Monthly Archives: October 2011

I Don’t Wanna Go There

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I Knew The Bride when she used to rock and roll is playing right now. It’s been a long day at the cigar shack. And it’s been busy, the shack did phenomenal business today. It was Zack and Frank Burns and me today.

The day started off alright. I slept really well thanks to some melatonin, and woke up feeling refreshed. The I realized I had to go to work so that feeling of ‘I can do anything’ quickly subsided. I got myself together once again, shower, coffee, cereal and soon I was on the street headed to the bus stop.

It was awfully cold this morning, temperatures were in the 40 degree range. And snow is expected tomorrow, 6 to 10 inches has been predicted, at least that is what one of the customers told me and he lives in North Brunswick.

No neighbor Deborah on the bus ride into Manhattan today so I stared at my smartphone. No more looking out the window for me. I listened to Patti Smith on the walk through the bus terminal, Easter to be precise. Got as far as Because the Night.

I do love Rock & Roll Nigger though. Could be my favorite Patti Smith song. Her use of the word ‘nigger’ is defined as being ‘outside of society’. Jimi Hendrix, Jesus Christ and Jackson Pollock all made the cut as well as Grandma I think.

A short ride on the subway and once again I found myself in the vicinity of the cigar shack. There was Zack and Frank Burns behind the counter. Somebody had a black eye and it wasn’t me and it wasn’t my fault either. I wasn’t feeling to well and I think the reason is because of an ionizer which has been in use in the man cave.

It really puts out an offensive ozone odor which I find more displeasing than the smell of cigars burning. I never minded cigars being smoked, at least not good cigars. Dutch Masters and Antonio and Cleopatra (what my dad smoked) and White Owls are a whole ‘nother thing.

For lunch I sat on a bench near the park and tried to stay warm. I finished Mojo with George Harrison on the cover and started in on Uncut Magazine, on which the cover is all about bootlegs.Being outside helped quite a bit and when I returned to the cigar shack it was all systems go.

Very busy and that is when the numbers starting increasing. Zack was quite happy about it and surprisingly Frank Burns did alright too, sold 2 crappy pens that seemed like they were bound for the island of crappy pens. Glad to get them out of the store.

Perhaps whomever orders things won’t order crappy pens that merely take up space. Still I would not be surprised if those crappy pens are returned within the next 2 weeks. Just a feeling I get when I look to the west I suppose.

Can’t wait to go home and that should be just about an hour from now. Frank Burns is one of those people that screams at the TV when a sporting event is on. I know this since he is in the man cave screaming at the TV right now. And now his cousin is here with him so the number of voices screaming should increase by one.

This is the cousin that Zack insinuated months ago that ‘maybe they’re not cousins but actually lovers’. Pathetic really. In any event there are now less than thirty minutes to go and I am quite fine with that.

Tomorrow’s players will be Thomas and Jerry Vale with the Frank Burns dancers making an appearance, performing their homage to Isadora Duncan on Crystal Meth routine.









Irma Thomas – Time Is On My Side

I Don’t Wanna Go Down To The Basement*

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A hum drum day off. More hum than drum, or maybe more drum than hum but in any event it was a day off. And it’s been alright thus far. Had crazy dreams last night, one included 2 classmates from 30 years ago, Frank Wester and Ken Mallia who in the dream turned out to be lovers and in the process of adopting a baby.

I don’t think either was gay and though we were all in the same graduating class I don’t think the 2 ever socialized. I hadn’t thought of Ken Mallia since the year 2000 when I attended the 20th year reunion and a mutual friend told me that Ken won’t ever return to New Jersey nor would he visit 2 Pearl Court at the bottom of Trudy Drive.

The last time I saw Frank Wester was at Hitsville in Passaic and that must have been 1982. Frank recognized me and came up to me telling me that my music taste was spot on, New Wave was truly the way to go, despite his mocking me for liking the genre throughout high school.

Frank Wester was not at the reunion either and I decided then and there that it would be my last reunion, I had no desire to see any of these people again, except for Jim Carley or John Nesselt, who both declined to attend the reunion. Those were the 2 friends from high school that I would be interested in seeing once again, but over 30 years later it seems highly unlikely that our paths would cross once more.

The Wester/Mallia dream segued into a dream where I was in an industrial park looking for a place to pee. I found what seemed to be a deserted area and was about to leave my mark, but was soon surrounded by news crews headed by someone wearing a Brian Eno mask. I’m sure I had other dreams but those were the last ones before waking up and starting my day. I’ve read somewhere that a dream lasts only a few seconds then it is supplanted by another dream so that is something to consider.

The day had a lazy start. I showered but had no coffee to make so I took a chance and headed out first to the bibliothèque and then to the supermarket where the cashier took issue with the cover of the Daily News, stating that the Goldman Sachs fat cat was just one of the problems that is going on right now.

Since I did not have any coffee I just nodded my head and walked out after paying. Breakfast and a fresh pot of coffee was had and I read all about the fat cat from Goldman Sachs. Then it was basically watching the TV and checking emails. Heard from the former CEO of an old job who seemed to be fishing about, asking how I was doing, what I was up to.

I replied in kind and he mentioned that he would get back to me, then directed an underling to continue the correspondence setting up a phone call due to happen sometime next week which offered me a little bit of hope, but with a healthy amount of skepticism so as not to be overwhelmed by such a thing.

It’s been a day of steady rain and I hadn’t been out much and now I don’t think I will be out again until tomorrow morning when it’s back to the cigar shack for me.




16 – Rhythm of the Rain