Category Archives: Communication Breakdowns

I Like It- Gerry & the Pacemakers

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The first time I saw Daniel Rodriguez was probably over 20 years ago. He was an occultist then, dressed in black almost all the time with a pentagram hanging around his neck. I never really spoke to him, nothing more than the small talk one says when conducting a transaction. I was working at the Little Shop of Video in Hoboken back then and came across a lot of people when I was there. There were regulars like Susan Howard that came in almost every day with her dog, there were guys that had positions very deep inside city hall renting transgendered porn almost daily.

I still see these patrons from time to time on the street and usually think to myself, ‘I wonder if he ever returned ‘She Male Action Volume 6’. They’re older now and collect nice city pensions while sitting on benches watching their waistlines expand with every passing day.

The owner of the store was a nice guy, Peter Kressley. When I first met him I could have sworn he was gay, he was with his number 2 guy, Leonard and they were so close it led me to believe that they were a couple. It wasn’t until I met Peter’s wife Karen that I figured out what was what.

I just brought that up since I had just seen Daniel Rodriquez on the street, he didn’t recognize me but I recognized him. Time has not been kind to Daniel Rodriquez. The Little Shop of Video was one of the retail gigs I had in the past.

Another retail gig I had was at Pier Platters in Hoboken. That was owned by 2 friends of mine from Maxwells and it was not a steady job. I was on the list of people to call when the regular staff couldn’t make it. It mainly was a job where I sat behind the counter and rang up CD’s and vinyl. It was around the corner from the main store as this shop was set up to sell mainly CD’s which at the time were new. The vinyl was used and I snagged a few choice albums from people who were trading their old stuff in so they could get it on CD. Pier Platters faded away though, a victim of rising rents.

Then there was Farfetched. I first started working at the Fourth Avenue shop in the Village in 1997. I met Susan at a party at the Paramount Hotel that Harpy was throwing for his then girlfriend. Farfetched had just gotten robbed at gunpoint by a guy named Delroy Kemp. Susan and Harry discussed having a man work the shop and until they could find one, I would do.

There was a bit of a worry that I would play nothing but reggae since I was deeply immersed in the reggae world. I worked with Susan and her business partner Lois, and their friend Denise. It was a good place to work, once again called on to sit in for whoever couldn’t work. I enjoyed my time there and I am still in close contact with Susan and Lois and of course Harpy.

I told Susan and Lois at Harpy’s party that Farfetched spoiled me, that they had my back as much as I had theirs. They had no illusions of grandeur, and it was always a good time to work there, even during the hellish holiday season. Farfetched fell victim to the times, rising rents and a zealous neighbor who coveted their space.

I always think of Lois and Susan when I have a glass of Riesling.



Talk Talk – Lifes What You Make It The Fluke Remix

I Know It’s Over

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Today was a day from purgatory. Not heaven, nor hell, but that place in the middle according to catholic doctrine. Very convenient. The phone and voice mail fiasco continued last night. I was apprehensive to come home last night, rather than deal with Bill and whatever mood he might have been in after his day and mine. And sure enough he was in not much of a mood, very subdued. I was quite subdued too. But he only stayed awake for a few minutes, giving me a perfunctory kiss good night which I reciprocated.

I stayed up some more, watched some TV and eventually went to bed. But I made a point of kissing Bill’s sleeping head before I fell asleep. Had an interesting dream about Julio and I meeting up in an 99 cent shop on Main Street in Lodi. It was a weird dream which featured the old Lodi that I grew up in.

I woke up about an hour earlier than usual, surprised to find Bill gone, surprised there was no farewell kiss. I walked to the bathroom and sent him a text saying that I missed him and would call him when I got to the cigar shack area. No phone call while waiting for the bus, still I texted him, telling him I missed him.

When I got to the cigar shack area, I called him and got a voice mail stating that he would be away from his desk from 9:00 to about 4:15, attending some function that his law firm was having. I suppose this was his way of showing me how I send people to Siberia, and now it was my turn, as if my father never did that to me. I guess 8 years really didn’t count hanging out with Solzhenitsyn.

The man cave at the cigar shack was still shut down, Jerry Vale came in early to allow some guys to crawl through the vents to see if they were open and operating properly. They seemed to be on our end but also needed to check out a neighbor’s vent. So Jerry Vale called the neighbor who flatly refused a 10 minute look see to check on the input and outputs. So the man cave was closed and sales had dropped considerably.

Zack would be tearing his hair out in the office but Zack is bald so there is nothing to pull out. Lawyers are now involved. The cigar shack lawyers, the neighbor’s lawyer and the landlord’s lawyers. It is now officially complicated.

And on another level, I still haven’t heard from the rival cigar shack that I met with. Thanks Freddy Herko. I try to remain hopeful and via a Woody Allen paraphrase, quoting Emily Dickinson, ‘Hope is the thing with feathers’. I am losing feathers. Even Jimmy Seltzer helped with a bolstering of spirits but those reserves are dwindling. Tomorrow is a day off so I am greatly looking forward to it.

It was sweet, both Thomas and Jerry Vale seemed concerned for my well being.


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