Posts Tagged ‘The B-52′s’

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Friday, September 25th, 2009

It’s been a lovely Friday afternoon, from what I can tell by looking out the window. I normally would have been out and about doing something, but no, not today. Apparently while watching the taping of Spectacle with Elvis Costello last night, Bill was home and tried to DVR something.

But the DVR wasn’t working at all. I don’t know if he was trying to record something or watch something that he recorded but he was unable to. By the time I came home last night Bill was fast asleep, snoring since he decided not to wear his sleep apnea mask. (Mask is broken and needs a replacement).

I found out this morning that Bill had arranged for Cablevision to stop by and try to fix the box. Now they might be able to and they might not. They were scheduled to be here between 2PM and 5PM. It’s 6:09 now.

Bill has spoken to them and they said they might be here by 7:00. That means I’ve been waiting for 5 hours. In that regard, it’s true. I have no patience.

I was able to get some things done before 2:00 and I hoped they would get her soon enough. But of course they didn’t. I even saw a cable guy a few doors down when I was running around earlier and I asked him if he was here for 616.

No, he was here for 608. I guess it’s easier to send a few different guys out than have one guy work a certain area. So I sit and wait. And wait. And then wait some more. I know this usually happens to everyone sooner or later, but in this instance I have had no say in the matter.

Bill made these arrangements in my best interest. Since it’s more than likely they won’t be able to fix the box (Bill-optimist. Me- not so much) he didn’t want to turn in the broken box with shows that I have saved for some time now.

Laurie Anderson narrating a documentary on Andy Warhol is probably the oldest recording on it. I’ve seen it once haven’t seen it since, but still you never know when someone with an interest in 20th Century American Artists might stop by and after climbing four flights of steps I’d be more than happy to oblige.

Customer service phoned and said the guy would be here shortly. I asked what is shortly. They said 10 minutes. I said well I’ve been waiting since 2:00. She said well just sit and wait for the bell. I said, ‘that was a brilliant idea. Why didn’t I think of that before?’

She hung up.

True to her word the cable did show up around 10 minutes later. Nice guy, handsome chap. Turns out he hates Cablevision too! He rebooted the cable box with the hitting of a few buttons then for 5 minutes it reset itself and now it’s working fine. And it only took 5.5 hours!

Harpy then called making ‘my phone was on vibrate’ excuses for not answering his cellphone. I suppose when I turn 58. I too will have some authority to not answer my cellphone. Then Julio called while Harpy was yakking away and I took Julio’s call since I hardly ever hear from him.

He was sitting on the stoop telling a neighbor not to throw his empty jug of Dewar’s in the garbage, ‘It’s recyclable’, he yelled. I walked downstairs where the guy hurried down the street. The bottle somehow wound up on the guys stoop a few doors down.

I had printed a dozen fliers for a Gate Sale that I am participating in with Rand and Lois. We did this last year and now we’re doing it this year. I walked up the block and taped the first flier to a telephone pole at 8th and Park.

Walked up to Washington Street and taped a few more fliers until I ran out of tape and wound up buying some crap tape which I wrestled with. Who knew packing tape could stretch so far? Ran out of fliers and retraced my steps, and at 8th and Park the first flier was already torn down.

I knew it might happen anyway.

I did get a call from Annemarie who is treating herself to a B-52′s concert at Humboldt State University. I’m sure she will have a good time, A B-52′s show is always a good dancin’ party!

I can’t wait to hear about it!

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Posted in So how's band camp? | 1 Comment »

Recent Title

Friday, February 27th, 2009

Well I went back to work today, on a Friday. No one was expecting me to come in, but still, I donned the suit and tie, looking rather sharp I might add. I also looked good on Wednesday morning but that ended badly. I slept ok last night though I did wake up before the alarm clock and could not get back to sleep.

So I got up earlier than usual which was ok. Puttered about, taking my time getting ready. Had a bowl of cereal which made me think, what if the cereal got me sick, not the peanut butter and jelly sandwich I had the night before? I gambled and won. I didn’t get sick from the cereal.

I checked my email again, basically repeating the routine I did on Wednesday and was reminded of a chat I had with an online friend yesterday. He had mentioned that I seem to always be sick. He occasionally read this here blog you see.

I protested that I was sick in October, January and now in February. Not always sick. October and January were viruses, Wednesday was obviously food poisoning. Same symptoms as salmonella and with all the news about peanut butter or peanuts in general I think I put 2 and 2 together. Only it didn’t last that long.

We chatted online about a few things and I brought up my lack of self confidence. He was surprised to hear that. We had met once quite by chance on the street and I guess that’s where he got the idea that I exude self confidence. It must be the suit and tie. I wear a suit and tie and I don’t slouch when I walk, I have my chin up, eyes looking forward and I do feel confident.

ooh! it's Mister Confident!!!!

ooh! it's Mister Confident!!!!

In jeans and t shirt I slouch and generally look unkempt. It’s a good thing I suppose putting forth an air of confidence, it certainly has gotten me some good jobs. You want a good job, you gotta dress the part. At least thats how it used to be.

I’ll find out next March how that works out I guess.

But it weighed on my mind all day, my chat and the perception of being confident when behind the fabric I’m still the same old John, a neurotic, insecure mess at times.

It being a Friday, I planned on leaving early, and of course that didn’t work out. I was busy running around to the bank, to this place and that place errands for everyone. I don’t mind, it’s my job and it’s obvious, if I don’t do it, no one will.

I came in this morning and there was the mail from the past 2 days all over my desk. I sorted it out and delivered it to the proper people. I left around 3:00 this afternoon and made my way over to Bill’s building. It was around 50 degrees this afternoon so that afforded us some extra minutes together which of course was nice.

I got him a nice, cheap pair of cuff links for St. Patrick’s Day of 4 leaf clovers. I got the same for myself. It was a nice deal and I gave them to him this afternoon rather than wait. He loved them and we talked a bit about how we might spend March 17 which will be here before we know it.

No bars, we tried that last year and found every place jam packed with some charging an admission. We just walked around last year, smoking cigars and will likely do the same, staring at the visitors and the vomiters.

I was saddened and gobsmacked to read an email from Harpy yesterday, that Randall Bewley, guitarist for Pylon died the other day after having a heart attack at age 53. I met Randy a few times at McSwells when Pylon played.

Pylon was a band from Athens GA that I first saw with my brother Frank in August 1980, opening up for Talking Heads at the Wollman Rink in Central Park. I can’t say I was ‘ready’ for Pylon, I was definitely more into Talking Heads, plus there was so many people there that August night that Randy, Michael, Vanessa and Curtis from Pylon were swallowed up in that summer night.

Even though I was a big B-52′s fan, it didn’t register that Pylon were from Athens, unlike REM who a year or so later, I first saw opening up for Gang of Four and walked away from my prime spot near the stage saying ‘the only thing they have going for them is that they’re from Athens.’

Maybe a few months after that I was in that long lost record store on Second Avenue in the East Village, Free Being where I saw the cover for Chomp, Pylon’s 2nd album. I bought it just for the cover, vaguely remembering who they were and immediately loved it when I played it.

Played it for my friend Jet as well and he loved it too. Pylon was quitting the music biz at that time, it wasn’t fun anymore. They did get back together a few years later and played McSwells where I was able to DJ for the show and got Jet in to see them not long before Jet passed away.

I vaguely remember Rita having a problem with Pylon, Vanessa might have been off-putting with her style of singing after seeing them a few times opening up for some band Rita would rather be seeing, but I did thank Vanessa after a show and Rita was there and felt her opinion of Pylon was wrong since they were all such genuinely nice, sweet people.

And you could dance to their songs.

Now Randy is gone, and Pylon will be no more. He Left behind a wife and 2 kids. Notices from the B-52′s, REM and even members of Gang of Four among others have come in on various websites stating that they were one of the best bands ever and that Randy was certainly a one in a million guitarist.

Sad to see him go as he was one of the nice ones.

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Posted in moldies but moodies | 3 Comments »

Lapdance

Tuesday, November 4th, 2008

Today is the big day. No it’s not my birthday. But perhaps it’s the birth of a better nation than it has been for the past 8 years. Yes it’s election day. What I have been waiting for since last year. If you recall, I think it was August 2007 when I mentioned if it was intense then in 2007, how would it be in October 2008? Well we have our answer don’t we?

Surprisingly I’m not as angst ridden as I was in 2004. This one seems more like a sure thing. Of course having written that, superstitious me thinks, ‘oh no, I’ve jinxed Obama’. But then again I am an atheist and have no need for superstition but it’s there. Oh yes… it’s there.

Last night Bill was in Stuyvesant Town so he would be able to vote early. That’s where he’s registered you see. I slept well. Watched O & RM, and was looking forward to the escapism of Heroes, but to my surprise Heroes wasn’t on. Instead it was two hours of Saturday Night Live’s political sketches from as far back as Chevy Chase as Gerald Ford. Different times indeed.

I went to bed after the news and talking with Bill on the phone. Woke up and did my thing. I picked out my clothes the night before. Emphasis on blue, blue tie, blue braces, blue tnt otc socks, navy blue pinstriped suit and of course my blue Obama 08 button.

I didn’t wear the button at the polling place 50 yards from my door though. Didn’t know what to expect but found a line. Usually it takes about 5 minutes, today it took a little more than 20 minutes. At first they couldn’t find my name in the book, and I thought I’d have to get all Tim Robbins on their asses.

I pulled out my voter registration cards, I have 2 of them but eventually they found it. Actually they found it after I found it by reading upside down. Then I was in the queue for Ward 6 in Hoboken. Easy vote, column A except for freeholder Anthony ‘Stick’ Romano a creepy ex-cop from Hoboken. Also a Yes and a No on the public questions in that order.

Then it was a bus ride into the city. Got some looks at my Obama 08 button, nothing hostile and as far as I know, no comments, at least none that I heard as I was playing Funplex by the B-52′s on the iPod. It’s nerve wracking to listen to the news right now, basically they’re saying not to count out McRage yet, while just before they had reports from around the world mostly saying that they hope Obama wins.

All except for Israel. And who do they ask for an Israeli opinion, but an American ex-pat living in Israel. Don’t forget that 60 years ago Israel was created at the expense of the Palestinians who were living there for maybe a thousand years before. Nothing like outlawing and degrading the people that were there first. Hello Native Americans!

Work was quiet. Tom Chin still sick, so it was me and Vivek basically. Doing handiwork actually. Me all dressed up on the floor under a desk unscrewing pieces so desks can be taken apart and moved. That was ridiculous and tomorrow promises more of the same.

Vivek told me to dress casual since it’s bound to be dirty work. Bill is coming home tonight, and Juan is coming over to watch the results. So all is good, hopefully.

Hope you all went out and voted. It’s almost 7:00PM here in Hoboken so you have an hour left to hit the polls. GO OBAMA and best wishes to California against Prop h8 as well as Florida and Arizona. I guess there is enough love in the world so why not discriminate against people in love that are mostly the same yet slightly different?

Prove those bastards wrong!

Get out and VOTE!

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

52 Girls

Sunday, November 2nd, 2008

Sunday evening, dark at 5:30. Daylight savings y’all. Nice to get that extra hour of sleep, not as harsh as the clocks moving forward in the spring. Last night was a splendid evening. I thought I would be lat but as usual I was early.

A ton of people headed into the city on the Path train around 7:15. Rode in a crowded car feeling good. Some people were in costumes heading to various bars and parties, still carrying on the Halloween spirit. I was wearing my Obama as Superman shirt. Rode the train to 33rd Street and once on the street lit up a Padron and walked over to The Hammerstein Ballroom on 34th between 8th and 9th Avenues.

It was a beautiful evening as I puffed and avoided the Black Israelites on the corner of 7th Avenue. Sat on the steps of the ballroom when Bill showed. We sat and chatted, Bill telling me about his day and his friends. I suggested going for a pint before we went in and wound up at an Irish pub around the corner.

We sat and talked and drank our pints. A guy named Tom Gallagher came up to me and told how great he thought my shirt was. He was supporting Obama and we all toasted to Obama’s hopeful success on Tuesday. Tom was off to the show and we told him we’d hope to see him inside.

Bill was off to the loo and a woman asked me if Bill would be back as she was eying his seat for her boyfriend. I mentioned that we would probably be going soon. She too was going to see the B-52′s with her boyfriend and had the inside scoop that the band wouldn’t be on until 10:30.

It was 8:30 so Bill and I had one more pint, as well as shots of chilled Absolut Limon. Bill was analyzing the effect of the shot as he hadn’t had one in quite sometime. By the time we hit the street he was well lit. 2 pints and a shot did the trick as we queued up outside the ballroom.

After a wait of about 20 minutes we were inside, right in the middle of the dance floor. Hercules and Love Affair were the opening act and they were mediocre at best. No Antony thankfully, but not much in stage presence and the 2 dancers voguing at each end of the stage were fast becoming annoying. Still pockets of the crowd liked them.

The DJ was James Murphy from LCD Soundsystem and also Pat Mahoney of DFA Records which is LCD’s label I think. They played a nice selection including Pylon, Danger (Dub) and Soft Cell’s Memorabilia.

The B-52′s hit the stage with Pump, the first track on their newest album Funplex. High energy for sure. Everyone was dancing and the floor was going up and down. It was non stop energy with the strongest points being songs from Wild Planet and Funplex.

Could have used a bit more Funplex and I hate to say it but Cindy’s tour de force, Give Me Back My Man slowed the show down considerably. It was a quick recovery though and there definite moments like Pete Townshend once said about how a great rock and roll show will take you somewhere else.

Songs that were 3 minutes or so felt a lot longer and the grooves were quite infectious. It was good to see Fred and Kate flanking Cindy as they sang.

The band was tight and Keith made it a point to tell everyone to go out and Barack the vote. More comments from my shirt happened throughout the show and by the time Bill and I left we were quite spent.

Nice Path ride home and we were back in the apartment by 1:00 which wasn’t so bad for 2 geezers like Bill and myself. It was really a wonderful time and I hadn’t danced like that since we last saw the B-52′s indoors at Irving Plaza in 2002.

The set list was: Pump, Mesopotamia, Ultraviolet, Private Idaho, Give Me Back My Man, Strobe Light, Funplex, Juliet of the Spirits, Roam, Party Out of Bounds, Hot Corner, Love in the Year 3000, Love Shack, Planet Claire, Keep This Party Going On, and Rock Lobster.

The shirt was designed by Alex Ross and I found that this Alex Ross is a popular guy, at least with some bloke I wound up talking to for about 20 minutes this afternoon while walking around Hoboken. It was a fun chat with the man named Lee.

He said if Alex Ross saw my face he could probably draw me as Green Arrow. I said ‘Oh great. I would be Oliver Queen. But at least he would be half right.’ I waited a beat and then said, ‘My name is Oliver.’ which got a bemused chuckle from Lee.

I wound up referring him to check out the Kirby Museum for info on Jack Kirby who he wasn’t sure of who he was, but if he was into comic books and around the ballpark of my age group, he’d more than likely would at least recognize the work of Jack Kirby.

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Posted in Wonderful World Beautiful People | 4 Comments »

I’m A King Bee

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

It’s Thursday and it’s a good sign that I’ve made it this far. Last night was the big Obama infomercial which Bill and I watched on MSNBC. It left me whelmed, but then again I’m not the audience that it was aiming for since I’m already a supporter/volunteer.

It was made for the undecideds, the wishy washy and the fence sitters, as well as the people who constantly carp that Obama hasn’t said anything, he has no plan. Well that’s bullshit and you and I know that.

For the past 20 months he’s been spelling it out but those deaf ears certainly weren’t listening. Perhaps he should have been spelling it out using American sign language. As far as I’m concerned he would only need to use one finger anyway.

Like I said Bill and I watched it on MSNBC so we watched the entire 30 minutes. According to Harpy who called me soon after, he only was able to watch 28 minutes since the last 2 were cut off, meaning the transition from tape to live rally in Florida went unseen.

Harpy mentioned it was like that on the other broadcast channels as well. Strange doings indeed. The segue from tape to live event was very smooth and the perfect high energy finish.

This morning on the Today show, Matt Lauer called the Obama infomercial sappy. Yes that hard hitting news show, co-hosted by Kathy Lee Gifford in it’s last hour knows what sappy is. Sappy is the moronic conservative Baptists Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar with 18 kids and their home schooling. Sappy is the Family Ties reunion.

Sappy is tomorrow on the Today show with Matt Lauer dressing in costume as befits a hard boiled newsman like himself. Sappy is draining John McCain’s ball sack which Matt Lauer has been known to do when interviewing. So yeah, I guess Matt Lauer, the former newsreader and host of PM Magazine would know what sappy is.

I’m sure he sees it every time he looks in the mirror. It’s what comes before his ever expanding and worrying bald spot.

Work was busy and productive today which made the day go that much faster. I saw Dominick Dunne who lives next door to my building. He’s a bit frail and quite short. This weekend is the B-52′s at the Hammerstein Ballroom on 34th street. Bill and I are quite psyched about the whole thing.

I think beforehand I’ll put in some volunteer time at Obama headquarters, either working the phone bank of doing data entry, whatever is required for a few hours. I donated money to No on Prop 8 in California again.

Fucking mormons as well as national reich wing christianists are pouring in a ton of money and spreading disinformation. I really hope the people of California are smart enough to see through this, but then again they’ve voted for Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor.

Many thanks and credit to Jeremy from Good As You, a very fun and informative blog that has been intensely focused on this very important issue.

If anyone wants to buy me a present and they have $3000 to spend, I’d really like this suit. Just a suggestion that’s all. 46 Long.

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Posted in Mood Mambo | 7 Comments »

Deadbeat Club

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

Well it’s back to the grind. Last night Bill and I watched the Jack Benny dvd. A collection of 4 of his shows from 1954. I watched it on Sunday and I knew Bill would enjoy it so I saved it and watched it again. Bill took the day off as he was quite tired which made me fearful that he might be coming down with what I had but no he was just tired after the weekend and the change in weather.

It’s been getting quite cold. After Jack Benny we watched O & RM which Bill has been getting into more than me. I suppose I’ll keep watching it until things wind down after the election. I wrote that with difficulty. It’s not easy to type with your fingers crossed. I almost switched off RM and put Heroes on but since I was recording it, RM it was.

Heroes was good I thought. They’re getting rid of some superfluous characters which is fine by me. Bye Maya. Take your black tears of death with you. Hiro might be getting interesting again. Parkman, the cuddly clairvoyant bear cop is back, in love with Daphne the speedster who may or may not be double crossing the cuddly clairvoyant.

Oh and Peter lost most of his powers, but he still has that handsome power, and that Sylar. He’s fast becoming the most interesting character once again.

Couldn’t fall asleep until midnight, tried watching Letterman’s Top Ten but he just wouldn’t stop talking about Bill O’Fuckface which is almost as bad as seeing him so I finally fell asleep. Bill up before the sun and out the door.

I woke up to the Beatles singing Can’t Buy Me Love which was a nice way to start the day. I thought I would be running late again, but I wound up leaving early out of boredom.

Doesn’t seem like I’ll be seeing Casey non the bus anymore. We emailed each other and he’s working downtown now which is where I originally thought he was working but it turned out he was a couple of blocks away. Still trying to get his script to Martha G., just haven’t heard from her.

Work was good. Tom Chin learned his lesson. Greg Stevens came in, still a bit ill. He definitely seems to have what I had and doesn’t blame me for it. The day went by at a nice pace. I was relatively busy which helped.

This afternoon was a bit of a shock. Greg’s wife, Lorraine rents some office space from us, running a charitable organization out of her office. Around 3:30, one of her assistants called for me to call 911. It turns out that Lorraine was feeling faint and they were worried that she might have been having a heart attack.

She has scoliosis which sometimes affects her left arm, hence the cardiac fear. The paramedics came and checked her out and she agreed to go the hospital for some more tests. Greg had left the office and was at his acupuncturist and he was unavailable so I tried leaving a calm measured message regarding his wife’s health. That was all I could do, it was time for me to go home.

Now it’s 9:00, I just got off the phone with my dear friend Billie in DC. I hadn’t heard from him in a while so I was worried. He’s fine, once again letting me know that’s there was nothing to be worried about. I told him that Bill and I will try giving him a call on Saturday from the B-52′s show.

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Posted in Yesterday's News Tomorrow | 4 Comments »

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