A merging, an ending

My Aunt sent me a cassette of I'm Your Man when it came out in 1988. I'd never really listened to Leonard Cohen before, so chalk up another one for Sandy.

She died four years ago yesterday. This is the first video of a posthumous release of Cohen's.

And here we are. Brexit begins, the senate acquits. Putin wins.

Another minute of the 15

For years the Columbus Dispatch has run an weekly article called "Where I Eat" in which locals are asked where they go out to eat in the city.

I've been here for 30 years now, and it became my turn.

You can see Where I Eat here.

The reporter put a survey on twitter, a couple of people said I should fill it out. I did, and there's the story.

I'm not sure if it is still put in the print edition.

Tired of falling through the cracks

During a diner conversation on Friday morning, the man I was talking with brought up that people do not get back to you when you contact them. I cannot explain why but right now I have three inquiries in the hopper right now, and all of them are dragging out for reasons that are inexplicable to me. One is personal and I explicitly said I need a quick response, and there has been no reply. Another is service oriented. The guy texted me out of the blue, said he was my liaison with the company I have given money to for a service. I texted him, asking when my parts would arrive so the service could be completed, and I have had no response.

The third is local. I reached out over six months ago to a person regarding work for an art project. He seemed very eager at first, but nothing came of it. A few months later I asked him if the project was dead. He replied quickly saying no, no that he forgot about me because he was so busy. Last week he posted pictures of some work he completed for others for the holidays. Wow, none of that work was mine even though I had a verbal agreement months ago for a piece. I sent him a message asking again if the project was dead, there has been no response. At least no money changed hands in this instance.

It’s really frustrating to be on the back foot, wondering where the Hell people have gone to, and why a simple I will get back to you does not happen.

A year in sound: 2019

I did listen to and buy a lot of music this year. How memorable was any of it though? Even my counting was off I was so uninspired. I liked the Mattiel and Andrew Bird, my son likes Tinariwen. The Divine Comedy was a huge disappointment. There was a lot of downloading legally or buying new vinyl and a few cds.

Listed up the used vinyl purchases this year for the first time, and it's about the same amount as new. Need to be a bit more discriminating as to what I buy used next year as I do not want the collection to become too unwieldy. Still going to purchase new every week to try and take care of the artists.

01) Dean Ford - Feel My Heartbeat
02) Mighty Sam McClain - Give it up to Love
04) Youth of America - YOA Rising
05) Bob Stanley & Pete Wiggs Present: Paris in the Spring (Ace compliation CD)
06) The Twilight Sad - It Won/t Be Like This All the Time
07) Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow
08) Bobby Rush - The Essential Recordings, Volume Two
09) Lisa Brigantino - I’ll Waltz Before I Go
10) Emmylou Harris - Wrecking Ball (3 LP set)
11) Dusty Springfield - Dusty in Memphis (Vinyl)
12) Bob Mould - Sunshine Rock
13) Bis - Slight Disconnects
14) Gary Clark Jr. - This Land
15) Joe Jackson - Fool
16) Stella Donnelly - Beware of the Dogs
17) Plastic Device - E. Pluribus Plastic
18) Ex Hex - It’s Real
19) The Zombies - Greatest Hits (vinyl)
20) Timi Turo - Best of (vinyl)
21) Kate Bush - The Other Sides (4CD)
22) Edwyn Collins - Badbea
23) Charles Mingus - Mingus Mingus Mingus (Vinyl)
24) Jenny Lewis - On the Line
25) Amy Rigby - Diary of a Mod Housewife (Vinyl)
26) Andrew Bird - My Finest Work Yet
27) Ese and the Vooduu People - Dynamite (EP)
28) Mdou Moctar - Ilana (The Creator)
29) Frightened Rabbit - Midnight Organ Fight (Vinyl)
30) Christone Ingram - Kingfish
31) Patience - Dizzy Spells
32) Wreckless Eric - Transience (Download first then vinyl)
33) Psyche France 1960-70 Volume 5 (vinyl)
34) Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B. (vinyl)
35) Divine Comedy - Office Politics
36) Toujours Chic! (vinyl)
37) Prince - Originals
38) The Murder Capital - When I Have Fears
37) Mattiel - Satis Factory
38) Isley Brothers - The Ultimate Isley Brothers
39) Merry Clayton (vinyl)
40) Tiny Changes: A Celebration of Frightened Rabbit’s The Midnight Organ Fight (CD)
41) Berlin - Trancendance
42) Harmonium
43) Rhett Miller - The Messenger
44) Maria McKee
45) The Highwomen
46) Tinariwen - Amadjar
47) Brittany Howard - Jaime
48) Angel Olsen - All Mirrors
49) Kim Gordon - No Home Record
50) Belle & Sebastian - Days of the Bagnold Summer soundtrack (vinyl)
51) Stan Smith - Silent Memory (CD)
52) Stan Smith - Moments [of a journey] (CD)
53) Amy Rigby - A One Way Ticket To My Life (CD)
54) The Jam - Sound Affects (vinyl)
55) The Muffs - No Holiday
56) Rhett Miller - The Believer
57) Soda Blonde - Terrible Hands (EP)
58) Michael Kiwanuka - Kiwanuka
59) Joe Henry - The Gospel According to Water
60) Leonard Cohen - Thanks For the Dance
61) Wussy - What Heaven is Like (vinyl)
62) The Who - WHO
63) Basement Beehive - The Girl Group Underground (2LP)

64 Parliament - Mothershp Connection

Used Vinyl:
Graham Parker and the Rumor - Squeezing Out Sparks
Be Our Guest - Highlights From 12 GNP Albums
Abba - The Visitors
Greatest Folksingers of the ‘Sixties - [Vanguard Records compilation]
Yaz - Upstairs At Eric’s
Isley Brothers - 3+3
Clarence Carter - Dr. C.C.
Lone Justice
Nina Simone - At the Village Gate
Billie Holiday’s Greatest Hits
Stevie Wonder - Talking Book
Corneilius Brothers and Sister Rose
Tee Set - Ma Belle Amie
R. Dean Taylor - I Think Therefore I
The Versatile Martin Denny Plays Theme From Mondo Cane and Suyiyaki
Night Shift Soundtrack
Absolute Beginners Soundtrack
Joe Jackson - Night and Day
George Duke - I Love the Blues, She Heard My Cry
Paul McCartney and Wings - Band on the Run
Barbara - l’agile noir
France Gall - Dancing Disco
Psyche France 1970-80 Volume 4
Plastic Bertrand - Chat (45)
The Grass Roots - Move Along
Lesley Gore - Love Me By Name
Marrs - Pump up the Volume (12” single)
The Girls Next Door
The Essex - Easier Said Than Done (45)
Jenny Mae - There’s a Bar Around the Corner, Asshole
Les Baxter’s Wild Guitars
Elvis Presley - The Sun Sessions
Michael Nesmith & the First National Band - Magnetic South
Ry Cooder - Show Time
Marshall Crenshaw
George Jones - Sings His Greatest Hits
Suzanne Vega
Phoebe Snow - The Best Of
Four Tops - Reach Out
Temptations - Psychedelic Shack
George Jones - Salues Hank Williams
George Jones - I’ll Share the World With You
Yellow Pills: Prefill - Numero 004
Tony Mottola’s Guitar Factory
The Best of the James Gang
Suzi Quatro - Your Mother Won’t Like Me
The Cuff Links - Tracy
Haircut One Hundred - Pelican West
Sweet Pea Atkinson - Don’t Walk Away
Leon Redbone - Double Time
Isaac Hayes - Chocolate Chip
Funkadelic - One Nation Under A Groove
Gerry Mulligan and the Concert Jazz Band - At the Village Vanguard
Bronski Beat - The Age of Concent
Murray The K’s Gassers For Submarine Race Watchers

Not quite a binge

In the era of streaming, binge watching and not wanting to ever leave the house anymore I rarely get to a first run film. I am in the midst of St. Elsewhere season four and after watching Fleabag, Letterkenny, Killing Eve and so on there leaves little time for an hour and a half, let alone a two hour film.

Nevertheless here is the modest list of films I watched, streamed, saw on TCM, watched during international flights and the handful I went out in public to view.

It Happened in Flatbush
11 Harrowhouse
Way Out West
Solo: A Star Wars Film
Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened
The Lobster
The Great Buster
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Teenage Superstars
That’ll Be the Day
Two For the Road
Ghostbusters (1984)
Tootsie
King of Jazz (1930)
Captain Marvel
US
Casino Royale (2006)
The Favourite
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
The Catcher Was A Spy
Avengers: Endgame
Rolling Thunder Revue
Paris je t’aime
To My Great Chagrin: The Unbelievable Story of Brother Theodore.
WLIR: Dare to Be Different
Local Hero
The LEGO Batman Movie
Dolemite is My Name
Dolemite (1974)
The Human Tornado
Parasite
Scotch: The Golden Dream
Knives Out
Echo in the Canyon
Die Hard
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Getting dangerously nostalgic

Working wine retail on Thanksgiving was an insane time, more wine was sold on Thanksgiving Eve than Christmas Eve. The build up was slow the weekend before and then boom! Tuesday and Wednesday were as busy as it got. Salesman flying in and out, special orders filled in a panic. Will the check clear? Dollars and merchandise had to be flipped.

Last night with the Beaujolais Nouveau always brings back memories of Thanksgiving pressure. A lot of change went to buy that wine, and it had to go by Christmas or it would sit months into the new year.

There were good years here in Columbus, and very bad years. There was success at the Holiday. The owner would always go to Ray Johnson’s for shrimp and the horse radish sauce. We’d open up a few bottles of good champagne to go with it. Times were almost happy. At the Grandview Avenue spot, not so much. The owner screwed up purchasing again, completely ignored the lower priced wine and homebrewers, and saying no to customers became tiring to the point of depression.

After I quit, for years after I would have this adrenaline rush around the holidays. I’d been in retail for 13 years and then I was out. The pressure working for Barnes and Noble was nowhere close to the energy I’d get out of selling wine that I had a hand in purchasing or knew about. That urge finally left a few years ago.

I still do not know how I did it, because at the end of the last run I was broken. My marriage was broken and it took a long time to return to something close to intact.

The question I have asked for the past 17 years