Hugs and handshakes

It's a rare time when I can say I saw two of the best concerts I've seen in the past 18 years in less than a week, but it happened.

We took a road trip to Dayton to see David Byrne last Saturday. It had been over thirty years since I saw him with Talking Heads during the infamous Stop Making Sense tour in Buffalo. I was excited to see this tour as friends of mine had seen him earlier this year and had glowing reviews.

This was my first visit to the Rose Music Center and I was very impressed with the venue. Good sight lines, very good sound, friendly enough staff and the facilities were clean. Very classy.

The Sway Brothers in front of me, who stood the whole show despite having no one in front of them, were not classy at all. They were That Guy.



Despite the Dude Bros being Dude Bros, I managed to enjoy the performance. The staging was the boldest I'd ever seen - a bare stage surrounded by a grey beaded curtain on three sides. No amps, no drum risers, no cords. Just a troop of 14 musicians in synch with each other. It was magnificent. The lighting was awesome.



Byrne is still fit and in fine voice. The set was about a third of well chosen Talking Heads material and the theme was rhythm and joy. There is an underlying message though, during one song the entire band took a knee and the last song was Janelle Monae's Hell You Talmbout in which the band chanted the names of African Americans who have been murdered by police. It was a very powerful show that is just below that old Talking Heads show if I was ever to rank concerts I've been to.

It was with reservations five nights later that we went to the Basement, a venue I really do not like. When Nicole Atkins is coming through town though, you have to make the sacrifice. There was not that big of a crowd, so we managed to find a spot near the stage to see the opening band Ruby Boots. I was not familiar with her at all, but she made a more than a few fans with her strong voice and poignant songwriting. Best Australian opener I've seen since Kasey Chambers so long ago. We talked to her after the show and my wife and her bonded about Glasgow, where she's going for the first time later this year.

The Basement has this pit in front of the stage, where I have not been for a show due to my claustrophobia and not wanting to be where it's loud, but a friend of ours was down there so we gave it a shot.

We had very good stage proximity, so close that Nicole urged us all little closer after the first song.



The sound was not overpowering, there were no dude bros invading people's space or sight lines. It was a great show. It was wonderful to see Atkins after wanting to for so long. When I saw her perform the first time, on Letterman years ago, I was a fan then and there. Her voice is a gift and in a decent and kind world she should be better known.

So go out and get Goodnight Rhonda Lee.

After the show we hung out and talked to Scott, her guitarist. Very good dude who played with Ruby Boots her whole set so he pulled double duty. I have not mentioned the place was a freaking sauna and much respect for the bands to get through it.

The guitarist went for a drink and I left my wife for a moment, when I got back Nicole came out and went right toward her. She said she saw us dancing and they bonded over Scotland, I did not know her husband was Scottish. She's really cool, and genuine. Emma got the hug, I got the handshake. It helps to have a mad hot wife with a killer accent.

It was a fine, albeit an exhausting week.

The last week of the year

Hope you all had a fine holiday. Despite my car accident (no one was hurt) it was a very good one. My lovely wife spoiled the heck out of me. If you ever come to the Westgate Cavern you will find out why. The teenager is doing well, as long as he has his iPad to play Badfinger and the Rolling Stones' "Child of the Moon"

I, too, listened to some music this year. Here's what kept me going. Really, really liked the first two - so I'm calling it a tie for the year's best.

Algiers - The Underside of Power
Nicole Atkins - Goodnight Rhonda Lee
Alvvays - Antisocalites
Neil Finn - Out of Silence
Robyn Hitchcock - Robyn Hitchcock
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - The Nashville Sound
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings - Soul of a Woman
Little Steven - Soulfire
Lorde - Melodrama
Willie Phoenix and the Soul Underground - Garage Blues Band
St. Vincent - MASSEDUCTION
Harry Styles - Harry Styles
Tinariwen - Elwan
Waxahatchee - Out in the Storm

Next up, the movies watched list, and car buying.

The streets were full of slow moving cars

My son started school today and is technically in ninth grade. It's hard enough to let that try and sink in before realizing he will be fifteen in two weeks. He's growing taller, his feet are almost as big as mine and we're going out for new shoes this weekend.

The rest is still unknown.

Received a direct message a couple of days ago from a person who had never heard of Tom Lehrer before they came across my blog. The person was having a rough time of it recently and the discovery of his music really improved their mood. I was thanked profusely.

Glad that I could make a difference in a small, positive way. Something I thought about after a rough day in which I sat in traffic four about three and a half out of four hours straight then walked into a boisterous and loud restaurant when all I wanted was a tiny bit of peace and quiet. I plodded through, and my lovely wife did her best to improve my own stressed out ass.

Now if we all could try and make that much of a difference to better shit.

An even longer walk

Before we left I put together a list of things I'd like to do while on vacation. Would have been impressed if half of them were accomplished. To my surprise we got most of it checked off!

Yesterday my lovely Wife and I hit the west end for a bit and then we walked, and walked, then walked some more. Walked so far back into town our return ticket went unused.

Found one fine bar. So fine they have the elusive Rip Van Winkle on the top shelf. Took a trip to Scotland to finally get to try it. Verdict: it is really good but others can line up at 3AM for a chance to get a bottle.

Also found what Scotland would try and call a juke joint. I'm not sure if actual research was done, but putting pictures of blues musicians on the walls of a generic pub does not a juke joint make. It's not that it was a horrible place, it is not, but an amusing aside to the trip.

A little more walking today, a tour of Central Station, which I'm a bit stoked for, more food and a pub quiz.

All is well here but I'm getting reports of rain at home and worried about flooding in my basement. Hope all is well.

Three days, three things

It's rare that my wife and I are social. Usually on the weekends people do stuff we have my son, or a cool thing happens on a night we can't get out of the house. We're not recluses, but when we do go out, we do not usually go where everyone else goes.

So this holiday weekend we had invites to three separate things, in three different places. All with friends, which was wonderful. There was a cookout, dinner with another couple, drinks and a send off to friends who are, sadly, leaving town.

Felt good to break the social phobia a little, to have the energy to leave the house. And it was nice to be thought of. Have one restaurant criticism. If you are a well established dining destination, how come your desserts are not made in house? And to proclaim you use Haagen Daaz, when Jeni's is a 150 yards away is ridiculous!

While all this is happening over the weekend my wife has been working her ass off getting the bedroom painted. You do not want me painting because, paint. So she got all the paint in the right places while I sat around and watched a few dull world cup matches. Sure, I mowed the lawn, kept the sunflowers moist and took the back door screen to the hardware store for repair.

She, though, did the heavy work, as usual. So she earned that shandy, and then some.

The missing phone call I cannot make

First Mother's Day without Mom around this year and it's solemn. You scroll through all the pictures on the social media of friends with their Mothers who are still thriving and you can't be mad. Life is for the living. And some friends recognize that the people in their circles have Mothers who are no longer around, and that's alright too I guess.

I want to call her and say that her Grandson is going to have the same caretaker this summer as last, and they're going to have fun because they will not be going to the hospital every day like last summer.

I want to call her and say I had a great time at Kafe Kerouac's 10th anniversary bash and that Scott Woods hosted an excellent and compact 45 minutes of poetry and assembled some great poets.

I want to tell her that being involved in an increasingly bureaucratic organization is taking the fun out of it for me and I'm not doing the thing about the thing that I should be doing.

I want to tell her how wonderful my wife is at putting up with my nonsense but that we did not get into an argument at IKEA yesterday despite her not liking the coffee mug I wanted. Oh, we could afford to buy stuff at IKEA yesterday, thanks Mom.

I want to tell her we're going to have a heat pump installed later this month so we'll have central air in the house for the first time in 11 years. Thanks Mom.

I want to tell her that a lot of people miss her because she's not around. And that people will always love her.

Road Trip to the Rockmill Brewery and Covered Bridge

Truly a gorgeous autumn Saturday in Central Ohio. Unseasonably warm, with bright sunshine and low humidity. Wanted to do something to get away from the city and get us off the laptops, so I suggested a trip to a brewery to my Scottish Wife. Of course she agreed.

Not just any brewery, but The Rockmill Brewery outside of Lancaster, Ohio. They just celebrated their third year of operation. I've had a few of their Belgian style beers, and they are excellent. Now it was finally time to go to the source.

I checked a map, and thought it would be an easy turnoff of route 33. Did not bring a map with me, which was the wrong move. Ended up going past Lancaster, turning around, taking the wrong Lithopolis Road but seemed to slowly spiral toward the brewery, as if by magic. There was no yelling, no cursing, no gnashing of teeth. We got there safe and sound. We did not even drive past it despite the signage.



It's a very rustic facility. Ended up going into the main house, which is a residence, and not the tasting room. This guy was no help for directions.



Eventually we made our way to the place where the beer is.



For $12 you get a flight of every beer that is available. This was plenty for two as the beers are quite strong and my wife did not want to fall asleep and I had to drive home. For one person, it's a lot of strong beer. The owner/brewer is doing a world class job making authentic Belgian beer in Ohio. He fell in love with Saison Dupont and wanted to recreate it for himself. By coincidence the family homestead has water that is similar to that in the places the good Belgian beer is made. It's a lovely place to reflect on what you're drinking. And they serve the flights in Glencairn glasses. If you order a pint, you get it in a Riedel Crystal tulip. Serious stuff that I really appreciate.



I really want to take some out of town, and in town, beer aficionados here. I think they'll be pleasantly surprised by the quality of the product. It's not cheap, but well worth the price. I really like the Wit, and the Tripel. All the beer is quality. The Dubbel aged in whiskey casks was a bit over the top for me. Very sherry like, but there are people out there who would love it.

Just down the road from the brewery, not even a quarter mile, is The Rockmill Covered Bridge. I checked my pictures when we returned home to see if I had been here before. Back in the nineties, we drove all over Ohio to find covered bridges, as a fun day trip. This bridge was negotiable by vehicle then, not so now.



The bridge was built in 1901 and still looks grand. Right next to it is a mill that was built in 1824 that is being restored to its glory. It overlooks a rather scenic 90 foot gorge.



For perspective the mill wheel is 26 feet in diameter and was restored in 2012. This is a great day trip.



I also saw a couple of these Autism Speaks puzzle pieces painted on the ground for some reason.