Monthly Archives: March 2010

The Letter

Well just got back from some busking yet again. This time I was closer to Pier A. I expected to see Tariq out there with his drum or even the hippie that was out there yesterday but to my surprise there was no one near.

Perhaps the engine of the Mister Softee truck nearby kept them away. I set up shop once again, playing 2000 Miles by the Pretenders, Half A World Away by REM and the Letter by the Box Tops which I taught myself last night, as well as my standards of Love Shack, She’s A Woman, Please Please Me and Hercules.

It all went unnoticed. It was a bit cooler out today but I situated myself in the sun. From about 2:30 to 4:00 I played until the sun went behind the building and my arm started tightening up.

I ran into Roger and Dina on my way home and had an enjoyable chat with them for a few minutes on the street corner. It’s been a pretty god day so far. Bill is driving a bus named Laverne from Woodcliff Lake NJ to Allentown PA.

Some metal band is playing and someone from Bill’s church rented the bus. He just phoned, he’s having a good time. I reminded him to flash the devil horns.

Right now CSPAN is on, watching the House of Representatives going on and on about the Health Care Reform bill. The party of No steps up to the microphone and keeps mentioning the ‘flawed’ bill. What do they offer in it’s stead? Any suggestions except for starting all over again? No, not at all.

Last night I watched Observe & Report starring Seth Rogen. It was OK. A little bit more violent than I expected. No need to watch it twice that’s for sure. Also tried watching Bruno but that was just asinine. Could not get past the first half. It was just stupid.

Borat was funny but this was just dumb. After Observe & Report I took the DVD out and turned the cable back on and Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married was on. I never saw it before, and I’ve never seen a Tyler Perry movie before either. I had a feeling something else had to be on so I scrolled through the TV listings.

I saw The Man Who Fell to Earth was on and decided to catch that. I’ve seen that a few times, a couple of times in the theater and I even own the DVD. Still a good movie, I’m pretty sure that’s when David Bowie started to lose his mind and had to flee Los Angeles for Berlin.

Too much of the snow white for the Thin White Duke. Each time I see the movie I end up getting something from it that I had never noticed before. And yes, they showed Candy Clark getting the piss scared out of her, by Thomas Jerome Newton.

The movie is like a work of art that you do not get tired of watching again and again.

After that I watched the Rocky Horror Picture Show. I had also seen that a few times in the movie theaters, specifically the Oritani Theater in Hackensack. Went with my brother Brian a few times to the midnight show. It’s a fun movie, not the greatest.

Bill walked in halfway through and I needed to explain to him that the best way, perhaps the only way to see it is at a midnight movie with a hundred crazy people singing and talking back to the screen as well as throwing rice for the wedding scenes, toilet paper when Professor Scott appears among other things.

But I watched the whole thing until the end when I went to bed. That’s about it, it’s been a low key day, much cooler than yesterday.

Callouses are coming along nicely on my fingers again. And I just got an email from Lois who wants to busk with me on her violin. She’s more than welcome to join me whenever she would like.

No news on the status of Street Corner Mourner Tim’s progress, but I guess no news is good news.

Me via web cam.

Me via web cam.

This song has been on my playlist a lot lately…

Darlin’

Well it certainly has been an interesting 24 hours. I’ve been busy. I made it up to the Park Theater, riding with the proletariat in the mass transportation system here, this time using a bus. Got to Union City with enough time to treat myself to a Hamburger Deluxe and a chocolate milk shake at the Four Star Diner.

Had enough time for a cigar before the show. Hanging around outside the Park Theater on 32nd street. Meghan and Ruby were in traffic en route. I few sidelong glances from some father’s walking by wondering who this bloke was, smoking a cigar outside the theater.

I was glad I didn’t wear my raincoat. Humming Aqualung might have been a mistake though. Meghan and Ruby and 2 of Ruby’s friends showed up soon enough and we all headed into the theater. Meghan knew the sidelong glancing fathers and introduced me to them, causing them some relief.

They in turn whistled Locomotive Breath.

We found some good seats and soon Jim Mastro as well as Frank Giannini and his son sitting behind us. The Street Corner Mourners were as excellent as I had hoped, Tim having a mandolin strap malfunction seemed like it was all part of the show.

Six songs were their set, all covers, all nicely played. Lily has an incredible voice. If she keeps it up, in ten years she will sound amazing. The Street Corner Mourners are so inspiring. After their set Meghan, Ruby and the friends saw Frank Giannini and his son off and went across the street to the Four Start Diner.

I had a coffee and a slice of cake while everyone else had entrees. It was a fun group, we were served by Mo, short for Maureen who looked a it like Shirley Stoller. They all went back to the theater, I decided to walk back home to Hoboken.

I enjoyed a La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero 700 and listened to The Beatles, Revolver on the iPod. I walked down Palisade Avenue past Jane Street where I used to live. It was an enjoyable walk. I timed the cigar walk perfectly and finished it by the time I had gotten to my building in Hoboken.

I came upstairs and set about uploading the videos I had shot. It wasn’t exactly happening on my PC so I did the work on Bill’s Mac. I checked my Facebook messages and there was a message from Ruby.

Little did I know that after the show, Tim, the ace guitarist/Banjo & mandolin player was hit by a car outside the theater. Some driver had run a red light. Tim had done a flip over the car. The driver stopped, the police came and shut down that section of 32nd Street and it was decided that Tim go to the hospital in an ambulance.

They ran an MRI and had him overnight in the hospital to be on the safe side. Some short term memory loss but other than that he’s fine. Apparently 16 year old boys can bounce back like that. I hope he can still play his instruments.

All that walking from Union City to Hoboken had me tired but I think that last cup of coffee with Meghan and the girls kept me up while I tried to sleep. It wasn’t easy but I eventually did fall asleep.

Bill was soon in bed after coming home from Pecong, the play he’s been working on. He has a mouth apparatus which he wears with the sleep apnea mask. Still he snores and I wake him to let him know he’s snoring.

He says ‘Well you snore too you know. How do you know it isn’t you?’ I groggily try to explain that the sound was coming from his side of the bed.

I was up and out around 9:30, bagels and the paper. I got bagels for Stine & Alexander. Julio answered the door with Alexander on his shoulder as Julio was singing a lullaby to the baby. It was yet another beautiful day, the temperature was up to 73 degrees.

I walked around Hoboken a few times this afternoon, even taking my guitar out and playing along the river walk. I had seen Tariq earlier, playing a drum alongside an older hippie guy playing Melissa by the Allman Brothers.

I definitely could not get into it so later when I brought my guitar out I was about a quarter mile up the river walk. They were making some money but I didn’t feel up for that, not as confident as I was last summer and this being the first time out for me this year, I just played with the guitar case closed and didn’t do much singing.

I played for about 90 minutes until my right arm locked up a bit. I tried shaking it out but decided I had played long enough. I played Please Please Me, She’s A Woman, Love Shack, Surrender, Wild Horses, Maybe I’m Amazed and Kansas City among a few other songs.

Then I came home and finished an animation I had also been working on this afternoon.

I wrote over 800 words, shot and uploaded 6 video clips, created an animation and played guitar in public for 90 minutes. It’s been a creative day, and a good day at that.