Saturday
After the big week in Daytona Beach, it's time to just kick back and relax.
Of course, the news all over the Internet is the death at age 48 of Whitney Houston. I am sad, but not surprised. Yet another example of a star who could not handle their fame. I can well remember her self-titled debut album back in 1985 when she was new, fresh, and had a voice that brought chills. From there, she crested, and began to sink as quickly. I think the low point for me was her occasional appearances (mostly off camera) in the "Being Bobby Brown" reality show, where her cocaine-induced cries for "BOBBYYYYYY," became the brunt of jokes. Shame on the Bravo channel for airing this piece of crap, even for the one season it ran in 2005, while at the same time the cable channel was running other, mostly good programming that appealed to a little higher level of humanity. (Although they have now sunk into a pit of despair and human depravity, ala "Real Housewives ...") That Whitney made it seven years after that is amazing, but I knew it would only be a matter of time before she self-destructed. What a wicked waste. And that's all I have to say about that.
OK, the one thing I DO need is groceries because I am just about out of everything, having cleaned out the fridge before my departure. So after a breakfast of oatmeal, I head over to the Walmart Neighborhood Market and drop $75, which includes $30 for a Benicar prescription refill.
This includes $13 for two ribeye steaks (on sale for $6.99 a pound) of which I will have one tonight and freeze the other one for later. I also get a potato for baking to go along with that.
After I put away the groceries, I'm in serious need of a workout, having "slacked" in Daytona for the week, so I bike over to Anytime Fitness at around 2 p.m. and do my usual routine, having a protein bar for "lunch" during the workout. I return to the condo and "fire up" the electric grill. (There's no fire, just a heating element, but grills with flame are not allowed at the condo community.) I cook up one of those ribeyes medium rare and have it with half a baked potato (saving the other half for home fries for later). Delicious, and washed down with a cold can of "Busch" beer.
Sunday
I make a quick morning run to the Publix for a Sunday paper, kitty litter, and a half pound each of Boar's Head Tavern Ham (it's the best!) and sliced Havarti cheese. If you're wondering why I didn't pick up these items yesterday at the Walmart, it's because Publix has a better deli! The notable thing this morning is the weather ... it has turned unseasonably cold, and the temperature gauge on the Prius reads 43 degrees. I actually have to put on a sweatshirt to make this particular errand! After breakfast, I list a couple items on eBay that I have purchased in Daytona that I want to turn quickly. After checking the coupons and the Travel/Leisure section of the Sunday paper, I head on over to the Fleamaster Flea Market for something to do. I want some more DVD videos, and to touch base with my book guy, Chris. I have been wanting a copy of "Sanibel Flats," by Randy Wayne White since I started hearing about this local author about a month ago. Copies locally are hard to come by since he's a "local hero" of sorts, so I finally ordered one off of eBay for a buck (plus $3.95 shipping) on February 7th while I was in Daytona. Hopefully, it will be here next week. Ironically, Chris has a first edition at his flea market booth, but he wants $100 for it. I only require a reading copy of course! I also pick up four DVDs for ten bucks for the "movie lady" including:
- Beowulf;
- I, Robot;
- Matchstick Men; and
- Thirteen Days
I also score a spray bottle of SPF 30 sunscreen for three bucks, and pick up a four-pound bag of grapefruit for another three bucks, and the lady offers me another bag for a buck if I will take it. It's Sunday (the last day of the flea market for the week) and it's getting on 2 p.m. (they close at 5), so I'm guessing they reduce their prices later in the day to get rid of the produce because it's probably too old to sell by the following week. I wish I could eat that many grapefruit, but I have to pass on that particular bargain. The interesting thing about today's flea market is that nearly everyone (vendors and shoppers) are bundled up in winter coats, hats, and some are even wearing gloves or mittens. And here I am walking around in shorts and a T-shirt. I don't think it got much above 50 degrees today, and the wind is blowing also. A couple people take note of summer attire and comment, "You're not from around here, are you." and they don't phrase it as a question!
I head back to the condo, skipping my usual stop at Sun Harvest for key lime pie and coffee. It's delicious, but I need to throttle back a little bit. I get a little reading done. I'm well into "Isaac's Storm," which is a fascinating account of the 1900 hurricane that leveled Galveston, Texas. Now, I want to visit Galveston (I didn't realize it was an island), and may schedule my next cruise out of there because it is a deep water port used by Royal Caribbean (and other cruise lines, I'm sure). Anybody up for being my "cruise buddy" for next winter?
I also watched and enjoyed the Grammy awards on CBS. I boycotted this particular awards program for several years, because it was just getting too out of control with loud, angry, music with lyrics I could not understand. I think the music industry has returned to some level of sanity, and is going back to artists whose music is more happy or, at the very least, understandable. Of course, it's a reflection of the public's tastes, and I think things have mellowed out a little bit, and people are realizing they have plenty of other things to be pissed off about; they don't need anger and discord in their music.
The show was of course dominated by Whitney Houston's death, but managed to carry on. It is unfortunate that one of her most remembered songs is (and probably will be) "I Will Always Love You." It's a trite, blase, four-chord song written by Dolly Parton (and she never did well with it by the way) but I suppose it was a natural choice for her tribute song, and at least Jennifer Hudson had sufficient chops to belt it out.
The Beach Boys reunion number was fun, but at the same time sad. Brian Wilson looked so fragile, if not downright narcoleptic. Mark Love looked a little more perky, as did Al Jardin and the other "originals." I can't prove it, but I could swear somebody else was hitting those high falsetto notes on "Good Vibrations" while the original guys were lip syncing. Yeah, I know, the guys are in their '70s. I get it. But should they be performing, let along doing a 50th Anniversary Reunion tour that will reportedly take in 50 U.S. dates and 50-60 overseas dates? I don't know for sure, but I think not. Like Wayne Newton, they should have hung it up years ago and been remembered for the great band that they WERE. Time will tell, and the dates and number of performances keeps changing almost on a daily basis. But mark my words: If they attempt the tour, Wilson will drop dead. Remember where you heard it first.
The performance by Glen Campbell was touching, but again sad. Did anyone else catch him saying, "Where do I go?" after the end of "Rhinestone Cowboy"?
Finally, I for one didn't begrudge Adelle one bit for walking away with six Grammys, and she did a nice job on her performance. It's about time a chubby girl who writes and sings songs from the heart and performs without the usual overproduction of 100 backup musicians and electronic gimmickry wins a frickin' award or two! I also thought Bon Iver was worthy of his Indie award, and his shout-out to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, was a hoot and surely unprecedented in award show history. All in all, I thought it was a good show.
Expenses: groceries and meds, $75; movies, sunscreen, and grapefruit, $16. Total: $91
Bruce
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