Tag Archives: Mandy Patakin

What A Wonderful World

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A new week, a new day, a new entry for johnozed. Isn’t life grand? Today was the first day since last week that I had actually walked around Hoboken, besides the supermarket and Washington Street. Oh and the library. Nothing has changed it’s still the same. And as usual I’ve got nothing to say but it’s OK.

I got a nice St. Patrick’s Day card from my cousin Theresa. That was nice. I would have sent her one in kind if I had known and it’s not too late to do that I suppose. It just won’t get to her by Wednesday.

That is what actually got me out of the apartment and into the damp streets of Hoboken. I bought a St. Patrick’s Day card for Bill and wanted to get it to his office, hopefully by tomorrow. He won’t be in on Wednesday since he has something MAJOR going on, something that he asked me not to talk about.

So getting it in the mail to be delivered across the river within 24 hours is the goal. Then again you hear of people mailing letters decades ago and never making to the receiver, and I hope that’s not the case this time.

But if it doesn’t get there by tomorrow I take comfort in the fact that he’ll have something nice on his desk when he returns on Thursday.

I also stopped by the Guitar Bar and said hello to Jim Mastro. I hope he doesn’t think I’m a nuisance. I just pop in for a quick chat, say hello and I’m out of there. If I’m headed to the post office I usually ask him if he has any mail to be dropped off, but today I was going in the opposite direction.

He was playing Booker T & the MG’s McLemore Avenue, which is their take on Abbey Road. I bought it last year from iTunes and hadn’t played it since so when I came home I made sure to play it, as well as burn it so some people (maybe you) might get a copy somewhere down the line.

Despite the gray day, overcast skies I’ve been enjoying myself somewhat. Posting a lot onto Facebook. Found a hero and friend to LGBT people in young Will Phillips.

He’s the young man from Arkansas who got into trouble at his school when he refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance sine gay people are not afforded liberty and justice. 10 years old and he recognized that liberty and justice was only for some, not all.

Posted a video from YouTube and commented on his YouTube page. Of course there are the usual wankers who wrote, people will marry their dogs, their children or have many wives. You know, the usual ignorant bullshit.

In a retaliatory move, I posted a clip of Mandy Patakin singing ‘You Have to be Carefully Taught’ from South Pacific on Facebook. I tried posting the video on the YouTube page but was unable so I posted the lyrics instead.

Last night I posted an interview from the Village Voice with Henry Rollins. Ol’ Henry’s a great guy, and quite a few people dug the interview. In the interview it’s mentioned that Henry is friends with RuPaul and will be a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race, which is a fun show in itself.

Well according to Joe Jervis of JoeMyGod, that show is on tonight so I will be watching that.

Last night I watched The Pacific, the story of the battles in the Pacific theater of World War II. As I watched it I couldn’t help but think of the men that my father drank with at the VFW when I was growing up.

Like I’ve written previously, I spent a lot of time, perhaps too much time at the VFW. I didn’t mind then and looking back I still don’t mind. Gave me insight on how these men were.

Like how they saw atrocities, perhaps performed atrocities then came home and didn’t really say anything about it. Going to a psychiatrist or psychologist was a sign of weakness.

And don’t forget, men don’t cry.

Which is bullshit.

I know this is a Hollywood version and nowhere near as horrible as it actually was, but it’s a glimpse nonetheless. It was well made and when it was rebroadcast at 11:00 Bill and I watched it together and Bill was blown away as I was earlier.

Will Phillips is my hero!

Will Phillips accepts the award for Outstanding TV Journalism Segment at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York on March 13, 2010. Phillips appeared in the award winning segment “Why Will Won’t Pledge Allegiance” from CNN’s American Morning.

From Rogers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific: Carefully Taught

You’ve got to be taught/To hate and fear,You’ve got to be taught
From year to year,It’s got to be drummed In your dear little ear
You’ve got to be carefully taught.

You’ve got to be taught to be afraid Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff’rent shade,You’ve got to be carefully taught.

You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late, Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate, You’ve got to be carefully taught!

Let’s All Chant

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So here we are, it’s a Saturday. It’s been snowing for the past hour or so. Big wet flakes, not sticking, just turning to water once they hit the ground.

Last night was spent partly down at Julio & Stine’s apartment. I wanted to spend time with Alexander before they flew off to Denmark this afternoon. I brought my guitar and did my best to plat Give a Little Bit by Supertramp. I do love that song. Classic pop. That and Take the Long Way Home are two of my favorite Supertramp songs.

Oh yeah, Even in the Quietest Moments and Lover Boy. OK, I have a few favorite Supertramp songs. In fact their songs would be on a mix tape compilation in case I’m ever on that desert island. Never get tired of those songs, though they certainly dropped the ball after Breakfast in America.

Anyway, Alexander did his little Alexander dance to my guitar playing. He also got a kick out of my picking some notes when I played Please Please Me, which Julio and I sang while Stine printed out their airline tickets.

I encouraged Alexander to strum my guitar as I fingered some notes. He loved the pick also and even though Julio and Stine felt bad when he dropped the pick in the hole, it was not big deal. Just a few shakes and it was out again.

It fell to the floor and Alexander picked it up and gave it to me. After each song I would play, Alexander would clap his hands and say ‘Again?’ and I would play a different tune, like Me & Julio Down By The Schoolyard which Julio couldn’t help but singalong to.

My mother would always say Me & Julio Down By The Schoolyard whenever she would ask about Julio.

It was a fine time. Alexander was up way later than usual and eventually Stine had to put him to bed, after reading him a story. Julio and I sat at the kitchen table, drinking Galician wine which was quite nice.

Also sort of broke my rule of not eating after 7:00 at night and had 2 slices of pizza that they had ordered. Came upstairs, Bill was finishing watching 3 hours of Lawn Hors d’œuvre, and soon went to bed. I stayed up, watched the Simpsons followed by Craig Ferguson before I finally turned in myself.

Bill was up before I was this morning, attempting to rediscover the couch which was buried under so much of his stuff mainly. Some items were mine, but the majority were his. It was a bit of a pain of the ass to make room for Juan on the couch the other night, which is why I told Bill to get Juan to move into the bed once Bill was leaving for work.

I did have a plan to go to the Man Ray exhibit today. Texted Rand about it the other day but never heard anything so I was content to go solo. I was all set to go and made it out to the street. My plan was to take the subway to 96th Street and after the visit to the Jewish Museum, enjoy a stroll down Fifth Avenue, smoke a cigar and listen to some music on the iPod.

But when I got to street level in Hoboken I thought it was too cold and wet to do that and opted to return to the apartment where it was nice and cozy. The exhibit is on until March 2010 so I have time, but do plan an attempt next week, with the same agenda.

Bill was off doing theater things this afternoon so I watched Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid which was just precious. Jackie Coogan and Chaplin’s relationship is just so special, that almost 100 years later really makes you misty.

I thought about showing it to Julio, but he’d probably turn into a puddle with Alexander en route to Denmark. Still, it’s a sweet movie. Chaplin was certainly something, easy to see how he became the first big movie star.

The biographical picture about Chaplin starring Robert Downey Jr. is worth seeing as well. So if you can’t get one, watch the other if possible.

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