At left, Andy the Doorbum (center) at the Bohemian Cafe in Greenville today, part of RECORD STORE DAY at Horizon Records.
One CD he has recorded is titled "Art is Shit"--and who could argue?
~*~
It appears that the late Andrew Breitbart did NOT have cocaine in his system when he died. The coroner has declared his cause-of-death was a garden-variety heart attack. I STAND CORRECTED! (See, when I am wrong, I promptly admit it... more or less.) I am still skeptical that hard-partying Breitbart was living the drug-free life, of course, and duly remind my readers that coke exits the body without a trace in only about three days. (Breitbart had already admitted youthful drug abuse). I still believe he was all jacked up in this video. And if not, it might be more alarming than if he WAS. I mean, he appears utterly psychotic.
In any event, such a tantrum (check out how red-faced he is, as the cop attempts to guide him in the opposite direction) could not have been any good for his heart. Anger is not good for us, I try to remind myself.
I've always wondered if the cautions against anger in all the world's holy books, are also health guidelines, like the dietary laws turned out to be. The Type A personality is real (and we can all name one we know), but whether it actually leads to heart disease is debatable. But Type A can go either way, it can lead to fulfilling personal ambitions and providing needed leadership, or it can create a whacked-out spectacle like Breitbart screaming incomprehensibly at protesters.
~*~
At left: The Vinyl Vault at Horizon Records. I am grateful I didn't get rid of all my vinyl--I still have several hundred vinyl LPs that I hope to leave to my descendants.
Unless of course, there is a sudden "Cash for Vinyl!" movement and I am bribed with huge sums on loud, late-night TV commercials ... in which case, all bets are off.
~*~
Just watched a panel from the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, titled "Nonfiction: Narrating Disaster" which highlighted three fascinating books that are now on my list--
The Great American Stickup: How Reagan Republicans and Clinton Democrats Enriched Wall Street While Mugging Main Street by Robert Scheer.
The Rainy Season: Haiti - Then and Now by Amy Wilentz
A Hole at the Bottom of the Sea: The Race to Kill the BP Oil Gusher by Joel Achenbach
I am currently devouring Joe McGinniss' NEVER ENOUGH, about the murder of the mega-successful, filthy-rich Kissel brothers. Other books I have read recently include VIRTUE AND REALITY by Lama Zopa Rinpoche (which you can read online too, at the link) and HOMECOMINGS by Risa Bear, the intense and honest biography of a trans woman who transitioned later in life (and who also happens to be my friend). Both books are great spiritual tutorials.
In particular, I can't recommend Risa's book enough. I just loved it.
Living lives true to ourselves, without constant, neurotic worry over what other people are saying and thinking about us, is something that can unexpectedly happen to women as we enter our 50s. Those things we have always wanted to do and say, we finally do and say, without apology. We have always put everyone else first, and now... it is time to put ourselves first. Risa writes from the perspective of one who is in this space, who has decided to be herself at long last.
Her joy at finally being/becoming herself supersedes and eclipses the opinions of others.
I hope at some point, to get to this point myself.
One of those things about age that makes me profoundly uncomfortable: I get sentimental very quickly.
Like, really sentimental.
It overtakes me suddenly, and there I am, shedding tears over seemingly peculiar, unrelated or odd events. Such as Ben Hall and his guitar playing. Which was just like my late stepfather's. (Note: although the outdated link claims Ben is 18, he has now reached the ripe old age of 22.)
Until I was sitting there listening to Ben, whom I hadn't heard before, I didn't realize I had unconsciously avoided the music of Chet Atkins for a reason... I was suddenly aware that the "thumb-picking" guitar-style of Ben's, was the same as my stepfather's. I have avoided it for many years, flipped radio channels and such, because it made me so emotional. And as Ben described his style of playing, I thought, oh no... because I probably would have avoided his fabulous guitar playing if I had known.
I listened, and promptly got all teary-eyed and emotional. It is so embarrassing, reminding me of a line from Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now: "I cried like some grandmother." Yeah, I guess he means me. I have arrived!
Does any music do that to you?
Here is Ben's playing, the signature thumb-pickin style.
Cannonball Rag - Ben Hall
~*~
This song is as old as I am, seriously... careful, its about death, and way before the Doors made drowning at night sound sexy and existential.
I can hardly believe its taken me this long to post it!
Endless Sleep - Jody Reynolds
~*~
And speaking of the Doors, here is the 60s version of drowning for fun:
Moonlight Drive - The Doors
Let's swim to the moon
Let's climb through the tide
Penetrate the evening that the
City sleeps to hide
Let's swim out tonight, love
It's our turn to try
Parked beside the ocean
On our moonlight drive
Let's swim to the moon
Let's climb through the tide
Surrender to the waiting worlds
That lap against our side
Nothing left open
And no time to decide
We've stepped into a river
On our moonlight drive
~*~
Sorry so morbid, but its been a rather morbid week in America, yes? ;)
After many years of missed opportunities, I finally witnessed the sheer awesomeness that is the fabled North Mississippi Allstars... a packed house for a free show today at the Bohemian, standing room only. I bought their newest CD, Keys to the Kingdom.
Not the best photos; I'm relatively short and as you can see, people everywhere.
Delicious bluesy wonderfulness. :)
Edit/correction: Allstars is one word, not two. Sorry about that!
~*~
The Infamous Stringdusters at the Bohemian Cafe, this afternoon! A splendid time was guaranteed for all.
This was taped as part of WNCW's fabulous TOWER OF SONG series.
As I promised on Facebook* (I am getting all of these online venues confused!), here are my thoroughly bad photos of Warren Haynes and Government Mule!
The free concert was Thursday night at the Bohemian Cafe, right next to Horizon Records. A yellow armband was required to get inside, and I got there too late to obtain one, thinking I could do my usual sneaking-in routine. Ha! Not hardly.
I tried anyway, since I was wearing a yellow long-sleeved shirt and thought I could fake out the cop. Nah. An ever-vigilant member of Greenville's Finest caught me. The cocky bravado I had as a youngun that would have allowed me to somehow bluff my way in (or stroll in like of course I owned the joint) has evaporated with the years. Instead, I huddled outside in the cold (I had oodles of company) and at one point, attempted to climb a bench and take pictures through the window (see below), only to fall on my ample (which is pretty lucky, in this case) ass. No harm but bruises. Since the beer was flowing pretty good, nobody paid attention to another falling photographer. The crowd in Horizon was enormous too, and only the tall people could see, so I enlisted one to take pictures; eh, not too great. (see above)
So, you will have to take my word for it.
Warren Haynes is an AMAZING guitarist, one of the best I have heard in person. The band sounded awesome, and rocked pretty good. I am thrilled I could hear em at last; loads of thanks to Gene Berger at Horizon for the freebie. A lovely holiday present!
They closed the cafe at 2:30pm and removed all the furniture, which was sitting outside. (I was still working when they started passing out the yellow armbands at around 3:30pm, so that wasn't really a possibility.) I don't recall a larger group there before. It was fun!
And I learned that one of my favorite droogs is now assistant manager of Horizon! Hi Shelley!
More free stuff, please; music for the people!
~*~
Below, the back of Warren's head, taken through the window ... mere seconds before I took a dive off the bench onto my well-padded behind. More bad photos HERE.
~*~
*I started to feel neglected since everybody had more Facebook friends than me, so I am now endeavoring to catch up. Of course, the problem is, I am using my pseudonym, and some people do not know me by that name and I have to tell em who I am. Nonetheless, my goal was 100 friends by Christmas and I am now at 99, so that's good!
If you want to add me as a friend, go for it! (If you use a different name than the one you use on your blog or in comments, be sure to let me know.)
