Monthly Archives: February 2011

I Beg of You

It’s been a soggy Friday. Still it’s a day off and I’m happy about that. I finally started getting into the New Yorker. And specifically an article about asteroids hitting the earth. How that was what probably killed off the dinosaurs and how it’s likely to happen again.

That started bumming me out and for a quick second I looked out the window to see if any asteroids were headed to Hoboken. I would probably do a Wile E. Coyote thing and pull down the shade and hope for the best.

And if I’ve learned anything from movies like Deep Impact and Armageddon, the catastrophic event would be known for some time. When you think about it and look at the fact that it probably happened again, the world caught fire from the asteroid crashing into the Yucatan peninsula, it really throws the concept of religion out the window.

All religion actually. Oh the universe is such a cold, heartless place. It doesn’t matter how evolved you are, if and when it happens we’re all going together. This can be a nice thing. I didn’t even finish the article, it was way too heavy. Great drawing by Jaime Hernandez which is what drew my eye in depth.

Last night was quite pleasant and a surprise to some that I had actually gone out and socialized. It was a nice enough walk up to Maxwells, listening to Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Do It Yourself and enjoying a cigar as I strolled up Hudson Street.

It was a nice enough evening and I walked in and saw Rand at the bar, talking to a woman named Stacy. I ordered a pint to no one’s surprise and Rand ordered one for himself. Lisa showed up and had a Mojito and then Lois arrived and had a red wine. Throughout all this RoDa was wandering around being the manager of Maxwells for the night.

I mentioned a concept I had to Rand & Lisa as well as Lois and they all liked it, but had no idea on how the next step should go. A few minutes later I’m out on the sidewalk having a smoke with RoDa and I tell him about the concept (not writing about it here) and he is most enthusiastic.

We agree to be partners on this with a handshake and a hug, which with no notary public available, a hug will sometimes suffice depending on what county of New Jersey you might be in as well as what voting district.

I dominated the jukebox inside as we all sat and drank. Scott Harbison made a cameo appearance looking for Todd or Dave about some work, then leaving after finishing a ginger ale. After a few pints and many laughs it was time for me to go.

Actually Lois started making her move and I asked her to wait and I would leave with her. That’s all it took for Rand & Lisa to join us, leaving RoDa to pilot the ship solo. I was home by 11:00, a little wobbly on the way.

I was home before Bill who when he did arrive told me he was feeling ill and was very quickly out in bed. I stayed up watching Laurence Fishburne as Thurgood Marshall. And today I woke up to rain. Cut short my plan of maybe heading into the city and checking out some art galleries.

But doing it alone and in the rain didn’t seem too appealing. So I stayed local, a trip to Burlington Coat Factory was about it. Just a grey, grey day.




I Asked the Lord

Writing earlier than usual tonight. I have plans to go out to Maxwells to have a pint or two with Rand and maybe Lisa too. Been awhile since I hung out with them, been a while since I’ve been to Maxwells. Been a while since I also had two days in a row.

It’s been a nice day off, some blues almost crept in. Bill and I have been getting on each other’s nerves lately. That happens with everyone in a relationship. The toothpaste cap never put on, the coat on the chair, the back pack on top of the slippers.

It’s not the end of the world, just a yellow card that gets pulled out. Things are slowly getting back on track. He’s fighting off a cold and has a show the next four days, Ankhst once more. So I guess with Ankhst on stage, there is bound to be angst off stage as well.

I kept myself somewhat busy, watched the Daily Show with the war criminal Donald Rumsfeld on. I have to admit I wasn’t paying much attention to it and from what I watched Rumsfeld got off easy. Last night I started to watch the Ian Dury bio-pic, Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll.

It was good, Andy Serkis was excellent as Ian. I don’t know how they pulled off the withered left side of Ian, but it was distressing in some shots to see. The band playing the Blockheads were quite good and the actual Blockheads backed up Andy Serkis on the soundtrack. Everyone except for the late Charlie Charles of course, one of the best drummers ever.

It focused quite a bit on Ian’s relationship with his son Baxter, as well as the ups and downs of pop stardom. Sex & drugs & rock & roll indeed. I recommend it nonetheless and it’s available on Netflix.

One caveat, there is an outdoor scene where Ian and entourage move from Catshit Mansions to a nice house in Kent, and the vocals gets dodgy. Lots of echo which caused confusion leaving me to believe that these rock & roll party scenes were set up that way, audio wise. But I have my doubts.

I streamed it through Netflix and also moved the DVD to the top of my queue. I’ll watch it again, and with subtitles hopefully. The cockney was a bit thick you see.

Right now I’m catching up on Big Love. Still a good show, but I lost track. Chloe Sevigny sure can play a mean Can’t Understand Normal Thinking type. Oh she’s just so rotten.

Inbetweenies of Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll and Big Love, I was out on the streets of Hoboken, a visit to the Guitar Bar and talking with Mister Wonderful Jim Mastro again, then a walk to CVS where I needed to get two new Carbon Monoxide detectors since the ones we had kept going off leaving Bill & myself to think that we were going to die in our sleep.

But it wasn’t because of Carbon Monoxide, rather it was because they had gotten so old they kept beeping to let us know it’s time to get new detectors.

I just had a nice supper, pasta, chicken and pesto. Yes I know, the same old, same old. But it’s cheap and it keeps for a few days, and what’s it to you anyway?

♫ Home improvement expert Harold Hill of Harold Hill/of do it yourself dexterity and double blazing skill/came home to find another gentleman’s kippers in the grill/ he sanded off his winkle with a Black & Decker drill…♪