Category: Lopsided Observations

Not all observations are worth noting.

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Happy New Year Mom!

Satellite dish in a tree in our yard
Satellite dish in a tree in our yard

My mom gave Peggi and me shirts for Christmas. Peggi’s is a fitted orange corduroy one and she has worn it almost every day since. I thanked my mother for mine when I opened it and she said, “I thought it would look good when you’re playing your drums.” So I’m planning to wear it tonight when Margaret Explosion plays the Little Theater Cafe. “My mom has good taste.

I was wiring the backs of my recent paintings in preparation for an upcoming show and I can’t help but review them each time I look at them. Some needed more work so I was running up and down the basement stairs with paintings in my hand and I missed the last step and twisted my ankle. It’s kind of blue on one side.

I should be able to play drums but I might be able to dance when a few friends stop by after the gig to ring in the new year. So I downloaded a free app for our iPod Touch called. “Remote”. I can control iTunes, running on a desktop and wired to the stereo, remotely from any where in the house. I’m thinking about the couch. Now I’m looking for an iPod Touch app that will bring free movies in through the satellite dish that came with our house.

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Rubber Seals?

Maytag man lit up in Home Depot
Maytag man lit up in Home Depot


The Maytag dude was all lit up in the appliances section.

For months I had been compiling a list in my pocket notebook of things we needed at Home Depot. So when I finally got there I had some serious shopping to do. I broke our old push broom so I started at the far end of the store near the garden section. I bought a twenty five dollar yellow shop broom that had angle braces suportting the handle down near the broom. PushBroom 2.0.

We needed some some 100 watt bulbs and I bought the Florescents with the mercury in them but I keep hoping they will come up with a “warm” bulb. Between “Soft, Bright and Daylight”, I settled for “Soft.” I tried some “Daylight” a while back and it wasn’t what I pictured. I bought some wire for the back of the paintings that I’m getting ready for a show and some plastic to cover a window in our basement. I only wanted to buy one ceiling tile but I had to buy a whole box and the last thing on my list was “rubber seals”. Rubber seals for what. I couldn’t imagine. Maybe it was the leaky shower that I’ve learned to ignore.

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Isn’t Grappling Enough?

Art work at 2 Vine Restaurant in Rochester, NY
Art work at 2 Vine Restaurant in Rochester, NY

The Democrat & Chronicle seems to be falling apart. They have laid off about ten percent of their staff and there were ridiculous typos in the paper this morning like this head, “McCain Rejects Criticism Republican of Obama”. The typos have to be bad for me to notice. Readership is declining (more like dying) and they can’t seem to think their way out of the box. How about some more interesting local content? I already knew someone threw a shoe at Bush before I opened the paper. In fact I had already seen the video.

City does an amazing job with local stuff. There is some meaty political coverage and Frank DeBlase is a joy to read and they even have an art critic. Imagine that. Rebecca Rafferty reviewed the RoCo Members Show last week. We had been to the opening and saw plenty of things that we liked. I usually just let my eye wander and stop when something seems pleasing so I knew I had missed a lot. It’s hard to see the show when so many people are milling about but it’s fun to see the people. We wanted to go back and this time we brought Rebecca’s review and we tracked down the drawings and paintings that she cited. It was a lot of fun.

I like art criticism regardless of whether I agree with it or not. Roberta Smith’s review of “Marlene Dumas: Measuring Your Own Grave“, a mid-career survey at MoMA was tough. Marlene is one of my favorite painters of all time and easily my favorite living painter. She draws raw and right on and her paintings are luscious. Roberta worked extra hard to knock her down. Here’s a quote. “Fusing the political and the painterly, it grapples with the complexities of image making, the human soul, sexuality, the beauty of art, the masculinity of traditional painting, the ugliness of social oppression. How much it delivers on these scores is a question that this exhibition doesn’t quite answer.” Why does this exhibition have to “deliver” any of this. Isn’t grappling enough?

We had an incredible dinner at 2 Vine. We shared a Thai flavored Calamari appetizer and Peggi and I both ordered the bass special. The waitress explained that all their fish comes fresh daily from Boston and it is never frozen. It was also prepared first class. Crispy on the outside but light and moist on the inside with a very delicate orange flavor. It was the best fish I have ever had in my life. Which brings us to the art on the walls. Egon Schiele on Red Bull and Jagermeister?

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Behold, Darkness Shall Cover The Earth

Newly renovated Eastman Theater
Newly renovated Eastman Theatre

Peggi’s mom bought us tickets to Handel’s Messiah at the Eastman Theater but we we were a little late getting there so we had to sit in the back until intermission. The sound back there pretty good. It was a good natural mix and not particularly boomy in the low end or anything as I remember it. It just wasn’t present enough back there. The Eastman has recently finished the first of a three part renovation project and the sound stage portion has been completed. It has been re-designed to take advantage of advances in acoustical innovations and I would say they did a great job. The next two phases improve accessibility, a concern of particular interest to this age group, and an all important food concessions lobby. We moved down to our assigned seats at intermission and the sound was excellent.

Christopher Seaman, conducted and played harpsichord at the same time. That was kind of fun to watch. There were about 120 vocalists in the Rochester Oratorio Society on stage with the orchestra and with all those people I would expect something a little more boisterous but it all seemed all seemed too stuffy.

I spent a lot of time looking at the big panels behind the musicians. You know how when a storefront or an old building boards up a window and it looks like it was done for security reasons because maybe the neighborhood is declining or something. Well, that’s how this renovation looks to me. It sounds good but damn, is it bleak looking.

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Sam Patch Does The F Word

Over the last ten years or so I’ve made a compilation cds to hand out to friends and I thought I would do a new one before Christmas. I issue them under the “Sam Patch” moniker and I have been titling the collections with words that run in alphabetical order. This is my sixth one so I’m up to “F” and I may just call it “The F Word” and, of course, include Pete LaBonne’s song with that title. These songs below are in the running but they won’t all fit so I will have to do some editing.

“Caravan” There are so many versions of this Duke Ellington song but this one from the Frankie & Johnny lp knocks me out.
“You Belong To Me” by Patsy Cline
“Valse Chiapañecas” from a Nonesuch cd called “Mexico: Fiestas Of Chiapas & Oaxaca”
“I’ve Been A Long Time Leaving (But I’ll Be A Long Time Gone)” by Waylon Jennings
“In My Own Dream” by Paul Butterfield from In My Own Dream lp
“I Could Have Danced All Night” by Sun Ra from the Sound Sun Pleasure lp
“Roomful of Voices” a Playette song with the late Dave Mahoney on lead vocals
“Carnival Song” by Tim Buckley from Goodbye And Hello
“The F Word” by Pete LaBonne from his Yick Yack cd
“Is That All There Is?” by Peggy Lee
“The Minotaur’s Son” by Incredible String Band from The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter
“Blue Samba” by Ike Quebec from the Soul Samba lp
“Once You’ve Had The Best” by George Jones
“Beyond The Sea” by Bobby Darin from the Live! At The Desert Inn cd
“Tiny Montgomery” by Bob Dylan & The Band from The Basement Tapes
“Harry Irene” by Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band from the Shiny Beast lp
“The Creator Has a Master Plan” by Pharoah Sanders
“Suite For Lester” by Art Ensemble Of Chicago, a tribute to former member LesterBowie
“Peter and Judith” by The Art Ensemble Of Chicago from the Urban Bushmen cd

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Doggone Forlorn

Tree near Lake Ontario in Winter
Tree near Lake Ontario in Winter

Yesterday’s rain turned to light snow this morning so the snow stuck to the top surface of every branch. It was beautiful. I had some packages to mail and I was dreading the lines at the Post Office so I decided to drive along the lake over to the Charlotte office. Charlotte in the winter is doggone forlorn. But there were only three people on line, the new AC DC was playing in the backroom and the clerks were very friendly. I was tempted to stop down at the LDR to visit Patty. She and Rick (the “R’ in the LDR) are back running the place. And Rick’s dad, Russ, still cuts the meat each morning. There was nice article about them in Saturday’s paper. Their steak sandwiches are so good we become meat eaters when we walk in the door. Same thing happens over at Vic & Irv’s but that is usually only when Duane is in town and he goes off his macrobiotic diet.

60 Minutes did another one of its hit pieces on modern art when they interviewed Julian Schnabel last Sunday. The artwork they showed did look pretty bad and his Basquiat movie was pretty bad and the cd he put out was astoundingly bad but “The Diving Bell” is a damn good movie so far. We took a break about halfway through and plan to finish it tonight after the Margaret Explosion gig so I will report back.

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Mele Kaliki Maka

JoAnne Vaccaro sinnging Mele Kaliki Maka at the Vilage Gate Attrium in Rocchester, NY
JoAnne Vaccaro sinnging Mele Kaliki Maka at the Vilage Gate Attrium in Rocchester, NY

We stopped out to see Peggi’s mom this afternoon and she was watching the Del Webb Father/Son Challenge, a yearly golf tournament with famous golfers who are past their prime and their sons. Golf brings out the worst in me. The whispering, the goofy outfits and the gentlemanliness make me want to scream. We were going to walk down to dining room but Peggi’s mom was too tired so she decided to order in. I hung Christmas lights out on her balcony. It was about twenty degrees out there and it’s near eighty inside her apartment. It’s a toss up as to which is more uncomfortable.

Margaret Explosion made an appearance last night at Village Gate Atrium. The band, Hunu, graciously hosted a benefit for The Center For Youth Services. Chuck Cuminale worked there before he passed away and this event raised over a thousand dollars for the home for troubled kids. Various people got up to do a song with he the band and lot of guest musicians sat in as well a number of full bands. In our case it was three Margaret Explosion members plus Phil Marshall on guitar and Bernie Heveron on organ. We did an abstract, instrumental version of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman”. Peggi and I ran the tune down in the basement before dinner but the performance was a pleasant surprise. Connie Deming did a beautiful version of Joni Mitchell’s “Christmas Song” and my favorite tune of the night was JoAnne Vacarro’s “Mele Kaliki Maka”.

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One Of Everything

Matt Dodd's photo of Black Friday shoppers in West Paterson NJ
Matt Dodd’s photo of Black Friday shoppers in West Paterson NJ

At least once a week I check in on my nephew at his blog, The iLife. He’s a freshman in college now but he still has good instincts. He went out to the Best Buy in West Paterson on Black Friday to interview some kids on line. He took this shot about one in the morning just before that dude was trampled at WalMart. His interview is as good as the photo.

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Extra Friendly

We took Peggi’s mom back to our old neighborhood last night. We had dinner at the Park Avenue Pub. Hadn’t eaten there in thirty years or so and it was pretty much the same. Ramon Santiago wasn’t there though and the bar seemed pretty quiet but it was a Sunday night.

Lisa Bunz, the owner and hostess, took us to a warm booth in the front so we could watch the sidewalk traffic. I made eye contact with an old guy in a wheelchair on the way to our table and he reached out his hand to shake so I did. I was thinking “this place is extra friendly” but I’m not sure he was all there. He was sitting with an Audrey Hepurn/Geraldine Chaplin like women in a floppy hat who was either his much younger wife or daughter and there was another couple at their table. The guy had a bald head with big scab on the top and his ears were huge. She seemed to be doing most of the talking for the old man but at the end of their meal the other couple thanked him for inviting them. It was kind of like that scene in “Five Easy Pieces” where the Jack Nicholson character tries talking honestly to his father after the old man had a stroke.

We asked Lisa how things were on the Avenue these days and she lamented the fact that it was younger scene. I just finished a new batch of crime guys and I was thinking how nice it would be to paint old people like this guy and the cast of characters out at Peggi’s mom’s place. I would want to photograph them and work in my basement from the photos. But how do you go about that whole thing? Would any old people want to be painted for some reason. I could have a show in their dining room. I’m gonna have to think about this for a while.

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White Green

White green on Durand Eastman Course in Rochester, NY
White green on Durand Eastman Course in Rochester, NY

We invited Rick and Monica over for dinner and Peggi planned to make sweet potato soup from a recipe that was in the paper this week. We needed to pick up a few of the ingredients at Wegmans and I wanted to have some beer on hand for Rick so I grabbed a six pack of Sierra Nevada. The cashier asked for proof of age from both of us. Peggi said she didn’t have her wallet with her so I said, “I don’t even know her”. The cashier said “Sorry, that’s our policy”. A manager came over and asked Peggi what her birthday was. The answer was in the 50s for cryin’ out loud so they made an exception.

I made a calameri salad with organic Calamata olives and we got the house extra warm for Monica. We had been burning some funky wood but we made a point to bring in some dry hardwood from a few years ago. The four of us sat on the couch after dinner and we watched “Five Easy Pieces”. I want to start another Karen Black fan club or at least join one. I have the soundtrack on vinyl and I got it out after the movie.

I dreamed I had either ten or twelve nostrils. They were lined up in pairs. I don’t know if this had more to do with my cold or the painting I struggled with recently. When I woke up I realized I had had a bloody nose in my sleep and so we spent a few hours researching removing blood stains on Tempurpedic mattresses and then settled on a little pile of Kosher salt that turned red after an hour or so.

It was very dark today but the woods was beautiful. We saw a bunch of deer and a large Pileated woodpecker. When we got down near the lake we crossed the golf course and I took this shot of the white green.

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Tonight at Abilene

Nod Margaret Explosionposter for gig tonight at Abeline
Nod Margaret Explosionposter for gig tonight at Abeline

Nine o’clock tonight if all goes well Margaret Explosion will be the first band to play upstairs at Abilene. It’s cozy up there with a small bar and and some funky portrait paintings. There is a small stage near the front that looks out over the street and, compared to downstairs, you can almost hear a pin drop. Nod plays downstairs when we’re done. We are long time Nod fanatics and are looking forward to this gig.

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Really Rather Trippy

Between The Buttons by the Rolling Stones
Between The Buttons by the Rolling Stones

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for “Between The Buttons”. I am thankful that it still sounds as good to me as did in 1967. Bob Mahoney and John Gilmore stopped over after Margaret Explosion’s gig last and we went for a ride with iTunes Party Shuffle while we ate olives and bread. I’ve got all my cds on a harddrive now and it is a gas hearing stuff come up that I know I love but I wouldn’t think to put it on. Of course iTunes doesn’t think at all and it shows me up all the time.

We heard a couple Pete LaBonne tunes that drew us closer to the stereo so we could hear the lyrics. Then there was something from Moondog and “The Wind Cries Mary” and a track from Bruce Anderson/Dale Sophiea’s “Strict” and then an amazing last number. It sounded so good I played it again as Bob and John were putting on their coats. “Something Happened To Me Yesterday” features Mick and Keith trading lead vocals, Ian Stewart on piano and Brian Jones on trombone, trumpet and violin. Peggi mimicked Kieth swinging a pint as she sang his lines. It’s barroom circus music and pop psychedelia like Colorblind James meeting the Squires of the Subterrain.

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Back In Black

Ann Taylor Display at Eastview Mall in Rochester, NY
Ann Taylor Display at Eastview Mall in Rochester, NY

I guess you have to go WalMart to pick up AC DC’s new disc. And I think Sears may have an exclusive on black jeans now. I have one old pair that I wear while painting. The knees are worn through and they’re pretty covered in paint. I wear my other pair when I’m not painting but they’re getting pretty ratty so I need to move a new pair into the rotation.

We went out to the Gap in Eastview Mall where I had bought my last pair. Why do they call them a “pair” anyway? I can see a pair of socks but pants? I had read that Gap hired a new designer. Guess the guy doesn’t like black jeans. The salesman recommended Lord & Taylor at the other end of the mall. On the way we stopped at Abercromie & Fitch. It was like a disco in the middle of the afternoon. The sixteen year old salesboy suggested Express. We studied the Mall map and planned our route. A saleswoman at Banana Republic said they had “light black”. I said, “like grey?” She showed us some dark denim. Eddie Bower had prefaded black. I can do that myself. Express had some “Low Rise” jeans. I have a hard enough time keeping my pants up as it is so I nixed those. We struck out at Lord & Taylor and gave up.

We stopped at Apple store to look at the new laptops and and then Ann Taylor where Peggi tried on a top. I wandered around the store and took this photo of a guy bringing wood to his lady. A saleswoman there asked me, “Are you finding everything alright?” I said, “I’m not looking for anything.”

I mentioned this to Bob Martin at our Margaret Explosion gig and he said, “Try Sears”.

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Paean to Rochester

We pulled Personal Effects songs from our vinyl releases and put a compilation cd together for the Scorgies reunion. This song from 1987’s “90 Day In The Planetarium” didn’t make the grade but I’m posting it here because it is full of what is now ancient local history. And it is also one of the few songs I sang or yelled. Here’s the lyrics. I’ll provide annotation below.

Personal Effects “Silver Finger Nails” from “90 Day In The Planetarium” 1987

It’s Saturday night
and I’m the designated driver again
but that’s alright
I promised I would be good

Nino’s Pizzeria or Vic & Irv’s
50 miles an hour through the Can of Worms
Uncle Sam or Tammy Whynot
First we gotta go to Moneymatic

Down to Bertha’s to pick up a six
Everybody’s going to the party at Dick’s
Steve is such an intellectual
Come on Steve, get in the pool

That’s Bart on the radio
MX-80 Sound from San Francisco
590 North dead-ends at Marge’s
When in doubt. Whip it out.

The girl in the bakery has silver finger nails
So Much. Tom Mercer Lives.
The girl in the bakery has silver finger nails
Bob loved Sara. Sara nevr did

Ninos’s and Vic & Irv’s are still around and the best in their class. The Expressway’s Can of Worms was reworked so driving 50 mph through it is no longer a thrill. Uncle Sam was Rochester’s best hard rock band and Tammy Whynot was Deb Clifford’s C&W outfit. They used to play Snake Sisters on South Avenue where Lux is today.

Bertha’s was around the corner on East Main from where we rehearsed. Bertha carried “Kiss” and “Darling” photo novellas and I remember buying “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” there but mostly she sold beer to the locals. The way over-sized Bertha was simultaneously chatty with her customers and abusive to her help. The party at Dick’s was a summer one at Dick Storms’. Everyone was in the pool but Steve Dollar, the entertainment critic from the D&C.

Bart was our favorite WITR dj because he wasn’t afraid to play MX80 Sound. 590 North will soon no longer be an expressway the comes to a dead end. They are tearing it up and adding four traffic circles. Calabrese’s Bakery on Culver is gone but not the memory of the punky girl packing my order with silver finger nails.

“So Much” was favorite piece of poetry. It was spray painted on a wall in the Can of Worms. “Tom Mercer Lives” was written all over town. I think Ted Williams knew Tom or tracked him down. And “Bob loved Sara” with “nevr” spelled like this was sprawled across one of the expressway bridges as you headed downtown nearby where Armand Shaubroak’s “Keep America Free. Let it Grow” billboard was.

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Is That A Ping Pong Ball In Your Pocket?

We had dinner with Colin Pinkney and and some other friends from high school tonight. Colin and I went to Bishop Kearney for our freshman year and then both jumped ship for the public schools. Colin remembered the Brothers dropping ping pong balls down the guys’ pants. The ball had to roll down your leg and come out the bottom or your pants were too tight. I had completely blocked that out but it all came back in a flash. The best part about Kearney was watching Dave Vercolen stand up and clock Brother Levy in Latin class. Dave never set foot in the school again but the performance was jaw dropping.

New York Times gave it up for Buffalo in the Arts and Leisure section today. Buffalo grew up in the early 1800s with the Erie Canal and is so beyond its glory days that they can’t afford to tear down old buildings. And there is no need to make way for any new growth. The good side is all the beautiful buildings that are left.

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Reality Skankin

Ron Stackman djing at Abilene with John Nugent on sax at Abilene in Rochester, New YorkAbilene2011
Ron Stackman djing at Abilene with John Nugent on sax at Abilene in Rochester, New YorkAbilene2011

We headed over to Abilene last night for Ron Stackman’s old school reggae night. The place was rockin’ and skankin’. Ronnie had a few guys toasting over his beats and John Kralles adding some tasty guitar on top of that.

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Lucia’s Supper Club

I remember finding a pack of matches on Culver Road (I think) from Lucia’s Supper Club in Olean, NY. There was a gondola on the front and we were intrigued by the “Supper Club” name. We wrote a song about the place and put it on “It’s Different Out There” LP in 1985. The illustration I did for the cover sort of pictures Lucia’s the way we imagined.

Years later we found Olean on the map and drove down there for dinner at Lucia’s. We ordered Chicken Picatta and it was delicious. We brought an album with us and left it with the chef. A few months later we received this letter in the mail.

Hi, I just had to write to you…

I was browsing the Internet this week and came across your info on the web. What prompted me to write to you is that I am Lucia Bardenett’s great-granddaughter. She was the “Lucia” of Lucia’s Supper Club in Olean. Oddly, this weekend we are celebrating my grandfather’s (Lucia’a son) 87th birthday. Nonna (as we called her) died in 1986, so my grandfather is really the last of the restaurant’s founding immediate family. My grandfather was her only child. He had 6 children who gave him 15 grandchildren and 2 of those have given him 3 great-grandchildren. I am the oldest of the 15.

So there’s a little info for you. I didn’t want to go on and on, but anyone who would be so intrigued by a pack of matches to write a song, design an album cover, and make a trip to Olean would probably be interested.

I am forwarding the link to your website to all of my family members (as you can tell from the above is quite a few). Could you tell me how to get a copy of that song? The mp3 version on your site won’t work for me. If you have a chance, could you even send me a copy of the lyrics. We’d be interested to see what you imagined about our family’s old restaurant.

By the way, I can guarantee Nonna would have gotten a kick out of your album cover; she was such a character! Marie Rakus Olean, NY

Personal Effects "It's Different Out There" on Earring Records 1985 EAR 3
Personal Effects “It’s Different Out There” on Earring Records 1985 EAR 3

Here’s Personal Effects version of Lucia’s Supper Club from the cd “Personal Effects – A Compilation.”

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If Sun Ra Can Die Anyone Can

Last week I read that Jimmy Carl Black, “the Indian in the group” had died. I liked the early Mothers and felt sad. Yesterday’s Rochester paper had a nice tribute to Arthur Deutsch, Danny’s father, who recently passed away. As a reporter he covered City Hall, politics and crime during what the golden age at the Democrat and Chronicle along side of Henry Clune. He later ran the War Memorial and booked Parliament-Funkadelic on the “Mothership Connection Tour” for the city in 1978. Peggi and I were down front for that one. Anita Ward opened with her hit and then Bootsy stole the show before P-Funk even took the stage. Today I read Mitch Mitchell died after a gig in Portland. He was one of my favorite drummers.

Martin Edic was at the Little Theater Cafe last night for the Margaret Explosion gig andthe conversation that followed. He was raving about “Suzy, Led Zeppelin, and Me” by Martin Millar. “Best book I’ve ever read”. And Martin has read some books. He often finishes books while still in the bookstore.

But earlier he told us that his dad had just started hospice. When you meet Martin’s parents they quickly become friends because they hang with you. You don’t exchange niceties with them. You engage them in real conversation. Ken Edic is one of the greatest guys in the world.

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Leaving The Leaves Alone

Lots of leaves in the backyard
Lots of leaves in the backyard

Wow, do we have a lot of leaves! This is what our backyard looks like. We put some big yellow leaves on our table as a centerpiece for our post high school reunion dinner party. Jeff Munson and Mary Kaye came by and Marianne Gocker and her friend, Dave. We learned another classmate, Holly Clarke, was in the Woodstock movie without her clothes. I’m going to have to re-watch that classic. I don’t think we have room for any more leaves in our compost pile. We need to find a few more creative uses for them.

Frank DeBlase liked the Polaroids I put on line yesterday. He asked me to drop some of them off at City to use in the Scorgie’s piece that he’s doing next week. While I was out I stopped by with a package of seals that I photographed for a site we’re building. The Post Office parking lot was empty. How come we don’t get Veteran’s Day off?

I was too tired to paint last night so I spent a few hours trying to track down a problem with the Lightbox javascript on the Scorgies site. It started acting flukey yesterday and and now runs the photos from one gallery right into the next. Bill Jones called while I was duking it out. He asked me to do a logo for The Art Pile, his e-commerce site for artists. I like doing logos.

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