Archive for April 2004
The Right Direction
Note to self: The L train is downtown from Times Square. Make sure you get on the NR heading in the right direction. Mmmm hmmm, the right direction. Ok, so I was to the Fifth Avenue station before I noticed. I was reading, for God’s sake. Nick Hornby’s ‘Songbook,’ for cryin’ out loud. Good stuff.…
Read MoreSeconds
New York is not measured in minutes. Seconds, too, are too large an increment to mark the time space continuum here. Nay, it is the nanosecond, the inch, that marks the difference between life, death, joy, and pain. This occurred to me as I stepped across 51st and Ninth tonight, just one footfall away from…
Read MoreSo. Central Rain
In the bonus materials of The Criterion Edition of Douglas Sirk’s “All That Heaven Allows,” the director speaks to the etymology of melodrama: melody plus drama. These elements, what Leanord Cohen calls “the minor fall and major lift,” are fundamental to all great songs. Take my all-time favorite, REM’s “So. Central Rain.” First, the hook:…
Read MoreSleep When I’m Dead
It was pouring rain. I was wearing the same sportcoat, dress shirt, shoes and socks I’d been in since Saturday. My laptop weighed a hundred pounds. My guitar case felt like it had a dead body inside. And my legs were finally aching from Saturday’s half marathon. I was cold, wet, and tired as I…
Read MorePure Relaxation
Raindrops on water. Remember what that sounds like? Like fifth grade summer camp. Remember? Well, that’s what I was just diggin’ on the dock here at Rob & Claudine’s in Chelmsford, MA: pure relaxation. I’ve been up here for less than 24 hours, and I’ve slept at least 18. This morning, I woke up at…
Read MoreBulldozers
You gotta’ love this town. It’s a quarter of ten on a weeknight, and the New York City Department of Transportation has, in its infinite wisdom, decided that it’s the perfect time to dispatch a fleet of bulldozers to rip up 56th Street. So it’s a little loud outside. And being that it’s all of…
Read MoreOpen, Centered
Because watching yet another white guy strum his acoustic guitar is pretty much played out, I’ve got a really cool show planned for Thursday, May 20th. Do mark your calendar. I’ve rented a performance space at the very hip, very new age, exposed brick and hardwood floored holistic space at The Open Center on Spring…
Read MoreCaribbean Memories
The warm spring breeze that blew me home from the Upper West Side just now reminded me of the Caribbean. It’s not so much that I don’t relish being right here, right now, present tense in New York City. It’s just that it sent my senses reeling… Bermuda, 1985: Scooters, cliff-diving, and caving. Snorkeling, Man-o-Wars,…
Read MoreGood Tunes & Bad Jokes
A poodle walks into a bar with a pirate under one arm and a bowl of pudding under the other, turns to the bartender and says… “Aaaaaaargh! Got any Cool Whip?” It was that kind of night for The Smith Family: good tunes and bad jokes. It’ll be that kinda’ night a week from Thursday…
Read MoreSunshine
There’s nothing like some sunshine, blooming flora, and a coupla’ little kids to make a guy believe in love again. It was such a jam packed weekend. I don’t even know where to start. The theme was blue sky, fresh air, flowers and babies. I mean, what else is there? What could be better? I…
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