East of Venus | johnozed

Well today is June 22. And it’s been an alright day. It was quite hot then it rained for a bit, breaking up the hummus. Perfect time to run to the grocery store, the one around the block. I went on Wednesday and here I was again today. While there on Wednesday I ran into my neighbor Christine, one of my favorite Hoboken people. We chatted there and walked home together, stopping on the corner to talk we said hello to the guy who owns the liquor store on the corner as well as admiring a very happy baby being pushed in a stroller.

Today I ran into Christine once again, and once again we walked on by the guy who owns the liquor store and admired yet another happy baby as we talked on the corner. Déjà vu indeed. It’s always good to see Christine and we usually talk for a few minutes, catching up and gossiping about whomever from Maxwells or the stuff that is going on in Hoboken these days. Today’s topic was all about her old band the Mad Violets and playing around downtown NYC back in the day, and the late Wendy Wild beloved by all.

Last night I finally made it out of the apartment despite the heat and made it over by the river. The Thousand Pities, East of Venus and Yung Wu were playing. I knew people in all three bands, though some bands overlapped with members. My former guitar teacher Mike Carlucci was in both The Thousand Pities and East of Venus. I knew Mike was an excellent guitar player but didn’t know he sang and he did a credible job at vocalizing. Rob Norris from the Bongos played bass in East of Venus and I had a nice talk with him before the show.

Rob now lives upstate somewhere where he has been working as a massage therapist for the past 20 years. I knew that’s what he did, I just didn’t know he was doing it for so long. Stan Demeski, drummer extraordinaire and all around nice guy plays drums for the Feelies as well as East of Venus along with Glenn Mercer, guitarist for the Feelies and Yung Wu and East of Venus. Yes it’s a tangled yet musical web that is woven. It was a beautiful night on the banks of the Hudson River, quite cool and breezy.

In between acts I saw someone smoking a cigar on a bench nearby and figured that I would sit there and enjoy a cigar myself. After the initial lighting I sat and puffed away, checking the smartphone to let no one in particular where I was. Up walks John & Toni, who was once in a band with my brother Frank. Nice people, happy to see me as I was happy to see them. John was playing with Yung Wu which I didn’t know about but should have for some reason. It was good to hear some good music and see some old friends.

I came home after that, hungry enough to get a slice of pizza. The girl behind the counter is always happy to see me and always asks how I am doing. She’s looking to take a vacation either down the shore or to Puerto Rico which is a bit of a longer trip. I came home where Bill was engrossed in the NBA finals, happy that Miami won. Most everyone else I knew did not like Miami because of LeBron James. Not my Bill though. Not interested in that sort of thing, just happy they won.

Another rainstorm just passed and it’s considerably cooler out. Cool enough to take a walk outside and see what’s what. It’s June 22nd, and I was let go from the cigar shack on May 22nd. I guess that makes it a month or thereabouts. I occasionally wonder how things are there, understandable since I did spend almost 2 years there, so many days. Zack’s wife is due to have a baby in a few days and I sincerely hope all goes well. I miss working with Thomas and Jerry Vale but in the retail world there is no room and no time for memories, so I am certain they don’t think about me, which is fine.

Still when the temperatures are in the upper 90 degree range, I am glad that I do not have to wear a suit and stand around for 9 hours. There are also customers I miss chatting with and I am sure I am forgotten by that crew, a month after the fact.

La di dah, la di dah.