showed the DVD of Todd & Michele's wedding, as the next day wasn't just Todd's 60th birthday, but also their 10th anniversary. Pretty cool of them to share that with us. You know what came next - Toddtinis and some lip action. Vacay, remember?

Sunday was the big day and the excitement was in the air! We'd been told that dinner would be around 4:00 so that the concert we were about to witness could start before sundown. Oh did I mention that we got to hear the band play LIVE the songs from Todd's new cd - never heard before? Hang with me and you'll get the good stuff, baby.

Fans had helped build a stage upon the infinity pool in front of Todd's house. Upon the water, folks. I wish I could show you this thing, but alas, not cool to do what I promised I wouldn't do. There was a 4 camera shoot for a DVD to be released sometime in the future, so just being part of that was kind groovy for an ex-TV/film student. Though Todd asked that they restart the first song twice, the rest was perfect! FYI - his new music is somewhat of a departure for Todd. It's called "Arena" and it's music in the style of early 80's arena rock (think AC/DC, Robin Trower, ZZ Top) with big bombastic chords, heavy basslines, long searing guitar solos and just a little screamin. Several songs have opportunities for comebacks from the audience. ("Higher, higher") I think it's quite catchy and for once in a very long time, I believe some songs are very radio-ready. (I admit, my Todd hasn't striven for commercial success in a long time, so this was surprising.) Todd ended the concert with "PARTY TIL DAWN!!!" and we did. Like that was different. Riiiight. I got my makeout on again, but HandsomeMan was MIA, so I made a better choice in MoreResponsibleCuteMan. Hmmm, we'll see.

Meanwhile, check out the tshirt artwork (which will be the cd cover).....does this man look like he just turned sixty? I think not.

Monday was when the depression began. We ran by the Camporee to say some good-byes then did more touring of the island, grabbed some souvenirs and a pizza, headed to the airport, got our upgrades for our flights and headed home.

By 1:40 pm on Tuesday, I was on the ground in Dallas trying to figure out how to retire to Kauai. Soon.

It was the experience of a lifetime, even if you weren't a Toddhead. But for this one here - I would have to say that I'd be six feet under by my own hand if I had not gone. I mean, seriously, how many celebrities actually open their home and property up to people with free reign for a week!?!?! Somebody pinch me, I think I'm dreaming!

Mahalo Todd & Michele. You were the best and bravest hosts to do this totally unheard-of thing for us. One of my favorite memories will be the look on Todd's face over and over again of a proud papa. This was HIS wish and it came true for ALL of us. Todd said during the Q & A show the greatest line: "You guys have been better than our real friends." Awwwww, Toddddddd, you're the best.

And FYI - if you want to hear more stories of Toddstock, tune in to RundgrenRadio Monday night at 8:00 pm Eastern time because Doug (Hawaiian name: Kouko) and I will be having a good time with callers relating their own stories of the Toddstock event. It should be funtastic! See ya on the radio, y'all.

Headed to Paradise

2008-06-15T21:43:00.001-07:00

Aloha, my friends!

If you're reading this, please know that I am having a Mai Tai in your honor, gazing at waterfalls, flying in a helicopter, learning the hula and the ukulele, rubbing elbows with fellow Toddheads (both famous and infamous) and enjoying some fine new Todd music - all the while thinking of you. Yes you.

Have a great week and perhaps I'll be able to update here as the week progresses. At the very least, there will be one helluva story to tell when I get back!

If you're particularly interested, I'll be an on-the-scene reporter for RundgrenRadio each day, so you can pause the music player to your right and hit the play button on the blue RR player. We'll be broadcasting most nights around 8:00 or 9:00 pm eastern time.

Mahalo, CruiserMel

Aloha, Oy!

2008-06-10T14:26:00.000-07:00

Aloha my chitlins! CruiserMeli (yes, that's my name in Hawaiian) is counting down the days until she is in beautiful Kauai! Lemme explain.

As you know, Todd Rundgren rules. Right? RIGHT?

Well - you tell me how many celebrities open their residential property not only friends, but to fans for a week? Granted, it's for a couple of special occasions: 1. Todd's turning 60 next week. 2. Todd's long-awaited new CD will be debuting shortly thereafter and it's rumored to truly RAWK.

But come on - allowing the faithful (and hopefully not nutso) fans to flock to your own private sanctuary? For a week?

Did I mention that they are allowing the flock to actually camp on their property? (Heh, I called it a lawn to Todd's face a couple of months ago and he corrected me by saying "It's 5 acres!" to which I quipped - "Well, in Texas, that's a lawn." - but I digress.)

Don't be looking for blog entries about CruiserMeli getting her camping merit badge though. Hell no, I'm going in style and renting a house - I'm no dummy - a week on the ground? Get outta here.

The week will be capped-off on Todd's b-day with Todd and his band playing songs from the new CD LIVE - for us! For us! ON THE LAWN! (acreage. Evs.)

Todd and his wife will be feeding us, entertaining us, and putting up with us for a week! I can't begin to understand what's come over them.

Am I going? Duh.

I've got some stuff planned (boating, helicoptering, tubing, spa-ing) and some lovely time of non-planned stuff, like hanging with a bunch of the enlightened ones who actually "get" the whole Todd thing. To say I'm excited doesn't come close.

I'm so excited my hula's already got a shake in it and I'm ready to get lei'd!

More to follow so stay tuned. Get it? Tuned? Music? I'm so funny I'm crackin' my coconut bra!

I'm Not Excited Or Nothin'

2008-06-03T16:29:00.000-07:00

Lookie where I'll be in a coupla weeks. I am so not diggin' the wait...

Self-Tanners And The Woes Of Whitey

2008-05-19T13:28:00.000-07:00

Though my figure is eerily similar to the lady above (and by similar I mean short, waxy and grassy at times), I am sometimes hard-of-hearing as she is and I will be donning the ole coconut push-up bra in Kauai next month for Todd's 60th Bday Camporee (story to follow later), this is where the similarities end.

I am in a quandary and I need your advice.

I am a redhead by birth. I am white. Really white. I put the crack in cracker. And though I've spent years of attempting to defy the laws of Nature by basking in the sun, I have finally come to the realization that I will never be tanned, nor tall. At least not without the aid of a self-tanner and high heels.

Don't even try to tell me that tanning beds are the way to go, because I've been there and all that did was speed up the process of the sunburn and thus, the peel. Not pretty at all. And it makes my grass skirt cling.

Short of wearing pantyhose with sandals and I'm not decrepit YET, so I still have my dignity, this leaves me with the only other option remaining.

Sunless-tanners. Yes, that's the ticket.

I've found one that is designed to give a "gradual glow" in the form of a body lotion. It is also designed for fair maidens such as myself. I am nothing, if not realistic.

Here's the quandary: the directions specify that the product is best applied after exfoliation and that if applied daily, the glow will gradually glow darker until desired results are accomplished. But if I exfoliate daily, so as to apply the product daily, am I not just scrubbing off the previous day's glow?

And in case you're wondering...this entry is not just for entertainment's sake, nor is it just so that I can have something to post - I'm completely at a loss here. Ladies (and metrosexuals) - help me out. I need your best advice about this stuff and I need it pronto.

Mahalo

The Steel Magnolia

2008-05-12T09:11:00.000-07:00

Hi folks. Well, 24 hours after my last entry, my mother passed away very peacefully, softly, sweetly. She was indeed a fighter until the end.

My brother absolutely had to be out of town from last Wednesday until Friday night, which left me feeling quite alone. Mom had time and time again asked that he & I be at her side when the time came, so you can figure that I was nervous that he would not be there.

That day, I had been with her a good portion of the day, however a very good friend of mine had flown into town that afternoon. I figured I could grab a bite of dinner and get back to Mom's pretty quickly.

We had a great time at dinner - and a couple of cocktails, which would come in handy later on. After dinner, my brother called to say he'd made it back into town and was wanting a report on Mom's condition. We decided to meet at her place as soon as possible, just in case.

He got there a few minutes before I did and got to have a few minutes of private time with her, before he tended to some of her mail in the kitchen. I got there and had a few minutes of private time myself, before I joined my brother in the kitchen to iron out some "what if's" with him. Not 3 minutes later, the hospice nurse called us into the room. Mom was gone. She absolutely had waited for her children to come back before she left for a much better place. According to the hospice nurse, Mom suddenly turned her head up towards the ceiling, her eyes making contact with something or someone who made her smile sweetly, and then she just stopped breathing...the slight smile still on her face.

Even in her frail condition, she had held on strong. That's what I mean by "steel magnolia." A beautiful southern woman with the unbelievable strength of steel. Funny thing is: her favorite flower was the magnolia.

Fly with the angels, Mom, surrounded by lovely scented magnolias. I love you.

Diary of a Mad Housewife

2008-05-08T16:47:00.000-07:00

Hello, my chitlins. Here I am again, throwing myself upon your mercy, apologizing for being delinquent with the blog thingy. I don't want to bum out your day, but I've practically been on round-the-clock vigil with my mother for the last 11 days or so. Unfortunately, we all have to die and she's no exception, though she's taking her time, as she told a friend she would. Yup, it's a bummer. But let me say wow, mom's one strong woman! And let me also say the hospice system is awesome.

But enough of that.

Today I had to run back to the grocery store after work. I say "back" because, as lack-of-luck would have it, somehow my loaf of bread didn't make it into my bags yesterday. Grrrr. Oh well, they made good and let me go grab a loaf and didn't even take a look at my receipt. Damn, why didn't I say I wanted some of this:

Have you ever? This is the single most brilliant product name I've seen in a long, long while. I didn't have time to pick up a bottle, but I most certainly believe one of these has my name on it. Okay okay, I know I'm not a housewife, but I can surely go mad at times...mostly this past week or two. So there.

Anyway, y'all be good and hopefully I'll be posting a little more regularly real soon.

F Me Running

2008-04-24T15:41:00.001-07:00

Heh. I've been hankering to post this picture ever since I took it lo, back in December 2006, when Merv & I found ourselves in Chelsea, NYC. We were on our way to meet some friends for dinner and I saw this sign. You New Yorkers may already know how the sales people at this fine establishment answer the phone, but I'm at a loss. Either way, my warped mind went where most of my readers' minds are going and I can't figure out how they get away with that.

But that is neither here nor there. Whatever that means. Matter of fact, I've always wanted to say that, too.

That is neither here nor there.

Damn, two things in one day. I must be livin' on borrowed time.

Nevertheless, last weekend, as I rode with Alec Roeser and lil bro Doug from RundgrenRadio (can I push this radio show any more?) from the Peachtree State (what's up with calling every street Peachtree anyways?) to South Carolina on our way to catch another Todd Rundgren concert, we began discussing the various origins of use of the word "fuck."

Whoa, don't even think about flinching. You know I've got a potty mouth - I just tamp it down at times...unfortunately this leads to a waxy build-up and eventual explosion at the most inopportune times.

Let me 'splain. A week or so ago, I had my arms full of stuff, including a newly opened can of nectar of the Gods - Diet Coke. I fumbled with the key to my door, unlocked my refuge, started to close the door and bent over to give CruiserDog a snuggle.

Yup - poor CruiserDog was then cascaded with a waterfall of Diet Coke and a barrage of the following words: "WELL FUCK ME!"

*click*

Yup, the door closed after my announcement to the world. Nice. Score another one for my neighbors who are already intrigued by the wild parties they think I throw every night.

I cleaned up CruiserDog and the floor and walls that had been sprinkled with Diet Coke and went about my business: checking the mail, feeding the dog, changing clothes - when suddenly, I whacked the bony part of my hand on the corner of the kitchen counter.

"WELL FUCK ME AGAIN!"

I snickered, thinking that if anyone was approaching my front door, they surely had backed away, not wanting to disturb me gettin' some - apparently for the second time and I'd only been home 10 minutes.

I was telling Doug about this story when he told me how his boss always says "FUCK ME RUNNING!"

Okay. Herein lies the purpose of this entry and I need your help. What does "fuck me running" actually mean?

No, seriously - who would've ever coined that phrase in the first place? It's not like you could possibly do that while jogging. Can you? Can you? We couldn't figure it out. Really, I'm perplexed. This is keeping me up at night and quite possibly causing undue stress on me.

The only thing giving me any peace is that I was finally able to use this photo on the blog. It's a good thing.

Getting That Old Southern Twang

2008-04-15T15:15:00.000-07:00

Jeepers, has it been that long since I posted last? And how often do I say "jeepers" anyway? Yikes.

The world turns faster and faster these days for CruiserMel - and I suppose it does for you, too. Jeepers!

Last weekend I boarded yet another plane, headed east to Alabama - with a banjo on my knee - or was that an iPod? I met up with lil bro Doug of RundgrenRadio and we launched what we just know is going to be a lovely career in the music biz for Alec Roeser. Don't look surprised - I told you I was going into the music business!

We had three gigs in so many days and Alec kicked some serious tail. The Birmingham crowds really liked his beautiful voice and magical keys, not to mention his boyish good looks and dreamy songwriting. I was so proud of Alec. And Doug, the promoter extraordinaire. Nice job, boys.

I know I've got readers in the deep south, and let me just say this: if you want to see a budding talent before he makes the cover of Tiger Beat magazine, you would do yourself a favor by checking him out. No worries - I'll let you know where and when.

And there will be plenty of wheres and whens. Believe.

This weekend I'll head east yet again - good grief - to Georgia and South Carolina to see a couple of Todd shows and connect with some fellow Toddheads. Again. I know, I know. Call it what you will - midlife crisis, too much time on my hands, the desire to max-out my credit card, a love of airport food - but I'm going no matter what you say. So there. Updates to follow upon my return. Ah swayeh.

In the meantime, I will be hosting the RundgrenRadio show tonight, my chitlins. Yup. I'm chipping away at my 15 minutes of fame and going coast to coast! So check it out - 8:30 pm eastern time. Some good tunes, some good convo, some giggles, some ums, and lots of fun. Guar-on-teed.

My Apologies To The 'Rents With This One

2008-04-07T18:09:00.000-07:00

I've come into the 21st century, folks. It only took me 8 years, but I finally own a laptop! Contain yourselves, please.

Today I had to drive to the DHL office to pick up said laptop. On my way over and back, I cut through the SMU campus, as I've done most of my life.

Oh I was never a student there, but I spent many a night at the SMU library and the student center back when I was just a pup. And by pup, I mean not old enough to realize what a pain in the ass I surely was back then.

Travel back in time with me, folks. Back to the days before we had laptops, before we had desktop PCs, before there was a major in college called "computer science".... back to the time of the *gasp* card catalog and the Dewey decimal system.

I know. I know. I'm ancient. But I'm cute, so you love me. Say it. SAY IT!

Back in high school, we had these things called term papers. Do they still do those? Probably not - that would require our nation's youth to earn their diplomas. Shut my mouth.

Anyhoo, we'd spend weeks gathering information from the card catalog, microfiche (whatever the F that was) and periodicals. We'd spend hours in the "stacks" gathering book after book (remember those?) and pile ourselves into the smoking lounge (oh yeah, they had those back then, too) at the SMU library and begin to compare and contrast the offerings of Issac Asimov and Ray Bradbury or debate the issue of euthanasia. And we used words like juxtaposition, which I haven't used since then.

And smoke cigarettes and flirt with the frat boys. And flirt. And flirt. And fuckin' flirt some more!

Come ON. We were 16 at best. We thought we were so friggin' cool - trying to get invited to the weekend's keg party. Never happened, sorry to say. I mean, we weren't even done filling out our bras, yet we thought these guys would be all over inviting jail bait to their drunk fests. Only now, decades later, do I realize just how smart those guys were after all, but at the time, it was nothing but disappointment - until the next evening when we would meet at the library and start all over again.

It's a wonder I graduated from high school with the hours I wasted on flirting in the smoking lounge. Hey, I don't think I ever made less than a B+ on any of those papers and that wasn't even trying.

Mom & Dad, sorry, but I didn't really apply myself. Except in the flirting department. And that was a science I didn't master until my mid-20's. And it had nothing to do with the fine education you graciously provided. If you'd only known what was going on at that library. Oh yeah, you probably did. So thanks.

*Can anyone help me with my transition into the 21st century by telling me how to make that playlist thingy move over to the left a little?

Lest Ye Think You're Having a Bad Day

2008-04-05T21:40:00.000-07:00

2008-04-02T13:50:00.000-07:00

My friend L has been trying to get me to notice the beauty that surrounds us in our cold, cruel world. Today, as I was goofing off at work, I found this in our building's courtyard:

Now, I ask you: how can a person stay grumpy when this is just outside the window?

Tonight I'm going to go see "21" for one of the following reasons:

1. I wish I was 21 again.

2. I'm in dire need of a trip to Vegas.

3. Jim Sturgess. Need I say more?

4. All of the above.

Hint: All of the above. See L? I'm noticing the beauty that lies all around us...... Happy HumpDay y'all!

Temporary Sanity?

2008-03-25T15:42:00.000-07:00

In light of most every part of my life becoming ferhoodled (another way of saying eff'd-up) in the past couple of months - work, family matters, concert / dvd planning, etc - I seem to have lost a portion of my mind. The practical portion. Yes, my dahlinks, I must be crazy.

There. I said it.

Last week, I realized I would have Friday off for holiday. What's a girl to do with a spare day she wasn't counting on, you ask?

Well, I'll tell you.

She whips out the MasterCard, logs-on, and throws together a 27 hour trip to Chicagoland. There's nothing like feeling the sting of booking a flight two days before the plane takes off. (Good grief, how do they get away with what they charge?)

I closed my eyes and tried to reason that "it's only money," grabbed my camera and passport (yes, I keep it handy just in case a stray cruise ship appears on my front porch right here in Dallas) and headed for the aeropuerto at 5:30 Friday morning.

Don't get me wrong, Chicago is a fantabulous place - one of my favorites - but indeed, there was a reason for my crazies. His name is Kasim.

Oh, come on - you've read this far - you may as well stick with it.

No, actually, I was getting sick of the nice Dallas weather and wanted to get me a little of this:

I kid. But get a load of that? It was 50 degrees the day before I got there and apparently the Ice Fairy decided Chicago needed one more visit to the deep freeze for the vernal equinox and my thin-blooded arrival.

My flight got a wee bit ferhoodled (as is my M.O. most days) as I landed at Midway and yet my hotel was up near O'Hare. Not usually a problem, but on a blizzardy day like Friday, with me behind the wheel of a strange vehicle, there was a good chance I would end up wishing I'd purchased the additional insurance coverage from the rental place. Alas, the Magic Of Todd (and all things Todd i.e. since my goal was to see Kasim again, the M.O.T. does apply here) got me there in one piece in time to take a little rest, whore-up, and call a taxi - because I was in need of adult bevs and the above combo of CruiserMel, blowing snow, rental car, and booze seemed like it would be pushin' it a little.

I got to the Abbey Pub in time to see some of my fellow Kasim and Todd-heads and grab a bite at the bar before the show. It was great to see K1, K2, J, S, etc. again! It's so funny when we like-minds converge upon the un-enlightened. And we do cause a presence indeed. That bar didn't know what hit them.

K1 finished her supper before I did, so she sprinted into the actual showroom when the door opened and grabbed a place for us down in front, since CruiserMel does not suffer the travel ghoulies just to sit in the shadows. Nun-unh. Apparently, neither does K1. This is why we are friends.

Our other friend (K2) had brought along two friends of her boyfriend (not really sure why) and was trying to ditch them...but they pulled chairs up in front of us, only to have the pleasure of hearing K1 shoo them away like the pests they were. Heh. Behold The Magic of Todd.

If you've watched the youtube video below, you know that Kasim and Jesse left Doug behind somewhere in Ohio, so I can't tell you if he exercised his thumb and made it to Chicago, at least not until another episode of "Backstage Pass" - but I can tell you that Kasim was at the top of his game, sang beautifully, played some new songs and told some hysterical stories. (I love that.)

Woo. I outdid myself with that picture, didn't I? Nummy.

After some mingling after the show, K1, K2 and I stumbled back into the pub area to share some photos, some stories, some gossip, and finish off a cocktail or two. But before too long, K2 was whisked away by a very cranky boyfriend who had been plowing snow all day, K1 had to make an hour drive south to wherever she lives and someone from another country pulled his yellow cab alongside the curb to drive CruiserMel to her hotel.

The next day, the sun was shining and I found my favorite Chicago-style pizza joint (Gino's East), pigged-out on some awesome pizza pie, drove back to Midway and in a few hours time, was back at home.

Was it worth the hassle and the (serious) airfare? Hell yeah. It always is, when Kasim or Todd is concerned. Besides, crazy people don't know they're crazy, do they?

On the Road to Utopia, er Chicago

2008-03-22T18:45:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's another blog entry about Kasim. But this one is different, I promise!

Kasim does these video blogs, called "Backstage Pass" whenever he's on the road with Meat Loaf, Todd, etc., but the funniest ones are when he's on the road, literally, with his side-kick(s) Doug and (this time) Jesse.

Take 3 minutes out of your busy schedule, sit back and relax.

And remind me to tell you about my current insanity next time.....stay tuned.

And The Whole Groupie Thing Begins

2008-03-17T13:33:00.001-07:00

Happy Monday, y'all! I hope everyone had a fun and restful weekend. Me? Aw, thanks for asking.

Fun? Yes. Restful? NEVAH!

You may remember a Dallas-area band I spoke about called the Badenders. Well, they are really starting to see some rewards for their efforts. Their cd is doing well. They are getting gigs more and more often, and they played at SXSW in Austin last week to a full-house and great reviews. Things are clickin' right along for Dan, Will, Guydon and Chris. Yay!

Last night I headed out to the House of Blues to see our little boys, er young men, being the opening act for Ben Jelen. Not a shabby gig. I had not heard of Ben Jelen before, but I was impressed enough to throw down $11 for a cd that has been playing in a constant loop in my computer today. He's quite a talent.

So, I pull up to the valet and lo and behold the little guy who parked my car about had an orgasm because as he said "these cars rock!" I was afraid for my little car's life - and had visions of the scene with the car-parkers in "Ferris Bueller," but was relieved to see my new baby parked right up front with the Porches, the Cadillac STS's and the other grownup cars. I've gotta admit - that's pretty dang cool - to see that they know good taste and reward it by parking it right up front. And no, there weren't a bunch of extra mileage on it. Oh, did I mention I bought a new car a couple of weeks ago when all hell was breaking loose in my life? No stress there...but I digress.

I bought a ticket and headed for the door when I was asked to open my purse, presumably to screen for concealed weapons and liquor. (whew, glad I didn't pack that half-gallon of vodka or my 357) To my chagrin, the woman pulled me aside as if I was a common criminal and made me hand over my - I can't believe I'm even writing this - Sharpies! My sharpies! O. M. G. How would I live without my groupie supplies? What did they think I gonna do with those? Actually, she ended up being pretty nice and explained that for the shows where the audience is pretty young, they have to confiscate sharpies, etc to curb the graffiti. Yeah, I guess I do look a little shady at times - and twitch when I have the opportunity to tag the ladies room stall doors with "CruiserMel Was Here." Evs.

Let me get this off my chest: who is dressing today's youth? And by youth, I mean 18-25 yr olds who will run this country of ours in our old age. Seriously. Do they own mirrors? Let's begin with their hair. How is it they can make their hair look so dirty? Do they cut their hair with razor blades or garden shears or do they just pull it until it breaks? And what's with letting it hang in their faces to the point where they actually can't see to walk? Or there are the others who, on this warm spring night, were wearing knit ski caps with their tshirts and shorts. Mmmmkay. If they weren't wearing shorts - they were wearing those low-rise, hip-hugger, skin-tight pants that I'm sure haven't been washed in weeks. Girls and boys. I have yet to see a human butt look halfway decent in these pants. And that low-rise just makes their bodies look like stretched noodles on really short legs. Ugh. I've become my mother. This called for a trip to the bar to clear my head of these unattractive visions.

Anyhoo, moving on.

Dan and company only got to play about 30 minutes, but it was fun to see how they've developed their live show and are really looking comfy cozy on stage now. They've even got some new songs that I'm anxiously awaiting release on cd when they do get in the studio again.

The guys did great and the crowd was into it. I even saw some lighters go up over head, old school style, among the cellphone lights.

But the fun didn't end there.

During Ben Jelen's set, Dan came rushing over to me, breathless.

Dan: "The whole groupie thing is starting!"
CM: "That's great!"
Dan: "No! I'm not ready!"
CM: "What happened? What do you mean?"
Dan: "I got, like, 5 phone numbers up at the bar."
CM: "That's a problem, how?"
Dan: "No, that's cool. But I was just standing there and this girl comes up and grabs my balls and is, like, all 'you're so precious' and well, I'm not ready for that!"
CM: *snicker*

Be careful what you wish for, Dan.

Acoustic Atlanta

2008-03-12T16:55:00.000-07:00

I know what you're saying...."Cruiser, where the hell have you been hiding?"

In plain sight, kiddies, in plain sight. It's just that all effin' hell broke out over the past couple of weeks and I just couldn't get myself to the computer for much more than work and yadda yadda yadda...okay, so I've been neglectful. There, I said it. We okay now?

So, it's been over a week since CruiserMel and Co. put on a show in a barn with puppets, naked lumberjacks and Nordic dancing...

Nah, just testing y'all.

Actually, our presentation of An Acoustic Evening With Kasim Sulton in Atlanta was a smashing success. Oh, it was harrrrrd work, but the end-result was a resounding "attawaytogo!" The theatre was a mess when we arrived, but Carrie from Groupie Gear! put her decorating hat on and threw together a beautiful set that will look awesome on the final DVD. She also handled ticket sales, selling merch, and was mistress of the excel spreadsheet. Her husband Dave took over duties of HD camera dude extraordinaire, manning two cameras and supervising one other. My lil bro Doug from RundgrenRadio.com played venue-scout, publicist, pimp, and Master of Ceremonies, while yours truly was CEO of Talent Accommodations, merch maiden and interviewer for the DVD (to be made available in a few weeks, just in case you were wanting a copy, and you know you do).

None of these "music promoter" jobs were easy, seeing as how not a one of us actually live in Atlanta, but Atlanta was the chosen locale and our little team rose to the occasion to present a fabulous night of music for our guests and I think our stars really dug it, too.

One of my duties as CEO of Talent Accommodations was to feed da boys backstage. Now you just put that judgemental smirk away. We're talkin' party trays, people. Party trays!

So, I headed out to the local wrap sandwich shop for a couple of party trays. When I arrived at 2:10, I was told that they close at 3:00 and couldn't possibly get two party trays put together in time. Being in a city I was not at all familiar with, I had to think fast. Matching wits against sandwich artists such as these was....well, judge for yourselves.

(Glancing at the catering menu, seeing that a party tray consists of 5 delicious wrap sandwiches, sliced in quarters, and placed neatly on a party tray...)

CruiserMel: You can't make two party trays in 50 minutes?
Sandwich Dude: No way. Ain't gonna happen. We have to close at 3:00.
CruiserMel: *pause* Okay. Can you make 5 sandwiches for me?
Sandwich Dude: Uh, yeah.
CruiserMel: Can you slice them in quarters?
Sandwich Dude: Uh, yeah.
CruiserMel: Can you put them on a tray?
Sandwich Dude: Sure! No problem.

........
CruiserMel: Now, can you make 5 more sandwiches for me?
Sandwich Dude: Uh, yeah.
CruiserMel: Can you slice them in quarters?
Sandwich Dude: Uh, yeah.

CruiserMel: Can you put them on a tray?
Sandwich Dude: Sure! Not a problem.

*crickets*

Done deal, Lucille. And within 30 minutes, I had two party trays in hand, though they apparently were NOT party trays. Evs.

We started off with a local musician, Alec Roeser, who proved he really does have the talent and charm to move an audience with his wonderful music. And his dark dark eyes and boyish good looks (well, he is only 18) won over the hearts of the females in attendance. Check him out. Cute huh?
And then......
...it was time for Kasim and his band to take the stage. It was amazing! Kas has put together a new solo show for this tour and there were some very nice surprises in the setlist. To say I was thrilled to be witnessing the taping of his DVD would be an understatement. Surprised? I thought not.

Anyway - it was a magical evening, great fun and we (RundgrenRadio and Groupie Gear) will soon be the proud parents of a bouncing baby DVD!

This might be the start of a new sideline for CruiserMel and that's pretty darn exciting.

Jimmy And Ben: A Love Story

2008-02-27T11:14:00.000-08:00

Cruising The Videos on a Friday Night

2008-02-22T22:01:00.000-08:00

Just because I am totally bored right now, I just did a quick cruise through youtube and found what I thought was the funniest Super Bowl commercial this year. I haven't seen it since the game, but if this kid was running for president, I'd have the yard signs and stickers on my butt. Enjoy!

CruiserMel's in the Music Biz Now?

2008-02-10T19:18:00.000-08:00

I've joined in the music promotion biz with my pals Doug, from RundgrenRadio.com and Carrie and Dave from GroupieGear to present a very special acoustic evening with Kasim Sulton in Atlanta, Georgia for March 1st.

Not only is it a night of music and fine storytelling by my friend, Kasim, but he will be joined on stage by Doug Kennedy and another guest or two, TBA. And an up-n-comer named Alec Roeser will open the night with his smooth Todd-inspired stylings.

Can we make it even better? Hell to the yeah, we can! This show will be shot in HD for a DVD, to eventually be sold on Kasim's website.

And just for grins and to make it even more special, attendees will get a limited edition tshirt and get a signed DVD.

Check out the video Doug made to go along with his interview with Kas last week. If you look close enough, you'll see your's truly in it. I guess I'm now immortalized in youtube.

If you live anywhere near the Atlanta area, I strongly urge you to check out Alec and Kas on March 1, 2008. See ya there! Get your tickets here!

I Felt Like Jessie's Girl

2008-02-04T16:49:00.000-08:00

Here I am again, falling at your mercy for forgiveness. Frankly, even I wouldn't forgive me for being such an absent blogger. I am stripping my uniform of my blogger merit badge right here before you.

Now. Let's see if I can start working on getting it back. K?

Life here has been as stressful as can be. My muscles are pulled tighter than piano wire. Lots going on - nothing all that exciting, but it's lots, I tell ya.

So when Saturday rolled around and I had accomplished all of my to-do's, I decided to reward myself with a trip to Fort Worth's famous Billy Bob's Texas honky-tonk.

What? A rocker chick going to a honky-tonk, you may ask? Why yes, when it's filled with a bunch of pre-menopausal women screaming and swooning over one of my guilty pleasures - Mr. Rick Springfield!!!!

O. M. G. Where has he been hiding? Hubbada hubbada.

I don't know how old he is now, but my best guess is mid-50's. Lemme tell ya, it didn't show even a little bit. He was grindin' it out, smokin' on the guitar (did I know he actually played before?), and walking from tabletop to tabletop whilst women with hot flashes were pawing at his sweaty physique. He never missed a step.

Apparently, it's routine for women to bring tightly bundled long-stem roses to Mr. Springfield. He graciously accepts these bundles only to whirl around and strum the guitar strings with them. Rose petals flew like confetti in Times Square! It was pretty cool, but I would've been pissed if I'd spent that kind of dinero only to have it made into instant potpourri before my eyes. Oh well - by the looks of the faces of these women, it must be akin to an orgasm. Seriously.

Hell, even I got sucked into the frenzy when he stood on my table, a mere 12 inches away from me. I climbed up on my chair, reached forward and he grabbed both of my hands and sang something in my general direction. It was a mere 2.3 seconds, but long enough for me to get a good dose of his sweat on my paws. I seriously thought about licking him because isn't it true that if you lick something, it belongs to you? I thought it over and decided that I really didn't want him for my very own...I just wanted to borrow him. And there's no set rule about that.

What fun it was to revisit my youth for a couple of hours that night. I was so jacked up on the hormone surge when I got home that I kitchen danced until 4:00 in the AM.

Greatest. Feeling. Ever.

Guest-Hosting on RundgrenRadio.com

2008-01-25T19:06:00.000-08:00

Yeah, if you're reading this on or before January 29th, that stupid voice on the RundgrenRadio show that auto-starts when you load this blog, is moi.

I was bestowed with the honor (or was it dishonor?) of guest-hosting for my little bro Dougie Doug last Wednesday night. I interviewed Atom Ellis, the bassist who filled-in for Kasim Sulton during the New Cars tours in 2006-2007. That's him above. Cute, huh ladies?

Atom is a very quick wit, but was a real sweetheart as he took it easy on me, knowing I was a newbie (duh - it was so obvious) at the online radio game. Thank you, Atom.

Of course, if you give it a listen you'll be intrigued by Mr. Ellis. I know I was. He's had a pretty cool musical history and I was glad I had done my homework as he's been all over the place. He's played in some groovy bands. One of his bands was named Psychefunkapus. (Does anyone else want to call that Snuffaluffagus?) He's even played with Link Wray. How cool is that? Wray is considered one of the top 100 guitarists ever. Ever.

And of course, he's played with Todd in The New Cars. He's no slouch.

I had too much fun - especially when the red wine kicked in and I got my DJ groove on. DougieDoug had better look out. I'm not sayin'...I'm just sayin'.

Thanks Doug and Atom - hugs all around!

Say What? evil grin

2008-01-15T23:04:00.001-08:00

Who's Your Sex and the City Match?

My Result: Samantha

Rrowr! What would life be without you? Brazen, intelligent, and not afraid to say whatever (and we mean whatever) is on your mind, when it comes to being fearless — you're the real thing. While some things that come out of your mouth may make your friends a little uncomfortable, it's fun to stir the pot sometimes and get a reaction. And that's half the reason you do it!

At first glance you come across as quite the wild child, but you're not just a sexpot. Your closest friends get to find out that you've got a big heart underneath those hot, hot clothes and a great head on your shoulders. With that killer combo, there's no way you won't get everything you want. What a firecracker!

Take this test >

Peer Pressure Strikes Again

2008-01-12T19:22:00.000-08:00

Okay, so we all know that I got my name because of my love of all things cruise-related. You didn't? Well, yeah. Catch up, okay?

So tonight, under pressure from yet another person who has reminded me of my recent blog-slackin', I sat at the computer and tried to channel my muse.

Unfortch, all I could muster was phonin' it in by way of one of those internet quizzes. So lame, I know, but it's the peer pressure, ya know?

Usually, these things come up with something like "You will be a cult leader" or "CruiserMel will marry John Mayer in 2032 at 3:00 pm at the drive-in." You know, stuff that could really happen.

So okay - really. Take a gander at this. Can you imagine anything more un-CruiserMel-like?

In what alternate dimension would CruiserMel be most comfortable?

In a dimension where...

The love boat is the only show that was ever or will ever be made

'In what alternate dimension would you be most comfortable?'
at
QuizGalaxy.com

Another Year Bites The Dust

2007-12-30T17:19:00.000-08:00

2007 is coming to a close and it's time to make some resolutions for 2008. WTF? I hate those things. Resolutions last about a week and ya usually have to pay for them for life, in the form of an auto-draft for a gym membership. So - phooey! I think I'm just going to resolve to continue with the good stuff and jettison all the crapola from 2007. Ya hear me, crapola from 2007? Go on! Git!

In total, 2007 was one helluva year, in a great way. I had more fun this year than I had in some of my college years. Then again, I had to study during those times and that really sorta sucked, so perhaps those weren't the bestest. My 20's were cool, but I was just getting my feet wet. But since I grew beyond my 20's (okay, beyond my 30's - evs) it's been getting better and better. At least that's how I remember it and isn't that what matters? I mean, this blog really is all about me, isn't it? Shut it.

Then again, my short-term memory is probably starting to blur some things. It's all good as long as it looks good from my point of view. So I intend to carry on with enjoying life as it comes along and let the not-so-great stuff run off. I guess that's a resolution of sorts.

I had a helluva week last week, lemmetellya. First there was the Island of Misfit Toys gathering on the 24th and then Christmas with the CruiserMel Clan and that was quickly followed by 5 days of month-end/year-end work to do in a mere 3 days. I was one beaten chica, people.

BUT - there was tons-o-fun to be had, even after the holiday, y'all. On Thursday, I got a call from Doug with RundgrenRadio who was on vacation and wanted me to pinch-hit for him and host the radio show that night. Thanks for the time to prep, Doug. Luckily, I only had to host the second hour of the show - the easy part. Starting around minute 58, I took the helm and we looked back a la New Years Eve special at the past musical guests and played some music by each one and pimped their latest recorded efforts. To say I sounded like a pro would certainly be an untruth - at least at the beginning - but a couple of diet cokes* later and I was ready to usurp Doug's power, change his password to BlogTalkRadio and take over the show for good. Luckily for him, I've since lost his password. Pity. Give it a listen if you wanna. Click over there on the right in the blue box and after Doug does a prerecorded interview and some other stuff (not that it's not interesting, mind you) you will hear yours truly saying "um" and "uh" about 1000 times. I rock. In my own mind.

So - here's my wish for all y'all in 2008: May your days be filled with smiles and good friends. May your days be safe and warm. And may you be healthy and hearty. Big ole hugs comin' your way......

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!

*my special recipe

CruiserDog Must Be Cajun

2007-12-29T21:45:00.000-08:00

Okay, I don't know what happened with that SNL video, my lovely chitlins. If I'd known it was actually removed, I would certainly have not teased you like a 9th grade virgin. My bad.

Let's see what's happened since we last met..... oh yes, Christmas and all it's trimmings! Did y'all have some fun and frolic? Was it a white Christmas where you live? Did you get some goodies or just coal in your stocking?

For me? Overall it was great - a couple of days off from the wear-n-tear that is daily living. But nottoomuchtomysuprise, I was disappointed by the gifts I received from my family. Yes, my family. I got two Nascar books and a big worthless die-cast model of Jeff Gordon's racecar. Honestly, what am I to do? How does one express that perhaps enough is enough? Yes, I was a Jeffhead extraordinaire up until perhaps 3 years ago when I got other things to do and grew up a bit. I still watch my round-n-round racing when I get a chance, but the world doesn't stop for a Nascar race anymore. Oh well, I've got a whole year to get that message across in my gentle, yet pointed manner, don't I?

My nephew (14)appears to be the only one with working ears, as he bought me the most insightful gift of all of them. An iTunes gift card. Now, was that so hard?

But, I guess the whole point of Christmas is to be with family and friends and come out of your comfort zone by telling these people how much you appreciate having them in your life. And that did happen. And it was wonderful.

But let me tell you a story about Christmas Eve. You'll indulge me? No? Tough.

I've been a bit stressed lately and decided to pull away from the usual and decided to have some friends over for an impromptu supper of chili and cornbread. Perhaps it wasn't Christmas-y, but perhaps we were like the Island of Misfit Toys - just a few folks who either had no place to go or no place we wanted to go. I admit I was diggin' it and it might become tradition at Casa de CruiserMel in the future.

One of the snacky foods we had was some boudin from Louisiana. (I'd tried it for the first time during my New Orleans trip and practically made love to it upon first taste.) We were gettin' after it way into the night but had left a good portion on the dish when we (humans) went into the kitchen to refill our adult beverages.

Bad idea.

Upon return to the den where we had enjoyed a bit of the boudin on crackers and had unfortunately left said dish of boudin and crackers on a low coffee table, we found CruiserDog lapping up the last morsels of that ricey, spicy goodness.

My first thought was "Uh oh, I hope I can find a good carpet cleaner." Then my thoughts raced to "I wonder how much this is going to cost at the vet."

Luckily, CruiserDog has an iron-clad stomach...and a taste for the Cajun. I adopted him from east Texas, but perhaps he came from way further east, like Louisiana.

That CruiserDog. Always making me laugh. Love ya, CruiserDog. Don't ever change.

Tell Us About Your Balls, Pete

2007-12-23T19:36:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas, my chitlins. And to all, a good night.

Feeling Grinchy or Tiny Timmy?

2007-12-20T17:57:00.000-08:00

I may be the only living soul who actually likes doing those "getting to know you" email quizzes. Or at least the only living soul who admits to liking them. The following quiz crossed my path yesterday and since it's seasonal, and therefore different, I thought I'd share my answers with you guys. Also, I'm in Christmas burnout-mode and feeling a little Scroogey, so I couldn't think of anything blogworthy tonight. Feel free to take one or all of the questions on for yourself, but leave me a comment. We share around here. That's how we roll.

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends.Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!!Just copy (not forward) this entire email and paste into a new e-mail thatyou can send. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then sendthis to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent itto you... 'Tis the Season to be NICE!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper and pretty bows mainly.

2. Real tree or artificial? It's all about the faux, baby.

3. When do you put up the tree? During the Cowboy game on T-giving.

4. When do you take the tree down? When I get tired of looking at it...Jan 1.

5. Do you like eggnog? I do. But only in small doses. Spiked, of course. I mean, seriously! What would be the point?

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My first car - with a giant green bow on top.

7.You have a nativity scene? Yes, but who knows where it is!

8. Easiest person to buy for? My teenaged nephew - electronics and gift cards!

9. Hardest person to buy for? My mother.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Cocoa mix with Jeff Gordon's pic on it. Can ya believe that shit? And she's FAMILY.

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? I actually love those dumb Christmas update letters and try to get one out to people every couple of years...but with the way it's sneaking up so fast this time, I may just go with the email idea. Me likey.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? "Elf"

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Dec. 20th. Well, fancy that - today is Dec. 20th. Great.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Enough with the guilt here!

15 . Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Beef tenderloin

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? I have clear lights, but I like both equally. You know, how mental patients like shiny things.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Tied: Little Saint Nick / Do You Hear What I Hear?

18. Travel for Christmas or stay at home? Yes, 2 week cruise through the Mediteranean sea with my sexy sweetheart, winning in the casino, and dining on fine food and wine..... oh wait, that's just in my head. Nevermind. I guess I'll hang around Dallas.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Yes, if I sing the Rudolph song in my head. It's kind of like figuring out if a month has 30 or 31 days or "I" before "E."

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel that my parents gave me when I bought my house. I love her! She makes me cry.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? AGAIN with the presents. I guess sometimes it's a little of both.....and of course, it gets drug out into January, too, depending on which friends I see less regularly than others.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Traffic!

Some Of These Guys Look Familiar

2007-12-17T18:25:00.000-08:00

Here's how ya do it, men. This is your public service announcement. You can thank me later.

Apparently, I'm BI Now

2007-12-11T11:07:00.000-08:00

Aw, here we go again...CruiserMel disappears for awhile and y'all start talkin' trash about me. Don't think it goes unnoticed either. But I won't take it in a negative light, rather as good PR. There's no such thing as bad publicity. But enough about that, let's talk about me.

Where to begin? Ah yes - Todd.

*GASP* Did I say Todd?

Why yes I did say Todd. Imagine that.

Dat's right, my peeps, T the G came to Dallas to play the House of Blues and I was in Todd Heaven. I'd seen this particular show (well, different drummer) in Vegas earlier this year and let's just say I was a-buzz with excitement because Todd rarely comes around these parts. There were a bunch of friends I know from the int-a-net fan sites who came from miles around, including the little bro I never had, Doug from RundgrenRadio.com and his lovely bride. We'd met back in May at a New Cars show in Louisiana and I was thrilled to have them as house guests.

It was crazy insane and the fatigue I'm still feeling from my "Adventures in Utopia" (you wouldn't understand that reference unless you were a Toddhead, so don't be hard on yourself) has been completely worth it.

I can't tell you a whole lotta details or I'd have to kill you, but it was a whirlwind of fun. Wanna see some photos? No? Well, tough.

Dat's right, my chitlins....that's CruiserMel gettin' her snuggle on with Todd. *strut strut*

And yup, that would be Kas in a couple of the pictures, too. Oh, did I forget to mention him? My bad. Hee hee. *blush*

After their stop in Dallas, the band headed for Austin while my partner in crime, L, and I drove on ahead to New Orleans for just a tad bit of fun. New Orleans is kinda boring. Not much to do there. But we discovered this street called Bourbon and let's just say there was mucho flowing of the spirits (both liquid and voodoo) and most is a blur.

What I do remember is the lights going out in our hotel room, which was haunted btw, going to a bar named Utopia (see above Todd reference), dancing with a guy with a grill, having some shrimp bisque to die for, numerous Skyy & diet cokes, drinking the most loaded daiquiri in history and demanding more vodka be added to it, making out with a complete stranger in a bar (uh, yeah, the daiquiri was kickin' in about that time), getting my friggin' life saved by L as I was completely out of my mind and heading to a dark alley to get more of my make-out on with said complete stranger, and then it fades to black.

The next morning L informed me that I was bi. I searched the history in my brain and said I remembered making out with that guy but what the fuck else did I do after that?!?!?

She couldn't contain her laughter and informed me that "bi" stood for bad influence. Whatever. I've been called worse.

Then we went to Harrah's for a little pre-lunch gambling and I found a magical quarter that quickly went into my shoe and hasn't left there since. It helped me more than double my money in a short time and then we were off to lunch at Mother's (go there, no kidding) and to meet little bro Doug (he drove in from Alabama sans bride to see our next Todd show at the New Orleans House of Blues). Our little family was complete. Awww.

After some pre-show cocktailing and whorin' up, we went to the venue and witnessed yet another awesome show by T the G. Even better than Dallas. Wanna see some photos? No? Well, tough.

I gave Kasim a little token birthday gift, a collectors' item of sorts in the form of a RundgrenRadio.com tshirt, designed by Doug, just for the Texas shows.

He seemed thrilled. Or was that me? Is it getting hot in here?

All too soon, Doug, L and I were back on Bourbon Street, fancy that, tearing it up, eating Lucky Dogs, and carrying on like it was all about us. And it was all about us. Always is. And we tell eachother that all the time, too. It's a family thing, ya know. Deal.

There's way more, but like I said, I'd have to kill ya and you don't want me going off on you, now that I've got da voodoo on my side. Seriously, they've got that stuff down there in N'awlins! Creepy.

LET ME JUST SAY THAT IT WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE NIGHTS OF MY LIFE. 'NUFF SAID.

Sadly, the sun started coming up and we had to go our separate ways. Eight hours back to Dallas with dirty restrooms, boudin, Doug E. Fresh songs, road hallucinations and all.

Tickets to see Todd: $90
Gasoline to New Orleans: $100
Number of private jokes between friends: 3,612
Alcoholic beverages: 2700

Hours of sleep between Saturday and Saturday: 4
Seeing Todd and Kasim again: Priceless

Dear Santa.....

2007-11-26T13:59:00.001-08:00

Product Description: Singing Pizza Elmo
Elmo is serving up some deep-dish delights at his next pizza party. Dressed in an adorable apron and hat, Elmo takes the stage with pizza in hand. Press his hand to hear him sing a silly pizza song as he sways from side to side. During the song, the pizza comes alive--moving its eyes and mouth--and sings along with Elmo. Requires 4 "AA" batteries, included. Measures 11" tall.

Dear Santa:

I'm pretty sure I qualify as a pizzaholic - liking everything from exquisite Chicago deep-dish style to gourmet California Pizza Kitchen and even down to my beloved Totino's - but please, oh please don't bring me Singing Pizza Elmo. I'm not sure there is enough vodka to stop the certain nightmare that is a pizza coming alive, with moving eyes and mouth. In fact, Elmo has always scared me a little. Okay, alot.

I don't care if I've been a good girl. I think I'm more into Chinese now, anyway.

Love,

CruiserMel

At Least My Car Had Doors On It

2007-11-21T13:05:00.000-08:00

I had a "Tommy Boy" moment today that took me completely by surprise.

As y'all know, I'm a music lover and damn proud of it. So proud that I tend to play my music at a level just shy of Boeing, especially when I'm in my car. I don't necessarily point, like Sassy Blondie has been known to do, but I don't shy from treating my car stereo as my own personal karaoke machine.

I got off work a little early today, in light of the holiday, and was happily running some errands around town. A little cold front was blowing into Dallas today and the crisp air was feeling pretty good, so I had my windows down a couple of inches. (Though I'm sure I'll be complaining of being too cold within 24 hours of writing this, when it's been 80 degrees up until yesterday and it's topping out at 65 today, well it feels pretty good for a little bit.)

So - there I am, tootling around town, windows down, tunes are blaring and I'm in full-blown rockstar mode. The radio station to which I was tuned had gone to a commercial, so I started hitting buttons to maintain my buzz. I found myself tuned to the oldies station and heard some sweet, sappy Carpenters song from the 70's. "Only Yesterday," I believe it was. Believe? Hell, it WAS that song. And how I knew the words, I'll never know. But I was diggin' it. And I sounded awesome. I was channeling Karen Carpenter so hard, I nearly took up the drums.

At about the third chorus, I felt eyes on me at the stoplight. You got it, a truckload of yard workers were laughing so hard that if I'd known more Spanish, I would've said "take a picture, it'll last longer!" Instead, the blood vessels in my face almost burst and I think I had a heart attack.

Then I figured, what the hell, give 'em a show. I raised my chin a little higher, rolled the window completely down and finished the song with a flourish. Karen would've been proud. So would Sassy.

Soon, though probably not soon enough, my light turned green and the show was over. In hindsight, I don't think I sounded all that much like Karen Carpenter, so I was glad when the truck turned off my street.

.....there's something to be thankful for...... Happy Turkey Day, y'all!

I Wonder If John Lennon Did Laundry

2007-11-20T12:11:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm still alive. Matter of fact, that's actually why I haven't been blogging lately. LindyHor hit the nail on the head in her comment on the previous entry. Indeed, I have been livin' it up and completely reversing any good I may have done for myself during the Master Cleanse. At least some of the good, that's for sure.

I want to share a little video with you. John Montagna was the guest on RundgrenRadio last night. He was a fun guest. Great New York accent. Some fun stories about his times playing with Todd as well as others like Alan Parsons and Eren Cannata. And yes, in case you were wondering he was asked about his laundry habits. Each person has had a different laundry routine - his involves bath gel, his own version of the spin cycle and a window sill. You know you wanted to know, don't roll your eyes at me like that.

Speaking of laundry habits - it's become pretty much my "signature" question. I'm not sure how this monster got started, but it's snowballed now and I'm starting to think of writing a book about musicians' doing (or not doing) their dirty laundry. People have sold books about far-crazier topics than this, right? Eh.....maybe when I'm retired. Meanwhile, it's a fun research project. (Perhaps I need to find a different hobby?)

Anyhoo, about John Montagna.....he's a bass player / singer / songwriter and he's pretty amazing. Get a load of this video tribute he did to John Lennon on Lennon's 67th Birthday last month. Have you ever seen someone play a bass guitar like it's a lead guitar? I hope you're buckled-in. Enjoy!

Ninety-Percent Success

2007-11-13T15:19:00.000-08:00

In case you were tossing and turning at night, wondering (and worrying) about little ole CruiserMel and her dally in Lemonland, you can rest assured now. It's over. And I was a 90% success.

Ninety-percent? Did you ask what 90% means?

It means that I made it 9 full days out of 10. Oh I could've gone another 24 hours, but I was plum sick of lemons and cayenne and maple syrup. Being a social outcast had a little to do with it, as well.

I am a social being. I enjoy gathering with friends and coworkers for a meal, a drink, or just to hangout and shoot the shit.

Once I got on the cleanse, I was shunned. I made people uncomfortable. I think I surprised quite a few by my resolve, too. Maybe they wondered if they could do something like that. Maybe they wondered if I had completely gone off the deep end. Finally.

The invitations slowed to a crawl. No more "do you have lunch plans?" No more "what's shakin' for dinner?" No more "wanna watch the game up at the bar?"

So when I was lucky enough to get invited to a couple of events over the weekend, but had to decline, I decided my days with cleansing were over. I'm back on real food now, 7 pounds lighter and feeling good.

Oh, I'll do it again sometime, as it really did make me feel good, look good, and I was in a great mood most of the time - but it won't be anytime soon.

Here's a little side bonus: I successfully gave up my caffeine, Sudafed and Advil addictions! Even now that I can pollute my body in any way I see fit, I'm still free of those nasty things. I'm so awesome, I'm almost sickening, huh?

Thanks to all who were concerned that I was doing something crazier than usual. I'll try to come up with something a little more fun for my next antic. That's a promise!

By Pseudo-Popular Demand

2007-11-09T14:32:00.000-08:00

Okay! Okay! Wow - it seems my questions aren't so silly now. I'm tickled, seriously tickled. And thrilled to give you the answer(s)...

The long-time tour manager for Todd Rundgren said that in the early days, she was responsible for the laundry, then she kinda got sick of doing that, (can you blame her?) so she set them loose to do their own or at least to tell them how to dial "laundry service" on their hotel phones. But she did continue to do their socks because they're small and I guess they would get lost.

Funny story about socks and the world of rock & roll:

Mary Lou told a totally unrelated story about an episode back in the 90's while on tour with Todd's band. There were three backup girl singers, in addition to quite a large "big band" behind T the G. They travelled by tour bus. As one would expect, the male hormones on board outweighed the female ones, so the girls ended up in a partitioned-off area at the back of the bus. I don't recall the exact story, but somehow one of the guys (perhaps Todd) beckoned the ladies up toward the front of the bus. When they got up front, there were all the guys, completely naked, except for their socks.

Gives a whole new meaning to "doing the socks" doesn't it?

Then just the other night as I was about to ask Roger Powell (former keyboardist for Todd's Utopia) some uber interesting question about being dressed as bugs in an old video, the show's host, Doug interrupted and told Roger about me asking about laundry and other ridiculous things such as that.

Before I could say anything, Roger starts chatting about how with costumes, there usually is a person in charge of cleaning those - or at least there are interchangeable parts and/or multiples so that you don't have to perform in your own stank. He did, however, say that as for your own personal street clothes, you are responsible for your own stank. He recalled trips to a couple of laundromats during his 12 year stint with Todd. A couple of trips? Eeewwwww.

Then earlier this week as I was perusing the blog of Meat Loaf's sax player, I realized this laundry situation can be serious. Seriously! At the time, Meat Loaf had fallen ill and the band was stuck in a hotel in England for several days and it did not have laundry facilities. The sax player had actually gone out and bought a few pairs of undies (with the weak US dollar), thinking that any day now, they would be in London and could do their skivvies. He was about to freak out. No kidding. Tsk tsk tsk - should've done laundry that other day instead of bending the elbow in the pubs, Dave.

I don't know about the big big stars so - as for David Bowie and his spandex.....we can only hope that fell into the category of costumes, and that there were multiples, too.

Hey, your inquiring minds wanted to know.........I am nothing if not accommodating. Such is life as a rock star.

Who Does The Laundry?

2007-11-07T15:20:00.000-08:00

Monty Python has it's Ministry of Silly Walks.

I have a Ministry of Silly Questions. My friend over at RundgrenRadio.com says I have girlie questions.

But let me ask you a question, please? Woops, that was a question.

Let me ask a different question, please? Damn. I hope I didn't use up all my questions.

Okay. Breathe. I am going to ask you a question. There.

If you heard a person being interviewed on the radio or a talk show, and that person has been a rock & roll tour manager for oh, 25 years.....and you had the opportunity to ask said person a question pertaining to her experience as a tour manager - would this be a silly question?....

"Who does the laundry?"

That wasn't so silly, was it? I mean, come on, wouldn't you want to know if Billie Jo Armstrong or John Mayer does his own undies?

See? Not so silly. You're curious now, aren't you?

These are some of the questions I come up with when I call-in to my friend, Doug's internet radio show, RundgrenRadio.

Tonight the guest is Roger Powell, the keyboard player with Todd Rundgren from way back when, when Utopia was in existence. He's played with David Bowie, too. He's been somewhat of a keyboard/computer whizkid inventor, too. I'm not sure - so I'll be listening tonight at 7:00 pm central time and calling in with one effin' ridiculously silly question just to befuddle Doug. I'm a hoot like that, lemmetellya.

And don't call me girlie.

Life Is A Lemon

2007-11-05T18:17:00.001-08:00

See that fruit up there? Yeah. That's what I've been living with for the past four days.

Ya see, something got into me and I decided I'd punished my poor little body long enough with all my shenanigans. It was time to take charge and make some improvements.

Don't worry, my little chitlins, like most of my schemes, this is only temporary. This is not the end of fun for CruiserMel. Shut your mouth!

What really happened was a shopping trip for some fall clothes. Oh, the horror. I tell ya, it was awful. And I don't play like that.

So - I heard from a friend about something called The Master Cleanse. Have ya heard of it? Well, if you haven't yet heard of this thing, you're going to hear about it now.

I know how much you people like to write about / hear about poop, but I just can't bring myself to write about that now. Probably ever. Why? Because I've been close pals with my bathroom habits over these past 4 days. Believe me. Just believe me.

Basically, the Master Cleanse is one that detoxifies the body and, if done religiously, should result in better health, better eating habits, weight-loss (yay!), and mental / spiritual clarity.

I'm not quite sure I'm in this thing for the clarity, because I kind of like the comfortable fog I wander around in most of the time, but that weight-loss is pretty sweet. Oh yeah, blah blah blah....better health and eating habits....whatever. (You just know I'll be dialing me up some Domino's as soon as I go back on regular food. Rewards, honey, rewards. Oh all right, I'll add a couple of veggies to my turkey pepperoni. Happy now?)

In the meantime, I start every morning with 32 oz of spring water with sea salt mixed into it. Did you read that? Thirty-two ounces. No, not in enema form - but by mouth. To say this little chore is a booger would not be an untruth. This is the foulest thing in the world. It's a good thing I do this before fully waking, because I could never do this with my eyes open. I've yet to figure out a palatable way to do this other than just gulping it down and praying I don't puke it right back up into the kitchen sink. Cold. Hot. Warm. Room-temp. Doesn't matter - it's plain awful. But it's integral to making this cleanse work.

Then after that literally passes, usually within the hour, I am set for the day. At least six times a day I have a yummy glass of lemonade, of sorts. It's the juice and pulp of one organic lemon, mixed with spring water, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. Did I just lose you? C'mon back - this part is actually the good part. I've grown really fond of my little lemonade drinks. Seriously. Who knew a person could crave lemons? I have never been one to put lemon in my tea or even one who likes lemon meringue pie. Okay, lemon squares = best part of going to bridal and baby showers. But I digress...

Between lemonades, I eat nothing else at all and drink nothing but spring water. This leaves out all forms of bourbon or vodka and certainly leaves out all things pizza-like. I've checked it out and basically, these things are no-no's.

But ya know - bear with me, I'm not possessed by the devil - I'm diggin' it. Not a morsel of food has passed through these lips since Thursday. And I'm cool with it! I've never felt so good. (Well, without sex being involved.)

I KNOW! Amazing, ain't it?

I'll be doing this through the weekend, 10 days in total. If all goes as it has been going at one pound per day and with this incredible energetic feeling, I'll be 10 pounds lighter and definitely a force to be reckoned with. Now, if only I could grow a couple of inches taller.......

Ya wanna a piece of me? Check me out this time next week.

The Imports & A Couple Of Rockin' Mommies

2007-11-01T17:03:00.000-07:00

After perusing the internets today and reading about various Halloween tricks and treats in various parts of these United States, I figured I would hop on that ghost train and give you a taste of what my little sleepy neighborhood experienced last night.

Unless you've been totally ignoring my blog, you already know CruiserMel's love for all things Halloween. It's just one of those parts of childhood that I've held onto, along with Todd Rundgren, my blue teddy bear named Christmas, and my love of straws. Matter of fact, my love of Halloween has probably blossomed even more so since I purchased my house five years ago.

Once I got out of apartment living and into a real neighborhood, I hit the big box stores like Garden Ridge, Home Depot and Lowe's for holiday decorations like a hor attacking a john. Give me anything that lights up, makes noise or inflates and can be an eyesore to my neighbors and I'm a happy girl.

I rushed home from work to put the finishing touches on my exhibit and readied myself for the little darlings to come ringing my doorbell. I lit my luminarias along the sidewalk (and scorched my thumb, thankyouverymuch Bic Lighter Company). I lit all four pumpkins. I hid my strobe light from obvious view and put it on extra slow strobe so as to terrify the parents who would think someone was taking photos of their angels to put on the internet for pervs. I turned on my purple spider lights over the doorway. And for the "star on the tree" if you will, I turned on creepy music and sound effects to waft through the front yard. Usually, I have my 8 foot tall inflatable Dracula to assemble, but the wind was blowing and I was afraid he'd take flight, so I punted that idea for this year. Back in your coffin, Drac.

Then, I lie in wait. (laid in wait? evs.)

*ding-dong*

I grabbed my bowl of four pounds of various chocolate goodies and found that my little visitors were imports from another side of town. Okay, I said to myself, these kids don't have much in their little lives - so I gave each one 2 or 3 pieces. (I learned my lesson last year about not letting the little monsters reach into the bowl themselves. Thanks readers.)

For the most part, they were all polite children, costumed in mostly Hannah Montana clothing, who I think is the newest slut on little girls' radars or super heroes for the boys. There may have even been one boy dressed as Hannah Montana. That tells me this person, whoever she is, will have Britney status tout suite.

I think I learned how to say Happy Halloween in Spanish, too, but I've slept since then so that's totally vamanos.

The kids had fun and some even commented on my great decorations and the scary music. Yay for me.

There were only a couple of times I had to bite my tongue. On at least two occasions, there would be one bigger kid amongst the little ones. No big deal - that's responsible, I thought. But this bigger kid would be dressed in a costume - usually the most elaborate, complete with face paint and would have his or her own plastic pumpkin bucket extended. Upon closer observation, this wasn't a kid (or even a teen)! In one instance, this bigger kid was close to my age. F.U. Mommy, that's just not right. But I caved because both of these bigger kids were way bigger than I am and I really don't want to be on the morning news. Bitches. Seriously - that's criminal.

The cutest little one was my very last trick-or-treater - a little black boy, maybe 18 months old, toddling with help from his mother, wearing a Darth Vader suit, carrying a sword in one hand and his pumpkin in the other hand, while trying to balance his helmet on his tiny head. Did I mention his costume was an adult-sized suit? Yup. It was kinda sad. But adorable at the same time. I gave him my very last piece of candy and was wishing I'd taken down those mommies in sheep's clothing earlier in the evening. I will forever have his image in my mind - toddling away from the door with his pumpkin in his right hand, trying to balance his helmet and in his left hand, a light sabre and one measly piece of chocolate. Cutest. Thing. Ever.

And the award for best parents goes to the two mid-thirties women who were escorting a pack of kids. They were holding large "big gulp" cups and were giggling uncontrollably, while eating Almond Joys from their very own bag. These gals rocked. I suspect those big cups were spiked with something other than Slurpee mix. Huh? Ya think so, too?

My friend L and I watched first season episodes of "Dexter" to keep the mood for the evening. It was spookalicious!

And now to pull out the Thanksgiving decorations...

Slide to the Left.......

2007-10-30T17:36:00.001-07:00

It's been a rough day - so I will leave your with this quickie. Love the father in this one!

Happy Early Halloween

2007-10-25T16:55:00.000-07:00

If you're new here you might not know that CruiserMel not only talks about herself in the third person, but she's a big fan of Halloween. It's always been my favoritest of favorites in the holiday world. It's not like I particularly enjoy getting the bejeebers scared out of me, but if it's all in good fun (i.e. costumes and candy), how can we possibly lose? If lovin' Halloween is wrong, I don't want to be right. Dat's right, I just quoted some song from the 70's. Sorta.

And while we're on the topic of the 70's...tonight I had the telly on in the den while I was cooking some mess that came out tasting divine. (Italian mac & cheese - think I might be PMSing much?)

Annnnnyway, it didn't register at first, but soon that familiar music loomed and I realized that they were showing 1978's "Halloween."

There are a handful of movies that if they are on, I am helpless to change the channel until the very last credit has rolled. "Halloween" is one of those.

I know it's dated and stupid, but it set a standard for future horror movies - whereas if you are a teenager and you have sex, you die by the hand of some psycho freak who has perhaps been living in an institution since he was 6, but mysteriously now knows how to overpower healthy adults and operate a motor vehicle with panache.

So, I'm watching this while serving up my comfort food in the kitchen:

Now, I've seen this movie probably 20 times, okay 100 times, okay 200 times, so there's very little that scares me. I know where the surprises are. I know Michael ain't going to go down without a fight. I also know he wore a Captain Kirk mask. Big deal.

So, I'm dipping the spoon into the casserole dish, with taste buds a-tingling, when I honestly thought there was a person on top of my refrigerator, letting a fishing reel just GO, ya know? But here's the thing, there wasn't a person up there, and if there was, he'd have to be only about 2 feet tall or else he'd hurt himself on the ceiling. And let's be frank here: hiding on top of refrigerators with fishing reels really isn't the typical M.O. of a crazed murderer, is it?

But let me tell ya, there was a sound coming from the backside of the fridge and it's still making that sound 30 minutes later (hey, a girl's gotta eat!) and I'm a little wiggy about it because I'm either losing my mind, there really is a murderer on the fridge, or the fridge is about to go on the fritz. Neither possibility thrills me.

AND, the last few times I've run my dishwasher there's been a huge amount of water left in there when it's done. This can't be a good sign, can it?

So, it looks like there might be a trip to the appliance store this weekend. I really wanted a pedicure, dammit.

And with that, I wish you all a great weekend. Any Halloween parties going on that I should know about?

Time Again for "How Did You Find This Blog?"

2007-10-23T19:28:00.000-07:00

I would be remiss to not say something like, "My you look trim!" and "How's the family?". I mean, it's been a friggin' week since we gathered here. And for reals: How is the family and you really do look trim. I kid you not.

I've agonized tonight over what in the wide world of sports would I blog about, but I just keep banging my head against the monitor. I just can't seem to get my funny on.

So I'm phonin' it in. So lame, I know.

But let's see where this takes us, shall we? It's kind of like my hands will do something like that weird psychic writing thingy, ya know?

Here are some of the more interesting google searches that led folks to this here blogarino:

Lots of searches about the State Fair of Texas! I mean people were looking for all kinds of answers and it's doubtful they found anything here. I mean, don't you think you'd go to the actual website for the State Fair of Texas to find out info regarding how much do rides cost at texas state fair, state fair of texas love bug, strollers at state fair, corny dog at state fair of texas, calories at fair of texas, state fair of texas 2007 sticker, or where to stay for state fair of texas? As Lindy would say: Gaaaaaaaaaahhhhhllll!

This next one has had me scratching my head for days: mer-man eh eh eh mer-man. What the fuck? I mean it - what The FUCK? Are those song lyrics? Is that Ethyl Merman singing Rhiana? (get it? eh eh eh? oh whatever)

Of course, there were the usual Rozerem searches. I'm getting sick of these. At the same time, I kinda dig it because many folks get led here by that advertising website that sings the praises of those commercials whereas I slam the shit out of it. Heh.

I get alot of searches for variations on idle mind. Hmmm, do you suppose those folks simply have way too much time on their hands? If you are blindly googling the actual words for idle mind, then your mind is indeed, idle. Walk it off, pal.

This one got me giggling because it was right after I'd posted my story about Cheap Trick. Someone actually googled "angry redneck" as if most of them are angry, perhaps? I'm sure there are perfectly happy, well-adjusted rednecks everywhere who would like to kick your ass, big guy. You'd better git off ma property, cowboy, and stop pissin me off.

Okay, this is just plain weird. I get tons of hits because of girls gymsuits. Are gym suits some code for sexy these days? To be fair, the hits have increased in recent days...maybe it's research for Halloween costumes.

Fed Ex busy busy busy. Once more, what the fuck? I like that commercial, but I'm pretty sure I haven't blogged on it. Or did I do a secret intoxicated post that I don't recall. In invisible ink?

I'm not really sure why this one makes me laugh, but I'm sure it's my immaturity showing. randy flowers meat. Now, Randy Flowers is a guitar player. In Meat Loaf's band. Or this person was looking for something completely different. Tough call. People have some f'd up fetishes.

my idle hockey player. You figure that one out. I'm at a loss.

I actually get a lot of hits from folks pondering the "where are they now" file, under C for The Cars. Ric Ocasek and did benjamin orr date any female musicians top the list. Well, actually Paulina Poreskova tops the list, but we're not counting that at this juncture.

And finally, it has taken me awhile to figure out why I am the recipient of searches for what I think are Czech celebs, like pavel-novotny, tomas kalnoky divorce, frantisek kavan, vincent bochdalek and baroai - whatever. (whatever?) Listen to this: when I blogged about the term "spankbank," Pugman commented that his spankbank threatened to bounce too many Czechs - so he deposited them on my blog. For this, I thank you Pugman, my precious. I'm now mortifying and insulting Czechs the world over who look up their favorite Czech clergymen and role models.

So kiddies, you guys aren't the only weirdos out in the cold cruel world. You're in good company. Creepy company, but company nevertheless.

And just to plug Doug's RundgrenRadio show......if you've got an hour Wednesday night at 7:00 pm central time, you should check it out. Doug won't be hosting the show that night - but he's got Todd Rundgren's wife, Michele sitting in for him. Michele is quite funny and she's got some good poop to share, I'm sure. And she's got some very special guests on board: "Rundgren family members." Uh huh. Mysterious, no? You can bet I'll be listening live fo sho. Just in case.....

Nuts, Trannies, and a Contest Winner

2007-10-16T16:56:00.000-07:00

Did everyone have a good weekend? It's Tuesday, I know, but I'm moving a little slowly.

Perhaps it's from bending over 100 times to pick up the fresh new pecan crop that has been falling like rain from one of my huge pecan trees. I'm not sure why I am picking them up - I don't even really like pecans unless they are in pralines or pie. If I wait long enough, someone named Pedro with a pickup truck full of Texicans will eventually come clean them up and sell them to the people who make fruitcakes, all with huge smiles on their faces, thinking they've pulled one over on me. Actually, I'd be hiding the glee inside because, you know - bending over like that over and over again isn't exactly the kind of bending over I happen to like. Oooo, bad CruiserMel!

Actually, my weekend was a productive one. I got some stuff done that I just hate to do with a passion. I hauled out my little green steam machine (I like saying that) and cleaned up some carpet spots that CruiserDog had deposited when I wasn't looking. Glamorous, I know. I think I spent an hour on my hands and knees. And no, I'm not going to take that in some double entendre sort of way and run with it, but you can if you want. I'll wait.

Don't you just love scrubbing bubbles and their lemony freshness? I hadn't made friends with the little guys in probably a month and my bathroom sink and tub are thanking me now. Those little bubbles can clear out all kinds of little sins, like that not-quite-rinsed-away dribble of toothpaste or those tiny bits of hair from trimming my bangs. I heart scrubbing bubbles so much that I want to use it in place of Pam when I cook. Non-stick and it's self-cleaning! I need to invent things, don't cha think?

I'm mad at my workplace. I never really wake up until after I've been at work for an hour or so - so putting on makeup in the morning can be hit or miss. I went to the ladies room before lunch, glanced in the mirror and thought "I look pretty good for being forever sleep-deprived." I then went about my day. To my horror, I caught another glimpse of myself once I got home and holy crap, I looked like Bozo the Clown or one of those blue-haired ladies in church with those red circles of blush on their cheeks! No one said a word about it all day. I could have passed as a transvestite! Who puts fluorescent bulbs in a ladies' room?????? Can I get an AMEN? Note: the following photo is not me. I could never get away with wearing that!

And to get your mind off that, I've got a great recipe to share with ya! For some reason I remembered this chicken my mom used to make and so I went digging for the instructions. Yeah, I call recipes "instructions" because I am no Rachel Ray, lemmetellya. It was tremendously easy and tasted tremendous, too. Ready? Take boneless chicken boobs, roll them in lemon pepper seasoning, put in a paper sack (don't use any Pam or scrubbing bubbles), close tightly and bake for an hour at 350 degrees. I know it sounds ridiculous (and a fire hazard, too) but that's some rockin' chicken, folks! You're welcome.

Okay, quit rolling your eyes, this is my blog and I can put up a photo of Kasim anytime I wanna. Deal with it.

Last night while I was cooking that chicken, I was having a little fun. Fun? CM? Yes! Kasim was a guest on my 'Bama buddy Doug's internet radio show, RundgrenRadio. (I think that pic above is one of Doug's - so, thank you Dougiemeister.) It was great hearing some of Kasim's stories about his 30 years recording and touring with Todd, even though I'd heard many of them before. I called-in with some questions. And then again. Hey, I wasn't done yet! Tomorrow night (7:30 central time, I think) Doug's guest is Prairie Prince - a funny guy who's played with Todd, Jefferson Starship, The Tubes, and - oh, you get the gist. He's quite an artist, too. Should be pretty cool. I need to think of my questions tonight so I can call in again. I'm a call-in-kinda-gal. I suppose you could say I'm one of Doug's groupies.

AND while I'm on the topic, I WON! Yuppers, I did. A couple of weeks back, Doug had a fan night - where the special guests were the listeners. We could call-in and tell our stories of Todd - the first time we heard his music, fun concert stories, favorite records, etc. Who wouldn't want to share their fondest Todd memories? Oh yeah, y'all don't get it. Whatevs. That's not the point here. Back to me winning, shall we? So, I call in and give my story of seeing Todd for the first time on the Midnight Special (anyone remember that show?) at a slumber party and some other stuff that I can't recall right now. SOOOO - it turns out, Doug had another person judging the stories and I WON! Well, it wasn't my story, per se, but my style that won it for me. Telling him I was wearing four Todd tour shirts, twirling a baton and tap-dancing while telling the stories was was cinched it. Are you callin' me a liar? Okay, you'd be right. But hey, I won a tshirt. I don't ever win anything. *strut strut*

So that's about it for me. I didn't even think I had a blog post in me today....but damned if I didn't. *still strutting*

Off with ya. Don't you have another 10 blogs to read?

Almost a Religious Experience. For Reals.

2007-10-12T08:59:00.000-07:00

Hello, my chitlins! I hope you enjoyed our little birthday party yesterday. There's still some cake & ice cream, but y'all completely wiped out the last drops of wine. No problemo, there's always more to be found. But who ate all of my pizza?

To celebrate the day, CruiserMel went to a concert. A concert, you ask? Yes, wonders never cease, do they?

I won't bore you with the details, but I feel it's my duty to inform the masses about this band I saw at the House of Blues with my friends, G and his family.

First, there was a set by the Robert Cray Band. Dude, that man's got some pipes on him and he was smokin' on his bluesy guitar. He also had this older-ish white man who played the organ (no, not his organ, pervs) and that guy brought the house down on more than one song.

After a quick break, we were treated to the most intense, rockin', smokin', jammin' music experience that I think I've ever been a part of. Robert Randolph and The Family Band. Oh. My. Gawd. Every player in that band was phenomenal. "Phenomenal" is a wussy word to describe how awesome they were, but it's the closest I can get right now. And Robert Randolph himself? He is clearly the hardest working man in show biz today. And he seems to have as much, if not more, fun than the audience. I'm surprised the walls of the House of Blues didn't come a-tumblin' down.

Check 'em out. You won't be sorry. Words just don't suffice. Yup, I'm speechless. Enjoy! Oh, and have a happy weekend, y'all.

Ain't No Baby, Baby

2007-10-10T19:42:00.000-07:00

Unbelievable as it may seem, Ramblings of an Idle Mind isn’t an infant anymore. It’s a toddler. Yes, my little baby slice of the blogosphere will be one year old tomorrow. And Mommy is so very proud of her little tyke.

We’ve learned how to drink from a bottle. (scotch, vodka, bourbon….)

We’ve learned how to walk, after drinking from a bottle. (holding on to walls helps)

We've learned from other bloggers how to talk about vaginas, penises, and poop, which is exactly what babies like to talk about.

We’ve learned how to not pee in our pants. (okay, there was that one time when Johnny Virgil wrote about getting his septic tank siphoned out…)

We’ve learned about toys from Lindy. (it apparently does take a village…)

We’ve learned how to defend ourselves from Sassy Blondie. (in real Texas style yet!)

We’ve learned how to be a proper sports fan from Lozo. (along with lessons about how to not become a professional poker player)

We’ve learned all about Grey’s Anatomy and The Office from Sarah every Friday. (along with how to become the partyingest animal in Ohio)

We’ve learned how to properly dump a boyfriend from Golightly and her friend, Kate. (I can attest that their script works!)

We’ve learned how to flirt with boys…like Pugman and Just Sayin.

We’ve learned how to play with friends from all kinds of places like Mr. Fabulous in Florida, Williebee in Illinois (okay, so I cheated here – I actually know this one in real life), and while we’re talking about real life peeps, there’s always my bestest rock & roll hor / friend, KP in Fort Worth, Circe & Kerry in OKC, Sgt Redline down in the bayou, Rockdog in New Yawk, Anonymous Coworker in Maryland, Tug in Colorado (bless your heart) and some precious Texas friends like Swishy, ThatGirl, and Pecos Girl. And there are soooo many more that we would like to mention, but toddlers get tired and this one needs a nap.

Needless to say, it’s a fun playground, for sure.

Mostly, we’ve learned to use spellcheck and how to post videos, photos and live links to our favorite friends.

And a most-valuable lesson: try to avoid posting while intoxicated.

Which is something I’m doing right now.

Do as I say, not as I do, and you’ll get some cake and ice cream. Or a tumbler of wine. You know where the corkscrew and tumblers are. Help yourself and get comfy – Ramblings of an Idle Mind ain’t done yet!

…..and many more………..

Sports Update

2007-10-08T21:01:00.000-07:00

HOW 'BOUT THEM COWBOYS, HUH?!?!?!?!?!?

And yeah, thanks for the suggestion that I have a tumbler (or two?) of vino to chill the fuck out. Because it's truly done the trick. Mi casa es su casa, just help yourself to the bottle of red on the counter.

I Hate To Get Off On A Rant Here, But..

2007-10-08T15:45:00.000-07:00

I like to think I strive to give my visitors to this little blog a positive experience. I really do. But sometimes a girl just has to let off a little steam from the blog-o-cooker. Indulge me, will ya?

By the time I got home today, I was a wee bit irritated by life's little burrs under my saddle, but when I saw what the trash man, excuse me "sanitation worker", NO TRASH MAN did to my trash bins, I was confronted with a choice: 1.) spontaneously combust, or 2.) write a blog entry. Consider yourself lucky, as spontaneous combustion would benefit no one, particularly my dog who was peering through the window, paws crossed.

Without further ado.......

Let's back up a week or so, shall we? I'd gone to the elegant symphony hall here in Dallas to see a concert. Yes, I can clean up like the rest of them. Deal with it. Anyway, I parked my car in the attached parking garage, between the lines like civilized people do. When I came out of the performance, someone had swiped my rear bumper and left swift black streaks from side to side. A note? Not a chance. Uncivilized oaf!

Last night I was returning from dinner with my friend, L, and was driving home in a lawful manner. I signalled that I was planning on entering the left turn lane and did not drift from my line. I pulled up to a safe distance behind the rusty sedan and waited for the green arrow. When the arrow appeared, nothing moved. I lightly tapped my horn and got no response. By this time, the arrow had turned red. Mmmmmokay, it's a nice Sunday evening and I'm a patient person. The arrow turned green again and yet - nothing. Except a hand gesture that either was a proposition or an insult, depending on how one would take it. At this point, I realized the rusty sedan had stalled-out. But did that hand that was so capable of movement ever wave me by in a friendly manner? Hell to the no. So, I signalled to the right and entered the first "going straight" lane and pulled along side the sedan. I tried to get his attention to see if I could help and saw the same gesture I'd seen a couple of minutes before. Finally, I made an illegal left turn from the "going straight" lane and made it home. Great googly moogly folks - maintain your vehicle! Lazy government moocher sot!

Today I was taking a little break from my desk out in the out of doors. There is a cold front making it's way into Dallas this evening, so I was watching the clouds dance and looking at how pretty the hibiscus flowers looked in our building's flower bed. Basically, I was minding my own biz, when my eyes caught a glimpse of a plumber's van making it's way down our street. It's not so unusual to see vans driving down this street - except this one had it's window open and the man driving it was quite obviously having himself a little tug, if ya know what I mean. While driving 30 mph. And that plumbing company is based about 2 blocks away from my office. So that means he was in a hurry to finish-off, if ya know what I mean. Ay carumba. Impatient horny nasty slob!

After work, I made my way to the grocery store to pick up a few items. No irritations here. In fact, this particular store has such great muzak that I felt like perhaps my day might end gracefully. Aw hell no. I was paying for my stuff at the checkout when I felt a presence near my left elbow. It wasn't some stray child. It was a yuppie (do they use that word anymore?) mommy who thought she might get her goods and get out of there a whole minute sooner if she moved past the current People and Star magazine rack and entered my personal space. Naturally, I had to feign difficulty with my wallet. High-strung, new-money, Louis Vuitton-toting bitch!

And to top it all off, the TRASH MAN had decided to knock over my trash bin and had left it in the middle of the alley behind my house and taken the recycle bin and thrown it on top of my holly bushes, about 5 feet from where it usually sits. What the? I mean, it's not like these guys ever even touch the trash, nor do they even get off their truck. The whole operation is done with a mechanical arm. I'll bet he is paid more than I am paid, too. Creepy city worker a-hole!

So I'm off now to a meeting with some neighbors about going to city hall Thursday to fight a developer who wants to tear down an ailing apartment complex near our homes and put up a 4-story retail/residential complex, probably with at least two Starbucks and an Old Navy store within a 1/8 mile of here. This would take the population at that intersection from 230 residents to over 800. Do you see where I'm going with this? I'm not anti-improvement to our area. I'm groovy with it, actually. But the intersection I'm talking about has been rated a "D" for traffic tangles already. So, I'm kind of glad I'm a little bristly. I'm going to use this feeling for good, rather than evil.

So there.

Meanwhile, this guy and I are kindred spirits when it comes to effin' idiots prowling the streets of America. Children, I give you the King of Rants, Mr. Dennis Miller. Take it away, Dennis!

The Great State Fair of Texas

2007-10-07T13:11:00.000-07:00

Friday was a gorgeous Texas autumn day. Well, if you can call 90 degrees and sunny an autumn day. But no one would debate that Friday was a beautiful day.

What made it even more beautiful was that I had the day off and plans to go on my annual trek to the State Fair of Texas.

As I pulled into the parking lot on the fairgrounds, I felt the electricity in the air. There were families with strollers, teens with pocketfuls of cash to spend on midway games, an enormous amount of enormous butts, and a large population of blue-hairs in their powerscooters. Everyone had those fair-going smiles, including yours truly.

I love the Texas Fair. I always make certain to hit the Fair at least one time during it's three-week stay. It usually takes more than one visit because it is the largest state fair in the country. There's just too much to take in on one measly visit. Way too much.

First - there are the rides. This ain't no carnival in a grocery store parking lot, people. There is just about every ride you can imagine. My favorite is called The Love Bugs and it's one of those trains that goes around and around, faster and faster, while it rolls over bumps and throws your left hip into a hard metal corner of the seat and breaks your neck. The greatest things about the this ride is a tie between the music they blare over the speakers and the toothless guy running the thing while yelling "Do you wanna go faster? Then let me hear you screeeeeeam!" over and over. It's impossible for me to resist.

Then there is the Texas Star Ferris wheel. It's just gorgeous. And huge. I love to watch it as it travels up and over. It's so graceful. And did I say huge? Yeah, I don't do this ride. But it sure makes for a nice photo, doesn't it?

Another ride that I love to watch is the swings. The little kids' faces are priceless. I'm not a parent (of a human) but this is one time I wish I could borrow a kid.

Then there are the exhibits. I know, I know, the kiddies don't really like the exhibits, but hey, since I don't have a (human) kid, I can go see the exhibits in peace. The new automobiles didn't disappoint. I am seriously jonesin' for the new Lexus IS. I go through this every year where I sit in these new cars, mess with the buttons and act like I'm driving on the Bonneville Flats. But then I check the sticker price and get over it pretty fast.

I went to the Women's Museum to see a really cool exhibit of Hollywood costumes. They had Scarlett's green & white hooped dress that was worn in the picnic scene in "Gone With The Wind." They had costumes from "Titanic" and "Dreamgirls" among others. I was stunned how tiny they were. I guess movie stars just seem larger than life.

I looked at prize-winning quilts, Christmas stockings, pickled okra, jams and jellies, and a whole mess of sheep, hogs, goats and cows. (Hey, it is a fair, after all.)

There was a hilarious show called "Dancing with the Dogs" that was a blasty-blast to watch. Unfortunately, I didn't stick around long enough to see the pig races, where they put racing silks on piglets and they run around a course to get to the prize: an Oreo. Who knew?

But the real reason I go to the Fair is for the food. Counting carbs or calories or even worrying about trans-fat grams is taboo! Of course, I had to have my traditional favorites, such as the Fletcher's Corny Dogs (I had two!) and a funnel cake and two homemade root beers. I could probably qualify as a entrant in the pig races after all of that.

But every year there is something new and this year was no exception. They came up with something called Fried Latte. I never found the stand where this concoction was served and it's probably a good thing because it sounded divine. They take a sopapilla (a Mexican donut - thus the fried part) and sprinkle some instant coffee granules and cinnamon on that. Then they cover that with a scoop of cappuccino ice cream and caramel sauce. Then add a little more instant coffee sprinkles on top for good measure. Sinful. My arteries are hardening just writing those words. Makes me shudder, but I do wish I'd seen one of these up close.

When the sun began to set, I had a new blister on my foot and my legs were aching from walking for hours. I made my way back to my car. I sat on the worn leather seats of my not-new-at-all car with my surely larger behind than what I had earlier in the day and sipped on my second homemade root beer that I'd grabbed on the way out and wondered: we really don't grow up entirely, do we?

KP's BD

2007-10-04T13:33:00.000-07:00

KP - May you have a rock-n-roll hor birthday today. Aw hell, why not make that an entire year!

Have a rock-n-roll year!!!!!!

Love ya, babe. Don't ever change.

All My Exes Live in Texas......

2007-10-01T18:37:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, I watched a dvd that my new friend L gave me. It's concert footage of a 1988 Cheap Trick show. In case I haven't mentioned it before, I'm not just all-about-Todd. A close second for my all-time fave bands is Robin Zander (to this day he's still one of the best rock voices around), Tom Petersson, Rick Nielsen and Bun E. Carlos aka Cheap Trick. And they are still rockin' the socks off of fans today.

Watching that show reminded me of a story that occurred back in the 80's that involved a young and impressionable CruiserMel, Cheap Trick, a Holiday Inn, a dealer of illegal substances, a puppy dog, and an angry redneck. Wanna hear it?

My girlfriends and I decided to take a road trip to Fort Worth, all of 40 miles away, but it seemed like a big deal to us. We checked in to the Holiday Inn, whored-up and went to the show at a giant club, the name of which I have long forgotten.

But the fun was only beginning when we got back to the hotel. Our friend A had provided one of the band members with herbal pleasure (to be discreet) for quite some time and thus, we pressed him to get us into party after the show. When I say "party," I mean Room 232 and 234. And no, it wasn't glamorous.

After A conducted "business" we got to hang out with the guys. Just us 4 girls, a few other stragglers and the band. Awesome!

As we roamed from 232 to 234 and back again, my friend E realized there was this presence constantly shadowing her. It was Robin. Yup, the cute blond one. She was clearly 6" taller than he was but he wouldn't let her get 6 feet away from him. We were all agog and hoping to live vicariously through her. E could not have been less interested. Naturally, that just lit a fire under him. It was hysterical - watching her try to shake him. He was a pitiful little puppy, trailing her like that. I think I was more proud of his interest in her than she was.

Meanwhile, one of the other stragglers had hooked up with the bass player (it wasn't Tom Petersson at that time - his name was Jon Brandt) and they had left the party together. Whatever. It's just rock n roll, baby. And it was the 80's.

After partying until the wee hours, we girls went to our room, giggled the night away about E's new puppy and finally passed out.

At about 7:00 am, there came a banging on the door. My roomies were dead to the world, but the banging had roused me from my sleep and I peeked through the peephole and saw something that just had to be a figment of my imagination.

It was a redneck with a rifle. Or shotgun. I know, I'm from Texas and should know the diff but hey, I was on about an hour of sleep. Deal with it.

Anyway, Redneck with a Rifle (I like that name) was none too pleased and was foaming at the beard (ick) about someone named Jon being with his ex wife and how he was going to "fuck you (him) the fuck up!" He thought they were in OUR room. I tried to clear it all up through the door (I'm not stupid now, nor was I then, so that door would stay locked as long as it took) but as soon as he heard my voice (female and muffled), he immediately thought that I was his ex. Phuckity phuck! He started banging on the door with the rifle!

Eventually, I shut up and he stumbled out of my view through the peephole. There was quiet.

A couple of hours later, we met the band for breakfast in the cafe. Everyone was in attendance except Jon, who finally speed-walked in with a pale face and deer-in-the-headlight eyes. Apparently, Redneck with a Rifle had figured out the right room and had had a talkin'-to with him.....at the end of the gun's barrel.

Though I laugh when I think of it now, it was by no means funny at the time.

And so, ladies and gents, there's no such thing as a true ex in Texas. Be forewarned.

I leave you with a little walk down memory lane - one of my favorite Cheap Trick songs ever: "She's Tight" from the 1982 record "One on One"....which just happens to have been produced by Todd Rundgren. Heh - you thought I'd let that one slip? Oh, and the guy in the red shirt? Jon Brandt. I'd forgotten how cute he was. It's a good thing the Redneck with a Rifle didn't mess up that pretty face.

Ohhh, OJ......

2007-09-29T17:43:00.000-07:00

In light of OJ Simpson being, once again, in trouble with the long arm of the law, let me refresh your memory. Perhaps Lady Justice will prevail this time.

Enjoy!

Oh, The Horror

2007-09-25T17:20:00.000-07:00

I know I said I wouldn't post about BTJ again (or LBJ for Little Bitch J, thank you Lindy), but I have suffered the ultimate humiliation due to his chicken-shit actions. I just have to share this, or I will implode.

I had a fantastic, productive day at the office today. It was one of those where you feel good about your efforts and can say you've put in some good honest work to earn that paycheck.

After feeding and de-watering CruiserDog, checking my mail, starting a load of neverending laundry, I picked up the phone to call a friend and heard that familiar signal which meant that I had a voice mail message waiting.

If I have a message during the workday on my home phone, it is usually something like a reminder about a dentist appointment or someone wanting to give me the news that I have WON a 3-day cruise on some 50-year-old tub they call a ship. Basically, these messages are usually nothing to get excited over.

Today was different. I heard this girl say "This is Christine with Todd Rundgren Merchandise. Ummmm......the t-shirts you bought in Las Vegas? Ummm.....your credit card was declined. Please call me back with a valid credit card number this time."

I was mortified! Of all the places or people to look like a total slacker.....Todd.

God. Dammit.

My blood began to curdle. Again. After mumbling, no make that stating loudly and with force some obscenities, I calmed down and called Christine.

She was pretty cool about the whole mess when I explained what had happened with the LBJ. In fact, when all was said and done, we dished a bit about men and were buddies for life.

Maybe not life, per se, but buddies for 3 minutes at the least.

Grrrrrrrrr.

Todd Heaven

2007-09-24T16:46:00.000-07:00

Welcome back from the weekend, y'all. What did ya do? Really? Isn't that illegal in some states?

My weekend? Thanks for asking. Well, it was a little fun, a little icky (I felt like poo on Friday), and a little restful. Rinse and repeat. I saw a couple of bands with a friend, met a new friend in one of those bands, had dinner with another friend, and had another friend over for drinks and girl-talk.

It's good to have friends. I missed seeing them as much while I was tethered to the Boy Toy. I need to remember that the next time a cute guy catches my eye. In hindsight, BTJ wasn't interested in meeting my friends. That should've been a warning. Duly noted for next time.

Let's back up to the weekend before this past one, shall we?

It was Vegas, baby. I know 'dats right! And believe it or not, it wasn't just for the legalized gaming. No, seriously! What?

What it was was (okay, that just looks stupid when it's written out) for something else that is on the list of my very favorite things. Todd. And Kasim. *blush* *blush again* Hee. (And Prairie and Jesse, for that matter.) TR finished up touring with The New Cars and did a quick west coast tour called "My Tour. My Music." Awesome. Todd doing Todd. I was in Todd Heaven.

He put together his best band ever and it showed. Todd was truly in his element and on fire! And with the addition of Kasim on bass, Prairie on drums and Jesse on guitar - it was one big happy-fest for CruiserMel. To say the show rocked is an understatement. What's a better word than rocked? Honestly, help me here.

And I got to meet some folks who I'd met online and in person before during some of my previous "rock-n-roll hor" travels. We partied til the wee hours after the show. Hard. I'm pretty sure some of the folks involved don't even remember just how hard...but the word on the street is that one guy threw up in the men's room near the casino so he could re-fill himself with alcohol and two of the girls practically emptied the bar of it's tequila supply. I maintained my wits about myself (or perhaps had just conditioned myself previously) because I knew I had to hit the blackjack tables after we'd weeded-out the weak ones. Survival of the fittest, ya know. Oh yeah, and though I made it until 5:30 in the AM, I finally lost enough to call it quits. Of course, I'm wishing I had that money right about now following my BTJ experience...but at the time, it didn't matter. It's just the cost of going to Vegas. And the trip was so worth it.

To wipe that image of BTJ out of my head, I give you a video of the show that was shot a few days before I got to see the boys. Sorry for the vibrating picture at times, but apparently Kas' bass was doing it's job. (As well as that dazzling smile - or is it just me? Ahem.) The audio sure is nice. So I give you Todd's take on how soul is missing from today's music. I agree with him on this one. Enjoy!