Monthly Archives: April 2008

The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine

Well last night was pretty cool. I watched a documentary on Better Davis after Now, Voyager. I think yesterday she would have turned 100. It was entertaining and I watched the whole thing, winding up late meeting Rand for a few pints. I wisely ate beforehand, and didn’t mind being late since I hate waiting for other people at McSwells. Even when I worked there if I was supposed to meet someone it would be hell to wait for them. And it was usually my fantastically late brother Frank.

He’s still in the hospital and haven’t heard anything from his wife or daughters, or even Annemarie. I can only hope that no news is good news. I got to McSwells and found Rand sitting in the fishbowl where the owner after Steve Fallon put in massive tanks for a microbrewery. When the tanks were removed they made the space into a lounge. It was fun hanging with Rand. Catching up on what we’ve been listening to, TV shows, movies things like that. It was a man-date I suppose.

At one point we were able to move to the bar where it had gotten crowded soon after. I have no idea what bands were playing but six of one band were seated behind me. It was even louder at the bar and both Rand and I had to repeat just about everything we said, including each other’s dental histories. They treated us nicely when we got the tab and tipped them considerably. After all that gossip and whatnot Rand and I walked over to Hoboken Beach. An inlet that was recreated where one of the old Maxwell House buildings once stood.

It was a nice winding path, or maybe it was a straight path and both of us were winding. Regardless there is actually a sandy beach right on the Hudson River with a few geese honking at 10:30 on a Saturday night. Rand and I parted ways after that and I came home and watched most of Saturday Night Live, but couldn’t stay up past Weekend Update. Panic at the Disco were no great shakes either. Still it was good to see an actual band playing live.

Woke up feeling ok, not so great but not so bad either. Ran some errands, got a bagel for the parents to be on 3 and read the papers feeling like crap for most of the day. It was a crappy day outside anyhow so it seemed a perfect fit. Watched a DVD of Creature Comforts America which was fun and definitely low key. Then a short walk to the post office to drop off the Netflix and back home after all that. Still a bit tired, and I know I’ll probably sleep really well tonight.

Charlton Heston’s dead. His rifle has been pried from his cold dead hands. Besides the Ten Commandments, I always remember him as Ava Gardner’s husband in Earthquake, not to mention his bravura acting in the first 2 Planet of the Apes. ‘Take you filthy paws off me you damned dirty APES!’. He was a wing nut though so it’s one less vote for them, then.

And now, some pics
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HRV
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Upside Down Me
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The End (of the street)
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The Weight

A beautiful day today. Quite nice. Feels like spring, looks like spring, must be spring. I just got back from my office. I had two bags of papers that I’ve been meaning to shred. Bill had a shredder here but it’s now at his mother’s apartment, where he’s been sleeping and shredding his father’s papers. It’s just as well that it’s there, because if you feed his shredder more than three sheets of paper it invariably jams up. In my office is a heavy duty shredder. I noticed it the other day, after the company that shared our office space had several bags of papers to be destroyed.

I helped arrange that, but didn’t think until after the fact, of bringing in my own papers and having them sent out for shredding. So I carried what I figured to be forty pound of papers onto the bus, and then the subway. That was a smart move. The train was basically empty and the streets were filled with tourists, doing the things that tourists do, which is mainly aggravate me as I walk down the street., with their stopping and congregating right were I am walking. The nerve! It took about two hours to shred what I brought in and hopefully it was everything that I didn’t need anymore. Papers from Jane Street as well, they simply had to go. Birthday cards, note cards, receipts, prescriptions and things like that.

Got news from Annemarie about Frank. He’s still in the hospital, complications regarding his MRI and his heart valve. He’s in a bad way, but I think he should be able to get through it. But of course he has to apply himself and perhaps ween himself off whatever prescriptions were found in his drawer at home. That’s a whole nother story and not mine to tell. Bill phoned, he’s once again worried about his mother. She’s been at the stove, turning on the oven and then forgetting about it. Not good. I suggested turning off the gas to the stove but Bill doesn’t think that is doable. I think that it is.

I know if Julio were available, he would be able to do it. He’s supposed to be a father in a few days so I don’t think he’d be available anyhow. The baby is due on April 15th and that is some good news to look forward to. Tonight I have plans to meet up with Rand at McSwells for a few pints. Been awhile and there’s some catching up to do. That should be fun.

Presently watching Now, Voyager which was one of my mother’s favorite movies. My curiosity was piqued by a reenactment of a scene in The History Boys. I had never seen Now, Voyager before and it’s quite the melodrama. Bette Davis mother is a bitch!And they keep saying that Bette Davis’ character is fat and hairy, when she really isn’t. Well earlier in the movie, she has caterpillars on her forehead passing for eyebrows, but she isn’t fat. There’s a scene in the movie where she tells her mother that she lost 25 pounds, and her eyebrows are thinner. So I guess that’s where the weight was.