Just what is this blog, anyway?

There might be some of you who are new to this blog and started reading for the Zack Attack series. Hi!
This blog is actually sort of antiquated and quaint nowadays with the world moving over to Facebook.
Lord knows I certainly partake in that. But I also love blogging. I had one when Liz was in the hospital, one for Zoe's gestation, one for her first few years, I like the format. It's like my own magazine where I am content provider and editor and it's also a diary or repository.

This blog took it's name from the concept of "sevens". The earliest concept was to enlist other bloggers to look at the world the way our bodies shed skin. How do things change every seven years? If you go wayyyy back to the first pages you will see that I tried to do that. But I couldn't stick with it.
Then it became a marker of events that took place during the Obama election which I volunteered for.

Then I had an idea: I wanted to listen to every single U2 record in a row and review them all. That was fun and fed in to my own personal obsessive compulsiveness. And I kept doing it.
before I knew it, this blog was 90% music reviews and 10% whatever else I threw up here. In this week's case, it was about Zachary Lulu and the difficulties we are experiencing with him.

It could change any time but for now it's a blast and I love it. I hope you'll stick around but if you don't, that's cool. I'll be here.

I promise not to make you sit through much more Kiss oriented music. I am almost done with that but I can only take it in small doses.
No. Next up?
Devo!
I'm pretty psyched. The whole point of the project is to look at the catalog of a band that has been around for a long time but is somehow still relevant. Devo's new release allowed me to explore them, just as REM's upcoming release did them.

So, leave a comment, have some matzoh ball soup, knock back a few and welcome to Septenary.

Allen

Kissening Post: Ace Frehley - Second Sighting

Ace Frehley - Second Sighting - 1988

So, what did we learn from last year's outing, Ace?
Not much, apparently. But why should he? First off, he's ACE FREHLEY, universally accepted "most talented musician" in the original Kiss quartet.
Secondly, this is 1988, not 1998 or even 2008. Hair metal hadn't been swept away by Nirvana yet and there was no reason to think that it would. The well was no where near dry.
Thirdly, spending 10 years studying at the feet of the master of self-promotion, Gene Simmons, can teach you only one thing, if nothing else: Balls out hubris. If YOU like it, they MUST buy it.
But Ace is no Gene. He believes in the first article as much or more than the other two. So, his hubris is sadly misplaced. He's a fine musician but as an arbiter of pop taste, he's a drunk. The album has all the pitfalls and trappings of the era; processed drums, high pitch testicle squeezing vocals, muddy mix, nonsense songs. It's an excuse to waste people's time and money.
So, Second Sighting is Frehley's Comet part 2. And the first trip wasn't that great to begin with.

Grade: F+
ASide:
BlindSide: Loser in a Fight
DownSide: Time Ain't Running Out, It's Over Now...ugh, there's not enough room to list the badness on this record.

Kissening Post: Vinnie Vincent Invasion - Vinnie Vincent Invasion

Vinnie Vincent Invasion - Vinnie Vincent Invasion - 1986

This album is really all about how fast Vinnie can shred. There are shades of Ratt, VH, you name it, it's all in there.
Ya got your songs about how hard they rock, "Boyz Are Gonna Rock", about how sexfull they are, "Shoot You Full of Love", "Do You Wanna Make Love?", how Whitesnake-y they are , "No Substitute", (a song I kind of enjoy) it's all in there and it's all something you've heard before.
The last track, "Invasion", was designed to loop at the end of a vinyl pressing so it would never end unless you pulled the needle up. On every other recording it's three minutes of this siren sounding monotony. I appreciate the former, the latter makes me want to punch a baby.

This is as generic a late 80s metal album as you'll ever hear, Bereft of subtlety, absent style, lacking song-craft, any one of the tracks could have fallen off a teen-comedy soundtrack. Probably did. This record was made for frustrated, parking lot dwelling, 15 year old zitheads. These people are now 40 and part of the ruling class. Any wonder we're in the shape we are?

Grade D
ASide: Boyz Are Gonna Rock
BlindSide: No Substitute (This is just me, I know it sucks)
DownSide: Animal, Back on the Streets, I Wanna Be Your Victim (Not sure there's ever been a metal track this dull before)

Kissening Post: Ace Frehley - Frehley's Comet

Ace Frehley - Frehley's Comet - 1987

It's been a long time since I visited the Kiss Katalog. I had always intended on getting through the entire thing including solo discs but life gets in the way sometimes.

I had heard forever that Ace's solo output outside of the Kiss Brand offerings were the best of the bunch. Is it true or was it some backlash hype?
Were it not for Ace's guitar songs like "Rock Soldiers" would be relegated to hair metal status quo status. However, with Ace's fingers offsetting his remarkably mediocre voice, the song is a welcome opener that would probably have found itself on the record shelf of every band member of Ratt, Warrant and the like. Except that, instead of leading those upstarts as he had on his solo Kiss record 9 years earlier, Frehley comes off as just another Hair Metal rocker. And he's a little long in the tooth and late to the party to be effective.
On tracks like the dynamic "Breakout", "Something Moved" and "Calling To You", Ace recognizes his weakness and hands over lead vox to Rhythm Guitarist Tod Haworth. This allows a track like "Breakout" to be a feature for shredding and skin pounding. There's no real song here, just some progressions to hang chops on. But it's a thrill ride nonetheless. And "Something Moved" actually has the kind of energy that calls to mind the better days of Def Leppard, which is also evident on the sludge-glam "We Got Your Rock". Elsewhere songs like "Into the Night" are so imbued with 80s compression and keyboards that they sound hackneyed and cliche now, if they didn't back then. And I'm sure they did in 87 as well.
"Calling to You" is obviously designed to be a hit single and it's not bad. By the end of the 80s this sound was dying. For what it is it's pretty good and I could see cruising around on a Saturday night blasting this song on the way to the beach. It's the theme for "Jersey Shore" if that show was produced 25 years ago.
The only weird experiment that almost succeeds but doesn't quite is the bizarre "Dolls". It's a combination subject matter, approach and production that make it interesting to listen to while repelling at the same time. Occasionally Kiss would employ strange production tics that came out of left field, in this case it's the children singing the chorus that threatens to take the song into horror show idiom but just comes off more as oddly perverse.
Frehley's Comet isn't as good as "Ace Frehley". I'm not sure what went wrong, perhaps on that solo disc Ace was trying to preove himself to the other guys and this time out he's got to prove himself to the world. He ends up trying to make a sellable product that comes off as boring and rote.

Grade: B-
ASide: Rock Soldiers, We Got Your Rock, Calling to You
BlindSide: Breakout, Something Moved
DownSide: Into the Night, Love Me Right

Zack Attack: Day 4 of the ICU

How would you react if the nurse in your newborn son's ICU told you upon arrival that morning that your baby boy's heart rate had dropped to a point so low that it was abnormally slow two times during the night and that each time the event lasted about 3 seconds before self-correcting?
Right?
Now, what would you say if they followed that up with, "But for all we know that happens to a lot of newborns. We just aren't monitoring them the way we are little Zachary."
Soooooo....nothing to worry about?

Holy.

Fuck.

So, here we are. No more apnic episodes. No more tests. But he's still in the ICU. Still being watched because, well, those 4 events earlier in the week were pretty freaking frightening.

Today Beth was able to breast feed Zack and he took to it. He's been behaving like a normal baby for all intents and purposes. But we still won't have anything concrete til after the weekend. And no idea when he'll be coming home.

But in this case, no news is actually good news and our level of worry is starting to diminish.

But, please, Zack, breath, keep your freaking food down and stop with the heart slowing. Your making us nuts.

Zack Attack: Day 3 of the ICU

Here's an interesting theory that was posited by a nurse and then by me to a doctor who in turn denied the entire concept:
When I was holding Zack on the day of the episodes he proceeded to fart in my hand with the duration and gusto of an old jewish man in a retirement home after a dinner of Canters' Mish Mosh and a Fresser.
We laughed about this and were amazed at how long this went on for.
Later, in the icu, little Zachary pooped no less than 6 times. And these weren't your run of the mill, regular ol' craps. These were epic. Homer could have written books about these bowel movements. They were so powerful that they had to hose down his incubator.
The nurse put forth the idea that maybe Zack was pushing so hard that morning that he turned blue and stopped breathing.
Sounded good to me. In fact, I really liked the irony that a son of mine would nearly die from flatulence.
Then Mr. Johns Hokins - neo-natologist - runs the nicu practically by himself - doctor said, "Nah.---But it would be great if it was that simple, huh?"
I love that guy.

Zach's third day in the icu was a turning point as far as we are concerned. He hasn't had a breathing episode since Wednesday morning and he has been off forced air for most of the day. It's beginning to look more and more like this was one of those things that just goes away. But the results of the tests are not in, so it could be anything.
He could have another episode and send us back to square one.
Or he could be fine.

In the meantime, taking the mask off, removing the IV, turning off the bright lights (his jaundice is gone as well) meant that Beth could hold him, skin to skin, and even feed him. This being her last day as a patient herself was the perfect, if bittersweet, outgoing present.

We both took turns holding, feeding, burping, all those things we should be doing at home. And then it was time to get Momma home. Her body, her spirit, her everything has been taking a beating since Monday morning. With issues compounding upon issues it's good that she be in her own home, with her dog, her daughter, her own bed.

In the morning she will drive to Cedars and feed him. When can we take him home? We still don't know, but most definitely not before Monday. Could be as late as next Friday.

Hopefully not.

Below are some pictures. The first is of how Zack looked when I posted the first report from the icu. The others are, well, they speak for themselves, I think.

Zack Attack: Day 2 of the ICU

When I went to see Zack today he looked like a burn victim in an Iraq War Movie. His hands were covered and bandaged to protect him from pulling out the IV (s).
The doctors were very apprehensive about keeping him on IV fluids because he's not a preemie, he CAN eat. It's very important that he learn to eat food on his own and his mom has been pumping for that very reason.
So, they gave him about 45ccs of breast milk/formula. He did well...at first. Then he vomited most of it up. More cause for alarm. Does he have reflux? Is it a digestive situation? Oy.
The good news is he hadn't had a breathing "episode" in 24 hours. But he was still living in the incubator.
On top of that, he had become jaundiced.
Like I said, Oy.

I went to the ICU after dropping Zoe off at school and checking in on Beth. When I got there, around 9:30, I was informed that the docs had started their rounds and would be coming by soon. It took 90 minutes.
By the time they got to Zack they didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. They were continuing to run tests, evaluate the eeg, check for reflux, basically, runing the gamut.
Thank goodness I live in a country where we have great insurance!
I mean, thank the gods that I have been able to maintain my union insurance.
(I wonder if Zack's experience would count as a "pre-existing condition" in the Tea Party's Universe....)

I asked Dr. P when they planned on taking Zack off the CPAP to see how he would fare on his own. "I guess, now." He said. Which was great, because then Beth could get some quality "skin to skin" time with him.

I wheeled her up and she put Zack on her chest for the first time since Tuesday. It was magical. Beautiful. And wayyy too short.

I had to go pick Zoe up from school but I just now called and checked in with Beth and they were just starting some reflux probe. (I've been down this road before....)

The good news is Zack's been breathing on his own since about 1 and as I write this it's 6. So, five hours without incident.

Start the clock.

Zachary in ICU

I debated with myself whether to write this and then I realized that I had documented Liz's death for the world, Zoe's gestation, the early parts of her life, and the entire in vitro process as podcast .
We also announced Zack's birth on facebook, so it would do him a disservice not to continue the reporting.

I don't believe in "God". I'm an atheist. I believe that when we die, we die and our contribution to the world and the universe and the multiverse is we become part of the soil and feed the planet. I think its too coincidental that just about every creatures' blood is the same color, even fish! There is too much in common with potato bugs and horses and pigeons to dispute that we are all interrelated.
It's for this reason that I was deeply offended when Lizzie was buried in a pink sarcophagus with little or no chance to decompose and become part of the earth. She's alone. In her pink tomb. It made me sad.
I was raised Jewish but I cotton more to the traditions and lifestyle guidance than I do to the dogma. It didn't rain for 40 days and nights and if it did it was just a pretty bad flood. But it didn't cover the Earth. It covered the small patch of land that was the neighborhood that the dwellers of the bible lived in and to them, that was the world. The stories are better suited as parable. They are Aesopian at best.
But, if I did believe in "God" I would seriously wonder just what he has in mind today. Because I'm sort of trapped in a cosmic joke.

At 11:30 AM yesterday, just under 28 hours of life, Zachary stopped breathing. He turned blue. I wasn't there to see it. Beth was and we were fortunate that she was awake to notice. She's on a lot of pain killers and little sleep, the C-Section and all.
To her credit she reacted quickly: She yelled for help. Then she called me and I raced through the streets of Los Angeles from West Adams to West Hollywood. Anyone who has had to deal with the San Vicente/Fairfax intersection knows what a feat it was that I made it, door to door, in 15 minutes.

When I arrived I made a beeline for the nursery. I could see Beth soon, but she was a few doors down and I really needed to check in on my son. There he was, in his lucite bassinet, sleeping behind three nurses who were going about their administrative business.
I breathed a sigh of relief and walked to Beth. She was so upset. I could see it in her eyes. Why shouldn't she be? But I assured her that her son was great. Come on, I implored, come, I'll show you.
I helped her to her feet and she, with great pain, ambled down the hallway to the nursery. As we walked in we approached the plastic crib. There was our son, all right. But he was turning blue. Again.
The nurses sprang in to action, especially the one nicknamed "Milkshake". That's what it says on her scrubs. "Milkshake". Wouldn't it be really great if that was her given name?
Alas, it wasn't.
I explained to her my previous experience with Liz (for Liz's story, please click here) and my understanding of O2 levels and the like. (Of course, in my panic, I misread the machine and thought her oxygen level was 120. And that was ridiculous.)
There's something about Cedars that has actually gotten even better over the past 4 years since Zoe was born there. The bedside manner has become even more helpful. It's now a case of "the customer/patient is ALWAYS right. Always where they need to be. Even if they are in the way." I came to learn that this was actually a dictum handed down from on high. Customer service and positive experience is the mantra of Cedars Sinai. Amazing. Liz would have loved this hospital.
The doctors determined that Zack needed to go up to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). I went with him. I've been down this road before. Liz had been in hospital something like 45 times and I think I only missed a handful of those visits.

I held Zack's hand as they stuck him to draw blood. I held him as they put in the IV stick.

No one could figure out what was happening, why this newborn had decided to stop breathing 3 times in 3 hours (it happened again while in the NICU), dropping his O2 to as low as 65 and turning blue.
Was it an infection? Was it neurological? What was the problem?

The doctor spoke with me for a bit and assured me that this is something they see in a great many newborns and 50% of the time it disappears without warning. 25% of the time it's infection. 25% of the time it's something else. He wasn't worried about it being fatal. Zack is healthy is every other way. He just...has some issues.

And that was yesterday. They put him on a CPAP mask which is blowing oxygen into his lungs about 20 times a minute. And they would monitor him all night. In the meantime I took a call from his pediatrician.

Zack and Zoe's ped is the best in town. We adore this guy. But in his effort to be thorough he did tell me that one of the tests they would run would determine the level of risk Zack would have for "crib death". Good that we can test for that, I guess. But, take a neurotic guy and tell him that and, well, that's all he's gonna hear.

See, while they see this type of thing a lot, my only experience that I can call on is being bedside by my daughter as she coded, turned blue and died. That's my "go-to". That's my frame of reference. Add SIDS to the affair and, let's just say, if there is a God, he's got one hell of a sense of humor.

Actually, that's ridiculous. Because it would paint him as just over the edge from Heath Ledger's Joker.

But, I can't help thinking that, actuarially speaking, this shouldn't be happening, right? I mean, once you bury one child, that's sort of it, short of sending them to war.

Right?

So we wait. He will be fine in the NICU. Hopefully they can figure out what this is. They were hoping to take him off the CPAP this morning and see how he fared, but before they could Zack did it again and went all blue. Just for 20 seconds but it was enough to put him on 48 hour watch before they take off the assistance.

So, that's where we stand. I'm home with my daughter, who is oblivious and just wants to know when her mother and brother are coming home. Beth is with her sister at the hospital. I'm thinking a LOT about Liz. I'm worried about my son. I'm drinking a nice glass of lowland scotch.

And, for some reason, I keep thinking about Job. Or is it Gob?

OscarWatch 2011

The nominations came out today, so let the handicapping begin!

BEST PICTURE
127 HOURS
BLACK SWAN
INCEPTION
THE FIGHTER
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
THE KING'S SPEECH
THE SOCIAL NETWORK
TOY STORY
TRUE GRIT
WINTER'S BONE

A grand ten, I don't mind saying. I've only not seen The Fighter, 127 Hours and Winter's Bone and I must say there isn't a true clinker in the bunch. A lot of people are divided on Inception. I actually ended up liking it a lot more AFTER I saw it then during.
But I think the race here is really between King's Speech and The Social Network.
It's still too early to call. But I am giving an early lead to The King's Speech for a number of reasons. While TSN took the non-vaunted Golden Globes the Producer's Guild gave the award to KS. And I would never ever underestimate Harvey Weinstein and a critically lauded tearjerker.
Right now it's leaning
The King's Speech - 65%,
The Social Network - 35%
We'll see what happens after the SAGgies.

BEST ACTOR
JEFF BRIDGES - TRUE GRIT
JAVIER BARDEM - BIUTIFUL
JESSE EISENBERG - THE SOCIAL NETWORK
COLIN FIRTH - THE KING’S SPEECH
JAMES FRANCO - 127 HOURS

Is there anyone who doesn't think this is Colin Firth's gimme? No one has seen Biutiful, Eisenberg is too cold, Bridges just won and Franco has time. It's a lock
Colin Firth - 100%

BEST ACTRESS
ANNETTE BENING - THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (Focus Features)
NICOLE KIDMAN - RABBIT HOLE (Lionsgate)
JENNIFER LAWRENCE - WINTER’S BONE (Roadside Attractions)
NATALIE PORTMAN - BLACK SWAN (Fox Searchlight)
MICHELLE WILLIAMS - BLUE VALENTINE (The Weinstein Co)

Another lock category. Sure there are some who are dying to give this to Annette Bening but most people know in their hearts that The Kids...was mediocre at best and had no ending. Whereas Portman transformed herself and disappeared into the role. Plus she's been escalating royalty since The Professional and she opened a Rom-Com to decent numbers last week.
Natalie Portman - 100%

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
CHRISTIAN BALE - THE FIGHTER
JOHN HAWKES - WINTER’S BONE
JEREMY RENNER - THE TOWN
MARK RUFFALO - THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
GEOFFREY RUSH - THE KING’S SPEECH

Another locked category. It's Bale's award. The Batman numbers are astounding but, even more important, is that Bale has been working since Empire of the fucking Sun when he was like, 9. He's the male Portman. And he disappears into his roles. Listening to him speak in his own accent has become disconcerting. No one saw Winter's Bone, Renner is the token nominee for a film that got no love, Ruffalo famously worked 6 days on Kids and Rush has an Oscar already.
Christian Bale - 100%

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
AMY ADAMS - THE FIGHTER
HELENA BONHAM CARTER - THE KING’S SPEECH
MELISSA LEO - THE FIGHTER
HAILEE STEINFELD - TRUE GRIT
JACKI WEAVER - ANIMAL KINGDOM

NOW we get to the real race. Amy Adams is rapidly turning in to the Meryl Streep of her generation. This is her THIRD Oscar nomination in 6 years. That's crazy. And she won't win here, either. Neither will Carter. This fight is between the newbie, Steinfeld, the vet, Leo and the workhorse, Weaver. Who? I know. I don't get it, either. I didn't see the movie but it's the kind of nomination that gets traction and becomes the sentimental fave. But I can see Steinfeld easily getting this award as she's in almost every scene of this movie and she's terrific. Leo has been nominated for the second time in 4 years BUT her Golden Globe speech was so weird that the Academy might be turned off.
Haley Steinfeld: 35%
Melissa Leo: 35%
Jackie Weaver: 30%
Have to see what happens in the next few weeks.

BEST ANIMATED PICTURE
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON
TOY STORY 3
THE ILLUSIONIST
Would YOU wanna be nominated in the same year as TS3? I didn't think so.
Toy Story 3: 100%

BEST DIRECTOR
DARREN ARONOFSKY - BLACK SWAN
DAVID FINCHER - THE SOCIAL NETWORK
TOM HOOPER - THE KING'S SPEECH
JOEL AND ETHAN COEN - TRUE GRIT
DAVID O. RUSSELL - THE FIGHTER

I think this is actually an easy pick. It's Fincher all the way. Look at his legacy. Se7en. Fight Club. Button. Etc. And he pulls off understated brillioance with Social Network? No question. Aronofsky needs a hug, Hooper made a tv movie, the Coens just won and Russell is still thought of as the jerk who yelled at Lily Tomlin,
Fincher: 99%
Hooper: 1%
This is all predicated on early momentum.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
ANOTHER YEAR, Mike Leigh (Sony Pictures Classics)
THE FIGHTER, Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson, Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson (Paramount)
INCEPTION, Christopher Nolan (Warner Bros)
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
THE KING'S SPEECH, David Seidler

Another huge battle! The Kids Are All Right is terrible. But it has made some cash and this category is usually the consolation prize. But! The King's Speech has a great story of an author who was a writer of such crap like a bio pic on the making of The partridge Family but he also wrote Tucker: The man and His Dream, which is a favorite Coppola film of mine.
Oh, this is gonna be a fun category and an indicator. If King's Speech wins, look for some upsets later in the evening. Or not.
The Kids Are All Right: 75%
The King's Speech: 25%

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
127 HOURS, Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
TOY STORY 3, Michael Arndt, Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Lee Unkrich
THE SOCIAL NETWORK, Aaron Sorkin
WINTER'S BONE, Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini
TRUE GRIT, Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

Just change the name to the Aaron Sorkin Award for Writing and be done with it.
Aaron Sorkin: 100%

There you have it. My predictions. Like always I am 100% correct with a 100% chance that I will change my mind.

New Lulu!

There used to be a blog called newlulu.blogspot.com which was a year long baby watch of our first new child after Liz died. Then after a couple years of no luck having another kid, we resorted to In Vitro. The entire process was presented as The Allen and Beth Show on iTunes and is still available.
However, since there's no New New Lulu blog, it's only apropos that I announce here that the unnamed Baby Lulu is a boy, born 7:48 on Jan 24th. 8lbs, 3oz and 21 inches.

He's very mellow. Just like his dad.

right.