Wednesday, August 22nd...

Finishing off some vacation time, by hanging around the house...playing the guitar...watching some DVDs (Wild Hogs was a bit of a laugh)...cleaning out the shed...you know the drill. I picked up the Popeye DVD set which FINALLY has the early B&W Popeye cartoons that I grew up loving, along with some wonderful documentaries and extra bonuses. And, NO I'm not old enough to remember these cartoons from their first release...but the I Yam Wot I Yam doc tells about how they were Popeye's popularity was rejuvenated in the mid-50s with the playing of these great 'toons on TV, with local hosts (like Big Al, or Captain Andy, f'rinstance). I had previously bought some poor transfers of Popeye cartoons on DVDs from Walmart, for about $1 each. The quality on this new set is extraordinary. It also features the long-form Sindbad and Ali Baba films in glorious technicolor! Beautiful!
Read The Rabbit Factory (a detective story about a Disney competitor plagued by a serial killer) which was an entertaining read! And now moved on to Michael Palin's Diaries 1969-1979 which are subtitled the Python Years and provide an intimate look at the creation of Monty Python's Flying Circus. As expected Palin is a charming and gentle writer, quite erudite, witty and opinionated.
Trying to get into Crowded House, which my friend Rick tells me is a great band, but apart from a song here and there...I don't get. I managed to find an interesting DVD in the deleted bin at Zellers. The Acoustic YES. Now I never thought of them as having much of a sense of humour, but they do "Tiger Rag" for their sound check. This is well worth the $4.94 I paid for it. If they'd had more than one copy I'd've bought them for Christmas presents for my brothers! I guess they'll have to be happy with what I brought them from NYC! Don't tell them though!
One last DVD recommendation...Les Paul Chasing Sound. I saw this on PBS last month, and it was highly informative and fun to watch. Okay, Les has a massive ego...but after all he did...he deserves it! Some dandy bonus footage too! From the Iridium Jazz Club in NYC, where he plays every Monday night.