Posts Tagged ‘Uncut Magazine’

I Don’t Need You

Thursday, October 20th, 2011

And today is/was a day off. I woke up at a decent hour and almost immediately set about starting my day. Laundry was in the works as well as the trips to the supermarket and the dry cleaners. It was a good start to the day.

Not much else was going on, a stop at the Guitar Bar to say hello to Mr. Wonderful Jim Mastro. Jim’s former band, The Health & Happiness Show is reuniting for a fundraiser at Maxwells tomorrow night to help a former band mate’s wife who has fallen ill and has enormous medical bills. I can’t go to show my support, but if you’re in the area maybe you can go. It starts at 7:30 and it’s for a good cause.

I saw the Health & Happiness Show a few times, even worked the door for them when they played the Shannon Bar in the 1990’s. They weren’t my cup of tea then but I could appreciate their talent and they had a good amount of fans.

Then I saw them opening up for the Bongos a few years ago. I used to love the Bongos and they had reunited for the Art & Music festival in Hoboken, and they got some kind of proclamation. The funny thing is this time around I loved the Health & Happiness Show and found the Bongos to be quite lackluster.

If they reunited ten years earlier it probably would have been exciting, but they were ten years too late this time Jim (who also played with the Bongos) & the Health & Happiness Show blew them away. It must have been a comedown, shifting gears from hi-octane to merely regular.

The news of the day has been about the death of Khadafy in Libya. It even featured gruesome pictures of what appeared to be Khadafy’s head all shot up. John McCain and Joe Lieberman traveled to Libya a few years ago, promising Khadafy aid and equipment. Lindsay Graham and Susan Collins also made the trip and I could easily picture the four of them sitting in grief and reminiscing.

I finally got the latest Mojo and Uncut Magazines. I could have picked up Uncut by itself since it was available, but I always buy the two together. I started Mojo after I finished last week’s New Yorker and it’s a good issue. Better than the one edited by Noel Gallagher which was a yawn.

I did a lot of walking around and when I got home I was bushed. So I decided to take a nap. I was watching the Harry Belafonte documentary on cable but was too tired to watch the whole thing. I could always watch it on demand later, or as a repeat which this afternoon’s broadcast was.

I certainly slept later than I expected. It felt good though but instead of a body clock reset like it usually happens I woke up a bit discombobulated. Now a few hours later I am back in the swing of things.

And that’s the name of that tune.






Tags:, , ,
Posted in I Love Music | No Comments »

Too Hot

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

Yes it’s hot again. I think it’s Wednesday. Been taking it easy, walking out of the sunshine. Have done much of anything except looking at jobs online. Slim pickings.

Too hot to do much of anything. I did some laundry since I’ve been going through t-shirts quite a bit. That was productive, and so is writing this.

That’s two constructive things I’ve done today.

I went and sat by the river this afternoon and read Uncut magazine. Beautiful day, especially when under a tree.

Not a very good issue pf Uncut so far. Best thing in it was an interview with Quincy Jones about Michael Jackson. It seems like a slapdash issue that was years in the making, basically a compiling of clips of people who may have been somehow related to the Beatles in one way or another.

Not as interesting as I would have hoped and I’ve only just started it.

Last night I paid a short visit to the Chasms. Haven’t seen Casey and the missus in a while. They’re moving to Vermont. That’s too bad. I’m going to miss seeing them. But things being what they are, Casey will probably do better in Vermont than in this metropolitan area.

The sun is setting now, over the Jersey City heights, things should cool down a degree or two. No walk with Julio since he’s flying tomorrow and probably has some packing to do. I may go for a walk myself, there is music in the park, Swingadelic.

Dave Post is in that band, he’s one of the owners of McSwells. I’ve never seen them and they play every Monday night there, but it is a lot cooler inside on the top floor with a breeze coming in than it is on the street. No breeze and a crowd of people. Staying indoors seems more likely.

And there are no mosquitoes here.

Bill is here in the air conditioned bedroom on a conference call. It’s been a lazy summer day turning into a lazy summer night.

Right now Keith Olbermann is on, but I don;t think for much longer. Too much time spent online, reading about Barney Frank and the health care option. My sock puppets were busy most of the day.

But Olbermann has me on the hook right now. He’s saying the things I believe in. Things that make sense and aren’t talking points from an insurance lobbying group like Americans for Prosperity.

And as well as healthcare the chat online was also about bringing firearms to Town Hall meetings. Meetings that are hosted by the President.

And certain wing nuts are screaming that their second amendment rights are being violated by preventing entry. These are the people that are afraid of the ‘death panels’, and the inherent socialism in the Obama administration.

But Barney Frank is a hero to thousands today and probably thousands more hate him even more than ever.

I know, my sock puppets had a few things to say about it at various discussion groups on some newspaper websites.

Tags:, , , , , , ,
Posted in So how's band camp? | No Comments »

M386

Sunday, May 10th, 2009

It’s Sunday and though it’s beautiful day, there is a feeling of anticipation in my gut. More like anxiety. It comes and goes, not a constant thing. As long as my mind is occupied I’m fine.

Last night I watched discs 3 & 4 of a series from the 1970′s called ‘All You Need is Love- The story of Popular Music’. It went back to the beginning of the 20th century with vaudeville and Tin Pan Alley up to about 1975 with the cutting edge music of Black Oak Arkansas.

It did have a lot of footage that if I hadn’t seen before, then I saw it when this series was first broadcast on PBS in the 1970′s and if that’s the case, I had forgotten I had seen it.

3 hours each disc. I watched disc 5 this morning into the afternoon, so ask me anything about Black Oak Arkansas. You’d still get the dumbfounded look that I would have given you then. I’m glad I watched it, but it was a bit much.

I gladly walked to the Post Office, enjoying a cigar to drop off the Netflix discs. I actually bought a book the other day, I couldn’t resist. I was reading somewhere about a biography on Brian Eno and ordered it promptly.

So far, up to chapter 2 and it’s a very entertaining and informative read. Brian Eno has always been a fascinating person in my world. I even had the pleasure of meeting him when I worked at Skyline Studios and he was producing some things for Laurie Anderson.

He was a nice guy, very quiet and startled me a few times when he suddenly would be standing right next to me. He was also quite kind enough to sign his first 4 solo albums and Ambient Volumes 1-4 and a book.

Still within reach and in good condition too. Last night, Saturday Night Live was really funny, excepting the Jimmy Fallon guest spot as Barry Gibb which was about 25 years too late and 10 minutes too long.

I doubt that the 20 somethings that watch it or are the target demographic would actually get the joke.

The stand out bit was the digital short with Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake reprising their roles from Dick in a Box and becoming Mother Lovers for Mother’s Day. Susan Sarandon and Patricia Clarkson played the mothers. It was very laugh out loud funny.

I was up until 1:30 reading Uncut magazine. Did not want to get out of bed this morning, just so comfortable. Bill was off to get his mother and bring her to church. I eventually did get out of bed around 8:30 and was soon getting the Sunday morning supplements.

Then after reading the papers I watched the discs and headed out to mail them back. And after enjoying a cigar I met Bill on the street and we just enjoyed a pizza from Grimaldi’s courtesy of Bill’s largess.

Now he catnaps on the couch and I sit a few feet away writing this and playing selected ambient Eno tracks for his napping pleasure.

51009-hoboken-001

51009-hoboken-002

51009-hoboken-003

51009-hoboken-004

Tags:, , , , , , ,
Posted in Abstract Absurdist Otherness | No Comments »

Crackerbox Palace

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

Not a bad Fat Tuesday. Not that I’m celebrating Mardi Gras. Just today was an agreeable day. Sure there was a bit of nonsense but nothing that couldn’t be overcome. Last night was rather ho hum. I thought Heroes would be the big thrill of the day, but actually it focused on the boring characters.

Harpy called when it started and I told him I would call him back In retrospect, I should have taken his call. The horned rimmed glasses guy’s back story simply isn’t compelling, and the cheerleader would have been a better storyline. Also, no Syler which means dull dull dull.

After that I watched Futurama and Demitri Martin’s show on Comedy Central. My brother Frank recommended it and he was right, it’s pretty funny. He does remind me of John Hamilton though. Speaking of John Hamilton, Bill and I are attending a surprise party for him on Sunday. Hopefully he doesn’t read this blog, or Google his name, where this entry might pop up.

Went to bed after the big news story of New York getting a new archbishop, replacing the old archbishop who’s retiring. Not that anything with change, they’ll just have to let out or take in the brocaded cape and gowns.

Haute couture while schools are closing. Yeah they have their priorities straight.

Yesterday was the first time in a while that I’ve walked on the property of St. Patrick’s cathedral. I usually cross the street, but it couldn’t be avoided. Did you hear or read that the catholic church is bringing back selling indulgences? Yep. Sure are. Gotta raise some money and bishop needs a new pair of (Prada) shoes.

Slept really well last night, woke up to the sound of the Monkees singing Daydream Believer. I like leaving a little later, the bus isn’t that crowded since there are buses rolling down Washington Street every 5 minutes and I get to ride in a coach bus. Very comfortable.

Since I finished Sarah Vowell last week as well as the double issue of the New Yorker I had nothing to read yesterday and wound up staring out the window. Today I made sure I had something and brought the latest issue of Uncut magazine and read about the formation of Apple Records 41 years ago. What a mess that turned out to be. Good intentions, lousy results.

Work was a breeze today. Tom Chin has the flu and didn’t stay all day which was good. He gave me something to fax when he gave me the go ahead and then he left the office. I got the thing ready but didn’t fax it, but sent an email telling him I did.

I’d get yelled at if I didn’t fax it and wasn’t sure if he wanted me to, perhaps I missed his go ahead. He responded, probably while on Metro North heading back to Connecticut, in caps writing ‘I told you to wait until I told you!’ I replied that the fax machine wasn’t working properly so it didn’t go out after all.

Actually it never left my desk. He’ll probably have something to say about it tomorrow, if he comes in.

Today’s comedy was courtesy of Vivek. He gives me some checks to deposit. One goes to this bank A, the other goes to that bank B.I get the deposit slips all set but the account number has one too many digits. I ask him if he’s sure it goes to bank B and he says yes.

I go to bank A and that went well, I was able to make the deposit. I go to bank B and they tell me it’s not their bank. I then go to bank C across the street and it’s not them either. I then cross another street and go to bank D where I’m met by some helpful staff.

They escort me to an office and a handsome young man comes in and enters the info. It turns out it is his bank, bank D. He does the transaction while I wait in the office and comes back with the deposit receipt. I ask him how things are with the current economic climate and he tells me he works at a bank that actually has shown a profit.

Then he asks where I bank and I tell him. I’m getting a vibe from this guy, that he’s into me. Imagine that, being seduced so I could perhaps switch banks. It was a pleasant experience and I left after complimenting him on his suit. Gave him something to dream about.

Left work an hour or so later, on my way to see Bill for a few minutes. I had every green light and made it across town in surprisingly record time. Saw Bill and we had a few laughs. He asked me to go to Easter services with him and his mother.

Sure, I said, mentioning that I will have 40 days from tomorrow to think about it in case I change my mind. He mentioned that he wouldn’t be able to get ashes tomorrow due to his hectic schedule. I told him that Ash Wednesday is probably a favorite holiday of dermatologists around the world.

Tags:, , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in the day after yesterday | 3 Comments »

Who Has Seen the Wind?

Thursday, June 12th, 2008

Oh what a weird bus ride home. First off, the bus was crawling back to Hoboken through the Lincoln Tunnel. I thought we were going to breakdown. It was like the driver had the emergency brake on. There was also a priest on the bus and I should have sat next to him, if only I had a Christopher Hitchens/Sam Harris/Richard Dawkins book on me. They wrote books in the past year or so in favor of atheism. I could have engaged the priest in a discussion on the existence of god.

It might have been fun, but no, I took an empty seat behind a cat lady with one of her cats, a white cat with hair all over the place. The cat or the cat lady was heavily medicated, you can smell it. Oh it was a nasty pharmaceutical odor. It started to turn my stomach, enough that I almost got off the bus at the first opportunity.

I have nothing against cat people or people on medications, this was just a foul odor. I’m glad I’m not allergic to cats since there was cat hair all over the seats. And there was another cat person on the bus but she had her cat in a carrier, whereas cat lady had her white cat in a duffel bag that she alternately murmured to and cursed at. I did get off the bus at the usual stop.

Work once again was dreadfully slow. Just three of us in the office out of eight. Greg Stevens one of the three, left the office at 12:00 to head out to the Hamptons. Then Marty Allen left at 3:00, leaving me solo. I stayed until 4:30. I’m taking off tomorrow to get my crap ready for the gate sale on Saturday. Bought some dot stickers so I could price things properly.

Some things were gifts from friends and family that I have absolutely no use for, and I could use the money. I would rather sell these items rather than lugging them back up five flights of stairs. If you’re in the neighborhood, I’ll be out from 10:00-4:00. In theory that is. If nothing is happening and it gets too hot then I might just quit early and call it a day. Who knows? Maybe I’ll sell everything really quick. That would be nice.

I just got an invitation to a wedding party in Walton NY. My friend Lois just married her guy, Fred. They’ve been going out for more than twenty years, so I guess the time is right. The party is August 2, which may be doable, but I am also trying to finagle an invitation to go down the Jersey Shore and stay with my brother Frank and his family. I was invited last year and couldn’t go, so this year might be possible. I’ll find out more this weekend when I see the Garfield contingent on Sunday.

I can still smell the meds from the bus ride. I also got the latest Mojo Magazine with the Sex Pistols on the cover, looking their age, fifty something and Uncut Magazine with CSNY on the cover not looking their age with a snapshot from 1969. I guess if it was a shot of CSNY today, people might get confused and think they were picking up an issue from AARP. I really shouldn’t talk. In five years I’ll be eligible for a subscription to AARP.

Just got back from an errand. Went to the library and picked up ‘We All Shine On: The Stories Behind Every John Lennon song from 1970-1980′ by Paul Du Noyer, a Mojo/Uncut writer. Also picked up ‘Tweaked’ by Nic Sheff, the son of David Sheff, who wrote the last book I read, ‘Beautiful Boy’ about his son’s methamphetamine addiction. This is the son’s side of the story. And 2 slices of pizza at $3.00 per slice. It’s that price all over Hoboken, blaming the cost of shipping flour.

There’s no escape.

Tags:, , , , , ,
Posted in So how's band camp? | No Comments »

So Glad To See You Here

Tuesday, February 19th, 2008

Well it was back to work today after a three day weekend. It wasn’t so bad. I knew I had to do it. Still buzzing after The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Called up brother Frank to talk to him about it, but he wasn’t in, instead I had a long talk with Elaine, his wife. It was just about everything that Annemarie had told me the night before, angioplasty, breaking and entering, things like that. Not my bag so it’s not for me to write about though I do think Elaine will be fine regarding the angioplasty and in any event, my thoughts are with her.

Last night I watched TV, Daily Show, Colbert Report and a documentary on Ray Charles. After that I read, and eventually went to bed. Got up on time, did the routine and was on the bus reading a book about the last 5 years of John Lennon’s life, called Nowhere Man. I bought it cheap yesterday while wandering about the Village. It seems trashy though it had a good blurb from Allan Jones, the editor of Uncut magazine. So far I don’t feel dirty while reading it like I have when reading other books about famous people.

Today at work I was rather busy, errands and other things that got me out of the office, and I was able to use the fact that something that had to be hand delivered was right near the Path train in the Empire State Building and therefore enabled me to leave early to drop it off. That was cool. I also bought a pair of slippers since the pair that my sister got me a few years ago are no longer fluffy, they’ve gone flat. Dearfoam slippers for $8.00 was a bargain though I felt guilty about not wearing the older slippers. I get attached to things sometimes, emotional memories, even though my sister ordered them from a catalog, and they were shipped from LL Bean, my sister never touched them at all, just pointed and clicked online. Still the attachment was there. I haven’t thrown out the slippers yet.

I had an idea for a movie about someone like me who runs into someone not seen for about 10 years. In the movie, my character 10 years earlier, while drunk in a bar make a friend promise to kill him if he’s ever seen wearing a suit and tie to his job. Now the friend shows up, willing to fulfill his promise. Hilarity ensues hopefully. Two guys hanging out in a dive bar, jeans and t shirts talking shit, years pass, one of the guys realizes that the money is where the suits are and easily adapts. The other guy hangs in there, wearing the jeans and t shirts, not making much money. What do you think?

Here’s another idea, another guy, like me, feels somehow plugged into a spiritual network around town. He recognizes things like witches and things like that, how certain witches don’t cross bodies of water, either a puddle or a stream or a lake. Somehow they get around it. Meanwhile our hero, me, make his way through life observing the everyday occult events going on around him. I know, needs work. Needs a plot more like it. Well, you know, that if these 2 concepts make it to the big screen without my input, you’ll just know they’ve seen it here first.

Fidel Castro resigned, which makes me wonder when all the Cuban expatriates, will repatriate. Time to snap up property in Union City, he said tongue in cheek. Bush is demanding democratic elections, as if he knew what that was. I think it would be funny if they went Muslim and voted for an Islamic theocracy.

Tags:, , , ,
Posted in Interesting Things as of Late | 1 Comment »