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IKEA, Star Wars, vacation travel, and the blues

Again, I've been bad -- I haven't updated in over a week. Last week seemed to go by in a blur. I wasn't able to find the time or energy to write.

My parents finally settled on their holiday travel plans. They will arrive from the Land of My Birth a few days after Christmas, and stay until a few days into the New Year. I somehow look forward to the prospect of not having to travel for the holidays this year.

Of course, my parents are trying to act like parents. Even though we offered them a room in our apartment, they insist on staying at a hotel nearby. When we discussed the possibility of traveling for Thanksgiving, my Mom said "I could make Thanksgiving dinner at your place". She became somewhat amused when I corrected her by saying "No, we could make dinner at our place." I swear, I'll be lucking if I get to take them to dinner while they are here and pay for it. They're great parents, and we love each other dearly, but when do I get to show that I am an adult well able to make my way in the world?

I also just finished Escaping The Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues. It was a largely enjoyable read for someone, like myself, who has an interest in blues music. It makes me curious to hear more of the "popular" blue artists that don't fall into the Delta category, like Peetie Wheastraw, Big Bill Broonzy, Charley Patton, and Bessie Smith. As an interesting companion to the book, I happened to catch The Howlin' Wolf Story on cable recently. The film includes much of the Howlin' Wolf performance at the Newport Folk Festival mentioned in the book, plus other discussions of the life of a bluesman in the mid-20th Century. It really helped to fill in certain gaps in a way that made the material more alive.

I picked up the newly released limited edition DVDs of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi on Friday for $13.99 each. I went to see the "updated" version of Star Wars when it came out in the late '90s. It was 10 years at that point since I'd probably watched the movie at all, and nearly 20 since I'd seen it in the theater. Now with these DVDs, I got to see the original once again (based I am told on the laserdisc edition.) The colors may be more muted, and the images less crisp, but I find the original films still to be the best. I wonder at the ego of George Lucas to think that after he lucked into one of the great hero stories of modern time, that he should be able to tinker with it again and again as time goes by with little or no apparent improvement.

Finally, Mrs. Geek and I made a pilgrimage to the holy shrine known as IKEA over the weekend to buy some Bonde bookcases for our apartment. It takes about two hours and a lot of work with a screwdriver to assemble one of them. We got three. I've assembled two, and not looking forward to the last one. My hands aren't allergic to hard work, but they're more used to tapping on a keyboard than holding hand tools. They're feeling a little raw today.

said drgeek on 2006-09-18 at 4:20 p.m.

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The Wayback Machine - To Infinity And Beyond

those first two estates - 2009-02-04 12:58 p.m.
nativity - 2009-02-03 9:28 p.m.
I am with Brahman - 2009-01-28 9:43 p.m.
angry - 2009-01-25 2:58 p.m.
i am - 2009-01-23 8:33 p.m.