Posts Tagged ‘Brother Frank’

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Goodbye

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

Ah, just got off the phone with Lovely Rita. Hadn’t spoken to her in a while. Always a good chat. She’s another woman who I love to make laugh. Getting off the phone is a bit abrupt. It always is. Just an uncomfortableness.

I guess Rita’s not one for long goodbyes. I know a few other people like that. As soon as the ‘e’ in ‘goodbye’ is said, they are gone. Personally for me, I don’t mind the long goodbye. It’s a warm feeling.

The goodbye/I’m outta here is too cold, leaves me hanging. But that’s some people and not me and if everyone was like me, it would be a better world, yet it would be a boring world, so here’s to them, the short goodbye people.

Goodbye.

It’s a Thursday which for me is a Friday. It’s been a week of oddness. Monday off, Tuesday substituting for Monday, making Wednesday feel like Tuesday and today feels like Friday. As you can guess it’s very confusing.

Goodbye.

I spoke with my brother Frank today. He called me, a bit bummed that I hadn’t spoken to him in a while. He’s been trying to deal with his retirement. And he still has issues with life, specifically growing up.

Apparently my parents wanted him to be a priest. By the time I came along 11 years later, the parents were tired and didn’t really seem to care what it was that I would do.

No red flags with regards to college. No red flags with regards to anything. I don’t blame them. Wouldn’t do any good to blame them anyway. I’m not one to go to a cemetery and yell at a tombstone.

Work was busy somewhat and also quiet. Vivek was in and when I finally had a reason to see him, I find out that he’s on the way to the airport.

Goodbye.

I was able to make a few phone calls with regards to the new position I find myself in. I call it, ‘inroads’. It’s funny, last week on Thursday I was totally stressed, at wit’s end. So much so it affected me physically. Today, not so bad. It must be the new outlook, to just plow through.

Goodbye

Today was humid and drizzly, tomorrow they are expecting thunderstorms and showers. I have 2 new DVDs from Netflix, The Naked Civil Servant, starring John Hurt, who is one of my favorite actors of all time.

John Hurt portrays the late Quentin Crisp, a bon vivant from the UK transplanted to Manhattan. It’s said that Sting wrote An Englishman in New York about Quentin Crisp. Very dry that Crisp was.

The other DVD is Resident Alien, which is also about Quentin Crisp, this time a documentary. Since Sting is in the documentary, I guess I’ll find out the story about An Englishman in New York.

When my brother Frank was on the radio, instead of the web these days, he would occasionally mix in some spoken word recordings of Quentin Crisp on top of what ever music Frank happened to be playing.

Quentin Crisp, from the old world of Oscar Wilde. The was no closet that contain him.

Goodbye

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Posted in Abstract Absurdist Otherness | 2 Comments »

You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

Tuesday today. Let’s see, Bill woke me up again this morning at 6:50 which was fine. I was out of bed and doing my thing. Bill is off to his sleep apnea test tonight which leaves me solo. Not such a bad thing, though the bed will be emptier than it should.

Looking forward to President Obama’s press conference tonight. Still a refreshing thing to see and hear a world leader speak so intelligently and with authority. For some reason the right wing nuts have been going off on the fact that Obama reads from a teleprompter. What the fuck is that about?

I know the previous President, you know, the door knob, had difficulty pronouncing nuclear correctly, but all they could do is complain that Obama reads from a teleprompter? What? Did they think Bush was talking off the top of his soft skull?

They also have been complaining that Obama is busy multi-tasking. I know, that’s not right, especially since the door knob before him had difficulty watching TV and eating pretzels.

Yesterday was a busy Facebook day. Last night I was posting with a few other people, specifically Pat Longo. Nice guy, friends with my brother Frank and other WFMU types. Pat doesn’t like the Beatles. Says they’re overrated.

I can see how he might say that though I obviously don’t agree. For me, my love for the Beatles, isn’t just the music. It’s the whole cultural phenomenon that started 45 years ago and continues to this day.

They still sell plenty of records and books, and soon they’ll be on Guitar Hero or perhaps Rock Band. I don’t know, I’m not a gamer. For the seven years that they were active, they were in my eyes, four of the coolest people on the planet. Clothes, hair, & attitude still resonates. I know, I’m biased.

I love playing their songs on guitar and singing along. I’ve read their books, from badly written biographies to trainspotters writing about every recording session to the smallest detail. Moms and dads and kids liked them and still do.

I was devastated when John was murdered, and was very upset when George was attacked by an intruder and I cried when he passed away a year or so later. I shed a tear or two seeing Paul live at Madison Square Garden in 2005, and smiled sweetly when I saw Ringo do a morning set at Bryant Park for Good Morning America.

I think they were and still are amazing. There were moments that I resented them for casting such a large shadow on everything that came afterwards. The resentment was momentary and faded away and still I loved them. They probably resented the shadow that they had created and were forced to live in. Still, they weren’t going hungry.

I think one of the first musical memories I had was of my brother Frank playing Strawberry Fields Forever and when it faded out and in at the end he turned out the light in his bedroom and scared me. Strawberry Fields Forever makes for a better musical memory than Winchester Cathedral which could actually be the first song I actually recognized.

I owe my Beatles fixation to my brother Frank who gave me my first Beatles LP as a consolation for not taking me to see the bicentennial fireworks like he had promised. It was Abbey Road, their last album. Which in a way makes sense for me since I tend to do things backwards.

I started collecting their records, looking for the original Capitol Records rainbow edged albums, or releases on the Apple label, buying import singles with songs I never heard before, like The Ballad of John & Yoko.

Side note: one of the reasons that I took the job at McMann and Tate aka Wolff Olins was because they helped design the Apple Records label back in 1968. And that didn’t go so well for me 38 years later.

I just figured out a few weeks ago that John, Paul, George & Ringo, which I’m sure you know is sometimes how they’re mentioned, is the order that the band was formed. Maybe it was obvious, maybe I’m a dunce.

From July 5 1976 until December 9 1980 I felt I might have a chance of seeing the four of them perform again, or at least release a record. We know how that turned out.

But I still play them, I’m still enthralled, and I’m still a Beatles fan, and you know you should be glad. Yeah yeah yeah!

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Posted in Abstract Absurdist Otherness | 1 Comment »

You Can’t Catch Me

Monday, March 23rd, 2009

Well it was back to Southampton today, boarding the White Star Line for the HMS Titanic. Deck chairs all in in disarray. Someone needs to tidy them up, put them in their proper places and it might as well be me.

They have told me that I will have this job until next March, but of course there could always be an iceberg between now and then, between here and there. Today was nothing extraordinary. I was alive, which was a good thing (depending on who you talk to) I guess.

Bill was up before me, and he bellowed that it was 6:45 and his bellowing was more effective than an alarm clock. I shuffled past Bill as he gussied himself up in the mirror, and jumped into the shower. I was out in time to kiss him good bye.

He reminded me he has a sleep apnea test tomorrow night so he won’t be around. It’s a sleep over thing. My brother Frank did it last week and he complained how uncomfortable it was.

I spoke with Frank for an hour this morning which shows how busy I’ve been. There was the usual initial difficulty in connecting but it lasted only about a minute. We talked about a wide range of things. He finds talking to me therapeutic which is fine by me.

We made plans for me to take a train out to Garfield on Friday to play guitars together. I’ll take a train out there, we’ll play and he can drop me off at the train station so I can get back to Hoboken and beat the rush hour. I’m not as intimidated as I used to be.

Playing guitar in front of him was nerve wracking for me at times. A few years ago Bill and I drove out there during the holidays and I brought my guitar. It turned out he wasn’t into playing guitar. I tried showing him a Beatles song that I had taught myself, so proud I was, only to find him saying, that’s not how it goes.

It sounded fine to me. No, I didn’t play the Fmaj7, instead choosing a simple F barre chord. I was discouraged and put the guitar away. Last time this past holiday season I tried it again, with his guitar, played my version of Nick Lowe’s So It Goes, as well as Macca’s Maybe I’m Amazed and he was intrigued enough to suggest getting together and playing sometime.

So I guess that time will be this Friday. Since he had the stroke he hasn’t played that much and I guess he’s itching to play with someone. Even his baby brother. I’m looking forward to it and will bring a few songbooks out.

I reassured him that playing Graham Parker’s Squeezing out Sparks is easy to play since most of the songs are 3 or 4 chords. I’ll even show him some websites that have chords to songs that wouldn’t be in the songbooks.

I took the Path train back to Hoboken this evening, enjoying a Padron on the way. Chuckled out loud on the train as I was reading David Sedaris which probably raised a few eyebrows but I didn’t see them since my nose was buried in the book.

Nice walk back home in the chilly spring air. Saw Stine with Alexander and I was more than glad to help her out by carrying Alexander up to their apartment. Of course I was nervous, ‘don’t drop the baby…careful…now wouldn’t be a good time to fall down’ all running in my head.

Of course I had the camera available and took some shots of Superboy who is now walking, a bit like a drunken sailor, but still- he’s walking. And saying ‘Oooo’ every now and then.

32309-alexander-001

32309-alexander-012

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Me and Superboy

Me and Superboy


Jeezy Creezy- I love this kid!

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The Big Country

Thursday, December 25th, 2008

Well things have calmed down, quieted down. Not that it was frantic or anything. Just running from Manhattan to Hillsdale to Hoboken to Garfield back to Manhattan and returning to Hoboken in the past 24 hours.

So I guess maybe it was busy, but I wouldn’t say frantic. Bill’s mother met my family for the first time, my brothers and their families. Annemarie is in California so she was unable to be here. It was a good time, lots of food, plenty of Guinness for me.

Good to see the relatives, if only for a few hours. An interesting thing, I’ve found concerning my brother Frank. We don’t see each other so much and when we finally meet we immediately get on each other’s nerves.

He gets snippy and I in turn, amp up my snippiness and for about five minutes things are tense. Then after that things cool down and are relatively normal. My brother Brian has the same thing happen to him when dealing with Frank. Just something interesting.

Yesterday after I had finished my shopping, just one or two last minute items I wanted to get, I ran into Lois DiLivio who mentioned that all the stimulation that Bill’s mother would get from being around so many people could be good for her and it certainly was. I did hang with Juan yesterday for a few beers and some jazz riffs which was great. He’s an adorable kinda guy. And Also heard from Pedro who is also adorable and called to wish me a happy crimble.

And according to Bill, last night she wouldn’t stop talking about what a good time she had and how she appreciated all the love and attention that she received. Of course there was some drama, there always is. But it’s not my drama to write about so I won’t.

I did my best to bolster some heartbreak though by not overtly putting down anyone, but rather by building up the one with a broken heart. But young love is complicated to the one who is in love and sometimes words of comfort go unheard.

Like I said there was lots of food and I was able to snag some Care packages for myself, though I did give one to Bill’s mom. The package I shipped to California got there in time, but the cd I ordered from Amazon, scheduled to be delivered yesterday, Christmas Eve did not get delivered.

I called Amazon this morning and of course was speaking to someone in India who apologized enough that it eventually had no meaning. She was merely someone who answered the phone and has no pull at all.

The cd was to be shipped from Texas to California but with the seven days of bad weather, it’s still in Texas. I was glad that I disobeyed my sister’s edict and also got my nephew Earl an iTunes gift card since the cd is now scheduled to be delivered by December 31.

I can ship a package across country with no problem, but the US Post Office cannot deliver a cd as promised. I really don’t like using Amazon at all but it seemed like such a good idea at the time.

Bill and I exchanged presents, I got him some cuff links, a tie with buses on it and some festive red braces (suspenders), which he loved. He spent a pretty penny on a set of braces for me with a cigar theme on it, which I of course love. And I do love Bill and after all this, it’s good to chill out.

I posted some pics on my Facebook page, here is the link for that:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=13159&id=1037999596&saved#/album.php?aid=13159&id=1037999596&ref=mf

And fare thee well to Harold Pinter and Eartha Kitt.
Santa Baby goes to The Birthday Party.

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How Deep is Your Love?

Sunday, October 5th, 2008

Well it’s a Sunday and it’s quite a nothing Sunday despite the sun finally coming out. It rained last night so there’s a dampness in the air. Last night Bill and I watched Dexter, and I sort of forgotten how good it is. Bill and I are quite enamored of the show and both think Michael C. Hall is really a very good actor.

Then we watched Saturday Night Live which was really good. They are certainly on point this season. I hope they can carry the momentum once past the elections. Of course Tina Fey as Sarah Palin was spot on. The Killers were the musical guest, also good as was Anne Hathaway hosting and Queen Latifah as Gwen Ifill- the moderator of the debates. I wound up staying awake watching Lost until 1:45, falling fast asleep as my head hit the pillow.

Slept until 9:30 and that felt nice. Bill was off to church and I was soon in the supermarket getting the papers. Saw Julio and Stine and the star of the show, Alexander once again. He’s getting more adorable each time I see him. And he seems to light up whenever I’m around. Of course I only see him maybe once a week so he each time he sees me, this exotic creature, it’s something new.

I gave them the John Lennon New York City baby t shirt I bought at the art and music festival last week. It’s for 12 months and he’s only 6 months. Which means I should see if Stine could take a picture of Alexander wearing the outfit my sister sent them a few months ago.

From then on it was pretty much a day of not much. Walked around Hoboken, finished the New Yorker from 2 weeks ago, and also picked up the 40th Anniversary issue of New York. I watched some of ‘From G’s to Gents’ on MTV. Basically the premise is taking thuggish young men and putting them in suits and ties and teaching them to speak and behave like well mannered adults.

Think of it as My Fair Gangsta. It was mindless and just some background noise actually. Probably the only ‘reality’ show I’ve seen this year.

Tonight I’m going to McSwells to see the Bird and the Bee with my brother Frank and two of his friends. We’re even having some dinner together which should be interesting. I don’t think I’ve eaten in a restaurant with my brother since 1999, though it is odd to think of McSwells as a restaurant. It should make for an interesting time I think.

Just killing time right now. Not going to show up on time since Frank rarely is. But he is being picked up by a friend of his and I have no idea about how prompt or tardy the friend is. Like I said, it’s been a lazy day and there’s really no rush.

Listening to the sounds of Hoboken and watching the sunset is where it’s at for me at this present moment.

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Ok, just got back from McSwells, The Bird and The Bee put on a very good show. She’s so personable. In a different day and age I would have told Steve Fallon to get them to do a residency and play McSwells every Sunday night for a month.

Had dinner with my brother and two of his friends. Not the interesting conversation I had hoped for. Mumbly 50 somethings. Between the three of them they were all inept when paying the check and I wound up paying $50.00 for a meat loaf platter and 2 pints of Guinness.

Really hopeless 50 somethings the three of them. Frank gets a pass because of his stroke, but really embarrassingly inept the other two. If they were scamming, they got me good.

I was so annoyed though that I almost didn’t go to the show. Luckily the band was that good they took me out of my bad space and put me in a better space. At one point I went out for a smoke, a young guy followed me.

Nothing like that, mind you. Just two smokers smoking. He just turned 21 two weeks ago and was having a good time. Said it was his first time in a club, never drank underage or anything like that. Went to military school and all that.

It was his first time at McSwells and he asked me if I had ever been there before. I said I used to work there back in the day. He asked what day was that? Thursday?

He then went and tried to hit on two girls also out for a smoke and I went inside. Pints are now $6.00 and forget about buy backs from the douche bags behind the bar. No more tips for them.

If someone brings up an Obama/Bill Ayers connection, just ask them about the McCain/G. Gordon Liddy the convicted felon and his plans for murder connection.

Here’s Hoboken.
or Manhattan from Hoboken
actually NY from Hoboken

A Man and his dog

Alexander in his bouncy thing, looking like Bjork

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Posted in So how's band camp?, WTF | 3 Comments »

Goo Goo Muck

Monday, September 22nd, 2008

I didn’t write about this yesterday but it was on my mind. A synchronicity of sorts. My brother Frank and I were talking about a few topics, one of them being a woman we grew up with passed away from leukemia a week ago, Dorothy Foglio. She didn’t have an easy life, major hearing loss in one ear that went undiagnosed for so long that Dorothy was regarded as slow.

She wasn’t, and I think it wasn’t until she reached adulthood that a significant hearing loss was discovered. Dorothy was the daughter of Jim and Lorraine Foglio who were good friends of my family. Jim was a great guy, really nice and always willing to lend a hand. He had four daughters which he loved but Frank and I figured he probably would have liked to have a son to play ball with.

His daughters ages roughly corresponded with me and my brothers and sister. Jim might have tossed a ball with me once or twice, something my father rarely did. My mother taught my brothers and me how to throw correctly not like a girl. One night in 1975 Jim had tickets to a Yankee game and he couldn’t go so he gave the tickets to my mother so that one of us boys could go.

My brother Brian was unavailable so the tickets went to Frank and myself. Frank was late of course and we drove to the Bronx in a drizzly rain, Frank telling me about some song about how the Red Sox were winning. I mentioned that trip to Frank, thinking it ‘funny’ since the last game to be played at Yankee Stadium was last night. Just something that was on my mind, that’s all.

Last night Bill and I watched True Blood while I wrestled with the computer which seems to have cleared up. That’s why the posting was later than usual and also the reason I got an irate phone call from Harpy whining about how late the blog was posted. Harpy would be the guy on a paper route who’s newspaper invariably wound up on the bushes.

True Blood was very good and very interesting since the guy who plays Anna Paquin’s dim brother was being videotaped dancing in his briefs with quite a large bulge that pointed to his left. That got our attention for sure. After that we watched Entourage where Ari Gold played by Jeremy Piven went apeshit and deservedly bitch slapped a rival agent in front of the rival’s staff.

Then we watched the end of the Emmy awards which Harpy called about during True Blood. Bill went to bed before the end of the awards and I stayed up and watched the usual bad news which keeps getting worse and worse.

Woke up to Bill’s alarm clock and heard that ‘more news on that terrible story later in the broadcast’. Horrible news? What now? More economic disasters? Going to work was scary thinking about all that. Nothing on the TV news said anything overtly horrible except for Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley converting from investment banks to holding companies.

I don’t know what that means but I keep hearing that yes it’s bad now, but it’s going to be a lot worse soon enough. Bush has a plan to give Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson a lot of power and money to bail out these corporations, with no questions asked and what Paulson decides will be the final word on the matter.

Fuck Bush and his plan. He allowed millions of people to be screwed and now he wants our money to bail out this monoliths? Call your Senators and Representatives and tell them you’re against this, that is- if you’re against that.
Cut n’paste

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/columnists/article4805984.ece

Today’s New Yorkers

Late addition: I just read on Joe.My.God.’s blog (in blogroll on your right) that McCain’s chief of staff is an out to his friends and family gay man. There’s an interesting and conflicted debate going on about it in his comments on the entry.

What do you think about a situation like that? Should he be outed? Can an out gay man be outed? There are some very interesting comments, what would yours be?

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Posted in the day after yesterday | 2 Comments »

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