you know the drill – 2016 was all Tronald Dump, and Gigi Hadon’t and bunch of other garbage szauce, but 2017 is gonna be different, and amazing, and awesome szauce.  There may be some KKK, but don’t worry, everything will be A-OKKKK.  How do we know?  We juss do.  Anywho, The Washington Post does a list thing, and so do we, cause old rabbits cry bards…
a who’s who of horrible human beings – Jodi Arias, Scott Peterson, The Menendez Brothers, Drew Peterson, Ted Bundy, Joran van der Sloot, Pamela Smart, Jean Harris, Billionaire Boys Club, The Preppy Killer, Steven Avery, Charles Manson.  sure, the news is old, but the reenactments are fresh – and I friggin love reenactments!!!  also, the Steve Avery one had me throw out any sympathy that I had formed from watching Making of a Murderer!!!  also, I could listen to Steve Helling talk ALL DAY
a show I truly hate to watch, cause I always feel the need to take 82929 showers after watching it, but I cannot quit on the Gallaghers, especially now that the little kids are coming into their own, and so is Kevin (above) and his shorter hair!
the show inches closer and closer to the Norman Bates we all know and love, while creating the Norman Bates we never knew anything about. Â sad that the upcoming season will be its final oneÂ
making broadcast TV comedies fun again, and again! Â probably my favorite modern TV family
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other solid forms of entertainments:Â
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver – it was all a lot of fun AND games, until his efforts to stop Trump were in vain, and I couldn’t watch the show anymore
The Circus – fantastic and immediate election season show was a must watch, although I still haven’t brought myself to watch the final episode. Â gasp
The Affair - so so so soo soo excellent that it made me eat Lunch
Maron -Â nice ending to a show that didn’t seem to have a beginning
Silicon Valley – still my favorite cast on TV
The Last Man Earth – still my 2nd favorite cast on TV
Married At First Sight 4Â -Â finally, some of the people found love
Veep – incredible how the insane politics of this show were outdone by the real insane politics of 2016!
Married by Mom and Dad – what a great bad idea. Â its heart is in the right place, even if the hearts don’t end up in the right place
Tyrant - the show ran out of steam, and I was basically done with it once Ashraf Barhom was done
Fargo - I hope they keep farGOING and GOING!!!
Modern Family – it’s like they’re trying too hard to be funny, and it shouldn’t have to be that way
my relationship with Leonard Cohen began with a 1990 film that left quite an impression on me then, and forever – Pump Up The Volume.  Within the opening minute of the film, a young and super cool Christian Slater leans into a microphone and says…
Down to business. I got my Wild Cherry Diet Pepsi, and uh, I got my Black Jack gum here! And I got that feeling. Mmm, yeah that familiar feeling? That something rank is going on out there
Slater then applies a needle to a record, and my ears would never be the same…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQJIjXSmwhs
WHO IS THAT GUY SINGING THIS SONG??? Â WHY IS HIS VOICE SO DEEP, SO HUSKY, SO RESONATE, SO UNIQUE AND AMAZING???
oh wait, here’s another song by this guy in the movie! Â this song and that voice are JUST AS INCREDIBLE!!!!
I ran out and bought the soundtrack – and yet NEITHER song was on the album.  my heart sank.  sure, there was a Concrete Blonde cover of ‘Everybody Knows’ on the disc, but that was no consolation to me.  I NEEDED those two songs, but this was a pre-internet time – with no easy mp3ing as an option, and for some reason, I was stifled in finding a CD that contained both of these songs.  ARRRRGH!!!
Four years later, in 1994, I found myself in a Tower Records in Tel Aviv, Israel, and there was a Leonard Cohen CDÂ containing both songs!! Â FINALLY!!! Â Alas, they were live concert versions, but they would do. Â Anything would do in order to get my ears back to those songs, without having to hire Christian Slater as my personal DJ
And that’s when my Leonard Cohen loved blossomed even more, and has never stopped blossoming.  I even nudged my parents into the grip that Leonard can wean on any ears he enters.  This was an odd twist – as my parents’ love of 50s and 60s music greatly influenced my musical upbringing and tastes, and here I am, influencing them on something they probably should have known about well before I was even on this earth, but better late than never, for all of us.  And mom has always been appreciative of the introduction, and as a Leonard convert, she would try to influence others to fall under his spell too
Now if only the guy who hadn’t been on tour since 1993 would tour…
AND HE DID!
And of course I had to be there - May 16th, 2009 at Radio City Music Hall – and of course it was amazing, BUT, when it was time for ‘If It Be Your Will’ – he let his backing singers sing the lead, and I was thighly disappointed – cause I NEEDED to hear him sing it live, but hey, I at least heard him sing ‘Everybody Knows’ live, and many many other of his great songs!
And of course my mom (and dad) needed to see him, and so I gladly saw him again with them - December 18th, 2012 at Madison Square Garden – and of course it was amazing again, and of course he let his backing singers sing lead on ‘If It Be Your Will’
I guess it was his will for me to never hear him sing it live, but I can hardly complain – as Leonard Cohen and his music was a part of my life, and even after he lost his life, he and his music will remain with me, and us all
I think it’s time for me to watch Pump Up The Volume again. Â It will be my will
01. Jan, 2017 
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