What are you looking at? | johnozed

Well Samuel Beckett won last night’s battle, taking down Dorothy Parker in 2 out of 3 steel death cage matches. Poor Dorothy did not see it coming. And it’s onto the next round if only someone could come up with a formidable opponent. I’m drawing a blank here (possible opponent) but Laurence Sterne just popped into my head waving around a dog eared copy of Tristam Shandy. And now I am giggling at a post on Facebook regarding a bloke who is having difficulty removing his too tight Prince Albert. He must be desperate if his posting on the Facebook.

No I don’t have one and no I’ve never had any contact with one and yes I think they’re incredibly stupid. I also think tattoos are incredibly stupid and generally ugly and when I am looking at pictures of men online, tattoos ruin the image for me. Hey anyone could do whatever it is with their body, but I don’t have to like it. My former roommate Kevin did the smart thing and designed his own tattoo. But overall it’s a waste of time. I did come thisclose to getting one about 13 years ago with Pedro but I chickened out much to his dismay.

Today I was at both the bibliothèque and the cigar shop. Bibliothèque was in and out though I did move things to their proper shelf as I was looking for something. The cigar shop, well Shlomo is not in very good shape, borderline diabetic who doesn’t eat and winds up passed out on the floor of a Quick Chek in Elizabeth NJ, waking up in an emergency room. An urgent rushed text from Israel who begged me to go in which I did out of the kindness of my heart and my love of cigars.

Of course there was not a whole lot of information and of course people were calling up for Shlomo and of course I had little or no information to give out. It was slow slow slow in the cigar shop. No smoking allowed which meant that someone was smoking in the shop the night before since there was a cigar butt in the ashtray. I don’t know how much longer this will go on. I do try to advise them on what to do, but my words they go unheard. When I was there before the holiday I was able to talk Shlomo out of ordering any more crap Davidoff cigars.

And he didn’t order them which was good but then again he turned around and ordered different crap, cigars with what looks like a child soldier in Angola on the box. Who wants that? No one I knew heard of the cigar which leads us to believe that Shlomo got the cigars since he thought the box was cool. Too little too late a customer said and I had to agree with him. The holiday rush was over and there is no need to order more. Unfortunately Shlomo didn’t get the memo.

Well it’s been an interesting 24 hours I think. Last night I wound up DJ’ing at local tavern Louise and Jerry’s for about 4 hours. It went fast. It was a reggae thing in celebration of Jamaica’s independence 50 years ago. That enabled me to go back to my reggae roots in the 1990s and get down to it. Rand joined me and we ‘spun’ records with the bartender Brian. Of course I wasn’t there, it was all done via the internet. My choices as well as Rand’s were queued up with Brian and it was all playing live at the tavern.

Bill enjoyed it but went to bed really early due to exhaustion. I picked tracks from around 6:30 until 11:00. Both Rand & I quit at the same time, which means we might have left Brian high and dry. I did hear the Easy Star All Stars version of With a Little Help from my Friends and Radiohead’s Karma Police which was a real treat. So much of a treat that I snagged both the Sgt. Pepper and Radiohead dub versions. Very cool I think. At 11:00 came the news and of course it was mainly all bad.

I slept fairly well, under a sheet with the air conditioner on. Bill was out cold of course by the time I joined him in bed and I had to make sure he was alive since his skin felt a bit cold. But he lives and I was greatly relieved. Once again he kissed me goodbye in the morning, leaving me with a smile on my lips and words of encouragement in my ears. I of course was grouchy. I made up for it hopefully by getting Bill his unsweetened Almond soy milk which isn’t cheap by the way. Plus Bill knows I am not a morning person.

The Airwalks I bought a while ago have finally bitten the dust. At least I could feel the dust through the hole in my sneakers. I guess I wear them often enough and they served me well. The only place that sells Airwalks these days is Payless and luckily there is a store in the Newport Mall about a mile or so away. I was going to go yesterday but decided not to, so it had to be today. I walked over to the mall around 11:00 this morning after sending out the resumes once again.

I listened to the Easy Star All Stars on the iPod and picked up a few cigars at Hoboken Cigars by the Path train. It was a lovely morning as I walked and inside the mall it was not crowded at all. I was the only customer in Payless and picked out my new Airwalks and after I bought them, I put them on, throwing out the older pair in the garbage bin. They served me well. Some window shopping before heading back to Hoboken on a lovely afternoon.

I came home and had some lunch before heading out for some busking. I walked over to the promenade and saw Tariq with another dude. Tariq’s guitar was in his gig bag and I set up next to the other dude’s bicycle. Tariq is fond of playing songs that all the other buskers play, I am not. He’ll see a kid in a stroller and play for them Guns and Roses, Sweet Child of Mine. I play Roadrunner by the Modern Lovers.

Some toddlers made their way and I dutifully played for them. They were soon on their way and I decided to pack up my stuff and move to a location where I could be alone. I didn’t want to infringe on Tariq’s space since he was there. And some of Tariq’s friends came by with a guitar and a conga and a fifth of vodka which was passed around.

I declined and started to make my way. Tariq and the others said I didn’t have to go but I lied and said I needed to practice. The guy with the vodka said there’s no rule that says I had to move to practice, and I said I know and I don’t play by the rules anyhow and headed farther away. I don’t think it went over well but why would I care what a bunch of drunks think?

I walked away from Pier A to Pier C and found it sufficient enough to play there. And I made some money while playing so I was happy. It is a nice thing to make a couple of bucks and seeing people enjoying my playing. I think my time spent with Tariq is dwindling. I don’t like the crowd he hangs out with. I certainly enjoyed my playing and I think I will spend more time at my new spot rather than the spot where the other buskers usually play. Perhaps I will play on Washington Street eventually.

Perhaps.

02. With A Little Help From My Friends