January 22, 2012

R.I.P. Etta. Saw her twice in concert, once at S.O.B.'s



Something's got a hold on me.



THE LAST HOLIDAY A Memoir By Gil Scott-Heron reviewed in today's NYT. The New Yorker did a nice piece on him on August 9, 2010.

The Bottle

See that black boy over there, runnin' scared
his ol' man's in a bottle.
He done quit his 9 to 5 to drink full time
so now he's livin' in the bottle.
See that Black boy over there, runnin' scared
his ol' man got a problem
Pawned off damn near everything, his ol'
woman's weddin' ring for a bottle.
And don't you think it's a crime
when time after time, people in the bottle.
See that sista, sho wuz fine before she
started drinkin' wine
from the bottle.
Said her ol' man committed a crime
and he's doin' time,
so now she's in the bottle.
She's out there on the avenue, all by herself
sho' needs help from the bottle.
Preacherman tried to help her out,
she cussed him out and hit him in the head with a bottle.
And don't you think it's a crime
when time after time, people in the bottle.
See that gent in the wrinkled suit
he done damn near blown his cool
to the bottle
He wuz a doctor helpin' young girls along
if they wuzn't too far gone to have problems.
But defenders of the dollar eagle
Said "What you doin', Doc, it ain't legal,"
and now he's in the bottle.
Now we watch him everyday tryin' to
chase the pigeons away
from the bottle.
And don't you think it's a crime
when time after time, people in the bottle.

May 28, 2011

Corona was on sale, so it is the long weekend beer. Already cut up two limes.



This was also on sale: Sticky Fingers BBQ Sauce. Bought the Memphis and Carolina Classic which is Mustard based.



Malcolm X :A Life of Reinvention. Author Dr. Manning Marable (May 13, 1950 - April 1, 2011) died right before publication date. Looks to be a real interesting read.



"The average detective story is probably no worse than the average novel, but you never see the average novel. It doesn’t get published. The average—or only slightly above average—detective story does."
Raymond Chandler, "The Simple Art of Murder"(1950.)



R.I.P. Gil Scott-Heron. "Who will pay Reparations on my Soul?"

Many fine speeches (oh yeah)
From the White House desk (uh huh)
Written on the cue cards
That were never really there. Yes,
But the heat and the summer were there
And the freezing winter’s cold. Now
Tell me,
Who’ll pay reparations on my soul?

He said :
The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised,
will not be televised, will not be televised.
The revolution will be no re-run brothers;
The revolution will be live.

But, now the Revolution is on Facebook and Twitter.



Received a Grateful Dead T-Shirt as a gift and I am wearing it a lot as I do with any new stuff. Not a real GD fan but I do own a bunch of Jerry Garcia ties. The fun thing with this T-Shirt is I am getting quite a few compliments from women about it. They are mostly 40-50 years old and say stuff like "Love the Shirt", or " Wow , cool shirt." What a long strange trip its been.