Ironman Cozumel - 0 Days To Race...

Why I l Love This Town...

There are certain words I'm very careful with, as I try to not be a whore to that which either sounds profound or sounds like it's attempting profound. How confusing and coded - sort of my style - like burying the lead...also mine.

Tonight, Brandon Flowers is in town, playing his solo tour at the Wiltern. The word I've been holding back is hero. Brandon Flowers is one of my heroes. For that to happen, someone's behavior has to speak to me on a very special level. He's been speaking to me since he began speaking, so much that in my first novel, the two mains meet and befriend the actual Brandon Flowers on a romp to Sin City. Someday he'll read it and we'll have a drink and I'll say all this to him and he'll be like yeah I get you. Then he'll say it again and it'll be left at that - that two people from different worlds and breaths and beats can push art through wholly different venues and still share the same echo. I'm just saying. He came through the Troubador when I was in the Philippines and that left a mark on me, missing that.

But that's not all. I am also an avid runner who is now becoming an avid triathlete. One of the first glimpses I had into the sport, years ago, was through a man by the name of Chris McCormack - Macca. I remember watching the Kona Ironman on TV - usually broadcast in December - and watching his packaged profile, hearing his competitors speaking of him as this brutally tough, arrogant little Australian spitfire. I liked that immediately. I remember watching him win Kona some years ago, knowing I would never forget it. I remember checking up on him from time to time, understanding he was probably the best to ever compete in the sport. In October, when this year's version of the Kona Ironman happened, Macca struck again, somehow seemingly out of nowhere to win one of the most amazing races I had ever seen. Watch it in December, even if you have no idea what I'm talking about. Chris McCormack is my hero. Sometimes, I see him running in the neighborhood. Next time I do, I'm parking and chasing. On Monday, 5 days after Mr. Flowers, I'm going to see Macca speak in Redondo about his win in Kona. I'm going to see how he does business - how he speaks, moves, answers what will certainly be at least a dozen of the most non-sensical and lunatic questions a man could be asked. Los Angeles, I love you.

Gentlemen, keep it up.

This One Hurts...

I was at a joint last night on Sunset, having dinner with a buddy of mine before seeing RDJ and Galafanakis in Due Date. Same joint, remarkable joint, at this point in time, even on a world scale, I'm not sure another rivals it. Dinner was great, and the movie made me laugh. At some point, it was around 11 and I was chasing some dame and floating around, trying to find my way out but also back upstairs at the top bar, completely content with my evening before Elton John and the droves that go along with someone like him began to trickle in and speak of a night that made me regret not keeping my ear to the places I needed to keep my ear to...to find out he was playing a somewhat hushed show at the Hollywood Palladium. It still sort of hurts...a lot.

I see Elton John the way I see Brandon Flowers in the sense that they both move me something incredible - and they're boys, brothers in arms...and I love that. But I'm sitting here trying to soften the blow, and listening to the roaring, singing crowd behind him in the video...and something about that makes everything better, knowing that Elton John wasn't exactly mine like he was for the generation ahead of me. I never would have forgotten the show, but maybe something about it would have felt borrowed...at least that's what I'm telling myself.

When Mr. Killer comes to the Wiltern next week, I'll just have to count on The One I Missed flying back between Louisiana and Oklahoma to duel heart and genius. Either way, I'll just have to survive. Or drive to Ontario, CA tomorrow. What the hell is Ontario, California?

Going Solo...

And we'll follow genius wherever it decides to go.

Brandon Flowers...

"I really care what people think but people don’t seem to understand ‘Human.’ They think it’s nonsense. But I was aching over those lyrics for a very long time to get them right. It’s taken from a quote by Hunter S. Thompson. 'We’re raising a generation of dancers,’ and I took it and ran. I guess it bothers people that it’s not grammatically correct, but I think I’m allowed to do whatever I want."

My fucking hero.

The Killers...

A lot of people dumped or dumped on them after Sam's Town came out. Hilarious. I remember reading an article that quoted Brandon Flowers saying something about the smoke clearing, somewhere down the road...Sam's Town would go down as one of the greatest albums ever recorded. Now, I'm not quoting and could be off base, but I remember reading that and applauding. That album was my soundtrack in South Africa. It's what I listened to as I trekked up Lion's Head alone, after it was closed due to fog, battling bouts of Vertigo, thinking I was being hunted/would soon be bit by a death dealing snake with no one to help and I would end on top of that fucking mountain.

Brothers and sisters, those tunes are etched.

That doesn't mean Hot Fuss isn't. It is remarkable, indeed. When I look back on memories tied to songs and albums and find myself picking between roaming the South of Africa and blackout nights in the Hollywood Hills, I gotta give grat that the former holds this heart.

Then they pulled together this album called Sawdust. I was a little hesitant at first, thinking it was mostly comprised of mash ups and cut tracks. It's not. Or, it is...but it's not. While every track deserves a listen, if you aren't going to listen to them at all, please grab tracks 3 and 4. Because I care about you.

The first time I heard the drop, drop in "Bourbon," I wept. It crippled me. A thousand times later, it still does. And though this coming video doesn't hold the exact clout of the studio version, it serves dual purpose in backing that The Killers are possibly the most inspired band playing the world today...and this clip - the exact reason YouFuckingTube was invented.

Please, just watch his hands.