The Dragon Reborn

15:00

Music to pack it in by;

Live at Shepherd's Bush 31-10-2011 - Steven Wilson
Alchemy (disc 2) - Dire Straits
Scenes from a Memory - Dream Theater
Live at Orion (Baltimore, MD) - Djam Karet
Ghosts - Frequency Drift
Absalom - Stick Men
Herd of Instinct - Herd of Instinct

Hello Victoria
It's so good to see you again
-Dream Theater


I am officially on the mend. Printing stuff out. Pack. The whole tortilla. Run a few errands. Get some food. Make sure i was paid. I got a new book; The Night Eternal, the last book in the Strain Trilogy by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan, about a vampire apocalypse. It definitely breaks new ground. Seems like everything i read thses days is a trilogy or an even longer series. At least it's paperback. Carrying Dance of Dragons (hardcover, 1,000 pages) on the Metro was like carrying around a chair.

Mel is bringing a tablet, so maybe i can steal it for a few minutes and blog a quick post or two. I'm afraid i'll go thru withdrawal. Seriously. Sad but true. It's quite the bond we've established over the last 5 years.

In case i forget, Have a happy and healthy 2012!

20:13

Hair has been cut - about 2 inches! That's okay. It's still kind of long and Mum hates it long.  Errands have been run. Class has been cancelled (what else is new?) Much packing to be done. But everything external is taken care of.

Question: What do you say to people after you haven't seen them for a year and a half?


Answer: Hello!

It's not that difficult really. I've been a vagabond since i was 22.

Time to move. Gun in Mouth Syndrome. 

22:54


The Boys fed me and i have clothes packed. Next chargers and the like. Cribbage board is packed. It's the simple things, isn't it?

This Frequency Drift album - Ghosts is fantastic!

sabado


Adios people! See you in a week!

Miles to go....

1:01

Berlin

Big day manana - pack, run errands, get documents in order for the Central European Tour. One last class too. 

It'll be a blast.  Mom, Mel and Jan will travel 7,935 miles to Berlin. Damn baby. That's a trip. I am only flying 1, 161 miles. Then Prague another 220m. Then Vienna another 209m. That's a lot of miles.

FAIR WARNING (part 2)

MIERCOLES


Fair warning to the NFL - Not voting Marshawn Lynch to the NFL is egregious (aka.- suck my balls!).At least 1 TD  a game for 11 games in a row. The team's first 1,000 yd rusher in 6 years. And the only man to rush 100 yards and score a TD vs. San Fran.! Shame on you NFL. The NFL voting is no more than a turd on a stick. This omission is criminal.

The fact that the Seahawks will finish no worse than 7-9 is quite a feet. Next up - A new QB. Maybe they can trade up for RG III.

JUEVES


5 months and 4,000 pages later, i am all caught up with the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin. Now the long 5 year wait for a the 6th one. Then a 7th and he avows to be done. Fantastic stuff. Worthy of comparison to Lord of the Rings, which is really saying something. I guess i need to buy a new book manana.

i don't think i'm bringing my mac on the European Tour. i'll let u know for sure when i decide. Can i really not blog for a week? Will i cease to exist? Disappear into a puff of flatulent smoke? At a minimum, this blog has been as helpful as my best therapist ever, Jane, from back in VA.

VA seems like 5,000 years ago. Maybe it was. I don't think i could properly stand upright back then. Mum was always yelling "Stop slouching!" And i was like, "We all f&%king slouch! Just look at our spines!"

And then Mum would say, "And if everyone else is jumping into a Tyrannsorous  Rex's mouth, would you do it too?!!!"

Some things never change.

Best Albums of 2011

(Markus Reuter, Pat Mastelotto, Tony Levon - Stick Men)











My Top 3 albums of 2011

3. Hard Core Will never Die But You Will - Mogwai
This group mostly does instrumentals, mostly in the 6-8 minute range. Not a lot of solos but just very tight progressions

2. Grace for Drowning - Steven Wilson
As a double album, it's breadth and complexity are immense. It has strings and horns and definately ventures in jazz. Epic and wonderful.

1. Absalom -  Stick Men
This is only a 30 EP that was sold at recent shows in NYC in December (but we geeks can always find stuff on the Internet, because other nerds will post it.) The full album will be released in 2012 i suppose. Stunning. It features Tony Levin on Stick, Markus Reuter on touch guitar and Pat Mastelotto on drums. They are a power trio in the vein of Rush. The music is very different but for a trio, is unbelevable. Vibrant and always taking strange turns, these six songs are amazing.

All else is cool. Just a few days til i see the Fambly!

Taking it Slow

Last Bender Tuesday of 2011 manana. We will be at Barbaroi since J&J's is closed. Just took it slow today. Didn't do a thing. I'm a bit under the weather but i believe i am on the mend. Got to rest up for the big Central European Tour! i'm sure i'll be fine.

Only 60 pages left to read in A DANCE WITH DRAGONS. Then i'll be done til the 6th one comes out, in 5 years or so. It's virtually all i've read since August! 5 months, 4,000 pages. That's some hardcore reading.

I hope you all had as great an Xmas as i did! Next on the slate; 2012.

How can he be saved?

14:58

Lots of people think that the X in Xmas is a secular watering down of the word Christ. You know, “we love to celebrate the holiday but don’t believe in Jesus,” sort of thing. However, this is not the case. The X actually comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of Χριστός. Now, if that’s all Greek to you, Χριστός, of course, means Christ.
www.mentalfloss.com

 Wheww! What a great night! I woke thinking "What day is today? What the hell did i do last night? And then it all came clear.

The boys of the NYPD choir
Were singing "Galway Bay"
And the bells were ringing out
For Christmas day

You're a bum
You're a punk
You're an old slut on junk
Lying there almost dead on
a drip in that bed
You scumbag, you maggot
You cheap lousy faggot
Happy Christmas your arse
I pray God it's our last

-The Pogues
 

Marcondes cooked a turkey. I made a big ensalada with like 9 types of lettuce. The turkey was delicious. It was well cooked, which is really the only concern (because he had never made one before.) But he had a recipe and it was great. He put a Brazilian stuffing inside which was phenomenal (we use this word in Spanish, so it has made a resurgence in my English vocabulary.) But he put the whole thing on a platter with the gravy and potatoes in a platter, before i had carved it (thank you Mum for teaching me how to crave a turkey almost 30 years ago! It has been a much appreciated skill to have throughout my lifetime, none moreso than in Madrid where i have yet to meet a single Spanish person who knows how to do it.) So i taught Marcondes. But first i had to get it on cutting board (It was hotter than Satan's balls, so i had to get under it with a large metal serving spoon). Then i had to untie the legs and take the stuffing out (fucking hysterical!). Then i snapped the legs off, which practically fell off, and carved it. It stayed moist because of the stuffing inside. I would venture that it's been at least 15 years since i carved a bird that had stuffing made inside it. You do need to know what you are doing. And cooking often seems like one of the few things Marcondes actually really knows how to do. He's great and i love him but he has almost no education at all, so he does some stupid shit. But he is a good guy so i don't have much trouble letting all that other stuff slide. 


Cara came over at 22:00. Her Spanish is excellent and we spoke Spanish all night. I am getting better, bit by bit. It's getting easier to express myself. We call her Nicole when we speak in Spanish (her middle name) in the same way that i use Jota with some people who jsut can't pronounce it. Cara means expensive or face in Spanish, which sometimes is perceived as to be cheeky en espanol. Not the easiest name to have. Spanish people all pronounce my name as "hi." And i'm like, Hola, what the hell do you want?

So, i had also bought some Ukranian vodka in a little shop down the street. I told him i wanted something i could drink on the rocks because Cara also loves Martinis. Marcondes asked to mix some in a blender with fresh mango. I had sip, but this was great vodka, so i told him i'd rather drink it straight. He had poured about 1/4 of the bottle into the blender. He then dumped a ton of brown sugar in what was left in the blender. I was ready to take another sip of the mango concoction (without sugar) when he grabbed it off the table and poured it in with all the sugar. He blended it and then taste it and loved it. He offered it to me. I had some and it was vile. "He said no problem. I'll drink it." He got absolutely hammered. He is devoid of common sense about how much to drink. He gets ripped off of two beers. I came back in the in kitchen later and saw he had made more. By now the bottle was half gone. I made myself a martini and he gestured with the blender. "More," he said. "i'll buy you a new bottle tomorrow." I told him not to worry about it but used the excuse that Cara wasn't even here yet to not give him any more. Beside, he was wasted. I didn't want him to pass out on the turkey.

Eudardo even said. "He is very content." I told him he had drunk A LOT of vodka (destroyed very good vodka actually - it was an abomination!) Eduardo said he had told him that maybe he should drink vodka when he cooks from now on. 

So, before dinner we had vodka and some salmon caviar on buttered crackers, just like teh Ukranian man had told me how to make it. It was fantastic. We had a very nice dinner and a very good time. I walked Cara home around 2:00, came home and went right to bed.


Did you ever see the faces of the children
They get so excited.
Waking up on Christmas morning
Hours before the winter suns ignited.
They believe in dreams and all they mean
Including heavens generosity.
Peeping round the door
to see what parcels are for free
In curiosity.

And Tommy doesn't know what day it is.
He doesn't know who Jesus was or what praying is.
How can he be saved?
From the eternal grave.
-The Who




Mum called on the 24th to say Merry Christmas! Always good to hear from the Mum. I swear, it's like i've known the woman forever. She also mentioned that the blog entry about Gabi was hysterical. When you and your mother can laugh about a prostitute turning tricks out of your house, you know you have a good relationship. I reinforced the idea that i really don't think about anyone having sex other than me. So if you are gay or decide to be a prostitute then it really doesn't bother me. We all do what we have to do in this life. Whenever possible, we should all treat each other with dignity, kindness and respect. And that, my dear people, is the true spirit of Christmas / The Winter Equinox.




And lastly, this is my Xmas playlist;

Christmas Wrapping			The Waitresses
River			Joni Mitchell
Utopia			Tony Levin
For Absent Friends			GENESIS
Jerusalem			Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Rivers of Light			Tony Levin
Fairytale Of New York			Pogues (Ft. Kirsty Maccoll)
Happy Christmas (War Is Over)			John Lennon
don peyote			Wayward Platypus
The Rain Song			Led Zeppelin
Christmas			The Who
Broon's Bane			Rush
The Trees			The Rush String Quartet
Xanadu			The Rush String Quartet
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town			Bruce Springsteen
I Believe In Father Christmas			Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Nude Wrestling With A Christmas Tree			Adrian Belew
Father Christmas			Kinks
Mood For A Day			Yes
Entangled			Genesis
Christmassteps			Mogwai
A Christmas Camel			Procol Harum
Easy Skanking			Bob Marley
Can't Find My Way Home			Blind Faith

Thru the Eyes of the Brazil

JUEVES

23:03

Xmas Update

Okay! Cara is going to come over and have dinner with the Boys and i on the 24th. Then, on the 25th, all we Xmas Orphans as we call ourselves will go out somewhere. That'll be fun. I've known a lot of these people a very long time, through thick and thin. Susana, Kelly's girlfriend (Spanish) is planning it. I'll ivite some of the other Orphans. 

Tottenham 1  Chesea 1, 80th minute. There will be a ton of English games over the holidays.  The Spurs are 3rd and Chelsea is 4th. Big game. On Boxing Day, every team plays. The English broadcasters are funny. "How did he miss that...., oh my word!" My word? Seriously? Crazy English.

Frantic finish. Both teams trying to get three points in the standings. But it's a draw. 1 point a piece.

Storms

Did i mention that i think that Marcondes' Brazilian friend, Gabi, who has stayed with us for about two weeks and leaves manana,  may be a prostitute? I don't think i have. Damn! Okay... I've pieced it together over the last week.

But i have to cook dinner first. The kitchen is empty now. Marcondes is with two friends in the salon and Gabi is in Marcondes' bed room with her "amigo," as she puts it everytime she dresses up. She said it and made the universal quotes sign with her fingers when she first said "amigo" to me on Saturday. So tonight i was coming out of the bathroom, i had heard the buzzer, and she ushered me into the room and said hurry hurry, my amigo is coming! She was laughing.

My life is a madhouse. I like living in this flat but it still doesn't mean this place isn't bonkers. And you just have to laugh. It's extremely amusing.

So be it.

My bedroom is next to where they are. So is the kitchen. I don't hear anything (praise Jah!) and i can always hear Marcondes when he Skypes with Brazil. But he's quite loud. Anyhoo, i'm wearing my earphones just in case, because life is a contact sport.

Time to cook tacos! it's 23:18.

 Then i'll come back and tell you why i think G is a prostitute.

She's a very nice lady, first off. And i don't care what she does. I'm sure there are some people that think being a teacher and drummer is the ass end of things. It doesn't matter what other random people think, unless they are law enforcement.

VIERNES 1:44

A New Kind of
Conversation

Well, when i went in to cook, she was stepping out of the bathroom after showering, wrapped in a towel. She came into the kitchen, shut the door and said "Ugh, so ugly. But he paid me."

Aw, way to take all the guesswork out of it. Ha!

Then she poured herself a glass of whiskey over ice and said "I need to drink."

So i ate and was cleaning up and saw that the guy had left. I asked her if she was hungry (she's cooked for us a lot the past few weeks.) She said sure. So i made her a taco and we had a few beers. Her story was incredible. She does it for her four year old that lives with her very poor parents in Brazil. She makes good money. She's so discreet. She dresses so normal unless she is with a client. Then she goes all out, and she has great hooters and hips. The first time i saw her in this tight white slinky dress, i was like Madre de Dios where the hell have you been keeping that stuff for the past week? I didn't even know you had those! She's 48. And she's a really sweet and loving person. She's helped Marcondes during bad times. She's like a mother to him. So in return i guess her lets her turn tricks out of the house when she comes to Madrid. She sends the money home for her daughter, who lives with her parents in Brazil. They are very poor and very religious. She said she wants to write a book someday. I told her i would buy it. Even the hardcover.

So do i now live in a whoor house? Casa de putas? And G and i are friends now. Bygones. And besides, what's a working girl to do?

So I try to say

Goodbye my friend

I'd like to leave you with something warm

But never have I been a blue calm sea

I have always 

been a storm

-Fleetwood Mac

SABADO

Lost Horizons

I've always liked to live in different places in order to expand my horizons. Be careful what you ask for!  Man, i sure have seen a lot in the past 5 years. My whole life really.

And my life is very special because of all of you. I enjoy being able to share my experiences and vice-versa. So if you're not going to have a Puta de Navidad  visit your house this year (your parents are coming and Dad's an ex-cop, the kids are still young, you're trying to save $ with the recession, etc,) you can have one in your home by living vicariously through me. Aren't you lucky!


 Merry Xmas to all of ye and lots of love!