Bud Gott's Amazing Blog-O-Rama!

What's going on currently in New Orleans and other parts of the South in the aftermath of Katrina is almost unbelievable. My heart breaks a little more each time I read a new report or see a news story on the situation.

Really, what are they all going to do? Where are all of those people going to go???

Forget what I said about it being almost unbelievable. The whole thing IS unbelievable. It's absolutely horrible.

Okay, just wondering here, is the comma above after the word "music" necessary? I'm not sure.

Anyway, onto my topic...

Some recent movies I've seen in the theaters: WEDDING CRASHERS, THE DUKES OF HAZZARD, and THE 40 YEAR-OLD VIRGIN. My reviews of them: they're all worth seeing.

WEDDING CRASHERS is probably the funniest of the three but THE 40 YEAR-OLD VIRGIN is almost as funny. THE DUKES OF HAZZARD is better than you'd probably expect it to be. It's different than the t.v. series but if you enjoyed the series you'll most likely enjoy the movie. And yeah, this may surprise some people, but Jessica Simpson actually does a good job in the role of Daisy. She won't win an Oscar for her performance but she still did a good acting job.

As for music...I'm currently listening to OUT-OF-STATE PLATES by Fountains Of Wayne. I've been into them for 7 or 8 years now - long before they had their first major hit with "Stacy's Mom." OUT-OF-STATE PLATES is their new release, a 2-disc set of b-sides, unreleased tunes, live stuff, etc. They even do a slowed down, yet kind of rocking version of Britney Spears' "Hit Me Baby One More Time" on here. It's very good. Actually, most of the songs on these discs are very good.

I'll be doing a full review of the cd(s) on my pal Dave's internet radio show in the next week or so. I'll let you know later when it's going to be and how you can hear it.

Finally, as far as television goes, two shows have been knocking me out lately: FAMILY GUY and BOSTON LEGAL. FAMILY GUY is so damned funny - it cracks me up. BOSTON LEGAL is also very funny at times, yet it's also very dramatic at other times. If you've never seen it, please do yourself a favor and watch it sometime soon. It's currently airing at 10:00 P.M. (E.S.T.) Tuesdays on ABC.

Last night I slept for around 7 hours. The night prior to that was for 10 hours. I usually average around 5-6 hours per night, so the last two nights were a real treat.

You know what's great? When you're able to sleep as long as you possibly can without anything at all waking you up. No alarm clocks or phone calls waking you up- it's the best. It's hard to find days like that but they sure are great when they happen.

My good friend Stacy H. just notified me that she hasn't been able to access this blog for the last few days. Has anyone else had that problem? Am I typing words that no one can see?

Maria and I went to The Philadelphia Museum Of Art a couple of weeks ago. We had such a great time there. It amazed me how many works of art there were by truly legendary artists. Picasso, Monet, Matisse, Dali - these were just some of the big names whose work I was able to see. So many impressive paintings and sculptures. Needless to say, I was very happy we made the trip to the museum that day. It was incredible.

The painting at the museum that appealed to me the most was the one pictured here - "Half Past Three" by Marc Chagall. Honestly, I don't know much about art. I'd never even heard of Chagall before. There was just something about that painting though. I stared at it for a very long time - far longer than I looked at any other works of art that day. Apparently, from what I read, Chagall was a fan of jazz music and his love of jazz inspired the painting.

Like I said, there's just something about it that appeals to me. I'm not sure why...but I sure do like it a lot.

I was just watching the afternoon news on t.v. and the lead story was on a 19 year old local soldier who was killed while serving in Iraq. There was also another local soldier, just a little bit older, recently killed over there.

I see stories like this and it tears me up. I mean, I know 19 years old is "officially" an adult age, but this young man who just died was practically still a kid.

This damned war has gone on waaaay too long. It needs to end soon...

Ever been so tired that you don't even feel like eating?

My day at work yesterday was crazy - and very exhausting. I barely ate all day, was hungry, but had very little desire to eat when I got home. All I wanted to do was rest.

Yeah, I don't want a lot more days like that...

...the Bryan Adams song "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman." Just imagine Elmer singing it!

"Tell me have you ever weally
weally weally ever wuuuuuved a woman..."

How great would that be?!?!

Bet you're gonna think of Elmer now the next time you hear that song...

I'm listening to Delilah on the radio right now. I always enjoy her show when I listen to it, although I don't listen to it religiously.

Right now Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful" is playing. I've always loved this song. Granted, it's pretty simple lyrically, but it's the sentiment that's what makes it so great.

I like that Joe's voice is so gruff yet he totally pulls off singing this love song. It seems like his voice shouldn't fit the song, but it works perfectly. I especially like how his voice sort of cracks on the last "to me."

A little trivia about the song: I recently learned that it was co-written (or maybe even totally written) by Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys. There's a great documentary on The Beach Boys called AN AMERICAN BAND in which you can see Dennis do the song twice. Dennis was one of my favorite Beach Boys. He never really sang lead on their big hits but he sang lead on a lot of their album tracks. He was a good singer, good songwriter, and pretty decent drummer. He died waaaaay too soon.

Another thing about Delilah: the lady's got a very sexy voice. Plus, she seems like a total sweetheart. Yeah, I'm kinda crushin' a little bit on Delilah.

Vicky took some pictures at Stacy's birthday dinner last Friday night and was nice enough to forward them to me. (Thanks, V!)

Above is me and Maria. We've been dating for a month or so. She's really a great lady. She's very sweet and has a fantastic sense of humor. It's sort of essential to have a sense of humor if you're dating me. Otherwise it might be hard to deal with things like me attempting to make the cheesiest-looking smile ever:



Vicky aimed the camera at Leo and I and I said, "Wait - get my good side!" Then I quickly struck my cheesey pose. Pretty damned cheesey-looking, if I do say so my damned self. That was my intention, so mission accomplished.

Finally, here's a pic of the birthday girl herself. I'm glad you had a fun time, Stacy. I know everyone else there did, too. :-)

I swear this site isn't becoming BirthDayCentral.com...lol....but I just HAD to mention my friend Stacy's birthday today.

Stacy is one of the best friends I've ever had. I don't get to see her as much as I used to but she means more to me than I can possibly put into words here.

Bottom line: she's one of my best friends and I love her. :-)

Happy Birthday to ya, Sta. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday to my good friend Cindy. You're one of my favorite people, Cindy. I hope today is one of your best birthdays yet. Enjoy!

I'm lucky to have the greatest dad in the world. Today is his 70th birthday.

Happy Birthday to George W. Gott, Sr. Hope you have a fantastic day, Dad!

So, I was driving home from the beach tonight and I saw a lit-up road sign that said: TURTLES ON ROAD - NEXT 9 MILES.

That's got to be one of the weirdest warnings I've ever encountered while driving!

What the hell happened anyway? Did a turtle truck overturn or something?

Today, August 1, is the 24th anniversary of the day MTV first premiered.

God, I used to love MTV! My cable provider didn't have it on its first day but we got it shortly afterwards. I was hooked from the first time I saw it. I had it on as much as possible. My poor father...I know it drove him crazy at times.

Too bad MTV sucks these days. Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know they've got a few decent shows on there, but I would love for them to be what they used to be - all music, all the time. I want my old MTV!

Also on this day in music history, Rick Springfield had the #1 song in the country with "Jessie's Girl." Fantastic song from a fantastic album - WORKING CLASS DOG.