Thought I Knew it All Baby

Teena Marie died today at the age of 54. She was Madonna before Madonna. A white woman who was quite funky.



I always liked playing that one.

Just turned off the television after the Blackhawks went on top of the Blue Jackets 3-0. This team could not score in a bordello with pockets stuffed with $100 bills. Coach Arniel has to be scratching his head, a lot, wondering what he got himself into in his rookie season as a head coach in the NHL. A team that has little offense, no talent on defense and a goaltender who developed the hockey equivalent of Steve Blass Syndrome.

What to do about this team? No idea. Upper level management, above GM Scott Howson even, needs to be reassessed and possibly replaced, as does the scouting system. Does ownership really care about this team being in Columbus after John McConnell died? People are not paying to see this team play and can you blame them?

In the short term this team needs a shake up, one that can be started by replacing captain Rick Nash with R.J. Umberger. Nash needs to concentrate on scoring. Period. Umberger hates to lose and I think he has the ability to be accountable on the ice and make sure his teammates are as well.

There's very little in the farm system. A lot of bodies, undeveloped young talent, and little else. You can say a trade is needed, but the team has little to offer. It could be ten out of eleven seasons that the Blue Jackets do not make the playoffs, a sad display of a sadder franchise.

He's got a signed Picasso!

Rest in Peace, Leslie Nielsen.

Rest in Peace

I did not know Anna well. Heck I’m not even sure what her real name was. She was real though; there was nothing phony about her. We met through Caitie's Live Journal, and were friends on Facebook. We'd pop up in each other comments from time to time. She told me she read this blog, but hated jumping though hoops to comment. I’m projecting a lot into what little I knew about her. One person said she was magic and that is indisputable.

In my decade plus on the internet I’ve watched people I’ve never met in person die, some a more sudden and tragic death, others a sad decline due to disease. Anna kept fighting the cancer and she was not quite strong enough to beat it.

She told the most fascinating stories of her life past and present. I’d like to think she’d led a full life, cut short as it was. She was a little older than me, with a son, boyfriend and many friends and family who are going to miss her words online and face to face.

Show Mommy Where the Poet Touched You

There's something to be said about a sex poem. When it's good it can inspire, titillate and engage the listener or reader.

Then there's the opposite.

A poet introduced his poem as Mountain Love, a Poetic Fantasy. It started pleasant enough, with images of storms along with the consumption of wine and dark chocolate.

Quickly after those words were spoken, the descent into the dark beyond began. Orifices had things inserted into them, the phrase 'hairy hole' had the crowd squirming in their seats as one.

All that was missing was a "Name and Address Withheld by Request" coda. I think it was not a coincidence that Bob Guccione passed away, possibly while that poem was being read.

Something in many of us died after hearing that poem last night. My poetic open mic innocence was shed long ago, but I cannot imagine what it was like for the fifteen year old in the audience who was attending her first poetry reading.

There was also a Women of the World qualifier slam that Vernell won. I got myself one nasty sore throat today by yelling at the judges. Karmic payback.

You never know what's going to happen at an open mic. Last weeks breastfest was rather tame in comparison to last night's Letter to Penthouse. Next week is the Halloween show. Will there be Elvira costumes, or torture porn?

But You'll Find Out Just Wait and See

After last night's open mic, I was hankering for a snack. I remembered there was a taco truck at Lane and High so I went a couple of blocks south only to find that it was closed. This made me sad.

What Columbus does need is a late night Chippie, or something like this.

It was after I was home and lamented this on Facebook that others gave me options, all of them valid.

I'm sure I've written a bit here about The Knack. That band from the late seventies who had that one big hit, a couple of small ones, then vanished into a VH-1 special. They did some great covers too, and I found this a couple of nights ago.



This Buddy Holly song is blistering. I love the "Oh Wow" out of Fieger at 1:10. They had no idea what was coming. Their debut album had not even been released yet, nor was My Sharona, when they played Carnegie Hall in March of 1979.

Get the Knack was a big hit and expectations were high for the follow up. But the Little Girls Understand was a rush job, and the first single, Baby Talks Dirty was a My Sharona sound alike that paled to the original.

In 1981 their third record, Round Trip, was released. I think it's one of the most overlooked records, ever. At it's worst, a failed experiment. At best, prime examples of power pop, new wave and psychedelia.



Find this if you can.

The band broke up, got back together a few times, made some records few listened to, toured the nostalgia circuit. Their drummer, Bruce Gary, died of cancer in 2006. Then, in February of this year, lead singer Doug Fieger, died of brain cancer.

That Darn Closure

Still thinking about Andyman's passing. My first wife was a disc jockey on his station for a brief time. Triggered me a bit with the question I was asked a couple of weeks ago. She made some very cruel posts about me on craigslist a few years back then accused me of spying on her when I called her on them.

I never did get an answer to my question. How is seeing posts made in a pubic message board, or a blog or website that is public and not password protected considered spying?

If you put material out there for the public to see you should be responsible and know who is going to be a part of the audience. It could be anyone. It often is someone you specifically do not want to see what you're ranting about. People do not like to be caught being jerkwads, or sticking their foot deeper and deeper into their mouths. I guess that's what makes them jerkwads. Lord knows I've stuck my keyboard up my ass too many times to mention.



Back to Andyman. Another time when he was the PA announcer for the OSU hockey games he announced a penalty on an opposing player as, "Two minutes for holding the steek."

You read the Facebook and Twitter tributes and you see the impact one person had on people in the city. It will be hard to replace someone who had the personality he had.

Now I'm getting word from wife2 that she does not want to keep the dog. There's nothing wrong with the dog, but she does not think she has the personality to be a fur-mother, or whatever term she used. Better to find out now than later I guess. Now she has to find a home for the sweet guy. Wonder if my son with notice the dog is gone? Something she should have thought through, like so many other schemes she has had, which I'm sure includes marrying me.

Maybe I won't be so damn angsty when the heat breaks, at this rate we're looking at October.

Taking Calls...

My wife informed me about the death of local radio personality Andyman this morning. I never met him, but his personality, and voice, were everywhere in this city. He'd been a part of the radio scene for almost twenty years.

I remember him when he was the PA announcer for the Ohio State Hockey games. He messed up the pronunciation of Mike Komisarek's hometown. It's Eye-Slip Terrace not Is-lip!

On at least one New Years Eve, he was lowered by a crane at midnight, wearing only a diaper. He did a lot of good for local charities, raised a lot of money and awareness. He loved Columbus, owned a bar that had a tree growing in the middle of it - he was a local version of Falstaff.

He lost a lot a weight, started a family, had three children and will be a voice that is going to be hard to replace.

Over the weekend he drowned while on vacation.

Life is too short. Rest in peace, Andyman. You're missed already.

Keeping Heads Above Water

Yesterday was a very introspective day concerning my thoughts on the internet and social networking. The topic received a thorough and spirited discussion which got me thinking about Columbus and how it is perceived by outsiders.

It also was good for me to vent a little in a productive way. I did not like what Michael Ruhlmam said. I wrote him a reasonable email, not a blog post about wanting him to die in a fire. I got a respectful response. Lines of communication were kept open. Still, not enough for some people, but plenty for me. And it was not the 'celebrity' writing me back. It's the same situation as a poor business transaction, or part of a poetry slam you do not like - it's a good thing to offer on the spot constructive criticism. To find the person in charge and make concerns known. I guess it's easier to archive outrage in a blog or sit in internet purity on a message board than to be proactive.

What do you all think of Columbus? What are you initial reactions to it, especially if you have never lived here? What were your thoughts about it when you found out you were going to live here? I've lived here for twenty years and I'm learning things about it every day.

George Steinbrenner died yesterday. I'm no Yankee fan, while he made sure baseball players got paid well it also made it difficult for those who are not well off to attend a baseball game. In the mid nineties I was at a Clippers game with wife no.1, we were walking though the concourse and I saw a short, portly man. It was Steinbrenner, all by himself, putting ketchup on his burger. I was impressed that he was doing something ordinary, but also thought that the last person who did that for him incorrectly probably got fired, as did the person before that. She went to talk to him and had a casual conversation. She told me as she started talking to him she could see a look pass over him that meant that he wanted to be left alone but quickly changed to one in which he was dealing with the public. I'm not sure about the conversation, but it was short and not unpleasant.

Here's a video of my son swimming.

Jeff Abraxas Memorial Event

On Sunday, May 23rd, at 3pm, there will be an event to pay tribute to Jeff and his artwork. Its at Urban Spirit Coffee Shop on Long St. There will be a chance for anyone to share reflections about Jeff. Then, there will be a walking tour of his murals.

Before I Call Mom

This just in: I will be a guest tonight, Sunday May 9th on Speaking of Poetry, with Miss Vernell and Miss J. You can listen in at THIS ADDRESS starting at 6PM EDT.

Everton's season is over. I can bemoan what could have been. Those late second half blown leads against Aston Villa and West Ham come to mind. Four more points would have put them ahead of Liverpool. After the injuries and the horrible start though, eighth place and out of the Europa League seems about right. Now it's time for Moyes and the board to find some players, early, in the summer transfer window and get it right next season.



Made another visit to Jeff's shrine late Friday. More notes of remembrance, flowers, someone left a couple of paint brushes. It's very sweet. WOSU made mention of his death also. No mention in the Dispatch yet.

Holding My Brush as Best as I Can

The city, hell, the world has lost a fine artist.

I did not know Jeff Abraxas very well. He was a good friend to several of the poets at Writers' Block and had only recently started coming to the night. We were Facebook friends, we played Scrabble. When we talked he was incredibly supportive and positive. Then, a few weeks ago, he got sick. He called us from his hospital bed and Vernell read a poem he had just wrote. It was for us. We all cheered him and wished him a speedy recovery.

He died today.



If you've been to the Lincoln Theater or have traveled down Long Street in Columbus you've seen his murals. Colorful, historical and full of life. I understand he was always drawing, using pen, marker, pencil, whatever he had at hand. I think he was in the corner during Scott Woods' 24 hour reading, sketching the dawn.

He left a lot of empty canvases. I'd like to think he left them for us to fill in.

He's gone way too soon.

Rest in peace, Jeff. Thank you for your short time with us. You gave us much to be inspired by.

Go down Long Street. Start at Zanzibar, then head east to Urban Spirit and see the art Jeff left for us to appreciate, and the portraits we shall not forget.

If he died in Memphis, then that'd be cool, babe.

Alex Chilton died today of a heart attack. He was 59. I saw him play twice, first at Staches, a small club in Columbus. It was a very loose night. Alex was in a good mood, bumming cigarettes from audience members. He even took requests. I yelled out "Volare" and a couple of songs later it was played.

The second time he opened for the Counting Crows at the Newport. This was not his crowd. It was too big and inattentive. He did show up a similar white outfit, and channeled Adriano Celentano with this song. He was awesome.



The rockers, from the session players like Larry Knectel and backup singers like Lesley Duncan are leaving us quickly now, and way too soon.

Mourning

Ron Lundy died yesterday at the age of 75. Lundy was one of the five voices of my life between the ages of five to thirteen. He was a disc jockey on WABC radio.

With Bruce Morrow, Harry Harrison, Chuck Leonard and Dan Ingram, these guys on the radio every day had their fingers on the pulse of New York City and beyond. WABC's signal, 50,000 watts of clear channel power, went up and down the east coast.

Lundy was class, they all were. This station was one of the main reasons I went on to seek a career in radio. They are why I know so much about music. It was important and I am sad to hear that Lundy is no more.



Rest in peace. You made New York the greatest city in the world!

Some girls will tell you anything...

Lead singer Doug Fieger of the Knack, died yesterday of cancer. He was 57.

The first album made high school suck less. The second record was a wash out. The third, Round Trip, was an under promoted masterpiece. He also sang with Was (Not Was) on a few songs. His brother, Geoffrey, is an attorney who represented Jack Kevorkian.





A somewhat productive weekend. Some good thrifting was done. Locks were changed with minimal cussing.

If you watch the Olympics today, send some love out to American Luger Erin Hamlin. She's the niece of a friend of mine.