The Past

The past she is a loaded gun

Her past is a mirror held up to you

Showing all your imperfections

He doesn’t think that way

In front of the huge fireplace in the million dollar home high in the hills with a generation of wealth at his back and more in his future

You are practically broke, for all practical purposes as they say

Your financial future is bleak

Be positive they say

Sure, right away

Let me just throw away this past real quick

He was a weird guy:

He was a weird guy:

He got caught up in the skinny pants wave but railed against inconsistent reporting of the Arab Spring.

He drove a mini cooper but owned a sit down lawnmower for a .25 acre lawn.

He was a huge fan of Yngwie Malmsteen but accused Steve Vai of overplaying.

He told a sordid tale of drunken debauchery in his twenties and owned a shrubs-only hobby shop in his thirties.

An Ole Spiritual

I periodically sing and play a little geetar at a church/open stage/bake sale kind of gig in Newport Rhode Island. On this particular night I played my version of Peter Mulvey’s version of Bob Dylan’s version of Mamma You’ve Been On My Mind. Now before I launched into it, I told the crowd (all 8 of them) not to worry, I won’t sound like Dylan, and did a little Bob Dylan impression.  Which isn’t Jimmy-Fallon-good but not all that bad if I do say so myself. The impression garnered a few chuckles. Now it is usually the same crowd and performers at this gig but tonight there was a gentleman I did not recognize that carried in a guitar. The Dylan song was my last and they introduced this guy to the “stage.” Well he, of course, not only begins with a Bob Dylan song but proceeds to sound exactly like Bob Dylan. Insert foot and impression directly into mouth, do not pass go, do not collect $200. I felt like a heel but there is some lemonade from these lemons my friends. He introduced the Dylan song as an “ole spiritual.” And is it ever beautiful. So simple and so powerful: 

The Ole Spiritual

By reference:

Mamma You've Been On My Mind 

He Was A Weird Guy Series

He took swing dance lessons for a year but only krumped down the aisles while grocery shopping. 

He donned a beard as part of the whole hipster scene but couldn’t quote a single line from The Notebook or Tron (the newer one).

He swore he would never buy from target again after a bad experience returning fishing tackle that malfunctioned but wound up purchasing an 80’s sitcom box set that included Laverne and Shirley highlights.

He had favorite Sportscenter anchors.

He “liked” knee braces on Facebook. 

He could gargle with mouthwash for over 5 minutes without it burning but threw up inside his mouth at the just thought of peanut brittle.

He never once made out with a girl named after a city and only rarely engaged in hijinks or shenanigans with people that worked at bowling alleys.

He would periodically work out to ABBA’s greatest hits and read Proust to Metallica’s early stuff, before they sold out.

He Was A Weird Guy Series

He would boast of going to the zoo and setting up camp outside the chimpanzee exhibit with his binoculars for hours on end and then write in his pocket diary about veal recipes.

He Was A Weird Guy Series

Starting my "He Was A Weird Guy Series" with:

He would often reveal that he was a "big craisins in my salad kind of guy" in passing conversations.

Surrogate Family

http://www.npr.org/2014/10/21/357637203/ed-norton-on-birdman-wes-anderson-and-why-40-makes-him-proud

I think Ed Norton is really onto something here:

"I've come to think that a lot of Wes' movies are about the same thing, which is maybe people struggling with the way that the family that you're born into fails you or you don't have the family that you want, so you go and create the family that you need. So many of the characters in Wes' movies are essentially creating alternative communities that support them. I think there's something really sweet in that idea."

So who's your surrogate family? Yeah, you.

And oh by the way, Moonrise Kingdom was filmed in Jamestown, Rhode Island, where I resided for a year.

Yours, Mine, and the Truth

Yours, Mine, and the Truth

She’s a sinner living like a saint                              I’m a lover with a heart full of hate

These days, judged they may be                              Lest the time die before you and me

Riff A

Saving grace, outside Providence                            Dead grass on both sides of the fence

Skin costumes, and masks we wear                         Telling two stories, for every one we share

Yours, mine, and the truth

Not a single one of them can sooth

The pain of what it means to be

But maybe one can, set us free

(Maybe one can, set us free)

Kin and blood became beauty and the beast           Hard to tell now, the most from the least

Feast and famine, blessing and curse                      All they want to sell you, is the best and the worst

Riff B

They’re saying grace with fingers crossed              I’m trusting you to know the cost

They say it’s just a wager but could we lose?         I’m trusting you to know, what to choose

Yours, mine, and the truth

Not a single one of them can sooth

The pain of what it means to be

But maybe one can, set us free

(Maybe one can, set us free)