Tag Archives: Tariq

I Turn My Camera On

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OK, So far it’s been an OK day. Been somewhat busy too.

Didn’t sleep well last night. Bill has had a head full if allergies and the poor thing has been having difficulty breathing. He thought the sleep apnea mask would do the trick but it didn’t. Made things worse actually.

I’ve been drinking a lot of juice lately, for the past couple of months and all day all night I’ve been drinking it. I think the sugar in the juices has been keeping me up and no allowing for a good night’s sleep so I’m back to water. Nothing but water.

Maybe some coffee in the morning but for the rest of the day- water. And so far so good. I didn’t come to that conclusion until last night as I lay in bed next to Bill. Stuffy, stuffy Bill.

Finally as I was drifting off to sleep, Bill let out a violent sneeze. Violent and loud enough for me to exclaim, ‘Jesus Christ!’ Woke my ass up and wasn’t able to fall back asleep until later.

I do think that having less sugar in my juices might help me sleep well tonight. It’s an experiment you see, and I am the subject.

Last night was as mellow as all the previous March nights, before sleeping. Bill was off at the play, I was here, exactly where I am now, wearing different clothes.

Watched Olbermann with Laurence O’Donnell subbing for ol’ Keith who is off grieving for his father. Watched Modern Family which was pretty funny. A good show to catch. As is Cougartown which is created by Bill Lawrence of Scrubs fame.

Snappy dialogue and situations and both show don’t have laugh tracks which is, in my book, great. If you liked Scrubs you’ll probably like Cougartown, which features that dancing girl from the Bruce Springsteen video.

So today I headed into the city. I needed some new headphones for my iPod. The ones I got a year ago are kaput. J&R had a sale so I headed towards the Path train. Walked by the waterfront where I saw Tariq.

He was out playing guitar and we chatted for a bit. Told him last week about young Tim getting hit by a car, happy to tell him today that the kid was alright. Tariq has these open houses at the Monroe Center in Hoboken and had one last Sunday which I why he wasn’t on the waterfront.

He’s always inviting me to jam with him in fact he said I should have came back with my guitar and jammed on the Allman Brothers with the Bear Hippie guy he was jamming with.

Tariq also showed me how to play Sweet Melissa but I have to confess I’m really not at all interested in playing any Allman Brothers. I do have some punk principles. On the other hand I just played Leaving on a Jet Plane by Peter Paul and Mary so go figure that one out.

I suppose I have no problems with pop music, it’s just southern boogie bands that I seem to abhor.

I made it into the city and walked over to J&R where I found the headphones on sale. Ear buds actually. Sennheiser, volume control on the wire which comes in handy. Walked over to city hall park where I wrestled with the packaging, feeling a bit like Larry David.

On the iPod I played TB Sheets, two versions, one by Van Morrison and John Lee Hooker’s version. Not for nothing, but I like Van’s version more. John Lee’s version is definitely good, but the audience talks throughout.

Took the Path to the Newport Mall where I walked through Macy’s. Looked at the men’s suits and felt no suit lust like I used to. Not very good suits anyway. Saw a nice Ben Sherman shirt on sale for 20.00 but it wasn’t my size and I’d wind up looking like a dissolute Robert Plant at Madison Square Garden circa 1973.

Does anyone remember laughter?

Walked to Payless shoes since they usually have good deals on Airwalk sneakers and my current sneakers are looking a bit worn. Still comfortable but it won’t be long till a hole appears. Didn’t see anything I liked so I walked out and walked into a Lens Crafters which of course was all about the hard sell, not really understanding the concept of browsing.

They’re really on you like white on rice. It was off-putting so I walked out of there and wound up walking back to Hoboken on the river walk. It was a nice cool day and glad to have gotten out and done something different, going out and about.

Listened to Spoon who are one of my favorite American bands. I know, I’m late coming to that conclusion.

Good think I put curtains up. Or is it?

Good think I put curtains up. Or is it?


Hoboken from Jersey City

Hoboken from Jersey City


3.25.10 Huhboken 006
3.25.10 Huhboken 008
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Yoo Hoo

Yoo Hoo

Darlin’

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Well it certainly has been an interesting 24 hours. I’ve been busy. I made it up to the Park Theater, riding with the proletariat in the mass transportation system here, this time using a bus. Got to Union City with enough time to treat myself to a Hamburger Deluxe and a chocolate milk shake at the Four Star Diner.

Had enough time for a cigar before the show. Hanging around outside the Park Theater on 32nd street. Meghan and Ruby were in traffic en route. I few sidelong glances from some father’s walking by wondering who this bloke was, smoking a cigar outside the theater.

I was glad I didn’t wear my raincoat. Humming Aqualung might have been a mistake though. Meghan and Ruby and 2 of Ruby’s friends showed up soon enough and we all headed into the theater. Meghan knew the sidelong glancing fathers and introduced me to them, causing them some relief.

They in turn whistled Locomotive Breath.

We found some good seats and soon Jim Mastro as well as Frank Giannini and his son sitting behind us. The Street Corner Mourners were as excellent as I had hoped, Tim having a mandolin strap malfunction seemed like it was all part of the show.

Six songs were their set, all covers, all nicely played. Lily has an incredible voice. If she keeps it up, in ten years she will sound amazing. The Street Corner Mourners are so inspiring. After their set Meghan, Ruby and the friends saw Frank Giannini and his son off and went across the street to the Four Start Diner.

I had a coffee and a slice of cake while everyone else had entrees. It was a fun group, we were served by Mo, short for Maureen who looked a it like Shirley Stoller. They all went back to the theater, I decided to walk back home to Hoboken.

I enjoyed a La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero 700 and listened to The Beatles, Revolver on the iPod. I walked down Palisade Avenue past Jane Street where I used to live. It was an enjoyable walk. I timed the cigar walk perfectly and finished it by the time I had gotten to my building in Hoboken.

I came upstairs and set about uploading the videos I had shot. It wasn’t exactly happening on my PC so I did the work on Bill’s Mac. I checked my Facebook messages and there was a message from Ruby.

Little did I know that after the show, Tim, the ace guitarist/Banjo & mandolin player was hit by a car outside the theater. Some driver had run a red light. Tim had done a flip over the car. The driver stopped, the police came and shut down that section of 32nd Street and it was decided that Tim go to the hospital in an ambulance.

They ran an MRI and had him overnight in the hospital to be on the safe side. Some short term memory loss but other than that he’s fine. Apparently 16 year old boys can bounce back like that. I hope he can still play his instruments.

All that walking from Union City to Hoboken had me tired but I think that last cup of coffee with Meghan and the girls kept me up while I tried to sleep. It wasn’t easy but I eventually did fall asleep.

Bill was soon in bed after coming home from Pecong, the play he’s been working on. He has a mouth apparatus which he wears with the sleep apnea mask. Still he snores and I wake him to let him know he’s snoring.

He says ‘Well you snore too you know. How do you know it isn’t you?’ I groggily try to explain that the sound was coming from his side of the bed.

I was up and out around 9:30, bagels and the paper. I got bagels for Stine & Alexander. Julio answered the door with Alexander on his shoulder as Julio was singing a lullaby to the baby. It was yet another beautiful day, the temperature was up to 73 degrees.

I walked around Hoboken a few times this afternoon, even taking my guitar out and playing along the river walk. I had seen Tariq earlier, playing a drum alongside an older hippie guy playing Melissa by the Allman Brothers.

I definitely could not get into it so later when I brought my guitar out I was about a quarter mile up the river walk. They were making some money but I didn’t feel up for that, not as confident as I was last summer and this being the first time out for me this year, I just played with the guitar case closed and didn’t do much singing.

I played for about 90 minutes until my right arm locked up a bit. I tried shaking it out but decided I had played long enough. I played Please Please Me, She’s A Woman, Love Shack, Surrender, Wild Horses, Maybe I’m Amazed and Kansas City among a few other songs.

Then I came home and finished an animation I had also been working on this afternoon.

I wrote over 800 words, shot and uploaded 6 video clips, created an animation and played guitar in public for 90 minutes. It’s been a creative day, and a good day at that.