Earl « johnozed

Posts Tagged ‘Earl’

I Don’t Dance

Friday, September 30th, 2011

Man it certainly has been a weird day. For me to notice the weirdness it has to be really weird. It started off ‘normally’ enough with Bill kissing me good bye for the day. I told him ‘good night’ and went back to sleep for another hour.

Then I puttered about, making breakfast, showering, shaving and checking emails. Off to the bus for me, calling Bill on my smartphone. No hands free available, so it was a bit of a juggle but I managed to convey my thoughts and feelings and love to Bill’s voicemail.

Of course when leaving the message, Bill calls and I basically said what I said on the voicemail. My regular bus driver should be back from vacation next week so the commute into the city should be back to how it usually is. Plus I like being called ‘Chief’ when I board. He’s a nice guy and it makes a difference when commuting.

Got near the cigar shack and I got myself an iced coffee. I talked to Bill again before heading in. I thought I would be working with Jerry Vale and Calvin but Thomas was in today as well. A schedule change since he had jury duty earlier in the week. It was a pleasant surprise but things were a bit off kilter and I should have noticed that right from the start.

According to Thomas, it was nearly unbearable working with Bradley yesterday. I was out and so was Jerry Vale so it was personable Thomas and unsocial Bradley. Bradley could suck the life out of most any situation and he’s been more off than on lately.

It was difficult trying to start up a conversation with Thomas most of the day, he apparently was still upset with something that happened yesterday. Things got better after I went to lunch and when Thomas got back from his lunch break.

There was a bit of a palaver in the man cave today. A young student at a nearby campus hangs out for an hour or so each day, dressed like he just raided Mitt Romney’s wardrobe and he loves the sound of his own voice, weighing in on so many topics.

He just turned 21 but in many ways he’s a conservative 71. Today the topic was about the young women who were pepper sprayed by Inspector Thomas Bologna. There was a police officer in the room, off duty and in civvies who’s generally a nice guy.

The young old man stated that the women who were barricaded off should have left when the police told them to leave. I had to point out to the slicked hair young old man that they couldn’t leave since they were BARRICADED in, then pepper sprayed.

I mentioned later to Thomas that I so wanted to punch the young old man in the face and Thomas mentioned that most everyone does after a few minutes spent in the man cave with the young old man. Oh how I would love to see him get his comeuppance.

The day finally ended and it was an uneventful ride home, or at least I think it was uneventful, so enraptured with my smartphone, tracking my every move on Google Latitude. And also talking to my nephew as he watched Robert Plant and the Band of Joy at the Not Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco and wishing him a very happy birthday.

Also I am sending birthday wishes to Christina Miro, my dear friend Lovely Rita and the super smart Thaler.

Tags:Bill, Christina Miro, Cigar Shack, Earl, Lovely Rita, Thaler Pekar
Posted in So how's band camp? | No Comments »

I Don’t Care Apocalyptica

Thursday, September 29th, 2011

Well it’s been an alright day off, so far at least. First off, I slept really well, later than I expected to. But I was alright with that. Everything I planned was tentative anyhow. I did have to go get some groceries and that is what got me out of bed.

After a shower and some coffee as well as trying to figure out what it is that the smartphone does I headed out. On the way I decided to use the camera and took a couple of shots. I think they came out just as good as they would be if I used the Coolpix Nikon.

Still a bit shaky with it, though it will become more comfortable to use as time goes on. I came home and had a decent breakfast and then headed out again. It was threatening to rain most of the day and I was fortunate to be able to avoid most of the downpours by mere minutes.

I also made it to the library to pick up a book I ordered, The Sibling Effect by Jeffrey Kluger. I saw him on the Colbert Report and the book sounded interesting, so now it was time to pick it up before it goes back to the original bibliothèque.

Tomorrow is my nephew’s birthday, Earl is turning 21 and I bought a Greetings from Hoboken NJ t-shirt. I also had a Bob Marley book and a John Lennon book that I bought second hand earlier in the year and hoped to give them to him when he visited this year. But that did not work out since Earl’s flight was cancelled.

The books were too bulky to have Annemarie bring back with her so I hung onto them. I stopped at the local card shop and bought a birthday card that I thought was cool and walked over to the Post Office. It wasn’t crowded at all and after packing a box and paying for the shipment I headed out for a brief walk around Hoboken. The box will hopefully be there for Earl when Anne, Rex and Earl get back from the Not Strictly Bluegrass Festival this weekend.

I saw Bill Ryan outside the Post Office and said hello. It was good to see him, he’s looking healthy. I always liked Bill and he seemed to like me. I always enjoyed working for him at Pier Platters, either sitting behind the counter if he had to run an errand or manning the register at Pier Platters 2. And of course I always got a good deal on my purchases.

I played with the Google Latitude on my smartphone and watched myself as I wandered around town. I also talked with Bill for a few minutes. I’m trying to be conservative with my phone calls since I do not have the unlimited calls that I used to have with T-Mobile.

I found out later when I got home that I arranged to have my calls to Bill to be free and available whenever I want. I am enjoying the smartphone nonetheless. I found myself at one point in the day accessing some websites on my phone while sitting right in front of the computer. That was very dumb. Why waste time and access when I have everything right in front of me? I was glad I caught myself.

It’s a nice quiet evening, Bill is up in Harlem stage managing a play and here I am, in Hoboken, writing this very line.

Tags:Bill, Bill Ryan, Earl, Smartphone
Posted in Happy? | 5 Comments »

I Can’t Drive 55

Friday, July 15th, 2011

Yes it’s Friday. Let’s hear it for Friday! Or let’s not. Some of us have a weekend, some do not. Myself, I have to get through tomorrow and then it’s off for me for 3 days. I was looking forward to seeing my nephew Earl who was flying in on Saturday.

I haven’t seen Earl in a couple of years and now his flight is canceled, upsetting his mother Annemarie and his cousins as well as me and Bill and his aunts and uncles. I was excited about going to the beach with Earl on Monday and Tuesday but it’s all fallen by the wayside.

I hope Annemarie has no difficulty getting a refund back from United Airlines. Facebook friend Neal says the United has the worst customer service so I guess we’ll find out whether or not that happens to be the case.

In the world of employment it wasn’t so bad at the cigar shack. Thomas and Jerry Vale and I were manning the shack. It was a good team, we balance each other very well. Thomas was impeccably dressed as ever, I was wearing my shark skin suit with a skinny tie and Jerry Vale was in his usual duds.

The usual customers came in, but not too many. Most came by yesterday, buying their cigars for the weekend and taking off on Friday. In the man cave yesterday it was packed, today there was plenty of room.

It’s hard to say how it will be from day to day, for some it’s too crowded and for others it’s just right, they’re content to stand and smoke a cigar. There really is camaraderie among cigar smokers and they are generally a friendly bunch, always welcoming new faces, a brotherhood of the leaf is what it is called in some quarters.

Bill is off to Atlantic City again and will be doing the same tomorrow. He was feeling very fatigued the other night and skipped a rehearsal which he made up for last night. Tonight, no rehearsal and so it’s off to Atlantic City.

I will probably see Bill for a few minutes as I wait for the bus tomorrow morning if I am lucky. But he had a late start tonight driving and will probably be arriving later so there’s a good chance that we will miss each other. That’s the gist I suppose. It happens from time to time.

I am happy tomorrow is a casual day in any event. Too hot really to wear a suit, shark skin or whatever. I am almost done with ‘Our Band Can Be Your Life’ by Michael Azerrad. It’s an interesting book, reading about all these bands that played Maxwells when I was there, DJ’ing, working the door, bar backing or checking ID’s.

I just finished reading about Beat Happening and I’m sure I had seen them at some point. One of their last gigs was a sold out show at Maxwells according to the book and I was more than likely there doing something. Hell I practically lived there in the eighties. At one point I was even having my mail delivered there since my mother thought my neighborhood at 2nd and Madison was too unsafe for postal delivery.

‘Our Band Can Be Your Life’ is a good book, thoroughly enjoyable but personally I think bands like Pylon, Let’s Active among others should be written about. I suppose that is what Steve Fallon is working on. I have to find some of my writings and sort them out and send them to Steve for his approval. I hope it’s an oral biography.

Tags:2008, Annemarie, Bill, Cigar Shack, Earl
Posted in uncategorizable | No Comments »

Here Today

Saturday, July 18th, 2009

Back on Bill’s Mac. Nothing bad happened, just that Rand is presently in the process of hooking me up with another computer, Frankenstein style. Meaning bits and pieces of my old computer as well as odds and ends that he has found here and there.

Good enough for me and with more disc space I’m happy with it. He’s a great guy that Rand and that makes Lisa a great gal.

I brought my computer over to Rand’s this afternoon after Rand called and suggested I bring the Tokyo Pop bag that I use to transport my computer back and forth. Unfortunately due to the heat and more than likely the hangover I had from last night, I only brought the bag and not my computer, which meant I had to come back home and get the computer.

Totally duh.

Last night was something else, that’s for sure. Julio and Stine decided to join Annemarie, Earl, Bill and myself to go see Paul McCartney. The 5 of us met up in front of my building to head over to the Path train into the city to collect Bill at his office.

The neighbor on the third floor of our building graciously offered to pick up my box at the UPS truck. To Anne’s dismay it was a box of cigars that I ordered online.

We made it to Bill’s office and waited outside for him to join before heading on a 7 train to Flushing. We wisely followed Bill’s lead since he knows these routes the best out of all of us.

We lucked out, and got on an express train getting there rather quickly. Thankfully the MTA added extra trains for the Macca event. We were there in no time and soon on an escalator up to the seating area.

Julio had the brilliant idea of getting some beers so we got on line. Two beers per person and we had our fill each except for Stine and Earl. The beers weren’t that expensive.

Standing around, Julio wandered a bit and found a nice spot to have our beers before splitting up to go to our respective seats. Annemarie had the idea to just stand there and watch the show until we were asked to move on.

Stine was hesitant to bend the rules like that so after a while she and Julio headed to their seats before realizing that the view was better where we were standing. Plus it was very close to the beer concession.

The opening act, The Script were ok in their thankless task of opening up for an ex-Beatle. Their sound wasn’t that good either. Annemarie recognized one of their songs and they closed their short set with a cover of David Bowie’s Heroes.

Paul came on a little while after that starting off with Drive My Car. The stadium erupted and Annemarie was screaming her head off. I did some yelling as well, just not in the upper register that Anne possessed.

Suppressed Beatlemania for 45 years was finally released.

Paul did the hits of course, including some decent songs from his latest releases. He also dedicated My Love to Linda McCartney. Paperback Writer, Day Tripper, Back in the USSR, The Long & Winding Road, Hey Jude, Let It Be, Band on the Run, Jet, Let Me Roll It and Live & Let Die were major stand outs as well as his song for John Lennon, Here Today.

He also did George Harrison’s Something, starting on ukulele then the band joined in (a crackerjack band if there ever was one I might add) as well as a medley of A Day in the Life/Give Peace a Chance.

The stadium went bananas when Billy Joel appeared and sang and played piano during I Saw Her Standing There with Paul. It wasn’t as bad as I thought and it was over in about 2 minutes.

The sound was excellent and of course most of the time we were staring at the gigantic screens bookending the stage since to the naked eye, Paul & the band were quite tiny. It was mainly a blur, the evening was.

They finished with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band Reprise and The End. As we were leaving the stadium some guy came up to Bill and said that he thought it was great that Bill and I were so affectionate to each other during the show.

The guy’s wife was a few feet behind and wanted to know what the guy said and when Bill told her, she said in 20 years of marriage she had never heard him speak like that.

Our party lucked out once again, getting on another express train back to Manhattan. Bill once again came to the rescue with his knowledge of bus schedules and we were soon on line in the bus terminal for a few minutes, then soon on the bus back to Hoboken.

A splendid time was had by all. I did upload some pics but they’re on the computer, which is at Rand and Lisa’s place. They can also be found on my Facebook page if you really want to see them. They’re worth a look.

Had a nice dinner with Anne & Earl and Rand & Lisa at Grimaldi’s. Anne & Earl and I ate there when they first got to Hoboken a very fast 9 days ago. It was a nice way to see them off with another dinner at the same spot.

We said goodbye on Washington Street, me somewhat regretful about the behavior that I showed once or twice. I just think my sister is one of the coolest people I have in my life and with all the stress in her life I certainly didn’t need to add to it and I hope my apologies for acting like that were enough.

I really do.
Photo_071809_005
7.17.09 MACCA 002a

The drunken Uncle is always a favorite

A below the radar picture of Stine & Julio

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Bill and Earl

the where we were

the train ride back

Thumbs aloft for Macca!

Tags:Annemarie, Beatlemania, Bill, Earl, Julio + Stine, Paul McCartney at the new Mets stadium, Rand + Lisa
Posted in Wonderful World Beautiful People | 2 Comments »

Ram On

Friday, July 17th, 2009

OK. I am very anxious. Manic even. I attribute it to seeing Paul McCartney and all that around the show.

I’m worried it might rain. I’m worried they won’t let me bring my camera inside. I’m worried about being able to get a box of cigars that I’ve ordered from UPS and bringing them to Bill’s office for pick up after the show.

I’m worried about Annemarie staying at Claire’s apartment for a night or two. That had been in the works for a while, at least my asking Claire if my sister and her son could crash there for a night or two.

I only found out from Claire that it would be ok mere minutes ago. Meanwhile Anne has reserved a room at a Days Inn in Newark since they have a crazy early flight Sunday morning.

I’m also worried about a rumor that since Macca appeared at the last show at Shea last year with Billy Joel, Billy Joel might do the same for Macca. I really hope not. I don’t really want to hear any Billy Joel songs tonight.

Other surprise guests are rumored but of course there are no other names except the Big Shot himself.

So it’s the coordination of all these things, including meeting up with Julio & Stine. It’s likely they will drive but it would be impossible for the four of us to fit in with Julio & Stine in their car, what with Bill and myself taking up that much space.
The MTA said they were adding more trains while Macca is performing there for all three nights so that will be hopefully accommodating.

I think the anxiety is all from seeing Paul McCartney. One the most basic, primal level for my love of music. I mean, he is who he is. A Beatle.

It would have been nice if we were all sitting together, but when I bought tickets when they went on sale, they were only available in pairs. I got mine and Bill’s first. I know, how selfish. Then Anne & Earl.

Bill & I are in the 100′s section while Anne & Earl as well as Julio & Stine are in separate sections of the 500′s area. There was a plan to perhaps swapping seats, meeting up somewhere and exchanging ticket stubs but that seems a bit unlikely. No one knows the layout and the rules of this new stadium as this is the first concert at the new Mets stadium.

So I am excited mainly and anxious. I hope things work out, I’m sure they will. The sky is cloudy and it’s quite hummus out right now. I’ve changed undershirts a few times today.

Now Annemarie and Earl are here, killing time in this messy apartment before we head out and pick up my UPS box and head into the city.

My neighbor on the 3rd floor, who aren’t Julio & Stine offered to pick mine up since she too is picking up a package and missed the deliveries herself.

That would be nice if the driver will release it to her. She said she was going to ring my bell but I think I will be gone by then. Nice offer on her part anyway.

Tags:Anne, Bill, Earl, Julio + Stine, Macca, Paul McCartney at the new Mets stadium
Posted in So how's band camp? | No Comments »

Ants Invasion

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

It’s a Thursday now. Thursday night to be exact. Last night turned out to be better than I anticipated. No hurt feelings, no toes stepped on.

It was a nice seemingly impromptu gathering of my immediate family. There were a few hitches to overcome but they were taken care of. I was famished by the time I got there with Annemarie and Bill.

I took the train and Bill took a bus. It was a strange train ride for me. Apparently someone was talking too loud on their cell causing another passenger to stand up and yell, ‘Can you talk any louder?’

I was wearing my headphones so I didn’t hear the cellphone conversation but I did hear the NY Post reader yell at the other passenger, so in my book, he was the nuisance, not the cellphone user.

Got off the train at the Plauderville station in Garfield. A few entrances there and I couldn’t figure out where Annemarie was. It turned out she was on the street waving to me from her Volkswagen Beetle.

We picked up some beers and then drove to pick up Bill at his bus stop. Then it was off to Pierre Avenue where my brother Brian and my niece Meghan and her husband Rob were sitting soon joined by Anne’s son Earl.

It was a pleasant evening and eventually my brother Frank, his wife Elaine showed up, then Brian’s’ wife Karen and their two daughters Hillary & Cassie and finally Frank & Elaine’s daughter Corinne arrived.

I ate a lot of cheese and I rarely eat cheese, but I was that hungry. Even ate a cheeseburger which was probably the third time in my life that I’ve eaten a cheeseburger. The night went by fast, soon it was dark and our uncovered legs proved to be an ample feast for many mosquitoes flying around.

We left since Bill had to get up really early to take a drug test in Brooklyn. Bill drove Annemarie’s Beetle back to Hoboken with Anne & Earl in the backseat and me in the front.

It was a white knuckle ride with Bill thinking he was driving a bus and zooming in and out of traffic, passing on the right which anyone will tell you is a no no. I had to ask him to stop doing that. Bill’s rationale was that he’s an aggressive driver and a quick driver.

I explained there was no need for his aggression (plus it’s a bad way to drive. I remember being taught to drive defensively. Maybe in the 23 years since I last drove the rules had changed which could account for the dozens of horrible drivers out there that I see each week).

Luckily we got home safely though I was a bit disturbed by Bill’s driving and was a bit distant. I explained this morning why I was the way I was and thats when Bill told me his reason for his driving, that he wanted to get home and go to bed as soon as possible.

I did stay up and watched Paul McCartney on the David Letterman show. Macca was very good, performed outside on the marquee above Broadway surrounded by thousands. If I had known that’s what he was going to do I probably would have been there.

According to the Daily News, Macca played 7 songs, ending with Helter Skelter. Tomorrow it’s off to the new Mets stadium to see Macca and his band in concert.

Today it was a trip to Sandy Hook with Annemarie & Earl. It was originally supposed to be at 9:00 but I moved it to 10:00 which was great since I didn’t get out of bed until 9:00. It was an easy uneventful ride with not much traffic.

The only glitch was the choice of beach. I’m used to going to the North Beach on Sandy Hook, the farthest away from everything else. Anne was tired of driving and we parked in Beach C to my chagrin. I had never been to that beach before and I probably will never go back there again.

Too small a beach, swimming area and way too crowded for my taste. Filled with people who would never dream of going to North Beach or the nude beach at Gunnison Beach. The people I try to stay away from.

I was uneasy and Annemarie knew it, offering to move to another beach. No, I did my silent martyr bit and sat there stone faced taking it all in before I realized that it wasn’t fair to Anne or Earl to behave this way.

Things got better and we all swam a bit. Too windy and too crowded to toss a Frisbee so we mainly sat around under neath the umbrellas.

Earl and I did go in later in the afternoon when the water was a little bit warmer. There were also hundreds of dead ants floating in the water so maybe that helped with the temperature.

A drive to Rumson like we’ve done previous summers where we got some ice cream and soon we were on the rode back to Hoboken.

A nice Mexican dinner at Mision Burrito on 4th Street and a quick chat with Stine and Alexander before Anne and Earl were on their way back to Garfield.

Tomorrow, we’re off to see Paul McCartney!