Flies

How come people "drop like flies", but the one fly
in my house seems to live forever?

Staying Busy : Phase 5 - Cream

* Cream, Madison Square Garden 10/25/05*

Road trip. My return to the Headquarters of the Evil Roach Empire,
the city that chews you up and spits you out and then steps on you.
I spent lots of time there in the 80s when my then-girlfriend lived
out there. Drove out from Boston just about every week....the
folly of hormonal youth....

My brother insisted that we had to leave early in the morning. It
was going to take 5 1/2 hours to get there. He knows! He drives
it all the time. I said "4 hours"....but he insisted. "It's not like when
you used to go down there anymore". So I showed up at
his house at 6 a.m. - he wasn't ready. At 7 a.m., we hit the road.
We rolled into the city at 10:45....but what do *I* know??

We ended up moving the car a few times and using up a pile of
quarters to avoid a parking ticket, because the parking space
I had secured for the day (for only $12!!) wouldn't be available
until 1:30.

So, we did some shopping. Manny's and Sam Ash, so we could
look at $4000 guitars we can't afford right now. A CD store that
had a great selection of used blues discs, mysteriously priced
at $23 each. OK, at this point it's obvious we're just
window-shopping. I only had $10 cash in my pocket until
we found a cash machine anyway.

Finally, it was time to move the car to its rented home for the
next 10 hours. When that was taken care of, we met a
friend (go buy some of her CDs! - there, I did my part :-) )
for "lunch" (3 - 5 p.m.) at Vynl. The discs making up
the decor were decidedly plastic, though, I must point out!

Eventually, the concert happened. Before it started, I saw
someone I knew coming up the aisle and taking a seat two
rows in front of me. Honestly, I can't go anywhere. D'oh!
I either need to meet fewer people or have a worse memory!
Just kidding, of course....

Concert: yes, this was all about going to a concert. Eric Clapton
was fantastic. Ginger Baker was great. Jack Bruce was....well, he
was OK. But how can you expect a guy to sing the way he did almost
40 years ago? You can't. He did fluff a bunch of lyrics, though, which
I though was bad form considering what they were charging for tickets...
go back and listen to the record, for god's sake! Really!!

Still, I have to say: the magic these three players had was still there.
The "song" parts were the weakest bits. The jamming was incredible.
And that's pretty much what they were always about, anyway.

They played an amazing version of "Stormy Monday", which I imagine
will come out at some point. I hope it sounds as good as my memory.
You know how that can be.

The band played from 8:30 to 10:30 (maybe a couple minutes past). They
hardly said anything at all to the crowd. I didn't really care about that,
but it seems a bit weird, thinking back on it.

I didn't buy any t-shirts....or the $400 leather jacket...

[Talked to Last Girl On Earth throughout the day, but our
schedules just weren't going to work. So she acted as my
cell phone guardian angel for the trip, or something!! Maybe
NEXT time I'm in the city....did I really say that?]

OK, now to get out of town....

First a sandwich: I can't even remember what it was.
Then to the garage: Surprise! They REALLY are only
charging me $12 for the entire day...wooo hooo!
Then to the traffic jam: Construction on the Cross Bronx. Some things
never change.

Drove home in the rain and SNOW (damn it). Actual icy road
conditions in Connecticut.

My brother slept most of the way home. Note to all people who
"ride shotgun": You're supposed to help us drivers stay awake,
not remind us that we're dead tired!!!

Got back just in time to wake Mrs. L up for work. Oh, and
make out the damned mortgage check that I'd forgotten to mail.

Well...I can say..."I was there"...as if it matters.

Staying Busy : Phase 4 - Richard Thompson

* Richard Thompson / Eliza Gilkyson, Orpheum Theatre *

Father/son night at the Orpheum....not officially, but....

Master L and I headed into Boston once again. For some reason,
I keep forgetting that when these shows get out, the trains will
be undergoing "maintenance" and we'll have to take a detour
on buses.

Master L has developed a bad habit of whispering "I'm bored"
during opening acts. I don't think he even listens to them to
find out if he likes them...he just wants the prize at the bottom
of the box.

So even though Eliza Gilkyson was pretty good, I spent most of
her set listening to Master L ask "Is THIS the last song? When
is Richard Thompson coming on?"

Richard came on, Master L settled down....he even sang along
on some of the tunes he knows. Normally I don't like the person
next to me SINGING the song, but Master L is fairly discreet about
it...plus, he wasn't asking me when the last song would be.

After the show, Master L was photographed with Richard. He didn't
tell Richard that his favourite song was "Crawl Back", even though
he told me he was going to....but I think the case of "tongue-tied"
was normal for a six-year old.

And then...we headed out to experience the joy that is MBTA night
maintenance.

Staying Busy : Phase 3 - Bonnie Raitt

Like I've said before, nothing beats down the depression
of knowing you're low on cash than having a pile of pre-bought
concert tickets to use up.

* Bonnie Raitt / Maia Sharp, Orpheum Boston *

A rare "date night" for me and Mrs. L - but an evening alone
is so rare it's hard to know what to do. Why isn't every
sentence interrupted? Why isn't there a "crisis" of some
kind every five minutes? Very weird.

This show was pretty good, though I could have done
with less "Kenny G-school" sax from Maia Sharp. And
by less, I mean none. Mr. G really did ruin that instrument
for just about everybody, didn't he....

But other than her saxual misconduct, I actually liked Maia.

Bonnie's band played a couple of different song arrangements
from the last time with saw them (3 years ago). Mrs. L
remains unimpressed by the guitar player...and it didn't
help that we saw him pre-show, shoving his way through
the crowd like a privileged prince or something..."Out of
my way, rabble!!!" No, she'll never forgive him now...HA!

On our way out on the T (Boston's subway/transit), we saw
that they are planning to replace the coin tokens with something
called a "Charlie Pass". UGH. "Charlie on the MTA"...get
it..?

Pretty stupid, if you remember that the point of that song was
that the fares on the T went up so fast that poor Charlie
had to ride forever because you used to pay as you got off
and he couldn't afford it!

Marketing genius.

The Contract With Mom & Dad

(Master L version)

"I'm going to sit quietly during the whole ride to Boston." ***



***Limited time offer. Restrictions apply. While supplies last.
Product of equal or lesser value may be substituted. Offer void
in some cities/towns. Not valid on days ending in "y".

Staying Busy : Phase 2 - Pokemon

OK, this one was Master L's call.

* Pokemon Rocks America - Bayside Expo Center *

Basically, a Pokemon sales convention....I don't know,
I just don't "get" it. Admission was free. There were a
lot of giveaways if you waited in the long lines.

It can't always be about us, can it....wait...can it ever
really?? :)

Staying Busy: Phase 1 - Saffire

What do you do when money is tight? Stay busy and
try not to get bogged down worrying about it....

How about, start attending all the events you bought tickets
for....three or four months ago. It works. Takes your mind
off the lack of cash flow NOW!!

* Saffire - The Uppity Blues Women at Merrimack College *

For some reason, the auditorium was only 3/4 full. There
was almost no promo for this show, maybe that was it.
Or maybe blues really is on the outs right now...which would
console me a bit - that may mean my own gigs aren't falling off
a bit simply because *I* suck!!

Of course, there's a difference: when these ladies sing
songs filled with racy double-entendres, everybody
laughs. If I did that, one-third of the audience would laugh,
one-third would think I was a stalker and the rest would
shield their daughters on the way out!!

Anyway, I enjoyed the show. Mrs. L enjoyed the show.
Master L...well, he mostly enjoyed it...but he's six. His
attention span is still a "work in progress".

The band spent plenty of time between sets and after the
show talking with fans. They are wonderful people.
See them if you can.

Cancel the Car

The other day my son found a weird looking coin.

I immediately started planning how we'd spend our
new-found fortune once we'd sold this rare piece
of currency to the highest bidder....Mrs. L would
really like a Miata...hmm....

But maybe I was moving a bit fast...best to find out
what the coin is before making any further financial
decisions.

So, I took a closer look. It had a camel on it. Camels
are good - they are indigenous to one of the oldest
civilized areas of the world. This thing should be worth
some real money!

But wait ... it says "FAO" on it....so that's not an
ancient language, unless it's some kind of Latin
abbreviation....hmm....

"Somalia"....oh, no....the country actually had its
name already....now I KNOW it's not really old!!!

"Food Security"....this is turning sour...

"10 Shillings"....well, OK, it's worth something.
Let's go look up the equivalent in US dollars -
we might get something out of this yet!

Um.... $.0048 ....'almost' half a cent....

I told my son: "If you can find just 3,677,999
more of these, we'll get Mom a really nice
present."

The reunion...with me "standing in the shadows".

I'm IN and Reunited

Wow. For the last two weeks, I've been unable to visit most
of my "frequently visited sites" on the web. It was as if my
ISP had said, "He hits these a lot - let's block them so he'll
call us and we can talk him into upgrading"....or something
like that.

Anyway....today I played the "annual reunion" gig that my
band does every October. For some reason, the four original
members play this festival gig every October, even though
two of the guys aren't in the band anymore. The drummer
drives down from Vermont. It must be "the love"...what
other explanation could there be?

So - we don't see each other all year, we don't rehearse before
the gig, our fearless leader calls off a few songs we've never actually
played before, and we sound .... surprisingly good. Hmm.
Something to be said for "familiarity breeds contempt", maybe?!

There is photographic evidence - not digital though, so it will have
to wait. Assuming any of it came out.