Strummerville

Hard to believe that Joe Strummer has been gone over five years already.

I was lucky enough to see The Clash once. I was at one of the legendary June 1981 NYC shows at Bonds. I had given this girl I knew from school money for a ticket when they went on sale and didn't see her again until I ran into her at a May Day Pot Parade (from Washington Square Park to Central Park). Lo and behold, she presents me with a ticket!

Distant memories of the show... driving into NYC and finding a parking space in my 1967 Plymouth Fury. Buying some sort of white powder off a brother in the street; thinking it was THC but lord knows what it really was; running into my Jappy sort of girlfriend (how did SHE get a ticket?), and than seeing the best band in the world. I remember the poor reception the rap stuff got, but seeing em do Safe European Home and London Calling was all a young Punk coulda ever asked for.

Never saw em again. Passed up the show at Shea Stadium with The Who (too "commercial" for my delicate Punk sensibilities). What an idiot I was!

I heartily recommend that you see The Future Is Unwritten; which is a great documentary about Joe.

And if you're in the bar tonite, raise a glass to Joe Strummer! A true Punk Hero.

Toonage:

Joe Strummer Action Town Hall

Joe's Last Show 11-15-02

Joe Strummer w/ Mick Jones - London's Burning

Joe Strummer w/ Mick Jones - White Riot

Joe Strummer w/ Mick Jones - Bankrobber

Joe Strummer w/ Mescalaros - I Fought The Law

Stiff Little Fingers - Strummerville

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Now playing: The Clash - Tommy Gun
via FoxyTunes

7 Years Gone

In Memorium

(Un)Comfortably Numb

Stress is nothing more than a socially acceptable form of mental illness

- Richard Carlson

So, is it better to feel nothing or to be affected by things to the point that it's personally damaging? Sometimes the self medicating just isn't effective.

A friend of mine explained to me that "some things are just bigger than you and it's nothing to be ashamed of". I'm not so sure about that. But it is certainly worth trying to pick curtain #2 rather than always selecting curtain #1. Maybe there's something better than canned squid behind it.

Bookage -

By The Book - Joe Paterno

Toonage:

Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb (Demo version)

Big Star - Feel

The High Numbers (The Who) - Dance To Keep From Crying (Live Marquee Club 1965)

The Methadones - Antidote

Ramones - I Don't Care (demo version)

How Bout An Encore!

The
WORLD CHAMPION
NEW YORK GIANTS
start off the 2008 NFL football season tonight.

Nuff said.



Bookage:
The 2008 NY Giants Yearbook

Toonage:
Descendants - Blast Off
Wire - Champs
Bob Dylan - 4th Time Around
The Cars - Let The Good Times Roll
Muddy Waters - Champagne And Reefer

Like Takin' Carrie To The High School Prom

"I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members."

--Groucho Marx --

I have been notified that I will be the recipient of A BIG HONOR. My industry has an award (I guess it's sort of a lifetime achievement kinda thing - not that I'm particularly a grizzled veteran), complete with a banquet with hundreds of people, a magazine article about yours truly and other assorted aspects.

This is apparently A BIG DEAL.

The question I have is... "WHY ME". I really don't merit this award (and I am not being humble). It is more likely that some peer of mine in the industry decided it would be a nice thing for me to get this honor and nominated me.
Either that, or they figured my company would buy a table at the banquet (fat chance of THAT happening!).

Regardless, this is embarrassing. I vision myself being featured in the article and readers wonderin' WTF? Even worse, I have to accept the award and have a room full of people LOOK at me and wonder "who is this asshole"?!
There are many people in my business that deserve this honor. The fact that I got it cheapens the award forever more.

It's important that I accept this, since it might help me in my career. But jeez, this is like Milli Vanilli being elected into the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame! OK, maybe not that bad. Let's go with GWAR. Yeah, me showing up at this banquet is like GWAR showing up at a Baptism.

Maybe I'll just copy this speech word for word. It's perfect.
Now I get to stress about how I'm gonna fuck this up for the next couple of months.



----------------
Now playing: The Runaways - Cherry Bomb
via FoxyTunes



Bookage:
From Hell - Alan Moore

Toonage:
The Smiths - Still Ill
Teengenerate - Fake, Fake, Fake
Brother Brick - Color Me Impressed (Replacements cover)
The Posies - King Midas In Reverse
Tom Petty - Even The Losers