Midnight at The Vag Cafe

Pic by Tamara
She has a sick sense of humor


Okay, so i am moving my stuff Jueves Evening at 20:00. That gives me two full days to dismantle everything. Give some clothes to charity. I started going through clothes. So much to go through! What happened to holidays? There is no rest for people like me. I hate the holidays. I'm always sick or there's some drama. This year - both. Here's to 2011; something's gotta give.






You can tell the mood i'm in is dark cuz all i'm listening to is King Crimson;
Red
Starless and Bible Black
Thrak


Paloma is in Argentina on holiday, but i saw her on Xmas before she left. She came to Laura's for dinner and then we went out for a drink just the two of us. She's cool, energetic, crazy and surprisingly age appropriate -40. Ooo la la!

MIERCOLES

12:12

So much to do. Help me Jebus!

We recorded one new song last night; Forbidden. Pete played acoustic. Ashley sang. Then i'll put some percussion and backing vocals, and there you have it.

So much to do!

Okay, more King Crimson. Move Jay. Venga!

16:40

Ate lunch out. She has packed all the forks and plates. Stupid bitch. Some dirty clothes are packed. Trying desperately to dry what i washed today.

Hang'em High! -Van Halen

Listening to;
A Young Person's Guide to King Crimson
Discipline - King Crimson
The Power to Believe - King Crimson
Live in Central Park 1974 - King Crimson

I really don't want to anything. I don't want to move a step. But MOVE is the word. Then class from 19:00 - 21:00. Then a beer with Pete as he is leaving for good. Good-bye band!

Frame by frame
Death by drowning
-King Crimson

I am the "last man standing," as the Seester likes to say. I have seen many come and go.

we'll know for the first time
if we're evil or divine
we're the last in line
-Ronnie James Dio

See you at the Vag Cafe!

Get Your Pagan On

i thought you would find this interesting i did it's taken from the
EAST TEXAS REVIEW (Whatever the F^*K that is!)

So why do we celebrate Christ’s birthday as Christmas, on December the 25th? The answer lies in the pagan origins of Christmas. In ancient Babylon, the feast of the Son of Isis (Goddess of Nature) was celebrated on December 25. Raucous partying, gluttonous eating, drinking and gift-giving were traditions of this feast.

In Rome, the Winter Solstice was celebrated many years before the birth of Christ. The Romans called their winter Holiday Saturnalia, honoring Saturn, the God of Agriculture. In January, they observed the Kalends of January, which represented the triumph of life over death. This whole season was called Dies Batalis Invicti Solis, the birthday of the Unconquered Sun.

The festival season was marked by much merrymaking. It is in ancient Rome that the tradition of the Mummers was born. The Mummers were groups of costumed singers and dancers who traveled from house to house entertaining their neighbors. From this, the Christmas tradition of caroling was born.

In northern europe, many other traditions that we now consider part of Christmas worship were begun long before the participants had ever heard of Christ. The pagans of northern europe celebrated their own winter solstice, known as Yule. Yule was symbolic of the pagan Sun God, Mithras, being born, and was observed on the shortest day of the year. As the Sun God grew and matured, the days became longer and warmer. It was customary to light a candle to encourage Mithras, and the sun, to reappear next year.

Huge Yule logs were burned in honor of the sun. The word Yule itseld means “wheel”, the wheel being a pagan symbol for the sun. Mistletoe was considered a sacred plant, and the custom of kising under the mistletoe began as a fertility ritual. Hollyberries were thought to be a food of the gods.

The tree is the one symbol that unites almost all the northern European winter solstices. Live evergreen trees were often brought into homes during the harsh winters as a reminder to inhabitants that soon their crops would grow again. Evergreen boughs were sometimes carried as totems of good luck and were often present at weddings, representing fertility.

The Druids used the tree as a religious symbol, holding their sacred ceremonies while surrounding and worshipping huge trees. In 350, Pope Julius I declared that Christ’s birth would be celebrated on December 25. There is little doubt that he was trying to make it as painless as possible for pagan Romans (who remained a majority at that time) to convert to Christianity. The new religion went down a but easier, knowing that their feasts would not be taken away from them.

So that's the story. There's been a winter celebration for thousands of years. Have a great one!

GREAT party at Cara's. Mussels in a bloody Mary sauce. Turkey ( which i carved, of course.) Beer, good scotch. I took a cab home about 4:30. Now, to get to Laura's for dinner. Then i'm meeting Paloma somewhere. Then sleep. Much much more sleep.

Feliz Navidad

Jose Feliciano


Is Dan Snyder the worst NFL owner of the past decade? Undoubtedly. No matter what he spends the Redskins suck and nothing could make me happier. And the coaches! Gibbs, Spurrier, Shanahan! I like Jim Zorn but that was a no win situation for him. I think Zorn will coach the Seahawks one day if he extablishes himself as a head coach again.

i watched threads, a BBC film from 1984 about a nuclear war between the Soviet Union And the States. The Soviets Nuke Sheffield, England because of it's closeness to military targets. Grim. Ugly. Very realistic. The BBC kicks ass. The best 80's nuclear holocaust movie i've seen since Testament with Jane Seymour . Now i am watching the Book Of Eli. Very good. I love post apocalyptic movies at Xmas. They make me think about the good things in life.

Fix Mrs. Psychiatrist Lady. I am broken. Please fix me.

Last Xmas Eve i watched the remake of On The Beach. Dark things make me look on the up side of things. Please help me! But i am generally happy.

I feel a little better. Before i thought i was gonna die earlier.

I will resurrect. Another Xmas Miracle.

Speaking of dying and resurrecting, the floor of the new metro trains are bright red! Everywhere. I was a bit disoriented from being sick and thought i had gone to hell. It was like the bathroom in The Shining. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vulNlhUI6m0

VIERNES

Xmas Eve. Rough night. Hot, cold, night sweats, disturbing dreams - really F@#ked up ones. But i think i have turned the corner. I will just lie very low.

The NY Times had an article saying saying that humming may help to prevent Sinus infections because of the increased air flow. So i have been humming all day. So this is what it comes to. I just hum Feliz Navidad all day and hope it drives my landlady nuts.

So....Merry Xmas. In 7 days i'll have a new home.

HHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMM..... Feliz Navidad!

Merry Xmas

Merry Xmas. I love you all. I am a bit sick so i am going to sleep. Thinking of you all. Nothing funny to say. Sorry. Maybe i'll feel better tomorrow. I get sick EVERY Xmas, without fail. But all my plans are casual, so if i can't make Cara's tomorrow, no biggie. I'm not a bug Xmas fan. Maybe if i had kids. Next time i see Paloma we really need to discuss our love child. And i'll have a double bed in the new place! And no ill behaved white trash cat. No fat women snorting and fighting a chest infection for 3 months cuz she's too ignorant to take Amoxicilina. I EVER OFFERED HER A BOX FREE! It's only cost 2.50 Euros! But i may need it myself now.

Last Xmas in Madrid. Next year in Portland! Fresh caught Lobster by me and Frippy. And snowball fights! And decriminalized marijuana!

An Xmas Miracle!

throw off those chains of reason
and your prison disappears
-Rush

I found a flat! I really needed to find one as Elena is jobless and bankrupt and leaving the flat Jan 1. (which she's has told me she owns, but earlier told me she rents) to move back to Bulgaria or Cuba or Transylvania. She lies constantly and perpetually and she's as intelligent as a shoehorn so i really don't know where she's from. Don't care.

So it's a decent size room. There's no desk but there is an office i can use, but he was up front about it from the beginning (unlike certain other SheBeasts) and the rent is super reasonable, so i can afford to buy a desk and a chair from Ikea next week, with all the Xmas sales. Juan is a nice guy. He's Peruvian (haven't rented from one of those folks as yet!). There's one other gal living there i haven't met yet. Hopefully she's hot and loves Rush, Yes and King Crimson.

The problem is that most of the ads for houses don't have pictures or don't have all the info. Some don't even say where they are or the price! You call and they say "Lo siento, buscamos por una chica (we're looking for a girl)." Why didn't you say that in the ad! Plus, it's Xmas so everyone has stopped working and is just drunk all the time. In general, Spanish people are staggeringly crude, shallow and uneducated. The lady at the little corner market, who's pleasant and funny, called Spain the cola (tail) of Western Europe. And she's from China, which is the world's asshole, so that's really saying something.

So with just 10 days to find a place, i found a place. And it's only for 7 months. Hell, i could do 7 months in a penitentiary if i had to (as long as there was no Ass Raping.)

It's an Xmas miracle! So i would like to take this moment to declare the letter X as my personal savior. I believe that it willing chose to live at the ass end of the alphabet, with such unsavory characters as Y and Z, so that i might find a place to live for Jan 1. Hallelujah! I am a Bored-Again Xian!

This post was brought to you by (say it for me you Electric Company Alums, Morgan Freeman and Rita Moreno!;) the Letter X

confusion

confusion will be my epitaph
-King Crimson

There's no place like home
-Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz

Why can't i seem to stay in one place?
-Me

Many classes canceled but still had 5 hours. Looks like i'll have some hours next week too. That's nice.

Martes

Still looking for a flat. If worse comes to worse i can temporarily live with Maria. And on a very sad note, her youngest cat, Guinness, died from anemia yesterday. She was only three. She loved to bite my big toes, dedos gordo Americano (Literally; American Big Toes)! She will be missed. Maria is a wreck. Pobrecita!

I go to see another flat tomorrow. Not really a good time to look. Even though my two-faced lying bitch of a landlord wants me out, i said i would stay til i can find a place. Their rental laws here are similar to the US; hard to get someone out. However, she is packing up her stuff cuz she said she is moving back to Bulgaria. She also said she owns this place, which is opposite what she told me before. She's just a liar and a lunatic. She still has a lung infection from Oct cuz she's too stupid to take an antibiotic. She loathes me. But it just makes me laugh. It's surprising how comfortable i am with people hating me. I don't give a damn what anyone thinks if they are an idiot.

All the Sleepers send you their dreams
-Steve Hackett

Still going. Still moving. Can't stop me. You may slow me down, but that's all.

Fuck! I sound like Tony Robbins, who we all know must be an Alien. The only thing i ever liked about him was Shallow Hal. That movie is an all-time fave.

Where the hell are my pants?

Siguente (next)!

The memories of a man in his old age
Are the deeds of a man in his prime.
You shuffle in gloom in the sickroom
And talk to yourself as you die.
-Pink Floyd

Okay.

> Hang Laundry
> cook lamb chops
>Eat lamb chops
>shower
>A bit more cleaning

The blog just isn't as gripping as 4 years ago, is it? Well, maybe when i move to Portland, Maine to teach and become a lobster fisherman.

Mmmmmm.... lobster.

HEY! Here's something exciting; drinks with Paloma at 20:30 and then go see a band!

Mmmmmm..... Paloma.

Elaine is leaving on Monday anyway. Lovely gal. But she lives in Ireland. That kind of puts a damper on things. But she a writer (screenplays) so it was really fun to meet her.

NEXT!

Behind the Battle lines....

i know they're still holding ground, behind the battle lines
- John Wetton

Sabado 17:15

Out of my brain on the train on train on the 5:15
-The Who

Foul rainy weather that thwarts my attempts to have clean boxers. Damn ye to the nether regions of Hell! Or, Alack, Damn me to this interminable heat. At least my underwear would dry!

Going out to dinner again tonight with Brian, his sister Elaine and their cousin and her hubby, who is an Arsenal fan and was taken aback by my Tottehham Hotspur scarf, which i've had for years. I told him to shut his Arse(nal.) Hee Hee! Me so funny. Me make you laugh long time.


21;27

Time to go to Dinner!

2011, a time space/anomaly

Writing end of year evals for my students. Then out the door in five minutes to watch the 1st half of Atletico and Bayern Leverkusen. Then Teach at 20:00 til 22:00. Then maybe just home. Long day manana. Then it ends off with a party at Maria's with Paloma and I. I'll get to Getafe about 23:30

Listening to:

The White Album - The Beatles
The Valleys of Neptune - Jimi Hendrix
Mojo - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Out of the Tunnel's Mouth - Steve Hackett
Spirit of St. Louis (Bootleg, 1980) - Rush
Djam Karet - Reflections from the Firepool

Viernes

1:56

I went to the open mike at Triskell. I was supposed to meet Pete and Elaine but they never showed. However, with Tamara gone and us being mum about future plans, two different sets of people ask if i was interested in drumming with them in a band. I told them i was most likely gone in August. They said 'no problem'. I told both groups i wanted to play progressive rock, and they said 'no problem'. Still not sure if i'm game. But it is enticing. And flattering, of course. If i play with another band in Madrid, it has to be something different. Pete, Tam and I were a core, a family, so it just wouldn't feel right continuing without them.

Plus, i want to get into a more progressive band. I loved the From Lost to the River Music, but we were just getting much more prog when it ended. So it goes. But I believe i am ready to make that leap of faith. Maybe finally i am capable of playing such beautiful, brainiac, Siren music. I was utterly surprised how much i loved the last recording of the Platypus, which i think i sent most ye the other day, which was basically just a big jam at Mark's house. But usually live we are four of us - although we have done the three piece thang in VT. But this jam is just the three of us, recorded live and sounds full, lively, and with some of Mark's production, sounds great. This is an exciting step for us. Especially with the whole 'the drummer lives on another continent thingy.' Anyway, it always seems to work. I have musician friends i love to play with on two continents. That has to be a good thing.

Has anyone seen my pants? I hate the cursed things but it's -4C (25F) here and dropping. Way colder than we've been all year. It dropped like 4C in an hour!

Fucking pants. Donde estas?

Hate them Hate them Hate them.

Will it really be 2011? When i was a kid, i thought i'd at least have a F@*king spaceship by now!

42 years old, no space ship.

It's just rather disappointing.

I'm going to bed. I'll fall asleep to something in 7/8 time. Tom Sawyer maybe. Or Money.
Sabado


I am in love with Brian's sister, Elaine, who is visiting from Dublin. She is a writer and age appropriate. Venga!

Miercoles?

Yes, it's Wednesday. Hard to keep track. Almost half of my classes are on different days every week. Doctors, executives. People with very demanding and time consuming jobs. And the holidays mess up people's schedules as well. But it's cool. Keeps it fresh,

Time goes by. Ever and ever. Xmas is almost here. It was once far away in the review mirror. It caught up with us. Like a good cat. They favor sneak attacks. And then something becomes dinner. Merry Xmas to all.

I am beat. Constant motion. You know how it is. Some time to chill and keep a low profile at Xmas will be nice. Once i find a new flat. Constant Motion.

0:07 hours. Take that James Bond!

I go sleeping. 3 classes in the morning then 2 more at night.
Then a heap on Fri too, in the afternoon and the University at night.

"Nighty... night..., you rabbit...."
-the Mad Scientist, Bugs Bunny

Requiem for the Damned

Okay. This is an article by Bleacher Report, which was sent to me in an email from the Seattle PI, a Seattle Newspaper (which for the record switched to online only like two years ago.)

10 Reasons Seattle Is In Perfect Position To Win The NFC West aka, Why Smoking Crack is Never a Good Idea; http://bleacherreport.com/articles/543034-seattle-seahawks-10-reasons-the-hawks-can-still-win-the-nfc-west

This is madness. I think Atlanta is going to eat them for lunch. Their record on the East Coast sucks and as an NFL team, could you have a longer flight than from Seattle to Tampa? That game has 20-0 written all over it.

The Rams will probably make the playoffs this year. And they are the rising star in a division that reeks like a whoor's pleather mini skirt.



Lotsa work. Then three weeks off. Fuck. I might approach the CIA about coming out of 'retirement.' Just for a few weeks. I mean, i'm pretty close to the Middle East. Someone's got to get to the bottom of this whole business of Qatar getting the Word Cup. 1.7 million people and only 300,000 are citizens! Sepp Blatter (head of FIFA) says some other Middle East countries may host a few games. Who? Iran? Iraq? Long weekend in Fallujah! Lovely. Has the whole frakking world gone insane? Has it? Plus, it's 12oF in summer. They say they will have air-conditioned stadiums. That should help global warming.

What's next? Naked Lady Hoo Ha pics?


Sweet baby Jar Jar Binks! They exist!
But what the hell is that? It's like Dr. Seuss pornography! 'Who wears short shorts?' Nair Nair Nair! ASAP!

God may love you but i hate you
-me

bye bye

Nice weekend. The J&J Xmas party was yesterday. All guys, eating curry, drunk Brits singing Xmas carols, badly. I even played piano. But it was my own stuff, and they started singing over me (Drunken Brits!)

Lotsa hours this week.

Hawks were crushed. Ouch. Bye bye playoffs.

Sympathy for the Disheveled

I tried to warn you about Gino and Daddy G But i can't seem to get to you through the US mail
-Steely Dan

19:47 Captain's log;

This is the 901st blog since i started in Jan of 2007. Hard to believe. I expect to be back in the USA about the 1st of Aug, which means i should hit 1,000 entries before we are done. That's a post every 1.6 days. Almost 4 years. That's 1,461 days. Now that's what i call an exile. I'll try not make the last season suck (like Lost did.)

Today was a holiday, as was Monday. No class on Monday. One yesterday. Everyone took a puente (bridge) weekend. What would be what we call a long weekend. I am cleaning my room. Looking for a new flat. Teaching. The endless cycle. I may try to sell my drums sooner rather than later. More space.

More fucking rain tomorrow. It's like London. And laundry. Hard to dry laundry when it's been raining every day since last Friday.

But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game
-The Rolling Stones

At least i have 7 or 8 hours of class tomorrow. Maybe another 4 on Friday.

If anyone hears of some teaching opportunities in the USA for someone of my somewhat varied background, please let me know.

Time to take out the trash. Then eat. And i need a goddamned light bulb too.

21:49

Damn. Do i know how to cook Paella Shrimp! Madre de dios! I think i ate a pound. I just skipped the rice.

I had to buy a new charger for my Mac. I guess it just died. Or Martin gnawed on it, although the place where i could see wire was in knot, so it could have just happened. However, i now only let him in my room when i am present. Chaperoned, i guess you could say.

I am just chilling tonight. Watching some more Battlestar Galactica. I can't recommend this new re-imagined version highly enough. I was talking about it last night with my friend Ashley, who turned me on to it about a year and a half ago. Intelligent. Gritty. It asks some really tough questions. If you watch it and don't like it you can make me eat a pound of shrimp. :)


Just as every cop is a criminal
And all the sinners saints
As heads is tails
Just call me Lucifer
'Cause I'm in need of some restraint

So pardon me while i wax nostalgic. i mean, i am burning candles.

Fair Warning

Tamara's last gig with us was a huge success. What the future holds for Fernando, Luis and i, well who knows. It doesn't really matter to me. We got a recording and a video, all of which should be good quality. I need to focus on other things.

I got home at 2:30 and was utterly exhausted after about 25 hours of class, lots of traveling and then the gig.

My friend Jason, from Iowa, is having a party at 9 and i'll got to that. Then home early. Much sleeping to be done. Lunes y Miercoles are Holidays (Constitution Day and then Immaculate Conception.) Do these people ever work?

Mum was concerned about the last post. She called offering lawyers, guns, and money. I took her up on the money. I asked for crossbows instead (i hate firearms.) And i already have a lawyer in American Laura. She implored me to come home and find a job, but i have one here. The MBA Program job will really help me get work in the USA, methinks.

I am 92.8 percent sure i will leave Spain for good in August. Pull me off the grill, cuz i'm done. I don't need to stew in my own juices any longer. I'll look for jobs via Internet starting in January. I'm thinking of going to Maine where i can teach, be a lobster fisherman and kayak on the weekends.


Somebody said "Fair warning to all"
Lord, strike that poor boy down!
-Van Halen