See Millie, the little lap dog that weighs in at forty pounds. Forget the pet door, this critter needs a barn door. Although she and Pudding-Tat spent the night in the living room without trouble, they are still staring each other down. You can see them here, friendly yet maintaining distance. Millie requires a trim to get rid of winter fur. She instantly took to the yard and premises. She’s found the cool spot under the ceiling fan.
By late morning Wallace took the family to the beach. They looked the place over and asked the usual questions. It is understandable they are cautious that we do not own the land, but we are up $250,000 over the cost if we did. Yes, I stay year round, I am American. Millie was in tears being left behind but pets are not allowed on the beach, even on a leash. Trust me, when you’ve seen one Florida beach, you’ve seen them all. Millie seems lost without Wallace. She stands at the gate waiting for his return. She normally pokes around but cannot be coaxed away from the patio chair where Wallace had coffee this morning.
That was the Hippie on the phone just now. Want a laugh? He may have got burned for the gig money by the old ladi…, er, I mean New Generation club. I’ll pause while the room quiets down. Folks, they haven’t paid up yet. And of course, Tom, the guitarist is miffed. His wife runs the social committee and Tom is pissed the Hippie didn’t play the music they had rehearsed. Gee, where has that happened before. Tom knows senseless things were wrong with the act. But he is the amateur and music is one of the worst situations to be the new guy. I agree with most of the complaints he had about the way the Hippie runs things, but unless Tom learns to sing and play better, agreeing doesn’t equate to taking sides. Got that? Just because I think he is right and I agree with him, I'm not taking sides.
I advised the Hippie to take the grandmothers to People’s Court.
[Author’s note: this joke has a precedent, the Hippie actually did go on TV a few years ago. For non-musicians, the joke is having to sue places that hire you to get paid can, in itself, become a musical career for people, yet they still won't do things my way.
But the thought he may not have gotten paid is a closely kept secret. That is the gig he insisted on playing "Last Dance With Marry Jane", saying a bunch of old ladies would not know it meant weed. I walked off the stage. At the end of the set, they told him they were closing early and said not to play to the end. That's why I make him pay me cash in advance. ]
The Hippie’s final appearance at Donovan’s is next Tuesday, and he has agreed to play a full hour of music that I choose. From our conversation just now it became clear he did not even notice the country music episode of last day. But a full hour means I can pad the set with the most country-like music we know. I mean, even if the place is full of Blues fans, that doesn’t mean they require it intravenously. Besides, we (the Hippie and I) do not play Blues that well at all, we just think we do.
Mila came by at 2:30 P.M., she is going to move. I explained to her she is welcome back any time and she understands she is giving up a very stable home environment (if she does not). But, there is a new boyfriend involved and (this is not unusual these days) her new place will be four people sharing a one bedroom apartment. Personally, those arrangements never work and she’ll be back. Meanwhile, we have an excellent spare room, really nice, but it is not for rent, only to share. We can pick and choose who we share with, see? Dang, too bad, she was so fine. She is just 34.
[Author's note 2016: this is the point at which I began to suspect Wallace was being unduly influenced by his witch-like daughter, Patsie. If Mila had moved in, the place would have been a self-supporting success. But unlike had been agreed, Wallace refused to state when he would be here. He seems to think other people can just go rent out a room in the house on a weekly basis while he decides whether or not to randomly show up. I wonder what ever happened to Mila.]
I have disks of German TV. The programming is vastly superior to our fare. The programs run until finished, not to the half-hour. All the women commentators are chosen for their youthful blonde good looks. Even the commercials are higher quality topics. You can’t help notice the instant difference. Trivia – some of the German broadcast material is built up from ordinary wmv (Windows Movie Maker) files so use your imagination. It is kept quiet, but racism is rampant in Germany today. There is a parallel to America in that all the losers from surrounding countries are trying to get in there. The locals want it stopped but government is not doing anything about it for fear of being called Nazis. The people sneaking in know that and turn everything, even a speeding ticket, into a racist issue. Did you hear an echo?
ADDENDUM
Wallace and relations went for dinner around 8:00 P.M. so I dashed up to Boston’s to hear my buddy perform. He’d been playing since the afternoon to an empty house, a discouraging enterprise. Johnny D is planning an invitational open mic by next week. I got back here in time to answer many questions on Wallace’s behalf and I think everyone can see the value of his being here. Closer and better contact, better climate, great cost of living, and plenty of things to experience. To me it was a great situation for him. But now it makes more sense. They are very conservative folks and it seems Wallace called them up one day out of the blue and told them he was buying in Florida and moving south. Maybe he’s at that youthful, rebellious stage, d'y'think?
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