Almost July......... cripe

It's the usual lament. Too many friends, so little time. General merriment. A forced excursion to Tony Packo's the night of the big storms. Volunteered at Rally by the River Friday night. Radio show Saturday. Russell visits town Saturday night. Sunday Crosby Gardens art festival. Where I bought this stained glass mirror.



Here's a close up. It matches my decor like it was custom-made: zebra pieces, red parts, shards the color of my walls.



We saw these pictures that looked like metal etchings but they were metallic paint that this guy applied with condiment bottles and a putty knife.



A view of the garden.



Some flowers from the Jenks flora collection.







And Friday night, I hit a deer on 25 just north of the Nissan dealer. Deceased. Just getting the fuzz on his antlers, according to a firefighter who stopped to see because he had heard it on the scanner.



Some repair is in order.



He just sort of appeared as a large brown pillow on my windshield, bounced off and landed in the gravel on the other side of the northbound lanes. I never saw him coming. Luckily, I veered directly into the Nissan dealer lot and called law enforcement on the cell.

So now I'm driving a silver Taurus with Joisey plates in case you see me.

almost summer

Moving the GNO in July was a bad idea. Forget I said that.

TUNAFEST ALERT: Mr. C. Tuna, amazingly recovered from the brink, says the fest now spans three days and he sees the Welders playing Sunday afternoon and he opined that Rod's Collision close the show Sunday night as some members will have been fishing in Canada and only home Saturday night. MY VIEW IS have the Welders at 4 and Rod after and us old folks can go home. Also this is the day planned for the GNO pond party at the Butterfly Blues Ranch. We need to discuss this conflict. July 23.

Speaking of Tuna, Miss Jenks and I are taking him to Athens on July 29 for the Nelsonville Folk Festival.

Amy and I went to see Kentucky Chrome at Casa Barron. They were amusing. Not quite as amusing as Billy Mack, who the KC drummer said was too over-the-top for him to play with anymore. But it's that over-the-top that I liked about BM and the JJJ. They're at Casa Barron again Monday June 26 at 6. On the patio.

This Friday, a bunch of us are volunteering for the BSBS at Rally by the River where some PutinBay guy is the talent.

Also, remember July is busy. Click on the calendar to see a larger version.

where does the time go?

First, let me say that perhaps GNO for July should be moved to the 12th to accommodate people that might be too pooped to participate after a raucous 4th weekend. What say?

Also, Saturday night, a rockabilly band, Kentucky Chrome is at Casa Barron's on the patio at 7. I know, it will be 95 degrees. But let's do it. See you there.

Pretty much this whole week has been centered on socializing with various friends. Nightly. Oooh, it's a rough schedule but how can I deny my presence to those who find it so amusing? I can not.

I bought a mirror for over the lovely CD cabinet. Haven't hung it yet. Pictures to come. I got it at Creative Elements in Grand Rabbits.

Tonight I visited the Heinous for 3 beers but came home to water stuff as it ain't rainin' here for days. Wynne, Steve, Doc, Jenks, Whitey, Pete, Dave, Surly Bob, Dr. Sue and her boy and man servants. If I had any gumption, I'd go back down there and see that local Bluegrass band, the student loan. But oh they start so late. And oh I am so old for that.

Got the AC on. Might go to see Tim next weekend as Roger McGuinn is at Kent Stage. Last week, I had a dream that Roger McGuinn was backstage at a live performance of Prairie Home Companion in New Orleans and I was in the wings apparently making too much noise and Garrison Keillor had to shush me from the stage. I mean how often do you even THINK of Roger McGuinn and here he is in my life twice in one week. This was one of those long dreams, where in one part, I crossed a river on a road bridge where there was nothing to prevent you from driving into the drink if you weren't careful. I often have something to do with driving in dreams, which is a symbol for who has control of your life. Like I had one where Jenks was driving a van and we went to the edge of a cliff down into a river and were hanging there and had to exit said van gingerly so it didn't fall on down to the river FAR below. So I think a road with no edge is a good sign. Like all things are possible. And I don't mean 'with god.' It's all too kosmik.

Listening to Joe Ely Live Shots. Might have to play the guitar later. Drunkenly.

Radio show tomorrow. 2-4. Listen at www.wbgufm.com online for you out-of-towners.

sobriety checkpoint ahead

There is a sign you do NOT want to see driving home from an outdoor drinking music festival. But we did and as we could see in the distance (by Burger King) the flashing lights of several police cars, Amy swung prudently onto Brim Rd., the last chance before WE would have been subjected to said checkpoint. Thanks for the warning. That's real neighborly of ya.

The Levis Commons Toledo Opera benefit was big fun Saturday night.

This woman was real tanky. We danced. She told me she was glad she had her teeth whitened that day.

Here are the Motown R&B Pioneers on stage. They were great. They played second after Voodoo Libido.

Here are some gambling fools. They apparently did real well although they never came out and heard the music.

Fashion don't. Oh pleease. And it wasn't any more pleasant from the front.

C. J. Chenier and the Red Hot Louisiana Band. They had the crowd on their feet after they all had been sitting around like stuffed shirts, as Luci said.

Luci talks, Dan eats peanuts.

"Don't let me go shopping when I'm drunk," says Luci, displaying a wide variety of bling she had purchased while out searching for an ATM.

Art attended.
Art danced.
On Thursday night, I went to Amy's so we could down two bottles of Tierra del Fuego Argentinan cabernet and discuss what we would do to the patio on Saturday morning. These are before shots of the area.

This pile of rubble would be transformed into a decortive planter.

More rubble/old logs/empty pots.

Saturday morning I was there bright and early, well OK 10:30 and we hoisted and dug and trimmed and bought 30 more of those 20 pound paving blocks that were stacked and shaped into a landscape feature and filled with dirt and planted by Amy. Those last two verbs, filled and planted, were done today. I need to get over there and get a picture of the finished product.

La tee da

Well, it's summer so I'm lazier than ever. Let's see since last Wednesday, I've done hundreds of mundane tasks. It was a beautiful weekend. Saturday night, us wimmens went out to eat at Biaggi at Levis Commons. We had a great time watching the people and what they thought was appropriate wear for out-to-dinner. Sheesh.

We ate copiously, salad and soup and appetizers and bread and entrees and dessert and wine. La dolce vita. Sunday, Annie made me meatloaf. So I slide an entire weekend without cooking anything.

So we have the GNO at Sherry's on Wednesday. After that, I have no idea.


July is full of stuff to do but June is just resting up, enjoying the weather, getting your house in order. In case we have to make a quick escape. Because the dubya is consolidating his power and we'll all be subject to unreasonable crap. My idea of the emergency kit is: one Visa card with a clear $20,000 limit, passport, car documents, bank account logins, 5 pairs of underwear, various beads and trinkets to trade with the natives.

Gossip

I went to Jenks's tonight and we were sitting on the porch and Heidi and Lane walked by with their kids and I called out and she asked how Amy was, from having read the blog about the bonk on the head. I was sorry that I only could report that LAST night she was mobile.

Jenks had been at the bar where she discovered that Beckford has been tossed indefinitely for pool table abuse and that C. Tuna is in hospital for undetermined difficulty. Something about dehydratiom. Well, it HAS been hot. There was a third piece of gossip, but I disremember it.

I missed Bill Kirchen tonight at Grounds after exhorting you all to action about it. And no Southern Culture last night either. That first day back to work was strenuous enought without having stayed up til all hours before it.

This weekend there is the Taste of the Town, where plainly I am not that excited about 4 different pierogi places and 3 ice cream shops. And the bands are not like last year.

Fred and Sherry have gone to Wisconsin yesterday and will be back on the weekend. Please don't break into their house now that I have said this.

Also there is the Old West End Festival which I have always meant to go to and the weather will be beautiful. We'll see.

My daughter comments to say that she will be in the Small Town July 6 to 16. But she's having her wisdom teeth pulled the 12th, so there will be some recovery time. PLUS, my boss told me today that the web managers get to go to the hoity-toity September meeting in NYC so I will get a free trip to see the girl. Maybe we can trash a great hotel room together.

And the Good Guys are doing a summer tour of the U.S. so who knows what this means. Guess I better schedule a trip to see Tommy.

Mommy's babies

Sunday, I went to Marion, OH, to eat some bad food with my mom's family. Two out of the 9 adults had canes. My cousin-in-law Connie from Georgia asked me if I had any pictures of my kids. Who she hasn't seen in 20 years. I told her I could send her some off the internet. How about these 2?

Memorial Day

Well, it was damn hot. Everybody held up pretty well. Amy had fallen off a ladder earlier and took a blow to the noggin. Connie brought fans. There was general convivality and THANKS to all who brought sides because as you know, I was serving burgs and brats and chips. Period. Oh and pina coladas. Which I have PLENTY of left so they'll be goin to GNO next Wednesday at Sherry's (subtle reminder).

So the dentist's office just called at 2:50 to remind me of my 2:40 appointment today. Duh. They rescheduled for 4:20, an hour from now. It is blowing up some thunderstorm right now.

Here's Freewheelin' Frank who talked to me A LOT about the Rolling Stones. The greatest rock n roll band in the world.



Here are some wimmen attendees.


Sad Marky.


The honeymoon is SO over for these two. I hope they can move on.


Various other attendees.


Yow, let's eat.


I said, "Take a picture of the meat." This is what I got.


THIS is the meat I meant. Thank you, Fred the GrillMaster. The guy sat out there for an hour in the driveway, attending the grill but it was delicious.


Pasta salad, courtesty of Amy


Beans, beans, beans, beans. Also Annette brought some stunning beans, but alas, no photo. Chip.


Do these shorts make my butt look big?

Plenty of open dates...

Click on the calendars to make them bigger.

Let the summer begin!

Here is that mask I got at the humane society auction. It fits perfectly on that window on my front door.

First off, here's the scoop on the Southern Culture on the Skids show. It's May 30, a school night. The doors open at Vamp's in Toledo at 9, there's an opening act so who knows when SCOTS will go on. I went to Madhatter tonight but they close at 7 so I don't know how much tickets are and even though I am off that day, I don't know if I can make it. What about you? You know, this is NOT at that place that used to be Headliners where you saw Johnny Winter and/or Leon Russell. It is at some old Masonic Temple on Phillips Ave.

Bill Kirchen is doing a free concert at Grounds for Thought on May 31 at 8 p.m. This sounds doable.

So after Friday's fun-o-rama with Miss Oates et al, Saturday brought the mowing of the 9-inch grass, followed by a radio show I'm sure hardly any of you heard since we were locked out of the station for the Blues Breakfast and I got on at 2:20 when some yahoo showed up with the keys. This weekend, we ought to be able to hear all of us at our regularly scheduled times.

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND: Party, party, party. The weather is looking muy excelente. I say we grill on the giant Weiser Char-Broil on Monday. I plan on laying in every kind of alcohol known to man (or woman), some burgers, brats or something and we'll start about 2 and go until falling down occurs. LET'S DO IT!!! I'm off Friday through Tuesday.

Saturday night, one incarnation of Blues Posse was at Nate and Wally's with Rod sitting in for the now-absent Terry Z. It was fabuloso. I got there late due to magazine reading --> nap. So I lied to Sal when I told her I was good Saturday. Forgot about that late night at the bar. Connie was amusing. I'm thinking she had a couple of drinks -- or ten.

Sunday, I was a ball of fire from about 8:15 a.m. til 2 and then I hit the wall. Went to see the house Jacqui and Kay remodeled and want to sell for $239,000. It's nice but..... It's out there on the bend by that cemetery on Union Hill. It's on a half acre, got 2, maybe 3 bedrooms (2 up, 1 down), all new floors and drywall, some new windows, some arty touches, very airy. Tell your friends.

Then we went to the Holloway benefit at the Heinous. It was well attended. In auction fun, I got a Spot's coupon and one for GFT. The Posse played with their new guy who plays a mean pedal steel guitar. Gotta love that. And the Rod's Collision tore it up in an unequaled performance. Dancing took place.

So I have just come home from the Monday night at Beckett's with Gus (whom we love). Donna moseyed in. Still having problems finding someone to put up her fence. Wynn and Steve were there.

I heard somebody bought 2 tickets to see Paul Simon at the Zoo and it cost $180!! Yikes.

Whine n cheez

We went to the Humane Society benefit, me and Sal and Carrie and Judy.
I bought $75 worth of chocolate and split it with Jacqui Nathan. This might sound like a lot, but it was 28 bars of organic dark chocolate plus some choco bites things and some mints and some cocoa bits in chocolate. So now I have 17 chocolate bars. Do the math: I spend $3 on a chocolate bar at Stimmel's about twice a week.

I also bought a carved wood African mask for $20. And we had wine and snackage. So all in all, the animals got about $105 of my hard earned cash.

This guy looked like Sal's spouse from the back except he didn't have as nice a butt.


This leopard microfiber chair went for like $380 in the live auction. Esther was bidding on it but ended up buying some vacation in Florida for $850.


Then we went to Beckett's. For one drink. Shuh, right. About two hours later, I am home.


Thursday, Annie and I had gone to Ann Arbor to see Fred Eaglesmith. Terri Hendrix and Lloyd Maines opened for him. It was a swell time.

Pepperwood Grove Syrah $8

A delightful wine. Yessiree. Especially when you drink an entire bottle.

OK, so I'm thinking this whole wheeling blues fest has become the battle of the haves and have-nots. If you want to pay $300, you can get a chair and food and beer and possibly a place to sit out of the sun. Or you can pay $55 and sit in your own chair and buy beer and food. Hmmm, isn't this what the whole Bush admininstration is about, them VS. us?

This Saturday, Rod will sit in with Blues Posse at Nate and Wally's. Be there. I'll be at the Humane Society wine and cheese Friday night. And Saturday is Amy's garage sale. Be there. Or be square.

And how about seeing Johh Hammond at the Lebanon Blues Fest on August 5? It's free. We need to talk.

I still have not reserved a room for the Madison Ribberfest. I'll get right on this. Oh wait, now I have booked a room at the Best Western for two nights, Aug. 18 and 19. Who's going?

Phil Parsons has told us of a house in Talley, ND, that can be had for $1,500 but you have to move it to a different lot. I think this might be the THING WE HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR. A bed and breakfast for hunters and birders 8 months a year, plus we open a convenience story in Talley and then we spend 4 months a year in Mexico. I don't see how this could be bad. Hmmmm I cannot find talley, nd or tally, nd on google. Where is it?

Halfway through May already

Update: Rod is playing in the Terry Z spot with Blues Posse at Nate and Wally's this Saturday night. And the May 26 Blues Posse date has been CANCELED. I don't know how this impacts the Holloway Benefit for which both Rod's Collision and Blues Posse are supposed to play. And I hear Joe Baker will be in England May 21, so that puts the kibosh on the Tony and Joe Duo. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

Overheard at the bar: "I've been fishing so much this spring, my wife thinks I have a girlfriend and my girlfriend thinks I have another girlfriend."

Briefly

Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers are Friday night in Wheeling. And now I think I might just go to Indiana for the one night, Friday, to see Roy Rogers and come back the next evening after some festival bbq eating.

And Southern Culture on the Skids is at Vamp's (formerly the Underground, formerly that place Johnny Winter played at whatever it was called then) on Phillips Ave. in Toledo on May 30.

And I see Roomful of Blues will be at the Toledo Jazz Fest on June 17.

And here's the Zoo lineup:
Sun 07/02/06 Paul Simon

Tue 07/25/06 Ashlee Simpson
Tue 07/25/06 The Veronicas

Tue 08/08/06 Guster / Ray LaMontagne

Fri 08/11/06 "Laserspectacular Feat. The Music Of Pink Floyd"

Calendar girl

For your convenience, your May commitments. Other months to follow. Click on the calendar to see a larger version. That's Southern Culture on the Skids on May 30. I'll keep you posted on ticket sales.

A comment! I have a comment!

My daughter points out that I have not included the dates of her summer arrival in Smalltown. These are July 6 to something. Not clear. I DO know she leaves for New Orleans Thursday to see her brother. I have bail money at the ready.

Also she apologized for the pictures of her on myspace. Like this one that has a caption that says: "and then I smoked a joint in a telephone booth next to Bloomingdale's."


Who's mommy's little baby?

Missing photos

We saw this sign on the bike trail we walked the dogs on. Hmmm, you don't see a lot of that Danger: Hill kind of warning here in the flatlands.


Here is Tim at The Outpost, smoking an uncharacteristic cig. I am a bad influence. Or maybe it's just the first step towards my new career: relaxation counselor.

Just the facts, ma'am

First, let me start with the updates. The Holloway benefit has been rescheduled to May 21, as this Sunday is el dia de las madres, as Mr. Sonnenberg said.

Also, the heritage music fest in Wheeeeeling says on the website that a lineup will be posted May 15. I checked pollstar.com and by golly, 4 acts are already lined up, including Anthony Gomes at noon on Saturday. So we'll be checking that.

Furthermore, Donna has signed on for GNO for September. This leaves August open. Any takers?

Last night, we went to Beckett's and Donna was there going on about having hired drug addicts to install a new fence, drug addicts who felt that, after one day of hard labor, they were too pooped to participate any further. So now she has bags of concrete sitting around and no fence posts.

Then some guy inserts himself amongst me and Jenks and Donna and strikes up conversation and finally Donna leaves (after identifying herself as Susan on the second round of introductions) and then this guy just INSISTS that I accompany him to Uptown to dance. I am in a mood. Jenks can tell. She leaves, I make this guy buy me another vodka tonic, the bar is rocking with drunk youth singing along to Led Zeppelin Gus has on the stereo. We watch the end of the Indians game and I agree to go to Uptown. In the meantime we have conversed:

Me: Ever been married?

Guy: No

Me: Why not?

Guy (taken aback): I don't know

Me: Ever killed anybody?

Guy: WHAT?!@!?!

Also we arm wrestled. He claimed he was 43. I told him how old I am. He said At least I'm not 21. I said, My view is: you're old enough to buy me a drink, you're old enough.

Also, he said I was "good-looking" and had "a nice shape." This guy has to get some better lines. Because, as we know, I have heard them all.

At Uptown, a vodka tonic was $1. Quality liquor. So we danced to You Drive Me Crazy by the Fine Young Cannibals, a song I actually like. Then I went to the bathroom and when I came out, I slipped out the back door, past the pool players, onto the street and home. Luckily, I had my cloak of invisibility on. I was home in bed with toast and milk at 11:20.

I don't know what gets into me. The only thing I regret is that Gus saw me leave the bar with this lunatic loser. I would like to see those drag queens at Uptown again sometime though. Maybe the night before Amy's birthday. What say, girls?

La tee da

Remember, you can click on a photo and see a larger version. This is important for the blue herons picture below.

So I set these blocks in around the garden.



Here's the new Mohican virurnum.


And the new sandcherry.


We had GNO Thursday at Deb H's.


Here's Maralyn and Lisa.


It was Maralyn's b-day month.


I went to Tim's Saturday. Here are his dogs as we prepare for walk in nature.


We had tacos outdoors on a bar patio. I had a sweet potato black bean one. It was beautiful out there sunny, blue skies.


We visited the Kent State May 4, 1970 memorial.


We don't want this to happen again.


Here are some Cuyahoga River falls.


Also we saw these nesting blue herons. It was amazing. There were dozens of them in these nest, feeding their young.



Later we went to see Ani de Chant at a bar called the Outpost.