"How Do You Ride a Disco Stick?"

I never have been and never will be hip to the club scene, but I feel pretty confident in thinking that there's really no such object as a 'disco stick' when it comes to the dance floor, the DJ booth or the other areas that define the club scene. But consider this lyric:

Let's have some fun, this beat is sick;
I wanna take a ride on your disco stick.

There's only one way I can interpret this, especially when the lyric is pulled from a song entitled 'Lovegame' and when the artist looks like this.


Now try explaining it to an eight-year-old. That was what I was faced with this week as I allowed the TV to stay on Time Warner's 'Hit List' music channel while we ate dinner.

Question #1 from my stepson: "What's a disco stick?" I had no clue what the hell he was talking about until I listened to the song and heard the lyric. Yeah, maybe my mind just raced to the fucking gutter, but I can't think of any other way to interpret that. After I played dumb, Dominic came to the conclusion that it must be just like one of those shiny disco balls that hangs over the dance floor. Sure, sounds good to me.

Question #2: "But how do you ride a disco stick?" Can anyone answer that?

Other quotes of the week from my world:

"Send 'em all to fucking jail." This one came from my boss over lunch Friday. Being the lone female at the table, I hardly expected this kind of passionate interjection as the three men discussed the latest leak of 2003 steriod users in baseball. Rightfully, her comment was directed toward those who leaked the names of the offenders. I agree that there needs to be some serious accountability for this. Yes, the likes of A-Rod, Manny and Ortiz should be scorned for their use of performance enhancers, but those tests in '03 were part of an anonymous survey. The results should have been destroyed after they'd been tallied, and there NEVER should have been names attached to them. It really shouldn't be too difficult.

"Look at your nickels!" This is courtesy of my three-year-old boy, Joey. Proving that context is key to interpreting anything a child says, Joey said this as his 19-month-old brother ran around temporarily shirtless. Yes, 'nickels' are in fact nipples in our house.

Needless to say, it can be a riotous time in my world.

Revolutionary Road and the Anti-Pop Culture

One of my favorite musicians, former Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell, was once quoted as saying, “People just don’t realize how much fun it is to be depressed.”

Now, while I hesitate to go nearly that far, I must say that in popular culture there’s a ridiculous misconception that everything must be upbeat and have a happy ending. Clearly that’s not the case. In an era when ‘Top 40’ music is almost entirely comprised of hip-hop and bubble gum pop, there needs to be a freaking reality check. That’s why I tend to search for good music rather than just listen for it – you’re certainly not going to find much of it on mainstream radio.

Likewise, the best movies you ever see are not likely to be the action blockbusters that cost $100+ million to produce. One of the best movies I’ve seen recently falls into that category. It was Revolutionary Road, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. A couple of notes to consider if you are interested in seeing it.

1. You may not want to watch this with your spouse
2. You certainly don’t want to watch it with your spouse if you’ve had some problems at home
3. You may not want to watch it at all unless you’re truly a fan of film and can really appreciate the portrayal of an unhappy story. Not everyone can do that.

All those things considered, this movie is by no means over-the-top in its content. It just won’t make you feel warm and fuzzy at any time. But we don’t always need to be warm and fuzzy. A little dose of the darker side of reality should be appreciated.

Rockin' with the HCP

Considering that I've really only hung out with my California cousins a handful of times in my life, it's improbable to think that I've crossed paths with them twice in a matter of two months. But that has been the case, with the most recent meeting taking place last night.


My traveling cousins are traveling with their band, The Henry Clay People. The HCP bang out my kind of music, which I suppose can only be described genre-wise as alternative rock. (I don't really like that label, but I guess it works.)

So The Henry Clay People were passing through Kansas City last night on their way to Scottsdale, Arizona, to complete the final leg of their tour. They're meeting back up with up-and-coming L.A. based band The Airborne Toxic Event, after finishing up some recent dates with alt-rock veteran Ben Harper and his band the Relentless 7.

Needless to say, good company for my cousins and their bandmates as they try to make names for themselves around the country.

So far, the following for the HCP has been fairly contained to Southern California, but some national exposure is bound to help. The band will be playing next week at the Sasquatch Music Festival in Washington, and in August they'll be part of Lollapalooza in Chicago.

Not bad for four young men who started out playing modest clubs in suburban Los Angeles. Do us all a favor and check them out.

http://www.myspace.com/thehenryclaypeople