Apostrophe S

Let’s see, what have I done since I last posted? Enough to warrant another post, I suppose.

Just go down to the bottom of the page and check out my hit counter. I just broke 1000. That’s one thousand unique hits, baby. Oh, yeah. And those three little letters “AOL” are the only advertising I have on this site, just so you know. (November 2 is not really advertising. I’m showing my support.)

OK, so on to the actual post.

Wait, one more diversion. There’s a story on the Onion about serial killer killings, and the dateline is Indianapolis. Kind of funny. Ha ha.

So Thursday…

Thursday was a good day. Work went pretty fast, especially since I left a little early. Then I went with a bunch of work people to this place called Union Landing to see off yet another employee at the paper who is moving on to bigger and better things. I hadn’t really planned on staying long, but people just kept showing up and buying me beer, so I ended up staying pretty late. Going away parties are always fun.

Friday was a blast. Damn. I should have posted on Saturday. Now it seems kind of old. But I’ll tell you anyway. Friday was the Little Steven Rockin’ Garage Battle of the Bands (brought to you by Dunkin’ Donuts) at the Stone Pony. Some of you older, Springsteen-obsessed folks will know Little Steven as a member of the E-Street Band. Some of you less-old, Sopranos-freaks will know him as a mobster from, well, from the Sopranos. Me personally? I really didn’t remember who he was until we got there. But it turned out he didn’t even show up. Some guy named Pete Best, who was in the Beatles or something like a hundred years ago, was there to judge, though. How sad is that? Your only real claim to fame is that you were “once” a drummer for the Beatles. And it wasn’t even when they were known. It was before they had even recorded anything of note. Psh.

So the bands there all pretty much buh-lew, except for a couple. But the best ones didn’t even win. The final winner (which was actually determined Saturday) was one of the bands that I thought particularly sucked, but they were from Asbury Park so they must have gotten home team advantage. I was disappointed. But the whole thing was fun anyway. Except for the unnerving presence of corporate sponsorship in the form of kids in logo hats and t-shirts handing out free iced coffee samples, courtesy of DD. I took one anyway, and the girl handing it out was nice, but it just felt, I don’t know, kind of icky. It’s like the whole “down-to-earth”-ness of the Pony was compromised. Like you could see the cash pushing through the thin threads of the facade. But maybe it was just me. I had a damn good time anyway.

After the Pony, we went to the Berkeley bar, to see Phil the bartender. We had a few drinks and talked and made faces at each other in reference to the crazy middle-aged folks that were “partying” in the bar with us. Enough with Friday.

Saturday:

Slept in. Got up, went to brunch with Roxy at the All Seasons Diner. We both had cheeseburgers and shared some fries covered in gravy and cheese. Nothing better. Then we went to see “The Terminal” at a nearby theatre. It was worth the price of admission. Nothing wrong with spending a couple of hours with Tom Hanks and Stephen Spielberg. Made a trip to Borders, where I picked up Hunter S. Thompson’s “The Rum Diary.” They’re making a film version, and I wanted to read the book first and see how the adaptation is. Later Talula and Mouse came over and we had some margaritas (Mouse’s made fresh!) and played some cards. Good times. A really good day, overall.

Sunday:

Slept in, got up, powerwashed Roxy’s back deck. That sucker looks awesome now. You wouldn’t believe the layer of crud that came off with just some high-powered water and a little bleach. It’s like a brand new deck. Actually looks like wood. It was kind of fun, too. Took almost 4 hours, but still fun. Then Mouse invited Roxy and I over for some barbecued food. A lot of food, really. Zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, chicken, hot dogs, even clams. I gotta say I’m not a big fan of clams. I think it’s the texture. So my Sunday night was good.

Monday:

Back to work. A pretty busy day at work, actually. So busy I had no time to post on this thing. But after work I went home and relaxed, played guitar for a while. I’m trying to learn “Folsom Prison Blues” by Johnny Cash. The actual guitar parts are pretty simple, now I just have to work on my timing and putting the “soul” into it. I’m trying to play it like Cash did, and he led with his thumb. Now my thumb is really sore.

OK, you’re up to date. I’ll be better this week. I promise. Take care…

ON AIR: The Polyphonic Spree - Have A Day