Tag Archives: SNL Digital Short

Your Mother Should Know

Here I am again, in front of the computer, sitting at the keyboard, hitting not so random letters and keys and forming words, sentences and paragraphs. I am surprised to be here. I had hoped to not write this weekend and here I am writing.

Am I a man of letters? Of words? A man of my word? Can I be true to myself? Can I be true to you, the reader? Should I buy that t-shirt, that coffee mug or those greeting cards?

I’ve just gotten back from sitting on the front steps, enjoying a cigar and writing in a notebook. I know, how old school. And what I wrote I am about to transcribe here.

It follows what happened before my visit to Barclay Rex on Thursday. I was all set to go and decided to check the email from Barclay Rex to reassure myself. But I could not access my email through Firefox or Chrome.

I plodded on, upwards to the bus stop and called Bill. I figured he might have access that I didn’t have and asked him to open my account. He remarked that I had a lot of email in my account, which is true. I do have a lot of email in my account.

Thousands of unread emails, going back a few years. But the email server has no problem with it and so neither do I. I told Bill I didn’t give a shit about the emails and asked Bill to look for an email from Ryan Bibble.

Sure enough, Bill found the email and all was as I thought. Felt bad for being a bit testy with Bill but I knew I had a lot of emails and I only needed to access one which could be easily found with the simplest search.

Texted my love once again to Bill and he responded in kind. We’re still up in the air with regards to Barclay Rex, now that Susquehanna Investment Group has entered the fray.

I would never had heard of Susquehanna Investment Group if it weren’t for that certain ‘Maurice’, sending me an email from their workplace. Fortune comes in from strange angles.

So now, this is from sitting on the front steps a little while ago.

This is a twist. Sitting on the front stoop and writing. It’s a beautiful day and I spent some time earlier by the river, reading Mojo magazine. Lot’s of people out and about. I avoided the Baby Parade scheduled for the waterfront, but still there were plenty of strollers going by and pregnant women.

Once I finished reading Mojo I was bored and decided to head home and be bored there rather than sitting by the river. No buskers out today and I wasn’t strumming.

I came home and Bill was awake and getting ready to head into the city for rehearsal. He came home this morning after driving to North Haverbrook last night. He slept a few hours when he came home.

Last night I watched The Hangover. It was just what I expected, and I wasn’t disappointed. A few laughs, basically men being stupid.

After that I watched a documentary on The Mamas and the Papas. I’m sure I had seen it before but nothing else was on. It was definitely interesting to watch after MacKenzie Phillips revelation/accusation of having an incestuous affair with her father Papa John.

McGuinn and McGuire just keep getting higher and in LA you know where that’s at/And no one’s getting fat except Mama Cass.

After that I watched the news and Saturday Night Live. Alec Baldwin was the guest host for the season finale with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. It was good, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers reminded me a bit of Led Zeppelin. Maybe that’s what they were trying for. I enjoyed it nonetheless.

The high point for me was the Digital Short. Once again, hilarious.

After Saturday Night Live I took a melatonin which has been great in helping get some restful sleep but it doesn’t help me waking up and getting out of bed in the morning. But that’s not so bad.

Listening to the Mama’s and the Papa’s last night reminded me of Sunday afternoons spent at the VFW in Saddle Brook. I would hear Monday Monday, as well as Make the World Go Away by Eddy Arnold a few times on Sundays as I watched the veterans drinks and smoke.

10.16.10 jot alxndr 008

The Barber Feel It

It’s been an interesting 24 hours. First off, though I really didn’t care, I am happy that the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl, just for the fact that it more than likely bolstered the spirits of the residents of New Orleans.

The TV was on during the first half of the game, but the sound was off and I was listening to music. Led Zeppelin, the Bee Gees and Chicago, hence the title of last night’s entry. It’s funny, like my antipathy towards Zeppelin back in the day turning into an appreciation, I find myself liking certain Chicago songs, specifically Does Anyone Really Know what Time It Is and Make Me Smile.

I suppose it’s the late Terry Kath’s songs, definitely not the Peter Cetera songs, though who knows? Check back in 20 years and I could be writing about how good Just You & Me and If You Leave Me Now actually are. By then though, it might be attributed to dementia.

Bill came home and was surprised to see the game on, and asking me who I was, since the ‘real’ me wouldn’t have the game on. I explained that I was waiting to see the Who, or rather “’alf the ‘Ooo”. Which is what they would have been 41 years ago if John Entwhistle and Keith Moon joined up with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page when Page was putting together Led Zeppelin.

The Who came on and did a good job, Roger & Pete with Pino Palladino on bass and Ringo’s son, Zak Starkey on drums and Rabbit Bundrick on keys. I thought it was Wix Wickens from Macca’s group but Wikipedia says otherwise, so no Wix, yes Rabbit.

It was a decent show. Daltrey straining to hit some notes, and Pete not being able to windmill on the guitar wearing a suit jacket. The stage design was really cool, Bill mentioned that it looked like the 1980’s electronic game, Simon, which it did at points.

Zak Starkey had the Mod bull’s eye on his cymbals and that looked really cool. Lily Mastro commented on Facebook that Zak looked like Terry Gilliam, and he did. I called up Rita after the Who. She was a major Who fan when they first came over in the 1960’s and she loved it saying that Pete could do no wrong.

It was a fun talk with Rita who invited me to go along with her to a Jim Carroll memorial on Wednesday. I asked that she remind me on Wednesday.

I wrote about 2 people last night that I came in contact with today. One was Pedro whom I wrote about doing the Roof Top dance 22 years ago. We talked on the phone about a plan that I have which my sister mentioned that would be good for me. A different career path. Not corporate, no suits involved, though I’m sure if I wanted to wear a suit I could.

I also ran into Damian, Julio’s buddy. I wrote about them last night also attending a party after seeing Led Zeppelin at the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert. I run into Damian more than Julio does, I think the last time I saw him was in 2006. Damian’s a Hoboken police officer now and I ran into him on the street. So good to see him, such a nice guy. We did some catching up standing on the corner. Wife and kids are good, he’s happy with his life.

Funny how both Damian and Pedro are now law enforcement officers considering how wild we all used to be.

During the second half of the football game with the volume up and Bill cheering and shouting I researched different beauty schools in the area. I am seriously considering becoming a barber.

Yes, you’ve read that right.

It seems like a smart move, everyone needs a haircut every now and then. I already have an appointment at one school in Manhattan tomorrow and another on Thursday in West New York on Bergenline Avenue.

No more barber colleges, now I would have to take a cosmetology course. Also looking into getting stimulus funding for the schooling as well as financial aid. Pedro thought it was a great idea and was very supportive as a few other people I talked about it with were.

I also made it a point to visit with my barber at Mr. L’s. He thought it was a bad idea as did his son. Their whole point was that it was a lot of standing around waiting for customers, Tony mentioning that you’re always being watched by the person who’s hair you’re cutting.

I don’t watch what Tony’s doing since I don’t have my glasses on while he cuts my hair and I just tell him what I want and trust him to do the job. Last time I had gotten my hair cut from him, I told him to do what he wanted and I think he did a good job.

Tony who’s in his 70’s, also mentioned that during the depression a barber he knew had 3 kids to support as well as a wife and did not go on public assistance like a lot of people, since as Tony put it, a barber always has a dollar in his pocket.

It’s definitely an out of left field idea but it seems right to me, obviously since I am checking out 2 schools this week. I told Tony and his son that after I visit the school tomorrow I would stop by and let them know how it went.

I don’t think they’re afraid I would be taking away business, in fact I would be willing to pick up any slack. Since they’re closed on Wednesday and Sunday, I might be willing to rent a chair and work on those days. I’m only a few doors away anyhow.

But that’s a ways down the line and I’m getting ahead of myself. It does seem like a job that I would be pretty good at. And then there’s that whole Sweeney Todd thing.

What do you think? Your comments would be worth reading should you care to write them…