TRAVELING MUSIC

 by Neil Peart: Fascinating book by the Rush drummer, mostly about his travels by motorcycle around the US, and how it related to what was happening in his life at the time & the music he listened to.
 But he also talked about his years with and before Rush: the most interesting part for me was his stay in London, England – which apparently coincided with the time I lived in London & Esher. And he worked in a store on Carnaby Street, where I used to window shop as I strolled down when I was a senior in high school (shout out to the American Community School in Knightsbridge, now closed at that location. And to my friend Becky Watkins, who once dated a member of America before they were famous. RIP: Becky, miss you a lot.) I did buy a nice pair of maroon suede boots on Carnaby Street, sure won’t fit now, if I could even find them…

THE SKIN MAP

By Stephen R Lawhead:

‘The sign read THE POPE’S NOSE, and had a picture of—it was difficult to tell in the flickering light of the torches—what appeared to be the plucked rear end of a somewhat startled goose.’

Now, when I was a kid, we didn’t eat goose, and don’t remember eating a whole cooked chicken, but we did have turkey for Thanksgiving. And Dad would always flap the fatty piece that hung over the turkey’s butt and say that it was called the Parson’s nose. He never explained why it was called that, but in later years I came to realize that it was a derogatory term for religious ‘leaders’ who talked out their arse; ie, said one thing but did another, as they apparently have done since the beginning of any religion and still do up to this day.

  Which brings to mind the ‘Christians’ who own businesses and who now feel it is against their religious beliefs to serve gay people. Just a question…shouldn’t they refuse to serve divorced people, people who cheat on their spouses, or even ex-cons (since they have all broken at least one commandment)?

Perhaps these ‘Christians’ should remember the Bible also says something about casting the first stone. Hmmmmm?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

 To Leo Tolstoy (186 – if he were still alive), author of War and Peace, which I once read in 2 weeks so my dad would take me to NYC in 1968 to see the Russian version (6-1/2 hours!) of the movie. Because of the length of the movie the theater that was showing it had an intermission in the middle which was long enough for viewers to leave the theater and have dinner somewhere. One of the things about the movie that I thought made it better than any other version was that all the actors & actresses were unknown, at least to the American audience. Interestingly, the original Russian version clocked in at about 8 hours, but the movie in Russia was actually released as four separate films! The original 2 were released in June 1965, while the filming of the last two films wasn’t completed until August 1967.

 One of these days, planning on re-reading the book, and perhaps watching the movie again and see if they still have the impact they did when I was 15.

A MURDER OF QUALITY

By John LeCarre: ‘Smiley noticed that his wrist-watch faced inwards, conforming with the obscure rites of the military demi-monde from which he seemed to come.’

I found this little quote interesting because of the fact that I wear my watch inwards, though I’ve never been in the military nor have I ever been a member of the ‘demi-monde’. I started wearing my watch like that in the mid-70s when I worked for a compressor manufacturer. During my spare time from keeping the cardex stock cards correct, I would help out in the stockroom. The aisles were quite narrow, and I probably cracked 3 watch crystals while carrying boxes down the aisles before I figured out that I could protect my watch by turning it inward. (I also at one point put a small bolt into the top of my head…but that’s another story.) Well, that was 40 years ago, and it grew so comfortable, I still wear it that way.

FROM THE 'SMALL WORLD' DEPARTMENT

 So the wife & I were at Rooms To Go buying a bed for our Grandson  for when he sleeps over; he’s decided he’s too big to sleep on a mattress on the floor. The lady at RTG was very helpful and chatty, and after we had completed the purchase she asked us where we from (almost everybody in Florida is from somewhere else).

We’re originally from Connecticut, and after telling her she said that she was from Milford CT, which is about 10 miles from where we lived. But the kicker was that her husband was a Jai Alai player who played at the Jai Alai fronton on Old Gate Lane in Milford…which was right next door to the Owens-Illinois plant where I worked!  Freaky!

 Especially since we’ve been here 26 years and she’d been here about 20 (we moved after the O-I plant closed down; they moved after the Jai Alai closed). Interestingly the location of the Jai Alai is now a Lowe’s and a Hilton Garden Inn. The O-I plant is still there as of now, deserted and looking the worse for wear as

you can see it on Google Maps. And looking at it today, part of the roof by the raw material storage tanks has collapsed, which was near to where the stockroom (which I ran) was located.

 What a great job I had, pretty much left alone to do my job, which included purchasing as well as supervising, not to mention going to Bobby Valentine’s Sports Bar for lunch, which was across the street. The place is still there, but not owned by Bobby Valentine any longer.

 Well, enough of traveling down Old Gate(memory)Lane for now, time to move along…

AN OLD COLLEGE STORY

So when I went to UConn back in 71-72 (oh,  it was a fun year – all one of it!) a guy I knew went down to Willimantic with me, don’t remember why, probably because it was the ’largest’ town in the area.

Driving back in the evening up SR195 we saw a plastic baby doll on the side of the road at the same time Alice Cooper’s Dead Babies played on the radio – rather a strange coincidence, especially since that was the same year Alice played in Jorgenson Center (though I’m not sure that’s what it was called it back then).

Remembering going to see the show, don’t remember much except the decapitation part and some guy climbing down from the balcony to get closer to the stage!

Anyway, I thought of this while sitting at work today listening to a bootleg of a 1972 Alice Cooper show from 1972, which was probably a close set to what I heard (including Dead Babies).

FUNNY BEER STORY

So we were at EPCOT a while back, and up in the America section of the World Showcase. Drinking beer, of course, because in the last few years EPCOT has become very beer friendly – as in not just selling A-B products. There’s a nice selection around the countries of one and sometimes more beers from that country, Germany in particular usually has 3 or 4 different, and Canada has 2 or 3 beers handy. Even Morocco has started carrying 4 or 5 beers.

 This particular time I had just finished a beer, and was headed to the men’s toilets in the America section when a college age guy and a couple of his friends came down the sidewalk toward me. The one guy, he had a T-shirt that read ‘Keg Security’ so I pointed to him and said somewhat loudly “Hey! Keg security guy!” and the guy dropped his beer, so his friends started laughing at him and I told him he was fired!

(Well, maybe you had to be there…)

BEER# 1122

San Miguel Cerveza Negra: A nice tasty dark lager (more like an amber) with rich caramel tones made from roasted pilsen malt.

This showed up in a 9 pack (they used to be 10 packs) of mixed bottles from World Market that my daughter bought me for my 40^th anniversary. Interestingly, this beer from the Philippines is from the same brewery that brewed the first beer on my beer list.(Not really sure, but I know when we lived in Wilton after coming back from the Philippines my Dad used to get a case every Xmas from someone he worked with over there & he always let me try things like that - so legend makes it beer#1). 

Really enjoyed the Cerveza Negra, hopefully I’ll be able to find a 6-pack somewhere so I can drink 5 more and share 1 with my beer buddy Jim.

 Hey, that’s what friends are for!

WHO KNEW?

phillumenist:

‘A person who collects match-related items, like matchbox labels, matchboxes, matchbooks, or matchbook covers.’

Oddly enough, for many years I collected matchbooks; back when smoking wasn’t verboten it was easy to find them pretty much everywhere – hell, our wedding info was written on matchbooks from the place Phyl and I met way back when and we put them with the place settings at our wedding reception! Still have the matchbooks somewhere, had a few thousand and they’re in the garage; the point being I never knew there was a name for collecting them, go figure…

CANCELLED!

Well, that’s a bummer. Just found out the Cheech & Chong show for next month has been cancelled. And I bought my wife a pair of tickets for Xmas this year – 8^th row center no less. Don’t know why they cancelled, but since they didn’t call it ‘postponed’ I guess there’s no chance of seeing them in the future. And the other bit is I scheduled our 40^th wedding anniversary cruise for after the show! Sometimes you just can’t win; but as long as the ship doesn’t sink I guess we’ll be alright.

But still, how many chances do you get to see C & C in the 2010s? Especially in Central Florida…bummer…

11/22/63

 Some flags flying at half-staff today; hard to believe it’s been 50 years since JFK was assassinated.

Still remember the whole school being brought into the cafeteria and being told that the President had been shot, then a bit later, had died in Dallas. Even at the age of 10, it was a traumatic event; even being that young (which was a lot younger then than it is now) you realized an earth shaking event had happened.

 So time goes by, and still no definitive answer as to who was behind the assassination. At least no answer that 99% of people can agree on. I’ve read quite a few alternate theory books, and some actually make as much sense as ‘the real’ events did.  Even the one that ‘proved’ it was an accidental shooting by one of the Secret Service agents following behind the President’s car.

 And in the back of my mind, every so often I wonder how things would be today if Kennedy had lived.

Would the world be such a crazy place that it seems to be; would politics be such a mess that it’s turned into?

Or would history be pretty much the same overall, with only the details slightly different? Is there an alternate universe where John Kennedy and his brother both lived and both had 8 year presidencies?

Beats the crap out of me…

THANKS, I'LL GUARD MY OWN BEER

This weekend Phyl & I went (again) to the Epcot Food & Wine Festival. While trying the different foods is fun, the real reason I go is for the beer. Over the years they’ve added more countries/regions to the usual ones & most of them bring at least one beer along.

So, of course, I find a map listing online with all the foods/wines/beers listed and figure out which beers I haven’t tried yet so I know where to stop as we go around the countries.

 Anyway, at some point Phyl went to pee and I waited in the walkway for her. Along comes a guy wearing a t-shirt that said ‘Keg Security’, so I told him “Hey, keep up the good work!”, and as he turned to acknowledge, he dropped his beer! So of course both his friends and I told him he was fired from Keg Security if he couldn’t even protect his own beer!

Well, it was funny at the time…guess you had to be there…

TWO WOOLWORTH STORIES

I was reading a book today on my Kindle, and in it was mentioned “…a kitchen clock that looked like a chicken.” Which was kind of funny, since we had a clock in our kitchen that we bought when we first got married(1974)that looked like a chicken.

 For some reason we called it Superchicken and it ran for years before it finally died, and we never could find a replacement. We had bought it from a Woolworth’s, actually the only Woolworth’s we ever saw that was a 2 story Woolworth’s.

 And a few years later, while at the same store with our baby daughter in her stroller, we exited into the mall and realized she had picked up a book from a book dept rack in the store…and not just any book, but Dr Spock’s Baby & Childcare book! I guess she was attracted to the picture of the baby on the cover.

Of course we kept the book, it seemed like fate since we hadn’t previously owned a copy!

RIP: PEPPI MARCHELLO

Long Island rock legend Peppi Marchello, who for decades fronted The Good Rats, lovingly dubbed "the world's most famous unknown band," died on Wednesday of an apparent cardiac arrest. He was 68.

 A band I first saw in 1973 when they played at the Fore-N-Aft in Westport, CT, (Where I met my wife).
A great band, led by a great singer with a sense of humor. When they used to play cover songs Peppi would change the words to something obscene. I still remember Clapton's Let It Rain coming out as "If I give my love to you, you'll let me sniff your crack". Yeah, really. And after I mentioned to him years later about meeting my wife at a Good Rats show, he signed the Play Dum CD and let me know I owed him for my sex life after 1973 - on the CD! 
What a guy, wish we could have got back up north and seen one of the reunion shows...
 Rock on Peppi, rock on...

LAST WORDS

by George Carlin (& Tony Hendra)

‘My mother, on the other hand, had a fucking list: “That telegram when I wired you $50 in Chicago? The telegram was $2.50. So that’s $52.50.” I would say: “What about those sneakers you got me in fourth grade? Where does being a parent end and being a loan shark begin?”’

And I was lucky enough to see George back in 71-72 (little hazy there) when he was at the top of his game with the 7 words bit. At the time, he had been best known as Al Sleet, the Hippy-Dippy weatherman. (which I believe he still did live.)

And he was still funny up until he died; a man who could do more with words than most people could dream of.

 Sure was hoping he would live forever...

HUMMINGBIRD DON'T FLY AWAY, FLY AWAY

 And the more musically knowledgeable of you may recognize that as part of a song by Seals & Crofts. But that's not what we're talking about(the song-that is). Actually, saw my first hummingbird today while cooking burgers on the grill. About 10 feet away is a Mexican Firecracker bush that has red flowers in bloom (this is Florida, after all) and the movement caught my eye. I'm guessing a female due to the lack of bright coloration, but still neat to see. And the wings move so fast, they really are invisible, just looks like a bird body hovering from flower to flower. Of course, by the time I got my camera it was gone, but at least I got to see it.

RIP: ED CASSIDY

1923 - 12/06/2012: As you should know, the drummer for Spirit, in all it's incarnations. I never saw the full band live, but did see Ed & Randy at an in-store show in 1993, where they both autographed my 12 Dreams of Dr Sardonicus (my favorite Spirit) album. Very nice, the both of them, and I remember thinking how short Ed was. Coincidentally, at Daytona Flea Market a few weeks back, I found a used copy of the Live At Rockpalast DVD, which I immediately snatched up!
 And now reunited with Randy, rock on ED, rock on...

RIP: DAVE BRUBECK

12/06/20 - 12/05/12: The famous jazz pianist, almost made it to 92. Not a jazz fan myself, but I do have a couple of stories pertaining to Dave Brubeck.

When I went to school in Wilton, CT, one of his sons (possibly Chris) went to the same school I did, though I never really knew him.

 Even more interesting; when I used to go to the Congregational Church in Wilton, we had a youth minister who was actually a really cool guy. We used to have mixed media events with music, movies with the sound turned down, and light shows. He showed us how to do a really cool lightshow with an overhead projector, rigid plastic sheets, cooking oil and food coloring. And everything would be going on at once, so it was really cool (groovy). Anyway, instead of playing record albums, we would make up a reel to reel tape recording of different songs, parts of songs, etc. So Rev. Joyner made this one up, and part of the tape was a recording of Cream, doing a live version of Toad. Halfway through the drum solo he had inserted a live recording of a Dave Brubeck number that also had a drum solo, starting in the middle of that drum solo, so when the band came back in, it was Brubeck, not Cream. Always stuck in my mind.

Anyway, jazz on Dave, jazz on…

THE SYNCHRONICITY OF RANDOMNESS

So this is odd; when I listen to CDs at work, I have a pile that I work through, more or less alphabetically by title. I also have a more or less alphabetical pile of CDs that have been purchased but not listened yet listened to. Every day at lunch I put on the headphones and listen to the next new CD in line, and when it’s done, pull out the next CD from my regular listening pile. Today, the un-listened CD was Save The Turtles greatest hits compilation; when that was done, pulled the next one from the standard pile - Captured Live, The Turtles featuring Flo & Eddie!

So, just one of those random things that happen to come together, funny how things like that pop up every once in a while. Back when I was a kid, my friend from across the street was calling me and I picked up the phone to call him just as he finished dialing, but before the phone rang!

(Cue the Twilight Zone..doo doo doo doo…)

PAN AM FLIGHT ZERO

Well, driving down US441 through Zellwood, and saw this plane over near what passes as Zellwood Airport. Reminded me of when Pan Am used to be one of the big airlines, even had a building in NYC named after it. Now it's the Metlife Building. Back in the day, businessmen (like my Dad), could take a helicopter from there to Idlewild Airport, name later changed to JFK. I used to fly to London and back on Pan Am flight numbers 1 & 2; one circled the globe East to West, and the other vice-versa. Of course, back then I flew on a 747, what a great plane that was, and the flights were never crowded like they are nowadays. Used to love flying to London, you would leave in the evening from NY and arrive in London Heathrow in the morning. The best part was watching the sun come up - first it would be pitch black, and then a red line on the horizon would appear and pow! there was the sun, really cool. And flying back to NY, you would pretty much arrive the same time you left London since there was a 6 hour time difference and it was a 6 hour flight. How cool was that?
 So it turns out, this plane probably didn't belong to Pan Am; couldn't match the picture up to an online guide to Pan Am aircraft, and it may just be an ad for the Pan Am Flying School.
 Pretty neat plane though, and in the early 60s, I may have flown on planes quite like this one...