Entertaining Otis

I've been longwinded enough about my, er, maturation that I don't think I need to prattle on about how I spend less time in bars these days. Now that I'm trying to spend less time at poker tables (I think my pancreas just twinged a bit), I'm desperately seeking healthy forms of alternate entertainment.

So, how have I entertained myself in the past few months?

Books

James McManus-- Just finished McManus' "Physical." As with any McManus read and despite the subject, it's a page-turner. McManus gives the American healthcare system a check-up and does so in the same style with which he wrote "Positively Fifth Street." McManus' style makes the short book a very easy and entertaining read and offers several laugh-out-loud moments (my favorite being a S&M fantasy during a routine stress test). My only complaint about the book is that it spends a helluva lotta time on tobacco and stem cell research. While both are important subjects, I found myself thinking...alright, move along, already. However, I give McManus a pass on this one, because he was a lifelong smoker and his daughter has juvenile diabetes, so both subjects are very close to his heart. As it is, I also happen to agree with McManus on both topics.

Lighter fare-- Here are some other books that have made trips with me or helped me to relax after a long day in the past few of months:

-- Carl Hiassen's "Tourist Season" and "Basket Case."

-- Christopher Moore's "The Stupidest Angel"

-- Jesse May's "Shut Up and Deal" (third reading)

-- Stephen King's "Cell" (As an unashamed life-long King reader, I sort of wanted to hate this book just on principle. Once again, I read every page and didn't hate it).

-- Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink"

Music

56 Hope Road--Maybe you Chicago folk know this band. I didn't hook up with them until last week at a downtown street festival. I bought their live disc on the spot and have listened to it about ten times already. Think Blues Traveler meets Dave Matthews meets Mighty Mighty Bosstones meets your favorite hippie jam band. I sorely wish these guys were the house band at a local club.

Pandora.com--Sometimes even I get bored with my iTunes and iPod selections. For a long time I was an advocate of Yahoo! Launchcast. Recently, I've been tooling around with Pandora.com, a web-based music player that lets you design your own station by entering favorite bands or favorite songs. Once you have typed in a band name or song name, the player searches its database and plays songs and bands with similar attributes. As I type, I'm listening to a live version of "Little Rabbit" by the Yonder Mountain String Band. My stations include: Yonder Mountain String Band, Allman Brothers, Hot Tuna, Dave Grusin, Dave Brubeck, Jamgrass 741, The Black Crowes, Donna the Buffalo, Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, John Gorka, Sam Bush, Uncle Tupelo, and Eddie from Ohio. Overall, I've been pleased with Pandora. I'll admit, if you're listening all day long, as I do, you'll eventually find the database is not HUGE. However, it's free, so I can't complain.

On the screen

While most TV and Hollywood film sucks, I still watch some. Some of it is good, some of it is just entertainment laxative, and, yeah, I watch the bad sometimes, too. This is the part of this post that shames me the most.

The Good: The Sopranos (not as good as previous seasons, but still watchable) -- Big Love -- A History of Violence -- The Loop -- Sons and Daughters -- The Office -- My Name is Earl -- CBS' 48 Hours

The Entertainment Laxative: Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, American Idol, CSI (all three), The First 48

The Bad: Deal or No Deal, Flight Plan (Jodie Foster), Two For the Money (Al Pacino), cable news

Food

The wife and I went out to dinner without the kid for the first time in ages. We went to the Bonefish Grill. I enjoyed a guilty (and embarassing, I think) little pleasure in two Grey Goose dirty martinis and had a filet with a really good Oscar topping with a side of vegetables. The wife had some sort of tillapia.

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So, for lack of something inspirational, that's how I've been spending my spare time recently.

Any suggestions on how to improve?