The Mentalist

Hello www, Thank you Lord for this wonderful weekend of activities with my family and friends. Bless all eyes reading this blog, Lord, and help me to be a greater servant to you, Jesus, in all my interactions. In Your Name. Amen. Most weekdays I go to bed early, since I wake up early. My one exception during the week to this routine is Thursday evenings, because of a show a good friend got me hooked on, maybe you've heard of it and are a fan also, "The Mentalist." (CBS, Ch11, 9p - 10p). It stars Simon Baker who did a great job in the movie "The Devil wears Prada," and he isn't bad on the eyes either. This past week was the premiere of the season and I was determined to stay awake. I did well. I followed the story, knew who the suspects were. I was in the midst of figuring out Jane's (Baker's last name on the show) eccentric behavior and strange line of questioning, when my eyes started to close on me, in the last ten minutes of the show, but I was fighting it. I needed to know who the killer was. I turned one eye to the screen, and let my other eye rest...it doesn't help I have a t.v. in my bedroom and am laying down while watching the show!...The murder wasn't the person I thought it was, but I totally missed Jane's reasoning for identifying her as the murderer. Darn it! Oh well, the battle of the z's rages on...There's always this week's episode.

The couple in front of us

Hello www, Remember to talk to Jesus. He's always awake and He's always listening. He wants us to talk to Him, just like we would talk to a good friend. Jesus is your bff anytime. Thank you Lord, for always being available to us. In your name. Amen. Some of you may know that my mom and I go to mass every Saturday at 5pm. I'm sure there are even those of you who don't like our rigidness with regard to this weekend appointment with our Lord, because you'd rather I do some sort of frivolousness. But mom babysits on Sunday mornings and is too tired afterwards to attend mass. I like our usual routine of Saturday mass because mom and I are praying together. There are few events that are as powerful as attending mass with your loved ones. Okay, so since mom and I attend Saturday mass religiously (pardon the pun, couldn't resist :)), I began to notice people I knew, or observed 'the regulars' like mom and me, that I hadn't met yet. One couple in particular stood out for me. A cute, probably in his forties, short man with a nice haircut, and a taller than him, but not glaringly taller, blond-haired woman. Despite the height differences, or because of it, they make a good match. Every Saturday they would quietly gravitate to the same pew, usually in front of mom and me. I didn't see wedding rings on their fingers, but the vibe they gave was one of a serious relationship, a tight bond shared. One Saturday he came in by himself and sat in front of us. At the 'sign of peace' part of the mass, when he and I shook hands, I was able to add, "Please tell your wife we miss her this week." He smiled shyly and nodded. After mass he turned to my mom and me saying, "She's helping a friend move. (pause) She's a better friend than I am." Mom and I laughed. Besides looking forward to mass every Saturday, I like to see if 'the couple' is joining us to pray. Sometimes they arrive in time to sit in their usual pew, close to us, and sometimes we are a few pews away from each other, but no matter, I'm happy to see them. I'm joyful they are a part of our Saturday evening family of mass goers. BTW, I did see rings on their fingers recently. :) God bless us, each and everyone, always.

It might get loud

Hello www,
May you always find God with you, leading you to a greater understanding of Him, and a greater Love of Him. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Last year, on Jan. 23rd, four days before my brother's birthday, a documentary was made about two of my all-time favorite guitarists: Jimmy Page and The Edge. Jack White, the guitarist of White Stripes, claims he wanted to make this documentary so can learn secrets from the legends. I don't know if White learns those secrets but it is an excellent excuse to get Page and Edge together on one stage. We are a more than willing audience. Page has transformed into the white-haired wizard from Lord of the Rings. Edge looks the same, even if he has less hair and a skull cap. His eyes are ever piercing. It is a pleasure to have Page show us where the song, "When the Levee Breaks," was recorded. He lovingly reveals to us where John Bonham's drum kit sat. He claps to uncover the acoustics of the charming house. Actual black and white footage fills in the rest of the story: we see the band horsing around on the lawn and the huge bus packed with recording equipment sitting next to the house. Edge was the most serious of the three. We're shown parts of Ireland and car bombs. We're taken to the high school where the band rehearsed. Edge is brutally honest about the bands lack of talent in it's early stages. He wants a better world and was thrust into the political realm at an early age. His guitar is his political wand. White is the 'let's tear this mother down,' component in this rock and roll puzzle of three. His music is a struggle, and if there isn't a struggle, he creates one. He dissects the guitar, takes it to the barest essentials and then builds it up again. It's him vs his guitar and he is going to conquer it. Everytime. The film opens with White hammering out, literally, a 'guitar' from wire, an amplifier, a few nails. The cows in the scene are a bonus. Page has such a gentle, easy going demeanor that when the Edge asks him to play a different note when the three are jamming together, he does so gracefully. And Page's smile doesn't ever fully disappear from his face. Pure pleasure and glee are apparent as he shows the viewer one of his favorite songs, on a beautiful turn-table; he playfully air guitars with the music. I like the way the film only shows the guitar and the fingers of the player, teasing the viewer to guess who is playing. I was right everytime. Page has his style of playing that is easily distinguishable. He hasn't lost the sound of Zep in all that he plays; it reverberates in his very essence. Edge is always pushing his edge - finding his sound and expanding on it - pushing it until it pushes it back - and pulling it around him like a comfortable armor. There is one memorable scene where Edge plays something complicated and then asks, "Want to hear what notes I was playing?" With a mischievous grin he plays the piece again, without the effects this time, and reveals three notes. White is angry, passionate and loving, sometimes all at once. Other times just playing around and seeing what the guitar is going to spit at him, so he can spit back. See the film...be warned though: it might get loud. Thank you Lord for blessing us with music. We aren't worthy. God bless us!

Sundays

Hello www, May God bless you and keep you. In Jesus' name. Amen. When I was in the seventh grade, my brother, mom and I lived with my grandmother, my two aunts, and an uncle, in El Paso, Tx. My grandmother's house is a wonderful Victorian-style home; my mom and her four sisters pooled their money to buy it for my grandmother in 1952. The house was actually built in the 1930's. It's in a neighborhood where the homes don't resemble each other. The University of El Paso is just down the street. Nowadays the district is considered an historic part of El Paso. With plenty of rooms to roam, beautifully managed hard-wood floors, and a plethora of relatives to bother, it was an ideal place for a twelve-year-old. I didn't appreciate it at the time, but it was the perfect place for several different generations of family to live too. From my newly conceived cousin, to my eighty something grandmother, the continum of life spread before me. At 9:30 am I get up and go downstairs where Aunt Rosa has breakfast ready: fluffy white tortillas filled with chorizo and huevo. Not only did Aunt Rosa have breakfast ready, she had lunch started; roast beef with potatoes. The yummy aroma tip toes into each room of the house. After breakfast, and the wonderful company of my aunt Rosa, it is time to get ready for mass. My Aunt Helina and her son, my cousin, Frankie, come over to take us all to 11 o'clock mass at St. Patrick's. On the short drive over we listen to Kasey Kasem's "count down to today's hottest hits," on the radio. As we enter St. Patricks, I am reminded of the fact that the church was built in 1914in the Italian Renaissance style. It is magnificent. After mass the roast beef is ready to eat! But before anyone can eat, we say hello with hugs and kisses. Lively chatter, a mixture of Spanish and English, is heard from any room in the house. The rest of the day was open to anything: watching television, playing games, visiting, and if my aunt Rosa found a movie she liked in the paper, we would go to a matinee show. Other cousins would arrive; more hellos, hugs and kisses. Sometimes we just sat on the inviting front porch, swinging on the chairs, watching the afternoon pass. These are the Sundays I remember and the ones that I hope to create someday with my children. Enjoy each and every day of your life - it is all so precious! God bless us!

Dedication time

Hello www, God bless each and everyone of you wonderful people. God is so great, so mighty, so powerful, and yet so gentle and merciful to us. Be greatful for everything in your life, even the bad things that happen. I truly believe ALL roads lead us back to God. Keep your faith, pray often. In Jesus Name. Amen. A friend of mine turned me on to this song, thank you! It's thundering outside at the moment, and I'm kicking back on the new laptop, playing solitaire, with the dog laying at my feet and I thought, you know, that Kings of Leon song "Revelry" would sound great right now. Here's a share with you, dear reader, enjoy. (Better yet, YouTube it and hear for yourself.) Revelry What a night for a dance, you know I'm a dancing machine With the fire in my bones And the sweet taste of kerosene I get lost in the night so high don't wanna come down To face the loss of the good thing that I have found Woo hoo hoooo Woo hoo hoooo In the dark of the night I can hear you calling my name With the hardest of hearts, I still feel full of pain So I drink and I smoke and I ask you if your ever around even though it was me who drove us right into the ground See the time we shared it was precious to me But all the while I was dreaming of revelry Gonna run baby run like a stream down a mountainside With the wind in my back I wont ever even bat an eye Just know it was you all along that had a hold of my heart But the demon in me was a best friend from the start So the time we shared it was precious to me All the while I was dreaming of revelry Dreaming of revelry And I told myself oh the way you go it rained so hard it felt like snow Everything came tumbling down on me In the back of the woods, in the dark of the night Palest pale of the old moonlight Everythings just felt so incomplete Dreaming of revelry God bless ya!