Brad Barrish

Thanks to the Telecommunications Consumer Bill of Rights, you will now have 30 days to figure out that AT&T has crappy service.

I was having brunch with Kelley on Sunday. The check had come and we were waiting for our waitress. Kelley excused herself to go to the bathroom. That’s when I had a chance to look around. Two tables to my right was this guy who was clearly very anxious about something. He was alone and judging from the arrangement of the table, I don’t think he was planning on company. His glass of water was in front of him. He simultaneously dipped both index fingers into his glass of water and dabbed the drops of water on various parts of his face and neck. On his top lip, under his eyes, on his temples, on the back of his neck, under his chin, and so on. By the time I saw him do it the fifth or sixth time, it had gone beyond what could have possibly been someone just trying to cool down. And then there was the fidgiting followed by pill popping. He had what looked to be a prescription bottle that he would open, shake a pill onto his palm, down the pill, close the bottle and repeat at least four times. He could have taken more pills, but I was too busy watching the young couple two tables to my left. They were holding one another’s hands under the table. Both hands. And their heads were bowed with their eyes closed. Their lips were moving and within moments they each looked up at the other and I saw their mouths say, “Amen.” I don’t even know how to finish this story.

At the last minute (because unemployment allows me to do things at the last minute), I went with Joel and saw “Bukowski: Born Into This.” I’ve only read a couple of his books of poetry and one of his novels. I’ve always had an appreciation of his belligerence and vulgar truth-telling, but at the same time I’ve alwasy wondered if that’s how he really was or if it was schtick. I mean of course there’s going to be a certain amount of truth to his work. The movie certainly confirmed that. It also showed that he was a sensitive and sometimes contradictory human being. The extensive amount of interviews and footage made for a compelling documentary on Bukowski’s life. The movie was thoroughly enjoyable and humorous. I would recommend it to anyone who has half an interest in who Charles Bukowski was.

Welcome (again) previous Jeans And A T-Shirt readers. Please make sure to update your bookmarks, links, and whatevers to the new address. Thank you. As you were….

Leave it to the smart mind of John Moe at McSweeney’s to lay out the pros and cons of John Kerry’s top twenty vice-presidential candidates. It’s concise and enlightening. Thank you, John.

Joseph emailed me today to inquire as to what happened to the old site and to let me know he wanted to send his EP to me. I went to his web site and really enjoyed the four songs he posted. They are lovely songs to enjoy on a quiet Sunday afternoon. Judge for yourself.

I fancy myself a geek, so it was of little surprise that this exhaustive (and hilarious) test proved me correct.

In case you missed it the first time around, there’s another chance to see the Frontline special “The Way The Music Died” tomorrow. Check your local listings. The web site is an awesome companion to the show, I might add.

When I read stuff like this, I can’t help but feel a bit sad and want to cry, ‘foul.’ Yes, Jeff Buckley was one of the most amazing musical artists to come along in my lifetime, but he released one proper album. Since he drowned in 1997, every b-side, outtake and frankly, a lot of garbage has been released by his estate (his mom). Having read quite a bit about Jeff, I don’t know if he would have been so happy about all of it. He was a perfectionist, probably to a fault. Anyway, it’s not my place to say and I’ll probably shell out the money to buy “Grace” (again) in all of it’s expanded, super-sized glory.

I will start the month of June as a free agent. Yep, that’s right, I’ve left my job. And no, I don’t have much of a plan, another job or much of anything at the moment, but that will all come soon enough. I have to say it feels really good to leave something when you’re heart’s not in it. It was one of those situations where I started getting a feeling that I wasn’t doing the “right” thing with regards to my career. I couldn’t be more thankful that I gave it a shot though. I gained a lot of skills, a new appreciation for attention to details and a tremendous amount of respect for assistants. You never know until you try and you’re never too old to start over again. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some unemployment paperwork to fill out.