I found this picture while surfing the net and just thought, wow, that would look great in my living room. Since that's never gonna happen, I thought I'd post it on my page so I can view it every few minutes or so.

I think anyone who truly appreciates great art will agree that this painting handily captures the tender humanity inherent in any chaste flowering . . . okay, so it's really just the blatant, in your face erotica that I find most intriguing. That, and the fact that it really is a painting and not a photograph: The skin looks very touchable, the setting suggests the lushness of the relationship, and the cool pastel colors balance the understated but obvious heat. Sounds dispassionately critical, don't you think?

I guess I broke the rules a little as these two are not half-naked, but fully nude. I'll probably be breaking the rules a lot more, especially when there's so much great stuff floating around to post. So, to all the HNT fans out there, of which I am one, enjoy. I sure will.

I enjoyed another wonderful Christmas this year. Although I have many nieces and nephews to spoil, and a wife, siblings and parents I enjoy exchanging gifts with, I received much, much more than I could ever hope to give. I try, I really do; but my limited budget keeps me from overdoing it. With me, it's always been quality over quantity. Seems to work. Anyway, some of the cool presents found under my tree this year were: Goldmine record guide (which I'm going through page by page, highlighting each vinyl gem I've managed to collect over 35 years); the book See No Evil, which was turned into the film Syriana this year; 2 wonderful dress shirts that fit me to a tee, look nice, and hide my belly; cash from my mom (she likes to keep it simple and agrees with my gift preference philosophy, "cash works"; and perhaps my favorite gift of all, the DVD of Sideways, simply one of my favorite films of 2004. I can and will write more about this little gem later, but do yourself a favor, watch it. I guess I identify with the lead character, Miles, played with an understated brilliance by Paul Giamatti, because, like me, he's an English teacher, (well, I used to be), he occasionally drinks too much, he's not the most confident guy on the block, and he longs to be a novelist. All the main characters in the film intrigued me, from Maya, Miles' future sole mate and fellow wine afficianado, to Jack, the former actor and wanton sex-machine, to Stephanie, the hot single mom who, temporarily, falls under Jack's spell. Do yourself and favor and check it out. You won't be disappointed.

I guess I'll blog about music since it's really the only thing I can write about easily. This album by the PMG is their latest, and easily their most unusual: it's one song in four parts, and it manages, in 65 minutes, to encapsulate everything I love about the Pat Metheny Group. First, there's no real concession to what's popular. This is a musical journey with musical cues. If rhythm, tempo, dynamics, and melody provide enough stimulus to compel you through a song, then check this out. 2nd, the group really plays well together. Pat always assembles a great team of musicians to record with, and this version of the PMG is no exception--they all add their own distinctive personalities to the composition. Third, live it really worked well. When I saw them at the Universal amphitheater earlier this year, they played the entire piece from start to finish in one long breath that just completely stunned the audience. Even hard-core Metheney group fans, of which I am one, had never seen anything like it. They followed that with 2 more hours of choice PMG material. Really, just one of the best concerts I've ever witnessed. So 2005 was pretty much a PMG year for me. But I also listened to a lot of Todd Rundgren. Start with Runt and work your way through till Nearly Human, and you'll have experienced a bizarre and brilliant body of work.

Merry Christmas Everybody. Hope you find what you're looking for under the tree!

Here's the famous writer enjoying a day at Disneyland.