April | 2013 | johnozed

It’s been one of those days today. And by one of those days I mean a good day. At least for me. For Bill it’s not so good. Today was the day they moved his mother into a nursing home. The Alzheimer’s has gotten worse and control of her body has been steadily decreasing. Somehow his mother knew something was going on when Bill went to get her at his cousin’s apartment and his mother had what can be called a shit fit, literally. And it was up to Bill to clean it up so Bill had to strip to his skivvies to do the dirty work.

He got it done as far as I know and now she is ensconced in a home in Washington Heights/Inwood that caters to those whose main language is Spanish. The place is near where my dear friend Jet lived and died. I haven’t been to that area in a long time, perhaps not since I cleaned out Jet’s apartment. I’m sure it’s changed somewhat, more immigrants and more Yeshiva students. I expect that I will be going with Bill from time to time to visit his mother. And I am sure Bill’s cousin and her family are greatly relieved by the turn of events.

Last night Bill was driving a bus all over the place. I stayed home. No Juan, nothing else going on. Juan has a doppelganger, a bloke named Efrain. I met Efrain a few times over the past couple of years, the first time I saw him was when he was working at the local record shop and I almost went up to him thinking he was Juan to ask what he was doing there. I held my tongue.

I saw Efrain last summer trying to get a bunch of kids to sing along to the Stooges ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ and we did chat briefly while I sought electric refuge at the Guitar Bar Jr. in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Last night he posted a link to his music on the Facebook page he created for his music called ‘Rare Books’. I listened to the stream on the link and was greatly impressed. I sent him a message asking if the CD EP would be available at Guitar Bar Jr.

He replied that he would make it so. So gathering up my cushion change I was able to purchase his five song EP this afternoon. He was there with the great Karyn Kuhl who was finishing up her music for toddlers class. Karyn is also a great musician and I’ve known her for a long time, following her and the bands she’s been in since the late 1980’s. I told Efrain that I will spread the word via social media about his release and also found I was able to promote some of Karyn’s music as well. Everyone wins!

Efrain asked about my work at Maxwell’s in the past, not nowadays. I explained seeing bands like Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins and thinking they sucked, which is probably why I would not do any good in an A&R position at a record label. That was probably not a good thing to say since it shows my track record at picking bands is not stellar at all.

Still I have been playing Rare Books all afternoon since I got it and also remembered a release Efrain made a few years ago, five songs that were in a red paper bag. He is quite a talented chap and perhaps in his best interest I should slag him off, thereby putting him on the path to success much like Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins.

Here is the link to Rare Books at bandcamp.com. You could (and should) stream/buy it.
<a href="http://rarebooks.bandcamp.com/album/rare-books-ep">Rare Books (EP) by Rare Books</a>

And here is Efrain singing the closing song on the EP and I dedicate it to my dear Bill.

Watching Mad Men on TV, the main event is the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. I was in kindergarten and have no recollection at all of when it happened. I just looked it up and it was a Thursday, so I would have asleep by the time the news would have been broadcast. Like most days back then it is all a blur. Consciousness of the outside world, meaning the world that wasn’t Riverview Avenue or St. Francis de Sales school or the Romaine – Sinniger VFW Post, did not arrive really until maybe 1972. I did know of death, but it was more familial than anything else.

Before Mad Men I found myself to be more jazzy than anticipated. No plans were in the works, except for Juan suggesting a pint. I begged off pleading being at a cash disadvantage and Juan said he would pick up the tab. I was thinking Maxwell’s, Juan was thinking of The Pint, a gay bar in Jersey City. And not right over the border Jersey City but a few stops away on the Path train. Juan doesn’t know that gay bars are anathema to me and pleaded and texted to no avail.

He even played the guilt card and despite my atheism, I do have a catholic background riddled with guilt and it really has no effect on me at all. So when Juan texted that he was going to go home and stick his head in the oven, I asked if his mother’s oven was an electric oven. In the midst of all this Bill had come home after looking after his mother all day and was incredibly stressed from that as well as other things. Bill didn’t stay up that late and I wound up staying in and watching Mad Men.

The schedule at Maxwell’s is supposed to come out on Sunday nights. I called around midnight and there was no schedule sent in. I called again this afternoon and still no schedule. I can guess that since the next time a band is playing would be Thursday so I will probably be working then. I will call later on to find out what’s what.

The past couple of nights when working at Maxwell’s the jukebox has been untouched and someone’s iPod has been playing the songs. It certainly is a mind fuck to hear New Order sing True Faith, The Ramones with Bonzo Goes To Bitburg and Echo & the Bunnymen sing Lips Like Sugar (a crap song). It causes flashbacks to way back when, bar backing and cleaning glasses while singing along with Joey Ramone and talking with Eve, Carol and Steve Saporito as I worked alongside Martha Griffin and Declan.

Now Pedro is on my Facebook page trolling, calling friends ‘sheep’. He claims Obama voted “yes’ to invade both Afghanistan and Iraq. Pedro doesn’t know or refuses to acknowledge that Obama was a state senator in Illinois at the time and was vocal about his opposition to the Iraq invasion. But Pedro doesn’t let facts get in his way these days. I’m sure he is getting his info from Joe Farrah and his ilk. Which is too bad since I consider Pedro to be intelligent but with postings like that I begin to harbor doubts.

C’est la vie.