Sad news, the people checking on Eric’s place are hospital staff. Eric was indeed passed out for one day, possibly two, when they found him, and he has since lapsed into a coma from which he is not expected to emerge. I didn’t mention somebody had sent the police to check on him two weeks ago and he refused to open the door for them. He seemed in mighty good spirits at that point. I had no reason to bother him, although I did knock once to see if he was home. (He wasn’t.)Actually, I should not say hospital, I heard it was a nursing home. These may be volunteers, as they trimmed his hedge and cleaned up a bit inside. No word on his cat. I say Eric is going to tough this one out. Still, ten days in a coma is serious infirmity.
Gretchin Wilson won. I hauled out the equipment and learned “Red Neck Woman”. Yes, it could be faked in five minutes as it is a three-chord special, but there is more to it if you want to duplicate the lively bass line. It really moves and I see the potential here to use some of the custom riffs I created years ago on the other coast. These were non-standard walk-downs (I call them). Standard in this case means well-used country clichés, non-standard means I use Mozart and Beethoven. Anyone who thinks the Blues was invented in New Orleans has not listened to [the outro of] Moonlight Sonata.
This was such a nothing week, I think I’ll go in to the shoe shop tomorrow. Usually Fridays I cannot because playing in the evening makes it too long a day. And no, I won’t give up playing. Face it, shoe repair is nice but it can’t compete with a good four-hour shit-stompin’ country music gig and the effect it has on a Friday night after-work drinking crowd. That’s a big part of my music and even when I was 20, it could be taxing to play a high-energy show after a 40 hour work week. Allow me to brag a moment and say it will be a long, long time before you’ll catch me playing from a coffee-house stool.
No word from Canada or the Carolinas or Venezuela. That shows you everybody in the world is having one grand party, except me. Do I have to get a pen pal (before anybody will write to me)? Meanwhile I stick around the house and watch basic cable. Ah, you know that isn’t true, but yes, all I have is basic cable when I do watch. It really is bad, and the few channels that have any content are dreadful for repeats. And that wild animal channel, even when it isn’t a repeat, how many damn shows can you make about sharks, anyway? They’ve been at it for two years that I know of. Or how about that jock trying to be the next Steve Irwin, packing off into the bush with a television crew and pretending he is on a survival trek?
Seriously, are you really in "survival" mode when there is a camera crew within fifty feet of wherever you go?
Or, just when I thought nobody could do worse than “Ice Road Truckers”, they come out with “Pawn Shop Heroes”. Tastes differ and one actress I never did care for was that Bea Arthur(?) who recently passed away. Was that her name? She was in that series “Designing Women”. None of the comedy shows on TV are really that funny any more, the scenarios are too contrived and standardized. We know the talented writers are out there, but the broadcast studios just don’t want to pay for them.
So I took another look at Tivo and other methods for recording shows I would not otherwise find in my time slot. When I last investigated this technology there were a number of features I found objectionable. As far as I know, only Tivo survived and I don’t know much about it. Things I did not like before were items like the television stations able to monitor what you recorded. Sorry, that is nobody’s business but your own. The real part everybody hated was that the TV industry was able to outlaw the filters that skipped the commercials.
I see their point of view that the program was made possible by advertising, but you are not watching their program, you’re watching your recording. They paid for it to be broadcast, you should only have to watch ads when it is broadcast the first time. However, I’ve found a number of devices on the market in England that are beginning to covertly offer the capability again, so soon it will dribble back into the American market. In case you are wondering how these filters work, all television commercials are required to have active sub-channels, such as sign-language for the deaf. The filter detects sub-channels and pauses recording.
Yeah, yeah, I know. If the deaf are such a big damn important television audience, why don’t they have their own stations? Tyranny of the minority. Like the metro bus to Pembroke Mall, straight down Pines except for a time-consuming detour into Florida Atlantic University, the yuppie puppie playground. It costs real money to keep zig-zagging through campus. Yet it is unlikely more than two students a week ever ride that bus. And only then because the Beemer is in for maintenance. Christ, buy those two a Rolls Royce and save money.
Last, I swept through the channels to see how many would be worth recording. The media are just being jerks because most people would fast forward over any recorded commercials. I did notice 9-eleven programming starting up already. I play some Alan Jackson, so I watched him play a tune with the words, “I’m just a simple man.” I noticed he had at least 18 musicians that I could see and a backup lady vocalist. He was wearing an expensive costume that has nothing to do with being a cowboy. This might be a good time to point out I only play real country music, I don’t buy into that Nashville hypocrisy. Screw that.
I only really like one song Jackson put out, and I have not bothered to go learn it yet.
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