A Real Life Rock Star

This week has been filled with numerous shopping trips to try to find the perfect outfit for Dave. He is scheduled to be in a photo shoot tomorrow morning at 7 (which is almost laughable) with his new band he is performing with.

Finally the ensemble is complete.

The theme turned out to be very Chris Robinsonish. It was mentioned by a female friend that Chris Robinson doesn't make the girls swoon (because he looks dirty and smelly). I think she is blatantly wrong. Dave and I both have personal proof that is in fact incorrect.





And check out these freaking shoes!



We also tried to get him in the role with being young punks. After a night of cosmic fog bowling...............................



We went back to the crib and played as a quartet until the neighbors started banging on the walls. Apparently electric guitars are especially loud when the amp is leaned against the wall and it is 2 am. Who knew?

All the while, Sigmund is indifferent.



I wish Dave luck, since he even went to the lengths of tweezing his eyebrows. He is well prepared. Now all he has to do is wake his ass up at 5:30 and get out the door.

One last one for good measure! That is one rockin' mofo.

Dave Carducci Post Update

I'll have all the pictures and stories from Dave's mid-west tour this Sunday. (And Dave I'll send you a CD of all the photos....email me your address).

Do You Have a Garden City Physician?

Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mi may have the resources to promote an extensive campaign about the quality of their physicians with their tagline, “Do you have a Beaumont doctor?” But how does Beaumont truly rank among hospitals in Macomb, Oakland, Wayne and Washtenaw counties?

The Report on Health Care Performance done by www.vitalmichigan.com, does not have Beaumont rated so highly. The report, which looks at the management of heart attacks, heart failure, pneumonia, infection prevention, mortality and safety has Beaumont only rated in the top 25% in heart attack management, infection prevention and safety volume. In fact in the management of heart failure Beaumont ranks in the middle 50% and in the treatment of pneumonia ranks in the lowest 25% among hospitals in the Metro Detroit area.

One hospital that out-performed Beaumont in the management of these diseases was a small community hospital, Garden City Hospital. Garden City scored in the top 25% in the measured categories of heart attacks, heart failure, pneumonia, infection prevention, mortality and safety and in the top 50% in safety volume. The only other hospital in the Metro Detroit region that scored this highly was the University of Michigan; and Garden City still out-performed U of M in the management of pneumonia.

These measurements are largely based on discharge instructions and early in-patient care. For example, a patient discharged after a heart attack should receive certain medications, such as an ACE inhibitor, aspirin, Plavix, beta-blocker and a statin. If these medications are not prescribed for patients then the patient’s care is considered sub-optimal. Therefore, one problem with a report like this is assuming that all individuals should be treated the same, which may not necessarily apply to every individual patient.

The competition among hospitals has reached a nauseating point, with Beaumont insinuating their institution is the only one that can save someone’s life and Oakwood stating they can have a patient treated almost before they enter the emergency department. However, these hospitals do not measure up to other hospitals in the management of heart failure, heart attacks and pneumonia.

There is one hospital that does manage these diseases better than most hospitals, although they do not have the resources to offer elaborate marketing campaigns. That hospital is Garden City Hospital. Do you have a Garden City physician?

Moving On

My stay in the EL was just as I expected. I got to see some friends and go out to some of my favorite places. Of course, I drank much too much! Yesterday the weather was gorgeous! Chris was able to take a little time out of his studies to have a Peanut Barrel lunch with me. I appreciated that. Other highlights included Oberon, arcade basketball, Caleb golf (which is golf infused with Miller Lite) Oberon, red pepper hummus, haircut, and Oberon. Somehow, I am managing to get out of town without having El Azteco. I am not sure if I am breaking some sort of law here. After dinner last night, I am not sure I could handle it though.

It is off to that state to the south to distract EZ from her studies and to see Dave Carducci perform.

That is, after I pack up all of the crap that I left at Caleb's when I moved. Hopefully my parents won't mind storing some of my garbage for eternity.

Does anyone have any thoughts or plans for Friday night. I think I heard something about AZ having Saturday off, so maybe Friday would be a good time to do something in a semi-fun to full out fun fashion. AZ is unable to be reached for comment, I tried.

One for Monday morning

It has been a while since anyone from the Alliance has posted. AZ is much busier than I am, and I am just in my own little world.

I finally have my bearings straight and have found all of the things nearby that I need in my life. I also found a little bit of fun this weekend. It has been a while since I went to a show that wasn't the Wednesdees, which by the way, will be playing again on Saturday, July 14th at the Berkley Front in Berkley along with our very own Dave Carducci.

I staved off the insanely hot weather by staying near a pool or in air conditioning. That was not much fun, but was no worse than when I lived in Dallas. Dallas was like that for weeks in a row though.

Friday took me on a tour of my roommate's life. She just took off on tour with Rocco DeLuca and the Burden. I had only heard a little bit of him before at my roommate's prodding and wasn't sure what I would expect. To my surprise, (and with the help of Mary, I got to the Henry Fonda Theater quite easily) Thanks Mary! I ate a very amazing chicken schwarma pita from a run down joint. Then I waited in line. Then I was complimented about my T-shirt from three separate individuals. (I was afraid I wasn't hip enough for the Hollywood scene, huh). One girl especially liked it, but that was going nowhere because I didn't feel like having to give her a ride to high school on Monday.

The first opening act began. It was a woman by the name of Sara Bareilles. She played jazzy, bluesy, poppy, soulful, amazing piano and voice creations. She was also very easy on the eyes, which always helps. She sounded like a happy Fiona Apple with energy. I was thoroughly impressed, and maybe a little smitten. You should check her out at: www.sarabmusic.com
Her CD just was released July 3rd. I especially liked when she said to buy her CD, download it from iTunes, for free from the internet, or burn it from a friend. She was just so happy to share her music. That inspired me to buy her CD. She was lovely enough to chat after the show and sign it for me.




Rocco Deluca was pretty good as well. (there was a 2nd opening act, which does not even deserve a mention this long) Prior to the show, I commented on how some of his stuff sounded a bit like Muse. Afterward, I think it is more the falsetto singing alone that I drew my comparison from. When Rocco played his soulful songs he was a bit intense. When he turned a few of them into extended jam sessions, I was a little drawn away. Much of it was over-distorted effect laden noise. I also think he over uses his high register. That being said, he has great range and great soul. I just thought the extended sessions were a little obnoxious. I wish him, and my roommate all of the success in the world on tour.

That brings us to Saturday.

Saturday I was back in Hollywood at the Hollywood Bowl. There was a big HUGE ticket fiasco in which I officially withdraw my thanks and appreciation to Mary given above and also the thanks and appreciation that will most likely be due to Mary in the future. I am kinda sorta just kidding, maybe. There isn't enough time or space here to get into it now.

The Decemberists were playing a show and being accompanied by the LA Philharmonic Orchestra. But first was Andrew Bird. (Before that there was Band of Horses who didn't deserve even being called by name....BORING) Perched high above the Hollywood Bowl (Due to the aforementioned FIASCO) Andrew Bird took the stage. It was one of the most amazing things I have heard musically. He is such a busy artist and really makes all of his instruments (including his whistle) produce magical music. When his set was up, Renee and I concurred that we could have listened to him for the rest of the night.

Then came The Decemberists. Who knew they were such a wildly popular band? They had 15,000 people thoroughly entertained. It made us feel old and slightly out of touch or place, I am not sure which. The show was excellent. The orchestra backing gave it a kind of fullness that turned the concert into more of a performance spectacle. As they finished their encore, I got a dreaded phone call confirming that Mary dropped the ball and heard Camille tearing up our two box tickets that she had set aside for us over the phone. Although we laughed and joked about it, the fact of the matter is regardless of where we sat (although up much closer in box seats would have been unspeakably cooler) it was so much fun and provided immense audio pleasure. Our murderous plots of Mary simmered down to inflicting great bodily harm and eventually settled at random moments of general discomfort.







I made it safely home both times without incident.

I enjoyed my Sunday away from Hollywood and back in the comforts of the valley. I had a great dinner from the Marmalade Cafe and enjoyed a spectacular beer that I have never seen or heard of before. It was Firestone Walker Double Barrel Pale Ale. It is brewed out of Paso Robles, CA. Delicious!

I Hope everyone is doing well. Hopefully, I will see many of you soon.

fast and furious grocery shopping

I went to Ralphs today to get some stuff for the BBQ on Wednesday. Luckily I forgot my list in the car. I ran out to get it and ran into Vin Diesel on the way back in. This wasn't even special Ralphs, like Britney's Ralphs or the one that had the shootout this past week. Whatever. I got my gettings and waited in line to check out to the likes of "I would walk 500 miles....". It made me think of Emily, naturally.

Goodnight.

Are You F*cking Serious?

No way. No way.

I guess I'm not too surprised. Just extremely upset and disgusted.

George W. Bush is an incompetent President. He has lied to the public in order to go to war with Iraq. The two elections he has “won” have been heavily disputed, with multiple recounts showing he would have lost in 2000 and accusation of extensive voter fraud in Ohio in 2004. His Vice President is a power hunger man who tramples the Constitution for personal gains. Administrators in the White House have fired judges because their political beliefs were not in line with those of the neo-conservatives. This administration is about as bad as it gets with abusing power, secrecy and lying.

And now President Bush has commuted I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby. The man who leaked the name of an undercover CIA operative and faced up to 30 months in prison will serve no time thanks to his buddy getting him off the hook. So add to the list of abuses commuting prison sentences.

President Bush explained, "I respect the jury’s verdict. But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby’s sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison. My decision to commute his prison sentence leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr. Libby. The reputation he gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged. His wife and young children have also suffered immensely. He will remain on probation. The significant fines imposed by the judge will remain in effect. The consequences of his felony conviction on his former life as a lawyer, public servant, and private citizen will be long-lasting."

Wow! Probation and fines! That is harsh. But President Bush has always been a bad-ass when it comes to getting tough on crime. For example, he was very harsh when he was the Governor of Texas; he executed 141 people during his time in office all the while protecting the sanctity of life too.

How much longer will this jackass be President? (I know until 2008, but can’t he just leave early and apology for being so bad?)

Not even a week......

Less than one week into my LA experience, I got my first parking ticket. Who would have thought that it would take more than 21 minutes to walk around the corner, go into the bank, and deposit some checks? I certainly didn't. Maybe I should have paid the $1.50 per 15 minutes in the garage as opposed to the .15 in the meter. Damn. It isn't even a good story. US Bank just sucked monkey ass like Ivan Rodriquez did today.