Friday, September 23, 2022

Nothing Happens on the West Side

 I've been posting more on Dreamwidth and have more or less abandoned this blog. Posted this one a couple of days ago. 


I live in an area of the city that is vastly underserved. We're surrounded by poorer neighborhoods, there are very few businesses to walk to. The major streets that border the area have zoning issues that do not allow ease for some businesses to just come in and start. The city has not been kind to this part of town. Neglect is policy. Murals are fine. I'd prefer to see thriving businesses in the empty structures instead of murals on the sides of them. 

In my twenty years here I can count on less that one hand, and probably closer to one, the number of sit down restaurants that have opened up. There is a dearth of food trucks, which is fine but they lack permanence. You can't sit down and eat outside of a food truck when its raining. There's nowhere to walk to if you want a burger and a beer. You have to leave your neighborhood to shop for everything. The nearest Kroger grocery stores contain parking lots full of drama, stores with understocked shelves and poor quality products. For years they've talked of improvements, calls for change. These last for a month or so before reverting to the same sad issues. Yes baby I promise I'll change.

There have been so many fits and starts in the twenty years that I have lived in this area. But if I had photographs of Broad Street or Sullivant Avenue then and now, I suspect there would be very little difference. Now compare that to High Street, or Town Street in Franklinton, or Parsons Avenue, or Oak Street.

In May of 2021 a sign went up in front of a building close to my house saying that a chicken joint was coming soon. Activity has been in fits and starts, but there's still no indication the place will ever open. I get that there are supply chain issues that are slowing things down, and the city has its permits that have to be approved. Money has to change hands and businesses seem to open quicker in better parts of the city.

I've been told to, "be patient" in online forums. I've lived here twenty years, I've been patient and so little has happened. I'm grateful for Third Way Coffee and all the efforts they are making to spin some business in the area. Sure, I can put my money where my mouth is, but anything I would start up would end up being the Fawlty Towers of retail. It's not in me anymore.

So I drive by the chicken place, say where's the chicken, go over the train tracks and recently boarded up apartment building to spend my money outside of my neighborhood. Every day.

Saturday, January 1, 2022

One year later

 Still alive and in the other social media channels. Here's are a couple of lists of movies I watched and music I bought in 2020. Did not buy much used vinyl as I'm getting choosier and did not get out to shops as much. I hope you are all well. 


  1. Blazing Saddles
  2. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
  3. The Searchers
  4. Taking of Pelham 1-2-3
  5. Bubba Ho-Tep
  6. Criss Cross
  7. Toy Story 3
  8. Mystify Michael Hutchence
  9. Dog Day Afternoon
  10. The Dog (2013 documentary)
  11. Betty Davis: They Say I’m Different
  12. Casablanca
  13. Stars In My Crown
  14. Shadow of a Doubt
  15. Pele
  16. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
  17. Trouble in Paradise. 
  18. 39 Steps (1935)
  19. Mae West: Dirty Blonde
  20. Remastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke
  21. The Male Animal
  22. The Palm Beach Story
  23. Jewel Robbery
  24. Superfly (1972)
  25. Pillow Talk
  26. California Split
  27. Vertigo
  28. Waterloo Bridge
  29. Fast Company (1938)
  30. Summer of Soul
  31. The Most Dangerous Game
  32. American Utopia
  33. Jezebel
  34. One Way Passage
  35. Footlight Parade
  36. Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed
  37. Andre the Giant
  38. The Ladykillers (1955)
  39. No Time To Die (In a theater!)
  40. The Thing Called Love
  41. Crazed Fruit
  42. Yours, Mine, and Ours
  43. The Brothers Sparks
  44. Young Frankenstein
  45. High Anxiety
  46. Get Back 1-3
  47. No Man of Her Own
  48. Too Late For Tears
  49. The Shop Around the Corner
  50. Stagecoach
  51. It’s A Wonderful Life
  52. Godzilla Vs. Mothra
  53. Bridge on the River Kwai
  54. Breathless
  55. Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

  1. Lightnin’ Hopkins - The Best of Lightnin’ Hopkins
  2. Star Feminine Band
  3. The Anchoress - Confessions of a Romance Novelist
  4. Bootsy Collins - The Power of the One
  5. Michael Kiwanuka - Love & Hate
  6. Freddie King - My Feeling For the Blues
  7. Betty Davis: The Columbia Years
  8. The Hold Steady - Open Door Policy
  9. Frightened Rabbit - The Winter of Mixed Drinks (LP)
  10. Mogwai - As the Love Continues
  11. Arab Strap - As Days Get Dark
  12. Francois & The Atlas Mountains - Banana Blue (LP & download)
  13. The Anchoress - The Art of Losing
  14. Betty Davis - Nasty Girl (LP)
  15. Mogwai - Ten Rapid (LP)
  16. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Let Love In
  17. Earth, Wind & Fire - That’s the Way of the World
  18. Life Without Buildings - Any Other City (LP)
  19. Gal Costa
  20. Female Species - Tale of My Lost Love (LP/Download)
  21. The Who - The Who Sell Out (2LP-stereo)
  22. Teenage Fanclub - Endless Arcade
  23. Merry Clayton - Beautiful Scars
  24. Paul Weller - Fat Pop
  25. Georgia Anne Muldrow - Olesi: Fragments of an Earth
  26. Georgia Anne Muldrow - Oligarchy Sucks
  27. Livingmore - Take Me
  28. Junior Kimbrough - Introducing
  29. Liz Phair - Soberish
  30. The Zombies - Oddities & Extras (LP)
  31. Lloyd Cole and the Commotions - 1984-1989
  32. Strum & Thrum: The American Jangle Underground 1983-1987
  33. The Band - The Last Waltz (3LP)
  34. Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee
  35. Leon Bridges - Gold-Diggers Sound
  36. Prince - Welcome 2 America
  37. Jackie Leven - Straight Outta Caledonia
  38. Christone “Kingfish” Ingram - 662
  39. Choctaw Ridge (LP)
  40. Albert King - I’ll Play the Blues For You (LP)
  41. Ray Wylie Hubbard - Co-Starring
  42. Jade Bird - Different Kinds of Light
  43. The Umbrellas
  44. Saint Etienne - I’ve Been Trying To Tell You
  45. Bob Dylan - Springtime in New York
  46. Ray Wylie Hubbard - A Enlightment, B. Endarkenment (Hint: There is No C)
  47. Carolyn Wonderland - Tempting Fate
  48. Lilly Hiatt - Lately
  49. My Morning Jacket
  50. World Party - Goodbye Jumbo (LP)
  51. Broken Chanter - Catastrophe Hits
  52. Admiral Fallow - The Idea of You
  53. Chime School
  54. Curtis Harding - If Words Were Flowers
  55. Heroes of the Night - Punk, Pop & Wave from the UK Underground 1979-1983
  56. Joe Peppercorn - Darkening Stars
  57. The Jangle Brothers - Luxardo (LP)
  58. Nicole Atkins - Memphis Ice (LP)
  59. Aida Victoria - A Southern Gothic


Used Vinyl:

  1. Bobby Rush - Sue
  2. Eddie Harris - Silver Cycles
  3. David Bromberg
  4. The Who - Quadrophenia
  5. Bobbie Gentry - Ode to Billy Joe
  6. Andy Kim - Baby I Love You
  7. The Walker Brothers - Introducing the Walker Brothers
  8. Jr. Walker and the All Stars - Greatest Hits
  9. Amanda Ambrose - Amanda
  10. Ramsey Lewis - Up Pops Ramsey Lewis
  11. Sweet Emma and Her Preservation Hall Jazz Band
  12. Sandy Nelson - Live in Las Vegas
  13. Duane Eddy - Dance With the Guitar Man
  14. Earth, Wind & Fire - I Am
  15. Michel Legrand Featuring Miles Davis - Legrand Jazz
  16. Coleman Hawkins and His All-Stars - Timeless Jazz
  17. Chi Coltrane
  18. Eddie Harris - Free Speech
  19. Howlin’ Wolf - Moanin’ In the Moonlight
  20. Soup Dragons - Whole Wide World

Thursday, December 31, 2020

Celebrate

 I did manage to see at least one film a week during this God-awful year. Most of them were thanks to the good people of TCM. The last film I saw in a theater was 1917. Also watched a lot of television shows, new and old. Giri/Haji was outstanding. What We Do in the Shadows is terrific. Probably more of the same in 2021. I do not see myself in a theater for many many months. Have a safe and peaceful New Year's Eve, we earned it.

  1. Return of the Jedi
  2. The Late Show
  3. 1917
  4. The Magnificent Seven
  5. Beach Party (1963)
  6. Jo Jo Rabbit
  7. Uncorked
  8. Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage
  9. Stop Making Sense
  10. Network
  11. The Wizard of Oz
  12. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
  13. Splendor in the Gras
  14. The General (1926)
  15. Purple Rose of Cairo
  16. The Hollies: Look Through Any Window
  17. A Streetcar Named Desire
  18. Rebel Without A Cause
  19. A Hard Days Night
  20. Don’t Look Back
  21. With Byrd at the South Pole
  22. Palm Springs
  23. The One Man Beatles
  24. Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
  25. NotFilm
  26. Mitchell (1975)
  27. Bedazzled (1967)
  28. Lady and the Tramp
  29. Black Panther
  30. Sour Grapes (2016)
  31. The T.A.M.I. Show
  32. Jimi Hendrix (1973)
  33. The Great Buster - A Celebration
  34. Sherlock Jr.
  35. The Trial of the Chicago 7
  36. A Fine Madness
  37. A Hard Days Night
  38. Bananas
  39. Rocky Horror Picture Show
  40. The Booksellers
  41. The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  42. One Million Dubliners
  43. A Christmas Carol (1938)
  44. Mangrove
  45. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
  46. Christmas in Connecticut
  47. Soul
  48. Llamageddon
  49. A Chump At Oxford
  50. Vinyl (2000)

Thursday, December 24, 2020

It's been three months

Still here. Still alive and COVID-Free. Still maintaining amid death, batshit crazy and being in place. My father in law died earlier this month of a non-COVID condition and that's taken a lot of good emotions away from us. 

I was referred for cataract surgery in September, had the surgeries in November and that has changed my life significantly. Now I can see distance but need readers for up close. It's been a profound adjustment. 

Still buying music, listening to it when I can. It's hard to focus and my guitar playing time has suffered.

Here's the list of what I bought this year. The stars mean I really liked it. My two faves are Bob Dylan's Rough and Rowdy Ways and Emma Swift's Blonde on the Tracks. It's been a Bob year. 

Have not bought much vinyl due to COVID, but my recent nothing else to do but buy shit during COVID phase brought me some wonderful Japanese pressings, and the Dave Clark Five record is a revelation of rock and roll energy.

Wishing you all a peaceful Christmas, and I'll probably post a movies I watched entry next week. Be safe. 

  1. Bobby Rush - Sittin’ on Top of the Blues
  2. Rough Guide to World Guitar Music
  3. Algiers - There is No Year
  4. Bill Fay - Countless Branches
  5. Basic Plumbing - Keeping Up Appearances *
  6. Ben Watt - Storm Damage
  7. Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again *
  8. Ann Peebles - I Can't Stand the Rain
  9. Guided By Voices - Surrender Your Poppy Field
  10. Buddy Guy & Junior Wells Play the Blues
  11. Nadia Reid - Out of My Province
  12. Maria McKee - La Vita Nuova
  13. Lily Hiatt - Walking Proof *
  14. John Prine
  15. John Prine - The Missing Years
  16. Dan Berggren in Concert (CD)
  17. Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters
  18. The Jam - The Gift (LP)
  19. The Amazing Nina Simone (LP)
  20. Lucinda Williams - Good Souls, Better Angels
  21. Ric Napoli
  22. Ric Napoli - The Atlanta Sessions
  23. Fela Kuti - Expensive Shit
  24. Tony Allen - NEPA
  25. COVAID-614
  26. Cherry Chrome - Place of Love *
  27. Nick Tolford & Company - Lost My Mind
  28. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - Reunions
  29. Badly Drawn Boy - Banana Skin Shoes
  30. Nicole Atkins - Italian Ice (LP) *
  31. Sondre Lerche -Patience
  32. The Explorer’s Club
  33. The Explorer’s Club - To Sing and Be Born Again
  34. Bob Dylan - Rough and Rowdy Ways *
  35. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher
  36. Eccentric Soul - The CapSoul Label (Vinyl)
  37. The Jayhawks - Xoxo
  38. Freddie King - Let’s Hide Away and Dance Away
  39. Pretenders - Hate For Sale
  40. Gillian Welch - Boots No. 2. The Lost Songs Vol. 1
  41. Robyn Hitchcock - The Man Upstairs: Demos and Rarities
  42. Davey Horne
  43. Emma Swift - Blonde on the Tracks (download and LP) *
  44. Bebel Gilberto - Agora
  45. Feargal Sharkey
  46. Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blue 
  47.  The Who - Odds & Sods (RDS vinyl)
  48.  Funkadelic - Maggot Brain (Vinyl)
  49. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Henry’s Dream
  50. P.J. Harvey - To Bring You My Live (demos)
  51. Toots & the Maytalls - Best of
  52. Lydia Loveless - Daughter
  53. Denise Johnson - Where Does It Go *
  54. Jeffrey David DiCicca - The Unlikely Optimist and His Domestic Adventures
  55. Catherine Anne Davies & Bernard Butler - In Memory of My Feelings *
  56. Betty Davis - They Say I’m Different
  57. Tom Petty - Wildflowers & the Rest (3LP & download)
  58. Bruce Springsteen - Letter To You
  59. Busta Rhymes - Extinction Level Event Two: The Wrath of God *
  60. The Dirty Knobs - Wreckless Abandon
  61. Deep Sea Diver - Impossible Weight
  62. Straight Scared: A Columbus Tribute to New Bomb Turks
  63.  Jill Lorean - Not Your First
  64. Belle and Sebastian - What To Look For In Summer (2-LP)

 Used Vinyl

  1. Johnny Nash - I Can See Clearly Now
  2. XTC - Skylarking
  3. The Marachi Brass featuring Chet Baker - Double Shot
  4. Beatles For Sale (Japanese pressing)
  5. Rabbit - Broken Arrows
  6. Beatles - Abbey Road (Japanese pressing)
  7. Beatles - Help! (Japanese pressing)
  8. Issac Hayes - For the Sake of Love
  9. Dave Clark Five - 16 Greatest Hits (Japanese pressing)

Sunday, August 2, 2020

In deep as the walls thicken

This pandemic has been a tough thing to keep any focus throughout. From working at home and missing the Hell out of physical materials to a bored as Hell special needs teenager whose life has been upended overnight - decisions are hard. 

I'm supposed to be going back to work on a half day basis later this month, and I'm ok with that. Again, I really miss books, maps and I do not think either of them are going to kill me. Hell is other people though and there will be maybe a third of normal staffing in the building so there will be social distances. My son's school is set to be distance learning later this month and full time in early September. He does not take well to distance learning and needs a lot of one on one education. I'm really torn. If there was a wsy for him to go a couple of days a week I'd be more accepting. 

I also do not think Ohio's numbers are going to be low enough for anyone to go back to school. Naturally I'm concerned for my son's health. I am also concerned for the health of his teachers, the school's staff, other students and so on. This is really hard. It's been hard to plan and it's going to be very difficult to implement. No one is going to come out ahead. 

All the while legal documents are now in place to assist with the inevitable turning of 18 by the soon to be legal adult. It's a weird time. 

What would have been my 35th wedding anniversary was last week. Twelve years ago she said to never contact her again, I have not done so. Meanwhile she blocks me on Facebook even as she liked one of my tweets a few weeks ago. 

Another result of the lack of courage this country has is that the U.S. Passport has become a useless document, we're the shithole country now. It did not have to happen this way and I blame the GOP cultists in the senate. 

So we sit at home, watching the sparrows and house finches out the window. While I Aimlessly play the new acoustic I traded up for, and wait for what?