Tag Archives: Rita

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

History Never Repeats

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This is from a few years ago. Taking a break from writing today.

A handsome ransom

It’s been a musical week people beeples. Starting on the jazz tip and ending up drinking from the well of glee. My honey Triple-5 and I started off on Tuesday seeing Diane Schuur at the Blue Note. Diane was wonderful. The company, Triple-5, and Danielle who is married to the sax player Triple-5 knows, Michael J. “Big Mac” MacArthur and I sat next to a trio from some where else besides metropolitan New York sitting next to a birthday woman and her husband, not interacting between Triple-5, myself and Danielle. Dianne Schuur was wonderful as I said. A wide range of songs including one written by Barry Manilow and Johnny Mercer which was quite touching, quite entertaining, and not the old badalax I heard she was.

Thursday morning, I got a call from Rita asking me if I wanted to see Cheap Trick. I said sure. I asked her where it was. I thought she said Roseland, but it was the Beacon Theatre. Quite a comfortable difference. I agreed in the morning, but in the afternoon I was frazzled. Didn’t want to go. Spoke to Triple-5 on the phone and wise-being that he is, told me that by the time I got to Rita’s apartment, I would be mellow. Since I would walk, Triple-5 reasoned, I’d probably smoke a cigar and be quite mellow by the time I got to Rita’s.

He was right.

I got to Rita’s, hung out for an hour or so, watched TV, which I haven’t done in a while and went to the show with Rita and her man Jerry. Saw the Jon Spencer Blues Experience open up, but they had lousy sound and being in the Beacon balcony, the sound was worse. They did a good version of what I think was “Yer Blues” by the Beatles. Cheap Trick hit the stage with excitement. They’ve been at it for 30 years and it being my first time seeing them, quite entertaining. It was the original band. Rick, Robin, Tom and Bun E. They seemed to love each other and the audience, and performed all their hits with no apologies. And Thom {Tom} Peterson is still very cute; Rick Nelson is still the showman; Robin Zander is still the voice and Bun E. the beat.

Got home mad late from that show to find Triple-5 waiting for me with candles and incense burning and a pizza in the oven and looking quite fabulous. The cherry on top of the evening.

Saturday; dismal day. Rain, rain, rain. I don’t mind. My niece Meghan is Festival Director of the New Jersey Folk Festival to which I volunteered Triple-5 and myself. It was rainy, rainy, rainy, but a good time. Felt good to help out. The usual gnat-like neurotics popped up from time to time but being armed with psychiatric off made all the difference in the Folk Festival world. Saw old friends Jon and Deena from The Cucumbers as Deena was doing a solo gig. Someone blessed Jon and Deena. Thank you. Great seeing brother Frank, his wife Elaine and daughter Meghan again. They would be off in a few hours to meet daughter Cory at EWR Airport returning from merry old England with a class trip. What a wonderful time to be 16.

Sunday had the weather that Saturday should have had. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, but since Sunday was a indoor thing, and Saturday was an outdoor thing, the gods of weather really screwed up BIG TIME. Triple-5, Mr. Isizm (Rode), el Jefe and his father and stepmother saw lady Gigglepuss perform with the Stevens Institute of Technology Glee Club. Being parched of glee, we drank deeply from the sit well of glee. The lady Gigglepuss dressed matronly with cummerbund and matching red bow tie. Sang beautifully with the women who dressed the same and the men in matching tuxedos from old Anglican spirituals to Elton and the Lion King. Their voices soared with varied accompaniments from alumni and professors. Wonderful, wonderful. I loved the lady Gigglepuss. What a wonder.

Quite a musical week. It’s been a while since I’ve had a varied musical pallet. Also bought the latest Ibrahim Ferrer, Orchestra Baobab and the White Stripes. All very good CD’s.

It was great seeing Mr. Ism at the glee function and wonderful to have him visit the crib after the show. Thanks for the truism, Mr. Ism.

Love, love, love.