Backup plans work best when they are fully funded. My, isn’t that a brilliant observation? Could be I’m only saying that because mine are. Well, after all, they are. My trip is planned to the nth detail, even my prescriptions will be transferred to the day. The high point of today was I sent an e-mail to re-establish contact with somebody I haven’t seen since I was 21. As a dance instructor, I follow that business and I saw a photo on-line today that could only be her daughter. Those eyes. So I wrote.
Microwave cooking. I’ve been at it since the early 80s and things like chicken, I cook exclusively that way. From muffins to rice, I once baked three loaves of bread in a plastic wash bowl. (Store-bought dough.) So it doesn’t jive they still make non-metallic cookware that isn’t microwave-safe. I have a set of baking ware so this morning I thought to bake some ribs. Be danged if the sauce didn’t stain my nicest pan permanently. What was in the sauce? Cider vinegar, brown sugar, ground ginger, garlic, soy sauce, corn starch and a dash of No. 7 (Tennessee sour whiskey).
Music. We have more than enough material, something like 46 tunes plus a dozen instrumentals, something I’ve rarely played in a band before. The task is to convince the guys to trim it down to the best of the best and develop a better show. I’ve learned all they’ve thrown at me, but careful, I’ve many a time been in the position where I’m the one that’s done all the learning. I did not know that “Cry, Cry, Cry” was Johnny Cash’s first hit. This morning’s rehearsal was cancelled but tomorrow is slated.
The breakdown is Billy-Bill does 22 vocals, I do 12, plus the instrumentals. That means I’ve picked my best 12. I’m fully aware half of them have no lead breaks, but we’re even as a lot of the other guy’s Buddy Holly shuffles have nothing bass lines. Again, I’m careful not to over-commit and I have two situations to fall back on.
About now a couple of the advanced stages of gitaritis should start appearing. There will soon be talk of back-up harmonies because it is “simple” and so and so used to do it. (Backup harmonies while playing real bass is practically unheard of. What? Oh, I know who you mean, and he does not ever play real bass while he’s singing.) A prime example of gitaritis music would be anything by Three Dog Night. That is a seven-piece orchestra with three lead singers coached by The Beach Boys.
I’m also of the opinion that harmonized vocals are the most difficult yet least productive effort for most live performing groups. It is an incredible complication with minimal results in crowd appreciation. Too much vocal activity can squeeze out the instruments and this isn’t a church choir. I find, too, that harmonies are the first, and thus the most obvious suggestion by the musically unimaginative.
The closest thing I came to living with a girl before I was twenty was Judy. I think she spoiled me by her good behavior. When she wanted to talk, she phoned her mother, but never when I was home. Judy never pretended she wasn’t good at something just to get out of doing it. She had an apartment three doors down, so we both had our daily space (and is technically why we never lived together). She never withheld sex as a weapon. And by the third time she saw me do something, no matter how complicated, she could always help out, so she was not just pretending to be interested. As time went by, I missed these positives. It wasn’t all roses, but at least there were a lot of those while I knew her. The opposite of Florida women.
Last, I subscribe to many sites that report new inventions. Novelty aside, I can’t find anything really new since the computer came along. Hence, I’m really viewing different sizes and shapes of the same old. A flash drive that’s shaped like the Chinese zodiac or a personal massager is still a flash drive. Summers are always slow, but so far the worst of the worst are socks that have the toes cut off so the world can admire the lady’s pedicure and a chair that allows water-skiers to sit down. But here is something useful for arthritis sufferers. To wear this shoe, you just step on it.
Hotel California
Simple Man
Last Dance With Mary Jane
Peaceful Easy Feelin’
Sultans of Swing
