Tag Archives: Annemarie

Rock Your Baby

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Well I got a lot off my chest last night and thank you for your comments. The reaction to the events in Knoxville from the right wing were particularly heinous. Michelle Malkin who so successfully led the charge against Dunkin’ Donuts for Rachel Ray wearing an Arabesque scarf in a television commercial. Writes about how she doesn’t believe the misbegotten jizz was a conservative, that the gun owner was more than likely a liberal trying to get attention.

Of course her chorus of like minded simpletons chimed in saying that if this guy wanted to take out ‘libtards’ why didn’t he shoot up a college? Yes, why didn’t he shoot at students rather than churchgoers? Oh these people deserve Steely Dan up their holes. And I’m not talking Becker/Fagen, I’m talking Burroughs.

And bhikkhu reminded me of something Burroughs wrote about how gays should act like the Mossad and wipe out someone who attacks one of our own. Thanks for the memory.

Last night I had a nice phone call with Harpy who didn’t sound like talk radio for once. A wide range of issues but what stood out for me was talking about bicycles. I remembered when I was a kid, I sort of figured that I wouldn’t have a car and I would have a bicycle to get around.

I don’t know what made me think that then, perhaps it was an early indication of my penchant for going left when everyone else is going right. I used to ride a lot back then in my Bergen County days. Occasionally my sister and I would ride together, up to a Saddle River county park in Paramus. We wouldn’t tell anyone where we were going, just hop on our bikes and ride, even insanely rushing across Route 4 to get from Saddle Brook to Paramus.

NJ wasn’t bike friendly then and it still isn’t. I rode a lot then, not as much as I do now, but still for an adolescent it was enough. I was doored once in Elmwood Park by the father of a friend of my sister. Luckily all I wound up with was a nasty cut on my leg even though I went flying across the street into the opposite lane of traffic. It’s a great way to get around if you’re not being doored and I would do it year round if I could. I would ride to work if I didn’t have to dress so nicely.

I ran into Curtis, I mean Casey on the bus yesterday and today. I wrote about him a week or so ago. Really nice guy, intelligent and opinionated which is somewhat rare these days. He’s been concentrating on writing scripts. I told him about this blog (which is fast approaching a milestone) and also mentioned a script that I found a week or so ago.

I wrote it about 10 years ago when Julio and I had an idea to write a script and see if former Phosphene Tim Sherry would be interested in producing it. Well I took the whole thing seriously, Julio didn’t take it seriously at all. I wound up feeling like a schmuck and shelved the whole thing. Having found it again, I read it and still think it’s not bad. Of course it could use some work but I would have given it a B.

I mentioned to Casey that I also collaborated on a script with someone (John Bruce), called This Is My Plus One. That was supposed to have Maurice Menares and Bob Mould’s then boyfriend Kevin in it. John and I stayed up all night working on it. A few days later John called me up telling me what I had written moved him to tears, it was that good.

Well that’s what I heard at least. Maybe John actually said that he cried because it was such crap and he couldn’t believe I wasted his time working with him. I think it was the former. Anyway I offered to collaborate with Casey at some point down the line, telling him that dialog was something I was good at. At least thats what the voices in my head tell me.

Listen!

You’d Better Move On

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A lovely Sunday afternoon, especially if you’re in the shade. It’s in the upper 80’s but it’s not humid. The sun is beaming. Once again I liberally put on sun block if I’m going to be outside for an extended amount of time. I wrote yesterday about having sun poisoning a few times when I was growing up. It was bad.

As far as I knew, or my family knew was the only thing known as sun block was called shade. But we never rented an umbrella when we would go down to Wildwood Crest years ago. My family would go down for the VFW convention every June. It was usually a good time, that is when I wasn’t burnt to a crisp.

It was an alcoholic weekend for most of the veterans and their wives, leaving their kids to run around careless and carefree. We would drive down on a Thursday and come back on Sunday. One time I was covered in blisters due to a bad sun burn. A lot of people had different remedies, Noxema, rags soaked in tea, rags soaked in vinegar.

It was so bad that you could feel the heat emanating from my body by holding your hand about 5 inches away from my skin. I did love going to Wildwood Crest despite often coming home smelling like bacon.

Another time, years later I was visiting my sister Annemarie in New Hampshire and we decided to go to the beach in Maine a few hours away. I put lotion all over my body, but forgot my feet. A few hours later my feet were swollen so much that I had to wear my mother’s fluffy slippers for about 2 weeks.

Good times.

These days I walk in the shade.

Today I watched Mad Max on cable. Great movie, but The Road Warrior is the best out of the 3. Beyond Thunderdome was crap, dreadful stunt casting of Tina Turner. Boo! And the children! We don’t need another hero, my ass!

It’s too late for it but a movie about what happened to Max between Mad Max and The Road Warrior would have been great.

My good friend Rita called. I’ve known Rita since the early 1980’s. We were in a band together. We were called The Nift. What is a nift? I couldn’t tell you. Just a nonsense word I made up. We never played anywhere except a rehearsal room.

I wrote a song with Rita’s sister in law, Loren, and we covered Anytime At All by the Beatles and Gloria by Them. We had a pretty good drummer, Dave who was more insecure than the 3 of us combined.

We were all too insecure to play anywhere though we entertained the idea of playing McSwells eventually. I haven’t seen Rita in a few years so we’re planning to have dinner tomorrow night at the Film Center Cafe.

Rita used to be a teeny bopper hanging outside whatever hotel the Who were staying at in the early days. She has lot’s of stories to tell. Her brother Ronnie used to be a staff photographer for Columbia Records back then and also freelanced for Tiger Beat and 16 I think.

Rita and I had an idea to write a book with Ronnie’s photographs and Rita’s anecdotes, but alas it went along with the Nift, into the dustbin of history.

I also heard from Lois, another old friend. Lois got married to her longtime paramour Fred in May and they”re having a party upstate somewhere on August 2. I told her I was planning on going, Bill- I wasn’t so sure about. She was happy to hear that at least I was coming.

Lois asked me if I could DJ and I said yea, but I’d only bring my iPod. She offered to pay my expenses, but I don’t know what expenses there would be. I asked Rand, who is officiating the ceremony for friends and family to bring his iPod, figuring that between the 2 of us, we’d have enough songs between us to handle any Tarantella or Electric Slide.

If you’re looking for any Alley Cats or Hokey Pokey, you’d better move on.

Right now, Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows is on Turner Classic Movies. This was one of the first movies I ever saw in a theater. The now gone Century Theater in Paramus.

I think Annemarie and our brother Brian went as well as some of the Foglio girls who lived down the street from us. They were waiting for a bus when we picked them up.

The other first movies that I saw in a theater were The Jungle Book, The Happiest Millionaire and Oliver! At least that’s what I remember.

What are the first movies you saw in a movie theater?

Cut n’ paste this! Do it! NOW! hee hee:

http://origin.times-standard.com/lifestyle/ci_9868162?source=email

Here are some pics. Have a good week.

Last night’s moon

Today’s Empire State Building

Yesterday’s mural

Tomorrow’s memorial

Next year’s sail boat