Tag Archives: Padron

Purple Haze

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Well it’s Sunday. Weather turned out nice despite the weather reports saying it was going to rain. It was actually sunny and in the low 70’s. Last night was weird. Very discombobulated. Took a nap in the afternoon which wasn’t as restful as I had hoped, and left me feeling out of sorts through the night. Not that I actually went out and did anything. Just watched Bruce Springsteen’s DVD, live at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1975, promoting Born to Run in the UK.

Very entertaining and finally gave me some insight about what my brothers and sister were talking about when they were running out to see Bruce all those years ago. This was when Bruce was a scrawny little thing, all wool hat and guitar and that voice. The E Street Band dressed like Jersey Shore gangsters from the 70’s. Very corny, but then again it was the 70’s. I am constantly surprised at how funky Tenth Avenue Freeze Out sounds when played live. The version on the album, pales by comparison.

Not much else was on, though I did wind up watching Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny. It wasn’t bad but nowhere as funny as Dewey Cox. After that it was off to bed. I woke up with the light streaming in through the windows and hid under the covers. Eventually I got up and showered, got dressed and texted Julio to see if he and his family wanted anything from the store. Washington Street was being set up for the Spring Art and Music Festival.

It wasn’t officially opened yet as I chatted with a gent from Jersey City, setting up a cigar stand. No Padrons available, but some Cuban Seed Cigars were being rolled up for sale. I had some Padron cigars at home so I didn’t need to buy any. Came home, had breakfast and read the papers. Also checked the blog and was very surprised that no one had guessed the three riddles I posted on Friday. They really weren’t that hard. I answered them on the spot, you would have the luxury to use the internet and figure out the answers, I mean really people.

Show some effort, and interact damn you!

Went out again this afternoon to check out Micky Dolenz from the Monkees. He was the big headliner this season. It wasn’t too crowded and the city had set up a tent in case of rain. I hung outside the tent with El Jefe and Lady Gigglepuss. Circus Boy did all the hits, including some he didn’t sing lead, like Daydream Believer and Oh Darling by the Beatles, as well as Spencer Davis Group and Jimi Hendrix songs.

Micky told the story about how the Monkees were able to arrange to have Jimi Hendrix open up for them on tour which turned out to be a mistake since pre-teen girls weren’t ready for Jimi, screaming for Davy Jones while Hendrix played. Hendrix didn’t last more than a few dates. Micky sang Pleasant Valley Sunday, Stepping Stone, Mary Mary, Valerie, She, A Little Bit Me A Little Bit You, his sister Coco sang a couple of songs as well, like Runaway by Del Shannon with Micky Dolenz finishing with I’m A Believer which he noted he sang first, a long time before Shrek.

Then he was off to be mobbed by fans who had items to be autographed. Micky looked good never took his hat off, leading me to believe he’s a bit shiny up there.. It was a good day, nice turn out and good company.

Here are some pics from this afternoon.

Circus Boy Micky Dolenz

Some guy walked into my view. This is his left eye and forehead.

A daydream believer or a homecoming queen?

Stephanie, my former nemesis from Empire Coffee

Micky’s fans

Peter Tork fan

Mike Nesmith fan

Davy Jones

Dancing in the street

El Jefe

Woof and WOOF!


and don’t forget the riddles damn you.

Eyes Wide Open

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Last night. Let’s see, what did I do? Talked to Harpy on the phone. That was fun. Besides that not much else. I vented my spleen last night and that was a wonderful exercise. Over 800 words in a half hour. All I need is a fire under my butt apparently. And Tom Chin makes a nice face plate for an ignited fart. As giddy as I felt initially, dread soon entered the picture.

Bill was here last night, he came in after the first half hour of Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, by Sidney Lumet. That was harrowing and ultimately disappointing. And a most unsatisfying finish. Has Sidney Lumet lost the plot? I hope not, though I have to confess I haven’t seen many, if any, Sidney Lumet movies. I know, ‘How could you consider yourself a film buff when you haven’t seen Family Business? The Wiz? 12 Angry Men?’ I guess I’m just not ‘that type’ of film buff.

Oh well, life goes on. Tom Chin still walks the earth. No more room in hell I suppose. Once again it was nice to wake up next to Bill. I’ve been getting up before him and out of the apartment while he still lays in bed asleep. Got to the office, no one there. Did the usual crap and also started to update my resume, selectively omitting my few months at Golden Staffing last year. I figured it wouldn’t look good, a three month gig, on a resume. Tom Chin even ragged on Padma who they are letting go. He’s such a jerk.

I thought of the jobs that I had from day one. I actually applied for a job at Alexanders Department Store in Paramus since they had a pretty good record department. But that was not to be, I was going to work at HBJ, where my mother worked as well as both of my brothers at various points in their lives. After going from part time to full time I left HBJ and moved to a company called the 1330 Corporation that put up displays in dentists offices around the country. That didn’t go well at all and soon left and tried to go back to HBJ but they wouldn’t have me back.

I then got a job as a messenger for a company called En Route, then got a job for an accounting firm called Friedman Alpren and Green. Then I worked for a friend’s fast food joint on Second avenue in the city called San Loco. Steve Fallon got in my head and told me I would be better off going somewhere else and wound up working for Rupert Murdoch for a few years courtesy of Errol Stewart. It was there that I met Harpy and Pedro. I was also working at McSwells at night as a bar back, then as a door person, then as a DJ among other things.

McSwells continued as the Murdoch job ended and I worked at Take One Video where in a chemical haze I gave videos away for free to my friends in similar states of mind. That ended badly and I got a job at Rizzoli books in Soho. That also didn’t last once they instituted a dress code. Thanks to Justin Luchner I got a job at Skyline Studios just as they were starting their decline. After that ran into the ground I moved laterally to Right Track Recording for a few years and then moved over to Arif Mardin’s production company.

That didn’t last long so I moved to Arista Records, then to A mastering house called the Lodge, run by Emily Lazar who was somewhat nice. I didn’t know where I fit there and jumped back to Arista. After the Arista gig ended I moved to People Magazine which was fun, but not steady work. Then onto Staffmark, where I thought I would be able to help people get jobs when I realized I hate people. Moved to an even worse situation after being unceremoniously dropped by Staffmark to a place called Adecco. Floated around as a temp after that and the night I moved into my apartment in Hoboken I was able to get a job at Putnam Lovell aka Wanker Banker which is where this blog initially started.

One of these days I’m going to do something about all these jobs. One of these days….