Healthy Again

I am finally beginning to feel myself again- I had that fever for three days in a row. Yesterday I made it out of the house on a mission to overcome it once and for all. For starters, I went to the Good Life Market on Banksville Road. What a nice stop- the girl that runs the shop is so friendly and bubbly! So helpful, so happy. This is a must stop for all of you. I will be a regular customer for now on. Whole Foods is becoming too corporate anyway, so this was a nice find.

So after buying a homeopathic cold medicine, all natural zinc tablets, oil of oregano and a few other items, I was ready for an all natural come back. Next stop- a chiropractic adjustment and message therapy. Follow that up with more water than I could stand to drink and I was winning the battle.

I felt pretty darn good today, good enough that I went to the dojo to train tonight. It felt good, even though I got knocked around a bit by Brian-San. I'm okay with it though- I'm pretty sure he has super hero powers.

I hope everyone else is feeling good and staying healthy. It's going to be nasty cold for the next few days. Stay warm!

Murder for fun?

Winter has arrived and I'm feeling it. I'm feeling a bit under the weather and slept most of the day. When I'm fighting a cold or trying to recover from one I start drinking a ton of water, enough to make me never want to drink another bottle of water again. Then I take a super dose of vitamins. I also add chocolate in the mix, but that's just because I like it... no strategy to that decision.

So anyway, what a waste of a day. One full day that I won't get back. I was planning on going to the dojo tonight, I had other things to do..including some shopping. Maybe I can catch up tomorrow.

At one point in my day I turned on the television, I can't read with a headache, so I figured I would spend some time in front of the tv. It's amazing the premium channels charge a fee for their programming. Honestly, it's so bad. Even the On-Demand choices- hundreds of movies I have no interest in watching. One thing I really don't get: who is watching these horror/slash films? Seriously, who? They are constantly being produced, so there is apparently a demand for them. Movies about innocent people being terrorized, tormented, killed and maimed... and people like this? Don't you think these movies have an affect on people? I have to think so. I don't think these movies have a place in Hollywood. I'm sure very few people will agree with me on that, but turning death and murder into entertainment doesn't make a very good statement about us as a people, as a civilization.

Think about it.

Jeff Goldblum, superstar

I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend. Mine was lazy, but enjoyable. I was tempted to go out of town for a few days, but decided to just relax and do... nothing! Sometimes those are the best plans.

I actually had time to watch tv over the last few days and finally had a chance to see Jeff Goldblum's movie "Pittsburgh". It's part documentary, part mockumentary covering his 2 week departure from Hollywood to perform the lead role in CLO's production of Music Man , right here in his hometown. It's very entertaining (in a Larry David/Curb Your Enthusiasm kind of way). I was always a Goldblum fan, so it was an easy film to watch. His personality always reminded me of a cross between Woody Allen and Jimmy Stewart, both very likeable characters!

If you're from Pittsburgh, then you will hopefully recognize what a wonderful gesture this is on behalf of Goldblum, a Hollywood superstar who put a great effort into claiming Pittsburgh as his home. From what I heard, many of our local theater people had their panties in a bunch over this whole thing. They need to get over themselves for a moment, quit being divas and realize that an international superstar simply wanted to bring attention to our fair city (despite the scripted plot). Knowing this, it does get annoying listening to the prissy director scold Goldblum over and over during the movie. I assume he forgot that he was merely a regional director, far, far beneath Broadway and also forgot that Goldblum was doing the city and the Cultural District a tremendous favor just by being here.

If you didn't know- Warhol never came back to Pittsburgh. He left for New York and never looked back. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big Warhol fan. I am just very impressed with Jeff Goldblum's effort to make a return to Pittsburgh, claim the city as his home AND take a step backwards in his career to perform in our theater district. How many stars have done that? Michael Douglas (stage name Michael Keaton) did in fact maintain strong ties with Pittsburgh, but that's not the norm.

Thanks Jeff, you're a superstar. Pittsburgh is proud of you.

NYC-Pens-Thanksgiving

I hope everyone is doing well. I've had a couple of great days. Friday night was Light Up Night- over 200,000 people in downtown Pittsburgh- that was crazy! Then I went to New York City for three days. If you know me, you know how I love NYC. So much to see and do, I just can't get enough of it. I had my friend Somer on my mind- hard not to when her pic is all over the billboards there. She should be in Rome right about now. I hope all is good in your universe Somer!

I limited myself to two moon cookies. What the hell is it with those things? I don't even like cookies, but I love those. It's not a cake-it's not a cookie... love em.

So now that I'm back in Pittsburgh, first thing I did was to go to the Penguin game. My brother John had igloo seats for me. That was fun- Crosby is amazing. So cool to watch that close. Although, I can't help notice how the crowd has changed since I was a kid. Where did the sweater/cordoroy pants/sports jacket guys come from? Nothing like hearing nerdy, middle age guys yelling about how Malkin is out of position. Really? Shouldn't they be home watching golf highlights? I suppose every sport has those fans that know exactly what every single athlete is doing wrong and then feels the need to analyze it out loud. It's also not cool to hear middle age guys use the F word. Not in their sweater vests and penny loafers. Come on now. Anyway- it was a great time seeing the Pens win.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Best wishes for a great holiday! See you soon.

New This Week

Well I hope the recent post about the Warhol Museum exhibition has encouraged some people to go see the work of Shepard Fairey. I really enjoyed his art - He's the real deal. This is a great show. It makes me think about how powerful Keith Haring was and how exciting it would have been to have lived in New York when Warhol's entourage was running the gallery system. Born too late I guess.

In the meantime, I feel a bit out of touch with everyone. My schedule has been busy lately and I'm not spending time with all of the people I like to be surrounded by. I hope you are all well.

Some exciting things that happened this week: I had dinner with Dave Moody and his beautiful wife Mary. Dave is the bass player of the Billy Ray Cyrus band. Good guy, great musician. Glad he made a trip in town.

My good friend Nick Carrington just earned his black belt in Ninjutsu. That's not an easy task folks. It requires a full day of fighting, testing, disarming and weapons demonstrations ... it's a long and exhausting day. He deserved it. Great guy, great martial artist.

Also... you have seen Cassie logging in here and leaving comments- she's a photographer, and a very good one. She had a photograph published in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette this week. Congrats Cassie!

Other thoughts... this Friday is Light up Night in Pittsburgh. That's a fun night. There is one particular band playing that is worth the trip downtown. Other than that, I am just not getting to the gym AT ALL. I would love to change that, but haven't been able to do anything about it yet. I am making time for martial arts, which is far more important. I will be in New York City in a few days...what's better than that? Okay, don't answer. Tonight I am taking the night off from the life long diet I have been on for pizza and wine, which is well worth it. Next week is Thanksgiving- woohoo!

And that's it! I hope you are all doing fabulous. I wish you happiness and success. Have a great week!

Ciao!

Supply and Demand

I finally had the opportunity to visit the Warhol Museum to see the Shepard Fairey exhibit "Supply and Demand". I can describe it in a word: Fantastic. That was the strongest exhibition by a solo artist that I have seen in a long time. I loved it. He has such a bold, yet intricate style. The images are produced in a variety of media- screen printing, stencil, collage and appearing on canvas, paper, metal, wood and even adhesive paper.

There is this 1984-esque feel to the body of work, which have a very strong style that echoes Soviet propoganda. It's a great exhibit for the Warhol, because it's current, it's happening, it's pop culture. In the same, it doesn't feel like pop culture. It feels more like a sub-culture. Even though Shepard Fairey is becoming the next pop star of the art world, his art still looks as if it's come from a street artist who is anti-establishment.

If you haven't gone yet- you have to go. Don't miss the murals outside. Outstanding. What Shepard Fairey is doing is great for the art world and it's even better for Pittsburgh.

Don't miss it!

Universe out of balance

The D.C. Sniper, Fort Hood, senseless robberies and shootings- what is happening to people? Is the universe out of balance? I can't stand to watch the news anymore, there is one evil crime after another. Constant reminders that people are aggressive, violent and willing to kill for no reason.

Is the human race regressing? Apparently so. In this day and age, humans should have advanced beyond the need for war, for violence, for crime.

When you consider the issues abroad, you wonder how the free, civilized world can focus on peace, when terrorists cause our countries to become police states out of a sense of self preservation. Unfortunately, the global issues will not resolve themselves until the barbarians and primal sub-humans decide that killing is shameful and disgusting behavior. Within our own borders, the violence has to stop. People need to wake up. It is our responsibility as world leaders to restore the balance. Lead by example.

Peace.