Bartleby Was Right!

I am currently writing in agony due to the stupid hubris that entailed me playing in a company softball game that has re-injured my back. I should have known better, as I have herniated disks and I was sore during warm-ups. But instead of course, I figured it would loosen up and proceeded to play extremely hard for the full game, diving and sliding on several occasions.

So, the past three days have been a steady procession of severe agony followed by pain pills which have left me somewhere orbiting the planet "head-nod".

I hate taking pharmaceutical drugs for medicinal purposes. Vicodins are supposed to be for recreation, not curative reasons!

The lesson of course is, when asked to play, I should have said "I prefer not to".

Meanwhile, Nazz Junior finished up his Little League season kicking ass and taking names.

On the rock n roll front, Nazz Junior decided that he would do a Bartleby The Scrivener trip on his teacher. He's graduating grade school next week and has decided that he would prefer not to sing the graduation theme song with his class because "It's lame and it sucks". The teacher is not thrilled about this; as he is the only kid in the graduation class exercising his rights. We have reached a compromise in which he has promised to lip-sync and fake it.

That's cool. I'm so proud.

Even cooler is that he is not going to the graduation dance party; since he decided that his graduation present should be to go see Aerosmith and ZZ Top that nite.

5th grade, and he's already the coolest kid in school!

Toonage:

Aerosmith - Toys In The Attic (live NYC 8-29-75)

ZZ Top - I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide

Cat Stevens - Father And Son

Die Toten Hosen - If The Kids Are United (Sham 69 cover)

Still Truckin'?

I have been strangely ambivalent about the upcoming Dead tour. As a vet of hundreds of Grateful Dead and assorted line-up shows; my interest should be higher than it is.

Initially, when The Dead announced that tickets (except for behind stage) would be in the environs of $100 a pop, I was disgusted. $100? When did Jerry and Pigpen re-join? I understand that the boys are getting older, and their 401K's probably tanked like the rest of ours did, but jeez... a hundred clams for what was being passed off as The Dead? No thanks. Funny thing is... if tickets were half that, I probably would have bought tickets for all four local shows!

The other aspect is the arena experience. Weir and Lesh have been touring on their own for years, usually in small theaters, where getting up close was easy. To sit in the enormo-dome and hear crappy sound and deal with all of the other hassles of arena shows seems to be a little over the top for The Dead these days.

I wasn't surprised that the 4 NYC area shows sold out. But, I am wondering what percentage of people going are doing it of nostalgia, how many are doing it for the music (and possibly weren't old enough to see Garcia) and how many are just going to get wasted.

Based on early reports, the band is playing well and Warren Haynes can certainly be considered on the short list of guitar players who are capable of getting a Jerry vibe. There appears to be a "scene" as morons of every age are doing the "whippit/lsd/mushroom/miracle" shtick. Not to disparage the "Phish-Dead-heads", but yecch, put some shoes on, take a shower and grow up already.

One of the shows is literally in walking distance to my house. However, I have other plans. There was a time that NOTHING would have kept me from a Dead show. I am going to one NY show (free tickets for the Missus and I) and depending on how I like it and how cheap I can find a ticket, I might go to one of the NJ shows. Times are tough, and throwin' down so much money is a tough call. Especially how there are other old time bands I wanna see (The Damned & X).

It'll be fun to see what passes as The Dead again, but I just don't have that spark anymore. Of course, the day of show I will probably be bouncing all over the place. At least I hope!!!!!!

The Dead - Charlottesburg, Va April 2009

Toonage:

Grateful Dead - Alice D Millionaire
Grateful Dead - Promised Land (9-3-77)

Grateful Dead - It's All Over Now (9-16-78)

Sham 69 - Rip Off

Friday Grab Bag - Under The Covers

Sick as a dog with a nasty cold (thanks to Nazz jr.) and back problems as sciatica is kicking my arse (also due to the newly invented sport of base/foot/basketball invented by Nazz jr. and myself).

So, no great insights with regard to the world in general or my little corner of it. Just some solid kick ass rawk n rowl cover versions.

Toonage:

Ted Leo - The Spirit Of Radio (Rush)

Ween - Purple Rain (Prince)

Primus - In The Flesh (Pink Floyd)

Superdrag - Bastards Of Young (Replacements)

Bob Dylan - London Calling (The Clash)

Dinosaur Jr. - Borstal Breakout (Sham 69)

My Beard of Shame

“We have now for many centuries triumphed over nature to the extent of making certain secondary characteristics of the male such as the beard disagreeable to nearly all the females

- and there is more in that than you might suppose"
... C.S. Lewis

I've worn a goatee (or whatever you call that 'stashe and chin hair thang) for the past few years. It seemed that all the cool kids were doing it (or something like that) back in the halcyon days of the early aughts and I kept it. As an added bonus, it's a real pleasure watchin' the grey replacing the black as the years progress.

A month or so ago I got lazy and decided to grow the whole thing out, much to the distaste of the missus as well as my corporate overlords. Which, of course are two good reasons to keep it growin'.

It's never really gotten much past that nice "dirty" looking phase... the stage where it just looks like I forgot about personal hygiene. That, along with the hoodie that I don whilst riding the rails generally ensures that people leave me the f&ck alone on my commute and tend to be unwilling to sit next to me unless they have no other recourse. It also helps that most of the time I am glaring at my fellow cattle.

I think I'm gonna keep it for a while, the missus thinks it makes me look older, but others have said it makes me looks younger.

On a related note, I have recently noticed that I no longer get carded when entering bars. It used to be such a pain in the ass since I thought I was being singled out and hassled. Now I kinda miss it. That and being offered help to cross the street by those pesky boy scouts is really bugging me.

So, in light of this totally self indulgent post (as if there are any other kinds!), I present the following toonage:


Toonage:

Lagwagon - Razor Burn
The Pixies - Ain't That Pretty At All
ZZ Top - Squank
Sham 69 - Angels With Dirty Faces
Pansy Division - The Summer You Let Your Hair Grow Out