Birthday Surprise

Master L apparently insisted that he and Mrs. L needed to
make a pizza-shaped "seven-layer bar". When I came home,
they presented it to me while singing "Happy Birthday".

When they finished, I said, "But my birthday isn't even this
month...."

Master L explained: "That's how I knew you'd be surprised."

Barter

Today I heard some rustling outside the front door. I opened the door
and a squirrel was standing there. He immediately ran to a tree.
He looked prettty thin, so I figured he was scrounging around
the yard for food.

I went to the cabinet and grabbed a handful of cashews. Then I went
outside and put them on the fencepost. I pointed at the squirrel and
then gestured toward the cashews. Then I went inside.

Predictably, the squirrel climbed onto the fence and ate the nuts.

A little while later, I heard rustling at the door. I looked out.
The squirrel had a pine cone, which he proceeded to drop on
the doorstep. Then he ran back to the tree.

I assume it was his thanks for the food. Or, maybe he was
just littering where *I* live, as I'd done to him!

My Musical Week Jan. 19

I haven't done one of these in ages, since nobody would care
but me. But what the hell, I've got nothing else to say right
now.....

* Mike Keneally - Dog

* Naked Lunch soundtrack

* Marc Ribot - Yo! I Killed Your God

* Big Mama Thornton - Hound Dog: The Peacock Recordings

* Ringo Starr - Blast From Your Past

That Ringo thing is pretty funny. I'd forgotten some of those great 70s
lyrics! "Can you boogie? Can you slide?" "It's guaranteed to keep you
alive".....oh, my my indeed.....and now I've burned the LP to CD,
so I can have it in the car, too....LOL.

Soon the Richard Thompson box set will come out and I'll probably
play nothing else for weeks, so it's good to get some foolishness in
NOW.

Love Bird

As Valentine's Day approaches, thoughts turn to love...
love bird fried rice....yeah, that's it.....

Last night, after attending a Celtics game (which they
actually won for a change), I was standing in the subway
station. The size of the crowd waiting for an outbound
train made me painfully aware that I wouldn't be
able to get on and would have to wait for a second
train. Anyone familiar with Boston's subway
can tell you it could be awhile before that next
train comes....there doesn't seem to be any
hurry to move people at night.

So....I decided to take an inbound train to Chinatown
to one of my favourite restaurants for something that
is only (to my knowledge) served there: Love Bird
Fried Rice. It's sort of....sticky white rice on the
bottom, covered half with chicken in a tomato-based
sauce and half with shrimp in a white sauce.

Chinatown is right next to the old "Combat
Zone", where all the strip clubs and adult book stores
are located. Oh, yeah, and lots of prostitutes.

For awhile the area was pretty much "cleaned up" - most
of the adult establishments had gone out of business and
there wasn't much "criminal activity". That was in the late
90s, though, when the economy was better. Now the
area seems to be reverting to its former "glory".

As I stepped out of the subway station and started walking
to the restaurant, I was immediately pursued by a guy
who was selling either drugs or a hooker....he "Yo!" 'ed
at me for a good half a block before giving up. Ah, just like
the old days....when I lived in Boston and worked a second
shift job north of the city, I used to stop in at the same
restaurant for takeout on my way home. After weeks
of telling prostitutes "I'm REALLY just here to buy food",
they finally started letting me walk through the area without
a hassle. Then it became a very strange friendly relationship,
with pimps and hookers saying hi to me as I passed through,
because we all saw each other so often.

Back to the present: I got my food and headed back to the
subway - this time taking a different route to avoid all the
"action". Sitting on the train with the bag on my lap, I
noticed that the bag was leaking. I'll be working on the
stain today.....grrrr.....

Got home around midnight and couldn't wait - had a nice
big bowl of Love Bird Fried Rice....perhaps one of nature's
finest foods.....

Oh, and for breakfast this morning, I had....well, you get the
picture.

This post must be EXTREMELY boring, due to the lack
of "Web Tasting Technology".....I'm sorry.

But if you're ever in Boston, could I recommend....?

Holiday Fuzzy

Let's see....today is a holiday.

But not for Mrs. L, who went to work early this morning
in 7-degree (F) weather. She seemed happy about it....
yeah....

About as happy as Master L, who, upon seeing the temperature
on television, said, "Whoa - I'm not going outside AT ALL
today."

Somehow, I forgot that I was supposed to have a band rehearsal
at 5:30 (because no one is working, right?) and scheduled a
dinner with an old friend for 5:00. Well, that, combined with
Mrs. L working meant I couldn't do 5:30 anyway. So now the
other guys have to adjust their schedules to accomodate ME -
the guy who can't be trusted with a schedule. Sigh.

This is why Mrs. L usually handles scheduling. She's....um...
responsible. There, I said it!!

OK, so if I can remember where my shoes are, Master L and I
*should* be able to meet my old friend and Mrs. L at the
restaurant. And if I'm really on the ball, I'll remember to
bring my bass INSIDE the restaurant instead of leaving it
in the car to freeze. Then, maybe I'll even remember to
take it with me when I leave AND remember
to go to the rehearsal.

Do you think writing all of this down is helping me to remember?
Well.....results vary. I may remember all of it, or none of it.

Or, maybe Mrs. L will remind to do all this stuff....I'd be
lost without her.

Band From Hell

I was thinking.....maybe banjo, soprano sax, pedal steel guitar,
didgeridoo and an opera singer.....

Any ideas on how to make it worse?

Phew

When I got on the internet this morning, I was shocked
to read the headline: "Nickelodeon star recovering from car crash".

I was soon somewhat relieved to find out it referred to Drake Bell
- and not Spongebob....or worse, Squidward.