Changed Plans

I received an e-mail last week from the people over at GATE that Leafblower's July show has been cancelled due to a death in the family. Currently, Janic and I are in the process of waiting to hear back from the event planners for a new date. Finding out about the cancellation really sucked, because Janic and I had been making some great progress with developing a set for this special occasion. As it turns out, we ended up writing 2 new tracks especially for the show, and despite the fact that the show was cancelled, we're going to continue developing these tracks into full fledged songs for our new album. I would like to release another CD before Janic and Jenn get married, otherwise I know that the project will probably stretch into infinity.

A day later, I get a call from Adam over at The Sidecar Bar, notifying me that he has to cancel all the Jazz Trio Gigs for the rest of the summer due to it being incredibly slow. Not only did he cancel our gigs, he also cancelled the DJ who plays on alternating weekends. Things have been slow @ the bar lately. I hope business picks up for him. The time off will allow me to brush up on some tunes I've been struggling with for a while now, particularly Oleo (but there are many others).

Or, maybe I should spend the time to learn .NET. I seem to be in the doldrums of my occupation these days. I just finished this mind-numbing database proofreading project which took weeks and probably shaved a good decade off my life (the good years, mind you ... not the 'I shit my pants again' part). Between work, music, and what I should be learning, I feel like I'm being pulled apart. I barely have free time anymore to just *be*.

I am discovering that being single is even more awkward now than it was when I was celibate. Unless I severely relax my standards (or hangups as it were), I don't think I'm going to be doing much dating.

I think I just need to take a vacation to a nice, warm beach somewhere and forget about my worries for a little while.

July 4th Fireworks @ The Art Museum

I biked up to the Art Museum on July 4th to check out the chaos and fireworks. As it turns out, the city had Lionel Ritchie as a headliner. Man, no offense to Lionel, but can't Philadelphia afford someone a bit more contemporary? He did a reggae version of "Easy" and "Dancing on the Ceiling". *pukes*

Thankfully, the rain came and ended his set. The organizers (who must have been high on crack for sure) then pressed ahead with the fireworks. The show was decent, but I had to jet early because it started to rain really hard and I didn't want to get stuck.

Outta Control!

Here's another one of my catch-up catch-all postings that rambles on thru various subjects.

First of all, this is the most hideous pink Cadillac I've ever seen in my life. The old finback Caddies of yesteryear were much more doable, in my opinion, but this is ridiculous. You cannot take a new model Caddy, paint it Pepto-Bismol pink and think you're reliving your youth. And if you think painting "I'm Outta Control!" on the back across from your Freemasons symbology excuses anything, you are definitely hallucinating.

I wanted to comment on the ridiculous rainstors that have been hitting Philadelphia lately. Not only have I ruined a good pair of New Balance sneaks riding thru Fairmount Park / Kelly Drive area, destroyed a thornproof innertube in the process, and had a T1 line at work knocked completely out of commission, it just ruins my day in general. It seems as though the sun only wants to come out when I'm on my way to work and only wants to leave around 6pm when I'm leaving the office. Fuck you to bad weather. I want to ride my bike! I don't want to be getting calls at 8:15am on a day off to notify me that someone can't log into their AIM! Fucking fuck!

The Sidecar Allstars hosted an open mic night at The Sidecar Bar & Grille last night. I ended up having a lot of fun, but I've discovered that keeping the crowd under control is both a chore as well as not pleasurable for me. It's not the old drunk black guys who want to sing Billie Jean and end up singing Billy Ocean (Carribean Queen to be exact, if you think about both songs, they don't sound much different). It's not the random wannabe rockstars who want to rock out to music they're woefully ill equipped to pull off. It's people trying to make requests. That is the biggest fucking annoyance ever. It's always the same obnoxious bitches asking for the same obnoxious songs, too. Listen up, if you keep asking us to play "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye, you will have a better chance exhuming and animating his corpse for your own personal performance than you will at getting us to play your requests. Sit the fuck down, shut the fuck up, and keep drinking!

Today is the anniversary of a dear friend's passing. Albert Elwood Gaskill III and I were on-again/off-again friends in the early 90s, and on this day in 1994 he decided he was going to try to swim across Walden Pond in MASS. Needless to say he didn't make it. Some of my other friends who were present said they thought they heard him laughing as he was struggling to stay afloat. Knowing what I know about Al, and how much he loved yet hated life, it's not inconceivable to think that.

The anniversary of his death leads me to examine my life everytime it comes around. I usually take inventory of what's happened in the past year and look at where I am presently. I like where I am right now in my life. I'm poised to start learning new things with technology (.NET), I am involved in a couple successful music projects that are opening other doors for me, I have this nice new pad in Philadelphia which happens to be in the middle of all the action, I'm making a bunch of new friends and enjoying my life. I might not be adjusting well to being single or learning how to interpret the behavior of today's overly sophisticated and sexually liberated females, but one thing I am discovering is that I don't think about it as much as I used to when I was younger. The worst thing that can happen to you is you're stuck being with yourself. Provided you don't dislike yourself, that's not a bad place to be, ultimately.

I set a couple of goals for myself to accomplish by 2007. Take a class in .NET and start programming, which will help me in my other goal. To get a better job. I'm almost 33, I need to start kicking myself in the ass more regularly.

Over and out.

Philadelphia Bubble Battle

So, Janic's gf Jenn helped to organize the Philadelphia Bubble Battle. I was a little disappointed that more people didn't show up, but it was still amusing nonetheless. I got a flat tire on my bike as I was heading over there, and ended up having to walk about 8 blocks to Love Park. Channel 3 News actually showed up to capture some of the antics. I personally didn't get into the fountain because I know how many people piss in that thing. Notice Janic (in red), didn't either.