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I Cigni Di Balaka

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011

I just got back from seeing Bill at Le Poisson Rouge in ‘Destinations’ once again. It was enjoyable once more. I decided to sit further back from the stage so I can take a few photographs and not interfere with anyone’s sightlines. I wasn’t supposed to and Bill didn’t know anything about it.

I know the staff at Le Poisson Rouge didn’t care since they asked me while I was taking photographs if I wanted something to drink. It was an entertaining show and it was a lot tighter than it was when I saw it initially. Of course I saw it on opening night, or rather opening afternoon.

I took several hundred photos, so many that my camera was getting hot. And seeing it a second time, it felt a lot faster. I could easily see it becoming an off Broadway show and perhaps with some fine tuning it could even be a Broadway show, though if a show like Passing Strange which did boffo box office off Broadway and faded too quickly on Broadway, maybe the chances for an original rock and roll show on Broadway isn’t the way to go. Hedwig & the Angry Inch did very well off Broadway too, though I never saw it there.

We had a nice dinner at a restaurant around the corner, Rocco’s. Bill and the cast ate there last night and Bill liked it so much that of course he wanted to take me tonight. Then a walk around part of the West Village. I hung outside of McDonalds while Bill ran in and used the bathroom. It was a long wait and of course Bill had to buy something, so he bought a hamburger to give to a homeless person.

Then another long wait on Eighth Street where Bill got his hat cleaned. I waited for a while then told Bill I was going to Barnes & Noble across the street. I browsed for a while and was followed by the security guard while I scoped out them music books slim selection. I was hoping to get back to Hoboken before the sun went down and at 8:00 I knew it would be dark when we returned to New Jersey. That was alright, just a slight crimp in my plans.

Bill didn’t know that cleaning his hat would take so long. We walked through Hoboken, bars getting crowded, outdoor seating at the restaurants were pretty much full. Good business in Hoboken. We came home, and once inside I set about uploading a ton of photos, over 400 that I took at Destinations. Then I posted them to Facebook which took a while.

Bill and I were just settling in when I got a message on Facebook from Bill’s cousin. She tried to get in touch with Bill on his phone but it was dead and getting charged up in another room. Bill’s mother was rushed by ambulance to the hospital after getting very sick. I told Bill the news and he went into full panic mode and headed out the door to the Path train, back into the city.

I offered to go with him, but he told me I should stay home in case he needs something. So here I sit, phone nearby. Other than the last hour, it’s been a really good day. Perhaps it still is, maybe Bill’s mom will be diagnosed with something that isn’t too bad. All we have is hope.






Gangs of New York











The one that calls itself Shack Master commented again on the previous post. This time he said that if he was a monkey from Kiev, he would take into consideration my poor attitude and lack of ambition and wouldn’t think he could trust me to check ID’s.

Wow, Miss Shack Thing has really gotten bitchy!

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I Can’t Wait #2

Monday, August 15th, 2011

It’s nice having two days off in a row. And though it was not a Saturday and Sunday off, Sunday and Monday did the job just right. I slept fairly well on Saturday night and woke up after Bill left for the first performance of Destinations at Le Poisson Rouge, I headed out to the supermarket, somewhat groggy from not enough coffee.

I bought what I needed to get and headed home for a hasty breakfast before heading out into the rainstorm to the Path train. It was a good uneventful ride into Manhattan and I was earlier than I expected. I was in the Village before noon and had about 45 minutes before the show was going to start. I had a small cigar and walked the outskirts of Washington Square Park which was deserted due to the rain and construction machinery and trash.

I sat across the street from Le Poisson Rouge which used to be the Village Gate, on two milk crates underneath a disused marquee. I saw Bill heading in and shouted ‘Bill! Bill! Vila! Triple 5!’ but he was with a cast mate and didn’t hear me. A queue started and I eventually cross the street and joined the line, standing underneath my umbrella.

The crowd was eventually let in and I stumbled through the darkness and found a seat next to a piano. I knew Bill would be playing the piano at some point and thought it would be a nice surprise. The show started and a few people played the piano throughout the show, besides Bill.

I actually enjoyed Destinations. It was a good story, good songs, all performed by a talented cast. I enjoyed it so much that I look forward to seeing it again. After the show I met one of the other actors and she was most appreciative to hear my compliments.

Bill and I headed back to the Path train in a steady rain and were soon back in Hoboken, lucky since the trains to Journal Square in Jersey City were not running due to the rainstorm. We settled in the apartment, both of us talking about the show and how Bill felt about how it all went. I plan on seeing the August 24th show on a future day off.

Bill took a nap, as I surfed the net and made some dinner. A few hours later Bill was awake and watching me text my niece Corinne with regards to today’s plan on going to Sandy Hook. Corinne was in Asbury Park where it was pouring and supposed to be raining for a few days. It didn’t matter to Bill and I about the weather, Bill rented a car and we would be doing something. Plus when it rains up in North Jersey, it doesn’t mean that it’s going to be raining down the shore.

This morning it was still raining and we were still heading down the shore. Not enough time for a real breakfast, coffee would have to suffice. Bill had to stop by his bus depot and pick up a check. That was OK, the bus depot is in Wallington which is right next to Garfield.

We picked Corinne up and soon we were on the Parkway headed south. And it was steadily raining on the way, so much rain that I was starting to have doubts about what we were doing. I did call Connie in the Highlands and she was busy driving a friend to cataract surgery. And she said it was raining there and that people were told to move their cars to higher ground.

We made it to North Beach on Sandy Hook and almost as soon as our feet were in the sand, it stopped raining. A few minutes later the sun was out. There were maybe 12 people on the beach, not including the lifeguards. We wound up getting about 4 hours of sun, and thinking that this could be the last time this year that I would be at the beach, I went into the water for a spell, a bit put off from the flotsam and dead jellyfish, washed up from the storms in the past 24 hours.

Corinne noticed some dark clouds coming in from the west and we packed up rather quickly, with the good timing of being in the car when the skies opened up again. A ride to Rumson for some ice cream at Crazies. A good day at the beach with good company and once again, I’m a lucky guy.

headed down the shore


the shore, in rain




incoming storm, outgoing Sandy Hookers




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I Can’t Get Next to You

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

A Wednesday night and I am home early. I opened the store this morning and in doing so, I got to leave early. Of course there was traffic entering the tunnel so that meant we sat on the bus (air conditioned) for a while before lurching into the tunnel. I think I am going to have to seriously consider taking the Path home.

Maybe take the first train that pulls into the station and if it is a train that goes to the bus terminal I’ll take it. If it’s going to the Path train, I’ll take it. Not really digging sitting on the bus and waiting and waiting and waiting.

So it was my first day back at work after 3 days off in a row. Sunday was a good day, spent a number of hours with my brothers, sister and sisters in law and their families in Saddle Brook. It was a nice barbecue with my niece and her husband and their dogs.

A nice time, with a few beers & hot dogs and hamburgers in the heat and me playing guitar. It was all rather pleasant. I saw my nephew who cleaned up his act and seems to be doing nicely, a day after he sky dived.

Annemarie drove me home in time to watch True Blood and it was good. The next day was a beach day with my niece Meghan joining Annemarie and myself. The water was a bit cold and the bug spray that I bought in 1999 turned out to be a bug attractor and I found myself in the midst of a swarm of biting flies.

They did not bother Annemarie or Meghan, just me and my bags. It was embarrassing enough that I waited for people to pass so they wouldn’t see the swarm on my legs and following me.

All it took was a quick shower to wash the bug spray away for the flies to leave me alone. Annemarie, Meghan and I made it back to Hoboken where we had a very nice pizza at Grimaldi’s on Washington Street, only an hour or so after having ice cream in Rumson NJ at Crazies.

After dinner a quick walk up & down Washington Street before Meghan dropped me off in front of my building and heading back up to Saddle Brook with Annemarie in tow. I climbed up the stairs and soon jumped in the shower washing the beach and bug spray fully off of me.

The next day, yesterday was just Annemarie and me at the beach. We left earlier than usual and were down there a little after noon. We had sandwiches and iced teas and swam a bit and before we knew it, it was after 3:00 which was the time Annemarie decided that we had to head back to Hoboken.

A nice and early Mexican dinner, then she was off. She had packing to do and wanted to visit Garfield the way she visited Hillsdale the night before. And just like that it was all over.

Like a child waiting and waiting for Christmas, it finally comes and then it’s gone too soon. Annemarie and I had been talking about her visit for a few months and now it was all over. She got on a plane early this morning as I was making my way to the cigar shack. It wasn’t easy to go back but it was air conditioned at least so that was something to take under consideration.

I really miss my sister and wish I could do more and contribute to the expense of her traveling back east. Maybe I’ll start saving now like a Christmas Club account. Makes sense since when Annemarie visits it’s like Christmas in July.


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I Don’t Know Why

Tuesday, December 28th, 2010

OK. I was using Microsoft Word to write and three times I tried to past the word bibliothèque into the text. It caused the document to close and the whole program to shut down. Don’t know why, but here I am writing again.

I wrote about Calvin sending me email asking me to come in today since the trains were running as was NJ Transit buses. He wasn’t sure if the Bradley was going to be in and did not want to work 12 hours by himself. Oh the price of being management.

Then there was a second email about a minute later, telling me to ignore the previous email, since the Bradley was in the cigar shop after all. I ignored both messages and set about getting busy, cleaning up the apartment as much as possible.

My niece Corinne mentioned stopping this afternoon while we were both in Hillsdale. It sounded like a fun idea and I was game. I started cleaning last night but there is only so much you can do while people are trying to sleep.

Corinne caught a train from Garfield, winding up in Hoboken around 1:15. I was planning on meeting her at the station but she was on here way to the apartment when she contacted me. We hung out for a while before I had to run some errands.

A trip to the dry cleaners as well as the bibliothèque where I returned Whatever Works, the Woody Allen movie starring Larry David. I enjoyed it, Bill loved it, laughed out loud several times. I also returned The Mind’s Eye by Oliver Sacks. Recommended reading.

We walked through snowy Church Square Park and had lunch at Oneal’s Restaurant, across from the park. It was nice, burgers and a pint for each of us. We came back to the apartment after that, watching Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

Corinne had never seen it before and it may have been a bit of an eye opener. Still a good, fun movie and I’m sure she enjoyed it. She had a train to catch back to Garfield so I walked her back to the train station, on the way leading her into a deceptively deep puddle of slush and getting her Uggs and her feet wet.

I felt bad about that and let Corinne lead the way after that. We got to the station and I bought three pair of socks from a push cart vendor for $5.00, so that Corinne could at least change into dry socks on the train, an attempt to minimize her discomfort.

We parted ways at the station after I made sure she got on the right train. They’ve been changing the schedules at the last minute and they did it again, operating on a weekend schedule but not mentioning it on their website.

Good old NJ Transit. Last night they canceled the train Bill & I were going to take and we found out once we got to the station, needing to take an earlier train than planned. But it all worked out and it was good to have Corinne around, bringing her energy and color to an otherwise drab day off.

Walking back through the train station I was reminded of when I accompanied my father to work in 1977. I didn’t want to go, he probably didn’t want to take me but since he took my brothers at some point in their lives (and maybe my sister) I had to go.

I was reminded of this since it was around the same time of year, 33 years ago. Different times indeed, all those years ago.


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I Didn’t Know What Time It Was

Monday, December 27th, 2010

And here we are, two days after Christmas. And it was a snowy day, in fact it was such a snowy day that it was a snow day. Meaning that I had off from work, officially. I started the suggestion last night, sending an email to Calvin who stated that it was up to the building management some Kumpus Group, or Unrelated Companies nonsense in which they excel in a lack of subtlety as well as genuine bad decision making all around.

Calvin actually got back to me and wrote that he had gotten in touch with Marcus who declared the store to be officially closed. I don’t know if the customers knew about the store closing but if the staff from Long Island couldn’t make it in with the subways being shut down and NJ Transit buses not running at all, you really can’t have a store being open.

I found this out around 10:00 this morning, about 4 hours after I had been awake. Too late for me to go back to sleep so I puttered around as well as made use of the new HP computer I got from Bill for Christmas.

I was also up until about 2:00 last night exploring the computer and filled with wonder when YouTube videos loaded and played almost instantly with no jumpiness involved. I have to admit, I had gotten used to the videos loading forever so when the video for The Hardest Part by Blondie played almost instantly I was taken aback.

Bill also had off from work today and for most of the day, we were just hanging out in the apartment, watching TV and listening to music. I made a trip outside to the supermarket. Someone shoveled the steps and sidewalk in front of the building and I was glad it wasn’t me.

A lot of people were digging out their cars and a lot of cars were stuck in the snow and ice. I maneuvered my way around them and got the basics from the market.

I came home and had something light to eat. Bill and I had plans to go to Hillsdale to see my brother Brian and his family, as well as seeing my brother Frank and his family again. We were going to rent a Zipcar but the roads seemed too treacherous.

Brian phoned and suggested the train which made the most sense. We decided on the 5:35 train and left with enough time to find out the train had been canceled and the earlier, 5:16 train would be the one to be on.

So that’s what we did. Brian met us at the station and soon we were in the warm and cozy house of love. Brian and Karen and Hillary and Cassie as well as their brother Brian the prodigal and Cassie’s boyfriend Dylan were soon joined by Frank and Elaine with Meg and Rob and Corinne’s boyfriend Vic.

Annemarie was once again in California with her family and made her presence known by way of my cellphone. Dinner and gifts and some guitar playing by my nephew Brian was all enjoyed greatly.

But being tied to a train schedule we had to make it back to the train station a little after 9:00. Still cold and windy in Hoboken as Bill and I walked down the streets, stopping by neighbor Claire’s apartment to help the people who were staying there turn on their heat.

And now, thanks to Bill’s help, the old computer, Randenstein is now sort of hooked up to the new computer. I have two towers going and about 3 internal hard drives as well as the 2 iPods and one screen.

I actually finished this a while ago, just got very distracted by District 9, a very good movie, worth seeing. Out of the ordinary.


and down goes Uncle John with a left hook!

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I Couldn’t Sleep a Wink Last Night

Saturday, December 25th, 2010

Well the last posting was a bit intense, all about the managerial shenanigans at work. That was then, this is now. I worked yesterday and as it turned out Calvin’s holiday get together was postponed until January. It was busy and we were supposed to close at 5:00 but at 5:15 people kept coming in.

I didn’t leave until a little before 6:00 and walked down the avenue listening to the first 4 songs on the B-52′s second album, Wild Planet. Chasing rainbows in the mud. I caught a waiting bus and soon I was home for only a little while.

I called my sister in law Elaine and told her we would get there around 8:00. Bill got the car as I got things ready. He texted when he was outside and I joined him, trying to figure out how to operate the controls on the car seat.

Garfield was nice and warm and cozy as we sat in the house where Frank and Elaine live. Elaine made a leg of lamb which was very good and I ate a lot of it as well as couscous, potatoes and veggies. And a whole lot of cookies and brownies to bring home. Rob & Meghan joined us a little after we got there and it was a good thing they ate already since Bill and I were starving.

Corinne surprised me and Bill with Guinness cans and pint glasses from Dublin, when Corrine was last in Ireland earlier this year. And a lovely Beatles fleece blanket which came in handy last night. Bill and I came home a little before midnight.

We were both tired from the previous 24 hours, with Bill driving a bus to and from Washington DC and me working retail and as being sick midweek Still, despite being oh so very tired, we managed to exchange presents once it was officially Christmas.

I got Bill an electronic keyboard which rolls up. It’s quite flat. We don’t know what it sounds like but there are supposedly 100 sounds available at his fingertip. I gave him his leather jacket last week since I had a limited amount of time if it needed to be returned and it didn’t need to be returned.

He’s been wearing it more often, but not for work as it’s not long enough to cover the hem of his suit jackets. Bill gave me a brand new HP computer, my first ever brand new computer. I haven’t even taken it out of the box yet since I don’t know how to join this computer and the new one, or at least transfer files.

If anyone has any ideas or directions on how to do such a thing I’d be glad to follow them.

Bill was much more frustrated with the breakdowns of the computer this past summer and Rand, who created this here computer reminded me that ‘you get what you pay for.’ That’s going to be my project the next few days, at least Tuesday or next weekend which will be my next time off.

Juan was here for a few hours. We basically had some sparkling wine, ate some pasta and watched the Freaks and Geeks marathon. He just left a little while ago. He’s always good to have around, if only for a little while. He’s headed back to Trenton tonight.

Back to work tomorrow, Boxing Day. Back to ‘normal’ hours, which means earlier hours. Monday night, a trip to Hillsdale. Hope you had an excellent Christmas holiday or whatever it is you choose to celebrate.

Be good.

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