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I took this picture as I waited at a stoplight on westbound Route 46 in Jersey. You've got to appreciate the blunt statement.
Hadn't noticed until I downloaded the picture, but to the right of the truck, on the Crash side, you see just see the sign for Pleasure Plus, an adult video and paraphernalia store.
Looking for deeper meaning? Crash... porn... crash... porn... I'll leave it up to you.
Protest and Woodstock go together. I passed by this banner festooned car on Tinker Street on the way to jam with Big Joe yesterday.
Woodstock has a problem with disorderly and drugged out kids. This is not a new. Since the legendary 1969 festival, dropouts and mental cases have flocked to our fair town, trying to find... what? That is difficult to define.
The Town Board is considering a curfew on kids under 17. Daniel Leader, owner of Bread Alone, has been leading the drive for a curfew. His shop is one of the hangout spots in town for the street people. Leader, in this article in the Kingston Freeman, complains that his shop is often burglarized, and that his patio is often littered with hypodermic syringes.
What a spot for Leader! For years, he's been Woodstock's king of cool. Baking artisanal bread... well that's pure hippie, Zen style. He doesn't just run a business. No, he teaches a lifestyle. Hip drifters from all over the world trek to Bread Alone's production facility in Boiceville, to work for low pay in trade for lessons in higher consciousness.
So, now, Leader is The Man! Threatening freedom!
Thankfully, I don't live in the village of Woodstock, so I can make light of the situation. I know that Woodstock and Kingston are suffering through a heroin epidemic. Out in the woods where I live, that doesn't have much impact. Certainly, I know that the Rescue Squad is routinely picking up young people who've OD'd.
The car sporting the banner was ticketed by the town cops for sitting in the same spot for more than an hour.
Driving south on the Thruway on Friday, I spotted a gaggle of crows on the right shoulder feasting on a carcass. Damned things were the size of chickens. Nothing unusual. As I approached them, they took off flying. Par for the course. Wham! Sounded like a bomb exploding.
Trouble, trouble. That's my life right now. Windshield wiped out.
I called the Karaoke Queen.
“Frickin' crow committed suicide,” I complained.
“Oh, well...” the Queen replied. “Troubles always come in threes.”
Fortunately, I have glass insurance. Had to toss in 50 bucks in to cover the deductible.
Crows are an omen. What can this mean? Perhaps, there is a bad moon on the rise.
A week or so ago, your intrepid reporter pronounced the eminent 2Blowhards website dead and buried. No response from the server. Perhaps I spoke too soon. Michael Blowhard has posted this message on the site, and the server is responding.
I hope Michael Blowhard returns. He's one of the very best bloggers. Unfortunately, the site isn't producing any revenue. When 2Blowhards was at its peak, Michael was undoubtedly working full time to produce several posts a day, and responding almost immediately to every comment.
Hard to see how he can produce that kind of effort again. In fact, I don't know why anybody would knock themselves out that way.
But... I'm a tired old man. Retirement... here I come!
Thursday night, I drove to Verona, New Jersey, to meet Joey Arminio and his wife, Doreen. They lead Joey Arminio & The Family, “The East Coast's Most Exciting Oldies Show Band!”
Joey and Doreen have put together a variety show, the American Bandstand Review, that is thoroughly enjoyable. Joey gave me a CD of the show, and I've already listened to it a couple of times. The Karaoke Queen loved it.
It's been quite a while since I immersed myself in the rock sound of the 50s. This sound emerged from Brooklyn, New Jersey and Philadelphia. What a different era! I think of it as pre-Dylan. No politics, no deep meaning... just boys and girls dreaming about romance, marriage and having a bunch of kids.
The CD has a tremendous a cappella version of the Beach Boys' “Surfer Girl.” I played along on “Big Girls Don't Cry” and “Lollipop.” The songs feature close harmony, Doo Wop yodeling and teenage girl crooning. It's hard to know whether to laugh or cry over songs like “My Boyfriend's Back.”
The Karaoke Queen and I drove up to Woodstock last night. She knew the lyrics of every tune, and she sang along during the entire trip.
Check out the schedule for Joey Arminio & The Family. Go see one of their shows. Buy one of their CDs. The American Bandstand Review CD is like an old Wolfman Jack radio show. Except, the sound quality is a lot better. Joey produced the whole thing in his garage.
The server doesn't respond over at 2Blowhards. Without fanfare, one of the original and most successful weblogs has gone out of business.
For five years, 2Blowhards was the place for blowhards to vent about politics, art, movies, sex and what's the matter with kid's today. The comments section hosted interminable arguments. I fought it out to the bitter end with Chris Whiter-Than-Thou.
Michael Blowhard was the animating force behind the blog. A writer by trade, Michael knew how to phrase a posting in a way that invited people to respond... no easy task. He specialized in articles about kinky and fashionable sex, architectural style and pop music. At the height of the weblog's popularity, he posted three or four times a day, and answered every comment within minutes.
A ton of work for no money.
Michael retired from the blog some months ago. Donald Pittinger tried to keep it going. By his own admission, Donald had no interest in the subjects that Michael brought to the blog. Donald wrote sober, and interesting, articles about politics and manufacturing design. But, the life was gone from the blog. The action moved elsewhere.
Donald tried to interest other writers in taking over Michael's turf. He even pitched me. Too much work! I blog for fun, posting when it suits me and answering commenters when I've got the time.
If you're looking for a platform for free wheeling, non-PC political and social sparing, that scene has moved to Althouse.
RIP, 2Blowhards.
I'm already harvesting lettuce. Planted a couple of weeks before Memorial Day, these guys love the cool nights in the Catskills.
Above, a couple of romaines and a butter leaf. Lettuce from the garden is a whole different animal than that stuff you buy in the supermarket. Extremely tender and dense flavor.
I particularly love the red leaf… nutty flavor.
Didn't get a picture, but the spinach is growing like a weed. I pick a few leaves from every plant and toss a salad with about six different varieties of lettuce and spinach.
Very light olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing, with just a touch of salt and pepper.
Got to enjoy it while you can. By mid-July, the lettuce will bolt, and turn bitter.
I took this photo on my iPhone with the PS Mobile app, a tiny Photoshop tool. (Later, I touched it up with Photoshop on my PC.)
This tool has some photo editing functions, which I used to crop, brighten and sharpen the picture.
I also download the Typepad app, which enables me to upload the pic and text for this post.
Does not seem to allow HTML editing.
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