Gifted.

It sho 'nuff been a while since i done did devote some time to my journalistic endeavor. Things have been a bit hectic. Last weekend was a blur 'cause I was hardly home. This weekend will be no different. The pix are from a show last weekend with Jim Wurster at the school he works for/at. As you can see, the beard is coming along scraggly. I love it. Johanna was tested for Gifted and it's been determined that she is. This worries me. I'm extremely proud and pleased with this news but (believe it or not...hell, I wouldn't) I tested positive for this Gifted stuff and i'm a little leery of it. I felt it helped isolate me from other normal kids and, probably at one time, gave me a false sense of importance or superiority. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure I learned some great things in Gifted class....just ask Pete. I just want her to be normal and not let it go to her head. She is truly an amazing kid and i'm really glad she inherited her Mother's brains. Maybe she'll want to take up an instrument some day other than the sitar. Now, on the way to school, we play an Anoushka Shankar cd and she plays a recital for me on air sitar. Not too badly, either. Except she holds it like Bill Wyman held the bass. Tomorrow, i'm playing at the SouthShore Grill with Davee Bryan. I've never played with him before so it ought to be interesting. Then the next two nights i'm at Elwood's.

I Just Had To. Rick Made Me Do It.

Some Thoughts on JL.

Tonight, it felt good to play some Beatles songs with the Dillengers. I wanted to watch something about John Lennon to commemorate December 8th, so I ended up watching Let It Be. Not exactly the most uplifting movie...Somehow I found this.
That sort of makes it all better.

And The Wheel Done Did Roll On.

Last night, after Eat practice, I went to see my co-worker Eric's band The Wheel. They played at The Funky Buddha in Byoca. I was pleasantly surprised! They were really good. The guitarists got really great sounds (kudos for the hollow-body guitarist for playing VERY clean through a PA head....that takes guts....or insanity!) and the overall band sound was really good for the little place they were playing in. The drummer deserves mention for being ultra-steady and keeping the tempos in line. I wish I could have heard Eric more. Rich got up to play a blues and the night ended on a high note....an A, I think.

The Santa Experience.

I forgot to post pix this week. We went to go see our local Santa so Johanna could tell him EXACTLY what she wants for Xmas. In the first pic, she's explaining to him how he could be a bit more efficient with his goody distribution. Second pic, her eyes got red when she realized she wouldn't be able to take over the operation (or as she calls it, "Santa's racket"). Third pic shows her dissatisfaction with the circus' treatment of animals. Who's the proud Papa?

Interrupting All Programs!

Last weekend, we went to see the Joe Strummer movie in Lake Worth and since then i've been listening to The Clash non-stop. This Is Radio Clash is one of my all-time favorites. I remember when I was about 11 buying The Clash's first (second over here) album with my allowance at Peaches' in Ft. Lauderdale. I still have it but I lost the bonus single that came with it. I never felt The Clash were really punk. As soon as they saw fit, they broke out of that pigeonhole. I mean, they had a cover of Junior Murvin's Police And Thieves on the first record! You wouldn't catch the Pistols or Black Flag trying that. There's so many great Clash songs and my favorites are usually sung by Joe. Rest In Peace John Mellor.