Tag Archives: The Who

The Barber Feel It

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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…

Love Reign O’er Me

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Last night I inadvertently watched a repeat of Keith Olbermann, or at least I think it was since it was playing in the next room as I was on Bill’s Mac. It certainly sounded like a repeat, lot’s of Saturday Night Live and David Letterman clips.

That followed into Rachel Maddow which I did sit down and watch up to a point. I remembered the Kennedy Center Honors were on and I did want to see what they were doing for the Who, who received some of the honors that were doled out.

I turned in just in time to see Joss Stone do an adequate job of My Generation, the same with Dave Grohl on Who Are You, when out walked Bettye LaVette who I had read about several times before but never went beyond that.

Well she came out and basically stole Love Reign O’er Me from Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey who just sat there gobsmacked as I was on a couch in Hoboken.

A moving enough performance that I called Rita who was a Who fan from back in the day when they were doing 7 shows a day at the Paramount with Murray the K. She too was blown away.

I also called up California to tell Annemarie to keep an eye out for it. I posted it on my Facebook page and quite a few people were turned onto it and seeing it for the first time.

After Bettye LaVette came poor old Rob Thomas who did an ok job of Baba O’Riley saved by the participation of a choir comprised of members of the NYPD and the FDNY which was oddly rousing to see these uniformed representatives shouting ‘They’re All WASTED!’

But Pete and Roger loved it and it seemed like a thank you from the New York City departments for that Concert for 9/11 all the way back in October 2001.

So here we are, at the end of a calendar, ready to start a new one within hours. I had originally planned on doing a recap of the year, as I do every year. I have been doing this since October 2005 mind you.

This and a certain other thing that I do every day are about the only constants in my life and both probably lead to blindness.

I tried going back to January of this past year but just found myself reliving the feelings (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) that I had while I was writing it plus who wants to read recaps of my sometimes maudlin writing? Not me, that’s for sure.

Tonight Bill is returning to Hoboken for the night. Ending the year and starting a new one together. It’s been a rough year for the both of us, him more so I might add. He lost his father in February so his loss is that much greater.
I lost mine already so it’s a proper win for him on the sad scale for the year. Like Oscar Wilde wrote: To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.

And that is the first time I have ever used a semicolon on this blog. It all stems back to what started this blog, or at least the concept of it. Bill and I attending An Evening of American Satire at the Society for Ethical Culture that October night in 2005.

It featured Art Buchwald, Barry Crimmins, Paul Krassner, Lewis Lapham (who said those magic words that motivated me to write every day) and Kurt Vonnegut who stated that semicolons should never be used under any circumstances and on that point I held up my end until tonight. Blame Oscar Wilde.

I also had the plan to go to work today, just to check in and see if there was anything I needed to put in order. But Janice Huff the weather forecaster said it should be a treacherous morning and since I didn’t really have to go in I decided not to, expecting to wake up to snow drifts and glaciers creeping down Washington Street.

It didn’t happen and whatever motivation I might have had slipped away while I slept away the morning. I did wake up and turned on the TV just so I wouldn’t drift too far away in slumber.

But I did anyway. The snow started around the time Janice Huff said it would end so I tidied up the apartment a bit and did some laundry.

Stopped by the liquor store and picked up some Guinness for Rand and Lisa’s New Years Eve get together. The Latino kid from the shoemaker was there too and I wished him a happy new year.

He remembered the last time I saw him, the day before Thanksgiving trying to pick up Bill’s shoes which weren’t ready a month after they were dropped off. He wished me a happy new year as well and mentioned that he read what I wrote online about the service that day.

And he agreed with the review, at least that’s what he told me as he walked back to the shoe makers store in a brand new Michael Vick football jersey.

So tonight, Bill and I plan to go to Arthur’s for a steak dinner, then maybe a walk around smoking cigars, coming home and then heading over to Rand and Lisa’s to ring in the New Year.

I hope you and yours have a very happy New Year and I wish you all only the very best wishes for the New Year.

Now strap yourself in, cause it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Here is the Hoboken twilight sky on a New Years Eve.
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