New Weekend Thoughts
My weekend thoughts from this morning was pretty sloppy, so I figure I'd clean it up a bit. Today I'm having a "Reinhold Messner" kind of day. For those who don't know, Reinhold Messner was an Italian chap who became the first man to climb Mt. Everest alone and without oxygen tanks. (Tenzing Norgay need not apply.)
Anyways, Friday night was fairly uneventful. I had nothing planned and figured I'd just putt around the apartment, playing the songs in my newly crafted Max's Huge Book of Stolen Songs, 2nd Edition. It's filled with guitar tabs of songs by David Bowie, Belle & Sebastian, T. Rex, Velvet Underground, Bobby Dylan, and more. I figure by learning to play these songs, I'll not only become a great guitar player at long last, but will fuse them all together to become the greatest rock troubadour in all the world.
Joining me in my laziness was a very curious calico cat. I spied him watching me while I was porch-sitting, and then later caught him as he hunted me through the high grass. Eventually my little friend bolted out of the stairs, did the little static electricity rub that cats love, and then settled next me, his head on my right love handle, just hanging out. I reached over and scratched him behind the ears, which I don't think was very appreciated so I let him be. Five minutes later when I got up, I looked over for him and he had completely disappeared. It seriously freaked me out. Back inside the house, eventually I got bored and walked over to The Grog & Tankard, scouting out a band to fill a slot at Velvet Lounge on Aug. 24th. (However, let this be a lesson to said band. I left them my phone number and the show details, but they never called until Monday morning, after I had filled the slot with another band who fit the bill better.)
Saturday was Clean the Apartment Day. After scrubbing the kitchen for a couple hours, I moved onto the bathroom. It is now completely clean.............(Sorry, we had to wait a second for the cheering from every female friend I have to die down.) After that, my new friend Richard came over, and we recorded some chord progressions on the always amazing Hammond Piper II. Here's a good pic so you get a sense of how great it truly is:
Later in the night, we went to see my guys, The Guins, at Staccato Lounge. The previous three bands were all jam bands or cover bands so it was somewhat lame. Not that I hate jam bands, but they really do need to figure out a way to keep their songs from getting too stale. One band played a song for 25 minutes. 25 minutes! It was maddening, not even Miles Davis would play a song that long, not because he couldn't but because he knew he shouldn't. Maybe these bands should get a group of people to dance right in front of the stage, and then end the song when they realize that nobody's dancing anymore? Oh yeah, they had that. Too bad I don't have pictures though. The dancing was hilarious and included me falling off of a bar stool onto a 6'4" woman, who then asked me to sign the band's mailing list. I think I've already addressed this topic. (Hilarity Highlight: My friend signed up as phishisover@jerrysdead.com.)
The third band from Saturday night at Staccato played three of the most ambitious covers ever, "Castles Made of Sand" (my favorite Hendrix song by far), "Superstitious" (which I still haven't seen covered well, only adequately), and "The Ocean" by Led. "The Ocean" cover was really good, but I've always seen it as an odd cover choice when it comes to gettin' the Led out. (I don't know if I actually believe that or just wanted to write "gettin' the Led out.") The best part came when they started the song, my friends immediately stopped their hippy-dancing antics and tuned in. I guess The Led is the tie that binds. Too bad this band's set was 1 hour, 15 minutes long, incurring my wrath with the bartenders, who, as always at Staccato, were class acts. The Guins, consummate professionals, played their hearts out like always, even opening up with a choreographed cover of T.Rex's "Cosmic Dancer." I've already written about this, but Saturday night, I felt pretty proud of them, rocking as they were.
I left a little drunk and got caught up in an "incident" with a drunk girl who refused to pay her cab fare. Virginians, if you're going to come into the city, please learn the Cab Zone System. Otherwise, you get what you deserve. This was my second truly great cab ride in as many weekends. Last weekend, I got free fare home because I rode around for an hour, helping the cab driver con Northern Virginians into rides to the Metro, for only $10 a pop. Much the same situation this time, but with different, more hilarious results, including me, laughing terribly, pointing out of the window and saying, "Yes, we're laughing at you." It was deserved, trust me. I ended up getting $2 off my fare for "being cool." Thanks, cab driver!
Sunday was pretty uneventful. I taught my new student, who's continuing to perform better and better every lesson, but mainly just lay around the apartment, regretting my decision to cancel the cable modem. I started reading Chuck Klosterman's new book, "Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story." So far, it's a doozy. I don't think it's as good as "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs" but definitely better, at least in the beginning, than "Fargo Rock City."
Today so far has been pretty great. I altered my commute this morning to drive through the Chinatown warehouse/market district. It's almost like taking a left turn into Beijing, with nothing written in English, forklifts wizzing by at astonishing rates, people carrying sticks of dead, unfeathered chickens or bags full of ginger, rice and noodles strapped to their backs, plus it all has a very Communist feel to it. I got some good news this morning, followed by booking Bang Bang Bang into that slot on Aug. 24th. Those guys are really great and I've been wanting to see them forever. Finally, here's my commute soundtrack from this morning:
1. "Cascade Range" by The Strugglers (forthcoming, but damn, Randy, that song is amazing.)
2. "Knives Out" by Radiohead
3. "Theologians" by Wilco
4. "Sunday" by Sonic Youth
5. "AM180" by Grandaddy
(6. Then I listened to Howard Stern, but it was really racist and I didn't want to hear that sort of chatter.)
7. "A Summer Wasting" by Belle and Sebastian
8. "Tom Courteney" by Yo la Tengo
9. "The Wanton Song" by Led Zeppelin (For that crucial moment when, in order to merge into my turn lane, I must be doing at least 75 mph in order to beat out those cars coming onto Rt.50 from the Beltway. "Hot for Teacher" is also really good motivation for this moment.)
10. "Deceptacon" by Le Tigre
11. "Cold Blooded Old Times" by Smog (which is the perfect song for pulling into the parking lot on Monday morning.)
It doesn't get much better than that.
Anyways, Friday night was fairly uneventful. I had nothing planned and figured I'd just putt around the apartment, playing the songs in my newly crafted Max's Huge Book of Stolen Songs, 2nd Edition. It's filled with guitar tabs of songs by David Bowie, Belle & Sebastian, T. Rex, Velvet Underground, Bobby Dylan, and more. I figure by learning to play these songs, I'll not only become a great guitar player at long last, but will fuse them all together to become the greatest rock troubadour in all the world.
Joining me in my laziness was a very curious calico cat. I spied him watching me while I was porch-sitting, and then later caught him as he hunted me through the high grass. Eventually my little friend bolted out of the stairs, did the little static electricity rub that cats love, and then settled next me, his head on my right love handle, just hanging out. I reached over and scratched him behind the ears, which I don't think was very appreciated so I let him be. Five minutes later when I got up, I looked over for him and he had completely disappeared. It seriously freaked me out. Back inside the house, eventually I got bored and walked over to The Grog & Tankard, scouting out a band to fill a slot at Velvet Lounge on Aug. 24th. (However, let this be a lesson to said band. I left them my phone number and the show details, but they never called until Monday morning, after I had filled the slot with another band who fit the bill better.)
Saturday was Clean the Apartment Day. After scrubbing the kitchen for a couple hours, I moved onto the bathroom. It is now completely clean.............(Sorry, we had to wait a second for the cheering from every female friend I have to die down.) After that, my new friend Richard came over, and we recorded some chord progressions on the always amazing Hammond Piper II. Here's a good pic so you get a sense of how great it truly is:
Later in the night, we went to see my guys, The Guins, at Staccato Lounge. The previous three bands were all jam bands or cover bands so it was somewhat lame. Not that I hate jam bands, but they really do need to figure out a way to keep their songs from getting too stale. One band played a song for 25 minutes. 25 minutes! It was maddening, not even Miles Davis would play a song that long, not because he couldn't but because he knew he shouldn't. Maybe these bands should get a group of people to dance right in front of the stage, and then end the song when they realize that nobody's dancing anymore? Oh yeah, they had that. Too bad I don't have pictures though. The dancing was hilarious and included me falling off of a bar stool onto a 6'4" woman, who then asked me to sign the band's mailing list. I think I've already addressed this topic. (Hilarity Highlight: My friend signed up as phishisover@jerrysdead.com.)
The third band from Saturday night at Staccato played three of the most ambitious covers ever, "Castles Made of Sand" (my favorite Hendrix song by far), "Superstitious" (which I still haven't seen covered well, only adequately), and "The Ocean" by Led. "The Ocean" cover was really good, but I've always seen it as an odd cover choice when it comes to gettin' the Led out. (I don't know if I actually believe that or just wanted to write "gettin' the Led out.") The best part came when they started the song, my friends immediately stopped their hippy-dancing antics and tuned in. I guess The Led is the tie that binds. Too bad this band's set was 1 hour, 15 minutes long, incurring my wrath with the bartenders, who, as always at Staccato, were class acts. The Guins, consummate professionals, played their hearts out like always, even opening up with a choreographed cover of T.Rex's "Cosmic Dancer." I've already written about this, but Saturday night, I felt pretty proud of them, rocking as they were.
I left a little drunk and got caught up in an "incident" with a drunk girl who refused to pay her cab fare. Virginians, if you're going to come into the city, please learn the Cab Zone System. Otherwise, you get what you deserve. This was my second truly great cab ride in as many weekends. Last weekend, I got free fare home because I rode around for an hour, helping the cab driver con Northern Virginians into rides to the Metro, for only $10 a pop. Much the same situation this time, but with different, more hilarious results, including me, laughing terribly, pointing out of the window and saying, "Yes, we're laughing at you." It was deserved, trust me. I ended up getting $2 off my fare for "being cool." Thanks, cab driver!
Sunday was pretty uneventful. I taught my new student, who's continuing to perform better and better every lesson, but mainly just lay around the apartment, regretting my decision to cancel the cable modem. I started reading Chuck Klosterman's new book, "Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story." So far, it's a doozy. I don't think it's as good as "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs" but definitely better, at least in the beginning, than "Fargo Rock City."
Today so far has been pretty great. I altered my commute this morning to drive through the Chinatown warehouse/market district. It's almost like taking a left turn into Beijing, with nothing written in English, forklifts wizzing by at astonishing rates, people carrying sticks of dead, unfeathered chickens or bags full of ginger, rice and noodles strapped to their backs, plus it all has a very Communist feel to it. I got some good news this morning, followed by booking Bang Bang Bang into that slot on Aug. 24th. Those guys are really great and I've been wanting to see them forever. Finally, here's my commute soundtrack from this morning:
1. "Cascade Range" by The Strugglers (forthcoming, but damn, Randy, that song is amazing.)
2. "Knives Out" by Radiohead
3. "Theologians" by Wilco
4. "Sunday" by Sonic Youth
5. "AM180" by Grandaddy
(6. Then I listened to Howard Stern, but it was really racist and I didn't want to hear that sort of chatter.)
7. "A Summer Wasting" by Belle and Sebastian
8. "Tom Courteney" by Yo la Tengo
9. "The Wanton Song" by Led Zeppelin (For that crucial moment when, in order to merge into my turn lane, I must be doing at least 75 mph in order to beat out those cars coming onto Rt.50 from the Beltway. "Hot for Teacher" is also really good motivation for this moment.)
10. "Deceptacon" by Le Tigre
11. "Cold Blooded Old Times" by Smog (which is the perfect song for pulling into the parking lot on Monday morning.)
It doesn't get much better than that.
posted by Jaded Lens at
12:57 PM
1 Comments:
Every time I got back in the car in Pennsylvania or Ohio, after someone tried to save my soul again, I would play "Theologians" by Wilco. Which, of course, is on that awesome mix CD you made me. I miss you, Bax....
South Dakota is some of the most beautiful country I've ever seen.... I wish you could see what I see.....
By
SpangledAngel, at 5:46 PM
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