Tag Archives: Kevin Croughn

Chances Are

Saturday night at Maxwells I see Bob Bert waiting for a bus to headed to Manhattan. I’ve been spending a lot more time at Maxwell’s lately, more than I have in quite a while. Perhaps it is the circle of life which if taken literally means I am about to die. I certainly hope not and the song Circle of Life is not one of Elton John’s songs that I like. But here it is, I’m inside watching Bob Bert wait for a bus outside. He must have caught the bus when I looked askance since he wasn’t there anymore when I looked again.

It was an interesting night at Maxwell’s. Someone was having a birthday gathering with about 75 of their closest friends. It was getting crowded that tables were moved into the basement to make room for the people who were standing around and drinking instead of sitting down and eating. I’m glad I was able to help out and if things go smoothly (and I don’t see why they wouldn’t) I will be helping out more and more.

Standing in the restaurant and seating people if they wanted to have some dinner. I found that standing and holding menus shows that I am working there and if I greet people without menus the people think I’m some strange geezer at the door.

And geezer at the door was a position I did hold at Maxwell’s for a few years, usually on Thursday nights though whatever night was needed I was more or less, there. I did find myself being a relic of sorts when the staff heard that I used to work there back in the day, nights when Nirvana played on a Thursday night, or Smashing Pumpkins on the same bill with Blood Oranges. Crazy lineups.

I didn’t care much for those bands then, thought Nirvana did get in my good graces. I preferred the Minutemen playing to those Sub Pop bands. Never really got into the Seattle sounds though my roommate at the time, Kevin loved all that stuff like Tad and Mudhoney. For me, the guys were gross and the music sounded like sludge. Half the staff seemed to like the Sub Pop bands and the other half thought the same as me.

I also saw something that sort of made sense the other night at Maxwell’s. At one of the tables sat a group of four bears, you know the hirsute bearded gay guys. One of them was rather flirty with me which I thought was a compliment. A few feet away stood a few patrons, hirsute bearded straight guys. I figured it out that once again, straight men taking their cues from gay men, this time bear culture which may have fed the bearded Fleet Foxes type of music these days. Guys that look like their grandfathers were in the Band.

I found that amusing. Also amusing is the fact that according to Rolling Stone magazine, Maxwell’s is the number 3 rock and roll club in the United States. With publicity like that chances are that I will be needed to help out there more often. And access to free shows as well is nice.
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Day Dreaming

Well first off, it’s a lot cooler today than it was yesterday. Somewhere in the 70 degree range. Nice. Not too hot, pretty cool. The weather people kept talking about rain, but it hasn’t happened yet.

I can see ominous clouds approaching from the west. It’s now supposed to rain tonight. I’m not going anywhere. I never do anyhow.

Yesterday was an accomplishment, going out and seeing the Hoboken Memorial Day parade. Once I’m in, I’m in.

I did go out and play guitar for a while this afternoon by the river. Tariq showed up so I sang. Why can’t I sing when I’m alone? I sang Hercules by Elton and also Make the World Go Away by Eddy Arnold.

It was a good day and I enjoyed playing. Made some pocket change thanks to two generous teenagers. I only played guitar for about an hour and a half.

Walked back with Tariq, he was off to his studio. I needed a haircut. Hair was getting thick and the heat yesterday made it feel like I was wearing a hat. Tony was in at Mr. L’s despite usually having Thursday and Friday off.

The other barber, Louie (Mr. L himself) was on vacation in Italy. I walked in, and Tony was free having just had a nap. He did a good job as usual.

We talked about cigars and the new job with my new role in a male version of The Mystery of Marie Rogêt. Oddly enough, Marie Rogêt’s body was found floating in the Hudson River just off the Hoboken coast.

It was way before my time in Hoboken so don’t look at me.

Now it is thundering and raining with the occasional flash of lightning.

Had a good phone call from an old friend and ex-roommate Kevin. He actually called after Lost on Sunday night and after talking then I told him I would call him during the week. So I called today.

He’s out in Pennsylvania living his life to the best of his ability. It was good to talk to him. He’s a good guy. I don’t think I would live with him again and I’m sure he feels the same way about me.

We talked about various friends of ours, mainly people we hadn’t seen in a while. He’s someone who should definitely have a blog. He’s still quite opinionated and also very funny. I would read it daily.

He sometimes reads this here blog so maybe he should get to it. He knows a lot about my online life. Maybe too much. Then again, it’s all out there for the world to see.

I ran some errands for Bill, dropping off his laundry and dry cleaning and then picking it all up later in the day. I also did my own laundry which of course is hanging in the kitchen and bathroom and now with the rain, should be dry by Saturday or Sunday.

That’s about it on this end. Playing guitar, laundry and errands. Another day closer to being employed. And that’s a very good thing.
seen on Eighth Avenue

seen on Eighth Avenue