Tag Archives: Nick Lowe

Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars)

Scrubs is on, so I must be writing. It’s Tuesday, not such a bad day. Things are slow going for me at work, but it’s cool. I did get the bonus but a chunk of it went to Bill’s father’s funeral cost. What could I do? Bill was stressed, looking for money and I had some coming my way. I was able to take care of that and gave him the money hoping that I would get it back when he would be able to pay it. I’m not going to go crazy over that. I bought Nick Lowe’s Jesus of Cool the other day after the parade. In the UK it was known as Jesus of Cool, but here in the US it had to be called Pure Pop For Now People. I must have been on a kick, since the next day I bought Blondie Eat To The Beat, and a Madness single, Michael Caine.

All three were as good as I remembered, but didn’t give me the thrill I once got, but that was about 30 years ago. Things that thrilled me 30 years ago, just don’t cut it like they used to these days. I’m sure you can relate, if you’re over 30 at least. Last night was very mellow. Mellow enough for me to go to bed before 11:00. Not much on TV, I watched some more of the Clash Live: Revolution Rock which was cool. Even picked up the bass and tried to figure out some Paul Simonon bass lines. That also set the stage for me to play Big Audio Dynamite on the way to work this morning.

I also read some more of Hotel California. Manson is on the fringes of the scene, Buffalo Springfield broke up, Stills is a jerk, Gene Clark of the Byrds is slowly losing his mind and Jackson Browne is still a cute teenager. That’s where I’m at on that. My brother Frank recommended the book to my sister Annemarie much to her chagrin. I thought that was interesting, that he had read the book. Very similar to me writing about listening to the Electric Light Orchestra and Harpy commenting that he was listening to them at the same time, and it happened once again with Harpy, me writing about watching The Namesake, when he was watching it himself. Can somethings can be too much in sync?

Now it’s Tuesday night, not planning on doing much. Had a turkey sandwich for dinner which was filling. Not a Dagwood sandwich, but better than what I had for lunch when I was growing up. Some turkey, some mayonnaise on white bread, and it usually wound up in the bottom of my book bag to be tossed at the end of the week. Did I eat lunch in grammar school? I remember some dodgy Chinese lunches, every few months, sponsored by the school. Some Chop Suey which was really horrible and put me off eating Chinese food. Still not too keen on Chinese food to this day and I haven’t eaten Chop Suey since. I’d be so screwed should I find myself over in Asia. Maybe I just haven’t found the right place.

Here’s a funny video sent to me from Betty Colatrella.

Promises

♫ It’s a Saturday, and I slept until 8:30 and it felt really good yeah yeah yeah.♪. Didn’t do much of anything last night, watched TV, read Mojo which for me personally was sub par. I tried to get into it, but I didn’t really want to read about the British perspective of Staten Island’s Wu Tang Clan. Not that I don’t like them, but Jeezy Creezy I know most of the story already and what I didn’t know, I didn’t care to know. Just a bum issue I guess.

I did find out that Nick Lowe’s Jesus Of Cool has been reissued for it’s 30th anniversary which is cool and worth getting. Here in the States it was called Pure Pop for Now People. So I’m going to get a copy for myself online, and probably burn a copy for my brother Brian. We both liked Nick Lowe & Dave Edmunds back in the day, and last September when I saw Nick Lowe solo I made a point to direct Brian to the YouTube clips I had posted under the vid de plume of johnotoole99.

I watched Monk last night, the detective with OCD, not the jazz pianist. It was the season finale, and even though I watch the show from time to time, I was able to figure out the cliffhanger. Monk was not shot, the gun had blanks, and he’s swimming off to fake his death to finally nab Scott Glenn, the corrupt sheriff. Or not. I was pretty much sure of that last night, but with time, my certainty fades. Also watched Bill Maher which I tend to enjoy more with someone else here on the couch rather than alone. Strange, that. I figured midnight was as good a time as any to finally fall asleep and that’s what I did.

Just knowing I have Monday off was like a vacation and waking up wasn’t so bad. I had things to do, laundry, dry cleaning, shopping for slippers, and some new pots and potting soil for an attempt to rescue a plant that I brought with me from Weehawken 6 years ago. It was originally William’s plant and it almost took over the kitchen. It’s a hearty elephant eared plant, but lately all the leaves fell off my plant. I thought maybe the problem was the soil and the size of the pot so that was my chore for the day. I wouldn’t really know if it was the right thing to do for a few days, much like surgery I guess. I do hope it works because I do like this plant, even though I think it may be from another planet.

Yesterday when I spoke with brother Frank on the phone, he was telling me about a PBS show with Henry Louis Gates called American Lives 2, about tracing roots and genetics for various prominent African Americans. It was very good and Frank was on the money about the show. I don’t think a lot of white people realize how fucked the black people have been in this country, they just expect them to get over 400 years of oppression, from slavery to today, all the time being told that they were worthless, less than human, and when that is systematically enforced both physically and mentally everyday of your life, just getting over it clearly isn’t an option. About 40 years ago there were struggles to eat at the same lunch counter. Such institutional bullshit, still exists today.

I looked into taking some meditation classes in Hoboken. Going to look into it at least. That should be interesting. I’m just in it for the mantra.