A Couple More Comments on Roswell; January 6; Real Audio; Josephine Baker; Personals

I paid a quick visit to IMDB last night to check if there were any comments about Roswell. And there were; in fact, there were a lot of them. Surprisingly, they were from a cross section of viewers not just teenage girls. Almost without exception, everything was very positive, and many commented on Max's sexual intensity.

One person made some adroit observations comparing the plight of the alien teens to that of gay teens. You are different, but you don't want people to know. You're harassed, so you try to "pass." You feel very isolated and displaced. People think you're weird or an outright freak. An intriguing analogy.

Today is January 6. The arrival of the wise men. The burning of the green. The Epiphany. Twelfth Night. The traditional day for taking down the Christmas tree. The end of Christmastide. Certainly, in America, outside of a few ecclesiastical situations, it is an almost forgotten occasion.

Yesterday, I downloaded the latest version of Real Audio. I paid the fee, and only after finishing did I realize it was a beta. Oh me! Oh my! Today, I got a message saying it needed a missing component. Then later a message saying a plug-in was needed. Then a messages saying to wait while the browser contacted the Real Media web site. So it took about an hour to make a connection.

The new version does little to assuage my sense of doubt concerning the reliability of streaming media.

After much ado, I was able to listen to Radio GoGaGa. Radio GoGaGa either has a slow server, or it is so popular that that the server can't keep up. Or it is so popular that the link becomes overwhelmed. I've never been able to listen for more than hour before being disconnected. Initially I loved GoGaGa, but the mix is so eclectic, and the connection so inconsistent that I've more or less given up.

However, I did get to hear Josephine Baker this morning. This is the woman who came from a background of absolute poverty in St. Louis to take Paris by storm in the '20s with "La Revue Negre" wearing nothing but strategically placed bananas. Her career continued for over fifty years, and she is one of the legendary figures of entertainment.

Curiously enough I saw her on television, the one and only time, about fifteen years ago on The Tonight Show. I remember Ed McMahon announcing her name, and at first, I didn't believe it. When she came on, it was so sad for Johnny Carson had no idea who she was! He kept having to look at his cards for even the simplest question. I had read somewhere that he frequently was very uninformed about his guests, but this was truly pathetic.

She returned to Paris and started another revue. On opening night, it was a dramatic success. But that was her only performance for she died in her sleep the same evening. I think if you tired to make up her story, no one would believe it.

(Update of 02/07: She actually died less than a week later of a cerebral hemorrhage.)

If you've been reading this for a while, you know, I mentioned placing a personnel at Excite and Yahoo. As I feared, most of the responses were depressing. Some guys obviously wanting to get their rocks off and nothing more. Or someone looking for a playmate while the wife is out of town. (My worst case story here is the time I was enjoying someone's company, and the cell phone rings. It was his wife wanting to remind him about something. Holy Shit! I could see her busting down the door and blasting me into kibbles and bits with her double barrel.) A couple of responses were so crudely worded, I'm not sure what they had in mind.

Some were outside the range I had stipulated. Age I can deal with to a degree. But I have to be honest and say I have a problem with respondents who are overweight. And 285 is overweight unless you are 8'4" or practicing for the national sumo championship. And the other problem is height. At 6'3", I frequently feel I'm living in munchkinland. (Yes, I've had short relationships: in more ways than one.) So I want some type of height compatibility.

And the biggest factor is mental. Someone who wants to learn, who is curious, who is willing to try new things. A little romance is a plus too.

OK, loyal readers, if you know someone fitting these criteria, send them my way.

PAX!