MORNING
JZ and I went to Bayside again, in the mistaken belief there would be something worthwhile to do over there, this being some kind of big football weekend. I did see this cowboy hat made out of a Coors Light twelve-pack, but otherwise it was the same old. We spent most of the daylight over at his dad’s house replacing some Crown of Thorns shrubbery that died back when some faster growing plants blocked the sunlight.
Yes, we went at it with pick and shovel, and it is messy work. The roots were shallow so we didn’t really knock ourselves out. Mary-J’s sister was visiting, wow, you talk about a family resemblance! JZ decided to hammer back the jungle by trimming another ten or fifteen feet of philodendron plants that started to take over in front of the garage. All this took enough time for the two of us to have a serious discussion about music. He is convinced he cannot do it, just as I am convinced that anyone can, with the right instructions. More about this later.Wallace emailed to say that he came into “50K”. I asked him which flight he’d be on. He could tell you a tale of legal corruption that went on for twenty years. I can only sketch it for you, but it seems he had a brother in eastern Canada that bought a house that eventually became worth a half million dollars. He also has a sister who makes a profitable habit of declaring her relations to be insane, thus getting herself declared trustee and writing up a new will. She’s managed this stunt several times. This is still legal in some jurisdictions.
That sister teamed up with one of the seediest lawyers in existence, by the name of Turner. Together they harassed the brother so badly that he eventually boarded himself up inside the house to keep them away. This was merely playing into their hands. I helped Wallace compose a letter ten years ago in an effort to find out what kind of bills Turner was charging over this. The brother had indicated he wanted Wallace to get the house.
All Wallace got was a ridiculous reply that he must be afflicted with mental problems for even being curious where all the money was going. There was a strange paragraph that to account for the money would be revealing financial secrets about the sister, secrets that had to be kept from her own daughter. Turner eventually created a situation where it was just too expensive for the remainder of the family to do anything. We still don’t know what his bills were, but this case became the only one he kept active on after he retired in 1998.
It is a royal mess, and now it seems the sister is herself going lulu. She denies doing things we all know she did, like traveling six thousand miles to drink beer on the west coast. Wallace, who should have inherited the entire house, was basically forced to sign for the 50K, take it or leave it. My opinion is that Wallace should settle his affairs, throw some parts into his car and drive here for a few years or more. He refers to where he is living right now as a “blondeless town”. We’ll find him a nice place a mile from the beach.
NOON & NIGHT
JZ and I walked from Bayside over to the field north of the American Airlines Arena to see Styx. Now he believes me that this is a one mile walk. The band I know very little about. While I recognize certain hit songs, they were just another cookie-cutter band from the 70s. Actually, I am glad they were so stereotyped because I was able to show JP how many of the tricks we had talked about earlier today were being applied on stage. I’ve been trying for months to get JP to at least pick up a guitar, now I think he may actually do it.
Part of the problem is that he was convinced that playing music on stage was an operation that required years of training and real talent. By the time we got back to his place, he was boppin’ to tunes that came on TV, including the commercials. He is now suspicious that just maybe there is something to all this music thing. Yes, that is a picture of JP in front of his dad’s house.Of course, we were talking most of the time about women, or the lack of them. I pointed out to him that of the five times we’ve been to Bayside, never once have we found any women that were single and approachable. He won’t let go of the idea that somehow we must be managing to go only to places where there are no women, or go there on days when the women stay at home. Like most men, he cannot accept that the women are not there in the first place, nor that there is not some mysterious place where all these women go to meet guys. The current rumor is they all go to some joint called “Revolutions” on Broward Blvd. (in Ft. Lauderdale). This is pure baloney.
What is real is that music is the catalyst for me and I’ve always worked with what I’ve got. Right now that is not much, a few un-auditioned hopefuls and a guitarist with tendonitis. I have nothing to lose seeing if JZ can pick up the guitar and I’ve taught far less motivated people to do it. My intention is to play in a band until I am 75 years old, which would make my total musical career 63 years.
We decided to watch a movie on his fancy cable hookup, but the only thing on was these movies about cops and street gangs. Usually about some undercover cop who infiltrates a gang of “brothers”, you know, the tired old nonsense where we want tired new nonsense. Where the cop is a divorced lesbian with autistic offspring. Instead, we ate shrimp and talked. What else do I know how to do when I’m not performing? You watch, once he gets the hang of it and sees the world from the stage looking out, he’ll be a total convert. I know in the end he won't, but it is still not to be overlooked if we ever want to get us some fancy women. Trust me, it works better than anything else except money.
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