the day after yesterday | johnozed

A nice Saturday afternoon, unspoiled. Last night was nice too. Bill and I hanging out, watching a recording of the Office from Thursday night and Talk Soup. Both enjoyable and filled with laughs and as usual the Office provided nervous chuckles.

Bill went to bed midway through Bill Maher’s show on HBO. It seems I enjoy Bill Maher if someone else is watching with me. Otherwise I just pick up a magazine and read while it goes on. I did pay some attention though.

Bill Maher’s guests last night were Andrew Breitbart and Michael Eric Dyson. Breitbart playing the role of conservative blow hard to a T while Dyson intelligently explained his own point of view (the liberal side) which effectively made Breitbart look like exactly what he is, a conservative blow hard.

I went to bed a little while after that, Bill fast asleep in the bed. It is nice to have him there though and I find myself falling asleep to the sound of his snoring.

Woke up before 9:00 which was nice for a Saturday. Had my cuppa before heading out for morning foodstuffs.

Totally unlike last week, Fake Patrick’s Day. No groups of twenty somethings heading off to parties at 10:00AM. Came home and Bill was awake and puttering about.

Read the papers and helped Bill with cleaning up the apartment. Needed to get vacuum bags for the new vacuum cleaner I got from work last week.

He was planning on heading out at 1:00, at least thats what he told me at 12:50. We actually left together at 2:30. He was off to the dry cleaners and laundromat while I stood outside smoking a Joya De Nicaragua that I picked up yesterday.

Walked Bill off to the bus stop and then I ambled down Washington Street. . Nice enough day in the sun, chilly in the shade but I didn’t mind. A good cigar and I listened to the second half of A Hard Days Night on the iPod.

Came home and finished Mojo magazine with Pete Townshend circa 1967 on the cover from The Who Sell Out photo sessions. Very good interview with Nick Lowe inside and for once a not too pretentious article by Dave Marsh about the Who.

Picked up some adequate vacuum bags and came home and started vacuuming. Very powerful vacuum cleaner, it sucks so strongly that if you put the nozzle to the floor it takes two hands to lift it. Good to know I think. I don’t think it was ever used in the office.

While I vacuumed I listened to Dark Was The Night, the Red Hot compilation that I picked up last week. It was better than I expected it to be. 2 discs that I played in sequence. Even Antony sounds good on it which for me, says something. Highly recommended.

I’m presently listening to War Child- Heroes, another charity CD I bought last week. It’s fun, but I tell you the guy from the Hold Steady who sings Bruce’s Atlantic City seems to have graduated summa cum laude from the Springsteen School of Singing. I find it annoying, but the singer is known for his love of all things Bruce.

Hot Chip’s cover of Joy Division’s Transmission is a lot of fun, a lot more fun than Ian Curtis and company. I never really ‘got’ Joy Division. Always found them depressing. New Order I liked. Go fish.

Rufus Wainwright singing Brian Wilson’s Wonderful/Song for Children is a wonderful reminder of what a beautiful voice Rufus has. Scissor Sisters singing Roxy Music’s Do The Strand is as much fun as their cover of the Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb.

And after trying to figure out why the Blood Bank EP by Bon Iver was so pricey, I downloaded a copy. 4 songs, pirated. Argh.

I would have purchased a physical copy if the price was right, but it wasn’t.

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It's a trap!

Well today is Saturday and it’s definitely a better day than yesterday. Most anything would make for a better day than yesterday actually. I called Annemarie last night after things had calmed down but she wasn’t home. We always talk over the weekend so I knew I would be able to talk her at some point.

When Bill was in my office on Thursday he left his cellphone behind which I retrieved for him yesterday. The cellphone was dead and knowing that I sent him a text message last night, telling him that I hope he had gotten better.

I called him a few hours after that and he was at someone’s apartment helping them with some work. We talked for a few minutes. He offered to call later on to talk and since it was almost 11:00 I said no, it was too late and we’ll talk over the weekend.

I just stayed up watching Bill Maher which was ho-hum, then I watched Letterman and enjoyed Jason Segal, from Forgetting Sarah Marshall and he was quite funny and also seemed genuinely happy to be there. Who could blame him? 2 years ago, who heard of Jason Segal outside his family and friends? Not me.

U2 were also on, finishing up their week as musical guests on the Late Show. They were ok. Sometimes I like U2 a lot, sometimes I don’t. I think it’s mainly the Eno influence they’re under that gets my interest.

Then I watched Jimmy Fallon who is doing an ok job I guess, still has to find that confidence as well as working some kinks out. Drew Barrymore was on and she’s really a charmer. Fascinating that she started out so young, went to rehab in her teens and she’s still here being Drew Barrymore. She’s really someone in her own field.

Then I was fast asleep in bed after a harried day. I did get a message after 1:00AM on Facebook from Rita who asked what I was doing this weekend. I told her my plans and never heard from her since.

Woke up around 9:00 this morning and headed out for some bagels and the papers. I shouldn’t have been surprised but I was. A few hundred young people, mostly of drinking age I presumed roaming around with cases of Budweiser and Coors Light for Hoboken’s Fake Patrick’s Day.

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Ah young people who don’t know anything about beer. They were lined up outside the bagel store where they were selling green dyed bagels. I waited and got a few for myself as well as the family on the third floor. Always a pleasure to see the Lopez family and especially glad to see Julio on his feet, holding Superboy.

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Superboy and his daddy

I think Alexander really looks a lot like Julio in this pic...

I came upstairs, had breakfast and soon found myself on Washington Street waiting for a bus that might be going down Bloomfield Street since its Fake Patrick’s Day in Hoboken.

I usually attend and enjoy the parade, but I had decided to head into the city to stand in solidarity outside the Spanish Consulate, in protest of a ruling concerning a man who killed a gay couple. It’s all in Blabbeando, my friend Andres blog, listed in the blogroll.

There were about 20 of us standing outside the consulate, no chanting, more just milling about, some holding up bilingual signs of protest. It was timed to coincide with protests going on in Madrid, Barcelona and Vigo which is where the murders took place.

Gay Panic was the defense and it’s what got the piece of shit off the hook. Sometimes gay lives aren’t equal to non gay lives even in an ‘enlightened’ place like Spain. It was a short lived demonstration and not covered by the press.

I mentioned to Andres that even if 1 person showed up it would be a success. Everyone parted ways, made some new friends which I will probably see at future demonstrations.

A few years ago when I used to work the Danceathon for GMHC at the end of the night I told my coworkers that I hoped to not see them again, that perhaps there will be a cure for AIDS and Danceathons like this wouldn’t be needed. They didn’t get it, forgetting the reason there was to raise money to fight AIDS and HIV, instead thinking that it was all about a party.

My comment was about how maybe there would be a cure and things lke this won’t be needed. I never got called back after that.

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I had a Padron and walked across town from 58th and Third Avenue. Outside the Plaza Hotel I called up Annemarie and had a very nice talk smoothing things out from yesterday. Nothing but tourists on the streets on the weekends, and I ventured into Times Square where it’s tourist central. I finished the Padron and walked into the soon to be shuttered Virgin Mega Store.

Bought a few CD’s at a discount, the new Bird and the Bee, Jenny Lewis0 Acid Tongue, and 2 charitable CD’s, Dark Was The Night, A 2 CD Red Hot compilation (for AIDS/HIV research) of the big names in indie rock, and also picked up War Child: Heroes which is for children affected by war.

This has a few artists like Rufus Wainwright, TV on the Radio, Lily Allen all covering songs that were picked by the original artists. Brian Wilson picked Rufus Wainwright, Bowie picked TV on the Radio and Mick Jones of the Clash picked Lily Allen. Listening to the Bird and the Bee right now and so far so good, it sounds like the Bird and the Bee.

Walked down to the Path train where it was messed up. Waited for a train, it pulls in and I get a seat. Then it’s announced that the train will not be going to Hoboken. So it’s off the train for me. It’s then announced that the Hoboken train will be on track 1.

I run though a train before the doors close to track 1 and wait only to find the Hoboken train pulling onto track 2 filled with drunken young people in green. Still I got another seat and made it to Hoboken where everyone except me and the police were in green.

I can honestly say that I have never seen as many people on the streets of Hoboken as I have today. Now I’m safely ensconced in Hoboken. Spoke to Bill who was contrite and apologetic. He asked if I was still frightened of him and I told him, frightened no, but wary.

He’s under a lot of stress and I was the only person that he was able to explode on without any repercussions, ie I’d let him get away with it. I did but I didn’t. He needs help though since he has a lot of anger issues and I can’t help him with that. I can be there for him if need be.

So we’re sort of back on track I guess. One step at a time. We are still going to see the Watchmen on Monday with Harpy so that’s something to look forward to.