Tag Archives: Bruce Springsteen

Wax and Wane

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I am so tired. I forgot how walking around midtown in work boots can weigh you down. Perhaps it as Harpy says, I am tired from the elation of getting a job. Last night wasn’t so bad. Bill was on the phone running lines with some guy who’s going to be in a play that Bill was working on.

I surprised Bill by having Lawn Hors d’œuvre Criminal Malcontent on when he came out of the bedroom. It was actually a really good one. Logan’s (Chris Noth) last episode or at least one of the last ones. It piqued my interest when they mentioned Lenny Briscoe in the beginning. That was the late Jerry Orbach’s role.

Bill was surprised to see it on and I was surprised to hear Bill know most of the lines. It turned out that Bill has the episode on his iPod and has seen it quite a few times since it’s one of his favorites. We started to watch another Lawn Hors d’œuvre Criminal Malcontent when my brother Brian texted me to tell me that Bruce Springsteen was on Spectacle with Elvis Costello.

Immediately we switched over to that, or rather I switched over since Bill decided to go to bed. I remember the first time I saw Elvis Costello and the Attractions at the Capitol Theater on the Armed Forces tour.

My brothers and I had fifth row seats on the left and at the end of the show walking a few feet away from us was Bruce heading backstage to meet Elvis and the boys. It was a good show on Spectacle and it was only part one. Bill was asleep by the end and I of course watched the news, Conan O’Brien and then Craig Ferguson before I turned in myself.

And yes, there were some weird dreams.

One involved me riding on the back of a motorcycle being driven by Fergie. We were heading to Fort Lee for the premiere of Nine. We rode across the George Washington Bridge and saw the traffic for the Harlem River Drive when she decided to turn around and head back to Fort Lee.

On the bridge I fell off the back of the motorcycle. We weren’t going fast and I merely went ‘plop’ and got back on. I wrote that down in the notebook that I’ve been keeping next to the bed to record these dreams.

I also wrote Rhane Stone/Coffee, Copier Love and Robin Guthrie. Robin was in the Cocteau Twins and married to fellow Cocteau Twin,Liz Fraser. Their relationship ended badly.

Today I went in to help out Greg Stevens again. It was an interesting time. I spoke with 2 of the subtenants who will need to vacate the offices at the end of February. They are scrambling to find new space as soon as possible.

Luckily for them I will be working for a company that leases offices for small companies. I called up Chaim who interviewed me and left a voice mail. Turns out, he is the president of the company. He called me back and I told him the scoop.

He told me to give them his direct number and was impressed with the fact that I produced 2 potential clients. A nice father in the cap and I haven’t even gotten the cap yet.

Also heard from Cindy See who returned my call. She recommended taking the job that was offered. She also felt that I was being underpaid for my services, but like I wrote yesterday, it’s the bird in hand.

And yes while it is a pay cut, it is better than the unemployment benefits on which I’ve been eking out a meager existence. She did tell me that I should keep looking and if anything comes up she would let me know.

The workplace drama begins anew.

I also had a realization. While I am happy to be working again, there is some trepidation. I realize that with each job that I’ve had, or anyone has, requires that you have to reinvent your personality, or adjust if you will.

My trepidation was about who will I have to be at this new job?

And what the fuck is up with the Supreme Court allowing corporations to donate as much money to campaigns as they might want?

Series of Dreams

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Earliness ensues. Been a pretty good day thus far. Last night Bill and I watched both The Naked Civil Servant and Resident Alien. It was Quentin Crisp night on Park Avenue. The Naked Civil Servant was very good, mainly for John Hurt’s top notch performance.

Resident Alien was a bit of a downer, Quentin living in a tiny apartment in the East Village, getting some negative feedback from Seniors Active in a Gay Environment (SAGE).

Quentin claimed to be a successful failure and some people in the documentary are say some awfully mean things about him. It’s definitely not a love letter, unless it was from Frank Booth in Blue Velvet.

I would see Quentin Crisp from time to time on the street in the East Village, blue rinsed hair, looking like a dandy. I might have said hello to him once or twice. He probably responded in kind, being polite and well mannered. That was probably the early 1980’s.

John Hurt was in Resident Alien, playing himself and interviewing Quentin on the streets of New York City, and some eerie shots with each looking at the other though as mirror frame.

Bill enjoyed the DVDs and then it was off to bed for him while I stayed up until almost 1:00. Slept good, told Bill to use my bus pass this morning since I wasn’t heading into the city.

Had a nice relaxed breakfast and did some laundry, leaving the apartment around 11:45 to do some grocery shopping. I’m so domesticated.

Listening to disc 1 of Bob Dylan’s Tell Tale Signs quite a lot today. Also listened to Bruce Springsteen’s Magic album which was really good. Never played it from start to finish.

Some of it is typical Bruce & E Street stuff and some of it is extraordinary. Also played some of Born to Run. Not the title track, that would be a bit much. No, I played 10th Avenue Freeze-out, Night and Backstreets.

Just seemed like a perfect day to play some Bruce with the windows open and the sun breaking through the clouds.

It was so nice out I decided to wander around Hoboken. Not many people around on a Friday afternoon. Rain was forecast but all you needed to do was look outside, where it was cloudy but sunny as well. The glass was half full as it were.

I wound up by Pier A and sat and continued reading the Eno biography. He just did some half hearted demos for Television, working with Robert Fripp, had a lung collapse and was hit by a car.

A busy life indeed. Up next should be David Bowie, Talking Heads, Devo and U2.

Now it starts to rain, a few raindrops fall on the windowpane, raindrops in puddles on a neighboring rooftop. I like living on the top floor.

Now I’m playing disc 2 of Tell Tale Signs and like disc 1, it opens with a version of Mississippi from Love & Theft. There’s so much Dylan out there, different eras and styles. I do like 1965-66 Dylan but not much from the 1970-80’s. I have Blood on the Tracks but I just can’t get into it.

Yet.

I didn’t ‘get’ Blonde on Blonde the first time I heard it and that was in the 1990’s. Ann Boyles played that record a lot and tried to get me into it once or twice. I thought it was a character flaw, but the flawed character was me.

I really do like the 1990s to the present Bob Dylan. Seems like a very good fit. And the band behind him, lead by Tony Garnier for the past 15+ years is really good.

The rain has passed, mere minutes later. No biggie.