Finally, the Bea Arthur fans can rejoice. Maude season one is now on DVD! After the release of all seven seasons of the Golden Girls, Bea Arthur's previous show "Maude" has finally been released. Maude originally aired from 1972-1978. Bea Arthur's character "Maude Findlay" was originally seen on "All in the Family" as Edith Bunker's cousin. Maude became a very successful spinoff for its creator Norman Lear. The show is set in Tuckahoe, New York. The show is about the liberal minded Maude and her fourth husband, Bill Macy, and grown up daughter, Adrienne Barbeau. The show also starred Esther Role as the housekeeper who would spin off onto her own show, "Good Times." Conrad Bain, the rich dad from Diff'rent Strokes, played the neighbor. And Bea's future costar of "The Golden Girls," Rue McClanahan, was also on the show!  The fantastic Adrienne Barbeau would go on to star in John Carpenter's "The Fog" and "Escape From New York," and Wes Craven's "Swamp Thing." Adrienne actually got her start in musicals and was the original "Rizzo" in Grease. She actually has recorded an album as well!

I was actually first introduced to Bea Arthur on the Golden Girls. It was only years later that I learned she had a previous hit show. I had only seen a couple of the episodes before I bought this DVD. The DVD includes all the original 22 episodes from the first season. All with the brilliant theme song by Donny Hathaway "And Then There's Maude." Unfortunately there is no bonus material on this DVD. It is a shame. No commentaries, no bloopers, no documentaries or behind the scenes footage. There is not even music playing in the menu screen. I could for sure watch some episodes in spanish or french, but not on this DVD. But it is still worth it.

It was so nice for Patrick Wolf to wait until my birthday to release his new album "The Magic Position" here in the states. Or I guess I should say, that it was nice for his label to wait until the 1st of May. It has been out for a month or 2 already in the UK, so I have already spent some quality time with it. This is Patrick's 3rd album and first since his departure with the excellent label Tomlab. "The Magic Position" is if nothing else, one of the best album covers of the year. While one would think Patrick would be maturing and using more adult imagery on his albums. He has gone the opposite direction as a man child on a sort of magical merry go round, dressed like a 10 year old having his cowboy theme birthday party. Or maybe he was just planning this all along for my birthday celebration. I did have an outfit very similar to that on my tenth birthday.  Unfortunately my mom would not let me get away with that hair color until I was in high school. Whatever you may think of the album cover, there is no denying it is a unique and brave idea. Much like the music you will find inside.

I having been loving Mr. Patrick Wolf for a while now. He seriously blew me away with his first excellent album "Lycanthropy." I remember that I read a little bit about this before it came out and was very intrigued. I then got the album and was hooked immediately. I slowly spread the word of the greatness of Mr. Wolf. Of course, he is not for everyone. I carefully chose the friends to share him with. He was like my little secret obsession. His music is sort of a combination of the dramatics of Kate Bush, Xiu Xiu, and Erasure mixed with the bookish intelligence of Morrissey and Idlewild mixed with the electronicness of Aphex Twin with a bit of classical thrown in,  He does not mess around with his lyrics either. He takes himself quite seriously on the musical journey of his albums. He seems to be from a different time. A Futuristic Past, if that even makes sense.  Patrick takes you gently by the hand and forces you into his magical land of wolves and dreams.

I have a slight problem. I am addicted to collecting DVDs. I seriously can't stop. There are worse things I'm sure.  So I get very excited when my favorite movies get released in special edition boxsets with lots of bonus features and great packaging, It is very exciting for me to bring home my new DVD and open it up to see what excitement waits me inside. I am also addicted to James Bond. Every year when Spike TV has their Bond Marathon, I am glued to the TV. Even if I have just seen them, I can't resist watching them over and over again. So you can understand my excitement when the James Bond series got the deluxe treatment at the end of last year. The 20 films were divided up into 4 box sets, with 5 movies in each box. It would have made sense to put them in order. But then who would have bought vol. 4 if it included just the 4 Pierce Bronson films. These were for sure the worst of the bunch. Daniel Craig thankfully stepped in to save the series with the 2006 reinvention of the series "Casino Royale." I have always loved Roger Moore and Sean Connery. Never really able to decide which I like better. They are just different. One is not really better than the other. Sean Connery is of course the original Bond, but Roger Moore is the Bond I grew up with in the 80s. Seriously, how can you pick between "Goldfinger"(Connery) and "Diamonds are Forever"(Moore) or "You Only Live Twice"(Connery) and "Octopussy"(Moore). And while George Lazenby is not usually the Bond of choice for many, his film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" remains my absolute favorite.
                                                                                                                                                                    
Each box set is beautiful. They look like embossed bibles in slide out cases. Within each case is each individual "Ultimate Edition" movie in a slim case with its own little booklet. All of the films have been digitally restored and really look amazing, They also include great commentaries. Each film includes a second disc with "making of" documetnaries, deleted scenes, interviews, and all sorts of amazing little things to keep you busy for hours and hours. While I am tempted to reorder the films into their correct chronological order, that may seriously be the only problem with these boxes. These films have held up over time and still are as exciting as when I was a kid first discovering these films. This is one of the best DVD collections that I have seen. I get excited every time I open one of them up, It is often hard to decide which film to watch first. I often first watch the film. I then go back and watch it with commentary and then go to all the special documentaries and deleted footage.

A couple of nights ago we headed on down to the bottom of the hill to see Erase Errata and Adult.  I have seen Erase Errata probably like 30 times but it has been a year or so since I have seen them.  Not so long ago I actually played in a band and we played with Erase Errata every once in a while. The band has gone through a couple changes the last couple years and is now just a 3 piece band. Sara Jaffe left the band a couple years ago. They then added a dude as the vocalist. However, this kind of ruined them for me. Luckily they decided to just remain a 3 piece, keeping Jenny Hoyston as the vocalist. They put out their most recent album last year, NIght Life.

I really love the bottom of the hill. It is such a nice little place to see a show. It is located in a place kind of away from everyting else but not too far away to be really far away. It often gets a bit too crowded on sold out nights but I still love it. It is very intimate and you can see the stage even if its crowded. It also has a great backyard where I have spent many nights smoking with friends. Even though there is no more smoking for me, I still enjoy heading to the back with my friends to  talk and catch up with their lives. I seriously think the bottom of the hill backyard might be one of my favorite places in the world!

We got there a little before Erase Errata, so we had some time to hang out in the backyard, It seriously is a great place to people watch. I always like watching these ladies on stage and have never gotten bored with them. They are just always good. Unfortunately the crowd was not the dancing crowds that I am accustomed to seeing at their shows of the past. One of the best shows I saw of theirs was a record release party for their 2nd album at some high school auditorium type place in the mission. It was a prom theme I think. Kind of feels like a dream but I am pretty sure it was real. Seriously, if you have not heard this band you need to. Especially if you like good nowavey kind of music. They make me feel all good inside.

So I just saw Blonde Redhead last night at Bimbo's in San Francisco. As one would expect, the show was amazing. I actually missed the last tour they did cause I was sick, so it has been like 4 or so years since I have seen them. I have really been loving the album. But this show actually improved on the album. I could also not think of a better place to see them than Bimbo's. I have already seen them at smaller places like Great American Music Hall and Bottom of the Hill, so Bimbo's had to be next. This has got to be my favorite venue in the city. It also has a great history.
The club was originally opened in 1935, originally called the 365 Club, on 365 Market St. It moved to Columbus St. in 1951. The man who opened the club was nicknamed "Bimbo," the Italian word for boy. There has been crazy events there over the years and many people have had their weddings there. So it has a crazy history kind of feeling when you are in there. Like you can feel all the stories coming out of the walls. And unlike the Warfield, the people who work there are actually nice.

So I guess I should talk about the show. But before I continue, have you seen Blonde Redhead's website?  It is seriously beautiful.  They played most of the new album, "23". It sounded beautiful. Their shows are very intense. The songs and lyrics really come alive at their shows and get inside your soul. The songs have probably already made their way into your soul simply by listening to the record. Seeing them live just makes them stay a part of you forever. I can seriously remember the exact feeling I had the times I have seen them before. It all came back to me last night. I always want to get to Bimbo's early so I can get a table. But that did not happen last night. But the shows are still enjoyable. It is fun to move around and view the show from different positions and angles. Did I tell you about the bathrooms. While they may just look like a cleaner and fancier version of your high school bathroom. They actually have bathroom attendants. Amazing!