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Winter Wonderland

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

It’s a snow day. Most everyone had off from work. Not because the commute would be so bad in the morning, just getting home at night would be difficult. Some people did have to go into work today. They were on the news most of the day, the same story at the same train stations on Long Island.

The same woman having to go into work at JP Morgan. The same story of the guy who got on the train and suddenly asked himself, ‘What am I doing?’ before turning around and jumping off the train right before the doors closed.

I was surprised to hear from Bill, who was also home from work today, that there was a 4.3 earthquake in Chicago. That was major news in my book, since the northeast has had many snowstorms before, it really isn’t anything new. But no news on Chicago as far as I could tell.

The big news was on the snowstorm. No building crumbled, just books knocked off the shelves. No injuries reported. Still an earthquake hitting Chicago would be big news. I’m sure the right wing nuts will blame either the snowstorm or the earthquake on abortion or the rights of LGBT people becoming accepted. It’s just a matter of time and as usual they’re late.

Last night I watched Lost which was OK. Not much progress as far as I could tell. The alternative universe story was about Kate and Claire while back on the island it was mainly about Kate and Sawyer with a Jack and Sayid story thrown in. After the big season premiere last week, this was a bit of a let down.

After Lost I watched a mini series documentary on the Sundance Channel about Saville Row. Not 3 Saville Row once the home of Apple Records. Lot’s of nice looking bespoke suits which are definitely out of my price range at the moment. A few of the bespoke houses went to Florence, Italy to promote Saville Row abroad since bespoke suits are no longer the exclusive domain of Saville Row.

One representative of a Saville Row house was in Beijing trying to establish his label to the Chinese. It was quite awkward for the representative, culture clashes, communication problems and also finding out the the food in China is not the same as Chinese food in Knightsbridge.

Still it was somewhat schwing city just looking at the fine pinstriped suits. After that I watched the news which was all about the upcoming snowstorm. Then Seinfeld, the Simpsons and caught Sade on Letterman.

Bill was home a little while after that and we watched Craig Ferguson. I did make it out once or twice today. I do enjoy snowstorms, walking around, smoking a cigar and taking pictures. Walked over to Church Square Park which had kids and toddlers and their parents having fun in the snow.

Various snowmen around, huskies and other winter dogs and a makeshift igloo were spotted. I walked up to Hoboken Daily News and talked to Andy who was worried about how he was going to get home to Jersey City. He might end up walking.

Apparently I missed Julio, Stine and Alexander in the park by minutes. Stine and Alexander were also interviewed briefly by Eyewitness News. I figured they would be on for the human interest hour from 5 to 6PM.

After an hour of all these snow stories Bill and I had enough and changed the channel. Of course that meant we missed the interview which was in the half hour from 6 to 6:30. Julio called me up after it was over to see if we caught it and mocked me when I said we missed it.

We hope it will be on at the 11:00 broadcast.

I also shoveled a bit today and I am feeling it now. Pretty tired.

2.10.10 Snowstorm 001

2.10.10 Snowstorm 003

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2.10.10 Snowstorm 016

2.10.10 Snowstorm 022

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2.10.10 Snowstorm 018

Tags:Bala Cynwyd, Bill, Broad Street, Eric Brooks, Julio + Stine = Alexander, Lost
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Beast of Burden

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

On Facebook there is a theme, put up a photo of a celebrity that you look like as your profile picture. I can’t do that there, but here I can do it. I’ve heard that I look like Philip Seymour Hoffman & Drew Carey.

At the play reading I had participated in the other day one of the audience members said I looked like Jim Carrey, then he corrected himself and said Drew Carey.

Drew Carey

I’ve found in these two specific instances that it can be broken down into two groups. Black people think I look like Drew Carey and white people think I look like Philip Seymour Hoffman. I myself tend to think if I’m to look like either one of these guys I would prefer Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Philip Seymour Hoffman

I do feel slightly insulted when I hear Drew Carey.

One time, years ago I found myself in a gay bar on the upper east side on 58th street called Oscar Wilde. It was the only gay bar that I knew of that served Guinness at $4.00 a pint. One night I’m just hanging out after work and next to me at the bar is a very drunk patron who claimed to be Carlo Gambino’s son.

Carlo Gambino

I just nodded slowly as he slurred his words. On the TV at the end of the bar was an episode of the Drew Carey show. The younger Gambino turns to me, then to the TV, then back to me and says, ‘You know who you look like?’

I knew exactly what he meant even though that, I believe was the first time I ever heard the comparison. I guess the reason I would prefer to be compared to Philip Seymour Hoffman is that I prefer his work to Drew Carey’s.

The other day after hearing about J.D. Salinger’s death, I read a few obituaries bout him. One of them mentioned a fellow college student of Salinger’s recollection of Salinger walking around the college campus wearing a black chesterfield and walking with a cane saying he was going to make literary history.

JD Salinger

A burgandy Chesterfield

Me, not Drew Carey nor Philip Seymour Hoffman wearing a Chesterfield, not a couch

And I suppose he did. I never read The Catcher in the Rye. Most people have to read it in high school but I didn’t. I don’t think it’s because I went to a catholic school since I think other classes did read it. Not sure if I missed anything.

Salinger doesn’t really come up in conversation these days anyhow. Well actually because he recently died he comes up in conversation but other than that, not really.

It’s been a cold day today. Only went outside once or twice. And that was more than enough. Too bitter outside. Bill is driving to Atlantic City tonight once again. I’m content to stay home.

I figured out why my feet are so cold in the apartment. Cold ceramic tile above an vacant, unheated apartment. Well that is what Julio mentioned the other day.

I just had a nice spaghetti dinner with some home made sauce that Stine made. Quite nice and perfect for a cold night such as this.

Beast of Burden, a reading.

Tags:Bill, Harvey Keitel & Clarice Taylor, Innocent When You Dream, Julio, Louise & Jerry's, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Pride & Equality Magazine, Stine
Posted in Cool Cold Reality | 4 Comments »

The Chill is On

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

An early dinner again. 3:30 or so. Have to get ready to head up to Larchmont NY for my uncle Joseph’s wake. I’ve written about my uncle. He was irrepressible if that’s the proper word. He was the youngest of my mother’s family, 6 years younger than my mom. 30 years older than me.

My brothers and sister always enjoyed having him stop by for a visit. His ribald humor was just what we needed to hear. I don’t think my father liked him very much. I just got back from his wake.

As most wakes go, once the big ones are out of the way, it’s a social event. Maybe that is how it gets when you get older. You spend more time conversing with the living rather than sitting and bemoaning. Sometimes it’s a lump in the throat, sometimes it’s a chuckle.

I spent most of the time with my South Jersey cousins, Rosie, Eileen and Madelyn. Just reminiscing, talking about the boards of photographs. A photo of my mother and her brothers with their father from 1968.

I have to get a copy of that. Madelyn said she had a copy so I should contact her or her brother Neil. I did have pictures that I brought up to Hillsdale on Christmas Eve. I was going to take them with me, but Frank was looking at them. I figured he’d do a good job, at least a better job that what I did when I had the photos.

The only picture that I could remember that would have been something to show the girls was a picture of Annemarie with Eileen in Wildwood Crest sometime around 1970. Anne and Eileen both looking like they’d rather kill the photographer than stand there. You can almost hear their exasperated sighs over the sound of the ocean.

I took the train up to Larchmont, after a bus ride driven by a driver who didn’t know what to do once he was diverted out of the tunnel. I was going to say something, but I was in no rush at all. I knew there would be 3 trains that I could catch so I was in a comfort zone of time.

The driver wound up driving up Eighth Avenue towards the bus terminal and most of the passengers getting off the bus a block away. The temperature was in the low 20′s and with the wind chill coming in off the water and amplified by the canyons of buildings, the wind cut like a knife.

All one could do was keep moving, no matter how many layers of clothes you might have had on.

I rode the train to Larchmont with all the other commuters and was able to finish off 2 copies of the New Yorker. Still in November on that front. One was the Food issue and I didn’t read most of those articles. I had a brisk walk to the funeral home from the train station.

The old Irish proverb came true, the wind was at my back and the road rose to meet me.

I came in and hung up my coat and hat and as I was about to sign the book, my cousin Joe spotted me and gave me a great big hug. He was glad to see me albeit under such circumstances. He was quite busy greeting various people and introduced me to a few of them.

Then he walked me over to his and my cousins and I sat with them for almost all of the time I was there. They asked how Bill was which was nice. And of course they asked about Frank, Annemarie and Brian.

No one ever brings up the Long Island Powers cousins, since no one has seen them in decades. I wouldn’t know them if I fell over them. But that’s how some families are. There’s no book, no template. It’s all how you deal with what and who you got.

I’m glad I have Rosie, Eileen and Madelyn and their other sisters Ginger and Theresa and of course their brother Neil. Some plans should be made for a reunion, preferably when Annemarie is in town.

Right now it’s 18 degrees and I can still feel the cold from being outside an hour ago.

Eileen, Me, Rosie, Joe and Madelyn- The Powers cousins

Tags:Airwalks, Bill, Guitar improvisation, Robert Risotto, Tom
Posted in Cool Cold Reality | 1 Comment »

Don’t Believe the Hype

Saturday, December 19th, 2009

Well right now it’s 25 degrees and it’s supposed to be a major snowstorm, but I can still see Penn Plaza, I can still see Jersey City and Marineview Plaza in Hoboken. The streets are wet but it’s not really sticking.

The local news channels are on full alert, alarming people but so far there’s really no need. My brother Brian texted me and said that the supermarket up by his neck of the woods was a madhouse. Here in Hoboken it’s windy and cold but really nothing to be worried about.

I say that of course since I don’t drive. Walking proved to be no problem, and I even strolled to the end of Pier A in Hoboken and took a snapshot or two just to show that it isn’t so bad.

Julio is flying to Denmark tonight and that hasn’t been much of a delay. He did call to tell me Helena Christiansen was on his flight. We’ve seen her around the village, having dinner a few tables away from us at Benny’s Burritos on Greenwich years ago.

So they are saying the 15 inches are expected but so far less than an inch has fallen in Hoboken. Bill is in the city doing some theater stuff. Last night we watched 2 hours of Chris Noth in Lawn Hors d’œuvre on the Sleuth channel.

Bill definitely enjoyed it. I remembered who the bad guys were or bad chicks actually. Bill didn’t despite his claims to have the memory of an elephant. I told him he must have been right next to me when we first watched the show, since I don’t watch it on my own.

More weather hype with the Winter Alert in effect until 11:00 tomorrow morning. Bah!

The other night I had a dream where I had to drive around the Garden State Plaza in a car with Alexander Lopez as my passenger, not in a baby seat. The objective was to get him to 13 Riverview Avenue which I did, safely.

Last night’s cannabis free dream, I was in the Riverview Avenue neighborhood, this time as a passenger. The driver was President Gerald Ford. Nice guy. I told him I saw him speak in 1976 at the Garden State Plaza and almost shook his hand.

That was true. I was on the line outside of Gimbels after he spoke outdoors at the Plaza but the Secret Service caught off the handshaking a few people before me. He dropped me off across the street where I grew up and I walked into a house devoid of people.

I woke up at 7:30 and almost woke Bill up as well, thinking that he was late for work. Oh, I’m in the unemployment zone where the days blur into one another. Then I went back to sleep.

From that dream of Lodi, I wound up in Chelsea where I then had an argument with Bill. I wrote these down when I woke up. The last notes I wrote with regards to dreams were about me being in the Office and talking to Jim Halpert about coffee.

It didn’t go well and I felt slighted when awards were being given out. So I split that scene and wandered to a bar located in a empty lot at 16th Street between Park and Willow Avenues in Hoboken. Lot’s of commuters getting off their buses and passing through and sometimes sitting on rusty lawn furniture from the 1950′s. And it wasn’t that good a bar since there was no booze.

Oh these dreams go on when I close my eyes. Every moment I’m awake, I live another life.

Looking north, up Park Avenue, 3PM

12.17.09 Hoboken Daily News 002

12.17.09 Hoboken Daily News 005

Looking south on Park Avenue

Not so bad, is it?

On NBC News, some guy with a tan is pushing the snow hype, live from Times Square.

Tags:Bill, Brian, Dreams, Julio, Lawn Hors d’œuvre
Posted in Cool Cold Reality | 2 Comments »

This is Pop

Friday, December 11th, 2009

Ah, had a good nap after going into the city and meeting Bill. I needed to get some cables for the DJ gig I’m doing at McSwells on Sunday. It’s a benefit for a local musician and a host of bands from the past are all playing.

When I first heard about while riding the bus during the summer I volunteered my services. And now the time has come. It hadn’t exactly been on the front burner until about a month ago when the guy who initially told me about it on the bus contacted me about it, suggesting that I play Grand Funk Railroad, Paul Revere & the Raiders and other groups like that.

Whether he was joking I couldn’t tell. It’s just as well for when this guy contacted me and asked if I was ready to DJ and I said sure. Jokingly I replied that what I was going to play was going to be amusing, entertaining and perhaps infuriating.

Almost instantly a reply was sent, berating me with the worry that it was a benefit I was going to be playing, and infuriating people was NOT the way to inspire people to give to help the ill musician pay her medical bills.

Once again, humor did not translate through email, much like I wasn’t sure if this guy was joking about playing Grand Funk Railroad for the benefit. I did speak with one of the people who is playing and they weren’t so much into doing the gig.

They didn’t know the musician and neither did I, though I probably did see the band the ill musician did play for at one time, but more than likely did not stick around for a full song since it wasn’t my type of music then and thought the band rather lackluster.

But I suppose my heart is in the right place. I won’t be getting fucked up like I used to back in the day when I would DJ at McSwells on a regular basis. I guess while the bands are playing I’ll be going outside having a smoke and listening for each of the bands to end their set.

The sound guy, Carson seemed nice enough when I met him last month so I guess I’ll find out how long each set will be and time my exits and entrances accordingly.

I am doing my best to promote the event, at least once a day I repost it on my Facebook page and Kirk Gardiner of the Hoboken Journal was nice enough to give it a blog on his blog.

I also have planned some things to play and since we’re slipping and sliding towards the holidays, I have a playlist of about 125 Christmas songs that I can draw from and alternate with the standard rock and roll fare that is probably expected.

So today I had to head into the city, braving the 24 degree weather with a most nasty wind chill factor. When I met with sound guy Carson I asked what I needed to use my iPods instead of vinyl or CD’s and he told me which type of cables to get.

After checking with Radio Shack as Carson suggested I decided to try Sam Ash. Bill said he would buy them since he would need them eventually for whatever projects he would have down the road. Bill called up a audio place down the street from where he worked and he said they would probably have what I needed. If not, they could make them for us.

I went a different route and contacted Sam Ash on 48th Street and they said they had them. So a custom made cable wouldn’t be needed and I thought it would be good to save Bill some money on that front. I met Bill on 43rd street and walked up to 48th street.

Times Square filled with tourists despite the shoot out last night outside the Marriott Marquis. We made our way to the DJ area and the salesman was most helpful. I actually hadn’t been to Sam Ash since my late friend Tony Sankitts was running the DJ department.

I bought 2 cables and headed out with Bill, back into the cold midtown air. We walked to Godiva chocolate where Bill is a regular and bought me some chocolates which was nice. I then walked him back to his office and I walked over to JR Cigars on Fifth Avenue and bought a couple of cigars that were incredibly cheap.

Came home exhausted, and took a nap which is where I started this thing tonight. I still have no idea what I will be playing on Sunday night, but then again I never did when I had a regular DJ gig at McSwells.

I was invited to their Christmas party on Monday night by Roda, but having been to one or two of those during the new regime, I probably won’t go. Too weird for and Rand is better with the current McSwells scene than I am anyway which is 180 degrees than how it was 20 years ago.

Galaxy-NJ-Musicians-evert

It’s funny, I can’t help but run into people who thing the guy who runs Hoboken411 is a jerk.

Tags:Bill, Hoboken Public Library, Hoboken411, McSwells, Park Theater- Union City NJ, Tariq, The Book of Genesis
Posted in Cool Cold Reality | No Comments »

Walking on Thin Ice

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

Felt like taking a nap, but didn’t. Ate dinner instead. Some pesto,chicken and penne which is my old stand by. Works for me. Cook the chicken one day and it’s good for at least 3 meals later in the week.

Last night or rather this morning, my cannabis free dreams involved 2 people from McSwells, Louie who in the dream was tending bar at the Elysian Cafe. He burned a couple of bridges in real life and is basically persona non grata to a few people. Me? I’m a loyalist. He did something nasty to a friend of mine and when I heard about it, cut all communication with him.

But there he was in the dream, behind the bar and behaving much like he used to all those years ago. Then in a related dream perhaps was Steve Fallon’s sister Mary. In the dream she was working at S. Sullivan’s, a bar at 6th and Washington. I’ve walked by S. Sullivan’s 8 million times but never went in.

Mary was a bit shy in the dream for lack of a better word and talking to her was like pulling teeth. Last time I saw Mary was at the Hoboken Music scene exhibit at the Hoboken Museum. She seemed a bit perplexed when I went up to her as did other people, so happy to see her. And we were happy to see her, and not because she was Steve’s sister.

I know how it is to be in a sibling’s shadow but I adapted and made my own light. It would have been nice to have spent more time with her then, but I guess I will just have to settle for dreams.

Then there was a dream about my nephew Earl, who was playing at SOB’s nightclub in Soho. I was getting ready to go when I woke up so I have no idea how it went. Perhaps tonight I’ll be reading the reviews in the next installment of my cannabis free dreams.

Yesterday in NJ The state senate moved along a bill to vote on same sex marriage in this Garden State. Hopefully my friends and family will do the right thing, take a minute and call their state senators and voice their support for the civil right of marriage, for me and Bill. Strange that no one commented or sent word to me regarding this. I guess I do have strange friends and relatives overall.

Once again I find myself dialing members of my state senate. Most of them (Bateman, Beck, Kean, Kean Jr.) are voting NO, though Bateman’s staffer is for our marriage rights, her daughter works for LGBT organizations in NJ. Madden and Turner are unknown and Sacco’s phone seems to be off the hook. So I sent Sacco an email telling him to get his phone fixed, and not to worry about the bill, the voters will pay for it.

Call one or all of these undecided Senators now:
Christopher Bateman – (908) 526-3600
Jennifer Beck – (732) 933-1591
Sean Kean – (732) 974-0400
Thomas Kean, Jr. – (908) 232-3673
Fred Madden – (856) 232-6700
Nicholas Sacco – (201) 295-0200
Shirley Turner – (609) 530-3277
Call these Senators today and let them know you’re depending on them to put human rights above politics. Let them know that civil unions represent an outdated separate-but-equal mindset. Let them know that marriage should be an equal right for all.
This is a civil rights issue that transcends partisan lines, so every Senator needs to be called.
I called about 15 state senators within the past 24 hours voicing my support and urging them to do the same. Most of them were voting no, or had voted no on pushing the bill to a vote on Thursday. I do hope these friends and relatives realize that if they were in the same position as Bill and I find ourselves, I would sure as hell vote for their civil rights.

But that’s me and I can’t expect people to rock the boat especially if they might have a fear of water.

Last night I visited Hoboken411 which is usually a fun and interesting website to visit. Apparently I pissed off whomever Hoboken411 (Perry) is. He usually leans to the right and that’s usually easily overlooked.

Yesterday one of his ‘pals’, Murph posted a few shots of the present Mayor, Dawn Zimmer next to some photos of various apes. The shots were of Zimmer, photographed mid-speech so her facial expressions were a bit weird.

True, the same thing was done to George Bush, but to Dawn Zimmer’s credit, she was elected fair and square and did not subvert the Constitution to illegally invade a country nor did she do the other heinous things that Dubya was involved with.

I made a comment that it seemed unfair since he was basically saying that Dawn Zimmer is a monkey and unsexy. I mentioned that since he never posted pictures of previous Mayors Dave Roberts and Peter Cammarano, probably because he thought they were sexy.

Oh that must have upset the thin skinned Hoboken411. My comment didn’t make the cut even though it was well within his posting rules. He also deleted a few other comments from other people, but they probably didn’t question his sexuality. To even be thought of as gay is bad, you see.

Because probably in Hoboken411′s tiny world, even the suggestion of being gay is a horrible thing to consider. I also remarked and thanked him for reminding me why I don’t visit Hoboken411 every day like I used to.

I might miss reading about him and his dog going to the dog run and his restaurant and bar reviews ~~which more than likely involve having those establishments picking up whatever tab or bill he might incur while visiting these establishments.~~

He also doubts global warming, calling it a scam. I should have realized it earlier but I’m always willing to give the benefit of the doubt, and in his case, I thought he might have been cool.

Only this guy sits in his home, dog at his feet and an ear to the police scanner. Maybe he wants to be the Rupert Murdoch of the Hoboken blog scene, ~~since Hoboken411 is starting to smell like the NY Post~~, so anti-Dawn Zimmer he appears to be, actually is.

The only comments that don’t get posted here are spam, and I’m no chicken shit. But I’ll probably keep this Perry’s blog in the blogroll, if only to remind myself, how not to run a blog.

In any event, the chap who runs The Hoboken Journal has similar problems with Mr. Perry Klaussen. So I added The Hoboken Journal to the blogroll.
http://thehobokenjournal.blogspot.com/

And here’s some photographs of my stroll around Hoboken this afternoon.

12.8.09 Hoboken 001