A sign in St. Augustine. Rest assured neither I nor anyone I associate with uses tobacco in any form.
1. So, my big brother Don and I rehearsed 4 songs, and drove to Eustis Thursday evening for the open mike. He was impressed with the facility at the 3d Place. High ceilings, brick and wood, an honest to goodness (low) stage, nice sound system (Bose), friendly and capable people running the open mike, fun people there to play and listen. I may have mentioned that this place is, sadly, going to close soon. Sigh. Anyways [Note: I think "anyways" with the "s" is a really stupid formulation, and cringe whenever I hear it. I used it on purpose here to annoy anyone who reads this. It's like a litmus test.]. Anyway, when it came our turn we did our four numbers and seemed to be well received. It was fun having that fretless bass backing me up. In all the years we have loved music, and playing music, this was the first time my brother and I had ever played together on stage. We played: “If I Had A Boat”; “Willin’”; “Howl At The Moon”; and “You’re Still Standin’ There”. I did all the singing.
2. Early Thursday morning my Honey and I got up and loaded her luggage in the car, drove over to the daughter’s to get her and her grip, and off to the airport. Every year they go to the Hobby Association convention in Anaheim (well, rarely it’s been somewhere else). This is where they scout up new stuff for the Stamping Station. This year they took two of their part-time helpers. They have fun. They’ll stop on the way back for 3 days or so in Las Vegas to see family (and, yes, hit the casinos). They’ll be back a week from tomorrow. I miss my Lady when she’s gone. Luckily, this year I have Don for most of the time, he’s here until Wednesday.
3. Last night the wild and crazy brothers went to a little wine bar which usually has a guy playing guitar and singing. I asked the proprietor where the guy was. He said that unfortunately the musician in question had been diagnosed with cancer (some nodes in the lung, he said), and was undergoing chemotherapy. Figured he’d be back in a week or two (right). We had one wine each there (crappy), and walked to a little blues bar a couple of blocks away. No music was going yet, although it looked like the set-up was almost complete. It is a smoking bar, and we just wandered away. We supped at a nice place I frequent, and a cover band was just starting. We ate outside (the band was inside) and the volume was attenuated enough we could enjoy the music and still converse. My brother was pleased the orchestra (I sometimes refer to any agglomeration of musicians as an “orchestra”, ain’t I just too freaking cute?) had a “chick” bass player (since he plays bass). [Sometimes I see the adjective "chic" used to designate a female, as in "there's a cute chic." I always want to (mentally) pronounce it properly (sheek). It annoys me. The word required here, if one must use it, is "chick."] He had a cheeseburger, and I ate a pressed duck sandwich (like that’s worth relating).
4. Now, after eating, it’s pushing 10:30 or so. The Bad Brothers, on the loose, what now? We went home, opened a decent wine (well, actually two wines, but we did not guzzle both bottles). Seghesio Zinfandel and Steele Merlot. I popped in a DVD of Sara McLachlan (Mirrorball), and we sipped and watched/listened. Ain’t we a wild bunch?! I have a Bose 3-2-1 system attached to my TV, so we cranked the sound, and had a nice evening.
Later.
