Monthly Archives: September 2009

The Wait

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It’s Thursday again. Not such a bad day though I didn’t sleep well last night. At the movie with Lois I got popcorn and a diet coke. It was the diet coke that kept me up. Way too much caffeine. I should have known better.

And of course I don’t follow my own advice of getting out of bed if you can’t sleep, but being awake at 2:30 makes me feel guilty about being up so late. I mainly go to bed not because I’m tired but more from thinking that ‘I should be asleep by now.’

Still I got some sleep though not as restful as I had hoped.

Inglourious Basterds was a good movie. Not a knock out but worth seeing. Good revenge on Nazis movie. It veers sharply from history but seeing Hitler getting shot in the face was worth a smirk. It’s more of a fantasy than anything.

If you haven’t seen it in a movie theater you might as well wait for the DVD. Overall I would give it a ‘B+’.

I’m just hanging out right now. I got a phone call from Billie in DC who was just checking in. He asked if I got the birthday card he sent and I said I did. I didn’t really, but it seemed like the thing to say. It was a short phone call and Billie mentioned before it ended that he hoped I could use the money.

I hung up thought to myself, ‘Why did I say yes?’ I didn’t mean to upset Billie basically. I eventually went out to the supermarket and saw I did get a birthday card from Billie, so I did tell the truth though I didn’t know about it initially.

Heard from Juan, nursing a broken heart. All I could tell him was that perhaps Time heals all wounds. He’s truly heartbroken though. Sad to hear him that way.

And now I’ve just gotten back from the world famous Apollo Theater on 125th Street in Harlem USA. Brought my brother Brian, always good to hang out together like this. Lot’s of laughs, no beer. They sold it, much to my surprise but we didn’t realize it until we were in out seats.

Elvis was great, looking like a Beauregard or rather Rhett Butler with a hat like Gable’s and from where we sat, a moustache? Perhaps it was an homage to the Band. It was a taping for Spectacle with… Elvis Costello, with Allen Toussaint, Richard Thompson, Levon Helm and Nick Lowe.

Larry Campbell formerly with Bob Dylan sat in with Elvis and the Imposters (the Attractions sans Bruce Thomas) and Ray LaMontagne sang the Weight at the end.

It was an enjoyable evening, certainly out of the ordinary. Brian had never been to the Apollo before, I was there in the 1980’s to see Boogie Down Productions with DJ Red Alert and Rob Base. It was a Christmas night show, went with Rand and Maurice Menares.

We were at the early show, sitting in the balcony, the negative image of the ants in the sugar bowl. People around us wondered what three white boys were there and we simply told them we were into rap. And we were.

That was a good show and our timing was good since at the later show there was a shooting.

Tonight was good timing as well. Brian made it to Hoboken, caught the Path then an uptown express. Had to wait online outside the theater for a while but that was fine, good to catch up with Brian. The show was entertaining and an interesting look at how a show like Spectacle is put together.

One can only imagine Victor Spinetti in the control booth.

Since Ray LaMontagne suddenly appeared and sang The Weight, they had to redo it with a proper introduction for LaMontagne. Brian and I split, caught an express back downtown where we found a Path train back to Hoboken waiting for us.

As soon as we took our seats the doors closed and we were en route. Good karma. Saw Brian off on a train to the hinterlands of Bergen County.

A good night with a good friend, my brother Brian.
Apollo Marquee

photo by Brian

The Weight

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What’s with the early posts? Actually, these aren’t early posts. They’re written earlier but sometimes, like last night, posted later. Tonight since I am meeting up with Lois DiLivio and going to see Inglourious Basterds I thought I would get an early start.

Last night I came home, Bill was awfully quiet. Beating himself up for not getting the part that he auditioned for. I chalk it up to nerves, but it’s not my blackboard and not my chalk. It wasn’t easy sitting a few feet away from him and I guess it wasn’t easy sitting a few feet away from me, which is why he went into another room and shut the door.

I only wanted to help bolster his flagging spirits and end his self-flagellation. But he wasn’t into it and you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped. He went to bed early enough and I stayed up until midway through Craig Ferguson.

He was up and out before me of course, off to work for our Bill. He gave me a nice kiss so I guess he is on the mend. I didn’t speak to him after that until he gave me a call around noon, telling me that he wanted to hear the sound of my voice and that he loved me.

So he’s progressing and perhaps learning from his mistakes. Before Bill called, I got a phone call from my brother frank, who had 2 words to say to me. Not, ‘drop dead’ nor ‘bad mood?’ but rather ‘I’m sorry’. I don’t know where that came from, prompting from Elaine? His shrink? Or perhaps he read what I had written the other day.

I, of course accepted his apology and that was that.

It’s been quite a humid day this day of Equinox, 12 hours of day, 12 hours of night. Perhaps the equinox helped Frank and Bill out or perhaps they worked it out for themselves. It’s quite humid here, the first full day of Autumn.

No haircuts today since barbers are closed on Wednesday. I asked about that a few years ago with Tony, my barber. He said all barbers close on Wednesday. I told him growing up in Lodi, the barber was closed on Monday. That sounded like crazy talk to him and it didn’t go much further than that. My hair is manageable though and no need to fret about it.

My old work neighborhood is under lock down again due to the UN Security Council holding their meetings. The President is staying at the Waldorf Astoria which is right around the block from my old office.

That would have been a thrill but since I’m not there anymore, not so much. Lot’s of protesters around so while I sit in Hoboken thinking that’s it’s quite exciting to be there, if I was there I’d more than likely be complaining what a pain in the ass it is to get around with the lock downs and restrictions.

That’s about it for now, it’s 4:27PM. Maybe I’ll write about the movie and spending time with Lois when I get back tonight. Inglourious Basterds was all that and a bag of chip. Entertaining revenge movie. More about it tomorrow, it’s late, I’m tired and it’s hummus out and it’s 10:47PM..