Tengo miedo (I'm frightened!)

It's June.

Frigging hell. It's hot. It was 90F today. I hate the heat. Next stop, Alaska. Por favor. Class from 8:30 -10:00 tomorrow. Then 12:00 - 2:00. Then my last class is canceled as it's a holiday week. What else is new?

Don is still in Florida.

Our bassist was complaining about having to help us move my kit with his car on Saturday. Tamara told him not to be a girl! Ha! She's awesome.

We go on the radio on Wed. morning to promote our gig on Aprende Ingles (learn English) radio. My friend Alberto has a show
and invited us on. Should be a hoot.
It's nice to have friends in low places. :)

I wanted to do a Dio/Rainbow cover, as a tribute to our fallen dark master, but we didn't have time to learn one. Oh well. Next time.

It'll be a fun week. We'll try and record the show.

How's this for a book title; Turn Tables of the Damned.

It's about three teenagers in the 2000's who only listen to vinyl and then they discover a plot that Satan is trying to bring about the end of the world through playing LP's. It'll turn out to be progressive rock versus Satan's sixteen year old pop princess.

Man, i need to just go to bed. Forgive my ramblings.

nighty night,.. you.... rabbit -Mad scientist to Bugs Bunny

Weird Report:

I am reading, Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Killer. It's brilliant. History and vampires! Are you kidding me?! I love it! I can't believe someone actually wrote such a thing.

And know i am watching the remake of On The Beach. Why am i so morbid? I mean, i find it very enjoyable. It doesn't bring me down. You get a glimpse of the worst and well,...it helps you appreciate the best. Nevil Shute wrote a masterpiece. Mum always loved it. It's about Armageddon. Damnation. It's just so beautiful it makes me want to cry and laugh at the same time. Armand Assante, Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown are fantastic. Beautifully written rewrite of the script. Just bloody brilliant. Difficult film to redo, but Showtime nailed it. Nick Cave even has a song in it!

i turn 800 on Saturday! Woo hoo! You undead bloodsuckers can kiss my ass. I'm with the 16th President of the United States! Kill'em all. Let Dio sort them out.

Mets are on the west coast. Impossible to watch. Well, they'll be back east soon enough. It wa sa bad weekend vs. the Brew Crew. But a guy named Dickey got the win for the Mets. Dickey! Heee, heee. Tonight i think Seymour Hooters is pitching.

I release you from this blog.

You can go your own way -Fleetwood Mac

Mum loves the Mac too.

Thank God (who doesn't exist) for ventiladors (fans)!

Love this movie. If you rent it and don't like it i'll buy you a velocirapter. Provided i can find the DNA (see Michael Crichton; Jurasic Park, parts I-XI).

"In the name of St. Micahel and St. George, I CAST ME OUT!" -El Dude

Purple hair, purple hair

Hit Girl

Dennis Hopper is dead. So sad. He was a great actor. He knew how to play a crazy person. He was a crazy person.

And Gary Coleman is dead too. He was 42. I won't miss him as much as Hopper but it's sad to see someone die so young.

Pete and went to see a charity match between AC Milan and Real Madrid. It was all old timers. Zidane and Figo played for Real Madrid. It was only 10E a ticket and was good fun.

The movie, Kick Ass is hysterical. The funniest movie since Super Bad. It's gross and hilarious.

There's mines over there, there's mines over there, and watch out those goddamn monkeys bite, I'll tell ya.

-Dennis Hopper, Apocalypse Now

Long Live Rock and Roll

Ronnie James Dio (1942 -2010)

















High noon
Oh I'd sell my soul for water
Nine years' worth
Of breakin' my back
There's no sun in the shadow of the wizard
See how he glides
Why he's lighter than air
Oh I see his face

-Rainbow

More random weirdness;

= The 2010 World Cup Broadcast is a 2.15 billion Euro Business.

= Former MLB Pitcher Jose "Lima Time!" Lima dropped dead of a heart attack at 37. I used to hear him on the Jim Rome radio show. He was hilarious. He loved the game. He shall be missed.

= Ronnie James Dio, 62, died of stomach cancer. He was the former Rainbow/Black Sabbath/ singer who also had a solo career. Great voice. Lyrics of wizards, magic, seers, evil, religion, etc. Cool stuff. He looked as if he was a character in Lord of the Rings.

= The Mets shutout the Phillies for 21 innings in a 3 game sweep. Toma! (Take it!)

= I read that AARP may get behind decriminalizing marijuana/medical use/legalization because use among 55-59 year olds has tripled in the past few years from 1.9 to 5.9. Many of them are using it medicinally for aches, pains, arthritis or in place of sleeping pills. I was really surprised but i read it in the Washington Post. AARP has a lot of lobbying power. I taught it in class because it really illustrates the power of organizing. Students have been really intrigued.


Do your demons - do they ever let you go
When you've tried - do they hide -deep inside
Is it someone that you know
You're a picture - just an image caught in time
We're a lie - you and I
We're words without a rhyme

There's no sign of the morning coming
You've been left on your own
Like a Rainbow in the Dark
-Ronnie James Dio

Odd but Actual

i feel the way you would

i feel the way you would

i feel, i feel the way you would

-Rush

+ A bird shat on my hand today. It was green. It was either diarrhea or green M&M's. I pray it was green M&M's. Either way, my luck should improve.

+ The Mets took 2 0ut of 3 from the Bronx Bombers.

+ I will be old next week.

+ Keith Hernandez just said "It's hot. I'm sweating through my clothes." Unless you're Tricia Helfer, i don't need to know that.

+ I hate the heat. It kicks my ass when it first hits here. So dry. So very very dusty, arid, devoid of all moisture seco (dry).

+ I travel more in a week for work than a f*&king astronaut.

+ I am going to see a student of mine play drums on Friday after we jam. She plays in a punk band. She is super cool. Tiny. I could throw her a meter (how romantic!).

Why does it happen?

Because it happens

Roll the bones

-Rush

week end, week begin,

Domingo

Five hours of drums in two days. I am exhausted. Sounded good. It'll be a fun gig next week.
Seems like i spend all my time teaching English or playing drums. This is a good thing.
Mets / Yankees rubber game at 2:00am

The Hawks are about to clinch a birth in the Stanley Cup Final. Yep. They're in. Go Hawks. I hate both Philly and Montreal.

Lunes

The Mets win the Subway Series, part 1. Yeah! Next up; Phillies.
Okay....cook dinner, watch the Lost finale, go sleeping.

21:36. Still light. The sun shines forever here. 83 F today. Hot.

M-E-T-S, Mets!

The Sacred and the Profane

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.
-Talking Heads


I cleared up the problem with my health insurance and i am covered again! Who wants to go play in a dumpster outside a hospital? Play chicken throwing knives? Eat fugu and other potentially poisonous pieces of sushi? Dance on an awning? Ride a starving killer whale?

Anyone?
Anyone?
Bueller?
Bueller?

It was an aggravating process, but it worked out. Of course they tried to charge me for the time i was without coverage and i told them to bite my ass.

Played with my friend Margarita yesterday. She sings, plays guitar, writes her own stuff with programming and everything, very talented. I basically had to teach myself how to play like a drum machine. D'oh! But Neil Peart did the same thing when he came up for the drums for The Weapon off of Rush's Signals album, so at least i'm in good company. She's a great singer and guitarist. Her friend Javi plays lead guitar and myself on drums makes three.

But it was really cool to play something so different. Makes the brainwaves move in a different way.

I practice with From Lost to the River tonight from 19:30 -22:30. Gig in two weeks! Yeah!

Playing 4 or 5 hours a week is good both to keep my skills honed and for aerobic exercise.

Last year the doctors said i was in great shape. I can only attribute that to all the walking and playing drums.

And by the way. It was over a year ago that i was mugged. The 21st into the 22nd. Thankfully, I am alive and well. Much gratitude to all of you who helped me and stood by me through all that. I will never forget it.

Morena Baccarin (Anna from the new V ) is both hot and evil. That's dangerous combo. I like it!

The fugu is fugly. But tasty, i hear. I bet Morena Baccarin is too.

Through the Ether

Tomorrow i'm going to play drums with my friend, Margarita, and a another guitarist. She usually plays solo (with programming and stuff) but wants to try something with a group at her next gig. Fun, edgy, alternative stuff. Should be good for me to try a new brand of drumming.

I am tired in an ethereal way. So much going. Going here, going there, going on, going down. It seems funny but it's just madness really. I'm looking forward to the annual summer tour.

I am thinking about moving out of this shit hole moldy flat for June. Only problem is at Maria's place (who offered for me to live there in June - i'll leave my stuff by her over the summer) is the three cats weren't much better last night when we discussed it. Itchy hands from the cats, or it could be my allergy sensitivity is higher after living here for 6 months. So there is a decision to make rather quickly. I was kind of weening myself off of antihistamines, but i guess i obviously need them. I've had some kind of dermal allergy here at this flat which must be the mold).

It never ends. Always something to worry about. I guess that's life. More will be revealed soon.

Stay tuned!

Brick by brick

I still don't know what I was waiting for
And my time was running wild
A million dead-end streets
Every time I thought I'd got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet
So I turned myself to face me
But I've never caught a glimpse
Of how the others must see the faker
I'm much too fast to take that test

-David Bowie

movement is around the corner - i feels it in my bones

not sure what, but it'll be something

time goes by

heat is coming

Atleti lost the Copa del Rey to Sevilla, a very good team, 2-0. Not to worry, they won the big one last week.

heat is here. warm the past few days

good days are coming

We don't need no punctuation

-Pink Floyd (adapted)

Lick My Eyes

Friggin Hell! It's getting HOT. Only 81F today, but i walk everywhere. Hot. "Wicked Hot!" as they say in CT. I'm going to die when summer hits full on. 93-98F Ugh! And then i go back to the US Northeast where it's humid as balls.

Well, i was just on our roof and it was delightful. 12 stories is pretty high for this city.

The Copa Del Rey FInal is tomorrow! Vamos Atleti! To win two titles in one season, a double, is a rare and impressive thing.

The Mets finally won. Pelfry pitched last night and has been pretty awesome all year long.

I hope Chicago wins the Stanley Cup. They just might.

22:30 - I should cook something delicious. Grilled cheese and tomato!

"That'll do pig. That'll do."
-James Cromwell, Babe

There's all sorts of white fluffy crap floating in the air the past four days. High spring. Lotsa allergy crap. I feel pretty good, i just upped my antihistamine dosage.

Better living through chemistry!
-Pat Smith

Stop writing...just....step...away from the keyboard....

This blog has become my solace. A part of my brain. Thanks to all of you who have read my driveling crap for the past 3+ years. Wow. I don't even understand why people do that. But thanks. Seriously.

Yeah. Grilled cheese with tomato sounds pretty good.

Much work. Much much. Very good. I hope in continues into the Fall.

Everything changes. Nothing changes. Same old, same old. Same as it ever was.

Just.....walk.....away........

Evil never changes. Goodness never changes. These things are constant. Absolute. I think i'm discovering my math side, beside drums (Mum cheers!).

The square root of 111. Answer; 10.53565375

Me so Smart!

I can't believe HEROES was canceled. NBC sucks. Including Chris Collinsworth and Bob Costas. .

I talked to Annie and Sue on Skype this weekend. Annie was telling me stories and showing me pictures. It was incredible. She showed me a picture of Fripp and said, "Look - Frippy!" She knows i'm his "daddy." She's adorable. I can't help but love her. That can only be a good thing. She's just..... precious.

Sleep. Wake up at 7:00 manana. Sleep well ye in the new world.

I fall asleep listening to a live version of King Crimson playing The Sheltering Sky in 1983 in Fregus. Brilliant stuff.

go to bed

my eyes are dry
lick them please
-Traditional

Things carry on. And on. And on

San Isidro (part IV)

The Patron Saint of Madrid, May 15. (c. 1070 – 15 May 1130)

Known as Isidro the Farmer. He is the Patron Saint of Madrid. The legend goes that his fellow workers complained that he was always late to work, and his master found him praying while an angel was doing his plowing for him.

He got married and had a son who fell down a deep well. Isidro prayed and the waters of the well rose up and delivered the child safely. Immediately afterwards, Isidro and his wife vowed abstinence and slept in separate houses from thence on.

I fail to see the logic in that.

Band practiced on Friday, without our lead guitarist, who had to work. It was a fun time.

I watched The FA Cup Final with Pete and then went to see Susana's boyfriend, Joe, who broke his ankle on Wednesday. He slipped going down the stairs to his flat because they were wet, with no sign to warn him. In the US he would have gotten a fortune, but not here. Susana was away for the Holiday so i asked if he needed anything. "A few liter bottles of beer would be superb!" SO i guess i was kind of like the Red Cross. Then I met Brian at the festival but it was pandemonium because Atletico was playing its last home game of the season less than a mile away. Idiots! Who plans these things? The Metro was insane, jammed with thousands of people. So i went home and watched the Mets lose again. Same as it ever was.

Tonight will decide La Liga, Barca or Real Madrid. Barca controls their own destiny. Barca plays at home and Real plays in Malaga. Pete and i will go somewhere showing both games.

Work starts up again tomorrow in full, which is good. 57 today, it's been cooler than usual, which is nice.

And that's my life.

:)

3

Ashes to ashes, funk to funky
We know Major Tom's a junkie
Strung out in heaven's high
Hitting an all-time low
-David Bowie

i'm writing again. On the Metro in a notebook. How nostalgic! It 's like i'm three.

Three was a good year.

I remember loving pork chops and Pork ribs.

Memories!

Annie is three. Wow! She digs progressive rock! How f%$king great is that! Maybe she'll play an instrument and we'll jam some day. That would be brilliant.

Ears-eyes, eyes-ears. They come in pairs. Mostly....mostly.

Taught lyrics to GENESIS: Get'em out by Friday, Squonk, Entangled, RUSH: Red Barchetta. this week. I love my job! That's a nice thing. I could make a lot more being a hit man, which i'm confident i would excel at, but you have to do what you love.

I'd love whacking people. I mean, I'm NJ Italian. But teaching is fine. Less dangerous.

it seems like the wise choice.

I can't stop typing.

These Marlins announcers SUCK! Redneck, kiss your older sister, tobacco drinking, epsilon minus semi-morons!

Please stop typing.

My mother said to get things done
You'd better not mess with Major Tom
-David Bowie

Locke

John Locke, 1632-1704

Well, it appears i have made the right decision by staying til Dec. The school fell through for my friend Edward in Belize. And S.Korea insisted i have a criminal check done in Spain as well as the USA. I told them that in Spain it was impossible. "Why?" she asked. "Cause i don't exist. I'm invisible. I am not here and never was here." She couldn't get her arms around the concept of my status here. Moron.

So here i am.

Madrid is my Hotel California. The Island from Lost.

You can check out anytime you like but you can never leave.

-The Eagles

Number of European Championships Real Madrid has had since i moved here: 0

Number of European Championships Atletico Madrid has had since i moved here: 1

Toma! (He takes it! or more colloquially, Suck my balls!)

I am watching the Mets. I just adore watching the Mets. It's like a part of my brain.

But watching baseball is genetic in my fambly.

"And why can't you believe, Jack?"

Locke to Jack, Lost.

Por Fin! (Finally!)

I am the champions
I am the champions!
-Homer Simpson

For only the second time in their 107 year history, Atletico Madrid are European champions. With a 2-1 win over Fulham in extra time, Atletico won the Inaugural Europa League title (formerly the UEFA Cup). Madrid went crazy. Don, Pete, Dave and I went up on the roof and watched the celebration, complete with fireworks, car horns and much yelling.

So, i got to see history. After 3 1/2 years; watching them qualify for the Champions League against Schalke of Germany in 2008, and going to about 50 matches, finally, a title.

Viva Atleti!

And they have a shot at another trophy next Wed. They play Sevilla in the Copa Del Rey Final.

i hope i am in such form when i am 107!

Everything Changes

For numerous reasons, the main ones being the new found cache of work i've found and wanting another few months with the band, into which so much work has been poured (all of it a pleasure), i may stay in Madrid til December. Don't poop yourself Mum! I'll still be back for the summer. Maybe even until mid Sept. Plans within plans, wheels within wheels. Right now it's just a thought, to be determined by early June. It will also give me more time to find my next job, which i'd love to be in Latin America. I'm looking into some tutoring jobs i may be able to swing while i'm home in the summer. It could be the best of both worlds (F*#K You, Sammy Hagar). More time in the Northeast, and a few months of gigs with the band.

wind in my hair

shifting and drifting

-Rush

time to get going

Happy Momma's Day! Hope it was fun.

Back to work, same as it ever was.

Restful weekend. Jammed a lot. Wednesday is the EuroLeague Final, Atletico Madrid vs. Fulham. 20:45, Spanish time, 2:45pm Eastern Standard. This is a huge game.

Very windy, like NY has been. Time to get going!

The Tower of Senseless Babel

stop making sense

stop making sense

stop making sense, making sense!

-Talking Heads

Whew. Long week. Tired. So much paperwork (bad) and collecting of money (bueno!). Lot of classes cancelled for next week though. It never ends. Oh well. More classes starting soon.

So....hit two academies, get paid, teach kids from 6-7, jam from 8:30 to 11 and then sleep. Merciful sleep. I am teaching more kids these days. I

Electrolyte solution keeps me from wasting away to nothing but a burnt potato chip.

Plans for the weekend? I'm not sure. Sleep. No dates, praise Jah!

The bailout of Greece has the European Union pooping its collective pants. The fear is that the other shoe will drop in Spain or Portugal, and when that happens, will there be money left to bail them out.

Happy happy, joy joy.

Time to go!

EL HOMBRE DEL POLVO

The Man of Dust

Yesterday was cold. Winds at 34km an hour (21 mph). Dry. So very incredibly bone dry. Wind burn. Devoid of moisture. I am drinking electrolyte solution and bathing in aloe. My lips are like dead meaty worms. Half of the the bottom one fell off during the night and was staring at me from my pillow when i awoke at 7:30 this morn. Skin cracking. This flat is just bone dry, even without the electric heat. Yet Don's room is moldy round the windows. At least my room is dry.

Much work. HalleluJAH!

No time to do anything during the week. Start work at 8:30 most morns, finish at 20:30 or 21:30 most eves. But that's fine by me. I teach therefore i am (or more accurately therefore i eat).

I am looking forward to my annual visit to the East Coast. It has been too long.

My body has gone
But my eyes remain
Hovering, witnessing
Cold as a ghost... watching the streets
Sheltering in doorways of
Venice, Vienna, Budapest, Krakow and Amsterdam

I have become the invisible Man

Awash

Sometimes entangled in your own dreams

-Genesis

SO very tired. End of the month. 3 Academies, plus the final paperwork for the intensive. I'm awash in a sea of papyrus! Ayudame (Help me!)

speaking in tongues

Home. It went very well. It was for the nuclear power division, all execs, of Fenosa, the energy company. We were in the middle of nowhere, near Avila. It paid well. We had fun. I learened a lot about how clean nuclear power is. I showed an episode of the Simpsons where Homer saves the nuclear plant from meltdown, or as Mr. Burns put it, an unrequested fission overload.

And Atletico Madrid beat Liverpool 2-2 on aggregate to advance to the Europa League Final on May 12th!

We have a gig on June 5th, my 42nd birthday.

I got back last night and then had a date. It was a black hole from which no light could escape. It was at her friend's house. They were all speaking Spanish, which was fine, but i was exhausted and had spoken no Spanish in 3 days on the intensive. She's from Texas. She was trying to teach me to roll the rr like they do in Spanish, which for some anglos is impossible. Then she told me she had a slight speak impediment! I told her that it was more properly called a New York Accent. I refrained from saying that she had a know-it-all bitch impediment. I was chatting with our beautiful Cuban host and told her what Willow said. She said, "You don't have a speech impediment!" I said i knew this. I waited 20 minutes til dinner was over, said i was exhausted and left. I hate dating.

Next!!!!!!