December 31, 2021

Yesteryear
One year ago today: December 31, 2020,Smith Springs, TN
Two years ago today: December 31, 2019, furniture-grade PVC, duh.
Three years ago today: December 31, 2018, yeah, I boozed it up.
Four years ago today: December 31, 2017, mistake after mistake.
Five years ago today: December 31, 2016, on self-supporting women.

Six years ago today: December 31, 2015, a bit too homespun.
Seven years ago today: December 31, 2014, nothing, anywhere..
Eight years ago today: December 31, 2013, and tipping heavily.
Nine years ago today: December 31, 2012, a lot of trivia.
Ten years ago today: December 31, 2011, useless for grooving.

Eleven years ago today: December 31, 2010, non-music gigs don’t count.
Twelve years ago today: December 31, 2009, another non-music gig.
Thirteen years ago today: December 31, 2008, all repressive regimes.
Fourteen years ago today: December 31, 2007, some New Year’s comments.
Fifteen years ago today: December 31, 2006, New Year’s pub tour.
Eighteen years ago today: December 31, 2003, the Internet goes deep.

           Welcome to the end of the most turbulent year in the USA since the last big one. It may look like the country is split into dozens of factions, but in reality it is two groups. Those with a lick of intelligence and the liberals with a lack of intelligence. The left can’t do anything right, ha-ha. This time, their plan to replace that horrid Kamela with the even more horrid Hildabeeste is blowing up in their faces. Kamela’s ratings hover near zero so they cannot replace her without admitting it was a mistake, or worse, a plan that went wrong. The speculation is they chuck out the Hindu, throw in Hillary and Biden gets take out, making Hillary the President.

           But somehow I think they aren’t going to dare. That would be too much and too blatant. Leftists don’t do so well operating in the open, and while they’ve been stealing elections for decades, the sheeple have only recently caught on. I’m primed and ready for the New Year’s gig, I’ll run over the song list, which they never follow anyway. The money goes toward a new hot water tank or similar. It was a strange year indeed, if only because the weirdness all over the news only occurs in a few Democrat cities. Out here in the country, there is no evidence of mandates and the few dunces that wear masks are considered to be somewhat retarded menials.
           Here’s one of the best poses of the bass guy during today’s gig. It is common to have a camera set up to capture great scenery, only to find afterward somebody walked over there and managed to knock the camera to one side. This ruined close to two hours of footage but other factors make this less important. For reasons untold, I have to admit this may be one of my last New Year’s gigs. Without some unlikely changes, for me this could be the end of an era.

           And how about that immigrant in Finland who complained there are too many Finns. Everywhere you go, she says, nothing but Finns. It’s a problem, she says, that is “solvable”. I’ll cut the morning short here as the rest of the time was taken up with business procedures. It’s become clear not that many people get this far, a common Internet startup scenario. Also, while it is true we could have taken all the shortcuts and cut all the corners the site suggests, they are just asking for trouble down the line. I prefer a systematic approach, if you can afford it.

Picture of the day.
Norwegian fertilizer plant.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Say goodbye to a year that wasted most people’s lives. The rest of today’s report concerns the band, music, and related topics. It is ironic that JZ called during the second set and I had to lay the phone down until the song was finished. You see, by now it should have been that guy and I on stage, making good money. There were two women there he would have drooled over, instead he called me from home. What a place to spend New Year’s Eve, but I did warn him and many others repeatedly to get a hobby that can carry you if you every wind up alone, even for a while. There’s a pic of my stunt double on stage, wearing my train engineer’s cap. Did I tell you there was an actual good-looking gal in the audience. Who totally ignored me and got the same in return.

           By now you suspect the gig was not that great. The population of the trailer court is around 800. Less than twenty showed up, spread over four hours. We had a decent sound, since rote practice does eventually work. The vast gulf in stage experience is showing up, another concern that can be tricky to resolve. Put simply, stage time is like tennis, after you reach a certain level, you cannot just become an amateur again. Following the pattern, I’ll tell you how it went, interspersed with my acerbic clips and veiled compliments and you decide.

           Ten or twenty years ago I would have spurned such a band, but no more. We played, most other bands did not this time. It was our best sound yet, remember I only said rote practice is inefficient, no that it doesn’t work. One emerging factor is it begins to show these guys are in their 80s. On breaks a bit too long, a tad too slow getting started, extra pee breaks and that type of thing. Good, this keeps them focused on my decision to negotiate three-hour gigs. My version of inflation, shall we say.
           This band is not for everybody, but there is no denying the appeal to “the Moose” crowd, those who frequent the various veteran’s clubs and such of the area. It’s big business and there was a guy out there who was visibly impressed. People who approach me as the band manager get sent right to Parson, who then spent 20 minutes talking to the guy. As before, we have just one more gig lined up, and it is next Friday.

           The music was quite passable although once again later in the show the band bypassed tunes we know quite well to revert to pre-war tunes I’ve never heard of. I play what fits and it makes them happy, so that suits the moment. Just make no mistake about it, the difference in musical background and stage presence is no very pronounced. I know I come across as the city slicker who’s saddled with a hick band. More than once Randolph, the drummer showed he can only play one beat which rarely suits anything I play. And the lead player regularly plays himself into a corner but that’s fine as long as you don’t listen closely.
           Tips were minimal. Overall, I probably broke even on this gig but my attitude is not changed in fifty years, the band that plays out is better than any band that does not. I’m surprised this band even stays together but it could be they have little choice if they want to play. And don’t make assumptions when I say stage presence, it does not mean showing off. It is the simple, irreplaceable volume of experience, if only because on stage is where things go wrong. So far, the band is batting 1000 on holidays. Halloween and New Year’s. Next gig is the real deal, the classic “we play you pay”, my style of playing.

ADDENDUM
           Some observations on 2021. America is in the worst danger it ever was because of letting non-white people have their way, along with their fake “sympathizers” who really are after a fat paycheck and power by pretending to champion “liberal” causes. What bugs people most is when they start talking about a set of facts that are already known but start putting a leftist twist on it. People can’t believe the Democrats can be such bald-face liars, and they have such an underclass of indoctrinees who drink that Kool-aid. But let’s talk money,
           On average, I spend $280 a month on materials for this building, less than a third of what I would be paying in rent. A lot of the supplies go into improvements, like my nice new laundry deck. My income continues to grow, though not nearly fast enough. I’m still spending my own money to the tune of $330 per month, but that’s down drastically from the $590 in 2018. My two largest categories that don’t behave are groceries and gas. Both have nearly doubled since May and people a furious.

Last Laugh